WEBVTT

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The great 14th century monasticism, founder of

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monasticism, more or less in Russia. Iconic,

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he borrows in the middle of the church, but he

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appears up here on the iconostasis, this range,

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the second range, which is called the deus' range.

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You notice they are all complaining towards Christ

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in prayer. So we ask him to pray for us. We remember

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the great Damascus king Athanasius of Mount Athos,

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the founder of the monastery, the great monastery

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of Lavra. Also, we remember him today. Of course,

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we're still celebrating the 250th anniversary

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of the founding of this country, so we did some

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of those prayers at the litany. We'll do another

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prayer coming up shortly. But mostly, mostly

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this time after Pentecost, fifth week, we're

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back to basics of what it is a Christian does,

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believes, how he, she walks and thinks. I'm not

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going to review the Gospels of the past few weeks,

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but you can think back on that. The single eye,

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the faith of the centurion, Christ's power, the

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storm, which Christ stops. The gospel message,

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when I say gospel, I mean the whole thing, Christ.

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The entire gospel message is about what God in

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Christ has done and does for us. It's not what

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we do for him. Yes, we respond, but the gospel,

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the salvation comes from him. And this story

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today, okay, it's an extreme example. But that's

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what it's about. And we heard something from

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the epistle to the Romans, part of St. Paul's

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explanation to the Jewish Christians in Rome.

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There were Jews in Rome that had converted, and

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there were new converts that had joined that

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church, and they were now together. And so St.

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Paul, in that epistle, which seems kind of dense,

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as St. Peter says in one of his epistles, Paul

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writes many things difficult to understand. And

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that's true. We need some explanation for these

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things. But he's telling them that Christ is

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the... That's my godson. Christ is the end. The

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meaning. He's the goal of all the Old Testament.

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He is what... completes it and fulfills it and

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fills it up. He accomplished what the law of

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Moses could not, that is to sanctify us and to

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save us from the two things that the law of Moses

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could only manage. That is sin, which kills us,

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and death, which is the wages of sin. Christ

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has saved us from that. The law was concerned

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with what a man... Human does. The gospel is

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directed to what God does. And what he does here

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in this story, it's so perfect for us. As we

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get back to basics of what it is to be a Christian,

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he seeks us. He seeks the lost sheep. He seeks

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those that are troubled. He breaks the bars.

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Behind which we are imprisoned. We're just saying

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that. My Savior and Redeemer. As God has come

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and broken the chains that have bind us. Something

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like that. And he enters in this account today.

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After he and his disciples had been in a storm

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on the Sea of Galilee. And he was asleep. And

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they're crying, they're crying, they're afraid.

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Wakes up, he says, why are you afraid? Why are

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you afraid? Well, they were afraid they were

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going to get drowned. And he says, peace and

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the storm completely. Does water work this way?

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No. Completely become still. That's what we want

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of Christ in our heart. So, he comes to this

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place, which we might call enemy occupied territory.

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It's apparently a place where pigs are. Jews

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don't raise pigs. They're unclean. But Gentiles

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raise pigs. Why do they raise pigs? It's not

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just for bacon or what Archbishop Benjamin used

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to call on this Sunday, hearkening to meat fair

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and cheese fair, he would call this swine Sunday.

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No, pigs. Pigs are raised because they are offered

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in religious pagan sacrifices to the pagan gods.

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Or as St. Paul says, all the gods of the pagans

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are demons. That's why there are pigs there.

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And he encounters two men. Possessed. A legion

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of demons. Thousands. How they got in there.

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Probably a slow process. That's the way it usually

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works. They were living in the tombs. They were

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more dead than alive. They were spiritually dead.

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They were living dead. And they were violent.

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That's usually what the evil one provokes people

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to do, is to be violent. And Jesus heals them.

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Jesus has come into this enemy -occupied territory

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during summer camp. Maybe Jackson and Zoya were

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there at that session during our Christian ed

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sessions. Father Kirill from San Francisco and

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I were teaching, and he made the comparison about

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the gospel, the good news. The word gospel is

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good news. It's the victory, he said, of the

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kingdom of God already proclaimed. It's already

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happened. God has done it all, but we are awaiting

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its fulfillment. It's coming to us in its fullness.

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Just, he says, just as those resistant fighters

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in France during World War II. They heard about

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the invasion of D -Day and they knew the war

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was over. But yet, for them, it was not yet over.

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For us Christians, we live in this world. It

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is like that. We have the signs, however. We

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have the signs of the presence of the kingdom

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of God. We have those signs that the victory

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is completed. It is over. And we have a part

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to play. We are not just sitting around waiting

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for a heavenly taxi to take us to the kingdom.

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We have tasks to do. We have something to become,

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something to change into, to be transfigured

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and transformed into. And the signs of the kingdom

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of God are all the miracles done by the Savior,

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all the healings, all the teachings, but especially

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his trampling down death by his death on the

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cross, especially his resurrection and his ascension.

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What's besides the dome here? What's the next

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highest icon in here? You're looking at it right

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behind me. It's the ascension where Christ is

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ruling all things. And we, brothers and sisters,

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St. Paul says we are seated with him in the heavenly

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places. That's the liturgy. We are seated even

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right now in the heavenly places. We are joined

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to Christ. So where he is ruling, we are with

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him. He is not separated. Lo, I am with you to

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the end of the age. The signs of his presence,

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the signs of the victory, the gospel, is the

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gift of the Holy Spirit. The sign is the saints,

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St. Sergius, St. Athanasius, who did more miracles.

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As Christ said, greater things shall you do.

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The sign is the divine liturgy today in which

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we taste and see. That the Lord is good. The

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sign is that our sins are forgiven. And when

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you hear that prayer at absolution. You know

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it. Because in your soul. You sense it. For now.

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We see through a glass. Darkly. But then. When

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Christ appears. In his majesty and glory. With

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all the angels. And the evil one. Satan is cast

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into the lake of fire. Then. We will know face

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to face. Now I know in part, says St. Paul, about

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God, who he is, what his plan is. Now I know

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in part, but then I shall know, even as also

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I am known. Because we are in Christ, the demons

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have no power over us unless we give it to them.

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And how do we give it to them? Usually very slowly.

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A little sin here. A little sin there. And then

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we're captured by some impulse. Some addiction.

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Some anger. Some violence. Some hatred. Some

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judgment. Little by little, we acquire those

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things. But didn't we hear today? That what we

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are to acquire is the fruit of the Spirit, this

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basket of fruit, all kinds of different fruit,

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love, joy, peace, mercy, long -suffering, self

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-control. That's what we are doing here. That

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is what the Lord has given us to do until the

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time he comes again. And the man in the gospel

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is an extreme example of what a person can become.

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The Savior of all. The Savior of all has come

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to destroy him that held the power of death,

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says St. Paul. And that is the devil. So our

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task, our goal, is not to fight the demons. No,

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that would be silly. I'm not St. Athanasius.

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I am not St. Sergius. Who did that? Our task

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is to acquire Christ and those fruits for him

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to be formed in our hearts and in our minds,

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our actions, our words. Don't forget to pray.

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Don't put that second. Put it first. Put thanksgiving

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and glory and honor to God who is our master.

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First on your list every morning. Move your cell

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phone to another room when you sleep. I'm telling

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myself that. But you see, if there's an emergency,

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I need to hear the phone ring. So I don't look

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at it at night. But move it to another room so

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that when you get up in the morning, your first

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thought is, thank you, Lord, for this new day.

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Satan can't find a place in that because it's

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gratitude. And all he is about is divisiveness

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and hatred. The Savior of all, with all power

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over visible and invisible things, may force

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the demons into that swine in that story, as

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he did in the account today. But the Savior,

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he who is, he who causes all things to be, will

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not force us to do anything. If we give over

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to the devil, we are forced. Christ will not

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force us to obey, to follow, to be faithful.

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He won't force us. We are totally free, and we

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want the freedom that comes with being closer

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to him. In this story that we heard with the

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demoniacs, my brothers and sisters, I always

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feel worse for the other people in that town

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than I do for the two demoniacs. They, after

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all, were healed. The demoniacs. They were purged.

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They were cleansed. They were let out of the

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prison. Their hearts were made free. But the

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people of Gadara, there in that place, the end

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of the gospel scene, they're as clueless at the

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end as they were at the beginning. We might say

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that this is a case where the usual is mistaken

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for the normal. You know, it's amazing to behold

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what abnormalities are taken as normal in society

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and amongst us simply because they happen to

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be widespread and usual. No matter how many people...

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because wear chains or gash themselves with stones

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and scream in the tombs and howl and carry on

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or even quietly harm themselves in a desire to

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be transformed into something that they are not.

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Let the hearer understand. It's important to

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say that this is abnormal and delusional and

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inspired by the devil because God has made us

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as we are. So, Let me end with this word from

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St. Porphyrios who died in, I think it was 1994.

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Fix your gaze unwaveringly upward toward Christ.

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Become familiar with Christ. Work with Christ.

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Live with Christ. Breathe with Christ. Suffer

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with Christ. Rejoice with Christ. Let Christ

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be everything for you. No one can deny that Christ

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is the fullness of life. Those who deny this

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truth are soul sick. They deny that which they

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are lacking. And so the devil finds their soul

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empty and enters in. And just as a child is deeply

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traumatized if he is deprived of his father or

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his mother in this life, so too and much more

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so is the person who is deprived of Christ. But

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we have Christ. So, you heard the Beatitudes.

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How do they end? Rejoice and be exceeding glad,

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for your reward is great in heaven. To our Lord,

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risen from the dead, be glory now and ever, to

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ages of ages.