WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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Glory to God. We are in a very festive time in

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the church with the peace of Dormition, Friday

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night, and yesterday, this summer Pascha, and

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the baptism of these precious men and women,

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their own Pascha. What a feast. Glory to Jesus

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Christ. So at the end, a procession at the end

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of the liturgy seems appropriate. If you're sorrowing,

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if you're at difficulty, if you're anxious or

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disappointed, turn your mind away from those

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intrusive thoughts or those thoughts for a few

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moments today. You're members of the church.

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The body of Christ. Did you hear the reading

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from the epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians?

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It's amazing. Listen, Jesus, the Son of God,

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his divine word, is the image of the invisible

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God. It's true. Atheists will tell you, you can't

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see God. And we will say, that's true. But Jesus

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Christ, the word of God, took flesh and has revealed

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him to us. He stood with his feet on the ground.

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He was nailed to a cross through his hands and

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his feet. And he rose from the dead bodily. So

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we have this icon that we can see as validation

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and confirmation of his incarnation. And it's

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also up there on the other side of that arch.

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He is the image of the invisible God. St. Paul

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goes on to say, the firstborn over all creation.

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For by him, all things, put that in your mind,

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all things, not some things, not things you like,

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all things were created that are in heaven, the

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invisible, and on earth, visible and invisible.

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Were the thrones or dominions, these are angelic

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powers, were principalities of Jesus that we

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have been baptized into that has delivered us

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from the power of darkness and conveyed us to

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the kingdom of the Son of his love in whom we

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have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness

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of sins. It is he, Jesus Christ. That has loved

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us before we loved him. That has forgiven us

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before we ever had a thought of doing anything

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good at all. He has come close to us. He has

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gathered us together. And we see his holy face

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in these wonderful icons depicted here. And it

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is he who loves us. Right now, lay aside all

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earthly cares. What a joy to witness the Pascha

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of these six people. I congratulate their godparents

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because these are wonderful people. They will

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be easy godchildren because they love God so

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much. They have died to sin. They have died to

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death. That's what it means to go into that water.

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They have died with Christ, and they have risen

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with Christ, and as St. Paul said, and you heard

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it, they have been delivered from the power of

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darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the

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Son of his love, in whom they and we have redemption

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through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. It

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is about forgiveness. Brothers and sisters newly

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illumined, you are so grateful to God. For this

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gift of being set right with God. Whatever sins

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you had, they have been washed clean. Some people,

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I've met such people. What do I have sin against

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God? What does God care about that? I have nothing

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to apologize to God for. And I would say to them,

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what about your neighbor? What about your neighbor?

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In Matthew 18, the selection we've read, I've

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read, the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching about

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how those in the church are to act and to live.

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That whole chapter is about that. I suggest we

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study it. So St. Peter, after hearing Jesus talk

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about behavior of his disciples, latches on to

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the last thing Jesus talked about. He comes to

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Jesus asking for some clarification about forgiving

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others. And he asks if seven times to do that

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is sufficient. Because seven is this scriptural

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number. It's this fullness. Seven days of creation

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and all that. Seems fair. It seems quite generous.

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And then, you know, Jesus says to him, not a

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math problem, 70 times seven, but a number. That

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signifies perfection. Won't go into that now.

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Perfection from the man of Bethlehem. And Peter's

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reaction. Well it's not recorded. But imagine.

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His reaction. Skeptical about many things Jesus

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taught him. So the Lord teaches a parable which

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we just heard. About a man who owes what's called

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10 ,000. 10 ,000 talents. A talent is this weight

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of gold or money or some such thing. It's not

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a sum, 10 ,000. Anybody could ever, ever, ever

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pay back. Not even Bill Gates could pay that

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back. What we're talking about here is what?

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We're talking about our experience of God's love.

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Our experience of forgiveness. In baptism. Our

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experience of God's remission. Taking away our

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sins. In our confession. Our experience of being

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set right with God. That's what we're talking

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about. We're talking about this 10 ,000. Our

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value before Christ. Let's say 10 ,000 lifetimes

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of wages. That is what you and I are worth to

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God. Beyond calculation. Every soul. Every single

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person is worth more, say the saints, than the

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entire universe. Will you treat yourself with

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that kind of care, with that kind of love and

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compassion that you know God has for you, and

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having received this forgiveness and baptism,

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received his compassion, will you be able to

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extend that to others? That's the meaning of

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this parable today. It's completely upon us developing

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a spirit of compassion, a merciful heart towards

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people in our lives. Some of us tally up offenses.

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We tally up slights, faults. We remember the

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shortcomings of other people. How many times

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have I heard, Father, I can't forgive. And I

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always ask, well, what does forgiveness look

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like to you? Well, forgiveness looks like to

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that person usually that everything is going

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to be okay. And that person is going to be accountable

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to me for what they did. And then I can let it

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go. But that's not forgiveness. Forgiveness is

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holding the money bag of $10 ,000 and saying,

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fine, you don't owe me a thing. Forgiveness is

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standing before the throne of God at the last

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judgment, says Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, and

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saying to that person that's next to you that

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you probably hate, or at least are apathetic

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about, and have something against. It's saying,

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Lord, I have nothing against that person. And

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yes, you have suffered, maybe not with the shedding

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of blood, says St. Paul, but you have suffered.

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and you have carried that weight. And it is not

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right. And it will not go right. And it will

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not be restored between you and he or her. But

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you say, I have nothing against that person.

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Why? Because God has given me everything. Everything.

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St. Joseph the Hesychast, who reposed... In 1959,

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today we keep his memory, he died actually on

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Dormition, and he told his brotherhood there

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on Mount Athos that he would be departing this

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life, and the Theotokos was calling him. He said

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that weeks before, and sure enough, he left this

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life on the Feast of Dormition. He wrote this

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in a letter to a nun who was having trouble...

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A nun having trouble forgiving. It's not just

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us. Nuns have some trouble too. He said, we're

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all human. Born of dust. We have all sinned.

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We are clay. Remember Adam being fashioned? We

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are clay. We are ignorant. Clay robs clay. Clay

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insults clay. Clay slanders Clay. Clay is haughty

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against Clay. Clay gets rich with Clay. Clay

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rules over Clay. Clay beats Clay. Clay imprisons

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Clay. And in general, Clay considers itself wiser,

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stronger, richer, nobler, and more honorable

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than Clay. Amassing wealth in his stupidity and

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ignorance of his own existence, he does not care

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about whence and where he is. how he was born,

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what his purpose is, where he will end up, and

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what is to come after this. All of us who remain

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unrepentant suffer here as well in the other

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life. This is not God in his anger. Please understand,

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God does not change into a fickle, angry God

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because you've insulted your brother or sister.

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or won't forgive one that insulted you. God is

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always love and compassion. We suffer because

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our conscience, that's why. He says all of us

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who remain unrepentant suffer here as well as

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the other life. Therefore, anyone who can see

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better and is slightly less dark in their spiritual

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life must forgive and sympathize with his neighbor,

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his brother, his sister of like soul. and troubles.

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For this reason, he says, my beloved sister,

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soul of my soul, set aside your rights and wills.

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Blessed are the right, as not in the beatitudes,

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for the sake of my immense love towards you.

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To our Lord and Master, the one who gave us this

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commandment, may he have pity on each of us as

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we glorify him. Amen.