Matthew 14: 22-34

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     Last week we touched upon the need for faith in our lives.

    In today’s gospel we learn that the faith we need is that which does not waver, which truly believes, and which is activated in our lives.

    In short, Peter can walk on water with his focus on the Lord, with faith in him, with belief that in Christ all can be accomplished.

    And as soon as he loses focus and doubt enters, he is in danger.

    And so are we.

    We are here out of a love for God.

    And we give him glory for that reason.

    From this love, we show our faith in Him, assured that He loves us, cares for us, and wants us with Him into eternity.

    Our response needs to be one of total devotion to Christ, as to a loved one, and further.

    We must struggle to become routine in our prayer life, in our liturgical life, and simply start going through the motions: Dropping into church when it is convenient for us, when we are not too tired or too busy.

    That simply does not work, and it gains us very little if anything at all.

    So our work is to strengthen our self-discipline in all things, not being consumed with the passions--those worldly things that can monopolize so much of our time and energy.

    There is more to life.

    And we need to strengthen our rule of prayer, making sure that we allow some time each day to pray--to offer formal words as in the Lord’s prayer--and informal conversation as in communication from our heart to God.

    And we need humility to be aware of our failings and not be afraid to bring them to the lord as our offering.

    Not offered proudly, but offered with the assurance that he can transform us and lead us in a new direction.

    All of this fervency in our lives is important. Let us grasp this with the same humility, desire, focus that St. Herman did as we again share his stirring words:

    “I poor sinner have been trying to learn how to love God for 40 years and i cannot say even now that I love Him properly.”

    And let our prayer be too, teach us Lord, teach us.

               Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages..Glory Be to Jesus Christ!

Today we celebrate the birth of our nation, commemorating the issuing of our Declaration of Independence.

    It is a monumental day in history for it began the journey of this young country into a democratic nation that would come to lead the world in the recognition of the freedom of her people.

     We are truly thankful for this gift of freedom, that has made it possible for our Church like many others to have a place without fear of suppression.

    We are also thankful as persons that the freedom we were given reflects the freedom that was bestowed upon us by God, and so we can work out our salvation in Christ.

    We would do well to ask what are our responsibilities as people free through God’s gift, and free in this country.

    You might remember the words of the Elder Cleopas who in speaking about our responsibilities as persons says that each one of us needs to have the heart of a child toward God, the mind of a judge toward ourselves, and the heart of a Mother toward our neighbor.

   His words echo those of  St. Paul who while giving a picture of a community of the Church, offers us good teachings toward being in community in this country.

    We live in relationship to others, and see ourselves in God and each other.

   God ordained such an existence from the beginning when in seeing Adam, He created Eve, so that they would not have to dwell in isolation.

   We are called to live in harmony with each other, as the Psalmist notes when he speaks of how good it is when persons dwell together.

    The opposite is strife, animosity, division, hate, war.

    St. Paul pictures a community like a body with each part working together for the whole.

    Each of us in community is part of one body and each of us can use the gifts given to us by God for the common good.

    In doing so we also are strengthened living in harmony for we recognize our dependence upon each other and God, and this chases away pride, envy and so many things that contribute to discord as a people.

    It allows us to look upon ourselves more realistically and understand our unity with God and each other.

    The light of Christ illumines us as persons living in community, sharing stewardship for all we have been given, including this country, which continues to offer so much to the world.

   My sisters and brothers in Christ, may we live as the words of St. Cleopas declares:

    Mindful of our dependence on God as children are on their parents;

       Aware of our strengths and shortcomings that keep us faithful to a God who gives and forgives;

      And bearing the heart of a mother in sacrifice and caring for each other, who all are truly our sisters and brothers in Christ.

that those around us are truly our sisters and brothers in Christ

   Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages!

   Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     Writing about the saints, John of Kronstadt,  says:

   “We ought to have the most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants: all the saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, prelates, the venerable and the righteous, as they are all members of the single Body, the Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

     “This is why we call upon them in prayer, converse with them, thank them and praise them.

          It is urgently necessary for all Christians to be in union with them, if they desire to make Christian progress;

     for the Saints are our friends, our guides to salvation, who pray and intercede for us.”

    And while St. John speaks of  the universal Church, we know that for each parish, the Catholicity, or fullness, of the Church is present.

   We are blessed in worshipping at the Church we call and compose—All Saints Church.

    But the Church and our life here is not just about a building on

    All Saints is about an uplifting, a dedication to  life lived differently as followers of Christ.

    And in living that life we look to the saints for inspiration and intercession.

     Metroplitan Anthony of Blessed Memory said of today:

       “we are keeping the Day of All Saints, of all those who have heard Christ speak, whose hearts and minds have been set afire, and went out into the world to bring to the whole world the good news:

    As witnesses for Christ,  It is  our responsibility to bring to the world  the good news of Christ.

    The good news not only that he has come, but that he has shown the way to new life, and offers to each, life eternal lived in him.

   The Good news that we are loved by our heavenly father, and that our sins are forgiven by him—loved even when we may stumble and fall.

   loved despite our imperfections, our misdeeds.

    The good news that he transforms us even now, as he did the lives of the saints whom we today commemorate.

    My sisters and brothers in christ, we are in good company at this holy house—the company of all the saints.

     St. Dimitry of Rostov describes them saying,

      The lives and praises of the saints are like the stars in brilliance.

    Because of their number, we do not know the names of all the saints; still, they amaze us by their radiant majesty, as do the stars, which while fixed in their position in the heavens, illumine all that is below... shining upon the land and guiding by their light those at sea.

     Similarly, the radiance of the saints, though their relics be entombed in sepulchers, is not bounded by the ends of this earth here below.

    Therefore, we marvel at their lives and are amazed at how God has glorified them that please Him."
    May they intercede for us bringing us ever closer to Jesus Christ, so that we too will please God and find glory in Him.

    Now and ever and unto ages of ages.

    Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

      Before our Lord ascended, he promised His followers that He would not leave them alone but would send them a Comforter to empower them. Today we celebrate this gift of the Holy Spirit, which he promised,  represented in our icons as tongues of fire. The gift given to them is renewed, or if you will re-gifted in a special way—the Spirit is given to us through our lives in the Church.

      The very words the Gift of the Holy Spirit are invoked as we are anointed with Holy Chrism at our Chrismation—our personal Pentecost.

   At Baptism we also receive the Spirit through the Blessed Waters with which we are Baptized.

   Again we hear the words invoking the Spirit upon the waters in our service.

    And too we as we partake of the Eucharist consecrated with the words, making the change by the Holy Spirit, we again are benefactors of this gift.

      St. Peter, we read in the Book of Acts, promised just this when at Pentecost he spoke of this great gift to those gathered, assuring them that the promise of the gift was for them, for their children and for those far off—us today.

    The gift is alive for each of us in and through the Church, the community of believers of which we are apart.

   We read and know that receiving the Holy Spirit was a life-changing experience for the followers of Christ.

   They were strengthened in their faith and went on to convert many, many more to lives of following the Lord.

     Empowered and enlivened by the Holy Spirit they came to convert much of the world, bringing hundreds and thousands and now hundreds of millions to Christianity--to become followers of Christ.

     Through their work we are here.

        And we need to ask ourselves today how the Spirit acting in our lives is changing our lives, is empowering us as Christians.

     In calling ourselves Christians, each one of us is looked upon as an example by others of what it is to live in Christ.

    It is a sobering thought as we examine our daily conduct, our interactions with others, our liturgical and prayer life.

    We don’t want the response of those who interact with us to be: is that how Christians behave?

    Rather we would like to hear others remark: so that is the meaning of being a Christian.

    Let us emulate the meek and the humble, the loving and the charitable, the compassionate and the caring.

    My sisters and brothers in Christ those that exhibit such qualities are the holy amongst us, and need to be the inspirations for us regardless of our and their age,  income, education,  color or  sex.

    May this Pentecost again renew in us a mindfulness of all that we have been given by Christ through His Church, and may that awareness bring us closer to Him and help us bring others along with us.

    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

    Glory Be To Jesus Christ...Glory Forever!

John 17,1-13

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     It is good to be here.

    The apostles new this feeling when they were with Christ, and especially at the revelation of His Divinity.

   We taste it too when we assemble as Church—His Body—in the presence of His Divinity.

   It is good to be here when we immerse ourselves in the Lord—in His goodness, in His love, in His truth.

   It is a joyful time to dwell with each other, among One Who embodies goodness—and Whose desires for us are grounded in that goodness.

    We hear our Lord’s prayer for us in the Gospel, that we may be One—that we may share in a life with each other and God, as He does with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

   Such life is special.

   And such life is one to cherish.

   In this mystical assembly we probably experience it to the fullness given to us.

   Doing so, we  pray that what we  experience here as community, in a special Oneness, in an envelope of holiness—will stay with us.

    If only we could continue this experience—the experience of being close to God with such intensity—throughout the days of our lives.

   If the words we uttered each day, were prayerful words.

   If the sounds we heard, were of Heavenly hymns.

    If the food we ate, lifted us as does the Eucharist.

   If the sights we saw were in his image.

   No doubt this is the life attained to by saints and ascetics, who lived each moment in the light of Christ.

   And we pray that we in some way may participate again and again in such moments, as God wills for us, and as He gives us the Grace to do.

     In the Book of Revelation we read that no one is worthy to open the Book of Life except One—and that One is the Lamb, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

      May we with reverence, through prayer, through focus, through love, in some way, assist in turning at least one of the pages as One with each other and with Him.

    For this He prays. And we do too.

    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

    Glory Be to Jesus Christ!

Mark 10:32-45

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

    If it were not for Jesus Christ, the story of St. Mary, whom we commemorate today, would not have been possible.

    For it was Christ who closed the gap created by the fall between human and divine.

   Christ is the bridge Who makes our repentance—our return to God possible.

   He restores human life to its full potential, that of Theosis, our journey to become like God.

   And so Mary through Christ’s saving acts, founded in His awesome love for each of His Creation, finds her way from a life of sin to that of a saint.

      As we journeyed through Great Lent, which now has ended as we enter Holy Week, we learned the lessons of repentance through the lives of various persons, through parables, through our services such as the Canon of St. Andrew.

       We learned of the need to draw close to God, and we heard many lessons in how to do it.

      Our Lord teahces that we need to be forgiving, caring and loving in our relationship with each person we meet.

    And that relationships with each other are a key as to how we relate to God.

    Reflecting on this, St. Macarius of Egypt said:

    There is no other way to be saved, except though hour neighbor.

    He continued:

     “This is purity of heart, when yousee the sinful or the sick, to feel compassion on them and to be tenderhearted toward them.”

     In Orthodoxy we learn that it is in our relationships to each other we discover who we are and then realize the image and likeness of God in which each of us was made.

    And that image, tarnished and discolored by behavior, as it was in Mary, is never lost.

    No one is lost, Christ teaches, for He came to find and rescue each of us.

    It does not matter what we have done, or what we have failed to do.

    God assures us that all will be forgiven if we come in repentance to the Lord, asking sincerely for the forgiveness of our sins or misdeeds, and from that point struggling to live a new life in Christ.

     My sisters and brothers in Christ, this is a great love.

    And we need to ask how does our love compare.

     Would we have felt compassion toward Mary if we had met her on one of the pilgrimages during which she sinned.

    Many would simply have judged her, condemned her, and left her behind, unworthy of them.    

      Many would have failed to see their own weaknesses, however they manifested themselves, in her weakness.

    Yet Christ was there for St. Mary as He is for us today.

    And Mary responds, seeking to live a new life in Christ, as she travels to the dessert to spend her remaining days.

    May we find our own way to duplicate Mary’s conversion and come to our Lord, to His Church, humbly, with reverence, and as we pray in the fear of God...

      praying that He will give us the Grace to continue to struggle to draw closer and closer to Him on this pilgrimage we call life

     NOW AND EVER AND UNTO AGES OF AGES.

     GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!

Mark 9:17-31

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     There is a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous and other addiction programs to Let Go and Let God.

    It is a wise admonition to try and free oneself from obsessions of seeking to control everything, and everything around us; to guarantee a certain outcome; and to worry ourselves when the results are not as it seems they should be.

     Let Go and Let God says to us that in some situations we are powerless to exact a certain way, and in those times we would do well to leave things up to God.

    And is this not what we learn in our Christian life, in the words of Christ, and today in the Gospel.

    We see persons powerless as they face the tragedy of a boy born blind.

   His father, and the disciples, would restore his eyesight if they could, but find that they can’t.

    And they turn to Christ, who first tells the father that he needs faith to see his desire realized.

    Faith that will have him surrender his will to God, and then if it be God’s will, the boy will be cured.

   The father responds I believe Lord, help me in my unbelief.

   In these words does he not sum up our attitude so often?

  We recognize Christ, we love God, we trust in the Lord, and yet we still seem determined at times to act as if we are alone in our lives.

    Whether it be doubt, weakness, ignorance, confusion, we at times act as if the assurances we have received from the Lord are not real.

   Yes, again we may swear this is not so, but let us examine our lives, our conduct, our thoughts, and we may come to a different conclusion.

     Faith can be difficult.

     Surrendering our will, our surety, our small space on this earth, to anyone, even God, is often a challenge.

    Christ recognizes this too in the disciples, who seeing the cure effected by the Lord, ask why they could not do the same.

   And Christ replies that it takes more than what they displayed.

   He says it comes by prayer and fasting—or as has been pointed out—by a surrendering to God, a complete surrendering.

    My sisters and brothers in Christ, surrendering to God, letting go and letting God, is not a sign of weakness but one grounded in the strength of faith.

    May we be strong enough to depend on God in all things...

    Now and ever and unto ages of ages.

    Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

    Glory Forever!

Mark 8:34-9:1

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

    In reflecting on the Cross, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom of blessed memory, cites St. John’s Chrysostom’s definition of a real king.

    A king, the saint wrote, is one who completely identifies himself with his people so that his very purpose in life is only to serve them, even unto death.

    That description certainly fits our Lord—whose whole life was one of love and service to others for whom—us—He even died.

    St. Paul, as we heard, calls Christ the High Priest—as one who offers gifts and sacrifices for sin.

     And it is this King, this high priest, who today invites us to turn our lives around in taking up our own Cross in the way He did.

    Acceptance, sacrifice, the assurance of something better and more complete in God’s Kingdom.

    These are the ways of the Cross, too often ignored or even rejected in our lives.

    Yet Christ states the undeniable fact that needs to permeate and take hold in our hearts and minds—all the earthly things and persons we may treasure and value, even our own life—pass—

    and only one thing and one person remains—God and our place and life in His  Kingdom.

     We may want to deny this, hide it, rail against it—but we cannot change it.

    And once we accept this, it will be easier to embrace and live the way of the Cross, to which Christ calls us.

     St. Innocent—and how profitable it is to immerse ourselves in this saint’s words—

    St. Innocent wrote that a person who goes that way into the Heavenly Kingdom will find themselves rewarded for all their work, desires, intentions, sorrows and restraint  in this life,  and that further that which awaits them cannot be told or imagined.

   My sisters and brothers in Christ, now is the time, in St. Innocent’s words, while the doors of the Heavenly Kingdom are still open to us, that we need to begin our journey through them, carrying our Cross, into everlasting life with our Heavenly Father.

    Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages

    Glory Be To Jesus Christ.

    Glory Forever.

Mark 2:1-12

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

     We are on a journey in Lent and as the man in today’s Gospel was summoned to rise, so Christ calls us to walk with Him, in His life, through the Cross, and onto the Resurrection.

    In the narrative from St. Mark we see the strength of faith and of community in action—joining in an act of caring.

    This has a parallel with us when we gather in worship and in fellowship, overcoming obstacles small and large, to be here and to come to Christ.

    Indeed, at each Liturgy we sing of finding the true faith—proclaiming here our belief in Christ.

    Our Lord rewards persons for their faith.

    He offers forgiveness of sin to the paralyzed man, knowing that sickness and suffering ultimately stem from the falleness of persons, through which such things entered the world.

    Through His words the paralyzed man can move again.

    Is this not what He seeks for us when we come to Him repentant in Confession, seeking His forgiveness and the strength to improve.

    The paralyzed man is freed to get up and walk, to move again because of the faith of himself and his friends.

    We too as we seek our own cures are called to attend to each other—not to leave others paralyzed in their sufferings.

     In such demonstrations of faith and caring for each other we then are strengthened and begin to bear the fruits of trusting in Christ and responding to His words and teachings.

    His ways, the journey to which he leads us, speak of a new life, better, deeper in meaning and true joy, more fulfilling and satisfying.

    We follow them as we love, do good, live in truth, are charitable, forgiving and not judging, slow to anger, humble, reverent and in the receiving of Him in our worship.

    And we too are strengthened when we dwell among the community of believers, which is His Church, in which we support each other and lift each other.

    It is from here that together we walk to Him and with Him...

     Now and Ever and Unto Ages of Ages.

     Glory Be To Jesus Christ!

We all by now should be following the teachings of the Church in preparing to receive Communion. But, how do we prepare for Confession?

     Let us, though, first review our preparation for Communion: Those who do not regularly participate in Communion, that is coming more than once a month, have a need to participate in individual Confession before approaching the Chalice. Those who are or wish to participate in Communion regularly, as our Lord invites each of us to regularly participate in individual Confession. Regular does not mean once every few months or even more infrequent. If we have not been to Confession in the last two months we should not approach the Chalice before we do Confess.

     These teachings are for our salvation. To ignore them risks condemnation of our soul.   Having said that we turn to the truth that no one lives without sinning. It is sad, but true. We may be so cold spiritually that we are indifferent to sin. Some, though sincere, may not recognize sin to the delight of Satan. Others may be confused. It is through God’s Grace, and we must open ourselves to that Grace, that we come to know our sins.

     And, as in all things we do or try to accomplish, we need to pray.  We benefit in our preparation by using the Trisagion Prayers, as well as reading and praying some of the Psalms, especially Psalm 51. (After Confession we benefit from Psalms 23, 24 and 116 as well as others.), and the Canons.

     We need to examine ourselves, which we should do each day, before our participation in individual Confession. We need to ask God to open us up to our weaknesses and guide us through His strength. We need to look at our attitudes, words, thoughts, actions toward each others; toward our Church and her clergy and hierarchs; and first and foremost toward God. When we come to Confession we come to be forgiven by God of our sins, the authority for which He exercises through His priests.

     From there we can work on our repentance—that is the changing of our minds and hearts, our directions, so that we may live a life more closely united with God, and thus find true fulfillment in this world that will carry us into eternity.

     What are some areas in which we need to examine ourselves? Here are some questions to assist us:

1.      Do I pray mornings and evenings?

2.      Do I attend and am I attentive at Church Services Sundays, evenings,  Feasts?

3.      Do I thank God for all things?

4.      Do I use God’s name in vain? Swear?

5.      Do I wish harm on others?

6.      Do I judge persons, or been harshly critical of others?

7.      Am I envious of others?

8.      Do I rejoice in the good fortune of others?

9.      Have I engaged in gossip?

10.  Have I shown respect to my children and to my parents?

11.  Have I been obedient to the Church and supportive of her? Her hierarchs? Her clergy?

12.  Have I shown respect toward the bishops, priests and deacons of the Church?

13.  Have I helped others in need?

14.  Have I prayed for those who need God’s mercy?

15.  Do I regularly read God’s word in the Bible?

16.  Have I given joyfully to the Church?

17.  Is there anything or anyone that I cannot give up for Christ?

18.  Do I try to see Christ in each person that I meet?

19.  If I had the opportunity, would I physically care for another?

20.  Have I physically or mentally hurt my spouse?

21.  Have I supported and shown love to my husband or wife?

22.  Have I mistreated animals or anything living in God’s Kingdom on earth?

23.  Have I been a good steward of the earth?

24.  Have I forsaken my faith and the teachings of the Church to please another or to fit in with others?

25.  Have I participated in abortion or encouraged someone to do so?

26.  Is God and His Church truly the priority in my life? Do I come to Church to worship and to pray?

27.  Have I hurt myself or another physically or spiritually?

28.  Do I doubt God in any situation?

29.  Am I sorry for my sins?

30.  Do I truly desire to be a better Orthodox Christian?

Great Lent is a time for dying.

Death to sin.

Death to lukewarm faith.

Death to pride.

Death to lust.

Death to greed.

Death to gluttony.

Death to laxity in worship.

Death to hurtful words,

 deeds, acts and thoughts.

Death to the demons

 that seek to invade our minds and hearts.

Death to false gods

and pagan notions.

Let us so die to the old man

So we may cling to the new--

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Great Lent is a humbling time,

 and humility is what we so need

 in a world that worships too often

 and too much celebrity, riches, pride and power.

St. Andrew of Crete guide us through your Great Canon.

Lead us to  understand

 who we were intended to be,

 who we are and

 who will we become through God’s Grace.

We die with Christ and so we will live with him.

--Fr. William

   There are many reasons to donate to the Church.

     What are some of them?

     We at All Saints  do not often speak or write about the many needs for funds facing the Church, or about the broader implications of giving.

    In fact if one visited many Churches in the region after having been a member of All Saints, one would be surprised at the pleas for contributions and the positive responses, heard regularly.  

     Why then do we give? We give first of all to pay expenses.

      Simply put without sufficient donations we would not have the things that go into being a parish. Electricity, water, heat, candles, incense,  maintenance, a priest.

    We simply need to meet the costs of being a Church.

     But giving goes beyond this.

     We give because throughout the Bible we are taught the importance of giving—in both the Old and New Testaments are many examples offered us about giving.

     St. Paul speaks of us as being good stewards of the mysteries of God—and those mysteries are found in His Church.

     Being good stewards calls us to give.

     The Lord Himself speaks of giving in several ways.

     He cites the example of the widow who gave all she had in donating two mites to the Church.

    And our Lord teaches that her gift is greater than all others as she gave from the heart, she made  a sacrifice to do this, and she did not give from what was left over—nor should we, and that  is the example He gives.

    This in itself needs to inspire us in our attitude toward giving.

    We also know from the Bible and teachings of the Church that we are made in the image and likeness of God.

    And, that part of our effort in this earthly life is to grow in that likeness...

    God loves, and so we love...

     God is merciful and so we show mercy.

    God is compassionate and so are we.

    And God gives and so we give.

     This giving brings us closer to God allowing us to share in yet another of His actions. And giving reflects God in our lives.

     Also, it is in  giving that we show thanks to God, acknowledging that all that we have is a gift from Him, and offering back a portion of all that is His.

     And another wonderful aspect of giving, is that in giving to God and His Church, we in fact benefit from the act. It feels good to give. We have a sense of accomplishment, and a feeling of commitment and dedication to the Lord.  . And the Lord pours His blessings upon those who do give as we read in the Bible.

     Finally, too, in giving we find that rather than being deprived, we are enriched and even have more to share with others and the Church.

Luke 18:10-24

In the Name of The Father Son and Holy Spirit,

Glory Be To Jesus Christ

      At Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and we spoke of the changes this can mean in our lives.  We are given real examples of those changes as we celebrate All Saints Day - The Patronal feast day of our Holy House - which follows Pentetcost by a week.

     Again we are not distant observers of these person, saints, nor are we spectators of their lives.  In fact, our saints as we know even grow more contemporary to us and closer geographically.  Now in our prayers we can speak of Saint Alexis - A priest of Wilkes-Barre, PA.  Of St. Raphael, Bishop of Brooklyn, New York.  And of course our Saints of Alaska who have touched the lands we have walked in: Persons like Herman, Innocent, Peter, Jacob and John and Juvenaly.  Regardless of locale, our saints are not remote in anyway to us.

     The fact that some appear in icons and on our iconostasis does not make them historic figures without relevance.  In fact we look at our saints as links in a chain.  A chain, St. Symeon the New Theologian described as golden.  The saints of each generation are joined to those, he says, who have gone before, and are filled like them with light.  They become a golden chain in which each saint is a separate link.  Each is united to the next by faith, works and love.  So, in the one God, they form a single chain which cannot quickly be broken.

     The work for us today and in our future days is to become a link ourselves.  How do we do this.  The first thing we need to do is to resolve to be holy.  We need to heed the Lord's words in the Gospel in which he calls on us to put him first in our lives.  Not all are willing to do this…to try this…or to at least struggle to do this.

     WHY WOULD SOME BE RELUCTANT?

     The Elder Philotheos (Zervakos) says the reason is that they do not want to:  To be a saint is to be holy - to dedicate one's life to God - and for some this is simply too difficult to contemplate.  Yet we know from Christ's words and life that what we might need to give up does not compare to what we will gain.  How do we work on forging ourselves into one of those links that can fit that golden chain?  St. Paul says that we can imitate the lives of the saints, not simply by reading about them but trying to act as they did.  To learn what they did, we can first turn to the many recorded histories of the saints.

      It has been written by an elder on Mt. Athos (Agapios Landos) that a person is touched more profoundly by reading one beautiful life of a saint than by all discourses and philosophies.  And once we read about the saints, and how they turned their lives over Christ - making him a priority in their life - we can heed their lessons as St. Paul teaches.  Their lives speak to us of those gifts of the spirit that St. Paul speaks of in Galatians: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Sobriety.  Just think what meeting some with a few of those qualities would mean to us.  Now think if we embrace those qualities what we will mean to others.

     We can do it if we resolve to do so.   If we seek to put Christ first in our lives.  We are helped tremendously along the way on this journey by our Lord.  He offers us first of all his body and blood, through which we attain cleansing and unity with him.  And we are helped by our life of prayer and worship - which changes us if we are open to change.  Helped by asking the saints, who are close to God through their lives - to intercede for us and to pray for us to God.  St. Nectarios says that the saints listen to our entreaties and pray to the Lord, becoming bearers of the grace and mercy of the Lord.

     My sisters and brothers in Christ it is not an accident that we are here…in this Holy House…that is named for all the saints.  Let us in our lives take with us something from our Holy House.  Let it be here that the metal is forged that make us those special links - links of the golden chain.  A chain woven by God's grace with the lives of his saints and with the lives of each of us.  May it be so according to his will.

      Now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Glory be to Jesus Christ…GLORY FOREVER.

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