All Saints 2023 Fr. Nicholas Carr

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

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

Glory forever. Are you a gardener? This time

of year, many people have planted, or maybe are

now planting, a garden. They're planting seeds,

and they expect to have a harvest. Perhaps it's

squash. tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, or something

more exotic, but they're expecting to have something

come up and be the fruits of their labor, fruits,

vegetables, whatever was planted. The gardener

determines what to grow, choosing what seeds

to plant, then watering and weeding as needed

until the harvest. And this takes time. It takes

planning. and effort. Last Sunday, we celebrated

the great feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit

descended from heaven to earth and filled the

holy apostles with tongues of fire. And all of

us who have been baptized and charismated have

been given the same spirit. Galatians 5 .22 says,

the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,

long -suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self -control. These are the

seeds that are planted in the garden of our hearts.

These are the seeds that we need to help grow.

We need to prioritize the care of the garden

of our heart. This Sunday, we celebrate All Saints

Day, and we look, and to remember, we look at

the saints that have come before us, those that

are known and those that are unknown to us, and

we look to them as an example to us, as they

did take care of the garden of their soul, and

they committed themselves to God, even for many

to death as the martyrs. And they are an example

of a life of faith lived out in action. One might

say their lives are an instruction manual for

how to grow a garden of the heart, how to reach

that harvest of the fruit, of the fruit of the

Spirit, of love, joy, peace, long -suffering,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self -control. Let us look now at our own

lives and think of which of these fruits have

already manifested themselves and which we need

to still tend and grow. Today's gospel reading

tells us of the importance of prioritizing God

as first in our lives. Are we truly committed?

To serving God and following his commandments?

If we truly are, then it will be evident in our

words and in our actions. Christ says in today's

gospel, He who loves father or mother more than

me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son

or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And he that does not take up his cross and follow

after me is not worthy of me. And the Lord also

says, Therefore, whoever confesses me before

men, him will I also confess before my Father

who is in heaven. Caring for the garden of our

hearts requires us to place God first, to confess

him, to prioritize the care of our garden and

our faith. For those of you who are former Protestant

Christians like myself, you probably are familiar

with this question. When were you saved? And

for a Protestant Christian, it is the moment

of confession that they are talking about. The

moment when you commit your life to Christ. The

moment when... There's a day and a time and a

place that you know in your heart. For many people

that were not baptized at birth, there's a moment

of that decision where you become a Christian.

You say, I am going to follow Christ. It may

have been an altar call. When a public confession

of faith is made, this is what is being referred

to when they ask that question. When were you

saved? But for an Orthodox Christian, salvation

goes along with sanctification, and they are

united together. There is not just one moment

of being saved, but there is a process of being

saved. And so an Orthodox Christian may answer

this question differently. Are you saved would

be, I am in the process of being saved. For sanctification,

the process of being made holy, it's a very involved

process. And it is important to have a moment

of decision, a confession, a time when we say,

yes, Lord, I will follow you and I will keep

your commandments. That is all very important.

But once the seed is planted, it still needs

to be cared for. And our garden in our heart

needs to have weeds pulled around those seeds.

And we need to water it. Tomorrow we begin the

Apostles' Fast, which will last until the Feast

of St. Peter and Paul on June 29th. There is

no better time. than right now during this fast

to commit to caring for the garden of your heart.

Let us all do that. Let us all pick something

that we can do. Sometimes we think of a fast

as just, well, I'm not going to eat these foods,

something I'm not going to do. But let's think

of it as something that I can do more. What could

I do in my life more? Not take away, just take

away. but add. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk gives

us guidance on how to do this. First, he says,

by the diligent hearing or reading, meditation,

contemplation, and attentiveness to Holy Scripture.

If we want to be directed to righteousness and

true piety, it guides us there. Two, We are guided

to growth in Christian matters by various crosses

and temptations. These are a spiritual school

in which Christians are studying. As silver and

gold are tried in the furnace and become more

pure, so Christians are cleansed of evil ways

in the furnace of temptations, misfortunes, adversities,

and the cross. and become more pure. St. Ticon

is telling us that all those things that challenge

us are there to help us grow. Let us go in with

faith, trusting that God will help us grow. The

third example he gives is of Christ's holy, blameless

life. It is the perfect example and true rule,

and by looking upon it more frequently, Christians

can collect themselves and increase in virtuous

living. And the last thing is constant and fervent

prayer. The one who wants to grow and increase

in piety must pray fervently and ask for God's

help in this. It is God's help. that we need,

and we need to pray and ask for it. So let us

enter this time of the Apostles' Fast with these

things in mind, to care for the garden of our

souls, that the fruits of the Holy Spirit could

grow and become evident in our lives to his glory.

Glory to Jesus Christ.