St Mary of Egypt Sunday 2022

Glory to Jesus Christ. How beautiful that story,

that account of the woman coming to Jesus and

expressing her love in that way. The story is

told to us today in the Gospel of Luke in honor

of St. Mary of Egypt. whose memory we celebrate

this day. And we were preparing for this day

and her commemoration on Thursday by listening

to her life story, the long life story. Too long

to read today to you. It takes about a half hour,

a little bit more. But you can see her in the

fresco over by the confession stand, standing

on the Jordan River, having just received communion.

from Elder Zosimas. This woman is for us the

image of repentance and desire and love for God

and transformation. That's why we have her at

the fifth Sunday so that we can be encouraged

that whatever sins we have, this woman preceded

the sexual revolution by a couple thousand years

and it holds nothing compared to what she did.

But she didn't identify herself with that. She

tried to get into the church of the Holy Resurrection,

the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on the feast

day of the Holy Cross. And isn't that significant

for us too? It was the feast day of the Holy

Cross, which we hear about very clearly today

from the lips of the Lord about what's going

to happen. And she was prevented because of her

sins until she turned to the Virgin Mary. Again,

A notable thing since on Friday we celebrated

the Akathist to the Theotokos, the purity, the

glory of God in a human person, her beauty, her

kindness, her obedience, all things that we want

to emulate. And when Mary turned to the Virgin,

she saw her life, it's flashing in front of her

sins, and she... fell almost into despair, and

she cried out to God, and she was allowed into

the church, after which she went into the wilderness

for 40 years, before she met another living person.

And we have her story that Zosimas told, probably

patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem, and we meditate

on that on the fifth week and on the fifth Sunday.

Because these two women, they're the paramount.

They're the ideal. They're the model for us for

repentance and for beauty. We don't identify

ourselves with our sins, but we rise above them

with God's grace. That's all I want to say about

St. Mary, because I could spend the whole afternoon

talking about her gladly. I want to place before

you now The vision of where we're going. Next

week is Palm Sunday. And then it's Great and

Holy Week. And then it's Pascha. Holy Friday,

Holy Saturday, and Pascha. And here's the vision.

This is what Father John Kristjankin, an elder,

a recently reposed elder, he says this. During

his earthly life, The Savior many times pronounced

these words so priceless to the believing soul.

He said, because I live, ye shall live also.

My peace I give unto you. These things have I

spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you

and your joy might be full. A new life has opened

for man, he said. He has been given the opportunity

to die to sin by the cross and in baptism in

order to rise with Christ and to live with him

and to put on Christ, to be identified so closely

with Christ that when you look at a person, if

they're wearing the right clothes, that's Christ.

He looks just like, he's wearing the same thing.

He reflects God. He has been given the opportunity

to die to sin in order to rise with Christ and

live with him. Father John says, the Apostle

Paul says in his epistle to the Romans, for if

we have been planted together in the likeness

of the death of Christ, we shall also be in the

likeness of his resurrection. Now if we be dead

with Christ, we believe that we shall also live

with him. And we sing at Pascha, a Pascha which

has opened for us the gates of paradise. Our

Paschal joy is the joy that comes from the change,

the transfiguration, the repentance of our whole

life into incorruptible life. The joy of our

yearning for undying goodness and the incorruptible

beauty. That's the vision for me. That's what

I want. For myself and for you, brothers and

sisters, and for every single person. The joy

that is set before us is also our joy. And the

way there to acquire what all that means lies

before us very clearly now. Here on this fifth

Sunday of the Great Fast, St. Mark lays it out

for us very clearly in a matter of few words.

Now they were on the road, the twelve apostles

and Jesus. And Jesus was going before them. Unusual

in itself. The master doesn't lead the way that

way. His retinue goes first. And they were amazed.

And as they followed, they were also afraid.

Then he took the twelve aside. and began to tell

them the things that would happen to him. Behold,

we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of

Man will be betrayed, and you know the rest.

Going up to Jerusalem, brothers and sisters,

with Christ and the disciples, is what Holy Week

is about. Not a reminder in the bulletin that

you should come to church services. That's what

the bulletin's there for. No, but to do what?

To go up to Jerusalem with the Holy Fathers means

to be elevated, to rise above ordinary and daily

plans and to put those here and put the road

up to Jerusalem and Christ and the crucifixion

and the tomb right in front. Jerusalem in the

spiritual sense is the kingdom of heaven. The

ascent to it is our working out of our salvation.

That's what we're doing here. And Holy Week is

our deep and unique and once -a -year participation

in that in a new and very intense way. St. Mark

relates this. Now they were on the road going

up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them,

and they were afraid. Why were they afraid? They

were afraid for a very good reason. By now it

was very clear that there was a plot to arrest

Jesus in Jerusalem and to put him to death quietly.

Nobody wanted a scene, but Jesus was making trouble.

Believe me, what is it, Tom, that Father Michael

used to say? Jesus is a troublemaker? He used

to say he gets in the way of everything. Jesus

gets in the way of everything. That's going to

be Holy Week. I believe that. The Roman soldiers

were also in Jerusalem where Jesus was going.

They were afraid. When someone's afraid, I try

to console them, to help them, to enter in and

pass that. But Jesus doesn't give a pep talk

to his disciples. He doesn't console them in

that way. No, he tells them what to do. is going

to happen to him. And he tells them the third

time. And the disciples, James and John, listening

to this, actually not listening to this, and

they have not distinguished themselves in any

way. They have fallen asleep on the Mount of

Transfiguration, James and John. They very unkindly

asked if Jesus wanted to bring down fire and

brimstone and destroy the Samaritans. James and

John hadn't done anything yet, and what do they

say to Jesus? Master, we want you to do whatever

we ask. And Jesus says, what is that? Knowing

full well. We want you to make us your right

and left hand ministers in chief. In your kingdom,

when you come in your power. Crushing the Romans,

of course, and everyone else that opposed Jesus.

What an inappropriate question. And Jesus asked

John and James, and the apostles were very upset

about this, because they also wanted those places.

It wasn't because they thought James and John

were inappropriate. They also wanted to be in

charge. And Jesus asks a question. Can you, James

and John, and he asks us, can you, brothers and

sisters, fellow Orthodox, dear catechumens, Christian

inquirers, seekers, curious onlookers, can you

drink of the cup that I drink of, says Jesus?

Can you be baptized with the baptism that I am

baptized with? For catechumens hearing this,

this is a chance to say no and you leave. And

for the rest of us, we can oppose the cross as

said Peter and James and John too. They just

weren't listening. They ignored it. But it would

be to our peril because we will never attain

the vision of life eternal and the kingdom of

God within us. They said unto Jesus, James and

John, we can be baptized with the baptism you're

going to be baptized with and drink the cup that

you are drinking of. Jesus said, you shall indeed.

And they did in their lives. James was martyred.

John had a very difficult life. St. Mark was

writing to Christians at the time when he wrote

this gospel, when there was a... True, real possibility

of martyrdom in simply accepting Christ. When

this gospel was written, Emperor Nero was dealing

very harshly with Christians. Now that's not

our situation. Today we're just reminded of the

cost of what it means to be followers of the

one who carried the cross for our sake, who entered

beyond the veil of death, who enters with us,

who offers us here at this liturgy to the Father

to sanctify us, and that we have to answer this

question about drinking the Lord's cup and being

baptized with his baptism. Are the catechumens

and the rest of us and the many who are not here

anymore with us, prepared to stay faithful throughout

every temptation and adversary and adversity

and sorrow and sickness? Do we have the courage

to be Christians? I ran across a little saying

from St. Paisius the Athenite. who died in the

90s, talks about courage. This is what he said.

It struck me very powerfully. Our situation is

different. We're not being ruled and oppressed

by Turks for 500 years. But we're oppressed by

our own sins, by our own fears, by our shame

sometimes to proclaim the Christian message in

the way we live our life. This is what St. Paisios

says. Brave people are rare in our times. People

today are lukewarm. That's why if, God forbid,

a war breaks out, some will die out of fear.

Others will fall on the street with some minor

hardship because they are so used to comforts.

In the past, people were so brave. In the monastery

of the Flavians in Asia Minor, the Turks had

captured a man and slaughtered him. They told

his wife, either deny Christ or we will kill

your children too. And she replied, My husband

is now with Christ, and my children I entrust

to Christ, and I will not renounce Christ. What

bravery. If Christ is not in us, how can there

be such bravery? Today, people without Christ

are building their spiritual homes on rubble.

Let's be brave. Lent is that time. It's not an

exercise in historical memory about coming to

church and remembering this and that, the other

thing that happened. It's about actually being

there with Christ and carrying our cross, going

up to Jerusalem, up, elevating our life, meeting

Christ on Golgotha so that we may meet him on

Pascha. The cup we drink is the absolute honesty

about our life. The baptism we have. You know

all about it. You die and you rise. You live

a new life. Let's ask God for the deep desire,

the desire of Mary of Egypt, the love she had

for Christ, led by the Theotokos. That desire,

let it compel. and impel and inspire us to love

God in the way we can in our life. Amen.