Last Judgment Sunday 2022 Fr. Nicholas Carr

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

of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. You

and I have a problem. All humanity has this same

problem, and it is death. And there is a saying

that you've probably heard, that nothing in life

is as sure as Death and taxes. And perhaps you

might be able to avoid paying taxes, but you

cannot avoid death. Even such a great saint that

we celebrate over, you can see the icon in the

corner, Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, who blessed

us in America by his many efforts, could not

avoid death. So how can we humans deal with this

problem? All of us have experienced the loss

of a loved one, of a relative, of a friend, experiencing

the grief and the sadness that comes with such

a loss. I have been helped through some writers

who have talked about death and dying and the

stages of death and accepting it. We also must

face our own deaths. But ultimately, the problem

of death can only be dealt with and solved by

God. It comes down to this. God is life. God

is life. Our very life, everything that we have,

is from God. And humanity chose to separate from

God. We left the garden, we separated and departed

from the source of life, and thus discovered

death. We became as branches that have been cut

off a tree. Now those branches, they still have

sap, they still have some life in them, but it

is limited and it runs out. the spiritual sap

that we need to have life from God needs to flow

again. And so the solution is to return to God,

to be regrafted into that proverbial tree of

life. And God has made this possible for us,

for you, for me, for all humanity and his Son,

our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Friday

night's vespers contained these words. By thine

own blood, O Savior, thou hast ransomed mortal

men, and by thy death thou hast delivered us

from bitter death, granting us eternal life by

thy resurrection. Thanks be to God for solving...

this problem of death and calling us together

as the family of God, the Old Testament family

and the New Testament family. And here we are

gathered in the church. John 5, 24. Jesus says,

he who hears my word and believes in him who

sent me has everlasting life and shall not come

into judgment. but has passed from death into

life. And in verse 28 and 29, all who are in

the graves will hear his voice and come forth,

those who have done good to the resurrection

of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection

of condemnation. The Holy Church. has dedicated

this Sunday as the Sunday of the last judgment.

And today's gospel tells us of the Lord's imminent

return, his second coming with all glory and

all the holy angels with him. He will sit upon

the throne of his glory. He will separate the

sheep from the goats. The sheep on the right

hand will hear the words, Come, you blessed of

the Father, and hear it. inherit the kingdom

prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

And the goats on the left hand will hear the

words, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting

fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And

this last judgment will be based upon how we

treated one another, how we treated our fellow

human beings. How did we help or decline to help

the hungry and the stranger, the naked and the

sick? Did we love others? Our eternal destiny

will be determined at that time, though the outcome

will be based on moments of our lives and decisions

we have made. Perhaps you are realizing right

now just how important learning to love others

really is and how difficult it truly is for us

on our own without God's help, which leads us

back to the branches that are cut off from the

tree with the spiritual sap stopped flowing.

But those branches which represent you and me

can be regrafted into the tree, and the Holy

Spirit can fill us again, and we can be filled

with God's love shining through us, and then

we can love our neighbor as ourself and live

as if people are more important than things.

St. Silouan the Athonite says, No man of himself

can know what God's love is unless he be taught

of the Holy Spirit. But God's love is known in

our church through the Holy Spirit, and so we

speak of this love. Now is the time, this Lent,

this year. this moment to let the Holy Spirit

teach you how to love others. Come to as many

services as you can. Pray more. Cut out worldly

pursuits that pull you away from God. Decide

that you will draw near to God and he will draw

near to you. Glory to Jesus Christ.