Latest / Padre Alberto (Father Albert) / ANONYMOUS HEROES

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ANONYMOUS HEROES · Padre Alberto (Father Albert)

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  There's a very special tomb in Arlington National Cemetery, and
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  if you've ever been there, you'll notice that right from
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  the moment you get in through the gate, there's signs that
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  lead you, little signs that say Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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  And there's a reason for that. Because no matter how many
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  prominent tombs there are there how many prominent places there
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  are to to visit in this vast cemetery, the one that really
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  inspires people the most and grabs people's emotions and
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  attention the most is that Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and
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  specifically the changing of the guard.
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  Now, I didn't know this, but I discovered this as I was
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  preparing this week's sermon, that there are three soldiers
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  buried there. They were not identified, and it
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  was one from World War One, another from World War 2, and
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  the third from the Korean War. But there are tombs of the
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  Unknown Soldier all over the world in different countries.
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  But I believe the most beautiful one, the most provocative one,
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  is the one in Washington, DC at Arlington National Cemetery.
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  And I want to tell you that people go there from all over
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  the world to honour an unknown, anonymous soldier, someone whose
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  name we do not know, someone whose identity will always be a
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  mystery to us and to the world. But people go there to remember
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  the hundreds, perhaps thousands of soldiers who have lost their
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  lives and they never came back home and they were never
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  identified by friends or family because of the great travesty
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  that war is. The church has something
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  similar. The Church has something similar
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  in its history, and it's called the Feast of All the Saints,
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  because today we recognize the anonymous soldiers of Christ,
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  the ones that do not have a feast on the calendar.
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  But maybe, just maybe, it was your mother or your father or
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  your grandparent, or maybe it was a relative or a neighbor or
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  a Sunday school teacher who taught you to pray for someone
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  who kind of gave you that love of God, that love of God's Word,
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  passed it on to you. They're no longer here, but we
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  know that they are with God in heaven, enjoying the heavenly
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  glory. And what I love about this feast
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  on this year is that even though we celebrate All Saints in
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  November 1st, I want you to know that the original feast of All
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  the Saints was in May, May the 13th, the day I was ordained a
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  priest. Now, the reason that was May the
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  13th, it was because it was right after the Easter season,
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  and it was to remind us of the hope of resurrection, that those
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  who were martyred in the early church, those who gave their
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  lives for Jesus, they were now experiencing the promise of
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  resurrection in the presence of God.
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  There's something very special about this year, though, because
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  November the first was yesterday on Saturday, and today is
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  November the 2nd, when the church remembers All Souls Day
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  or those who have gone before us, the remembrance of all those
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  who have died, the faithful departed.
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  There's a special memorial candle on the altar today, and
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  the reason for that is that during the offertory, we're
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  going to bring up the basket with the names of all of the
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  loved ones that we want to remember today in our hearts and
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  our minds. And it's beautiful how All
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  Saints Day and All Souls Day comes together like that.
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  Because the truth is that all baptized Christians, all of us
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  who are baptized into the body of Christ, are not just called
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  to be Saints, but we are in the presence of the Church in heaven
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  together with the Church on earth.
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  Today is the feast of all the Saints, and it reminds us that
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  the entire body of believers are called not just to be a saintly
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  people, but we are called the Saints of God.
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  Do you remember Paul's letters in First Corinthians?
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  What it says? It says to the Church of God, to
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  those sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints, together
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  with all those who in every place call upon the name of the
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  Lord, in every place, Jesus Christ, both their Lord and
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  ours. And you'll see it in the letters
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  of Peter and the other epistles. You'll see how the early
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  Christians were called the Saints.
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  Maybe you've heard a fiery Baptist preacher go in the
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  middle of the sermon. Hey, Saints, are you listening
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  to me? Saints, have you heard that?
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  Because the people in the congregation are referred to as
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  the Saints of God. For God has brought us together
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  to be His holy people. Sainthood is not about some kind
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  of fake, phony thing that we put on on the outside.
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  No, it's got to do with your heart.
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  It has to do with your heart. It has to do with your baptism.
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  You are baptized into the body of Christ.
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  You are baptized into Christ's body, and therefore you are part
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  of the Saints of God. We say in the Creed every Sunday
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  we believe in the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins,
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  the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to
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  come. We say that every Sunday we
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  believe in the communion of Saints.
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  What does that mean? This All Saints Day reminds us
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  of that, that there's an unbroken connection between the
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  living and the dead. There's a connection between
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  those who believe in Christ here on earth and those who are now
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  in the presence of the Lord in heaven, in the heavenly banquet.
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  And so today we must remember this connection between
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  believers here on earth, still on our Pilgrim way, still trying
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  to walk in the way of God, sometimes struggling to walk in
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  the way of God and the church in heaven.
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  And there's a call. There's a call to all of us.
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  The call is that we must continue the work that they
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  started. The Saints of God passed on the
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  baton to us, and we must continue that work.
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  Now, you know, in the Book of Common Prayer there are some
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  beautiful, beautiful ancient prayers.
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  And today I want to call your attention on this feast of All
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  Saints and remembering All Souls to the burial rites of the
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  Church. Because unfortunately for some
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  of you, when I say these prayers, you may not be around
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  to hear them. Did I just say that?
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  Hear them Now, I say these. Deacon says these all the time.
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  You say them when you come to a service.
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  But I'm going to give you the beginning of the funeral rite
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  and the end. Listen to this.
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  As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives and that at the
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  last He will stand upon the earth.
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  After my awakening, He will raise me up and in my body I
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  shall see God. I myself shall see my eyes.
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  Behold Him who is my friend and not a stranger.
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  I love that. Who are the Saints?
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  The Saints are the friends of God.
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  We're called to be friends of God right here.
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  We know God. God is not a stranger to us.
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  God is not a far away. God up there somewhere in some
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  kind of crystal box. No, God sends his only Son to be
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  our Saviour, Incarnate among us. We know God.
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  There was a great book in the 60s and 70s called Christ Among
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  Us. I don't know if you ever ran
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  into it. I know Father Bob taught from it
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  for a long time. Christ among us.
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  It was a way to kind of bring people to the teachings of
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  Christ and to the Christian doctrine in an easier to
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  understand format. But Christ is among us.
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  Christ came among us. Christ became flesh among us.
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  We don't believe in a far, faraway God.
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  No, don't be fooled. God is near.
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  God is always near, and you are the friends of God.
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  We are friends with God together, and we shall see him
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  face to face. That's the promise of God.
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  For if we have life, we are alive in the Lord, and if we
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  die, we die in the Lord. So then, whether we live or die,
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  we are the Lord's possession. And then it ends like this.
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  I love this. Happy from now on.
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  Happy, Happy from now on are those who die in the Lord.
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  So it is as a spirit, for they rest from their labours.
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  They rest now we say rest in peace, right?
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  They rest from their labours. They have received the reward,
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  the crown of life. At the end of the service we say
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  the commendation of the soul, right.
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  And remember, these are ancient prayers.
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  They've been with us for centuries and centuries and
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  centuries. We say into your hands, O
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  merciful Saviour, we commend your servant, and we fill in the
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  blank the name, the name of the of the baptized, the name of
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  that person. We commend your servant,
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  acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a
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  lamb of your own flock, a Sinner of your own redeeming.
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  Receive him her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed
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  rest of everlasting peace, into the glorious company of the
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  Saints in light. The Saints are now in light
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  eternal, the light that never fades.
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  We are to join them when God calls us to Himself and we say
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  it in the Creed every Sunday. We say it.
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  We believe in the communion of Saints.
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  That means that we believe in this spiritual union that does
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  not end with death. On the contrary, we are united
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  with the Saints of God in heaven.
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  Now, was it easy for the Saints to be friends of God all the
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  time? Nope.
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  I remember the great one of my favourites, the great Mystic
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  Spanish Mystic from Avila, Saint Teresa of Avila or Teresa of
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  Jesus, if you ask a Latino they, they're going to tell you Teresa
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  the Jesus. Teresa of Jesus is the same
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  person. Teresa fell on the steps of her
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  convent when she was in the middle of reforming the convent
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  and she had already been struggling with health issues.
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  She fell off the steps and when she fell and banged herself up,
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  pretty, pretty banged up, she looked up and said Jesus, no
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  wonder you don't have too many friends and this is how you
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  treat them. I love that she talked to, she
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  talked to Jesus like he was his friend.
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  Do you ever get upset at God? Do you ever feel like things
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  aren't right in your life? You say, God, are you listening
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  to me? Does that ever happened to you?
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  If it doesn't happen to you, you know you got to develop your
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  friendship because I can tell my friends exactly what I'm
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  thinking and they'll still love me after we fight.
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  That's the sign of a true friend.
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  Listen, somebody after you get in an argument upset, if they
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  kind of walk away from life, let them walk away.
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  They're not real friends. Did I say that?
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  I'm saying it again. If someone gets upset at you and
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  they just walk away, let them walk away.
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  God will get you better friends, I promise.
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  You can argue with your real friends.
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  You can disagree with your, you can disagree with your spouse.
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  If you don't, you don't have a normal marriage.
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  You can disagree with the people you love.
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  That's OK, but then you always come back because love is bigger
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  than all of that, right? What I'm trying to say to you is
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  this Christianity stuff. It wasn't easy for the Saints.
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  It's not easy for us. Listen to these words.
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  The Deacon just proclaim them. Listen to this.
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  Tell me which part of this is easy.
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  I say to you that listen, so listen up.
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  That's Jesus way of saying listen up.
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  Love your enemies. Oh that's easy.
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  Isn't that easy? It's hard, but that's what Jesus
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  commands us to do. Love your enemies.
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  Well Father, you mean that one? Yeah, that one.
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  Even the politicians that get you mad, the ones you scream at
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  on TV, the one you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Look, Barb. Barb.
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  You scream at them on TV. Oh, yeah, I see you.
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  She's nodding. Yes.
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  Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
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  What? I got to be nice to that person
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  that hates me. Yeah.
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  If you want to follow Jesus. Bless those who curse you.
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  Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you.
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  Say what? Yeah.
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  If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other one also.
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  Well, Albert doesn't like that one.
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  He's in 8th grade and everybody said to him, listen, there's
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  boys that want to pick a fight with you.
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  You walk away because then you start getting in the struggle.
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  You start using some of your karate moves and then you get in
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  trouble, you get suspended. So just walk away from the
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  troublemakers. And that applies to adults too.
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  Keep away from the troublemakers.
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  They'll only bring you down if anyone takes away your coat.
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  Do not withhold even your shirt. Are you kidding me?
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  I should even give a thief a shirt.
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  He took my coat, man. What's wrong with you?
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  Give him a shirt. One time I was in South Beach as
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  a priest. I'm in the parking lot of my
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  church. And this homeless guy, man, he
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  really tested me. Oh, man, did he test me?
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  We had a lot of them on there. You know, it's a party town, you
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  know, Crazy. And the food that was made for
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  the priest to eat, it was me and maybe one person helping me, I
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  would grab a plate of food because he was hungry.
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  I'm hungry, Father, hungry. So I grabbed the plate of food,
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  you know, the rice, the beans, the meat, whatever.
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  The same food that I ate, the priest say I would get the plate
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  and go out, you know, being a nice Christian guy.
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  Because I believe this stuff, by the way, I try, it may not show,
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  but I try to practice this stuff.
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  OK, so I grabbed the plate of food, warm it up and a nice
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  glass of water. Napkin utensils go out there.
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  I don't want that. I want cash.
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  Was he really hungry? One time we got into a beef.
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  I rolled up my cassock a bit. He said something about my
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  mother from a distance. I said, come over here and tell
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  me my face almost got on a beat for them.
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  Give to everyone who begs from you.
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  Listen, that's a hard one. Give to everyone who begs from
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  you. Remember those guys that are out
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  on the street with a sign with a whole long list of of ailments?
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  Sometimes I give, sometimes I don't.
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  But a lot of times I think about this gospel and say, you know,
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  whatever's going on there, let God be the judge of it.
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  You know, if anyone takes, if anyone takes away your goods, do
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  not ask for them again. Well, that's a hard one.
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  If you have one of my books, would you please return it?
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  There's hundreds of them. You never return, whoever you
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  are. I don't have a space for them
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  anymore. So maybe, maybe just keep them
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  due to others as you would have them due to you.
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  That's ultimately the golden rule, due to others as you would
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  have them do to you. This is especially interesting
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  having two teenagers at home. Camila, why'd you say that to
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  Albert? But he did this to me.
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  But is that what Jesus teaches? No, in the same way all the way
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  around. But adults do that too, don't
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  we? Adults.
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  Oh, I'm going to treat them this way because they treated me this
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  way. And that's it.
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  That's not the gospel. That's not what you're called to
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  do. You see, we're different.
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  We got to be different. If we believe in Jesus Christ,
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  we have to be different. Now, I'm not saying to you today
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  that you're going to become a St. overnight and just do
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  everything perfectly right. What I'm saying to you today is
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  we are part of this communion. We're not alone.
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  We've got the body of Christ here on earth.
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  You've got the body of Christ now in glory in heaven.
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  We're all called to be friends of God and ultimately we are
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  closer and closer to God in our friendship when we do more
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  Christ like things, when we put aside our petty ways, and when
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  we try to follow the way of God. So happy All Saints Day to all
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  of you. And remember, we're also united
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  in our prayers with those who have gone before us.
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  We remember our loved ones. May they rest in peace.
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  In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.