In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Christ is risen! Truly He is risen! Christos voskrese!      Voistinu voskrese! Pra Chris Song Phun Kun Cheeb Laow! Song Phun Kun Cheeb, Pen Kwam Jing!

This is the feast day is the feast of the Lord. This is Thomas Sunday, and I told many of you, so you have not heard you speak before or haven't heard him speak on Thomas Sunday. What do I say Thomas on the most important day of the year. Why was the most important day for us, but Thomas wasn't. It was definitely the most important day for Thomas, I because he came to believe in Jesus Christ full belief. The Lord condescended to his weakness is more than condescended was weakness actually glorify him by giving him the opportunity to state a doctrine for the first time in the Scripture clear way, and the reason why Thomas Sunday is so important is because after the feast of Pascha and Bright week, there must be now living in the life and best way to live the life is to come and worship to take the holy mysteries, to struggle in our life. There's already kind of a turning. Can you feel it. I feel it. Some of you do some of you don't. The ones who are struggling, you know what I'm talking about. It's a little different now. I did this coming Monday is a lot different than Bright Monday, because now we have to apply the resurrection known to me and his work is hard work. So that is very difficult sometimes very lonely sometimes there's a lot of temptations and in the midst of it. God is with us, so this is why St. Thomas Sunday is such an important Sunday. The most I think more important than Pascha draw Thomas Ms. Pascha did in the midst but he did miss Thomas Sunday, and he needed Thomas Sunday. We need Thomas Sunday. We need to live the Christian life. Even when there are doubts in our hearts even when there's despondency, even when the difficulties submitted we have them. If you don't admit you have them, then how can you get rid of. How can you overcome them as if you have these temptations and you don't admit to have them, and they just cannot really over like a tsunami wave but if you admit that you have his human weaknesses in your struggling against them, God will help you. This is the message of Thomas Sunday, that God reveals himself to us, according to our ability to care that revelation. That's fundamental in this gospel today, God will reveal himself to each of us, according to our abilities. Now we have some say about what those abilities are if you're lazy, your sluggard never pray if you're just living a life this kind of heedless, then you not understand anything about God, but if your struggling, then God sees. The struggler and he reveals himself, according to your ability in each one of our abilities that all different. They're all on a continuum. Thomas was kind of not doing too well was the apostle says we've seen the Lord. He'd been with those apostles for 3 1/2 years he'd been through incredible things with them troubles and temptations, and being at sea. When the ship was tossed by the waves and seeing miracles and all the rest. And yet he said, I won't believe. I don't think I was very smart one right, but that's what he was able to do at the time. Okay, and God knows that, but something kept Thomas there. He said I won't believe. But he wouldn't go away. If you ever wonder why he wouldn't go because of love. That's what because he loved Jesus, and even though he believed Jesus was gone. He still loved him and that love God worked with so Thomas stuck around and on the eighth day the Lord revealed himself to Thomas and made him capable of full belief the same thing happens with you and me. If we struggle, if we push if we get up after we fall down we do our prostrations. If we struggle to love our neighbor, and especially the ones we don't like so well in the ones that mistreat us, then God reveals himself to you. That's the real story here. God reveals himself, according to our abilities, and in fact if you look at all the Gospels during Bright, the bright. During the Pascha. The Sunday Gospels that is not all about the revelation of God to the human heart in different degrees different ways different avenues according to the abilities that have the myrrh bearing women next week and they went to do an errand that wasn't necessary. God revealed himself to them in a certain way, and one of the paralytic and the blind man. It's another Gospels. And they're all about the revelation of God to the human heart, because everything we know about God is because he reveals himself to us and not only does he reveal himself to us, but he makes us capable of understanding, that revelation is without understanding that revelation you know you could just lecture and calculus to a child, so they hear the words they'd understand some of them, but they got no idea what calculus is so God reveals himself to us and makes us capable. And it's a process, and you know what it talk, it just is. This kind of Christianity that Potenza things are easy to live. We know it's a lot because we know we have stuff in our heart that just doesn't want to change. We want to do things, but we don't do them and then we do things we don't want to do to loosely paraphrase what St. Paul says we've all had that happen that we have it happen today. This morning, you had it happened this afternoon, you'll have it happen to be a tropical today and somebody will irritate you because of something it'll happen because of our stupid human tricks, but God works through all of that. That's the beauty of St. Thomas Sunday, because he just wasn't ready to believe, but the Lord condescended to his level and revealed himself to him according to his ability, so God is always adjusting to our weaknesses and glory be to God that he does as if he didn't then none of us would be saved if God required of us perfection. Before were perfect, but that's an oxymoron that that can happen. We have to take steps to perfection stages of enlightenment and if you're real careful and you read the Gospels for the Sundays and you listen to the Gospels and listen to the sermons in all the be about about enlightenment, gradual difficult sometimes we have a lot of life ahead of us collectively here and some of its gonna be real hard, but God is going to be with us in every single bit of it, and he will condescend to our level and then he'll raise us up then will condescend to that level and raises up again until were at a perfect level. That's the Christian life, but it takes our effort is. Synergy of our effort are tiny little bit of effort but God wants that effort, and then that effort is magnified by God. So the first theme of this gospel and all the Gospels of this. Is that God reveals himself to us in a gradual fashion. According to our abilities and their stages and also got indoor you got indoor you gotta keep struggling even when you don't feel like doing it. Even if the smallest thing like saying your prayers. You don't want to pray for somebody even though it's not working out, keeping your mouth shut, even though when you keep your mouth shut. Doesn't seem like, and improves things seems like things get worse doing those sorts of things is enduring and God loves endurance because he taught us endurance through his son Jesus Christ. So we endure. Let's look at the Gospel of St. of St. John now about Thomas Sunday. It says the same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shot in the disciples were assembled, Jesus came and stood with in the midst of them is at peace be to you. John makes it clear to say, the doors were shut. Why is Jesus is no longer subject to these kind of terrestrial laws, and neither will we be. He has a body but a perfected body that an imperfect body not a body subject to corruption so he could pastor doors quite easily, and he said, peace be to you. We say we ask for peace. I believe in the liturgy might be four times, it might be more ever wonder why because that salvation, to have peace in your heart that salvation. If there's peace in your heart. What must be in your heart, God, and what must not be in your heart. Nothing don't nothing evil, no passion. If you have perfect peace not as the world gives peace of the world thinks of peace, but as God gives peace that all of God is within you know you're pretty small and got pretty big and yet all of God is within you, because a man's heart is deep, very deep and God wants to live in your heart. So he's saying peace be with you, that is the summation of the Christian life to have peace's when it said, peace be to you, then he showed them his hands and his side. Why did he do that. Why did he still had his wounds in a perfected body, should he healed his wounds while he kept his wounds which were no longer bleeding and were no longer in a hot wing of wounds, a menu weakened by the me was, and he kept them because he wanted them to believe it would be too much of a shock to see Jesus without me. He just had wounds just a thrust with a sword and nails that would nail through his wrists so he kept those wounds to condescend to the human weakness. That's why he had those and then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord is that an understatement or what do you understand what gladness is in a Christian idea that the world gladness in the world. I got stuff or unmarried. Well, or I rich, or I'm on vacation, or I'm smoking the best cigar or whatever that is just temporary stuff Christian gladness is when the heart is illuminated. Can you imagine just how glad they were to see because they love him so much. And of course some of them already knew he was resurrected, but he wasn't around the whole time. So most of the time he wasn't with them. If you imagine how times to see his Lord. The kind of gladness that he had that gladness is power. If you really are glad that Jesus Christ loves you, and became man for you and died for you and resurrected. For you, and ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit and the whole church is to help you be saved if you have gladness like that. The next, because from gladness comes gratitude. And gratitude is really powerful so they were so because they saw their Lord, you should cultivate this. I know life is hard. I know you have tough days. I happen to in the midst of this, we are Christians were made in the image of God and were going to obtain his likeness. We should be very, very so then he says to them, peace be unto you again as my Father has sent me, so I send you. Okay. Now into the application here and also is great sense of insane Christ is risen, and we say to multiple languages and all of those things. We have all these foods all week long, but you know as my father sent me, so I send you. I know you're glad to see me, but you have things to do very important things to do and I'll be with you the whole way. I know that sometimes you stumble, but I'll always pick you up always be there, but as I was sent to you are sent to an what happened to Jesus wasn't a real easy road for him once very difficult, so it is for us, whether we endure martyrdom or not we are sent as our Lord was sent by the father your own missionaries to left your all emissaries don't think it's just up to me and to the bishops to the priests and bishops. That's not true at all. We are all to let our light shine before men. You have to have courage. In this day. I would say courage is very paramount may have courage because of gladness you have courage because of struggling against your sins. And as of opening your heart to God and God fills you, but you have to cultivate courage. This is an age where people don't have much courage there are Orthodox bishops and priests that are showing that they don't have courage it's gonna get worse. And we must be ready for that look tough times many tough times but God will be with us, he will always condescend to our weakness. He will always help us, we will never be abandoned, but he will not keep us from having tough times you find another religion. If you want to. If you want to have okay. Actually, there is a fantasy religion. There is no will allow you not to affect tough times. You have tough times that make you grow or tough times to destroy you. So, which is a gonna be. I want tough times to make me grow like Thomas had his very hard eight days thinking the Lord was dead, but then he saw the warnings so then he tells them, receive ye the Holy Spirit. This is a promise of the Holy Spirit, and there's actually sort of a partial giving of the Holy Spirit here, but not all, because the Holy Spirit is given in it than an earthly sense, and in a spiritual sense. And so, he breathed on them. We do that. Now we breathe on people. When we do the catechumen prayers. We breathe the oil. When we ask it to be blessed by the Holy Spirit, and it was partially fulfilled but not fully. The reason for this him, saying, this is because God gives us his promises. He says this can be defeated sin and death is a look like there is no sin and death in this world right now looks like there's plenty of sin and death in this world doesn't so is God a liar. We say he defeated sin and death but an old defeated. Well it's being defeated, he will be defeated. It's a foregone conclusion that it will die, but it's were in the process of being defeated both corporately and personally. So, in the same way. The Lord said receive you the Holy Spirit, and not all of the Holy Spirit. Was given it would be the Holy Spirit would be given that would be on Pentecost, and for us, our personal Pentecost is when were baptized and chrismated. So you have to be patient. Maybe you want so many virtues. Maybe you want to be rid of sin and may be things are not going well from you for you and you just think where is God. Why is he not answering my prayer is answering your prayer is answered in your prayer the way it needs to be answered. Not the way you want it to be answered. And it's gonna happen just takes time. So then he says whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted. We were whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. Process a verse that some people just kind of blackout right instead of using the yellow marker the use black marker I want to see that part. I had a friend once said that if you want to know about the church learn about the church look at the Bible a Protestant Bible, and all the places that are not highlighted that's so much about where the church is so he gave us priests unworthy men sinful men, the capacity to say that sins are forgiven. It's not as simple as a sins are forgiven. A priest is a great responsibility here, and to evaluate the best of his abilities to ask God to help them to pray for the person to see if there's some sort of compunction, and then decide your sins are forgiven. That's the basis of confession. So now he sees times and he tells Thomas take your finger put it in my hand and put your hand in my side. He condescended to Thomas. As we he didn't rebuke him. The kind of later corrected them a little bit, but none of the beginning Thomas coming go-ahead. I know you want to do. You can touch my hands. You can touch my side is me, it really is you imagine time for that moment is sort of probably fear, happiness, gladness, maybe a little bit of embarrassment but he was being healed with them, and then he said, he said, my Lord and my God this is the first clear exposition that Jesus Christ is God in man chronologically I mean this is at the end of John's Gospel. It happened many times in John's Gospel, but all those things are history that is recounting chronologically. This is the first time somebody said Jesus Christ is God in man. Having human nature and Divine nature, and he gave Thomas that privilege, the guy who didn't believe in it for eight days. God doesn't hold our weaknesses against us. He loves us. He elevates us he glorifies us. That's what happened then Jesus corrects a gentle correction because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and so were among those not say most of us not seeing Jesus not seen a vision of Jesus to do see a vision of Jesus, you should talk to me as the likelihood is that it would be a false vision because were not were not in the spiritual disposition to be able have those things happen to for some people it does. There has to be of a lot of a lot of work a lot of struggle in the soul before such visions can be trusted and for all of us were not. So we believe in Jesus. Not really seeing but how do we see we experience God, we experience God by line reacting to his grace by loving your enemy by struggling to say your prayers by doing the dishes. We don't feel like doing the dishes by not mouthing off by humbling yourself. That's how you experience God because when you do those things. God rushes into your soul and is light in your soul, maybe light where there was light before or maybe even more light where there was light his illumination that occurs from this belief from this effort, and experience. It's all happening a little bit at a time. So then John says something. It's really amazing it's would you like to be able to have the rest of the story here, and many other signs Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in the but these are, but you might know that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name of this whole sermon. I talked about believing different ways. We struggle to believe. We cultivate belief we struggle against our sins before we get back up. We have hard moments, maybe even of despondency and maybe even of unbelief by Thomas, but we something holds us, keeps us to God because we have love for him. We have experienced in before as we know that the only way of life is him and that any other way of life is death, so this believe is something is lived down and we see examples of it in this possible. Thomas. He had belief he had what the church calls believing disbelief or unbelieving believe he believed and he didn't believe he had love and he stuck with it, then we have Peter, he believed, and he was so zealous, he was willing to die for Christ in any denied him three times, and wept bitterly. But he had love that love carried him through. So, on the day of the resurrection of the Lord appeared to Peter privately. It's mentioned in the Scripture, but the incident is not recounted and then when they were in the boat and they were fishing and caught anything and what's is go to the right side of the ship and casting you find in the head hundred 53 things. Peter swam to the shore as it was the Lord, and they were there, the shore and the Lord was already cooking fish for them, and he restored Peter by this dialogue. Peter needed that John did me that Peter needed so this was Peter's belief we but assisted by the Lord and so many others, Nicodemus man was afraid to come to Jesus had come to my night in the beginning and then at the end, went to get his body which was a dangerous thing to do. There is the myrrh bearing women, Luke and cleopas there on the road and they don't even recognize the Lord something burns in their heart is is talking to them and then they have dinner and the Lord blesses bread, and then they see him in the breaking of the bread. This is the belief of talking about not perfect belief but believe with zest with efforts with blood. That's the kind of believe you have to have real effort in God will reward that absolutely just as he rewarded Thomas and Peter and the myrrh bearing women and Luke and cleopas all the rest. So belief is not this binary thing really believe you don't think this your heart yearns for God, and sometimes you follow them, but God is always there to pick you the beautiful gospel is a beautiful day because it is the beginning of the rest of our life and is the application of the resurrection. So, unless God help us. Christ is risen