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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everyone, God bless you. What I'd like to do

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<v Speaker 1>is point out a most incredible word that is found

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<v Speaker 1>in the story of the Samaritan woman Saint Fultini in

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<v Speaker 1>John chapter four.

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<v Speaker 2>It's an incredible text for so many reasons.

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<v Speaker 1>It is, in my opinion, one of the richest theologically

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<v Speaker 1>rich gospel accounts in all the Holy Scriptures.

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<v Speaker 2>Our Lord.

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<v Speaker 1>Bequeaths to a ruined woman who is a heretic, some

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<v Speaker 1>of his richest self revelations, some of his richest theology,

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<v Speaker 1>without a single word of reproach to her. Think about that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, throughout our Lord's public ministry, from the temptations

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<v Speaker 1>in the desert when he fought Satan, to the agonia

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<v Speaker 1>of his struggle in Gethsemine and the embrace of the

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<v Speaker 1>Precious Cross, our Lord constantly modeled for us and explicitly

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<v Speaker 1>taught us the supreme importance of doing God his Father's will.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what he modeled, This is what he taught

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<v Speaker 1>in the most difficult of circumstances and at all times.

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<v Speaker 1>In John's gospel, the beloved Disciple in writing this gospel,

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<v Speaker 1>highlights this emphasis on doing the Father's will numerous times.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me share a few of those references for background,

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus so submitted his will to God's will that he

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<v Speaker 1>never even spoke a single word that was not willed

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<v Speaker 1>by his father. My teaching is not mine, but his

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<v Speaker 1>who sent me. He who speaks from himself seeks his

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<v Speaker 1>own glory. That's an incredible word, Our Lord, the greatest rabbi,

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<v Speaker 1>the greatest preacher, teacher who has ever lived, never spoke

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<v Speaker 1>a single word of his own. His teaching was what

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<v Speaker 1>his father had given him. The words that he spoke

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<v Speaker 1>were the words that his father gave him. And again

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<v Speaker 1>this is John chapter eight, verse twenty eight. Who sent

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<v Speaker 1>me is true? And the things which I heard from him,

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<v Speaker 1>these I speak to the world. I do nothing on

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<v Speaker 1>my own initiative, but I speak these things as the

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<v Speaker 1>Father taught me. So you see here the pattern. The

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<v Speaker 1>father teaches the son. The son speaks only what the

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<v Speaker 1>father gives. The son gives his teaching to the apostles,

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<v Speaker 1>and the apostles to the church. And this sacred traditioning,

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<v Speaker 1>this passing on of what has been given to us,

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<v Speaker 1>is how we live. This is how the faith is

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<v Speaker 1>passed on. It is cherished, embraced, and lived. It's not improved.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not added to changed, it's not developing every century.

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<v Speaker 1>What develops is the application of the revealed truth to context.

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<v Speaker 2>That's what develops.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, let me ask you, Can you imagine how wonderful

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<v Speaker 1>it would be in your own life if you love

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<v Speaker 1>God's will so much that you never spoke a single

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<v Speaker 1>word that God did not will you to speak. Can

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<v Speaker 1>you imagine how incredible that would be? How much pain

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<v Speaker 1>we would save ourselves and others by only speaking what

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<v Speaker 1>the Lord God gave us to say. Our Lord Jesus

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<v Speaker 1>modeled this complete submission to his father's will. He also

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<v Speaker 1>explicitly taught it in the Sermon on the Mound. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>his most incredible teaching, he says in the Lord's Prayer,

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<v Speaker 1>the very heart of how we should pray. He taught

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<v Speaker 1>us to say, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done

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<v Speaker 1>on earth as it is in heaven.

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<v Speaker 2>Learning to love God and his will.

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<v Speaker 1>This is at the very core of the Christian process

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<v Speaker 1>of discipleship.

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<v Speaker 2>This is what we do.

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<v Speaker 1>It's what it means to take up our cross and

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<v Speaker 1>to deny ourself. We put aside our own selfish wills,

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<v Speaker 1>fully convinced that we don't know what's best for us.

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<v Speaker 1>We leave the providential arrangement of the details of our

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<v Speaker 1>life to our heavenly father.

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<v Speaker 2>We embrace his will, we crucify our own.

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<v Speaker 1>Desires whenever our will is in contradiction or threatens the

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<v Speaker 1>doing of God's will. In the gospel text of this

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<v Speaker 1>American Woman, this comes out. It's just a magnificent window

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<v Speaker 1>into how Jesus related to his father's will. This insight

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<v Speaker 1>is revealed when the disciples bring this food to Jesus

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<v Speaker 1>and they urge him to eat, and then he says

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<v Speaker 1>something totally amazing, totally shocking that takes our understanding of

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<v Speaker 1>doing God's will to a new level. This is what

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus says, I have food to eat that you know

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<v Speaker 1>nothing about. I have food to eat that you know

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<v Speaker 1>nothing about. So the disciples are saying to each other,

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<v Speaker 1>did someone bring him food to eat? Why don't we

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<v Speaker 1>get food?

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<v Speaker 2>Had he had it? Anyway?

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<v Speaker 1>No, they were thinking on the earthly level, and then

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus says, this amazing word. My food is to do

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<v Speaker 1>the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish

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<v Speaker 1>his work. Don't miss this amazing word. The great contemporary

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<v Speaker 1>saint Saint Nikolai ve La Mirovitchi reposed in The Lord

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<v Speaker 1>here in America in nineteen fifty six, and his homily

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<v Speaker 1>on the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. He comments this,

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<v Speaker 1>He says, quote, see what a delight the Father's will

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<v Speaker 1>is to Christ. He does not see the doing of

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<v Speaker 1>it as his duty, but as his food. Oh, what

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<v Speaker 1>divine example, and what a gentle reprimand to all of

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<v Speaker 1>us who speak every day of our duty as though

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<v Speaker 1>it's a burden. Indeed, looking at the Lord and his

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<v Speaker 1>willing performance of his cripplingly heavy duty among men, it

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<v Speaker 1>must be said with good reason that no one in

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<v Speaker 1>the world can do his duty to God if it

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<v Speaker 1>has not become to him as pleasant as his daily food. Wow,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm completely undone. You know, many of us are hoping

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<v Speaker 1>simply to remember God's will in our crushing zeal to

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<v Speaker 1>do always what we want, to obey our own desires.

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<v Speaker 1>For us, The first step is just to remember God

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<v Speaker 1>and remember his will. Then we try to con force

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves to do it, even though it may provoke opposition

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<v Speaker 1>from our pride, or our lusts, or our greed. But

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<v Speaker 1>to go past that and to actually love it to

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<v Speaker 1>love it so much that doing the Father's will is

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<v Speaker 1>like the most satisfying meal. This is our Savior, This

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<v Speaker 1>is what we should shoot for. Some of us have

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<v Speaker 1>learned to seek God's will and to be deeply suspicious

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<v Speaker 1>of our own will and desires. And this is an

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<v Speaker 1>exceedingly important transition to make for a Christian. Die to

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<v Speaker 1>your will, seek God's will. But notice here that we

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<v Speaker 1>see Jesus as far beyond even that he was not

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<v Speaker 1>doing his father's will as a duty, but as his

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<v Speaker 1>very nourishment, as the very sustenance of his life and ministry,

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<v Speaker 1>his true joy. Glory to our Savior for being so

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<v Speaker 1>obedient and such a perfect human being. This is how

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<v Speaker 1>we manifest likeness to Jesus, that we're really his. This

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<v Speaker 1>is how we can answer the question are we really his?

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<v Speaker 1>Are we authentic disciples? Is he really our Lord? Do

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<v Speaker 1>we love to do his will? Because he himself says this,

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<v Speaker 1>whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he

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<v Speaker 1>is my mother, He is my brother, he is my sister.

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<v Speaker 1>If we want to be bound to Christ and his family,

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<v Speaker 1>let's do the will of his father.

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<v Speaker 2>Make God help us. God be with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everyone, I hope you've downloaded the Patristic Nectar app

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<v Speaker 1>on your phone. It is a treasure trove of soul

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<v Speaker 1>donor to patristic Nectar today