1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,320 In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,040 Spirit forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,960 mercies which sent you to us. O Christ, the light of the world 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,920 and the life of all, give us wisdom by. 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:15,800 Your law and. Enlighten our impulses. 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,120 By your knowledge. Sanctify our souls by Your 7 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,960 truth, and grant that we may be obedient to Your words and may 8 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,960 fulfil Your commandments at every hour. 9 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,120 O You who enlightens the rational with the knowledge of 10 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,920 Your greatness, do enlight, O my Lord, our thoughts, that we may 11 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,320 meditate upon Your holy and divine Scriptures at all times, 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,920 O Lord of all. Father and son. 13 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:41,440 And Holy Spirit. Forever. 14 00:00:42,280 --> 00:01:04,640 Amen. Holiday of many holidays in 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,520 this. Blessed country, the United 16 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,720 States of America, which. Until now, to date hasn't been 17 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:18,880 tainted by controversy and fuss. Is Thanksgiving Thursday now? 18 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,080 I know you're saying oh that's over, that's done with. 19 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:22,320 What are we talking about Thanksgiving? 20 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,120 Well, this is a pre Thanksgiving message. 21 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,280 Sorry post thanks. Yeah, there you go, post and 22 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,080 Thanksgiving message. It was supposed to be done 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,920 before Thanksgiving, but Steven didn't have time to recall. 24 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:40,760 I'm only kidding you post Thanksgiving message now. 25 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,320 Now Christmas. When Christmas, you know 26 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:46,880 Christmas is approaching, we're going to start with a farce. 27 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:51,360 You remember our Dee sister Kamala Harris said, how dare you 28 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,280 say Merry Christmas? How dare you? 29 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,760 Why am I daring it? I'll say it till the till the 30 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,800 Christmas is is is approached and glorify Christ every day of 31 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,800 my life for the birth of for his birth and give thanks to God for 32 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,000 the birth of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 33 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,400 This is not a political message, right? 34 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:14,760 How dare you right there we go. No tinsels, no Christmas trees, 35 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:20,120 no Christmas carols, right? Then we got we have the feast of 36 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,040 the holy, feast of the resurrection of our Lord and 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,960 everyone is getting offended because we're talking about 38 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,640 Jesus resurrected. And Bibi Netanyahu comes out and 39 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,200 doesn't give us a message and doesn't invite the Christians to 40 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,160 come and see the the the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. 41 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,720 However, for Christmas, Bibi Netanyahu comes out and invites 42 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,360 the Christians to come and see the birth place of Jesus. 43 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:47,840 I've mentioned I've, we've spoken about this, right? 44 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,840 So there's so much controversy. And then you have the Memorial 45 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,720 Day and people who have, you know, the left and those who 46 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,840 have their own understanding. No, we don't what have you, But 47 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,600 thank God, Thanksgiving, at least not at this point, not 48 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,760 yet, doesn't have much controversy. 49 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,920 Controversy and fuss surrounding it. 50 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,640 We give thanks. Thanksgiving Thursday is to give 51 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:17,120 thanks. Now, what's amazing think about 52 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:22,280 it is that on Thanksgiving Thursday, we celebrate by the 53 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:29,640 death, cooking, consuming of a Turkey, a Turkey. 54 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,360 Now, if it's a Thanksgiving gathering without a Turkey, 55 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:33,600 that's not a Thanksgiving, right? 56 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,400 People give away. You know, the charities give 57 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,680 away turkeys for people to go and celebrate Thanksgiving to 58 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,440 give thanks. An estimated 46,000,000 turkeys 59 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:51,200 are slaughtered and consumed for Thanksgiving Thursday. 60 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,040 I think we should consider doing something like this. 61 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:01,000 Steven, let me give you some maths, $0.50 per Turkey, that's 62 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:08,240 $23 million you keep going down. So for the US Thanksgiving, we 63 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,080 give thanks as we sacrifice a Turkey. 64 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,200 Commiserations. Condolences to the the dead 65 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,200 turkeys. Congratulations, especially to 66 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,160 those two who are pardoned by the president. 67 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,680 Congratulations. But hey, Turkey, don't count 68 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:33,480 your chickens before they hatch. There's always next to you. 69 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,320 Why Turkey I did some research due to its practical size for 70 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,520 large gatherings, its native presence in North America. 71 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:49,720 That's why sacrifice of Turkey. We give thanks to God, praise be 72 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,160 to his name for this country, for our families. 73 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,160 And you know, we pray. I'm sure the Christians before 74 00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:00,040 they, they share the bounty which entails a cooked Turkey. 75 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,800 They give thanks to God, glory to God. 76 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:07,440 But this is we're going to get, we're now going to get serious. 77 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:13,280 This is where we get into it. Did you know that each time we 78 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:19,600 commemorate, we celebrate the Divine Liturgy of Holy Urbana, 79 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:25,760 the Eucharist in the Greek language of Haristia, which 80 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:31,880 means Thanksgiving? Each time we come to celebrate 81 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,960 and to partake in the Divine Liturgy of Holy Urbana, we are 82 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:41,680 giving thanks. It's the breaking of the 83 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:47,800 Ukharistiya in Ukharistiya, or the Body and Blood of our Lord 84 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,440 and our Savior Jesus Christ. Let me share the priests 85 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,600 concluding prayer for the ferial service. 86 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,240 The ferial service is condensed. There is no reading of the 87 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,080 lectionary. There is no reading from the 88 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,440 epistles. There is just the Gospel reading 89 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:08,040 and the the hymns and the chants and the preser are said and sung 90 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:13,880 more rapidly. At the end of the service. 91 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:19,760 Listen to what the the priest prays audibly, glory, O my Lord, 92 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,400 and honor, and he repeats glory, O my Lord, and honor. 93 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,960 Now some will say, see, you're like the Pharisees, the 94 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,760 hypocrites who repeat their prayers. 95 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,680 Well, Jesus said truly, truly. Why is it repeating? 96 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:34,920 Truly, truly. I say to you, Oh yes, yes, I say 97 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,680 to you, it's a confirmation. We are pleading. 98 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,360 It's a pleading, it's a supplication. 99 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,600 Glory, O my Lord, and honour, Glory, O my Lord, and honour and 100 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:52,040 confession and worship and continuous Thanksgiving. 101 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:56,680 We are indebted to lift up to your glorious Trinity for Your 102 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,800 gift of the Holy Mysteries, the body and blood which You have 103 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:06,080 given us in Your compassion for the pardon of our debts, O Lord 104 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,200 of all, Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever. 105 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,640 I'm not going to go in the Scriptures and find where is it 106 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:13,400 in the Bible. You know where it is. 107 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,400 You go and take this, take this prayer and you will find it. 108 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,000 You will find the words in the Bible. 109 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,680 So it's biblical. Not only is it liturgical, not 110 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:30,840 only is it a an Apostolic liturgical prayer, not only it's 111 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,440 the prayer that the Church has been praying for 2025 years, 112 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,600 give or take. It's a biblical prayer. 113 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,720 The Bible says it. And then he continues with the 114 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,280 other prayer. May our Lord Jesus Christ, whom 115 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,000 we have served and glorified and honored by his glorious holy 116 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:53,120 life, giving and divine mysteries, we acknowledge, we 117 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,640 honor, and we give thanks to the Lord each time we come to the 118 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,760 Church. Now let me correct something, 119 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:04,560 not only to celebrate the divine energy, but to say the Vespas, 120 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,520 to pray, the Vespas to pray the Vespas, the liturgical Vespas, 121 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:14,000 along with many other things of worship, confession and praise 122 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,040 by the worship, by the pray, by the way, by the way, each time a 123 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:23,400 worship was conducted in the autism, there was almost every 124 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,920 time there was a, an offering of a sacrifice, right? 125 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:32,480 So pray we, we, we, we worship, we praise, we confess, we, we 126 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:38,440 admit, we give glory, we give thanks in every liturgical 127 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,960 service, but we're talking about the Eucharistic service because 128 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,080 the word Eucharistia, Eucharist is Thanksgiving. 129 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,280 Each time we gather around the table of the mysteries, the 130 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,480 altar in the in the pancake, the table, we give thanks by 131 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:55,840 commemorating the death, burial, resurrection of our Lord. 132 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,720 And we thank our Heavenly Father for the sacrifice of his beloved 133 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,040 son. Not a Turkey has the of his 134 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:11,600 beloved Son, Jesus. Perfect man, perfect God. 135 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:18,680 How sad is it? But how sad is it that we make 136 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,440 every effort to come together as a family? 137 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:31,960 We book flights, we drive for hours sometimes to come together 138 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:37,560 as a family on Thanksgiving Thursday and celebrate the day, 139 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:42,600 the history, the tradition with our families through the 140 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:49,520 sacrifice of a Turkey. Yet we try to find any excuse 141 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,880 and at some at times quite ridiculous excuses. 142 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,840 Now some people will outright say, I don't believe, I don't 143 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:58,200 understand church, I don't believe in God. 144 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,080 Great. You're cold for Christ according 145 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,960 to the Book of Revelations. Some people say no, I love the 146 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,600 Lord. I want to come each time I have 147 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,800 an opportunity, a blessing to come and give him thanks through 148 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:14,080 the divine Liturgies of the Church. 149 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,600 I will be there. You're warm, you are on fire. 150 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,320 But there are those Luke warm. Yeah, I'll go every time. 151 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,560 No, we find excuses. You know, I'm working six days 152 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,120 or I came to church. I make it the last 10 minutes 153 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,920 and come through the doors and partake in the Eucharist and 154 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:37,120 walk out again. Well, that's being lukewarm and 155 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,000 some ridiculous excuses not to attend Divine Liturgy. 156 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,840 Not to attend Divine Liturgy to celebrate and give thanks 157 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:52,160 collectively collectively without church family for the 158 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,840 give thanks for the sacrificial Lamb of God for our atonement 159 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:01,280 with the church family. Now, Thanksgiving Thursday, when 160 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,200 you want to celebrate with your family by the sacrifice of a 161 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,560 Turkey, you need to get on a plane and you to come to where 162 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:13,240 your parents are or your family if you know or drive hours, 163 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,200 maybe not ours, but you need to drive maybe hours, you know, get 164 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,840 on a plane to come together with your family. 165 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,480 However, when you want to give thanks to Christ, give thanks to 166 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:29,120 God for the sacrifice on his of his Son through the Liturgy of 167 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,200 the Holy Qurbana. You don't need to get on a plane 168 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,600 and attend a parish where your family in wherever they may be. 169 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:41,960 No, you attend an Apostolic Church, an Apostolic Church who 170 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,640 celebrates the Divine Liturgy of the Holy Qurbana, and you 171 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,040 partake in Thanksgiving to God with your church family there. 172 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:50,440 They don't have to be your nation. 173 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:51,920 They don't have to be your tribe. 174 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,400 They don't have to be Arturaya. And whatever tribe you, I know 175 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,480 when you walk into the church and you see the altar, you see 176 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,760 the priest, you see the host, the elements being brought up to 177 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,920 be presented as a commemoration of the offering of Jesus Christ. 178 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,080 And we're going to read some verses, right? 179 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,520 And not being proclaimed that they are just a miss, they're 180 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,920 they're just a symbol. No, no, no, no, that's your 181 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:23,280 family, be it black, white, pink, red, whatever. 182 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:28,800 Asian, European, Middle Eastern Christians believing Jesus 183 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,720 Christ, being put to death in baptism with Jesus Christ 184 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,720 through the priesthood of the Jesus Christ, that is your 185 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,480 family. But the US Thanksgiving 186 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,240 Thursday, for you to take part with your family, you have to 187 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,120 spend some money. You don't need to spend any 188 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,160 money to get to the church, only that bus drive or whatever it is 189 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:51,680 that bus ride or that that 1015 minutes gas spent on going or 190 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:57,440 even walking to church. It's so sad that we are not 191 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,600 interested in attending the service to give thanks. 192 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,920 Each time the Ivharistiya, the Eucharist, the Thanksgiving 193 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:12,600 mystical sacrament is broken, the ultimate sacrifice, 194 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:17,440 sacrifice is commemorated. Could it be, as I touched up on 195 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,360 it, could it be that we see it as a mere symbol? 196 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,000 It's only a symbol. Everything is a symbol. 197 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,000 Our beloved Protestants, brothers and sisters symbolize 198 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,080 everything. Everything is a symbol. 199 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,320 I'm afraid one day Jesus will be seen as a mere symbol. 200 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:38,240 If anyone who has preached to you that the Eucharist is a 201 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,600 symbol, direct him to this program or pick up the phone and 202 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:50,520 say, can you talk to this priest, to Father Janard and see 203 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,480 what he's talking about and correct him and refute him. 204 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:58,640 If he is not speaking correctly, biblically, liturgically, 205 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,960 apostolically, whatever you want to call it, it's not a mere 206 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,920 symbol. Beloved to those who say that 207 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:06,840 it's a mere symbol, it's a symbol. 208 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:12,040 Well, not I, not I, but Saint Paul, which is now we're now 209 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,360 we're going solar scriptura. Let's go to solar scriptura, 210 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:15,800 let's go to the Scriptures. St. 211 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:20,760 Paul says in One Corinthians 10/16, The cup of Thanksgiving 212 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:26,760 that we bless, is it not the partaking of the presence of the 213 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:31,880 blood of Christ. Wow, not a symbol of the blood 214 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:37,000 of Jesus Christ, the partaking of the presence of the blood of 215 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,360 Christ. And he continues to say, and is 216 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:45,720 not our breaking of bread, the sharing in the presence of the 217 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,480 body of Christ. Why do we call it a symbol if 218 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,000 you've seen it as a symbol? No, it's not a symbol. 219 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,280 Now you need to, you need to reconsider your attendance 220 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,200 during the Divine Liturgy to give thanks. 221 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:07,120 So when we celebrate the Holy Qurbana, the Holy Oblation, we 222 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,760 celebrate the one who is the atonement for the sake of our 223 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:18,080 sins, and not in our place only, but also in the place or on 224 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:28,160 behalf of the entire universe. 1 John 22 and and he who we 225 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,240 celebrate is alive and in our midst. 226 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,960 He is, we are in His presence when we do this. 227 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,880 Hence we call it the commemoration. 228 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,360 He is with us, beloved, the Turkey is dead. 229 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,120 The Turkey spirit is not in your living or dining room or the 230 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:45,840 kitchen when you're cutting the Turkey. 231 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:50,320 No, no, and please, I'm not I'm not saying that that is evil. 232 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,120 That is that should not be done. No, no, it's it's sharing a meal 233 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:54,800 and thanking God and coming together. 234 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:59,080 Yeah, but I'm talking about when we find the 1,000,000 and 700 235 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,000 gazillion excuses we want to find and use some ridiculous not 236 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,400 to attend to thanks, Give thanks to Christ. 237 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,320 Yes, you can give thanks every minute of your life. 238 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,960 Amen to that. Give thanks to God always, 239 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,560 always. But giving thanks in the Divine 240 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,840 Liturgy of the Holy Mysteries is different, is particular. 241 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,360 It's a presence of our Lord through the body and blood, the 242 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,560 bread and wine. Let me share another prayer 243 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,440 which the priests praise when he the hosts have been brought up 244 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:37,160 to the the altar table. The body of Christ and his 245 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,840 precious blood are upon the holy altar. 246 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,240 Let our soldier you to him in fear and in love and with the 247 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,720 angels sing aloud, holy, holy, holy Lord God. 248 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,360 The priest says, make Christ who a sacrifice for our salvation 249 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,240 and who commanded us. Find these in the Bible. 250 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:56,600 You do the work who commanded us to make a commemoration of his 251 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,880 death, burial and resurrection. Accept the sacrifice in our 252 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:01,760 hands by his grace and mercies forever. 253 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:07,640 I mean, we give thanks for that. The one sacrificed on our 254 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:13,520 mystical table in the altar, in the form of bread and wine. 255 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,839 We give thanks to him. When we partake in the bread and 256 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:19,960 wine, we share, beloved, we share. 257 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,240 This is what we give thanks to, because when we partake in the 258 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,160 ivharistiya, in the body and blood of Christ, we share. 259 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,560 In the life of the one who is being, who sacrificed, we are 260 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:37,000 commemorating John chapter 6 verse 53. 261 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:46,720 For my body truly is John chapter 6 verse 53. 262 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,960 Sorry. Jesus said to them, Yes, yes, I 263 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:58,640 say to you, unless Jesus is saying this, not a St. a church 264 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:03,560 father, a priest, a patriarch, a Bishop, a pastor, a minister. 265 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,200 No, no, no. Jesus, our Lord, our God, our 266 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,320 King, our life given, the forgiver of our sins, praise and 267 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:13,040 glory be to his name type Amin, say Amin, wherever you are. 268 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,800 Yes, thank you, Steven. Yes, yes, I say to you, unless 269 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,560 you eat the body of the Son of man and drink his blood, you 270 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:27,400 have no life in yourself. You have no life in yourself. 271 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,520 This is what we give thanks to. Yeah, eating doesn't really mean 272 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,200 eating. It actually means believing. 273 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,320 Let's read. He who eats of my body and 274 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,200 drinks of my blood has eternal life. 275 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,680 And I will raise him up at the last day. 276 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:48,120 For my body truly is food. That means if his body is truly 277 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,600 food, that means when he says eat, it means eating. 278 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:56,960 And Jesus didn't say swallow. He said eat eating in towels, 279 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:02,560 chewing as well. And my blood truly is drink. 280 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,800 We give thanks each time we come to celebrate the Divine Liturgy 281 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,600 of the Holy Eucharist, not only on a Sunday, as you know in the 282 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,520 in the Central Valley. Friday 9:00 AM Marziah 283 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:18,480 Cathedral, Mabel Ave., Modesto Wednesday, 6:00 PM St. 284 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:26,160 Ade Mara Ade the Apostle on canal and North Hollywood 830 E 285 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,040 Canal, right Sundays. Here we go. 286 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:30,920 I'm not going to give the addresses, You can you can 287 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,240 search them. Sundays Marziah Cathedral Margi 288 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,520 Vargas Church in Marziah Cathedral, Modesto, Margi Vargas 289 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,480 Church in series Mara de Church or Larsa in diner or Turlock 290 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:46,880 Mariosup Church in San Jose, Mar Nerse Church in San Francisco. 291 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:52,800 We give thanks to the father for his son, upon whom he did not 292 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:57,320 show pity, but he handed him over for the sake of us all. 293 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,160 Romans 832 That's why we give thanks. 294 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:05,240 We give thanks to the son who emptied himself and took the 295 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,640 form of a servant, and was made in the form of man. 296 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:14,000 Philippians 27 And when he says emptied himself just like King 297 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,880 David says Mar Ishu, dad of Merv. 298 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,200 Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the E, circa 8050, I believe 299 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,600 8850. Just as King David did slip the 300 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,400 garment of kingship of himself on put on the garment of 301 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:34,240 slavery. Second Samuel chapter 620. 302 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,560 It was a prototype of Jesus Christ what he did. 303 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,280 We give thanks to the Holy Spirit for the for mystically 304 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,360 again, mystically not transubstantiation. 305 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:46,120 Lee. We don't. 306 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:48,880 The Syrian Church of the East does not adhere to the 307 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,920 transubstantiation understanding of the Eucharist. 308 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,600 The Church of the East understands and adheres that 309 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,080 when we give thanks, we give thanks to the Holy Spirit for 310 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:05,800 mystically, sacramentally, spiritually transforming the 311 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,960 bread to be the body of Christ and the wine to be the blood of 312 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:16,120 Christ, just as it transforms us into the likeness of the glory 313 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:17,760 of the Lord. Wow. 314 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,840 And from glory to glory to Corinthians 318. 315 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:29,240 So, beloved, I'm not so much going to challenge you. 316 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,360 We don't need to challenge one. When you challenge someone and 317 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,000 you force something under someone, it becomes invalid in 318 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,160 the eye of God. I'm not going to challenge you, 319 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:45,440 but I want to encourage you. I want to invite you on behalf 320 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,760 of your parish priest. I want to encourage you and 321 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,720 invite you to attend service this coming Sunday. 322 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,000 If you're one of those that is trying to find one of the 323 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,640 1,000,000 and 700,000 excuses, don't do that. 324 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,120 If you're genuinely working, by the way, by law, let me let me 325 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:09,080 now speak legally. I'm not a professional legal 326 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:14,800 adviser, but my understanding by law, your boss needs to give you 327 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,520 time to go to worship. If you're having issues, visit 328 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,160 your parish priest, receive a letter from the parish priest 329 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,480 and present it to your boss that I need to at least once a month 330 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,480 go to church to partake in the. This is your religious 331 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,840 obligation, right? So. 332 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,600 But if you outrightly don't believe and you don't want to 333 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,600 attend, God bless you. We'll pray for you that the Lord 334 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,320 will instill that love. Maybe this this, maybe this 335 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,680 program will If you know of someone that doesn't attend 336 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,680 church because I don't want to attend because whatever reason, 337 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,280 you know, direct them to this to this episode, pray for them that 338 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,040 the Lord will touch their hearts, right. 339 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:55,440 Nothing's impossible for God. So I encourage you and invite 340 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,280 you to attend service this coming Sunday and every Sunday 341 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:05,080 giving thanks to your holy God, the Father of truth, of whom all 342 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,440 fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. 343 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:18,760 Ephesians 315 Give thanks to his holy and everlasting Son, by 344 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,920 whose hand all things were created. 345 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:28,520 John chapter one, verse 3 Give thanks to the Holy Spirit, by 346 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:33,120 whose hands all things are sanctified. 347 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,480 Now you know the Spirit doesn't have hands. 348 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:40,320 I can, I can, I can feel the the vibes, the questions, you know, 349 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,640 those who sit down and to scrutinize and to find fault, 350 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,560 you know, say, you know, a slip of the tongue gives them an A 351 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,600 program of, you know, oh, did you hear this priest what he 352 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:53,640 said? Yeah, it may have been a slip of 353 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,440 slip of the tongue, you know, may have been a starter. 354 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:01,800 Right, Right. Yeah, but when we say by whose 355 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:03,240 hand? By the way, these are from the 356 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,800 liturgy, these are the prayers. During the holy, holy, holy 357 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,400 chant. The priest is praying this. 358 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:16,360 And let me one more time repeat. You are holy God, the Father of 359 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:20,360 truth, of whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named. 360 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,880 The biblical liturgy. Biblical liturgy Ephesians 361 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:30,320 chapter 3, verse 15 You are holy, O everlasting Son, by 362 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:35,440 whose hands all things were created, or all things were. 363 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,240 Did we ever see Jesus roll up his sleeves and make the world 364 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,680 well? John 1/3 By whose hands means 365 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:47,800 through him, through him God, through the Son, and give 366 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:54,160 thanks, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, by whose hands all 367 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,720 things are sanctified, meaning by through all things are 368 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:03,240 sanctified. 1 Corinthians 611 This is the Thanksgiving that we 369 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:10,400 need to observe each time the church rings the bell, sends 370 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:17,680 those telephone messages, sends those emails, or announces 371 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:24,560 through any means, social media, Facebook, Instagram, wherever 372 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,640 the church is announcing that there is a gathering of the 373 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,120 spiritual family being the church on this particular day, 374 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,440 at this particular time, to gather, to give thanks, to 375 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,880 confess, to worship. We always conclude in our 376 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:49,160 prayers, give thanks, confession, and worship to God 377 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,680 for what He has done through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 378 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,840 And if you say, well, I wasn't there, I wasn't there, but I do 379 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:04,240 believe, how do I partake in what God did through his Son? 380 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:10,000 How do I partake in what Jesus Christ did on the cross? 381 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:11,920 Through his death is through baptism. 382 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,440 This is what Saint Paul tells us each time we are baptized. 383 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:19,320 We are baptized in his death. How do I partake in his 384 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,840 resurrected body that is now sitting at the right hand of 385 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:29,320 power and glory, whom one day when we will return, will will 386 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,800 rebuke our sister Kamala Harris say, oh, you're reluctant, 387 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,000 reluctant to say Merry Christmas because it was Christmas. 388 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,800 It was about me. Well, here I am now, right now. 389 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,160 Let me. I forgot to mention that those 390 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:51,200 who who want to, you know, gag Christians from saying Merry 391 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,800 Christmas, OK, we won't say Merry Christmas, but Christ is 392 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,080 born praise and glory to his name, right? 393 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,680 Praise and glory be to his name, to give thanks and to partake in 394 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,600 the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 395 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,840 How do we do that? We do that through the Holy 396 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,120 Eucharist. We give thanks for that 397 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:16,280 participation in Christ's new life that He has given us 398 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:21,120 through baptism and continued life in Jesus Christ through the 399 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:24,160 Eucharist. We give thanks for His body and 400 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:29,760 blood that cleanse not just forgives, cleanses our sins each 401 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:35,120 time we partake in faith in all those who approach the 402 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,400 mysteries. As I said in the Assyrian 403 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,960 section, don't approach it with humor. 404 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,120 You don't need to say hello to everyone and and smirk at people 405 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,600 and come to the priest and say hi Ravi, how are you? 406 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,520 That's not time for hi Ravi, how are you? 407 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,000 That's fellowship. That's fellowship, right? 408 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,120 You don't you don't thank the priest. 409 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,840 You know many people comes like when you when you put the host 410 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:00,840 in their hand. He said the body of the body of 411 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,080 Allah to the pious believers for the revision of sins. 412 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,360 One one other point is each time you hear this Pahrat Maran 413 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,560 Lamhainayan or Lamhainazhita or Zahya that's shrugged. 414 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:16,760 You say I'm in, I'm in. That's it's not just a Catholic 415 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,800 term. You know, one person come and 416 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,400 said to me when I preaches, Oh, the Catholics do that. 417 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,920 Yeah, but that's right. Our brothers and sisters from 418 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:25,680 the Catholic Church have it right. 419 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,280 You have it wrong. 00 adherent of the Assyrian Church of the 420 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,600 East, Garrick AMR Amin. You're accepting it, You're 421 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,640 agreeing to it. You're believing that this is 422 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,440 the body for the remission of my sins. 423 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,280 And you don't need to say thank you, Robbie. 424 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,720 No, thank God, Thank Jesus. When you approach the the the 425 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:48,640 chalice, don't joke around with the with the Deacon. 426 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,800 If a Deacon, while administering the chalice is joking around 427 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:58,040 with you, or smirks at you or throws a joke at you, during the 428 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:03,440 administering of the blood of Christ, he is supposed to be 429 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:11,680 reciting the blood of our a spiritual a spiritual feast of 430 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:13,000 the blood. Of our Lord. 431 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,720 For the remission of sins, you say? 432 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,600 I mean, after you have drank, if the Deacon continues to joke 433 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,360 around with you and make mockery, report him to the 434 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,360 priest, they say. Robbie, Father, one of your 435 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,120 deacons continues to make mockery of the challenge. 436 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,000 And when a faithful makes a mockery of the chalice, the 437 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,800 Deacon will report you to the priest, and the priest will call 438 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,080 you and admonish you in love. I'm sorry. 439 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,840 If you don't believe that it is the blood of Christ, don't 440 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:42,640 approach it, because you bring condemnation. 441 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:44,000 Bible. According to the Bible, one 442 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,200 Corinthians you bring condemnation. 443 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,760 You approach with Thanksgiving in all and reverence and 444 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,920 respect, because at that time in one of the Church's doctrinal 445 00:29:54,920 --> 00:30:05,000 hymns, we say the angels are gazing at the putrid dirt, which 446 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:09,080 is man. They are, they are envious of 447 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,200 man who is approaching and holding the body, which is the 448 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:19,160 fiery coal that resembles the fiery coal, not resembles. 449 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,720 I'm sorry. The fiery coal was a prototype 450 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,280 of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 451 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,040 So attend church and give thanks. 452 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:33,400 Not only one Thanksgiving, you know, you, you, you, we, we, we 453 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,760 celebrate Thursday of Thanksgiving once a year. 454 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:40,440 Don't just attend, attend on a Christmas or Easter or Hosanna, 455 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,040 CEOs, Christa, Christmas, Easter or Shana. 456 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,800 No, each time the Divine Liturgies are being celebrated, 457 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,880 come and join us to give thanks to our Lord God. 458 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:53,080 Praise and glory be to His name now and at all times and 459 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:54,360 forever. Amen. 460 00:31:23,220 --> 00:31:25,260 We hope you enjoyed this week's message. 461 00:31:25,300 --> 00:31:28,500 Please don't forget to rate and review this podcast and share 462 00:31:28,500 --> 00:31:31,820 with your friends and family. For any future topic suggestions 463 00:31:31,820 --> 00:31:35,260 or to give us detailed feedback, please visit our link in the 464 00:31:35,260 --> 00:31:40,360 Show notes link. TR EE forward slash double edged 465 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,680 sword. Until next time, God bless you 466 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:43,000 all.