A homily during the celebration of the Eucharist, a word which means "Thanksgiving," on American Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for? Among many verses of Scripture, this one is apropos: "A man shall draw near, and the heart is deep" (Psalm 63:6). Our heart was made by God to be deep enough to contain Him. The temporal time we spend on earth fills this heart, as there are good times and bad times, but always with God. This I am thankful for. On this day we are celebrating St. John Chrysostom, who famously, as he was dying, said "Glory to God for all things." I, in a poor way, unlike him, am thankful for all these things. Two of them are described in the reading appointed for him, from John, about the Shepherd. One part says that his sheep go in and out, and find pasture. This is the total freedom of being in God. We do not have this freedom yet, but we are attaining it. As we attain it, we are shepherds, no matter if we are priests, or bishops, or lay people, because our Lord is a Shepherd, and we are becoming like Him. Therefore, I am thankful for the hard things, the losses, the grief and toil, in which, in a little way, I have been like a Shepherd. This is the great privilege of man. We have a deep heart, able to contain the uncontainable God, and we are able to learn to be like Him, and know Him and have union with Him.

When Jesus was touched by the woman with an issue of blood He said “Who touched me?” Moments later, He told her that her faith made her well. What is this faith? We must learn from it. As part of our education, we talk about what we must expect and yearn for when we attend the liturgy. We also compare her faith to that of the Shunamite widow, whose son Elisha raised. Luke 7:41-56.

We must answer all questions in Scripture. The question of the legion of demons in the Gaderene demoniac is one we must answer every moment: "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high?" The only possible correct (and rare!) answer: "Everything." There are some good examples of this answer: from a man recently baptized in prison, and the Shunamite woman who went to Elisha because her son died. We also discuss what we should expect when we attend any service, especially liturgy.

Two kinds of being "dead in sins." One leads to life. "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved)." What does it mean to be "dead in sins"? There are two ways to be "dead in sins," and one leads to life. We look at some examples from the Scriptures, and "define" other important words in Ephesians 2:4-10, that seem simple, but are not well understood: being "quickened," grace, faith, works which do not save and works without which we will not be saved. We also touch again as we did yesterday on our identity in Christ as His workmanship, and tell the sad story of a man who identified with free masonry and his grandfather above Christ. Do you know what is dead and what is alive? This is a critical question which you must answer many times each day.

Our society has an identity crisis. People identify themselves by many things - their wealth, success, politics, race, sexuality, and many more things. Only one identity saves us. We discuss the life of Great Martyr Demetrius in light of the teaching on identity by St Paul: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

The Parable of the Sower is not just a story. It is a command; it teaches us how to live. We go over some of the "circled words" at the end of the parable, "good ground," and "an honest and good heart," and "bring forth fruit with patience." They all teach us the way of life. We especially describe two kinds of patience. One is a wonderful personality trait to possess, but is not salvific, in and of itself, The other is absolutely necessary for salvation; without this kind of patience, no person can be saved. We also talk about ways to cultivate this kind of patience from personal pastoral experience.

In the raising of the son of the Widow of Nain, two words stand out: "weep not." Only Jesus has the authority to say these words to those who grieve, because He has the ability to do anything. Why do we weep; why are we sad about things great and small in life? Our Lord is continually, forcefully ordering us to "weep not" about such things. We should only weep about sin in ourselves and others. We look at why we weep inappropriately, and how to live in such a way to understand and follow the command of our Lord: "weep not." (Luke 7:11-16)

The reason for the Golden Rule varies, depending on the level of spiritual development of the hearer. It is good to understand the "stages" a Christian goes through in obeying this rule, and what it is and what it is not. Most think it is about fairness, or, if more advanced, that it tells us to use our desires and feelings to judge how others would want to be treated. These understanding are good, but not perfect. At the end of His teaching, Jesus gives the reason why the perfect follow the Golden rule: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Luke 6:31-3

We modern Christians give up too easily. The saints of the Scriptures did not give up. They had things in their life that they chose to make "non-negotiable." We must too. We look at the examples of Elisha, Ruth, and the Apostle Peter. If we do not have non-negotiable things in our lives, we have no life. "As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." "Whithersoever thou goest, I will go, and wheresoever thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." " Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." 2(4) Kings 2:1-2, Ruth 1:16-18, John 6:67-69

The first great catch of fish, given in Luke 5:1-11 occurred as the Lord was assembling his apostles. They were ignorant and untested men. This incident is more powerful for the soul when it is read with the account of the second great catch of fish, in the Gospel of John. This occurred after 3 1/2 years of seasoning, teaching, successes, and failures. The differences in the two accounts are very edifying to explore. They will affect the way you live your life if you are paying attention. First Sunday of Luke, Luke 5:1-11.