Three themes that are very dear to me:  blindness (Gospel); language and evangelism (Sts. Cyril and Methodius); and Memorial Day.  Today I will be addressing each of these in turn (briefly).

Blindness.

•Psychology and Sociology: We only see what we expect to see.  We instinctively justify our own behavior; collectively, this creates a culture that is based on deception and keeps us from seeing the joys and dangers of the world as it really is.  We fail to avoid the dangers and to embrace the joys (in fact, we are actually deceived into embracing dangers and avoiding the joys!). 

•I am reminded of my service as an intelligence analyst and officer for the army.  In a real sense, the deployed forces are blind.  Intelligence soldiers deploy sensors (“eyes”) of various types to help commanders “see” what is going on.  Many types, but one of the most useful is the reliable and well-placed witness: someone who understands what is going on, is not trying to deceive you, and is interesting in presenting things as they really are.

oBad witnesses.  Some people don’t know, and just make stuff up in order to get attention, feel important, or whatever.  Others may know what is going on, but are working against you.  They tell you just enough of the truth to make their deceptions credible.  War theaters are full of bad witnesses.  So is this world.

oGood witnesses.  People you can trust.  People who know what is going on, who support your mission, desire your success, and who will seek out and report the truth, even when it is dangerous.  Really good witnesses are rare.  In war, they are like gold and must be protected.  The enemy hates them and the truths they share.  Outside of the intelligence community and in the world at large,  good witnesses are also rare and often end up as martyrs.  The Apostles, prophets, saints, and the God-man Jesus Christ Himself are good witnesses.

•The great thing about Christ and His Church is that He not only describes the world as it really is, He will teach you to see it that way.  He will heal your blindess (Gospel).

Sts. Cyril and Methodius.

•Missionary zeal.  Brothers from Thessalonica were witnesses of the Truth to the slavs (9th century).  Was not enough to be able to see; imperative to help others to do so as well.  Required sharing the Truth in a language that people could understand.  Old Slavonic. 

•Led to a debate with those who believed that services could only be conducted in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin.  The Orthodox Church blessed this practice, and it is at the very heart of who we are as Ukrainian Orthodox: we celebrate the freedom to proclaim the Glory of Christ in the language that we actually speak (and not just in those that our blessed forbearers in Greece and Rus’ did… ). 

•This freedom led to the baptism of Rus’, ensured the survival of Ukrainian Orthodoxy despite persecution, and gives us the opportunity to preserve and proclaim it here in the New World.

Memorial Day.

We owe our lives and our freedom to soldiers who sacrificed themselves, their comfort, the comfort of their families, and even their very lives for us.  I want to speak for a moment about a dimension of this sacrifice that is not often discussed: damage to their souls.  Some are blind to it, but spiritual warfare is real – and I have not met a single soldier that was not wounded by it.  In war, soldiers face temptations and demons that you cannot imagine.  Only a saint would come through such a crucible unscathed.  Worse yet, we do not prepare our soldiers for the spiritual dimension of combat.  It is for this reason that the role of the Church is so critical: Christ is the Great Physician, and the Church is the Hospital where He resides.  Confession and Communion heal even the deepest wounds, and the prayers of the faithful make for a powerful balm.

There is great power in the witness of those who selflessly suffer for others, and Memorial Day is designed to pay homage to this truth.  But there is another purpose, and that is to pray for those who died in battle, that their sins may be forgiven them, that the damage war and living in this fallen world did to them may be healed so that these heroes may enjoy a reward of eternal bliss.  For heaven may be thought of as a place where all are vigilant and prepared to sacrifice themselves for others (as our fallen comrades and Christ Himself have for us), but where such devotion is rewarded not with blood and suffering that this world gave them, but with the compounding of ever greater levels of peace and love.

Until that day when the world is remade in perfection, the Orthodox Church offers up its witness of peace through two contrasting images: the image of the martyrs and the image of the ever-vigilant state.  The martyrs stand tall as they are persecuted, tortured, and killed for their faith, and their suffering sanctifies them and all those around them.  Recognizing the brutality of war, Orthodox Christianity nonetheless affirms that it is the God-ordained purpose of the government and those who serve in it to provide a safe and tranquil place for all of us to worship and pursue Godliness within its protective shell (e.g. Anaphora and Morning prayers).

And so we remember our fallen brothers and sisters, we honor them, and we thank them and all those who diligently serve and have served in order that we might be provided a safe and quiet place to pursue a peaceful life of sanctification in Our Lord Jesus Christ.  May their memory be eternal.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.