Human Independence Day - Fr. Joseph - March 26, 2023

Today on the fourth Sunday of Lent, Father Joseph Copeland, who is visiting from Yakima, Washington, offers the homily. Father Joseph is the father-in-law of our own Father Gregory. Father Joseph speaks about The Feast of the Annunciation and its connection to Greek Independence Day instead of today's Gospel reading. The Feast of the Annunciation is the inauguration of an independence day for humans. The Annunciation is a day when humans were set free from the tyranny of satan, oppression of the passions, and fear of death. We celebrate the coming together of the created and the uncreated in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus converts the worst thing imaginable, the killing of God, into the liberation of the Resurrection. Orthodox Christians cannot escape suffering and must carry crosses in the joy of the Lord, which is trusting in the absolute providence of God.