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Text Box: persist in these sins. The Priest knows people persist in these sins. Does the persistence in sin cause the Priest to cease teaching and preaching against these sins? No, he persists in his proper teaching and preaching. Does he perceive any improvement in the general condition in these matters? Possibly some small improvement from time to time, but he also acknowledges the current culture promotes immorality through every possible venue. He acknowledges the recruits to these sins are vastly greater in number than those who oppose these particular sins. Why does the Priest persist? Because he follows God’s lead, and that is what God does. Can the Priest ever even feel confident he has been successful in just one instance, with just one person? Not often. Not really. Though he will from time to time perceive his efforts to be the main cause of an individual being on the path to countenance in accordance with that person’s station in life, the Priest will never really know the final outcome until “eternity”. He may become discouraged, and especially discouraged if one who was stable in countenance, fails; and the entire process must be begun anew. Discouragement can become even stronger if the individual dies in the process of reestablishing a life of countenance. But the Priest possesses the ultimate “final weapon” so-to-speak. He can continue to pray for that individual even after the individual is dead. The most powerful “weapon” in his arsenal in that situation is the Requiem Divine Liturgy. ~~~ People are constantly making up, creating, their own religions. Some of these have exerted sincere effort

Text Box: in an attempt to determine spiritual reality and in that effort have concocted a belief system. But they always insist on maintaining control and therefore refuse to accept in their belief system anything which has even the potential of diminishing their control. They therefore have not really been sincere in their inquiries into spiritual reality. Others create their own religions, attempting to formulate a world into what they would like it to be. There is really no difference between these individuals, and those who belong to a religion and then make exceptions to that religion’s rules so they can engage in their favorite sins - thereby creating a new religion. These types of new religions are created every hour of every day. A Priest knows the real religion. It has not changed from its inception and its inception is eternal. It began with God, Who had no beginning and has no end, and that one true religion persists and continues. The new religions have no effect on the reality of the one true religion. The true religion applied to the first creatures of which we are aware, the angels - actually, technically, the spirits -, all of whom we think were created at the same time. Then it applied to the first humans, and to all humans thereafter. Since the nature of humans is different from that of the spirits, the true religion applies in accordance with that human nature. After the fall of Adam and Eve, that human nature changed in accordance with sin, and the same true religion applied in accordance with that fallen human nature. The system for application of that same true religion was given a different structure through various Prophets and holy men, notably Noah, Abraham, and Isaac, and was formulated in the covenant which was eventually written in the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses. When the Messiah Jesus Christ God came, taught, endured His passion and death, and rose from the dead, the New Covenant of the very same true religion was established giving

Text Box: mankind new means of accessing God’s assistance. The Priest teaches this, teaches the one true religion, teaches its doctrine and truths, teaches the means God has given whereby mankind can access God’s assistance and that these means are exclusive - that there are no other means. Yet the new religions continue to proliferate like fleas on a gutter rat. A reasonable person would expect every Priest to be discouraged because of this. Indeed, from time to time, when an individual Priest allows reasoned logic to overpower Faith, Hope, and Charity, he should become discouraged. But Faith soon overcomes reasoned logic, and allows reason to function in Faith, thereby assisting to Priest to acknowledge the Free Will possessed by every human, and the exercise thereof. This process is simple to comprehend once one realizes reasoned logic demands one reach the logical conclusion that every individual will desire to form a religion which changes that individual’s favorite sin into a virtue. But reasoned Faith shows the Priest those innumerable individuals who reject creating their own religion in favor of attempting to follow the one true religion established from all time by God. This gives the Priest Hope, for himself and for all of mankind. And Divine Love, Charity, makes his heart restless for the salvation of each and every human being. And especially for the salvation of those whom he knows. In that Charity the Priest again relies on the one most powerful and effective thing he can do - praying the Divine Liturgy. His own personal life and example will be defective because he is not perfect. But his example of persistence in pursuit of the Divine Will will influence others and will effect others, as will his praying the Divine Liturgy. Why does he persist? Is that not what Jesus Christ God did and does? Is a Priest to do other than what God did and does? Of course not. He is to follow the

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