The Forerunner

 It is good for us to try to learn as much as possible about a man who our Lord described as the greatest born of woman. (Luke 7:28) And so let us study St. John.

What things are important about this man beyond the manner of his martyrdom?

The first thing we’ve just touched upon—our Lord’s endorsement of his status.  Some ask, “Isn’t Jesus the greatest born of woman?”  The answer is no, because Jesus was not born of a woman (a married female) - He was born of a Virgin.  To illustrate the importance of the Forerunner inside the Church, we must recognize that there are six (6) feasts in the annual calendar dedicated to St. John.  In the calendar, his conception is commemorated on 23Sep, ‘the Synaxis’, 07Jan.  The second finding of his head is commemorated on 24Feb.  Third finding is 25May.  His nativity is celebrated on 24Jun. And his beheading is commemorated on 29Aug.

His parents Zachariah and Elizabeth are saints, great and holy people whose prayer to be released from barrenness was answered with the birth of the Forerunner.

Saint Elizabeth is the sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Theotokos.  And so John is ‘family’ to our Lord!

St. John is also given the title of Prophet.  But this title is more than just a descriptive name.  He is the final (last) prophet in the Old Testament (that is BEFORE the coming of Christ).  And he is also the first prophet in the New Testament.  This has the Church describing him as a point of joining the two through this one man.

St. John is also the first martyr in Christ, giving his life about three years before the Protomartyr Stephen, who is known as the first martyr AFTER our Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension.

St. John is also the first to live a fully monastic life.  For this reason he remains to this day the patron saint of all monks.  We recall in the Gospel read today the young man coming to our Lord to ask what more he needs to do to inherit eternal life, and the answer is to sell all, give to the poor, and come and follow Christ.  This is the message that changed the heart of St. Anthony the Great, leading him into the desert to imitate the life of the Forerunner.

St. John’s message was simple.  Repent!  As Forerunner, his position as such was cemented in this preaching when our Lord’s first public message was identical to John’s—Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

St. John showed no self pride.  While he had disciples, after our Lord’s coming to him for baptism, he instructed two of his own, Andrew and Peter, to go and follow Christ.

One of the cornerstones of the monastic life is obedience.  St. John showed this totally in the interplay with our Lord when He came to John for baptism.  John spoke of his unworthiness to baptize the Lord.  Jesus instructed him to let it be for now to fulfill all righteousness.  And John obeyed!

We’ve not touched on fasting, or his manner of living.  We haven’t even mentioned Herod, and yet we’ve filled a page with accounts pointing to the worthiness of the Forerunner to be called the greatest born of woman.  St. John—intercede before the Lord for our souls!

11th Sunday After Pentecost

   We don’t need to be theologians to know what our Lord is telling us as He opens today’s Gospel reading.  A certain King wanted to settle accounts with His servants!

The “certain King” is God.  His is coming again with awesome glory and mighty power to judge the living and the dead—to settle accounts.

And my debt is huge.

I know we’ve done this before, but it bears repeating for the sake of effect.  Ten thousand talents of silver is equivalent to roughly 375 tons.  The price of silver as this is being penned is $38.32 per ounce.  That 375 tons equates to about 11 million ounces, or a monetary equivalent of just under $422 billion (with a “b”) dollars.

Why does our Lord offer an example such as this?  I think there are two reasons.

First:  In showing that the “certain King” is willing to forgive such an enormous debt, there is a loud and clear statement about the magnanimity of the King.  For someone to NOT be attached to such an incredibly large sum, He would have to be the Possessor of everything.  And so without defining God, the words show clearly that this is in fact God.

Second:  In showing the possibility of incurring a debt this large, one cannot ascribe it to the world at large.  Who could amass a debt of a half a billion dollars?  Countries do.  People don’t!  And so the parable must be pointing to something other than a financial matter.

Remember the third paragraph?

My debt is huge!  My sins are beyond numbering.  And my repentance is shallow, not commensurate with the sins I have committed.

And so, like today’s servant, my only recourse is to fall down before the King, offering the very same words as my own petition—Master, have patience with me.  In short, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

Now here comes the hard part.

Not unlike the servant in today’s Gospel reading, I demand recourse for sins associated with my fellow servants.  It may not be so much related to what they “owe” me.  Typically my failure in dealing with my fellow servants is judgmentalism.  “Look at what you’ve done!”  “You deserve to be punished for that!” 

Having received the great blessing, the promise that my sins will be forgiven because of my repentance, I immediately turn on others making myself judge, jury, and hangman.

And for this, I, like today’s servant, deserve the same recall before the King and to be re-sentenced to an even greater punishment.

Why is it so difficult to be loving to those who surround us, regardless of how they treat us?

St. John Chrysostom says this.  No one can feel hatred towards those for whom he prays.

St. Paul speaks in numerous places about this.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if you have any grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col 3:13)  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:32)

Lord, give to me a heart that is as forgiving as it is repentant, and grant me sincere repentance while You bless me to continue in this life!

The Sign of the Cross

 

Homily - Transfiguration

 This may seem like an odd way to start a sermon on this great and glorious Feast, but let me ask us all individually a question:

 Who is your God?

 I don’t pose this question to be argumentative, nor to simply be rhetorical.  Really – Who is your God?  Who is MY God?

 As I look at my own life, I can see phases in my life when my “God” was my job, my house full of nice things, my education, my pleasure….  There have been quite a number of “things” that I’ve allowed to creep into my life and become, at least for a time, my “God”.

 The First Commandment says, “I am the Lord your God.  You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Ex 20:1) So, clearly, I have sinned, I have violated God’s law, and I have shared in Adam’s failings by not obeying what is a rather simple set of rules for life.

 But to answer the question, “Who is your God?”, we must first, I think, define the characteristics of God, so that when we encounter Him, we recognize Him.  What are the characteristics of our God, so that we can know Him?

 First, there are a number of items that we should describe as “natural attributes.”  These things we ascribe to God from our own limited conception of creation, with God being outside space and time.

 Natural Attribute #1 – God is at all times and in all places present.  He is not confined in space.  And He is everywhere at all times.  In Acts 17:27, we are told “He is not far from each one of us.” 

 Natural Attribute #2 – God is eternal, and it is by way of this characteristic that we can in some limited fashion understand His ability to be in all places at the same time.  2Peter 3:8 teaches us that, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  Since God is eternal, we also come to understand Him as ‘unchangeable’.  This is a very difficult concept for us as humans, for we as beings constrained by time know things are constantly changing, different.  Tomorrow will not be like today.  Tomorrow even I will not be like I am today.  Yet, for One who is eternal, there is neither tomorrow nor today.  There is no time.  And therefore, if there is no time, then there can be no change, for change is something measured as a function of time.

 Natural Attribute #3 – God is almighty.  Luke Chapter 1 Verse 37 teaches, “For with God nothing will be impossible.”  Hebrews 1:3 teaches, “The universe is upheld by His word of power.”  Now, I know that skeptics offer absurd arguments, “Can He create a rock so large that even He cannot move it?”  But such questions are not in line with the meaning of this attribute.  God can do whatever He WILLS.  He does not do whatever He can.  Saint John of Damascus teaches that God CAN destroy the universe, but He does not WILL to do so, and so He upholds it by His will. 

 God also has what we can describe as “logical attributes.”  These include:

 Logical Attribute #1 – God possesses all knowledge.  From the book of Job (28:24) we learn, “God sees everything under the heavens.”  And from Psalms (94:11) we learn, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man.”  This applies to things that we see as in the past, but also those things that we will see in the future.  This characteristic is often described by those same skeptics as “pre-destination”.  Their thesis is that if God already knows you’re going to do something, then He must have somehow “made” you make that choice.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  The fact that His Natural Attributes show Him to be in all places and at all times indicates that we continue in time to have our own “free will,” but in His timelessness He knows what paths we have taken, even before we choose those paths.

 Logical Attribute #2 – God possesses all wisdom.  From Proverbs (3:19) we learn, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.”  Wisdom indicates that God knows the most excellent of means by which to effect His excellent purpose.  The greatest display of this wisdom is in His effecting our salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

 God also has what we can describe as “ethical attributes.”  These include:

 Ethical Attribute #1 – God is holy!  From Isaiah (57:15) we hear, “Thus says the Most High, who dwells on high forever.  Holy in the holies is His name, the Most High resting in the holies.”  Holy means one who is totally separated from that which is unclean and/or sinful.  It coincides with that which is totally good.  His holiness binds His will to His goodness. 

 Ethical Attribute #2 – God is love!  From 1John (4:7-8) we hear, “For love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”  Love shows that God gives takes that which belongs only to Him and gives it to His creation, and especially to humanity.  Love gives its riches to someone else.  Love is meaningless without giving, regardless of the recipient.  It is the antithesis of selfishness.  Love is a living part of God’s essence.  It is within love that we come to fully understand all of the other attributes ascribed to God.

 Natural, logical, ethical – these are the terms we’ve just used to in some fashion try to describe our conception of God.  Yet, there is one more that somehow doesn’t fit even into these categorizations.

 God is Trinity, three Gods are in fact One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  These are separate and distinct, and yet unity, undivided.  This as a concept is even more difficult for the human mind to comprehend than His timelessness and His eternal nature.  And so, the best we can do is to relegate these characteristics to the category of “mystery” – things that, while we believe them to be true, we have no way within our human frame to understand, except in imperfect analogies. 

 And, this is our God! 

 Now, why are you focusing us on these attributes today, Father, as we are here witnessing the Transfiguration?

 Let us look at Christ on this day.  What do we see with the senses He has given us?

 Natural Attribute #1 – He is everywhere at all times.  We see Christ on Mount Tabor, with His Apostles, and yet also fully with Moses and Elijah.  Neither Moses nor Elijah knew one another as they walked this earth.  And yet by this power of God, the old and the new are united, here on earth, His creation, His handiwork, by virtue of . . .

 Natural Attribute #3 – His might.  Our Lord works this miracle to bring joy to His Apostles, to sustain them AND US through the Cross, through the Resurrection, and through the years until we await His Glorious Second Coming.  He works this gift by His nature as almighty and…..

 Natural Attribute #2 – His eternal nature.  If the Lord Himself were not eternal, He would have no ability to connect past to future, to bring Moses together with Peter, to show Elijah to John and James.  He does this because…..

 Logical Attribute #1 – He possesses all knowledge.  He knows that without this gift, His Apostles will lose heart at His crucifixion, that they will have no glimpse of Him in His glory as God, and thereby be subjected to greater temptation to lose their own faith.  In His….

 Logical Attribute #2 – Wisdom.  In His wisdom He grants this gift to them as a sustaining element of their faith.  And it not only sustained them, but it continues to sustain us, as we await His return.  He could do none of this if He were not…..

 Ethical Attribute #1 – Holy.  In His holiness, His goodness effects His will.  And because He ……

 Ethical Attribute #2 – Loves.  Because He loves us, He gives to us freely that which is His alone.  He shows to us, as far as we can come to understand, His glory.  This is His alone, and yet He shares it with us, showing us the level to which He calls us through His love for us.  He fully reveals Himself to us as…..

 God in Trinity!  The Father’s presence is known in His voice.  The Son is Transfigured and we see Him in His glory.  The Spirit is known in the Radiant Light that illumines Tabor.

 THIS is our God.  THIS is whom we serve.  THIS is the God who supplants all those things that tear at us from this life, which attempt to bind us to this earthly life so that we ignore and thereby lose our way to our own eternal life.

 And that eternal life is a gift of love, of wisdom, of knowledge, and of every other attribute we’ve named. 

More On Prayer

 [From Archimandrite Sophrony, "His Life is Mine," Chapter 6, SVS Press, pgs 55-56]

Of all approaches to God, prayer is the best and in the last analysis the only means.  In the act of prayer the human mind finds its noblest expression.  The mental state of the scientist engaged in research, of the artist creating a work of art, of the thinker wrapped up in philosophy - even of professional theologians propounding their doctrines - cannot be compared to that of the man of prayer brought face to Face with the Living God.  Each and every kind of mental activity presents less of a strain than prayer.  We may be capable of working for ten or twelve hours on end, but a few moments of prayer and we are exhausted.

"What Do I Have to Do With You, Jesus?"

 

The Multitudes Become Prophets

 The Gospel for today picks up where we left off last week—Jesus is back in the boat crossing the Sea of Galilee, returning to His home.

As has become the case with our Lord, people have come to seek Him out, for they’ve learned that benefits follow Him everywhere.  And so now they bring to Jesus a paralytic lying on a bed.  St. Mark details this event as the one in which these friends of the paralyzed man open the roof of the house where our Lord is preaching because they can’t get near enough because of the crowds.

And we know the story.  Jesus heals again with His word.  “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

And just as the sheep have gathered in their faith, the wolves are also gathered.  “This man blasphemes,” say those of the scribes who are present.

What is it that brings this miraculous healing?  Is it the faith of the one who is paralyzed?  We can’t say that this is not PART of the story.  But St. Matthew records, “When He saw THEIR faith…”  Who is it that is described by the word THEIR?  Since we’ve become focused on pronouns, let us be attentive.  THEIR is plural!  What is being referred to here is the faith of those friends who carried this poor unfortunate to come before Jesus.  It is THEY who have believed sufficiently to have THEIR faith rewarded.

The Study Bible reveals that three components of our Lord’s divinity are on display in this account. 

First, He knows the hearts of men (2Chron 6:30—Then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men)).

Second, He grants forgiveness of sins (Ps 103:12—As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us).

Third, He heals simply by the power of His word (Ps 107:20—He sent His Word and healed them).

St. Matthew ends today’s lesson by describing the crowds assembled.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, Who had given such power to men.

And herein lies the mentioned “prophecy”!

The crowds see Jesus as a “man”.  And they see in part rightly, for we Orthodox know Him simultaneously as both God AND Man!

But their vision is imperfect.  In this case it is not a “man” who has this power to heal by His word alone.  It is THE “Man”, the God-Man Who does this.

So why are the crowds words prophetic instead of just being “wrong”?

It is because our Lord promises His Apostles, Verily, verily I say to you, he that believes in Me, the works that I do shall he also do; and greater works than these shall He do; because I go to my Father.” (John 14:12)

And so from the very lips of our Lord we find the crowds words, although not by their choice intended to say so, but saying nonetheless that God gives such authority, such power, to men.  It has been proven through all generations of the Church!

Saints Peter and Paul

 Being exposed to both the Gospels and the Epistles throughout the Worship Calendar for each year, we are certainly not unfamiliar with Saints Peter and Paul.  But as to knowledge of what happened to them as missionaries, we begin to lose sight of who they are to the Church.

We speak often of how the Church’s teachings about any particular Feast come from Her hymnology.  And so let us give consideration on this day to some of the hymns that come from Matins for this Feast Day.  The following are three Kathisma from the service.  The first sings the praises of St. Peter.

Having abandoned the fishing grounds, you received from the Father Himself the revelation of the Word’s Incarnation, and as one who is privileged you cried to all, saying to your Creator, ‘I have known You as Son of God, consubstantial with Him.  Therefore you were truly revealed as the rock of faith, as is proper, and a trustee of the keys of grace.  Intercede, therefore, O Apostle Peter, with Christ our God to grant forgiveness of sins to those who eagerly celebrate your memory.

The second sings the praises of St. Paul

From heaven, from Christ our God, you received the call, and you appeared as the preacher of Light, illuminating all with the teachings of grace; for having challenged the worship of the written Law, you caused the knowledge of the Spirit to rise for believers.  Therefore you worthily ascended to the third heaven and attained Paradise.  Therefore, O Holy Apostle Paul, intercede with Christ our God to grant forgiveness of sins to those who eagerly celebrate your holy memory.

And a third that praises both.

Let us extol those two great luminaries of exceeding radiance, the all-wise Peter and Paul, who have been manifested as heads of the Disciples, radiating with the fire of the Divine Spirit, and burning up the darkness of error, thus attaining worthily their abode in the kingdom on high, being equal in grace and rank.  Therefore we cry out to them saying, ‘O Apostles of Christ our God, seek forgiveness of sins for those who eagerly celebrate your holy memory.

In the services for this day the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul are glorified, as friends of Christ,  of the heavenly recesses, rivers of knowledge, feeders of the entire inhabited world, preachers of true piety, intercessors for the whole world, disciples of Christ and founders of the Church, true pillars and walls, and trumpets of the doctrine and suffering of the divine Christ, fishers of the world, possessors of the keys of the Kingdom, prototypes of the preachers of God, chiefs of the Apostles.

The Prologue records these words:

Unlearned and learned but equal in spirit and in the love of God, as strong as angels, Peter a simple man, Paul educated, both illumined, by the grace of the Spirit, two flaming candles, unquenchable, towering and beautiful, two brilliant stars, traversed the earth and spread the light. Nothing did they take, to men they gave all, completely poor, the world they enriched, prisoners and servants, conquered the entire world with the teaching of Christ, enriched the world, with a new weapon conquered the entire world: by humility and peace and meekness blessed, Prayer and fasting and mercy powerful. When to them, that stormy day, arrived the stormy night, bloodthirsty Nero, their life cut short.  But when the ruler of the world, a command issued and to suffering, gave over Peter and Paul the world was theirs and not his [Nero's] anymore, by death, the apostles gained the Kingdom.

The Comforter

 Since the bright day of our Lord’s Resurrection, we’ve refrained from using “the prayer of the Holy Spirit.”  In none of our Divine Services have we uttered His prayer:

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who is everywhere present and fills all things.  Treasury of blessings, and Giver of Life: Come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One!

Our refraining from offering this prayer in no way detracts from our worship of nor our honor toward the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.  It is simply a move toward first and foremost the importance of the Resurrection in our lives.  For those forty days we dedicate deference to Christ’s Life Creating work of Resurrection, His destruction of death BY His death!

And for the intervening ten days we give that same deference to the recognition of His Glorious Ascension, for it is by this creative act that mankind is blessed to receive the path to His heavenly kingdom, and that we as His created race find a body like ours seated at the right hand of the Father—in Glory!

Today, the Holy Church returns to Her “normal” practice of worship.  Today we reinstitute the practice of kneeling, something that also “disappeared” with the advent of our Lord’s Resurrection.

There’s another Liturgical ‘change’ that we reinstate today that has also been missing for the past fifty days.  This is our offering the hymn sung after the Holy Eucharist is returned to the Altar after communing the faithful:

We have seen the True Light.  We have received the Heavenly Spirit.  We have found the True Faith, worshipping the undivided Trinity, Who has saved us.

Our Lord taught us, I am the Light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

And so within this prayer, we acknowledge the fullness of the Trinity—Christ as the One Who illumines us in faith, the Holy Spirit Who fills us with His understanding, and the Father as the Completion of the Divine Trinity.  For as the hymn states clearly, it is through the Holy Trinity that we find salvation.

We find the full revelation of the Trinity once again in the Church’s hymnology from Vespers:

Come, O people, let us worship the Godhead in three Persons: the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit.  For the Father timelessly begot the Son, co-eternal and co-enthroned with Him; and the Holy Spirit was in the Father and is glorified with the Son.  We worship one Power, one Essence, one Godhead, and we say: “Holy God, Who created all things through Your Son with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit; Holy Mighty, through Whom we know the Father; and through Whom the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the world; Holy Immortal, Comforting Spirit, Who proceeded from the Father and rests in the Son.  O Holy Trinity, glory to You!”

On this day, let us all worship God in Trinity, one in essence, and undivided, Who loves His creation mankind sufficiently to become one of us, and to dwell among and in us!

From 'The Prologue' for 11May

 REFLECTION:

In the Saracen encampment they asked St. Cyril, "How can Christians wage war and at the same time keep Christ's commandment to pray to God for their enemies?"

To this, St. Cyril replied, "If two commandments were written in one law and given to men for fulfilling, which man would be a better follower of the law, the one who fulfilled one commandment, or the one who fulfilled both?"

The Saracens replied, "Undoubtedly, he who fulfills both commandments."

St. Cyril continued, "Christ our God commands us to pray to God for those who persecute us and even to do good to them.  But He also said to us, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13)."  That is why we bear the insults that our enemies cast at us individually and why we pray to God for them.  However, as a society, we defend one another and lay down our lives, so that you would not enslave our brethren, would not enslave their souls with their bodies, and would not destroy them in both body and soul."

A Homily for Mother's Day

 

Paralysis

 pə-răl′ĭ-sĭs—noun; 1) loss or impairment of the ability to move a body part, usually as a result of damage to its nerve supply; 2) loss of sensation over a region of the body; 3) inability to move or function, total stoppage or severe impairment of activity

Well, at least what the American Heritage Dictionary says about the word.

We find this kind of paralysis in today’s Gospel’s description of the paralytic that our Lord finds at the pool by the Sheep’s Gate.

The pool was near to the Temple.  Faithful Jews would bring their offering of sheep for sacrifice in the Temple and bathe them in this pool to remove the filth that living in the world attached to them.  Then they would take their clean animals into the Temple as an offering for their sins.

The man whom we know only as “the paralytic” is found by our Lord sitting near this pool.  Why?  Because at a certain time an angel came and stirred the water granting a healing blessing to the first to enter.  Being paralyzed, the man sought this healing.  When our Lord asks Do you want to be made well, the man who suffered this malady for 38 years simply replied, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred.  Now, this poor unfortunate has the God-man, the Son of Man, and the water is superfluous.  For our Lord heals the man, not by touch, not by using the water, but by His word alone.  Rise, take up your bed and walk.

St. John records that immediately the man was made well, not in hours, not after going to another location, but as soon as our Lord spoke the word, he could stand.  He could move!

Many may respond, “That’s great, father.  I’m not paralyzed.  What does it mean to me?”

You (and I) may not be paralyzed according to the opening definition.  But I submit to you an alternate definition of paralysis:  4) inability to function, or total stoppage or severe impairment to move spiritually.

Now, let’s reconsider our divorcing ourselves from today’s miracle, for I think I must conclude for myself that I indeed DO suffer from such spiritual paralysis.  How so?

The first manifestation is “excuses”.  When it’s time to pray, I’m too busy, too tired, unprepared.  In short, there are “things” that prevent me from taking the action called for.  I SHOULD MOVE, BUT I DON’T. 

Another manifestation is “judgmentalism”.  There are those my Lord would describe as my neighbor, but I don’t do for them what He has shown me as my example with the Good Samaritan.  I set my own value on them by ascribing to myself the greater importance.  I covet my time, my resources, my ability to be a help, and hold them to myself.  The blessings God has given me, I do not share with those in need.  I SHOULD MOVE, BUT I DON’T. 

Can I yet hear my Lord asking ME, Do you want to be made well?  You see, there is a certain measure of comfort in my spiritual paralysis, isn’t there?

And so I look and see myself sitting by my own Sheep’s Pool and asking, “Is there anyone who will put me in?” 

You see, I DO want to change!

Christ is Risen!

Things Will Never Be The Same

 Having experienced our Lord’s glorious Resurrection, having shouted joyously just two weeks ago, “Christ is Risen!”, we find ourselves now “settling in” to what we might couch as a more normal pattern.  The intensity of services every day (often multiple services) has passed.  Even the memory of how we wept hearing the Gospel readings of Holy Week, and how the words He gave up His spirit tore at our hearts, those have been properly supplanted by the joyous recognition of Christ’s victory over death and Hades.

But ‘normal’ is not a place to live out our lives!  While knowing the Lord’s victory is real, we also live still in this fallen world, and we recognize our need to change the way we interact with His world, with His people, with those He pointed us toward as the least of His brethren.

In short, we must live as though we carry the Resurrection within us, its joyous message for all of humankind filling us.  It would be the greatest thing to have people around us notice this about us, and have them ask us, “Why are you always so happy?”, just so that we could respond simply, directly, “Because Christ is Risen, and nothing will ever be the same!”

From that “eighth day” when our Lord came to His Apostles through closed doors, the Resurrection was made forever real to this world.  From that day forward, every Sunday is “a little Pascha”, a day of Resurrection.

Within the prayers of the Divine Liturgy, as the clergy enter the altar as part of the Great Entrance with the Holy Gifts, the priest prays these words:  In the tomb with the Body, in hell with the Soul, in Paradise with the thief, and on the throne with the Father and the Spirit are You, O boundless Christ, filling all things. 

This image of “filling all things” belongs to God in Trinity.  We prayed it in the words above.  When we pray the prayer to the Holy Spirit, we say, Who is everywhere present and fills all things.” We confess in both that all of creation is bound together by God and His divine love for us, His creation. 

He intended for us to be with Him for all time—in Paradise– from the point of creation.  When we separated ourselves from Him by our sin, He did not abandon us to eternal separation from Him.  Instead, He came, put on our flesh.  And when He by His own power raised Himself from the dead, He carried all of humanity (those who choose to be His servants) to return to that Paradise He made for us from the beginning.

Before the Resurrection, there was no path that we as humans could define to bring ourselves to God.  Through the Resurrection, all of creation has been renewed, restored.  Jesus told His Apostles before going to the Cross, Where I go you know, and the way you know. (John 14:4)  He has blazed the path, and called us to follow.

The end to the prayer offered from St. John’s Liturgy before ends with these words:  Bearing life and more fruitful than Paradise, brighter than any royal chamber, Your tomb, O Christ, is the fountain of our Resurrection.

Let us as one carry with us wherever we go the knowledge that He has won that final, eternal victory, and we must rejoice.

Christ is Risen!