Here, in these four words, the entire fate of all people and of all times is contained, dear brothers and sisters! In four words, the whole history of all mankind is determined! How can this be so?
Through His Resurrection, our Lord delivered mankind from hell into Paradise. Our Lord delivered mankind from death into Immortality. The Lord resurrected human beings from nothingness into Eternal Life. The Lord took man from the devil and placed him into the embrace of God. That is Pascha! That is Resurrection, truly the greatest revolution of all times and of all worlds. This is the only perfect and complete revolution, for through it, Eternal Life was granted to mankind! Eternal Life, which we enter through Eternal Truth, Eternal Justice, Eternal Love, and Eternal Joy, comes to us through the Resurrected Godman Christ, as our holy Father Justin Popovich used to say.
Therefore, Easter is not simply the remembrance of a past event. It looms far, far greater than that. It is the real encounter in happiness and joy with Him whom our hearts long ago knew and encountered as the life and light of all light from the very beginning. Easter testifies that Christ is alive and with us and that we are alive with him. The entire celebration is an invitation to look at the world and life and to behold the dawning of the new day in the Light of Christ’s Resurrection, in the Light of His Eternal Truth, Eternal Justice, Eternal Love, in the Light of His Eternal Life. The whole creation exults in faith, in love, and in hope and sings:
“This is the day of Resurrection,
Let us be illumined by the feast,
Let us embrace each other,
Let us call brothers, even those that hate us,
And forgive all by the Resurrection,
And so let us cry:
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”
May the light and joy of Christ’s Resurrection destroy the torments and anxieties of our times and fill our hearts with hope in Eternal Life!
With these thoughts, emotions, and prayerful wishes, once more, I greet you with the most joyous of all greetings:
Christ Is Risen!
With love in the Resurrected Lord,
Fr. Blasko Paraklis