Finding God in the Ordinary

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Most everyone’s life is very ordinary. We rise in the morning, go about our business and the world does not pay us any attention at all outside of our circle of influence. Basically, our lives are very ordinary. We go day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year and for most of us our life does not change. I for one like that my life is usually the same. There is some comfort to be gained from the knowledge that today and tomorrow will be the same.
We have just completed the holiest week of the year and now we are faced with a long stretch of time that in some ecclesiastical circles is called ordinary time. The question is how does one find God in the everyday situations of life? How do we find God in the everyday things that we do, or can we? Is God present in everything or only in those things that we would traditionally call holy? As hard as it is to imagine we have to do just that.
In the Orthodox Church some priests will function as what is known as a Spiritual Father. This is a much deeper relationship than one would think of when they think of the western concept of spiritual direction. The Spiritual Father is in a very real sense a guide and a fellow traveler or, as the Celts called them, the Anamcara or Soul Friend. It is the ministry of the Soul Friend to guide the person along their spiritual path; they are never alone as the Soul Friend is always there. I have the privilege to serve as a Soul Friend to several people and to join them on their journey.

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Sermon ~ Lord I Believe, Help My Unbelief!

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Sunday of St. Thomas
Sunday of St. Thomas
John 20:19-31

Today the Church remembers a person of great faith but also a person of great doubt.

The Gospel story we hear today takes place on the eve of the Resurrection. The Apostles, and others were gathered in the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper, and they had locked the doors. They were afraid of what was going to happen next. Their entire world had changed in the last few days and they did not yet understand why. For some reason Thomas was not present at this time.
Jesus appears in their midst and says, “Peace be with you!” I can only imagine what they were thinking! Just think about it. You just buried someone that you know and love. The next day someone comes and tells you that the grave is open and the body is gone and the gardener has told you that he has been raised. Now you are more frightened then you were before. So you and your friends are in hiding, and no one knows where you are. Then, poof, the person appears in front of you out of thin air and all He has to say is Peace! WOW! I don‘t know about you but I would be a little freaked out.
At this point in the story Jesus gives them their first commission. To forgive sins, the ministry of Confession that we have all come to know and love. Notice how He breathes on them, just as He did in the Genesis story after the creation of humanity when He breathed in humanities nostrils, He imparted His Sprit, his Ruah, His very essence into Humanities nostrils and now He does them same thing here. He gave them His essence for Ministry, the Gospel tells us He gave them the Holy Spirit, the tools we need for ministry, in other words, Jesus ordained them in the Upper Room.
Now Thomas was missing. Again we do not know why at first glance but we learn latter on why he was not there. So Thomas hears about Jesus coming back and He does not believe. Again, put yourself in the story. You come home and your friends tell you that Jesus, whom you saw crucified and buried, came and spoke to them. I would think they were smoking something! Thomas does not believe and in fact says that unless he can touch Jesus with his own hands he will not believe. Thomas has to wait a week for what happens next. Also notice that if you miss Church you miss a lot!
So eight days later Jesus appears to them again, and says Peace to you! This time Thomas is there. I can just see him over in the corner, working the buffet and all of a sudden, poof, Jesus is there! I bet he dropped his plate! Jesus say to Thomas go ahead and touch me, “reach your finger here and put it in my side” “Look at my hands” Do not be unbelieving but believing! WOW! What do you say at this point! Hey, Jesus, I was just kidding? Its okay I’m good but thanks anyway. Jesus does not force Thomas to touch Him; Jesus does not force Thomas to believe, just like He does not force us to believe. He just waits, all eyes are on Thomas. All are there, waiting to see what Thomas is going to do.
Although the Gospel does not say this, I can imagine that Thomas fell to his knees and in a loud voice exclaimed, “My Lord and My God!” Thomas believes so that we all can believe.
It is important to note that when the Theotokos was dying all of the Apostles were transported to her side, again except Thomas. He came after she had died and wanted to see her body before he would believe.
We all have doubts, we all have disbelief. This is common and Jesus understands this. We all need answers to our questions even the ones that do not have answers. Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” This is a common phrase among those of us who are believers. We believe because someone told us the story and we have faith. Remember what Jesus said about faith, with faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains, do we believe that? Do we believe that with faith we can do anything? We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, we are part of the family of God the Father and we can do anything if we do it in the name of God!
Lord I believe help my unbelief!
We believe but at the same time we have doubts.
Last week we witnessed some of the most brutal weather our country has seen in a long time. Hundreds of people have died and thousands have lost everything. It is at times like these that people ask how can God let this happen? Where was God for those people? Why did God not protect them? Maybe we have asked these questions ourselves? Sometimes we cannot make sense out of things and maybe we are not supposed to be able to.
Jesus had been crucified, died, and was buried. The Apostles thought that was end. They thought their world had ended and they did not know what was going to happen next. They were afraid. Jesus comes to them and breaths on them and makes things a little better for them. Their world had completely changed and would never ever be the same. Most of them would lose their life because of what they witnessed. But they had faith, the faith that could move mountains and they did not do it alone, they did it with the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Lord I believe, help my belief.
What is God asking of us today, what is He calling us to do? Yes we are afraid and we are in the upper room not knowing what comes next, the Jesus comes and tells us it will all be okay. Jesus is telling us to reach out our hands to touch his side and the nail prints in His hands. Do we have to touch them or will be, as Thomas did, fall on our knees and believe?

Mystery Solved

Posted on by Fr. Peter
On Holy Thursday in the Orthodox Church, the priest consecrates a second Lamb (consecrated bread mixed with some wine) that is put into the Tabernacle and used during the year to bring to the sick. If any of the previous year’s Lamb remains it need to be consumed during the Liturgy.
After the consecration the Lamb will need to dry before placing it in the Tabernacle. This is a long process so the Lamb will sit on the Paten covered for a few days. On Holy Thursday I did just this and placed it for safe keeping on the table of Preparation just to the side of the Altar.
On Holy Saturday morning I went to the Church to prepare for the morning Liturgy and I checked on the process and much to my horror it was gone! Not a trace of it remained on the Paten. I panicked and did not know what to do. I have heard stories of folks breaking in to Churches to steal the Blessed Sacrament for nefarious purposes and I prayed that this was not the case.
At that Liturgy I consecrated another Lamb and began the process all over again. I prayed the prayers for a Church that has been desecrated, just in case, and went about my day with a very dark cloud hanging over my head.
For the rest of the day whenever I left the Church I locked the doors, this because quit a pain since I was carrying things up to the Church from the Rectory to decorate for the Resurrection Service that night. I kept checking to see if all was okay, and after the Resurrection service before I went to bed I check one more time to see if all was well and it was.
Sunday morning I went to the Church to prepare for the Agape Vespers and I checked and half of the Lamb was missing! So I have concluded that we have a mouse in the Church, a very Holy Mouse by this point!
This became the topic of my sermon for Sunday mornings Agape Vespers. I spoke about miracles and how we seem to miss the small ones and how we Orthodox do believe in miracles. I told Mickey, that he had had his last supper! But on second thought how can you exterminate something so Holy?
Well the great mystery has been solved and believe me I feel so much better about the whole situation.

Resurrection Service Sermon 2011

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Christ is Risen!
The best-known quote from the Pesach Haggadah is, “why is this night different from all other nights?” This line is usually recited by the youngest person at the table (or at least, the youngest person capable of reciting it). It is meant to express the child’s confusion at the difference between a typical every-day or holiday meal and the unusual features of the Seder.
The Haggadah was written by Jews for Jews at a time when most Jews observed (or at least were familiar with) Jewish law and custom. It was written with the assumption that even the youngest child the Seder would know the daily rituals followed by observant Jews and would notice how this night is different from other nights. The Haggadah deliberately contradicts those expectations in order to provoke the child to ask questions about the proceedings.
So we ask why is this night different from all other nights. And the Orthodox Christian would have no other answer but because Christ is risen from the dead, by death hath He trampled down death, and on those in the graves hath He bestowed life. That is why this night is different than any other night!
Back in the 1990’s the Christian Music Artist Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song called “The Great Adventure” This past week we Orthodox have been on a Great Adventure we have been witnesses to the Greatest Story ever told.
We walked with Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, and we cried with Him in the Garden when He asked His father to let this cup pass from Him. We have seen Him at His most human and we have seen Him at His most Divine. We witnessed the four day dead Lazarus raised from the tomb. We witnessed the woman in sin, who came to beg forgiveness find it, and we watched as Jesus hanging on the Cross not only forgave the repentant thief but forgave those who nailed Him to the Cross. Just for the record, the ones who nailed Him to the Cross, that was and is you and me, and because of His death and rising again on the third day He forgives each and every one of us! Imagine that. We are a redeemed people, no longer do we have to fear the uncertainty of death, because Jesus has come and risen from the dead as the Troparion says trampling down death by for the very last time. He has broken the hold of the evil and redeemed Adam and restored all of humanity to the state for which it was created!
This has been a very powerful week a week that began slowly in darkness and a week that has ended with light and joyous voices telling the world that Christ is Risen!
As we began the service tonight the church was all in darkness. As the light emerged from the Holy Place and I called upon each one of you to come forth to receive the light from the unwaining light. Come and receive the light of Christ that will never be extinguished. The light that should burn in each of our hearts not just this night but every night and every day.
We sit here now, in this wonderful prayer place, holding that light, we try desperately to make sure it does not go out. We will carry this light to hall after and bring it back on the morrow. The big question is what do we do with the light on Monday? What do we do with that light after we leave this place and the singing of Christ is Risen is just a soft echo in our minds. How do we keep that light burning?
If there was ever a time in history that the world needed the light of Christ it is now. Last night as we were here safe in the Church a tornado was ripping through St. Louis, the People of Japan are still trying to recover from the deadly earth quake and let us not forget the people of Haiti still trying to recover from their earthquake. At this moment, Church services have been canceled in Syria because of the violence, because a people have said they will no longer suffer under brutal dictatorship and have taken to the streets, as well as Egypt and Lybia some of the very places were the events we have read about this week took place. We can and should be that light.
But what about right here, what about right here in our own home town? Right now there is a mother desperately trying to feed her children, there is a war veteran trying to make sense out of the horrors that he witnessed or perhaps participated in. Right now there is the family worrying about where their next meal will come from or if they will even have a job come Monday, what are we going to do about the hurting world right here outside our own doors.
What about all of us here tonight. We all have hurts and fears. All of us. How will we be Christ for each other as the days turn into weeks and the week’s months and the month’s years, before long we will be back here and wondering where the year went.
Tonight we stand looking in the open tomb and are both sad and joyous at the same time. We are joyous with the women who went to anoint the body of their friend and brother; joyous of the news that he is not here he has risen. We are running along the road with Peter as he has to see with his own eyes, and we will be with Thomas as he places his hands in the nail prints and the side of his Lord and Savior. But what will we do with the light?
Each of us here tonight has an obligation. Yes that’s right and obligation to be that light for another person. I asked each of you last Sunday as we began the holiest of weeks in the Church year, to make this week special. To make this the year that you reconnected and recommitted your life to Christ. If you did that great, if you did not there is still time it is never too late. As we hear in the Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom, “If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him keep the feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of his delay. For the Master is gracious and receives the last, even as the first; he gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.”
We have an obligation to not hide our light under a bushel but to bring that light out through those doors and into the world that needs us more than ever. We have an obligation to love not for ourselves but for others we have an obligation to live as Christ commanded us too by loving the Lord our God with all our heart mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Christ did not come for some pageant or some painting Christ came for you and for me. God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that all who believe should not perish but find eternal life. We have found that true life and we have indeed found that light. Let us commit in this place and at this time that our lives will be different, that we will live our life as God has commanded us too, to life our life, the life that Christ has redeemed this night, that we will live our life and make a difference in someone else’s life. Yes it is hard. Every journey begins with that first step. Maybe the one person who needs you is you. Maybe you need to forgive yourself, and love yourself. We sit here tonight in the presence of the risen Lord. As Orthodox Christians we know that Jesus is ever present in the tabernacle that sits on the altar, this year of any that has much more meaning for me. We know and have the assurance that he is here, He is present in His Church and believe it or not He is very present in all of us, each and every one of us sitting here tonight.
Take that light in both your hands and boldly walk out into the darkness and yell at the top of your lungs that CHRIST IS RISEN! Take that light into the dark places of the world and show the people the light. After the Crucifixion Jesus’ Apostles and friends hid in the upper room because they were afraid of what was going to happen to them. They were waiting, waiting for what they did not know, but on Pentecost the Holy Spirit came on them and they boldly went to the corners of the world to preach the word. We have that blessing of the Holy Spirit now, each and every one of us and we are being called this year, at this moment, in this place, to bring that Spirit to the hurting world.
Why is this night different than any other? Because on this night we have been redeemed, we have been saved from death for all time, Jesus paid the price that we no longer have to pay, and He has trampled Down Death by Death. Let us make this night, and the rest of our lives different, let us act as the people we have been called to be, let us shout from the roof tops that Christ is Risen and that Jesus does love us each of us.
May God richly bless all of you this Easter night, may He give you the strength to take that light out into the world that so desperately needs it.
Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Christ is risen! Truly, He is Risen!
Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!

Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе!

Tha Crìosd air èiridh! Gu dearbh, tha e air èiridh!

 Krishti u ngjall! Vërtet u ngjall!

 Kristus aq ungwektaq! Pichinuq ungwektaq!

Xris-tusaq Ung-uixtuq! Iluumun Ung-uixtuq!

Al-Masih-Qam! Hakkan Qam!

Holy Week Observations

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Today is Great and Holy Saturday and I am preparing to celebrate the Divine Liturgy this morning but I have a few moments and thought I would jot down some thoughts about Holy Week here in Southbridge.  This is my 6th Holy Week here in this parish and it just keeps getting better!  I am sure every priest could say this but I have some of the most faithful people!  I was trying to think if there was someone who could get the perfect attendance award for coming to all the services, but with so many people attending it is hard to tell.  Keep in mind that if you include the Liturgies of Lazarus Saturday we have 15 services during Holy Week.
This year was very different for me.  As many of you know, if you follow these pages, I have been working for the Fire Department in the Town of Dudley, Massachusetts since January as the Administrative Fire Chief.  I worked through Wednesday so it was a very different Holy Week.  I guess you could say I now have the parishioner perspective on what it is like to keep Holy Week Whilst working.  It is very difficult to balance it all.
The week starts of in darkness with the solemn services of the Bridegroom and gradually the light comes.  Jesus is the light that comes into the darkened world and we slowly see that light emerge this week.  Tonight at the resurrection service the entire church will be in darkness until we sing “Christ is Risen” when the light come back in full force.
I will speak for a moment about confession.  As Orthodox (regardless of what some will tell you) we still practice the Sacrament of Confession.  Every Orthodox Christian needs confession as we are all sinners and have fallen short of the mark.  We might not be mass murderers, thanks be to God, but we are all sinners is some way and Confession is an important part of our spiritual life.  I can remember right after my ordination hearing my first confessions, man was I scared, but now confession has become some of my most blessed moments of my priesthood.  Sometimes I think I get more out of it then the person does!  I have been with people when they have died, I have baptized and married people but some of the most spiritual moments come during confession.  I feel sorry for Churches that do not practice Sacramental Confession you are really missing out.  Anyway, this year I heard more confessions then the last two years combined.  God is Good for sure!
I was remembering a song that I have not listened too for quite sometime.  Written and performed by Steven Curtis Chapman the title of the song is “The Great Adventure” that is how I would describe this week.  We walk with Jesus as He takes his final steps and we are with him as He hangs on the Cross for our sins.  I cannot understand how churches can have pageants and dramatic readings of the Gospels with different people reading the different parts.  All the need do is reach back to the rich tradition of the undivided church, the Church of the first thousand or so years, and you will find all the pageant you need.  We do not need modern innovations and projection screens.  That’s not to say that we do not have pageantry in the Orthodox Church, but it is pageantry that has a traditional feel to it.  To know that fifteen hundred years ago these services were being celebrated is an awesome thing!  No projection screens and guitars needed, just the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is the only pageant that is needed.  A dark Church, the priest carrying the cross, the pounding of the nails, the hoisting up of the cross, the taking down and the entombment, and not a guitar or tambourine in site!
One of the most solemn moments of all of the Holy Week comes on Thursday night.  On this night we read the passion Gospels, or should I say twelve pericopies from the Gospels about the Crucifixion of Jesus.  After the fifth reading the Holy Doors are closed, the light are dimmed, and the priest emerges from the Holy Place carrying the Cross.  A silent procession around the Church to the solea where the body of Jesus, in Icon form, is nailed on the Cross.  The Cross is then hoisted up for all to see.  In the darkness sits the form of the creator of the world, the One who created the very Tree that now has become the instrument of His death.  The One who created the one who drove the nails through His flesh.  There He hangs!
While the Church is still in darkness we sing the 15th Antiphon of the service.  The same Antiphon that has been sung for more than fifteen hundred years, again no guitars or projection screen is needed.
I will close with the words of that Antiphon and a video of Archbishop Job of Blessed Memory singing this Antiphon shortly before His own death.  May the joy of the Risen Christ be upon you and remain with you long after the Lilies of Easter have passed.
Today is hung upon the Tree, He who suspended the earth upon the waters. A crown of thorns crowns Him, Who is the King of the Angels. He is wrapped about with the purple of mockery, Who wrapped the Heavens in clouds. He was struck, Who freed Adam in the Jordan. He was transfixed with nails, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church. He was pierced with a spear, Who is the Son of the Virgin. We worship Thy passion, O Christ.  Show us also your Glorious Resurrection.

Paschal Message of His Holiness KIRILL, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Beloved in the Lord archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!
From my heart filled with gratitude towards God, I proclaim to all of you the great and saving news:
CHRIST IS RISEN!
With each year the Church testifies through this Paschal exclamation to the event of universal significance which happened almost two thousand years ago. It was then that early in the morning the myrrh-bearing women came to the burial site of their Teacher and saw that the tomb was empty. The divine power of Christ had triumphed over the law of death. He had risen, testifying to all of humanity that death was not the end of life, that death was overcome by the power of God.
Christ’s resurrection, in being a unique event in world history, became by God’s intention the beginning too of our own personal resurrection. It was precisely for this that the Saviour came into the world, suffered, was crucified and rose from the tomb in order that each person had the chance to go through the experience of resurrection from the dead, and not in the figurative but direct meaning of this world. St. Paul speaks clearly of this: ‘God… will also raise us up by his own power’ (1 Cor 6: 14).
That is why the feast of Pascha is the feast of the victory of life over death, for through the resurrection of Christ the Saviour resurrection from the dead has been granted to us all. And whatever difficult circumstances we may endure in our earthly life, whatever tribulations may be our lot, whatever fears people may try to instill in us – for they possess no spiritual power to foresee the future – our perception of the world ought to be calm and joyous, for Christ has risen.
The feast of Pascha in Holy Russia has always been great and radiant. And now in recent decades it has again returned to many homes and families. It is now also celebrated in those places where previously there had been no Paschal greeting: in hospitals, prisons, in the army and navy, and even in space. May God grant that beyond the external transformations taking part now in the countries of the Russian world there may be accomplished the genuine rebirth of human souls, that the joy of Christ’s resurrection may fill the hearts of each one of us, that the light of divine love may warm not only our families and friends but also people deprived of the chance of being in church, the elderly, sick and lonely.
Through Christ’s resurrection the believer acquires the chance of communicating with the power of grace sent down from above so that he may live in truth and according to God’s commandments: to be good and merciful, honest and a well-wisher in his relations with people, to be capable of sharing with them both joy and grief.
This Christian attitude towards our neighbours includes both concern for one’s country, for one’s people, and for one’s family and home. In preaching the priority of eternal spiritual values, the Church calls upon her children to adopt a tactful attitude towards the temporal yet real values of the world created by God: towards the environment and towards our rich cultural inheritance which has been made over centuries by our predecessors. To be guardians of the spiritual treasures and traditions of Orthodoxy means to transform oneself and one’s inner world actively, as well as to maintain the beauty and harmony of the world which surrounds us and to build them up in those places where they have been destroyed by the ill will of people. This is the vocation and responsibility of the Christian.
The Lord does not demand of us endeavours that our beyond our strength. He appeals to the soul of each individual and again and again calls upon us: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Mt 11: 28-30). In order to feel and understand how good and light is the burden that the Lord lays upon us, we must learn how to do good to our neighbours and those far from us. In this learning process it is only the first steps that are difficult: to stop in time and not to answer rudeness with rudeness, evil with evil, falsehood with falsehood, condemnation with condemnation. And then at least to feel gratification as a result of a correct and honest act which is beneficial to the other person, whether in the family, at work, in the parish or simply when speaking to other people and acquaintances. This sense of gratification can then turn into a joyful and optimistic spiritual condition if good deeds carried out not for the sake of gain but from a pure heart become a part of our lives. It is only then that we will feel the changes for the better in our public life when we become aware of the presence of the indestructible link between the good we have done and the well-being of society.
The evangelical motivation of our acts both in our private and professional and public sphere is capable of changing radically both ourselves and the world we live in.
‘May God arise and his enemies be scattered!’ – we exclaim on that light-bearing night. May God arise in our hearts and may the falsehood, enmity, evil, discord and all divisions in our life be scattered!
From the bottom of my heart I congratulate all of you, my dear ones, on the feast of Holy Pascha. May the aid and blessing of the Lord who has truly risen accompany each of us in our further labours for the glory of the Church, the well-being of the country in which we live, and for the good of our neighbours and those far from us. Amen.
+Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
Moscow
Pascha
2011

Irenical letter of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Irenical letter of the Patriarch of Romania at the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord Irenical letter of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church addressed to His Holiness Bartholomaios, Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch. According to the Romanian Orthodox tradition, on the occasion of the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church sends similar irenic Paschal Messages to the other Primates of the Autocephalous and Autonomous Orthodox Churches, as well as to certain leaders of Christian Churches and international Christian organisations.
His Holiness BARTHOLOMAIOS,
Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome,
Ecumenical Patriarch
Your Holiness,
CHRIST IS RISEN!
“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4)
These words of Saint Paul the Apostle, as well as whatever the Holy Fathers of the Church teach us, reveal the basic truth of our faith, namely that between the Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ and the Sacrament of the Baptism of Christians there is a holy spiritual life giving relationship. It is through Baptism in water and the Spirit that the believer re-establishes his relationship of eternal life and love with the Holy Trinity, because he was created in the image of the Holy Trinity when God said: “Let us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).
Today, we must know more and better what it means to be baptised, namely to be Christian or bear the name of Christ, in a world faced with the phenomenon of secularisation, with religious pluralism and syncretism.
Therefore, let us pray Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, to help us live throughout all our life the joy of Baptism as a joy of the resurrection of our soul from the death of sin and make fruitful the gifts of the Holy Spirit which we received at Baptism! Let us multiply, through prayer and good deeds, the fruits of the Holy Baptism and, thus, bring joy wherever there is sadness! Let us help those fallen to raise and strengthen the weak ones! Let us feed the hungry, both materially and spiritually, and consider every human being as an Easter candle, loved by God the Father of Lights, Who calls us to the peace, joy and glory of the Heavenly Kingdom!
In the holy light of the Resurrection of the Lord, in the communion of the Orthodox faith and of prayer, we wish You peace and much joy in the Holy Spirit and assure You of our fraternal love and esteem in the Risen Christ.
† DANIEL
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Easter Pastoral Letter of His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae

Posted on by Fr. Peter
† NICOLAE
by the mercies of God
Archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas

To our beloved clergy and right-believing Christians, peace and holy joy from Christ the Risen Lord, and from us, archpastoral blessings.
Before Your Cross we bow down, O Christ, and we praise and glorify Your Holy Resurrection!
Most Reverend Fathers, Beloved Faithful,
Christ is risen!
We glorify God because He has allowed us again to utter these words which proclaim to everyone the Resurrection of Christ, the miracle which changed the destiny of man and of the world, for it reveals that the love of God is more powerful than sin and death. Having venerated the Cross of our Savior, having wept for our sins which crucified the Son of God-become-man, we praise and glorify His Holy Resurrection. It is fitting that we should pause and reflect on this mystery which reveals to us the way in which deliverance from sin and death came through the Cross, the way in which through the Cross “joy has come into all the world.”
The disobedience of Adam and Eve was the sin which brought mankind and the entire creation to death. Created in the image of God and with the opportunity to become like God, Adam and Eve, being tempted by the evil one, tried to become as God, but without obeying God. Neither did they return from the path of separation from God after He approached them about their misdeed, for they did not admit their sin, did not seek forgiveness, but rather justification: Adam blamed Eve, created by God to be his helpmate, and Eve blamed the serpent (Genesis 3:11-13). The result of sin was the alienation of man from God, the loss of His love, which means spiritual death. And in order that the alienation should not become eternal, bodily death followed spiritual death, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Yet God did not turn Himself away forever from His creature whom He had made, neither did He forget the work of His hands; but visited him in diverse manners, sending forth prophets who foretold unto us the salvation which was to come (cf. the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great). And the salvation that was foretold was to be fulfilled through the Cross and the Resurrection. The Mystery of the Cross is foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. The Prophet Isaiah tells us that “He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). The crucifixion on the Cross of the Son of God-become-man meant the supreme surrender of man to God, the offering of His life as a sign of total obedience to the Creator and Giver of Life. For Christ, “being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). The disobedience of Adam brought mankind death; the obedience of Christ unto death brings mankind salvation and eternal life. Father Stăniloae speaks of sacrifice as a spiritual power which is shown to be victorious over the sin which overwhelms human nature. And in order that this power be conveyed to all people there was need of the sacrifice of a person who had a profound connection with all other people, a person who could take on human nature entirely and reconcile it with God through sacrifice. Only the incarnation of the Son of God made possible such an entire taking on of human nature, and only the sacrifice of Christ could bring salvation to all mankind (Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Jesus Christ or the Restoration of Man, p. 252-253).
Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross brought Him exaltation, for as St. Paul continues in the Epistle to the Philippians 2:9, “therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem says that at the time of His Passion He was exalted because he bore the crown of patience. “He was not forced to give His life, neither was He killed through constraint, but of His own good will” (Catechesis). In accepting all these things willingly, Christ revealed that the love of God for mankind is more powerful than sin, suffering, or death. His Passion brought Him exaltation. For since He had no sin, death had no power over Him. Death was conquered and Christ was resurrected, granting to every man eternal life, the true life which comes from God. Through the sacrifice on the Cross, Christ brought healing from sin, from separation from God; and through His Resurrection he conquered the ultimate consequence of sin in the world and in human flesh: death. The Mystery of the Cross, that is, the mystery of the sacrifice of Christ, is revealed and fulfilled in the mystery of the Resurrection. Suffering from love brings exaltation, for it finds its fulfillment in the Resurrection.
Most Reverend Fathers, beloved faithful,
Our world understands less and less this mystery of sacrifice which brings resurrection. The world tempts us with many false impressions, with the opinion that we can be Christians even without following Christ in His sacrifice, that we can live just like the world, not listening to the Savior’s words that we “do not belong to the world” (John 15:19). As we proclaim the Lord’s Resurrection it is fitting to remember that there is no Christianity without sacrifice, there is no resurrection without a cross. We cannot be Christians, followers of the Savior, if we do not accept His calling to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. This world is one of confusion, of indifference, and of alienation from God. The Christian must be one who can proclaim to this world, estranged from God, the pathway of reconciliation and healing from the ills of this age, through the sacrifice which brings resurrection. Only the Christian who lives Christ’s Passion and Resurrection with Him will have the ability to proclaim them to the entire world. This must be our Christian witness in the 21st Century.
To all the priests and faithful of our Archdiocese, I urge you to live through these holy feast days of the Lord’s Resurrection with “the mind of Christ”, who offered Himself a sacrifice to the Father and arose from the dead so that we might have life. And may the tidings of the Lord’s Resurrection be for us all an occasion for strengthening in faith and in Orthodox mission on American soil.
I embrace you in Christ, the Risen Lord, and I wish you Happy Holidays!
Christ is risen!
Your brother in prayer to God,
† NICOLAE
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