“Thus on Easter we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection as something that happened and still happens to us. For each one of us received the gift of that new life and the power to accept it and to live by it. It is a gift which radically alters our attitude toward everything in this world, including death. It makes it possible for us joyfully to affirm: "Death is no more!" Oh, death is still there, to be sure and we still face it and someday it will come and take us. But it is our whole faith that by His own death Christ changed the very nature of death, made it a passage—a "passover," a "Pascha"—into the Kingdom of God, transforming the tragedy of tragedies into the ultimate victory. "Trampling down death by death," He made us partakes of His Resurrection. This is why at the end of the Paschal Matins we say: "Christ is risen and life reigns! Christ is risen and not one dead remains in the grave!”
“...the liturgical traditions of the Church, all its cycles and services, exist, first of all, in order to help us recover the vision and the taste of that new life which we so easily lose and betray, so that we may repent and return to it. ... It is through her liturgical life that the Church reveals to us something of that which "the ear has not heard, the eye has not seen, and what has not yet entered the heart of man, but which God has prepared for those who love Him." And in the center of that liturgical life, as its heart and climax, as the sun whose rays penetrate everywhere, stands Pascha.”
“We simply forget all this—so busy are we, so immersed in our daily preoccupations—and because we forget, we fail. And through this forgetfulness, failure, and sin, our life becomes "old" again—petty, dark and ultimately meaningless—a meaningless journey toward a meaningless end. We manage to forget even death and then, all of a sudden, in the midst of our "enjoying life" it comes to us: horrible, inescapable, senseless.” ― Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent: Journey to Pascha
Dearest Spiritual 'Ohana,
Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
I pray that the Joy of our Lord’s Resurrection will continue to remain with you, now, and always throughout your whole life. We celebrate these Holy Days, year after year, for specific and very practical reasons, so that we may never forget, but rather continuously renew our relationship with the Lord everyday of our lives, given the fact that our lives as human beings are dynamic and ever-changing. This dynamic of changeability is a built-in fabric and reality of our human nature. It is a great opportunity for us all, no matter how challenging it may be. We are constantly in movement in life. We are either moving in a direction toward God or away from Him throughout our lives. Our yearly celebrations in our Orthodox Christian Liturgical Cycles, both immoveable and moveable, are repeated and ongoing, year after year, to draw us back into communion with God.
I have included the quotes, in the beginning of my message to you, from one of our well renown Orthodox Theologians in recent times, of blessed memory, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, who “pinpoints” precisely the purpose for our annual celebrations of Great Lent and Pascha. I hope that they help you understand and comprehend the impact these celebrations are meant to have in your own personal lives and help unlock for you just how much God loves us and the extremes He would go through for all of humanity’s sake.
The recent celebrations of Great Lent and Holy Week and the ongoing Feast of Pascha which we are currently in, this year, have been and are so wonderful, beautiful and meaningful! The return to more normal celebrations has been impactful in so many ways! It has been three years since we had normal celebrations of this spectacular period of time in the Church. The pandemic hit us with unanticipated, extended periods of shut downs. Finally, we are returning much closer to a normal which we use to take for granted! Perhaps, we shall never take the celebrations for granted, ever again!
It is so joyful to be able to worship and to fellowship with one another, once again! I look forward to the days when everyone can return, as I miss those of you who have not yet returned! I have been grateful and overjoyed to have the participation of our spiritual community in the worship and each of your contributions of your talents toward chanting, singing, reading, serving, decorating of the Kouvoukion/Epitaphios, Crown for the Cross, preparing red eggs, refreshing the Panagia Garden, etc. Also, I am thankful for all who made the Agape Picnic on Pascha possible, from food preparation, set up, music, dancing and clean up! I pretty well know who participated, prepared and volunteered in everything, but hesitate to mention specific names, lest I miss anyone. Much “Mahalo!” Thank you! Glory be to God in Everything!
I wish all of you True Joy in this Paschal Season!
With Love in Christ,
+Fr. Alexander