May-June 2024

As I am writing this, halfway between the beginning of Lent and Pascha, I am starting to feel the anticipation of the celebration of the Resurrection. The pull of the Feast is such that, even though it is still three and a half weeks away, its light is drawing us in. The light, beauty, and joy of the Paschal feast are a foretaste of God’s kingdom.

Having traversed the "immense ocean of Lent." there is a sense of arrival that sets in with the Paschal services. It is not merely the beauty of the church, the brightness of the lights, or the joy of the proclamation of the resurrection. There is a sense of peace, even of finality: this was our destination and we have arrived. We are home.

This sense of 'home' is, I think, a foretaste of the kingdom. As the book of Hebrews says, here, in this life, we have no lasting city, but we look for the city that is to come. Our lives on earth, just like Lent, are a journey, with a destination. That destination, whether it be Pascha or the kingdom of God, resonates with us, because it touches on our deepest identity as creatures made in the image and likeness of God.

It can be easy to dismiss this sense of peace and home as something not important, or perhaps just another feeling. Yet, it is not just another emotion - at least not in the same sense that amusement, or frustration, or elation, or anger are. The solidity and sobriety that we find mixed in with the joy of the feast point to another reality – a more permanent one.

It can be also easy to miss this sense of peace if we have not prepared for the feast. Without the observance of Lent before it, the celebration of Pascha can be merely a quaint departure from the usual morning Liturgies, a yearly tradition where, unlike regular Sundays, where we arrive at church late and stay till the end, for Pascha we arrive on time and leave early.

Similarly, if this life is not a preparation for the Kingdom, we may not be ready to encounter God when we inevitably will “on that fearful day of [His] just recompense” (Liturgy of St. Basil).

All of this is a reminder that there is a purpose to how things are arranged in the Church: to guide our lives toward the kingdom. There is a sequence of image and fulfillment, of preparation and feasting, which is meant to instill in us the rhythm of the kingdom. This is all easy to miss if we do not pay attention to it and if we don’t do it.

So, if we aren’t quite prepared to rest in the the feast, let us try to come on time and stay until the end of the service, asking God to grace us with His joy. If we are prepared, then let the hymns of the feast guide us in the celebration:

Let us behold Christ

Let us purify our senses and then we shall see * by the unapproachable light of the Resurrection * Christ shining vividly, and we shall distinctly hear Him saying, Rejoice, to us * as we sing the triumphal hymn.

Let us rise with Him.

Buried with You yesterday, O Christ, * with You now resurrected, I also rise today. * Yesterday I was with You crucified. O Savior, with Yourself glorify me in Your rule.

Let us celebrate.

We celebrate that death has been put to death, Hades has been overthrown, and another, everlasting life has begun. And exulting we praise and extol the Cause, exalting the only God of the fathers, blessed and supremely glorious.

May the joy of the Resurrection remain with us always and may its light guide us on the path of salvation.