'Lent after Lent' and 'Life after Pascha'

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

Christ is Risen!

The meditation below is another old one that has been reissued with some regularity. However, since human nature hasn't changed much since then; and since we face the same temptations and challenges this year, as we did last year, I decided to re-issue it for everyone's consideration.

“Lent after Lent” and “Life after Pascha”

I believe that a meaningful question that can be posed to any contemporary Orthodox parish is: Is there life after Pascha?

Another question has formed in my mind this morning: Is there Lent after Lent? 

Before proceeding any further, I need to offer a brief point of clarification: I apologize if I just happened to unsettle anyone with the frightening prospect of another immediate lenten period, because contrary to any possible misperceptions, I am not a “lent freak!” My purpose in asking “Is there Lent after Lent?” is meant to pose a challenge. 

Is there anything spiritually fruitful that we began to do – or anything spiritually unfruitful that we ceased to do – during Great Lent that we can carry over with us into the paschal season and beyond? Are we able to establish some genuine consistency in our ecclesial lives? Surely this is one of the most important elements in nurturing a holistic approach to our Faith. 

If I am not mistaken, a real temptation that exists once Great Lent is over is to return to “life as usual,” as if Great Lent is at best a pious interlude during which we act more “religiously;” and at worst a period of specific rules that are meant to be more-or-less mechanically observed out of a sense of obligation. This undermines the whole reality of repentance at its core, and drives us back into the dubious practice of the religious compartmentalization of our lives. Great Lent is over – now what?

I am not even sure just how healthy it is to assess and analyze our Lenten efforts. Great Lent is a “school of repentance,” but this does not mean that we are to grade ourselves upon its completion. However, there are a number of things we can ask ourselves by way of a healthy assessment.

• Did I practice prayer, charity and fasting in a more responsible, regular, and consistent manner? 

• Did I make a point of reading the Scriptures with the same care and consistency? 

• Did I participate in the liturgical services with greater regularity? 

• Did I watch over my language and gestures, or my words and actions, on an over-all basis with greater vigilance? 

• Did I make a breakthrough in overcoming any specific “passions” or other manifestations of sinful living? 

• Did I work on healing any broken relationships? 

• Did I simply give more of myself to Christ? 

• Did I come to love Christ even more as I prostrated myself in faith before His life-giving Cross and tomb?

If these points, or at least some of them were part of your lenten effort, then why not continue? Not to continue is to somehow fail to actualize in our lives the renewal and restoration of our human nature that definitively occurred through the Cross and Resurrection. Appropriating the fruits of Christ’s redemptive Death and life-giving Resurrection is essential for our self-designation as Christians.

In other words, can we carry the “spirit” of Lent (and some of its practices) with us outside of Lent? In this way, we are no longer “keeping Lent” but simply practicing our Faith with the vigilance it requires. We still must fast (on the appropriate days), pray and give alms. We still need to nourish ourselves with the Holy Scriptures. We must continue to wage “warfare against the passions” that are always threatening to engulf us. We need to deepen our love for Christ so that it surpasses any other commitment based on love in our lives. 

Or, have we doomed ourselves to being intense in the practice of our Faith for a short, predetermined length of time, and then pay “lip service” to, or offer token observance of, the Christian life until next year? In a rather unfortunate twist, Great Lent can work against us when we reduce it to such a limited purpose. Great Lent is the designated time of year meant to get us “back on track” so as to live more consciously Christian lives because certain circumstances and our weaknesses often work against us. It is the “example” rather than the “exception” if properly understood. In other areas of life, do we simply abandon good practices – in matters of health, let us say – because a designated period of testing or observing these good practices has come to an end?

Today may be a good day to reawaken to the glorious gift of life offered to us in the Church. In less than week from today - next Wednesday, May 4 - we will return to our usual pattern of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, as the initial glow of Pascha slowly recedes. I would suggest that this may be one of the most difficult days of fasting in the entire year. It is very hard to reestablish a discipline temporarily suspended with the paschal celebration. Yes, in many ways, we are returning to “life as usual,” even in the Church, but that is a “way of life” directed by the wisdom of the Church toward our salvation and as a witness to the world. Let us take the “best of Lent” and continue with it throughout the days of our lives.

“Lent after Lent” means that there is “Life after Pascha.”

A Ukrainian Pascha

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN! 

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

 

 

A Ukrainian Pascha

 I just saw many photos of committed Ukrainian Orthodox Christians attending the paschal services this last weekend. Some were standing in churches supported by walls riddled with bullet holes. One church had actually lost a wall from a missile strike. Attending the Paschal Liturgy with the uneasy fear hovering in the atmosphere of a possible missile strike made clear to me the courage and faith of these, our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ. This faithfulness is worthy of our respect and admiration. I hope that President Zelensky word's quoted below - "But there will be a Resurrection" - comes true for Ukraine in a not-so-distant future. We were able to celebrate the Feast of Feasts on a wonderful weekend, with splendid weather allowing us to make our outdoor processions in the lovely atmosphere of a clear and peaceful evening. But we are painfully aware that the atmosphere was quite different in anther part of the world.

Apparently, the Russian Orthodox patriarch, Kirill of Moscow, has something very important to learn about Christianity from the Jewish president of Ukraine:

In his nightly address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruminated on the significance of the date. "Today was Holy Saturday for Christians of the Eastern Rite. The day between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It seems that Russia is stuck on such a day," he said. 

"On the day when death triumphs and God is supposedly gone. But there will be a Resurrection. Life will defeat death. The truth will defeat any lies. And evil will be punished," added Zelensky.

Was there any indication on Holy Friday, Holy Saturday and Pascha Sunday, that Putin and the Russia Federation refused to pursue its fratricidal war effort in Ukraine in honor of these, the most "holy days" of the Orthodox year? Not that I was aware of. Did Patriarch Kirill listen carefully to the words of the "Let God Arise" paschal hymn: "Let us call "Brothers" even those that hate us, and forgive all by the Resurrection?" Who would have thought of such a precipitous moral decline by the Moscow patriarchate. However, we now realize that this indefensible support of the war against Ukraine has been years in the making. Patriarch Kirill now remains justifiably alienated from a large segment of the Orthodox world. And I am most grateful to God for that!

Lena Zezulin, an attorney "experienced in legal reform and rule of lay programming in post-conflict and transitional economies" - and now a former member of ROCOR (The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) - has publicly written that what Patriarch Kirill has done in "unforgivable."

https://publicorthodoxy.org/2022/04/20/untie-knot-rocor-mp-unification-act/#more-11229

Of course, that is ultimately up to God. But I understand what she is saying. A bishop's role is to be a shepherd to his flock - and this is the chief hierarch of millions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians - imaging the Chief Shepherd, Christ. As such he has the moral obligation to defend and support his flock from any and all kinds of danger. To therefore bless the means by which his own flock is being destroyed is hard to comprehend. This is a sin of profound implications. Forgiveness will be hard to come by. Ukraine is passing through its national Golgotha with an indomitable spirit that is inspiring to so many of us. Let us hope for that Resurrection that its courageous president is confident in.

IN MEMORIAM: Archbishop Paul reposes in the Lord on Great and Holy Pascha

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

On this Pascha Sunday, the Feast of Feasts and Holy Days of Holy Days, Archbishop Paul peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. That seems like a "sign" to me. The Resurrection of Christ means that "those in the tombs" have had Life "bestowed on them." May Archbishop Paul be with the Lord as he awaits the general resurrection!

The text below is from the webpage of our Midwest Diocese, and presents a brief account of Archbishop Paul's life. 

May his Memory be Eternal!

 

In Memoriam: The Most Reverend PAUL Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest

 

BURBANK, IL [DOM] – On the Feasts of Feasts, Great and Holy Pascha, Sunday, April 24, His Eminence, the Most Reverend Paul (Gassios), Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest, fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 69, after a grave illness.  He was the ruling hierarch of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America from 2014 until his repose.

Paul Nicholas Gassios was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 6, 1953 to Nicholas and Georgia Gassios, natives of Castanea, Greece.

As an infant, he was baptized with the name Apostolos, in honor of the holy Apostle Paul, at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, Detroit, MI – his home parish for the first 28 years of his life.

He graduated from Detroit’s Cooley High School in 1971, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, after which he enrolled at Wayne State University (WSU) as a history and psychology major.  After graduating in 1976, he worked with emotionally and physically abused children.  He received a Master of Social Work degree from WSU in 1980, and continued to work in his chosen field.

In the mid-1980s, he became a member of Holy Transfiguration Church, Livonia, MI.  He began theological studies in September 1991 at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY, from which he received his Master of Divinity degree summa cum laude and served as valedictorian in 1994.  He was ordained to the priesthood by His Eminence, the late Archbishop Job of Chicago and the Midwest, on June 25, 1994.

After ordination, he was assigned Priest-in-Charge of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, Kokomo, IN, which he served until June 2005, after which he resided at Saint Gregory Palamas Monastery, Hayesville, OH until May 2006.  He briefly served as Rector of Archangel Michael Church, St. Louis, MO and the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church, Desloge, MO before his transfer to the OCA’s Bulgarian Diocese and assignment as Dean of Saint George Cathedral, Rossford, OH in 2007.  In August 2014, he was named Administrator of the Diocese of the Midwest and relocated to Chicago.

On October 20, 2014, he was tonsured to monastic rank with the name Paul, in honor of Saint Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople.  On October 21, 2014, the Holy Synod elected him to fill the vacant Episcopal See of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest.

Archimandrite Paul was consecrated to the Episcopacy and enthroned as Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest at Chicago’s historic Holy Trinity Cathedral on Saturday, December 27, 2014.  Concelebrating at the Consecration Liturgy were His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon; His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West; His Eminence, Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; His Eminence, Archbishop Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas; His Grace, Bishop Irénée of Ottawa and Canada; His Grace, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey; His Grace, Bishop Alexander of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese; and His Grace, Bishop David of Sitka and Alaska. On Thursday, May 28, 2020, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop.

His archpastoral tenure in the Midwest was only seven years but filled with great progress and accomplishment for the diocese. From an administrative perspective, he was known for prompt replies and calls when his clergy contacted him. He was very organized and thoroughly followed the established procedures with attentiveness. He actively attended diocesan, deanery, and parish meetings guiding the progress of the discussed topics.

He established new ministries within the diocese that focused on building up the communities within the diocese which include: the Mother Maria of Paris Ministry – Department of Charitable Efforts, Department of Family Life, St. Andrew of Crete Music Ministry, and the Department of Youth. These were four areas he saw to be important pillars to building up the Body of Christ.

With a prioritization of pastoral visits, he was often on the road traveling each weekend to visit a different community within his vast diocese. He often reflected that this was the most enjoyable part of his ministry and gave him something to look forward to each week. In addition to leading the services when making archpastoral visits, he would make time to be with clergy and their families to hear about their life and struggles. He would gather with youth and parish councils to lead discussions on the faith and other topics of interest. He made annual visits to the seminaries to visit with the diocesan seminarians and their families and actively encouraged vocation within his parishes.

His genuineness is unforgettable, and his smile brought joy to those around him. His sermons were impactful and memorable for those who were blessed to hear them.

He is fondly remembered throughout the diocese as a loving shepherd for his flock.  May his memory be eternal!

 

Understanding Bright Week and the Paschal Services

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

One of our parishioners has kindly summarized a talk by Fr. Herman of the monastery attached to St. Tikhon's Seminary in PA. These notes can be very helpful for better understanding both Bright Week and the entire Paschal Tide (period of the Pentecostarion). A wonderful fifty days in the Church often overlooked as we recover from the exhaustion of Great Lent and Holy Week. As Orthodox, we must struggle against a contemporary temptation of "moving on" from one event to another. Pascha is not "one-and-done!"  I have included a link here to Fr. Herman's presentation on YouTube.

Agape Vespers, the Resurrection Gospel read in many languages.

PASCHA & BRIGHT WEEK

As the “Feast of Feasts,” Pascha is above all feasts; the services all reflect this.

Bright Week exists outside of time, as a single, week-long day, celebrating and shining in the glow of Christ's Resurrection. Each day’s services are identical (except for the tone of each day, which changes).

As many already know, we do not pray ‘O Heavenly King’ from Pascha until the Vespers of Pentecost.

Even more radically, we do not include the Trisagion Prayers during Bright Week.

As a special help for choirs, the Bright Week dismissal is discussed beginning at about 16:45, and is contrasted with the dismissal during the remainder of the Paschal season.

The Paschal Hours - The structure of the Bright Week services is of a whole different order than the rest of the year, especially for the Morning and Evening Prayers, and the Hours (and Compline), which use the beloved and utterly ecstatic Paschal Hours to bear us along through this amazing period.

[The Paschal Hours are included in most Orthodox prayer books, and can be found on our website.]

Reading the Paschal Hours before the Paschal Liturgies of Bright Week would further emphasize this radical difference in the services of Bright Week.

The Paschal Hours even replace our Prayers of Thanksgiving after Holy Communion, and significantly, some of the hymns of the Paschal Hours are included in the troparia pronounced by the priest following Holy Communion at Sunday Liturgies throughout the year.

Hardly any Psalms are chanted or read during Bright Week (except for “Lord I Call”, various prokeimena, and the Praises at Matins). Vespers and Matins are radically transformed by this with no Psalm 103 or Six Psalms during Bright Week.

 

THOMAS SUNDAY & PASCHALTIDE 

The Pentecostarion Period

Thomas Sunday has the structure of a Great Feast, with its own unique hymns, and serves, as it were, as a “step down” from the other-worldly pinnacle of Pascha and Bright Week. This is in keeping with its prototypical role as Anti-Pascha (meaning "in place of Pascha"), as it sets the form for Sundays throughout the Church year.

With Pascha as the pinnacle, we see Palm Sunday and Thomas Sunday mirroring one another on either side, Holy Week and Bright Week mirroring each other, and Great Lent being mirrored by the Pentecostarion. I tried to create a visual depiction of this.

                                        PASCHA

                   HOLY WEEK       BRIGHT WEEK

             Palm Sunday                       Thomas Sunday

      Great Lent                                          Pentecostarion

Normal Time                                                    Normal Time


Significantly, the period following Thomas Sunday is not a “return to normal,” but continues to be richly imbued with the Light of Pascha. The beginnings and dismissals of services include the Paschal Troparion, “Christ is Risen…” as do the hymns and “Lord I Call” stikhera, etc. The Aposticha are not discussed in the video, but this is different also, with “Let God Arise” being sung by the choir, preceded by one verse of the Aposticha. “The Angel Cried” is sung in place of “It Is Truly Meet” during the Paschal season after the consecration of the Eucharistic Gifts during the Divine Liturgy.

Each Sunday during Paschaltide is a “mini-feast”, with its own unique theme, and even has an “after-feast” extending the entire following week, such that the stikhera and hymns for even the weekdays continue the lessons of the preceding Paschal Sunday. All the Sunday hymns during the Paschal season come from the Pentecostarion (unless a major commemoration such as St George, Ss Constantine & Helen, etc.), and the hymns for the week combine the Paschal hymns with the Eight Tones (Octoechos) for a consistently Resurrectional emphasis, albeit with a different focus for each day of the week, corresponding to the normal commemoration for the day of the week (Monday - the Angelic Powers, Tuesday - St John the Forerunner, Wednesday & Friday, the Cross, Thursday, the Apostles & St Nicholas).

The Paschal period is further punctuated by the feasts of Mid-Pentecost and Ascension, which have their own after-feasts. Though not mentioned in the video, the Leavetaking of Pascha occurs with the Ninth Hour (before Vespers) of the eve of Ascension, and we no longer include the Paschal Troparion (“Christ is Risen”) after that. We do add the Troparion for Ascension at the beginning.

CONCLUSION: THE PURPOSE & GOAL OF THE LITURGICAL WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH

Starting at 23:15 in the video, Fr Herman discusses the importance of keeping the Paschaltide season so as not to “lose the grace” gained during Lent.

He gives an inspiring call for recognizing the cycle of church services existing to prepare us for the Eternal Pascha with the Lord, even though in this life we are living in “lenten lands,” to use C.S. Lewis’ phrase. The goal is “How to live on earth, while remembering Paradise."

He urges us to keep "one foot in Lent, and one foot already in Pascha.” 

Fr Herman closes by citing Fr Alexander Schmemann’s saying that, “the entire Typicon [order of services] can be summed up in the expression, ‘from seven to eight’, that is to say, from the seventh day of this creation, the time of preparation, the time of struggle, into the Eighth and Eternal Day of the New Creation, the Resurrection, the Life of the Age to Come.”

See also our Pascha to Pentecost Section on our website.

 

Ukrainian Golgotha

 

“Many Ukrainians are going to spend the holy season under siege, hiding in basements. Others will not live to see the holiday at all. ... This is not Christian behavior at all, as I understand it. On Easter they will kill, and they will be killed.”

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine 

I am not certain which Easter President Zelensky is referring to - The Western or the Orthodox. It seems that his statement will apply to both as it is. American intelligence sources are preparing Ukraine for a new invasion in the eastern part of the country, possibly sometime this week. Yet, many have died in Ukraine as it is over this last weekend on the Western Easter. The week that just began happens to be Holy Week for Orthodox Christians, so the world may again be treated to the spectacle of Orthodox Christians - Russians and Ukrainians - killing each other during the week in which we commemorate the Prince of Peace ascending the Cross for our salvation. One more occasion to witness the utter moral bankruptcy of Russia's "Orthodox Christian" president. 

Ukraine will thus continue its painful march toward a collective Golgotha and further suffering of an untold magnitude. The brutality of Bucha and Mariopul defies comprehension. There is every indication that Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow continues to bless Putin's unconscionable assault on a free and sovereign country. This once again reveals not only the hollowness of Patriarch Kyrill's support of the Russian war effort, but it is an open offense to everything that we, as Orthodox, proclaim in the Gospel and in our entire theological/moral tradition. It can only fill the soul of a believer with moral revulsion. Will Patriarch Kyrill really be able to serve during Holy Week with a good conscience? Will he convince Putin that a "cease fire" should be declared on Great and Holy Friday and on Pascha? But Patriarch Kirill is so steeped in mendacity and twisted reasoning, the question becomes: Would it even matter at this point?

In an article entitled "Inside the Campaign Against Putin's Pope" in the journal Politico, we read the following in reference to Patriarch Kyrill's immoral stance on the war and on his sermonizing in defense of the war:

"The bill of complaints against Patriarch Kirill is long and ugly. Since taking over Russian Orthodoxy’s highest job in 2009, he’s rearranged the church on more authoritarian lines, cemented a close alliance with Putin, and lent ecclesiastical legitimacy to the quasi-mystical, hyper-nationalist Russkiy Mir theory that Putin has used to dismiss the existence of Ukraine as a separate country."

"Since the war began, it’s been uglier still. He delivered a sermon calling on Russians to rally around the authorities and “repel enemies both external and internal.” In another, he likened the battle to the struggle between the church and the antichrist. He’s said the war for “Holy Russia” has “metaphysical significance,” the conquest of Ukraine a matter of eternal salvation. For good measure, he’s also said that part of what the Russian forces are combating is the horrific possibility of gay pride parades. Plenty of oligarchs have been canceled for less."

Does the Christian world really need to be "saved" from "gay pride parades" by a vicious and aggressive war in which innocent men, women and children will be killed? As Putin is now considered a pariah on the stage of international politics, so Patriarch Kyrill is fast becoming a pariah on the stage of worldwide Christianity. For there is now a movement within the World Council of Churches to expel the Russian Orthodox Church. Regardless of one's evaluation of the World Council of Churches, this is a notable rebuke of the patriarch's alliance with an authoritarian regime that has so morally compromised the Russian Orthodox Church.

Holy Week is a time of deep reflection on, and participation in, the oikonomia of God that culminated in His Son's voluntary Passion on Golgotha, and the ultimate victory over death itself in His glorious Resurrection.  As we do so, the Ukrainian Golgotha is unfolding in real time. For the victims of this war, that victory of our Lord's will hopefully bear fruit in the eschaton. Perhaps we can stand in prayerful solidarity with Ukraine, and ask God that this sovereign nation will experience rebirth with its freedom and dignity intact.

Fortunately, other prominent Orthodox hierarchs are denouncing the war with great moral clarity. I am providing a link to one such articulate statement by Archbishop Elpidophoros, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America:

https://publicorthodoxy.org/2022/04/05/archpastoral-exhortation-ukraine-invasion/

This next link is to a more detailed article tracing the steady decline of the Moscow patriarchate's moral stance as it further entwined itself with Putin's vision of Russia:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...

And here is a link to a more positive approach to this tragic war; an approach that will allow us to do something concrete in order to assist this beleaguered nation and people.The title is: "Rebuid Ukraine: The Long March to Becoming Fully Human."

"Rebuild Ukraine: The Long March to Becoming Fully Human:"

https://publicorthodoxy.org/20...

 

Our Commitment to Holy Week

Dear Parish Faithful,

 

We have reached the saving passion of Christ our God. / Let us, the faithful, glorify His ineffable forbearance, / that in His compassion He may raise us up who were dead in sin, / for He is good and loves mankind. 

(Matins of Holy Monday)

As Orthodox, we "live" for Holy Week and realize that it is the key week of our liturgical year, as it will culminate in the Lord's Death and Resurrection - the great paschal mystery. As Fr. Sergius Bulgakov once wrote: 

"Holy Week sweeps the Orthodox believer along as if on a mystic torrent."

 

Therefore, I would simply like to provide a few pastoral suggestions that everyone can think about and perhaps incorporate into your daily lives as Holy Week unfolds:

 

• One must first make a commitment to Holy Week and make it the priority for your    respective households, regardless of how often you actually make it to the services. This is a week of strict fasting, and no other activities should impinge upon that. Your commitment to making Holy Week the center of your lives is synonymous with your commitment to Christ.

• Try and arrange your schedules so that you are able to attend the services as well as possible. However, if you are not able to attend the services, it must not be because of something of "entertainment value;" or some other distraction that can wait for a more appropriate time. Be especially aware of Great and Holy Friday and Saturday. These are the days of the Lord's Death and Sabbath rest in the tomb. These are days of fasting, silence and sobriety. Respect that fact that you are participating in a great mystery - the mystery of redemption and salvation.

• Parents, you may think of taking your children out of school on Holy Friday and attending the Vespers service in the afternoon. Other children have their "holy days" on which they may miss school; and we, as Orthodox Christians, have our own.

• Reduce or eliminate TV and other viewings for the week. Keep off the internet except for essential matters. Struggle against smart phone distraction/app obsessions.

• Be regular in your prayers.

• Try not to gossip or speak poorly of other persons.

• Choose at least one of the Passion Narratives from the four Gospels - MK. 14-15; MATT. 26-27; LK. 22-23; JN. 18-19 - and read it carefully through the week.There is also other good literature about Holy Week and Pascha that could be read. Turn to Fr. Alexander Schmemann's "Explanation of Holy Week" that I sent out last week. Actually, this is an incredibly rich resource page from our own parish website that offers extensive and intensive insights into the meaning of Holy Week.

• If you have access to any of the Holy Week service booklets, read and study the services carefully before coming to church. This will deepen your understanding of that particular service's emphasis as Holy Week unfolds.

• If you come to the midnight Paschal Liturgy, do your best to stay for the entire service, prepared to receive the Eucharist. It does not make a great deal of sense to leave the Liturgy before Holy Communion. 

 

Our goal, I believe, is to make of Holy Week and Pascha something a great deal more than a colorful/cultural event that is fleeting in nature and quickly forgotten. To encounter this "more" requires our own human effort working together with the grace of God so that the heart is enlarged with the presence of the crucified and risen Christ.

'I am Lazarus'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

GREAT LENT - The Fortieth Day

As Great Lent will be over later today, and as we approach Lazarus Saturday, I wanted to share some excellent comments by a contemporary biblical scholar, Brendan Byrne, as he offers an in-depth exegesis (interpretation) of the incomparable narrative of Jesus raising Lazarus to life. His comments are so effective because of how convincingly he relates the entire episode to our lives today as Christians facing the exact same dilemmas and challenges - beginning with the challenge to faith that the reality of death raises.

Be that as it may, Byrne writes the following:

Lazarus is a character with whom anyone who reads the Gospel can identify. "I" am Lazarus - in the sense that Jesus left his "safe country" to enter this world, placing his life in mortal danger in order to save mefrom death, to communicate, at the cost of his own life, eternal life to me.

I am the "friend" of Jesus - he or she whom he loved. For meJesus has wept. Before mytomb, so to speak, he has wrestled with the cost of life-giving love. It is to call meforth into life, to strip from methe bands of death that Jesus has come into the world and given his life. So I am to read the forthcoming account of the passion and death of Jesus with intimate personal involvement, knowing that Jesus is undergoing all this insult and suffering for love of me and to give life to me." 
The story of Lazarus, with its full acceptance of human death and grieving, with its realism about the cost of giving life, with its invitation to enter upon a deeper journey of faith, speaks as powerfully to the present as it did to the past.

God is neither indifferent to the distress death brings nor unsympathetic to our struggles of faith. More than anything else in the gospel, Jesus' demeanor in John 11 expresses divine involvement in human grief and suffering. In the person of the Son, God becomes vulnerable physically and psychologically, to death. At its deepest level the story of Lazarus invites us to believe in God as the One who gives life in death and out of death.

To every believer, confronted like Martha with mortality, Jesus addresses his words: "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" (11:40) Each of us has a perfect right, indeed an invitation, to write ourselves and our world into the script - to be, each one of us, Lazarus, whom Jesus loved and for whom he gave his life.

 

When Christ goes to the Cross, He does so on behalf of all humanity, but each person can say: He is dying so that I can have abundant life. 

In the expressive icon presented here, we are given a real sense of the power of Jesus over death, as He authoritatively gestures toward the tomb to bring the bound Lazarus out. In the Gospel, we read that Jesus "cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out'." The word of the Word is life-creating and life-giving, so dramatically revealed in this event. Martha and Mary are at the feet of Christ imploring His mercy as the startled crowd of both disciples and fellow-mourners look on with amazement. This was the final "sign" in the first half of the Gospel that will now move toward an even more ultimate "sign" of Jesus offering His life "for the life of the world."