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Dear Parish Faithful,
CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!
“Earthly colors fade in the shining of the white Paschal light, and the soul sees only ‘the unapproachable light of the resurrection’: ‘now all things have become full of light — the heavens, the earth, and the under-world.’ During the Paschal night, man is permitted to know in anticipation the life of the future age, to enter into the Kingdom of Glory, into the Kingdom of God…
"Easter for us is not just one of the feast days; it is ‘the feast of feasts, the celebration of celebrations.’ All of the major feasts of the Church give us knowledge of the Kingdom of God in the works of God as events of this age. But Easter is not a remembrance of such an event, for it is directed toward the future age.
"Easter is the earthly preparation for the revelation of the glory about which Christ prayed to the Father in His high-priestly prayer. Easter is the anticipation of the heavenly Jerusalem, which at the end of time will descend, according to the prophetic vision, from heaven to earth: ‘Shine, shine, New Jerusalem. You are radiant with the glory of the Lord.’ Easter is eternal life, consisting of knowledge of God and communion with God.”
—Excerpts from Sergius Bulgakov’s homily entitled “Divine Joy” from his book Churchly Joy
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Fr. Sergius Bulgakov was one of the great Orthodox thinkers and writers of the 20th c. This passage is a wonderful indication of his many gifts. In this short passage, he combines a theological vision of the Resurrection that is Kingdom-oriented with a host of liturgical hymns from the Paschal service organically interwoven into his homily.
