Up to Jerusalem: Resurrection–Death–Resurrection

 

Up to Jerusalem:

Resurrection–Death–Resurrection

Authored By Orthodox Christian Mission Center

On this Thursday before Holy Week, Jesus’s friend Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, has died and already been in the tomb for two days in the village of Bethany, about two miles outside of Jerusalem. Two days later, on Saturday, Jesus travels to Bethany and proclaims to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). He then proceeds to raise Lazarus from the dead. It is significant to note that the passion of Holy Week the betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion, is bookended by resurrection. The Good News that OCMC proclaims is the certainty of Resurrection!

His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Albania often tells a story of his time as a missionary in Africa and the importance of proclaiming the message of resurrection:

We were in a remote region in the highlands of western Kenya. It was night, and we arrived at a house that was in mourning. A little girl, stricken mortally by malaria, lay on a large bed, as if sleeping peacefully…We read a short funeral prayer, and I said a few words of consolation.

That night, as the rain fell on the banana leaves and tin roof of the schoolhouse where we stayed, I reflected on the events of the day. Away in the darkness, I heard a drum beating and knew it came from the house of mourning. In my weariness, I wondered, “Why am I here?” Various thoughts about missions came into my mind—preaching, education, civilization, development, peace, love. 

Suddenly, a light flashed across my exhausted mind and revealed to me the essence of the matter. “You bring the good news—the hope of resurrection! Every human being has a unique worth, and each will rise again. Herein lies human dignity, value, and hope. Christ is risen! You teach them to celebrate the resurrection in the mystery of the Church. You offer a foretaste of it.”

As we complete the Lenten fast tomorrow, let us embrace the resurrection of Lazarus and cry out “Hosanna!” to our King on Palm Sunday. And as we enter Holy Week on Monday with our Lord, as the Apostle Thomas proclaims, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:15). It is only when we allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ that we can fully share in His resurrection. May we all live the mystery of death and resurrection in these coming days.

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This was written on Thursday, but the raising of Lazarus is central to this short meditation, so it is a good one to read on Lazarus Saturday. OCMC has been proclaiming the Gospel of Death and Resurrection for many years now on a global scale.

Holy Monday: 'To stand by our solemn oath'

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"In our liturgical celebrations we remember events of the past. But the whole meaning and power of the Liturgy is that it transforms remembrance into reality. On Palm Sunday this reality is our own involvement in, and responsibility to, the Kingdom of God. Christ does not enter into Jerusalem any more. He did it once for all. And He does not need any "symbols," for He did not die on the Cross so we can eternally "symbolize" His life. He wants from us a real acceptance of the Kingdom which He brought to us. If we are not ready to stand by the solemn oath, which we renew every year on Palm Sunday - if we do not mean to make the Kingdom of God the measure of our whole life - then meaningless is our commemoration and vain the branches we take home from the Church."

- Fr. Alexander Schmemann

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Fr. Alexander Schmemann always had the gift to capture the seriousness with which we need to embrace the life in Christ discovered and nourished within the life of the Church, but without any stuffy solemnity or moral posturing. He presents the fulness of this new reality and how it cannot be reduced to "religious" or cultural expressions, or the merely "symbolic." The challenge he so often eloquently expressed was to our deepest commitments in life - what he often called our "worldview." If Christ and the Kingdom are not the center of our lives, then there is a false note present in our claims to be Christian. 

Looking back on yesterday's splendid celebration of Palm Sunday, Fr. Alexander understands this as our commitment to the Kingdom of God.

 

'Earthly Life Ceases . . .'

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

We have completed the forty days which
   profit our souls.
Now let us beg the lover of man;
enable us to see the Holy Week of Thy passion,
that we may glorify Thy mighty work,
Thy wonderful plan for our salvation,
singing with one heart and voice,
O Lord, Glory to Thee!

(Vespers of Lazarus Saturday)

"The mysteries of the Orthodox cult reach their culminating point and their greatest power in the services of Holy Week and Easter. The beauty, the richness and the power of these services take possession of the soul and sweep it along as upon a mystic torrent." 

~ The Orthodox Church by Fr. Sergius Bulgakov

 

I came across the phrase "earthly life ceases"  at the beginning of Fr. Thomas Hopko's explanation of Holy Week.  What could he mean by saying that "earthly life ceases"?  It is certainly not meant to be taken "literally;" because, if so, Fr. Hopko would not be much of a thinker or theologian! 

The phrase "earthly life ceases" is not about death and dying. It is, rather, about how we conduct our lives during that week we designate in the Church as "holy and great." This becomes clear when we look at the entire sentence from Fr. Hopko: "Earthly life ceases for the faithful as they 'go up to Jerusalem with the Lord' (Matins of Holy Monday). "

During the approaching Holy Week, we will continue to arise each morning to a new day, carry out our commitments and responsibilities, and find rest from our labors in the peace of sleep - as well as "eat and drink" to keep alive! But we do these quotidian things in this "week of weeks" with an intense focus on the paschal mystery of Christ's redemptive death and life-giving Resurrection.

Our sense of reality shifts as we realize - hopefully through the experience of participation - that what is taking place in church through liturgical worship is Reality at its most full and complete. Other concerns, important as they are, are laid aside or postponed as much as that is possible. I believe that this is what Fr. Hopko was trying to convey when he wrote that "earthly life ceases" during Holy Week.  Only then could we, as the faithful, and in a good spirit, go up to Jerusalem with the Lord:

As the Lord was going to His voluntary passion,
He said to the Apostles on the way,
"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man shall be delivered up, as it is 
   written of Him."
Come, therefore, let us also go with Him,
purified in mind.
Let us be crucified with Him and die through Him
to the pleasures of this life.
Then we shall live with Him and hear Him say:
"I go no more to the earthly Jerusalem to suffer,
but to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God,
I shall raise you up to the Jerusalem on high
in the Kingdom of Heaven."

(Matins of Holy Monday)

What might all of this mean on the practical level? How will this effect our lives during Holy Week? How important will it be for each one of us to "go up to Jerusalem with the Lord?"

As a pastoral response, I would say that during Holy Week there are three basic places that Orthodox Christians know and find themselves at:  1) the home; 2) work/school; and 3) the church.  Exceptions may abound with other unavoidable(?) commitments, but I believe that this basic trinity of places could be a helpful starting point from which we ground ourselves, gain perspective, and around which we plan as we assess the possibilities and priorities of Holy Week in our lives.

Certainly, this is not the time to seek entertainment or those other distractions that may appear attractive. And it is certainly not the time for a "vacation" - even if the children happen to be out of school. If, during Great Lent, we have managed to already put some of this into practice, then the approaching Holy Week is the time of an even greater effort in this direction. Our "free time" in the evenings could be redeemed by making it "church time." 

If we are unable to attend any of the services, I would suggest that we transform our homes to some extent by seeking some level of stillness or relative silence. And if, over the years, you have purchased your own copies of the Holy Week service books, you could read those in the quite atmosphere of your homes when unable to be in church. Challenging, no doubt, but certainly not impossible, for "with God all things are possible."  (MATT. 19:26)

As an Orthodox Christian no one can say: "Holy Week caught me unawares" - not with a preceding forty days of Great Lent!  Well aware in advance of the date of Pascha - April 28 this year - hopefully some preparatory scheduling has already been accomplished. So, the above is written in the spirit of pastoral care and guidance.  I am not trying to "tell" anyone what to do. As I like to formulate it: I am a pastor - not a policeman. You make your own plans - or what I call "domestic strategies" - but I encourage you to do so with Christ and the church in mind.

But we are all in this great mystery together.  And the source of this "mystery hidden for ages by God who created all things" (EPH. 3:9) is the limitless love of God: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us" (ROM. 5:8). And this mystery of an active - even "crucified" - love on the part of God draws us into that communion of love as the redeemed and transformed People of God, being "built ... upon the rock" (MATT. 7:24) of our belief in the redemptive Death and life-giving Resurrection of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

I hope that one and all truly enjoys a blessed Holy Week and Pascha!

A different kind of King - 'The Victory of Palm Sunday'

Dear Parish Faithful,

The Feast of Palms - Liturgically, this splendid Feast Day is behind us for this year, but the meaning of each feast is always timely as it reveals something of great significance in the life of Christ and, by extension, in our lives. Here is an insightful reflection as to how Palm Sunday impacts our perception of life and where real strength is to be found:

Today, on Palm Sunday, we have fasted forty days, we are hungry, and if ever we face temptation from Satan, it is now. We face the temptation to gratify ourselves with worldly delights. We face the temptation to demand our liberty from everything and everyone that oppresses us. We face the temptation to fight for strength, and wealth, and power. This is the spiritual warfare that constantly rages on all sides, and today on Palm Sunday the battle is particularly violent.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he faces these temptations as never before - all of those people cheering, crying out "Hosanna!," just begging him to be their worldly general, their commander, their emperor. 

Yet, Christ refuses to be the earthly king that people demand. Instead he will be revealed as a kind of king that the world has never seen, a perfect king, a heavenly king, a humble king, crowned with thorns, robes in the purple of mockery, and enthroned on the Cross.

Though Christ enters Jerusalem and is enveloped in a firestorm of temptation, he keeps his eyes on the Cross. This is the victory of Palm Sunday.

~ Father J. Sergius Halvorsen

Looking Ahead to Palm Sunday and Holy Week

Dear Parish Faithful,

O ye faithful, let us prepare to celebrate Palm Sunday, joyfully observing the forefeast from this present day onwards, that we may be counted worthy to see the lifegiving Passion.

(Monday of the Sixth Week, Second Canon, Ode One)

We are entering the sixth and final week of Great Lent. Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are now before us on the upcoming weekend. These are two magnificent feasts that anticipate so much of what we look forward to in Pascha – the Lordship of Christ and victory over death.

Yet, due to our calendar differences with other churches, this weekend will also be the “Western Easter” on April 8. This is not the Orthodox Pascha, and so our loyalties and commitments are to the paschal cycle as it exists within the Church. However, the obviousness of that statement may not be that straightforward for some of you. For you may also have family loyalties and commitments that must be accounted for, due to close family members who are not Orthodox. If such family members are close by, and if such family members celebrate Easter this Sunday and expect you to join them, then participating in their celebration is understandable. I would certainly not counsel that you make a point of only celebrating the “real Pascha” by ignoring your non-Orthodox family members, and staining your relationships in the process. A charitable spirit toward the sensibilities of others as occasions arise is essential for the Christian, so that we live by the “spirit of the law,”and not simply the “letter of the law.”