PASCHAL MESSAGE IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2024
“Jesus, having risen from the tomb
as he foretold,
has given us eternal life and great mercy. ”
(Chant following synaxarion)
Your Beatitude
CHRIST IS RISEN!
The day of resurrection, let us be radiant, O peoples, Pascha,
the Lord’s Pascha; for from death unto life, and from
earth unto heaven, Christ our God has brought us over, as we
sing the triumphant song. (The Paschal Canon ; Irmos, Tone 1).
Let us understand that today's Easter Sunday belongs to God
whose glory knows no twilight. It is a day without evening when
the resurrected Son of God reaches with his light the eternity
hidden within us, the mystery of our individual being. To live
in this day is to live in the love that is God. We thought Him
to be far from us, and now that He gives Himself to us, He takes
hold of us even in the depths of death. He draws us to Himself
and shows us that every moment of our life has meaning only
when it is guided by Him in His love.
Saint John Chrysostom writes: “O death, where is thy
sting? O Hades, where is thy victory? Christ is risen, and thou
art cast down. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ
is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life
flourished. Christ is risen, and there is none dead in the tombs.
For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits
of them that have fallen asleep.”
I said before that today's Easter Sunday is a day of God without
evening. The saints teach us by the example of their own lives
that there really is no difference between today's life and
the life to come, because the present and the future are one
in "God's present". Understanding this and our true
faith show us both the present and that which is not yet and
is still to come. Happy are those that combine these two realities
in themselves. Happy are those that can affirm without hesitation
that they have seen the risen Christ not with the eyes of the
body, but with the eyes of the heart, with the inner eyes of
their whole being, unlike those that only wait externally for
that great and unique day to arrive.
|
Metropolitan
STEPHANOS of Tallinn and all Estonia
|
Undoubtedly, modern man also senses the mystery, despite
the society where everything is constantly becoming more material
and vulgar. They sense the mystery despite a world of violence,
extraordinary and extreme violence, including mass destruction
of civilians who themselves have not shed anyone's blood,
such as in Ukraine or Palestine. Violence that wants to kill
the humanity in a person, break them, humiliate them. Not
just to use them or discard them, but quite clearly to destroy
them.
Even now, right at our doorstep, there is not peace, but
war that is not merely an attempt to change borders, but a
raw chauvinist endeavor to subjugate one nation to another.
This is not a legal dispute between two countries, but a crude
and brutal display of power. Despite all this, I am certain
in my words when I say that modern men perceive the mystery,
yet certainly in a different way than before: perhaps in cold
loneliness, perhaps in emotional despair, which means that
their gaze is equal parts love and sadness. Talking about
spiritual crisis, we can define it as a descent into hell
and the realm of death. It is there that God triumphs for
the Christian, single-handedly penetrating all the joints
of creation, he, the Risen One, who allows himself to be buried
in the depths of the souls of those that are strangers to
faith, who in turn are drowned in the death of God. Yet there
are signs of improvement in the world around us. It is our
job to recognize and understand those signs. This is possible
only through true prayer, because prayer clears the eyes of
our heart from all obstacles; because it is prayer that helps
us understand our entire nature. In other words, we are either
completely engrossed in prayer and achieve everything, or
leave an important place for prayer, yet selfishly and considering
our own well-being, reserve something for our "me".
This, however, will not allow us to perceive with certainty
that Christ's victory over death enlightens the entire person,
that the person as a whole will be saved and that it concerns
their whole being: their body, soul and spirit.
Beloved ...,
Let us lift up our eyes with joy and confidence towards Jesus,
our divine Savior, telling ourselves that we expect, demand,
and ask nothing but his compassion, mercy, and grace. Thus
we are filled with the power of God, we live our lives in
Christ, and his Holy Spirit guides and sustains us. Let us
remain beside Christ, our Physician; he fills us in every
way with his love that flows from his divine providence, which
we ourselves do not know perfectly.
Christ is risen! To him be glory and praise forever and ever!
In Tallinn,
Pascha of Our Lord, on May 5, 2024
+Stephanos,
Metropolitan of Tallinn and All Estonia
Chairman of the Holy Synod
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2024-06-27
