Chrst is Risen!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Happy Easter to all. Our most precious and highest feast of the Christian year has arrived, Easter–the Passover of our Lord!  We celebrate Christ’s resurrection–new life born from the old–not only as the celebration of Emmanuel fulfilling the prophecy of old, but as the promise of our new life in Him. The promise of Easter is hope, and not just hope as a possibility, but as a promise. 
Today, and many years before, our world has been in the depths of chaos, division, poverty, and violence. Where in this world can we turn to find peace and tranquility? How can we pull ourselves out from the toxicity that is weighing us down? The answer is the same then as it is now: we surrender to the risen Christ. 

The act of self-surrender is something that we have to consciously follow every day. When we consciously try to live a life that is pleasing to God, then we will slowly see our center and order even in the most hopeless situation. New beginnings, at times, demand a logistical move, but this hope is not contingent on money, place, or power. Our hope is found in the focus of our hearts. This may seem a monumental task, but you must remember, in this we are not taking on a thing, but letting go of everything. We are blessed by God to have God as our companion through life and through our relinquishment. Remember, nothing is impossible with God!

Relinquishing ourselves to God is the beginning of joy, and joy changes everything. I pray you all have a blessed Easter season and find that, though times may bring wreck and ruin, in Christ Jesus there is light and life forevermore. 

"Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him; yesterday I died with Him; today I am quickened with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise with Him. But let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us— you will think perhaps that I am going to say gold, or silver, or woven work or transparent and costly stones, the mere passing material of earth, that remains here below, and is for the most part always possessed by bad men, slaves of the world and of the Prince of the world. Let us offer ourselves, the possession most precious to God, and most fitting; let us give back to the Image what is made after the Image. Let us recognize our Dignity; let us honour our Archetype; let us know the power of the Mystery, and for what Christ died."

“Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. Let us become God’s for His sake, since He for our sake became Man. He assumed the worse that He might give us the better; He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich, He took upon Him the form of a servant that we might receive back our liberty; He came down that we might be exalted; He was tempted that we might conquer; He was dishonored that He might glorify us; He died that He might save us; He ascended that He might draw to Himself we who were lying low in the Fall of sin. Let us give all, offer all, to Him Who gave Himself a Ransom and a Reconciliation for us. But one can give nothing like oneself, understanding the Mystery and becoming for His sake all that He became for ours.”

St. Gregory the Theologian - Homily on Pascha 326 AD.

Christ is Risen!
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Fr. Bill+