PASCHAL GREETINGS FROM FR. CORNELL
Come, one and all, and receive the banquet of faith!
Come, one and all, and receive the riches of loving-kindness!
No one must lament his poverty, for a kingdom belonging to all has appeared;
no one must despair over his failings, for forgiveness has sprung up from the grave;
no one must fear death, for the death of the Saviour has set us all free.
(St. John Chrysostom, "Paschal Catechetical Homily")
What a joyous and hopeful description of the Paschal Feast! We, the faithful, are freed from any sadness, guilt, poverty or fear! This is the hope of each and every Christian person – this is Paradise! While we still continue to struggle in our daily lives to enter Paradise, the great hierarch and teacher of the Orthodox Church reminds us, in his famous homily, that, as the people of God – the Church – we are here and now united to Him; we are members of His Body. “Truly, He is risen” – words of a most joyful proclamation for us, the faithful; a proclamation that we should rush out into the world with and encourage those who do not yet believe or have removed themselves from the embrace of the Church to witness the empty Tomb with us and participate in the promise of eternal life and the “riches of loving-kindness” that are found only in the Risen Christ, ever-present in the Church, as expressed by another great hierarch of Constantinople, St. Germanus: “The Church is an earthly heaven, where the heavenly God lives and moves.”
Pascha is not about braided breads, coiled meats and coloured eggs (although they do make for a very tasty celebration!). Pascha is the Passover – from fear to freedom, from sin to incorruption, from hopelessness to hope, and from death to life. This is the Feast that affords the politician and the plumber, the house-parent and the homeless person on the street to all stand equally before God and be offered the same reward, the same treasure – the Kingdom of Heaven!
Please accept my warmest embrace and sincerest prayers from our household. We wrap our arms around each and every one of you – our cathedral community members, attendees, visitors and friends – and say joyfully, in the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, “My joy – Christ is risen!” Let us all rejoice and be glad in this “day that the Lord has made,” (Psalm 118) and feast at the “banquet of faith” together, in the presence of our risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
ÕÐÈÑÒÎÑ ÂÎÑÊÐÅÑ! CHRIST IS RISEN!
ÂβÑÒÈÍÓ ÂÎÑÊÐÅÑ! TRULY, HE IS RISEN!