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His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios' Paschal Reflection

 

 

       At this very moment we relive the Holy Resurrection, the central mystery of our Christian faith.  We will shortly light our Paschal candles to boldly proclaim that “the light of Christ shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overtake it.” (John 1:5)

 

       At this very moment “as the first day of the week dawns,” (Matthew 28:1) we mystically draw near to the life-giving tomb together with Mary Magdalene and the other Myrrh bearing women who discover that the great stone placed there has been rolled away, and that the body of the Savior is nowhere to be found. We overhear Mary Magdalene lament, “they have taken away the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:2)

 

       How sad it was for the myrrh bearers not to find the Risen Lord.

 

       How sad it is that we cannot seem to find Him either.  We cannot find Him in the world of politics or the world of finances.  We cannot find the Risen Lord in our schools or in our judicial courts.  We cannot find the Risen Lord in our homes. Sadly, some claim they cannot even find him in our churches.

 

       The Risen Lord met the myrrh bearers as they were going to the disciples, and He said to them “Do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galillee and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:10) Like the myrrh bearers, we, too, are directed to go to Galillee to see the Risen Lord. 

 

       Galillee is Boston.  It’s Worcester and Springfield.  It’s Manchester and every city and town in America and throughout the world.

 

       The Risen Lord awaits us in Galillee where the rich have removed God from their altar of worship, and placed instead their money and their perceived importance.

 

       The Risen Lord awaits us in Galillee where the powerful plot to marginalize the church and muzzle its voice in society.

 

       The Risen Lord awaits us in Galillee ------- in every corner of the earth ------- but especially where our fellow human beings are victims of human trafficking, of cultural wars, of crimes, of genocide, of ethnic cleansing and every other conceivable atrocity.

 

       The Risen Lord awaits us in our personal Galillee to shine His mercy, His forgiveness and His love in our hearts. In the midst of our failures -------- in our emotional solitude, in our doubt and abandonment, on our spiritual death beds, in our tombs of doubt and disbelief -------- the Risen Lord comes to raise us up to experience our own Resurrection.

 

       Let us greet Him in Galillee and boldly proclaim our faith in His Resurrection. Let us share the Light of the Risen Lord in a world that is steeped in every conceivable form of darkness, in a world which faces financial turmoil, in a world suffering from both spiritual and material poverty, in a world of violence and deprivation, of terrorism, of incivility and divisiveness.  

 

       Let us light our Paschal candles of hope and joy, and let us proclaim together with St. John the Evangelist “the light of Christ shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overtake it.” (John 1:5)

 

       Come receive the light from the unwaning Light and glorify Christ who is risen from the dead.

 

                                         Metropolitan Methodios

                                         Easter, 2012

 

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