†
BARTHOLOMEW
By God's
mercy
Archbishop
of Constantinople-New Rome
and
Ecumenical Patriarch
To the
Plenitude of the Church
Grace,
Peace and Mercy from Christ Risen in Glory
Beloved
concelebrants and devout, God-loving children of the Church,
Christ
is Risen!
The
proclamation of the Resurrection by the myrrh-bearing women to the
disciples of Christ was considered delirious. Yet, the word, formerly
conceived as delirious, was confirmed as Truth. The risen Lord
appeared to His disciples on several occasions.
In our
time, the proclamation of the Resurrection is again considered
delirious by rationalists. Nonetheless, we faithful not only believe
in but also experience the Resurrection as a profoundly truthful
fact. Indeed, if necessary, we seal our testimony with self-sacrifice
because in the risen Christ we transcend death and are liberated from
its fear. Our hearts are filled with joy when we repeat: The Lord has
risen. Our saints, who have died according to the world, continue to
live among us, responding to our petitions. The world that follows
death is truer than the world that precedes death. Christ has risen
and dwells among us. He has promised to be with us to the end of the
world. And so He is – as our friend, brother, healer, who bestows
all good things.
Blessed
is our God, who has risen from the dead, granting eternal life to all
people. O death, where is your sting? Christ has risen, revealing and
ridiculing the one who formerly boasted without end to be a mockery.
(See the Canon of St. John Damascene, 4th tone, 9th ode) Everything
is filled with light and our hearts are replete with limitless joy.
And
more than joy, they are filled with strength. For whoever believes in
the Resurrection is unafraid of death; and whoever is unafraid of
death is spiritually unyielding and unbending inasmuch as what may be
the most terrible threat for the majority and for the disbelievers is
of little significance to the Christian; for it is the entrance to
life itself. The faithful Christian lives the Resurrection even prior
to his or her natural death.
The
consequence of experiencing the Resurrection is the transformation of
the world. It inspires the soul. And an inspired soul also attracts
other souls to its ways, when these souls are moved by the genuine
joyous experience of immortality. Christ’s Resurrection and our own
resurrection are not simply an abstract truth. They are a dogma of
faith. They are a tangible reality. They are a force that overcomes
the world despite the extremely harsh persecutions waged against it.
“This is the victory, which has conquered the world, namely our
faith” (1 John 5.4) in His Resurrection. Through the Resurrection,
humanity is called to divinity through grace. Through the victory of
the light of Resurrection over the impure passions, divine eros and a
strange love, which surpasses human boundaries, are established in
our souls.
Therefore,
Christ is Risen! Our hearts are filled with the light and joy of the
Resurrection. We approach the Risen Lord with authenticity and
simplicity. For, as the royal Prophet David says, our God, who
supervises our hearts from above, “will not despise a broken and
contrite heart.” (Psalm 50.19)
The
Resurrection is our strength, hope, joy, and delight. Through the
Resurrection, we transcend pain and sorrow for all the evils of this
natural, worldly life. The Resurrection is God’s response to the
helplessness of wounded humanity before the suffering of worldly
humanity.
We do
not surrender to the difficulties and challenges of the modern world.
The gathering of the Lord’s fearful disciples in the upper room in
Jerusalem encourages us. We are not afraid because we love everyone,
even as He loved us and gave His life for our sake. Mysteriously and
invisibly, the Lord accompanies us. We only need to have – and we
do have – love. For though love, we understand the power of the
Mystery; we know the Mystery itself.
If
others hesitate, “garnering their actions in thick sheaves”
(Vespers of the Prodigal Son), yet we boast. And if we do not “winnow
the chaff of our [sinful and passionate] actions with the wind of His
loving-kindness or on the threshing floor of repentance,” the Risen
Lord is Love and disperses all forms of darkness and fear that
surrounds us, entering our hearts and our world, even when the doors
are closed. He “remains with us” permanently through the cross of
love. His calling is peace, and He grants us His peace. The powerful
of this world pledge and promise peace, but can never produce or
realize it. Whereas the power of divine Love, Peace and Wisdom
remains beyond all human panic. It is not found on the margins of
reality or the surface of human convictions. Instead, it is the heart
of humanity, the center of life, the lord of life and death. It is
Truth.
The
incontestable transcendence of Power invisibly controls the reigns
and directs all things, especially at a time when “the minds of so
many lie in darkness.”
At this
time of widespread dissolution throughout the world, the hope of all
throughout the universe, the Wisdom of God, is the presence of the
heavenly solution and harmony. At a time of collapse and anticipated
death, we have the reality of Resurrection and the strength of our
conviction in Christ.
The
peace that derives from Him who trampled down death by death through
his self-emptying, together with the joy of love, flow and heal our
contemporary humanity that sighs and suffers as well as all of
creation that groans and laments with us, who “await adoption and
redemption” as well as “the freedom of the glory of the children
of God.” (Romans 8.20-23)
Truly
the Lord is Risen, beloved fathers, brothers and sisters!
Holy
Pascha 2013
†
Bartholomew of Constantinople
Your
fervent supplicant before God
