His Grace Bishop Demetri's Message for Pascha 2000

      With these words, I greet and embrace each and every one of you with joy, for indeed Light has dawned upon us as we celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection. For "today is salvation come unto the world, to that which is visible, and to that which is invisible. Christ is risen from the dead, rise ye with Him. Christ is returned again to Himself, return ye. Christ is freed from the tomb, be ye freed from the bond of sin. The gates of hell are opened, and death is destroyed, and the old Adam is put aside, and the New is fulfilled; if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; be ye renewed." (from the Second Paschal Oration of St. Gregory the Theologian).

      Today we celebrate this wondrous event by crying out to all we meet “Christ is Risen!” We gather in our churches and in our homes for great banquets, full of joy and gladness. But after these celebrations, what do we take with us? We must never forget that what has been revealed to us this day must reside in our hearts every day, hour and minute, and not just put away until next year.

      It was for us, you see, that the Lord suffered, died, was buried, and arose: and His death, burial and resurrection is, as it were, our own. That is why the Church sings during Matins of Bright Week: “. . . we were but yesterday buried with thee, and we shall rise with thee in thy Resurrection: glorify us with thee in thy kingdom” (Pascha Can. Ode 3). For this reason all of us look with great anticipation for “the resurrection of the dead, and the life in the world to come” as we say in the Nicene Creed.

      Let each of us carry forward from this Feast of Feasts a renewed and keener awareness of this great Truth, and a burning desire to live our lives according to God’ Will. In so doing, we endeavor to achieve the salvation that has now been made possible by this mighty act through the Grace of God.

      With the assurance of my prayers for all of you during this glorious and light-filled Paschal season, I remain

In the Risen Lord,
+ Bishop Demetri