WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.900
Christ is risen Christ is risen Christ is risen

00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:12.460
Christ is risen Christ is risen Christ is risen

00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:14.240
Christ is risen Christ is risen Christ is risen

00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:20.640
Christ is risen Christ is risen Christ is risen

00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:39.359
Christ is risen. The joy of Oscar. The joy of

00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:46.119
the resurrection. It is so full. It is hard to

00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:50.979
put into words this joy, this fullness, this

00:00:50.979 --> 00:00:55.920
truth, this reality that death has been broken.

00:00:56.200 --> 00:01:00.729
Death has been Death has been defeated. Death

00:01:00.729 --> 00:01:04.109
has been slain. Death has been taken captive,

00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:07.870
as we heard in the words of St. John Chrysostom

00:01:07.870 --> 00:01:10.870
last night, which are so hard to follow. How

00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:14.829
can I even stand here and say anything? And yet

00:01:14.829 --> 00:01:22.170
we must try. Words will fail us all. Brothers

00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:26.489
and sisters, whatever we have in our heart, Whatever

00:01:26.489 --> 00:01:30.989
efforts we have put in, whatever baggage, whatever

00:01:30.989 --> 00:01:34.189
sins, whatever failures, whatever weaknesses,

00:01:34.450 --> 00:01:37.290
whatever brokenness, whatever things that hold

00:01:37.290 --> 00:01:42.069
us at arm's length, perhaps during the Lent,

00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:44.629
perhaps during Holy Week, perhaps during the

00:01:44.629 --> 00:01:47.829
year, because we are a little more full than

00:01:47.829 --> 00:01:50.829
usual. That's slightly supposed to be funny.

00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:57.969
Christ has shattered them. Christ has obliterated

00:01:57.969 --> 00:02:03.129
them. Christ has given them life. Someone who

00:02:03.129 --> 00:02:06.989
speaks Spanish can correct me later if I need

00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:09.610
to be corrected, but I was thinking when you

00:02:09.610 --> 00:02:17.270
say Cristo resucitado, it gives off the idea

00:02:17.270 --> 00:02:21.949
of resuscitation. If you're tracing it etymologically.

00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:27.530
And yet, resuscitation, it's not quite right,

00:02:27.650 --> 00:02:30.189
because that's not what the resurrection is.

00:02:31.430 --> 00:02:35.770
Christ is standing. Christos Anesti is what the

00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:41.830
Greek says. Christ is resurrected. He is not

00:02:41.830 --> 00:02:45.330
just brought back to life. He is incorruptible.

00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:49.909
He is immortal. Death has been taken captive,

00:02:49.990 --> 00:02:55.979
and life reigns. And so when we think of our

00:02:55.979 --> 00:02:58.819
weaknesses, when we think of our bodies breaking,

00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.819
when we think of our minds deteriorating, when

00:03:01.819 --> 00:03:04.479
we think of thoughts that plague us, Christ has

00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:06.979
invaded all of those things and filled them with

00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:10.939
life and meaning. All of our lives, all of our

00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:13.659
lives have meaning because of the resurrection

00:03:13.659 --> 00:03:19.080
of Christ Jesus from the dead. We can rejoice.

00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:23.560
We can rejoice. And the Lord gives us, the church

00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.460
gives us, essentially 50 days to celebrate this

00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:31.979
fact that offsets the 40 plus 8 days we just

00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:36.500
went through. Because Pentecost, Pentecost technically

00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:39.960
is the 50th day of Pascha, in terms of the Greek

00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:44.719
meaning of it. Brothers and sisters, let these

00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:53.120
50 days be a spiritual awakening. Let them be

00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:57.400
a spiritual resurrection. If we have been away,

00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:00.900
come. There is nothing that needs to hold you

00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:05.620
at arm's length. If we have been depressed, if

00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:07.979
we have been anxious, if we have been doubting,

00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:13.939
if we have been weak, if we have been despairing,

00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:18.399
if we have been making excuses, if we have been

00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:25.730
fretting, There is no need. There is no need.

00:04:26.170 --> 00:04:30.110
It is not even worthy, St. Paul says, to compare

00:04:30.110 --> 00:04:33.149
these things to the glory of Christ, the glory

00:04:33.149 --> 00:04:36.949
that is coming and the glory that is invading

00:04:36.949 --> 00:04:42.689
this creation, even in our own bodies, that the

00:04:42.689 --> 00:04:47.009
old man has died, the old man is withering, and

00:04:47.009 --> 00:04:50.250
the new man... We are being transfigured, the

00:04:50.250 --> 00:04:54.329
Greek. We are being metamorphosized from the

00:04:54.329 --> 00:04:58.829
inside out. And Christ is coming alive in us.

00:05:01.529 --> 00:05:05.629
If you have been away, come. If you have been

00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:10.250
doubting, come. Think of Thomas at the scripture

00:05:10.250 --> 00:05:13.430
reading. Christ comes. He says, peace be unto

00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:17.779
you. He shows them. Everything. They need to

00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:20.379
see the apostles. He says, peace be unto you.

00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:22.779
He shows up when the doors are closed because

00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:24.920
they're afraid of the Jewish authorities. They're

00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.899
hiding. He comes to them and he shows himself

00:05:27.899 --> 00:05:34.560
to them. Resurrected. Standing. Alive. Death

00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.120
defeated. And Thomas isn't there. And so when

00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:45.089
they go and they tell Thomas, he doubts. It's

00:05:45.089 --> 00:05:48.829
too good to be true. It's too good to be true.

00:05:49.389 --> 00:05:52.850
And in the world standards, it might be. And

00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:56.290
yet, it is true. But in order to believe it,

00:05:56.350 --> 00:06:00.189
in order to experience it, in order to feel the

00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:03.769
power of Christ's resurrection, the joy of Pascha,

00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:08.829
we have to be here. Not just on Pascha, but we

00:06:08.829 --> 00:06:12.269
have to be here to see it all through the year.

00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:16.540
That our hearts might be filled with hope. That

00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:19.439
our lives might be filled with meaning. That

00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.360
we might know how significant we are to Christ,

00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:27.860
our God. That he invaded death for us when we

00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:30.439
were weak. When our wrists were limp like the

00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.220
resurrection icon. When Adam and Eve, they can

00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:36.860
barely reach up. And he grabs them. And he pulls

00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:39.660
them out. And he makes them to stand like he

00:06:39.660 --> 00:06:43.709
is standing. And he says, let's go. Let's live

00:06:43.709 --> 00:06:47.649
our life. Let's not look back. Let's not look

00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:51.029
back. Let's unite ourselves. Unite yourself to

00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:54.829
me. Unite yourself to the church. Unite yourself

00:06:54.829 --> 00:06:58.529
to my power that courses from me and into you.

00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:04.329
Incorruptible. Immortal. Life. Death is destroyed.

00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:10.009
Christ is risen. Christ is risen.