Christ Is Risen!
🌞
With the Bright Resurrection of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, with the Easter of the Lord!
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest holiday, the Feast of all holidays, not one of the 12 greatest holidays, whereas 3 other of the 12 have a transitional date of celebration that directly depends on the date of Easter. In the Old Testament, Passover (Pesach) was a celebration of the exodus and liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. It was a prototype and had many prototypes of the true Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The Law itself, in particular the 10 Commandments, contains a prophecy about Easter and the Son of God:
‘I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage’ (Exodus XX, 2). These words, which begin the 10 Commandments, directly tell us Who Jesus Christ is — the Lord our God, who brought us out of slavery to sin and the power of death.
On the occasion of the holiday, I decided to present here the ‘Word on Easter’ by Saint John Chrysostom, which is read at the Easter Vigil according to Orthodox tradition. In it, the image from the parable of the labourers in the vineyard is used in a very beautiful and eloquent way to engage the audience in the common celebration of the Feast of all Feasts, the Holy Resurrection of Christ.
The English translation is available online, for example, here:
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/st-john-chrysostom-easter-homily-203
I will also provide here an expanded translation (using a more complete semantic translation) of the beginning of the Gospel of John, which is read at the Liturgy today, with my reflections added at the end.
In Him was life…
In Him was life,
and the life was the Light of men.
And the Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not cover Him, and did not take Him captive,
and couldn't keep Him bound, or constrained, defeated.
The true Light was He,
Who illuminates, presents and makes clear,
Reveals every person that comes into the world.
He was in the world
and the world was made through Him,
arose, came to life, became and came out,
but the world did not recognize Him.
He came to people who are His own,
but His own did not adopt Him, did not take Him close to their hearts with love.
And for those who did accept Him,
He gave them such ability, meaning and power
— to become and be children of God.
To those who believe in His Name,
He gave to go forward,
and walk in His name,
and to have praise, that real dignity
— all these ones in Him.
They are no longer different people — good or bad,
but they receive their life, their actions, states and feelings from God.
This is their life forever — not rejected by them, their own,
for they are born of God.
Here is just one more thought
— life has different dimensions for people
— biological, spiritual, social
— fills them mainly from the inside,
but also from the outside — it is of high necessity for a person to correspond to life,
so that to be indeed alive.
The beginning of that life
is a combination of external and internal.
And visible light reaches the eyes, touches the body.
The true Light, the Word
- He heals the whole human with His life.
The whole heart, the soul, the mind, all the powers and the body He fills.
And there are no obstacles in Him.
He is the Same — yesterday, today and forever!
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
There are also many other holidays and memorable events today, but I won't write about them because of Easter. I will only say that today is Liberation Day in the Netherlands, a national holiday dedicated to the liberation of the Netherlands from the Nazi invaders during World War II in 1945.
Given the affinity of the event, here is my poem dedicated to those celebrating, in particular the Unity girlband.
For those celebrating Liberation Day
Freedom manifests itself in liberation,
for example, from evil, from violence.
Sincere people connect this freedom with meaning,
by contributing talents into it.
Those who struggle for freedom,
are not only struggling for liberation,
but for everything freedom is for.
For freedom, which is without definitiveness,
is like the sky, vast and wide,
but without the sun and moon, and without stars,
from which you can see neither the earth
nor people, nor future.
It looks like it has vision, but does not perceive.
Like there is space, but no movement.
And genuine human freedom
takes the form through the other,
as well as its measure, fulfilment and validation.
In such love, a human being becomes your freedom.
No, they are neither a bearer, nor serve,
nor are a finite destination.
Nor need you to fear its impermanence.
Let it be truly of value.
Source:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6izPylsnYr/
Ukraine is also now struggling for liberation, freedom and just peace.
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/25052023.html
For more information about the reading from the Gospel at Vespers, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23042023.html
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!