Saint Anthony Church Reno NV

The disciples ‘rejoiced when they saw the Lord’ [John 20:20]. Their joy however was not psychological, but spiritual and lifted up their spirit to Heaven. He filled them with his peace, with delight, but even more than that, he filled them with His own life, as ‘he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost’ [See John 20:22]. This act of the Lord brings to our mind the awesome moment of man’s creation, when ‘God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul’ [Gen. 2:7]. Through His breath, God gave life to His creature ‘according to His image and likeness’, in a similar way Christ now breathes in the faces of the disciples, refashioning them and imparting the Spirit of eternal life.

Through His word, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost’, He inaugurated a new creation. In His breath, He imparted the first dispensation of the Holy Spirit that would heal and strengthen their nature, so it would be able to bear the grace of the Comforter on the day of Pentecost, the fulness of divine love. If man’s nature is not strengthened, it cannot bear anything heavenly. ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God’ [1 Cor. 2:14]. The disciples received the anointing of grace during the appearances of the Risen Lord. Their hearts received the earnest of the Spirit [See 2 Cor. 1:21-22 and 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14] that would refashion them into apostolic hearts, which ‘drew all the world into their net’ [See Apolytikion of Pentecost]. The ‘little flock’ [Luke 12:32] that was gathered together ‘for fear of the Jews’, was transfigured into a hidden leaven, that would soon leaven the whole lump, that is, all the world unto the ages of ages.

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Ἰδοὺ σκοτία καὶ πρωΐ …  (ΕΩΘΙΝΟΝ Ζ’, Ἦχος βαρὺς ) Behold the darkness yet the dawn… (EOTHINON VII, Grave Mode)

How far we have come since Easter of last year! Those were dark days, when our passing of the light of the Resurrection had to be virtual, even if no less heartfelt. But as we all know, it is always darkest before the dawn. Thus, we behold in the hope of the recovery of our world from the pandemic, the glimmer of the dawning of faith and confidence for our collective future. This year, we will celebrate our Holy Pascha – perhaps not in the fullness of the pre-pandemic days, but certainly with a greater degree of freedom and in-person community. But let this not be an excuse for relaxing our vigilance. Our responsibility to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper and guardian abides.

Our anticipation of the rising of the Sun of Righteousness is within our hearts, like the little sun that Saint Symeon the New Theologian speaks of, which dawned inside of him. The darkness of night that is dispelled at first gradually gives way, shade by shade, until the brilliant solar orb overpowers the horizon. Every other star fades in the light of the one. This is also how the fullness of God Almighty overwhelms every shadow in our souls. Like a sleepless night of worry and troubled thoughts, the dark night of the soul can be very long indeed. But as the Psalmist says, “joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 29:5, LXX). And in the dawning of the Day of the Lord, every concern of this world pales before the glory of the world to come.

The Resurrection of our Lord is the triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil, of love over hate, and of life over death. Moreover, it is the dawn of a new humanity, the potential of every human being to become divine. As Saint Athanasios the Great says: “For He became a human being, so that we might made divine” (Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐνηνθρώπισεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν). The Lord did not rise from the dead only for Himself. He arose so that we might rise with Him, in this life and the next.

Therefore, my beloved Faithful, let us embrace the dawn that rises within us. Let us live in the light of Christ, a light filled with love and compassion for every creature. A light that passes no judgment on anyone. A light that is clear and transparent with honesty and humility. Let us witness to the truth that indeed: Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life!

Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς Ἀνέστη!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

† ELPIDOPHOROS

Archbishop of America

Saturday, April 24th Lazarus Saturday Orthros 8a; Divine Liturgy 9a [please plan to stay after Liturgy if you can to help us decorate the church]; Baptisms 2p; Vespers 6p

Sunday, April 25th Palm Sunday Orthros 9a; Divine Liturgy 10a; 1st Bridegroom Service 7p

Monday, April 26th 2nd Bridegroom Service 7p

Tuesday, April 27th 3rd Bridegroom Service 7p

Wednesday, April 28th Holy Unction 4p; 4th Bridegroom Service 7p [Holy Unction will be available after the evening service for those who wish to be anointed]

Thursday, April 29th Vesperal Divine Liturgy 9a; Passion Gospels 7p

Friday, April 30th Great (Royal) Hours 9a [please plan to stay after the service if you can to help us decorate the Epitaphios (the Tomb of Christ)]; Vespers 2p; Lamentations & Epitaphios 7p

Saturday, May 1 Vesperal Divine Liturgy 9a; Midnight Resurrection Services begin at 11:30p [at this service you may bring baskets to blessed]

Sunday, May 2nd Agape Vespers 12:30p

It so happens that today we celebrate Saint Mary of Egypt, who spent forty years in the desert, deprived of receiving Holy Communion, and she waited patiently until the night she passed from this world to receive the Eucharist one last time. She is a great Saint – we dedicate to her memory one of only fifty-two Sundays in the year – but she was called “an angel in the flesh” and we are all not such angels.

Then I thought of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to His Disciples, on the night He gave Himself for the life of the world:

Ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου μοναὶ πολλαί εἰσιν [In My Father’s house are many mansions John 14:2]

With these encouraging words, our Lord and Savior assured His Disciples and all of us of His presence at every time and in every place….

You see, the secret of the Christian life is that even when you are deprived of everything you recognize as your religion, the entirety of God is always within you. As the Lord said to His Disciples on the night in which He was betrayed, when all hope had disappeared:

Ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με, τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτόν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ ̓ αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν.  [If you love Me, you will keep My word, and My Father will love you, and we will come to you and make a cloister – a monastery –  a μονή – within you John 14:23]

This word, μονή, is the origin of the word “monastery” – the place where one dwells alone with God. It is our blessed assurance that God is always with us, and that we can always keep His word and be an entire monastery with the Holy Trinity residing in our hearts. Indeed, being that cloister of God –even in isolation from all others, is in fact the basis for our extension in and through the Spirit to every other person of faith.

My beloved Christians, be of good courage! We are never deprived of God! The only deprivation we can ever know is if we deprive ourselves of the experience of His abiding love, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy. And we do this by depriving others of these very same virtues through selfishness and egocentrism.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

More than once, brethren, the fact has been mentioned that on each Sunday in the Great Fast (i.e., Lent) there are other commemorations besides that of the Resurrection. Thus, on this day, the Church glorifies the righteous John of the Ladder, one of the greatest ascetics, which the Church, in speaking of them, calls “earthly angels and Heavenly men.”

These great ascetics were extraordinary people. They commanded the elements; wild beasts willingly and readily obeyed them. For them, there were no maladies they could not cure. They walked on the waters as on dry land; all the elements of the world were subject to them, because they lived in God and had the power of grace to overcome the laws of terrestrial nature. One such ascetic was St. John of the Ladder. Read more here