May 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is Risen!
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
We need a path to follow or we get lost and a path that is well-lit so that we don’t stumble and fall. The Way is the way revealed in Christ, the Word of God, and it is the way of death and resurrection, of letting go and being reborn, of dying to ego and rising to new life, of saying no to the selfish self and saying yes to God and to the divine image buried deep within us and every human being.
This is not a one-time death and resurrection, but rather a process and a practice. It is not a magical event that occurs once and for all. It is a way of life. To say that at one moment in time I was reborn is to deny the reality that we often fall asleep and need to reawaken. And it is a way of life that presupposes many falls, many disappointments, and much realignment and many risings! Tears, according to St. John Climacus, are a new baptism and they are a sign not only of dying but of living. Do we not often need the cleansing of tears?
Of course, we do and God knows we do. Rising and falling and falling and rising is how life is. And he has made an accommodation for this called grace and compassion and love. So, let’s rise when we fall, let’s weep when we need to, and let’s give thanks that God has made a way for us called grace.
In the Risen Lord,
Fr. Antony