CHRIST IS RISEN!

 

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. (1 Corinthians 14:33)

 

Teachers have often called their disciples to live as they were taught, and to follow the example of their teacher in life. Thus Saint John Chrysostom instructs us: “Nothing is so pleasing to God as the absence of malice. Therefore, if we live peaceably, we shall learn also to despise earthly things. As the one who wrongs another wrongs not another but himself, so too the one who schemes against his neighbor first of all destroys himself, for whoever digs a pit for his neighbor falls into it himself. Let us therefore not scheme against others, lest we bring harm upon ourselves. When we set about to overthrow the glory of others, let us remember that we harm ourselves, that we scheme more against ourselves.” Regrettably, in our present time, not only the examples of the Gospel but at times even the most basic decency — that which distinguishes us from irrational beasts — is increasingly drying up in our souls. We ought rather to imitate the conduct of Joseph, whom his brothers sold into slavery. Yet we more and more imitate those brothers, who by their deed entered into a struggle against God. Joseph did not scheme against his brothers, but continued to live peaceably. Being faithful to the Living God, he attained the first place after Pharaoh and became ruler over Egypt. In this, meekness was his help. From the Holy Fathers we know who truly sold Joseph. It was not his brothers, as one might suppose, but his own humility. Joseph had the opportunity to declare at once that he was their brother and to resist being sold. Yet he held his peace. His humility was manifest in submission to the will of God, notwithstanding the outward injustice. Rather than resist, Joseph accepted slavery. So too did the Lord willingly and with humility offer Himself as a Sacrifice for the human race. Do we call these events to mind when temptations of every kind befall us? When we fulfill the commandments of the Gospel, we enjoy favor from on high, for God, through His Sacraments — through these visible signs of invisible grace — grants us the possibility of living a life pleasing to Him, even when we find ourselves at times surrounded by barbarians. We have fallen into the habit of seeing in our neighbor — even seeking out — all that is bad, all that will justify our withdrawal from him; and malice of memory plays the chief role here. For years we may recall the faults of our neighbor, while taking no notice of his good qualities. We turn our memory into an archive of the deeds of others. Joseph, however, when he met his brothers, did everything in his power to help them and his people. The Apostle Paul likewise especially underscores that peace is one of the chief attributes of God, for Whom peace is His very nature. Therefore, if there is no peace in our soul, then in that moment we are not with God. Our inner peacefulness is the very sign of God’s presence, while excessive anxiety about tomorrow, the cares of this life, and outbursts of anger are signs of the absence of peace in our soul. A soul filled with passions, sins, and vanity ceases to perceive grace and finds itself not with God but rather under the sway of this world. The loss of inner peace points to the loss of communion with God — not a physical absence of God, but man’s voluntary turning away from life according to His will. Joseph, following the peace within his soul, submits to the will of God; so powerful is his peace. Of course, being still young, he knew the suffering of separation from his deeply loving father, and the grief of the recent death of his aged mother; yet all these sufferings were overcome by the peace of his soul and his communion with God. The acquisition of inner spiritual peace is an ascetic labor. Outwardly, we may at times show no sign of having lost our communion with God, while inwardly a whole volcano of passions may be seething within us. The constant internal mental dialogue in which we carry on an imaginary dispute, accusing our neighbor of injustice, offenses, and wrongs, leads not to the resolution of the problem but only intensifies the feeling of anger and self-righteousness. This very conversation is a conversation with the devil, and it is one of the signs of the loss of God and the entering into an alliance with the devil. Emotionality and momentary anger are not foreign to our nature — we know such examples. The long-suffering Job, upon hearing of the death of his sons, tore his garments in grief; yet the peace of his soul, prevailing within him, restored his shaken communion with God, and he declared: “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” So too the Most Holy Theotokos was at first troubled upon hearing the words of the Archangel. These are well-known testimonies of submission to the will of God. True submission brings peace of soul, humility, and salvation. To commit oneself into the hands of God as a child to its parent is not weakness, not passive inaction, but an impregnable fortress of the spirit. It is the foundation without which every other good undertaking will crumble. Therefore, with faith let us hear: “Grant peace unto Thy world, to Thy Churches, to the priests, and to all Thy people. For every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from Thee, the Father of Lights.” Venerable pastors, monastics, and laypeople of our diocese — with a heart united with yours in peace, I proclaim to the world: Truly, Christ is Risen!

 

† Sophronius, Archbishop of Saint Petersburg and Northern Russia Pascha of Christ, 2026