Jesus took his twelve disciples, and he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.” And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
Mark 10:32-36
Dear Beloved in Christ,
Kalo Pascha!
You’ve probably realized by now that Pascha will be very different this year. The many things we have come to expect—the beautiful and profound services of Holy Week, eating Barry’s pancakes and the Poulos’ salmon, reading psalms at the vigil, lighting our candles and singing “Christ is risen” together, and breaking the fast at the Pascha picnic—these will either be absent or in some way changed. It’s hard to not be sad at what feels like such a loss. We are in uncharted territory, and we wonder if this is the way God intended it.
Yesterday’s Gospel reading offers some insight into our present situation. Jesus once again told His disciples that He would go to Jerusalem at Passover to die. Just as with every other time He said this, they didn’t listen or didn’t believe Him. Instead, James and John immediately ask Him if they can be seated next to Him in His glory—imagining perhaps a palace with a throne. Their vision of Passover was one of a glorious triumph and conquering, where Jesus becomes the king. Yet He tells them that it will be different from their imaginings.
Today our Lord has ordained that the celebration of His Passover (Pascha in Greek) will be different from what we imagined. By His providence, things have changed. And we, like the disciples are faced with a difficult decision: Cling to our hopes of what we think it should be, or humbly submit to the plan which God has ordained.
In the present situation, we must keep sight of God’s providential work, lest Pascha become a depressing event in the course of a difficult period of time. This new and different Pascha is exactly the Pascha which God has established for us this year, and it can be just as spiritually fruitful, just as filled with harmolipi (har-mo-LEE-pi), as every year before and every year to come. (Harmolipi is that “joyful sorrow” which is characteristic of Holy Week.)
My Brothers and Sisters, this is the Lord’s Pascha!
In Christ,
Father Matthew
AN UPDATE TO OUR COMMUNITY
Dear Parish Family, hello from the Swehlas! We are bunkering down like all of you. Father acquired a croquet set and is teaching the boys how to play, just like he played with his brothers when he was a kid. Pres is still managing to feed the hungry kids—and attending the live streaming services when possible—while she also takes part in the miracle of producing another human being. Baby Girl Swehla is growing and growing, making room for herself by jabbing and stretching out.
