On Preserving the Joy of Pascha
How do we fan into a flame and then preserve the joy of Pascha? We all think about this, because we all have the experience of the joy of Pascha coming and going very quickly. The Paschal season, however, is 50 days, longer than Great Lent, and just as sorrow for sin should characterize all of Great Lent, so also the joy of salvation should characterize all of the Paschal season.
Of course, we cannot and must not artificially elevate our feelings. The Paschal joy is not a temporary emotional state we can “talk ourselves into.” It is, rather, a gift of God which is primarily given to the spirit of a man, to the inmost temple of the soul where God dwells. God gives it freely, in His own time and according to His good pleasure. What, however, can we do to invite it?
First, we must not disperse our thoughts and feelings into the outer world, but rather collect them within, in the heart. There is a tendency, after the labors of Lent and Holy Week, to say ‘Yipee, that’s over with!’ and return simply to a worldly attitude and worldly schedule of distracting activities, as though Pascha were a dispensation from spiritual effort! It is the opposite, of course: the blessed season of the Resurrection, Ascension, and Giving of the Holy Spirit is a time for the actual acquisition of all that the Lord has done for us, for being closer to Him, for the renewal of the mind.
Unconsciously, most people probably think that the plan of Great Lent and Pascha is this:
Lent = Do church-related things.
Pascha = Do worldly things.
Christ, however, did not rise in order to plunge us down to earth, but to bring us up to heaven! So what is the real plan? It is like this:
Lent = Make extraordinary physical efforts to fast, pray, attend services, do good works; thus experience our distance from God, the need for cleansing of the soul, our inability to please God by our own efforts. In other words, we strive very hard, exhaust ourselves, and experience our helplessness and need for God’s mercy. Thus, we hope to be ready to receive the grace of Pascha.
Pascha = Relax our physical efforts to a certain extent, but continue to concentrate our thoughts on the forgiveness of our sins, the shortness of life, and the reality of judgement, heaven, and hell; continue to pray and read sacred writings, and fill up our SOULS with the actual BANQUET which has been provided, the mystery of the Kingdom which is to Come. Then, without any forced “happiness” or “good feelings,” we unexpectedly receive a quiet, enduring joy which cannot be taken away – the foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Notice that we should relax “to an extent.” That is, we may be eating meat and dairy products, and we are not making prostrations at church services, but our spiritual attention should remain the same. If anyone asks, “How much should I ‘live it up’ during Pascha (i.e., how much should I eat, go to distracting entertainments, etc.)?” the answer is “As much as you need to function and not be discouraged, and not so much that your soul is distracted from the thought of eternal life.”
It is instructive that the Lord’s appearances to his disciples after His resurrection were quiet. With one exception (when He appeared to 500 at one time, cf. I Cor. 15:6), He appeared to individuals or small groups. He spoke to them simply, quietly, and directly, just as He had done during His ministry before the Passion. There were no trumpets, no drum-rolls, no lightning bolts. There is no record that the disciples shouted for joy, danced around, or organized ticker tape parades and 21 gun salutes. Instead, they “sat at His feet and listened to His word, ” and they responded to His invitation to “Come and dine.”
Likewise, as we enjoy the presence of the Risen Lord during the days following the Radiant Resurrection, let us turn more, not less, inward, to hear the voice of Christ speaking within us, “Rejoice.” May the flame of His Presence burn more brightly within us as we attentively preserve the grace we have received.
Priest Steven Allen
Great and Holy Pascha
AD 2000