Unto the Venerable Clergy and the Pious Faithful of the Holy Metropolis of Pisidia.
Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On “this chosen and holy day, the first of Sabbaths, the Queen and Lady, the Feast of Feasts and the Festival of Festivals”, “all things have been filled with light, both heaven and earth and those beneath the earth”. For in Christ, the incarnate Son and Word of God, “was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome”, as states the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian (Jn 1:4-5), who explains that those who receive the light of Christ and believe in him can become children of God through the holy baptism by which believers are united with Christ and become children of God by grace.
Indeed, the glorious resurrection of Christ not only illuminates the darkness of our lives, but also transforms our worldview and our perception of life. Certainly, death does not disappear from our horizon, just as illness does not dissipate from our daily lives, just as evil does not fade from our environment. They remain as the consequence of the bad deliberation of human beings, as the Theologian explains further in his Gospel: “the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God” (Jn 3:19-21).
But our risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God incarnate, the dazzling light of God, transforms the lives of those who believe in Him. This divine light drives out the darkness of sin and death. In this regard, it is no coincidence that Satan is called in the Holy Scripture the “prince of darkness” (Eph 6:12). Nor is it by chance that Christ is arrested at nightfall in the account of His salvific Passion (Mk 14; Mt 26; Lk 22; Jn 18), and that while He was suspended on the cross, darkness fell over the whole earth as recorded by the Gospels (Mk 15:33; Mt 27:45; Lk 23:44). It is also no coincidence that the joyful announcement of His resurrection took place at dawn, at daybreak (Mk 16:2; Mt 28:1; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1). For this reason the Church joyfully sing today: “Why do you seek among the dead, as though he were mortal, the One who exists in everlasting light?”
The good news of the Gospel, the news of Christ’s resurrection, is therefore that of the triumph of life over darkness. The risen Christ is the one who delivers believers from the power of darkness. For this reason, the founder of the Church of Pisidia, the glorious apostle of the nations, the holy apostle Paul, affirms that those who were baptized in Christ are “all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness” (1 Thess 5:5), as he elsewhere affirms: “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light!” (Eph 5:8)
Let us therefore, dear brothers and sisters, live as children of light! Let us take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Let us abandon lies, quarrels, and gossips. Let us abandon jealousy, pride, and contempt for others. Let us abandon vanity, impurity, and hedonism. Let us abandon materialism and consumerism. Let us behave rather as children of light, but putting on the armor of light. Let us cling to the Truth, “for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Eph 5:9). Let us gear up ourselves with love. Let us arm ourselves with patience. Let us cultivate mercy. Let us practice solidarity. Let us apply forgiveness. And so the world around us will become more resplendent with light.
“The day of Resurrection; let us be radiant for the festival, and let us embrace one another. Let us say, brethren, even to those that hate us. Let us forgive all things on the Resurrection, and so let us cry: Christ has risen from the dead: by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life.”
Christ is risen!
Antalya, Pascha 2025
+ Job of Pisidia
