26 • His Eminence

His Eminence

The first resurrection is, for me, the first exhale of Pascha. It is the celebration of Christ's descent into Hades and His crushing of the gates as He preached the Good News to the souls there. This day is marked by our dear bishop, Metropolitan Iakovos, joyfully throwing flowers around the church as he says "Arise O God! (and judge the earth)" (Anasta O Theos!). The children love this sweet man for his attention to their little plastic baggies -- he happily blesses them with handfuls of flowers stuffed directly into their zip-locks. The procession around the church is filled with the scrambling of little bodies across the floor as they gather the bay leaves and fresh flower petals in His Eminence's wake. The joy of the first resurrection, and the joy of this holy man connecting in such a tender way with the children, is my first exhale of the weekend. The fast continues, the preparations continue -- but the hope is real. The morning sky is lit, though the sun is not yet visible.

18 • Palms

Palms

I feel so deeply aware that Holy Week and Pascha are right around the corner. These weeks of preparation have really built up the anticipation! I noticed this icon today, which hangs by my parents' front door, with its collection of palms, daffodils, and bay leaves from the past year's worth of feast days. I love these artifacts we keep visible to remind us of what has happened. Something I remember hearing in school, "Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it," seems appropriate here as well. I'm thinking about Palm Sunday, and how excited everyone was to receive Christ into Jerusalem (he had just raised his friend Lazarus from the dead after all!) -- only to have the tides turn so nefariously just days later is very telling about society. I think the word we used in high school was "lemmings" -- that like these silly animals, so many of us are willing to just follow the crowd, even to our own demise. How can the crowd have gone from lining the streets as if for a King, exclaiming "Hosanna!" on Sunday, to gathering angrily to shout "Crucify Him!" by the end of the week? How different are we, though, when we observe so solemnly the Lenten fast and the church services of Holy Week, and then turn around so shortly after and recommence with our selfish, bad habits or mean-spirited behaviors. How long do we wait before we gossip or ignore, tear down others or build up ourselves? I know it is never very long for me, though I am ashamed to admit it.

May we all hold fast to this love and zeal we feel in our hearts right now, may we hold on to it for longer and longer every year, until we never let go.