EASTER PASTORAL LETTER: So that we may be enriched in the hope of eternal life (04/12/98)

EASTER PASTORAL LETTER

So that we may be enriched in the hope of eternal life

To the reverend clergy, religious and our God-loving faithful:

Peace in the Lord and our archiepiscopal Blessing!

The holy evangelist writes that after the Sabbath, very early on the first day of the week, the myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb of Jesus, to anoint His Body with aromatic spices. As they approached the tomb, "there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone and sat upon it." The women were terrified. The angel then reassured them, saying, "Do not be afraid, I know you are seeking Jesus, the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead...'" (Mt. 28:1-7).

Beloved in Christ! The empty tomb of Our Lord Jesus Christ, where rested His crucified Body, bears unmistakable witness to His glorious resurrection; for us, who believe in the Risen Christ, that bomb is an incontrovertible proof that He indeed is our "resurrection and life," and that everyone "who believes in Him, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die" (Jn. 11:25-26). The empty tomb of our Divine Savior, therefore, confirms for us the eternal truth of our faith, that our lives do not end with death. We, who have believed in Jesus Christ, "look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of he world to come" (The Creed). Through the resurrection of Christ our Lord, God, "in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope" of eternal life in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4). This renewal of the living faith in us for eternal life in heaven is achieved "by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rm. 15:13).

It is through the power, the action of the Holy Spirit that in baptism we are reborn to life as "children of God" (Rm. 8:16). Through the power, the action of this same Holy Spirit we also become "children of the resurrection" (Lk. 20:36), destined for eternal life in heaven. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in our souls through His grace (1 Cor. 3:16), thereby becomes a guarantee of our resurrection to eternal life, as St. Paul assures us, "If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you" (Rm. 8:11). Our holy father, in the program of spiritual renewal for the solemn observance of the jubilee of the Third Millennium of the coming of the Son of God to earth, has dedicated this year to a deeper understanding of and renewal of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, that simultaneously, "we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7).

Our hope for eternal life proceeds from faith in the goodness and graciousness of our Heavenly Father, who, in his infinite graciousness "so loved (us) that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). The Son of God, who suffered and died for us on the cross, repeatedly assures us, "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life and I shall raise him on the last day" (Jn. 6:40). The Son of God, through His death, freed us from eternal perdition, opened the way to the kingdom through His glorious resurrection, so that we might live "in newness of life" (Rm. 6:4). The holy Apostle Paul assures us that He "who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus ..." (2 Cor. 4:14). Through this resurrection, Jesus Christ becomes "the hope of our glory" (Col. 1:27).

Eternal life in heaven is a divine gift, and we must merit that gift. We do so by fulfilling the will of God, by following the words of Christ, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Mt. 7:21). It is the will of our heavenly Father that through the faithful observance of His commandments we may "have eternal life" (Jn. 6:40). Therefore, Christ directs us clearly, "If you wish to enter into (eternal) life, keep the commandments" (Mt. 19:17). Our hope, then, "brings us closer to God" (Heb. 7:19), and encourages us as God-fearing and just-living people, with the conviction that "the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9), unless they repent before death and return to the Lord God, who takes "no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live" (Ezek 33:11).

Our firm faith in the hope of eternal life not only encourages us to a God-fearing living but also strengthens our will, gives us the determination to bear with patience and perseverance our sufferings and daily trials. It is helpful for us to remember that Christ "should suffer these things (before) entering into His glory" (Lk. 24:26). It is fitting, then, that through our sufferings we follow Christ, and so enter into our eternal glory, because "if only we suffer with Him, ... we may also be glorified with Him" (Rm. 8:17). Indeed, there is no salvation without suffering. St. Paul, consequently, considers it a special grace that we "not only, believe in Him (Christ), but also suffer for Him" (Phil. 1:29), declaring, we suffer," that we become worthy of the kingdom of God" (2 Thes. 1:5).

The holy apostle suffered much for the name of Jesus (com. 2 Cor. 11:23-33), and even became a martyr for Christ. Throughout his work, he never despaired, for he was convinced that the Lord God, "is faithful and not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial He will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13). Thus, keeping his gaze on the eternal reward in heaven, St. Paul states, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us" (Rm. 8:18). In this way, "the hope of eternal life eases the suffering of our present trials" (St. John Chrysostom), for the Lord God assures us, that "our strength is in our hope" (Is. 30:15).

We are reborn "with water and the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 3:5) as children of God, and destined for eternal life with our heavenly Father. Christ affirms this truth, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places ... If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be" (Jn. 14:2-3). In accordance with His promise, our Divine Savior will come to us at the hour of our death, to take us "from death to life, from earth to heaven," as we sing in the Easter hymn (Irmos 1).

The famous English author, Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman (+1865), viewed death in this light. When he was advised of his coming death by the attending physician, he called out joyfully, "I feel like a child that is returning to the home of his father." In this same spirit, the first Christians looked upon death as a "day of birth" to a better life in heaven. The anniversary of such deaths was solemnly observed each year by family members, instead of the date of birth.

This hope of eternal, glorious life in heaven overcomes the fear of death at that moment, and fills our hearts with peace and assurance. An example of this attitude is found in the person of St. Macrina, who at the time of her death prayed, "I thank you, our Lord God, that you freed me from the fear of death, and provided that the end of our earthy life becomes the beginning of true, eternal life." Her brother, St. Basil the Great, declared, "Death is my benefactor, for it brings me to the Lord God, whom I hasten to meet." Indeed, happy is he, "whose hope is in the Lord" (Ps. 146:5).

Beloved in Christ, may the Lord God, "who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3), fill our hearts with joy and heavenly peace, so that in the "renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5), we may be enriched in the hope of eternal life.

May the blessing of the Lord be with you always! Christ is Risen!

Ý Stephen - Metropolitan
Ý Walter - Auxiliary Bishop

Given in Philadelphia at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Mother of God on the third Sunday of Lent, the 15th day of the month of March, 1998 A.D.