Christ is risen! Truly He is risen! Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life! The angel cried unto her that is full of grace: O pure Virgin, rejoice! And again I say rejoice! For thy Son is risen on the third day from the grave, and hath raised the dead; O ye people, be joyful. Shine, shine, O New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee: dance now, and be glad, O Sion, and do thou exult, O pure Theotokos, in the arising of Him whom thou didst bear. Dear people of God, Let us be joyful in Him who became man, suffered as man, endured the dread passion, thereby transforming the Cross into that with which we arm ourselves against the devil, descended into the realms of the dead to defeat death and give life to the ancient righteous, and rose again on the third day from the dead to complete the triumph of our salvation. We rejoice because what He has done cannot be taken away from us because He is God, the “Pantokrator,” the Almighty. As Christians, followers of Christ and members of His Body, the Church, we inherit the eternal kingdom that he has prepared. We must simply accept what we have been given. This can be difficult for us in our prideful tendencies. But again, no one can take it from us. We have been given the power, through Him, to keep it. We must keep our view of this immense reality clear, clear of worldly designs that we would put up to block our view. The immensity of the Kingdom of God calls for a like breadth of mind on our part. It takes effort to look at the sky when there are so many trees that are easier to see and contemplate. To see and keep in our minds the Kingdom of God is, however, what we are called upon to do. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,” says God, and all the things that are here that we need will be provided for us. This is the Risen One’s direct promise. And He ought to know, having created all in the first place, and re-created it again, for our sake. Christ is risen! Father George Pascha the beautiful, Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha, the Pascha All-venerable hath dawned upon us. Pascha! With joy, let us embrace one another. O Pascha, ransom from sorrow! For from the tomb today, as from a bridal-chamber, hath Christ shone forth!
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From 'St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Zealous Builder of Churches'
Everywhere he went he either oversaw the building of churches or supported the same with his attention and prayers... He wrote about the godly work of building churches:
"In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven."
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