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April 19, 2009 The Great and Holy Pascha of the Resurrection of Christ our God
To enter the Kingdom of God requires that you repent, but equally necessary are the
forgiveness of your sins and your regeneration which God effects by the Holy Spirit at Baptism.
This is the teaching of the Risen Lord given to His Apostles whom He chose to proclaim this
truth.
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Acts 1:1-8 (4/19) Apostle for the Divine Liturgy at Holy Pascha of the Resurrection
The Gift of the Risen Christ: Acts 1:1-8, especially vss. 5, 8: "...John truly baptized with water,
but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit....you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me...to the end of the earth."
When St. John the Forerunner began his ministry "...in the wilderness of Judea" (Mt. 3:1), he
preached repentance (vss. 2-3,7-12), baptized those who came to him (vs. 6), and heard their
confessions of sin (vs. 6). Yet, as St. Theophylact of Bulgaria points out, "...the baptism of John
did not have the power to forgive sins; for John was only preaching repentance and bringing
them towards the forgiveness of sins, that is, he was guiding them to the baptism of Christ, in
which there is remission of sins." John baptized with water, pointing toward the coming Baptism
of the Lord, by which men may be forgiven (vs. 11). Early in the course of His teaching, the Lord
Jesus said, "...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"
(Jn. 3:5).
Christ requires you to repent to enter His Kingdom, but also your sins must be forgiven and you
must be spiritually regenerated which the Spirit of God effects in Baptism. This is the teaching of
our Risen Lord given "...to the Apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented
Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs..." (Acts 1:2,3).
As the Apostles proclaimed the Lord's Resurrection and His gift of the Spirit, God prompted
many to repent and believe. Those who were baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for remission
of sins received forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The gift of the Spirit
received in Baptism causes the Church to set aside the singing of the Trisagion Hymn at Pascha
and to offer praise instead with the Baptismal Hymn. "As many of you as have been Baptized in
to Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia." (See Gal. 3:27).
Christ is Risen! Therefore, Beloved who have put on Christ, "If then you have been raised with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God" (Col.
3:1). If you did not fully use the Divinely provided time of Great Lent to purify yourself, do not
fret. Accept the reassurance of St. John Chrysostom, "He giveth rest to him that cometh at the
eleventh hour, as well as to him that hath toiled from the first." The Spirit of God remains your
birthright in Christ. Let the life-giving Holy Spirit Who came upon you in your Baptism support
you now in actualizing the power of Christ's Resurrection in your life.
In this life, the Holy Spirit will help you achieve repentance, remission of sins, the regeneration
of new birth in Christ, the renewing of your mind and heart and will in Him and by His counsel
and presence. St. Seraphim taught us that "...if a man is stirred by the Wisdom of God which
seeks our salvation and embraces everything, and he is resolved for its sake to devote the early
hours to God and to watch in order to find His eternal salvation (Wis 7:27; 6:14-20), then, in
obedience to its voice, he must hasten to offer true repentance for all his sins and must practice
the virtues which are opposite to the sins committed. Then...he will acquire the Holy Spirit Who
acts within us and establishes in us the Kingdom of God."
The Risen Christ stands ready to give His Spirit to you. The Spirit waits for you to despise the
fetters of your sins and repent, and wash away their stains with tears of thankfulness to the Risen
Lord. The Spirit "...is everywhere present and fillest all things." Mystically, He even dwells in
the dank and dismal recesses of your soiled heart, ready to extend God's forgiveness again and
again, and to nurture that seed of life planted within you at Baptism. Christ is risen!
O life-giving Lord, by Thy Holy Spirit make us to be partakers of Thy Resurrection.
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