Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered...

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Resurrection approaches - the Feast of Feasts! Here is unutterable happiness! What do we expect through the Resurrection of Christ! The victory of life over death! The forgiveness of sins and life eternal! There is no other victory, no other life except the one given to us by the Giver of Life. Every human victory creates inequality and sadness for the vanquished and joy for the victorious. This is the way it is when king conquers king, when army conquers army, when nation overcomes nation, when the stronger vanquishes the weak. Bishop Nikolaj writes, "And the noblest human victory is similar to the sun which would shed light on one half, while on the other dark rays".

  Only the victory of Christ as the Sun pours it bright rays on all those who stand under it. The victory of Christ is the joy of victory for everyone, for this is the only true victory by which we receive victory over death. The Lord Jesus Christ has given us this victory by His and our resurrection. In this victory is our desire for life and our hope in death. For Christ has not conquered for His sake, but for ours. Christ is victory and Christ is freedom. He has conquered death for us and has granted us freedom in life with Him. That freedom is declared in this - that on the question of the Lord, "Adam where art thou?" we can answer, "I am here, Lord!" Unlike the first Adam: "I heard thy voice and was afraid..." (Genesis 7: 7-10). As long as Adam was with God he was not ashamed of his nakedness or of his origin. But, when he sinned, he fell away from God and felt that disgrace and shame. Today's sin-loving man runs along even further in sin ignoring the redemptive parental love of God.

  Man immersed in sin strives even further to separate himself from God, because he is naked and hiding from Him. In this effort to remove God of whom he is ashamed, the godless, naked man desires to alienate God and the Holy Spirit from himself - the Spirit of Life who breathed life into man - "and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Thus "The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit" (I Cor. 15:45). This is why there is so much talk about cloning the human being - running away from God and seeking a new source of life other than God. We, Orthodox Christians, know, believe and must think only of God the Father, the source of life, of God the son, who is the source of strength, and of the Holy Spirit, who is the source of immortality. All other sources of life and living are unworthy of God's love and His redemptive sacrifice on the Cross for us and for our salvation. This is why, at the Resurrection, first and always in our life, let us sing the hymn of victory, the hymn of true victory, for Christ, o brethren, has conquered the world and this is our victory.

  Come, brothers and sisters, who seek health, strength, power, and joy to the suffering Christ and the Risen Christ, for He is the richest source of everything. He ardently and compassionately awaits us all, desiring that no one is absent but rather that, through Him, we all find comfort for the soul and health for the body. Let us worship Him in body and soul. Let us not seek another parent other than the one who gave birth to us through the Holy Spirit and fire, so that that divine fire will protect us in the remaining days of our life, that we may exclaim: "Christ, o brethren, has conquered the world - this is our victory! Let us worship and glorify His Resurrection".

Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

Your intercessor before the Risen Lord,

Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Canada