message for Easter 2008

Today we celebrate the feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord. God became flesh, died and descended into hell to trample down death, to harrow hell and to make us living men. Christ is risen!... This is the day which the Lord has made, full of gladness and joy. On this day life has overcome death. The Resurrection of Christ touches and seizes all of us. The Resurrection is in us, and from now on it unites us to the very life of God.

‘Yesterday’ the canon of Easter says, ‘I was buried with you, O Christ, today I rise with you as you arise. Yesterday I was crucified with you; glorify me with you, Saviour, in your Kingdom.’ Starting from the moment the three women beheld the stone rolled away from the sepulchre and that Christ was not there anymore, until today the Resurrection spreads like a flood that covers everything. And this Resurrection we are called to reveal in history and thus to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ.

So, the Resurrection of Christ is no consolation, but a call for today. Instead of looking for proofs of Resurrection, we should live it and make it present right now, to walk on the lighted pathways towards the real experience of Resurrection.

In our risen Lord I greet you on the bright feast of Easter,

+ Stephanos,
Metropolitan of Tallinn and All Estonia

In Tallinn, Easter 2008