Homily on the Sunday of the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda (St. Justin Popovich)

By St. Justin Popovich

(Delivered on the Sunday of the Paralytic and the Feast of Saint John the Theologian at the Ćelije Monastery on May 8, 1978)

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

In four words is expressed the entire mystery of this (and the other) world, and of every person, and of the mystery of my being, and of the mystery of your being. If there were no Risen Lord, His Resurrection would not be; if there were no Risen Lord, we would not be. There would be no Christian in the world.

How did the Lord Christ conquer this world, how did Christianity conquer this world? You know that in the beginning of Christianity the great and powerful Roman Empire persecuted Christians everywhere for 330 years. They did not defend themselves with guns and airplanes, no! They defended themselves through prayer and God’s help. And for 330 years they turned wolves into sheep. Recall the Savior’s words to His disciples: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Mt 10:16). A great miracle took place, brethren: the wolves were turned into sheep, and the wolves did not devour the sheep, did not tear up and destroy them. What is this? What is this power? This is that power about which you heard today in the words of the Apostle Peter, when he says to Aeneas: "Arise," and he immediately rises (Acts 9:34); and when he says to Tabitha: "Arise," and she rises from the dead as from sleep (Acts 9:40). What is this, what happened to this world? A great mystery has been explained, the mystery of this world and the mystery of man. What does the Lord Christ’s Resurrection demonstrate? It demonstrates that man is an eternal being. Death is defeated – that is what the Lord Christ’s Resurrection means. Life Eternal is provided for all human existence. It was for this that the Lord came to this world.

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