Readings During the Joyous 50 Days

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St. Thomas...

After His Resurrection and before His Ascension into heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ made a series of appearances to His disciples for the purpose of strengthening their faith, consoling and edifying them. How the disciples in general and St. Thomas in particular reacted and responded to those appearances is the interest of this article. The first glorious post Resurrection appearance occurred on Resurrection Sunday to Mary Magdalene; after which she excitedly sought out the grieving and mourning disciples to tell them of the Lord Jesus Christ's appearance to her. However, they did not believe her at all. "And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe" (Mark 16:11). St. John and St. Peter displayed their collective doubt by going to the Lord Jesus Christ's tomb themselves for concrete evidence; only to discover its emptiness. It was then that their grieving lack of faith began to slowly transform into a wondering realization after the apostles had actually seen with their own eyes the empty tomb and the burial clothes and face cloth inside the tomb. The Holy Scripture records that they saw and THEN they believed...
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He is Risen

The first page of the infinite chapter of eternal life begins with the Glorious Feast of the Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He arrived into the world at night, the darkness where humanity dwelt, but arose at the break of dawn to deliver us to the light of the resurrection in Him. A new dawn on the first day of a new week, His empty tomb affirmed the angel's proclamation, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (Matthew 28:5-6). Heavenly participation at His holy birth and heavenly participation at His holy resurrection heralded reconciliation between heaven and earth, resonating with the greatest heavenly joy—salvation of humanity. Indeed, Christ is risen and has conquered.

"Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified" (Matthew 28:5). Words of comfort from an angel instructed the frightened women and reminded them that the Lord said that He would rise. Why then were they alarmed?
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Continuing to Keep the Feast

Keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread following the Passover symbolized living the Christian life in dedication and service to God. How does this apply to us today? Living the Christian life in this context means allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to be Lord of every area of our life. We are expressly told in I Corinthians 5:8 to continue celebrating the holiness of life in dedication to God.

Holy dedication means avoiding such sins as malice and wickedness. Faith should express itself in obedience. Service should accompany our believing and thinking. Sincerity and truth are the nourishments on which the faithful believer will be sustained.
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Overcoming the Finality of Human Death

Our humanity is manifest in our sinful nature. We are born mortal and therefore inevitably naturally prone and inclined to sin. One of the privileges of being a Christian is the availability, at our disposal, of forgiveness once we repent and ask for it. However, being a Christian means so much more than just having our sins forgiven. It is striving for goodness through good works; journeying toward Heaven, the ultimate destination, where we will attain immortality and eternal glory. Being a Christian is essentially centered around "being alive".
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Through His Death, He Trampled Upon Death

The most important blessing that the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ brings about is victory over death; as we chant in the Resurrection hymn, through His death, He trampled upon death.

A commonly asked question is Why did God create death. The answer is that God did not create death. On the contrary, He created us to live eternally with Him God did not make death, and He does not delight in the death of the living. For, He created all things so that they might exist; the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them, and the dominion of Hades is not on earth. For, righteousness is immortal (Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15).

However, death entered into the world through the envy of the devil (Reconciliation Prayer of St. Basils Liturgy). Death passed to all those who were deceived by Satan and did evil therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Rom 5:12). Every human being is involved in that fall.
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Joseph, Son of Jacob: Vindicated or Justified
Lord at Thy Birth: A Perfect Perception of Peace