The Lord Jesus Christ opened
Paradise after He accomplished the Redemption on the Cross. He did
not wait until the day of His Resurrection, but instead opened it
on the evening of Good Friday. It is as He told the Repentant Thief
who was crucified on His right: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise
(Luke 23:3)."
In this way, the children of the New Covenant
have become greater than the saint, John the Baptist. For St John
passed through Hades, as he was martyred before the accomplishment
of redemption and the opening of Paradise. As for those born under
the New Covenant, they go to Paradise immediately, without passing
through Hades.
"In My Father's House are many mansions (John
14:2)." God's Kingdom, the Prepared Kingdom, is inside of you. This
was God's promise before His Ascension into Heaven. There are many
houses there, and He went to prepare them for us. The Lord Jesus Christ
will come back to take us to live with Him, and in Him, ever after.
Therefore, our holy fathers, prepared themselves
for the Kingdom. They linked themselves to the eternal future before
preparing themselves for the ephemeral earthly one. They loved death,
yearned for martyrdom, despised material things, and elevated themselves
above earthly matters.
We have already been living in eternity for
the simple reason that the Immortal dwells in us. The Immortal is
Jesus the Glorious Lord. He makes us in our outlook always infinite
in scope, seeking first things for: the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and making treasure for ourselves in Heaven.
Therefore we should not look for Christ outside
ourselves, for He is within us. "Deep, deeper than your depths; and
high, higher than your heights (St. Augustine)." So let's lay hold
of our inheritance as children of the Kingdom, and become acquainted
with the inner wealth, which is ours in the Lord Christ. When we do
so, we will despise the heroes of the world, and the defilements of
the earth, and we will long for the Heavenly Jerusalem. For as the
saying of the Fathers goes, "Remember the Kingdom of God, so that
a longing for it stirs deep within you."
Let us all be thankful for the Redemption on
the Cross and along with this thankfulness let us celebrate the Resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ and our own Resurrection with Him and in
Him.
May the grace of the Lord be with us all.
