St Thomas Sunday
Categories: parish-life, feast-days
Date: 04 May 2008 03:50:25
Troparion:
While the tomb was sealed, You shone forth, O Christ our Life;
and while the doors remained closed, You came among Your disciples, O Resurrection of all.
Through them restore an upright spirit in us, according to Your great mercy.
Kontakion:
O Christ God, Thomas explored your vivifying side with an eager hand;
and since You had entered the room while the doors were closed,
he cried out with the other Apostles, "You are my Lord and my God."
The joy of Pascha is still with us: the continual chanting of "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life!" makes sure of this. The joy, the light and the life that comes from the Resurrection is with us in our hymns. It truly is a wonderful time of the Church year.
A great sermon from Father also on Christ entering to where our fears are: just as He entered the room, without asking or prompting, where the frightened apostles were gathered, He too enters into our areas of great fear and anxiety, seeking to bestow His peace on us all. And not peace as in absence of conflict, for we are in the world and there will, sadly, always be conflict, but the inner peace, the peace that only He can give. He offers it to us, and we can know, despite our anxieties [and I for one have many], we can know His peace and know of the new life we have in Him.
Christ is Risen!