Despite all of the circumstances that have rendered this Pascha Week so unbelievably different, it is those very same circumstances that might be providing us the perfect opportunity to examine our spiritual well-being & potentially make this Pascha our most beneficial ever.

Typically, Pascha Week brings with it comfortably-heated churches, a week off from school/work, or at worst, attendance of the morning or evening services before/after our daily obligations.

In hindsight, Pascha Week now seems as if it has always been — oddly — convenient. The only real struggle we’ve ever really faced was bodily exhaustion, or scheduling concerns, or sometimes the spiritual warfare that comes with intentional reorientation to God.

Yet this year, the struggle is more intense than any of us have ever experienced. This Pascha, we are tasked with the challenge of being present, in mind & heart, despite the uncertainty, distractions, & quirky zoom services we find ourselves constantly encountering.

This year, we must somehow bring ourselves to stand in front of a computer screen while focusing our minds & lifting our hearts in prayer, even as we work & study from home, deal with familial challenges, & grapple with the difficult circumstances facing the outside world.

Given the innumerable distractions & difficulties we struggle with this Pascha, there has never been a better time to face the fire & find a way to grow, because “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Our comfortable churches are closed & the nourishment we are spoonfed each Pascha is no longer available. It now falls on each of us to struggle to benefit personally every day. As the world fights for physical health, now is the time for us to fight for our spiritual health.

May God complete this Holy Pascha for us & may we come to the Feast of the Resurrection in peace & good health, & may we have the opportunity to come together again soon to partake of His Body & Blood at the Eucharistic Table.