Good really does triumph over evil

Good really does triumph over evil

Fr. Thomas Hopko's has a great talk on AFR HERE. While themed upon Great and Holy Friday, it cannot - of course - escape the reality of Pascha as well.

If I may paraphrase a particularly moving part in which we try and grasp the salvific reasoning behind Christ's death, Fr. Hopko reminds us to focus on Christ's perfect righteousness. And that when beauty meets ugliness, beauty triumphs; when justice meets injustice, injustice is destroyed; when love meets hate, love conquers; when light meets darkness, the darkness if overcome; and when LIFE meets death, death is trampled upon.

I really personalized this and looked at it through the lens of my day to day struggles with sin and I can affirm that when we let the victory of Pascha into our daily lives that we CAN be victorious over our passions. Everyday, for us, we can overcome our ugliness with beauty; our hatred with love; our injustices with justice; our darkness with light; and ultimately even our death will be overcome by LIFE.

Is this not what - in part - it means to "put on Christ"?

Boy, do I know it's not easy...but I find myself invigorated by Lent and Pascha to fight all the more so that in each and every moment I may choose to let light reign over darkness. Oddly enough in the very midst of the second by second struggle, once you even begin to lean toward what is good it will have a sudden tidal wave-like effect and the darkness is swept away by blinding light. AND, it makes the next struggle all the easier to engage as well.

As they say in 12 step programs: "Keep coming back." There is wisdom there: never give up.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

-St. John Chrysostom