We need a Church unafraid of going forth into their night. We need a Church capable of meeting them on their way. We need a Church capable of entering into their conversation. We need a Church able to dialogue with those disciples who, having left Jerusalem behind, are wandering aimlessly, alone, with their own disappointment, disillusioned by a Christianity now considered barren, fruitless soil, incapable of generating meaning.

There are some pretty funny things in Scripture. I think we often read the Word of God with nowhere near enough of a sense of humor. God is all-powerful, omnipotent, and omniscient. But He also is funny.

Anastasis is the Greek word for resurrection. Icons, we might remember, aren’t paintings. Rather, they are “written” to be something like windows into the mysteries they are depicting. Placing ourselves in front of them, asking the Holy Spirit to come to us, can draw us into whatever it is that is placed before our senses. This week, this Easter octave, this glorious time of celebrating Jesus’ triumph over Sin, Death, and Satan, is a wonderful time to prayerfully linger with this icon.

As we prepare to enter into the holiest days of the year, the days that celebrate the liberation of our race from Death, Sin, hell and Satan, we need to keep reminding ourselves that he is not the helpless victim here.