In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is risen.

Today in the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how the Apostles were teaching in the temple. They were sharing with everyone the joy, and the truth that they knew about Jesus Christ. They were for this put into prison. When they were put into the prison, an angel let them out. They went back to the temple, and they were teaching, and talking, and sharing their love of Jesus Christ some more. The authorities of the temple still tried to make them stop, but they could not stop them, because the Apostles could not stop telling the Truth. They could not stop sharing the Truth.

The truth is that God loves us. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, who was killed by us, but He rose from the dead. This is our life. It is our life because just like those Apostles, we can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who loves us. It cannot be otherwise, because that is what love is about. Love is about an inter-personal relationship which is good, which is life-giving. That’s what your marriages are about, or they are supposed to be like that. If they are not perfect, they can get better still. However, they are supposed to be all about self-emptying love, and giving oneself to each other, completely, one hundred per cent, each serving the other.

The Saviour, Himself, just a week ago was giving us this example in Himself about serving, because He washed the feet of the Apostles. He said: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). He said, also, that we have to do the same for each other. We can only do this sort of thing for each other if we have the love of Jesus Christ alive in our hearts, if we have come to know personally His love. That’s one of the reasons that you, and I are here today – not only because we have encountered this love of Jesus Christ in our lives, but also because we want this love to grow. We want this love to be much more, still, because it is our life.

The Apostle Thomas, in the Gospel today did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead because he hadn’t yet seen the Risen Christ. It was, of course, difficult for him. Pay attention to the Gospels, and read carefully. Look, and especially listen carefully next week with the Myrrh-bearers. The other Apostles were not so quick to believe either. At first the women were confused – the empty tomb, the angel telling them that Jesus is risen. Then the Apostles saw an empty tomb, too. It was not until they experienced the Risen Jesus Christ, Himself, that they believed.

So, the Apostle Thomas was not so different in his uncertainty even though all his brothers, the Apostles, said that they had encountered Him. However, when the Apostle Thomas did encounter the Risen Christ, immediately his response was: “My Lord, and my God”. From there he went on to share this love of Jesus Christ in many parts of the world. He went to Egypt. It’s possible he went also to Ethiopia, and it is certain that he went to India, both to the north, and to the south. In the south of India, he established the Orthodox Church (even though it’s in the oriental form now) that lasted until now. There are Indian families in the state of Kerala, and I think, also, in Madras where people can trace in their families all the way back to the Apostle Thomas their conversion from Hinduism to Christianity. It was because of the love that the Apostle Thomas was sharing with those people. He showed them that there is not a multitude of gods that are all pretenders. There is only one God – one God who created everything, and He has shown Himself, in His love, in Jesus Christ, who is the Motivator of the Apostle Thomas.

It’s important for you, and for me, here in Canada to remember this apostolic love of Jesus Christ. It’s important for you, and for me to remember what those Apostles did with their love of Jesus Christ. They shared it all around. It’s because the Apostle Andrew went to Romania, Russia, and many other places, too, in his apostolic voyages, that we are, many of us, here today as Christians. It’s because of his sharing of love.

So, we have the same call as those Apostles. We have the call to share this love. That’s what you, and I, Orthodox Christians are here for in Canada. We are here to share the love of Jesus Christ, and even more, the truth about Jesus Christ. In Canada, people think that there are many truths. Even according to philosophy, and logic, that is just plain silly. There can only be one Truth, and that Truth is Jesus Christ, who said, Himself: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6). It is our responsibility to share Jesus Christ, who is the Truth.

We share this Truth by living in His love, by behaving towards our friends, our neighbours, our relatives, people we don’t even know yet, with this love. We serve them, as the Saviour served the Apostles, and as He serves you, and me to this day because we keep crying to Him: Help me. Save me. Give me this; give me that. He doesn’t give us everything that we ask, certainly, because we don’t ask for what is right, very often. However, He gives to us what is right for us. He is always there. He restores us to health, as He did yesterday through the Apostles Peter, and John when they brought His healing love to the paralysed man outside the temple who jumped up, and ran around with joy praising God. This is what we are about with this love: helping people to understand how to have life in praising God, how to have hope in praising God, how to have a real sense of being, in praising God.

Brothers, and sisters, while we are standing here close to the Lord today, let’s ask our Lord, again, to renew our love for Him, to refresh our love for Him, and help us to begin more closely to resemble His love in how we behave towards people around us every day. Glorifying Him in our way of life, may we also be granted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven at the end, and there eternally glorify Him, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, together with His Father, who is from everlasting, and His all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

† Archdiocese of Canada - Orthodox Church in America