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Reflections For Paschaltide 2026: Introduction

Reflections For Paschaltide 2026: Introduction

Last updated on: April 7, 2026 at 7:58 am by Henry Karlson

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Reflections For Paschaltide 2026: Introduction 2026-04-07T07:58:48-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Lawrence OP: Easter Sunday Mosaic from one of the domes of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC / flickr

During the Great Fast, Lent, I explored and discussed various myths and legends from the Old Testament (especially from Genesis), seeking to discern some of the truths which were revealed to us through them. Much of what I sought followed the ways Christians see Christ being anticipated or foreshadowed in the Old Testament, in its great figures and events, especially in the way those figures are presented to us through myths full of symbols which tell us we are being given truths which lie beyond empirical history. I also explored some of the ways those myths and legends provide us with spiritual or moral truths which we can engage in our lives today. I took on these stories because the time of the Great Fast is meant to help us remember the way of the world before the advent of Christ, and in some ways, to share in those experiences through their remembrance (similar to the way the Jews experience the Passover through their remembrance or celebration of that event). While doing this, I sometimes presented various speculations I have concerning the historical core which served as the foundation for those myths and legends. I did this, in part, to show that we can accept historical and scientific criticism and realize that the stories in Scripture are not purely historical, even if they connect to something which happened in history; I also did it to show us once we accept this, we have an easier time accepting and engaging the meaning we are to get from these stories, for they are meant to present to us transcendent truths which lie beyond the domain of history or science. I have long considered Scripture to be an icon, representing truth in a way similar Byzantine icons, for those icons depict saints in ways which transcend their historical form. Pavel Florensky suggested that icons reveal to us the saints (and various historical stories) in their heavenly, glorified form, shown to us through the means of “reverse perspective,” so that we do not confuse the icons and think they are meant to be “realistic” depictions. Icons are full of symbols, symbols which help us understand the glorified reality of the kingdom of God; Scripture, in turn, presents to us “written icons,” using symbols to similarly point to and help us experience the kingdom of God. The more we appreciate this, the better we will understand Scripture and the stories in it.

Now that the Great Fast is over, now that we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead, now that we are in the Paschal Season (Paschaltide or Eastertide), the time which starts with Pascha (Easter) and goes all the way to the Ascension, I intend to continue writing similar reflections to what I wrote during Lent. I will do so throughout the whole of Paschaltide, once again engaging the traditional (Byzantine Catholic) feasts celebrated during this time. I will do so, however, in a somewhat different manner. Instead of looking backwards, to the time before Christ, I want to look forward, to the end of time itself (and with it, Christ’s second coming and God’s eternal kingdom which will be fully reveled to us at that time). Like I did during Lent, I will reflect upon the readings (and feasts) which arise during this time, feasts which demonstrate some aspect of how Christ’s resurrection from the dead now affects all creation, and see how they all anticipate and point to what happens at his second coming. I can do this because Christ is the immanent eschaton, and in his resurrection from the dead, he brings us into contact with the eschaton itself. I will be dealing with the eschatological pattern which has been revealed in history, and in Scripture, where we see the immanence and the transcendence of the eschaton, described by many theologians as the way the eschaton is already-and-not-yet with us. I will present ways we can and do experience the glory of the eschaton now, in our own lives, but also how there is something more, greater for us, which we will experience in Christ’s return. While the feasts celebrated during this time comes from the Gospels, and so, mostly from what Christ did before his death and resurrection, I believe we can (and are meant to) read them in light of the resurrection of Christ, so that we can see in his actions anticipations of what will be done in and with all of us in the eschaton at our own resurrection from the dead. In this way, we can see them as prophetic encounters, presenting to us truths which will be fulfilled in eternity, similar to the way we read the myths and legends of the Torah as being types (and allegories) which point to the advent of Christ.

While Eastertide officially ends with the Ascension, the Byzantine calendar has a few other, special, commemorations, which also relate, in their own way, to this series and our eschatological explorations. They are the Sunday of the Fathers of Nicea, Pentecost and the Sunday after Pentecost, All Saints Sunday. Indeed, All Saints will serve as the ideal end of this series because it represents, in itself, the culmination of all that preceded it, that is, it shows us the eschatological kingdom of God and the glory which is to be found in it, the glory which we are all called to participate in and experience for ourselves. Christ worked, not only to restore creation to its original state of purity, but to do something more, to bridge or link together the divide between God and creation, a work which he accomplishes in himself in the hypostatic union. Through him, creation is lead to participate in the divine life, experiencing the glory of the divine life indwelling in it, an experience which is represented to us in icons by the halos surrounding the heads of the saints. We, like the saints, are called to participate in the divine life, to be deified by grace, so that what God is by nature, we become by grace, participants in the eternal kingdom of God, the kingdom of love. And this is exactly what we hope we will do in eternity.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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