Pascha and personal experience

Good words from His Grace Bishop JOSEPH from Los Angeles. You can listen to the entire interview on The Illumined Heart. Just scroll down at that site to the April 4 podcast.

“[The] life of purification is a struggle…it’s a struggle…and people come to Church and they expect that a healing will be like instant coffee. This is not in the Orthodox Church. You know … I was born Orthodox; I was born in a very united, pious, devout family. I never heard any serious argument between father and mother, so they built a good, pious family, and so I’m coming from that family. But, we knew from day one that we will be saved, and justified, not because of being born Orthodox … so we have to fast … we have to fast and pray at all times; we have to ask for forgiveness; we have to ask for tears. We have to go through depression, and helplessness, and enslavement. But, our Faith has taught us, and is teaching us, that we will never have a defeat in our life, because God is blessing us and leading us into the joy of Pascha! So, that’s why the fruits of Lent are not only tears and enslavement and weaknesses, but also victory!”