Friday, April 25(12), 2025
Bright Friday
Acts 3:1-8; Jn. 2:12-22

Some of the holy Fathers praise certain people of distinctive Christian life, that they rose from the dead even before the general resurrection.  What is the secret of such a life? It is in adopting and nourishing the fundamental features of the life of the age to come, as they are described by the Word of God.  That life is shown to us detached from the works of the flesh: those who attain to it do not enter into marriage, do not eat dead food, and even their bodies are spiritual.  Thus, if we detach our present life from the flesh, we can receive or regain certain elements of the future life right now. 

Put your flesh to rest, and you will rise from the dead before the general resurrection.  St. Paul shows us how to do that when he says: “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” [Gal. 5:16], and confirms that the goal is indeed attainable: “He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” [Gal. 6:8].

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