St. Peter says in today's Epistle that we are “strangers and pilgrims”, admonishing us to “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul”. It is important to know that the Christian faith does not oppose man’s body and soul, and does not think that man is only a soul imprisoned in a body, as some Eastern religions believe. Man is a whole of body and soul, and an integral part of our creed is the belief in the resurrection of the body. Eternal life is not only for the soul but also for the body.

Suffering is inherently averse to us, especially when we have to suffer unjustly. Sometimes, of course, we just think that our suffering is unjust, when in fact we ourselves are to blame for it. And sometimes it can happen that not accepting suffering makes us suffer even more – not only when we angrily kick a stone after stubbing our toe on it, thus hurting ourselves even more, but even more so when physical torments become spiritual ones and mental.

The resurrection of Jesus is both self-evident and unexpected. It is self-evident since Jesus is the Son of God. At the same time, however, it is unexpected because Jesus is a man and mortality is an inevitable fact of our fallen human nature, just as it is a universally accepted fact that the dead do not rise. Jesus rose from the dead because in Him God and man are inseparably united. Jesus has overcome the world, sin, death, and the devil, and this is true not only of Him, but of all who are united with Him and given new life in Him.

In the first part of the traditional Easter liturgy, twelve prophecies from the Old Testament are read. The first one speaks of the creation of the world and man, the second of the flood and the subsequent new beginning. The third prophecy is the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, which foreshadows God’s giving of His only begotten Son for the redemption of mankind.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the culmination of which is the celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, became man for us. He knows our needs and hopes, He knows our pain and suffering, He also knows what we need for true happiness and joy.

Upon all of us, each individual as well as the entire human race, there is a shadow constantly hanging over us – the shadow of mortality and death. In addition to death, this shadow includes all kinds of trials, unfulfilled longings, disappointments, as well as diseases and other sufferings, whether natural or caused by the envy, malice and injustice of other people. All this may make us question whether our life is worth living at all.