Question: Sometimes a person doesn’t fast too strictly and doesn’t pray too fervently, but he still receives great joy at Easter… What does Easter joy depend on?
Answer: Here is the depth of one’s inner life and the depth of one’s heart. Sure, sometimes people work really hard and abstain from a lot of things but they still don’t receive grace. The Lord knows one’s heart and He knows what each person needs most. There can be an unexpected joy when someone did not do anything special to receive it, and he is surprised: what was the reason for it? The Lord simply gives his love and touches one’s heart. The publican walked into the Temple… Did he read all canons? Did he fast? Did he fulfil the Law? No, he didn’t but he came to the church, and his soul was ready to accept God’s grace because it was humble, it knelt before God, and the Lord comforted his sick and suffering soul. Our entire lives are in God’s hands. The amount of joy and love that the Lord gives us depends on his Providence, and not on our own efforts. Otherwise, we would work hard and demand, “Come on! Comfort me, now! Why do you comfort that guy over there? He spent less time working for you…” We would start arguing and quarrelling with God. We would not be able to enter the Kingdom of God in that case. “How can it be that I denied myself all my life, and that guy lived as he pleased, and he was a thief but here he is the first in the paradise?!” It is fair? No, but it’s love.
