In this episode of Made to be a Kingdom, Fathers Anthony Perkins and Harry Linsenbigler explore how Pascha functions as the Church’s great “reset,” reordering the liturgical year and illuminating the rhythm of Scripture and worship. Beginning with the proclamation of the Word in Gospel of John and the witness of Acts of the Apostles, they trace how the Church reads the Resurrection through the weeks of Paschaltide, culminating in Ascension and Pentecost. The conversation highlights how the healing narratives—such as the Paralytic, the Samaritan Woman, and the Man Born Blind—reveal the Resurrection already at work in the life of the faithful. Grounded in hymnography and liturgical practice, this episode offers a pastoral and theological guide to living the “fifty days” as a sustained participation in the light and life of the risen Christ. Enjoy the show!

Today we are reflecting on a critical transition in the life of the Church: the movement from Great Lent into Holy Week and then into the feast of Pascha. As we’ll see, this is not just a change in calendar or intensity, but a shift in focus—from repentance centered on ourselves to full immersion in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Great Lent is not a private self-improvement program; it is the Church’s shared praxis of becoming the Body of Christ through fasting, prayer, and worship. Fathers Harry and Anthony connect the “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 11–12) to Orthodox intercession, icons, and the liturgical convergence of heaven and earth—then press the pastoral point: let Lent actually re-form your habits, especially your relationship to media, noise, and distraction.

In this episode of Made to be a Kingdom, Fathers Harry Linsenbigler and Anthony Perkins return to Christ’s words in Matthew 16–18 to explore what Scripture reveals about the nature of the Church. Reading the Gospel through its original biblical and Septuagint context, they reflect on Christ as the anointed Petra, the gathering of the scattered people of Israel, and the Church as the place where God restores His flock from among the nations. Drawing on Micah’s prophecy (2:6-13), the language of gates and mountains, and the Paschal victory over death, the conversation shows how Orthodox ecclesiology is rooted not in abstract authority, but in Christ Himself—the Anointed Rock who leads His people through the gates of hell into life. Along the way, they highlight how Scripture interprets Scripture, why the Church understands herself as the restored Israel, and how Pascha stands at the heart of what it means for the Church to be built, gathered, and led by Christ.

In this episode, Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony slow down over Christ’s words in Matthew 16— especially the phrase “my Church”—to clarify that the Church is first Christ’s possession and work, not ours. They trace how Orthodox ecclesiology comes into focus through text and context: Christ’s confession, the meaning of rock (Petros/Petra), and the claim that the Church’s “locus” is the faith revealed by the Father and preserved in the Church. Finally, they bring Caesarea Philippi into view as a charged setting—“the gates of Hades”—so that Christ’s promise reads not as abstract poetry but as a Paschal announcement: hell will not prevail.