A few days after the celebration of the Universal Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross, my Christians, in the Gospel Annunciation which we have heard, our Lord calls us, since we have first freely and effortlessly decided to follow His life, embracing His teaching «Whosoever will come after me», to renounce our evil former self and take up our own cross, i.e. the burden of our life and to walk with Him.
A union which may lead us to the loss of certain pleasures and comforts of our life, but which will benefit our soul and our journey through our spiritual struggle (fasting, prayer, confession, Holy Communion) towards theosis, towards our union with the Leader of our Faith.
Because «What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?». And let us call to mind the rich man of the parabola who gathered the produce of his fields, increased his stores, and said to himself «Eat, drink, be merry» and that very night «as an overnight thief» Death came and with it the loss of his soul, because the demons demanded of God that they should take the soul that belonged to them.
The true Christian, however, having as his model the One who first took up His Cross for the salvation of us all, as a troparion in the Passion Sequence of Thursday tells us, becomes careless of earthly, temporary «I have given my dreads to whipping, I have not turned my face away from the shame of the contractions. I stood at Pilate's footsteps and endured the cross for the salvation of the world.’ and with peace of mind, serenity and patience he bears the burdens of his life, drawing strength from his faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen.
It is this faith, my Christians, that has strengthened the saints Wisdom, Faith, Hope and Love celebrated yesterday. And when the three daughters of Wisdom, Faith, Hope and Love, who had been nurtured by their mother with the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, were brought before the King, they proudly and firmly confessed that they were Christians. And they took up the cross of their martyrdom, which led to their beheading, before the eyes of their mother, who, strengthened by her fervent faith, endured this martyrdom and after three days gave up her spirit to be with her daughters in the presence of their beloved Christ.
My Christians, today, when we are not asked to go through such martyrdoms and take up such crosses, let us give our testimony to the modern age and society in which we live, bearing with patience, patience and sobriety the burdens of our lives and confessing by our lives and works our faith in our crucified and risen Lord. AMEN.
Prot.p.P.M.Meg.
