V. REV. DR. FR. PHILIP LEMASTERS
Saint Luke Orthodox Church
Abilene, TX
Today we venerate the precious and lifegiving Cross upon which Christ offered Himself for the salvation of the world purely out of love for those enslaved to the fear of death, which He conquered through His glorious resurrection on the third day. Through His crucifixion, the New Adam entered fully into the misery and wretchedness of the first Adam to the point of death, to liberate us from slavery to its corrupting power and make us participants in eternal life. The Cross is truly the Tree of Life through which we return to the blessedness of Paradise. It is “a weapon of peace and a trophy invincible” that the powers of this world cannot defeat.
To share in the Savior’s victory through the Cross, we must take up our own crosses by putting faithfulness to Him before anything else, including indulging inclinations and desires that hold us back from offering ourselves fully. Even as common bread and wine are fulfilled as our Lord’s Body and Blood when offered in the Divine Liturgy, we too are transformed when we unite ourselves to the High Priestly offering of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world through His Cross. We must not adore the Cross only in religious services, but daily as we take up our crosses to love God with every ounce of our being and our neighbors as ourselves.
The Lord said:
“If anyone wishes to come
after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross
and follow me.”
— Mark 8:34
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