Homily for 8 March 2015, Third Sunday of Great Lent--the Veneration of the Holy Cross

The Cross is a Gift, not a Burden

Homily for the Third Sunday of Great Lent (8 Mar. 2015, 19 Mar. 2006)

Hebrews 4:14-5:6           Mark 8:34-9:1

 

When we come to the end of the forty days of Great Lent and the end of Great and Holy Week, we look upon the Cross as the terrible instrument of the Lord’s suffering and death.  We see Him nailed and set up on the Cross like a common thief.  We take down His precious and wounded Body and lay Him with tears and flowers in the tomb, and we erect the empty cross as a sign of our grief—but also as a sign that the tomb will soon be empty, Christ will be risen from the dead, our grief will turn to joy, and defeat will turn into victory.

Today we are half-way through the forty days; half-way to the tragedy of the Crucifixion; half-way to the triumph of the Resurrection.  And today also we focus on the Cross.  It stands in the middle of Great Lent like a shady tree in the middle of the desert; like the Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden of Paradise.

In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus tells us that if we want to be His followers, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.  This reminds us that we have choices on life’s journey—but only one choice will lead us after our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ through death to everlasting life.

We can choose not to take up our cross and follow Jesus.  We can choose not to deny ourselves—in other words, we can choose to live for pleasure, or money, or power, or food, or drugs, or work, or whatever we want.  But that choice will not make us followers of Christ.

We can become followers of Christ only if we choose, as Christ chose, to take up our cross.  For us, the Holy Cross is like a staff or a walking stick that we use to support ourselves on our journey through life.  It is strong enough for us because it has already carried Jesus our Savior.  It will not fail to bring us back to Paradise.

At first, today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews might not seem to be about the Holy Cross.  But when we read it carefully and understand how the writer talks of Jesus’ sacrifice as High Priest, we realize that Jesus’ sacrifice for the sins of the people was His death for us on the Holy Cross.

The author shows us that every high priest chosen from among the people made sacrifices for the people and for himself—but Jesus, being God as well as Man, made a sacrifice of Himself, not of a lamb or some other animal.  He was the perfect sacrifice—the one who as God could offer Himself—the priest as well as the offering—so no more blood sacrifices have to be made.  In the Divine Liturgy, we refer several times to this “unbloody” or “bloodless” sacrifice—the bread and wine we offer become the Body and Blood of Christ that He offered once for all.

But because Jesus was human as well as divine, He understands how we feel.  He knows our self-doubt and self-contempt because of our sins.  He knows that we need a way to sacrifice something for our sins so that we can come closer to Him.  So He gives us His Cross to carry, so that we can share His sacrifice and follow Him to death and resurrection.

For us, then, the Holy Cross is a gift, not a burden.  It is a help, not an obstacle.  It is the way, not the destination.  It is not the end—it is the beginning of Eternal Life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, unto the ages of ages.  Amen.