St Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
161 N. Murphy Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086
3rd Sunday of Lent - Veneration of the Cross

Sunday of the Cross

Fr Andrew Gliga

            In modern social circles and social media, we see many different categories or "hashtags" of photos posted by people. One of the most popular ones that is out there today is the "Blessed" hashtag. When someone views or looks at the pictures of people posting to that category you see people showing off ways that they say they are blessed. A highlight of these pictures show people with their family all smiling and being happy. Others are of people on vacation and showing beautiful scenery. Some are just eating fine food or drinks. There are pictures of people with cars, boats, or even their houses. These things are nice and joyful to see people considering that they are blessed for enjoying the good things in life. And yet there is something a bit off about this mentality.

            A blessed person is seen as having great possessions, or a content life. Someone who basically has all their basic needs met and more is seen as blessed by God. And this begs the question to ask, what about someone who does not have these things? What about the people who aren't able to travel to fine places or to enjoy the finer things of life? Are these people condemned by God because they don't have these things? It seems like the world does not view these people as blessed since they do not have the possessions or things that are viewed as being blessed by God.

            This mentality is not new actually. We might think that this is a modern problem because of how easy our life is. And yet in the time of Christ this same view of being blessed by God meant that you have many possessions. The Pharisees and the leaders of the people who were rich and wealthy were viewed to also be righteous, because in their mind, only the righteous would be able to have earthly blessings. Even so, this is what Christ came to teach us: that blessedness does not come from earthly possessions, but rather comes from sacrifice.

            Today we commemorate the Cross of Christ. This symbol placed before us is the complete opposite of earthly blessings and good things in the world. Before Christ this cross was viewed as a symbol of suffering, excruciating pain, and death. Only the most wicked of people were crucified and it was a shameful and tortuous experience for one to be crucified. And Christ took this symbol and turned it upside down. It now is a symbol of life, of salvation, and of blessedness. But it only became a holy symbol when Christ suffered upon it. It only became a symbol of life when Christ died upon it.

            This is where we see the contrast between the cross and our life as Orthodox Christians and the "blessedness" of the world. In the Gospel reading today we hear: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37). The idea is blessedness does not come from possessions of the world, but rather blessedness comes from sacrifice from taking up one's cross and following Christ, and this is what is needed to attain salvation. Elder Anthony of Optina says: "Of course, it would be easier to get to paradise with a full stomach, all snuggled up in a soft feather-bed, but what is required is to carry one’s cross along the way, for the kingdom of God is not attained by enduring one or two troubles, but many!"

            So beloved in the Lord, these saying are repeated to us this week too. We have already passed the halfway point of great lent (the 40 days before Holy Week). This time should have been a time for us to put away the pleasures of this world, the fine food, the nice vacations, the things that the world all seeks. We put these away because where suffering is, that is where salvation is. St Clement of Alexandria says: "The one who knows God will follow the Lord’s footsteps, bearing the cross of the Savior. It is said, “The world is crucified to him and he to the world.” The Lord says, “He who loses his life will save it.” We can “lose our lives” in one of two ways. First, we can risk our lives just as the Lord did for us.  Secondly, we can separate our lives from the customary things of this world.  Bearing the cross means to separate our souls from the delights and pleasures of this life. If you do this, you will find your life again – resting in the hope of what is to come. Dying to ourselves means being content with the necessities of life. When we want more that these necessities it is easy to sin." This is why the Church gives us this time, not to make our life difficult, but to make us put aside the things that distract us from the kingdom of God. Let us therefore put aside the things that the world says grants us blessings, but rather put aside those good things of the world in order to attain the true blessings, the blessing of God through taking up our cross and following Christ.

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