The Cross in Our Life
The Cross in Our Life[1]
On the occasion of the Feast of the Cross, remember the following words:
Our first relationship with the Cross is in baptism, where our old man was crucified so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
The Cross was also carried by the Church in the movement of martyrdom and in all the persecutions that befell her throughout the ages.
And what is beautiful about this Cross is that the Church carried it with joy and patience, without complaining about it or grumbling.
The Cross was transformed in the life of the Church into a desire that she longed for and sought. The Christians’ acceptance of death astonished the pagans, and they saw in it faith in a happy eternity, and contempt for the world and all that is in it of pleasures and enjoyments.
The prisons were transformed into temples, and hymns, praises, and prayers resounded in them from Christians who were joyful at death.
The third area in which we carry the Cross is the narrow gate.
In it, a person constrains himself for the sake of the Lord. He distances himself from the world and all its desires. For God’s sake, he despises everything. In vigil, in fasting, in asceticism, in self-control, and in enduring the offenses of others.
The cross of toil may also enter into this area.
Thus, a person toils in service for the sake of the Lord. And he toils in “crucifying the body with its passions,” as the Apostle says, and he “toils in spiritual struggle and the crucifixion of the mind, and victory over the self,” knowing in all this that he “receives his wages according to his labor,” as the Apostle Paul said (1 Cor. 3:5).
Christianity can never be separated from the Cross at all.
The Lord Christ made this matter clear to us, saying, “In the world you will have tribulation,” and He also said, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake.”
We rejoice in the Cross, welcome it, and see in it our strength, as the Apostle said: “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”
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