Only Standing Before the Lord’s Cross You Can Understand God

Source: ROCOR

We are told: you bow down to the tool of execution? You revere a God crucified upon the cross? But the death of God on a shameful piece of wood is a counter-intuitive concept!

Yes, indeed, the Cross is indeed “foolishness to the wise and a stumbling-block to the Jews.”

But my beloved, seek not Christ through narrow, created, natural logic. In Christ is revealed the higher Logic of Love, the Logic of Truth, and this Divine Love of the Creator is victorious over the limited logic of our minds. The higher Logic of Truth, revealed in Christ, is unattainable to the prideful reason of the created human mind, which has abandoned the Light of Reason.

The Cross, as the symbol of the eternal power of God, of His love for mankind, will always be kept on the highest and most honored place by us Orthodox Christians, and we will not cease to bow down before it, as it is the source of our eternal joy and consolation.

Yes, my beloved, the Cross is our joy and our strength. “By this sign, conquer,” spoke Divine Providence to the pious Emperor Constantine. And this Cross became victory for us from the day the Christ—Divine Love Himself—came down to mankind, and especially from the day of His crucifixion.

The cross is the genuine evidence of God’s love for mankind. Christianity is now under persecution. The holy symbol of Christianity, the Cross, is now mocked. Many Christians are embarrassed to cross themselves: it just isn’t done today, they say. We declare at every corner that only the Christianity of the Cross will hold the ultimate triumph over the world. We state unequivocally: where attention to Christ’s Cross wanes, where its meaning and power are diminished, there faith in Christ as the God-man, as the Savior of the world, weakens, there Christianity’s power is subverted. It is not through concessions to natural reasoning but through devotion to Christ’s Cross and through preaching the Cross that the path to victory over evil lies, the evil under which the entire world now groans in agony.

Preparing for the glory of the Eternal Pascha, we bow down before the Cross. Already we praise the holy Resurrection. Hurry, those faithful to Christ, venerate the Cross, for only standing before the Lord’s Cross can you understand God, see the path described by Divine Providence, and love Christ. Holiness and Love intersect on the Cross. The Cross condemns and defeats the sin that separates us from God; Love shines forth from the Cross, which unites us with God. The Cross beckons us, Christ’s Golgotha calls us, and today’s Golgotha of Christianity call us to love the Crucified One, and through Him, love for one another. May the thoughts of those separated from each other meet again at the Cross: spouses, friends, and all who are brothers in Christ. Amen.

 

Since you are here…

…we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong.

Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable.

For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir.

If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life's purpose, family and society.

Related articles
The Sign of the Cross

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian author who spent many years in the gulag of Siberia, bears witness…

We Are a Religion of Well-Being

For us, victory in the name of religion is a heresy because the Christian is victorious…

Following Christ to the End: A…

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Today…