SAINT NICHOLAS

Byzantine Catholic Church
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23300 King Drive, Clinton Township, MI 48035   *   +1-586-791-1052   *   stnicksbyzantine@yahoo.com

The Conditions of Discipleship

           He then called the people and his disciples to him and said to them, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will save it. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his very life? Indeed, what can he give in exchange for his life?

         “If anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

          Then he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

         The Sunday of the Holy Cross prepares us for commemoration of the Crucifixion and reminds us that the whole of Lent is a period when we are crucified with Christ. As we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24) and will have mortified ourselves during these forty days of the Fast, the precious and life-giving Cross is now placed before us to refresh our souls and encourage us who may be filled with a sense of bitterness, resentment, and depression. 

         The Cross reminds us of the Passion of our Lord, and by presenting to us His example, it encourages us to follow Him in struggle and sacrifice, being refreshed, assured, and comforted. In other words, we must experience what the Lord experienced during His Passion - being humiliated in a shameful manner. The Cross teaches us that through pain and suffering we shall see the fulfillment of our hopes: the heavenly inheritance and eternal glory

         The Holy Cross is called the Tree of Life, it is placed in the middle of the Fast, as the ancient tree of life was placed in the middle of the garden of Eden. By this, our Holy Fathers wished to remind us of Adam’s gluttony as well as the fact that through this Tree condemnation has been abolished.

         The services of this Sunday almost make no mention of the Cross as being a symbol of suffering, penance, or humiliation, but rather extol the holy Cross as a symbol of joy, victory and triumph, which are brought to fullness through the glorious Resurrection. This is the true Christian meaning of the Cross. Beyond the Cross the Christian sees the glory of the Resurrection and the joy of everlasting bliss.