Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross 2025

Dear deacons, brothers and sisters, and children,

the church puts before us today the reason that

we are fasting, the reason that we are Christians.

The cross is here in the middle of the church.

Of course, it speaks to us about ourselves and

our life and our world. On the one hand, it tells

us what a mess we are all in. It tells us about

it's the revelation of human cruelty and misery

and suffering and separation and alienation from

God. But about that, we're going to wait till

Holy Friday because the tragic side isn't the

focus today. Last night, the hymns were very

triumphant about the beauty of the cross, the

glory of the cross, the strength of the cross,

the joy of the cross. We even address the cross.

Rejoice, O life -giving cross. We speak to it.

Like Christ spoke to the sea and the wind. Is

it animate? Is it inanimate? Doesn't matter.

And this brings us to the gospel we heard. The

point of which is to save us from ourselves.

The rest of my remarks are borrowed heavily from

Bishop Irenae of London. In a sermon he gave,

he says this, Let there be no confusion, no dancing

around the point. Today the church also places

before us and spells out for us in plain terms

the cost, the cost to be called a Christian.

There's a price to be paid. Christ spoke of it

explicitly in the gospel that the protodeacon

just intoned for us, for our benefit. The Lord

said, those who wish to save their life will

lose it. But those who lose their life for my

sake and the gospels will save it. To be a child

of God, to be a Christian, costs one simple thing.

Your life. That's all you have to give, actually.

But you must give it. You don't have to have

wealth. You don't have to have education. You

don't have to have social standing or power.

You don't have to have influence. You don't have

to have stature or stability. You just have to

have a life that you are willing to give away.

Everyone has this. It's the universal reality

of our human nature that the one thing we all

possess, whatever else our circumstances might

be, whatever injustices you might have suffered,

whatever terrible circumstances that may make

some people weak and others strong, everyone

has that, which is required to follow Christ.

No one is deprived. But we can't follow him without

giving this, without paying that price. It's

an exchange. That's why. It's an exchange. He

who wishes to save his life will lose it. Will

lose it. He does not say those who wish to save

their life might lose it. Will. Will. It's a

vain attempt to think we can work our way into

self -help by all the alternatives out there.

The billion dollar so -called health and wellness

business. That's all about saving myself and

getting something. And only for this life. Whatever

benefit might come. It's only for this life.

True joy. True healing. The acquisition, the

gift of God's kingdom cannot be acquired by any

other means than that which Christ lays before

us today. And he does it completely openly. And

he does say, there are some standing here who

will not taste death till they've seen the kingdom

of God come in power. That's the church. That's

the communion you're going to receive. You see

the kingdom of God in power. Not the power of

this world, no. It's something so humble that

maybe we just discount it. Look at this cross

here in the middle. It's a brand new icon that

the cross is embedded in, by the way. And we

put it in the middle of the church for a reason

today. This isn't just some random thing. Oh,

it would be nice to have the cross out there.

It's brand new, so. No, this is the way. That's

why it's here. Now you choose whether you follow

it or not. No one can force you. God himself

will stand beside you, weeping with you, waiting

like the father of the prodigal son, but he will

not force you. He who wishes to follow me, Christ

says, must take up his own cross. It can't be

forced on you. You can't be pressured into it.

That's not what I'm trying to do by speaking

to you today. You decide that your life has value

in being given away. If you want that exchange.

And not just given away generically, but given

to the God who will do with it wonderful things,

beautiful things. People are frightened to give

away their life because they feel that they're

losing something they possess. How foolish we

are to think that we have possession of our souls,

our life. Can any one of us control what comes

later today? Can you possibly know it? Can any

one of us, Christ says, by worry or by intention

or by plan or by design or any other contrivance?

Piously motivated? Or otherwise? Can anyone add

a single day to his life? Can anyone stop the

suffering? Can anyone know that there'll be a

tomorrow in which to make a better choice? No

one can. Who are we to think that we possess

the souls and hearts and lives that we have,

that we have been actually given from God? So

why do we so foolishly cling to them? Why are

we so afraid to give them to the God who made

them? We're frightened because we're full of

passions, impulses, compulsions, and we are sinful.

We have debased ourselves as humans rather than

be shining images and likenesses of God himself

like the saints are. We have debased ourselves

by becoming self -centered. And rather than grow

angry with us and impatient with us and frustrated

with the incredible capacity of our human nature

to be dense and thick and not see what lies before

us, Christ in his infinite patience and love,

because the cross reveals his love, places again

and again and again before us the signs of redemption.

and all the invitations over and over again.

And here today, in our midst, is this cross.

But not just the cross, but one that is decorated

so beautifully with branches and flowers and

leaves so that it is beautiful. So that when

you look at the cross, you see the power of this

cross to create beauty. It's from a tree, after

all. flowers, plants, these are the signs of

birth and growth. This is so that we don't look

at the cross as a thing of sorrow or grief or

despair, no longer a punishment, but that you

were reminded, as we were reminded last night

at the matin service, that through the cross,

joy has come to the world. We sing that every

Saturday night. Through this cross, my brothers

and sisters, joy comes to your world if you will

let it. Through this cross, joy will come into

your heart if you will simply give your heart

to God. Through this cross, you can say, I am

yours, Lord. Make me more fully your own. Say

to him, if you are filled with doubts and fear

and wonder about what we're doing, say to him,

as did the apostle. as did the man with the son

who was ill. I believe Christ. Help me in my

disbelief. If you love him but are afraid, say

to him, I love you, Christ. Take away my fear.

Don't hold back. Give him what he needs in order

to make your life whole. The cross is... Also

here in the middle of the church on this Sunday

so that you have to walk past it to receive communion.

You become part of a little living icon by walking

with the cross as you approach Christ who sanctifies

us through the cross. And this is the life that

awaits us. This is the grace that he provides

today for those who are ready. Those who have

prepared themselves through fasting, through

repentance, through prayer, through a recent

confession. Take up that cross and receive the

body and blood of the one who died upon it. And

he will give you strength to overcome every foe,

every obstacle, every spiritual and worldly trouble.

He won't take those away from you, but you will.

not only endure, you will flourish. And for those

of you, the catechumens, who are preparing for

holy illumination during this sacred period,

the inquirers, the learners, those who are not

yet receiving communion, don't feel that you

are being deprived of something. No, you're being

prepared for something. Watch. Watch as those

who have been made worthy by Christ's blood to

draw close to him. Let it inspire your own hearts

with deeper fervor as you take up your cross.

And at the moment God blesses you through his

wisdom and his grace, that you can give him your

life by being plunged into the waters of baptism

and chrismated with the holy oil. You will know.

The strength of the cross. One saint says, you've

been anointed with holy chrism on your forehead.

It's the demons that are afraid of you now, not

the other way around. Give him your life by dying

to the world and all that you have as yours now

that he may give you a new life, an exchange.

He will show you a new world. He will give you

grace and gifts and peace of heart. that you

can't fathom, you can't explain, and you don't

have to. May God give us strength, bless us,

and keep us through his precious cross, now and

to ages of ages. Amen.