By Father Andrew Lemeshonok
We are on the
verge of the Resurrection of Christ. The Holy Week is an incomparable time.
There are only a few steps left to make, a few days left to get through. The world is struggling
against each of us, tries to separate us from God, to cause
misunderstanding and resentment. It attempts to tie us down with sin, make
us closed for God. This is why we should stay awake and fight for our hearts
which can hold God and in which the kingdom of Heaven could start.
Quite often we
are looking for certain signs, farsightedness or miracles and say: “Look, this
one is insightful, and that one is a wonderworker”… However, the only criteria
of the true Christianity are humbleness and love. And these things are always
inconspicuous.
The Holy Week
On the one
hand, the Lord voluntarily accepts the sufferings, which means His death. On the
other hand, His steps towards Golgotha is a feast for us. We partake of the
Holy Communion, we take His love and thus we can live. The majority of people
do not live today, but simply exist. They try to do their best to live in
comfort, they build and collect something, they try to make their life more
interesting and entertaining, to make it be more diverse. However, they just cannot
admit that all these things are unreal, that everything will end sooner or
later, and people will be separated from their loved ones. Everything falls to ruins in
this world. This is why the God’s steps, the steps of our Savior towards His
Golgotha become both grief and joy for us at the same time. This grief contains
the real life. Our nature is completely different. People lament when they are
upset. People judge and envy when there is something they do not like. All
these happen because of our own foolishness. If we face certain sorrows, then it is our
fault because we are corrupted by sin. This is why we cannot understand Christ even
as a person. It is impossible to join His sorrow because Christ, the Son of a
Man, was free from sin. Nevertheless, His steps towards Golgotha let us live.
The Holy Week
is a great opportunity to feel the real life, which can be found only in God.
We thank the Lord for this and ask Him for help to stand before Christ,
listening to His word…
April 10, 2017
St. Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION