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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Nunciation

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<v Speaker 1>Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an

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<v Speaker 1>old calendar Orthodox church sharing the faith of the Apostles

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<v Speaker 1>and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>let's listen to this week's homily, Name.

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<v Speaker 2>The Father and so I'm the Holy Spirit Lord to

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<v Speaker 2>Jesus Christ has a seat if you like, Beloved in Christ.

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<v Speaker 2>We gather today on the third Sunday of great Land,

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<v Speaker 2>this blessed season of repentance and spiritual struggle, to contemplate

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<v Speaker 2>one of the most challenging but transformative teachings of our

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<v Speaker 2>Lord Jesus Christ. From today's Gospel reading, we have heard

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<v Speaker 2>his solemn call, whosoever will come after me, let him

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<v Speaker 2>deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

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<v Speaker 2>This is no gentle suggestion, is no optional aspiration. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not limited to the particularly devout. This is the fundamental

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<v Speaker 2>requirement of Christian discipleship. Yet in our modern world, saturated

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<v Speaker 2>with comfort and ease and self importance, this cause often

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<v Speaker 2>appears not merely difficult, but even confusing as we struggle

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<v Speaker 2>to understand the words of Christ. Maybe it even appears

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<v Speaker 2>impossible when we do understand. But yet, as we will see,

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<v Speaker 2>Christ does not ask of us what he does not

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<v Speaker 2>first accomplish in himself, and he does not leave us

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<v Speaker 2>to bear our burdens alone. So as we begin to

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<v Speaker 2>think about what Christ is asking of us when he says,

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<v Speaker 2>deny yourself and take up your cross and follow him,

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<v Speaker 2>let us remember this first vital point. Your cross may

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<v Speaker 2>not be my cross, and my cross may look nothing

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<v Speaker 2>at all like your cross. The mystery of the cross

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<v Speaker 2>is deeply personal, but universally shared. Every soul bears a

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<v Speaker 2>unique cross. The widow wrestling with loneliness carries a different

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<v Speaker 2>burden than the merchant tempted by avarice. The young person

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<v Speaker 2>battling the passions of the flesh faces trials that are

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<v Speaker 2>very much unlike a parent who watches their children drift

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<v Speaker 2>away from the faith. The monk in his cell struggles

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<v Speaker 2>differently than the laborer in the marketplace. And yet, while

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<v Speaker 2>our crosses are distinct in particular to each of us,

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<v Speaker 2>we share a common calling. Each of us must bear

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<v Speaker 2>our own, and this fundamental truth should teach us a

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<v Speaker 2>profound humility and our relationship with one another. How dare

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<v Speaker 2>we presume to judge our brother and sister, unaware of

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<v Speaker 2>the interior of battles being waged in silence. The person

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<v Speaker 2>who might seem harsh you could be enduring chronic pain.

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<v Speaker 2>Or the work acquaintance who seems withdrawn may be grieving

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<v Speaker 2>a loss we know nothing about. We have no idea

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<v Speaker 2>what cross our brothers bury. In truth, this is why

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<v Speaker 2>during went we pray, as instructed by Saint Evron, the

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<v Speaker 2>syrian O Lord and master of my life, grant me

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<v Speaker 2>to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother.

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<v Speaker 2>But if we are all called to carry these different crosses,

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<v Speaker 2>there must be some commonality that binds us all this command,

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<v Speaker 2>and there is. Each cross has one thing in common,

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<v Speaker 2>and that is Christ. In each and every cross that

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<v Speaker 2>we are called to carry, we carry it for Christ,

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<v Speaker 2>as did Simon of Syreen, who helped our Lord carry

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<v Speaker 2>his cross to Golgatha. Because each of our cross is

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<v Speaker 2>if we fail to carry them, if we choose instead

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<v Speaker 2>to separate ourselves from God through indulgence and sin, through

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<v Speaker 2>satisfaction of self, will we wound Christ afresh. Yet we

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<v Speaker 2>also carry our Christs, not just for Christ, but through

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<v Speaker 2>Christ by His love. Both at his urging, as we

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<v Speaker 2>heard in the Gospel, but also by his grace. Blessed

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<v Speaker 2>Augustine illuminates this mystery with profound wisdom when he writes,

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<v Speaker 2>how hard and painful does this appear? The Lord has

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<v Speaker 2>required that whoever will come after him deny himself. But

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<v Speaker 2>what he commands is neither hard nor painful when he

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<v Speaker 2>himself helps us in such ways, so the very thing

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<v Speaker 2>he requires may be accomplished. For whatever seems hard, and

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<v Speaker 2>what's enjoyed, Love makes easy here the comfort. In these words,

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<v Speaker 2>it is love, the divine agape, love that poured itself

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<v Speaker 2>out upon the cross, that transforms the impossible into the bearable,

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<v Speaker 2>and the unbearable into the salvi effiic. Similarly, cesareus or

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<v Speaker 2>less taught us. Love of self was the ruin of

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<v Speaker 2>the first man. If he had not preferred himself in

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<v Speaker 2>the wrong order, he would have been willing to be

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<v Speaker 2>subject to God, and he would have preferred God to self.

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<v Speaker 2>Our crosses, then, are not punishments. They're being inflicted upon

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<v Speaker 2>us by a vengeful God. A lot of people think

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<v Speaker 2>that they see somebody suffering tearing their cross, and they think,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, God is punishing that person. But this is

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<v Speaker 2>not what the cross does. Rather, the cross are these

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<v Speaker 2>sacred instruments of our salvation, the very means by which

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<v Speaker 2>we learn to order our love rightly, to prefer God

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<v Speaker 2>to ourselves, the eternal to the worldly, and the soul

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<v Speaker 2>to the body. So, if brothers and sisters we are

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<v Speaker 2>to carry our cross, how do we do it? This

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<v Speaker 2>is one thing to tell them do it. It's another

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<v Speaker 2>to tell somebody how to do it. And there's not

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<v Speaker 2>much in the scripture about that except that first part,

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<v Speaker 2>deny yourself. It's a pretty good instruction. To take up

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<v Speaker 2>the cross means to bear whatever is troublesome or burdensome

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<v Speaker 2>in this life, and in bearing it faithfully, to follow

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<v Speaker 2>Christ in the way of the Cross. When we truly

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<v Speaker 2>follow him according to his teaching and his precepts, when

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<v Speaker 2>we truly attempt to live as he lived and taught

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<v Speaker 2>us to live, we will inevitably encounter resistance from those

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<v Speaker 2>around us. Many will contradict us and stand in our way.

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<v Speaker 2>Some will deride us for our faith. Others will actively

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<v Speaker 2>persecute us, and not just from outside the church, where

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<v Speaker 2>we see it. The lot from pagans or unbelievers who

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<v Speaker 2>reject the gospel. But even those who visibly wear the

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<v Speaker 2>title of Christian oppose many of us who choose to

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<v Speaker 2>fitlock faithfully in Christ's way, criticizing judging that which they

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<v Speaker 2>don't understand. You may have heard it if you talk

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<v Speaker 2>to someone who's outside the church about the fast. Oh

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<v Speaker 2>that's legalism, you know. Oh, that sounds like the Jewish law. No,

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<v Speaker 2>they just don't understand what we are being asked to

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<v Speaker 2>do or why we do it. Yet they have words

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<v Speaker 2>to say. We're called not to yield to their falsehood

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<v Speaker 2>or to despair at their lack of understanding. The calls

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<v Speaker 2>us to a elegate balance, a spiritual wisdom that the

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<v Speaker 2>Church fathers have long understood. Tolerate sinners, but don't yield

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<v Speaker 2>to them. We must not allow apparent prosperity of the

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<v Speaker 2>wicked to seduce us and to compromise with the truth.

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<v Speaker 2>In our modern world, we see this in many many ways.

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<v Speaker 2>We have a culture that tells us compromise our sexual

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<v Speaker 2>morality because it's too hard to ask people to be chased.

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<v Speaker 2>We have a culture that tells us that wealth and

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<v Speaker 2>worldly status is the most important thing on this earth,

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<v Speaker 2>even at the expense of our souls, and the subtle,

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<v Speaker 2>not so subtle these days suggestion we can serve both

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<v Speaker 2>God and Mammon, that is, both Christ and the false

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<v Speaker 2>values of the world. All of these we will see

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<v Speaker 2>and hear over and over and over, and they are

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<v Speaker 2>utterly false. The loneliness that comes from standing firm and

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<v Speaker 2>the faith when our Christian neighbors and challenge not just

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<v Speaker 2>our practice, practice, but our very belief pressures us towards

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<v Speaker 2>unfaithfulness and worldliness. That's the intent, and the daily struggle

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<v Speaker 2>against the demons of pride, envy, greed, and self righteousness

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<v Speaker 2>that assault us from within provide a ready excuse for

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<v Speaker 2>people to just put down the cross and please man. Yet,

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<v Speaker 2>in these trialses, precisely at this point where we were

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<v Speaker 2>called to remember the encouraging words of Saint Cesirius, you

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<v Speaker 2>will do well to despise all things for the sake

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<v Speaker 2>of Christ, in order that you may be fit for

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<v Speaker 2>his companionship. Our crosses are the price of following the

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<v Speaker 2>King of kings, and the reward for burying them faithfully

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<v Speaker 2>is communion with Him. And we must understand if we

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<v Speaker 2>do not carry our cross, if we choose not to

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<v Speaker 2>carry our cross. Our cross will carry us, but not

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<v Speaker 2>in the right direction. If we refuse to carry our

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<v Speaker 2>cross consciously, intentionally, with a willing surrender to God's providential will,

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<v Speaker 2>our cross will carry us in a manner far more

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<v Speaker 2>destructive and spiritually periless than if we had embraced it willingly.

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Augustine observed with spiritual insight when I noticed that

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<v Speaker 2>you were being slowed down in your divine purpose by

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<v Speaker 2>your preoccupation with domestic kills, I felt that you were

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<v Speaker 2>being carried and dragged along by your cross, rather than

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<v Speaker 2>you are carrying it. What else does the cross mean

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<v Speaker 2>than the mortality of this flesh. When we do not

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<v Speaker 2>actively and willingly carry our cross, we are first passively

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<v Speaker 2>but then actively dragged by it, enslaved by it. Our

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<v Speaker 2>unexamined sufferings become masters over us rather than servants of

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<v Speaker 2>our spiritual transformation. Our unresolved griefs become festering wounds that

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<v Speaker 2>poison our souls and turn us away from God. We

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<v Speaker 2>choose the muck of the mud over the life and

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<v Speaker 2>the light of Christ. Clem and Alexandria warned of the

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<v Speaker 2>great spiritual peril that follows from neglecting our calling of

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<v Speaker 2>carrying that cross. Those who neglect good works may fail

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<v Speaker 2>to grasp just how much the good work of God

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<v Speaker 2>has benefited them. Hence they're less capable of praying so

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<v Speaker 2>as to receive good things from God, and even when

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<v Speaker 2>they receive them, they are likely unaware of what's been

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<v Speaker 2>given them. This is a trategy of spiritual blindness and

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<v Speaker 2>ingratitude which follows from giving or putting down the cross

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<v Speaker 2>and giving in to the way of the world. Our

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<v Speaker 2>crosses become for us burdens and obstacles and instruments of

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<v Speaker 2>our destruction instead of transformative encounters to our salvation. So,

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<v Speaker 2>my brothers and sisters of Christ, the time for half measures,

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<v Speaker 2>for spiritual complacency, for divided arts between the things of

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<v Speaker 2>God and the things of the world. As time has passed,

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<v Speaker 2>our Lord calls us. Our Lord calls us to a

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<v Speaker 2>decisive commitment to pick up that cross and to turn

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<v Speaker 2>in our whole person towards him. Will we deny ourselves

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<v Speaker 2>and take up the cross with faith love? Because that's

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<v Speaker 2>one of the things you hear today. A lot of

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<v Speaker 2>people prostance orthodox all like that. You know, save you

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<v Speaker 2>take up your cross and follow Christ. Take up your cross,

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<v Speaker 2>but they leave that first part off. Deny yourself, take

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<v Speaker 2>up your cross, and follow Christ. Because if you don't

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<v Speaker 2>do the first, you won't finish the second. You won't

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<v Speaker 2>be carrying that cross. That cross will be carrying you

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<v Speaker 2>across a finish line that you don't want to be

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<v Speaker 2>carried across. Remember, your cross is the shape of your salvation,

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<v Speaker 2>is the instrument by which we are conformed to the

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<v Speaker 2>image of Christ. It's the narrow way that leads to life.

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<v Speaker 2>It's the path to resurrection and eternal glory. So as

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<v Speaker 2>we continue in this holy season of great land, let

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<v Speaker 2>us here again with renewed commitment that called our Savior Christ,

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<v Speaker 2>whoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take

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<v Speaker 2>up his cross and follow me, for in doing so,

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<v Speaker 2>in losing ourselves for his sake, we discover that we

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<v Speaker 2>do not lose our lives, rather we find them. So

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<v Speaker 2>may our merciful Lord grant us the courage and searching

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<v Speaker 2>self examination, the fortitude of taking action, of first picking

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<v Speaker 2>up and then carrying that cross, and finally the sustenance

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<v Speaker 2>through his grace and energies to win the struggle to

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<v Speaker 2>carry that cross to the finish and so doing to

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<v Speaker 2>claim that great prize which Christ has already won for

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<v Speaker 2>us and the name of the Father and the Son

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<v Speaker 2>of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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<v Speaker 1>Amen, thanks for listening to Hill Country homilies. For more information,

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<v Speaker 1>visit Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church at www dot Denunciation, tx

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, and please join us again next week