Ἀδελφοί μου,
ἡ Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Χριστοῦ δὲν μᾶς κρύβει τὴν ἀλήθεια.
Ὁ δρόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ περνᾷ πάντοτε ἀπὸ τὸ μυστήριο τοῦ Σταυροῦ.
Ἀλλὰ ὁ Σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ δὲν εἶναι ἀπλῶς πόνος· εἶναι μυστήριο σωτηρίας.
Οἱ Ἅγιοι Πατέρες, ποὺ ἔζησαν στὸ σῶμα τους καὶ στὴν ψυχὴ τους τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν χαρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἶναι οἱ μόνοι πραγματικὰ ἄξιοι νὰ μιλήσουν γι’ αὐτό.
Διότι ἐφάρμοσαν στὴ ζωή τους κάθε λόγο, κάθε κεραία, κάθε ἀνάσα τοῦ Κυρίου.
Καὶ ἔτσι ἡ Ἐκκλησία, μέσα ἀπὸ τὴν ἐμπειρία τους, μᾶς διδάσκει τὸ μυστήριο:
ὅτι ὁ Σταυρός γεννᾷ τὴν Ἀνάσταση.
ὁ Κύριος στο Κατά Μάρκον Εὐαγγέλιον
μᾶς λέγει λόγο βαρύ καὶ ἀληθινό:
«Ὅστις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἀκολουθεῖν,
ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτόν
καὶ ἀράτῳ τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ».
Ὁ δρόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἶναι δρόμος σταυροῦ.
Καὶ ὁ σταυρὸς δὲν εἶναι θεωρία·
•εἶναι πόνος,
•εἶναι θυσία,
•εἶναι ἄρνηση τοῦ ἐγώ.
Ὅμως ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ δὲν εἶναι σκοτάδι.
Εἶναι πύλη φωτός.
Διότι ὅλος ὁ πόνος ποὺ ὑπομένει
ὁ ἄνθρωπος γιὰ τὸν Θεό
ὁδηγεῖ στὴν Ἀνάσταση.
Καμία θυσία δὲν χάνεται.
Κανένα δάκρυ δὲν πέφτει στὸ κενό.
Καὶ ὅπως λέγει
ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος:
«Οὐδὲν ἔστιν ἰσχυρότερον ἀνθρώπου ὑπομένοντος διὰ τὸν Χριστόν».
Καὶ ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος διδάσκει:
«Σταυρός ἐστιν ἡ νέκρωσις τοῦ παλαιοῦ ἀνθρώπου».
Δηλαδή, ὁ σταυρὸς εἶναι ἡ θανάτωση τῆς φιλαυτίας καὶ τῶν παθῶν.
Ὁ κόσμος ὅμως ἔμαθε ἄλλο δρόμο.
Διδάσκει:
•φιλαυτία
•φιληδονία
•φιλοδοξία
•Να σωθῇ τὸ ἐγώ.
•Να ἡδονισθῇ τὸ σῶμα.
•Να δοξασθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
Ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ὁ δρόμος, ἀδελφοί μου,
δὲν ὁδηγεῖ στὴν ζωή.
Ὁδηγεῖ στὴν πνευματικὴ ἐρήμωση
καὶ τέλος στὴν αἰώνια ἀπώλεια.
Καθὼς λέγει ὁ ἍγιοςΜάξιμος
ὁ Ὀμολογητής:
«Φιλαυτία μήτηρ πάντων τῶν παθῶν».
Καὶ ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰσαάκ ὁ Σῦρος συμπληρώνει:
«Ὁ μὴ γευσάμενος τοῦ σταυροῦ, οὐ δύναται γνῶναι τὴν χαρὰν τῆς ἀναστάσεως».
Γι’ αὐτὸ ὁ Χριστὸς φωνάζει:
«Ὃς ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ…
οὗτος σώσει αὐτήν».
Χάσε τὸν ἐαυτό σου γιὰ τὸν Χριστό
καὶ θὰ βρεῖς τὴν αἰωνιότητα.
Πάρε τὸν σταυρό
καὶ θὰ συναντήσεις τὴν Ἀνάσταση.
Πόνεσε γιὰ τὴν ἀλήθεια
καὶ θὰ γευθεῖς τὴν χαρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Διότι ὁ δρόμος τῶν ἁγίων
εἶναι πάντα ὁ ίδιος.
Ὅπως λέγει ὁ Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Θεολόγος:
«Διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀναστάσεως λάμπει».
Σταυρός — πόνος — ἀγάπη — καὶ τέλος Ἀνάσταση.
Καὶ ὅμως, ἀδελφοί μου, ὁ Σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ δὲν μπορεῖ νὰ βασταχθεῖ μὲ τὴν ἀνθρώπινη δύναμη.
Ὁ Σταυρὸς γίνεται βαρύς καὶ ἀβάστακτος
ὅταν ὁ ἄνθρωπος προσπαθεῖ νὰ τὸν σηκώσει μόνος του.
Ἀλλὰ ὅταν ἔρθει μέσα στὴν καρδιὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ Πανάγιον Πνεῦμα,
τότε ὁ Σταυρὸς γίνεται ἐλαφρύς.
Ὅπως λέγει ὁ Ἅγιος Σεραφείμ τοῦ Σάρωφ:
«Ὅπου κατοικεῖ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, ἐκεῖ ὁ πόνος μεταβάλλεται εἰς χαράν».
Καὶ τότε ὁ ἄνθρωπος καταλαβαίνει τὸ μεγάλο μυστήριο:
ὅτι ὁ Σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ
δὲν εἶναι τέλος.
Εἶναι πέρασμα.
Πέρασμα ἀπὸ τὸν πόνο στὴν χαρά,
ἀπὸ τὸν θάνατο στὴν ζωή,
ἀπὸ τὴν γῆ στὴν Ἀνάσταση.
Ἀμήν.
The Cross That Gives Birth to the Resurrection.
My brethren,
The Church of Christ does not hide the truth from us.
She does not promise us an easy road, but a true one.
The path of Christ always passes through the mystery of the Cross.
Yet the Cross of Christ is not merely pain; it is the mystery of salvation.
The Holy Fathers, who lived in their bodies and in their souls both the suffering and the joy of Christ, are the only ones truly worthy to speak about this mystery.
For they applied in their lives every word, every letter, every breath of the Lord.
And thus the Church, through their experience, teaches us this mystery:
that the Cross gives birth to the Resurrection.
The Lord in the Gospel according to Mark speaks a word that is heavy and true:
“Whoever desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross.”
The path of Christ is the path of the Cross.
And the cross is not a theory;
it is pain,
it is sacrifice,
it is the denial of the ego.
Yet the Cross of Christ is not darkness.
It is a gate of light.
For every suffering that a person endures for the sake of God leads to the Resurrection.
No sacrifice is lost.
No tear falls into emptiness.
As Saint John Chrysostom says:
“Nothing is stronger than a man who endures for Christ.”
And Saint Basil the Great teaches:
“The Cross is the death of the old man.”
That is, the cross is the mortification of selfishness and of the passions.
But the world has learned another path.
It teaches:
• self-love
• pleasure-seeking
• ambition
• Let the ego be saved.
• Let the body indulge itself.
• Let man be glorified.
But this path, my brethren, does not lead to life.
It leads to spiritual desolation
and finally to eternal loss.
As Saint Maximus the Confessor says:
“Self-love is the mother of all the passions.”
And Saint Isaac the Syrian adds:
“He who has not tasted the Cross cannot know the joy of the Resurrection.”
Therefore Christ cries out:
“Whoever loses his life for My sake…he shall save it.”
Lose yourself for Christ,
and you will find eternity.
Take up the Cross,
and you will meet the Resurrection.
Suffer for the truth,
and you will taste the joy of God.
For the path of the saints is always the same.
As Saint Gregory the Theologian says:
“Through the Cross the light of the Resurrection shines.”
Cross — suffering — love — and finally Resurrection.
And yet, my brethren, the Cross of Christ cannot be carried by human strength alone.
The Cross becomes heavy and unbearable when a man tries to lift it by himself.
But when the All-Holy Spirit enters the heart of man,
then the Cross becomes light.
As Saint Seraphim of Sarov says:
“Where the Holy Spirit dwells, suffering is transformed into joy.”
And then man understands the great mystery:
that the Cross of Christ is not the end.
It is a passage.
A passage from suffering to joy,
from death to life,
from earth to the Resurrection.
Amen.
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