At this point, having gone halfway through the journey of Great Lent, we are slowly beginning to realize the difficulty of the work set before us to get to the Resurrection. Our bodies are weary from the fasting; our minds are tired from the concentration of prayer and the additional Church Services; our souls, although strengthened from the spiritual labor we have been doing, are also worn out, having become aware of the weakness of our will to actually desire God and become like Christ. The question then remains as to if the course of the fast will continue to remain bleak and trying.
It is for these reasons that the Church, in Her wisdom, has given us the Sunday of the Holy Cross in order to remind us of both the suffering and the joy that is set before us on this journey. We are reminded that, after all, the God Whom we claim to worship was crucified. For, “He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.” (John 1:11). He suffered, and was rejected by men, and, “being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8). This realization is meant to sober us up to the reality that we too are called to die to ourselves and our desires in order to be united with Christ. St. Paul the Apostle, writing about the suffering of the Old Testament saints, said:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?—
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:1-11).
Notice that St. Paul mentions that Christ, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” It is this same joy we are to have in our hearts as we continue to labor in fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. We, like Christ, will die in this process. But we also will be raised with Him. It is this resurrection we look forward to; not only the resurrection of our bodies but also the redemption of our souls, having eternity to spend with Christ, "in a place of brightness, a place of refreshment, a place of repose, where all sickness, sighing, and sorrow have fled away."
Therefore, do not give up the fast. Fight the good fight. Finish the race. Keep the faith. Look not only to the cross, but also to the empty tomb.
