Patriarchal Word in the Week of the Cross after the Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Martyrs Michael and Theodore of the Chernigov Patriarchal Chernihiv Metochion in Moscow

On March 11, 2018, on the 3rd Great Lent Week, the Holy Cross, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill officiated at the great consecration of the Church of the Holy Martyrs Michael and Theodore of the Chernigov Patriarchal Chernigov Compound and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great in the newly-consecrated church. At the end of the service, the Primate addressed the believers with a sermon. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Today we read a passage from Hebrews 4: 14-5: 6, a very significant text that helps to understand much about the deed that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for the sake of the human race. You have just listened to a preacher who interpreted the words "For we have not such a high priest who can not sympathize with us in our weaknesses, but who, like us, is tempted in everything except sin." Correctly interpreted, but this text is not the only meaning, because it is not just about infirmities arising from the weakness of human nature or from external temptations. This text is about something much more significant. He testifies that Christ is the High Priest, who passed through the abyss of human suffering, for His temptations are suffering, suffering in the highest degree. Very often, non-religious people explain their lack of faith in God by the presence of suffering in the world, in human history, referring to wars, various kinds of cataclysms, tsunamis, earthquakes-to which only they do not! The conclusion is simple: if God, the Creator of everything, really existed, would He really allow this? So, to everyone who is still leading or ignorant, leads this false argument, you need to read today's excerpt from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews. If God, in His incarnate Son, is willing to go through the abyss of human suffering, what does this mean? That there is no God, how flat and illogical are those who appeal to the presence of suffering in human life? Or is it that God is evil? But He Himself showed solidarity with all who suffer, through real participation in terrible sufferings. Today's text really reveals the mystery of the Divine plan for peace and man. God created man, He started the mechanism of human history, but He gives freedom to man and does not restrict the operation of physical laws until we ask Him. In a very high, almost philosophical sense, prayer is a request to God to limit our freedom. And we appeal to the Lord not in pride, but, conscious of our weakness, we ask Him with humility: "Lord, help! We can not cope with life situations! Lord, protect us from invasion of foreigners, from internecine warfare, from sudden death, from earthquakes and tsunami! Come into our world, limit its laws and our freedom! "And because the Lord responds to such a prayer and saves, as we know, in wars, earthquakes, and tsunamis. The high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, can not help but feel compassion for us, because He himself has passed through the abyss of human suffering. And today, when we remember the suffering of God and the Savior, reminds us of the participation of the God-man in this abyss of human suffering, human disorder and human grief. And the Cross is not only a symbol of the victory of Christ. The cross is a symbol of the presence of God in human grief and in human suffering. When it becomes hard for us, when we cry, when we lose hope, when the murmur on God comes to our mind and heart, let's remember the Cross of Christ and all that the Apostle Paul spoke of as a High Priest who can not help but feel compassion because and Himself went through the abyss of suffering. The Lord came to reveal the meaning of life to us, and it is impossible to understand the meaning of life without understanding the meaning of human grief. May the Lord help us through the worship of the Holy Cross, through hearing His words, to comprehend the great truth about the power of Divine love and Divine wisdom that, by touching our mind and our heart, gives us great strength to go through the path of life, overcoming suffering and not being distressed by grief, remembering that before us on a more terrible path of life passed our High Priest Lord Jesus Christ, condescending to our infirmities. Amen.