The Gospel account of the Nativity of Christ is filled with joy and light. In the sky, we see the angelic star, the host of angels appear in glory, hymning the Newborn Saviour, bringing peace on earth, good will toward men.
"One of the cornerstone messages of the Gospel is the preaching of joy. Having met the myrrh-bearing women after the resurrection, the Lord says to them: Rejoice! And now, on the path toward His suffering on the Cross, He gives His disciples a foretaste of the future of the time of the resurrection."
Fr. Alexander Webster illustrates St Paul's exhortation to "outdo one another in showing honor" with examples from the Gospel, film, and his own childhood.
Fr. Alexander Webster explains the role of the Cross in the life of every Christian and how we must "take up" our Cross to attain the heavenly kingdom.
A short exhortation by the abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery, Archimandrite Luke, on the eve of Great Lent (Feb. 5/18, 2018) on the constant struggle necessary to change our life in conformity to the Gospel commandments.
"This notion of a feast of the cross may seem paradoxical to our mind: the cross in the ancient world was an instrument and symbol of inhumane torture and death ... Yet we, Christians, celebrate the Cross of the Lord in a festival and we praise it as the 'preserver of the whole universe … the glory of angels, and the wound of demons.'"
