Holy Week is a special time. One should not live through these days in a relaxed manner, as if Christ were not crucified for our salvation.
Unfortunately, many strive to get everything out of life, but forget about the main thing. Rejecting Christ and not responding to Divine love, people deprive themselves of grace-filled joy and the meaning of life.
St. John Chrysostom righted noted: “God is grieved not so much by the sins that we have committed, than by our unwillingness to amend ourselves.”
During Holy Week, everyone who wants to be a faithful disciple of Christ should do everything possible to renounce sinful desires and to place prayerful communion with God above all else.
One should not demand love for oneself or cause pain to one’s neighbor. It is better to endure patiently for the sake of Christ and to strive to live through these great days in such a way that our lives be made up of genuine service to God and neighbor.
It is important not just to “stand through” the services and recall the Savior’s suffering, but prayerfully to co-suffer and be co-crucified with Christ.
May God grant us all the strength to preserve and multiply all the light given to us by grace and to overcome the sin that separates us from Christ the Savior!
Fr. Vladimir Shaforostov is Rector of the Church of the Sign in Krasnogorsk.