His Grace Assistant Bishop Teofil of Iberia of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Spain and Portugal warned on Sunday that the Holy Cross does not offer a magical protection if a Christian’s life contradicts the Gospel.
He delivered a sermon during the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Cross Parish, Alcalá del Júcar – Casas-Ibáñez in Spain.
“For Orthodox Christians, the Holy Cross is a throne of grace, which we approach with reverence to receive help and protection in our struggle against sin. It is also an invincible weapon against the devil, insofar as our life itself is a life of the cross,” the assistant bishop said.
“If we make the sign of the Cross but our life contradicts the Gospel, then the Holy Cross will not protect us in a magical way; rather, we will become a mockery for demons.”
He urged the faithful to use the period of Great Lent as an opportunity to embrace a life shaped by the Cross.
“May this time of Great Lent be for all of us an opportunity to learn a life of the cross—a life in which we fight even to blood against the sin that so easily surrounds us; a life in which the grace and light of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ may already shine,” he said.
Bishop Teofil of Iberia also participated in the sacrament of the Holy Unction, celebrated in the parish on Saturday.
Photo: Diocese of Spain and Portugal
