День Седьмой. Alexey Uminskiy

Fr. Alexey Uminsky's homily for the Exaltation of the Cross reinterprets Christ's call to deny oneself and take up the cross not as a heavy obligation but as a voluntary invitation born of love. The priest explains that the Gospel words — "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me" — are often perceived as the most severe and frightening in Scripture because they seem contrary to human nature.

However, Fr. Alexey argues that true self-denial happens naturally and joyfully when one loves deeply: the lover forgets themselves, making the beloved the center of life. This divine self-denial brings happiness, light, and freedom, not cruelty or heaviness. The "cross" Christians are called to bear is not worldly suffering, illness, or misfortune; rather, it is the Gospel itself — the good news of Christ's sacrificial love and resurrection.

As the Church sings, "Through the Cross joy has come to all the world." Therefore, taking up the cross means embracing a life according to the Gospel, imitating Christ in selfless love. This burden is light and liberating because it is chosen freely in response to love, not imposed by force.

God does not send crosses; a person voluntarily takes them up. The homily concludes that following Christ means denying only oneself, not Christ, and that such a life is marked by the joy of the resurrection.

In a recent broadcast, Archpriest Alexei Uminsky addresses a viewer's question about whether God ever punishes, clarifying a common misunderstanding. The viewer inferred that if God never punishes, He must forgive everyone automatically, rendering confession unnecessary. Father Alexey corrects this premise: he never claimed God never punishes.

Rather, he distinguishes between suffering, disease, and death — which are not divine retribution for sins — and true divine punishment, which exists as a form of loving admonition. This punishment is not torture or revenge but God's pedagogical action through life circumstances, encounters, and the inner realization of one's mistakes, often leading to repentance.

Forgiveness, Father Alexey emphasizes, is not automatic; it requires active seeking, genuine desire, striving, and acceptance through sincere remorse and repentance. This dynamic is precisely why the sacrament of confession exists: it provides the structured means to seek, express, and receive that forgiveness. The discussion thus centers on the nature of God's justice as restorative rather than punitive, and the indispensable role of human cooperation in the process of reconciliation.