“The Lord awaits the moment when we compel our souls, burdened and wounded by sin, to turn towards Him and seek salvation and mercy. Our correction, our inner transformation, is possible only through God. It is not within our own power to achieve it,” declared the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku (Mujiri), in his homily at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, where the Vespers of the Descent from the Cross had been performed shortly before.

In the words of Metropolitan Shio, “if our desire is genuine, strong, and earnest, the Lord will assuredly come in His grace, correct us, and cleanse us.”

“Through the glorious and ancient liturgy of our Church, composed by the great holy Fathers, celebrated hymnographers, the finest poets, thinkers, and wise men, we are granted not merely to learn of the events surrounding the Lord Jesus Christ from the Gospel, but to become participants in those events through the act of worship itself. And so today we have brought forth the holy Descent from the Cross, and each one of us is a participant in this mystery.

Those gathered here, those who are gathered, are not those who, a short while ago, cried out: Crucify Him, crucify Him. We are those who say to the Lord: Forgive us, O Lord. The Church teaches us that through our sins we crucify the Lord again and again. He came to this earth, took on flesh, suffered, and died to free us from the bondage of sin, from the burden of sin.

Who was the first person whom the Lord set free from that burden? One of the crucified thieves, the wise thief, who was so moved by the sufferings of the innocent Saviour that he confessed his own sins and, from the Cross, turned to the Saviour in repentance. And it is precisely this that the Lord awaits from us: that we should compel our souls, burdened and wounded by sin, to turn to God and seek salvation and mercy.

Many of us, some for years on end, try independently to set something right within our souls, within our lives, without God, by our own strength alone. It is a futile endeavour. It is nothing but a proud and foolish attempt, for our correction, our inner transformation, is possible only through God. It is not within our own power. We may, perhaps, alter our outward behaviour in some small measure, but to change inwardly is beyond our reach, as the Lord Himself says: Without Me, ye can do nothing.

Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord desires our correction and our cleansing. Let me remind you: a sick man once came to Him and said, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And what did the Lord answer? I will. Be thou clean. This is the Lord’s desire. The will of man and the will of God met as one, and that man was healed.

So it is that the Lord desires our correction and our cleansing even more than we desire it ourselves. If our desire is true, strong, and earnest, and we turn to the Lord and seek His help, He will assuredly come in His grace, correct us, and cleanse us. God bless you and give you strength. Let us pray to the Lord that He grant us the strength and the help to walk in the way of truth and light, and together with Christ. Amen,” said Metropolitan Shio.