Homily by Fr. Vasyl Motrichenko on the Fifth Sunday of the Great Lent

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him; but after three days he will rise again” (Mark 10:33–34).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we read the Holy Scripture about the journey of Jesus and his disciples to Jerusalem, where on the way they talked about things that interested them, not knowing what was going to happen and not understanding many things; they asked Jesus, “Grant us that in your glory we may sit on your right hand and on your left hand!” During this journey, Jesus asks the apostles if they are ready to drink his cup with him, that is, to be with him in his suffering, because they probably did not fully understand what Christ was saying. To share a common cup is to be a participant in the events that are taking place, that is, to participate in them. In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes, “The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the community of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? For one bread, one body, we are many, for we are all partakers of the same bread.”

When we read the Scriptures, we understand the importance and symbolic meaning of the sharing of the cup. A common cup is a direct unity. To drink the common cup means to be in close unity with another person, to be ready to share the common fate of another person, to be ready to rejoice and be glad, or to experience and suffer. And it is this common sharing that shows our participation in certain events.

By asking the apostles to share the cup he is drinking, Jesus is presenting something more than just a meal, something that is significant and that has implications for generations to come. But the apostles did not realise this. Going to Jerusalem to suffer, the Saviour wanted to test for the last time the readiness of his disciples to be with him and to experience his suffering and torment together because they were the ones who saw all the activities of Christ, heard his sermons and teachings, and saw the miracles. Now there was only one thing left to do—to share his cup of suffering, death, and resurrection. First of all, Jesus wanted to test their hope: if they were ready to be with him everywhere and in everything, if they put all their hope in him. But when Christ was captured in the Garden of Gethsemane, all the apostles fled because they were thinking about the earthly glory of their Master and therefore put a lot of hope in themselves. Even the apostle Peter denied Christ when he saw what had happened.

Dearly beloved in Christ, today we are partakers of many events, but the most important event is to share in the common cup that Christ left us during the common, holy, and secret supper, where he took bread and wine, blessed and gave it to his disciples, and they left it through their followers for all of us. And in fact, all of us who come to church and partake of the Holy Eucharist participate in the common cup that Christ left us for our salvation. Let us especially try to live through this Lent with dignity and properly prepare ourselves for the bright feast of Christ’s Resurrection so that, living righteously here on earth, we may receive the reward and joy that He has prepared for those who love Him.

See also

January 14 The Jubilee year was solemnly opened at St. Volodymyr’s church in Canberra January 13 The transfers of priests in the Melbourne Eparchy December 15 Priesthood ordination of Deacon Vasyl Motrichenko