In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s Feast of the Holy Cross takes me back to one of the most incredible places I have ever travelled. A number of years ago, twenty-five of our parishioners and I flew from Boston to Yerevan and from there we journeyed through the Republic of Georgia and crossed into the historic lands of our forefathers.
From the border City of Kars to the ancient Armenian Capital of Ani with what remains of her 1,001 churches, through Mush and Palu we drove. We were taken aback by the beauty and sparkle of lake Van and walked the dirt roads of what was left of the City of Kharpert, the ancestral home of so many of Holy Trinity’s families. We visited Erzeroum—birthplace of Mesrop Mashtotz and we drove through and along countless villages once populated by Armenians and on and on we drove through the ancient regions of our homeland. Along the way, we were aware that every road and every village contained a part of our history and our family’s story.
On one particular day, we entered a village populated by Kurdish families. Walking through that village felt like walking back in time. With the exception of dim lights coming from the homes, that village lived by what seemed to be the standards of a by-gone era. People were standing in their doorways wondering who we were staring at our group, at the bright colors of our clothes, at how we seemed to walk differently and talk differently and interact differently with each other than they were accustomed to.
That village was located on the famous Mount Varak. Mount Varak is believed to be where Sts. Hripseme and Gayane buried a piece of the Cross to which Jesus had been crucified upon centuries earlier. Hripseme, if we remember, fled from the Emperor because he wanted to marry her and force her to abandon her faith. So, the nuns secretly fled his Empire making their way to Jerusalem for safety. Ultimately, their whereabouts were discovered and they quietly continued their travels to the boarders of the Armenian Kingdom burying the Relic of the true Cross on the side of the mountain known as Varak so it wouldn’t be captured. There it stayed for over 300 years buried for safety until a humble monk named Totik had a vision.
Back in the7th century, this devout monk saw an image of a bright cross resting on a monastery on Mount Varak. The monk made his way there and on that mountain he found the hidden Relic of the Cross. Today’s Feast commemorates that moment. That fragment of the Holy Cross became the most honored relic in Armenia, but that’s part of the history behind this Feast Day of the Holy Cross. The meaning of the Feast is much bigger than the historical events that gave birth to it.
No symbol is more venerated than the Cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus walked the earth, the cross signified torture and death but after His Resurrection, it signified life and triumph and everything He stood for. It stood for helping and caring for others. It stood for building people up with our words and actions and it stood as a sign of unconditional love and respect and brotherhood and sisterhood. Christian people look at the Cross and see the glory of God, but the Cross has an even deeper meaning for us as well. In a world where division has become the norm, the Cross welcomes everyone. In a world where people fear death, the Cross promises eternal life. In a world filled with doubt, the Cross offers faith. In a “Me-focused” world, the Cross tells us to help others. The cross is the place of Christ’s healing and love for everyone who seeks it. It is the place where everybody can find hope.
So, think about this. We wear a Cross around our neck. We place it above our churches. We baptize, wed and bury our loved ones by it but how often do we find the time during the day to venerate the Cross by what we say and what we do? When we place a Cross around our neck, we make a commitment to God that we will use our words, our gifts and our talents to be His reflection in today’s world and that His Cross will be a guiding presence in our life and in the life of our families. We venerate it because it shows us the way that God wants us to live. So, when people see a cross hanging around our necks or see us entering a building with a Cross on top, we model for them what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and with that comes a great deal of responsibility.
Something we should all take time to think about. Do we venerate the Cross in our heart and through our actions? Today is the Feast of the Holy Cross.
Amen.