In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
When I was studying at the seminary of Holy Etchmiadzin a number of years ago, I found much joy visiting many of the beautiful and meaningful religious sites of our homeland. When I had free time, I spent much of it going from monastery to monastery from church to church breathing in the history and significance of those sacred places. I sat in the churches and on the grounds of ancient monasteries—places of worship built in the 7 century, the 10th century and the 12th century—wondering about the people who prayed there and the priests who were buried beneath the ground upon which I sat. I would think about their struggles, about their successes and about their efforts to serve God. I walked and meditated on the spots of these ancient places of worship where bishops and vartabeds gathered to create and learn the beautiful hymns and prayers we hear every Sunday.
I entered monasteries where the monks created the earliest laws that defined the sacredness of life. I took long walks through cemeteries where above ground graves held the remains of clergy of all ranks running my hand across their stones to feel somehow more connected to them and earning the right to carry their work, their faith, their love and devotion forward wherever I would someday be ordained to serve as they did.
Now for me, these weren’t just historical sites or old buildings. For me, it was as if I was part of those men and women who lived and died in those ancient places praying and learning and worshipping and somehow they became a part of me and I realized that in some way, some small way, I am who I am because of them.
Yesterday was the Feast of All Saints. Today, it is appropriate to lift up the memory and legacies of those who have entered their eternal rest. We give God thanks for their lives. Now, on All Saints Day, we tend to think about the exceptional Christians who by their example have won places on our church calendar—the Doctors of the Church, the Martyrs, the Builders of Monasteries, the Writers of Hymns and Prayers, Gregory the Illuminator, Gregory of Narek, Mesrop Mashtotz, St. Gevork, Krikor Datev-atzi and saints Hripseme, Gayane and Santookht, the countless Biblical saints and so many more.
We remember that our faith is alive because of their gifts, their sacrifices and their devotion, but today, there are others that we need to remember as well—those who have lived out their faith in Jesus Christ and showed love toward their neighbor in their own time, in their own place and in their own way. Those individuals know only to us who shared their gifts of wisdom or love or patience and made us who we are today.
You know the people I am talking about. Those people who touched your life when you needed it most and you never forgot them. Today, we hold them in our hearts. They may be a grandmother, godfather, aunt, uncle, mother, father, teacher, husband, wife or friend, who believed in you, encouraged you and picked you up when life knocked you down. Those people who showed you what it means to be a faithful, loving human being. Who are the people who affected your life in positive ways? Who are the people who gave you something of themselves and made you a better person as a result? We owe a great debt of gratitude to these people.
Today, let us remember them by name in our hearts and give God thanks for their lives. Sometimes, when I walk through this church in the evenings, when the sun has set, the lights are off and the air is still, I feel like I can almost hear the building “breathing.” The walls seem to hum with the prayers of those who worshipped here before us—their faith, their doubts, their longing for God—it is all here layered on the walls like the smoke from incense. They are part of the memories of this church and their memory tells us that prayers will continue on long after we have left this world.
Today is the day when we show our gratitude for those who prayed those prayers, for those who lived out their faith and taught us by example what faith is all about and helped make our lives a little bit better. May these modern-day saints be an example to us all. May they never be forgotten and may they all receive the Crown of Heaven.
Amen.