In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“But the Cross is foolishness for those who don’t believe, but for us who believe, it is the power of God. [1 Cor. 1:18]
Today is the Feast of the Discover of the Holy Cross. As I was preparing my thoughts for today, I remembered that I have had the privilege and honor of visiting the Holy Land six times since the year 2000. The stories and events of the Bible are so much more clear to me because of those visits.
Let me use today’s feast to explain what I mean. I remember walking down into the lower levels of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem the last time I went and entering into what is now called the Chapel of St. Helena. The Chapel of St. Helena is where today’s Feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross took place. It was down in that forgotten part of the holiest church in the world—the church that houses the Tomb, the site of His Crucifixion and so many other important places tied to His death and Resurrection, that in the year 327 A.D. St. Helena went to find the most important relic of the Christian faith—the Cross on which Jesus was crucified.
With the army and financial backing of her son, the Emperor Constantine of Rome, St. Helena eventually discovered the true Cross, but as the event is described, her men found not one cross but three. Which then would be the Cross upon which Jesus was crucified?
There are local beliefs and traditions that tell much about the years surrounding the early church. One of these traditions describes the discovery of the Cross. A young boy had recently died somewhere around Jerusalem and as his lifeless body was being carried to his burial place,
St. Helena thought that the boy’s body would prove which cross was without doubt the true Cross of Christ. So she had the young boy’s body laid jupon each of the crosses. On the first two, nothing happened. Nothing changed. When they laid the boy’s body on the third cross, life returned to his body and he woke up.
The Cross upon which Jesus was crucified and died was changed into a life-giving cross—a cross that breathes life back into the dead. It is that life-giving Breath of God that our Church Fathers call Asdvadz-a-shounch that breathes life into our bodies and renews us.
When we look at the cross, what we see is important. Do you see a symbol of death or a symbol of life? The cross is how we can reach God. The cross is where our soul and spirit can be refreshed and uplifted. The cross shows us what is possible through faith. The cross is where we learn about truth, about right and wrong and about forgiveness. The cross is from where we can draw strength to continue on and the cross is where every human being can meet Christ, but the cross is foolishness for those who don’t believe, but to those who do, it is the power of God.
About fifteen years ago, a group of parishioners visited Historical Armenia. We saw many destroyed cities and villages, churches and monasteries on our visits to Kharpert, Van, Bitlis, Erzeroum and the once great City of Ani. The churches and monasteries no longer had domes to hold up their crosses. There were no crosses on the altars because the altars were torn down and removed long ago. The doors no longer displayed the image of a cross because the doors were burned down but during those days, we were the “crosses” of those monasteries and the local Kurdish people noticed. We were the “living crosses” of our faith proclaiming to each village we entered that our faith in Jesus Christ is part of our family heritage. It is written on our heart by the blood of our ancestors and it is who we are.
If we are the “living crosses,” then we must take the Cross of Christ into the world in which we live every opportunity we have and hold the cross in our hands to do the work of God in this world. We need to visit the lonely, welcome the stranger, care for the forgotten and not listen to words of hate or gossip or wickedness—words that take us away from the ways of God. If we are the “living crosses,” then it is our place to shed God’s Light where darkness has taken over and speak hope into hearts that only see depression and speak encouraging words to someone who needs to hear them—not only when we feel llike it but as a regular part of our lives because that is who followers of Christ are.
If we are the “living crosses,” than we must be aware that it is time to preach it with our words and through our actions and live our lives with the realization that Jesus Christ will resurrect everyone who believes in His Name and carries His Cross into the world and does the work of God to make the lives of others better.
This is the meaning of today’s Feast of the Holy Cross. So let us take advantage of this feast day and ask ourselves: Do I let the Cross of Jesus Christ guide my heart and hands, my eyes and ears and my mouth and tongue to bring glory to the Almighty God and better the world around me?
We each had a cross placed on our foreheads on the day of our baptism. That cross was placed there never to be removed. May it light the path for each of jus and guide us and protect us as we live our lives in this world.
Amen.