In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
We call today “Green Sunday” in the Armenian Church. It is the third Sunday following Easter and the Church’s focus is on life and growth and new beginnings. It is appropriate that “Green Sunday” falls during the same week that, we as a People and as the offspring of a Nation who have developed our homeland and defended our homeland countless times over countless centuries in the face of invasions and raids from neighboring countries, will also remember the genocide of our ancestors even now 111 years later—all in the same week.,
I have always wondered and almost marveled at how our grandparents were able to build again after what they went through in years around 1915. How they were able to smile again and raise their families in foreign places like America with the belief that faith, hope and love would carry them through the challenges of life knowing that what they saw happen to their relatives and homes forever seared their hearts.
I imagine that within them lived a constant struggle between faith and doubt. From every one of the survivors I had the honor of having met over the years, I saw people who embraced their faith because they knew they were the ones left to carry on a rich legacy and culture and heritage that cultivated this earth from before the time Noah’s Ark landed on the mountains of Ararat.
I often think about these people—their spirit was unconquerable; their faith was unshakable and their hope was unwavering. They were committed to start again. They were determined to build again and they were devoted to passing on what they received from their ancestors. In the spirt of “Green Sunday” they kept their faith alive and nourished.
So, it is very appropriate that both “Green Sunday” and our Sainted Martyr’s Day fall in this same week because it pays tribute to their heart and soul and everything they stood for. That generation saw the worst of life and instead of giving up, they got back up on their feet and showed us the way.
It all came down to faith. It was the same faith that was woven throughout Armenian history. From the days of Krikor Lousavorich to Vartan Mamigonian to Nersess Shnorhali, whose music continues to be sung today in Armenian churches across the world and to the farmers and shepherds, who plowed and cultivated the field and valleys of Armenia and then went to their village churches to give thanks to the mothers and fathers and the school teachers and merchants and to the genocide survivors, who landed on Ellis Island in 1915, 1916 and through the 1920’s with only a shirt on their back and a dream in their heart. They came here seeking the chance to bury their doubts, heal their wounds and make their lives green again.
So, as we leave our church this morning, let us ask ourselves:
- How do I keep the faith I accepted on my baptismal day alive and growing?
- How can I develop the same faith that enabled our ancestors to begin again and start again after 1915?
Friday is April 24th. May the Saints of 1915 be forever honored by how we live our lives and nourish our faith.
Amen.