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Welcome HTGOC Parishioners & Guests!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This Friday marks the solemn occasion of the 25^th anniversary of the events of 9/11. Difficult as both these memories are to reflect upon, it is important to do so, for as the years pass, there are more generations for whom this date is a historical event.

Next Monday, we will observe another occasion, but one full of hope and triumph: The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. After St. Constantine legalized Christianity, his blessed mother, St. Helen, made it her goal to find the earthly relics of Christ, including the True Cross. Arriving at Golgotha in the year 325, she found the former execution place now a garbage dump. In all the destruction, many would have felt overwhelmed and discouraged, and these are emotions which those who remember Ground Zero will understand.

However, just as so many of the courageous first responders risked their health to help recover and rebuild after 9/11, so too did St. Helen search with her senses, and with her heart. Soon, she saw and smelled the kingly plant known as basil, and three crosses were uncovered. A sick woman was brought before the True Cross of Christ and the crosses of the two thieves. She venerated the first and the second, with no change; but when she kissed the third, she was instantly healed. Similarly, when a funeral procession passed, the True Cross of Christ was able to raise the man from the dead.

For many, the veneration of the Cross of Christ poses a question: how can an instrument of death be worthy of devotion? St. Paul recognized this when he wrote “…we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 23-24). Indeed, it is only when we understand that God turned human reasoning upside down, that we begin to understand His mission: He who came into the world as a poor child, chose to end death not with an army of angels and men, but instead by His own death.

The reality of sin and evil was perhaps never clearer than on 9/11. Now, a quarter-century later, we remember the fear and sadness of that day. However, we also remember the hope and brotherly love that came in the days, weeks, and months that followed; especially when we think of how New York City rebuilt, including our Archdiocese’s St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox National Shrine. As we commemorate another anniversary, praying for the victims and their families, may we find comfort in the shade of Christ’s Cross, remembering that after the Crucifixion came our Lord’s glorious Resurrection, promising the ultimate victory of light over darkness, life over death, proving, once and for all, “…the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

+SEVASTIANOS

Metropolitan of Atlanta

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