Dear Friends,
A few days ago, we commemorated the terror attacks on 9/11. As I walked over to the Church in the morning, the construction workers at MOMA and the new tower were gathered in the street; they had set up speakers and were listening intently to the inter-faith service being held at the memorial downtown. The sound of the bagpipes of FDNY filled the air – it was very moving. Inside the Church people were praying; we had placed the American Flag near our own memorial to 9/11 and a lamp was flickering that illuminated the poignant words of Queen Elizabeth II, “Grief is the price we pay for love.”
Our memorial to 9/11 was created by our Rector Emeritus, Father Mead, who turned the plain cross made of stones from Jerusalem into a crucifix. A medieval corpus was given by a family of parishioners who lost loved ones in the twin towers on that fateful day. It is a reminder to all that Jesus carried all our griefs and sorrows to the Cross and beyond the grave, and that his Resurrection brings hope into a sometimes dark and cruel world.
It is an ancient tradition that a cross is placed near the pulpit for the congregation to look at during the sermon because of the words of St. Paul, “We preach Christ crucified.” (1 Corinthians 1:23). There is an even earlier tradition of a cross being placed in such a way that the preacher would be able to see it. I remember visiting the beautiful 20th century church of St. Wilfrid in Harrogate, in Yorkshire, and seeing the two crosses – one for the preacher and the other for the congregation.
On Sunday we are going to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Cross. The origins of that feast are in the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and the pilgrimage of his mother, Helena, to the Holy Land. There she visited the holy sites associated with the life of the Lord and built churches, including the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In Jerusalem, she found a cross believed to be the cross on which Jesus died. The historian Eusebius records that Constantine had a vision in which he saw a vision of a cross and the Greek words “In this conquer.” This later was translated into Latin as In hoc signo vinces or “In this sign you will conquer.” Shortly after, the decisive battle of Milvian Bridge ended the age of the Caesars, and Constantine became the sole Emperor.
The late Anglican priest, Kenneth Leech, once said “The Cross is not a problem to be understood, but a mystery into which we enter.” On Sunday, we have the chance to think about the cross of Jesus by which he brought forgiveness and salvation to all. In this sign, which many of us trace on our bodies during the liturgy, we will conquer all our fears and our failures through the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Affectionately,
