The Primate visited Holy Trinity Church in Manchester and officiated mass for the local Armenian community on May 2nd. The liturgy coincided with the celebration of Holy Easter in the Old Calendar when most of the Orthodox Churches and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrate Easter. In His address to the faithful the Primate congratulated all sister Churches and their faithful who celebrated Easter on May 2. His reflections were based on the first letter of St. John, 1:1-10. At the end of the service he blessed the faithful with the Cross of Patriarch Esayee IV of Jerusalem and gave each of the attendants a small gift of a wooden cross to remember the day.
Please find here the summary of the Bishop’s sermon.
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” (1 John 1:3-4)
St. John said these words to his listeners. Today I would also like to share with you what I have learned from the Gospel. The first thing that I want to tell you is that Christ has come to give us happiness, and it is a great joy to be a Christian. Secondly, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all”; thirdly “the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin”.
Like His Gospel, St. John was writing his letter to assert Jesus’s Divinity and Humanity and also to encourage the early Christians to remain faithful to the Christian way of life in the midst of temptations in the ancient world. It is symbolic that our Church fathers suggest reading this passage of St. John, especially today when we celebrate the feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross, which happened in 4th century Jerusalem. St. Cyril of Jerusalem saw the cross of the Lord shining in heaven; stretched out as far as Golgotha to the mountain of Olives.
We have a few feasts of the Holy Cross and most of the people know about the cross. There are crosses in the Churches, sometimes we have them in houses, we wear them, especially as jewellery. What does the cross mean for us?
Dear brothers and sisters,
The cross is a relic for Christians by which spiritual battles are won or it can be a source of blessing. Originally, it was a tool of punishment and excruciating death. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ changed it into a symbol of spiritual victory and peace by shedding His life-giving blood on the cross and by embracing violence, torture and hatred through love, compassion and mercy. The cross has become a symbol of Christian life.
As Christians we have to follow His example and be steadfast in our faith despite the temptations and difficulties. St. John says; “if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” or “if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 5-8).
Each of us has to carry his/her cross with dignity and honour. Knowing also that our Lord will not let us alone in our struggle. St. Paul reminds us that “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor 10:13).
These words echo strongly today as our brothers and sisters in Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Holy Easter– we are in the joyous period of Eastertide! This is a period of celebration of the victory of Jesus over death and His triumph over injustice, hatred and violence. Easter is the day of victory in Christianity. But this is also a victory which is not limited by time and space. It is perpetual and everlasting, won through peace and love.
I repeat these words to make our joy complete. It is a joy to be a Christian despite the challenges.
