Exaltation of the Cross - Fr. Lawrence Margitich

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit, and thus we sign ourselves

with the Holy Cross of Christ, that instrument

which we call the invincible trophy, the weapon

of peace. We sign ourselves with it continually,

over and over again, because in the cross, whether

it be the shape we make with our hand over our

body, over someone else, that blessing occurs.

The cleansing of the heart comes. Or whether

we kiss the Holy Cross, which healed that woman

who was dying there in Jerusalem in the year

326, when Helen, the Queen Mother, found the

cross and determined that this piece of wood

here which healed this woman. This has the power

of the resurrection in it. This has the power

of God's cleansing in it. Let's not be afraid.

We have the cross of Christ. Jesus said before

he gave up his spirit, it is finished. It's completed.

Everything's consummated. The creation is made

new. St. John puts it this way. Jesus, knowing

that all things were accomplished, gave up the

spirit. And yet we want more from God. Yet we

want more signs and wonders. We want more information.

But we have this symbol of strength, the weapon

of peace. There are many symbols out there in

our culture today vying for prominence, vine

for preeminence. And they're basic because it's

the world. The basic presupposition is that it

is about power. To do this, to do that, to do

something else. The cross is our weapon of peace.

This feast day, yes, it's a day of joy. But then

I read and I hear one of the hymns from last

night and I read it again and I'm led to sorrow.

I'm not led to jump. And it says here, the trees

of the forest are clapping their leaves together

in joy because the wood of the cross is exalted.

The wood, that which God has made, just a tree

becomes something transcendent and transformative

and powerful. But then I read this. Through the

cross, O Lord, today thou hast raised us up again.

We're plunged continually in the gloom of our

forefather. That is the life of sin, which we

know before baptism is so powerful. It has such

a grip on us that we cannot release it, not one

bit. Salvation isn't about us doing good things.

It is about the cross and the resurrection and

our uniting to Christ. who gives us that power,

the weapon of peace. And then this hymn says,

Unrestrained greed thrusts down our nature into

error. We look around us. Isn't this our basic

attitude towards one another? So frequently.

Certainly the world itself, which the cross reveals

it to be, opposed to God and under judgment and

under condemnation. Everything we see going on

in our society is just a sign of our own sin,

our collective sin before God. Greed thrusts

down our nature into error. Someone said the

other day, I heard this. If this church, this

parish, disappeared from Santa Rosa, would it

make any difference at all to the community of

Santa Rosa? I don't mean to you, and to me, obviously.

Although maybe some members would find something

else to do on a Sunday morning. And they'd discover

as one of the... great surveyists in this country,

the Barnard Group, has discovered that probably

a third of people aren't coming back to church

once this COVID ends because they find that life

on a Sunday is okay without the church. They

can read their Bible if they want. They can pray

the way they want. They can go to the great church

of the outdoors, the ocean. But would this town

miss in any way the presence of St. Seraphim

Church, the protection of the Holy Virgin Parish?

When I asked myself that question, I asked myself

then, well, have I even begun to repent? Because

when we see in ourself greed, when we see in

ourself the questioning of God, when we see in

our self -agitation in the heart, not peace,

not faith, and not love. Yes, it's easy to point

a finger to someone else out there. Because there's

plenty of violence and hatred to go around. But

we have to start with repentance. Repentance

is not telling someone else they need to change.

Repentance is telling ourselves we're not oriented,

facing east, going towards Christ, going towards

paradise. We've forgotten that our true life

is the kingdom of heaven and that the symbol

of that kingdom is the cross. A symbol of love.

God's love. A symbol of sacrifice. Christ's sacrifice.

A symbol of mercy. And that it leads to resurrection.

Let's embrace the cross. Let's raise it high

in our own hearts. A day in 326 in which... Archbishop

Macarius lifted up the cross on high so everyone

could see it and they all sang Kyrie eleison,

Lord of Mercy. That's wonderful. But if it doesn't

translate to the cross being lifted up high in

our own midst, love, sacrifice, mercy, then how

is it an invincible trophy, a weapon of peace?

becomes a symbol that at some point some communist

or Marxist is going to pull off the roof, just

like they did in Russia. Let it be in your heart,

reigning this weapon of peace. A weapon causes

something to happen. It's an offensive tool or

a defensive tool. The power of that weapon is

love. The power of that weapon is self -sacrifice.

The power of that weapon is worship and gratitude

to God. Lift up that weapon in your heart, brothers

and sisters. Let it reign. And agitation, anxiety,

fear will be replaced by the love of God who

grants that great gift to us. Amen.