Feast of the Appearance of the Holy Cross – Children's Sermon

Սիրելիներս, այսօր կարծես թե շատոնց այդպես չէ եղած, բայց հոգյանքից չկա։ Ուրեմն այսօր մեր պատգամը պիտի տանք երեխաններուն, որոնք ներկա են այսօր, և ադկե հետո կըրավիրենք բոլորդ մեր սուրճի հյուրասիրության։

Beloved faithful, today we want to remind you that following services, which will conclude after the message today, as we don’t have requiem prayer requests, there’s going to be a gathering in the hall. Of course, we always have the social hour after church, and you’re all always encouraged to participate in that. However, today will be a day when we have our community meeting, a special presentation from the parish council to all of our community members about the upcoming events that will be taking place throughout the year and how you can participate and support them. So I won’t go over all of the events that we have coming up because that’s part of what we’re talking about in the hall after church. So we encourage you to stick around for that and learn more.

However, let me emphasize two events that are coming up because they’re next weekend. On Saturday, we are happy to confirm that we will be hosting at St. John the first ever Pan-Oriental Orthodox Divine Liturgy. Morning service will begin at nine o’clock. Liturgy will begin at ten. And by noon, we will be beginning our program, which will be the Spiritual Day program, and it’ll be a keynote presentation and breakout groups from the participants to talk about the shared mission and ministry of the Oriental Orthodox Communion in the Bay Area. And of course, the following day, Sunday, we will be having Divine Liturgy as per usual, to which you are all encouraged to attend, after which we’re going to have our special Mother’s Day brunch. So I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a while since we’ve had a Mother’s Day brunch, and I think it’s gonna be beautiful, and I want you all to be here to appreciate, to see how much we appreciate our moms.

Քանի որ մեր կիրակնօրյա դպրոցի երեխաները ներկա են այսօր, կարիք ունեմ, որ ուղիղ խոսիմ իրենց հետ։

Now, good morning, guys. It’s so good to see you here. Good morning. Աստծո փառին, բարի լույս։ Բարի լույս։

Now, today, after Easter, every Sunday is something special. You guys haven’t been in church every Sunday since Easter, so I’ll catch you up. We had Երկնազատի, which was the second Easter, which followed Easter Sunday. And then we had Green Sunday. That was the Sunday of the World Church. And then we had Red Sunday. That’s what happened last week when we talked about all the people that gave their lives for the church. And then this Sunday is called the Sunday of the Appearance of the Cross. Who’s ever heard of that before? Have you guys ever heard of that? It’s called Խաչի Երևման Կիրակի։ Have you guys ever heard of this? No? All right. Well, I’m gonna tell you this story because I think it’s very interesting.

Now, a long time ago, almost one thousand seven hundred years ago, something happened in the city that we call Jerusalem. Have you guys heard of Jerusalem before? Why do we know about Jerusalem? Why is Jerusalem important? Because Jesus lived there. Well, Jesus was there. He lived most of the time in a city called Nazareth, but he was there often because that was, like, the center of where all the important things happened during Jesus’ time and where they would go to pray and do things like pilgrimages. Now, Jerusalem is also where Easter happened. So everything that we hear about that happens on Easter, Jesus being crucified and resurrected, that all happens in the city of Jerusalem. That happened two thousand years ago.

So this story doesn’t take place during Jesus’ time. This story takes place three hundred years after that. Three hundred years after Jesus was crucified on the cross, buried, and resurrected, there are people living in Jerusalem. And at that time, Christians, people that believed in Jesus Christ, they were having a big fight amongst each other. Do you guys know what they were fighting about? At that time, they were fighting about how to understand Jesus. Some people said we have to understand Jesus one way, and another group of people said we have to understand Jesus another way.

Now, here are the two ways. I’m gonna try to make it simple for you to understand. Some people said that Jesus was part of the Holy Trinity, and he always existed with God and with the Holy Spirit. And then there were some people that said, “No, Jesus came later.” Now, we today believe the first one, that Jesus and the Holy Spirit and God, they always, always existed together. But at that time, people were fighting. And the guy who was the main priest in Jerusalem, his name is Cyril, he said that it was the true way, the Orthodox way, that Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit always existed together.

So in the middle of all this fighting, something amazing happens. What happens? A big, huge, gigantic cross, brighter than the sun, appears in the sky. Well, how could they see it? They didn’t have eyes? I know, they have to go like this, “Ah.” Well, how do you think I know that that happened? Was I there? No. You could Google it. I mean, yeah, I could Google it, but how do we as a people in general know that that happened? People probably passed down the information. They passed down the information, Grigor. That is a fantastic response. Because people can tell other people what happened, and sometimes when they’re smart about it, they even write it down. And this got written down.

Seventeen hundred years ago, St. Cyril in Jerusalem wrote a letter to the emperor. Who knows what an emperor is? You got all the answers today, Grigor. I know you know, but I’m gonna call on somebody else just so that we can hear other people. Mane. The ruler. The ruler of the empire. And the emperor was the most powerful, most important person in the world. Now, do you think that you should lie to that person? No. No, that would be really bad. That would be really bad. If you lied to that person, you would get in so much trouble.

Well, let’s imagine, if you could lie to him and he never found out, would there be consequences? Let’s find out what St. Cyril wrote to the emperor. He wrote him a letter to tell him about what happened, and this is what he said. He said, “About the middle of the morning” — so for us, that would be like right around breakfast time — “something amazing appeared in the sky above Jerusalem. A huge, shining cross made of light stretched from the hill they called Golgotha” — by the way, guys, that’s where Jesus was crucified — “all the way to the Mount of Olives.” So that was all the way on the other side of the city. “It was so bright that everyone in the city could see it clearly. It did not just flash by for a moment. It stayed in the sky for many hours, glowing even brighter than sunlight.” This is what Cyril said to the emperor.

Now, Mane, you said that if he could tell him a lie and he never found out, then he wouldn’t get in trouble. How do you think the emperor could check if what St. Cyril is saying was true? What did you say, Sophia? Oh, Mane. He could look… Well, letters at that time didn’t happen instantaneously. They had to be sent, and it would take a long time to get there, so the emperor couldn’t just look out the window. No. What the emperor could do is just ask around. If St. Cyril says that a huge, gigantic cross appeared in the sky for hours and hours, he could just reach out to somebody else that lives in Jerusalem. “Hey, St. Cyril’s telling me that this thing happened. Did you see this cross? Is this true?” ’Cause everybody in the city saw the cross. So that’s something the emperor could easily check on. Which tells us what? Did St. Cyril want to lie about this? No. It tells us that St. Cyril was very honest about what happened, which means what? Which means this really happened.

Now, it’s hard to imagine in your mind, but when you go outside after church, I want you to look at the sky and see how big the sky is. And if somebody says that a giant, bright, shining cross was in the sky for hours, imagine what that would look like and how big that would’ve been. It’d be amazing.

Now, St. Cyril tells the emperor why he thinks this is important. He says, “This is important because God is telling us that what we believe is true.” So stay strong, he says to the emperor. We’re doing the right thing. We believe the right things.

Today, when you see a cross — do you guys see any crosses right now? Yeah. We have three crosses. Խաչ տեսնում ես այս տաճարում, այս եկեղեցում։ Խաչ կա՞։ Օրինակ, որտե՞ղ։ Who sees a cross in here? Right here? Right here, right here, right here, right here, right here, right here, right here, right here, right here. There, there, and over there. And the church. Mariam. And on top. And the whole church — Mariam heard this one before — the whole church is shaped like a big cross. There’s crosses everywhere you look.

Now, whether you’re in Jerusalem one thousand seven hundred years ago, or you’re here today, when you see the cross, what are you supposed to think? What does it make you think about? Jesus sent the light to give them peace. Very good. What do you guys think? When you see a cross today in church, what does it make you think about? Very good. Jesus was crucified on the cross. Thank you very much. That’s a great answer, Grigor. Who else? Հովհաննա, բարձրացնում ես, և որ խաչին կտեսնես ինչ ես կարծում։ That’s okay. Eva? God is with us. God is protecting us.

When we look at the cross, one most important thing that we have to remember is that God loves us. Because the reason, Grigor, that Jesus was crucified on the cross is because God loves us. When we look around and we see these crosses everywhere, maybe you go home and there’s a cross on your wall, or maybe you’re wearing a cross, or maybe your mama or your baba is wearing a cross. Wherever you see the cross in life, I want you guys to remember that God loves you very much. And when that happens, when we remember that, we can make the sign of the cross too, to remind ourselves that God loves us.

Աստված օրհնեց ձեզի։ So proud of you guys, and I love you too.

Ուրեմն, պարզ քարոզ է բոլորիս համար, բայց շատ կարևոր է։ Երբեմն կմոռնանք, երբեմն կմոռնանք, որ սիրված ենք, և խաչի նշան է, որ մենք ինչ որ ստացել ենք այս կյանքում սկսած Տիրոջ ողորմությամբ, Աստծո սիրո պատճառով է։

We’re going to conclude our service at this time. Once again, we’d invite all of those present here today to join us in our hall for our fellowship hour and our community meeting presentation. Please rise for the dismissal blessing.