4th Sunday of the Cross
This Sunday's Summary
In Armenian, the word for 'worship' is 'yerkrpakel,' literally, 'to kiss the ground.' In the Armenian Church, we worship not only in words, but in gestures that go beyond words, like kissing-the ground, the cross, the Gospel and each other-embodying our unity and love. In today’s reading from St. Paul, we see how the first Christians showed their love by greeting each other “with a holy kiss,” a tradition we carry on each Sunday as we sing the hymn of the 'Kiss of Peace.' It is too easy to be cynical and skeptical of love, church and God, just like those who approach Jesus in today's Gospel reading. But the 'Kiss of Peace' is always our self-test in church. Are we loving and at peace at home, work and church, or is there fear, anger and distrust in our hearts? Only with love in our hearts, we will find peace with God, our neighbor and our selves.
This Sunday's Readings
Old Testament Reading
Isaiah 17:7-14
In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his fingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.
In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough
And an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.
Epistle Reading
2 Corinthians 13:5-13
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.
Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, that you may be made complete. Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.
Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the saints greet you.
Gospel Reading
Mark 11:27-33
Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
This Sunday's Lesson Plans
Ages 5-8
Ages 9-14
Ages 14-17
This Sunday's Sermons
This Season's Saints
Tuesday, Sep 22
St. Shoushanik
Saturday, Sep 26
St. George
Saturday, Oct 03
Seventy-Two Disciples of Christ
Saturday, Oct 10
Holy Translators
Saturday, Oct 31
All Saints
Saturday, Nov 07