From The Desk of Deacon Judy

Holy Cross Day (September 14)

Many of us know and appreciate the importance of mothers in our lives.   Mothers offer guidance and wisdom.   They often are instrumental in the person we become.   
   
Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helen, not only influenced her son, but had a profound effect on the future of Christianity for all of us.   Because of his mother (and a mysterious cross in the sky), Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.   Because of his mother, we can visit sacred, holy sites in the Holy Land. 

Helen, a devout Christian, went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326.   In Jerusalem, with the help of an excavation team, she found what is thought to be Golgotha and remnants of the cross where Jesus was crucified, the true cross.    She oversaw the preservation of this site upon which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built.  The church was dedicated on September 14, 335.

So on this day and every day, may we give thanks for our mothers as we take up our cross and follow the way of love of Jesus.

God’s peace,  Judy Q