By Mary Powers
Catholics and Greek Orthodox Christians gathered Monday of Holy Week, March 30, at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont for the 20th annual ecumenical service of Salutations to the Holy Cross.
The annual service brought together clergy and faithful from the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco continuing a two-decade tradition of unity during the Lenten season. The tradition began when the Church of the Holy Cross received a relic of the true cross as a gift. Father Peter Salmas, pastor of the Church of the Holy Cross, and Father Stephen Howell, then-pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Belmont, discussed ways in which the two communities could come together in prayer. Each year, the Archdiocese of San Francisco hosts the Greek Orthodox community at St. Pius Catholic Church in Redwood City for Solemn Vespers for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos delivering the homily. The Greek Orthodox community hosts the Catholic community at the Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont for Salutations to the Holy Cross each Lent with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone delivering the homily.
The salutations is a recitation of the many titles of the Cross of Christ, calling on the wood to rejoice in it being chosen to bring salvation to the world. “Rejoice, O Wood most blessed.”
In his homily, Archbishop Cordileone reflected on the throne of Christ. During Holy Week, Christians are invited to contemplate the cross not simply as a sign of suffering, but as a revelation of divine love, serving as a path to holiness and unity.
“We must look to where Christ reigns…we adorn His throne with our hymns, for it is on the cross where He reigns,” he said. “This is where Christ is exalted….we could not reconcile ourselves to the Father by our own merits. We incurred the debt we owed Him, but it is not a debt we could pay back by ourselves; only God could do that. So, God became one of us… to do it for us. This is the incomprehensible love and mercy of God.”
Following the service, there was an opportunity for those who attended to venerate a relic of the true cross and then to participate in shared fellowship.
Photos: John Bartolome
