08/26/2026
Dear Holy Cross,
Jesus begins this week's passage by telling his disciples something they do not want to hear: he is going to Jerusalem, where he will suffer, be killed, and be raised on the third day. Peter immediately pushes back. He cannot imagine that this is the path the Messiah should take.
But Jesus responds with words that reach far beyond Peter and the first disciples:
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
These words are challenging. Following Jesus is not always the easiest path, nor is it simply about believing the right things. Jesus calls us to a life of trust, sacrifice, service, courage, and love.
For the congregation of Holy Cross, this passage invites us to consider what it means to follow Jesus together as a community of faith.
A church is more than a beautiful building, a Sunday service, or October lunches. The Church is a community that chooses, day after day, to follow Christ. Sometimes that means serving when it is inconvenient, welcoming someone who feels like an outsider, forgiving when it is difficult, listening when we would rather speak, or standing beside someone who is carrying a heavy burden.
Our “cross” may not look dramatic. Often, it looks like faithful love in ordinary moments.
As we welcome Father Crawford and his family into this new chapter with us, we have an opportunity to live out this passage in a particularly meaningful way. A new priest does not simply arrive to lead a congregation; a priest and their family become part of a community. Likewise, a congregation does not simply receive a priest—it receives the opportunity to walk alongside, encourage, pray for, and support a new spiritual family.
May we offer Father Crawford and his family the same welcome that Christ offers us: a welcome marked by grace, patience, friendship, prayer, and love. And may Father Crawford find in Holy Cross not simply a place to serve, but a people with whom he and his family can grow, laugh, worship, learn, and walk faithfully with Christ.
This message also speaks beautifully to the Episcopal Day School community.
Every day, teachers, students, staff, and families have opportunities to practice what Jesus teaches. The classroom becomes a place where children learn not only academic subjects, but also how to be compassionate, courageous, curious, forgiving, and responsible members of a community.
For our students, “taking up your cross” does not mean carrying an adult burden. It can mean choosing kindness when teasing would be easier. It can mean including someone who feels left out. It can mean trying again after failure. It can mean telling the truth, helping a friend, listening to a teacher, or standing up for someone who needs a voice.
And for the AMAZING teachers who care for these children, it means remembering that formation happens through example. Our children learn what it means to follow Jesus by watching how we treat one another.
The Holy Cross congregation and EDS are therefore connected by something deeper than close geography or tradition. Both are places where faith is lived and practiced. Both have the privilege of helping people discover that the way of Jesus is a way of love.
What cross is Christ asking YOU to carry right now?
Perhaps it is patience.
Perhaps it is forgiveness.
Perhaps it is serving at our October lunches (have you signed up yet?)
Perhaps it is reaching out to someone who needs a friend.
Perhaps it is trusting God with a future we cannot yet see.
And perhaps, for Holy Cross, it is the invitation to enter a new season together—with Father Crawford and his family, with our EDS kiddos and teachers, and with one another—trusting that God is already at work among us.
Jesus does not promise that following him will always be comfortable. But he does promise that the life we discover in following him is worth more than anything we could gain by living only for ourselves.
Come join us this Sunday either at our 8:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. service.
Have a blessed week of reflection,
Church of the Holy Cross
