On Wednesday, April 23, 2014 Fr. Mesrop was with students and faculty from KZV Armenian school at the Mt. Davidson Cross, where they had a cultural program to pay their respects to the Genocide Martyrs by placing flower.

On Thursday, April 24, all Bay Area Churches, organizations and community members gathered together at St. John Armenian Church to commemorate the 99th anniversary of Armenian Genocide. Cultural program was presented by KZV Armenian School Students, and Walnut Creek weekly Armenian School Students.  The Keynote Speaker was U.C. Davis Associate Professor Keith David Watenpaugh who delivered a fantastic message on the occasion.
 
On Sunday April 27, Bay Area Youth organized a walk of Remembrance from St. John Armenian Church to Mount Davidson, before the walk the youth received a blessing from Fr. Mesrop Ash. At 2:00pm Requiem service was held at Mt Davidson same afternoon by the Bay Area clergies,where Fr. Mesrop Ash delivered the keynote message to the attendees.

Fr. Mesrop's Remarks from the Mt. Davidson Cross Genocide Commemoration

How long, Lord, must I call for help,

    but you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, “Violence!”

    but you do not save?

Why do you make me look at injustice?

    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me;

    there is strife, and conflict abounds.

Therefore the law is paralyzed,

    and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous,

    so that justice is perverted. - Habakkuk

 

These aren’t my words. These are the words of the prophet Habakkuk, recorded in the Old Testament over 2600 years ago. He calls out to the Lord God Almighty, demanding an explanation. 

 

Habakkuk was a prophet of God, a man of unbelievable worthiness and wisdom, yet in his time, he despaired. His people were suffering, Jerusalem destroyed, they were subjugated at the hands of a great power, Babylon. What was rightfully theirs was being denied to them. He turns to God, and without ever losing his own faith in the Lord’s righteousness and power, he expresses his simple by profound question: Why does injustice persist?

 

His ancient cries give voice to our own pain. For 99 years each and every Armenian has had this question burned deeply into their hearts. From an early age we have been forged in the fire of longing that can only be quenched by justice.

 

The greatest expression of faith in God is a devotion to justice. The unwavering sense that there is right, and not just a right, but a perfect right. There are many laws that govern this world. There are natural laws that dictate the cosmos, established by God, and which are explored science. There are the laws of man, which in the best of cases seek to establish harmony and peace in society, but in the worst of cases enable inequity serving the interests of the powerful at the cost of the meek. But there is a third class of law, which is established by God. Divine Ordinances that are archetypal, incorruptible and eternal. If these may be, then there must be also be a perfect justice. And each and everyone one of us was manifested with an innate sense to seek it out.

 

This desire for justice has coalesced the very fabric of civilization, just as gravity has slowly formed the celestial bodies, from chaos to order.

 

Genocide. The greatest of all crimes! An insult to humanity. An insult to God! Their can be no greater affront to justice of any sort than Genocide. Yet you and I stand here today, along with all of our brothers and sisters, wasted of outrage, the vanguard of a generational struggle, with the words of Habakkuk on our lips “How long, Lord? How long?” “The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”

 

Miraculously God responded to Habakkuk's plea.

 

God said "Look at the nations and watch—

    and be utterly amazed.

For I am going to do something in your days

    that you would not believe,

    even if you were told.”

 

And he did. God raised up Persia to destroy Babylon, and the Persian king, Cyrus, freed Israel and rebuilt Jerusalem. No one saw that coming. But this was accomplished not by the wisdom and mercy of the Persians or their king Cyrus. This was accomplished by those who stayed faithful to the will of God, people like the prophet Daniel. For decades they toiled with loyalty, devotion, skill and faithfulness. They were loyal servants of God who helped to created the environment in which his plans would unfold. The forbearers of righteousness.

 

There are true heroes in this world, and the truest of them are devoted to the highest good, like Daniel they fight for eternal justice; Upholding the sanctity of life and dignity of mankind, on the battlegrounds ranging from the world stage to their own living rooms. They are giants like Martin Luther King Jr. or Ceasar Chavez, and unknowns who daily perform acts of kindness, bravery, and generosity. None seeking their own glory, all trusting one another and The Lord.

 

We are the decedents of those who not only survived the Genocide, but also the victims. We have all been called to face this challenge, to be the heroes who bring to fruition the justice, which we know in our collective soul to be due. This is out fight. We have been charged to achieve the universal recognition of the Genocide, because truth and justice are inseparable. Truth illuminates the path of the righteous, and we know all to well that no matter how much the Turkish government denies it, the first-hand testimonies which many of us have heard with own ears by those who survived the horrors of genocide, are undeniable.

 

I will remind you though what the Lord reminded Habakkuk, "the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” After the end of Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, led his people in the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He said that the righteous must not persue Retributive Justice, but instead should strive for Restorative Justice. For God’s justice will bring about retribution against those who deserve it, but we should seek to restore.

 

In the name of our forefathers we will restore justice through truth, and they will be acknowledged as sanctified through martyrdom. In their holy names, we will proclaim that Turkey Failed. In their holy names, we will help make a stronger Armenia for the glory of God.

 

The time has come to gather yourselves and be re-devoted to the duty you’ve been entrusted with. For next 365 days as a community, we must be prepared to face the centennial commemoration, such that when that day arrives we can hold our heads high and proclaim that we have faithful with what was entrusted to us. That our contributions have been worthy to add to those who have been nobly engaged in this struggle for generations; that we have sought to embody the justice that we profess.

 

I'll conclude with this thought. In October of 2013, the bishops of the Armenian Church gathered together at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for a historic synod. During this synod it was decided that this year, the Armenian Apostolic Church shall endeaver to restore the Rite of Cannonization, and finally acknowledge all of those who were martyred because of their faith during the Genocide as Saints. This means that this will be one of, if not the last requiem service for the victims of the Armenian Genocide that you will ever participate it. No longer will we come together to pray for their souls, becuase by official decree, they will be acknowleged as redeemed in the Victorious Chuch in the Kingdom of Heaven, triumphantly sat at the right hand of the Father. 

 

No, when we gather together in the future on April 24, gone will be the clothes of black and lamenting songs. We will come together to the celebrate the Feast of the Saints of the Armenian Genocide, and instead of praying for their souls, we will pray to them so that by their virtue and their intercessory prayer, they help us to be a stronger and wiser nation, capable of caring on the legacy bestowed upon us, worthy of just and good works that glory the All-holy trinity.