Next Step Podcast Episode #5 – July 16, 2008 When Peter accepts Jesus invitation to be a fisher of people (Matthew 4), he and his brother Andrew are impulse buyers of Love. Its another example for us to not restrict our ability to love. Included in this podcast is an interview with St. Nersess […]
Next Step #4 Pain and suffering is experienced on different scales, whether on a grand scale as when natural disasters strike, or as experienced on the personal or individual level. Is this because the sins of some are greater or worse than others? The answer is found in Luke 13. In the Gospel, Jesus […]
Next Step #3 Independence Day is a fitting time to look at our freedoms through the lens of Armenian Orthodoxy. What has been the strength of the Armenian people to survive? Where does this spirituality come from? Christ releases us of our bonds and gives us the true freedom – His Love. God has […]
Next Step #2 This coming Sunday is referred to as Vartavar; a pagan feast transfigured into a Christian one. So today Fr. Vazken takes the next step to a place called Transfiguration. Jesus’ transfiguration is documented in several of the Gospels including the scene in Matthew 17 where Christ reveals His illumined Divinity. His […]
Next Step #1 With this premiere broadcast, Fr. Vazken takes the next step in exploring Armenian Orthodoxy. God is experienced as Mystery, deep and inscrutable. Tune in and take this first step with us. Updated 031521 mm
Before it was known as Silicon Valley, the area around San Jose – the Santa Clara Valley, was also known as the Valley of the Heart’s Delight. The phrase described the area well and I had the good fortune to serve there during some transitional times. With Susan, we were assigned to the Armenian Church […]
I love the song “Sardarabad.” I love the first lines… “Yerp chi munoom yelk noo jar, khenteru en kdnoom hunar…” [roughly translated = When there exist NO means of resolution or no remedy, the crazy ones find the means!] These words have been a guiding riff for me, challenging me to look beyond the […]
At the Requiem Service in the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Holy Gospel according to St. John, is read. Arguably, it is the most heard passage in the Armenian Church today, considering that more Armenian Christians would rather huddle around a requiem service than the Eucharist… I’m tempted to say that, that is another issue. But […]
Several years ago (around the early 90’s) the infamous arms dealer Sarkis Soghanalian was making headlines in the Armenian press by donating to Armenian organizations and churches. He had appeared on CBS-60 Minutes at the time and was internationally known for his sale of arms and weapons to a variety of different clients. When there […]
Sunday mornings, I place my cell phone on my desk before entering the church. I figure those couple of hours in the church can be spent without being wirelessly tethered to the world. But not last Sunday. It was an early Daylight Savings Time – March 9, to be exact. And ever since AT&T fired […]
