Holy Wednesday – Kneeling

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Armodoxy for Today: Holy Wednesday – Kneeling

The story of Jesus’ Passion, Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection is a story like no other. It is the story of good being repaid by evil and evil being defeated by good. It is the story of betrayal, of loneliness, of hurt, of anger, and it is a story of the defeat of betrayal and anger, the defeat of loneliness and hatred.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ begins to unfold at the Last Supper, a meal which he shares with those he loves. Sitting at a table with his 12 disciples, he breaks the bread and pours wine, offering it to them, saying, Take, eat and drink, these are for the forgiveness of your sins. He offers His Body and His Blood for the salvation of humankind, and in this offering 2000 years ago, he includes us. He includes all of humanity from the beginning of history to the end of time, to sit at that same table. At that table we are offered the same opportunity for life. Take and eat. This is my body. Take and drink. This is the blood of the new covenant. The new covenant, which is now for us.

Today, we sit at the table with the Lord. We participate in the Body and the Blood. Oh, how great we must be that we are saved. How great we must be, that we are Christian, that we are greater than the rest of humanity! And as these thoughts go through our head, our comfort is interrupted as our Lord looks at us and sees the same faces he saw 2000 years ago when a dispute arose among the Disciples as to who was the greatest among them?

And so Jesus before committing himself to the mob, before leaving for the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, shares with his disciples one final lesson, a lesson in humility, and invites us today to be students and to be followers.

St. John records (chapter 13) that at the Last Supper, Jesus knelt before the Disciples and began to wash their feet, taking the dirt of the day’s hardship off of their bare feet. He washes the dirty feet of the disciples. He then asks them, Do you know what I have done? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 

Jesus says that if you really want to be great in the kingdom, you must learn to kneel. If you really want to be great in life, you must learn to give. The next time he will teach with example is only a day away, when he gives everything on the Cross. He gives his life for you and me.

Today, we’re sitting at the supper with our Lord Jesus Christ. He kneels down and he washes our feet. He gives us an example and you can’t just sit there. You can’t just look at his face. You can’t just accept his gift without being changed. This is the day you make a commitment, that faith is not something that just lodges on your heart, but it’s alive in your life. That is in the giving that you understand what it means to be alive. It is in Christ’s divinity that we now understand our humanity, and today we begin to live.

Holy Tuesday – 10 Professionals

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Armodoxy for Today: Holy Tuesday – 10 Professionals

On the Tuesday before Easter, known as Great Tuesday, the Armenian Church remembers the Parable of the 10 Virgins. From the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we find a parable whereby Jesus teaches us the importance of always being ready. Five maidens who were prepared for an event are referred to as wise virgins, while five who were not ready are referred to as foolish maiden. Read the parable in Matthew 25

First of all, these archaic terms, virgin and maiden can be distracting and may deflect our attention from the real message of the story. So go ahead and change the characters. Substitute yourself and your profession for the characters in the story. Make this about the 10 dancers, the 10 accountants, the 10 doctors, the 10 architects, or the 10 dish washers. Make the story about 10 of your profession who are anticipating an event that comes up in your line of work. For instance, the 10 dishwashers are waiting for the plumber to fix the sink so they can finish their duties. Be creative and try it.

I will take the lead and talk about the 10 priests, five of them were wise and five of them were foolish. They were waiting for their bishop to arrive, a bishop who was going to come and celebrate the Liturgy. And while waiting, five foolish priests used up the candles and the incense that they had prepared to celebrate the bishop’s arrival. At the same time the five wise priests had kept their candles and their incense, anticipating the arrival of the bishop and were prepared. When the bishop arrived, he looked around and he said, I am ready to be escorted into the sanctuary. Light your candles, light your incense, and let us process into the sanctuary. The five foolish priests had used up their resources, they were not ready. And turned to the five wise priests and said, let us borrow some of your incense, some of your candles. But those priests said, we cannot give it to you. We’re escorting the bishop into the sanctuary, and the people are waiting. The crowds have arrived. We cannot let them wait. And so they entered into the sanctuary, and the five foolish priests were left out.

So you see, this story is not about priests just as the original was not about virgins. This is a story of preparedness and readiness. When God shares His kingdom with us, it’s not for us to be saying, Wait! Even with a Pretty please, on our words. Ours is to always be ready to interact with God. The stakes are greater than a plumber or a candle. This is the Holy Tuesday meditation that comes across Armodoxy on this Tuesday of Holy Week. Amen.

Cover Photo: Gregory Beylerian

Holy Monday – Hearing with our heart

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Armodoxy for Today: Holy Monday – Hearing with your heart

A post on social media asks, “Jesus crucified 1.5 million Armenians with him. He never saved anyone. Why praise him!?!” The large number is in reference to the martyrs of the  Armenian Genocide of 1915. Social media is only a new medium for an age-old question. This question is asked because the bigger question pertaining to this Week is even more puzzling. Indeed, the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ does not make sense on human terms for even more reasons. How do we explain a person who gives love, who is sacrificial in every aspect of his giving, who heals the sick, raises the dead, and in return, receives a death sentence. At this point, many will dismiss the Christian experience by identifying it as nonsense, literally, that is, that which does not make sense.

In a final farewell discourse, Jesus shares words of comfort with his disciples, to make sense out of the seemingly nonsensical. He speaks of God’s love.

The Disciples had been in the presence of Christ for three years when he spoke to their heart. You have been through the Lenten journey, 40 days of preparation for this week. I ask you to sit with the Disciples today. With the teachings and exercises of the last several weeks, listen with your hearts to these words coming from your teacher, your brother and your friend. And believe.

A reading from John chapter 14:

Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

 Thomas [one of the Disciples] said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

 Philip [another of His Disciples] said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Palm Sunday Addition

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Armodoxy for Today: Palm Sunday

Jesus’s triumphant entry into the holy city of Jerusalem is recorded by the evangelists. It is important to read the narrative to understand that in God’s time, all things fall into place.

On Palm Sunday, all the players are moving into their positions. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. The Pharisees, the Disciples with Judas and Peter, and, of course, the mob, are all there, each one of them, bringing their participation to this passion play.

But there are a few people missing from the story. You and me. We move ourselves into the narrative by picking up the palm branches and adding our voices to the crowd: Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus walks by us. He is en route to the temple, the shrine built to praise God. Instead he finds this house of prayer has been converted to a den of thieves. Merchants and moneylenders are doing a robust business under the temple walls. He turns over the tables and one by one, everyone and everything that does not belong in the temple, he throws out in an unusual display of anger. He does not stop until everyone who does not belong in the temple is thrown out and the temple is wiped clean. Needless to say, he has irritated the establishment, the people in power.

We have witnessed this episode and realize that we are part of the story. The holy temple is no further than our heart, at the center of our being. Jesus comes in today to clean the holiest of all temples. He asks that we walk with him through this Holy Week with the simple condition that we remove everything that distorts the truth, whatever prevents us from enjoying all that God offers us.

In the Armenian Church the Palm Sunday Liturgy is followed by a service called “Tur’n batzek” which means “Opening of the Portals.” It is focused on the Coming of Christ and the message is one of preparedness.

We have been through  the Lenten Journey and now at the beginning of Holy Week we pray, Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of the world. He arrived at the appointed time, entered the temple and removed all that did not belong there. I ask that you enter my heart and clean it of all that does not belong there, the hatred, the sickness and disease, the prejudice, the injustice and all that prevents me from seeing the goodness of life. Amen.

Do You Believe This? (Lazarus Saturday)

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Armodoxy for Today: Do you believe this? – Lazarus Saturday

The Lenten season is over, and now begins the holiest of all days and journeys, as we prepare to greet the Empty Tomb, that is Easter Sunday. This preparation is an actual walk with Christ, walking with him as he enters the holy city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through his passion, through His crucifixion, even His burial, and ultimately finding ourselves at the Resurrection as a witness to life beyond the grave.

Welcome to Holy Week.

The first day of Holy Week is called Lazarus Saturday. The story comes to us from the Gospel of Saint John chapter 11, where we learn of the death of Jesus’ close friend Lazarus. When Jesus arrives at his friend’s home, Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, turn to Jesus and say, If you had been here, our brother would not have died, an acknowledgment of Jesus’s Lordship and power even over death. Jesus turns to them and says, Your brother will rise again. Martha agrees and says, I know he will rise in the resurrection of the last day. But Jesus says to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Having proclaimed this truth, Jesus turns to Martha and says, Do you believe this?

I invite you to read the entire story of Lazarus resurrection (John 11). For today, I’d like to focus on the words that Jesus speaks to the sisters, Do you believe this? Because it is the same question that he asks us. We can recognize Jesus at many levels. We can even proclaim His Lordship. We can call him the Son of God, the question that he asks to the sisters he asks now of us, Do you believe this? Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe that I am love incarnate? If you believe that, then you must believe that love is the resurrection and the life. You must believe that it is love that prevents any of us from dying, that love is the one factor that allows us to live forever.

As we begin this Holy Week, ask yourself this very personal question: Do I believe this? The road in front of us is a tough one. We’re going to go all the way to the cross and then to the tomb. Love is the one thing that cannot be killed. It is the resurrection and the life. It’s only with this commitment and with this confession on our part that the rest of the week will make any sense that the rest of the week will rise from the pages of history and become a living testament to what faith means today in our lives, how that faith will actually allow us to be participants in the Resurrection.

We pray, Lord Jesus Christ, who are Resurrection and the Life, fill my heart with your Love so I may forgive my enemies and care for others, and share that Love in my life. I await the travel before me, to accompany you to the Cross. Amen.

Cover photo: 2023 Luna & Gregory Beylerian

Done and Go – Day 40 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Done and Go – Day 40 of Lent

Congratulations! You made it to the end of the Lenten Journey. Forty days ago we began this trek and today it comes to an end and you transition. Your prize is waiting for you. It is life but with a new twist, you have found what is important, what is essential, in life. Not the bare minimum to survive, but the best of the pick of life, a life that is full of purpose and meaning, a life that is blessed by God and in harmony with the life around you, is now accessible to you.

At the end of his forty days in the wilderness Jesus gave three answers to the Tempter that I am sure resonate with you today. First, he said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word God.” Second, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” And finally, “You shall not test the Lord your God.” (Luke 4)

These words are no longer the punch line to a story, but, to the person who has accomplished the Lenten Journey and exercises, these words are the foundation to life moving forward. You have discovered that Lent is not about the bare necessities of life, but the bare essentials of life. The forty days are up and ahead of you are 325 days that are to built on these teachings.

I remember one of our psychology professors mentioned the goal of therapy is to eliminate you, the therapist, from the life of the patient. The same can be said about the Lenten Journey. Lent in itself is only there to help you, to guide you, but the main event is life itself. Lent is there to get you up and running for life, just like crutches, after leg surgery, are necessary to support and hold you up, and at some point you toss them and walk on your own.

Life is ahead of you. You are prepared. You have filled your life with increased acts of charity, stronger prayer life and fasting. Don’t stop because Lent ends. Tomorrow begins Holy Week, we transition to the most sacred period of time in the life of a Christian. You are ready to greet it and live it, with Christ’s passion, trial, sentencing, crucifixion and then, most importantly, the Resurrection. The Life of Christ will have new meaning for you as Lent has heightened your senses to now, walk with Christ on the road to the Cross and greet the Empty Tomb.

Celebrate tonight with the Day 40 recipe. jicama salad, and its recipe can be found at the link below. God bless you.

We pray from the Armenian Church’s Book of Hours, Receive, Great and Almighty God, these prayers and service. Make your light of righteousness and wisdom shine forth upon us and make us sons and daughters of light and of day, so that in godliness we may lead our life and fulfil it without offence, for You are our helper and Savior and to You is fitting glory and honor. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 40: Jicama Salad

Cover: Sunset over Western Armenia, 2014 Gregory Beylerian

Twinkies and Devil Food Cakes – Day 39 of Lent

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Armodoxy for Today: The Devil and Twinkies – Day 39 of 40

Remember getting in trouble as a kid? No matter who it was who caught you, whether it was your parents, uncle, aunt or teacher, it was easy to pass the buck when you’re young enough to plead ignorance. I didn’t know it was wrong… My friend made me do it… My brother put me up to it…. Everyone else is doing it… are all excuses that parents have heard ad nauseum. And then there was the big scapegoat: the Devil. “The Devil made me do it!”

Scapegoating is as old as the hills. In the Genesis creations story, when God asks the man about his disobedience, the man blames the woman who then blames the serpent. But there’s no need to go back that far in time to hear a good one, take the 1979 trial of Dan White who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. At his trial, defense argued that White suffered diminished capacity because of his depression, attributed to a change in his diet from healthy food to Twinkies. The exact details of the defense can be studied on line, but improbable legal defenses now carry the label, “Twinkie Defense.”

Yesterday we heard St. Paul’s words, “…When I became a man, I put away childish things.” (I Corinthians 13) The Lenten experience brings us to a maturity of faith. Taking our relationship with God seriously means accepting responsibility for our actions. We have arrived knowing that we can try our best and if we fall short, God’s love gives us an opportunity for forgiveness. As we learned, we are forgiven our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, hence, the responsibility is placed squarely on our shoulders. We must forgive, to be forgiven.

Armodoxy points to the path of personal responsibility. By understanding our responsibility for our actions, our actions become more fine-tuned to promote peace and harmony. The words of Christ are now spoken to us directly and our line of communications with God are open. We understand that empathy and compassion are key to living the Christian life. By living the Lenten exercises of a charity, fasting and prayer, new opportunities are open to us. The end of Lent signals a continuation and a beginning.

Your act of charity today is to pray for those around you. Fast from anything that distracts you from the clarity you are coming into. Enjoy tropical sweet potatoes, the featured recipe in the link below.

We pray what is known as the Serenity Prayer authored by Reinhold Niebuhr,

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 39: Tropical Sweet Potatoes

 

Winding up to Maturity – Day 38 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Winding up to Maturity – Day 38 of Lent

St. Paul’s treatise on love is a staple at wedding ceremonies and anniversary parties. Love is kind, patient, not boastful, not envious, says the Apostle, among many other qualities of what love is and what love is not. This list, from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (chapter 13), is a great reminder of this most essential part of life, whether its read at a wedding, at a recommitment to vows, or just as a stand alone daily-reminder of what it means to love.

Later in that same chapter, St. Paul makes a statement which is often quickly glanced over, but on closer inspection is the purpose of our Lenten travels. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Love demands maturity of faith so that it rises from the emotional writings on greeting cards, to becoming the indispensable element in a way of life. For this reason, in the Armenian Church the symbol of love is not the small heart, or the plump Cherib angel, but the Sign of the Holy Cross is the ultimate symbol of love because it stands for sacrifice. So it follows that in mature manner, with a mature understanding of the Holy Cross, we come to understand the Apostle John’s words that God is love. Unconditional love. If we have love in our heart and if we have love for one another, Jesus tells us, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We are Christians by the love that we share and spread. So great is this condition in the Christian experience that not loving excludes you from using the title “Christian.”

Jesus words follow: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

As the Lenten period is coming to an end, we have matured. We should understand our place in the world and Love must be the guiding force behind our actions.

Your act of charity today is to reflect on the maturity that has come over you during the Lenten period. Fast from childish expressions that are void of meaning. Tonight’s menu treat is Peach Salsa, with the recipe at the link below.

Let us pray, O Father Almighty, I stand before you on these last days of the Lenten Season, disciplined by the exercises of the last several weeks. Imprint on me the sign of Love, that I may always hold it high as a symbol of selfless giving and love, to be worthy to be called your child. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 38: Peach Salsa

Blessings beyond Chance ~ Day 37 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Blessings beyond Chance Day 37 of Lent

While its tempting to the end Lenten Season by saying we are winding down, if you’ve done the Lenten practice properly, this week we are most definitely winding up the season in preparation for life-beyond-resurrection! Part of that wind-up is redefining what we understand as articles and definitions of faith.

Think of the word blessing. We say we have received a blessing. Or, we may say a person’s life is blessed. We refer to blessings in the same way as we refer to luck. If you hit a lottery or a jackpot on a game of chance, people say that you are lucky! If disaster hits your town or an illness threatens your wellbeing, it is understood in the same manner, that somehow luck escaped you or the events are in the unlucky camp.

Today I ask you to think of the blessings you have in your life. As part of the wind-up for the end of Lent, take an inventory of all the blessings, by thinking about the lessons of Lent. Begin with the most obvious blessing that belongs to all our followers. If you’re listening to this podcast, it means you have an internet connection, you have electricity, you own some type of device that transmits the signal to you. Perhaps you’re in your car driving or have ear plugs that are piping in my voice in stereo to your receptors. Merely the fact that you’re listening to this puts you at an advantage over a large selection of the world’s population who consider you “blessed” because of your access to this technology. Now, leave the material realm and think of the friends and family who are around you. Some friends are closer than family, some family members can be best friends. Consider the priests who prays for you, the physician that cares for you, the teacher or coach who teaches you, the neighbor who looks out for you. Now, move out of this temporal plane and think of God, unconditional love, that wraps around you, that is inside and outside of you. Think of Christ and the anointing you have received to be able to tap into your inner strength and potential. You are able to look beyond the crucifixions that you encounter and find the resurrection ahead of you.

You are truly blessed. Now let’s redefine a blessing as luck, without the element of chance. This Armodox understanding of blessing becomes part of your new perspective on life.

Your act of charity today is to share a blessing with someone. Fast from expressions of luck, rather find the blessing of God in all that you do. Artichoke risotto awaits you on your Lenten dinner table, with the recipe at the link below.

We pray, I thank you Lord for the blessings you have bestowed upon me. May I find the blessings of Your presence at every turn in my life. Whether looking at the seascape, the flowers that bloom or the life that is around me, from the delicate butterfly to the precious child, may I praise you for the blessing of life. Fill me with a spirit of gratitude and happiness so I may share these blessings with others. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 37: Artichoke Risotto

 

Cover picture: Vehapar extends a blessing by Fr. Vazken, 2005

All that Glitters is Not Gold – Day 36 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: All that glitters is not gold – Day 36 of Lent

We’re in the last days of Lent and the time has come for us to consolidate and summarize our learnings, so as to make the lessons a part of our life in the post-Lenten world. We can begin the summary process by looking at the Lenten characters and events for the last few weeks, namely the parables of the Prodigal Son, the Dishonest Manager, the Unjust Judge and yesterday, the Coming of Jesus Christ. In the cases of the characters, the Prodigal, the Manager and the Judge, these were people we would hardly consider to be models of character and ethics. Yet, Jesus selects them to the “heroes” of his stories. Only Jesus can take something of deception and negative imagery and transform them into examples for our lives and for living. In the case of the event, the Second Coming of Christ, only Jesus can change the conversation about the fear and doomsday catastrophes to a discussion of preparedness by living the events of Jesus’ first coming.

Very simply, over the past few weeks we have been challenged to look beyond our prejudices and understand that there is something to be learned from each encounter.

William Shakespear wrote, “All that glitters is not gold” (Merchant of Venice). We may twist this around to say that not all that is dull is tin. We have something to learn from each of our encounters, from the variety of people that we meet. Jesus invites us to interact with our world and understand that there is an opportunity to learn and grow from everyone, considering that everyone is a child of God.

With these ethically “ugly” people, Jesus share a bit of beauty about them to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. With the Second Coming event, he gave us a fresh perspective of the true message of the event is.

Today’s act of charity is to review the encounters with the Prodigal, the Manager and the Judge. Read the stories in Luke 15, 16 and 18 respectively. Fast from thoughts that simplify these characters. What are the takeaways for you? Mutabbel is on the Lenten menu this evening. Check out the recipe at the link below.

Pray, Heavenly Father, as I come closer the end of Lent, look over me and direct my path to make the lessons of Lent the guiding direction for my life. Amen.  

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 36: Mutabbel