Young Sin – Day 15 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Young Sin – Day 15 of Lent

The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) is what we are examining this week and we begin with the younger brother, the one identified as the “prodigal son.”

According to the parable, Jesus says the younger brother desired a different life than the one he was living. Entertaining thoughts of different or better life is fairly common. When desire motivates us,  we ask why shouldn’t I have the better things in life? In this boy’s case, he had the means, his father had the resources, so why not take advantage of the situation and go for it all? What then is the “sin” of the younger son? He is driven by his passions and the energy that comes with youth, and perhaps a little bit of impatience. He seizes the opportunity and takes what he can! Where’s the sin?

Taking what is given to you is not a sin. That is your gift. It belongs to you. The sin is squandering the gift! The sin is taking your gift and abusing it.

God has given each of us talents. He has given us life itself. Indeed the breath we breathe is a gift, as is the smile on our face, our ability to hug and our passion to reach out. Much like the Prodigal Son, we squander what is given us in a reckless and sometimes abusive manner. We consume our lives with the minutia and we therefore abandon quality. God has given us a smile that would light up a room and we cover it up, we are ashamed to show our goodness. He has given us the ability to talk and instead we keep our mouths closed, or if we do open it we fill it with idle conversation and gossip. He has given us hand to hold, lift up and to help others instead we tie our hands down and refuse to help those in need. He has given us feet to walk in the paths of righteousness and instead we take our bodies to dismal hangouts.

The act of charity for today is inventory the gifts that have been given to you. Make a list of those talents and put a check mark on the talents you use and a zero (0) on those you do not and an ‘x’ on those you abuse. Look at your list: are you respecting that gift or are you squandering it? Fast today from making a quick decision, instead contemplate the your interaction with your talents. Then treat yourself to a Suonomo cucumber salad from the recipe below.

We pray from St. Gregory of Narek (27) I have sinned against the talents of your incomprehensible gifts, incessantly have I sinned… But if you, Lord Jesus, reach out to me in loving-kindness as I suffocate with sighs of pain, then, as the Scriptures promised, “Your cure will cleanse away the greatest sins.” And through your boundless kindness I will be joined to you, with your image of light re-imprinted upon my soul. Atoned and re-established in your salvation, I will reach the immortal life of the virtuous and give glory forever to you with the Father and Holy Spirit. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 15: Suonomo (Cucumber Salad)

Prodigal Son – Day 14 of 50

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Armodoxy for Today: The Prodigal Son – Day 14 of Lent

Jesus taught by using parables. They are precise and so packed with meaning that scholars, teachers and preachers have dissected and challenged themselves and others with their interpretations of the story lines. Jesus shared his parables by putting them out there. We don’t know if he interpreted or further elaborated on the parables. If he did, save for a few exceptions, they are not remembered in the Gospel narratives.

This Sunday of Lent is know as the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, a parable that is recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke. I firmly believe that if nothing else reached us from the time of Jesus except for this one parable, it would be enough to explain our relationship to and with God, and the extent of His Love for us.

Jesus shares this parable: A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and [found work with a man who] sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

That’s the story of the Prodigal Son. Yes, you heard right, the man did have two sons. I’ll share the story of the other son in the coming days along with a look at the elements of this powerful parable. Today I wanted you to hear it as it appears in the Gospel narrative.

Your act of charity is to examine the story and consider why it is presented during the Lenten season. Fast today from excessive analysis. And try hot and sour cabbage from the recipe below.

We pray with St. Nersess Shnorhali from his third hour of prayer, Heavenly Father, true God, who sent Your beloved Son to seek the wandering sheep. I have sinned against heaven and before you. Receive me like Prodigal Son and clothe me with the garment of innocence, of which I was deprived by with sin. Have mercy upon your creatures and upon me a great sinner. Amen

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 14: Hot and Sour Cabbage

Welcome to Sin – Day 13 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Welcome to Sin – Day 13 of Lent

One of the most misunderstood concepts or themes in Christianity is sin. Our understanding, or misunderstanding, of sin stems from models that have been set up for us and have conditioned us since childhood. We associate sin with the bad or evil in our life because evil is punished, or at the very least, it produces unfavorable consequences. Even more, in religion, particularly in the traditional Judeo-Christian system of thought, the punishment for evil is augmented by concepts of condemnation and damnation. These models creep into our adult life and skew our perception of life. They distort our view of what life is what life can be.

The truth is, all our actions – not just evil, but everything we do – has consequences.  Actions are made up of emotional thoughts and they are acted out by physical means. Newton’s laws of motion tell us that to every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. This applies to the physical world as well as the spiritual world.

So let’s begin by saying that all evil is sin, but not all sin is evil.

Sin means missing the mark. Imagine a large target and in this target is the center circle. That large black circle is called the bullseye. Now imagine a bow and arrow in your hands. You pull back on the bow and let the arrow go. The arrow travels through space, through time and eventually it hits its destination. You have aimed for the bullseye, you have aimed for perfection, but somehow it didn’t make it. You missed the mark. You may hit quite a ways off of the mark, you might have hit close by. In fact, you may have not hit the target at all! No matter what the case –close or far from the bullseye – you missed the mark! You sinned. Close or far from the targeted area, it’s a sin. Sin is sin. You aimed for perfection but came short of it. You missed the mark.

Each of us strives for perfection. We all want to hit that mark, we want the best for ourselves, for our families, for our children; but we journey through space and time, much like the arrow and are influenced by many factors including the wind, freak occurrences, lack of focus or unnoticed obstacles, and we do not hit the mark.

As we conclude our second week of Lent, understanding sin in these terms helps us in our journey, especially as we meet the characters of the next few weeks, namely the Prodigal Son (tomorrow), the Dishonest Steward and the Unrighteous Judge.

Your act of charity today is to forgive those who have created a hierarchy of sin. Forgive yourself. Fast today, from judging others. Try a Saturday special with stir-fried asparagus, recipe found below.

Let us pray, Father in Heaven, who makes your sun shine on the good and the bad, on the just and the unjust, let the rays of the sun touch and burn away the judgement that runs through me, to understand myself as a sinner too. Help me through this Lenten journey. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 13: Stir -Fried Asparagus

Unexpectedly Eclipsing God – Day 12 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Unexpectedly Eclipsing God  – Day 12 of 40

In the wee hours of this morning, there was a total eclipse of the Moon. Astronomical events have caught my attention since early childhood, especially the kind that you can see from the comfort of your home. So I stayed up and with that childhood wonder watched in awe as the Moon slipped out of the Sun’s light into the Earth’s shadow and then slipped back out. I don’t know what is more amazing to me, the fact that these huge astronomical bodies dance with grace in the sky, or the fact that their motion is so delicately aligned with the universal laws of motion that this event was predicted to the minute several hundreds of years ago.

This week, we have been inspired by the Gospel passage which was read on Expulsion Sunday. In it, Jesus says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5)

Did you catch the eclipse? Jesus, in these words, is saying there is something more important than God! God is eclipsed by our need to reconcile with one another. You’ve gone to church to worship God, to offer your sacrifice to God, but there is something more important, being reconciled with your brother. He says, drop your offering at the church – turn away from God – until you first reconcile with your brother. To be at peace and in harmony with one another eclipses any pious gesture of worship or adoration of God.

The Christian message is about people. It’s about harmony and that peaceful existence comes about when we become part of the solution. It’s not about looking up to heaven but reaching out to one another here on Earth. If there is going to be harmony in our lives, if there is going to be peace in this world, it’s not because I am offering a prayer upwards, rather it is because I am offering a prayer sideways. I am reaching out to my brothers and my sisters as a vehicle of love. True peace, true harmony, true existence is about us loving with one another.

This comes to us today as a reminder that our Lenten journey is about using these 40 days to make the 325 days that follow it – that is life – more meaningful and in harmony with others.

Practice charity today by providing a light to someone who is bitter with life. Push them out of the shadow and into the light. Fast today from superficial piety and understand that Christianity is about peace on Earth through the goodwill among people. Today’s must-try recipe is for Portobello-Seitan Hash, with a recipe in today’s show notes.

Let us pray the prayer of St. Nersess Shnorhali (23), “All merciful Lord, have mercy upon all your faithful, on those who are mine and those who are strangers to me, on those whom I know and those whom I do not know, on the living and on the dead, and forgive all my enemies, and those who hate me, the trespasses that they have committed against me, turn them from the malice which they bear towards me, that they may be worthy of Your mercy. Amen.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 12: Portobello-Seitan Hash

Split Arrow – Day 11 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Split Arrow Day 11 of Lent

When discussing saints, and in light of yesterday’s meditation on St. Gregory of Narek and his prayer, the question inevitably is asked, why do we need saints when we have Jesus as the ultimate example of living? And, in terms of intercessory prayer, why not pray directly to Jesus?

The questions are logical, indeed, but they are built on the assumption that the one excludes the other. Certainly, you can and should use Jesus as your guide. Certainly, you should pray directly to Jesus.

When we look at Jesus, we see the perfection of the Father. In Jesus, we see life lived without sin, without obstacles. In Richard Bach 1977 novel, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, the main character flies his airplane and his windshield remains clean. That is, he avoids the need to scrape bugs off of the glass. Anyone who has driven any sizable number of hours knows that hitting bugs is inevitable. Gas-stops on the highways windshield cleaning fluids that are “effective on smashed bugs.” Imagine, being so perfect that you would miss the bugs completely. Or imagine an archer who could not help but hit the bullseye of a target. Each arrow she shot would hit the one she shot earlier and split right down the center. Now, that’s perfection! That’s part of the definition of the Divine.

Saints are people. They are not God, nor does the Church claim them to be. Pattern your life after Jesus’ life. You should. That’s what the saints did. They patterned their lives after Jesus, and with all of their frailties and imperfections they were able to rise above their humanity. They present a reachable goal and, for people in search of their own spiritual equilibrium, the stories of the saints offer hope.

Split the arrows, if you can. Don’t give up, if you can’t. The saints didn’t.

Your act of charity is to arrive at one hopeful event or occurrence in our world today. Fast from discouragement.

For roasted potato fans, we have a treat in today’s Lenten recipe (below).

Our prayer is from St. Gregory of Narek, If a pure hand lifts incense to you, may my voice join with the sound and sighs of prayers and reach you. If others’ petitions labor to be born with mine, may mine, thus multiplied, be rededicated to you. If this offering of the words of my soul be pleasing, may they be offered to you with those who have gone before… If the thread of hope is severed by the sword of transgression, may it be restored by the goodness of your almighty will. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 11: Roasted Potato Fans!

Model – Day 10 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Models – Day 10 of Lent

Jesus invites us to perfection. The invitation in itself is overwhelming. The definition of being human implies imperfection. How, then, can we strive for something that is unattainable? What is this unrealistic expectation all about?

In the same passage that we’ve been looking at this week, read on the Sunday of Expulsion, Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” The scribes and Pharisees were learned men of the law, who knew scripture by heart, what we may call deep-dive details, and the intricacies of the Law. Definitely Final Jeopardy would be a sinch. Yet, Jesus was not satisfied with their approach to their Faith. For them, Faith had become a ritual without meaning. As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt and it seemed they were all too familiar with the rule of the law to the point that it lost meaning.

The Armenian Church identifies saints as human who have risen to the challenge of life. As such, they are models – examples – for our life. Today, I offer this one prayer/meditation from St. Gregory of Narek for our focus and to ask the hard question about our faith – your faith – how do you describe your relationship with God?

From St. Gregory of Narek

Faith, that happy and favored word, which lasts forever untarnished and unbounded,
honored together with charity and hope brings the rewards of truly clear vision, perfect wisdom, acquaintance with God and familiarity with the Exalted. For if the faith of a mustard seed can cast a great mountain into the depths of the sea, then truly we should accept it as the first step toward eternal life. Faith, this simple and clear form of worship,
means setting aside doubt to see the future and hidden with the eye of the soul. Faith is honored in a glorious trinity with charity and hope. For if you view these three as distinct aspects of one and the same mystery, you shall forever be magnified in God. And if you believe, you shall love and through love have hope in his unseen rewards. Glory to him forever. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Today, engage in one act that demonstrates your Faith. And fast or abstain from that which ritualizes your Faith to the point of meaninglessness.

Red cabbage slaw is on the menu today. Enjoy and we’ll continue tomorrow.

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 10: Red Cabbage Slaw

Aiming High – Day 9 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Aiming High, Day 9 of Lent

Over 150 years ago, the novelist Jules Verne wrote a book called “From the Earth to the Moon: A direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes” in which he imagined a group of gun enthusiasts attempting to send three people to the Moon with an enormous space gun. It sounds crazy to us, and it sounded crazy in Verne’s time as well. Just a century later, the Americans and Soviets were vying for the position of flag-planter on the moon and in 1969 the US flag was planted by Buzz Aldrin with Neil Armstrong snapping the picture for proof.

From the first time man looked up to the heavens and wondered about the vast darkness speckled with lights and one large lit ball floating from one horizon to the other, he tried to harness an understanding of the patterns and timetables for the lights in the universe. Back in the 2nd century AD, a book was written by Lucien speculates about a journey to the Moon. Man’s ability to imagine has always been challenged with what may seem absurd, but innovation builds on dreams turned real.

We concluded yesterday’s message with a prayer from St. Gregory of Narek. In it, he uses the word “unreachable” in reference to God. The fact that God is unreachable doesn’t exclude us from reaching for the challenge, one which Jesus invites us to. In the Scriptural passage for Expulsion Sunday, Jesus extends this invitation, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Unreachable? There is a reason Jesus challenges to reach for God.

Lent affords us an opportunity to reach high. It is part of the discipline we learn. Today’s charity act is to dream, given a chance to have one dream come true, what would that dream be? Fast, today, from considering anything, including that dream, as impossible.

Treat yourself to the Stuffed Eggplant, as today’s meal, found in the show notes.

We pray today, “Lord Jesus Christ, who are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Your demand from us is perfection, but we fall short. Through your unconditional Love you grant forgiveness so that we can find completeness and wholeness in life. Keep me mindful of this gift of forgiveness and completeness, Amen.”

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 9: Stuffed Eggplants

Alpha Omega – Day 8 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Alpha Omega

The person of Jesus Christ is central to our Armenian Church and everything that we do within our Church. To fully engage in the Lenten season and the spiritual exercises that are tied to the season, it is essential to understand this very basic premise.

We began this second week of Lent, yesterday, Expulsion Sunday, with the reading prescribed for the day from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus pronounces, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill …”

Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He is the “Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 22:13) Or, in our vernacular, the A and the Z, the Ա (ayb) and the Ք (keh).

The Lenten season and the exercises are about connecting to the fulfillment and the completeness of life. Our journey takes its first turn today, from the foundation and fundamentals to the applications.

Today’s exercise involves gaging your acts of charity. Turn within to question your motives and your feelings in doing unto others. Do you feel comfortable with those motives and feelings? Or, should there be something more.

Fast today from motivated giving. Give without any expectation in return, including your own personal satisfaction. Is that possible?

The week begins with a recipe for Almond French toast (below).

We pray, from St. Gregory of Narek, (44)  As the soul is for the living beings and
thought for the rational beings, as radiance is for glory, and form for substance,
as caring for life, and mindfulness for mercy, as giving in charity, and resolve in salvation,
as abundance in generosity, flow in continuity, as fullness for perfection, richness in inexhaustibility,
as long in forbearance, exalted in unreachableness, they are one perfect trinity,
of three persons, blessed forever. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 8: Almond French Toast

Expelled Again – Day 7 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Expelled Again – Day 7 of 40

This first Sunday of Lent is called “Expulsion Sunday” as it recalls God expelling humankind from Paradise as presented in the Book of Genesis. While it’s tempting to discuss the dynamics between God, Adam, Eve and the Serpent, it also defeats the purpose of Lent. That is, since it is not to be taken literally, the details of the story are not as important as the message it conveys. The essence of the story is that humanity walks away from the rules of God. By looking at the message of the story we put ourselves into the equation and understand ourselves to be the ones who break the rules.

God says love one another, we say, not everyone. God says care for one another, we say, only to those that give us something in return. God says love your neighbor as yourself,  we say, we’ll build bombs and ensure that our weapons are big enough to fend them off. God says, value the family and value life, and we say, the dollar can buy us more. God says, enjoy the life I have given you, we say, I will with drugs, alcohol and wastefulness. God say, take care of the world I gave you, we say, who cares, pollution and dwindling resources are problems for the next generations to worry about it. God says, worship Me, and we say, I’ve got better things to do. God says, know Me, and we ask, where’s the profit?  

You see, the story of Expulsion, or that of Adam and Eve, is about humanity going against the natural flow of life that is created by God. We ourselves, with our actions are the reason for our expulsion from Paradise.

May today’s charity begin at home: Listen to the words of God and do them. Fast from desires that move you away from God.

Now treat yourself to today’s meal, Mushroom Ragu, the recipe is in the show notes.

We pray from St. Gregory of Narek, (24) What am I worthy to ask of you in prayer? May I pray for paradise, from which I have strayed? your magnificent glory, which I am denied? your everlasting life, from which I was rejected? … O living Word, so that reconciled through you the Holy Spirit might return to me. Through you and the will of the almighty Holy Spirit,
may I be cleansed and presented to your Father, so that I may, with him and by your grace,
through the breath of salutation, be inseparably united with you. Amen. (Translated by Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 7: Mushroom Ragu

Shadows Away – Day 6 of 40

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Armodoxy for Today: Shadows Away – Day 6 of Lent

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17

One of our Church Fathers remarked that when facing the Sun, we see no shadows. It is only when we turn away from the sun that we notice shadows.

The Sun is the source of light and energy for our planet. Even in the shadows there is enough light to energize us and all of life. This is a testament to the power of the Sun.

Jesus is the Light of the World. He illuminates the darkness. We find no shadows nor places to hide when we turn toward him. And on those moments when we turn away, and so notice the shadows, He is still energizing us and all of life.

Fast today, from all that brings darkness. And practice charity by turning toward the light of Sun, and the Light of the Son. They both illuminate and they both offer warmth. At that point, think of the words of the Psalmist, “Be still and know that I am God.” (46:10)

It sounds simple, as is today’s recipe of roasted veggies, found in the show notes.

From Gregory of Narek, we pray (18): O kind Son of God, have compassion upon my misery. Hear the sobbing of my agitated voice. Bring me back to life with the dew of your blessed eyes as you brought back your friend from breathless death. In a dungeon of infirmities, I am captive, bitter and in doubt. Give me your hand, sun that casts no shadows, Son on high, and lift me into your radiant light. (translated Thomas J. Samuelian)

Lenten Recipes by Deacon Varoujan: Recipe 6: Roasted Veggies