Eclipsed! Thomas’ Story

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Armodoxy for Today: Eclipsed! (Doubting Thomas)

The Gospel tells us that Jesus appeared to the disciples on several occasions after the Resurrection. During that first week, every time he appeared to the disciples, Thomas, who was called the Twin was not present. In fact, Thomas doubted the others had seen the Resurrected Lord, hence he is referred to as Doubting Thomas. He said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Thomas was eclipsed from the bearer of Light as a follower of Jesus, to the darkness of disbelief.

We read in John, chapter 21:

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The eclipse is over! Thomas’ proclamation was complete and total: “My Lord and my God!” And note that he did not put his fingers on the marks of the nail. Thomas was transformed from unbelieving to believing.

Most Christians come to Christ without seeing the physical Jesus, but they come to believe because they have seen his works – the love in the world.

Let us pray, Almighty and ever living God, who strengthen your apostle Thomas with sure and certain faith in Your Son’s Resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting in Your sight; through Him who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

A Tempting Offer

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Armodoxy for Today: A Tempting Offer

Of the thousands of books written about Jesus, I often opt to read works that challenge me to view things from a different, perhaps new, perspective. One such book is a work of fiction by Nicholas Kazantzakis, called The Last Temptation of Christ. It was written in 1955, stirring up controversy and then in 1988 it was produced into a film stirring up objections from conservative and orthodox Christians.*

The story by Kazantzakis is well researched and thought out. He lays out the plot as follows: The crucified Messiah is given His “last temptation” on the cross. He is given the opportunity to see life beyond the cross, to know the joys of a family life, share memories with friends and live to a ripe old age. He is given the opportunity to have the same dreams as do all men and to be as all men. Yet he resists temptation. He says “no” to all the trappings of this world and opts to do His Father’s Will instead.

The gift of free-will, that is, to choose to do otherwise, is one of the greatest gifts given to us by God. In this novel, we are given a “what-if” scenario, and an opportunity to work-through the natural temptation to live without suffering, and to die a peaceful death. It gives us an opportunity to view the story from yet another perspective.

Jesus chose the Cross. In that choice we find how tightly Love and the Cross are tied together.

Today’s prayer is from the Gospel of John, chapter 12, the words of Jesus, which say, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

 

*When the film The Last Temptation of Christ debuted in 1988, I was asked to write an op-ed for the San Jose Mercury News. You may read it here.
– Fr. Vazken

Practical Recognition (Magdalene Continued)

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Armodoxy for Today: Practical Recognition (Magdalene continued)

Facial recognition has become a popular means by which you can access your electronics. Modern technology allows inanimate objects to recognize you with a remarkable degree of accuracy.

Yesterday we read from the Gospel of John chapter 20 the moment at which Mary Magdalene met with Jesus following His Resurrection. Mary did not recognize Jesus, until Jesus first recognized her and called her, by name. Let us continue from where we left off. Verse 17 reads,

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary Magdalene is often referred to as the “Apostle to the Apostles” because of this passage. The word apostle means one who is sent. It is the same in the Armenian language, Arakyal. Mary was sent by Jesus to share the Good News with the rest of the disciples, His “brothers.”

Through the centuries, Mary has attracted the attention of many artists, who have been intrigued by her closeness to the Lord. They have depicted her in different forms whether in paintings, songs or written word. This points to one of our greatest shortcomings as human beings. We’re consumed by the mundane rather than the spectacular.

Of the few important facts that we do know, the most important might be considered that Mary Magdalene’s love for the Lord was so great that she did not abandon Him during His suffering; She was at the foot of the cross. And in return, Jesus revealed Himself to her and asked her to be the Apostle to the Apostles: the first Apostle who spread the word of the Risen Lord.

Here is a prayer offered to the Saint:

O lamp of the world and gleaming pearl, who by announcing Christ’s resurrection merited to become the “Apostle of the Apostles,” Mary Magdalen, be ever our loving advocate with God who has chosen you.

Cover photo: Luna & Gregory Beylerian

Recognition – Magdalene

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Armodoxy for Today: Recognition

Following the Resurrection of our Lord, a group of women went to the Grave to anoint Jesus’ Body. Among them was Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus.

We read in the Gospel of John:

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Mary did not recognize Jesus, until Jesus first recognized her and called her, by name. As we reflect upon the Resurrection, we are reminded that the characters around Jesus were people with daily cares, who found themselves in the greatest story ever told. Reflect on your identity and those who you may or may not recognize and those who call you out by name. How does that affect your life? It certainly did for Mary Magdalene as we will come to find out.

A Prayer to St Mary Magdalene

O Glorious St. Magdalene, “model of penitents,” obtain for me the grace of perseverance in the practices of self-denial according to the Spirit of my vows; pray to God for me that I may appear before Jesus Our Lord and Master, at the moment of my death, with my lamp filled with the oil of faith and hope, and burning with the pure flame of charity; and thus merit to be received with thee into His eternal Kingdom. Amen.

Cover Photo: Luna & Gregory Beylerian, 2023

Heaviness Explored

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Armodoxy for Today: Heaviness Explored

On Holy Friday, you meditated on the cross, that is, suffering for a greater purpose. You looked at the crosses in your life along side the Cross of Christ. You heard Christ’s challenging invitation,  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

The Cross on Friday is quite different from the Cross on Sunday. For one thing, there is no body on the cross. He who was Crucified has come out victorious over the Cross. For another, the Cross has proven not to be an end in itself, but rather, a path to the greater good, and the Victory.

The invite we have received from Jesus has always been after the Resurrection. The only Cross we have known is the conquered Cross. Feel the weight of the crosses in your life today. If they feel lighter and manageable, you have found the balance of Armodoxy.

O Christ, protect and guard me under the shadow of your Holy Cross in peace. Deliver me from enemies visible and invisible. I will glorify you along with the Father and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Cover Photo: Luna & Gregory Beylerian, 2023

Overheard Last Week

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Armodoxy for Today: Overheard last week

Mark 16:

And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed His last.

Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

This centurion, who was a commander in the Roman army, makes a proclamation about Jesus based on the sensational events surrounding the last minutes in our Lord’s life on earth.

At some point in your life, you arrive at a conclusion about Jesus. This day after Easter, after you have heard so much about Jesus and the Resurrection, is a day of contemplation and reflection, to arrive at your own proclamation about Jesus.

Empty Tomb – Easter

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The Empty Tomb: Resurrection

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! (Luke 24)

There you have it! He is not here! He has risen!

Your fifty-day journey comes to a head with this news. He has risen.

Fifty days! Count them: You had one-day of introduction – boon barekentan, forty-days of Lent, and nine-days from the end of Lent to today, Easter Sunday. Fifty-days of twists and turns, spiritual questioning and, hopefully, encounters with God. You have arrived at this day, born anew and born from above, ready to take on life with love and the passion that God has put inside of you. The Resurrection of Christ is your invitation to the Resurrection in your life.

Congratulations! You have just learned the secret of Armodoxy. It’s the foundation of faith for a people who have survived and thrived despite not having military weaponry and or aggressive inklings for world domination. You have experienced the formula for life, that behind Crucifixion there is Resurrection.

The answer to today’s question – the last question in this series – can only be answered by you, and you alone: Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Happy Easter: Christ has Risen! God bless.

Govea Yerusaghem: Luys Vocal  Quintet

Cover: Rise! by Gregory Beylerian

The Day After: Holy Saturday (Question 8)

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The Day After: Holy Saturday

 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. – John 19:41

If you’ve ever lost someone close to you, you know that there is a period following that loss when it still hasn’t sunk in that you will no longer see this person. You start replaying the last few days in your head, remembering some of the last things that were spoken.

On this Saturday, the disciples and friends of Jesus were in shock. The events of the last week were surreal. On Sunday Jesus enters into Jerusalem as a “king” with the approval and praise of thousands of people. Five days later he’s abandoned. He was executed as a common criminal for the crime of… spreading love and harmony as the path to God. It must have been so confusing for his followers, as it is to us, two-thousand years later.

The Hope had died in their witness.

Those at the foot of the Cross, surely remembered the haunting last words of Jesus.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Even after being barbarically beaten and left to die, He forgives.

I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise. Even in His agony His love was directed to others.

Woman, behold your son! The Blessed Mother must have reflected on the 33 years of miracles and amazement, and now it had come to an end.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus taught us to rely on our Heavenly Father, and now, in His hour of need, had God forgotten him?

I thirst. The One who offered living waters that would satisfy any thirst, was now exclaiming his thirst.

It is finished. There was a purpose for all that happened.

Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit!

On this Holy Saturday, on the road to Resurrection, the question that comes to us, a question which you, and you alone, can answer: Not knowing what tomorrow brings, what is your take-away from all that happened over these past few days, the days we call Holy Week?

Tomorrow: The Empty Grave

The Cross: Holy Friday (Question 7)

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The Cross: Holy Friday

Each day of Holy Week, on the road to Resurrection, we have been confronted by a question which only you, and you alone, can answer. On this Holy Friday, we come up against the Cross, which in itself is an enigma. It is an instrument of torture. It is the instrument upon which the Son of God, was tortured and killed and yet, within our faith, it is the symbol of Christianity, and therefore the symbol of love.

Within the course of one night, Jesus was accused, stood trial on false charges, was taken back and forth between the chief priests, the councils, the Jewish king and the Roman procurator and was sentenced to death. The means of death was crucifixion – a slow, painfully agonizing means of torture by which an individual hangs from nails through his hands and feet while he suffocates to death over the course of a few hours. Meanwhile, crowds gather to watch the spectacle, mock and chastise him. All four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record this event in their Gospels, with graphic detail.

Jesus willingly accepts the path of the Cross, because it is there that He sacrifices for the salvation of the world. In so doing, Jesus transforms that cross from an instrument of torture to an means of salvation, just as he transforms the reality of the day, from a truly Bad and Evil Friday to “Good Friday.”

During His ministry, Jesus calls on us and challenges us, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

As we stand before the Cross of Christ, on this Good Friday, let us listen to the words of our Lord carefully. Let us absorb the events of this day. The question on this Friday, on the Road to Resurrection asks, “Are you picking up your cross and following Him?”

Tomorrow: The Day After

Cover photo: Luna & Gregory Beylerian

Crucifix by Chris Brown, for In His Shoes:

 

Expression of Love: Holy Thursday (Question 6)

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The expression of Love: Holy Thursday

Each day of Holy Week, on the road to Resurrection, we are presented with a question which only you, and you alone, can answer.

During the Last Supper, Jesus speaks openly to his beloved and seated disciples.

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15)

Jesus tells his disciples that by love they will be identified as his followers, that is, Christianity is defined by love. Love begins with God and is expressed through sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice being the offering of life, the greatest of all the gifts of God.

Following the Supper, Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me, nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

It is there that a mob arrives, led by one of the 12 disciples named Judas Iscariot. Judas kisses the Lord to betray him to the mob. Jesus is captured as a common criminal, then taken before the religious elite to stand trial for conjured-up charges. The passion, that is the suffering of the Lord, continues through the night. From mock trials to the religious leaders, to the government officials, He is humiliated, beaten, mocked, and sentenced to death by crucifixion.

From the point of his arrest to the sentencing, Jesus has been abandoned by all of his friends and followers. One of his friends betrayed him (with a kiss) while another, Peter, denied him three times, when asked if he knew Jesus. Yet all the while, Jesus does not abandon anyone – neither his friends, his followers, nor His accusers, nor any one of us, for that matter. He stands as a testament to the power of Love. He accepts the sentence and makes his way to the Cross. It is here that we understand that the Cross, therefore, is the ultimate expression of Love within Armenian Orthodox theology.

The sixth question on this road to the Resurrection, comes in a form first asked to Judas, “Do you betray the Son of God with a kiss?” and then asked of Peter, “Are you with Jesus?” They are one in the same question: Love is what defines us as Christians according to Jesus and He himself, in a gesture of Love is sacrificing his life. Are you with him? Or have you betrayed him? Certainly a very heavy questions for a very heavy night. The night of the Passion of our Lord.

Tomorrow: The Cross