When the Cross Appeared

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Armodoxy for Today: When the Cross Appeared

On the fifth Sunday of the Feast of Resurrection (28 days following Easter) the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross, remembering an event which took place in the fourth century (351) when a luminous cross appeared over Jerusalem, stretching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem documents the event in a letter that has been kept by the Armenian Church and is read during the feast. He writes that during the Holy Easter Season, a large cross of light – “a vast luminous body” – appeared in the sky above Holy Golgotha and stretching to the Mount of Olives. It was revealed to everyone in the city of Jerusalem, unmistakably, he says, not just a few people. And very clearly, that is, it was not an optical illusion. It was visible for several hours. The light emitted, he insists, was brighter than the rays of the sun. Everyone in the city, ran to the holy church, with fear and joy at this vision from God. Christians, as well as foreigners sang hymns of praise to God’s Only Begotten Son.

St. Cyril says this event took place “On the nones of May.” The nones is the nineth day before the ides by inclusive reckoning, or in this case, the 7th day of May, placing it on the Feast of Pentecost of that year. The Apparition of the Holy Cross is one of four feasts dedicated to the Cross that the Armenian Church celebrates. The three others are the Elevation of the Cross, the Discovery of the Holy Cross and the Cross of Varak, which are all celebrated as Summer moves to Autumn.

I leave you with this historic account of a phenomenon, miracle, or demonstration, which ever you wish to call it, as the background to the excitement of discovering that the luminous Cross is still shining. Yes. Our receptors have weakened, even to the rays brighter than the sun, but it is necessary to take this break before I continue tomorrow so you will  not be overwhelmed by the incredible opportunity to view the Apparition of the Holy Cross now, seventeen centuries later. Yes! As we continue tomorrow with our next Armodoxy for Today.

We pray today, O Christ, whose glory once stretched across the sky, stretch now Your mercy across our souls, that we may reflect Your light in every word and deed. Amen.

Easter Dates: Arranging Deck Chairs

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Armodoxy for Today: The Deck Chairs

The date of Easter is calculated as being on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. March 21 is the date of the equinox, giving you an idea of the range in which Easter can fall. The calculation formula for the Eastern Orthodox Easter date includes the Jewish Passover feast date. The Armenian Church chose to see the Resurrection – the Easter feast – as something separate from the old covenant and opted for the Western date.

Every four or five years, the dates coincide, and the world celebrates Easter on the same date. On the other years, Easter is either one, three or five weeks apart.

There are those who contend that there should be a unity in celebrating Easter in the Christian world. There are others who argue the validity of one date over the other.

Armodoxy looks at the message of Easter – the power to Resurrection over Crucifixion – as the defining force of Easter. For Christians, every day must be celebrated as Easter as a Resurrection. Christos Anesti, Christos haryav, Christ has risen, is the greeting that is valid every day of our life as a Christian.

There is an expression that is worth remembering: “Arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” When the Titanic was sinking, it was futile to arrange the deck chairs. With wars, genocide, intolerance, hatred hitting us from all sides, it’s important to keep the message of the day in focus and prioritized.

We pray, Lord, you conquered death through Your Resurrection. Evil lost its hold and was destroyed in the presence of Good. Keep your Resurrection ever before my eyes as the power that overcomes hopelessness and is the generation of Life. Keep me focused on the Empty Tomb that is found every day that I choose to live, hope, and love. Amen.

Want More? Try this week’s Next Step “War Protest: Opportunity Eclipsed” 

One more temptation

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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.

Manageable Balance

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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

It’s right here

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Armodoxy for Today: Negate the Negative

Immediately after the Resurrection of Christ, Scripture tells us that Jesus appeared to the disciples “Over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.” (Acts 1)

The Kingdom of God is often thought of as something or some place that is accessible only after we pass from this life. Jesus refers to the Kingdom as something accessible in the here and now. “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” was a message John the Baptist heralded even before Christ’s baptism. It was enacted by Christ and the active Church today.

Access to the Kingdom is available for everyone. The condition is to live a life of love demonstrated by action. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom predicated on our actions of readiness and good deeds. Standards of goodness have no limits for Jesus, as is demonstrated in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). Even more, non-action is grounds for expulsion from the Kingdom.

We read: Then the King will say to those on His left…, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed… for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’  Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ … He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

The world we live in is real. The problems that plague it are under our control. We are the agents of Christ. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, happens with our involvement. You can’t close yourself off from the suffering in the world.

We pray, St. Nersess Shnorhali’s 9th hour of prayer, All-provident Lord, place a guard before my eyes, so that I may not look lustfully, before my ears, not to delight in hearing evil discourses, before my mouth, not to speak falsehood,  before my heart, not to think of wickedness, before my hands, not to commit injustice, before my feet, not to walk on the paths of righteousness;  rather, guide my motives, that they may be according to all your commandments. Amen.

Cover: Once you see it, it’s impossible to not see it. (Quite literally too!)

The Bread at Emmaus

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Armodoxy for Today: A Special Meal

Following the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to many people, according to the gospel narratives. On one occasion, according to the Gospel of Luke (chapter 24), a couple of Jesus’ followers were on the road to Emmaus, a village about 7 miles out of Jerusalem. Jesus approached them, but they did not recognize him. The Gospel says, their eyes were restrained.

They strike up a conversation with Jesus, who is a stranger in their eyes. During their walk to Emmaus, Jesus speaks of the prophets and the law, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

In the evening, these men invite Jesus to stay with them. And then something very special happens. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him…

Yes, very early in Christian history, only days after the Resurrection, the breaking of bread – the community meal – was already established as the action of the Christian gathering. Jesus quoted scripture, spoke of the law and prophets, but they did not recognize him until he broke the bread.

That special meal takes place every Sunday in the Armenian Church. It is the sacred Divine Liturgy, which in Armenian is called, Holy Badarak, that is, the Holy Sacrifice.

The Prayer today is a hymn of the Armenian Church Badarak:

Christ is sacrificed and distributed among us. His Body he gives us for food, and his holy Blood he sprinkles as drops of water for us. Draw near to the Lord and take the light. Taste and see that the Lord is sweet. Praise the Lord in the heavens. Praise him in the heights. Praise him, all his angels. Amen.

Cover Photo: 2023 Luna & Gregory Beylerian

Beyond Belief: April 24

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Armodoxy for Today: Beyond Belief, April 24, or another way of looking

Meet Father Khoren Hampartzoumian. He was a priest who served the Armenian Church in Sepastia, Western Armenia. During the Armenian Genocide he was mocked and ridiculed for his Christian beliefs by the Turks. He was dragged out onto the church’s courtyard where they placed a dog in his lap and order him to “baptize” the dog as a show of their distain for Christ and the Christian faith that Fr. Khoren proclaimed. When the good priest refused to do so, they killed him in a public execution by flaying him, that is, taking his skin off of his bones.

Fr. Khoren, is one of one-and-a-half martyrs of the Armenian Genocide who the Armenian Church canonized as saints of the Church. On April 24, we remember the saints and ask for their intercession in our prayers. Saint Khoren is one of over 1,200 saints whose martyrdom is recorde by a scribe named Teotig in a book published in 1922 called “Golgatha of the Armenian Clergy.” These barbaric stories are not merely murder, they are expressions of hatred and intolerance to the nth degree, manifesting in the phenomenon called Genocide.

In 2006, I visited a camp in Rwanda set up for widows and orphans. I met with 200 widows who had survived the Rwandan Genocide a decade earlier. When I inquired how they survived I was told they were allowed to live because they were infected with HIV-AIDS, and as such they were vital to the cause of extermination, by infecting others. I understood – and I’m sure now you understand – why Genocide is called a crime against humanity. This is not mere hatred, it’s amplified beyond imagination.

Today, in Artsakh, also referred to as Nagorna Kharabagh – a small areas of Armenia that was taken by force by Azerbaijan, churches and cathedrals – sacred spaces where Christ’s precious body and blood is distributed for redemption – are being destroyed, imploded, torn apart.

These examples, whether Fr. Khoren, the Rwandan widows or the churches in Artsakh I shared with you to accent the extreme extent of hatred and intolerance. These examples are beyond belief. They are manifestations of pure evil – extreme examples of hatred, intolerance, contempt, hostility – amplified and multiplied beyond human reasoning.

The answer to these crimes must equally be beyond human reasoning. The answer has to defy human logic. That’s what Armodoxy is all about, and what we teach. Follow the extreme example of Love and Forgiveness as taught by Jesus Christ.

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

That’s right. It’s beyond logic, but it’s our only hope as civilization. Not guns, not politicians or negotiators, but an understanding that we are all children of One God and that God is defined by Love.

From our Lord Jesus Christ,

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5)

Filtering the Ceasar Noise

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Armodoxy for Today: Filtering the Noise

This week we have been examining Christ’s admonition to Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, what belongs to God to God. I took some time with this passage to show the absurdity of trying to attach more meaning to the words of Christ, than what he initially intended. In the case of taxes, he said, give to the government what belongs to it. He did not set a blanket policy to exclude ourselves for governance nor to hand over humanitarian pursuits to politicians.

Give to God, what is God’s. And so, give the precious life that God has given to you, back to God by committing to be compassionate and caring to those in need.

I selected this topic intentionally during this week of April because on April 24 the Armenian Genocide is remembered. One and a half million Armenians were barbarically slaughter from 1915 to 1922. An attempt was made in 1915 to, in today’s parlance, “wipe out an entire civilization.” And the plot continues today with new strikes against Armenians and Armenian historic monuments in an area called Artsakh as the same perpetrator of Genocide of 1915 is even more emboldened thanks to the politics and politicians of today.

In 1915, Armenians rendered unto Ceasar in an appeal for assistance, with only shattered dreams and broken promises in the end. And ever since, even today, the Ceasar-card attracts the masses and they play it. Check the local demonstration near you and chances are you will find, like this in my area, a stage filled with ineffective or retired politicians, dismissed military men, and for show a defrocked priests show. This time, in my area, even a priest impersonator is invited to share the podium, which makes a mockery of this horrid and evil page of human history. Of course I resent it. These are my people. My grandparents went through that reality and now they are turning into a circus with freak acts and mockery.

Giving to God is to find the humanity in helping and tending to the hurting souls of our world. Commemorating a Genocide from over 100 years ago can only properly be expressed in the actions of helping and others who are suffering the same. Today, the sound of children and people crying from under bombs, bullets and rubble are the expressions despair and further violence for the next century as reflections of their shattered life.

We will continue tomorrow with some positive directions moving forward. Let us pray, Heavenly Father, You have bestowed life in me. Help me to filter the noise of nonsense so I may hear the cries of those who call out to me. Amen.

God’s is Humanity

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Armodoxy for Today: God’s is Humanity

Rendering unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and unto God what is God’s, makes for a nice and convenient escape from world problems and situations. Recently, while commenting on the devastation in Gaza and the famine that became a product of the attacks, I was interrupted by a self-appointed watch-dog of such matters, claiming that Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians was in the hands of the politicians. “Remember,” he told me, “Jesus told us to Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s…”

Ah yes, we’ve heard that many a-time. It’s a convenient cop-out. Don’t mess with the horrors of society… there’s nothing that can be done… suffice it, that we should pray, for an end to war and more… It’s very convenient: Let the politicians and the government they represent deal with it.

Perhaps it’s a bit too convenient, because if you want to go that route, then go the entire way: Render unto God what is God’s! That’s right. God’s is the humanitarian heart. In Jesus’ words, “… To proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, heal the brokenhearted, grant recovery of sight for the blind, and set the oppressed free… (Luke 4:18)

You see, rendering unto Ceaser is not an escape clause. Quite the opposite, it’s taking responsibility by rendering unto God. It’s a humanitarian issue! God is love. God is compassion. And we, the Church established by Christ, are called to be the agent for change, to be love, to be compassion. War, famine, hatred, division are not political issues, they are humanitarian issues, pure and simple.

We pray, Lord Jesus Christ, you taught us to see the face of God in everyone. You taught us to be the hands, legs, and mouth of God. Fill us with your compassion to reach out and tend to the hurting of our world. Amen.

Buttered Hypocrisy

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Armodoxy for Today: Buttered hypocrisy

Rendering unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and unto God what is God’s, is where we left off yesterday. With fervent zeal and a need to separate the sacred from the profane, many people are quick to blurt out these words in an attempt distance themselves from unholiness politician, be he Ceasar or a member of City Council. And then, they stumble (literally) upon the Parable of the Dishonest Steward and hear the words of Christ pointing to the need use the tools of the world to deal with people of this world. Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. (Luke 16)

In the passage leading up to the separation of Ceaser’s belonging from God’s, we see that the religious elite of Jesus’ time were trying to trap him, and they were doing so by “buttering him up.” Listen to the words leading up to the questioning:

“Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” This was probably Jesus’ first tip-off that a stinger was to follow.  They asked, “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

Mark writes, “Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’  (Mark 12)

Spreading the butter – thick or thin – means giving a person excessive praise, flattery, or compliments in order to get something from them — a favor, approval, leniency, or a better outcome.

It’s not just being nice. It’s being strategically nice. This is where hypocrisy sprouts.

Yes, they used simple ego stroking to manipulate and trap Jesus. He didn’t fall into the trap. Think of the strokes, the accolades, the honors and the pedestals that are offered to us. What’s expected in return?

We leave you with this question and  this prayer, Teach me to walk humbly, to listen deeply, and to remember that all good in me comes from You. Amen.