Tag Archive for: apostolic

And Matthias Makes Twelve

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Armodoxy for Today: And Matthias makes twelve

The selection of Pope Leo XIV took place in the weeks following Easter because the Apostolic Seat of St. Peter was vacant following the death of Pope Francis the day after Easter.

Each church tradition has rules and orders by which vacated positions are filled. The world caught a glimpse of the Roman Catholic tradition with the convocation of the college of cardinals. In the Armenian Church tradition, not only priests, but laity make up the National Ecclesiastical Assembly which selects, again by vote, the person to fill the vacancy of the Catholicos.

The New Testament Book of the Acts of the Apostles chronicles the beginning of the Christian Church following the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The book was written by the same author as the Gospel of St. Luke and can be considered as a “part 2” to the Gospel. The opening verses of the Book of Acts mentions that it is a continuation of Gospel. He writes, “The former account I made… of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen.”

The first chapter of the Book of Acts tells us that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, took his own life, and the remaining Disciples decided it was necessary to fill the vacancy cause by the death of Judas. They prayed and found two men who had been in their midst, in the company of Christ, from the time of Jesus’ Baptism to his Crucifixion.

They prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

More than a bit of trivia, I mention the selection of Matthias so that we understand that the Church which Jesus Christ established, the Apostolic Tradition, has order and structure. It is not a haphazard collection of people who gather based on their interpretation of Scripture. The Apostles took the Gospel message to different nations, so that the Church that was established in Rome by Peter or the one in Armenia by Thaddeus, carries the title of One, Universal, Apostolic, Holy Church. It is in this structure that the message of Jesus Christ was transmitted from the generation to generation and reaches us today.

We prayer, from an Orthodox prayer book, Be Mindful, O Lord, of Thy Holy, Universal and Apostolic Church; confirm and strengthen her, increase her and keep her in peace, and preserve her unconquerable forever. Amen.

Detour to Noravank?

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Armodoxy for Today: Unnecessary Detour

From our “consider the source” department I share with you a story from a friend of mine, Aram, who just returned from Armenia.

Aram likes to spend time in Armenia reconnecting to his roots. One of his favorite spots to visit is Noravank, a 13th century monastery, about 70 miles (112 km) outside of Yerevan. It is a favorite spot for tourists for a variety of reasons, among them being the aesthetic beauty it projects, with the sharp lines of the monastery building and its domes contrasted against the jagged peaks that surround it.

The road from Yerevan to Noravank is fairly easy and straight forward. Aram had driven the route many times but still, he punched the coordinates into his phone’s navigator and off they went. On the road Google maps directed him to pull off the main highway and take a route that would add another couple of hours to this trip. He ignored the navigator at first, but as he continued the directions were popping on the screen to pull off and detour. He pulled over and looked at the Google map. It was taking him to Noravank in a direction that went around the monastery and brought him to the other side. His intuition and better senses told him to stay on the road.

He arrived at the destination without any problem, but in the last few miles of the trip, Google maps had identified the area as belonging to Azerbaijan! He was being warned that he was entering another country and should detour. In other words, Google defined the borders of Armenia and turned over this land to Azeri hands under its own decision. An unexperienced driver would have gone around for fear of entering hostile territory. Think of all of the research and papers that are written with this faulty information. Think of how much power we have vested corporations such as Google that it has the audacity to define the borders of a country!

We learned of changes made to Saroyan’s writings after his death. Today we see changes made while the country is alive. How careful we must be when listening to words and directions from so-called experts in the field, especially from an info/data giant such as Google.

When someone says this is what Christianity is, or that is what Jesus said, consider the source. Who is giving you this information? What is their motive for telling you? The term “apostolic” by definition means the source of Christianity is the original source, that is, from the Apostles themselves, Jesus’ inner circle. And so the title, Armenian Apostolic Church, is given because Thaddeus and Bartholomew, from Jesus’ inner circle, came to Armenia in the 4th Decade A.D. to spread the Gospel.

We pray, Through the intercession of the Beloved Disciples, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the first Enlighteners of Armenia, we pray that we be guided by the Spirit to seek truth and peace always. Amen.

Cover Photo: Noravank, 2023 Luna & Gregory Beylerian

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Deciding to Laugh

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Armodoxy for Today: Deciding to laugh

Like most people, you and I laugh at things that are truly funny. What may be funny to me may not be humorous to you and vice versa. And no matter how much we try to tell one another that there is humor in a joke or situation, at the end of the day, it’s our decision to laugh or not. Of course, spontaneous laughter rather than deciding to laugh is the genuine form of expressing joy.

In 1950, canned laughter was introduced to help the public feel more comfortable with the new medium of television. Actors would say their lines, and according to the judgement of someone in the production staff, laughter was added at the end of the line to prompt the audience to follow the cue of laughing. Later canned applause was added to the reaction options and this tradition continues to this day.

Pay attention to the audience – look closely at the audience of talk shows – late night or the daytime variety – and game shows and you will notice that there is no one yelling, screaming or shouting out cat calls as they introduce the host or show a prize. These sound effects are added by the producer of the show to let the audience – both those in studio as well as those watching – know that this is a moment that is worthy of applause or laughter, according to his or her standards.

After decades of this tradition, it is now a given practice to have a laugh or applause tracks added to our entertainment, so much so that we have forgotten that we are being prompted to express ourselves according to someone else’s standards of humor, of acceptance and of gratitude. It is played in the back ground and we follow the prompts to go along for the ride.

In many ways our Faith is prompted by the background cues that we receive. We go along with the flow to believe what is being preached to us is the only acceptable variant of Christianity. The laugh and applause track come in  the form of social pressure and the majority-rules philosophy. Most ideas of Christianity in the West are shaped by the loudest voices that become the prompt for us to follow along, to add our voice to the acceptance track.

Armodoxy is here to attest to the oldest form of Christianity, before applause tracks were added, so to speak. Jesus was not a separatist; he was not an elitist. He challenged us to rise from our humanity and touch the divine. It was not a popular way of life, but it was, and is, fulfilling for the individual practitioner. He advocated for a community, where we lived with, and for, each other. He eschewed materialism and preached a path of spiritual wealth through the practice of love, forgiveness and exercising compassion. Think about it. Jesus’ message was so pure and profound that we don’t need an applause or cheer track to tell us it is great. We know it because it speaks directly to our heart and our being, and those are places that cannot be fooled or swayed to believe. We exclaim that we believe with an Amen.

We pray a prayer from St. Nersess the Gracefilled, Guardian of All, Christ, let your right hand shelter me by day and by night, while at home and while away, while awake and while asleep so that I may never fall. Have mercy on me. Amen.

Unnecessary Detour to Noravank

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Armodoxy for Today: Unnecessary Detour

From our “consider the source” department I share with you a story from a friend of mine, Aram, who just returned from Armenia.

Aram likes to spend time in Armenia reconnecting to his roots. One of his favorite spots to visit is Noravank, a 13th century monastery, about 70 miles (112 km) outside of Yerevan. It is a favorite spot for tourists for a variety of reasons, among them being the aesthetic beauty it projects, with the sharp lines of the monastery building and its domes contrasted against the jagged peaks that surround it.

The road from Yerevan to Noravank is fairly easy and straight forward. Aram had driven the route many times but still, he punched the coordinates into his phone’s navigator and off they went. On the road Google maps directed him to pull off the main highway and take a route that would add another couple of hours to this trip. He ignored the navigator at first, but as he continued the directions were popping on the screen to pull off and detour. He pulled over and looked at the Google map. It was taking him to Noravank in a direction that went around the monastery and brought him to the other side. His intuition and better senses told him to stay on the road.

He arrived at the destination without any problem, but in the last few miles of the trip, Google maps had identified the area as belonging to Azerbaijan! He was being warned that he was entering another country and should detour. In other words, Google defined the borders of Armenia and turned over this land to Azeri hands under its own decision. An unexperienced driver would have gone around for fear of entering hostile territory. Think of all of the research and papers that are written with this faulty information. Think of how much power we have vested corporations such as Google that it has the audacity to define the borders of a country!

We learned of changes made to Saroyan’s writings after his death. Today we see changes made while the country is alive. How careful we must be when listening to words and directions from so-called experts in the field, especially from an info/data giant such as Google.

When someone says this is what Christianity is, or that is what Jesus said, consider the source. Who is giving you this information? What is their motive for telling you? The term “apostolic” by definition means the source of Christianity is the original source, that is, from the Apostles themselves, Jesus’ inner circle. And so the title, Armenian Apostolic Church, is given because Thaddeus and Bartholomew, from Jesus’ inner circle, came to Armenia in the 4th Decade A.D. to spread the Gospel.

We pray, Through the intercession of the Beloved Disciples, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the first Enlighteners of Armenia, we pray that we be guided by the Spirit to seek truth and peace always. Amen.

Cover Photo: Noravank, 2023 Luna & Gregory Beylerian

Mission & Continuity

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Armodoxy for Today

 

Mission & Continuity

Jesus began his ministry in the town of Nazareth. St. Luke the Evangelists records (chapter 4):
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Thus, proclaiming his mission.

When we describe the Armenian Church as “Apostolic” it means we are in a link to the apostles themselves and carry on their mission, which is the mission of Jesus Christ. Today, in our hearing, Jesus has proclaimed His mission. Our mission.

Fossil Uncovers The News

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Next Step with Fr. Vazken #684: “Out of the mouths of babes” comes a question with a profound answer: Life after death for the Christian. Remember Yellow Pages? Claimed as the “original search engine” is also the original pay-to-create news service: Deciphering through some of the religious “competition.” Apostolic vs. Gregorian.
Are all “Brands” the Same?
Nicene Creed
Phonebook visual
iAct
Peter Gabriel on Djivan Gasparyan
The Passion of the Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ movie
Djivan Gasparyan on Armeniapedia
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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