Tag Archive for: Armenia

Pope Francis, Another Brother

Armodoxy for Today: Another Brother, Pope Francis

This morning I woke up to the news of Pope Francis’ passing. Thoughts of him at Sunday’s Easter Mass quickly came to my mind. I heard about the Vatican Easter service on my car radio. I was on a long-drive home from the Coachella Valley, where I had celebrated the Easter Liturgy at the St. Garabed Armenian Church.

News of the Vatican service kept me focused on the day’s message of resurrection. The news item was clear that the Pope attended the Easter Mass though the celebrant was one of the Cardinals, the Pope’s representative. The Pope was struggling with health issues and even though his doctors recommended that he get plenty of rest, he did not want to (could not) stay away from the Easter Mass.

Following the service, from his wheelchair, he offered his Easter message. True and consistent to himself and his vows as a priest, he remembered the poor and the marginalized. For my ears, his call for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan was a call that only someone with true commitment and compassion for the cause of peace would dare to reiterate as often as he did.

And now, this morning I was hit by the reality that this voice for peace and compassion had gone silent.

He went out of this life the way he lived it, as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the Resurrection. Neil Young has a line that I especially appreciate, “It’s better to burn out than it is to rust.” The Pope voice would never have rusted.

Back in 2016, Pope Francis visited Armenia in what was billed as “Pilgrimage to the First Christian Nation.” There was a small graphic-patch that was used as an icon on all the broadcasts, a drawing depicting the back of Pope Francis’ and Catholicos Karekin II’s heads. I’ve included it as the cover of today’s message. At the time, on my podcast I referred to their meeting as two brothers reuniting. St. Peter and St. Thaddeus, both lived and breathed with our Lord Jesus Christ. They both were witnesses to the Resurrection. Both of them carried the message of Resurrection to new lands, Peter to Rome and Thaddeus to Armenia. Two thousand years later, their successors, the Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of Ararat, had embraced as brothers.

Pope Francis’ legacy is a great one. He touched people on many levels as he did the soul of this priest. We will continue with more reflections in the days to come. Today, we join our voice with the millions throughout the world in praying for his soul but also praying for the echo of his voice in our world.

O Christ, Son of God, forbearing and compassionate, have mercy upon the soul of Your servant Francis. Be mindful of him on the great day of the coming of Your Kingdom. Number and glorify him in the company of your saints at Your right hand. For you are Lord and Creator of all, judge of the living and the dead. To you is befitting glory and honor. Amen

Kid’s Play: Threats and Safety

Armodoxy for Today: Kid’s Play/Threats and Safety

Armenia is surrounded by hostile neighbors. One wonders, what is life like under the imminent danger of attack and war? We know that existential threats, that is the possibility of extinction of a country and people, is a reality in many parts of the world.

In Armenia, you’ll find a very healthy family life, with young kids playing carefree on the streets to a late hour. The streets are literally filled with life. This is not a cliché but a reality that can be witnessed any night of the week.

We sat in the courtyard of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral in Yerevan. From one side a young man was playing with a drone, piloting it in and through the arms and legs of a 70 foot bronze statue of a horse with St. Vartan Mamikonian riding it. From the other side of the park, young people with arms locked, were laughing about some inside joke. A group of tourists joined the fun by picking up ice cream cones from the local vendor, licking away at vanilla and chocolate swirls. In a skatepark, skaters and razor-riders dared each other with a beautiful display of riding that looked almost as if it were choregraphed.

To borrow a phrase from Ian Anderson, “Skating away on the thin ice of a new day…”

Parents at a distant, confident that their children are fine and safe enjoy one another’s company.

For us, from the United States, we can’t even imagine a similar scenario in America today. Oh, yes, there was a time when carefree went hand-in-hand with youth, but those days are deposited in our memories and sometimes they are jarred from those forgotten spots by a scene from a movie or a shared story. Today fear from within has paralyzed society from enjoying these simple moments, begging the question, what is the difference here or there? Do we not also face imminent danger? Random shooters, child theft and trafficking are the counterparts to planned attack and war. One enemy is the known – we know his whereabout, we see him – while the other enemy is a random occurrence, with the variables of person, place and time unknown. Both elicit fear and pose a threat to life.

The prayer of St. Nersess Shnorhali, from the 15th hour comes to us, Christ, guardian of all, may your right hand protect and shelter me by day and by night, while at home and while away, while asleep and while awake, so I may never fall. Have mercy on all your creatures. Amen.

Ararat Surprise

The Roots of Armodoxy: Ararat

In stark contrast to the wonderful and joyous hospitality you’ll be extended as a tourist in Armenia, is your first encounter with its people, at the small passport control booth as you exit the plane and enter the country. This passport official in that small booth is not interested in chit-chat or idle conversation. Just the facts. A quick look up-and-down, and a few back-and-forths at the documents, and then relief! They have stamped your passport and so you enter into this amazing land of enchantment, dreams and surprises. And the first surprise is in the document that you hold, in your newly stamped passport!

You look at the stamp, that identifies the date of your entry and directly at the top of the stamp is a drawing of a mountain with two peaks, one small and one large. For me, and I assume for many Armenians who have grown up with the double peaks, its recognized as the symbol of the Biblical Mount Ararat. In fact, its so recognizable to Armenians that the element of surprise might escape you.

Mount Ararat is identified in the Bible, Genesis 8:4, as the resting place of Noah’s Ark following the great flood. Whereas Genesis 2:10 locates the Garden of Eden in Armenia, we discover that the second change for the cradle of civilization is once again in Armenia at Mount Ararat.

Armenians are described as the people who inhabit the land at the base of Mount Ararat. Politics being what they are, has the mountain within the borders of Turkey today, but it is the Armenian mountain, so much so, that on this legal document, on this internationally recognized and accepted passport, the symbol of the country is Mount Ararat. Surprised? The root of both the mountain and the people is the same, the “Ar,” just as it is for everything that is essential, such as the sun, “arev.”

Poet Yeghishe Charents proclaims, travel around the world and there is no peek such as Ararat. I’ve been to both sides of Mount Ararat. When seen from the other side, the majesty of the peaks is just not there. Viewed from Yerevan, Armenia, Mount Ararat is overwhelming and grand, like a mother forever present in the life of her children, witnessing the struggles, the pains, the joys and triumphs they experience.

Ararat sets the tone for the journey through this sacred and inspiring land. Here is a small area, occupied by a people who sit at the crossroads of three continents, who have been trampled and bullied by invaders and barbarians. And yet, with no military strategy that weighs on the world theater, this group of people continue to live and prosper, based on a Biblical game-plan, not of floods and disasters, but of resurrection. Armodoxy, brings that game-plan to our lives today. We begin with a visit to this holy land.

For today, we conclude with Psalm 36, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

An Invite Christians Can’t Ignore

Next Step #783 – November 10, 2023 – Why Christians cannot ignore this moment in history. No need to read Revelation, it’s selfevident. Jesus’ message was peace, and it does not fit as an ‘addendum’ to the Old Testament. It is a New message, and a new testament. The challenge from Burmingham: A call and challenge to the Church and Christians everywhere. The appalling stories that demand answers. Genocide in the works: What happens when WWJD evolves to WWJS, WWJK and WWJB? Epostle takes first steps into the metaverse and returns with new programming.
Links:
Must Reading Today: Letter from Burmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr.
Epostle.net Daily Messages
Armodoxy for Today: Saints and the Power Within
Icons on Pushkin
World Vision at the Armenian Church, sermon by Fr. Vazken 11/5/23
“Now and Then” by the Beatles
Cover: Envato Elements
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Charming Children

Armodoxy for Today: Charming children

Yeghishé Charents was the main Armenian poet of the 20th century. He lived and wrote his creations following World War I, the Genocide and into the years of communism in Armenia, and was imprisoned for political reasons. In that gloominess, his poetry reflected the beauty around him, in a small area of land called Armenia.

Charents wrote, “All my life, my impossible aim was to finish a song to charm children.” He wrote these lines on a handkerchief to his friend and fellow poet, Avetik Isahakyan, after hearing a prisoner sing one of Isahakyan’s songs in a neighboring cell.

“Charming children” in the midst of ugliness is more than swelling with optimism or staying positive, it’s recognizing the importance of new life and passing along hope.

Hum the song of the new day to the words that speak to your heart.

Today’s one minute for standard time.

Addendum: The above verses continue with “just as all hearts quicken with the tempo of yours.”

Cover: Children outside the cave, 2023, Fr. Vazken

Hours Later

Next Step #781 – September 21, 2023 – Hours after the cease-fire in Artsakh, people deal with the new reality. Fr. Vazken shares thoughts from the 1988 protests to this day.
CBS News Account
CivilNet Account
Amerikatsi Movie
Armodoxy for Today. Today
AP Source
Leveraging Love
CNSY Living with War
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Looking Out: Interview with Michael Goorjian

Next Step #765 – Michael Goorjian, filmmaker, Emmy award Actor, Director interviewed about his latest film, Amerikatsi. Listen in on a conversation about the movie, acting/directing, life, purpose and much more.
Daily Messages / Good Samaritan Part1, Part2, Part3
Cover: “Looking Out” – Fr. Vazken 2023
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Empath’s Christmas

Next Step with Fr. Vazken #705: Interview with Alina Samuelian of FLY – Freedom Loving Youth, after her recent outreach in Gyumri. Hear this energetic empath give her first-hand account of life and living conditions in areas of the world hit by tragedy. From Syria to Lebanon to Armenia, FLY reaches out to those in need. Here’s their story articulated by a front-line worker. All this, in the context of Jesus and the “Great Banquet”
Christian Giving, Luke 14:12-24
Freedom Loving Youth
Armenian Earthquake 30 years later
2021 Toy Drive
Children’s Memorial
Peacemakers – Gabriel & Katie Jay
Earlier interview in Armenian
Isabel Bayrakdarian
Cover: In Gyumri FLY meets with mother and son

Connecting with FLY
Website
Facebook: Freedom Loving Youth-FLY
Instagram: freedom.loving.youth
YouTube
Venmo account: @fly-freedomlovingyouth
Firewood Fundraiser

Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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Dimensional Fighting

Next Step with Fr. Vazken #702: Fighting, violence and killings in Armenia: The case of the bad neighborhood. Are there spiritual solutions to political and physical problems? The Holy Eucharist comes into focus as US Catholic Bishop issue a statement.
Azerbaijan attacks Armenia
US Catholic Bishops Vote
John Carr’s analysis
Yerevan to Paris: Jazz-Iz-Christ
VOA
Cover: Office of RA Ombudsman, 11/16/21, Armenian Weekly
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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When VR was all we had

Next Step #681: The virtual church, the virtual nation and virtual Armenia existed long before the pandemic forced virtual realities to interact. Looking beyond the politics of the latest election. Caution against throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The “awe” of religion, expressed in numbers and math. The billion-hour phenomena of YouTube. From “Evil Empire” to “Velvet Revolution”.
AP Election News
WD168 this week
Gorbachev US trip cut short
Bishop Sebu: Baptism in a Shack
Encountering Anew: Vazken I
Vazken I visit to America: Anna Movsesian memoires
First Armenian Bulletin Board System
YouTube at 1 billion
Element Band
Cover: NetZero Stained Glass
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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