In the not-so-distance past, in a time before cell companies offered unlimited calling plans, the connection between two telephones cost money. The farther the distance between two points – between two callers – the higher the price of the call.
AT&T, which was once generically known as the phone company, kept statistics of calling patterns. The most telephone calls made were on Mother’s Day. And on Father’s Day, they reported the most collect calls were made! A collect call was one in which the charges were reversed from the caller to the called number. An interesting statistic which offers a look at the changing times, in many ways, including phone calls and gender roles.
On the second Sunday of May, we celebrate Mother’s Day in the United States. A beautiful tradition, indeed. The Hallmark greeting-card company offers us another tidbit of information that Mother’s Day ranks third in the number of cards sent in the US, and ranks number one for card exchange in the Hispanic community. Some cynically will point to Hallmark as fabricating this celebration, for profit motives.
The Church had a day on its calendar, from the early centuries, known at “Mothering Day.” On that day people would visit the church where they were baptized. There they would offer gifts of flowers, candles and incense to their spiritual mother, the Holy Church.
The font of baptism is known as the womb of the Church. We are “born again” from this womb to our Mother, the Holy Church. This is based on the scriptural exchange twixt Jesus and a man named Nicodemus who questioned, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3)
Today we pray, Lord our God, we thank you for the blessing of motherhood. We remember the mothers that have nourished us and led us in paths that bring us closer to You. Keep us ever respectful of all mothers especially our Holy Mother Church which has renewed us in a new life in Christ. Amen.
https://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMAG0637-scaled.jpg25312560Vazken Movsesianhttps://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/final_logo_large_for_epostle_web-300x189.pngVazken Movsesian2024-05-13 00:01:352024-05-12 19:52:08A Second Womb
One evening in the life of our Lord Jesus, he was approached by a man named Nicodemus who seemingly complimented him. According to the Gospel of St. John, Nicodemus said to Jesus, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus responds to Nicodemus in a rather awkward and unusual manner. Ordinarily you would expect the answer to such a compliment to be a kind thanks, or at the very least an acknowledgement. Instead, Jesus turns to Nicodemus and gives him a qualifier. He said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
These words, “being born again” can be translated in few ways. Literally, they mean to be “born from above” but it also implies renewal. Jesus’ words mean to be born from above, to be born anew, to be born again. No matter how we twist it, no matter how we say it, Jesus demands from us a new beginning for our lives.
Throughout this Lenten season we’ve been challenges in many ways to discover truths about ourselves, so that at the end of the 40 days, we are truly born again, that is, we are born anew, fresh, from above.
Being born again is not limited to one time event in our lives. Nicodemus turns to Jesus and says, “How could this be? How could this possibly be when a man is old, can he enter for a second time into his mother’s womb to be born again?”
Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus is referring to baptism by saying to be born from the water and the spirit. This new birth is from our new mother, the Holy Church. The holy font (baptism basin) is the womb of that mother – the womb of the Church.
Beyond the sacrament of Baptism, throughout our life – that time that God gives us – we are granted many opportunities when we experience a re-awakening of our senses and our being. Certainly, this Lenten Journey is one such experience where we have put the ego on a shelf, where we have put many of our desires on hold so that we can understand ourselves and the spiritual being within, experiencing a new birth. The Christian has an opportunity to be born again and again and again. Baptism is the entry point to a new life in Christ, but it does not end when the water has dried off. In fact, it has only just begun. The Christian is challenged to find that newness. Being born again is really a revelation from above. It is an opportunity to be born anew, to a life that is full of love and understanding, not only of ourselves but for the people around us for our environment, certainly for the world.
The Christian is invited to a new life in Christ. That Christian journey is a long and beautiful one, but many times as life hits us with difficulties which cause us to deviate from the path. During Lent we stand back and notice our deviation and have an opportunity to get back on that road. Lent is about recovering the lost ground and in concluding this Lenten Journey, on its final days of this walk, we understand that the born again experience is really something we need to welcome in our lives.
The challenges of life dull our senses to the beauty that is all around us. We need to welcome the experience as an essential part of the re-creative process of life. The word recreation, to “re-create” ourselves begins with communion with God. The Holy Eucharist is the new born again experience for every Christian. Because in the Holy Eucharist we walk with Christ, we talk with Christ, we taste Christ, we enjoy Christ. That is, we are born again into a new life that is born from above, that is born anew and we see that no matter how we express it there is a new generation and a new birth for each of us.
Here is an opportunity at the end of this Lenten period for us to walk out into a new life with Christ. It is a life that has been ordained by God, one that has been sanctioned and sanctified by God, one that has been demanded by God! We walk with Christ. Plainly, we walk in the path of love, harmony and peace.
Let us pray: Guide us O Lord our God and teach us to walk in your paths of righteousness. Keep our lives in peace and our ways pleasing in your sight. Guide us, your servants, on our earthly and heavenly course. May we stay on the path of purity as directed by Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the hope of our salvation, with whom you are blessed O Father Almighty, together with the life-giving and liberating Holy Spirit now and forever, to the end of the ages. Amen.
https://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/George-Baptism-033a.jpg245272Vazken Movsesianhttps://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/final_logo_large_for_epostle_web-300x189.pngVazken Movsesian2024-03-19 00:01:392024-03-18 22:35:30Born Again – Lent Day 37
One evening in the life of our Lord Jesus, he was approached by a man named Nicodemus who seemingly complimented him. According to the Gospel of St. John, Nicodemus said to Jesus, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus responds to Nicodemus in a rather awkward and unusual manner. Ordinarily you would expect the answer to such a compliment to be a kind thanks, or at the very least an acknowledgement. Instead Jesus turns to Nicodemus and gives him a qualifier. He said, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
These words, “being born again” can be translated in few ways. Literally, they mean to be “born from above” but it also implies renewal. Jesus’ words mean to be born from above, to be born anew, to be born again. No matter how we twist it, no matter how we say it Jesus demands from us a new beginning for our lives.
Throughout this Lenten season we’ve been challenges in many ways to discover truths about ourselves, so that at the end of the 40 days, we are truly born again, that is, we are born anew, fresh, from above.
Being born again is not limited to one time event in our lives. Nicodemus turns to Jesus and says, “How could this be? How could this possibly be when a man is old, can he enter for a second time into his mother’s womb to be born again?”
Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus is referring to baptism by saying to be born from the water and the spirit. This new birth is from our new mother, the Holy Church. The holy font (baptism basin) is the womb of that mother – the womb of the Church.
Beyond the sacraments of Baptism, throughout our life – that time that God gives us – we are granted many opportunities when we experience a re-awakening of our senses and our our being. Certainly this Lenten Journey is one such experience where we have put the ego on a shelf, where we have put many of our desires on hold so that we can understand ourselves and the spiritual being within, experiencing a new birth. The Christian has an opportunity to be born again and again and again. Baptism is the entry point to a new life in Christ, but it does not end when the water has dried off. In fact, it has only just begun. The Christian is challenged to find that newness. Being born again is really a revelation from above. It is an opportunity to be born anew, to a life that is full of love and understanding, not only of ourselves but for the people around us for our environment, certainly for the world.
The Christian is invited to a new life in Christ. That Christian journey is a long and beautiful one, but many times as life hits us with difficulties deviated from the path. During Lent we stand back and notice our deviation and have an opportunity to get back on that road. Lent is about recovering the lost ground and in concluding this Lenten Journey, on its final days of this walk, we understand that the born again experience is really something we need to welcome in our lives.
The challenges of life dull our senses to the beauty that is all around us. We need to welcome the experience as an essential part of the re-creative process of life. The word recreation, to “re- create” ourselves begins with communion with God. The Holy Eucharist is the new born again experience for every Christian. Because in the Holy Eucharist we not only walk with Christ, we talk with Christ, we taste Christ, we enjoy Christ. That is, we are born again into a new life that is born from above, that is born anew and we see that no matter how we express it there is a new generation and a new birth for each of us.
Here is an opportunity at the end of this Lenten period for us to walk out into a new life with Christ. It is a life that has been ordained by God, one that has been sanctioned by God, one that has been demanded by God! We walk with Christ. Plainly, we walk in the path of love, harmony and peace.
Let us pray: Guide us O Lord our God and teach us to walk in your paths of righteousness. Keep our lives in peace and our ways pleasing in your sight. Guide us, your servants, on our earthly and heavenly course. May we say on the path of purity as directed by Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the hope of our salvation, with whom you are blessed O Father Almighty, together with the life-giving and liberating Holy Spirit now and forever, to the end of the ages. Amen.
https://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/George-Baptism-033a.jpg245272Vazken Movsesianhttps://epostle.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/final_logo_large_for_epostle_web-300x189.pngVazken Movsesian2023-03-28 00:01:002023-03-27 22:28:04Lenten Journey Day 37 – Born Again
