Tag Archive for: God’s Love

Olympic Prize

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Armodoxy for Today: Olympic Prize

The Olympics are back! Athletes from throughout the world are competing for the gold and silver. Every four years this tradition brings together countries under the umbrella of sportsmanship. The best of the best gather on the world stage and the planet watches.

Years of training and discipline are over in a few minutes. If they are successful they are remembered for a few days, perhaps week or months, until someone does better or sets a new record. And if they are not successful, then they are already forgotten.

There is a healthy atmosphere of competition displayed at the Olympics. However, competition is a double-edged sword because it may be necessary to win the games but it can lead to obsession which stands in the way of the true prize.

The gold and silver are the prizes we seek. The author of Proverbs writes, Take my instruction instead of silver and knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than jewels and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. (8:10)

The true prize that we may be sure of is the prize that never loses value and it is a prize for which we never have to compete. It is God’s love. His love is guaranteed. It never gets old. It cannot be taken away from you. It is the last of the old-fashion freebees of life.

Armodoxy is the proof, the faith of a people, who relied on this awesome power against all the odds, a certainty of God’s love which is unfailing. It is the assurance of resurrection against the odds of crucifixion.

In the spirit of competition that is displayed at the Olympic games, understand that the true prize is God’s love. And then…, ask yourself, does God have to compete for my love? That’s tomorrow.

We pray today from the Armenian Church’s Book of Hours, “You are blessed Almighty Lord, for always accompanying those who call to You with faithful and righteous hearts. We ask You, to lead and guide Your servants on this journey so that we may be grow together with our loved ones in peace. Amen.

In search of 3:16

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Armodoxy for Today: 3:16

We see the numbers here and there, at football games, on the bottom of soft-drink cups, on keychains, on graffiti and bumper stickers: John 3:16. It is so well known in pop culture that just the numbers “3:16” are enough to trigger a response, and act as a suffix on names of people, places and groups. Some call John 3:16 the Gospel in brief. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Indeed, it summarizes the purpose and intent of the Gospel, but thank God, we’ve been given so much more.

During the annual cycle of the Armenian Church, there is only one day on which this passage is read as the Gospel selection of the Divine Liturgy. It falls on this, the third Sunday after Theophany.

The Gospel of John, as you will remember, presented a Nativity narrative different from the traditional narratives that include the virgin birth, visits from angels, the manger, stars, kings, the inn, and the sort. St. John connects us to the very beginning of time. Today we find the other side time continuum, namely the connection to eternity. Listen attentively to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:13-21)

This passage is, in fact, the continuation of the Nativity narrative offered to us by St. John. The message here is timeless. It applies to all times. During the next couple of days we will explore these words in depth. For today, let us pray the prayer of the 16th hour by St. Nersess Shnorhali, O my God, who opens Your hand and fills all things living with Your bounty, to You I commit my soul. Do care for me and provide for the needs of my body and soul forever. Amen.

23i24

Always

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Armodoxy for Today
Always

The Evangelist St. Luke records a most remarkable parable of our Lord Jesus Christ, popularly known as “The Prodigal Son.” You may read the story in its entirety in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke.  At the end of the story, the father, in justifying his action to love, says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31)

Part of the process of self-improvement and the process of introspection is to inventory our assets against our liabilities. Liabilities sometimes overwhelm us to the point that we fail to properly access the assets that we have. One of the greatest discoveries that we can make in our lives is the knowledge that we are always in God’s care and always live in God’s grace. Once this discovery is made, the knowledge of always must be assigned to the top position on the asset column of our life-inventory.

The Psalmist writes today’s prayer, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (27)

Unique in Every Way

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Next Step #113 – August 5, 2010

The War on Terror – does Armenian Orthodoxy have something to offer this war, or is it just about the battles? A look at building a mosque at Ground Zero and Mayor Bloomberg’s comments, “No neighborhood in his city is off limits to God’s love.” Where have we heard that before? Looking at the unique and miraculous events of our life – “The Badarak is a ballet danced with God,” says Fr. Vazken as he focuses on the uniqueness inherent in each person and in our God-relation. “No one has ever gone into heaven” says Jesus and the priest responds, “No one is worthy…” to bring balance to ballet of the Passion Play. St. Mary shares her unique role in history with us.
Song: La Ronde des Lutins, scherzo fantastique for violin & piano, Op. 25, by  Antonio Bazzini; Performed by  Maxim Vengerov (Violin), Itamar Golan [Piano]
Ani’s Bubbles: “The Seven Wonders of the World” (http://scrubsmag.com/author/aniburr/)
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for epostle.net

updated 041821 mm