Tag Archive for: grapeblessing

Appealing to the Supernatural

Armodoxy for Today: Appealing to the Supernatural

A wildfire in Hawaii, one of the largest natural disasters in American history, has devastated the landscape and wreaked havoc on the lives of the inhabitants of Maui’s Lahaina district. The war in Ukraine continues almost a year and a half since it started with more and more weapons and armor being sent to the country. And in a small, remote part of the world, a land known as Artsakh, but unknown to most the world, a blockade of food and medicine threatens the population. Because the population is overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian, and because the ruling Azerbaijan government has sanctioned the blockade, this action is genocidal, that is, the government has decided to annihilate the population of Armenians there.

Over the weekend, the Armenian Church celebrated the Assumption of the Asdvadzadzin, the Holy Mother of God, and officiated at the traditional grapeblessing service. I shared with you my personal frustration with the Church that didn’t make the connection between the supernatural events in the Blessed Mother’s life and the supernatural response that we need to seek for the difficulties we face. This is a continuation of this theme of messages.

If we believe the stories of supernatural occurrences, such as the Virgin Birth, why do we hesitate to seek the supernatural assistance that we need to overcome our problems? As we discussed last week, Albert Einstein, among the most prominent within the scientific community speaks about the need mystery and awe, acknowledging reality beyond our five senses. And, we in the Christian community acknowledge life beyond the temporal. So why are we hesitant, at the very least, to include supernatural solutions?

One of the key reasons for grapeblessing is that opens the door for the possibility of something more than us. The grapeblessing service in the Armenian Church has to do with bringing the first-fruits of the community to be blessed. In so doing, the person (in this case the farmer) acknowledges that there is a source for the goodness s/he enjoys, that is the One who is thanked. The grapeblessing takes attention off of ourselves shifting it onto something greater. Whether you call that God, nature, the weather system, the seasonal rotation of the planets, it acknowledges that some of life’s occurrences are beyond our control and beyond our care. Also, the ego becomes deflated, because the grapes, the harvest or our product is dependent on much more than the self.

In fact, one of the most important reasons to be involved in a church community is because we understand that our life is dependent on so many others. Each of us is part of the network of life, and, like it or not, no one is indispensable.

We will stop here today, only to continue tomorrow. Our lives as people is defined in the relationships we have with others, even if the relationship are with the natural phenomena that sustain us.

We conclude with this passage from Ephesians (5:18-21). Listen attentively to these instructions, And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Connection to Tragedy

Armodoxy for Today: Connection

We just celebrated the Assumption of the Holy Asdvadzadzin. In our last message, I spoke about the connection between the grapes and the Blessed Mother. Even more, we cited the passage from the Gospel of St. John about the Jesus being the vine, the Father the vinedresser and we, the branches, are called to bear fruit.

In traditional churches such as the Armenian Church, it is easy to lose the connection between these celebrations and the purpose of these celebrations. Every celebration, every feast, every event, in the Armenian Church has to point to Jesus Christ. Without Christ, these stories are only a part of a history which may be interesting but bear no connection to “the vine.”  In other words, they are irrelevant to the lives we lead.

This past week, the blockade in Artsakh continued. Here in Southern California hundreds of protesters took to the Los Angeles freeways, stopping traffic, demanding attention to the plight of the Armenians in the Artsakh, who are now facing another genocide. Meanwhile, the Armenian Churches celebrated the Assumption of St. Mary, with grape blessing ceremonies and people flocked to those churches to taste the fruit of the vine, without understanding the implications such as ceremony and story have on their lives.

St. Mary, who is revered as the Queen of Saints, and whose icon adorns the altars of Armenian Churches from Armenia to Los Angeles, to New Zealand and India, is an example of humanity elevating to godliness. St. Mary’s greatest action in life was that she said, “Yes” to God. “I am the servant of the Lord.” With that yes, she took on bearing Christ in this world.

The sad reality was too unnerving this past weekend and church after church offered commemorations of the Assumption and performed grape blessings without a connection to the reality that is unspeakable – a reality, Armenians have promised, “never again” and today find themselves begging others to the resolve for them.

The “Yes” that St. Mary said to the Lord is the example she lays for each of us. We read in the Luke chapter 1 that she is asked to bear Jesus. The consequences for pregnancy without marriage in those days was death by stoning. She asks, “How can this be, she has never known a man.” And the reply is, “Nothing is impossible for God.” She said Yes to God in the face of the death.

Today, the struggle in Artsakh requires extra ordinary, supernatural resolution. We know this, and yet we continue to appeal to governments that could care less about a group called Armenians. The only people who will care about this group is the Armenians and we have the power to do something. God has asked us to bear Christ, just as He asked St. Mary. We have not tried this option, if we had we would not be blocking freeways and protesting in foreign lands. The protest would take place in Azerbaijan.

In Yerevan, Zinvori Tun (the Soldiers’ Home), stands as a testament to the ugliness of war. Soldiers in the 2020 war were young children. They were killed and those who lived are in immense need of physical and psychological recovery. Our In His Shoes ministry has been supportive of these recovery efforts. Earlier this summer we visited the Home and saw first-hand the recovery effort. At the entrance of Zinvori Tun is a room which houses a khatchkar (Armenian Cross Stone). The president of the home, Haykuhi Minasyan, explained that the work they are doing for these “soldiers” is beyond human powers, and the khatchkar is placed as a reminder that their work is possible only with a prayer and God’s assistance.

This is the connection that we must receive from the Church, and if we don’t, then all of our efforts are futile and in vain. History shows us that we have to rely on our own resources and those resources accented by God are a powerhouse. Our smallest efforts are magnified with God.

This week, in the shadow of the Assumption, I’ll be sharing the connection of St. Mary’s Yes, and the grapeblessing to our real world problems. Join me, on these Armodoxy for Today sessions.

The reading today is from Luke chapter 1, the annunciation, “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. For with God nothing will be impossible.

Then Mary said, “Behold the servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Cover Photo: khatchkar at Zivori Tun

St. Mary and the Grape Connection

Armodoxy for Today: St. Mary and the Grape Connection

My grandmother was one of four sisters. She was the oldest. Her name was Marie, a derivative of Mary. Her sister’s names were Lousaper (the Light-bearer), Srpuhi (the Holy One) and Diruhi (The Lady, as in the feminine of Lord). These names were names attributed to St. Mary. No other saint is revered as much as St. Mary by Armenians, and the fact that in one family, four daughters are named after the blessed Mother is a testament to the respect and devotion she has had among the people.

St. Mary is referred to as the Asdvadzadzin which means the bearer of God, referring to her unique position of giving birth to Jesus, the Son of God. While the traditional churches celebrate the Assumption of St. Mary, only the Armenian Church has the unique tradition of the blessings grapes on that day.

My grandmother would recall how the first-fruits, the best fruits, were taken to the church on that day for a special blessing. The offering of the fruits was a gesture of thanksgiving, thanking God for the blessings He has bestowed upon the people, the temperance of weather, the fertility of the soil and the abundance of sunshine which yield the grapes. In fact, she would add that the townspeople would not eat the fruit of the vine until they were blessed on this day.

One of the reasons given for the connection between St. Mary and the grapes is that grapes can be propagated without seed, alluding to the virgin birth. But the best reason comes from Christ himself who sets up this analogy, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:1-4)

As always, Christ’s metaphors are simple and to the point. In this case the metaphor points to productivity. It is impossible to bear fruit without being connected to the vine. The life of a Christian is completely dependent on an unfaltering connection to Christ himself. Jesus presents the picture of the vine, the branches, and the fruit. And the operative is God the Father who prunes the branches. Just as the soil, weather and sunlight are necessary for delicious and juicy grapes, so too, our connection to Jesus the Vine is necessary for our lives to be flavorful and beautiful.

The grape blessing service is a call to productivity. God gives us a world and we are the stewards of this beautiful life. Armodoxy attests that Christianity is not an escape from this world to another, but the importance being the agents that make Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Let us pray. This is from the grape blessing prayer that is offered on the feast of Assumption,  Bless, O Lord, the grapes. May we enjoy that which You have created in this world and grant that we may be worthy to eat and drink with You from the bounty of Your most fruitful vine at the table of Your Father’s Kingdom, according to the just promise which You made, to the honor and glory of Your coexisting Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the most Holy Spirit to whom is due glory, power, and honor, now and forever. Amen.

And it doesn’t end here…

Stiff Neck Bible Phenomena

Next Step #636: Politics and politicians describe an economy which delivers money by which consumers can buy goods and services, including Bibles. The inter-connectivity of just about everything. Finding Truth beyond the facts and accounting for time and place of evolution, e.g. The aim of Gospel messages. After Christ’s temptations and the last one – a revisit of the film, story and controversy. Jesus, Widows and Orphans: Not playing by the rules. Beirut and the Grapeblessing service.
Refuse by the Zela Margossian Quintet
Songs for our Soldiers Concert – Sydney Australia ACYA
Donate to the Cause: E-transfer to Armenian Church Council of Aust. NSW BSB: 032 297 Account No: 323236
Last Temptation of Christ, Fr. Vazken 1988
GrapeBlessing in the Armenian Church (AC101)
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WD168 for Week of 8/13/2020
Cover – Wooden Gospel cover with Reflection, Fr. Vazken 2014 Madenataran, Yerevan, Armenia
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Boldness in Flavor and Action

Next Step #479: A wrong grave site and a wrong head stone lead into a discussion on faith and religion – the non-science of the day. Grapeblessing and the Asdvadzadzin – Fr. Vazken reveals a message that is lost in the vines: revealed through the passages of the day.
“We Used to Bach” Ian Anderson www.JethroTull.com
We Used to Know 29 Years Later” blog by Fr. Vazken
AC101 on Grapeblessing
Bible Study on productivity (8/7/17)
Engineered by Ken Nalik
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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Look for The Next Step on blubrry.com
Listen via Stitcher Radio on demand!