Tag Archive for: Works

In His Shoes: Empathy

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Armodoxy for Today: The Advent Series – In His Shoes/Empathy

The scriptural reading for this particular day comes from the Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 13: Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them — those who are mistreated — since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

We are only a few days from the end of the Advent season and welcoming Theophany. You find that the Church is directing us, with these words, toward a commitment to Faith that is based on empathy. “Unwittingly entertained angels,” is a reference to opening yourself to the plight of the stranger, the foreigner, the immigrant, the refugee in your midst. The “prisoner as if chained with them” is the call to outreach, but to be empathetic to the sufferings of the prisoner. In other words, the call is to do good to others by walking in their shoes, understanding their pain and suffering. Herein is the application of our faith, and certainly an important reminder as we enter the New Year.

To start off the New Year, here is a prayer from the start of the new day, from the Morning Hour of the Armenian Church: We give thanks to You, Lord our God, who with Your light brings joy to all of your creatures, and with the light of Your commandments You have enlightened all those who believe in You. Strengthen us Lord, during this day and at all times, so that with enlightened minds, we may always do that which is pleasing to You, and may arrive at those good things which are to come along with Your saints, with the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Whom is befitting glory, dominion and honor, now and forever. Amen.  

Advent 45-50: I never knew you

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Advent Day 45 of 50: I never knew you

Jesus begins to bring to a close His Sermon on the Mount with yet one more warning to keep us from self-righteous boastfulness. He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

In review, the Sermon on the Mount is about being squared away with God in a manner that calls us to personal responsibility. Over and over again throughout the Sermon we are invite us to a higher calling, and one which was uniquely identified as the Christian imperative. It is not merely a profession of faith, but acting on the faith you profess.

Here, once again, Jesus asks us to be open to personal introspection. Do you call Jesus your “Lord’? The question then is, what does it mean to have Jesus as Lord? In a very polite way Jesus is saying, talk is cheap, instead be the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Introspection begins with the question, what am I doing to be worthy of that Christian descriptor? Do not rush through this question or be overly anxious to justify yourself in an answer. Take your time. Remember, the Advent season is to prepare us for the awesome encounter with the Revelation of God through is Nativity and Baptism.

Let us pray, from the Sunrise Hour of the Armenian Church, Great and almighty God, receive this my prayer and service into Your heavenly spaces. Make Your Light of Righteousness and Wisdom to shine forth upon us and make us children of light and children of day, so that in godliness we may lead our life and live it without offence. For You are our Helper and Savior and to You is befitting glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.

Lenten Journey Day 13 – Foundation

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Day 13: Foundation

Lenten Recipe

Recipe 13: Stir -Fried Asparagus 

Lenten Journey Day 13: Foundation

The Saturdays of Lent give us a chance to contemplate faith in action by celebrating the lives of the saints. As we learned last week, Orthodox tradition, and therefore the Armenian Church, looks to the saints as examples of living life with purpose and in the path of Christ. Saints are never worship. Each of them are people just like us. In their humanity, they were able to rise to the occasion, usually through selfless sacrifice, and they express their love in unique ways.
 
A group of saints are remembered as the Armenian Church remembers the Church Fathers of the Council of Constantinople. Modern day Istanbul was once named after the great Emperor Constantine who had convened the original council of Nicea, known for the formulation of the Creed which formalized and gave a foundation to the Christian Faith. During the early centuries, the exact definition of Christianity was under dispute.  Groups were raising questions about the Nature of Christ and Person of Jesus. The Council of Constantinople was called in the year 381 to address these issues. At this Council the definition of the Holy Spirit as preceding from the Father and being equal to the Father was articulated.
 
The early Church Councils gave structure to the Church and the Christian Faith. We are mindful that today we are in this Lenten Journey. While the history and the teachings of these Councils fill volumes and speak to generations, today we will look at the Councils by way of reflection. How do they talk to us today? What do they tell us that fills another footstep in our Lenten Journey?  Remembering the Councils reminds us that there needs to be a solid foundation on which to build life and that life itself has structure. Our life is made up of our actions and those actions are triggered and motivated by our faith. The stronger the foundation, the more structure we find in our life.
 
The Apostle James writes that faith without works is useless. So many times we are challenged to really put our faith into action. At those moments we realize that only by virtue of our actions does our faith have meaning. That is, our faith has value and structure by because of our actions. Conversely, works without faith lead to a nebulous understanding of our purpose within the entire framework of life.
 
This balancing act between faith and works is usually defined in logical terms. Now, let us understand the same by grasping it with our heart.  St. Neress Shnorhali in the 9th hour of his prayer, “In Confess with Faith” places the center of our thought in the heart and nowhere else. When we think and act according to the principles set forth in our brain, we are acting by reason, based on the wisdom that we have acquired through life. While this is very important in practical life, the Christian needs to excel in the area of dreaming – to dream of the impossible dreams.
 
When you think and act according to your heart, then and  there you understand that your movements and actions are based on the passions you have inside of you. This is the faith that can move mountains. Think with your heart and not with your brain when it comes to doing the impossible.
 
On Calvary Jesus did the impossible. He forgave of people who had betrayed and handed Him over to death. He forgave the people who were nailing Him to the tree. He forgave the generations of people that had ignored the pleas for peace, disregarded the expressions of love and were paying back love with hatred. Jesus did the impossible. He forgave with His Heart. Likewise, when we think of all the actions that are demanded of us as Christians, rise to the higher occasion. Push yourself, particularly during this Lenten Season, to look for those opportunities to find the truth that is beyond reason.  Pay back everyone with love. To offer kindness to those who are kind to you, is only human. To pay back evil and hatred with kindness and love is surely divine. In this state, we come to find that our actions are built on a solid and strong foundation.
 
Our Faith is built on the same Foundation on which the Early Church structured itself. The Foundation is Jesus Christ, that is Love incarnate. When faith is based on love, we  have the ability to open our heart to impossible possibilities. They are all around us.
 
God is calling you during this Lenten Season to do the impossible and build your actions on Christ. Pay back hatred with kindness and evil with love. If you think about it, whatever your goals may be you can reach those goals – you can make impossible goals possible – when you put love as the center piece of your heart, your life and all of the actions that you take.
 
Let us now offer a prayer from St. Nerses Shnorhali:(Dedicated to the Holy Spirit)
Spirit of God, true God, who descended into the Jordan and into the upper chamber and who enlightened me by baptism in the Holy font, I have sinned before Heaven and before You. Cleanse me with Your Divine Fire as You purified the Holy Apostle with fiery tongues. Have mercy upon me and a great sinner. Amen.