Clearing the Inner Temple

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Armodoxy for Today: Clearing the Inner Temple

The story of Jesus turning over the tables and clearing the temple of the merchants and moneylenders is an exciting movement in the Gospels. It has all the elements for good theatrics and those theatrics have made it a popular moment in Jesus-flicks. Jesus’ outburst in the Temple has also justified fits of anger, with simple philosophical explanations that even Jesus, the Prince of Peace, could not curtail his anger and so, there are times when we too are justified to do likewise. When? Well, when a rude driver cuts me off on the freeway, when my children disobey me, when a friend says something that offends me, and so on.

In a sense, life is a theater and we see ourselves moving up and down with the frames of the film (yes, even in the digital age, we view life as an analog progression of images moving along a timeline.

Jesus had the moral authority to call out what does not belong in the temple. His call to us is “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7)

As Love Incarnate, as the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus can make the call to clear the house of God of all that does not belong there. However, for us, we are called to clean the first house of God, namely ourselves. In St. Paul’s words, “You are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

We pray, Lord, You who fashioned my soul as a holy dwelling, a living temple shaped by Your hands — enter now into the hidden rooms of my heart. Shine Your light where shadows still linger. Sweep away the dust of old fears, the cobwebs of resentment, the idols I have built from comfort, pride, or desire. Cleanse what has grown stale, heal what has been wounded, restore what has been neglected. Amen.

 

Guards Down

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Armodoxy for Today: Guards Down

The story of the Rich Fool, a parable offered by Jesus and recorded in Luke chapter 12, has always intrigued me because the fool can be any one of us. As Jesus says, the fool in the story is defined as anyone who “stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” My interest in this story (and others like it) stems from the fact that we, the listener of the story – the audience members – exclude ourselves from the punch line category. In this case, we look at others as fools, rather than understanding that the story is intended to warn the fool in all of us.

One of the exercises that is most prominent during the Lenten season which we only recently completed, is that of the practice of introspection. To make self-examination work, we need to put down our guards. When reading the stories or parables of Jesus confronting others, remember Jesus has the moral authority to call out others. Ours is not to point to others and call them the fools, rather, for us place ourselves in the place of the person who builds his wealth in earthy material wealth and abandon the pursuit of higher godly reconciliation, by coming to terms with our mortality, rejecting the material trappings of the world, reaching out to those in need and leaving judgement only to God.

Yes, lowering our guards, allows for God’s free flowing energy to pass through unhindered.

We pray, Lord of Light and Truth, You who breathe life into every soul and call us toward what is eternal — open my heart to grow in Your wisdom. Teach me to desire what cannot be bought, to hunger for compassion more than comfort, to seek depth over display, and to measure my life not by possessions but by the love I offer and the love I receive. Amen.

Contrasting between two

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Armodoxy for Today: Contrast

What is darkness? Very simply, it is the absence of light. Darkness is only definable in the presence of light.

What is evil? Very simply, it is the absence of good. Evil is defined in reference to the good.

Some take this one step further and define Hell as the place where there is the absence of God. With this simple definition it is possible to find Hell here on Earth now, not at some future time. Still, others will argue that by definition there cannot be a place where God does not exist.

Questions and ponderings such as these are more than mental gymnastics, they are brought to the forefront of our thoughts when light is threatened. It is part of our natural defense system because we are afraid of the dark. As humans, we want to stay in the light but sometimes the darkness can be so overwhelming that we succumb to its power.

The power of sunlight is so great, that its light enlightens our entire planet and heats it as well. Likewise, the power of Jesus, as Light of the World, is so great, that His Light overcomes the Darkness.

Jesus begins his ministry by referencing the prophet’s saying  –  “…The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

The Evangelist St. Matthew continues the narrative (chapter 4), “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

We pray, Christ, the true Light, make my soul worthy to encounter with joy the light of your divine glory, on the day I will be called by you; and to rest in good hope, in the mansions of the righteous, until the great day of your coming. Have mercy upon your creatures, and on me, a sinner. Amen. (St. Nersess Shnorhali, I confess with Faith)

Peter: 3x denied, 3x on board

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Armodoxy for Today: Reinstatement of Peter

As part of the Passion narratives, most everyone knows that Simon Peter denied Jesus three times. At the most critical time, as Jesus is being tried, convicted and sentenced to death, Peter, his close friend and disciple, denies that he knows Jesus. Few may know that, after the Resurrection, Peter had an opportunity to show his remorse by expressing his love for the Lord. In the Gospel of John (21) we follow a dialogue between Jesus and his disciple, Simon Peter:

 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.  

Some refer to this episode as the Reinstatement of Peter, that is, he denied Jesus thrice and now he acknowledges his love thrice, and the sheep metaphor referring to his pastoral position within the Church.  We call it forgiveness, pure and simple, in a manner that only God can give and only God can understand.

Jesus was about forgiveness. The message of forgiveness was taught with words and then he demonstrated the same from the Cross and after the Resurrection when he forgave his friend Peter. Often in life, we hear about horrendous acts committed by people, but their forgiveness is between them and God.

Let us pray, Searcher of secrets, I have sinned against you, willingly and inadvertently, knowingly and unknowingly. Grant forgiveness unto me a sinner; since from my birth through the holy baptism, until this day, I have sinned before you Lord, with all my senses and in all the members of my body. Have mercy upon your creatures, and on me, a sinner. Amen.

Cover Photo: Epostle 2025

Jesus in our midst, missed

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Armodoxy for Today: Jesus in our midst, missed

Every Sunday, during the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church, the celebrant priest, descends from the altar area and processes around the inner circumference of the church.  As he walks by the congregants, he holds a cross in one hand and censes fragrant incense with the other.

There are a variety of reactions to his presence in the congregation. Some lower their head to ask for a blessing, while others kiss the cross in the priest’s hand out of reverence. Others smile and acknowledge his presence. Still, others watch as he goes by, not interested in engaging in any manner. And of course, for those who are not there at that moment, the opportunity to interact is lost because the priest processes through the church and ascends back to the altar area to continue the Liturgy.

This part of the Divine Liturgy, symbolizes Christ’s descent from the comfort of heaven to live, walk and be among us, after which he ascended back to heaven. During Jesus’ life, there were people who sought him for miracles and healings, while others engaged with him for a blessing and merely to touch his garment. And, of course, for many, the opportunity to be made whole was there and they let him pass by.

In life, there are moments that are singular and they demand our interplay at that moment, otherwise, they go by. Sometimes, events demand that we interact.

Today a genocide takes place. Ethnic cleansing is the plot. Hatred raises its head in a variety of places. And love also walks in our midst. What’s your reaction? To stay quiet and/or to ignore the horror, or to allow opportunities of love and healing to pass by are opportunities missed and lost. Unfortunately, they may never come back again. Like Jesus who walked this earth, those who interacted were healed and the made whole. Those who didn’t lost the opportunity.

In the Gospel of John (4) we read of a woman who encounters Jesus at a water well. Jesus asks for a drink of water and she is consumed by the politics of the day –“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

You never know when that moment of singularity arrives. It is a moment that engages you into action.

Jesus told this woman, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

We pray, Heavenly Father, I see pain and suffering in this world. I have walked that path in the past. I said, Never Again. Today, grant me the courage to speak out against evil everywhere, so that I may have the moral authority to voice myself whenever evil confronts me. Give me the strength to accept and carry the love you have put in my heart and for me to be an agent of that love through my actions. Amen.

Cover Photo: Lunabelle Beylerian, 2023

And there’s still much more…

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Armodoxy for Today: What More?

Before finishing his Gospel, St. John writes:

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (chapter 20)

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (chapter 21)

Armodoxy maintains that we come to know Jesus through the stories we read but also by the Tradition that has been handed down to us through the centuries from the time of Christ, in other words, “all the things that could not be contained in the books.” These verses are important reminders of the vastness of Christianity and the unique place of the Armenian Orthodox Tradition, and Apostolic Tradition, which was there at the time of Christ and represents the most ancient form of Christianity. It is the calling card of Armodoxy.

Let us pray,

O glorious Lord, receive the prayers of your servant; and fulfill my requests that are deemed good. Through the intercession of the Holy Mother of God, and St. John the Baptist, and St. Stephen the first martyr, and St. Gregory our Illuminator, and the Holy Apostles, Prophets, Doctors of the Church, Martyrs, Patriarchs, Hermits, Virgins, and all your saints in heaven and on earth. Unto you, O indivisible Holy Trinity, be glory and worship, forever and ever. Amen. -St. Nersess Shnorhali

The Judas Spot in the Church

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The first chapter of the Book of Acts tells us that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, took his own life, and the remaining Disciples decided it was necessary to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judas. They prayed and found two men who had been in their midst, in the company of Christ, from the time of Jesus’ Baptism to his Crucifixion.

They prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

More than a bit of trivia, I mention the selection of Matthias so that we understand that the Church which Jesus Christ established, the Apostolic Tradition, has order and structure. It is not a haphazard collection of people who gather based on their interpretation of Scripture. The Apostles took the Gospel message to different nations, so that the Church that was established in Rome by Peter or the one in Armenia by Thaddeus, carries the title of One, Universal, Apostolic, Holy Church. It is in this structure that the message of Jesus Christ was transmitted from the generation to generation and reaches us today.

We prayer, from an Orthodox prayer book, Be Mindful, O Lord, of Thy Holy, Universal and Apostolic Church; confirm and strengthen her, increase her and keep her in peace, and preserve her unconquerable forever. Amen.

He’s Not Here

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You made it! Fifty Days since Poon Paregentan: 40 days of Lent and today the Easter Message comes to you: Christ has Risen! Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ

A Reading of the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 28

To which we can only add: Amen!

Քրիստոս յարեաւ ի Մեռելոց. Օրհնեալ է յարութիւնն Քրիստոսի:

Cover: “Rise” by Gregory Beylerian

Equalized at the Foot of the Cross

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Armodoxy for Today – Holy Friday – Participants in the Crucifixion

The journey through Lent, and now through Holy Week culminates today. It all comes together at the foot Cross. The Cross is the great equalizer. No one is exempt from the Cross – young and old, rich and poor, statesman and transient all have their crosses, but today, we witness that even God is crucified.

The Crucifixion of our Lord, Jesus Christ is an event of singularity. It stands unique in the history of humankind. The acts of love, kindness and the message of hope with which Jesus came and showered us was repaid by acts of hatred, prejudice and death. He was crucified as a death sentence; a death sentence for spreading love.

With the help of St. Nersess Shnorhali, and his magnificent Aysor Anjar prayer we can come to understand the significance of this day as he takes love and juxtaposes it next to the hate that led to the Cross. First, we understand that this is not an ordinary man being punished, or even falsely punished for crimes. Rather, this is the Creator. This is the same One who breathed that first breath of life in the first human (and each of us) and now that Breath was being beaten out of Him. St. Nersess reminds us that the One who cried down from the Cross saying, I am thirsty was the same One who was offered vinegar, when, in fact, He was the one who made the rivers flow out of Eden.  The same Hands which were nailed to the Cross and from which Blood was now dripping, were the same Hands which had fashioned the heavens and the earth, the same Hands which had written the law on the tablets. Those same Hands had given sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and had pulled Peter from the sea and then hushed the sea. Those same Hands which had created all of us were now being nailed by us to the Cross.

Today’s meditation is one of not only walking with Jesus to the Crucifixion, but understanding our place within the story of Crucifixion. That is, those people who nail Christ to the Cross are none other than us. When we practice hatred, when we allow prejudice, when we carry anger in our hearts, we are basically putting Christ back up on that Cross. We are the ones who are pounding those nails into Him, because just as we learned that when we practice good deeds to the least of Christ’s brothers and therefore do it to him, so too when we hate, when we allow anger to rule our emotions toward our brothers and sisters we therefore allow that hatred to go to Christ, and we participate in this Crucifixion,

Our Lenten journey, together with our Holy Week journey, is now ending. We arrive at the cross of Christ. We stand there at the foot of the cross, looking up and seeing our Savior beaten, bleeding and now killed.

We see Jesus looking down at us, asking for water, asking for assistance, asking for his mother. We hear him say to Here is your mother…  reminding us that in this world we are united. The Crucifixion reminds us about the common thread that unites us all: the suffering of humankind. In fact, we may never be able to understand in human terms what a resurrection is, but when you talk about crucifixion, each and every one of us understands some portion of betrayal, of denial, of loneliness, of hurt, of pity, of being nailed for things that we never will understand, and at that final hour, Jesus cries out. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? (=My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me) cry that we share, a cry that comes from the bottom of our hearts as well.

Cover: The Bulleted cross at Gyumri

Seeing Darkness

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Armodoxy for Today: Holy Thursday – Seeing the Darkness

Holy Thursday is remembered as the night that after Jesus broke bread with his disciples at the Last Supper, he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, was betrayed by Judas, arrested, tried, tortured, mocked and humiliated and sentenced to death.

In the Armenian Church, the evening is marked with the service called “Khavarum” (=darkness) during which the Passion narrative from the perspective of the Four Evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, is read aloud in church. Following the story the evening unfolds portraying God who has humbled himself to understand His creation, and now we the created, have an opportunity to understand our God, our Creator.

Seven different passages from the Gospels are read during the evening, intertwined with the singing of a sharagan (hymn) called “Aysor Anjar” written by St. Nersess Shnorhali, the 12th century Armenian Church theologian and Catholicos. Alphabetically arranged according to each letter of 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet, the hymn follows the Passion of Christ by juxtaposing ideas and events that stimulate wonder, ponderings and mediation on the events of this night.

As the evening progresses, one by one, the candles in the church are extinguished until the congregation is left in complete darkness, hence the name Khavarum. As the narrative and the Passion plays out, the Light of the World, Christ, is betrayed and executed. In the darkness, you contemplate what the world would be like, without Christ in our midst.

Tonight is the night of light and darkness. Somewhere in the shadows of the night you actually see darkness. It is not emptiness, but a darkness that begs to be lit. You are in the courtyard now. The trial is taking place insider. Peter is about to deny Christ. You hear the moans and cries of your Savior, you notice the indifference of the people, you hear the lies of religious establishment and in between, you ask yourself where and how you stand.  Who is Jesus? Who is he to you?