Saint Hagop Armenian Church

Put Back Again

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:07:27 +0000

A monk was once threatened with death by a bandit. The monk said to the bandit, “If you are going to kill me, be good enough to fulfill my dying wish. Cut off the branch of that tree.” One slash of the sword, and it was done! “What now?” asked the bandit. “Put it back…

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Church on the Way

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 18:43:49 +0000

Today’s reading from Acts gives us an even older and simpler description of this body that we partake of here at St. Hagop Armenian Apostolic Orthodox church. Even before followers of Jesus were known as “Christians,” before dioceses, councils or even churches as we know them, the followers of Jesus were known simply as ‘People…

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Plane Down-Man Lifted

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:14:48 +0000

One cold January afternoon in 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 out of LaGuardia Airport in New York heading to Charlotte landed instead in the waters of the Hudson River after losing power from a bird strike. Most of you remember that event. If you don’t, there is a movie ‘Sully’ starring Tom Hanks who plays…

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Sing a New Song

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:39:31 +0000

Today God has the message, God is the message. Don’t grasp at it, but rather allow yourself to be grasped by it. Yes today is and continues to be the greatest day in history. But much like the Sun, don’t look straight at it, it will blind you. Instead realize that everything you see is…

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Kids vs. Parents

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 19:34:34 +0000

What is it exactly that the children are able to see that the adults cannot? In a word, love. Yes, Shakespeare wrote beautifully about love. Troubadours like Sayat Nova and Charles Aznavour gave song to love. Moses and Mohammed gave laws about love. But Jesus, like no one before him or since, embodied love-lived it…

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Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session 5

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 18:19:52 +0000

6 Week Lenten Sermon Series (February 15th-March 22nd) Worship in the Armenian Church is a life-giving encounter with God, but only as much as we’ve learned it’s language, movements and meaning. After our shorter Lenten Badarak, and in place of a sermon, Fr. Hovnan will lead an interactive study to help us find our voice…

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Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session 3

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 20:51:59 +0000

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Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session 2

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 20:56:00 +0000

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Holy Badarak: Learn your Part, Shape your Heart-Session1

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 19:15:27 +0000

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The Need Beneath the Want

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 21:01:18 +0000

A woman is walking on the beach with her little grandson. Suddenly a huge wave sweeps the boy out to sea. Desperate, the woman looks up to heaven and says, “God, please rescue my grandson, my only grandson, the light of my life!” Miraculously, the next big wave deposits the little boy at her feet,…

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We Shape Our Church-Our Church Shapes Us

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 19:32:19 +0000

As I often say, where a lot of other churches modern churches just say and understand things, old churches like ours actually recall, represent these holy people and places in icons, worship and architecture-as living realities that are still with us. We shape our church, then our church shapes us.

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The Turning Point of Grace

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 19:44:00 +0000

Life is full of turning points and so are our Holy Scriptures. There are always points in life where you might have gone one way or the other, and in choosing, things were never the same again. Or, as is often the case, we don’t choose events–sometimes events chose us.

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Love Poured Into Creation

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 20:42:35 +0000

The Armenian Church reminds us today that this birth is neither sentimental nor symbolic. Trees, gifts nativities, these are just trifles, things. Christmas is the turning point of history-Asdvadzahaytnutyun-theophany, when God pours himself into his broken creation, filling and fulfilling what was lost. Before Bethlehem, humanity waited. After Bethlehem, humanity is invited.

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The Fight of Your Life

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 20:17:57 +0000

Our altar servers, who are lovers of mixed martial arts and all things Armenian, tell me that Armenian UFC fighter Arman Tsarukyan will be wrestling Lance Palmer in Sunrise FL next Saturday night January 10th. I know very little about MMA or wrestling, but I am a big fan of one of the greatest wrestling match…

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Faithful With What You Have

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 19:05:24 +0000

The story is indeed about us, not about the investments we make, but the investments we are. Each of us is, first and foremost, an investment by God. Our lives, our talents, our families, churches, ethnic background, health, etc. are all given to us by God. This is his investment in each of us. We…

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Where Patience Meets Power

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 19:02:01 +0000

In our culture, waiting has come to feel like missing out like weakness. And yet today’s reading for Advent and Christmas we are reminded of the opposite-that waiting is strength. ‘But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,’ says the Prophet Isaiah, ‘they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall…

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Wisdom Needs to Remember-Happiness Needs to Forget

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 19:07:53 +0000

A wise man said, ‘Wisdom is founded on memory; happiness on forgetfulness.’ We tend to think of remembering and forgetting as opposites, and remembering as the better, but really we need them both and they are complimentary. Today’s scriptures and our church tradition seems to double down on the importance of both remembering and forgetting,…

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Superbia

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 19:41:32 +0000

The difference between good and bad pride is in its object, what it points to. Pride is so dangerous and so often bad because-irresistibly the object of pride is ourselves, our ego. It’s like the story of the young school boy who was so meek and modest, that he was awarded the ‘most humble badge.’…

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Take Root Downward, Bear Fruit Upward

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 19:17:40 +0000

God planted us and he hopes that we will choose to grow in his garden in a certain way. The prophet Isaiah perfectly captures how we are to grow in words right after our assigned OT, “Take root downward, bear fruit upward.”

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Your Only Prayer

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 19:10:29 +0000

Every Sunday in church we say thank you in literally one hundred different ways, in ritual, chants and prayers, it’s not too much of a stretch to say all we do is practice saying thank you in church. A wise monk said, ‘If the only prayer we ever say in our entire lives is thank…

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The Greatness of Smallness

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 16 Nov 2025 19:38:05 +0000

We all have this tendency to make ourselves greater than we are, and make others smaller, and the consequences are division and destruction. Jesus knows this sinful tendency, and knows we are blind to it, so he puts up a mirror for us to see. As the disciples fight, he takes a small child and…

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Soli Deo Gloria

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 18:57:42 +0000

In our Armenian Orthodox tradition, we understand sacraments as visible signs of God’s invisible grace. And what is music, if not a sacramental echo of heaven? Strings, keys, and voices—physical things—become effective signs of divine movement. When we sing we don’t just say things-we experience them-emotionally and physically in our heart. So if the words…

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All in the Family

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 19:09:58 +0000

Taken on its face, Jesus’s words today seem to be a rejection of the deepest held value we have on earth, the family. Yes as so often the case with Our Lord, what at first glance seems to be a rejection, is really just a redirection allowing us to honor our earthly families and see…

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The Costume That Never Comes Off

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 18:38:32 +0000

Galatians tells us: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” So I am not just being poetic and symbolic when I say we wear costumes and uniforms, it’s in the first reading you heard, the first time you entered church at your baptism. This means, me, name, name—everyone…

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Building Wealth

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 18:26:51 +0000

Jesus wants us to pay close attention to what we are building in our lives, because it matters more than anything. Most all of us work very hard to build a career, which helps us build a home and family, and secure our way in the world. This is necessary, and not at all easy,…

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Get Off The Forgetfulness Curve

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:50:17 +0000

As Chesterton famously said, Christianity has not been tried and found lacking, but it’s never been seriously tried. The Bible, from cover to cover, agrees, demonstrating that the root of our problem is that we are born forgetful. We are children of God, but we forget who we are. We are born with a great…

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X Marks the Spot

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:13:22 +0000

There was a time when someone who had something of great value would often bury their treasure so that no one could find it and take it away. Of course, there was always the risk that one might forget where their treasure was buried, so to make sure that they would remember where it was,…

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Ephphatha!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 18:33:57 +0000

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus heals a deaf and mute man. But as all things with God’s word, what happened once to this one man, is a life lesson for all people and all times. The clue to discover this, is in one magical word Ephphatha (say it). Its Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, it means…

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It’s Always Hurricane Season

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 18:09:45 +0000

We are deep into hurricane season here in Florida. Back one hundred and fifty years or so, hurricane season was just three months-July, August & September. Then in 1935, it expanded to 5 months. Now we are at 6 months, and with the ocean staying warmer for longer, meteorologists want to expand it more. Pretty…

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Mary’s Memoirs

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 18:32:54 +0000

Mary is not given the first and last word in our Spiritual lives merely for being a great woman, though she was, but because of what she reveals to us of her Son Jesus Christ, such that the closer we are to her the closer we are to him. Taking our Holy Scriptures as one…

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 19:10:26 +0000

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Jn 15:5 When the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, is asked what his best game was of his long career, he says it was the…

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Go to the Ant

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 17:37:46 +0000

God has always preferred to do great things through the humble and the meek, we read of this attribute of God’s heart nearly every Sunday. It’s the entire story of Jesus and the New Testament. It’s the entire story of the Jews and the Old Testament. It’s also the story of the Oldest Testament, nature,…

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You Have What You Need

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 17:45:10 +0000

The Apostles were teaching a crowd of followers well into the evening, such that they hadn’t eaten all day. When they finally thought of food, it was evening and there were only five loaves of bread and two fish available to feed 5000 people. Jesus says to them, well go ahead and feed them. The…

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Wheat & Weeds in the Armenian Highlands

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 18:56:28 +0000

I returned from Armenia a week ago, the question asked more than any other is what’s happening with the turmoil between the church and state. Sadly, it’s become so publicly vicious that its in the news around the world, so it’s irresponsible to ignore it but neither do you want to talk about it. Well,…

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Ghost Stories

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 18:10:18 +0000

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus tells a ghost story. We adults aren’t generally into such stories, but talk to anyone in their early teens or remember when you were that age, we loved them! I read nearly every Steven King book by the time I was thirteen, and today there are dozens of books, movies…

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Hayr Mer

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 18:25:06 +0000

The Rejection Sermon

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 18:31:49 +0000

It seems that nowadays there is a podcast on every topic (including my personal favorite St. Hagop sermons). I stumbled upon one last week which resonated with wisdom, especially with today’s feast of Pentecost. The podcast is called ‘We regret to inform you: the rejection podcast,’ with over one hundred episodes about people who are…

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Stop Staring!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 18:59:46 +0000

Today’s reading from this week’s feast of Ascension, begins with an odd question. Two angels of God ask the Apostles “Why do you stand staring into heaven?” Odd question, because they have just witnessed their teacher Jesus lifted up and into the clouds. It would seem natural to stare. But I don’t think they were…

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Voice Recognition

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sat, 31 May 2025 19:00:59 +0000

Voices are trustworthy and deeply personal, and since God made everything including us, he knows this. So does his Son Jesus, which is why he uses the metaphor of voice recognition of a loved one to describe the intimate bond he wishes to have with us his faithful. Jesus illustrates the bond in the case…

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The Hearing Ear, The Seeing Eye

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 18 May 2025 18:26:07 +0000

There is always a choice in what we want to see and hear, and as God’s children we don’t always make the wisest choices. We tend to hear what we want to hear and see what we want to see, because we don’t know any better. Yet our Scriptures, our church and our Lord continually…

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The Great Recycler

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Tue, 13 May 2025 15:08:44 +0000

In this way you could say that the Armenian church has always been like a “recycle bin,” a “repurposing bin” for its people and for individuals. We come to church, confessing and putting aside our old sinful selves, and through communion with God, He recycles and repurposes us for a new week to do His…

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The Place Seems Empty

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 18:06:56 +0000

The danger in dealing with loss, and where our faith is absolutely crucial—is that we can easily get stuck in our loss, in our grief; I see it all the time and it happens to me too. We can be so diligent to remember and preserve the past, that we forget to live in the…

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Heavy Things

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 18:37:59 +0000

There is an old story of two travelling monks, which might help us remember to put down our burdens and seek up for God. These monks come to a river where a woman was waiting, unable to cross alone without soiling her silken robes. She stood there with arms crossed scolding her attendants whose hands…

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Yes Day

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 18:05:40 +0000

My son Narek’s birthday was on Friday and when asked what he wants for his birthday, he prizes one gift above all others. I want a yes day. If you aren’t aware, a yes day is when anything you ask for- you get. Narek’s yes day started with asking to go to a fancy restaurant.…

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Orthodox, evangelical, apostolic & catholic!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 19:34:23 +0000

In the final Session of the Lenten Nicene Creed Sermon Series, Fr. Hovnan discusses the final end of God’s amazing relationship with humankind, to raise up a church that is one and is holy, that raises up its members and the entire world to its highest calling in Christ.

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Filled & Fulfilled by God’s Spirit

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 18:35:56 +0000

And so that’s the Holy Spirit as presented in the words of the Creed. It is like the air we breathe, so hard to notice because we have been in it, but more than air, it is air from God, breath of God that changes and inspires us from inside. Jesus gives a very clear,…

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God Enters HisStory

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 18:54:37 +0000

Last week we saw that the Creed gives us only 18 words to describe God the Father last week, because though words like Father and Creator point to His nature, God is beyond all words. We have a different problem when we try to describe Jesus the Son in our Creed. Words aren’t enough to…

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Love Beyond Words

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 18:49:34 +0000

In the second session of our Lenten Sermon series on the Nicene Creed, we talk about God the Father, a God so great that we must choose our words very, very carefully!

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Why We Need the Nicene Creed

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 19:28:12 +0000

Though fallen out of use and focus for various reasons, the Nicene Creed is a crucial roadmap that points us in the direction of a deeper relationship with God. It asks and points us to answers of the greatest question for any Christian believer, Jesus’ question to disciples of all ages, ‘who do you say…

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My Double Life

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:54:49 +0000

Some of the most compelling novels and films ever made are about characters who live double lives. A high school chemistry teacher who is actually a drug kingpin or a sweet suburban couple who are actually spies for the KGB. The reason these stories are so compelling is because, though less dramatic, we all tend…

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Learning to Fly

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 19:17:22 +0000

That’s the promise highlighted in today’s reading and Holy Scriptures as a whole. Scripture is nothing less than thousands of years of God’s promises, the Old Promise and the New Promise that God, if we only ask, will right the wrongs of evil in this world and gives us abundant life. Paul says this in…

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Politicked Part II

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 20:03:28 +0000

Yes, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this earth, but at the same time, God made this all for us, and Jesus has left us in charge until his return. Several times on Sundays and hopefully every day, we pray as Jesus taught us; ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is…

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Politicked

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 18:52:18 +0000

What both sides must realize is that if you weaken healthy religion, it just manifests as unhealthy religion. When people stop believing in anything, they believe in everything. People worship minority identities and rights, canceling and exiling those who blaspheme again their gods. People worship a false savior who alone can save us from the…

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So Why is the Light On?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 20:03:32 +0000

Proverbs perhaps best sums up the Biblical wisdom that is so applicable to us today on the day of our Diocesan Assembly, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (Pr 16:3) As I have told you so often, I am always preaching to myself as well as to you…

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Lost and Found in Translation

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 26 Jan 2025 18:43:05 +0000

You know today’s reading. We probably should know it by heart, that’s likely why our ancient lectionary assign it two times a year. Most people would say it is the most quoted lines in all the Gospels, what Martin Luther called the Gospel in miniature, summarizing salvation history. ‘For God so loved the world that…

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Red, Red, Wine … Strange First Sign!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 19 Jan 2025 21:13:09 +0000

We have now gotten up to Chapter 15 in our Bible study on the Gospel of John, and everyone including me are amazed at how rich and profound this book is in theology, writing and understanding of the human condition. How strange then that John’s first recorded miracle of Jesus-also today’s assigned reading, is when…

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But Who’s Counting?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 19:43:43 +0000

On the night before the British census of April 1, 1911, a woman named Emily Davison spent the night locked in a broom closet in Westminster Palace. Why? Because Davison was a leader in the campaign for the right of women to vote and be elected to office-which was illegal at the time. So she…

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 19:44:09 +0000

We all hear something different when we hear the word Christmas and all we hear are small parts of the soundscape of Christmas. But with so many voices and a fair amount of noise flooding the air in the Christmas season, we must be careful to hear what was originally said-the Avedis-the good news of…

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Armenian Church New Year

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:26:39 +0000

Sunday Sermon by Dn. Alex Calikyan.

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Orhnetsek!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 19:10:59 +0000

Church is not just something we do on Sunday, it is something that by doing we become-we become participants, members of the Spiritual body of Christ. Yes our membership must first and foremost be local-here and now in this church with these people-but it is also meant to extend into the entire world, encompass our…

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Like a Tree in the Sea

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 21:39:40 +0000

There are many reasons, some good and some less good, of why people come to church. I want to offer thanks to God and give myself to the upbuilding of his church, that’s a great reason. I come to church to see Santa or I come to church for the great food, those are less…

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‘They will know us by our love,” Reflection of Sarah Stites

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 08 Dec 2024 19:19:39 +0000

Sunday Reflection by Ms. Sarah Stites Director of ‘AYO,’ a program of Fund for Armenian Relief 12-08-24

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Thankfulness Training

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 19:36:39 +0000

That’s why we not only have one day of Thanksgiving in our church, every single week, every single Sunday is Thanksgiving day in our church. We say thanks to God in a bunch of ways in our Sunday worship. In our prayers right before we go up to the altar we say ‘Enter God’s gates…

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How Much Land Does a Man Need?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 19:25:31 +0000

The Gospel reading for today’s first Sunday of Advent is our seasonal realignment to get our priorities right; warning against the addictive nature of worldly wealth and what true riches actually are. Today’s parable is the story of a man who amassed greater and greater wealth, only to have has life taken away before he…

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Start Strong, Finish Stronger!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 19:48:05 +0000

Imagine that you are the coach of a four-person championship track and field relay team. How do you arrange your runners so that you are most competitive? Does the fastest guy or girl go first, last, or in the middle? Well ask any track coach-high school, college or Olympic-and they will say let the second…

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God’s Secret Service

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 20:04:14 +0000

Just two weeks ago the newest church in our Diocese was consecrated the Church of the Holy Archangels, Sts. Michael & Gabriel, whose feast day just happens to be this weekend. What better time than now then, to reflect on what angels are and aren’t, throw out popular misconceptions, recover their original meaning and see…

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Unelectable

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 22:52:38 +0000

If a book was to be written about how not to be elected and how not to be popular, Jesus would probably be the main character. In today’s Gospel reading, we see that Jesus is becoming popular and electable, and he does what he can to ruin that. He insults his potential donors and powerbrokers…

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Halloween Baptized

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 18:42:56 +0000

As those of you know who have travelled through the seasons with me a few years, I struggle with holidays like Halloween, Valentines Day and even Christmas, which seem to have lost much of their original meaning and function mainly as consumer holidays. That struggle was real yesterday as Narek, Nora & I wandered through…

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The Distance Between Head & Heart

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:42:56 +0000

‘My heart is Democratic, but my brain is kind of Republican,’ said JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon years back, and I resonate with that myself. There is an openness and idealism about being a democrat, openness to immigrants, to the downtrodden and to the rest of the world that I think is virtuous. And…

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What’s the Bottom Line?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 14:57:12 +0000

Today’s Gospel reading is about the bottom line of our spiritual life. The phrase ‘bottom line’ comes from the practical and efficient business world. The bottom line is the number found under the bold bottom line on a profit & loss statement or balance sheet. Don’t give me all the details, what is the bottom…

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How Much Are You Worth?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 18:25:33 +0000

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 2 Cor 10:18 Some people sell themselves short, and some people oversell themselves. I wonder if you tend to one or the other or a little of both. I ran into two young guys looking for jobs…

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Skeletons in the Closet?

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 18:10:36 +0000

In his presidential campaign announcement speech, RFK Jr said ‘I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.” Nothing to be proud of there, but at least he told the truth, albeit easier to do when you have no real chance of…

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On Being Stretched

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 17:52:04 +0000

First, we must note that this Gospel reading is one of the few that occurs two times a year-acknowledging how often storms pop up in life and urging us to be prepared. This reading is like a fire drill, a cell phone alert to always be vigilant-since money problems, work problems, health problems, often come…

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Unfinished Sermon

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 17:41:58 +0000

In 2026, the Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona is set to be completed. I’ve never seen Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece in person, but the pictures are stunningly beautiful, bold flying buttresses and twisted towers rising up over the plain urban landscape. Even more compelling than how this cathedral looks finished, is the story…

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Beware Shiny Things

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 18:11:35 +0000

Let’s go about it this way. If you asked the average person Olympic couch surfer what kind of medal they would prefer winning and rank them in order, 99% would say we first want Gold, if not gold then silver, if not silver then bronze. Well as is often the case, our Christian faith reverses…

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The Answers to the Test

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 18:33:59 +0000

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be…

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When the Student is Ready…

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 17:26:00 +0000

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready…The teacher will Disappear.” This bit of ancient wisdom from the Tao Te Ching adds needed Eastern perspective to our dominant Western worldview on how we learn and grow to become better students of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest teacher…

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Redeeming Rest

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 18:12:17 +0000

Recall that Sabbath rest is the prime directive, baked into creation and the only way to live fully. Time was the first thing that God made Holy, and in that space we rest in God with Jesus Christ. To not do so is spiritual homicide, slavery to the passing and hollow pleasures of the world.…

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Olympic Spirituality

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 18:05:42 +0000

Well it just so happens that in today’s assigned reading, we see that over 2000 years ago, the Apostle Paul was also an Olympics watcher. We don’t know if Paul thought the Olympics a relatively good or bad thing. Paul did not spend much time talking about the relative good or evil of things in…

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Do it Again!

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 18:17:38 +0000

That’s a big difference between adults and kids. Kids like to repeat things almost without limit, whereas adults tend to see this as childish and boring, something that we grow out of. However, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus urges us not to grow out of this child-like state of simple, repetitive appreciation-but to prayerfully grow…

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Jet Lagged

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 18:46:12 +0000

The disciples missed out on a lot with their eyes half closed to their master, on this day and so many other times, and of course so do we. As all stories of Christ, this one does not happen only once, but once and forever, repeating permanent truths about who God is and who we…

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Sacred Place, Storied Place

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 18:27:48 +0000

When we say Holy Etchmiadzin we reaffirm Orthodox and Catholics belief in sacred spaces. This includes the bricks and stones, architecture and icons of a place, as these can point to the story of God and man just as the words of the Bible do. And it is the story that is sacred. One Christian…

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What’s Now & What’s Next

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 26 May 2024 18:40:21 +0000

Today we celebrate the feast day of Elijah, renowned prophet of the Old Testament. One of our assigned readings describes Elijah’s great prophetic demonstration of the power of God-picture Billy Graham preaching to 100k in Yankee Stadium-Elijah was that impressive! The second reading, though, is much less dynamic. It portrays Elijah at the end of…

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Acting Like You Own the Place

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 19 May 2024 18:54:55 +0000

‘They act like they own the place.’ If you have been a boss or a landlord, you know this can be a good or a bad thing. The good part of a worker or tenant acting like they own the place is that they feel buy in. Apparently at Facebook/Meta ‘This is now YOUR company,’…

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Not for Sale

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 12 May 2024 18:59:51 +0000

According to today’s scripture, and just about everything we read in the Bible, increase in numbers is never directly achieved by human effort, it always seems to be the result of something else that God has initiated. That’s what we see in today’s passage. The Apostles says that the new church was built up by…

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How to be Apostolic (in 9 minutes or less)

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 18:27:04 +0000

Words have always played a supporting role in the Armenian Apostolic Church as compared to the post reformation churches. Thus, my sermons are short and I work hard to make them so. If you don’t believe me, let’s look at the data. Pew Research Center analyzed 50,000 sermons in 2020 and here is what they…

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Pain Killers

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 18:14:04 +0000

So what is lament? The shortest definition of lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. The Psalms are full of Laments. Our Ter Voghormea is a lament. Beating our breast and saying Vay Indz, Vay Indz during Confession is a Lament. Gregory of Narek wrote an entire famous Book of Lamentations. Lament…

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The Ultimate Retronym

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 23:58:06 +0000

This increase in renaming original things when a new version comes out isn’t that surprising to see in our ever-changing technological society, but we might be surprised to observe the same process (albeit at a slower rate) in our understanding of God through history, the Scriptures and the church. In fact, you could say that…

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The Great Surprise

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 17:39:26 +0000

The prologue of St. John’s Gospel, in the majestic story of God that it reveals, is every bit as breathtaking as Mount Ararat and Tampa Bay. And if we are paying attention, we will be stunned by the mysterious beauty of the presence of God in Christ that emerges from it, such that we will…

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It is Finished

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 18:15:47 +0000

A man is incomplete until he is married, and then he is finished. A woman is incomplete until she is married, and then she is finished. I sometimes begin marriage homilies like this to open hearts with humor and open up the profound sacrament of marriage. The humor is in the double meaning of ‘finished.’ …

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Trophy Life

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 14:29:42 +0000

To get to the lost meaning of palms, you might go to your trophy case if you have one, or imagine one if you don’t. Think of these gold-painted golfers, or soccer balls or gymnasts. Picture the Lombardi trophy (a golden football) or the Stanley Cup (a silver wedding cake?). 2000 years from now people…

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Attending Your Own Funeral

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 18:48:35 +0000

You are going to a funeral and discover that you are the person who passed away. Three people are going to speak: A family member, someone from your church, and a friend from work/school. Write out what you would wish for them to say. Now plan your life!

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Who’s the Judge & Who’s the Widow

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 22:57:53 +0000

Thomas Edison is famous for his inventions of the light bulb. We forget that he attempted the lightbulb 1,000 times unsuccessfully before prevailing. When a reporter asked him, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison said, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” Our Lord and…

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Lent is for Losers

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 19:41:52 +0000

The obvious deception here is that winning can’t be everything, by definition it is at most half of everything. The other half is losing, which our society tends to deny and avoids. But that’s not healthy, whole or rational. We will face as many losses in our life as wins; and the older we get…

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Giving Up Original Sin for Lent

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 19:32:00 +0000

The problem with ‘original sin’ is that it starts the greatest story ever told in the middle, not the beginning. We did fall and allowed evil into the world, true, but that is chapter three of Genesis. Chapter one is when almighty God made everything before us, galaxies, earth, oceans, whales, quarks and leptons and…

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Giving Up Lent for Lent

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 19:32:35 +0000

So if you want true Lent summed up in 250 characters or less, don’t go to twitter, go the beautiful and inspiring words of the Prophet Joel and go to them often. ‘Even now, says the lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your…

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Don’t Drink the Water

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 19:24:33 +0000

This, hints Jesus, is how a life of faith works. We can drink up our blessings, take our life for granted and then fall short, or we can trust that in offering our blessings to God and others he can multiply them…and sharing our trials with others and God, he can help overcome them. Jesus…

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Food Security

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 18:53:58 +0000

In his book entitled God’s Psychiatry, Charles Allen tells this story: As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed rehabilitation centers where they were well-fed. But despite excellent care, they slept poorly-they were anxious and afraid. At some point a psychologist came up…

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Expiration Dating

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 19:23:38 +0000

Our Gospel reading today shows us in a powerful way that if you want to get anywhere in life Jesus can get you there. And he can get you there fast. It is written that the disciples just starting rowing across the lake, a vast lake and when they saw Jesus immediately the boat reached…

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Jesus the Missing Years

Father Hovnan Demerjian — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 19:28:13 +0000

If the New Testament was a book like any other, we would say that it is badly written. It shows us nothing of the development of its main protagonist Jesus. We know nearly nothing about where he came from, how he was raised and was socialized. We know nothing about how his upbringing affected his…

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