One of the old names for our church is the Armenian Apostolic Church. We very much like to stress that our church has a direct connection with the apostles who had a direct connection with our Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to the Gospels, we emphasize that other aspects of our faith; sacraments, church hierarchy…
Fences and wells. That’s the analogy that will govern this sermon and which reveals a fundamental truth about our spiritual maturity and openness to God’s blessing at church, at work and at home. Here is how the fences and wells analogy goes. If you are a farmer with a ranch, you can build fences to…
Fr. Richard Rohr, a Catholic spiritual writer and Franciscan monk, tells a powerful story about father’s day from his first days in prison ministry; work he would continue for 15 years. He recalls the first time that mothers’ day came around, how the inmates were all eager to write a letter back home to mom.…
“Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” (Mt 12:2) Today’s Gospel reading could make a fine episode of Law & Order, and framing it in this way reveals something profound about our quest for righteousness in this world. The first part of today’s reading is all about the…
So there is nothing new about identity theft, it is as old as humankind. In fact, Jesus warns us about identity theft-of the deepest kind- it today’s assigned reading from the Gospel of John. There are many thieves and imposters in this life, Jesus warns us, who will not only steal your stuff, but try…
Our modern avoidance of silence surely does all kinds of bad things to intimacy between partners, to people’s mental health and young people’s development, but perhaps its greatest ill effect is on our spiritual development. Because all old Christian traditions, including ours, have always maintained the key role silence plays in our spiritual development. Its…
On my way back from a family funeral service for Nora Keuroghlian, God rest her kind soul, I passed a sign in front of a humble church with the phrase “God’s ‘no’ is not a rejection but a redirection.” Funny that a sign on Curlew road can reveal wisdom for our everyday lives which also penetrates the depths of God’s relationship…