THE SUNDAY MESSENGER
July 26, 2020

Second Sunday after Transfiguration

On Earth as in Heaven

When one of us is lost and repents it is not just our individual self that is healed. Repentance, returning from our wandering, brings completion, fullness, and healing to the Church, the Body of Christ (see I Corinthians 12:12-31). When we repent we even affect heaven and in doing so we affect the world, we bring wholeness to creation. We are a source of joy to the angels, as Jesus says immediately prior to the parable, angels who “Always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.” This is what it means and why we pray in the Lord’s Prayer the words, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If we want God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, then we will celebrate when we or our fellow brother or sister in Christ repents and returns back to the pasture of his safekeeping.

That celebration is our Holy Badarak, the pasture where we experience communion with God and with one another, where we gather under the healing hand of our Shepherd. During Badarak we pause and in unison we read a confession as a community, but remember, the entire Badarak is confessional and penitential in nature. It is our love song to our faithful God who continually calls us back, searches for us, and embraces us when we return. Badarak is our opportunity to return to and rest in God’s pasture. Not only should we not neglect our attendance, but with stubbornness, seek Christ in the Liturgy, with repentance, dig into the mystery of our salvation, and with gratitude, celebrate that we have a Shepherd who has found us when we were lost.

By Dn. Eric Vozzy

TODAY’S BIBLE READINGS:

1 Corinthians 1: 25-30 (page 151) New Testament
Matthew 18: 10-14 (page 18) New Testament – (Please follow the Armenian Reading in your Bible)
Isaiah 3:16-4:1 (page 685) Old Testament

REQUIEM SERVICES: Hokehankist today will be for:

– for the souls of the four Armenian servicemen who lost their lives during the recent crisis on the Armenian border: Junior Sergeants Grisha Matevosyan, Smbat Gabrielyan, Major Garush Hambardzumyan, captain Sos Elbakyan requested by the parish.

“LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night….” (Nehemiah 1:5-6).

Prayers are requested for Ethel Terzian, Taron Poghosyan, Alice Charles, Armen & Theodora Mirakian.

CALLING ALL GRADUATES
The next issue of the LOOYS will feature information about our graduates and we are hoping that you will submit your own details so that you can be included. Write-up should include: full name, parents’ names, name of institution, grade level or degree achieved, activity involvement, and future plans (further education/ work). Please include a picture (in high resolution color), if possible. Everything should be sent to choirboss@hotmail.com by a FINAL deadline of August 9, 2020