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On Saturday before Sunday of the Judge the Armenian Church commemorates the Forty Martyrs of Sebastia. Although the backgrounds and identities of the forty young soldiers are not certain, it is believed they came from Lesser Armenia and served in the Roman army.
I remember vividly the first time I heard Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. I was just a teenager, not knowing much about classical music. But when those notes filled the room, it was like they reached into the deepest part of my heart. I was captivated, and in that moment, I made a decision: I was going to learn to play that piece on the piano.
Here’s the thing—I had never touched a piano before. Not a single lesson, not a clue where to start. But something about that melody stirred my soul, and I couldn’t let it go. I got the music score and went to work. Day by day, I figured it out. I struggled to read the notes. My fingers stumbled over the keys. But six months later, after countless hours of practice, I could play the Moonlight Sonata by heart.
Ever since H.G. Wells published “The Time Machine” in 1895, people have been fascinated by the idea of traveling through time. The thought of stepping into a machine and witnessing the distant future or revisiting the past stirs our imagination. But the truth is, we are all time travelers.
Every second, we move forward, journeying toward an inevitable destination—one not crafted by human hands but by the eternal will of God. Unlike the fictional travels of Wells’ time traveler, our journey is real. We are moving through time at a steady pace, one heartbeat at a time, one breath after another. And at the end of this earthly voyage lies something beyond imagination: Eternity.
When I lived in Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia, every morning, I would wake up under the great ring of the Cathedral bells. Those bells were calling the brotherhood to prayer, reminding us that before we do anything else, before we start our day, we come before the Lord. They called us to worship, to seek God, to remember what truly matters.
Now, here I am in New York City, and no bells are ringing me awake! Instead, I wake up to the shriek of an ambulance or the wail of police sirens. At first, it felt jarring, even unsettling. Where was the peace? Where was that gentle, holy invitation?
At the ancient Sevan Monastery in Armenia stands a remarkable khachkar—a cross-stone unlike any other. Most Armenian cross-stones don’t depict Christ on the cross because our faith doesn’t stop at the crucifixion. We don’t dwell on the suffering; we celebrate the victory! We proclaim the risen Christ, the triumphant King! But this one, dating back to the 13th century*, is different.
Carved into this stone, we see Jesus crucified. And at the bottom, we see the harrowing of hell—the moment when Christ, in His power and glory, descends to set the captives free! This is a reminder, my friend, that even in what looks like defeat, God is working a victory!
SAINTS HONORED ON SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2025: St. John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Hovhan Odznetsi (St. John of Odzoon), Hovhan Vorodnetsi (St. John of Orodni), Krikor Datevatsi (St. Gregory of Datev).
The fourth Sunday of Lent, is the Sunday of the Steward. The parable of The Unrighteous Steward is in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 16, verses 1 to 8. This parable is about a rich man and his steward. The steward was one who looked out for his own personal benefit and through his cunning arrangements he made deals with those who were in debt to his master…
When Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son, He was painting a picture of God’s limitless, extravagant love! But imagine if the story had gone differently if the father had been like so many in the world today:
The son, broken, worn out, and desperate, finally makes his way home. He’s standing at the door, knocking, waiting, hoping for mercy. But instead of running to embrace him, his father cracks open a window and looks down with suspicion.
“Oh, it’s you,” he says. “Spent everything, I suppose? Look at you! What a mess. What do you want now? A handout? You had your share. And now, when you’re in need, suddenly you remember where home is.”
On Saturday March 15, 2025, St. John Armenian Church again welcomed Justin Aprahamian, owner of Sanford Restaurant, as he conducted another wonderful cooking demonstration to a class of 35 guests. The entrée of the day’s session was Manti, an Armenian delicacy that is quite labor intensive but a favorite of all. Many remember their grandmothers preparing this dish decades ago. Justin demonstrated the preparation of the dough, the lamb filling, the broth, the yogurt, and the parsley garnish, and how to put it all together in an artistic presentation.
Feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive.
Record producer and artist manager George Avakian was best known for his work in major American recording companies (Decca, Columbia, Warner, RCA) from 1939 to the early 1960 and as a major force in the expansion of development of U.S. recording industry. Names like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Bob Newhart, John Cage, Alan Hovhaness, Ravi Shankar, and many others were among the luminaries that worked with him.
George Mesrop Avakian was born on March 15, 1919, in Armavir, in the Northern Caucasus (Russia);
