LOVE IN A LUNCH BAG

Last Thursday, during our Annual Diocesan Assembly with the clergy, delegates, and faithful members of our Diocese, we packed 750 lunches for local shelters and food pantries. The theme of our Assembly this year was: “Love One Another.” And we didn’t just speak it, we lived it. We put love into action, one sandwich at a time.

The Eagle-Tribune snapped our photos, and I’m grateful they did. But even the sharpest camera can’t capture the invisible: the compassion woven into every bag, the quiet prayer spoken over each meal, the light dancing in a volunteer’s eyes because they knew what they were doing mattered.

Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). When we serve others, when we go out of our way to bless someone in need, we’re not just helping them, we’re honoring Christ.

A paper bag may not seem like a big deal, but filled with kindness, it becomes a vessel of hope. A lunch may not change the whole world, but it might change someone’s world. It might be the meal that gives them the strength to carry on, to believe again, to know they’re not forgotten.

I believe what we do in love never stops with a single act. Love ripples. It multiplies. Somebody who receives that meal feels lifted, and suddenly they’re smiling at a stranger, holding a door, offering a prayer. Before long, kindness is moving like a river through our neighborhoods, all because a few hundred believers said, “We can pack a bag.”

So, what’s in your hand today? Maybe it isn’t a sandwich assembly line. Maybe it’s a phone call you’ve been meaning to make, a letter you could write, an extra coat hanging in your closet. Perhaps it’s simply a smile you can offer the next person you meet. Small things done with great love become big things in God’s economy.

Let me challenge you this week: find your version of that lunch bag. Fill it with encouragement. Seal it with prayer. Hand it to someone who can’t pay you back. Then watch what God does. He’ll take that seed you sow and cause it to bear fruit you never imagined—joy in your heart, unity in our churches, healing in our communities.

Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan
May 5, 2025