Website of the St. Peter Armenian Church Youth Ministries' Center and the In His Shoes Mission
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Website of the St. Peter Armenian Church Youth Ministries' Center and the In His Shoes Mission |
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Fr. Vazken
Movsesian, Priest at
St. Peter Armenian Church & Youth Director of the In His Shoes Ministries
Find messages, writings, letters, sermons here
Mission of the Church... I was ordained on the feast of the Holy Cross of Varak, 1982. The first Divine Liturgy I celebrated was a few weeks afterwards (following my period of seclusion). The Scriptural reading for that Sunday was from the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 4:16-30. Through the years, the passage has acted as a type of Koan in my life - stirring me to deal with a message that is very clear, yet disguised because of the dullness of our faculties. In the evolving thought process, I have come to understand this passage as embodying the mission of the Church. As the Body of Christ, our mission cannot be anything apart from the mission to which Jesus gave his Life to... to bring good news to the poor, release, recovery, freedom and revelation! I don't think it was by chance that this was the first message my ears heard as a priest. I take it as a personal challenge to strive for this mission in my ministry. -Fr. Vazken
(Luke
4:16-30) When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the
synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found
the place where it was written: And he
rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of
all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today
this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and
were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not
this Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this
proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your
hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said,
“Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the
truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the
heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine
over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at
Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the
prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When
they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove
him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was
built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the
midst of them and went on his way. |
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Ministries Center