Saint Hagop Armenian Church

Sunday Sermon by Dn. Alex Calikyan. The post Armenian Church New Year first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Church is not just something we do on Sunday, it is something that by doing we become-we become participants, members of the Spiritual body of Christ.  Yes our membership must first and foremost be local-here and now in this church with these people-but it is also meant to extend into the entire world, encompass our… The post Orhnetsek! first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

There are many reasons, some good and some less good, of why people come to church.  I want to offer thanks to God and give myself to the upbuilding of his church, that’s a great reason. I come to church to see Santa or I come to church for the great food, those are less… The post Like a Tree in the Sea first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Sunday Reflection by Ms. Sarah Stites Director of ‘AYO,’ a program of Fund for Armenian Relief 12-08-24 The post ‘They will know us by our love,” Reflection of Sarah Stites first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

That’s why we not only have one day of Thanksgiving in our church, every single week, every single Sunday is Thanksgiving day in our church. We say thanks to God in a bunch of ways in our Sunday worship.  In our prayers right before we go up to the altar we say ‘Enter God’s gates… The post Thankfulness Training first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

The Gospel reading for today’s first Sunday of Advent is our seasonal realignment to get our priorities right; warning against the addictive nature of worldly wealth and what true riches actually are. Today’s parable is the story of a man who amassed greater and greater wealth, only to have has life taken away before he… The post How Much Land Does a Man Need? first appeared on St. Hagop Arm...

Imagine that you are the coach of a four-person championship track and field relay team.  How do you arrange your runners so that you are most competitive?  Does the fastest guy or girl go first, last, or in the middle? Well ask any track coach-high school, college or Olympic-and they will say let the second… The post Start Strong, Finish Stronger! first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church...

Just two weeks ago the newest church in our Diocese was consecrated the Church of the Holy Archangels, Sts. Michael & Gabriel, whose feast day just happens to be this weekend.  What better time than now then, to reflect on what angels are and aren’t, throw out popular misconceptions, recover their original meaning and see… The post God’s Secret Service first appeared on St. Hagop Armenia...

If a book was to be written about how not to be elected and how not to be popular, Jesus would probably be the main character. In today’s Gospel reading, we see that Jesus is becoming popular and electable, and he does what he can to ruin that.  He insults his potential donors and powerbrokers… The post Unelectable first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

As those of you know who have travelled through the seasons with me a few years, I struggle with holidays like Halloween, Valentines Day and even Christmas, which seem to have lost much of their original meaning and function mainly as consumer holidays.  That struggle was real yesterday as Narek, Nora & I wandered through… The post Halloween Baptized first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian...

‘My heart is Democratic, but my brain is kind of Republican,’ said JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon years back, and I resonate with that myself. There is an openness and idealism about being a democrat, openness to immigrants, to the downtrodden and to the rest of the world that I think is virtuous. And… The post The Distance Between Head & Heart first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Today’s Gospel reading is about the bottom line of our spiritual life.  The phrase ‘bottom line’ comes from the practical and efficient business world. The bottom line is the number found under the bold bottom line on a profit & loss statement or balance sheet.  Don’t give me all the details, what is the bottom… The post What’s the Bottom Line? first appeared on St. Hagop Armen...

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 2 Cor 10:18 Some people sell themselves short, and some people oversell themselves.  I wonder if you tend to one or the other or a little of both.  I ran into two young guys looking for jobs… The post How Much Are You Worth? first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

In his presidential campaign announcement speech, RFK Jr said ‘I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.” Nothing to be proud of there, but at least he told the truth, albeit easier to do when you have no real chance of… The post Skeletons in the Closet? first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

First, we must note that this Gospel reading is one of the few that occurs two times a year-acknowledging how often storms pop up in life and urging us to be prepared.  This reading is like a fire drill, a cell phone alert to always be vigilant-since money problems, work problems, health problems, often come… The post On Being Stretched first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

In 2026, the Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona is set to be completed.  I’ve never seen Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece in person, but the pictures are stunningly beautiful, bold flying buttresses and twisted towers rising up over the plain urban landscape. Even more compelling than how this cathedral looks finished, is the story… The post Unfinished Sermo...

Let’s go about it this way.  If you asked the average person Olympic couch surfer what kind of medal they would prefer winning and rank them in order, 99% would say we first want Gold, if not gold then silver, if not silver then bronze. Well as is often the case, our Christian faith reverses… The post Beware Shiny Things first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be… The post The Answers to the Test first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church...

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready…The teacher will Disappear.”  This bit of ancient wisdom from the Tao Te Ching adds needed Eastern perspective to our dominant Western worldview on how we learn and grow to become better students of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest teacher… The post When the Student is Ready… first appeared on St. Ha...

Recall that Sabbath rest is the prime directive, baked into creation and the only way to live fully.  Time was the first thing that God made Holy, and in that space we rest in God with Jesus Christ.  To not do so is spiritual homicide, slavery to the passing and hollow pleasures of the world.… The post Redeeming Rest first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Well it just so happens that in today’s assigned reading, we see that over 2000 years ago, the Apostle Paul was also an Olympics watcher. We don’t know if Paul thought the Olympics a relatively good or bad thing.  Paul did not spend much time talking about the relative good or evil of things in… The post Olympic Spirituality first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

That’s a big difference between adults and kids. Kids like to repeat things almost without limit, whereas adults tend to see this as childish and boring, something that we grow out of.   However, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus urges us not to grow out of this child-like state of simple, repetitive appreciation-but to prayerfully grow… The post Do it Again! first appeared on St. H...

The disciples missed out on a lot with their eyes half closed to their master, on this day and so many other times, and of course so do we. As all stories of Christ, this one does not happen only once, but once and forever, repeating permanent truths about who God is and who we… The post Jet Lagged first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

When we say Holy Etchmiadzin we reaffirm Orthodox and Catholics belief in sacred spaces. This includes the bricks and stones, architecture and icons of a place, as these can point to the story of God and man just as the words of the Bible do. And it is the story that is sacred. One Christian… The post Sacred Place, Storied Place first appeared on St. Hagop Armenian Church .

Today we celebrate the feast day of Elijah, renowned prophet of the Old Testament. One of our assigned readings describes Elijah’s great prophetic demonstration of the power of God-picture Billy Graham preaching to 100k in Yankee Stadium-Elijah was that impressive!  The second reading, though, is much less dynamic.  It portrays Elijah at the end of… The post What’s Now & What’s Nex...