Talk with Fr. Barouyr

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about rejection. Fr. Barouyr talks about Jesus curing the man who was born blind, and how it was rejected by the Pharisees at the time because it happened on the sabbath. Fr. Barouyr reminds us not to reject Christ in our lives due to our own self-imposed limitations.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr as he talks to us about our parents. What does it mean to honor them? How can we appreciate them? How can we prevent ourselves from falling in the trap of taking them for granted?

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about home blessing. Each year, after the Feasts of Theophany and Easter, the Armenian church has a tradition of blessing homes. The priest will visit the homes of parishioners and bless bread, salt, and water as part of this service. Fr. Barouyr explains the spiritual meaning behind this practice, and each of these items. Finally, he reminds us that th...

Join Fr. Barouyr from St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Detroit, Michigan, for a special Christmas message. Fr. Barouyr explains the spiritual and symbolic significance of the paten covering the chalice, how it ties in to Christmas, and how it relates to Christ’s ministry. He exhorts us to fill our hearts with Christ, to fill our lives with meaning.

This week, Join Fr. Barouyr from St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Detroit for a special New Year’s sermon anchored in the Parable of the Talents. He emphasizes that like the servants, we have been given divine gifts that we must use for God’s glory. Further, that God is our Lord, and just like the nobleman in the parable asked his servants what they did with their talents, God will ask us w...

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about how we can prepare ourselves to welcome the Birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father Barouyr reminds us that just like St. Mary prepared herself for 9 months to give birth to our Lord, and the wise men studied the stars for decades to understand when our King would be born, we should also prepare ourselves for Theophany, when we celebrat...

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about compassion. As revelations about the prison in Sednaya emerge, Fr. Barouyr touches on sin, and how it makes us all prisoners. He also explains that Jesus paid the price to free us from our sins, which requires us to have compassion for all of our brothers in sisters, in prison, and out.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about St. Nicholas. As we prepare for the holiday season, Fr. Barouyr explores St. Nicholas’s generosity, and how we should bring his example to our lives this holiday season. Christ’s unconditional love and generosity demand that we share our blessings with others, beyond our loved ones.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about Jesus bringing Jairus’s daughter back to life. Fr. Barouyr sets the context, explaining Jairus’s importance to Jewish society at the time and therefore the importance of coming personally to Jesus. He tells is to imagine we are Jairus, waiting for Jesus to come through the crowd of people, and being stopped on the way back to his house by the woma...

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about Simon the Pharisee’s dinner invitation to Jesus. Fr. Barouyr talks about the woman who anoints Jesus’s feet in the home, and what it teaches us about faith and forgiveness. He also talks about the meanings behind the welcome kiss, the water, and the anointing oil.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a discussion about the parable of the Good Samaritan. He explains the overarching theme of the parable, but also the deeper meanings behind each character in the parable, and the direction of the victim’s travel. Further, he expounds on what this parable means for our daily lives.

This week, Fr. Barouyr continues his discussion about bringing the youth into the Armenian Church. He highlights three key points: secular society, the parish priest, and communication. Further, he exhorts us all to ask the youth what it is that they need.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr as he talks about the youth’s involvement in the church. He discusses how to bring the youth to the church, and why people come to church. Fr. Barouyr talks about the cultural disconnection between the church and modern culture. The youth have a hard time understanding what’s happening on the altar. The liturgy has to be delivered in a way to reach all ages. Music plays...

This week join Fr. Barouyr for a lecture that he gave to the seminarians at the start of the school year about the history of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia and the seminary. Fr. Barouyr explains how the Catholicosate, founded in Sis, moved to Antelias in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, and then founded the seminary in Bikfaya. Fr. Barouyr explains that the history behind...

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for his sermon about the Holy Translators during the opening Liturgy of the seminary school year. Fr. Barouyr draws a through line from Sts. Philip and Nathanael to the Holy Translators, to the seminary, which was opened in the shadow of the dispersion of the Armenian people to the Middle East after the Armenian Genocide. He exhorts us to pray for the seminary and the s...

Join Fr. Barouyr this week for a conversation about the calling, from Radio Voice of Van. He discusses the difference between calling and vocation, and the difference between a calling to serve the church and our calling to service. He emphasizes Christ’s universal calling to all of us to serve one another.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr as he talks about death. Fr. Barouyr explores what death means in the Christian context, and how death became a part of this world, when God created humankind in His image, to live in His presence. Further, he discusses the impact of Christ’s resurrection on life, and what part of human life is eternal.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr as he discusses Matthew Perry’s memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. Fr. Barouyr discusses the book from the pastoral perspective, understanding how Perry’s experiences can inform one’s spiritual life.

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a conversation with Fr. Karekin Bedourian, Pastor of Forty Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church in Orange County, California. Fr. Karekin earned his Ph. D. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and in the process, obtained his certificate in Life Coaching. They talk about how part of the role of parish priest involves coaching parishioners, including through the Sacrament...

This week, join Fr. Barouyr for a lecture from a spiritual retreat in Lebanon. He discusses what Jesus means when He tells the Apostles that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” at the Last Supper. He explains the context, as Christ is preparing the Apostles for His Crucifixion and Resurrection, and for their ministry guided by the Holy Spirit. He also explains the significance of Peter and Th...

This week, Fr. Barouyr is joined by Fr. Charles Fox, Vice Rector and Dean of Seminarian Formation at Sacred Heart Seminary, in Detroit, Michigan. Their discussion focuses on vocation and formation, how to help young students answer the calling, and how to educate them through the process of priestly formation. They discuss how priestly formation has changed, how to use different techniques for edu...

This week, Fr. Barouyr is joined by Fr. Artsakh Badoyan, the newly appointed pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church, in San Francisco, California. They discuss spiritual life in Las Vegas, Nevada, Fr. Artsakh’s first appointment and place of his ordination. They also talk about the importance of and difference between public and private prayer, and the meaning behind sayin...

Join Fr. Barouyr in Bikfaya, Lebanon this week for a sermon about St. Mary, Mother of God. In recounting Mary’s pregnant visit with Elizabeth, Fr. Barouyr reminds us of Mary’s devotion and trust in God, but also Elizabeth’s love for her sister snd recognition of Mary’s role in the salvation of humanity.

Join Fr. Barouyr this week for a discussion with Fr. Stephen E. Salocks, Rector of St. John Seminary in Boston. They discuss the impact of the virtual classroom on priestly formation and seminary, using service as a teaching tool, and how priestly editions has changed over the past several decades.

This week, listen in to Fr. Barouyr’s sermon from St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Detroit, Michigan. Fr. Barouyr explains what Jesus means when He says, in the Gospel According to John, that “just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that ever gone who believes may have eternal life in him.” Fr. Barouyr takes us back to the Old Testament, dra...