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Last Sunday, during my sermon, I mentioned the disrespectful mocking of Christ’s last supper at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris. I also expressed my concern about the general apathy that Christians have developed toward what is sacred and life-giving in our spirituality - The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (Soorp Badarak). I don’t believe that simply condemning something negative can go a long way. Instead, I believe that educating and encouraging work a lot better.

On the day of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the followers of Christ, including the Twelve Disciples, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and a few others. Peter addressed the skeptical crowd explaining that Christ is the one sent by God, to fulfill the prophecies. He concluded his first sermon in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, saying, “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)

The sermons we hear in churches today typically involve a priest preaching while congregants listen. However, in Peter's sermon, the audience asks him and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter responds by telling them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Those who accept Peter's message are baptized, and the passage concludes by stating that "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2: 42).

Peter’s answer shows that baptism is the first step in the spiritual journey for anyone who receives Christ. The spiritual life is then nurtured by devotion to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, participation in the breaking of bread (which is the earliest form of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, holy Badarak), and prayers. This solid formula for practicing our Christian faith has both Apostolic and Biblical roots and it forms the core of the Armenian Church’s spirituality. 

Today, however, If anyone asks a member of the clergy “Brothers, what should we do?” the answer that people expect to hear comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans where he writes: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10-9). Biblical scholars comment that “This confession and belief are more than simply mental acknowledgment that something is true. Rather, this belief refers to placing one's whole trust in the resurrected Christ and living with Jesus as one's Lord” (Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology). It is important to note that Paul is writing to the Jewish community in Rome who had received the Gospel of Christ but were still practicing the requirements of the Law in the Old Testament. Paul is exhorting the Christians of Rome to focus on Christ. 

Peter and Paul have complementary elements in their teachings. Paul encourages those who struggle to embrace their Christian faith while Peter teaches how to practice and nurture the faith focusing on the Word of God, the Eucharist, and prayers. 

I also encourage you today to embrace the Apostolic way of nurturing your faith. You may agree that with most of Christ’s teachings or struggle with some. You may know in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God but knowledge alone does not do much because Christianity is not a resource of information but it is a relationship. Jesus calls us His friends and invites us to share the table with Him. From this table, we are nurtured because we receive love and forgiveness, life and hope, resurrection and expiation of sins, and eternal life. It is foolishness to deprive yourself of this eternal feast. 

Prayerfully,