Feast of the Catechumens and Christ's Presence in the Storm

Beloved faithful, we welcome you here this morning to St. John Armenian Church as we celebrate Divine Liturgy. And before we proceed, we would like to welcome Father Garabed Telfayan, who is with us once again. We’re so happy to have him back. For those of you who were here then, you’ll recall that he was also with us throughout Holy Week this past year, and he has promised that he will join us once again this Holy Week.

Today is the Paregentan or the eve of the Feast of the Catechumens, which I’d like to talk about for a few minutes. The Feast of the Catechumens is a fasting week which is unique to the Armenian tradition. It is by name not a tradition that you will find, a custom that you will find, in any other Orthodox church. And its roots go back to the earliest days of the Armenian Apostolic Church. According to our tradition, it was founded during the establishment of the Armenian Apostolic Church under the direction of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. Now, the word catechumen refers to people who are new to the faith. So in this case, our tradition says, having converted an entire nation to Christianity, Saint Gregory established this fast saying, “We’re all new to Christianity, so let’s all fast this week in repentance and prepare to become Christians.” Now, it takes place prior to the beginning of Great Lent, and it is similar to other Orthodox churches because other Orthodox churches like us have a pre-Lenten fasting period. This is your prep week. This is the week where you get your things together, and you pull out all of your vegan recipes, and you make sure that your storage and your refrigerator is in order because Lent is going to begin in a few weeks. So this is a pre-Lenten fast to prepare for Lent to begin, which is just around the corner.

One unique aspect of the Fast of the Catechumens is every day throughout the calendar of our life, of our year in the church, there are specific Bible readings. If you have our Fast and Pray app, you can log in and you can see on any given day, like today, there are three readings at least — a prophetic reading, an epistle reading, and a gospel reading that you can read, and it helps you learn and understand better our faith and to become more incorporated into the rhythm of seasonal church life, except for the Fast of the Catechumens. There are no Bible readings at all assigned during the week of the Fast of the Catechumens, and this is very interesting. The Church is saying, “Hey, guys, guess what? You don’t have to read the Bible this week. You get free time.” But why is that? And while we don’t have a definitive explanation as to why that has always been the case, one very compelling argument is this: The Armenian Church was established at the very beginning of the fourth century, a century prior to, for example, the Council of Nicaea. The Nicene Creed is younger than the Armenian Church itself, and it is around that same period of time when the official canon of the Bible is established. Those books existed in different forms, in disparate compilations prior to that era. However, in the earliest days of the Armenian Church, you could not pick up a document that said, “This is the Bible.” You had the documents that were part of the Hebrew Bible, and then you had several texts that were associated with the life of Jesus Christ. Those eventually became the Bible as we know it. In the earliest days of the Armenian Church, where did people turn to to understand their faith better? They turned to the Church and the life of the Church and the doctrines of the Church, which are, as for us, authoritative as the Bible itself. So this is an important reminder. This is a period of time for us to reflect on how can we understand the teachings of the Church and the traditions and customs and practices of the Church in a deeper way during this period of time.

The last note that I’ll say about this is that we’re going to be announcing a course here at St. John, which is a catechesis class. You can see the same root as catechumen. This is a class or course that’s meant for people who are new to the faith or feel like they need to begin from the beginning, because this is essential — the ABCs of what it means to be Armenian Orthodox, that our forefathers had to introduce to the Armenian nation seventeen hundred years ago, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to understand as well. So I invite you to download Fast and Pray, join us for the Fast of the Catechumens, and keep an eye out for the catechesis class, which is going to be beginning soon.

Մոտանալով, քայլելով ծովու վրա՝ այս գեղեցիկ հրաշքը, որ տեղի ունեցավ, խորհրդավորս մեզի կներկայացնե ճշմարտությունը, որ բոլորիս համար ծանոթ պետք է ըլլա, վստահ եմ, եթե քիչ մը ապրած ենք այս մոլորակի վրա, որ երբեմն մեր մենության մեջ վախ կզգանք, կզգանք, որ լքված ենք այս աշխարհում, որ ոչ մի մարդ չկա այս աշխարհում, որ մեզի սիրում է, և նույնիսկ մեր երկնային Հայրը անտեսած էր մեզ։ Այս փորձառությունը, այս զգացողությունը հանդիպել եմ վերջերս։ Ընտանիքի հետ էի, և իրենց սիրելին, իրենց հայրը հիվանդացավ և մահամերձ էր, կմեռներ, և իր դուստրը ինձի դարձավ և կըսե՝ «Տեր հայր, ո՞ւր է Աստված, ո՞ւր է։ Ինչո՞ւ հայրիկս պետք է այսպես չարչարվի։ Ինչո՞ւ մեզմե պետք է հեռանա։ Իր ժամանակը չէ, երիտասարդ է։ Ինչո՞ւ այսպես պետք է հիվանդանար։ Ո՞ւր է Աստվածը»։ Ասե։ Պատասխան ունի՞մ այդ վայրկյանին։ Դուք պատասխան կունենայիք, եթե իմ տեղը ըլլայիք։ Ես եղած եմ այդ վիճակի մեջ վեց ամիս առաջ, եղբայրս կմեռներ։ Ո՞ւր է Աստված։ Ասիկա արդար չէ։ Ինչո՞ւ ուրիշներուն չի պատահեր, բայց մեզի կպատահի։ Սա մարդկային մտածողություն է ասիկա, և մենք մարդ ենք։ Եվ պատասխանը, երբ որ մենք պատրաստ ենք ընդունելու, կգտնվի այս հրաշքի մեջը, կգտնվի Ավետարանի մեջը, երբ որ մենք աչքեր ունենք և ականջներ ունենք տեսնելու և լսելու, որովհետև մեր Տերը այդպիսի Տեր չէ, որ կգետցնե դժվար բաներ այս կյանքի մեջը, այս կյանքի ընթացին։ Ինքը Տերը չէ, որ կըսե, որ դուք միշտ հանգիստ, հարմար և ապահով պիտի ապրեք, մի մտահոգվիք։ Մեր Տերն է, որ երբեք անտարբեր չէ։ Եվ երբ որ մենք դժվարություններուն կհանդիպենք, պիտի երևնա մեր ցավի մեջ և բուժե մեզի։ Ինչո՞ւ։ Որովհետև Աստվածաշնչի սկիզբեն մինչև վերջը մենք կհասկանանք, որ մենք կապրենք այս կյանքը ոչ թե որ մենք անփորձանք մնանք կամ միշտ անապահով, կյանքիստ հարմար, այլ որ մենք պատրաստվենք հաջորդ կյանքի համար։ Եվ մեր տկար էությունները չեն կրնար պատրաստվիլ հավերժական կյանքի համար առանց փորձանքի, առանց դժվարության, որովհետև կստիպե մեր տկարության մեջ, որ մենք ավելի խորն այինք այս կյանքի իմաստին։

The passage which I’d like to invite you to join me in reading today, by the way, if we can put the reading up on the screen, you’ve got your pew Bibles, is from the Gospel of John, chapter six. And this is a telling of the events on the Sea of Galilee when the storm breaks out and Christ appears to the disciples. Beginning from verse fifteen. And I invite you, as you have your pew Bibles with you, to explore not only these verses, but the chapter in general, which is a very essential and important chapter and has to do with Christ feeding the multitudes and proclaiming himself the bread of life. But in this chapter, we hear John’s account of the events that took place on the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Now who came? These were the people who were listening to him preach and who were amazed by his profound works and his miracles, and they glorified him so much that they wanted to enthrone him in that moment and embroil him in rebellious behavior in the kingdom. But that wasn’t the time for it. He knew, of course, and so he withdrew again to a mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three or four miles out, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Now, the storm, the extent of which and the violence of which is not entirely emphasized in the Gospel of John, is of course very profoundly important to our understanding of this passage. It was life-threatening. It wasn’t wind. It was to the degree that they were concerned for their very lives. And when Christ appears, slowly approaching in the distance, having walked upon the waters and subsequently bringing peace to them, they are shocked. Christ emphasizes their fear in this moment. They weren’t simply afraid of Jesus Christ. They were afraid for their very lives, and they couldn’t understand what was happening. And then Christ reveals himself to them in the midst of that turmoil. And he says, “Do not be afraid, for it is I.”

Now, the feeling of sheer terror of having your life threatened is something that is not understood by all of us here in the sanctuary today, but it is understood by some. Some of us have been in that position before, and we know that all logic and rationality goes out of our minds in those moments when we feel like we might not live another moment. You know, if you’ve ever been close to being in a car accident or maybe been in a car accident, you know, in that moment, time stands still and all rationality is gone, right? You can’t make sense of what’s up, what’s down. This is the sort of moment that we can imagine the disciples are in when Christ begins to approach them. And it’s easy to imagine perhaps that as things began to progress towards that moment in time, they were asking themselves, “You know, where’s Christ? If He was here with us, this wouldn’t be happening,” right? “If He was here now, maybe this isn’t something that we would be experiencing.”

If that sounds familiar to you, it’s because it’s not the first time that we’ve heard something like that from the gospel in recent weeks. When I preached the week before last, we were reading of the account of the resurrection of Lazarus and how those who loved Lazarus were so upset that Jesus wasn’t there when he died. If He was there, then he would have been okay, right? So they saw Him arriving late. “Oh, it’s too bad. We know that you can do miracles, but you’re too late. Where were you?” Of course, we know eventually He resurrects Lazarus, and all is done in accordance with His will so that people can understand the extent of His power. Last week, we listened to the story of the miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee when the water is turned to wine. It happened, right? In this joyful moment, this situation unfolded. The wine ran out. They had to go to Mary, and they said, “Mary, please do something about this,” you know. And so then Mary intercedes on behalf of the people, instructs the servants to do what Christ says, and eventually the crisis is averted. But it happened. They ran out of the wine. In all of these cases, Christ didn’t stop the hard thing from happening. Lazarus dies. They run out of wine at the wedding. The storm consumes the ship on the sea. What do all of these things have in common? First of all, the essential and human reaction that these difficulties, these tragedies, these events should have and could have been avoided, and this deep feeling of betrayal when they are not. We know what that feels like.

Earlier this week, I shared in my Armenian message, recently I was with a family. Their father was dying, and they said, “Where is God in all of this? Why is this happening? Where is God? Tell me.” You know, would you know what to say in that moment? Because I didn’t have the right thing to say in that moment. In the depths of our pain, when we can’t tell up from down and left from right, you say, “Okay, let’s open a Bible to John chapter six. Let’s reflect on this.” No, what do you do? You comfort and you love one another. But there are answers to these questions. When we ask ourselves, “Where is God in the midst of all of these tribulations?” If we look to what we’ve seen over the past month in our Bibles, then we understand more deeply that our Savior is not a Savior who prevents difficult and challenging things from happening in our lives. We experience tribulation. We experience heartache and longing and grief. We experience pain. We experience suffering. We experience all these things, and we still pray that God keep us away from all of these things for us and our loved ones. But it is not our Savior’s goal to pick a few people and say, “Now bad things will never happen to you in this life because you are blessed.” It doesn’t happen to the people who were the closest to Him in the Gospel, and it’s not going to happen to you and me.

But what the Gospel does tell us is that when those things happen, just as in today’s reading, Christ reveals Himself, and He says, “Do not be afraid, for it is I.” He is the medicine that we need in the moments where we experience that pain. He is the peace when our inner life is in chaos. He is the answer when we find that we cannot understand or make sense of what is going on in the world around us. And why? Because this is the story of our salvation from the very beginning of creation. By virtue of our own mistakes, we live in a fallen world where we are meant through the course of this life to prepare for the grace, beauty, and salvation that brings us into eternal life. And we can’t prepare unless we’re challenged. That’s the truth of it. But we can support one another throughout these challenges, and we can remind one another that we’re not alone. And when the time is right, Christ comes to us in the midst of our pain and says, “Do not be afraid, for it is I, and I am with you,” if we remain with Him.

So as we enter into this Feast of the Catechumens, I just stand here encouraging you to be courageous, to be brave, and remember that you will get to the other side of whatever your tribulation is in your life right now. I’ve been there. I’ve been there before, and I know that when the time comes for Christ to reveal himself and his love to you, and for him to make sense of that which we have experienced, so that we are better prepared for the life to come, that there will be gratitude in our hearts for the opportunity to encounter Christ in this way, just as the disciples did, for the glory of the All Holy Trinity. Amen.