Preparing For More

Passages: Is. 25:9-26.7; Phil. 1:1-11; Lk. 9:44-50
Ընթերցուածքներ՝ Եսայ. ԻԵ 9 – ԻԶ 7; Փիլիփ. Ա 1-11; Ղկ. Թ 44-50

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Growing up, I enjoyed each year around this time watching people put up Christmas trees and decorations. Some were elaborate, while others are smaller. Homes, neighborhoods, communities, cities would all be adorned in lights, wreathes and festive merriment. The preparation that would begin almost immediately after Halloween stretched through Thanksgiving into the New Year. Which of course for us Armenian’s stretched a little more into January 5-6. Regardless, the copious amounts of work that went into decorating ultimately beautified the cities and communities we live in. The work wasn’t done just on the outside of the house or building. What about tree inside the house? What about the Christmas pillows that are swapped in for the regular or fall pillows? And of course we could never forget the food. Whether it is traditional Armenian cooking, or more North American style cuisine, everything from appetizers to sweets, Christmas preparations brought out the delicious sights and smells. But why do we go through the trouble of all these preparations and decorations? 

My dears, today the Armenian Church transitions from the season of the Cross and enters into the season of Heesnag. Heesnag, comes to us from the Armenian word heesoon literally “50” and it represents the roughly 50 days period before our January 5 celebration of Christmas, the birth and revelation of Christ Jesus. In English terms, Heesnag is the Armenian version of Advent. The word “advent,” from Latin adventus, means “coming,” and speaks specifically about the coming of Christ into the world. Whether or not Heesnag has a relationship with the Western version of Advent, this transitional season towards Christmas, towards the Nativity of Christ, holds 2 significant and very important questions for us; Are we ready and what are we preparing for? 

I remember when Yeretskin and I were expecting our baby, we painted his room, we put up shelves and prepared for when he would be born. In the same way perhaps many of us have prepared when we first became parents, but the same preparation is also seen as we said, for this season of Christmas. The trees and lights, food and decor all for the parades and guests that we would soon enjoy. Yet, in an ever growing secular world, Christmas season decorations, parades, lights, and food are enjoyed by all people. Even our atheist neighbors might put up “holiday lights” or attend the local “Santa parade”. For us Christian’s however, our preparations are not limited to this season and they symbolize our preparations for something greater.  Heesnag, as we celebrate it, is not a period to prepare for the physical celebration of Christmas. Rather, it is a period of time for us to reflect and ask, are we prepared for God in our life? Are we prepared to grow in faith? Is the dinner table all we want, or do we attend the heavenly banquet of Holy Badarak with the same joy, love and desire?

In the prophet St. Isaiah, we begin today’s reading with the words, “It will be said on that day, ‘Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’” The prophet is teaching us, we have waited for him, we have prepared for God, who celebrate not a date in the year, but rather this day, every day and with God we are glad and we rejoice. My dears, each and every one of us is here has a life outside this Church. We have a life of work, school, relationships, family and friends; we have a physical life where we eat and drink and where people see how we live our life. But we also have an invisible life – internal hope and aspirations, goals and pursuits. We decorate and show parts of our life to those around us – both the physical but also invisible parts. Much like a city and home that is decorated for Christmas inside and out, we put on display of what we want others to see. Yet, we also have struggles, and pain. We have uncertainty, and doubt; fear and anxiety. We have addiction, skeletons, violence and all sorts of other darkness that we are dealing with. We have a part of our life that we hide from others, or even try to hide from ourselves. We even try to hide from God. And no matter, what we show people on the outside, we know those areas are there as well. 

This season of Heesnag, this day of preparation, therefore, is about asking God to be with us in those areas of difficulty and suffering because it is only God that can heal us, guide us, prepare us and help us get our life in order from the inside and outside. We need God to be in our life, but we are afraid to show Him who we are. Yet, God our Heavenly Father knows who we are and says, yes my child, I see you pain, I see your tears and your smiles. I am here to cleanse you and free you, to fully prepare you so that when we have questions, and uncertainty – we will not be afraid. We will be glad and rejoice as Isaiah says. God has given us Holy Scripture, prayer, fasting and the sacraments of the Church; God has given us the opportunity to repent, come for confession, to speak to our clergy, to light our candles, to have a place of gathering. God has given us the Church as the place where we begin seeing God in our life. In the Gospel, after Christ speaks about His crucifixion and the Disciples did not understand, we read, of how everyone was afraid to ask, they shied away. Yet, we have the opportunity to ask, to learn because it is through that which God prepares to face life as a Christian. These are the tools, the brooms, hammers, and nails that help us prepare, clean up, decorate and prepare through the help of God, to understand and celebrate His love. Because no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter what we feel in the inside, God loves each and every one of us. 

Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, through the love of God the Father, calls each of us and through the Holy Spirit, we each have the means, by which to understand how we prepare and what we are preparing for. Trees and presents? Santa and reindeers? Cookies and pie? Or a renewed life, a renewed hope, a renewed joy that we can share openly with in this world. Christmas is not only a celebration of Jesus being born into the world, it is about Christ being born into our lives. Heesnag, Advent, this period of prayer and transition is not about lights and decorations – it is about being adorned in Christ’s light that shines brightly. We my dears, have been given this day to ask are we ready. We have been given this day to get ready. We have been given this day to be with God. Pray for one another, pray to have God enter our lives and prepare us. Pray for light to shine in the darkest parts of our lives. Pray and know that you are loved, you are decorated with the Holy Name of Christ. Therefore, may the grace of the Holy Spirit illuminate our hearts and minds to come to God, asking Him to help prepare us through the Holy Church, to strengthen our faith and through us reveal His love and renewal in this coming season to all, Amen.