RADIANT SUNDAY
According to the rules of the solar system, Sundays follow one another exactly one week apart. However the Sunday all mortal beings long for, is much different. The Sunday we are seeking, as Armenian Christians, is not merely another day to check off on our weekly calendar, but, rather, the dawning Sunday the famous lyric poet Misak Medzarentz describes in his poem Giragmoodk. The most solemn feast of our Lord Jesus Christ’s triumphal victory over death, Easter Sunday is revealed in our earthy souls, “I fervently await the dawning of the radiant Sunday in my soul” God willing….
We are in the pinnacle of the Holy Week commemoration, culminating in the glorious Holy resurrection celebration we call Easter Sunday, radiant Sunday. During the past few days through our worship and veneration, we, too, have witnessed the feelings of sorrow, disappointment and abandonment our Lord experienced during His final days of earthy life.
The bitter, harsh and torturous passion of the innocent ‘Lamb of God’ which we have commemorated for over 20 centuries is still, today, an emotionally-draining spiritual experience for us, not because of its brutality, but because of the magnitude of God’s deep mystery and providence. We also, despite our human fragility, through worship, have progressed through the straight and narrow path toward the True Light, Jesus, being the supreme guiding light, He is also the bestower of light. The brilliant light that is inextinguishable, inscrutable and impossible to cover or veil. This radiant light, notwithstanding being the portal of life is, in fact, Life itself… Jesus Christ.
I am the way, the truth and the life John 14:6
Soon the world will rejoice with the true light, humanity will escape from the mire of sin to rise to new life. How will we, dear faithful, fervently usher in the radiant Sunday of our souls, the Sunday of life and resurrection, the Sunday of the rebirth of hope? Our earnest prayer is that by banishing darkness, vices and addictions from our lives, only then can we embrace, in true Christian spirit, the dawning of our most resplendent, glorious and radiant Easter Sunday.
O Armenia, our fatherland, may you also usher in the radiant Sunday of our collective souls! May our sacred land welcome the return of its sons in captivity. May this holy land, consecrated with the remains of our brave martyrs, always rejoice with the footsteps of your brave sons and coming generations of well-trained soldiers in measured march.
O diaspora, may you too welcome the radiant Sunday of your collective souls! May your spiritual casks overflow with abundant heavenly grace so that Armenia and the Armenian people are always adorned with the resurrecting spirit of Holy Easter for the eternal stability of the Armenian Church and the coming generations of the Armenian Nation.
O Armenian community may you, as well, usher in the radiant Sunday of our collective souls and may the feast of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ positively impact your sons and daughters so that these qualities may radiate in our community and familial lives; unity, brotherly love, mutual respect, love and endearment. It is our hope and prayer that these fine qualities permeate our community life like a rushing stream so that our communal repository will be enriched with new plans, activities and successes. May all diasporan communities thrive where Armenians live their lives in Christian harmony.
Today, my brothers and sisters, wherever you live in this world, God has a unique gift for you; Triumphantly we mourn the death by death as we embrace the life of life because this world has been vanquished by the shining and radiant Light.
May the radiant light flow like sweet nectar in your family bonds.
May the successes derived through the radiant light also bring joy to your accomplishments and life.
May the connections from the radiant light create even stronger bonds for you to the Heavenly.
More than anytime in the past, the radiant light is beckoning you to receive its reflection so you, too, become the light.
Radiant light, so that the Word of the Holy Scriptures resonates in your lives, “put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” Colossians 3:10
Radiant light, so in this present time, let us collectively receive Christ, the embodiment of Light.
And finally, with Your radiant Light, may our souls shine forth the long-anticipated Radiant Sunday.
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With the promise of new life and breath on this glorious feast of resurrection, the Western Prelacy conveys our heartfelt greetings and congratulations to the clergy of our diocese, to the ecclesial bodies, the parishes, local school administrations, compatriotic unions, political organizations, community leaders and our dear faithful with this salutation:
Christ has risen from the dead, Blessed be the resurrection of Christ!
Prayerfully and with radiant Christian love,
Bishop Torkom Donoyan, Prelate
Western United States
April 17, 2022
Los Angeles, CA USA
