Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mark 11.9-10)

the Easter season that we call "Hinanc" is coming to an end. Last Thursday was the Ascension Day of our Lord. After His resurrection, Christ appeared to His disciples many times, dispelling their sorrows and encouraging them.

Today is the second Palm Sunday in our church. At the heart of this festival is a beautiful tradition according to which Gregory the Illuminator, who was imprisoned in a deep dungeon by King Trdat for 13 years, was visited and comforted by an angel every day and prayed together. However, the angel does not come on the Sunday after the Ascension Day. St. Gregory questions the angel and learns that Christ passed one of the new orders of angels each day as he ascended into heaven. The angel who visited him was of the fourth order, and on the fourth day of the Ascension this group of angels celebrated Christ's ascension. Today is the second Palm Sunday. If on the first Palm Sunday the Lord entered the earthly Jerusalem sitting on a donkey, on the second Palm Sunday He entered, past angelic hosts, the upper, heavenly Jerusalem and sat down next to God the Father. Jesus was glorified by the people as the Son of David on Palm Sunday. On the second Palm Sunday the angels praised him as the Son of God. God is love and creation is the expression of his infinite love, and man is the masterpiece of creation. The fulfillment of creation is the spiritual salvation of man. The greatest proof of this is the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16)

God became man so that man might be justified. But we often build our lives on sand on enmity, hatred, envy, money, betrayal and other evils. After the material security of our life, we often forget about our spiritual life, spiritual nourishment and prayer. One cannot live without bread, but one should live not only on bread but on the Word of God (Matthew 4.4). All human evils and disasters are born of spiritual vanity. What will remain with us is what we have given to others. You can deceive people, but not the Lord. Man sees what is in front of his eyes, but the LORD sees the heart (1 SAMUEL 16.7)

Dear believers, life is also a temporary journey. We choose the direction of this path. The path can lead us to heaven, following the example of the Lord, or to hell, following the example of Satan. The choice is ours, mine and you. We are these spiritual travelers. The Lord shows us the way. He meets our hearts and knocks on the doors of our souls. The choice is ours, mine and you, whether we let him in.

Let us live by his example and walk in the footsteps of the Lord who leads us to heaven to everlasting happiness.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mark 11.9-10) Amen.

Rev. Vahridj Baghdasaryan