I appeal to everyone to contribute to calm tempers - Bishop Serovbe
Bishop Serovbe Isakhanyan writes: “There is a time for everyhting…”
“Our Mother See, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, is living through one of its difficult times. Internal disagreements, an atmosphere of distrust, the danger of becoming alienated from one another, I am certain they hurt us all: the heart of every Armenian Christian. Sometimes it seems that there are too many voices and too little silence, much judgment and less reflection in love. Yet it is precisely for such a moment that Holy Scripture reminds us: ‘There is a time for everything, and a time for every matter under heaven.’
This truth also applies to the Armenian Apostolic Church, which through the centuries has passed through severe trials, has struggled throughout the course of history, yet has always remained the pillar of our faith and identity.
The Armenian Church is our golden inheritance, our spiritual home on the road to the Kingdom of God, which, to repeat the poet’s words, ‘has a secret path that rises toward heaven.’
Today as well, the Church stands before a number of internal and external challenges and difficulties. We are one great house in which there can be and indeed are disagreements, differences of opinion, and at times even tension among family members. The Preacher says, ‘There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.’ The stones have been cast; now we must find the time to gather them. However full of trials the present moment may be, it can also become an opportunity and a time to listen to one another, to seek solutions together, and to find answers to the most painful questions.
The problems that have arisen within the Church must be resolved not through division or opposition, but in a spirit of love, patience, and shared responsibility.
Accordingly, my appeal and heartfelt request to each of us regardless of position or stance is to contribute to the calming of passions; to desire peace not only in word, but in thought and deed; not to judge hastily, but to reflect deeply; and in every matter to seek first not our own ego, but the will of God: ‘Your will be done…’
Today is Sunday, today is the Day of the Lord. Let us stand together in prayer for one another, for our Church, for our Homeland, for our people. Let us pray that God may guide us to seek and find solutions to all the problems that have arisen through the paths of peace, justice, and respect for the law.
May the Lord protect and preserve our Armenian Apostolic Mother Holy Church and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.”