Holy Resurrection Armenian Apostolic Church 

Lent 2026

I was waiting for the traffic light at 10th and Milwaukee, just a few blocks from church, when I glanced over and looked at the Ten Commandments structure that was placed there in the mid-1960s by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. 

 

Everyone knows the Ten and some may even remember the movie with Charlton Heston (who had relatives in SM at that time!). From the time of Moses, literally Before Christ (BC) it has lots of Do This and Don’t Do That. What to do and what not to do. Green means Go, Red means Stop. Kind of like an instruction manual, written in stone. Following these commands should make Life easier. Sometimes not.

 

Then I thought about our Lenten season, in which we use stories on each Sunday that Jesus originally shared 2,000 years ago. Most of them center around Loss, Grief, Sadness, Change and Uncertainty. There isn’t an On/Off switch. The people in his parables are facing difficult decisions. Jesus used those stories to show our frailty. It was hard 2,000 years ago and it’s still hard today. The Human Condition is rarely polarized and the solution to those feelings is Faith. 

 

As Christians, we sometimes find ourselves in situations that are frightening or frustrating. This is being Human, but we must remember what believers have done since Christ rose on Easter and that is trust in God, that’s what Faith is. Do the right thing as Christ directed us, use your Faith as a healing balm.There are things that are out of our control, but Christ will never leave us.

 

Deacon Armen Hadjinian