Message of Fr. Vazken Movsesian,
parish priest of St. Andrew Armenian Church, Cupertino,
from the Nakhagoch Newsletter.
Electronic version archived on:
SAIN-- St. Andrew Information Network
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c. 1988 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Address comments to: dervaz@sain.org
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April 1989

NOT THE SAME OLD STORY
AN END TO RHETORIC

The following sermon was delivered by Fr. Vazken on April 23, 1989
on the occasion of Armenian Martyrs' Day 1989.

	Once again we find ourselves commemorating Armenian Martyrs' Day.
This is the 74th anniversary of the most barbaric crime of
genocide.
	We know the facts.  One and a half million Armenians were maimed
and butchered.  We also know the details.  Some lived through
those atrocities, some have heard it from parents and
grandparents.  And ALL of us have felt the impact of the massacres
one way or another.  We have grown up without family. Our families
have been scattered across the globe.  We have no free homeland to
identify with.  We have been raised with images of sorrow, pain
and suffering.  This has played a critical role in
defining our individual as well as collective consciousness.
	Just a few days ago, right here in our back yard, in Sanoma
County,  we were outraged by the crimes committed by Ramon
Salcido.  After killing his wife, boss and sister-in-law he
slashed the throats of his three daughters leaving them to die in
a
dump.  Imagine the picture of the one surviving daughter, stranded
in a dump, waiting for help.  Magnify this event by 100,000 and
you have a picture of the gross and savage acts committed by the
Turks against the Armenians.  Next to the Turks,
Salcido would look like a saint.
	We know the problems.  We know the events that took place, and
sadly, it stops there.  We are guilty of not spreading the word
beyond ourselves.

	Last year, on Martyrs' Day, a group of us went up to San
Francisco.  On the steps of City Hall, in the cold and rainy
weather we stood in a candle light vigil remembering our martyrs.
It was a small, quiet demonstration of solidarity among
Armenians.  But then, all of a sudden, one of the Armenian
"leaders" took a bull horn and began exclaiming the standard
linesÑ "We shall not let this happen again!"  "Turkey shall be
brought to justice!"  and so on, and so on.
	Rhetoric!  We've all heard it.  It sounds good but that is the
extent of it's effectiveness.  Because it does not go beyond our Ñ
the ArmenianÑ ear.
	Earlier this month, I gave the ACYO an assignment, to write a
composition entitled "Martyrs' Day: Is there a solution?"  Each of
the compositions approached the question in a different manner,
yet resoundingly, they all echoed a cynical undertone.
Dan Janjigian, won the competition with a well written piece.  In
his conclusion, he plainly said, "No, there is no solutionÉ"
	This deduction concerns me, as a priest, as an Armenian, as a
father with hopes for the future.  It concerns me because, even
our young and most impressionable minds are finding the Armenian
experience a negative one.  We have painted a picture of
the Armenian nation and people as a dispensable and disposable
commodity.
	Realistically, you ask, is there an answer?  The message I
present here is YES!  There is an answer.  It is much more
difficult to achieve than any other.  It does not involve killing
Turks, yelling in the streets, nor lobbying to pass legislation.
 It goes beyond this.  The answer lies not in asking: Can I do it?
 rather, "Am I willing to do it?"
	The solution to our dilemma is no farther than our faith, the
faith of our fathers.  The solution is in the acceptance of the
teachings of our Church and the responsibility that goes with it!
If this sounds too simplistic or some kind of
pie-in-the-sky talk, please listen on.

	I have been serving this parish for 7 years.  Those of you who
have been supportive of this ministry will note one reoccurring
theme during those years: It does not mean anything to say you are
a Christian if you can't live as a Christian!  It does
not mean anything to say you are an Armenian if you can't live as
an Armenian!
	It is not enough to say you belong to a people who were the first
to accept Christianity, if by your actions (or non-actions) you
are willing to be the first to lose that identity.  The fact of
the first Christian nation is a testimony and tribute
to our forefathers, not to us or any other Armenian.
	What pride is associated with the statement, "I speak Armenian"?
There are many Turks who speak Armenian!  Where do we find the
reasons for proudly exclaiming, "I believe in God"?  The devil,
Satan himself, believes in God!
	The real question at this juncture in our history is what are we
doing to be worthy to be called an Armenian?  A Christian?  There
is an action and responsibility that accompanies our convictions.
We have the greatestÑyet seemingly
undiscoveredÑweapon within our faith.  Guns and weapons may have
won battles throughout our history, but the war has been won by
our commitment to the message, "Christ has risen from the dead!"
	We often speak of the WHITE MASSACRE.  The red massacre, with
blood, was carried out by the Turk.  The white massacre is
bloodless but just as effective.  It's goal is the annihilation of
a people, the Armenian people, and we ourselves are the
perpetrators. We survived the red massacre, but unless we change
our ways quickly, we will not be able to save ourselves from the
white massacre.
	There is a misconception, though, about the white massacre.  The
white massacre is not an issue of forgetting the language or
forgetting the history.  The loss of language, the loss of
identity is the result of the white massacre.  The white
massacre begins with indifferent and non-responsive attitudes.
Our indifference and unwillingness to accept responsibility is
what is killing us.  Our children recognize our apathy and conform
or reject the entire Armenian experience.
	As the Turks were the villains of the red massacre, we can point
to the culprits of the white massacre: self-centeredness,
indifference, criticism and polarization. Here are some
conversations that illustrate the point.  These are not isolated
and
by no means unique examples.

ÑDer Hayr, when will the Church be finished?
ÑWe're working hard, but we need money.  Will you buy a raffle
ticket or a ticket to our dance? (after all I can't admit there is
not enough faith to bring donations in other ways).
ÑWell Der Hayr, you see I just bought a new car and the payments
on the home are so taxing.  But don't worry, when the Church is
built, you'll get a lot of support.

ÑLook, they're speaking English in the Church.  What kind of
Armenian Church is this?
ÑWell, we have to reach the people.  Why don't you come with me?
ÑOh, I go to the church down the street.  I get so much out of the
service there.  Anyway, Jesus is Jesus, He's the same everywhere.

ÑHello.  I'm pleased to meet you.
ÑAre you Armenian?
ÑI sure am.
ÑWhat kind?  American born?  FOB?  Tashnag? Ragavar?É

	What the Turks could not accomplish we will accomplish by our own
actions.  If we don't do away with indifference, criticism and
polarization, sure enough we will have massacred the Armenian
people.  Remember, the Turks did not ask what kind of
Armenian we were.  The only condition warranting an execution
order was our being Armenian.
	The time has come for us to move forward.  We must break out of
our ethnocentric shell.  The time is here for us to say, "YES
THERE IS AN ANSWER TO OUR SITUATION.  AND IT BEGINS WITH ME!"  And
indifference, criticism and polarization can have no
place in a healthy and productive model.
	The massacres were such a traumatic experience that it has
transformed us.  Some may want to take a negative view, but we
must strive for the positive.  Look what happened to the Blessed
Disciples after the resurrection of our Lord.  These weak,
timid, doubting, quick-to-deny individuals became the leaders, the
strongest and greatest apostles to Christ's Gospels.  After the
resurrection, the same disciples that deserted our Lord became the
ones willin
g to lay down their lives for the Gospel.  The resurrection
transformed them from coward to warrior.  Today, the attempted
genocide must likewise transform us.
	We can fight the evil of the massacres by the productive work and
actions we do in this world.  Let me give you some examples.
	--Following the earthquake in Armenia last December, we received
many donations from non-Armenians.   One group of these donations
came for Mexicans who would invariably include a note to the
effect, "we have been there, we remember what it was
like in Mexico City in 1985É"  Without a question, this
illustrates the transformation of the Mexican people following
their tragedy.  We must now ask that when the next tragedy happens
in the world will the Armenian people be ready to react
similarly.
	--Two years ago author Richard Melikian (The Armenian Answer to
the Armenian Question) spoke at our Martyrs' Day commemoration.
One of the most touching and moving stories Melikian tells is when
he is aiding members of the Pokot tribe in northeast
Kenya.  He is an eye-witness to the slow death of the Pokotian
children by malnutrition.  When asked by tribesmen, why he would
leave the comforts of America to come to their aid, Melikian would
liken the Pokot suffering to that of the Armenians.
Because Armenians have known pain, suffering, malnutrition and
death, a bond is Ñ and must be Ñ formed with others suffering in
this world.  He calls on the deepest and most fundamental
Christian principles to give him strength in dealing with pain
and suffering.  In that one action, in that instant, more was
accomplished in bringing the Martyrs' Day message to the people
than all the demonstrations, all the legislation, all the
protests, we have attempted throughout the years.
	--Last December, just two days after the earthquake in Armenia,
our parishioners fed a group of homeless.  We felt by helping
those in need in the area, someone, in Armenia, would be helping
our brothers and sisters.  We were criticized by some of
our community who could not see the sense in helping others, when
our "own" people were in such great need.  And this is the point I
am making.  We can no longer think of "own" as Armenian.  Because
of the nature of the tragedy we suffered, our
response to it must have global ramifications; hence, "our own"
includes nothing less than mankind!
	The Armenian has a very special mission.  In completing that
mission the Armenian will retain his identity by virtue of the act
itself.
	We need not look far for cases of poverty, hunger, prejudice and
the rest.  There is genocide happening today in the Middle East,
Far East and even here in this country.  It hides under the guise
of racism.
	There is starvation, throughout the world as well as here in the
Santa Clara Valley.  It is a shame that this valley is one of the
most prosperous areas in America and there is hunger, homelessness
and disease.
	There is hatred and aggression, barbarism toward people.  For
weeks now, a small group of our faithful have been attending
prayer services at the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church.  We are
praying with them for the plight of their countrymen in
Yugoslavia.  The Serbians find themselves in a similar situation
to what the Armenians went through last year in Karabagh.  The
Serbian Christian minority is being harassed and killed by Muslim
Albanians.
	This approach to the Armenian question is not an easy way out.
It is not for lazy men.  It requires commitment and hard work.  It
requires the denial of self, of killing indifference, of ending
criticism and partiality.
	But first things first.  Before any one can tackle the cares of
the world, he must be strong in his faith.
	We begin with an unconditional confession that the center of our
faith is not us, but God Himself.  We believe that Christ is
present in the Eucharist and Christ is in our midst at our Divine
Liturgy.  This is the starting point.  For if we believe
Christ is in our midst, what can be more important outside of the
Church?  If we believe Christ is God incarnate, what is there that
we wouldn't do for him?  If we believe the Creator of Life said,
what you have done for my brothers you have done
for me, then how can we not address the social concerns of this
world?

	I would like to give you a small memento from today's sermon as
well as a special symbol.  Back in the 18th century, when the
Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem had been mismanaged by the
laity, it was in near financial ruin.  Archbishop Krikor
Shirvantzi was appointed as Patriarch of the Holy City.  As a
symbol of their financial captivity, the Patriarch donned a large
chain around his neck.  After this, he was known as Krikor
Shghtayagir (the chain bearer) Patriarch.
	I give you these chains today.  As is slavery, these chains are
ugly.  Like the bonds that bind us, they are strong yet can be
broken. Their only purpose is to be a constant reminder to us of
who we were, where we are and where we are going.
	We were a proud and industrious people.  Today we have succumbed
to the materialist dilemma.  We are captive not only because we
are without a homeland, but because we have found comfort in our
adopted homes.  We are slaves to indifference,
criticism and partiality.  But it is not too late to change and
break these chains.
	Today, our building project, the "Little Armenia" we are building
here is in need of help.  We are captive because we are building
our Church with a mortgage.  It is a shame that this new House of
God must be in the hands of heathens.  Where we are
going is up to us.  We can remain with chains or we can break
them.
	I ask that you place these chains on your necks, on your belts,
in your pockets and purses.  Keep them close to you as a reminder.
 When you are making a purchase you will reach for the money in
your pocket or purse and run across this chain.  When
you come across it thinkÑ do I really need that item?  Is there
something less expensive I can purchase and give the savings to
build our ChurchÑto break this chain?
	These chains will serve as a constant reminder to us of who we
were, what we are and where we are going.


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c. 1988 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Address comments to: dervaz@sain.org
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