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Gospel Reading
(Matthew 14:13-21)
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children..
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Epistle Reading
(Romans 11:13-24)
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead! If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
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About Vartavar
(From the Diocesan Website)
The pagan feast Vartavar (the Festival of Roses) marked the harvest each year and was traditionally associated with the goddess Asdghig—the pagan Armenian deity of water, love, and fertility. To replicate Asdghig’s bathing, people would sprinkle each other with rose water and hold a special festival of roses during this joyful feast. With equal delight, Armenians rejoiced over agricultural abundance during Vartavar. It either preceded or coincided with the feast of the harvest, which was the Armenian New Year (Navasart-Amanor). It was most likely held between August 1 and 6, each year. Different regions in Armenia celebrated the harvest with different traditions. For instance, in the district of Koghtn it was customary to hold a ritual during this festival involving green wheat that had previously budded. In other regions, special rituals were directly connected with animal husbandry. The Armenian Meliks marked the day with feasts held in the fields and rituals dedicated to fertility-such as bringing fruits as gifts to future brides and grooms, throwing fruits on their heads, or sending them apples. Throughout much of Armenia, families enjoyed delicious harisa as part of the feast. Today in Armenia, people still maintain the tradition of splashing each other with water on Vartavar. Children and young adults are usually seen ambushing passerby with buckets of cold water—a welcome surprise on hot summer days.
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