The Message of His Holiness Karekin II on the Occasion of the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection
11.04.2004
"Take heart, it is I; Have no fear"
(Mark 6:50)
Dearly Beloved People,
Christ thus addressed His disciples, who in a boat on the open sea were distressed and frightened by the strong winds and rough waters. And they saw Jesus, Who was walking upon the waves, and He approached and entered the boat. 'It is I', He said, 'take heart and have no fear'. At that moment, the winds ceased. The deadly elements turned to peace, and life shone in their troubled souls.
On the boat, in the person of the Lord, Life itself was present amongst them, though His disciples yet did not recognize it. They would still walk much with their teacher, they would see countless healings and would listen to Him, hearing as well that He would eventually be tortured and betrayed to death. Afraid and hopeless, they were to see the tomb where their crucified Teacher was placed. They would yet see Him, Resurrected, standing amongst them and to hear the Divine message once again: "It is I; Have no fear". At that time their minds would be opened, and they would recognize that He was the Savior of the World, and they would believe that death had been forever destroyed, and that we have Resurrection and Life. We have the hope of renewal, of becoming and possessing the same image as the Resurrected, of being called the children of God and becoming the co-inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven.
On this sacred morning of Easter, the mystery of the Resurrection within our renewed hope and faith, calls to us again, "Take heart, it is I." Today, that message of the Lord, like the life-giving and joyous heavenly dew, descends upon our human souls, when we are troubled by the disturbing events in the world, when often we are found to be weak before the imperatives of the present day, feeble by our fears, anxious and uncertain by questions which concern us. The world has changed much since the days of Christ, and changed are the possibilities of man. Mankind has completed and continues to make complete the numerous inadequacies of life, yet the most important thing continues to be lacking - the response of the human soul to the divine call to peace and good will amongst men. In the present era of science and technology, mankind has split the atom, is conquering the universe, and has the power to make the desert arable. Nevertheless, humanity has not succeeded in silencing the sounds of war, nor has it eliminated need and poverty. Every day, thousands of newspapers, periodicals, books, and radio and television programming speak and witness 'that man is the crowning glory of creation'. However, universal and timeless moral values, especially the love of mankind, still feel the need to be defended. Indeed, what can we hope for, if moral standards, holiness and philanthropy are absent from the hearts of men? If men do not have the fear of God? God Himself has given us the unsurpassed example of the true love of man, by sending His Only Begotten Son to the world to save us. With Him, we came to know love; because for us, He took up the Cross, so that we might be raised from the dead. From our God-loving souls, the love of mankind will pour forth, as the greatest achievement of all times and of every society.
Once again, we see today Heaven opened by grace, and the face of God who loves mankind gazing towards us. Today our Risen Lord comes to shoulder our burdens, to comfort our sorrows, to dispel our doubts, to rescue us from deadly shipwrecks, and to open the peaceful skies overhead. He has appointed us as His coworkers in the service of men. Thus, every task which we embark upon, let us do it in a manner as if we were doing it for God (Col. 3:23); and Christ with His blessing, will complete the rest - that which exceeds our human capabilities.
Dearly beloved Armenian people, with His blessed presence and with His saving power, the Lord has been at our side, wherever the ship of our life has been driven during the journeying courses of difficult, as well as trouble-free periods of our history. God has been at our side and has not abandoned us in deadly fateful times, when having lost our hope in men, we have been left alone. The light of the Resurrection soars above all of our Avarayrs and Sardarapats; the paths of Golgotha for the Armenians, which dispersed us throughout the world, are crowned with the radiance of the Resurrection. Today, our statehood is also reborn, and at every stage of life, the Lord awaits us, to spread His light and His peace over us, to bless our efforts and labor and to make them fruitful. However, we should not mix the good with the bad, nor confuse truth with falsehood. The truth is Armenia independent and Artsakh free, and our patriotism, our solidarity and unanimity. Let it not be that we remain indebted before these cherished truths, let it not be that we remain beholden to our history, to our martyred sons resting at Yerablur, and before our generations. Let us keep our pan-national unity spotless, for through it, the light of our lives and our God-seeing faith remains radiant. Indeed, there is no greater expression of faith than unity, and there is no greater encouragement than the belief that God with his saving power, is with us.
In our changed and changing reality of today, we have much to do. We still have journeys to complete, which we will traverse together, with the sacred oath of unity we have inherited from our forebears, so that the homeland of Armenia and Artsakh, will develop and be strengthened, and so that Armenian life blossoms and flourishes in all Armenian communities. Wherever we live, we will live through the Homeland and Holy Etchmiadzin, with our national values and patriotic inheritance, so that our children will keep away from useless and false ideas, and from alien values, which are penetrating our lives and being imposed upon us from within and without. Clergyman, parent, official, intellectual, and teacher - all of us shall contribute heart and soul, so that the Armenian spirit is renewed with faith and will shine with the sanctities of our forefathers, and in the Homeland and in the Dispersion we will always see in the eyes of our children, the gaze of the father of our faith and our Illuminator - St. Gregory, and see the faces of our great teachers graced by God - Saints Sahak and Mashtots, and see the fearless and joyful spirit of Saint Vartan and Vartanank.
Dear Armenians dispersed throughout the world, you who can look to Ararat from near or far, can see under the gaze of the mount that hosts the Ark, the outstretched ark of Armenian salvation: Armenia and Artsakh. You, who see the radiating and inexhaustible light of the lantern of the Illuminator above the heights of Aragats, have faith, that the God of our fathers will continue His work upon our land through our faith. He will continue His work throughout our national life, upon which today the hope of Resurrection is taking flight.
With the great tidings of the wondrous Holy Resurrection of Christ, and from the Only-Begotten established Mother See of All Armenians, we greet the incumbents of the hierarchical sees of our Apostolic Holy Church, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; as well as heads of our sister Christian Churches. We bring our blessings to the entire rank of our oath-keeping clergy, and members of our diocesan and parochial administrative boards.
We greet and bless the state leaders of the Armenians, headed by President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian, President of the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh Arkady Ghukasian, and representatives of the diplomatic missions registered in Armenia, and all of our people in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora.
On this good morning of light, hope and encouragement, let us pray and ask together in one voice: With your peace, O Christ our Savior, keep safe and unspoiled the entire world, and spread your blessings on all nations. Keep and protect under Your grace the Armenian people, and illuminate the new paths and new hopes of our homeland. Grace us O Lord, with the spirit of wisdom and reconciliation, and as well, in accord with your words "Take heart, it is I", grant us a fortified heart by Your resurrected presence, so that we may live the life entrusted to us, and become worthy of eternal life, and with our holy forefathers, to forever praise You the Only-Begotten Son, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ is Risen from the dead!
Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ.
KAREKIN II
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
