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Message of His Holiness Karekin II on the Feast of the Holy
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
12:36 20.04.2014
The Message of His Holiness KAREKIN II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
On the Occasion of the Feast of the Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, April 20, 2014
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
`I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.'
John 8:12
Dearly Beloved Sons and Daughters in Armenia and the Dispersion,
The feast of the wonderful Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
has illuminated our souls with bountiful hope. Our Savior has Risen
from the dead; the tool of execution ` the Cross ` has been
transformed into the tree of life; man and universe have been renewed
by the grace of life and eternity.
Today risen with Christ, is the new creation, the path of a new life,
bright with life-giving light, which is granted by the Savior. `I am
the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life.' These words of our Risen
Lord are a divine invitation for an eternal, as well as an earthly
illuminated life, directed to each individual since the graces of the
Holy Resurrection are distributed for all; including those who as yet,
are not walking the path of faith; including those, who brokenhearted
by the trials of life, are rebelling against God. The graces of the
Holy Resurrection are dispersed also in those places where men and
women have become bitter through wars and enraging terrorism, where
hearts have become hardened, where people bear the severe burden of
misery, where angelic children are sacrificed, all as results of
poverty, indifference, and military actions. Today, the
darkness-dispersing light of Christ's Resurrection shines over all
conflicts that disrupt the life of mankind, over humanitarian and
environmental disasters, economic and political crises, and all
worries and challenges. The belief in the Resurrection, which
transformed the course of history, and educated soul and mind, created
culture, guided states to progress; offered standards for justice and
rights for all mankind, philanthropic values and principles; remains
also today the miraculous power on which we shall rely and through
which the world and the souls of men shall be renewed by new
achievements, peace and love, to transfigure with goodness the life of
humankind. Today, there are no societies or states without concerns,
needs or problem. However, societies and states cannot have progress `
and are even doomed to annihilation ` if they do not possess the
vision and goals of life, progress, and perfection, established on
spiritual-moral values; and apostles devoted to the same.
Indeed, the greatest achievements of mankind are the heroisms of
individuals who possessed vision; just as those disciples of Christ
who spread the light of Christianity, who with their powerful faith in
God, and a self-sacrificing sense of duty, laid the beginning of the
path of eternal life in this world, for the sake of humanity's
salvation, happiness and wellbeing. Everyone who believes in God, who
has love for creation and his fellow man, is an apostle and will
implement his mission with the confident knowledge that the source of
grace is God's blessing, which dispels the gloom from life; that God's
help multiplies the fruits of labor, God's consolation dissipates
hopelessness and sadness, and God's heavenly justice reinforces the
foundations of earthly justice. It is with this knowledge and the
elevation of this spirit that the wounds of the present world shall be
healed, the course of nations and societies be established on paths of
love and solidarity, and life be transformed by the light of
resurrection, which is the commandment of our Lord and the sacred
mystery of the Resurrection of Christ.
Dear and Pious Faithful,
The good news of the Risen Savior today is an invitation to our people
dispersed throughout the world to not submit to the difficulties of
our national life; rather to invest efforts with steadfast will for
the prosperous and bright future of our native land and our people. In
the tempests of centuries, where would our people be if not
strengthened by the graces of Christ's Resurrection? If not having
love for our homeland and nation? And not able to turn that, into a
buttress in times of difficulties, and strength, to live, create and
rise up? We can determine solutions to the trials and challenges we
face with unshakeable desire to transform life, by fidelity to our
Christian values, via the noble and good path, and with our
undertakings, and our nation-devoted and beneficial works. The feast
of the Holy Resurrection brings to us the encouragement to bring to
life with a hopeful spirit those plans that each individual ` by
responding to the call of the Lord ` is able to realize for our
familial, societal, state and national life, by not differentiating
between the personal interest and the national and people's interest.
Let us serve in our calling and responsibility with spirit and
devotion; let us not aspire for successes only for ourselves, rather
for one another, for the progress of our native and national life, and
as the Lord instructs, consider that we have done all that we were
obligated to do. (Luke 17:10.)
We extend our fatherly words especially to our young children in
Armenia and the Diaspora, exhorting them to be the bearers of the
divinely commanded mission; combining with hope and faith the
marvelous vigor of youth with our national life. Keep strong the
life-affirming spirit of youth when facing the difficulties and
imperatives of our lives, the self-centered and passing
soul-destructive trends and views of our times, and all gales of
temptation, by steadfastly standing on the rock of faith and recalling
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, `I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life.' Dear and beloved young sons and daughters, you who are
the first generation of our free homeland, keep and protect in your
hearts as your most precious treasure, the light of your souls that is
free with Christ, that is bright through Christ. A people that has
scions educated with the laws of God, has real hopes and a positive
future. You shall bring to fruition those hopes in the fields of our
state, national and ecclesiastical life, at the borders of our
homeland, at the positions of defense of our language and culture in
the Diaspora; to strengthen our country, to defend the right of
Artsakh to live free, to defend our righteous cause on the fields of
battle; and with the devotion of your souls, through your
responsibilities in our native and national life, you shall weave the
victories of our life in this new day.
At present, the difficult situation of the Armenians in the Middle
East, continues to concern our national life, especially in Syria. In
recent weeks, a new crisis has arisen in Kessab where militant
extremists have engaged in military actions with the assistance of the
Republic of Turkey. The destruction of an Armenian populated area and
the deportation of its Armenian residents is the continuation of the
same criminal policy adopted by Turkey towards the Armenian people,
which we shall confront through state, ecclesiastical and national
structures, to defend the rights of our people through unified
efforts.
Today, beloved, when the light and excitement of the Feast of the
Resurrection of Christ once again beat in our hearts, and in accord to
the apostolic words, having put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12),
as one who rejoices in our Risen Lord, and as apostles who reject
grief, fear and despair, let us go out to transform our lives and the
lives of our brethren and people with new accomplishments, through
steadfast steps that shall turn the vision of our bright future into a
shining reality.
It is with this faith and wish that we extend the greetings with the
good tiding of the Holy Resurrection to the incumbents of the
hierarchal sees of our Holy Apostolic Church: His Holiness Aram I,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop
Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude
Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; and
all clergy of our Church; as well as to the heads of all sister
Churches and their faithful flock. We appeal for the Lord's protection
for them and His daily assistance in their divinely commanded mission.
With the appeal for the graces of Christ's Resurrection, we convey our
greetings to the President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsian,
and the First Lady, present here today for the Divine Liturgy. We
extend our greetings and best wishes as well to the President of the
Artsakh Republic, Bako Sahakian, and to all state officials of the
Armenians, and all representatives of diplomatic missions accredited
in Armenia. We extend our fatherly love and blessings with the joyful
news of the Holy Resurrection to all of our sons and daughters
dispersed throughout the world.
On this holy and cherished Easter Sunday, our prayer from the depths
of our heart, is for the graces of Resurrection to reinforce you, dear
Armenian people, to live in faith and hope and love, and to build the
new good day of our lives in solidarity.
May God grant peace to the entire world under His Holy Right Hand,
grant prosperity and progress to our homeland, and brilliance to our
Holy Church and our faithful Armenian nation, to praise today and
always, the Holy Resurrection of our Savior.
Christ is Risen from the dead.
Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/04/20/message-of-his-holiness-karekin-ii-on-the-feast-of-the-holy-resurrection-of-our-lord-jesus-christ/
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
12:36 20.04.2014
The Message of His Holiness KAREKIN II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
On the Occasion of the Feast of the Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, April 20, 2014
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
`I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.'
John 8:12
Dearly Beloved Sons and Daughters in Armenia and the Dispersion,
The feast of the wonderful Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
has illuminated our souls with bountiful hope. Our Savior has Risen
from the dead; the tool of execution ` the Cross ` has been
transformed into the tree of life; man and universe have been renewed
by the grace of life and eternity.
Today risen with Christ, is the new creation, the path of a new life,
bright with life-giving light, which is granted by the Savior. `I am
the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life.' These words of our Risen
Lord are a divine invitation for an eternal, as well as an earthly
illuminated life, directed to each individual since the graces of the
Holy Resurrection are distributed for all; including those who as yet,
are not walking the path of faith; including those, who brokenhearted
by the trials of life, are rebelling against God. The graces of the
Holy Resurrection are dispersed also in those places where men and
women have become bitter through wars and enraging terrorism, where
hearts have become hardened, where people bear the severe burden of
misery, where angelic children are sacrificed, all as results of
poverty, indifference, and military actions. Today, the
darkness-dispersing light of Christ's Resurrection shines over all
conflicts that disrupt the life of mankind, over humanitarian and
environmental disasters, economic and political crises, and all
worries and challenges. The belief in the Resurrection, which
transformed the course of history, and educated soul and mind, created
culture, guided states to progress; offered standards for justice and
rights for all mankind, philanthropic values and principles; remains
also today the miraculous power on which we shall rely and through
which the world and the souls of men shall be renewed by new
achievements, peace and love, to transfigure with goodness the life of
humankind. Today, there are no societies or states without concerns,
needs or problem. However, societies and states cannot have progress `
and are even doomed to annihilation ` if they do not possess the
vision and goals of life, progress, and perfection, established on
spiritual-moral values; and apostles devoted to the same.
Indeed, the greatest achievements of mankind are the heroisms of
individuals who possessed vision; just as those disciples of Christ
who spread the light of Christianity, who with their powerful faith in
God, and a self-sacrificing sense of duty, laid the beginning of the
path of eternal life in this world, for the sake of humanity's
salvation, happiness and wellbeing. Everyone who believes in God, who
has love for creation and his fellow man, is an apostle and will
implement his mission with the confident knowledge that the source of
grace is God's blessing, which dispels the gloom from life; that God's
help multiplies the fruits of labor, God's consolation dissipates
hopelessness and sadness, and God's heavenly justice reinforces the
foundations of earthly justice. It is with this knowledge and the
elevation of this spirit that the wounds of the present world shall be
healed, the course of nations and societies be established on paths of
love and solidarity, and life be transformed by the light of
resurrection, which is the commandment of our Lord and the sacred
mystery of the Resurrection of Christ.
Dear and Pious Faithful,
The good news of the Risen Savior today is an invitation to our people
dispersed throughout the world to not submit to the difficulties of
our national life; rather to invest efforts with steadfast will for
the prosperous and bright future of our native land and our people. In
the tempests of centuries, where would our people be if not
strengthened by the graces of Christ's Resurrection? If not having
love for our homeland and nation? And not able to turn that, into a
buttress in times of difficulties, and strength, to live, create and
rise up? We can determine solutions to the trials and challenges we
face with unshakeable desire to transform life, by fidelity to our
Christian values, via the noble and good path, and with our
undertakings, and our nation-devoted and beneficial works. The feast
of the Holy Resurrection brings to us the encouragement to bring to
life with a hopeful spirit those plans that each individual ` by
responding to the call of the Lord ` is able to realize for our
familial, societal, state and national life, by not differentiating
between the personal interest and the national and people's interest.
Let us serve in our calling and responsibility with spirit and
devotion; let us not aspire for successes only for ourselves, rather
for one another, for the progress of our native and national life, and
as the Lord instructs, consider that we have done all that we were
obligated to do. (Luke 17:10.)
We extend our fatherly words especially to our young children in
Armenia and the Diaspora, exhorting them to be the bearers of the
divinely commanded mission; combining with hope and faith the
marvelous vigor of youth with our national life. Keep strong the
life-affirming spirit of youth when facing the difficulties and
imperatives of our lives, the self-centered and passing
soul-destructive trends and views of our times, and all gales of
temptation, by steadfastly standing on the rock of faith and recalling
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, `I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life.' Dear and beloved young sons and daughters, you who are
the first generation of our free homeland, keep and protect in your
hearts as your most precious treasure, the light of your souls that is
free with Christ, that is bright through Christ. A people that has
scions educated with the laws of God, has real hopes and a positive
future. You shall bring to fruition those hopes in the fields of our
state, national and ecclesiastical life, at the borders of our
homeland, at the positions of defense of our language and culture in
the Diaspora; to strengthen our country, to defend the right of
Artsakh to live free, to defend our righteous cause on the fields of
battle; and with the devotion of your souls, through your
responsibilities in our native and national life, you shall weave the
victories of our life in this new day.
At present, the difficult situation of the Armenians in the Middle
East, continues to concern our national life, especially in Syria. In
recent weeks, a new crisis has arisen in Kessab where militant
extremists have engaged in military actions with the assistance of the
Republic of Turkey. The destruction of an Armenian populated area and
the deportation of its Armenian residents is the continuation of the
same criminal policy adopted by Turkey towards the Armenian people,
which we shall confront through state, ecclesiastical and national
structures, to defend the rights of our people through unified
efforts.
Today, beloved, when the light and excitement of the Feast of the
Resurrection of Christ once again beat in our hearts, and in accord to
the apostolic words, having put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12),
as one who rejoices in our Risen Lord, and as apostles who reject
grief, fear and despair, let us go out to transform our lives and the
lives of our brethren and people with new accomplishments, through
steadfast steps that shall turn the vision of our bright future into a
shining reality.
It is with this faith and wish that we extend the greetings with the
good tiding of the Holy Resurrection to the incumbents of the
hierarchal sees of our Holy Apostolic Church: His Holiness Aram I,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop
Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude
Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; and
all clergy of our Church; as well as to the heads of all sister
Churches and their faithful flock. We appeal for the Lord's protection
for them and His daily assistance in their divinely commanded mission.
With the appeal for the graces of Christ's Resurrection, we convey our
greetings to the President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsian,
and the First Lady, present here today for the Divine Liturgy. We
extend our greetings and best wishes as well to the President of the
Artsakh Republic, Bako Sahakian, and to all state officials of the
Armenians, and all representatives of diplomatic missions accredited
in Armenia. We extend our fatherly love and blessings with the joyful
news of the Holy Resurrection to all of our sons and daughters
dispersed throughout the world.
On this holy and cherished Easter Sunday, our prayer from the depths
of our heart, is for the graces of Resurrection to reinforce you, dear
Armenian people, to live in faith and hope and love, and to build the
new good day of our lives in solidarity.
May God grant peace to the entire world under His Holy Right Hand,
grant prosperity and progress to our homeland, and brilliance to our
Holy Church and our faithful Armenian nation, to praise today and
always, the Holy Resurrection of our Savior.
Christ is Risen from the dead.
Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/04/20/message-of-his-holiness-karekin-ii-on-the-feast-of-the-holy-resurrection-of-our-lord-jesus-christ/