The Message of His Holiness Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
on the Occasion of the Feast of
the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Jesus Christ
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, 06 January 2007
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation”
II Corinthians 5:17
Dearly Pious Faithful,
Today is the Feast of the Holy Nativity, the Feast of the Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The sacred mystery is great and wondrous, which today we live once more. A new king is born in Bethlehem, for the sake of renewed mankind and a new world, because “if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation”.
From the Bethlehem of the Armenians – the altar of light Holy Etchmiadzin, with soul-renewing emotions and joy, we extend to you the great tiding which the angels gave to the shepherds more than two thousand years ago, “For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11).
The shepherds, with simple and pure hearts, recognized and worshipped the Newborn Savior in the manger in Bethlehem; the wise magi presented gifts on bended knee before His Divinity, Kingship and Priesthood. The arrival of the Savior, previously testified to by the prophets, was proclaimed to all; but it was not in all hearts that the birth of the Savior of the world – the New King – was accepted with joy. With the intent of assassinating the Newborn Jesus, Herod massacred the infants of Bethlehem. Yes, beloved, even the incarnation and birth of the Son of God was accompanied by worship and murder, the realities of peace and war, which beginning with Abel and Cain, have taken parallel paths throughout the course of human history. The Child born in the manger in Bethlehem came to change that course in the world with the establishment of the New Covenant and the shedding of His blood. Christ said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many.” (Mark 14:24). The Savior came to free man from the snares of evil, from the bonds of sin and death, and with His Divine strength, to restore him to blessed heavenly glory. Christ brought new life to the world – a life of the reborn, restored soul, through which man was to proceed toward God. “And put on the new nature” – the apostle said, “the new nature created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24).
The call to man to restore and improve, however, did not completely put an end to the old man, nor the existence of old understandings, and evil did not disappear from the earth. Today as well, underneath the nature of new man often works the old man. Along with the pious worship of Christ by the shepherds and magi, the evil acts of Herod also remain. The modern world, characterized by the developing conditions, possibilities and abilities of life, is yet not healed of miseries, calamities and wars; it is not free of falsehood, jealousy and hate. Man ascended to the universe, but how far has he risen in his inner spiritual world? The progress of science has benefited the welfare of life, but how much also have the weapons of war advanced? Indeed, modern
