Christ was born and appeared, and to you and to us the good news
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased!" (Luke 2:14)
Dear believing sisters and brothers
This beautiful praise was sung by the angels on the night of the Nativity of Christ, and this short song sums up the whole meaning and essence of God's saving message. God loves people so much that He even sent His Only Begotten Son, so that thanks to faith in Him, love and joy, peace on earth would reign among people, and this is the most desirable praise to God.
Today, in the conditions of trials in our national life and the artificial isolation of Artsakh, the news of Christmas sounds sweet to our ears, but it also excites the mind and soul. Why don't wars stop, why didn't lasting peace reign when the Savior came into the world? These fears are natural, but they are the result of a misunderstanding of Christianity.
Christ did not come into the world in order to eliminate all pain and sorrow by magical power, because in this case, a person’s freedom would have no value, there would be no feeling of happiness with his family, the homeland built and preserved by him, and we would be like robots living in an artificial world.
So what is this peace that Christ brought? Through Christ, God opened the way to the Kingdom of Heaven for us and invited everyone to freely follow this path. This means that God gave us all the means necessary for the world, showed us the ways of their application and results, and He is always waiting for our reciprocal steps.
Our people understood these truths two millennia ago, and since they were also close to their origins, formation and philosophy of life, therefore they went towards Christ. Very often, in order to remain faithful to the chosen path, our people, like the Savior, undertook to wear a crown of thorns on their heads instead of a glorious crown, because they also believed in the resurrection. But very often a deviation from this path became a reason for losses and defeats, for to whom much is given, much will be required.
Today it seems that both realities are present in Artsakh: we suffered defeat and losses as a result of our non-Christian way of life and paid for our mistakes, and today an atmosphere of unity and solidarity reigns in our long-suffering country and the voice of justice is heard from here, but humanity remains deaf to this voice because he did not hear the preaching of the justice of Christ. And in this situation, the life-giving voice of Jesus Christ again sounds in our ears: "Be of good cheer, for I have conquered the world."
The truthful words of Christ are the guarantee of our righteous feat and patience, which have united us all in these difficult days. Today, the future of Artsakh has become another test of Armenian dignity, and in order to pass this test with dignity, we, as a nation, must wake up and come to our senses. Looking at the atmosphere of indifference and stupor that reigns today, when part of our people goes into the abyss, like a lunatic, plunged into a dream, and does not see or feel anything. Artsakh and each of you should become an awakener of the spirit and conscience of our people.
Our people are a spiritual people, and our strength is in this, outside the spiritual we are weakening. This is God's grace, and this is what distinguishes us from others. Using this grace, we are enlightened, transformed and become invulnerable, invincible.
These are not just beautiful words, but truths lived by our ancestors, and if today we join in prayer with our holy ancestors, our brave martyrs, we will hear their voice: “Be of good cheer, for we have conquered the world and do not stop fighting and raise the voice of justice.”
The miracle of the Holy Book lies in the fact that it always works in the present tense, and even today many of its messages seem to be written for Artsakh. When today we are also concerned about the problem of food security, we hear the gospel saying that man does not live for bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This means that we should not be sad because of the lack of certain types of food, but be content with what we have, for the time being, for the sake of the victory of justice and truth. Let's remember how the people of Israel ate the same food for 40 years in the wilderness.
All these thoughts of ours, general worries and good aspirations for the future bring us back and stop us in front of the Bethlehem manger. As 2023 years ago, a star shining in the sky of Bethlehem led the three wise kings of the world to the Baby Jesus, who was born in a cave, to bow and witness the birth of Justice, so on this day of Christmas, this star rises on a manger rejected and forgotten by the world called Artsakh and invites the mighty of this world to listen to the voice of justice that is constantly born there. A baby born in the Bethlehem manger comes these days to once again remind us that the voice of truth and justice cannot be silenced, and even born in an insignificant manger, it can influence and change the whole world. The voice of freedom and independence of Artsakh sounds exactly the same, which cannot be silenced by any artificial means.
But first of all, let's remember who these three kings were. Holy tradition tells us that the priests were the kings of Persia, India and Arabia, who, despite being gentiles, accepted the True and Divine Existence of Christ.
Maybe this wonderful gospel episode will tell us the way to the salvation of Christian Artsakh and Armenia...
Illuminated by the sacrament of the Holy Christmas, we greet and offer our congratulations to the Presidents of the Republic of Artsakh, the Minister of State and all the officials of Artsakh, the brave soldiers and commanders of our army, we pray for the peace of the souls of all our fallen soldiers and the comfort of their relatives with God, and to you-Artsakh people who clung to their homeland, we wish you hope, faith, love, fortitude and optimism for the future. May the Child Jesus be born in our souls, created with humility of mind, and lead us along the paths of peace.
