Primate's Meditation

Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen--And Yet Believe

The angel said to the women: "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, 'He is risen from the dead...'"

(Gospel of St. Matthew 28:5-7)

With these words from St. Matthew's Gospel, we are told the story of the first Easter Sunday. As Christians we believe that this was, without question, the most important, the most joyous, the most glorious day in all of human history.

But in the early morning of that first Easter Sunday, when the pious women began their journey to visit our Lord's tomb, things must have looked very different. Two nights earlier, they had watched in horror as Jesus endured the torments of crucifixion. They had stood in mute witness, as His lifeless body was brought down from the cross, hastily wrapped in a burial shroud, and placed into a tomb. A whole day had passed, during which they must have reflected that all their hopes and dreams had come to ruin. Their Master was dead. His mission was over. The salvation of mankind had failed. The women approached the tomb, fully expecting to find Jesus interred within.

But He was not there.

Instead, what the women found was an angel, who announced that their greatest hope had come to pass: Christ is risen from the dead!--just as He had promised He would do. And the angel told them something else, as well: Go quickly and tell the disciples the Good News of Christ's resurrection.

Can you imagine the overwhelming joy, the incredible sense of hope, the feeling of limitless possibility that swept over those women at that moment? They must have been bursting with excitement--eager to heed the angel's advice and communicate the news of our Lord's victory to the disciples. And not only to the disciples, but to the whole world!

The power of that communication cannot be underestimated. The women, the disciples, and many others in the days to follow would have personal, tangible evidence of Christ's miraculous resurrection. But for the vast majority of those who would embrace Christianity in the centuries to follow, their faith would rest on stories and teachings, communicated from person to person, from genera-tion to generation. Stories about Jesus and His world-saving sacrifice. Stories about faithful people whose lives were changed by their contact with Christ's message. Anticipating this, our Lord spoke a special blessing upon those who would come to Him through such communication. "Have you believed because you have seen me?" He asked the doubter, Thomas. "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe" (Jn 20:29).

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the world has changed--and changed for the better--because of the way the Gospel has been communicated, from the time of the apostles to our own time, from Jerusalem to the world. Our own homeland of Armenia was transformed by the communication it received, first from the holy apostles, and later from St. Gregory the Illuminator.

It was St. Gregory who communicated his personal vision of Christ to Armenia's king and people, leading to the foundation of Holy Etchmiadzin 1,700 years ago. To this day, Holy Etchmiadzin stands as a living reminder that God is not remote from human affairs. To the contrary, He is close to us, communicating His will to us, through miracles and visions, through the Holy Scriptures, and through the stirrings of human conscience. And He allows us, in turn, to communicate with Him: through prayer, through the badarak and, ultimately, through the sacrament of Holy Communion.

With this in mind, our entire Diocese will focus its efforts in the coming months on the mission of spiritual communication. During this "Year of Communication," we will explore the ways our church can more effectively communicate her message to the faithful and to the world. We'll ask: How can better communication help us reach out to more people? How can it help us bring new people into the life of the Armenian Church in America? How can loving outreach inspire belief among "those who have not seen"--which, indeed, includes all of us?

Our objective will be to realize in our own time, in our own parishes, the great commandment our Lord gave to His apostles before ascending to His Father: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." (Mt 28:19-20).

May this holy mission inspire us in the coming year, and whenever we communicate the angel's joyous message from that first Easter Sunday: "Christ is risen from the dead!"

Krisdos haryav ee merelotz!

? Archbishop Khajag Barsamian

(Adapted from Archbishop Barsamian's 2003 Easter Message.)