PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
THE IMPERATIVE Of A FAITH-SUSTAINED LIFE
(Dialogue with the youth- Number 5)
This year, in my Easter message I emphasized the crucial importance of
faith. I based my reflection on the following verse of St. Paul: “Let us
hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebr. 4: 14). As we spiritually
prepare ourselves to celebrate the Easter, I would like to share briefly
with our youth the following few points:
First, in its general understanding, faith is an inner drive of human being
to yearn for, and to have confidence in a reality that is beyond the scope
of human life. The human being is a limited creature endowed with a life
marked by limitations. Therefore, the desire for a transcendental reality,
in order to protect and support him, has been a permanent and salient
feature of human existence from its very inception. In the course of
history, each religion has identified its own object of faith, which has
provided the substance, context and basis of a religion’s life, thought and
vision. The object of faith could vary from religion to religion; yet faith
is a basic necessity. The human being cannot live without some sort of
faith.
For Christianity, faith is not a mere attachment to, or close interaction
with a supernatural reality; it is a full allegiance, dependence and
obedience to God. In fact, God is the source and the cause of human
existence and the sustaining power of earthly life in all its forms and
expressions. The true faith is a powerful force even if it is “as small as a
mustard seed”, it can “move the mountain from here to there” (Mt. 17: 20).
Second, the source of our faith is the Triune God who is not a conceptual
notion, an abstract idea or an unapproachable and ungraspable essence. God
is a living being, both immanent and transcendental, who has revealed
Himself to humanity in history. God has revealed and communicated Himself to
human beings through Jesus Christ. Therefore, faith for Christianity is of
an incarnational nature. In the Nican creed, which is recited during the
eucharistic celebration after the Gospel reading, the basic components and
aspects of our faith are clearly defined and articulated.
Indeed, the unique importance of faith has been at the heart of Christ’s
teachings and miracles: “Your faith has healed you” (Mt. 9: 22) was a major
message of Christ’s ministry. The healing, empowering, life-giving,
reconciling and transforming power of faith was also dominant in the events
pertaining to the early church in the apostolic period.
Third, being Christian does not mean merely knowing about our faith or even
witnessing about it. It means keeping firm our faith. This is the message of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The church, the mystical body of Christ, constantly
reminds her faithful to remain faithful to the Christian faith by responding
to its challenges, demands and implications. What does this mean?
a) It means placing the faith at the center of our life by making it the
guiding force of our thoughts, of our dreams, of our work. The Apostle says:
“We live by faith” (2 Cor. 5: 7). Without faith our life will lose its
integrity, its identity and purpose. To what extent faith is a living
reality in our lives? To what degree our thoughts, our commitments, our
projects, our relations, our friendships are determined and underpinned by
faith? Let us think about these questions. Our daily prayer must be: Lord,
increase and strengthen our faith. This is how we pray every day in the
Armenian Church. Let us always remember what Jesus said to His disciples:
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Mt. 21:
21).
b) It means preserving the integrity of our faith. The source of Christian
faith is the Bible as taught and interpreted by our church fathers, by
saints and theologians. Nowadays, I see a tendency to give pre-eminence to
the form rather than to the substance of faith. I see an emerging trend to
expose ourselves to the sort of perceptions and norms that are not
compatible with biblical teachings and with the traditions of our church.
Let us listen to what Christ says: “Watch out for false prophets. They come
to you in sheep’s’ clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves: (Mt. 7:
12).
c) It means participating fully and actively in the life and mission of the
church. The church is not an institution in the ordinary sense of the word;
it is essentially a community of faith. It is, therefore, by participating
in the life and witness of the community of faith that we deepen our faith.
Believing means belonging to the body of Christ. As Armenian Christians, we
must be careful not to follow the kind of erroneous teachings and heterodox
practices that reduce the Christian to a self-contained existence. I cannot
imagine a genuine Christian life, an authentic expression of Christian
faith outside of the community of faith.
d) And finally, keeping firm our faith means translating the faith into
work. As the Apostle points out, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied
by action, is dead” (James 2: 17). Christianity by its very nature and
vocation is action-oriented. Reflections, meditation and prayer need to be
changed into a quality of action that transforms the life of individual and
the community.
We cannot survive in the terrible storm of this world without faith. We
cannot maintain our Christ-based identity in this globalized world without
faith. We cannot preserve our integrity in the midst of morally and
spiritually decaying societies without faith. We must keep firm our faith in
Christ. This is a faith sustained by hope and strengthened by love, a faith
enriched by spirituality and translated into action. This is the real
understanding of Christian faith; this is the kind of faith that we are
called to live out and articulate in our individual and community life.
Therefore, we are called to renew our faith in Him who always remains our
way, our truth and our life (Jn. 14:6).
ARAM I
CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA
12 April 2006
Antelias-Lebanon
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the youth
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.