Addis Ababa, January 19, 2024 (FBC) – Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has extended Ketera-Timket (Ethiopian Epiphany) holiday best wishes to Ethiopians and citizens of Ethiopian origin celebrating the occasion.
It is known that the faithful of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church and Ethiopian Catholic Church commemorate the Baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan on the 11th day of the Month Tirr (January) in the Ethiopian calendar. Since the current calendar year is on a Leap Year, the Ketera (eve of Timket) will be observed on January 19 and Timket on January 20.
In that regard, the Prime Minister has sent his holiday best wishes to Ethiopians celebrating the 2024 Ketera and Timket festival, one of the UNESCO-inscribed world intangible heritages in Ethiopia.
In his message, the Premier highlighted that Jesus Christ’s journey from birth to ascension mirrored the Fall of Adam, walking the path Adam traversed and lifting him at each stage, with the dual purposes of setting an example for others and raising Adam from the fall. It was for these two reasons that he was baptized by John in the Jordan River, PM Abiy said
“In addition to religious and cultural values, as we commemorate Timket, I implore us to reflect upon matters crucial to the human journey. We are embarking on our national pursuits with dual objectives: safeguarding the nation and serving as a model for others. Ethiopia, marked by numerous fractures, requires a compassionate figure akin to Christ’s sympathy towards Adam. Ethiopia seeks an individual to shoulder its burdens, mirroring Christ’s undertaking of Adam’s burden for the greater good of humanity,” the Premier noted.
The ongoing endeavors to uplift Ethiopia may not be immediately evident to everyone during the transition to a new national paradigm. Similar to the revelation after Jesus Christ’s baptism, there will be a moment when Ethiopia’s resurgence and renaissance becomes evident to the entire population, the Prime Minister indicated.
In the manner akin to Christ tracing Adam’s trajectory of brokenness and uplifting him at each instance of descent, the endeavor to uplift the nation entails pursuing its fractured path. In each chapter, it requires lifting up the country, discerning the points of its descent. The quest and the journey are challenging.
Millions of people will attend the celebration of this year’s Ketera-Timket festival in more than 20,000 places throughout Ethiopia, the Prime Minister said.
Concluding his message, the Prime Minister underscored, “We will continue our journey, mending fractures, uplifting the country, and paving the paths. The beginning might appear modest, but the end result is great. This is what we learned from Timket (Epiphany).”
Regional chief administrators, ministers and other senior government officials have also extended their best wishes to Ethiopian celebrating the Timket-Ketera holiday.
Furthermore, embassies, missions and multilateral organizations stationed in Ethiopia have also sent their holiday best wishes to Ethiopians observing the occasion. Epiphany is also being observed by Orthodox faithful in other parts of the world, including Russia.