Fr Georges Massouh: Between the Law and Perfection

Arabic original here.



Between the Law and Perfection

Christ distinguishes between the Law and perfection. When the young man asks Him about the nature of goodness, Christ replies, "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments... but if you want to be perfect, go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:16-22). Christ does not nullify the Law, but rather considers it a guide to intuitive behavior. One who strives for perfection will not achieve it by only carrying out the law, but rather by practicing love in everything he undertakes.

The Holy Apostle Paul says, "No one is justified by the Law before God... but the Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ" (Galatians 3: 11, 24). Thus, there is no perfection in the Law: perfection is in imitating Christ. In this context, Saint Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) says, "The Law taught us to take revenge on one who hurts us, following the verse that stipulates an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But Jesus taught us to go beyond this vengeance, looking at what is loftier."

The loftier thing that Jesus brought is His stating the Golden Rule of the new Law: "whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). After Mosaic law had been based on the principle of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", that is the principle of treating someone in kind which is closer to justice, Jesus turned this principle on its head when He said that people are called to behave according what they believe, not on the basis of reaction but from action flowing from perfect conviction of the correctness of their principles.

The commandment "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" realized human justice, but the Golden Rule allows its practitioner to reach the perfection of love. Justice, according to the teaching of Christ, is not the goal at which those who strive for perfection stop. Rather, they go beyond justice to something greater, to grace, forgiveness, and the abandonment of anything that draws a person to the dust that they are from. Perfection is not in justice, but rather in gratuitous love.

The Golden Rule, in contrast to the Mosaic commandment, does not call on people to imitate the people who harmed them, but rather to imitate God and Christ. Returning like for like sometimes means imitating the wicked and returning evil for evil. Thus Christ called his followers to robe themselves in divine virtues and strive for perfection, for divinization: "be merciful just as your Father is merciful", "be perfect just as your Father is perfect"...

Saint John Chrysostom (d. 407) says that nothing causes us to resemble God apart from our preparedness to forgive those who hurt us. In that way we will have acted like God  because God alone has the authority to forgive sins and He called on humans to participate with Him in this authority.

He continues, "If Christ's goal was for man to become god by grace, after God became man, then man must only imitate the Lord Jesus who forgave those who beat Him, crucified Him, and mocked Him."

Therefore, we are not satisfied to be governed by any law other than one law, the law of love, because what we are striving to reach is human perfection, resembling God. Other laws are not sufficient for us and do not match what we aspire to.

Patriarch John X's Sermon at Prayers Held in Damascus for the Return of the Kidnapped Bishops

This sermon was given on the occasion of prayers for the release of the kidnapped bishops held at Holy Cross Church in Damascus, Monday May 20, 2013, in the presence of the papal nuncio to Syria and representatives of all Christian confessions in Syria. As I haven't found an Arabic copy of the sermon yet, below is my translation of Carol Saba's French translation, available in pdf here.



Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

Beloved, we have now gone with you along our Savior's way of the Cross. We have seen Him in the tomb after His crucifixion, and then risen from the dead, raising us with Him. So let us take Him as the example for each one of us and draw from His glorious life among us a nectar and a perfume that anoint our wounds. Our Lord followed the way of the Cross and the Passion, this way that leads to the Resurrection. The Lord's resurrection is the end of His way of the Cross. The Lord's resurrection is the light that illumines every human person's heart and makes it into a dwelling-place for Christ. Christ's resurrection is that flash of light that disperses the ashes of complacency and discouragement from the embers of our souls. Your resurrection, Lord, is the source of hope in hearts ravaged by despair and in souls left to despondency. The Lord's resurrection is not recognized in souls that ruminate on pains and sorrows. The Lord's resurrection dwells in the souls of those who aspire, out of the bowels of suffering and the shadows of tragedy, to hope. Happy is the rock that concealed the Lord's body. Happy is the tomb that could contain the dead Lord! The Lord's body made its home in the tomb, making it into a heaven, just as it makes its home and dwells in each of us in the Eucharist and brings us up to heaven, making us into the temples of His Holy Spirit. Our hope in this paschal season is that each one of us can follow the example of Christ's tomb, this tomb that welcomed death and brought forth Life, which was in shadows and darkness and became a niche of light. May our spirits follow its example, whatever evils they face, so that the hope of these souls will be placed in the Lord risen from the tomb, who brought forth light for us and for all creation. Let us proclaim with Chrysostom:

Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are annihilated. Christ is risen and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and now life reigns. Christ is risen and the tomb is empty of its dead.

I speak to you, with my brothers their beatitudes the patriarchs and the reverend bishops, as reasons for sorrow surround us on all sides. In our beloved country of Syria, dangers threaten our homes and menace human beings in their daily bread, their livelihood, in their dwelling-place and in their life. Every day we are put to the test by murder, by abduction, and by every sort of destruction. Once more, we deplore and denounce the abduction of our two brothers, bishop Paul, Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Aleppo and Alexandretta, and Youhanna Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox metropolitan of Aleppo, as well as the murder of the driver who accompanied them. We condemn their not having been freed up to now, despite all the efforts expended for this.

I share with you the pain that all of us feel. But we affirm and state that we are not willing to accept the situation that we are living here and now. We are working to make our refusal of this reality the mirror of our faith. We reject this reality and we condemn it. We are not afraid of those who adopt violence as their way, as we are children of the Resurrection. That we may be killed, that we may be kidnapped, that our homes may be destroyed, all of this will neither affect nor reduce our determination to cling to our citizenship and to coexistence, to cling to our land, and to demand rights and justice in our countries. Thus, each of us, whether in the Antiochian lands or in the diaspora, is called to express his concern, his rejection of the course of events, apart from any political orientation. Christianity's cause is the cause of the human being, for our Savior became incarnate for his salvation.

I will use this occasion to address, in your name-- you who are in the homeland or the diaspora-- an appeal to the international community to encourage it to make every possible effort to bring about the liberation of these captives, whose absence wounds us. Quickly turning this page is extremely important in order to prevent the serious consequences that may result. Our appeal also insists on working to find a rapid solution to the prevailing situation in our beloved country of Syria, out of mercy for this people who bear witness to a civilization coming from thousands of years of human presence, and to prevent effects and reactions that could effect the entire region.

Beloved children, even as we receive the blessings of the glorious Resurrection, let us multiply our prayers and supplications, so that they might be a way of living witness, by which we that God will cast injustice away from all, that the captives may return to their loved ones, that the bereaved may be consoled, and that the heard of heart will be inspired to stop harming their fellow humans.

I ask for constant prayer with a contrite heart, aware that if we are brought into temptation by these trials, we have in God a place of refuge, and also aware that God does not turn away from us. May love, may service, may courage, be an introduction to the joy of the Resurrection, that joy that will not be removed from us. Christ is risen!

A Gathering in Beirut in Solidarity with the Kidnapped Bishops

From today's an-Nahar, here.


A Gathering in Sassine Square in Solidarity with the Kidnapped BIshops...
Afram: We Will Not Bow Before the Sword that Slaughters US

The Syriac League and the Council for the Syriac Orthodox Community in Aleppo held a gathering in solidarity and support of the kidnapped bishops Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim in Sassine Square, Achrafiye, Beirut.

Speeches began, at the inititiave of the journalist Pierre Atallah, calling for the release of the two bishops "bearers of the long and great legacy in the Middle Eastern Church." Then the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut, Daniel Kourya, recited a prayer for the two bishops and gave a speech in which he affirmed that "all the wars and struggles will not be able to rip us from our beloved Middle East, the cradle of Christianity. We have a civilization and history. We will not compromise. We will sacrifice our blood for the sake of this Middle East and in order to remain here. I implore God to grant the kidnapped bishops relief, as they are among the most important bishops in the Middle East."

Next, the president of the Syriac League, Habib Afram said, "We are not sheep without agency. We will not bow before the sword that slaughters us. We will not remain silent as we are kidnapped, expelled, and uprooted as though nothing happened. At the least, we are the Christians of Lebanon. Hence we lean on each other apart from any partisan, political, or sectarian alignment." He added, "It has been a month without any certain information. Will men of such importance disappear in this way? We pray, hope, act, and demand every nation and power to apply their influence to helping towards a happy ending. We sense feigned ignorance, inaction, and delay."

He called upon "Lebanon as a state and as civil society to view this kidnapping as a decisive issue for it, and to mobilize its capabilities to obtain the bishops' release." He regards it as "an issue that deserves a presidential initiative from the only Christian president in the region stretching from Morocco to Pakistan."

Participating in the gathering were the Minister of Communications in the caretaker government, Nicholas Sehnaoui, deputies Ghassan Moukheiber, Nadim Gemayel, former Deputy Prime Minister Michel Sassine, general secretary of the Orthodox Gathering, Nicholas Saba, president of the Syriac League Habib Afram, president of the "Lebanese Movement" party, Nabil Mouchantaf, Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut Daniel Kourya, assistant to Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, Fr Joseph Shabo, leaderof the Coptic community in Lebanon, Fr Roueiss Urushalimi, and a host of political, religious, and social personalities.

Fr George Massouh on the Church of Scotland's Statement on Palestine

Arabic original here.


The Terrorism of "Divine Right"

Israel has not failed to use any violent means available to put an end to the Palestinian people, the owners of the land. However, they are not satisfied with practicing physical terrorism against the Palestinians—they also practice religious and intellectual terrorism against anyone who dares to cast doubt upon their claim of divine right to the land of Palestine or to cast doubt upon the myth of “God’s Chosen People.”

Jewish religious-intellectual terrorism is based on the Jews considering themselves as possessing the exclusive right to the Bible, the book that the Christians call the Old Testament, and its interpretation. Christianity, in most of its churches, rejects this Jewish monopoly and regards the Old Testament as constituting a basic element of the foundation of the faith, and that it has a special right to interpret it, especially since it includes many prophecies that were realized of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Arab Christians were pioneers in calling attention to the danger of reading the Old Testament literally and to the danger of using it to justify the establishment of the “Jewish state” in Palestine. They confirmed the incorrectness of Jewish exegesis regarding “the Land” and that it essentially contradicts the Christian theological principle of reading the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, which begins with the coming of Jesus Christ. Any other reading is nothing but a mutilated, distorted reading.

Almost half a century ago, Metropolitan Georges Khodr combatted the movement in the Western church calling for recognizing the Israeli entity as being the realization of God’s promise in the Old Testament. Khodr regarded the entire Old Testament as “having been realized in Christ the Lord… Christ is the temple, the nation, the inheritance, the kingdom, and the king. He is the completion of all the promises… For this reason, any effort to support Zionism with the Old Testament is something completely opposed to the Christian understanding of the Old Testament and is a sort of Judaization.”

Then came the statement “A Moment of Truth”, issued in 2009 by Palestinian Christian personalities in order to declare the falsehood of any theology that justifies the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It states, “Any theology that claims to rely on the Bible, dogma, or history to justify the occupation is far from the teaching of the Church because it calls for violence and holy war in God’s name, makes God subservient to temporal, human interests, and distorts His image in the human being who at the very same time is under political and theological oppression.”

Recently, some Western churches have begun to oppose the “divine right” that the Jews claim in the land of Palestine. The Church of Scotlandstates in a paper that has not yet been adopted that “the divine promise regarding the land of Israel must not be taken in a literal sense. The Old Testament is not supposed to be used to settle the dispute over domination over land.”

Israel was quick to utilize intellectual and religious terrorism against this paper and its issuers, reiterating the Jews’ exclusive right to interpret the Old Testament. The Israeli ambassador in Britain accused the Church of Scotland of spreading “anti-Semitic ideas through its challenging the basis of faith and the Jewish bond to Israel and distorting the basis of Zionism.” This despite the church’s affirmation of “Israel’s right to exist,” since it points out “the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

The church in Scotland made a bold step and we hope that it will be completed. As for the Israeli terrorism that prevents any alternative understanding of the Bible, brandishing the weapon of anti-Semitism, there is no other way to fight it than with more freedom and courage in expressing proper Christian belief.

Holy Synod of Antioch Issues Another Statement on Jurisdiction in Qatar

This is the official translation. While the Patriarchate's new website is still being constructed, official announcements and news are being posted on the Patriarchate's Facebook page, here.

Statement issued by the Holy Synod of Antioch

March 13, 2013

The Fathers of the Holy Synod of Antioch held a meeting on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, in the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand. The meeting was chaired by His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X. The Fathers discussed the situation arising from the election of Archimandrite Makarios by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem as the “Archbishop of Qatar”, on March 4, 2013. This election is against the Ecclesiastical Canons of the Orthodox Catholic Church. After deliberations and the approval of the Holy Synod Fathers in the Mother lands and abroad (Diaspora), the following statement was issued to be distributed to all the faithful and to all the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

The Statement

In the midst of much suffering and pain that our region is going through, His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X convened the bishops of the Holy Antiochian See in the region and deliberated with the bishops who are abroad (Diaspora) about the hurt that has been caused by the election of Archimandrite Makarios as “Archbishop of Qatar” by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. His Beatitude began the meeting by sharing all the steps that he made as soon as he knew about the issue through the media. After discussing the matter with all the bishops of the Antiochian Holy Synod, His Beatitude sent a verbal message to His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem and His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch. He then sent a written letter to both primates expressing surprise “regarding the decision of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem to elevate the priest sent to Doha city to the office of the episcopate, giving him the title of the ‘Archbishop of Qatar.’ This has been without any contact with the Antiochian Patriarchate. Qatar falls within the geographical jurisdiction of Antioch. It is the lawful prerogative of Antioch to appoint a bishop to that land, especially since we have a canonical Metropolitan ruling all the Arab Gulf countries, His Eminence Metropolitan Constantine.” His Beatitude pleaded for a reconsideration of this decision, asking “not to allow this episcopal consecration to occur since our Antiochian Apostolic See cannot accept any bishop in its territory, coming from outside its canonical jurisdiction.” He also expressed that, “Our hearts are wide open to meet with you and deal with this subject, and all other matters, fraternally in Christ’s spirit Who alone unites us.”

Since His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X did not receive any reply to either of his letters, he later on sent a copy of the abovementioned letter to the primates of all the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches. Despite these brotherly efforts and fraternal approach, the consecration of Archimandrite Makarios occurred on Sunday, March 10, 2013.

The Holy Fathers affirmed all the efforts undertaken by His Beatitude and declared unanimously the following position:

1- The decision of the Jerusalem Patriarchate to establish an Archbishopric on a territory which belongs to the Holy Synod of Antioch is, without question, an illegal interference from the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the territorial jurisdiction of the Antiochian Church, thus breaking the ecclesiastical canons that regulate the relationship among Orthodox Churches.

On the other hand, the Orthodox parish in Doha, Qatar, is composed of Orthodox faithful from various nationalities. We are grateful that Archimandrite Makarios provided all necessary pastoral care to this particular parish, but it was a temporary arrangement to facilitate this pastoral activity, no more and no less. This pastoral arrangement cannot be taken as giving any ecclesiastical privilege, of any sort, to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem or to any other Orthodox Church. Again, the Arab Gulf falls under the canonical and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East.

The Antiochian Church refuses to accept the action taken by the Jerusalem Patriarchate, and will not recognize any bishop on the territory of the country of Qatar outside the authority of the Antiochian Apostolic See, and asks that the Patriarchate of Jerusalem should resolve this matter as soon as possible. The Antiochian Church hopes not to have to take a stand leading to the breaking of communion with the Jerusalem Patriarchate. She also hopes not to have to reconsider the principles governing the Orthodox Church relations and the Geneva agreement which have been set by the preparatory committees of the upcoming Great and Holy Orthodox Synod, especially those dealing with the Orthodox worldwide(Diaspora).

2- The situation which Christians are enduring today encourages us to set aside all that threatens the unity of the faithful and their common witness. The Arab Christians are called to strengthen their intercommunication in order to face the great challenges that threaten their countries, so that they might be the yeast leavening peace and fraternity. The Antiochian Church is aware of Her historic and leading role in the region and elsewhere and will persevere in that role.

3- The continuous disregard of the situation on the ground caused by the consecration of the Archimandrite Makarios as the Archbishop of Qatar will make it inevitable for the Church of Antioch to take certain actions which She is trying to avoid on account of the love that ought to govern the relationship among the Orthodox Churches. Since Love is “patient and kind” (1 Cor. 13:4), and in order to open the way for peaceful efforts to resolve the issues and return them to their natural and canonical state, the Church of Antioch is planning to intensify Her efforts with the Sister Churches in order to explain Her position and work on unifying Her work in facing all the dangers that are threatening the Orthodox Catholic Church.

Issued at the Patriarchal Residence in Balamand March 13, 2013

Carol Saba to Met. Paul Yazigi

Arabic original here.


To Sayyidna Boulos Yazigi: We Await You, For Christ Is Risen

The feast has passed, beloved Sayyidna, the Feast of the Lord's Pascha, and we await you. It will not escape you, wherever you are, that Christ is risen, since He nests within you. You embrace Him and He protects you. He is the one who raised you up for His people as a shepherd and model for emulation and strength in times of joy and hardship. It is the first time since God put us in constant contact for the service of His Church that I give you a Paschal greeting through the media and not personally by direct communication. My words are not to strengthen you in the trial, since you are at the forefront of the Church's vision and a pioneer in realizing pastoral programs and Christian witness in the world today. I will not strengthen you, since you are firm in upright, holy patience and if the earth shakes below your feet, you realize the Lord's words, "Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you" (John 16:22). Christ, Sayyidna, does not retreat. He grants respite and does not neglect. We, following the words of the Lord, remain firm in hope, realizing what is asked of us here and now. They thought that they had taken you captive. If they bound your hands in captivity as they did with the Lord, you are set free in Christ.  I am not here as an analyst of actors, motives, and beneficiaries, given all the complexity, ambiguity, and lack of clarity of this act. However, as I see it, Sayyidna, it is a major turning point in this fire that is raging in our beloved Syrian land. The target of your kidnapping, you and your companion Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, is the model of a man who is a bridge-builder, a peacemaker, a man of moderation, openness, and dialog. The target is those who strive to build bridges, bridges of links, connections, and positive cooperation between all the different elements of Syrian society.

The target is the society of coexistence, the society of encounter and interdependence among all elements in a civil state that embraces all in equal rights and responsibilities and preserves diversity that enriches and does not negate. We realize, Sayyidna, that our peaceful witness to Christ risen from the dead is subject to dangers in this tormented Middle East, including persecution. The Lord warned us of this at the Mystical Supper: "the servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). But He asked us to stand firm with courage and intelligence, that today more than any time in the past our witness might be effective and present: a witness of openness that rejects insularity, a witness of initiative towards the other that rejects retreat, a witness of encounter that rejects division, a witness of dialog that rejects unilateralism in thought, speech, and program, a witness of embrace that rejects any type of negation, a witness of freedom that rejects any type of dominance, the witness of a person who is free and dignified in his life, the witness of unity that admits diversity. The target today is the ability to encounter man and serve him anew, regardless of his religion, creed, or affiliation, to have boldness in national moderation and the refusal to follow sectarian plans and various unilateralisms. You and those like you, men armed with hope, are a danger to them. Your kidnapping is an attempt to hijack the bold line of national moderation, rooted in this Arab Middle East and which always has been and will remain the historic line of the Middle Eastern Antiochian Orthodox Patriarchate, for which our beloved Patriarch John X is boldly and firmly working. If sorrow has enveloped his heart in awaiting your return, may our joy be fulfilled and let us complete the journey with you for the sake of a bold and loving witness and a model of openness in which we participate in citizenship with our Muslim brothers to build Arab nations, states, and societies that respect man. Let us make them long for the face of God in our neighbor also. Let us openly remain aware that when adversities are great, so too is hope!

Fr Georges Massouh on the Unforgivable Sin

Arabic original here.

Do Not Forgive Them, For They Know What They Do...

Christ the Lord forgave those who scourged and crucified Him. As He was nailed upon the cross, at the apex of His agonizing passion, He turned to God the Father and said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Indeed, they did not realize that their crime was not only that they were killing an innocent man, but that they were doing it in God's name. Despite this, Christ forgave them their double sin, against Him and against God.

The obvious question, however, is: would Christ have asked the Father what He asked had another been hanginging on the cross? We believe that Christ would have acted differently, rising up against them and condemning them.

Did He not condemn the scribes and Pharisees? "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth" (Matthew 23: 33-35).

Christ forgave those who crucified Him without knowing what they were committing, but He Himself, when He spoke to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion about what would happen to them after His ascension to heaven said, "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you... If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin" (John 15:20-22). As for the sin that cannot be forgiven, it is killing in God's name: "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God worship" (John 16:2).

Christ asserts that there is a sin that is not forgiven "neither in this life nor in the life to come," the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: " every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him" (Matthew 12: 31-32). What is meant by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? It is to say of the Spirit of holiness that it is an evil spirit, and of the spirit of evil that it is a divine spirit.

It is interesting that Christ forgives those who commit a sin against Him and thus forgives His crucifiers. However, at the same time He warns those listening to Him against the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the sin of calling evil good and good evil.

There is nothing more horrible than the sin of those who, in God's name kill, commit massacres, and expel people from their homes... And God, here, is not necessarily only the god of any of the religions. He may also be a human whose followers have raised him to the rank of the gods, calling a god an emperor, sultan, king, or president...

They know the crimes that they are committing. They insist on persisting in their transgression, tyranny, and oppression. They are premeditatively crucifying an entire people: elderly, men, women, children, old and young.

They are doing evil and consider it good. They are carrying out the will of Satan and attribute it to God. "They have no excuse for their sin."

Until when, O Lord, until when?