Raiati

Mercy is the attitude of the heart towards the sinner and the abuser. Mercy is forgiving him, not carrying hatred towards him and treating him with meekness. However, all of these are accompanied with softness or strictness in disciplining the sinner. This discipline should be free from temper and decided by the mind that should examine the situation and love at the same time. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6: 36). This follows the expression “love your enemies”, and is followed by “Do not judge… forgive” and also: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye”. God’s embracing to us leads us to embrace others; And God’s fatherhood to us implies our brotherhood with everyone.

However, love is not free from any discipline. “The Lord disciplines those he loves”. The Holy Book that talks about God’s love also says: “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath” (Romans 2: 5). When the Lord gets angry, he continues loving you, but through his wrath he disciplines you. His fatherhood makes him bring you back to your awareness as a son. It is written in the epistle to the Hebrews that “we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it”. And for the person being disciplined not to think that he is hated, the apostle continued his thoughts saying that those that are trained with discipline will be given from the Lord fruits of righteousness of peace. He also continues his idea by saying: “strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees”. This treatment sometimes needs strong exercise.

Being soft is a method and not a purpose or a basis. This might work with sensitive slender natures, but doesn’t give any results with thick natures that have planned for evil. These natures need strictness that might sometimes reach smashing. Of course, after smashing you have to fix, but sometimes we have to pass through smashing in order to reach the cure. Sometimes we need a moral slap, and other times we also need to cut a relation and stay away and show some anger. Yelling might never benefit us, but harsh words- without cursing, insults or contempt- might work so that the sinner wouldn’t think that through our silence we are agreeing on what he did or that he didn’t hurt the truth.

The important thing is to show the sinner that we are not being rebellious because of our pride but for the truth and because we care about the sinner and want him to come back to the truth. He might not recognize that he deviated from the truth unless he became spiritually mature in order to understand that. We have, therefore, to bring back to him his spiritual feeling or remind him about the divine commandment that he violated if he could sense it. We can show him the wrong side in his behavior and the deviation that he did.

All of this indicates a patient calm treatment. Being silent towards what is wrong means that we don’t want to be annoyed and disturbed, and this way the sickness will continue and we won’t be loving the person that we diagnosed. Neglecting the situation and depending on time might not work, because time doesn’t always bring calmness and mistakes will be repeated and accumulated until they explode. However, waiting for a little time is beneficial for the person disciplining and the one being disciplined to face problems calmly.

The great person is the person that once he recognizes his mistake, he leaves his stubbornness and confesses. The person that we conciliate is the one that reconciled with truth and accepted his soul in this truth. We should teach people that truth saves them and that if they existed in this truth, they would be in peace and joy, and this one big face of love.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “الرحمة والشدة” –Raiati n^o6- 06.02.2000

I am not talking here about the relationship between an abbot and his monk from the aspect of obedience. We have lots of writings about this relationship which is based on the fact that the abbot is modest, humble, and gives birth to others in Christ. Obedience is based on the virtues of the spiritual father because the monastery is not a military camp; and when Apostle Paul described us as Christ’s soldiers, he was referring to our seriousness in commitment to Christ and not comparing the Church to an army.

Christ is the only one that gives us commands, because he is the Lord and has the word of salvation and deserves obedience as he obeyed the Father and gave himself to death, death of the cross. We also obey people that have left their ego and reached great spiritual maturity and illumination; those are able to direct others without emotion, any intent or lust for control. Dionysius the Areopagite- who is a writer that appeared in our region in the beginning of the sixth century- says that he who reaches illumination should be made priest. This means that you should obey him not because his was ordained as a priest, but because he was ordained after he was illuminated and noticed by others. Priesthood itself doesn’t give spiritual maturity and fatherhood. When a person is upgraded to a position, he doesn’t automatically become free from desires and consequently worthy for guidance. Only the Holy Spirit can make someone worthy for true guidance.

The Church understood that as it doesn’t give someone the right to practice the Sacrament of Confession immediately after his ordination. It waits for the spirit to descend on him and give him maturity so that he becomes able to give people true guidance. With hope, we wish for him to achieve spiritual fatherhood. Actually, we give him the right to loose sins but he doesn’t automatically become a counselor. This is related to how much he is close to Christ.

This person must study the Holy Book, pray deeply and warmly, and become purified from his sins. If he didn’t do these a lot, his words won’t be coming from the Spirit. If he knew that he is weak, let him make people’s sins loose without saying a word. The Sacrament of Repentance would be fulfilled. True guidance is learned from the Holy Spirit and not in books.

However, if the Spirit inspired you to say something, give an advice and not an order. Nikon- an abbot of a big Russian monastery who died in 1963- wrote about this issue based on the teachings of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov saying: “I remind you that I do not oblige anyone to take my advices anyways. An advice is just an advice, and the final decision is for the person that asked for the advice” (From a letter he wrote in 1951). He saw that the priests of his time were not really able to discover God’s will in specific situations. They could only clarify God’s commandments. And therefore, Father Nikon clarified to one of his spiritual daughters that she must consider him a journey companion more than just a father. He said that she must not consider him greater than he really is and must feel free to leave him if she felt that his advices are not beneficial.

He did not have a spiritual father himself. He used reading and praying that could be very beneficial if there were no spiritual fathers with spiritual differentiation.

It is obvious that if you guided people, you shouldn’t kill the personality of the spiritual son. You should not think instead of him, let him think and grow and carry his responsibility in front of God. “No one could solve others’ problems that life put in front of them” (Henri Bergson). Do not disrupt someone’s brain or heart. God said: “My son, give me your heart”. Help him make his heart ascend to his Lord. He leans on you; Throw him on the Lord’s feet and disappear.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “الفرق بين النصيحة والأمر” –Raiati n^o05- 30.01.2000

You cannot take a final position from a person only from exchanging thoughts with him. Every mental giving is a way of treating, i.e. a relation between two human entities. A pure philosophical position is related, in a way or another, to the heart. Man is a complete entity and not just a brain. The scientific position itself is a commitment. The human brain is not a train that moves from a station to the other; it is a confrontation and an embracing.

Therefore, it is wrong when someone thinks that if he gives convincing arguments, according to him, it will automatically be transmitted from a brain to another. There are people that don’t surrender to logic and are usually annoyed from strict logic. There are also people that don’t accept the truth even if we proved it, even though it is confirmed for us. There are some people that their hearts move when they’re convinced, and others are convinced when their hearts move. Some minds are less preponderant than others. Some understand through their heart and intuition. Some analyze thoughts, and others can’t think beyond the tangible incident and can only talk about daily life stories.

We, as Christians, have a big relation with the mind and a relation with the heart. There are human models close to calm prudence and others close to emotion and reaction. Those who are closer to logic can analyze and believe people until the opposite is proved. While those who are closer to emotions usually tend to misunderstand; they deal with actions through reactions.

Since the mind and passion are mixed in every person, it is important to deliver the truth to him, the healing truth through passion and logic together. We must respect him to the maximum; the person that has descent morals does not hurt anyone or show him negative pride so that the other’s heart will stay pure to be able to understand. It is difficult to accept an argument from a person knowing that he hates you; you react to his argument through emotion. You must buy his love so that he accepts you and your thoughts. He might like you but reject your thought, but he won’t refuse your person. You don’t teach him only by going down to his mental level, but also by going down to the status of his heart. This means that you should be humble and heartbroken.

The condition for communication is to have a calm tone. Shouting often cuts the communication, because it usually carries a refusal for the other. If you shout at someone, he’ll think that you hate him and this will make him stop listening and might hear nothing.

If your nerves became tense do not talk; ease your anger. Stay quiet for a while until you feel that you became calm. This way you purify your mind and do not shock or hurt the other.

If you heard the other person shouting, pray for him and embrace him in your heart. And if you saw him nervous, postpone your answer to another time and do not admonish him unless he was very close to you. Some shouters are like angry monsters so they curse and swear. A person like that is not able to understand. If you can answer him after he becomes calm, make him first feel secure towards you through nice words that he might accept or not.

This is a pedagogic attitude; having cold nerves does not mean not having feelings, but the important thing is that the other person understands that you are agreeing with him and you are not far from him but calm. Talk to him and show him interest in the subject and his person. However, in all cases stay honest and show him that you are internally angry without any shouting. Show you difference and the points of your difference, and there is no problem if you decided to stop talking to him for a while to make him understand that you are sad. But make him understand that this break from him does not carry hatred towards him. You can stay far from him until he accepts making up with you on the basis of the truth.

The only important thing is to seek the truth, what you want comes last in comparison with the truth as it is not meant for you to win. You are nothing but a servant for the truth. Train others to love the truth, this way you become the raiser of every person life put in front of you. You are not in control of anyone. You take people’s hands and lead them to God that revives their hearts. You are a preceptor because you love.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “الموقف التربوي” – 23.1.2000

The Orthodox Church has always prayed and is still praying for unity. We say in St. Basil’s liturgy: “Put out the schisms of Churches”. When the conflict appeared between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Roman Patriarchate in 1054, the Patriarch Michael of Constantinople wrote to the Antiochian Patriarch Peter III about his conflict with the Latins to complain about some of their traditions, and the Antiochian Patriarch replied: “Let the conflict stay inside the Church”; i.e. do not accelerate the schism with Rome so that we could still discuss the issue as brothers.

Then, centuries passed and we tried to gain the unity back in the Ferrara-Florence council in 1438 but the attempts failed until the Ecumenical Patriarch sent a letter in 1920 asking in it to solve the problems. The result was the establishment of the “World Council of Churches” and in this Region the “Middle East Council of Churches”. These councils aim for rapprochement and collaboration to try to reach the unity that only God could give through his gratification.

Fifty years ago, a movement that calls for the prayer for unity appeared and a week was dedicated for this matter and it was called the “Week of Praying for Unity”; this week lies between 18 and 25 January of every year and in it we meet to raise our prayers and ask for this unity: What might appear as a big difficulty to the mind could be reduced by the prayers of the pious.

However, unity means the removal of the barriers at the level of the doctrine. I mentioned the level of the doctrine because other liturgical traditions could stay free if they didn’t contradict faith. The Latin way of worship stays as it is and the Byzantine also stays the same. Today, theologians don’t seem to raise old issues such as the form of baptism (i.e. through sprinkling water or through dipping the baptized person in water) or the form of Holy Communion (the usage of leavened or unleavened bread). There is an agreement that regional traditions are not barriers.

The real difference, as all teams agree, is concerning our notion for the Church. Is it a communion of faith and sacraments put into a structure in which all Churches are equal? And in which every Church has an independence that gives it openness through love so that Churches wouldn’t become molten with each other in a pyramidal form, i.e. so that we wouldn’t have an executive head that gives orders to all believers and bishops on the basis of a divine delegation? This is a summary of the Orthodox view which states that the bishop of Rome is a premier among equal brothers; he heads the meeting of the patriarchs and might play a coordinative role and be the symbol of universal unity among us, however he is not a “universal bishop”. This expression that isn’t accepted by lots of Latin theologians is used constantly by the current pope. He blesses the patriarchs and the bishops. Every follower for the current situation would sense that the Western Church – regardless of admitting the presence of the local (regional) Church and giving the local bishop importance and speaking about a community of bishops –lives a kind of contradiction between the local and the global Church. They couldn’t build a structure in which the local church could go along with the global church. How can the Churches of France, Germany or the United State be local yet not able to elect their bishops? This means that they admit some sides of local independency and don’t admit others.

These issues should be solved by meeting each other. The highest official meeting between the two Churches will be held in Baltimore (in the United States) in the coming July. I assume that it will start solving this issue.

We will still have the remaining mentalities and feelings and what people were raised according to. Theologians could agree on most issues but people might not line with them. However, we live on the hope of “a blowing of a storming wind” that would be for us a Pentecost that makes us renewed human beings.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “الصلاة من أجل الوحدة” –Raiati 03- 16.01.2000

We continue mentioning Christmas and its blessings until the end of the year; and today, we focus on the Theotokos, the main companion of this event and the example of every virgin soul that initiates the Lord in this world as St. Maximus the Confessor says. “Christ the Lord”, is what the heaven declared for the shepherds that were moving from a place to another until they found Jesus.

Every one of us moves confused until he settles in the Lord. When he settles, he becomes able to walk wherever he wants and carry his Jesus with him and hope to deliver this Christ to people through witnessing. We continue in our Christmas joy; but what kind of joy is this? Is this a season of gifts, children, and greetings in order to go out from our routine life? Go to where? Go to whom? Is it a real joy when we believe that the new Christ always removes from our souls what has become old and rotten? Did Jesus really become the beautiful thing that’s more precious than our women, kids, properties and hearts? Do we give everything in order to gain him?

In six days, the third millennium will be coming, and humanity will welcome it with lights and games in all world capitals and countries. Millions of dollars were spent in France and consequently billions in Europe because people are hoping for something new for themselves. They might be able to get their money back through tourism, but poor people will stay hungry in the coming New Year.

No one knows what’s hidden in the millennium in order to be happy. There are certain things that we know will happen: Huge progress in informatics, opening of the markets in what is called globalization, easy news arrival for everyone that has a device that receives images (Television and other devices), progress in surgery and medicine, and surely a solution for leukemia and maybe all kinds of cancer.

These are some things that we know we’ll achieve. However, we do not know if hatred between ethnic groups, customs and people would decrease; we do not know anything about civil wars that had increased in the entire world after World War Two. What about the war of cultures? Will it explode? What about hatred between religions? A lot of unknown things await us.

Nevertheless, the known thing is our faith. This is stable if we wanted it to be so because God wants it to stay. The fort of our hearts and principles is our faith and not the third millennium. This millennium is like a container: It can stay empty or you can fill it with a scent. The New Year and century will start in a few days and they will be a gift from God if people would put their efforts in it.

You cannot receive the year or century or the years of the century that you live. You can only fill yourself with Christ and leave in the year or years that your Lord decide. You are the ambassador of Christ, and the ambassador represents his country. Are you really, through your words and behavior, a representative of Christ?

Times that pass have no meaning for the faithful because “A thousand years to you are like one day; they are like yesterday, already gone”. You might have more satisfaction and blessings in one day than in years. Time is nothing; you fill it with grace, kindness and tenderness.

Fill it with silence. “And on earth peace, good will toward men”, by “men” it is meant the people that God is pleased with. God shall be pleased when you do please him. How can you please him? Through faith. Why don’t people believe? Because they seek glory from each other. When you stay away from the lust for power, you shall accept the other, be calm, and encounter him today and tomorrow. You shall both be together in the coming years: This is happiness.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “2000” – 26.12.1999

Criticize the person in front of him if you were alone, because this is better for his development and his own good; criticize him politely with no over excitement. Do not criticize him in his absence and in the presence of people that would benefit from this criticism unless you were capable of pure analysis that carries no hatred or destruction. In all cases, don’t talk about his defects because you are not free from defects yourself. You often would fall into the guilt that you accused him with, or you have already fallen so you accuse him with it being afraid from repentance. Perhaps the worst thing that happens after that is that you would make people go away from the person that you gossiped about since you would lead these people into despair when they hear that this person has done an obscenity or a robbery …etc.

If evil was so general as you have pictured then who would be able to have hope or remain firm in goodness? I am not saying that you should imagine that everyone is righteous. The bible teaches us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23). However, do not reveal sins in order to avoid making people that seek righteousness and kids that think most people are saints stumble.  Woe not only to those who cause stumbles, but also woe to those who say stumbles. God says: “He shall hide me in his pavilion” (Psalm 27: 5). Like God, we should hide the sins of others. Do not expose yourself too as this will bring no benefit to anyone. Only expose yourself to God through confession; and if anyone revealed to you a sin he did, do not tell him that you do it too because this shall be harmful.

Do not say anything that won’t benefit others and push them upwards towards seeing the divine goodness and love. When you ascend to the high mountains, you take others with you. In this ascension, you need nothing but your faith in that who is sitting up. Talk to people about the Lord so that their grief will go away and their despair about their selves would end. When this happens, they shall regain the faith in their capability of goodness.

Remember this: “Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is able to keep their whole body in check (he means the human entity) … The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell”. This is found in chapter 3 of Apostle James’ epistle. Read the whole passage and think about it and know that silence in a lot of occasions is better than speaking. Silence tames the soul in order to stay away from blabber. Blabber is an internal storm that takes the tongue with it.

Chastity of tongue leads you into all kinds of chastity. There is nothing called a tongue slip; the slip was in you internal anger or hatred or the lust for verbal desire through obscenities. In case of hatred, blabber becomes a mean for killing.

It is real killing when you make others have a bad reputation. You could cause them to get fired from their jobs; you could also cause a divorce or a murder. When you make someone’s reputation bad, it could take them years of effort to regain their good reputation.  When you kill a person, you do it once, while when you make his reputation bad you would kill him every day. After that, you might start believing the things that you say and get desperate through thinking that evil is general. When your tongue is completely purified, you shall walk on the road of hope.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “الثرثار” – 05.12.1999

Most people are not evil, they are stupid. And stupidity is difficult to cure. However, we have to deal with them, and this needs a lot of patience because the man will remain stupid today and tomorrow. It is difficult to educate him, but it is important to communicate and live with it because your Lord could guide whoever he wants. Descend to his level in order to raise him little by little. He might be enlightened for a moment, so make use of this to give him his consciousness and take him with you towards understanding.

We have no doubt that love carries energy for guidance. Perhaps if he recognized that he is loved, his brain would grow. Do not put off a sparkle that appeared in his mind. Walk step by step perhaps this glance would become glances, however, expect a setback as the stupid loves isolation because he is afraid.

The stupid considers you stupid. Look beyond that because your purpose is to gain him for God. You find the ignorant in all social groups: you find him between the aged and the elder, between the greats of the world, between people in charge. The book of Ecclesiastes talked about that and said: “Woe to you, O land, whose king is a child” (10: 16). The problem is when you are wise, and the person above you is an ignorant. Pray to God so that he doesn’t send you a lot of stupidity.

You will walk for days alone and spend years surrounded by ignorant people, and you will be sad because you cannot do anything but wait for them to die. The problem is that if you were intelligent, your successor might be ignorant. In this case, your memory will be erased from the land of the living. And your experience might be to say with the book of Ecclesiastes: “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun” (2: 18 – 19).

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament has a lot of sadness. However, we, who love Jesus, have only a small place and time for sadness. The truth is that your wisdom doesn’t vanish. Maybe someone you don’t know and have never seen, took from you the light and spread it. However, the scent must be smelled by someone and the light must shine. Do not get desperate from the number of the ignorant. Do not become disturbed because of them. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life” (John 6: 27). The important thing is not for people to see this. This is preserved for you in heaven, and here, on earth, someone will carry on with the torch.

The world is not a rank always achieved by the intelligent. It is the mixture of those who know and those who don’t, of the people that have good intentions and bad ones, of the pure hearted and the impure ones, of people that love power wanting to shine and the humble people that surround them. And humanity will stay this way until God captures everyone in death.

Yes, it is sad that the world is not white as snow and shining as the sun. Darkness is more spread because “people loved darkness over light”. This shouldn’t lead you to despair, because you don’t work for someone but for your Lord that sees your humility in secret and declares you a bright man in the last day.

One of your condolences is that the stupid are better than the evil. The evil have the intelligence of demons and will follow their demons. Continue your journey alone in Christ’s brightness. Follow his face to reach the Father’s face in the last day where stupidity vanishes and God’s wisdom becomes in you and in all Saints.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “مع المسيح صلبتُ” –Raiati n^o48- 28.11.1999

An objector to this title might say: Your eminence, we would be exaggerating if we talked a lot about parish councils. My answer would be: Isn’t it an exaggeration to be worried by some villages with this story? I am starting a story now. A while ago, I was sitting with the faithful in a civilized village where a lot of people got educated in colleges. And I had assigned, days before, its parish council. An enlightened young man initiated towards me and criticized the incomplete representation, and objected saying that mixing opinions was not wide enough. He also reminded me that I should have been more precise in the issue.

I tried to clarify that this incompleteness comes from the law before coming from my administration or from my assistant that prepares the lists. What does the “agreement between the parish and shepherd” mean? Who would be the mouthpiece of the parish if the parish didn’t express through electing, i.e. through democratic referendum?

I suggested this process and a lot objected saying that it strengthens conflicts as the municipality elections in another village did. In addition to the difficulty of gathering people and electing and the name lists…etc. The question that results from the law is the following: Who are those that the bishop should take their opinions? Are they the heads of houses? Why the heads and not their children who might sometimes have more jealousy towards the church and a greater commitment? Moreover, are families the nucleus of the Church? And is this our teaching? Or it is that every individual is a member in the body of Christ without passing through his family? Do we surrender in front of the familial approach?

I confess that we need a lot of wisdom and slowing down in our selection. Although we are trying to do this, we never get a council that satisfies all the faithful. We must do mistakes in selecting people sometimes because we are not from the locality and we don’t live in it. Perhaps changing one third of the members every two years, as it was stated in the law before being edited, achieves a greater equilibrium and limits mistakes. I believe that nothing prevents us from sticking to the old law in managing this issue in the archdiocese without editing the text. Also nothing prevents the bishop from cancelling a council before the four years pass if he saw that this is better to calm feelings down and to ward off dangers.

There is no perfect law on this earth. Laws vary in their badness. But the beautiful thing is that people with pure hearts and that can criticize constructively can deal with the existing council with its incompleteness and weakness if it didn’t have real bad people. Perfect people are not from this world. We desire to have them, but they are a wish. The jealous and pure people are a support to the council and an enforcement for it at the same time; they are a power that puts a pressure on the council. A believer doesn’t quit from monitoring the responsible and from giving them advices and revealing their mistakes for us and encouraging them when they should. Church issues are given to all the faithful together. Changing doesn’t mean being ungrateful to someone. It is only a try to train people to work and strengthen them in the spirit of responsibility.

Therefore I hope that you accept the assigning that happens so that you don’t make me give a lot of my time to the issue of councils which is very tiring. Accept the assigning if it wasn’t a tragedy so that our selection would be more mature in the coming four years and cooperate in service and in giving new opinions through the spirit of creativity and sacrifice.

The important thing in all of this is to renew your minds and to focus on the essential thing which is helping the priest, enhancing his situation, serving the poor, spreading spiritual education, fighting the enemies of faith if they penetrated into you, investing in church property in a scientific way, having transparency in the accounts, writing reports, controlling the records and thinking about enhancing all facilities so that the service won’t be blamed as the apostle says.

Let us leave the spirit of complaining and nagging which is a lesion in our country and go to the spirit of cooperating to build the body of Christ and to reject familial conflicts. Do not mix political parties with Church issues. This partisan that differs from you in the policy of the nation might have good morals and be a lover of God. Church gathers the faithful in Christ even if they differed in earthly issues. The only law that unites us is the law of love.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “عودًا إلى مجلس الرعيّة” –Raiati 47-

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “عودًا إلى مجلس الرعيّة” –Raiati 47- 21.11.1999

Is organ transplant ethically allowed? When a transplant happens between two living people, it would be an act of love if the removal of the organ doesn’t cause a real and direct danger on the donor. He should also not take a cost or price in exchange because this means that we are selling something from our body and this wouldn’t be an act of love. A living person might decide to donate an eye out of his two eyes or a kidney for a relative or friend. However, if one of the kidneys was ill and the healthy kidney was given, the donor might die.

The common question concerns heart donation (and the heart donation surgery was successfully done in Lebanon recently). Donation happens within few hours after death. I can say that there is no religious obstacle regarding this issue, and there is no need to argue saying that the body will rise in the last day. Man might be burned or eaten by whales or completely destroyed. However, he still rises in the last day. A corpse is something different than the spiritual body that we will turn into. The removal of the eye, kidney or liver from the body will not change anything in the human entity that is looking for eternal life.

For the apostle has said:”you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else… So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable… it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body”. Paul the apostle also continues by saying: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15).

We believe that the earthly body will be transformed because it inherits the divine glory, and this means that it doesn’t remain a biological entity exposed to food and reproduction (people will neither marry nor be given in marriage). If the whole body vanishes in earth and is still sent by God in a miraculous unknown way, then what prevents the donation of an organ that will be transferred into another person that will also vanish in earth eventually?

On the contrary, I recommend organ donation as a mercy towards those with ill bodies. They are our brothers, and we are able to save them from large disabilities or from death. Human sharing continues this way. You make people that need help become thankful and give them happiness.

Donation requires the presence of a written will. Without this will, it would be a violation of the sanctity of the dead. If you had this in your will (donation), you shall become an offering. This is better than the money you leave for the inheritors. You would be ending your life with obvious love.

Translated by Mark Najjar

Original Text: “زرع الأعضاء” –Raiati n^o43- 24.10.1999

When the Lord met Judas on the Mountain of Olives, where the disciple said to Him while kissing Him: “Greetings, Rabbi!”, the Lord told him to do what he came for. This is an ironic answer by Christ resulting from His pain because of the fake kiss, for a friend does not betray. And when Christ met Peter after the Resurrection, He asked him: “Do you love Me more than these?” Here it seems like He is blaming Peter for his ingratitude and reminding him that a friend cannot be ungrateful. And when He realized that Peter has repented and when the latter revealed his repentance through love, the Lord restored the apostolic dignity which Peter had lost.

Friendship is a special aspect of love resulting from a union between two souls. It starts with harmony between two persons, and stabilizes when they are convinced that they share the same values which stem from God, for without God there could be no real and sincere affection. Without God, there would benefits, politics and exploitation; and those who exploit each other are a gang. Members of a gang betray each other. In this regard, the church is very tough regarding Judas during the Holy Week, for it calls him the betrayer.

Love links us to all people, serving them all regardless of any affection. We offer love to those who are in need of it, but we might forget them. As for friendship, it is a kind of love representing the fruit of a profound harmony in terms of vision, preferences and the common quest for a righteous issue.

Friendship is gratuitous. Neither of the two friends will feel that he owes the other. If a friend offers you a great affection and blessings, he would be thanking you for accepting and would not expect compensation. A friendship’s greatest affection is that it gives without recompense, for it does not imply sex or power. It is similar to God’s love for us. It does not involve judging the other’s thoughts or examining their intention, for it “believes all things.” And since it has no intent except in itself, it symbolizes purity and candor.

Its most significant comfort lies in the fact that it gets you out of your isolation. You might feel as if you are oppressed and exiled from others’ hearts. In such times, only your friend would be there for you. One of a friend’s main qualities is that he would defend you if you were attacked. Your friend should also act as the following description states: “Your friend is the one who is sincere with you and not the one who believes you.” Why does your friend tell you the truth? because he wants you to be fully right and not to be wrong. If he wants to mend you, he does not underestimate you like your enemies, but he would rather do it in a humble way for he does not consider himself better than you. He mends you for he knows you more that you do, and you cannot see your own self for it is veiled by blinding desire.

Your friend is the one who accepts you as you are, with all your weaknesses, but he undertakes before God to make you improve. And because you know his virtues, you will improve without worry for you have a resort you can count on in hardship. He does not expect any compensation, for you share everything. He has entered your heart so that there would be no difference between you and him, or between his money and yours. Also, when one of you borrows money from the other, you will know that if you spend your money or if he does, it is the same.

In view of the greatness of friendship, it should be nourished by attention and care, so that it becomes heaven on earth.

Translated by Amani Haddad

Original Text: “الصداقة” – Raiati n^o 41. 10.10.1999