This archdiocese consists of small and large villages. Each village has families, and man is attached to his family and has the right to love it. When a person goes beyond the conflicts that occur in families, he would get closer to a large family that Apostle Paul called “the Family of the Father”. Such a family is not based on flesh and blood. The great bond between people isn’t based on blood but on knowing that you and people that relate to you or don’t are sons of God. This is the strongest possible bond between people.
We notice in society that a lot of families confront other families to a great extent. The word “confrontation” in Arabic means that two foreheads are facing each other with their bones being in contact, and this is what creates rivalry. The truth of this scene is that every group of people is a minority and man needs to feel supported especially when he feels the necessity of sharing with others, whether they were related to him or not. Therefore, he gets closer to those who are more related to him, i.e. those whom he meets frequently.
Man doesn’t get closer to someone not related to him except by heart, and the heart is a gift from God. If you loved those who are far from you, the Lord would have captured you and gave you His whiffs and let His Spirit descend on you so that your relationship with others would be poured on you from the Lord. If you didn’t love those who are far, your heart wouldn’t have any divine feeling.
Familial cooperation for a human cause is a beautiful thing. However, if you harmed the other because he has harmed you, you wouldn’t be considering him as a brother. In Christianity, every person is your brother, and you should love him exactly as you love your own brother or sister. Christ died for this person, and Christ’s love is the same for him, for your brother, father or mother; there is no difference. Your brother isn’t closer to you than any other human being. Your brother and the stranger both grow through the Lord’s love that descends on them.
In the rural community, you serve all people, and if a person from your family had a conflict with someone from another family, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be on the side of your relative. You’re on the side of the truth and consultation because you want to fix the souls. If your brother or father made a mistake towards the other, your duty is to let him leave his sin. Your concern is to repair his soul and lead it to the truth and purify it by letting him remember forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the real bond between human beings. Whatever we did wrong, the Lord shall forgive us if we repented. Therefore, in front of God, we are classified as people that forgive or don’t. Hateful people aren’t from god’s family. Through hatred, one separates himself from this family, while through forgiveness you join it.
Families in dispute do not constitute a Christian community. Families that hate each other are not close to God. Social bond is nothing. The bonding of a good spirit with another spirit would make it good too. Families that repair themselves become a Church.
My wish is for villages not to remain villages but become a Church. How could you become an enemy for someone that you share with the Lord’s body? We are one in the Lord. If you understand this, you shall revive.
Translated by Mark Najjar
Original Text: “عائلة الأب” –Raiati 34- 19.08.2012
