The Maronite Church and the Orthodox Church see the election of their Beatitudes, Patriarch Bshara al Ra’i and Patriarch Yuhanna X as leaders of the two Churches a great blessing that has come down on them from Heaven. And that is reflected splendidly in how the two Patriarchs deal with each other with a high degree of cogent love and brotherliness. The two Churches look towards that broad spiritual prospect, especially that they have realized that their greatest concern with the other Churches is to foster the knowledge of the Gospel and to “till” together the Lord’s field. And the Churches in the East look forward for this unified witness after having realized that the time now is for enkindling the “Divine gift” which they have inherited together from the one and only Beloved (Jesus).
Each of us, wherever he is, has become a servant to the One sheepfold of Christ in that the One Shepherd has made him see all the Christian people as one sheepfold of One Lord. And, like never before, we have come to the understanding that we are one in the service of the mystery of Salvation, despite the different forms of ministry and its different terminologies. And there is no more any feeling of rivalry or uppity left in one group towards the other because the times have become bad and we have already been poured out as a drink offering to become a living sacrifice to the Lord.
Theologians have given great importance to the rising consciousness among Christians that they all make one people for the Lord on whom the same holiness comes down through the Word and the Offerings. And that consciousness of the believers is an accord or general agreement in Christ making the two Churches one.
The division among the churches is not a theological reality; it is the reality of sin in the history of the churches; and that cannot be relied on, but what is trustworthy is the unity which Christ builds. Division is a fruit of sin and it has no place with the Savior except in the tears that flow from His eyes. And from those tears we all do come and not from the division; until the Lord removes all traces of the separation.
When the Patriarch is a theologian, as the case is now in the Maronite and the Orthodox Churches, the quality of the relationship between them is elevated in the hope that all the believers would be elevated to the level of the Divine vision so we do not remain in the commonplace parochial relationships but we live up to a great theological understanding and to the establishing of those relationships based on the depth of that understanding. So the question is no more how to live together in one ecclesial society, but it is how to grow in a unified theological mindset and divine education so that we conduct ourselves as if we have started to build together the One Church in the sanctity of righteousness.
How do we break through the historical hurdles and the legal systems while the one vision of the future Church is being revealed to us? The above mentioned vision discloses to us how to practically handle our joint life together and answers questions like: What is the level to which we need to raise ourselves? What is it that we need to knock down so that we can see our desired unity?
There is something special in the work and dealing between the Orthodox and the Maronite Church; not to make their togetherness exclusive of others but due to a profound sense of closeness which could be due to the fact that those two Churches did not experience alienation being together in one geographical spot. Perhaps one can attribute that to the fact that none of them tried to devour the other and to steal the “sheep” of the other since each Church considers that the Lord is present in each of them with the same power. Since the emergence of the ecumenical movement and the rapprochement between the spiritual authorities of both churches, the believers belonging to a Maronite parish and the believers belonging to an Orthodox parish in the same locality, are no more conscious of the presence of division between them; and the parishioners of each start to truly feel they are truly one with those of the other in the communion of the essentials of the faith; and that no real trace of “stealing the sheep” from the other parish is left.
Nowadays, the Christians of this country (Lebanon) live together with a consciousness of unity which exists though it does not have a legal systematic expression. You accept deep inside you – with an understanding be it deep or shallow – that the other Christian is your brother and that you will not wound him. And that is due to the fact that you have started to love him since thirty or forty years and have become conscious that God is blessed with that attitude of yours.
That could be due to the fact that one party among the people no more wants dispute and discord. The reason behind that could be that the difficulties that rise due to the division have become harmful to each other and we find that harm needless. In this overall ambiance of rapprochement among the people, the consciousness of unity among them has increased.
How do we cross with that from the simplest level of parochial togetherness among us to the level of high theology? I cannot feel my unity with the Catholic person if I do not put before him my questions concerning several issues related to his intellectual and practical practices. I am not able to love the Catholic truly and greatly if I do not put before him questions concerning some of his religious literature and his pastoral life. The relations among Churches are void of common courtesy. They are based on theology; that is on the great meeting together in Christ Jesus. I think that the weakness of the Churches, or of some of them, is due to the mentality of the people of the East who live together, with their intellectual adversaries and with their friends alike, on the basis of courtesy and shallow rapprochement in all the scopes and domains of their life together.
When we have two Patriarchs who are worthy of all appreciation and love, we can kindly ask of them for the commencing of theological discussions. This of course requires a serious preamble for the study; but if that does not start we would be the prisoners of confessional courtesy and not the brotherly meeting which is great in its conscientiousness and great in its knowledge.
Perhaps our time now is one of togetherness based on brotherly candid discussion. Whoever has known his Beatitude the Maronite Patriarch and his Beatitude the Orthodox Patriarch, and has given them the merit they deserve, cannot but speak of the “breath” (of the Holy Spirit) that descends upon each of them and as such declares that “This is a time during which work is done for the Lord”.
The theological vision is now attainable in the two Churches after they have been drawn with Divine love; and after Divine love comes thought and teaching; and that is what the Apostle calls “the mind of Christ”. And since that mind is alive in the two Churches and in their Heads, it is certain that one of them would call his brother with the call of love so that they meet in the heart of the Lord. And when the Lord inclines Himself towards them and settles on them, then every meeting among them is blessed.
The meeting of the Maronites and the Orthodox is not accomplished by people of this world; but by Christ. And we, together, come from the One who saves and builds hearts with His love.
Translated by Riad Moufarrij
Original Text: “الموارنة والأرثوذكس في حضرة الرب” – An Nahar – 19.01.2013
