Aziz Matta

At a time of lack of discipline and rebellion of children against parental authority, and in a society calling for the freedom of husbands and wives, talking about obedience has become an old issue. I know that the concept of counseling exists among believers; nonetheless, this concept does not really take place if the seeker of counsel is not willing to accept the truth coming from someone else. The truth always prevails, and counseling is not having many standpoints; but rather reaching a proper one that satisfies God, not the majority.

              The Bible mentions obedience to God. As for obedience to humans, it is restricted to those who have the word of God, or who remind us about it. We do not obey anyone because of his rank; but rather because he says the word of God. Obedience through him is, thus, obedience to God. Within the Church, you obey the spiritual leaders because they are responsible for your salvation. Originally, they are where they are because they learned, before taking up this responsibility, to ensure your salvation.

              Once I was preaching and I was told:”You are saying so because you are a bishop.” (The person meant that I was repeating words imposed by my job). I told him that, on the contrary, I have been named bishop because of my words.

              In monasticism, the spiritual father who is obeyed and who guides the monks does not fulfill this role because he listens to confessions. A spiritual father has acquired an extensive knowledge in Christ; and consequently in the human heart on one hand, and in the divine word on the other hand. Because he is not authoritative and has no interest, he guides you towards what is beneficial for you. Obedience is based on confidence in this context and on the faith that your spiritual father represents God.

              All this begins with the obedience of the Son to the Father “…made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death.” (Philippians 2: 7-8). This obedience was the way of the Lord to resurrection.

              Going down from the Lord to our fraternal relationships, we find that God wants us to be “submitting to one another in the fear of God”. (Ephesians 5:21) In this call, we see that the elderly can submit to the young, the young to the elderly, the woman to the man and the man to the woman. There is no dominant category, and another submitting one. You submit to whoever says the truth regardless of what you think of him. You always submit to whoever has the Spirit of the Lord. If you knew that someone has the Spirit of the Lord, you shall submit your will to him.

              First and foremost, do not reject a fair demand and do not close your heart in front of any asker. Listen fairly to those who argument. Be open to people as the Lord has said: “Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” (Mathew 5:41) In this the Father may be glorified.

Translated from Arabic – 07.04.10

Original Text: “الطاعة” – 23.05.99

Thoughts from Today’s Feast

     The importance of the holy St. Antonios resides in the fact that he was the founder of the monasticism. It is not that there weren’t any hermits for studentship in Egypt, but they say that the monasticism has also appeared in this same historical era, which means in the third century and in between western Aleppo and Antioch, the cities known as learners’ cities of northern Syria. St. Athanasios the Great, the famous patriarch of Alexandria, who had participated in the unification of this movement with the church, had written the biography of St. Antonios. As I’ve said, the monasticism was an evangelical movement that insisted on living the gospel totally and this was after that St. Antonios had noticed a bit of corruption penetrating to the believers’ crowds.

     He wanted a Christian life in the desert, a life with no adulteration and no haggling, a life based on abstinence, self-control and fighting desires; but a life based on love and tenderness. St. Bakhomios and St. Basilios had succeeded him building up the mutual life, a life determined by groups living together and leaded by a guide who they should obey. This first independent enthusiasm had grown into vows and had been spread all over the world: in the east and in the west.

     Yes, the monasticism had not invented the virtues. These have already existed in the gospel. However, the monks showed us how to struggle against lowness. They have studied and known the ruses of the evil spirit and how we can be rescued from lowness. They have put rules to liberate ourselves from pressing caprices and a technique to reach virtues and to preserve them. The believers have learnt from them the seriousness of the spiritual war and the seriousness of living with Jesus. From here, the monastic example became the example for all the orthodox people. It is not that we have to put an end to marriages, but we have to be all related to the spirit of poverty, abstinence and obedience, either we were living in this world, or isolated in monasteries.

      In addition to this base, the monks had accomplished a very sublime work, as they had organized the worships determining their basics and organization. They had organized the mutual prayers that we practice (the hours, Matins, Vespers, and the liturgical books) as they had structured them. Only the divine mass had already existed before the monasticism. However, the most important of our people who determined its last organization were John Chrysostom and Basilios who were monks.

     Furthermore, the monks had put a great heritage into the ascetical literature (Zorothios Al Ghazawi, John Climacus, Isaac of Nineveh) and if we only mention the great of them, it is for to be guided by their heritage in order to self-redress from our faults and our trials. Its essence is useful for all people.

     Some of them had also participated in writing the pure theology and we mention here John of Damascus and Safronios (both of them were from Damascus) and Maximus the Confessor. Thus, we can say that there is no knowledge domain in the church in which monks did not participate.

     Nevertheless, the spiritual life is an expansion in people life. And this is particularly obvious in Russia and in the west, where each cultural activity used to appear in the monasteries and then to reach the outside. We mention here the industries and agriculture of Russia that arose in the monasteries. You devote yourself to God and you wait for the second arrival of Jesus Christ. This doesn’t separate you from the laics, but it brings you closer to them, for supporting them in love and in their economic life.

     It is not the appropriate occasion now to enumerate the great activities that the monks in our lands had done. Our specificity in the See of Antioch is that we have a monasticism that preaches and goes out to the world. The monasticism of Antioch existed until the eighteenth century; it was then disappearing between men until the moment when God gave it back to us in the beginnings of the fifties (but it has always existed between women in the Patriarchal diocese in Sednaya and Maaloula). It came back today to the Patriarchal monastery of St. George’s in Humeyra and to the Lady Monastery in Blemana (the diocese of Lattakia) and in Mount Lebanon. We have in this diocese today fifty monks and nuns and they are distributed among all our monasteries (The Lady of Hamatoura, The Lady of Nourieh, The Lady of Kaftoun, St. Michael in Bekaata, The Monastery of St. Georgios in the village of Deir El Harf, The Monastery of St. John and The Monastery of St. Selwan in Douma) and all those monasteries are established the old way.

     All those monasteries are still visited by believers in order to pray and to be guided. They also have some ascetical and theological publications that participate in our raising. All this has started with this great man Antonios.

Many of the attitudes of our people can be summed up by the following: I said so and I am not willing to change my mind; if you have a different opinion, I will further insist on what I said; and the two people become two parties. On the other side, we have the Cross that consists of two woody pieces, one vertical and the other horizontal. Vertically, the Christ is oriented towards God His Father; and horizontally, He embraces people in His arms. If you are not oriented towards the Truth, that is God’s Self, words and actions; you can in no way accept others. If you do not tell your friend or foe when he is right “you have convinced me and I will renounce my thoughts”, you are standing outside the way of the Christ who knows no place for you but the Truth, for He said: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.

            This is what Jesus pointed out in the Gospel reading for today: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” In fact, cross-bearing is as simple as renouncing your own words – if they were incorrect – and admitting that you have adopted a different and more convenient thought. Being the man of Truth means believing in Jesus for He is the Truth.

            In this context, the Lord claimed: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” You might gain money, power and prestige; yet all that you have shall be void if you refuse the Truth and insist on falsehood. You cannot enter the Kingdom of God if you keep on resisting the Truth. Nothing is of more importance than maintaining your soul in the Truth of God, in honesty and purity. This is why He said: “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Man is made by his heart, not by the money in his pocket or his bank account. If you were the reference of the Truth, so falsehood will have no place in your words, behavior and intentions; then you shall have an unparalleled strength. And the Kingdom of God would be already bestowed upon you.

The main question for the followers of the Cross religion is the following: Do I accept to be crucified as required by my baptism? Am I ready to mortify my desires in order to live with the Christ? If I do not do so, the Cross would only be a piece of wood or gold attached to my neck; a symbol with no meaning. We are invited to go beyond the symbol and reach for the meaning that is the new life. The first desire to be mortified is the worship we offer for ourselves and our opinions. This is arrogance; and the arrogant is a sinner because he considers himself a god; he does not see his brother in humanity and does not embrace him. He worships his own words, his own attitudes. The whole world is made by his arrangement, his own decisions; and all people have to comply with his plans. He cannot accept the failure of any of his plans.

The Cross of the Christ would only be a beautiful melody if we do not believe that our situation is one of crucifixion, of self-denial, of listening and respect to others; so that we can feel the sufferings and needs of others. The Cross is when I embrace others into my heart and we ascend our way to the Christ who brings us together.

Translated from Arabic – 27.03.10

Original Text: “إنكار الأنا” – 20.09.98

We hear the word of lust in us. It shouts in us, it noises, and it calls us to follow it. If we obeyed it, we would be satisfied, or we would rather convince ourselves to be. The alcoholic drink calls you to follow it. And if you became dependent, you would think that this is good. If you became addicted to power, if you controlled people and knew your status, you will enjoy the pleasure of power, thinking that this is good. You will create some convictions, a group of convictions you would someday consider as your own religion; and if you were sincere, this will be your true religion.

            You will try in vain to disregard the voice of lust in you, should you not believe that it is truly harmful. You will not reach this conviction unless you realize that there exists something far more rewarding and lasting. But, who will tell you that frankness is more beneficial than lying, and that it does really save you? Your objection here might be: how could frankness save me when it leads me to lose my job and success in life? The only way to know the need to be sincere is to feel that lying makes you hurt others, or at least it makes you lose your audacity and regress. If you feel that a frank position leads you to an internal peace and exhilaration, you shall be set on the way of truth.

            You need someone to tell you that a certain virtue revives an aspect of your personality. That someone should be convincing, speaking without mistake; and you shall be able to trust him, for you will know that he has both wisdom and love for you.

            This unique being is the Christ. He spoke once and for all in the Gospel. He addresses your person, just as you are, with all your weaknesses, to turn you into a wondrous person. If you wish to get rid of all that hurts you, you shall give yourself for Him, for you know that He loves for you what you do not love for yourself, and that He knows where your interests truly lie, unlike you. How do you ask Him about your interests? He told you in His Gospel, and through the teachings of His disciples, what has the power to make you a good person. He said that you ought to set aside all that hampers your reaching a righteous life, just as He told Peter and Andrew to leave their nets and follow Him, and as He told James son of Zebedee and his brother John to leave their nets and father and follow Him.  

            There is always a separation from what you think is a pleasure, from the love for money that hinders your forming an independent personality that prevails over money. He calls you to leave the love for power and to be humble while in a powerful position, for in power exists a selfishness that imprisons you. He also asks you to abstain from sexual activity outside marriage, no matter how tempting it is, for it destroys you and takes away your freedom.

            The Christ in you is His word in you. The Gospel is the source from which you can take this word, if you keep on reading it on a daily basis, and if you let your mind adapt to it. This is why Paul claimed: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 2: 5) Your struggle is to reject the mind that the sins implanted in you and made you utter. If you acquire in your heart the mind of Christ, your mind shall be as the Christ’s. And this explains the psalm: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”  (Psalm 119: 11)

            This is the key to repentance; to keep the mind of Lord in store so as to reject with it the words that the Evil wants you to hear. When the Lord said “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mathew 4: 4), He meant that this new life in you makes you forthwith reject the words of death implied to you by the Evil. A true repentance is one that allows the word of Christ to inhabit you.

Translated from Arabic – 12.05.10

Original Text: “سكنى الكلمة فينا” – 29.03.98

             The first step towards righteousness is to have faith in God and to believe that what He declared in the Bible is the truth. This also necessitates making all your desires and whims die away. For our minds are often influenced by our actions, especially the frequent ones. If you have been lying so long and you think that it has been saving you, you might be convinced that lying is a good and smart behavior. The same will also happen if you steal or cheat, so you shall not see the divine truth. Your iniquities will become the source of your mind. Since all humans incline to the wickedness and tend to turn the same into a way of thinking, God spoke to eradicate this misconception from our hearts. The divine word exists, because our minds are incapable of choosing the right position; or because our minds are inclined to do trespasses and are damaged by iniquities.

            For this reason came the guiding word to which we resort and from which we come, so we shall be in the truth, or we shall be the truth. Nevertheless, you have to adapt yourself to the word and you ought not to abandon it, so as not to allow your own words to take control of your actions. The word of the Bible, and not your own word, knows what is good for you more than you do. If you adapt yourself to the word, it will stay in you and your soul will be relieved, so you will resort to it and keep it on your mouth and in your ears. If you are tempted by evil, you shall be able to repel it by the truth with which your soul has been molded, so it will be the shield, the sword, the helmet and the whole weapon.

            The author of the Psalms recognized this and talked about our love to the commandments, in Psalm 118 (Psalm 119 in modern versions). Before our spiritual maturity, when we were acting as children in the Christian life, we were like school students. We feel that God is like the teacher; He gives orders and we delight ourselves in disobedience. At first, the individual builds an enmity between him and the commandment because he feels that it threatens his freedom. He is his own god. He wants to take his own decisions, and not from any human or divine authority. But, at one point, the student will become mature, and he will understand that it is of interest to him to be obedient, and that the teacher decides what knowledge he will give his student.

            To trust God – and this is what faith is all about – is not only to be convinced of the commandment, but also to love it, because we know that it can heal and embellish the soul; and all that is not a commandment is a temptation. This is why David claimed in this great Psalm: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Not only have I read it over and over again, but also I have eaten it. The divine word shall come into our hearts so that it will protect us from the sin if it tried to infiltrate.

             The prophet-melodist talks about love by which we accept the word: “My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments.” Compare this statement and what we usually do.   We long for sins, whereas David longs for the commandments of God.

            And after longing comes love, for he says: “My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love.”  He then talks about action: “It is time for You to act, O LORD, for they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!” Your word is a weapon with which I fight against the wicked. I will have neither a strong weapon in my hands, nor enough strength to fight them, unless I love Your commandments, so that they will attract and move me, to go into your fight in the universe. 

Translated by Amani Haddad – 09.02.10

Original Text: “محبة الوصايا” – 07.09.1997

We have a common saying which is “what is said in secrecy shall remain in secrecy”. This means that you are not to reveal what your friends have entrusted you with for they confided in you. There is no doubt that people would be hurt or offended if others knew about their private matters. People may entrust you with their family affairs, their worries or their work problems for they see you are capable of giving advice, or they do so just out of complaining. You might also have heard of these matters from people who enjoy the misery of others.

You might as well know details you were entrusted with so that you help out. And if you ever revealed this information or the name of the one who told you about, you would be creating a conflict between the person who confided in you and the one to whom you spoke. Thus, it has been said in the Bible “A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.” (Proverbs 11:13). You might have no intention of divulging information but it is gossiping that has led you to speak.

Whenever you feel pressure for a significant person has spoken ill to you of another significant person, do not tell what you have heard so that you remain trustworthy and avoid conflict between the two of them. If they trusted you with a matter and you saw you are capable of helping, use the good utterance of what you have heard for the benefit of people and not their grief.

The priest is not the only one to be bound by the secrecy of confession. Thus, each one of us is bound to keep to ourselves what we have heard unless the utterance might jeopardize the safety of the government or sabotage the church. For instance, if any clash occurred in the parish, the bishop must be aware of such incident so that the unity of the believers shall remain intact. Any other disclosure shall be gossiping. Revealing the worries and sins of people is tattling, for tattling is disclosing true matters that are not to be disclosed.

Constructive criticism is one you make with someone you want to reform. Sometimes, you may analyze what people say as long as they are talking about it and it is already revealed. You may have an objective criticism about what you have heard but you may not dispraise the one who spoke it. And sometimes you may analyze a disclosed behavior or stands already revealed, but never offend people because of cruel criticism hiding rancor.

A lot of false news is spread in the church community. And when examined, the majority turns to be untrue. Why he who knows something about a clergyman does not go to him and admonish him rather than spreading the news among the chatters and the gossipers? So-and-so has sold something, or so-and-so has bought another thing. How can one prove any of this? The title-tattle causes a great deal of pain and sadness in people’s souls.

Silence is salvation. “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” (James 1:26). And the greatest saying is: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” (3:6)  

The rule is to praise people in their absence and to keep their misdeeds unrevealed so God shall overlook yours. Say only what is necessary and useful. For if what you said secretly is not revealed, yet it might mislead.  If you ever knew something in this matter, let go of it so that you won’t be led in desperation and lose your hope. If you found out that someone has committed a misdeed, pray for this brother and forgive his sin, for if you reproach him for what he has done you might commit the same. If someone has sinned, do not blame or punish them for this leads you to rancor.

Translated from Arabic – 16.12.10

Original Text: “الكتمان” – 17.08.97

The Great Litany in the Divine Liturgy and other services starts with the deacon saying: “In peace let us pray to the Lord”, which means that we want to be in peace with God so that we can pray. Then we say: “For peace of the whole world.” The audience may think that we are asking for peace between nations, but the explanation comes shortly after that when we say: “For the peace of God and the salvation of our souls.” This sentence clarifies that if there was peace between us and the Lord, we will be able to spread calm in our private relationships, in the family and the whole society. Peace that resists the interests of nations, individuals and disputes in the family or the parish is bestowed upon you from above.

          Unfortunately, every nation comprises good people and many wise people, but they are not policymakers. And “Man is a wolf to man”. Wars between strong nations and weak ones will persist, unless all nations witness substantial moral reforms, as well as development and prosperity, so that they understand that their real interests lie in the growth and development of all nations together, while preserving every nation’s uniqueness, genuineness and right to be different. It is by believing in the freedom of others as a condition for peace and as a completion of our own peace that people’s lives would be at their acme.

          It would then be possible to achieve durable peace between several countries after they realize that war destructs them all, builds nothing and does not make them gain control; and that if you exclude someone, he will rebel against you to exclude you. It began to seem – after a hard slog – that peace across borders is possible for human values became stronger than animosity in souls. The European Union is a good example, for it is the fruit of a quest for cooperation and unity, after tasting the bitterness of wars and adopting Gospel principles, translating them into social values. Undoubtedly, there are some basic religious-based deep-rooted convictions that turn into a policy.

          Basically, the United Nations tried to establish peace based on human rights that became accepted standards put in a human and mundane frame, without any apparent relation to the Gospel. However, they are certainly derived from the Gospel.

          Do we dream of global peace? It depends on honesty, yet this quality is nowhere to be found in most countries. Honesty is the result of abstention from racism and the desire for expansion and economic control. Indeed, it will stay for decades, or even hundreds of years, a nebulous concept.

          It is justice that we seek, for no peace is possible without a justice for everyone. Peace may be imposed, yet it will not last. In one way or another, it has to be “peace of God” in order to survive on earth. This is the meaning of the annunciation upon the birth of Jesus Christ: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth”. If you receive something bestowed upon you from above, you shall turn it into peace and spread it here on earth.

Translated from Arabic – 02.09.10

Original Text: “سلام المسيح” – 03.08.97

This virtue results from our belief that God has conferred freedom on people and that His patience remains until their repentance. He allows them to sin, and does compel them to be righteous. He waits for the time when they would accept grace bestowed on them. God seeks people’s love, and He does not force them to love Him. It grieves Him to see their sins.

          Likewise, we shall be patient with others and wait until they restore their senses and calm. We shall avoid anger and resentment, and be kind and modest, in hopes of prompting others to be kind and modest. We shall wait until our or their last breath. Our patience with each other is derived from God’s patience with us.

          The Lord told us “not to resist an evil person”, for He knows that if you resist an angry person by anger, neither of you will be healed. You cannot stop the tension if you were furious. You are supposed to heal the other person, and it is only by peace that you can do this. Should you acquire peace in you, the other person’s tension shall end. 

          It is not a matter of escape or isolation, for they bring no solution to the problem. Instead of just watching the sin, you have to correct it. In fact, you cannot live away from people. You should get involved in their problems, even if you have nothing to do with these problems, in order to heal those who are suffering from them, through love, forbearance and meekness. Patience is a prayer and a transfer towards God. If you rose and were compassionate, the others will be more likely to rise as well. Your change fosters the others’ chances to change. And change is not a matter of resisting others. On the contrary, you shall become a new person and the others will also be renewed.

          The image is the following: you ascend towards God, and then you come down from God to the other person. The latter will be in a trinitarian relationship composed of:  you, God and him. This is how salvation in God happens for you and for the other person, and this requires you to be lenient. If you were compassionate, the other will feel he is loved. The other’s sin should not make you neglect him. You shall go to him despite his sins, and embrace him and not his sin. When he feels he is loved, he will get rid of his sin and see himself in God’s presence. That is when he will revert to His holy face.

          How long should you be patient? “I endure all things” (2 Timothy 2:10), for people – all people – are likely to commit all lapses and even crimes. You shall be expecting all people to sin and you should not refuse to deal with anybody. The sinner nowadays cannot bear any anger or isolation. Currently, the church does not practice excommunication, and I think this would be impossible because religious spirit and religious commitment are becoming less common. Excommunication is efficient only in strong communities where the sinner knows that it is a beneficial disciplinary measure and would be really afraid to lose Christ’s satisfaction if he was excommunicated. The church comprises these days both strong and weak believers. The excommunicated members would feel you are angry and you do not love them. Therefore, the church needs patience now more than ever. Those who are marginalized would lose their patience, and nobody would accept to be excluded from the community. They would feel that your action is unfair and that it is triggered by hatred. Previously, the excommunicated used to understand – if they were excluded from the community – that you are doing so for a disciplinary purpose, so that when they would be excommunicated, they would want to restore their place in the community.

          Some people within our churches hate the priest and the bishop and want to control them. The spiritual leader cannot disappoint any member in order to keep him in the community. He will deal with him with clemency, patience and fatherhood so that he can perceive God’s fatherhood.

          We are in need of a substantial temptation, a substantial training, as well as pains in order to acquire patience which Christ requires from us. If we were able to reach this degree of patience, God’s kindness will be settled in our hearts.   

Translated from Arabic – 11.08.10

Original Text: “فضيلة الصبر” – 27.07.97

I counted a total of 178 verses against lying in the Old and New Testaments. First, this shows that lying is widespread. The Bible is based on the premise that God does not lie and that the devil is a liar and the father of it (John 8: 44). In other words, it is implied that God’s honesty should be reflected in man’s honesty, and that he who lies is not a son of God. The Holy Scripture establishes always a connection between the liar and the evil spirit. Hence, it is written: “Satan filled your heart to lie” (Acts 5: 3).

According to the Divine Word, lying is not merely the act of revealing the opposite of the reality, but it rather goes deeper in defining it: “We lie and do not practice the truth” (1John 1: 6). This refers to a pattern of behavior characterized by lies, for some people are not righteous and have an improper conduct in addition to their untruthful utterances. Such people should not be in the presence of the truth, in the light.

As for the New Testament, it places emphasis on the spiritual inspiration offered to us to arm us with the truth. Paul guides us to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”, then he urges us to abstain from lying, “for we are members of one another” (Ephesians 4: 23-25).

Therefore, it is by renewing ourselves in Christ that we can approach the truth. You would then know that you became a member of the body of Christ, i.e. the church. Honesty will allow you to unite with your brothers who would heal you from your sins, should you hide nothing and reveal the truth to them. How can you be a brother to those whom you lie to? Brotherhood entails communication, transparency and a direct, sincere and honest relationship.

I asked once one of my spiritual sons whether he lies. He answered: “But I do not harm anybody”. I said: “Even if this was true, there is one person you are harming”. “Who is that person?”, he asked. I told him: “Yourself. You are degrading yourself.” Strength is all about admitting and confronting, for you shall become strong by admitting and telling the truth.

No healthy relationship can be founded unless the other person trusts what you are saying, relies on it, and makes his decisions accordingly.

You might think that hiding some facts would allow you to arrange your matters. Even though you can escape from problems once or twice, but the truth will be revealed sooner or later, and people will despise you, avoid or even stop dealing with you. There are so many liars, yet no one appreciates the other liar. In such a case, you would find yourself trapped trying to escape by telling another lie.

I understand that people’s cruelness triggers your improper conduct. Therefore, the church recognizes no cure for lying other than accepting each other and forgiving the sinners. If one knows that he would still be loved no matter how sinful he was, he would definitely dare to be honest. He relies on the fact that he is loved. He who loves does not blame others for their weaknesses. He would rather point out their mistakes kindly at an appropriate time, but does not consider them bad at all.

If we saw the image of God in a sinner and awakened him to see Him, or if we saw him receiving the patience of God and our patience, he would undoubtedly dare to remain in the brightness of truth and dealings.

Translated by Amani Haddad

Original Text: “الكذب” – 20.07.97

The heart is open for everyone, as they are in their weariness, complaints (grumbling is our disease), objections and requests for help. The open heart has no fear and never rejects anyone. Each and every one of us has the right to knock the door of the heart and to feel he is received with gladness, whether he was polite or rude at the beginning. If he is accepted with delight, his insolence will vanish away. You might not be able to respond to every demand; but, first and foremost, we all need sincere affection.

Someone comes to cry beside you. Cry with those who cry, rejoice with those who rejoice and console those who are in grief, for the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, as Jesus called Him in His last talk with His disciples, and as we call Him at the beginning of every prayer. To comfort does not mean to coax or to flatter.  Sometimes, you need to be severe, but your interlocutor feels – if you were caring – that you do not intend to hurt, mock or disregard him. If you had little and you were asked for help, then you shall offer what you have, so the asker will know you are sincere. And your presence is what you can always give. If you had some influence, authority or control, do not hesitate to help others, for we are all brothers in Him who loved us to death.

Do not be judgmental as to people’s intentions because you ignore intentions. It is better for you to be deceived than to misjudge. “God tests the hearts and minds”. You are incapable of testing hearts. Do not think that you are extremely intelligent, for this is an arrogant behavior. Listen to others’ needs, be innocent while listening and respond to the request if you can, so you shall be serving God. The Christ is behind the needy, so if you serve the latter, you are serving the Christ.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that naivety is a condition of innocence, nor exaggeration is a condition of intelligence. Try to find out the hidden talents, because for many people, these talents are often veiled for no one loved them. Love people and you shall see them doing miracles. People die in a horrible isolation. Every human being is lonely. One might be lonely and have a wife who does not love him. Similarly, many women feel they are uncared for. Most people are scattered, and find no one by their side when they need to express their complaints or describe their sufferings.

You need to get out of your shell and reach to the other’s face. If you reject others’ faces, then yours and theirs are gloomy because no one has ever looked at them. People can be overexcited, yet they are lonely; for excitement does not help us get rid of our seclusion. People might think that they are meeting others at wedding ceremonies since these are joyful; however this is not always the case. Adornment is a sign of one’s isolation; and luxury is the main indicator of isolation. Our overspending implies our deep dejection; for happiness does not need anything else to be. We can add nothing to happiness.

We are invited to share happiness, rather than superficial pleasures. Happiness is to forgive and not to blame; for blaming means that you were expecting something and you ended up being deceived. You ought to expect to be deceived by those whom you love most. Even the closest persons to you may hurt you. This is certainly sore. But, do not leave those who hurt you, for they do not know what they do.  Perhaps they hurt you because they have been suffering from life, and they are throwing their harm on you. Be patient and pray for them so that they can have a clear sight and peace in their hearts. Be kind with them so that they wake up. Your aim is their spiritual wellbeing, and your main concern is that they see the face of God rather than yours. You want to see their faces illuminated; and this is your reward. You shall be happy for them being cured; and they shall pay you love in return. But, if you treat them in a bad manner, you will fall in badness with them, and they will not be released.

Let the doors of your soul be open for all those who come to you, so you shall rise and they will too. This is the kingdom bestowed on all of you.

Translated by Amani Haddad – 26.02.10

Original Text: “الملكوت المسكوب” – 06.10.96