Arabic original here.
Holy Week
God has blessed us with the Passion Week that shines upon us so that we may witness His suffering and His resurrection from the dead. But we must contemplate some of the meanings that are poured out upon us by the great events that have brought us salvation.
Today, on Palm Sunday, after the Lord entered Jerusalem, He cleansed its temple and drove out the vendors and money-changers, so that the house of God might be pure from all commerce. We are children of the Holy Church, whom God wants to be unmercenary in religion, unmercenary in morals, and unmercenary with our children. If we do not preserve them with a good upbringing, we will be like the merchants in the temple. We must preserve them with true purity and careful attention-- attention to what we say, to what we do, to what we see-- attention to our words, so that they might be upright and truthful.
God speaks the truth to every person and He wants us to speak the truth. Through this, the temple of the soul is purified. The important thing is for us to want to belong to Christ in truth, not in imagination. So let us not believe that we belong to Him merely because we have come to church during Passion Week. This is good, but it is not enough. The important thing is for us to be partners of Christ in our behavior every day, so that we might participate completely in this Holy Week.
On Thursday, we are called to partake with the Lord in his Mystical Supper. He who wants to be saved, let him eat this bread and drink of this cup because the Lord said, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56). The important thing is for Christ to be established within us, not for Him to pass by. The important thing is for Him to be established in the soul, in the heart, for us to be established upon Him such that we are inspired by Him at every moment.
How can we behave as Christians if Christ is not established within us? That is, for Christ to spring forth from the soul to the mouth, to the tongue-- because the tongue speaks from the heart. Therefore, if we want to purify the heart, we must place Christ in it and for Christ to come into the heart, we need constant prayer that we mean and to which we pay attention. We will come to church a lot in the coming week, but it does not mean anything if our bodies are in church. The important thing is for our spirits to be bound to Christ and for us to know that He is the Savior whom we call upon to save us, like a drowning man calls for help. Every one of us is drowning in a problem, in a sin or has in front of him a temptation or a lure to evil or is being assaulted by evil thoughts. The believer defies them all, praying and calling upon the help of the Savior.
Therefore, we must pay attention when we receive the body and blood of the Lord. We must pay attention to how we are partners of Christ. Christ is pure and so his partner must be pure. He cleanses his soul with repentance. Each one of us must test himself, admit his sin and reveal it to the priest in confession, so that Christ may purify him and have mercy on him. Then, let him recline at the table of the Lord and receive the cup of the Lord unto salvation.
In this way, we move from the Lord's Supper to seeing Him hung upon the cross on Friday, lifted upon the tree for our salvation. Christ's death saves us because He brought God's life into us when He died upon the cross. Therefore, he who looks upon Christ and believes in Him is saved. He is saved from every evil. He embraces Christ and sin melts away. Each person who believes in Him is saved. He partakes of Gods life, holy life comes to him and he is with the Lord.
He who acts in this way is able to participate in the resurrection of the Lord and will rise from the dead. The meaning of the resurrection is not only that we will rise on the last day. The resurrection is that we will rise now from sin, from evil and from our bad habits. He who does not rise from them does not know the feast and has no Great Feast.
Holy Week
God has blessed us with the Passion Week that shines upon us so that we may witness His suffering and His resurrection from the dead. But we must contemplate some of the meanings that are poured out upon us by the great events that have brought us salvation.
Today, on Palm Sunday, after the Lord entered Jerusalem, He cleansed its temple and drove out the vendors and money-changers, so that the house of God might be pure from all commerce. We are children of the Holy Church, whom God wants to be unmercenary in religion, unmercenary in morals, and unmercenary with our children. If we do not preserve them with a good upbringing, we will be like the merchants in the temple. We must preserve them with true purity and careful attention-- attention to what we say, to what we do, to what we see-- attention to our words, so that they might be upright and truthful.
God speaks the truth to every person and He wants us to speak the truth. Through this, the temple of the soul is purified. The important thing is for us to want to belong to Christ in truth, not in imagination. So let us not believe that we belong to Him merely because we have come to church during Passion Week. This is good, but it is not enough. The important thing is for us to be partners of Christ in our behavior every day, so that we might participate completely in this Holy Week.
On Thursday, we are called to partake with the Lord in his Mystical Supper. He who wants to be saved, let him eat this bread and drink of this cup because the Lord said, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56). The important thing is for Christ to be established within us, not for Him to pass by. The important thing is for Him to be established in the soul, in the heart, for us to be established upon Him such that we are inspired by Him at every moment.
How can we behave as Christians if Christ is not established within us? That is, for Christ to spring forth from the soul to the mouth, to the tongue-- because the tongue speaks from the heart. Therefore, if we want to purify the heart, we must place Christ in it and for Christ to come into the heart, we need constant prayer that we mean and to which we pay attention. We will come to church a lot in the coming week, but it does not mean anything if our bodies are in church. The important thing is for our spirits to be bound to Christ and for us to know that He is the Savior whom we call upon to save us, like a drowning man calls for help. Every one of us is drowning in a problem, in a sin or has in front of him a temptation or a lure to evil or is being assaulted by evil thoughts. The believer defies them all, praying and calling upon the help of the Savior.
Therefore, we must pay attention when we receive the body and blood of the Lord. We must pay attention to how we are partners of Christ. Christ is pure and so his partner must be pure. He cleanses his soul with repentance. Each one of us must test himself, admit his sin and reveal it to the priest in confession, so that Christ may purify him and have mercy on him. Then, let him recline at the table of the Lord and receive the cup of the Lord unto salvation.
In this way, we move from the Lord's Supper to seeing Him hung upon the cross on Friday, lifted upon the tree for our salvation. Christ's death saves us because He brought God's life into us when He died upon the cross. Therefore, he who looks upon Christ and believes in Him is saved. He is saved from every evil. He embraces Christ and sin melts away. Each person who believes in Him is saved. He partakes of Gods life, holy life comes to him and he is with the Lord.
He who acts in this way is able to participate in the resurrection of the Lord and will rise from the dead. The meaning of the resurrection is not only that we will rise on the last day. The resurrection is that we will rise now from sin, from evil and from our bad habits. He who does not rise from them does not know the feast and has no Great Feast.
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