Met Ephrem (Kyriakos): Unity in the Church

 Arabic original here.

Unity in the Church

May all be one, as You, O Father, are in Me and I in You, that they too may be one in Us (John 17:21).

The unity of the faithful is according to the model of the unity of the Father and the Son. Faith in the mysteries of the Gospel and the unity of the Church brings us into the framework of the Holy Trinity.

This is what draws the world to God, what makes the rest of the world believe in Him, so the world says of them:

"Look how the believers love one another. And also love, sacrificial service, all of it brings those who are divided together into one."

This is what one of them (Caiaphas) prophesied: "that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad" (John 11:51-52).

This also means that unity in the Church means love along with sacrifice according to the model of the Lord:

"I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:15-16).

"The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).

And he says in another place, "But one thing is needed" (Luke 10:41).

Listening to the divine teaching, listening to these words, and not taking them and eternal life lightly, all this is required and stressed for the unity of the faithful in the Church, "For eye has not seen, nor ear heard,n or have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Finally, regarding unity among the faithful, the Apostle Paul says, "Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' Is Christ divided?" (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).

+Ephrem

Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies

The Importance of Unity in a Single Diocese

In our archdiocese there are many parishes, monasteries and ecclesiastical institutions: schools, retirement homes, parish councils, monasteries, the Orthodox Youth Movement, the Orthodox Scouts, the Center for Patristic Heritage, the Center for the Family and Youth... and the bishop strives for these bodies to all work in an atmosphere of unity, with each one preserving its particularity in terms of its style of activity and domain, because unity does not mean the melding of individuals or institutions. Rather, it causes them to work in harmony, cooperation, love and mutual respect, so that they will because a cause of spiritual, moral and material strength for the archdiocese and a shining witness before people and society.

This unity is very important in the Church and within a single diocese and the Lord Jesus prayed for it before His passion:

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me... that they may be one just as We are one" (John 17:11, 21-22).

The secret to achieving unity and the way to realize it is the presence of love that brings together and does not break apart, love of God and love of our brothers. Inasmuch as we love God and are united with Him, we are united among ourselves and become capable of working together, "They know that You have sent Me... I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:23, 26).

Without love, unity vanishes and partisanships, disagreements, rivalries and disputes increase, making the work of the Church and the parish fruitless.

The Apostle Paul warns about this:

"I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment  For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren... that there are contentions among you. each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' Is Christ divided?" (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

He continues:

"For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? Who then is Paul and who is Apollos? ...  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one... For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building" (1 Corinthians 3:3-9).

Thus it is necessary to have mutual complementarity and cooperation between the one who washes and the one who gives to drink, between those who serve and those who teach, and this requires openness of thought, mind and heart, constant encounter between everyone and each one not being closed off upon himself, every institution to itself, every monastery to its own monks and every parish to itself.

Beloved, do we know that we wound the Lord when we have rivalries with each other? Bearing witness to the Lord takes place in openness and not in being closed off, in encounter and not in isolation, in moderation and not in extremism.

Unity requires a great deal of love, humility and self-emptying. We must translate love into deeds so that we may be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, as the Lord wanted us to be.

May there come a time when we see this unity realized in our archdiocese!