Fr Georges Massouh on Thomas' Doubt

Arabic original here.


Beautiful Doubt

The subject of doubt is not tied to any person more than to the Holy Apostle Thomas. He is the one who, doubting the basis of the Christian faith, Christ's resurrection from the dead, said, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

However, when Jesus appeared to him, he believed in His resurrection and cried out "my Lord and my God." But Jesus said to him, "because you have seen Me, you have believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (cf. John 20:24-29)

But the truth of the matter is that all the disciples and not only Thomas doubted Jesus Christ. The Gospels tell us about the Apostle Peter's denying knowing Jesus three times in a row and of fear of all the disciples, their fleeing on the night Jesus was arrested and their going into hiding.... However, the disciple's doubt was followed, after they beheld the truth, by profound faith and total dedication that led in most cases to their offering themselves up as martyrs for God and the growing Church.

Here we must talk about Judas Iscariot and his betrayal that led to his hanging himself. In reality, all the disciples betrayed their Teacher when they saw him hanging like a bandit, tormented and crucified and their betrayal was not any less than that of Judas.

But what distinguishes them from Judas who "did not want to understand" is that when they realized the truth they felt remorse and repented, casting doubt aside and becoming sure that the one before them was none other than the Son of God, the Savior of the World. So they bore His name and preached Him throughout the inhabited world. The door of repentance was also open to Judas, but his despairing of God's mercy closed it shut.

The texts for Orthodox worship describe the position of Doubting Thomas as a beautiful position: "How exquisite is Thomas' beautiful lack of believing, since it brought the hearts of the faithful closer to knowledge!" Thomas's doubt was a beautiful doubt because it was a positive doubt that aimed to search for the truth and to submit to it. It was not a search for disbelief, no matter what the proof. Thomas' position was not obstinate, with no backing down no matter what the evidence. Rather, it was a search for rootedness in faith.

The certainty with which Thomas anchored himself was not merely a dogmatic certainty. It was not merely an intellectual confession... It was a certainty that produced a complete change in Thomas' being, pressing him to commit to all the requirements of life in Christ and to acting according to all His commandments and teachings and realizing His will on earth.

When Thomas confessed Christ as his Lord and his God, this meant total submission in word, deed and thought to this God who loved the world to the point of dying on the cross for its salvation.

Every sin that a person commits is indicative of his falling into doubt, perhaps even of his denying God's existence, because when one sins, one makes God absent from one's life.

As for certainty, its sign and proof is repentance, since it is a confession of God's existence and of His power to grant forgiveness. God does not seek a verbal affirmation of His divinity and lordship. God only seeks for a person to spread word of God's glory through his deeds and to announce through his repentance God's mastery over him and over all the earth.

Sulayman al-Ghazzi on Racial Harmony in the Church

In one of the most jaw-dropping incidents of gross pastoral oversight I have ever heard tell of, a notorious and outspoken neo-Nazi was received into an Antiochian Orthodox parish in Indiana on Saturday of Light this year. Thankfully, after widespread outcry over this, the priest (who had previously ignored multiple warnings over the course of a few months about the violent and racist activities of his catachumen) and his bishop have taken action.

What is even more bizarre is why someone harboring white supremacist ideologies would seek to join the Church of Antioch, which isn't exactly Aryan in character and has traditionally been one of the most ethnically diverse and open to diversity of any of the local Orthodox Churches.

Below is a translation of a part of a poem by the 11th century poet Suleiman al-Ghazzi that praises God for the diversity and racial harmony within the Church. It is taken from S. Noble and A. Treiger, eds. The Orthodox Church in the Arab World: An Anthology of Sources 700-1700, pp. 163-164.


[...] God has favored a Church
     Whose stones are gathered from all corners and climes.

Truth has built her an edifice
     Rising to heaven on pillars and columns,

Fashioned from chrysolite,
     Precious stones, sapphires, and pearls.

Her foundation is the rock of faith,
     Rooted deep with pillars and walls.

All bodily creatures are pleased to see it
      When it appears in races and colors.

Byzantines, Russians, and Franks
     Joined with Indians, Khuzestanis, Abkhaz, and Alans

Armenians and Pechenegs in agreement
     With the people of the Jazira, namely Harran.

And Copts too, in the Lower Egypt gather together
     From Upper Egypt to Qus and Aswan.

People of Shiraz and Ahwaz in harmony
     With Iraq, unto furthest Khorasan.

From the place of the sunrise to the place of its setting,
     To the Euphrates, to Sihon and Gihon

White, blond, and brown in their churches
     Praise God with the yellow and the black.

All of them have come to the religion of Christ
     And are guided, gaining profit from loss.

Jordan Times: Jordanian Orthodox Protest Marginalization by Jerusalem Patriarchate

From here. For more background, see here.

Orthodox Christians cry foul as Greek-ruled patriarchate continues ‘exclusion of Arabs’ 

AMMAN — On April 10, members of the Orthodox Christians community staged a sit-in in Amman protesting against what they believe is injustice practised by the Jerusalem-based Greek leaders of their church.

According to key Orthodox leaders in Jordan, they protested against “marginalisation and exclusion”, practised by the church leadership against their clergymen and identity as Arab Orthodox.

During the protest, they raised slogans against “the strangers who are irrelevant as far as the congregation… is concerned”, and called for appointing Jordanian and Palestinian monks in top posts. 

The event was followed by two letters sent by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem to Archimandrite Hanna “Christoforos” Atallah, the founder of the Monastery of Our Lady Ever Virgin Mary in Dibbeen,  “threatening, and warning” him, according to Atallah.

The Arab vs. Greek differences have been there for a century or so, Orthodox leaders said, but the latest dispute saw what Jordanian Orthodox see as extreme measures against one of their key figure, Archimandrite Atallah, who was excluded by Theophilos III and deprived of his title and authorities.

Atallah and other Orthodox leaders in Jordan have accused the Greek Patriarch and the Holy Synod in Palestine of applying policies that add to the problems prompting Christians in Palestine and the region to migrate and derailing the identity of the congregation.    

Atallah claims that his campaign to reinvigorate the role of the Orthodox church was behind the punishment he received. 

He told The Jordan Times in a recent interview that the Christian community is gradually declining and the faithful are losing their Orthodox identity due to the Patriarch’s refusal to activate the parish system, thus violating the church’s regulations.

He explained that the parish system is the fundamental ecclesiastical system and by not activating it, Orthodox churches and Arab Christians are pushed into a dispiriting situation.

“The parish system is what keeps the church alive; all the Kingdom’s churches will only be active if there were diocesans who, by virtue of their job, are close to their congregation,” he said.

The system involves the establishment of institutions, committees and councils that need a complete structure involving lower-ranking leaders who can interact and lead their communities.  

“Our Patriarchate here has one archbishop; that is his Beatitude the Patriarch. This situation proved to be a failure, especially for the last century and even before that.”

In a lecture he delivered in Salt on April 16, Atallah said in reference to the absence of church-related institutions and activities: “Where are our monasteries? Where are our monks? Where are our clerical and theological schools? Where are our libraries? Where are our spiritual books that we publish?”

Archimandrite Atallah said  he and other clergy men have been “punished only for telling the truth openly”.

[...]

Syriac in Georgian Chant

Here is an amazingly beautiful setting of the Trisagion in East Syriac sung Georgian-style. It seems that part of the Assyrian population of the Republic of Georgia who belong to the Georgian Orthodox Church still use some Syriac liturgically.

Here the same priest, Fr Seraphim, reading the Gospel in East Syriac.

The Paschal Stichera in Syriac

Like my post about the Paschal Canon,  the text  here is based on Sinai Syriac 71 (ca. 11th century), f. 190r-190v. I have compared it with Sinai Syriac 4 (ca. 12th century), f. 56r-56v and Sinai Syriac 77 (1237 AD), ff. 71r-72r. Variant readings from the latter two manuscripts are given in footnotes below the jump. The final verse is only found in Sinai Syr. 77. As per usual, the translation is very free.

ܦܨܚܐ ܟܗܢܝܐ ܠܢ ܝܘܡܢܐ ܐܬܚܘܝ ܗܘܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܚܕܬܐ ܘܩܕܝܫܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܪܐܙܢܝܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܗܘ̇ ܕܠܟܠ ܡܩܕܫ.[1] ܦܨܚܐ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ ܡܚܪܪܢܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܕܠܐ ܡܘܡܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܪܒܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܕܡܗܝ̈ܡܢܐ. ܦܨܚܐ ܠܬܪ̈ܥܐ[2] ܕܦܪܕܝܣܐ ܦܬ̣ܚ ܗܘܐ ܩܕܡܝܢ. ܦܨܚܐ[3] ܗܘ̇ ܕܠܟܠ ܡܩܕܫ܀

ܬܐܝ̈ܝܢ. ܢܫ̈ܐ ܘܡܕܡ ܕܚܙ̈ܝܬܘܢ ܘܫ̈ܡܥܬܝܢ ܘܫܡ̈ܥܬܝܢ ܣܒܪ̈ܝܢ. ܘܠܨܗܝܘܢ ܕܝܢ ܐܡ̈ܪܝܢ. ܩܒܠܝ[4] ܡܢܢ ܗܫ ܣܒܪܬܐ ܕܚܕܘܬܐ ܫܒܝܚܬܐ. ܩܝܡܬܐ ܢܨܝܚܬܐ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ. ܘܚܕܝ. ܒܕܝܨܐ ܐܦ ܒܪܘܙܐ ܐܘܪܫܠܡ ܡܕܝܢܬܐ. ܒܡܫܝܚܐ ܝܫܘܥ ܡܠܟܟܝ ܗܘ̇ ܕܐܬܢܚܡ ܘܕܢܚ ܡܢ ܓܘ ܩܒܪܐ. ܐܟܙܢܐ ܕܚܬܢܐ ܡܢ ܐܘܘܢ[5] ܓܢܘܢܐ܀

 ܢܫ̈ܐ[6] ܟܕ ܛܥܝ̈ܢܢ ܗܪ̈ܘܡܐ. ܪ̈ܗܛܝ ܗܘ̈ܝ ܠܘܬ[7] ܩܒܪܐ. ܡܐܚܝܢܐ ܘܡܥܒܕ ܚܝ̈ܐ ܫܪܝܪ̈ܐ ܘܐܫܟܚ̈ܝ. ܡܠܐܟܐ[8] ܕܝ̇ܬܒ ܠܥܠ ܡܢ ܟܐܦܐ ܬܗܝܪܐܝܬ[9] ܟܕ ܡܙܥܩ ܠܘܬܗܝܢ ܚܕܝܐܝܬ ܘܐܡܪ[10] ܡ̇ܢ ܒܥ̈ܝܬܝܢ[11] ܠܝ̇ܗܒ ܚܝ̈ܐ ܒܝܬ ܥܢ̈ܝܕܐ ܠܡ̇ܢ[12] ܒܟ̈ܝܬܝܢ[13] ܠܗܘ̇  ܕܠܐ ܡܬܚܒܠ ܒܝܬ ܚܒܠܐ  ܙ̈ܠܝܢ ܐܟܪ̈ܙܝܢ ܘܣܒܪ̈ܝܢ ܠܬܠܡ̈ܝܕܐ[14] ܟܕ ܐܡܪ̈ܝܬܝܢ[15] ܡܫܝܚܐ ܩܡ ܡܢ ܒܝܬ ܡܝ̈ܬܐ ܘܦܪܩ ܢܫ̈ܦܬܐ ܕܟܠܢ[16]܀

ܝܘܡܢܐ ܝܘܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܩܝܡܬܐ. ܬܘ ܟܘܠܢ ܡܗ̈ܝܡܢܐ. ܢܦܪܓ ܒܗ ܒܚܓܐ. ܢܬܠ[17] ܫܠܡܐ ܠܚܕ̈ܕܐ ܫܦܝܐܝܬ ܢܐܡܪ[18] ܒܚܘܒܐ ܐܚ̈ܐ. ܐܦ ܠܐܝܠܝܢ ܬܘܒ ܕܣ̈ܢܝܢ ܠܢ. ܢܫܦ[19] ܒܙܕܩܐ ܘܢܫܒܘܩ ܟܠܡܕܡ ܠܢܘܚܡܐ[20]. ܘܗܟܢܐ ܢܙܥܩ ܘܢܐܡܪ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܩܡ ܡܢ ܒܝܬ ܡܝ̈ܬܐ ܘܒܡܘܬܗ ܕܫܗ ܠܡܘܬܐ ܘܩܛܠܗ ܘܠܡܝ̈ܬܐ ܕܒܓܘ ܩܒܪܐ ܝܗܒ ܚܝ̈ܐ ܘܐܩܝܡ ܐܢܘܢ[21]܀

ܦܨܚܐ ܡܚܕܝܢܐ ܦܨܚܐ ܓܝܪ ܕܡܪܝܐ ܦܨܚܐ ܦܨܚܐ ܡܝܩܪܐ ܐܦ ܩܕܝܫ ܒܟܠ ܐܨܡܚ ܘܕܢܚ ܠܢ ܦܨܚܐ ܒܚܕܘܬܐ ܬܘ ܢܬܠ ܫܠܡܐ ܟܝܬ ܠܚܕ̈ܕܐ ܕܗܢ ܦܨܚܐ ܡܦܨܝܢܐ ܗܘ ܕܡܢ ܥܡ̈ܩܬܐ ܥܠ ܕܐܨܡܚ ܝܘܡܢܐ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܠܢܫ̈ܐ ܡܢ ܓܘ ܩܒܪܐ ܐܟܙܢܐ ܕܡܢ ܒܝܬ ܓܢܘܢܐ ܘܡܠܠ ܐܢܝ̈ܢ ܪܘܙܐ ܘܐܡܪ ܙܠܝ ܐܟܪ̈ܙܝܢ ܠܗܘܢ ܠܫ̈ܠܝܚܐ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܩܡ ܡܢ ܒܝܬ ܡܝ̈ܬܐ ܘܒܡܘܬܗ ܕܫܗ ܠܡܘܬܐ ܘܩܛܠܗ ܘܠܡܝ̈ܬܐ ܕܒܓܘ ܩܒܪܐ ܝܗܒ ܚܝ̈ܐ ܘܐܩܝܡ ܐܢܝܢ[22]܀

Fr Touma (Bitar) on the Resurrection

Arabic original here.


The Path of Glory

Today, brothers, the Lord has given us the earnest of His resurrection from the dead. At one point the Lord raised the paralytic and gave proof that He is able to forgive sins. The Lord raised Lazarus and gave proof that He is able to raise humankind. Lazarus had died in every sense of the word "death". That is, no sign of life remained in his body and he was left until the fourth day. Usually, after the second day a dead person begins to stink. That is, the body begins the process of returning to dust after decomposing little by little. If Lazarus was closed up inside the tomb, it was so that the living would not smell the stench of rot and decay. Lazarus had died and his soul did not remain inside him. If the Lord Jesus raised him, it means that He brought him back to life. What  does it mean to come back to life? Returning to life means that Lazarus returned to being Lazarus, his mental faculties came back to being mental faculties, life pulsed in his limbs, his muscles, his bones... Every cell filled with life and it was as though Lazarus had never died! As though death had never happened! This was a sign of something greater. The greater thing is that the Lord Jesus tasted death-- that is, He died in every sense of the word, as a man, naturally-- and then rose from the dead.

However, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus differs from Lazarus' resurrection. Lazarus rose from the dead in the sense that he came back to life but he died after a time. Even though some early sources say that Lazarus lived a long time, he went back and died again. So the life that was returned to Lazarus was the very same life he had been in before dying, since he came back and knew people and used all his faculties as  though he had never died. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus, however, was not a return to His earlier life in the body before dying. The life with which the Lord Jesus rose was a new life, completely. This is why when Mary Magdalene tried to touch Him, He said, "Do not touch to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father" (John 20:17). This was an indication that Jesus had not risen to his previous life  and so He did not act as he  had acted previously with His disciples and people. However, He rose to eternal life! The life that was established in His body was a completely new life. Thus, after the Lord Jesus rose, He became incapable of death, contrary to Lazarus' situation. Out of condescension, the Lord Jesus was pleased for the life within Him, prior to death, to be according to the life that is in people. He was not obligated to submit to people's weaknesses, to the weaknesses of flesh and blood. Nor was he obligated to die. But He condescended, "He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7). Thus, as a man, He lived with the life that people life. However, after He tasted death, the life in which He rose was completely new with new characteristics. The characteristics of the human body, which is subject to death, do not apply to it. So the Lord Jesus rose in glory. In His resurrection from the dead, he made this body that He received from Mary and so from humankind-- because He possessed a body in the form of human bodies-- He made this body a body of glory. For the first time in history, the life that dwelt in this body became eternal life-- that is, God's life. God's life has made its home in the human body! This is something unparalleled! The Lord Jesus rose the dead. In the Old Testament, Elijah rose a dead man and when Elisha was put in the tomb and a dead man was placed upon it, as soon as the body of the dead man touched Elisha's body, he rose from the dead. But all this was returning human life. All those who rose or who were risen by the Lord Jesus died again. But now, the life with which the Lord Jesus rose is His very own life as God! And this life is no longer susceptible to death nor to anything connected to death, such as sickness or sorrow...

The Lord Jesus transferred what He did to humanity because He was pleased to die for its sake and He was also pleased to rise for its sake. He transferred this new life, the life of glory in the body of glory, to all of humanity through the Holy Spirit. For this reason there was Pentecost. And so we find ourselves with the Lord Jesus in a new time and we find ourselves in a new life. Thus we are baptized and you have heard today, "As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Christ said of Himself that He is the resurrection and the life. So, in the mysteries of the Church, we have put on  the resurrection and the life. For this reason, we do not follow God's commandments so that the Lord God will repay us later with the resurrection and the life! This is what some non-Christians think, those who behave in accordance with their book because they are seeking a place in paradise. Their idea is that the resurrection will occur later, on the last day! We follow God's commandments because, through the mysteries of the Church, we have become partners of the Lord Jesus Christ in the resurrection and eternal life starting now. Eternal life dwells within us starting now! In baptism we are born into a new life, into eternal life, we become partners in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! If we follow God's commandments, it is because we have become God's partners in the life of glory and in the body of glory. Our  following the commandments is an expression of the fact that we are God's children, of the fact that we have entered into eternal life! The difference between the two things is very great! We are never waiting for the Lord God to reward us, to repay us, on the last day! The Lord God does not give anyone His kingdom as recompense! The Lord God gave and gives everything freely. "by grace you have been saved... and that not of yourselves" (Ephesians 2:8). We are given this starting now! We are people of the resurrection, not in the sense of hopefulness, but in the sense that we have entered into a new reality, into a new life in the resurrection, in every sense of the word. Our following God's commandments must be, every day, an expression of the fact that we belong to Jesus, to His life and His resurrection and that the kingdom of heaven has come to settle within us. "The kingdom of heaven is within you" (Luke 17:21). The kingdom of heaven does not come later. "Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:26). Faith in the Lord Jesus makes us full of God's life. Thus the true believer has another stance towards death. He comes to the death of the body while filled with God's life! We do not die in order to receive life later! We have received eternal life through the mysteries of the Church. Thus what we seek has already been given to us. Our path, in reality, is the path of being filled with God's Spirit, the path of activating God's Spirit that has been given to us so that we may become, even while we are still on this earth, people of heaven and so that  when we depart from this earth and we depart from what is dead in this body, we encounter ourseles in light, we encounter ourselves filled with eternal life. This is our new life! There will come an hour when we even get this body back, by God's grace, and the new life that has been given to us will settle in the body of glory that is our body. This body that will be glorified as Jesus' body was glorified will be given to us in the fullness of time. Until then, however, each one of us who walks in faith in the Lord Jesus and who is faithful until the end is filled with God's life, with new life, with God's light. It is true that we will be without this body until the last day, when this body will rise to glory. However, something that the Lord God has not revealed to us is, if we  do not have the body of glory, what will we have after we die? We do not know. However, we do know that we shall be in Christ, in some manner, in some form. God knows. We do not know! God has only revealed to us that which is beneficial for us.

And so, starting now, if we walk faithfully toward God, our life will be God's life. We will be filled more and more with God's life, more and more with God's light, more and more with God's glory, until the day of the general resurrection comes, when the Lord God shall bring back  the body. But He will make us glorified. The new life that has been given to each one of us will then settle in the body of glory. We are not spirits, nor are we angels:  we are human beings. Thus this body must rise into glory. In this hope we walk in life, we walk in the commandment, we walk in the love of God. There is nothing else on this earth in which and for which people live. "For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s" (Romans 14:8). May His name be glorified unto the ages.

Amen.

Archimandrite Touma (Bitar)
Abbot of the Monastery of St Silouan the Athonite-- Douma
April 20, 2014

Fr Georges Massouh on Choosing Barabbas

Arabic original here. For context, today the Lebanese parliament is starting the process of electing a president. Prominent on the list of candidates is a particularly notorious Civil War era warlord.


Barabbas was Murderer and a Robber

Between the righteous man and the robber, the people chose the robber. When Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Syria and Palestine, resorted to "democracy" and asked the Jewish people which of the prisoners they wanted him to release to them on occasion of the feast, Jesus or Barabbas, they chose Barabbas. "And Barabbas was a robber" (John 18:40). In another account, "Barabbas had been thrown in prison for fomenting revolt in the city and for committing the crime of murder" (Luke 23:20).

Between the righteous man and the murderer, the people chose the murderer. It is noteworthy that "the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus" (Matthew 27:20). Religious leaders colluded with rulers and strongmen to commit this sin. Religious leaders and scholars of the Law conspire to kill the innocent one, while the theif crucified on the right announces Jesus' innocence, "we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this Man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41). The religious leaders conspire against the Righteous One, but the pagan Roman centurion testifies to Jesus and says, "Certainly this was a righteous man!" (Luke 23:47).

Saint Ambrose of Milan (d. 387) decries the attitude of those who "demand that the innocent man be killed and seek the criminal's release." He is surprised that "evil has laws such as these, that condemn the innocent and pardon the guilty." Between Jesus, the Son of God, and Barabbas, whose name means "his father's son", people chose "his father's son". In exegesis, the expression "his father's son" means those of whom it was said "You are of your father the devil" (John 8:44). Between God and the devil, people chose the devil.

Since the dawn of history, this situation has not changed. Before democracy and after it, people have preferred various sorts of criminals. They prefer to have their affairs governed by murderers, those who commit massacres, robbers, and the corrupt. They elect those who have stained their hands with blood and those who have stained their hands with money... Then you see them grumbling about rampant corruption, poor living conditions, and the decline of their societies and their countries.

Yes, the religious leaders preferred the robber and the murderer to the righteous man. They condemned the righteous person to crucifixion and set the criminal free. The religious leaders and the men of the world made a pact against God and against His Christ. They ignored the weightiest thing in the Law, mercy, and went to the authorities and strongmen of this time. Until today they continue to disregard defending the oppressed and they scramble to serve the authority that is in place.

Today, April 23, is the feast of Saint George. George, who was an officer in the army of the Roman Empire, refused to offer sacrifices to the authority that was in place at that time and he ended as a martyr. He did not resist evil with evil. Rather, he was pleased to be stripped of his weapons-- that is, stripped of his authority. He did not strive to put anyone in authority and he did not serve anyone in authority. He did not strive for power, even though he could have started a revolution because he realized that authority might corrupt one who attains it. He did not want to be a murderer, a spiller of blood, or a theif.... So he abandoned everything and bore his cross, the cross of his Lord, and he walked upright with his head held high.

When will the people stop choosing the theif and the murderer and elect a just and righteous person? If there is no one to whom these qualities apply, then why are religious leaders concerned with demanding something that is none of their business? Let the dead bury their dead and let those concerned with the election elect someone in their image and likeness.