Fr Georges Massouh on the Ascension as an Act of Divine Condescension

Arabic original here.

Love in Condescension

According to Christian theology, the event of Christ's ascension into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God the Father constitutes a link in the chain that inevitably extends from the Son of God becoming human and taking a body, to His crucifixion and resurrection, to His ascension into heaven and His sending the Holy Spirit into the world. The purpose of all these events is the opening of the New Covenant that God Himself initiated, so that man may have eternal life in God's presence.

This New Covenant was founded on a set of divine condescensions required by God's infinite love of humankind. The Son of God's becoming human is nothing other than a condescension that He undertook in order to share in man's created nature.

The Son of God's suffering, crucifixion and death is nothing but another condescension... And with regard to this, the Apostle Paul said, "Christ Jesus, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and 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, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:6-8).

In all the events that took place around Him, Christ demonstrated great humility, to the point of being crushed. He could have been born in a palace, but He preferred a miserable manger. He could have been born a king, instead of being born "a servant". He could have crucified people, but instead He desired that He Himself be the one crucified. He could have been "forceful, terrible" [cf. Surat Maryam 32] instead of being led like a lamb to the slaughter... He chose for Himself the ultimate condescension. He chose to love and to sacrifice Himself to redeem humankind from sin and death.

Divine condescension reached its apex with Christ's ascension into heaven. Heaven, here, is not a place in outer space. Rather, it symbolizes God's presence. Through His ascension, Christ desired to honor man by calling him to abide with Him forever. He says, "In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). The purpose of the ascension is to erase the boundary that divides heaven and earth, so that man may be of the house of God.

Yes, divine condescension reached its apex with Christ's ascension and His sitting at the right hand of God the Father, since Christ brought human nature with Him and honored man by causing him to sit at the right hand of God in the most high places. Thanks to Christ, human nature is present in God Himself.

Thanks to Him, God embraced human nature and caused it to dwell in Him. With regard to this, the Apostle Paul addresses the people of Ephesus with the words, " when we were dead in trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5-6).

It is a cause for astonishment that after the disciples witnessed Christ's ascension to heaven, at a time when they should have been sorrowful over their Teacher departing from them, "they returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke 24:52).

They rejoiced because they were certain that His generosity is boundless and that the one who generously gave Himself on the cross will not be stingy with them in their abiding with Him in the kingdom.

Jordanian Orthodox Respond to Greek Ambassador to Amman

The Greek Ambassador's statement can be read here. This text has been provided directly by the Jordanian Orthodox protesters to this blog. It will soon also appear on Jordanian websites.

Christ is Risen! 

We would like to thank her Excellency the Greek Ambassador for her response. However, she should realize that she was responding to something other than the concerns we actually raised. This in itself is strongly indicative of the deep and dangerous disconnect between the Patriarchate (along with the Greek Foreign Ministry, its advocate) and its flock.

I kindly invite the Greek Ambassador to examine and discuss with us the actual, concrete demands that the Orthodox faithful are making to the Patriarchate and not to divert attention from these issues. Unfortunately, this means that there is a great deal to discuss as there is a great need for reform.

To begin with, we are demanding the Patriarchate to implement the diocesan system, as foreseen in the Holy Canons, according to which dioceses are ruled by diocesan bishops who have full ecclesiastical, pastoral and episcopal authorities and not by patriarchal vicars as is currently the case. We also demand the immediate end to all the current violations of the Jordanian law 27/1958. Furthermore, we demand that monasticism be opened up to our youth in their own country and that the internal bylaws of the Monastery of Our Lady the Virgin Mary the Life-Giving Spring in Dibbeen be recognized. Moreover, a theological seminary be opened in Jordan so that our youth can receive a proper theological education and better serve the Church. Why are all these demands continuously being neglected? Why didn’t the Greek Ambassador address these issues in her response?

It is extremely sad that the Greek Ambassador is asking us to promote unity and tolerance, while the current leadership of the Patriarchate is meting out all kinds of undeserved retributions against the Arab priests. Where is the tolerance in the current situation of the Arab monks who are either languishing outside their countries because they are not allowed to serve in Jordan and Palestine or are suffering greatly here because of unjust treatment at the hand of the Patriarchate?

Her Excellency’s second remark about the current Catholic Pope being from Argentine and not from Italy is a solid proof that Catholicism shows a much stronger tolerance towards clergy from all over the world, something that we seriously miss here in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Not only have our Patriarchs been Greek for the past 500 years, but during this time also any clergyman who is not of Greek origin is mistreated. The Patriarchate perceives any demand by non-Greek clergy for equal rights to be a threat and immediately responds with mistreatment and persecution of those who voice the truth. It is deeply distressing that we have to ask our Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem to learn how to treat its clergy equally from the example of other churches.

Her Excellency’s final remark about the relationship between Jordan and Greece was rather obscure and appeared irrelevant to the context of the sit-in and our current protest.  When Jordanian citizens stand in front of their Prime Ministry and demand that their government enforce Jordanian Law, why would the Ambassador of a foreign country be concerned? This is purely a national issue and only concerns Jordanian citizens. We have no issues with people from Greece. In fact, some of our relatives are married to Greeks and we hold them dearly in our hearts. We are only protesting the arrogance of the Patriarchate and its illegal and un-Orthodox actions towards Jordanian and Palestinian Citizens.

Finally, since Her Excellency has strong connection with the Patriarch Theophilos III, I kindly ask her to set up a meeting between the Patriarch and few representatives of the youth of his flock in her presence, where we can discuss our demands freely and openly. This will be a great opportunity to bridge the deep gap between him and the local flock. I put this urgent request in the Ambassador’s hands before the current status of our Church worsens and more damage occurs. To conclude, our aim is not to criticize anyone “on grounds of their nationality”, but rather demand equal treatment without regard to nationality, so that together we may see a spiritual revival among the Orthodox Christians of this land.

Jordanian Orthodox Continue Protest against Marginalization by Greeks

From here. More pictures here. The Greek Ambassador's somewhat clueless response can be seen here. This weekend, I will try to put up a translation of the full list of the protesters' grievances, including the specific points of canonical and Jordanian law that the Jerusalem Patriarchate habitually violates.

Arab Orthodox Youth Sit-in

AMMONNEWS - Hundreds of Arab Orthodox parishioners staged a sit in on Saturday 05/17/2014 in front of the prime ministry protesting against the intransigence of the Patriarchate represented by the Greek Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Greek Orthodox as the latter failed to perform his mere duties toward the church and the parish by the laws and regulations of the Orthodox Church. According to observers, this new escalatory movement is a courageous approach and is a precedent in the history of the Arab Orthodox objection against the Greek Presidency. However, this is only a slight movement that precedes the imminent future escalation and a continuation of previous protests which began early last April against the arrogance of the Greek patriarch, according to protesters.

Protesters in front of the prime ministry appealed to the Jordanian government to impose pressures on the Patriarchate to fulfill all their historical demands represented in ending all forms of intimidation against the clergy of Arab monks like Bishop Dr . Atallah Hanna, Archimandrite Christophoros Attallah, Archimandrite Dr. Mlatios Basal, Archimandrite Athanasius Qaqeesh and other who have ideology of renaissance and reform as well as their immediate ordination as bishops and including them as members of the Synod like their Greek counterparts. Also, the activation of dioceses system, the application of Jordanian law No. 28 of 1958 on the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, and endorsing the law of the Monastery of Virgin Mary in Dibeen which was built by the Jordanians Orthodox to enable the founder of the monastery , Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah to run the monastery by the ecclesiastical laws and regulations and also adopting a regulatory patriarchal decision to call back all Arab monks of the Church of Jerusalem who forcibly migrated to other Orthodox churches.

The file of Arab church’s endowments and property, which is still exposed to the risk of Judaization because of long-term leases and selling resulting from the complete exclusivity and vague practices exercised by the Greek management in managing this file was also present in this sit-in, in addition to the official stance of the Orthodox Church of promoting and encouraging the recruitment of Arab Christians in the Israeli army.

Protestors appealed to His Majesty King Abdullah II to personally deal with their grievances hoping that His Majesty would direct orders for all concerned entities to abstain supporting the Greek patriarch at the expense of Arab Orthodox parish.

During the protest, deep regret was expressed regarding the decision of Arab Patriarchate of Antioch (Syria and Lebanon) to cut church’s ties with Church of Jerusalem due to the thoughtless and provocative decision of the Greek patriarch Theophilus (according to the protesters) to establish a bishopric in the State of Qatar, surpassing the geographical boundaries of Patriarchate of Antioch. Protesters explained that such conduct issued by the Greek patriarch does not represent them and it is on drawing a wedge among Arab Orthodox parishioners in the difficult circumstances of Arab people in this region.

Finally, the protesting crowds stressed the Arab Hashemite guardianship on all Christian and Islamic endowments and holy sites in the City of Jerusalem. They also welcome and completely support the historic visit to be made by Head of the Catholic Church in the world His Holiness Pope Francis to Jordan during the next few days. They also welcome the visit of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to the Holy Land hoping that he would pay attention to what is happening in the Church of Jerusalem.

 

Fr Georges Massouh on Christ's Kingdom in this World

Arabic original here.


The Foxes of the Kingdom...

Those who wish that Christians would resign from occupying themselves with the affairs of the nation and of people go to the Gospel to search for verses to support their preconception. One of their favorite verses, besides "Give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God's" (Matthew 22:21), Christ's saying "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

It is noteworthy that most of those who cite these two verses do not bother with their context or their profound implications, but rather content themselves with a superficial reading of them. They go on to infer immediately that Christ refuses to have any kingdom on earth and that He calls His followers to have no concern for the world but to be content instead with awaiting the world to come where Christ will rule forever. These two inferences are incorrect: Christ did not call His followers to have no concern for the affairs of the country and of human beings.

"My kingdom is not of this world" is an expression that does not negate the fact that that His kingdom is in this world. Because He confessed that He is a king, He has a kingdom that exists and is present wherever there are those who owe him allegiance. It is a kingdom without geographic, linguistic or racial borders. In it there is no religious, sectarian racial or ethnic discrimination. It's pillars are love, hope, faith, justice, peace and fairness. It is not true that Christ postponed the realization of His kingdom for an indefinite period. He came and from the beginning of his preaching the Good News He proclaimed that the kingdom of God has drawn near, that it is at  the door.

Jesus' followers must follow His example; otherwise they will not belong to His kingdom. He says of them, "the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:14). Christ did not say that they are not in the world or that from today they are living in heaven. He said that they do not behave according to the mindset of this world. He called them to rise up against the laws of this world that permit the strong to crush the weak and for the avaricious to eat the possessions of the widows and the poor. Thus "the world has hated them," rejected them, persecuted them. Christ did not ask them to refrain from supporting the oppressed, but rather sent them like sheep among wolves to speak the word of truth: "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Christ's basic concern is to transform the world and to make it fitting to what God desired when He created the first man and granted him authority over the earth. Thus it is an injustice to say that Christ fled from confronting and resisting an evil reality and that He separated life on this earth from eternal life. Everything begins "here and now", as Orthodox theology loves to express the irrelevance of time when talking about the kingdom. The kingdom is coming but at the very same time it is present.

Thus Christ called His followers to be concerned with the affairs of this world and of people, to defend values and virtues and to speak the truth openly. Christianity, contrary to what some may imagine, is a religion that is not only concerned with spiritual matters: it strives for a better world where peace, justice, love and mercy reign... This requires struggle against evil and sin.

Without struggle, any Christian conduct becomes a witness against Christ. He Himself, when He called Herod a "fox" (Luke 13:32), called on His pure ones to have no tolerance for foxes, no matter what mask they wear.

Met. Georges Khodr on the Samaritan Woman

Arabic original here.


A Spring of Living Water

Today's Gospel reading relates to us an enormous dialogue between Jesus and a sinful Samaritan woman, a dialogue that includes all the senses of salvation and in which there is all of Pacha. The incident is that the Lord, while going from Judea to Galillee, South to North, had to cross Samaria, the place that today is called Nablus. There still exists today the well in a place visited by pilgrims.

The Lord sat down in the early afternoon because He was tired. The woman came to Him while the disciples had gone into the city to buy food. The Lord asked her to give Him water to drink and she was amazed because He was Jewish and she was of another religion and another race. The Samaritans are a people of which today there are still around two hundred persons in Nablus and the diaspora. They were originally Jewish, but they mixed their worship with pagan rituals when the Assyrians and Babylonians came and occupied Palestine. They remained in Samaria and did not believe in the prophets. They only believed in the five books of Moses and did not accept the other books of the Old Testament. Thus they were considered foreign in religion and race.

The woman was amazed that this Jewish prophet was speaking to her, as there was a rupture between the the two peoples. The Lord said to her, "If you know the gift of God and who it is who is speaking to you now, then you would have asked Him to give you living water." The woman naturally thought that  He was talking about the water that comes from the well and she was amazed that He thought Himself greater than Jacob, the Father of Fathers, who had given them this well. At that point the Lord brought her up to loftier understandings and said to her what can be understood to mean, "I am not talking to you about material water that is drunk. Rather, I am talking to you about another water, about an invisible water that I give to people. He who drinks of it will never be thirsty. The water that I give to you is transformed in the human person into a spring that wells up from eternal life." This means that one who is united to Jesus becomes in turn a spring of life. It is not only God who is a spring of spiritual life for us, a spring of grace, a spring of giving. Every believer becomes like Christ: the life of grace, waters of consolation, waters of kind words well forth from him. What is important is for each of us to become a living Gospel. Each Christian must be like Christ: His mouth must pronounce words of gold. His eyes must shine forth flashes of divine light. He must be satisfied with what the Lord gives. The matter at hand for us is not eating or drinking, but rather that we are wells. Each one of us is a well. If one knows how to connect to Christ, he is Christ's vicar. Each Christian is a vicar of Christ because each Christian is a spring.

The Samaritan woman was enchanted by the Lord's words and she said, "Give me this water so that I will not have to come again to this well." Jesus saw that He could now transform her from a sinful woman into a holy woman and said to her, "Go call your husband and come back here." She said, "I do not have a husband." He said, "You have spoken correctly. You have had five husbands and the one who is with you now is not your husband. He only lives with you." Then she was startled and said, "Lord, I see that You are a prophet." She then wanted to discuss theology and so she posed Him a question comparing Jews and Samaritans, "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain (Mount Gerezim, upon which today is built the city of Nablus), but you say that worship is in Jerusalem." We hear Jesus saying to her at the beginning, "The Jews are correct and you, the Samaritans, are in error for salvation is from the Jews. But now we are now at a new juncture: there will come an hour-- and now it has come-- when those who truly worship worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. That is, at My coming, there is no more importance for the Jewish religion or the Samaritan religion. There is no place for this silly difference since those who truly worship worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, deep down in the Spirit and in sincerity. The point is for us to become spiritual people, detached from attachment to places, detached from material cares and from animal sacrifices in Jerusalem. This age that was shall end. God, who is spirit, is worshiped in the Spirit. He is worshiped with a pure heart. He is worshiped with an enlightened intellect. The religion of all shall be in the heart." Then the rest of the incident happened. The woman left her pitcher and forgot everything when she recognized the Lord. She went to spread the Good News, going to her people who asked Him to stay with them.

From then on, the Samaritan woman was named "Photini", which is a Greek word meaning "enlightening" or "enlightened". The Samaritan woman was enlightened and she repented of her wickedness, before Jesus, before His love, before His call to her. At this time between Pascha and the Ascension we are like Photini. We spread the Good News of the living, life-giving God, of the God who is a spring from which wells forth streams of water into our hearts. And from our hearts they stream forth to the people around us.

Orthodox Communal Politics in Palestine (1908-1910)

Taken from:  Konstantinos Papastathis and Ruth Kark, "Orthodox Communal Politics in Palestine after the Young Turk Revolution (1908-1910)". Jerusalem Quarterly 56/57, Winter 2013 / Spring 2014, pp. 118-139 Read the entire article in pdf here.

[...]
The ideological background of the Greek dominance was the messianic fallacy of “Helleno-orthodoxia.” This is a theoretical formulation of Greek irredentism of the Megali Idea, according to which Greek national identity is intimately tied to the Orthodox religion. This socially dominant ethno-phyletist narrative advocates the primordial, and thus essentialist, equation of Orthodoxy with the Greek nation. In short, an individual can be regarded as a member of the Greek “imagined community” only if he/she is a Christian Orthodox and vice-versa. The Orthodox lay populations in Syria and Palestine, therefore, were not regarded as Arab, but rather as Greek "arabophones". Furthermore, the various shrines in the Holy Land under the custodianship of the Patriarchate were perceived as the tangible continuity of the Greek presence in the historical cradle of Christianity. According to this “invented tradition” of the Greek imagined proprietorship of Palestine’s Christian sanctuaries, these did not belong to the Orthodox commonwealth at large. Rather, the Greek nation was their sole owner. The Holy Places were perceived as national treasures, and as such the non-Greek Orthodox populations could not have a say in the administration of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which was the competent authority for their guardianship. Since Orthodoxy is held to be the true faith expressing God’s word and the Greek nation is represented as being by definition the “rightful” owner of His Holy Places, the Greek people are defined as the “chosen” people, under whose guidance all the ecclesiastical centers should continue to operate, as they had since their establishment. For the advocates of Helleno-orthodoxia, thus, the Patriarchate should be exclusive, and entrance to it should be confined only to Greek nationals or subjects. Consequently, Athens, as the nation-state’s capital, should be the political center par excellence not only of all Orthodox institutions, but also of the Orthodox populations at large, regardless of any other criteria defining their collective identity.

Two strategies were formulated within the Greek ecclesiastical apparatus for confronting the developing local Orthodox movement: a) absolute rejection of lay demands, which were viewed as subverting the Greek character of the Patriarchate and its religious “purity”; and b) the adoption of a controlled concession to the community of some secondary rights without putting at risk the institution’s Greek character and centralized governing structure. The long-standing conflict between these two distinct schools of thought led to a series of crises within the Patriarchate from the end of the nineteenth century onwards. The one under discussion caused a split within the Greek senior clergy with major repercussions for the future of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
[...]

Met. Ephrem (Kyriakos) on Purity

Arabic original here.

Purity

Saint John Climacus says, "The perfection of purity is the foundation of the knowledge of God" (The Ladder 30:20). Likewise, the Lord says in His Sermon on the Mount "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). In bodily terms, purity is a body free of dirtiness. In spiritual terms, purity is a soul free from sins. Spiritual purity does not negate the body. Rather, it spiritualizes it.

The spiritual person is one who accepts nothing into his soul except divine seed. That is, God's word and his commandments.

The pure person becomes a bride of God. God is spirit and the pure, spiritual person easily accepts into his soul spiritual seed.

It is then possible for him to accept into his soul not only God's word because he understands it, but also to transmit it to others. In other words, to bear Christ as a living word and to transmit Him to others.

The word is transmitted either through teaching, evangelism and preaching or through action and living sacrifice. That is, sacrifice and free service.

This is what we, the baptized faithful, receive at the Divine Sacrifice. At the Divine Liturgy we receive Christ as an evangelical word through teaching and preaching, just as we receive Him as an offering, as the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood in receiving communion.

What we receive at the Divine Liturgy we give to others if we are pure. That is, if we are always in humility and repentance before God.

I said that the pure person, one stripped of passions and repentant before his Lord, through the divine seed becomes a bride of God. He is capable of embracing others just as God embraces us in His mercy and loving-kindness.

He begets others in faith and love. He becomes a spiritual father-- indeed, a mother who embraces her children in the fullest sense of the word.

This is spiritual fertility. I will say once more that requires emptying the self of all egoism. It does not occur except through the power of the Holy Spirit who alone is able to purify the soul that repents before its Lord.

+Ephrem 
Metropolitan of Tripoli, Koura and Their Dependencies