From the Manger to Holiness.Archimandrite Touma Bitar.

Archimandrite Touma Bitar.

Brothers, who is a poor person? A poor person, for us, is someone who hardly possesses anything. And who is a rich person? He is the one who possesses much. This is according to people, but according to God, poverty and wealth have a different meaning. According to the Lord God, the rich person is someone who only loves himself and the poor person is prepared to give everything he has, whether he possesses a little or a lot. The rich person is someone who loves himself and so whether he possesses a little or a lot, he is rich in what he possesses. But the poor person, who is prepared to give everything, is the one to whom the Lord God gives the kingdom of heaven.

Why icons?.Archimandrite Touma Bitar.

Today, brothers, the Holy Church commemorates the fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council which affirmed the veneration of icons after a long period during which those who venerate them were persecuted and most ancient icons that had existed before the eighth century were destroyed.

   

 What is the importance of icons in the Church? First of all, brothers, we honor icons and do not worship them. For this reason, all that can be said about us worshiping idols if we use icons in the Church is false. There is a great difference between veneration and worship. Worship belongs to God and God alone. But man expresses himself with word and image. Man has senses with which he expresses himself. Thus we use incense. Incense, for us, is a sign of venerating the faithful and of worshiping God in the faithful. So too with the Holy Bible. There are words in it, but these words are only vehicles for God's presence among us. We cannot express ourselves in a non-human way.

The Goal of Earthly Life: Prayer.Archimandrite Touma Bitar

     

Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God,
Douma- Lebanon.

  He came to me with the question, "I do not pray very much lately. I think I'm falling into negligence. What should I do to bring my prayer back?"

      If you truly want to bring your prayer back, then you are able to do this in an instant. Through prayer you acquire prayer. Prayer is an act of will. Pray regularly. A little or a lot? It doesn't matter. With feeling or without feeling? That doesn't matter either. You begin with the body, with words and motions. What's important is that you do it attentively. Don't be hasty and don't be slow. Don't raise your voice and don't hush it. Be moderate. Put your mind on what you are saying, on each word. Understand what you are saying.

The Church of Spirit and Truth.

“Now anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he is not His (i.e. he is not for Christ).
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are the sons of God”.(Rm 8:9-14)

   Father Youssef Daros, from Egypt, sent us the following question: “Does the Holy Spirit act in the sacraments of the non-Chalcedonian Churches? (Copts, Syrians, Armenians and Ethiopians), and in the Catholic Church?”.

   Often our questions are incorrect due to our erroneous approach. It is however important, when considering these questions, that we try to explain the correct traditional perspective of “the Church”. Hence, in this correct framework, we can discern the correct question from the incorrect one!

   Firstly, we would like to express our reservation towards the way, the enquirer uses the terms “Church” and “Churches”. To know the cause of our reservation, I refer the reader to one of my previous articles, in the section “Dots on Letters”, titled “Seeking the Church”, written on 13 November 2016.

Towards a Spiritual Ecumenical Movement!.

   I do not wish, in this article, to evaluate the work of the Ecumenical Council of Churches (ECC), especially during the twenty and twenty-first centuries. At least, this is not the scope of this article. However, this will not prevent me from expressing my strong belief, that a true Church unity begins with seeking union with God! True unity between believers can only be the outcome of this union, either wise it is based on common benefit. Union with God means unity in Christ!. If we limit ourselves to wordings and formalities relating to God and focus, only, on the closeness of dogmatic expression, and the oneness of administrative settings, translating these into an arrangement leading to the Common Cup, we will not gain any value for the Church but rather cause harm. Thus, in the context of the multitude of the Churches, or the distinct individual groups, and the ensuing divergence between them caused by historical circumstances, it is useless to aspire for the unity of the institutions or, that is to say, the Churches as institutions. This, on the contrary, constitutes the main obstacle in the face of acquiring the desired unity!.

Nativity in modern time

                                            (From the weekly series "Dots on Letters")

   … The water is drifting the ship, with an enormous vigor, into the abyss of a deep waterfall, descending into the depth of the earth of perdition, and people on board are fighting, quarrelling and slaughtering one another!. They say it is “a fight for survival” which is nothing but foolishness! Absolute blindness!... What survival?! You have all departed or are departing! “Vanities of vanities, all is vanity. What advantage does a man have in all his labor, in which he toils under the sun?” (Ecc 1: 2-3)!... “Woe to us, because we sinned!” (Lam 5: 16), because we walked recklessly, in blindness… willingly. “Water flowed over my head” (Lam 3: 50)!. Who will deliver us from this body of death?! (Rm 7: 24)… All is falling into the deep!. There is nothing firm to hold on to!. The seas are hurling!. Will this night get to an end?!. A fall in the fall in the fall! Certainly!. He said: there is the one and only that is everlasting: “Love! .” “Love never fails” (1Co 13: 8)!. So there is hope for us!. This is the core, the essence!. This is the beginning and the end!. Love said: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end!.”

Spot-light on Organ Donation

                                            (From the weekly series "Dots on Letters")

   Believers have varied opinions with respect to organ donation. Perspectives differ and the subject is controversial. Every one tries to support his view through the Holy Scriptures. Some are enthusiastic about it, others are positive, others have reservations, whilst others totally reject the principle. Diversity of opinions, for the time being, may be enriching, though we cannot foresee an end to the debate in the near future as the issue is ambiguous.

Life Eternal

                                            (From the weekly series "Dots on Letters")

     The subject of eternal life presupposes hard questions! What is the meaning of eternal life? What does it mean to have eternal life? Why is eternal life the greatest gift? Is it because death cuts off life on earth, that eternal life acquires meaning? Is eternity a matter of time? If death is life cut off, and death comes, often, after trials, so of what value is life extended, if, practically, it means trials continued?! For to him who suffers, physically or psychologically, death appears as mercy! In man’s experience, life is desirable if it is full of delights, but when it is soaked with bitterness, he would rather desire death. So if eternal life is a matter of time, it has, in itself, no value, whatsoever!