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Archimandrite Touma Bitar
Among these crises, two have restricted the Church's movement, distorted her, created within her an abhorrent duplicity and to a significant degree hindered her from existing within the sphere of living spiritual theology and preaching the Gospel throughout the world. By this I am referring to the crisis of racism and the crisis of Constantinople.
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The sacrament is God's invisible presence in visible and tangible things. Creation has become an extension of the body of Christ the Lord. It was enough for the woman with an issue of blood to touch the edge of the Lord's garment in order to be healed. Christ has put on all creation as a garment!
Fr. Touma Bitar
Any conciliarity or consultation that is not in the fear of God and sincere repentance, is an extension of the council of Caiaphas that judged Christ to have blasphemed and called for His death! This is what happens to those who blaspheme against the Son of God! They judge Him in the remnant of those who keep faith in Him to have blasphemed! The Antichrist is not foreign to our surroundings!
Any reduction of conciliarity and consultation to one person or a group of people is an extension of paganism that claims to approach the incarnate God in God's Spirit. But this is only in form, while they are actually only approaching God in their own delusion! This is the essence of humanity's fall! In the words of Saint Justin Popovich, "The fall of the pope is a consequence of the desire to substitute man for the God-man."
The resurrection would have had no value, had there been no ascension. Even Pentecost was only given to us so that we might be able to participate, actually and personally, in the act of the ascension, which was accomplished by the Lord Jesus in His body. Therefore, today we find ourselves in the midst of heavenly joy. Man is seated, in the person of the Lord Jesus, in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father. This is true joy and there is no greater joy than this joy.
The important thing is that no one be alone in himself, like the sailors on Paul's ship, in order to save themselves! In that case, you cannot be saved. Let us hold fast to one another, with you before us! The Spirit of communion teaches you. The Orthodox are crazy, no doubt. For this reason, they are not controlled! This is the mystery of God in them and the mystery of the Opponent's inability to beat them! There is nothing easier for the Enemy than to crush rational people! "You are all fair my love, there is not a spot in you" (Song of Songs 4:7) and this is how your Lord has seen you, O my Church!
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Some writers and journalists criticize the positions of church leadership toward the uprisings, demonstrations, and protests that are occurring in our Arab countries under different names. Their criticisms might be true if we looked at them in an abstract, intellectual way that did not take into account how the situation will be when after the success or failure of these movements in achieving their stated goals. Arab Christians are anxious about their future.
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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.
