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First
Bulletin - Rome 10/10/2008
"Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God,…to all …beloved, … called to be saints: grace
to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Romans 1:17)
Beloved sons and
daughters of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church, clergy and
faithful, I am sending you from Rome these joyful greetings, in
the opening words of Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, to
share with you the work of the twelfth Episcopal Synod, whose
theme is: The Word of God in the life and mission of the
Church. This is the fourth time that I am taking part in
such a Synod. It is as well to remember that it was my
predecessor of blessed memory, Maximos IV, during the second
Vatican Council, who first put forward the idea of holding these
Synods, to act as a council around the Pope. The First Synod
was held in 1967.
I am taking part in
this Synod in the name of our Holy Synod. H.E. Mgr Cyril
Salim Bustros and his proxy H.E. Mgr Joseph El-Absi have excused
themselves from attending. However, taking part in the Synod
is Rev. Archimandrite Nicolas Antiba, our Patriarchal Exarch in
Paris, appointed as an expert by His Holiness on my
recommendation. This is the seventh time that he is taking
part.
I am very impressed by
the universal, global “Catholic” character of this meeting,
gathered around His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the Synod’s
President: 253 bishops, (Patriarchs and Cardinals),
Fathers-general, Mothers-general, men and women theologians,
including clergy- and lay-experts…, who are praying together,
meditating together, thinking together and experiencing together a
Pentecostal atmosphere, resembling that of the life of the first
Christian community, focused on the Word of God.
The Holy Father led
the celebration for the Opening of the Synod with a Pontifical
Liturgy on Sunday 5/10/2008 in the Basilica of St
Paul-without-the-Walls during this Year dedicated to Saint Paul.
The Synod began with a talk by the Holy Father.
The Fathers of the
Synod have been meeting every day for five and a half hours at a
time. The first day was dedicated to listening to the Holy Father
(who has been taking part in nearly every meeting.)
The Synod’s working
sessions are made up of plenaria, during which the Fathers
may speak in turn (each contribution is just 5 minutes long),
while in the evening the Synod devotes an hour to free discussion,
during which the maximum time allowed for each speech is just 2
minutes.
In order to go into
greater depth on the Synod’s different themes, the Fathers
divide up into small groups, no bigger than 15 strong, each group
corresponding to one of twelve languages.
All the work and
contributions to the Synod, both during the plenaria and
the workshops, go towards the final recommendations to be drafted
and referred to the Holy Father. The different texts will be
studied by the Holy Father, in collaboration with a committee
derived from the Synod and elected by the Fathers and the final
recommendations will be published in about a year’s time.
The 253 Fathers
participating this year in the Episcopal Synod represent the 13
Eastern Churches, the 113 Episcopal Conferences and the 25 Roman
dicasteries, to which may be added the Fathers-general of the
various religious orders and the Mothers-general of the women’s
religious orders, besides representatives and experts of ten
non-Catholic Churches.
Translation from the
French: V. Chamberlain |
| Second
Bulletin - Rome, 10/10/2008
The aim of this Synodal
Bulletin is to share with the readers of the patriarchal
website some aspects of the Synod’s work and the main events
that are taking place on the Synod’s fringe.
In this second bulletin I am
bringing you some “little flowers” that I have gathered
from listening to the speeches of the Fathers of the Synod.
They have been emphasizing the relationship between the Old
and New Testaments, or rather, between the first and second
Testament. The two are related, complementary and mutually
influential. However, Christianity goes beyond every kind of
“Testament,” for it is “in Christ Jesus … a new
creation,” as Saint Paul said. (Galatians 6:15) Indeed, the
Gospel sheds light on every page of the Old Testament, which
cannot be understood without the New, as the old Latin tag
from Saint Augustine so well expresses: Novum in Vetere
latet: Vetus in Novo patet, meaning, The New in the Old
lies concealed: the Old in the New is revealed.
Hence the importance of
interaction between theological studies and the exegesis of
Holy Scripture: the latter tells us what happened and how it
came about, but with the aim of enabling us to absorb
Scripture until it becomes part of our lives.
Reading the Bible is difficult,
for its teachings require us to change our behavior and
reveal to us a challenging new road that will sorely try us.
What matters is that the
teachings of the Bible in both Testaments become words of life
spoken to us today. That is what gave us the idea of including
in our monthly Pauline bulletin an item called: Epistle of
Paul to the Damascenes. This is not an exaggerated “Oriental”
transmogrification, since the teachings of Saint Paul really
are addressed to us today.
Hence the importance of saying
to our parishioners during the Sunday sermon: this word (from
the Epistle and Gospel) is yours! That is what Jesus said on
the Sabbath in Nazareth. Having finished the lesson from the
book of Isaiah, he said to the congregation in the synagogue,
“This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke
4: 21)
Let us tell the faithful: God
is speaking to you! But he is listening to you too!
It is important to prepare the
sermon, in such a way that it both meets the expectations of
the faithful and that the preacher is the first to pay
attention to his own homily!
In the Scriptures, God speaks
to us as friends. He told us in his last discourse in the
Gospel according to Saint John, “I have loved you…I have
called you friends.” (John 15: 12, 15)
Similarly, the word of God in
the sermon should be kind, gracious, fresh, enticing,
pleasant, attractive…so that the sermon becomes a gospel,
good tidings of great joy. Therefore it is important for the
preacher to be joyful as he encounters Jesus’ teachings and
Jesus himself.
Our faith must not be redolent
of dry, arid dogma, but rather an event that affects
us, touches us and is for us! So faith appeals not merely to
our intellect, but even more to our freewill.
The word of God is powerful,
dynamic, fruitful and fecund. The preacher must be adept in
expressing these attributes of the Word!
Our respect for the “Book”
of the Bible notwithstanding, we do not allow ourselves to be
called “People of the Book” or “Religion of the Book,”
since Christianity is the religion of the Word, the living and
life-giving Word, incarnate for us and for our salvation.
Preaching, spiritual advice and
training, pastoral work with brotherhoods, youth, lay
apostolate movements in parishes, must all contribute to
helping the faithful listening to our sermons feel that Jesus,
who walked the roads of Palestine, is still walking to meet
wayfarers, the men and women of today; to meet me and walk
with me, accompanying me in my daily life.
Christianity does not thrive on
religious propaganda; it derives its strength from the fact
that it is beautiful and attractive…
Saint Augustine said, “The
Holy Spirit speaks from without.” We must respond to
Him by hearing Him from within.
A Final Word
I hope that the readers of this
bulletin will be able to live the Synod with us!
Well! On Thursday 10/9/08 there
took place at Saint Peter’s a big pontifical liturgical
celebration, at which the Holy Father Benedict XVI presided,
for the fiftieth anniversary of the death of his predecessor
of blessed and holy memory, Pius XII. Taking part in it
were all the Fathers of the Synod and the diplomatic corps.
In his homily, the Pope
outlined the main features of the pontificate of Pius XII.
It is noteworthy that in the
year of the death of Pius XII (1958), His Beatitude Patriarch
Gregorios III was present as a student, together with other
student monks of the Basilian Orders of the Holy Savior and
of Aleppo, as well as Maronite. This laudable initiative on
the part of the late Cardinal Gabriel-Acace Coussa (Aleppine),
(who died relatively young while Pro Secretary of the Sacred
Congregation for the Eastern Church) contributed considerably
to the formation of an Eastern elite!
Translation from
the French: V. Chamberlain |
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Third
Bulletin -
Rome
,
17/10/2008
In this Third Bulletin, I am
speaking especially to my children, the seminarists of Saint
Anna (
Rabweh
,
Lebanon
) and to all seminarists and persons dedicated to the
religious life in the eparchies and men’s and women’s
congregations of our
Melkite
Church
.
I
am happy to put forward for your consideration, my beloved,
some reflections drawn together during my participation in the
Twelfth Episcopal Synod, whose theme is: The Word of God in
the life and mission of the Church. I invite you to read
the two previous bulletins containing information on the
Synod.
In
this bulletin addressed especially to you, I bring you some
personal reflections, referring to the importance of the Word
of God in your life.
Firstly,
here are some ideas taken from the speech of His Eminence
Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Metropolitan Archbishop of
Krakow
,
Poland
, formerly Secretary to the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II
of blessed memory.
There
is in the world a hunger for the Word of God: preachers must
assuage that hunger. The Word needs witnesses: these witnesses
are seminarists. They must prepare themselves properly for
witnessing effectively to God’s Word. But often seminarists
busy themselves with studying the Word of Holy Scripture as
though it were an external object of study. They do not
take into account its spiritual meaning. The Word fails to
become a word of life for them. They do not know how to
transform the Word of God into a medium of communion with Him
in the Holy Spirit, who guides them to understand the Word.
They do not discover in the Word of God that power that can
change man and draws him to repentance and transforms him,
uniting him to the Church that keeps the Word of God and is
tasked with bringing it to the world.
It
is very important to pay attention to the Word of God in
seminaries. It is equally important for seminarists to learn
to engage with the Word of God in spiritual depth. They ought
to be educated in the spirituality of Holy Scripture, so as to
become passionate for the Word of God and for the service of
the people of God. Faithful parishioners need priests who are
delighted by the Word of God (Psalm 118 LXX) and by love for
service of the parish. Those are the real bases for a new, revitalized,
modern evangelization that meets the aspirations of young
generations.
Bringing
new evangelization is one of the priorities for the
preparation of future priests and for pastoral service, for
priests must be first and foremost “servants of the Word.”
Seminarists must be burning with the inner fire that consumed
Saint Paul (the bimillennium of whose birth we are
celebrating), Apostle to the Nations who said, “Woe is unto
me if I preach not (the Word.)” (I Corinthians 9:16) He said
to his disciple Timothy, “Preach the Word … in season, out
of season.” (II Timothy 4:2)
The
Fathers of the Synod emphasized in their speeches the
importance of Bible reading and inner listening to the Word of
God and discovering the mystery of Christ, so as to live it
during the time of one’s training at the seminary, and then
be able to preach it to the people.
One
of the Fathers of the Synod said, “A seminarist has to
become the ‘disciple of Jesus Christ,’ not just the
disciple of some teacher or other.”
Saint
Jerome
, who lived
in
Bethlehem
and there translated the Bible into a Latin version, called
the Vulgate, said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of
Christ.[1]”
Among
the proposals of the Fathers to be found in their speeches, we
read, “Seminarists should read the Bible every day.”
Another states, “The Word must go from the head to the
heart.” Hence we see the importance of reading that is not
only informed, but also spiritual.
Dear
seminarists,
I
wish you a holy year in the seminary, a “priestly year!” I
pray for you to meet Christ during this year and through every
detail of your life in the seminary. May there be in you the
thoughts and manners that are in Christ Jesus.
With
my prayer, affection and blessing,
+
Gregorios III
Translation
from the French: V. Chamberlain
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Fourth
Bulletin -
Rome, 10/
26/2008
In this Fourth Bulletin, I am
happy to be able to communicate a few ideas collected during
the Synod.
1. Firstly, there was emphasis
on remaining firm in faith. There have always been
persecutions since the time of the pagan
Roman empire
. During the Byzantine empire there was the iconoclastic
controversy; in the Ottoman empire, Christians were under
Islamic rule; then, more recently there have been difficulties
for Christians in
South Africa
,
South America
and the Indian subcontinent: it is a part of Church history.
We have to keep strong in all these different circumstances.
2. As the subject of the Synod
was the Word of God, His Holiness the Pope gave a talk about
explaining Holy Scripture. He spoke about the two elements
requisite for Biblical hermeneutics: knowing about the facts
of salvation history and understanding the tradition of
Biblical interpretation. This means we have to combine
knowledge of the Scriptures with inspiration.
3. Often, we speak about two
Testaments, Old and New: however, God inspired both and he is
the warranty of both. Therefore, we should rather say we have
One Covenant, which is fulfilled and presented to us in a new
form, in Jesus Christ. So although from the perspective of
human history it is understandable that we speak of two
Covenants, in fact from the perspective of divine revelation
there is but one: therefore we should avoid dualism with
regard to it.
4. The Word of God is
bitter-sweet: bitter because it is requires things which may
be hard for us to bear and sweet because it is a consolation
for us.
5. Lectio divina is
reading and meditating on Holy Scripture: in the Eucharist,
Jesus says to us, “Take, eat.” In lectio divina,
we are told, “Take, read.” This is indicative of the
relationship between the Eucharist and the Word of God.
6. Another way of expressing
how the Word of God works in us is to say that the Word must
travel from the head to the heart.
7. We can also learn from the
Theotokos’ “yes” to the Word of God: her assent enables
the Word of God to become incarnate. Our saying “yes” also
allows the Word of God to be realized in our life.
8. The miracle at the wedding
in
Cana
illustrates the relationship between the Old and New
Testaments: just as the water was changed into wine, so the
Word of God is continually made new. Jesus said, “You have
heard… but I tell you…”
9. Many Fathers of the Synod
stressed the importance of giving their faithful a profound
awareness of the obligation upon each one to announce the good
news for his or her society.
10. Seminarians and priests
study mostly an academic way of reading the Bible, but they
should also be taught how to read so as to discover its
spiritual and mystical meaning.
11. Lectio divina can be
expressed in the Eastern tradition (His Beatitude observed)
through liturgical prayers, for example, canons of saints’
days, Dominical and Marian feasts and in the Paraklitike,
where there are many apparent repetitions – but these are a
way of meditating on the manifold expressions of the Word of
God.
12.
Saint Paul
’s discovery of Jesus and the Gospel through his vision on
the road to
Damascus
was certainly rooted in his deep love for the Scriptures,
focused as they are on Christ, in whom he found their complete
meaning.
13. It is important to use
modern methods of communication to bring the Word of God to
the world, so seminarians have to be fully acquainted with
information and communications technology.
14. It was interesting for me
to hear a moving appeal from an Indian bishop for the date of
the Feast of Easter to be unified. We Arab Christians also
need to be unified in observing it.
15. The bishop’s
responsibility for the Word of God is shown through episcopal
ordination, in both Eastern and Western rites, as the Gospel
is placed face-down on the ordinand’s head. So the Gospel
becomes his spiritual director and his special responsibility
towards the Word of God is seen. Despite his administrative
work, he has to make the Word of God influential in society,
preserving the Word from misuse and manipulation.
16. The importance of preparing
for preaching the Word of God is evident, as Jesus prepared
for thirty years to preach for just three. Yet having spent
just two nights in the tomb, he accomplished our salvation on
the third day.
17. Many bishops in the synod
wanted the Word of God to be a vital force enabling the Church
to remain new, young and dynamic.
18. In my speech and in
discussion in workshops, I indicated how important it is for
everyone to find in the Word of God the best way to conduct
dialogue with Islam. It is also important to show that
Christians and Muslims are facing the same challenges -
concerning ethics, human rights, fundamentalism, terrorism,
religious liberty and so forth - and therefore may find
answers to them in their scriptures.
19. One father quoted Søren
Kierkegaard as saying, “When we read the Word of God, we
should read it like a letter from our beloved.” For us
Christians, that Word is embodied in the person of Christ.
That is why we are not happy to be called merely the “people
of the book,” because although we discover Jesus in the
book, he surpasses the book, which is just a means for us to
discover him.
Gregorios
III
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His
Beatitude with pilgrims from Metz
Notes: on the fringes of
the Synod
On Saturday 18th.,
the Holy Father, with the Patriarch of Constantinople,
celebrated Vespers in the Sistine Chapel, showing how the Word
of God can be an important factor on the road to Christian
unity.
Also wonderful to tell, his
Eminence, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the
Congregation for Eastern Churches, invited all the Patriarchs
and heads of Eastern Catholic Churches to two events: on 20th.
to a meeting to discuss the present state and current
role of Eastern Catholic Churches. On 21st., he
also invited them to a lunch in honour of the new Latin
Patriarch of Jerusalem, thus giving them the opportunity to
meet with all the Cardinals and members of the Congregation
and presidents of the synod.
RAI took the wonderful
initiative of arranging for the whole Bible to be read
continuously, day and night, from 5th. to 11th.
October. Thousands of people, both Christian clergy and laymen
and women, Muslims and Jews, took part in reading the Bible.
The readings took place in the Church of the Scala della Croce
in Gerusalemme. His Beatitude read Chapter 13 of Proverbs in
Italian and Arabic. He also expects to take a similar
initiative in
Damascus
in the Year of Saint Paul.
The Patriarchs and heads of
Eastern Catholic Churches for the first time wrote an appeal
addressed to the Holy Father and members of Synod about the
situation of their faithful in countries of conflict –
Israel
,
Palestine
,
Iraq
,
Lebanon
and
India
.
The Patriarch also wrote an
invitation to all members of the Synod inviting them to
Damascus
for the Pauline Year: this was gratefully received.
There was one opportunity for
each Father of the Synod to make a five-minute speech, the
text of which had to be submitted in writing: His Beatitude
took his turn to speak on Friday, 10th. October.
Additionally there was a daily hour for “free” or
unscripted remarks lasting three minutes: His Beatitude spoke
each day on a different topic: such as, Eastern traditions,
Eastern Church Fathers and their theological expressions. His
remarks were very well received by many, who expressed their
wish to hear more from him, stressing that he was saying
“good things in a good way,” that is, with good humour and
sense. The Patriarch was delighted to have the opportunity to
speak frankly in the presence of the Holy Father, but he feels
he has yet more to tell him and the other fathers about the
spiritual wealth and important role of the Eastern Churches.
On 16th. October,
the Patriarch invited all Eastern Patriarchs and heads of
Eastern Catholic Churches, with Cardinal Sandri, to a dinner
at the Columbus Hotel. That same day, in the Paul VI Hall, all
the fathers attended the screening of a film about the life
and work of John Paul II, at the initiative of his former
secretary, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop of
Krakow.
On 23rd. October,
His Beatitude invited all Melkite students, priests and
seminarians in
Rome
to a dinner. He talked to them about the work of the synod and
the life of the Church. On 24th., he visited
Santa Maria
in Cosmedin to praise the wonderful work done by his
Apocrisarios, Archimandrite Mtanios Haddad in supervising the
restoration of the church and its adjoining residence, both of
which will shortly be completed. Father Mtanios organised the
whole stay of His Beatitude in
Rome
.
On 25th. October,
the whole synod was concluded by the presentation of 55
proposals to the Holy Father and by the message of the Fathers
to the whole Church. These proposals will be studied by the
Holy Father, together with a specially elected and appointed
Council to produce a final document, in a year’s time.
On the same day, His Holiness
gave a lunch in honor of all members and participants in the
synod. The whole synod was crowned by a Papal Liturgy on 26th.
in St. Peter’s Basilica.
On Sunday afternoon, His
Beatitude visited the exhibition about
St. Paul
, in the Basilica of St. Paul-without-the-Walls. His Beatitude
hopes to host the same exhibition later this year in the
patriarchal residence in
Damascus
. A few minutes later, at
Santa Maria
in Cosmedin, His Beatitude, with Father Mtanios, welcomed a
group of pilgrims from
Metz
, a town twinned with Beit Sahour.
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Speech
of His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III
This
speech has to do mainly with Chapter IV of the Lineamenta
(The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church) to
which I am adding some considerations concerning our relations
with Islam (Chapter VIII of the Lineamenta.)
The
Word of God: place of meeting and dialogue
The Word
of God is a special place for meeting and dialogue between
people, in such a way as really to become a Word for me and a
Word for you; it invites me to meet God and my brother or
sister. So it is not meant to be a word of war, violence,
terror, fundamentalism, isolation, exclusion of the other,
since it includes and enlightens every human being (cf. John
1:9); it is a Word for all mankind’s situations, for the
future of humanity, present in every sphere of human life.
Attributes
of the Word of God
The
attributes of the Word of God are many and express its
strength and the influence that it has on the faithful in
society. “The Word of God is not bound.” (II Timothy 2:9)
It is “profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:16) It is
“faithful.” (Titus 3: 8) “For the Word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even unto the dividing asunder of the joints and the marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the
heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
The
faithful person must act on the Word and not just hear it.
“But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22) It is a Word of
life. “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life.”(John 6:68)
In his
First Epistle, the Holy Apostle John writes, “That which was
from the beginning (the Word), which we have heard (the
Gospel), which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
… we … declare unto you.” (I John 1:1 and 3a)
A Word
for all nations
On
the day of Pentecost, the apostles spoke to the surrounding
crowd, proclaiming the Word of God, speaking just one
language, probably Aramaic. However, although those present
were of different nationalities and countries, speaking
different languages, as Saint Luke tells us, each one heard
the apostles speaking in his own language. So the Word of God
is one, though for all people, reaching each person in his own
civilization, language and culture.
It is
truly the Word of God, because it really can reach all mankind
and become a Word for people. That is the great challenge for
those who must preach with conviction, write pastoral texts
and work out the official documents of the Church. The
challenge is how to make the Word of God understood and bring
it to people in such a way that it remains really his Word,
without trickery, confusion or alteration, while meeting with
people’s words, and with their understanding, mindset and
way of thinking. Yet it must elevate their thoughts and change
their mentality, so that their words should be really in
contact and harmony with the Word of God. Then may be realized
what Saint Paul said. “…we have the mind of Christ.” (I
Corinthians 2:16)
The Word
of God speaks to us all. It has however need of an epiclesis,
so that it may become the Word for others, for society and for
the world. The Holy Spirit changes everything. The epiclesis
is really the mystery of Christianity.
The
Word of God answers all our questions
It is
equally vital to experience by ourselves and in our daily
lives how much the words of Holy Scripture speak to each one
of us personally and how we find in them the answer to all our
questions, suitable to all conditions and circumstances of our
personal, family, professional, social, and intellectual life
and to our relations with other people of our religion or of
other confessions, concerning different problems of a moral
and behavioral kind.
The
Word in the Eastern tradition
The
Eastern Christian lives his faith primarily through the
Liturgy; now, our liturgical texts, centered on the Eucharist
or directed towards it, have an essentially scriptural content
and are woven from Biblical references. The table of the Word
of God and the Eucharistic table are inseparable. Customarily,
in our Churches, the Liturgy of the Word of God and the
Liturgy of the Eucharist make up one and the same celebration,
for the scriptural texts are the preparation for the Eucharist
and the Eucharist is the fulfillment of Holy Scripture in time
and eternity. It is the Word of God, become spiritual food for
the everyday life of the faithful as preparation for their
life to come. This then is the relationship between the
present Synod and the previous one.
Prayer,
especially liturgical prayer, is always linked to the Word of
God. In fact, the prayers of the first Christians were
concentrated principally on the Psalms and on readings from
the Old Testament. Then there were added readings from the
Holy Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles. In the
course of the services, especially in the Divine Liturgy, the
priest explained and commented upon the Word of God.
The
Word of God: read, meditated upon, preached and celebrated
The
Church Fathers, having read, meditated on and digested the
Word of God, commented on and preached it for the people in
their sermons. Later, hymnographers composed texts which are
sung meditations on the Word of God. These hymnographers,
generally monks, taking passages of Scripture and sermons of
the Fathers, composed a whole corpus of hymns celebrating the
events of salvation for the Feasts of the Lord and of the
Mother of God, or in praise of the saints for their feast
days. So it was that the Christmas Canon, composed by Saint
John of Damascus, was based on a sermon of Saint Gregory of
Nazianzus.
Word
of God and liturgical texts
Indexing
liturgical texts’ scriptural sources shows clearly the
relationship between the prayers of the faithful and the Word
of God. In our Church’s rites, moreover, the Epistle and the
Gospel must be chanted, not simply read, since music is
requisite for harmonization of the words, so that the Word of
God may be better understood and its beauty meditated upon.
Indeed, our faithful very much like this sung proclamation of
the Word of God.
It should
be mentioned that the Akathist Hymn, which is a description of
the economy of salvation, shows us the Mother of God teaching
Christians how to hear the Word of God, “The Archangel
Gabriel cried to thee as the living Book of Christ, sealed by
the seal of the Spirit… Rejoice, thou who drawest us from
the depths of ignorance: rejoice, thou who enlightenest many
with knowledge...rejoice, thou pure one, volume in which the
Word of the Father has been inscribed by his finger…rejoice,
tabernacle of God the Word.1”
Veneration
of the Word of God in the Evangelion2
In our
Byzantine liturgical tradition, the first ritual gesture of
the priest, when he enters the sanctuary, is to kiss the
Evangelion which is always on the altar and the table of the
altar itself; if a bishop visits a church without there being
a liturgical celebration, the royal doors in the iconostasis
are opened for him to venerate the altar and the Evangelion on
the altar, then to bless those present with the Holy Book.
Every
Sunday, the faithful venerate the Gospel Book in Matins (Orthros)
preceding the Divine Liturgy. Then, in the context of the
Divine Liturgy itself, during the singing of the hymn to the
“Only begotten Son and Word of God” (whose composition is
attributed to Emperor Justinian), there is the Gospel
procession, during which the Gospel is carried aloft by the
deacon or priest, so as to be visible to all, preceded by the
cross, candles, fans and incense, while the faithful,
wherever in church they are standing, turn towards the Gospel
Book throughout the procession, doing so with a gesture of
love and veneration – a kiss sent from afar or a deep bow
– when it passes by them.
Likewise,
the proclamation of the Gospel, always sung, is very solemn.
During this proclamation, any men, even clergymen, whose heads
may be covered, bare them. Children and any who are suffering
or sick come and put their heads beneath the Evangelion to ask
for the grace they need; then, the celebrant, having kissed
it, blesses all the faithful with the Evangelion (a rite which
was introduced into the Papal Mass by the Servant of God, John
Paul II.)
It also
happens that any elderly arriving late to church, after the
proclamation of the Gospel, may request that it be read to
them once the celebration of the Divine Liturgy is over.
During
Great and Holy Week, the four Gospels are read in their
entirety, up to the story of the Passion from Holy Monday up
to Wednesday, then from the Passion narrative during the triduum,
so that the Gospel is sung in its entirety during the Holy
Week celebrations.
The
Evangelion, with the cross and the icons (which are also
“written” expressions of the Word of God), is present in
all our solemn processions and is the object of great
veneration by the faithful.
The Holy
Book used in liturgical celebrations is housed in a very
ornate binding of embossed metal, carved wood or tooled
leather, with the cross on one side and on the other an icon
of the Resurrection surrounded by the four Evangelists.
On the
day of Pascha, the faithful venerate the Gospel Book and the
icon of the Resurrection and then embrace one another, as the
Word of God is a Word of reconciliation.
The
faithful often ask the priest to bless them by placing the
Evangelion upon their head and chanting a passage from the
Gospel. At the end of the Sacrament for the Sick or the
Service of Anointing (Great and Holy Thursday), the celebrant
and concelebrants place the open Gospel Book over the heads of
those who have received the anointing with Holy Oil.
In the
final prayer, the following formula is read, “O holy King…
who desirest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he
should turn from his wickedness and live: I lay not my sinful
hand upon the head of those who come unto thee in iniquities
and ask of thee through us, the remission of their sins, but
thy strong and mighty hand in this, thy Holy Gospel, that is
now held by my fellow ministers upon the head of thy
servants.”
A new
custom is growing among our families when there are visits of
condolence following a death: the chanting of the Gospel or
Psalms as background music during these visits (this is
perhaps due to the Islamic custom of having passages from the
Qur’an recited by an imam on such occasions.)
For the
central section of the rite of episcopal ordination, the
rubric of the Byzantine Arkhieratikon (Pontifical)
indicates that when the ordinand is kneeling on the altar
step, having placed his crossed hands on the altar and rested
his forehead on his hands, “the first hierarch places his
omophorion over the head of the elect, then taking the sacred
Evangelion, opens it and places it face-down over the head and
neck of the elect, while the other two hierarchs hold the book
on either side” while the prayer of ordination “The divine
grace…” and two other consecratory prayers are recited,
with a litany between the second and third. The second prayer
in particular asks God to strengthen “this elect, whom (he
has) graciously enabled to come under the yoke of the
Gospel,” while the third wishes that he may “receive the
great reward” prepared by the Lord “for those who have
contended valiantly for the preaching of (his) Gospel.”
The
beauty of the Word of God
We have
to emphasize the importance of incarnating the Word of God, so
that it becomes close to the faithful, beautiful, attractive,
luminous and pleasant. That is the reason why preaching,
spiritual advice and animation of youth, women’s and family
groups are so vital; they have to be enabled to discover
together the Word of God and its role for them through
continual reading and meditation, especially through
evangelical vigils taking place at the homes of the families
concerned, with relatives, friends and neighbors taking part
around the priest, who comments on a passage from the Gospel,
then opens up a discussion with everyone present.
The
priest, guide of the Word of God
We
discover here the very important role of the priest as
spiritual father and guide for the conscience of the faithful,
but also and at the same time companion, brother and friend,
capable of taking the faithful by the hand and leading them
towards the paradise of the Word of God.
This
priestly ministry is extended and completed by that of the
religious men and women and lay-people involved in catechesis
and animation of different evangelical and other groups in the
context of the parishes.
Word
of God and catechesis
The
relationship between the Word of God and catechesis depends on
the quality of preparation of the catechists, training which,
from the biblical perspective, sometimes leaves something to
be desired. However, it is customary, in several of our
eparchies, to make a present to children, on the occasion of
their “Solemn Communion” (which cannot be a “first”
Communion, since the Eastern tradition, sanctioned by the Code
promulgated by the Servant of God John Paul II, links the
Eucharist to Baptism and Chrismation by Holy Myron) of a book
of Gospels; there are also biblical competitions for children;
and the book Children’s Bible in Arabic, presented by
Kindermissionswerk of Aachen, is very popular.
Memorizing
the Word of God
Although
it is not fashionable, it is good to learn by heart verses
from Holy Scripture, especially from the Gospels and other
books of the New Testament, which have to do with our
concerns, problems and difficulties in life and enable us to
discover their meaning. There is a tendency in catechetical
teaching to say that that is not compatible with modern
education. But how much trouble do we not take to learn the
rules for using computers, mobile phones, the Internet and so
forth? We should pay attention to the example set by our
Muslim brethren, who have the custom of learning the Qur’an
by heart, quote it frequently in their conversation and
transcribe several of its verses in calligraphy on the walls
of their homes and workplaces. Our Protestant brethren are
equally exemplary from the perspective of knowledge of Holy
Scripture.
The
Word of God and dialogue with Muslims
The Word
which has been given to me by God in my Christian faith is
really mine, but not only for me; it is also for the society
in which I live, for my brothers and sisters in humanity, to
whom I must bring it as a light of love, a call to love, a
sign of hope for the other so that he may progress in his
religion and deepen his knowledge, without, however, my
despising him or he despising his own religion.
Jesus
calls us to preach our faith, when he says, “Go ye into all
the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” (Mark
16:15) And Saint Paul encourages us, writing to his disciple
Timothy, when he says, “Preach the Word… in season, out of
season.” (II Timothy 4:2)
There is
no monopoly on the Word of God. It is just as much the other
person’s as it is mine. The Muslim world is afraid of our
preaching, but it does not stop preaching Islam. That is
unreasonable. So we require our Muslim fellow-citizens to
acknowledge our freedom to bring the Good News to others, with
love and respect for their faith, but we do not oblige them to
embrace our faith. It is enough if others can find out about
it and come to esteem and love it. Conversion is the work of
God. “It is true you will not be able to guide every one,
whom you love; but God guides those whom He will.” (Qur’an:
Surah 28 Al Qasas, verse 56a3)
We thank
God for the many, beautiful relationships between Christians
and Muslims that occur especially in everyday living. However,
I would like us to share together in the Word of God, since
that is what unites us, draws us together and reinforces our
faith. Let us not be afraid to love the Word of God in our
brothers and sisters. Let us not be afraid of verses from the
Qur’an and let our Muslim brethren not be afraid of verses
from the Gospel or from the Torah. These are the Word of God
for us all, every one according to his own calling. I would
like to tell our Muslim brethren not to fear our faith. Let us
all rather be afraid of using words of vengeance, criticism,
pride and haughtiness. The Word of God does not despise
anyone. It is not proud, boastful or puffed up. It does not
engage in bad behavior or enjoy retaliation. It does not
rejoice in evil, but in good. It rejoices in love and believes
all things. (cf. I Corinthians 13:4-7)
It would
be good for there to be organized a Forum of the Word of
God, within whose framework Christians and Muslims could
meet and talk about and meditate together on the Word of God.
Our zeal
for the Word of God should be a means of sanctification for us
and for deepening our faith. We must not allow our zeal for
the Word to become a weapon to exploit others, judging,
persecuting and compelling them to embrace our faith, any more
than we can allow the Word of God to become the cause of
conflicts, disputes and confrontations between our faithful
and those holding different religious convictions. Nor should
it become an instrument of terrorism and a pretext for one
group to claim superiority over another. The Word of God (not
we ourselves) is the true judge between us and those who are
not of our faith.
Translated
from the French by V. Chamberlain
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