The Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies for the Greek Orthodox, Archbishop Elias Odeh, presided over Sunday mass at St. George’s Cathedral, in the presence of a number of believers.
After the Gospel, he delivered a sermon in which he said: “Christ rose from the dead, trampled death through death, and granted life to those in the tombs. After we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ from the dead, we went through a week called “the week of renewals,” because, every day, From last week, we renewed the celebration of the Glorious Resurrection as if we were repeating the same day of Easter. On the first day we celebrated “Monday of the Resurrection”, because humanity was resurrected from the fear of death, to the eternal joy and eternal life that the splendid resurrection brought into our fallen humanity. For this reason, we read The Holy Bible in several languages, indicating that the resurrection is for all the inhabited world, with all its languages and peoples, and everyone is called to accept this good news with the freedom granted to him by God.
He added: “We heard in the evangelical passages during the week of renewals the testimony of the Prophet John the Baptist regarding the Lord Jesus, and this same testimony is a condemnation of the Pharisees and the scribes, who heard it, but did not understand it. The Baptist said: “I baptize with water, but among you there is he whom you do not know, it is he who comes After me, he who came before me, whom I am not worthy to untie his shoe belt.” The words of John were mentioned by the Evangelist John in the Gospel of the Glorious Passover, when he said: “John testified to him and cried out, saying: This is he of whom I said that he who comes following me has become before me because he is ahead of me. We have heard the same words throughout this blessed week, in addition to other words regarding the Baptist and regarding baptism. Why do we hear these words? The Prophet John the Baptist considers the link between the Old and New Testaments, and his testimony was very important for the Jews, so that they might believe. However, the teachers of the Jews , the Pharisees and the scribes, who attribute to themselves the application of the law and the keeping of the prophets, did not understand what the prophet John said, and did not know the truth of Christ, so they handed him over to crucifixion and death.For this reason, we find the Holy Church mentioning the words of the prophet, highlighting that the majority of those who claim knowledge are ignorant The truth. Even the disciples, who ka They always slept with Christ, they did not know Him well, so we heard in this blessed week that they forgot the word of the Lord, so the angel reminded them of it, and that their hearts were not burning when the Lord was explaining to them the books and the prophets and speaking to them on the way. This makes us understand that the constant presence of Christ in our lives is necessary, because without Him we cannot understand anything regarding Him. From here we realize the importance of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us since baptism, which makes us understand the words of the Prophet John that he baptizes with water only, and he will come following him who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
He continued: “The feasts in our Holy Church are linked to the liturgy. Since Easter, we begin to prepare for Pentecost, that is, for Pentecost, and for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. That is why we heard a lot during this period regarding baptism and the Baptist, and even regarding Nicodemus, to whom the Lord explained the subject of rebirth “with water.” and the Spirit.” Through baptism, the Lord remains with us all our lives, unless we choose to walk away from Him, with our freedom. Therefore, the difference between the Jews who did not know Christ according to the Bible, and the Christians, is that the Christians knew Christ through the New Testament, and they understood the Old Testament from what was achieved From him in Christ, that is, they understood the link between the two covenants, represented by John the Baptist, and God remains with them and supports them in understanding and living the truth, as long as they remain on their way towards the risen Christ.
And he said: “The saints are a shining example of walking towards the resurrectional truth. The great saint of the martyrs, George, whose feast we transferred to Monday of the Ba’ath, because his feast occurred during the Great and Holy Week, which is the patron saint of a number of our churches, the patron saint of our hospital and our university, as he is the patron saint of our city, Beirut. The Bay of Beirut has been named following him since ancient times, this saint did not care regarding the deadly tortures or the poisons they inflicted on him, because he trusted the risen Christ, the victor over death, and Saint George conquered all of that with the strength of his faith. To be an example for us of the power of Christ’s presence in our lives, and to teach us that we will rise from all our sufferings, like Him, who imitated His suffering and risen Master. their freedom and their acceptance of it, just as happened with Peter, and with Thomas, whom we heard regarding in today’s Gospel.”
He added: “What we heard in today’s Gospel is the same as what we heard in the ministry of the missionary in several languages. There we stopped at the doubt of the Apostle Thomas, who publicly declared that he would not believe if he did not see by touching the hand. As for today, our holy church increases the certainty that Thomas reached following his doubt. Doubt is not always atheism, but it may be a gateway to a great faith, and this belief stemming from certainty following doubt was manifested in the life of the Apostle Thomas, who went to preach the land of India, where he suffered in order to spread the good news of the resurrection. During the announcement of Thomas’ doubt in several languages, in order to arouse their curiosity, and they in turn go to continue reading and know what happened with Thomas following that.This suspense during the week of renewal ends today, on Sunday of Thomas, called “New Sunday” to indicate that the person who builds his faith is certain The resurrection and its reality, becomes a new man, like Thomas.Christ does not force anyone to follow him, but prepares souls to receive him, manifesting himself little by little, just as happened following the resurrection.First he appeared to Magdalene who told the disciples, then to Luke and Clauba, to whom he explained the Scriptures and all that was spoken. By the prophets from him, then to the hidden disciples In the attic for fear of the Jews, and at last to Thomas, who had been brought by the other disciples to meet the risen Christ. Thus faith is confirmed, without compulsion, but by preparing each soul according to what it is able, and in this way the Church works to this day.
He continued: “There are those who doubt the possibility of Lebanon’s resurrection. Some Lebanese are convinced that nothing will change in the elections, so there is no point in them. To these we say that they have to try. Those who do not sow do not reap fruits, and those who do not work do not reap results. And he is working to save it.Lebanon needs big men who put its interests ahead of every interest, they are frank with the people and put in place the appropriate rescue plan in order to pull it out of the bottom where it is suffering.Lebanon does not need a palliative treatment but rather a radical solution that stops the collapse and generates hope in souls,and limits the waves of emigration. It restores to the citizen his dignity and rights, puts an end to unemployment, poverty, hunger and destitution, reunites society under the banner of a strong and just state, restores the people as one people and a cohesive society, and guarantees fortified borders and preserved sovereignty.All these will not happen unless the Lebanese, all the Lebanese, decide to go to Ballot boxes and the election of competent men and women, clean hands, of good reputation, with knowledge, expertise and experience, and above all, who believe in their country and are determined to work to save it.
He concluded by saying: “Our call today is to rejoice in the resurrection of the Lord, to spread this good news without any doubt of its truth, and to strive to preserve the divine presence in our lives and in our homeland so that we may remain walking in the joyful resurrection light, towards the only truth, with the support of the Holy Spirit. Trustworthy”.
