The Family - Part 1

The human family is at the centre of all cultures since the beginning of the homosapien species. This is a natural development of creation. In the animal kingdom the family starts with mating between the male and female. Humans are “developed animals” with a mind and a will. In that sense they are created in the image of God. In ancient texts, the Bible recounts the first family in Genesis with the relationship of Adam and Eve (male and female). “Adam knew Eve” (according to Genesis) did not mean that he knew her name or something about her. The language indicates experience of the other person in a deep relationship. Adam experienced Eve as no one else did emotionally, physically, spiritually and existentially. From their love relationship sprang their children. The children of humans have physical and genetic resemblance to other animals (they share 98% of the DNA with chimpanzees) but they are different in other significant ways. Babies of humans are totally dependent on their parents for survival for many years. Although the human baby comes out from his mother’s womb with a large brain, he cannot walk for at least 6 months. However while other animal babies can walk earlier and climb trees fast, only human babies learn to behave differently with time. This is the result of a different larynx that allows humans to speak and develop their language thus they communicate easier and faster. Moreover humans have the most complex brain in the universe containing 100 billion cells in each child’s brain. You can see that humans are highly complex with minds that not only can think but also can will to do things as they choose. Because humans as young as a few months old can choose, they can say yes or no to their parents. They can also choose to accept or reject to love their siblings (brothers, sisters). This is probably what Augustine called Original Sin. It is that I want myself: my growth: my life even if it is at the cost of killing others. My parents are as important to me as much as I need them. I love them because they loved me first. My siblings are only important if I can get them to do things for me. However I love them too as they resemble in traits much of what my parents had. Cultures developed around the concept of me, my family, and my tribe. The more the tribe grew together the more it became stronger. This is called collaboration. The individual belonged to the family and the family to the tribe (society) and the tribe was headed by the chief or elder of the tribe. Thus civilizations came as a development of tribal interactions, trade, and collaboration. But the fact that collaboration and organization make sense allows humans to learn together and from each other. Schools and universities are only one phenomenon of human learning. This learning starts in the family at a very young age. When children are ready to develop their writing, their parents send them to school. And schools used to be built by churches in the Western world and part of the Middle East until the contemporary secular state took over much of what the Church built. It is a fact that the Church built the first schools and the first universities in Europe and learned from other philosophies particularly Greek. Today then we need to learn from the Church. This is the foundation of the moral law that we as parents transmit to our children. Then we need to send our children to good Catholic/Christian schools where they learn more about their faith. Then we need to encourage our children to come to Church from their early young age using the reward system. This way they will grow up in Church.

A life that appears to have been a failure!

His entire life was in giving. His healings meant to cure people of afflictions. Although he was accused by teachers of the Law that he healed by the power of Satan, his healing drove out demons and brought peace to the healed ones. His teaching was summed up in loving the enemy and praying for the offenders. Yet his life ended on a cross where he died between two thieves. His own disciples left him except for his mother and a few followers. All the crowds who shouted for him as their king cursed him a few days later on the way to the cross. And despite this he forgave them all. If he did not claim to be the Son of God he probably would not have been condemned. How could he be silent when he was to witness to the truth? Suffering to death on a cross was the most horrible way to die invented by the Romans. A life that appears to have been a failure in all human measures. Nevertheless his crown was a glorious Resurrection and Ascension that over centuries brought kings and multitudes to him. Now we know that the Crucified One who failed in the eyes of Man is the One who made his coward disciples conquer the world in his name. Glory be to Jesus the King!

Today's Question: Peace between Palestinians and Israelis

For both Israelis and Palestinians to find a just solution, they must start with good will towards each other. That was Sadat's achievement. He went all the way to the Knesset in Israel in spite of huge opposition in the Arab world. Egypt was expelled from The Arab League. Yet he persevered. Menahem Begin, while considered criminal by many non-Jews, took the opportunity to negotiate an agreement with Egypt. It takes two to tango... Today, thirty one years after the Egyptian-Israeli Agreement, the hawks of Israel and Palestine must first stop violence against each other. This takes courage as there are other players in the Middle East who would benefit from extending the conflict's atmosphere. Fundamentalists on both sides must learn to forgive the past and attempt a reconciliation. This is not easy at all especially for people who were driven out of their land and still suffer in camps. Peace has a cost. Life has a cost. But hope is the only way to go. It may take years to achieve a permanent solution. Perseverance in the hope that those estranged cousins will be able to recognize each other's right to life is the beginning of peace.

Jospeh Jules Zerey on Faith

It is my prayer that we as a Christian community whether in Toronto or in Jerusalem be converted and live our faith according to the Lord's commandment of love. He loved his disciples who betrayed him. He forgave his enemies who crucified him. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your heavenly Father" (Matthew 5: 44-45). It is only through love that we can be his disciples. The place where I live is not far from the mountain on which Christ shone in transfiguration and gave us a foretaste of his glory. This transfiguration awoke the three apostles and after his Resurrection they became a powerful testimony to his awakening from the dead. Must we not today awaken again from our slumber? We need to to have a room for God in our everyday life - contemplate his beauty in his creatures, and reflect on his love that was fulfilled in the incarnation, death and resurrection of his only begotten Son. In Jerusalem, our patriarchate offers a home to the visitors who come to pray and seek the Lord. We have a few schools to teach children according to the faith, but half of my students do not have the money to pay their tuition fees. We do not press them. They receive education so that they be good Christians. We have a couple of houses run by the Sisters of Charity and the Little Sisters of Jesus. Their vocation is to serve the poor of the poor, the dying and foresaken children, and the old and broken hearts. None of these services discriminates between Muslims, Christians and Jews, for all humans are children of God. In the Catholic Church of the Holy Land, a conference of bishops maintains monthly dialogue between the episcopate of each of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Roman Catholic Patrairchate. We coordinate the efforts together to build a Catholic presence that serves the rest of people. We also maintain a convergent dialogue with our brothers in Christ: Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant. We pray together for the day when we all become one in Christ. In the interfaith dialogue with our Muslim and Jewish brothers, we are in good contact with their authorities. We respect our elder brothers the Jews from whom Christ, his mother and the Apostles came. With our Muslim brothers, we share much such as belief in one God, prayer, and fasting. For example, a day before my travel, I received an invitation for a Ramadan Breakfast with the Palestinian Authority to which I had to delegate a representative from the Melkite Catholic Church. In spite of all the sufferings we work with all parties in the conflict of Palestine to establish peace in hearts and to break the violent reactions between parties who seek to overthrow each other. Everything starts in the heart. This is why peace is possible only when people accept to live together and forgive each other. What can you in Toronto do to help us in Palestine? I am not asking for money but only for your own hearts to be in solidarity with us and the millions who seek peace. Our tradition is full of reminders to grow in wisdom and spiritual life. This raises questions to you: Answer in your hearts 1) When was the last time you fasted? 2) When was the last time you prayed from your heart? 3) When was the last time you received the sacrament of confession (reconciliation)? Remember that your children will imitate you as you imitated your parents. Even if it is hard economically for many, we should not run after the mighty dollar for it is written "You worship either God or money but not both." I will continue to be a voice for peace and love - the love that Christ alone brings to you. This is the faith of the Church that I meant to tell you about. Archbishop Joseph Jules Zerey is Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem for the Greek Melkite Catholic Church. The above was paraphrased from a lecture he gave at Jesus the King Church on Friday August 27, 2010

A Mosque Near Ground Zero!

Many questions are raised these days about the plans of building an Islamic cultural centre including a mosque near "Ground Zero." Ground Zero is the name of the New York place where the radical Islamist terrorist attacks exploded the Trade Centres towers on September 11, 2001. Almost 80% of Americans polled are opposed to the building of the Islamic cultural centre on grounds that it is a reminder of a dark day in America's history when thousands were killed by a foreign violent mob. On the other hand, Imam Faisal Abdul Raouf, who is behind the Cordoba Initiative, argues together with liberal supporters that the mosque will be a symbol for tolerance of all religions by America. But let's look at the question from a deeper perspective. Most Muslims do not endorse violence. They follow the dictates of Islam, pray, fast at least during the month of Ramadan and seek the All-merciful God. The vast majority of Muslims oppose abortion. Pope John Paul II collaborated with Muslim countries to defeat the abortion agenda proposed at the U.N. Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, 1994. Bringing the above memory to the present, we could see in the current agenda of global Western thought a scapegoat represented by religion. Any religion is to be excluded from Western social norms and legal systems. Look at America, Canada and Europe. You will see Rene Girard's prophetic words of the scapegoat - Excluding religious prayer and teaching from public schools, religious symbols from public hospitals, religious opinion from the media. Moreover, religious institutions (particularly the still powerful Catholic Church) are shunned and attacked everywhere there is an opportunity. The recent fiasco about a few sex-offending priests is a sign. These are only signs of the scapegoat. Only the powerful remains and we are again in Darwinian lands. As I wrote in The Economist today I wish people understand that in this age of science we cannot separate religion from life. We will never be able to remove from the human mind the need to worship. The idea of God will be with us because it responds to our quest for eternal life. Since we are the only creatures with memory, we think and relate to past events. Violence is a big problem today. The problem with building this mosque is about security. No one, it appears to me, wants to be a target of a violent destruction initiated by fellow humans "in the name of God." In spite of the formidable progress made by science, economic and political cooperation, there is an indespensable element lacking in relationships: trust. Trust requires good will which remains a hidden mystery to-date. Even if all Muslim and non-Muslim nations declare their opposition to violence, there could still be elements or people who would take advantage of religion to proclaim their victory over the others using a distorted picture of God. From a practical view, it is better not to build the mosque in the near future as it could today explode sensitivities still fresh from 9/11 when thousands of Americans, including Muslims, were killed. The Islamic cultural centre at Ground Zero may give the impression to fundamentalist Muslims that they have won the war against America. The name itself "Cordoba" is a reminder of Islamic conquering of Spain in the Middle Ages. Christian people may interpret it as a return to Islamic invasion by other means. Then there is the fearful question: Who will fund this project. It could be the government or an organization in Iran, Lybia, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. Some of these sources fund terrorist groups. Some commentators argued that Muslims already worship near the Pentagon. However the chapel they use is also used by other people from different religions at different times.My opinion: DO NOT BUILD the Islamic Cultural Centre nor the mosque near Ground Zero. First there must be a more profound encounter of mind and spirit between peoples. Slowly a civilization of love may emerge or may not. We must pray for it to emerge. In the end, we have hope that Christ will transform many hearts and minds for he came to save people, not to condemn them.