June 2024 Letter

Dear brethren,

During the Holy Fifty days we live with Christ in the glories of His resurrection, until establishing the church on the feast of Pentecost. In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul explains how the church is the Body of Christ:

• “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Epi 1: 22-23): the Church is the Body of Christ. Christ is the head who manages and the church is the members that act. The church as a body is the domain for the fulfillment of Christ’s work as head of the body.
• “and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity” (Epi 2: 16): by His death, Christ reconciled the two peoples together (Jews and Gentiles), reconciled them to God, and united them in one body, for in this body He removed enmity between them.
• “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Epi 3: 6): the gentiles have become partakers in the Body of Christ, in which Church is given to live in and by Him, that is, the one Church.
• “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling” (Epi 4: 3-4): differences between people lead to division, but this should not happen in the church, the members of the body are not identical, but they all work together in oneness.
• “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Epi 4: 11-12): these gifts are given to the members as a divine gift according to God’s wisdom and fatherhood for the edification of the whole church.
• “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ– from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Epi 4: 15-16): each member in the body must grow naturally so that the whole body appearance would become acceptable, and Christ is the head of the body which controls each member, as happens in the body through nerves with muscles.
• “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Epi 5: 23): the analogy of Christ as the head of the church is a lesson for a man so that he learns to love his wife and give himself for her, as Christ did for his church. Christ reigns over His Church with His love and the cross.
• “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Epi 5: 29-30): the church was taken from Christ’s side, just as Eve was taken from Adam’s side.

May the blessings of this Holy fifty days, and the blessings St. Mary & St. Mercurius be with us all.

Belleville, June 1, 2024

رسالة شهر يونيو ٢٠٢٤