Coptic Church & Ecumenical Movement - Saint Mina Coptic ...

our skill in reading the writing that he writes in straight lines though letters may be
crooked.
We have met today to discuss together in the presence of God, in good conscience,
and before you all whether we and you, no matter our affiliations, have been faithful
to the mission of the Church which Christ the Lord entrusted to us. All of us believe
Christ is who He is – divine and human, Lord and redeemer, our shepherd and our
guide up the steep ascents of life and through its valleys of shadow. More especially
we affirm this belief in these days when we see so many of our people being deprived
of their basic human rights. Emigration bears many away in a hemorrhagic flood as
in southeastern Turkey. We also see an increasing number of our people in other
countries leaving their homes and going to the West where they believe they can
realise themselves more satisfyingly and assure a future for their children. We do not
hide from you the fact that this phenomenon has shaken us to our very souls. We
firmly believe that Christ the Lord has placed upon us and upon you the burden of His
mission in this Middle East, to bear witness to the values of the gospel.
We cannot properly carry out this mission…nay, we cannot effect it at all…unless we
exemplify in a vital manner our intention to deepen ties of mutuality and love among
ourselves. We are all responsible for that which Christ the Lord has entrusted into our
hands. It is the legacy of faith that gives birth to hope, the wellspring of love. Not in
vain did the apostle Paul proclaim, “So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the
greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13). What the apostle said only echoes
the saying of Christ the Lord, declaring love to be the distinguishing mark of
Christians: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). Love alone guides us
toward the unity we desire, the unity for which Christ prayed and for which He
commanded us to pray. He said, “Holy Father, protect them in Your name that You
have given Me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” (John 17:9-11).
But someone says, “What is to be done? Our numbers dwindle every day. The
avenues for witness narrow. Our resources wither in our hands.” This is true. But we
have no intention to try to proclaim the message Christ the Lord gave to us by human
means alone. That is not what is required of us in the places where we live. That
which is required, we believe, is that we implement the imperatives of our faith, to be
what the Lord wants us to be. That is, we are asked to be salt which savours the food
(Matthew 5:13), the lamp stand which gives light to all in the house (Matthew 5:15),
and the yeast which leavens all the dough (Matthew 13:33). The apostles who
preached the gospel to all the known world in their day numbered only twelve. They
proclaimed what Christ the Lord had taught them to proclaim about freedom, justice,
equality, giving equal opportunity, and showing respect for the rights of people. They
did not go out to set one regime against another, nor set one faction against another so
long as all governed justly and spoke the truth.
Christians face many problems today. These alienate them from effective
participation in public life, and this, in turn, intensifies feelings of anxiety and fear.
But Christians are not alone in being aware of problems and the things which
stimulate fear. Many Muslims also see that that which causes Christians anxiety
should be a concern for all citizens in society. This lays upon us the responsibility to
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