Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

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A TIME OF CELEBRATION 109and Resurrection. This is fitting, after all, Abuna Elia said, becausePaul didn’t know Jesus in Galilee; he didn’t participate in theearthly ministry of Jesus. He met Jesus in the Resurrection on theroad to Damascus, and in that meeting he was persuaded of his life,his message, and his lordship. So this is the message he continuallyreinforces: a summation of Christ in his Paschal work.St. Paul calls the Paschal work of Jesus “God’s secret plan,”hidden through all ages, but now revealed in Christ. He calls it “ahidden wisdom or mystery,” the meaning of which is now madeclear in the suffering of Jesus and his glory. Abuna Elia said, “ForPaul, the self-emptying work of Christ Jesus, his suffering, hiskenotic work is, in fact, our rest. It is the work of God in which werest. It is the life of grace anticipated by the Sabbath rest in the OldTestament. This grace elicits from us the act of faith by which werest in the Paschal work of Christ.”This was a good summation of St. Paul, I thought, and AbunaElia tied it nicely to St. John. He said it was natural for John toadopt the insight of Paul and develop it further, seeing in the ageoldplan of the Paschal Mystery revealed in Christ a revelation of atimeless pattern in God himself. God would not reveal somethingthat was incongruent with himself. Since Christ Jesus is his highestrevelation, we have the right to believe that it is a revelation thatwas intentional, a revelation of God himself. This age-old plan ofGod is a laying bare of a pattern of love in God. The Word, theLogos, was made flesh. For John, the secret wisdom of the Father,this Word which was learned in eternity, the Son obeyed and imitated.The mysterious wisdom of the Father was a self-emptyinglove, so there’s a relationship between the Father and the Son, asimilarity in imitation. What the Son was learning through all eternity,he came as man to teach us from the Cross.So it makes great sense, then, that in the Book of Revelationthe Lamb of God who was slain not only bears forever the marksof his slaughter; he is also the Lamb who was slain from the foundationof the world. Long before the Paschal Mystery was actuallyaccomplished on the Mount of Calvary, the Paschal Mystery wasenfolded into the Trinity and ascribed to the Person of the Sonwho learned this from his Father.I think that Abuna Elia has been profoundly engaged with thePaschal Mysteries in his own life as a desert monk. He has had occasionto contemplate them both in terms of his own journey in
110 JANUARYsolitude and in terms of the suffering of his people. For him, thePaschal Mysteries are vivid. They are realized in us, and our realizationof them gives us insight into their original meaning inChrist. It is from this vantage point that Abuna Elia is able to gainextraordinary insights. He also reads a variety of patristic and theologicalsources from a wide background, which he is able to integrateinto his prayer life and into the insights which he shares withme.
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Copyright © 2002 by Mark Gruber, O
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JOURNEY BACK TO EDENMy Life and Tim
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In gratitude to Abuna Elia,the sain
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CONTENTSPreface ...................
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PREFACEWhile in Egypt, I did not in
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PREFACExiElia, to whom this journal
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ABOUT THE COPTS AND THEIR DESERT MO
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2 INTRODUCTIONI will be traveling i
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4 INTRODUCTIONmy novitiate and had
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6 SEPTEMBERlarge high-rises. Appare
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8 SEPTEMBERprior to their trip so t
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10 SEPTEMBERyour hands—as much or
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12 SEPTEMBERA Beggar among BeggarsT
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14 SEPTEMBERlabored without rest or
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FATHER JOHN WATSONHis Holiness Pope
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18 SEPTEMBERHe drew a cross on top
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20 SEPTEMBERBlessed Lord,You brough
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22 SEPTEMBERtude, and silence, appr
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OCTOBERA TIME OF NEW BEGINNINGSThe
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26 OCTOBERcontradictions they fear
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28 OCTOBERdramatic effect of my hea
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30 OCTOBERWill my heart remain here
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NOVEMBERA TIME TO VISIT ABRAHAMGues
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34 NOVEMBERThe guest master, it tur
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Abuna Elia
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38 NOVEMBERBut in their case, he as
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40 NOVEMBERafter the death of Sarah
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42 NOVEMBERto take his son. All the
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44 NOVEMBERhe sojourned in Egypt in
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46 NOVEMBERthe monastic ideal to a
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48 NOVEMBERArabic LessonsNOVEMBER 2
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50 NOVEMBEROf course, it is not tru
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52 NOVEMBERthe Ark of Noah looked l
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54 NOVEMBERits life-giving water fr
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56 NOVEMBERCross more brightly: fal
Page 73 and 74: DECEMBERA TIME OF SIGNS: CAELUM ET
Page 75 and 76: 60 DECEMBERfirst sold ourselves to
Page 77 and 78: 62 DECEMBERis by fasting, most of a
Page 79 and 80: 64 DECEMBERficient. If they can obt
Page 81 and 82: 66 DECEMBERThe great apparitions of
Page 83 and 84: 68 DECEMBERKing of the Jews, by the
Page 85 and 86: 70 DECEMBEREveryone seeks the assis
Page 87 and 88: 72 DECEMBERDECEMBER 15, MONDAYAlmos
Page 89 and 90: 74 DECEMBERfor her. She is delighte
Page 91 and 92: 76 DECEMBERtween Alexandria and Cai
Page 93 and 94: 78 DECEMBERboth are real in the bod
Page 95 and 96: 80 DECEMBERof faith which preserves
Page 97 and 98: 82 DECEMBERI feel particularly sorr
Page 99 and 100: 84 DECEMBERThe children—six, seve
Page 101 and 102: JANUARYA TIME OF CELEBRATIONJANUARY
Page 103 and 104: 88 JANUARYEveryone, it seems, is mi
Page 105 and 106: 90 JANUARYA Holiday VisitOn the eve
Page 107 and 108: 92 JANUARYAlmost the whole orientat
Page 109 and 110: 94 JANUARYI blessed water in their
Page 111 and 112: 96 JANUARYI find myself in the unus
Page 113 and 114: 98 JANUARYferent path, and every da
Page 115 and 116: 100 JANUARYyour ageless love are cr
Page 117 and 118: 102 JANUARYless because they’re a
Page 119 and 120: FATHER JOHN WATSONA Coptic Orthodox
Page 121 and 122: 106 JANUARYheard a voice—perhaps
Page 123: 108 JANUARYI reflected afterwards a
Page 127 and 128: 112 FEBRUARYjust visiting the deser
Page 129 and 130: 114 FEBRUARYJust then some of the p
Page 131 and 132: 116 FEBRUARYThe children of the Pha
Page 133 and 134: 118 FEBRUARYAbuna Elia said that th
Page 135 and 136: 120 FEBRUARYGod. For all Christians
Page 137 and 138: 122 FEBRUARYFEBRUARY 18, WEDNESDAYD
Page 139 and 140: 124 FEBRUARYsources. I had some of
Page 141 and 142: 126 FEBRUARYshall be a sign and a w
Page 143 and 144: 128 FEBRUARYFEBRUARY 28, SATURDAYTh
Page 145 and 146: 130 MARCHmerich, the German mystic
Page 147 and 148: 132 MARCHThe wildflower meadows her
Page 149 and 150: 134 MARCHbishop who resides near he
Page 151 and 152: 136 MARCHOf Building Bonds and Brea
Page 153 and 154: 138 MARCHSprings in the DesertMARCH
Page 155 and 156: 140 MARCHwomen in the West experien
Page 157 and 158: 142 MARCHlunch somewhere, or they h
Page 159 and 160: 144 MARCHbe willing to move from my
Page 161 and 162: 146 MARCHA Fly on the WallMARCH 31,
Page 163 and 164: APRILA TIME OF CONSECRATIONOf Sands
Page 165 and 166: Grass mats cover the floor of a mon
Page 167 and 168: 152 APRILmony. Even recently, some
Page 169 and 170: 154 APRILwho are distributed everyw
Page 171 and 172: 156 APRILIn the papal compound I me
Page 173 and 174: 158 APRILin their own home parish.
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160 APRILAfter greeting me he told
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162 APRILI keep reminding myself th
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164 APRILA Rare Spring HolidayAPRIL
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166 APRILthat the very same innocen
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MAYA TIME TO PRESS ONWARDOases and
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170 MAYthe commotion associated wit
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172 MAYeven saw monks trying to get
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174 MAYNevertheless, I ask you to a
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176 MAYof grace that people can enf
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178 MAYI’m staying at the house o
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180 JUNEThe Cave of a SaintJUNE 5,
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182 JUNEThe abbot of the monastery
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The gate of St. Anthony Monastery.
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186 JUNEno place to lay his head”
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188 JUNE“Fountains and Springs, B
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190 JUNEmonks here, I decided to dr
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192 JUNEof his family—and broke e
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JULYA TIME FOR FAREWELLSThe Crucibl
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196 JULYare known in Egypt, and the
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198 JULYthat, the heat is now reall
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200 JULYbering the slap I received
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202 JULYyou for our founder who cam
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204 JULYJULY 23, THURSDAYI returned
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206 JULYprize that Eve forfeited wh
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AFTERWORDFifteen years have passed
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