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

A TIME OF CONSECRATION 165day in a very deep sleep. I think I was physically paying off all thedebts that I have incurred over the last week in this monastery. Buthaving been a lifelong insomniac, I only note that the sleep wasbetter today than ever, perhaps a benefit of the Easter holiday. TheLord gives to his beloved while they slumber (Psalm 127:2).The Coptic Diaspora, AlasAPRIL 24, FRIDAYMost of the clerics who were here for the consecration of theSacred Myron departed before Holy Week, but two Coptic bishopsfrom Europe have lingered. They are actually not native Egyptiansat all; they are Europeans who by complex means have been enlistedin the service of the Egyptian Christian diaspora in Europe,especially in France. They speak English; actually, one of themspeaks English quite well. So I had the opportunity to discuss theCoptic Church in diaspora with them.Today, as we had lunch, I enjoyed hearing about their stories ofthe blessings of God on the Coptic Orthodox Church dispersed inEurope. But I also heard their pain. They lamented that so many ofthe young people who leave Egypt with good faith find themselvesunable to negotiate the extraordinary secularity, materialism, andGnosticism of the popular culture abroad. Almost because they aretoo innocent, too naive, they find themselves the objects of exploitation.One of the bishops told me that there must be a specialtragic pleasure that the truly cynical and corrupt obtain frombringing a virtuous and innocent youth to folly.It seems that the Copts have been singled out wherever they appearas a special target to make sure that, as much as possible, theyshould not only be exposed to the decadence of the culture aroundthem but they should also be forced to participate in it. The bishopstold me that, as priests of the Coptic Church in Europe, it is oftentheir responsibility to “pick up the pieces.” They must deal with theconfusion of so many of the young Copts who have been deluded ordeceived, who have been burdened with the guilt and the shame ofwhat has happened in their lives since they left Egypt.I can only imagine that what the bishops said is true enough.Unfortunately, it seems quite consistent with the kind of behavioralpattern I have observed in the States. But it grieves me to consider