Archbishop Aoude: What Happened is a Warning

The Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies for the Greek Orthodox, Archbishop Elias Aoude, presided over the Divine Liturgy at St. George Cathedral. After the reading of the Gospel, he delivered a sermon in which he said: "First, we must raise prayers for all the victims who fell due to the devastating earthquake that struck the heart of our beloved Antioch, and for all the displaced and missing among our brothers, asking God to heal everyone's wounds and shower them with His abundant mercy, and to have mercy on the souls of the departed and comfort their families. In difficult times, everyone rushes to help their fellow human beings, so we ask you all to extend a helping hand, each according to their ability, to the injured and displaced. As for us, we will dedicate, with your offerings this Sunday, to help your brothers, what our churches in Antioch can do to heal the wounds of their children." He added: "Today, we saw in the parable of the prodigal son three positions: the position of the younger son towards his father, the position of the father towards his younger son, and finally the position of the elder son towards his father and his brother. The parable of the prodigal son does not only speak to us about repentance, but defines for us the nature of the relationship between God and man, and how man responds to this paternal relationship. Man often acts with God the Father, his Creator, with ingratitude, asking and never being satisfied, forgetting that the giver is the Lord, taking what is given to him and wandering far away, drowned in the whirlwind of this life and its evils and greed, just as the prodigal son did. Yet, the father waits for his children whom he created in His image and likeness to return. He does not intervene to bring them back, not because He is resentful, as the prophet David said: 'He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in mercy; He will not always strive, nor will He keep His anger forever' (Psalm 103: 8-9), but because He created us free, and His intervention hinders our personal freedom. However, when we return to ourselves and decide to return to Him, we find Him waiting for us, even rushing towards us, His arms wide open, as the father did in the parable today. This is the repentance that springs from personal freedom, complemented by the compassion and love of the Father. St. Porphyrios the Seer says: 'Do not fight to cast the darkness out of your inner room; rather, open a small window to let the light in, and only then will the darkness disappear.' Our free decision to return is that small window we must open, allowing the Lord to enter and illuminate our lives, casting out the darkness of sin." He continued: "Many err when they say that God creates calamities and disasters to bring people back to repentance. In doing so, they strip God of His mercy and turn Him into a human being seeking vengeance against those who do not honor Him, just like the rulers of this world. God 'wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2: 4). How dare anyone attribute what happens in the world to this loving and merciful God? God, in His great love for humanity, has instilled in us His voice, which we call 'the conscience.' Humans silence this conscience with their sinful actions, and by silencing it often, they deafen their souls to hearing it, but this divine voice does not die. Rather, whenever a person faces a problem they cannot solve, or when they encounter a profound truth like illness or sudden death, their mind empties of all thoughts except the thought of survival and preserving their life, and the voice of their conscience resounds again, reminding them that they have no life outside the paternal home. We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews: 'Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today: If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts' (Hebrews 3: 7-8). At that point, a person enters into a struggle with themselves, not with God. Their soul longs to return to the paternal embrace, while their memory drags them back to all the evils they committed in their life, which the prodigal son suffered when he lost everything and realized he was honored in his father’s house, unlike his current state. The son's loss was not due to his father. The father lavished half of his wealth on his son at his request. The loss occurred due to the son’s ignorance of how to invest the wealth granted to him. He did not blame his father as most believers do in this age when calamity befalls them, saying: 'This is God’s will.' The divine will is the salvation of humanity, not the taking of their souls, whereas all the problems occurring in this world are a result of humanity's ignorance of how to use divine blessings, thinking that they have become masters of the earth, wreaking havoc upon it, while we hear the prophet David say: 'God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved' (Psalm 46: 5)." He said: "The Lord does not send calamities, but their occurrence makes us remember His existence, which is unfortunate since humans now wait for disasters to realize their distance from God and strive to return to Him, unless they forget the bitterness of those calamities and revert to their former evils. The parable of the prodigal son reminds us that God waits for our return, and that we bring problems into our lives when we stray towards creation instead of the Creator. And the return is not impossible; shame should not stand as an obstacle. Just as Zacchaeus and the Canaanite woman overcame all barriers, so too should the individual overcome the shame of their sins and return with a spirit broken by humility arising from self-discipline, and they will find the door open, entering and rejoicing in that resurrection joy because they were dead in sin and have returned alive by the grace of God granted to His children who know how to use their freedom, and not their fear of calamities, as a reason to return to the paternal home. Repentance is the most beautiful and pure offering a person can present to God. Through it, we repay what we owe for all the works the Lord has done for us. The elder son’s position in the parable reminds us of the attitude of every person who does not rejoice in their brother’s repentance, but stands reminding him of his past sins. Many have recently appeared on social media denouncing their fellow humans, gloating over their painful losses due to a devastating earthquake, claiming that what happened is the result of their evil deeds for which God has taken vengeance on them. These represent a segment of those who experience temporary repentance motivated by fear of death, especially having gone through similar pains after a globally significant explosion. Have they forgotten what happened? Or was what occurred in their country the result of their sins, for which God punished them? And as soon as they felt safe, they returned to their old judging nature, placing themselves in the position of a just and loving God? Perhaps what recently happened in the natural disaster prompted many to repent, which we pray is not temporary. Should we not stand as the elder son, not rejoicing in that?" He added: "Everything around us calls us to repentance, yet our officials do not find a way to repentance. The devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, which also affected Lebanon, destroyed many areas and left thousands dead, injured, missing, and displaced. Does not this calamity call all officials to reflect on what would have happened to Lebanon and its people had it been struck? Lebanon miraculously survived due to God's mercy that kept this cup away from us, having compelled us to drink many bitter cups that we can no longer withstand. What has happened serves as a warning inviting everyone to recognize the smallness of humanity and its incapacity in the face of nature's wrath and power, and to think about how to confront such disasters and devise necessary plans to withstand earthquakes, storms, and floods, minimizing their damage. Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the positions of the politicians, leaders, and heads of this country; they have not awakened from their slumber nor felt the terror that the Lebanese live, especially those residing in old, cracked buildings, of which there are many in Lebanon. They have not rushed to rescue their people who are anxious about their fate from nature's wrath and their rulers' mismanagement. Should they not reconsider their behaviors and positions and work to build a state capable of embracing and protecting its people? Building the state starts with electing a president and forming a government that works diligently to manage the state's administrations based on a comprehensive rescue reform plan. And if they are unable to do that, they should step aside for those who can." He concluded: "Our call today is not to distinguish ourselves, thinking that others are like the prodigal son. Each of us is a prodigal until that blessed moment comes when we return to ourselves, recalling the beauty of our lives near our heavenly Father."