قداسة البابا تواضروس الثاني
Editorial Article by H.H. Pope Tawadros II in Kiraza Magazine: The Greatest Entity
Between 7-8 billion people live on Earth, living in countries that make up the map of the globe, with a number of nearly 200 countries, according to United Nations statistics. These people in every country live and are linked to many entities, whether educational, health, social, industrial, agricultural, economic, scientific or religious, etc.
These entities constitute factories, farms, universities, unions, parties, clubs, religious institutions and much more.
But what is the greatest entity on earth?
Or what is the most important entity among these entities?
After research and examination, the answer will be that it is the family entity, the entity that God himself established when the first man created Adam and then created his counterpart Eve, as the Book of Genesis states: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth” (Genesis 1:27- 28).
And with that, the sacrament of holy matrimony, in which the two are one, was established. It is the entity of love that unites man and woman in a sacred bond that extends to their children through true love, until the word “family” became itself an acronym of six letters (note that man was created on the sixth day):
Father and Mother I Love You
Because of the importance of this entity in human life, it must go through five types of union in order to become a strong, coherent and stable entity over the years:
First: Intellectual union at the level of thought, which is what we call the engagement period.The word “engage”, entails an exchange between him and her; an exchange ideas, principles and values within the thought of each of them. Through this period, they discover each other and it (the engagement) becomes an expedition of the personality who will become a partner in the journey of establishing the sacred entity.
Second: Spiritual union at the level of the meeting of spirits in joint spiritual work through various spiritual works with an emphasis on the holy sacraments, especially the sacraments of repentance (confession) and the Eucharist (communion). The means of grace work in this spiritual union so that it becomes the inner dimension that builds the marriage entity and makes it always alive.
Third: The emotional union at the level of the passion that God has created in us, because the man who keeps his youth pure from the failures of passion in any way, but offers the most precious gift to his partner, which is the heart full of passion, that is, with true love that sees in the other that it is a special gift from God’s hand to him, as if all the girls of the world gathered in the girl he chose, and she also sees that all the youth of the world gathered in the young man she chose. And the object of love grows with them every day from engagement to wedding and then life with its long journey until the last day of life.
Fourth: Social union, that is, in front of society, where they appear together on all social, religious or family occasions in beautiful harmony, testing together how they behave in multiple situations, how they present each other to others, and any words used with friends, colleagues and relatives. Thus, the entity is formed openly and almost perfectly.
Fifth: The physical union with the wreath and the wedding and they become bridegroom and bride in preparation for being husband and wife, and then after sometime, becoming a dad and a mom, as it is written, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Noting that this verse is repeated 4 times in the Old and New Testaments.
Thus, the picture of the “family entity”, which is the greatest human entity on earth and dependent on the presence of Christ in it, is complete, because we believe that marriage is a threefold bond made up of Christ, man and woman, not a double bond and it is written: “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). It is not in vain that the first miracle of Christ was at the wedding of Cana of Galilee.
Of course, this entity will face the many tribulations of time, but these tribulations will be the cause of strengthening this entity and bringing each partner closer to the other with support, coexistence and assistance, and thus this entity will endure, continue, and remain strong, stable and continuous if it saves itself from sins and failures, filling the house with the permanent presence of Christ with respect and submission between the two partners in the umbrella of the precious love of Christ.
It is this powerful entity that builds societies, preserves the principles of humanity and creates saints through generations, and therefore the forces of evil work in every way to weaken this entity, which ultimately leads to the weakening of states and even their collapse from within. We now read about same-sex marriage, which is not a marriage but one of Satan’s tricks to overthrow the meaning of the family, we read about transgenderism, about surrogacy, about breaking up the family by separation, divorce, betrayal or violence, all of which and others are diabolical means of destroying the entity that God himself established for the good of humanity… This is what the Bible states that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19).
O every family, protect your life, keep away from these weaknesses, and be steadfast
in the face of these sins. Preserve this precious entity to continue, survive, bear fruit and succeed.
Also,to every father and mother, plant in the lives of your sons and daughters the sanctity and high value of this entity on earth and in heaven. Instill in them real principles about the status of the family and how to always be strong and successful.
To Every young man and woman, know that the most dangerous decision in the life
of each of you is the decision
to marry and start a family,
so prepare for it with thought, mind, heart, soul and the experience of adults and parents. Wishing you the greatest entity in your life, which is: the formation of a blessed family in the Lord.
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