EPARCHY OF SAINT MARON OF BROOKLYN
THE CHANCERY
109 Remsen Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201-4212
Tel: (718) 237-9913 Fax: (718) 243-0444
chancerystmaron@verizon.net www.stmaron.org

Protocol # 121/1/23
(Word Doc # 00037533)
22 February 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In my last message in the Maronite Voice I wrote “the world is a mess!” Yes, it certainly is a mess, but as I said, we don’t have to be! This is my second installment in “how not to be a mess” ourselves.

First, we can acknowledge that God created us, male and female; he created us with a purpose and with meaning to our lives. Even our bodies, our femininity, our masculinity, have a beautiful purpose in God’s plan. We must make every effort to discover our own masculine or feminine way of living, loving and serving in this world. In humility, when we seek God’s meaning for our own life, instead of imposing our own, we also find that God rejoices to help us find our way. He delights in us – as imperfect as we are – he loves us.

Second, we can acknowledge that when we have fallen from grace, “soiled our garments”, as the Church Fathers would say, we can find grace again in the person of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. God has saved us personally, not just from the trials and difficulties of our world, he has also saved us from ourselves, our addictions, our anger, our fears, our desolations, our insecurities, and our insistence on doing everything our way. We don’t have to be a mess. As Saint Paul said: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8).

Third, a terrible consequence of the first sin of Adam and Eve’s sin was that man would dominate over woman. This sad reality completely obscures the original intent of our Creator to make us male and female, with a difference that is mutually beneficial so as to help us complement one another. Thus, gender is not merely societal norms, but rather something that is naturally designed in our DNA, so that every cell in our body is coded as male or female. We are different for a reason: to complement each other. Viva la difference!

The sin of Adam and Eve, which produced male dominance, is undone by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who showed all men a new way, the way of humble service, not dominance, but service. This is true of the priesthood – we are called to serve not dominate. This is true of marriage, a man is called to “lay down his life” for his spouse, and thus lead by a self-gift of himself. His wife, in response, receives his gift, and by virtue of a self-gift of herself, gives herself to her spouse. Thus, both spouses are joined in a Mystery (Sacrament) and a Covenant that connects married people to God, and gives them the capacity, in his name, to bring new life into the world. This is God’s plan. It is wonderful! We don’t always abide by this plan, but still there is grace for us even if we fail.

Life and love are not about dominance, or getting what we want, but about service, and our male and female complementarity makes sense out of life. We ought not mess this up!

And lastly, the God who creates and redeems us, also gently leads us by the hand, through his Word, through his Mysteries (Sacraments), by the Teaching of the Church, and by his very personal and intimate Holy Spirit, he guides us through his kingdom in this world to the next.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let God guide you through his kingdom’s way of life, and since Lent is a good time for us to renew our trust in him, let us place our confidence in him. Yes, the world may be a mess, but we don’t have to be!

+ Gregory

Giovanni di Paolo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons