A Precious Call

On the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, after the Divine Liturgy, the brethren in the Orthodox Youth Movement, in Hazmieh, organize every year a general meeting in a mountainous area, in which they enjoy nature together, and share the Word, bread and salt. This year, I did not participate with them in their joy at the meeting. But my friend, brother Karim Bou-Khaled, compensated me by calling from the bus on my son's phone, and he granted me to greet the brethren, old and young. The brethren are my joy. They all gained the conviction that we, in the Church, come from sharing what is from heaven and what is on earth. This is a meeting to confirm the awareness that our closeness helps us to grow in our love for God and for one another and in what is required by the ministry we have accepted. I have repeatedly told the brethren to drop everything in order for all of them to participate together in any general meeting. The meeting, whatever its form, is a wealth for us, for each of us. I thanked brother Karim for singling me out with this joyful call. Today I liked to publicly thank him once again.