The Spirit of Antioch

After the Sunday Liturgy, a young man invited me to have a cup of coffee in the church hall. Explaining his invitation, he said: "perhaps some of the brethren would like someone to answer some questions they have". This is what happened. I spoke to them a little bit about commitment to God in a foreign land. Talking whetted their appetite for questions. They had an enormous fear for their children’s commitment. I spoke to them about the human being who is an icon. God gets through to others, our children and others, through this golden art that we call life in Christ. Prayer, fasting, knowledge of the Word and communion of fraternal life… are the colors of this icon. Wherever we are, commitment is the same. The brother, who invited me, asked me about Antioch, the bridge between the East and this distant world, Antioch the bulwark in an expanse that wants to swallow the human being without his permission! I received this as an answer to every question that reached me in the hall. This is our salvation that Antioch, with her legacy of regeneration, will remain the spirit of our Churches and their witness in the homeland and in the diaspora.