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Christian Unity
We all do not have the same awareness of God, Christian unity is not approached from the same angel; it expands or contracts within men in proportion as their hearts are in relationship with God.
Some do not feel it at all, other even deny it; it is a test of faith. Now the road to union with God is not a one-way street ending solely with God; on the return journey it leads back to one’s neighbor, the stranger, one’s enemy, and toward all creation; for he who unites himself to God undertakes by that very fact to consider how he shall unite himself to all, and to take no rest until that union has been accomplished. Now this road which leads to God and from him is found within man.
If, therefore, Christian unity is not realized at the present time, it is first; because man is seeking it before he has surrendered his whole heart and his whole soul and his whole mind to God. And second; because he is seeking it outside himself; that is to say, he is trying to realize it as a matter for discussion and not within himself.
If we desire a true unity, we must seek it and study it in God, in is presence, and not as some theoretical subject separated from God, whatever theological guise it may adopt.
The time has come for us to know the Christ of the whole world.
The Christ of the whole world was born for the sake of the whole world because He loved the whole world. And He shed His blood for the whole world. “He is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2), for His blood cannot be worth less than the whole world. So why do we limit and restrict the love of Christ, and judge Him to be sufficient only for us and those who follow us?
This book is a very strong message for Christians of all churches and all nations, to unite in Christ.
Some do not feel it at all, other even deny it; it is a test of faith. Now the road to union with God is not a one-way street ending solely with God; on the return journey it leads back to one’s neighbor, the stranger, one’s enemy, and toward all creation; for he who unites himself to God undertakes by that very fact to consider how he shall unite himself to all, and to take no rest until that union has been accomplished. Now this road which leads to God and from him is found within man.
If, therefore, Christian unity is not realized at the present time, it is first; because man is seeking it before he has surrendered his whole heart and his whole soul and his whole mind to God. And second; because he is seeking it outside himself; that is to say, he is trying to realize it as a matter for discussion and not within himself.
If we desire a true unity, we must seek it and study it in God, in is presence, and not as some theoretical subject separated from God, whatever theological guise it may adopt.
The time has come for us to know the Christ of the whole world.
The Christ of the whole world was born for the sake of the whole world because He loved the whole world. And He shed His blood for the whole world. “He is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2), for His blood cannot be worth less than the whole world. So why do we limit and restrict the love of Christ, and judge Him to be sufficient only for us and those who follow us?
This book is a very strong message for Christians of all churches and all nations, to unite in Christ.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2016
5 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Matthew the Poor
34 books31 followers(Arabic: متى المسكين)
Father Matta El-Meskeen (Maskeen or Maskine ; translated as Matthew the Poor ), born Youssef Eskander (September 20, 1919 - June 8, 2006), was a Coptic Orthodox monk and spiritual father of 130 monks in the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great at Scetis in Wadi Natrun, Egypt. He is considered by many to be a renowned Orthodox theologian, and was an author of voluminous texts on numerous topics, including biblical exegesis, ecclesiastical rites, and other spiritual and theological matters (181 books, besides hundreds of journal articles).
Father Matta is celebrated by many Copts as a reformer and a prominent figure in recent Coptic history. Following the repose of Pope Kyrillos VI in 1971, Father Matta and two others (Bishops Samuel and Shenouda) were considered as candidates for the Patriarchal throne. Bishop Shenouda was chosen to be the Coptic Pope of Alexandria.
Father Matta and Pope Shenouda share some common history. Both participated in the Sunday school movement and Matta was Shenouda's confessor in the 1950s. Pope Shenouda acknowledges his debt to his teacher, Father Matta El-Meskeen, whom he calls 'my father monk' in the introduction to his book Intelaq Al-Rouh (The Release of the Spirit).(Father Matta was also the spiritual guide of the late Alexandrian priest Father Bishoy Kamel, a contemporary Coptic Orthodox saint.)
It is undocumentedly alleged that Father Matta was suspended twice, first by Pope Yousab II in 1955, and then again by Pope Kyrillos VI for nine years from 1960 to 1969[15] for administrative/"political" (e.g., his book about the 'Church and the State', in which he called for total separation of the two) rather than for any truly theological or core dogmatic issues. However this allegation is not true at all and undocumented. Some say undocumentedly that what is called the 1960s suspension was because of Father Matta's objection to the Coptic Church signing of the Catholic Declaration of the Innocence of the Jews from the Blood of Christ. But also this allegation is not true and undocumented. The saintly Pope Kyrillos VI later insisted that Father Matta absolve and forgive him in the presence of H.E. Metropolitan Mikhail of Assiut.
Father Matta El-Meskeen (Maskeen or Maskine ; translated as Matthew the Poor ), born Youssef Eskander (September 20, 1919 - June 8, 2006), was a Coptic Orthodox monk and spiritual father of 130 monks in the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great at Scetis in Wadi Natrun, Egypt. He is considered by many to be a renowned Orthodox theologian, and was an author of voluminous texts on numerous topics, including biblical exegesis, ecclesiastical rites, and other spiritual and theological matters (181 books, besides hundreds of journal articles).
Father Matta is celebrated by many Copts as a reformer and a prominent figure in recent Coptic history. Following the repose of Pope Kyrillos VI in 1971, Father Matta and two others (Bishops Samuel and Shenouda) were considered as candidates for the Patriarchal throne. Bishop Shenouda was chosen to be the Coptic Pope of Alexandria.
Father Matta and Pope Shenouda share some common history. Both participated in the Sunday school movement and Matta was Shenouda's confessor in the 1950s. Pope Shenouda acknowledges his debt to his teacher, Father Matta El-Meskeen, whom he calls 'my father monk' in the introduction to his book Intelaq Al-Rouh (The Release of the Spirit).(Father Matta was also the spiritual guide of the late Alexandrian priest Father Bishoy Kamel, a contemporary Coptic Orthodox saint.)
It is undocumentedly alleged that Father Matta was suspended twice, first by Pope Yousab II in 1955, and then again by Pope Kyrillos VI for nine years from 1960 to 1969[15] for administrative/"political" (e.g., his book about the 'Church and the State', in which he called for total separation of the two) rather than for any truly theological or core dogmatic issues. However this allegation is not true at all and undocumented. Some say undocumentedly that what is called the 1960s suspension was because of Father Matta's objection to the Coptic Church signing of the Catholic Declaration of the Innocence of the Jews from the Blood of Christ. But also this allegation is not true and undocumented. The saintly Pope Kyrillos VI later insisted that Father Matta absolve and forgive him in the presence of H.E. Metropolitan Mikhail of Assiut.
Early life
Father Matta El Meskeen was born in Benha, elKaliobia, Egypt, in 1919. (One source says he was born in Damanhour, Egypt.) In 1944, he graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Cairo. In 1948, after leading a successful life and establishing a wealthy lifestyle for himself--Eskander at the time was the owner of two pharmacies, two villas, and two cars--he renounced his material possessions, and entered the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor in Qualmun (roughly near Maghagha, Upper Egypt). In 1951, he was ordained a priest against his will.
Monastic life
After living for a few years in the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, Matta decided to move out into Wadi El Rayan in the late 1950s. There, he lived as a recluse in the spirit of the ancient Desert Fathers for twelve years. By 1960, seven other monks joined him. The community expanded to twelve by 1964. These twelve monks were sent by Pope Kyrillos VI to Wadi El Natroun in 1969 to develop the monastery of St. Macarius the Great. At that time only six elderly, frail fathers lived near the road between Cairo and Alexandria. Matta and his twelve companions cared for them while reconstructing the monastery. The administrative, agricultural, institutional, and printing/publishing developments at the renewed Monastery of St. Macarius the Great were staggering. But the spiritual revolution was much greater. By 1981 Matta had over eighty monks in the monastery.
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