Christ is Risen...a Blessed Palms Sunday
Dr. Michel E. Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
Confusing are religious occasions when there is no social consensus to adopt the same dates for them.
We will not enter into the theological or heritage dimension of the issue, as this field has its masters, but the psychological and social dimension is confusing, especially when it comes to the unknowing, or the non-Christian citizens.
As for the sons of churches, they are concerned with the unification of the feasts as an indicator of the unity of the soul in the believing community, since the different dates of the feasts are an indicator of division, separation and fragmentation, and no believer would accept that, as he considers it as a threat to his faith and the unity of the sons of his creed.
When will you unite the holidays? A question that citizens and institutions ask us; Moreover, there are some faith groups that have set their sights on the goal of unifying the holidays exclusively.
The confusion was evident in the greetings that circulated on social media on Resurrection Sunday of the churches that adopt the Western calendar, as those who greet do not always know the affiliations of all those whom they are greeting, or they may be ashamed to ask, so they chose not to commit a politically incorrect behavior and wanted to remain courteous. They say, "Christ is risen for those who celebrate Resurrection today, and a Blessed Palm Sunday for those who celebrate it today." This is how people maintain their social civility and do not hurt the feelings of their friends.
This is a benign social and moral measure, but it does not eliminate the effects of the rift that has existed in the Church of the Master since He established it and fortified it against the gates of Hell.
However, this does not prevent the formation, in the collective memory of the believing community, of an image of the divided allegiance against itself, as its sons are unable to agree on a unified date for the crucifixion and the resurrection of the Master.
The moral, psychological, and social dimension is no less important than the theological dimension, as it is the earthly and existential means of unifying the group’s spirituality in its practice of thanking the Creator.
We cannot be advocates of union with the Creator in His creation, nor advocates of social unity with the rest of the components of society if we are not able to unite among us.