The One That Never Falls

On the occasion of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” 2024, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Dr. Michel E. Abs delivered a word which is the introduction to the Week of Prayer Arabic Booklet for this year.

Dr. Michel E. Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

Like every year, the Week of Prayer for Unity arrives, bringing with it promises of togetherness and love that stem from the encounter of those who have embraced the faith of the beloved Redeemer. His message of salvation is so profound that no one has been able to surpass even a single letter of it.

Every year, Christians from all corners of the world gather around a text. This text, compiled and organized by a group of believers, is a testament to their decision to overcome doctrinal and jurisprudential differences and to act in accordance with the logic of the Savior’s unified church. This eternal pledge of allegiance, built on the rock, remains insurmountable despite persecutions, abuse, torture, and attempts at extermination, much like the Master whose kingdom knows no annihilation.

Each year, Christians produce a well-thought-out and well-coordinated biblical text. This text is translated into all the languages of the world and circulated among the faithful. It serves as a collective rallying point for hearts, minds, aspirations, and rules of conduct in everyday life, both near and far.

This year, the good news and the blessed text come from the “New Path” community in Burkina Faso, West Africa. This continent, brimming with faith, is home to faithful individuals who make precious efforts to preserve and disseminate their faith. The theme this year is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Luke 10:27).

Like every year, the Department of Theology and Ecumenical Relations translates the Book of Prayers for Unity into Arabic, making it available to believers in the Arab world and Arabic speakers worldwide.

The theme chosen by the group that produced it revolves around something “very serious” - a challenge posed by the Master to humankinf during His earthly existence. Even after two millennia, no one has been able to overcome or outbid this challenge: love!

As smooth and easy as love may seem to us, it is as difficult as it is challenging, constituting a paradigm shift in human history. The difficulty lies in the murderous ego, in man’s disparaging view of others, in their disrespect, in the violation of their dignity, in the infringement of their rights, and even in their elimination.

Since the beginning of time, humanity has been mired in unbridled selfishness, destroying each other for the sake of crumbs from this world, accumulating wealth and collectibles at the expense of others. How can we explain all these conquests, wars, occupations on a public level, and conflicts, even between members of the same family or society, on a private level, if not for this murderous ego?

Even our relationship with the Lord, the creator and organizer of creation, is not without deadly individual selfishness. The relationship of a large number of those who show piety turns into a relationship of demand with the Creator.

This verse poses the greatest challenge to man: to love the Lord and to love his neighbor like himself. The verse equates man’s love for himself, his Lord, and his neighbor. This is the height of altruism and the pinnacle of justice, which require self-discipline and taming of unbridled selfishness.

This verse carries in its meanings a basic value of social cohesion and harmony. It is worth recalling, especially for those who have strayed and deny their faith, that this value system, which found its peak with the incarnate Master, is the basis of the modern civilization that we are witnessing today, under attack in some circles in some societies in the world.

This year, the Week of Prayer for Unity arrives, and the Middle East Council of Churches celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. Established in its current final form in May 1974, the working group, under the guidance of the Council’s leaders represented by the presidents and the Executive Committee, has prepared an integrated program covering the whole year 2024, leading up to the beginning of the year 2025, the year of the 1700th Jubilee of the Council of Nicaea.

The programs prepared by the Council’s working group for the fiftieth year aim to advance ecumenical thinking and put forward new aspirations for the MECC and the ecumenical movement in the Middle East. Far from being a time of festivity and flashiness, it will be a year of reflection, interaction, challenges, and visions for the future.

The Council took the verse “And when the fiftieth day came, they were all gathered in one place” (Acts 2:1) as an indication that the churches of the region, where the Master grew up, spread His message, and triumphed by His resurrection, were united in the year of their “Pentecost”.

In the not-too-distant future, we will publish the program of activities for the fiftieth year of the Council. This will be accessible to all and open to participation from those who wish to do so, as the activities will take place in many locations across the Middle East.

In the fiftieth year of the founding of the unifying entity of the Churches of the Middle East, the Churches of the Antiochian Levant and the Nile Valley, we affirm that the MECC, which constitutes the unifying habitat for these churches that have diverged and become estranged from each other, will honor its commitment, the commitment to working for unity - the unity of the Church and the unity of the communities to which this Church belongs, in a loving bond with all the sons of our nation. This is for the sole reason that “love never fails. Prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled, and knowledge will pass away.” (1 Corinthians 13:8).

In Christ