The death of His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim

Without Him God is distant,
Christ remains in the past,
the Gospel is a dead letter,
the Church is simply an organization,
authority is domination,
mission is propaganda,
worship is evocative,
and Christian action is a slave morality.

But in Him the cosmos rises and sighs
with the pangs of birth,
the risen Christ is present,
the Gospel is the power of life,
the Church is a Trinitarian community,
authority is a liberating service,
mission is Pentecost,
the liturgy is anticipation,
human activity renders us similar to God.