Principles – Sunday of giving – 4/4/2015

   The Eastern Christians are celebrating “Palm Sunday”. It is the first day of the Holy Week that is concluded by Easter or the Feast of Resurrection. This day is called Palm Sunday; Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as a king riding a donkey and the multitude met him while cheering with palms and branches of trees.
It is noteworthy that all who participated in the events of that day shared the virtue of giving. For instance, the owners of the donkey had offered it to Jesus as it is said in the Bible, “Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” It is said about the disciples that “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road” and so some of the multitude have “cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road”, while others have cheered Jesus with praises. Thus, giving has become a part of man’s identity that he does out of his great love to God 
   In addition it spreads out to other people. If someone truly knows and loves God, he will have abundant love for others, so he helps them as much as he can as they were created by God.

   Love and mercy that man holds in his heart are the true sources of giving. I recall a story about two brothers living in a farm they owned. Each one of them owned half of the farm. One of them was married and provided for a big family, the second was single and out of his great love he decided not to keep half of the produce for himself and to share the profits with his married brother. Thus, he put a sack of the grains in his brother’s warehouse. At the same time, the married brother thought that his brother may grow old alone thus he should own more produce than him as he will have no children to support him in the future, so he put a sack of his grains at his brother’s warehouse. They did that nightly till they once met each other one night when they were both trying to put grains at each other’s warehouse, hence they embraced each other warmly with an endless love.
Someone may wonder what he may offer though he has nothing to give and that nowadays many people are hardly satisfying their basic needs. Let me say that when contemplating Palm Sunday, you will discover that all the people in that scene had offered something to Jesus. Some offered their donkey, while others offered God’s gift to them; the olive branches. 
   As we all know, olive trees are evergreen, long-living and resistant to dryness and low fertility. Its evergreen leaf is a symbol of unstoppable giving and its resistance through tough conditions is a symbol to tolerance of others’ weaknesses. Olive branches symbolize peace and wisdom in many cultures. You too offer peace and your God-gifted wisdom to others.
Dear Reader, Be a giver as this is your treasure in Heaven and on earth.

General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center