Mozaik 38

section 1 | reflecting

Reflecting on migration as a Christian–Orthodox believer | Niki Papageorgiou | 6

“Again, the Crescent embraces the Cross on the street”; An overview on MuslimChristian Relations in Egypt during the January Revolution in 2011. | Ramy Hanna | 10

Ukrainian People resisting together: War as an Unexpected Unifying Factor | Anna Lavryk | 15

A Christian Coptic theological reflection on religious inclusion and forgiveness | Emad Atef | 18 section 2 | acting

Anti-racist Activism Through Art and Facebook | Marharyta Taraikevich | 26

Youth Struggle Against Hate and Division in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina | Angelikí María Mitsaki | 34

Life 2 .0. War and Peace | Katya Potapenko | 39

Volunteering: A youth tool for inclusion | Alexandra Zosso | 42

That day, af er going up and down a number of hills, God’s messenger, holding his trumpet underneath his arm, arrived in the valley of Josaphat. Upon reaching the topmost part of the walls, he rested himself on the corner stone, took a deep breath, then blew his trumpet. The ears of the world listened. All sleepy eyes opened and the earth’s inhabitants, from the greatest to the least, knew that the hour of reckoning with God had come. Then, the messenger cupped his hands and yelled: “Hear ye everyone! Make haste! Everyone must come to the valley of Josaphat! This is Judgment Day! The big day has come and the Lord will judge all nations, and all people who have lived under the sun, from Adam to the last son born of the woman on earth.”

A great multitude gathered among one another, invoking their respective gods. They did not notice the thin young man, whose robe was full of patches and was making his way among the people. He was carrying a walking cane and he looked very tired. Finally, af er much shoving, he reached the center, wiped his sweat, approached the stool and took his seat.

— Friends, I apologize for having made you wait — the young man said — the reason is... I have just been released from jail and I was a bit exhausted. I was imprisoned for quite a long time, and was transferred from one jail to another. I was jobless for many years, knocking from door to door. Yes, I also tilled the soil, but the land was not mine. I have sown for centuries in a foreign land, I have sweated it out in various shops, worked like a beast in many textile mills, swallowed so much dust in mines... only to earn a measly sum of money, not even enough to tide me over my hunger. I had to sleep in the open, as there was nowhere to sleep, I was helpless, trembling with fever... without even a piece of rag to put on my forehead. I have roamed all over the world. I have been born in shanties and perished in wars. I have traversed mountains of misery before I finally came here. I have sailed in seas of tears just to be with you today. You remember me, don’t you? Or you do not know who I am? Don’t you recognize me?

All the inhabitants of the earth gathered in the valley of Josaphat tried to recall where they had seen the young man, as his face was very familiar to them....

— Isn’t he Martin? — An old Egyptian said — the guy who came that night, begging for a plate of soup?

— No, man. He’s Lallus — replied a young atheist of elegant manners — he is the activist who incited the farmers to go on strike. He was beaten af erwards....

— This is odd! —Finally said an African mother — I met a widow who looked very much like him!

Amid all the discussion everyone heard a deep, resounding voice, like the voice of rushing waters from above, alongside the sun: “What you have done unto him, you have done unto me. What you have not done unto him, you have not done unto me.”

Then the young man seated on the stool covered by sheepskin raised his cane. It was like a shepherd’s staf. With that, he separated the huge multitude before him; some he put on one side, and the rest, on the other side.

Once again, the heavens opened and the deep voice of the unseen God was heard anew, that of the only true God whose name is mystery and whose face no mortal has ever seen: “Those on this side, you may go away now. It never mat ered to you if your brothers and sisters su f ered hunger, cold and misery or not. Go away! You, on this side, come with me. I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me water to drink. You opened the doors of your houses when I needed shelter to spend the night. You consoled me when I was sick, when I was in jail. You fought for justice! You cared for your brothers and sisters. Come with me!

We have heard Jesus tell this story in the Jerusalem Temple’s atrium, Jerusalem, beside the Golden Door, facing the valley of Cedron, also known to our countrymen as the valley of Josaphat.

The Gospel According to Saint Mat hew 25: 31-46

Extract from: María and José Ignacio López Vigil. A Certain Jesus: The Good News for the People of Latin America. h t p://www.untaljesus.net. at 429 -434