The Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church for the Eastern United States hosted a Spiritual Family & Youth Lecture Weekend Event at the Mor Aphrem Center in Paramus, New Jersey, with the blessing of having His Eminence Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub, Patriarchal Vicar for Youth Affairs and Christian Education. On the first night of the lecture,it was held Friday, February 4th, 2022. His Eminence Mor Dionysius John Kawak opened by welcoming His Eminence Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub and thanking all who came to participate in this spiritual gathering. Archbishop Kawak blessed everyone with an opening prayer and continued with chanting Syriac Hymns and allowing the Youth by reciting prayers and meditations in English. His Eminence Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub spoke about “The Dilemma of Evil & Pain” from a Philosophical point of view. His Eminence first started by saying, “We believe in a good God, and we believe that God exists, but people question how come God does not act to prevent all the bad and evil things going on in the world?” Archbishop Jakoub explained to the youth and families how one can give a response to these raising questions of “why evil and pain?” His Eminence mentioned that the problem of pain and evil is as much of a philosophical problem as it is an emotional one and it is also a problem for any vision based on the existence of an all-powerful, all-good Creator and Preserver of the universe. He concluded by reminding all those who were present that “If God, by His goodness and power, had created free beings, He should have given them the freedom to choose evil to the same extent that they can choose good, and if they do not have the capacity to choose evil, then their choice of good is meaningless, because they had no other choice but this choice. Since freedom of choice is a precious matter to God’s heart, God Has accepted and allowed by His wisdom that this world of free will, with pain and evil, will be much better than a world without free will, without love, and without pain.” The floor was then open for a Q&A and followed by chanting more Syriac Hymns.
