Today, H.H Pope Tawadros II delivered his weekly Wednesday sermon from St. Virgin Mary and St. Anba Bishoy at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasiya with the presents of pontiffs, and representatives of the Christian churches’ members of the Middle East Council of Churches, who attended the meeting within the timing of the “Week of Prayer for Unity” held this week, as part of the events of the Middle East Council of Churches in contribution with the Council of Churches of Egypt.
The sermon was also aired on Christian satellite channels and the C.O.C channel of the Church’s Media Centre on the Internet.
H.H continued his considerations of the fasting, that he dedicated a whole serious “Where are you?” and referred to a part of Matthew’s Gospel, “Where is the one who was born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east, and we came to prostrate him.” It is also the slogan for this year’s “Prayer Week”.
H.H talked about our need to prostrate in the true spirit by giving time to God to achieve:
1- Know by heart: “that I may know him, and the strength of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, imitating his death”
2- To be filled with Christ Himself: “Blessed are the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
3- To be close to Him, “By returning and stillness you will be saved. In quietness and tranquillity will be your strength.”
H.H completed the benefits of prostration:
• An opportunity to thank God and examine ourselves.
• Growth in the spiritual path.
• To deprive pride
Last week, H.H began a new series of considerations that will continue throughout the period of fasting by asking God to Adam, “Where are you?”, as H.H indicated that God is always searching for us, and fasting presents us with 7 places where we meet with God through the Fasting Sundays.
The representatives of the members of the Middle East Council of Churches members contributed to today’s Wednesday’s weekly meeting with H.H Pope Tawadros II that was held at St. Virgin Mary and St. Bishoy, at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasiya this evening.
The contribution of the representatives of the members of the Middle East Council of Churches in this meeting comes within the events of the “Prayer Week for Unity”, which is organized by the Council this week in participation with the Council of Churches of Egypt.
The representatives have said every suitable word concerning the slogan of “The Week of Prayer” for this year and it is: “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and we came to worship him”; based on the fact that the appearance of the star in the sky of Judaea is a sign of hope for the presence of God who loves humanity, according to the bulletin issued by the organizing committee for the week of prayer.
As for H.H he clearfield that the idea of the week of prayer started from years, was taken care of by Pope Shinoda III and Pope Kyrillos VI, and it is from the common hope for the complete unity of the faith of Christians
H.H also added that we celebrate today the memorial of H.H Pope Kyrillos VI, which is a special day to us all, and so the country also celebrates the Martyr’s Day, which is the memorial of the martyrdom of Lieutenant-General Abdel Moneim Riyad, who was martyred while leading the army; therefore, Egypt chose this day to be the day of the martyr, in which we remember all our heroic martyrs, those who preserved Egypt through the generations and protected the land of Egypt, and fates wished that this day should be the day of Pope Kyrillos’ departure so that today becomes a special day for all of us.
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