Your Holiness, Sovereignty, Eminence, Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Bishops and Priests
Christ has risen… Truly has risen
I am so happy to welcome you to the land of Egypt, which was blessed with the visit and residence of the Holy Family… it increases my joy that your blessed stay in the ancient heritage area of Wadi El-Natroun, which was replete with our Coptic monasteries over the centuries of monasticism since our father St. Antony the Great and St. Makar, the founder of monasticism in this region.
Wadi El-Natroun is the place where the salt of Natron is being extracted by our ancestors, the Pharaohs, it is a valley with history and holiness, as on one hand it is considered one of the stations of the Holy Family’s journey, and on the other hand, it is one of the largest monastic gatherings in Coptic history. It has embraced a large number of monasteries, cells, monks and hermits since the fourth century AD… the importance of the region in the history and the present time to our church was that we seriously sought to build a Papal Logos Center to host our loved ones and our honorable guests in the spaciousness of the grandparents, the asceticism of the fathers and the blessing of the Holy Family, with the calm nature and the purity of the desert, the blue sky and the clarity of the atmosphere.
I welcome you as we are now in the joys of the Resurrection with the words of the Apostle Peter:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3)…that much mercy that God the Father and by which we were born again by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead is the same that gives us living hope in the face of great challenges facing our contemporary world in general, and our Middle East region in particular… as Christians living in the midst of this cruelty, we ask, where do the wars and quarrels come from? Those wars and disputes often start within the greedy human soul that demands more and are not satisfied… the human soul that has grown up in selfishness, glorification of living and excessive consumerism in all the natural resources available to man for generations and generations… those ambitions made it fall prey to greed, lust, envy, murder and war…
Those ambitions also violated nature and distorted the environment and did not realize the meaning of responsibility about the world… God has given Man, since his creation, authority over nature and creatures, not to exhaust them and exploit them evilly, but to be responsible for it… care for it…develop it…preserve every detail of its beautiful creation…
He protects it and even loves it… He only exhausted the nature around him by over-exploiting his projects, inventions and welfare in a manner that is almost foolish sometimes…then nature turned against him and started to burn him in intense heat sometimes, and drown him in the tsunami at other times, or stopping the rain stopped from him, or is stunned by its ice… also, resources have become scarce due to their excessive use, which has fulfilled human greed and then the desire to possess other resources, even if this was through killing and war…
As a result for that, the whole world, and our region, in particular, is suffering from wars, conflicts and extremist terrorist movements, which has led to difficult problems represented in the increasement in the number of refugees and migrants, the new generations now do not know their identity and do not understand the meaning of belonging… the world used to live with violence, in some areas to the extent that it became just a form of daily life, and the dead, wounded and injured people became just numbers that increase day after day without the world saying a single word towards those disasters… poverty, ignorance and disease rates have increased in addition to the pandemic and harsh weather conditions as well… the conditions of many societies have worsened, which are tasting daily woes and woes because of these ambitions and these struggles…
We denounce all those cruel acts that reject mercy and belittle human life, which is the gift of God only… we denounce every attack on safe countries and peaceful societies… we denounce the repeated attacks on Christian and Islamic sanctities in Jerusalem… if our test as Christians is to be in the midst of all these evils in the world, we believe that God Almighty, sees, judges and His eyes behold… therefore, we find ourselves before our responsibilities and resounding within ourselves, our consciences that are moved by the Holy Spirit tell us that we are the voice of truth… we are like the Baptist: A voice crying out
in the wilderness of the world telling the whole world to prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight… then comes to our meeting entitled: Be encouraged, I am He, do not be afraid.
These are the same words with which the Lord Jesus encouraged his disciples and reassured them when their ship was tormented by the waves, just as the Church senses the turmoil and waves of the world… but the Lord reassures our hearts with his words and encourages us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth with the word of truth… as the Church is the guardian of morals, the source of education, the altar of service and a fortress of love and source for the best life…
We are encouraged by the words of the Lord to utter the truth and announce our firm stances in the face of moral challenges that are distorting the sublime human nature that is in the image and likeness of God by creating delusional convictions about homosexuality, impure relationships, sexual transformation, family disintegration, apathy and atheism… we shall not be led by false justifications that the world claims to justify sin and desires… as these justifications erase the word of truth and deviate the world from the way, truth and life, and replace it with wandering, falsehood and death… God has made human nature sublime and crowned with reason, understanding, wisdom and speech so that human life continues in a family and society forms, enjoying life and nature and striving towards a happy eternity… God has informed us of his divine purpose for our existence in this life, so
whoever justifies those sins becomes ignorant and without excuse…
We also understand the challenges of the era that is represented by the post-modern technology in which we live now… our churches seek to benefit from social networks, as well as to take advantage of all modern search engines and the huge capabilities that have come under our hands with the presence of the Internet… it has contributed a lot in service and care all the time during the pandemic… but at the same time we are aware of the danger of those tools that are being used in evil ways to destroy the lives of the family, youth, and even children… they violate privacy, spread lies, and call for wrong and abnormal ideas.. it rather turned into a form of addiction and the abolition of the mind, dragging many into embracing error and discarding the real world and reality in exchange for the virtual world and the image…
Which put on us a greater responsibility as it added to our churches a positive, clear and influential role and duty during crises… our churches take care of the poor, the weak, the tired and the heavy burdened, orphans, the outcasts, the marginalized, the refugees, the deprived, and those who have no one… we must bear that responsibility towards our societies with joy as our Christ.. and we must meet the needs of everyone, whether material
or psychological and certainly spiritual as well, as much as we can and with all our efforts… our role and our service do not stop at race, gender, religion or nationality, but extends to include every human being… we know very well the meaning of humanity…and we realize the value of human being…
We respect the belief and thought of each and every one… and value life and human existence… we guide the lost, help the confused, straighten the crooked, and proclaim the truth at all times… these are our principles that we believe in and strive to achieve…
At the end of my speech, I would like to thank everyone who worked hard to prepare and serve this meeting, so that it would appear in a way that suits you, Your Highnesses and Eminences, and all the guests… I would like to thank each and everyone and tell them from the bottom of my heart that if it had not been for the fatigue of your love, which has no trumpets or announcements, this meeting would not have been successful… Thank you…
I also concluded by emphasizing that I am confident that this meeting of ours is to encourage us with hope in the Holy Spirit that dwells in us… I pray that the time we stay together will be an opportunity to exchange love, for constructive fruitful work, consideration, prayer, and to experience the grace of the Lord Jesus working in us. I also hope that you will have a good stay with us, calm days and a peaceful atmosphere.
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