His Holiness Pope Tawadros II met, this Thursday evening, the fathers of the Synod of Priests in Austria and their wives, in the Austrian capital Vienna, as part of a pastoral visit initiated by His Holiness to his children in Austria.
During the meeting, His Holiness delivered a spiritual speech about the spiritual lessons from the life of St. Bishoy, followed by an opportunity for discussion. His Holiness also spoke about his love for the Diocese of Austria and its children. At the end of the meeting, His Holiness distributed souvenirs to the attendees.
It is noteworthy that the Diocese of Austria was established in 2,000 by the ordination of H.G. Bishop Gabriel as its bishop and serves about 15,000 Coptic Orthodox in Austria.
H.H speech at the meeting with the priests of Austria Diocese and their wives.
H.H gave a speech to the priests of Vienna and their wives about the titles of St. Anba Bishoy.
H.H began his speech by reading Psalm 42
1 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and appear before God?
3 My tears became bread day and night, when I was asked every day, “Where is your God?”
4 These I will remember, and will pour out myself on me: for I used to go with the crowd, I went with them, to the prayer of God.
5 Why are you stooped, my soul? And why are you groaning for me? Hope in God, for after I will give him thanks, for the salvation of his face.
The mighty Moses, Marmina the Wonderworker, Pope Athanasius, the protector of the faith, and others, we find that the title sums up life.
Today we are talking about Anba Bishoy and his three titles
We all visited his monastery, named our children upon his and we love him, and there are three titles we give to Anba Bishoy that describes his life.
The perfect man – The beloved one to our Savior – The one who washed our Savior’s feet.
1- Man means maturity, and therefore in the Corinthian Epistle, our teacher Paul the Apostle addresses its people, saying, “Be men.” It means the completion of mental, and spiritual maturity, but he is also perfect, and God is the only perfect, but here we are talking about relative perfection “Be perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.”
Perfection here is that a person strives to be better. We all hear about spiritual apathy or spiritual dryness…. therefore, our church has set various seasons of fasting, then feasts, then fasting, then…. So that we do not become infected with these spiritual pests, as if they are steps of a ladder that a person ascends in pursuit of perfection.
So when you read your Bible, do you feel that there is growth, this is a question for all of us, do you strive for perfection? Don’t say he’s far from you.
Strive because perfection is linked to striving and discipline. To sum up, when we celebrate Anba Bishoy, we celebrate the biography, the perfect man… “Complete your service.” Make your service complete.
2- The beloved one to our Savior:
Imagine that Jesus says about someone that he is my lover, “Here is my boy whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight myself.”
This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Do you rejoice in Christ and make his heart happy? My boy here has nothing to do with age, but everyone who loves Christ lives a period of heart renewal, so are you loved by Christ?
Make Christ happy with your repentance, in your conversation with the Gospel, in your service to others, in your faithfulness….every passing day of your life ask yourself this question: Do you really rejoice in the heart of Christ, or is your repentance a fake one?
In the story of Abba Bishoy, when he went with the monks to see Christ, Christ appeared in the form of an old man, and he carried him. Indeed, he is the beloved of Christ. He helps everyone and makes everyone happy. Can Christ refer to you saying, “Behold, my boy whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is pleased”? It is an invitation to rejoice in the heart of God
3- Who washed the feet of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ:
Humility is the guardian of each and every grace, and Christ himself previously washed the feet of his disciples, so are you ready to wash the feet of others, not physical washing, but the inner preparation, which appears in our words in our conversation, our service to others, or do you have an ego? Yourself?
These three titles are three invitations to every human being
The perfect man: is a call to perfection
The beloved of our Savior: an invitation to rejoice in the heart of Christ
The one who washed our Savior’s feet: is a call to humility and self-denial
Finally, train yourself in contemplating the titles of the st, and you will find that they are an explanation of life.
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