This evening, H.H. Pope Tawadros II Meets the Priest of Ain Shams at the new Administrative building that is affiliated to the Papal Residence in Abbaseya, with the presence of H.G. Bishop Axios, General Bishop of Ain Shams, Mataria & Helmeyat Al Zaytoun, Cairo, with the priests of the district and their wives.
H.G. Bishop Axios gave a speech where he congratulated H.H. for the 10th anniversary of Enthronement and for the inauguration of the new Administrative building, and he thanked H.H. for his continuous care for the pastoral services in the Churches of the district, then H.G. presented a report on the services in the churches of the district.
H.H. then gave a speech where he welcomed H.G., the priests and their wives, referring to this meeting as the second meeting held at the new Administrative building with the priests, as H.H. have met yesterday with the priests of Almaza district, Al Amal City and East of Nasr City.
H.H. then pointed out that organisation in the services requires the appropriate equipments, and H.H. mentioned that the new Administrative building contains advanced equipment to accommodate the services provided by the Papal Residence.
H.H. the read a part of Ephesians chapter 4, which is also prayed during the 1st Hour, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)
H.H. then mentioned that the Epistle of the Ephesians is like the “Gem of Epistles”, pointing out four points that carry a lot of important meanings in the service, and that is the service is:
1- Continuous Call: serving should be “ to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”
from and to our Lord Jesus Christ
A servant should not know of old age
2- Continuous Discipleship: to all our Church Fathers, and His Holiness cited the words of Saint John Chrysostom: “ The face that has been sanctified by the sign of the Cross would not bow to Satan”.
Reading in all fields
Education and discipleship in all fields in life
3- Continuous sharing
We need to be careful not to fall into the trap of working alone, and to learn the art of working together. H.H. referred to the hand, which has different fingers but they all work together, and that all the praises in the Book of Revelation are all shared praises.
H.H. offered a prescription which we can depend on in our services which is
“with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
H.H. said that each person has his talent and all talents should be in the same interest, and he warned against self-diseases that disrupt the shared work of others.
4- Continuous Message: and it is a message of love for everyone, as our world is now hungry for love. H.H. noted that technological development sometimes causes dry feelings, and stressed the importance of feelings that we must exchange directly with each other, citing the verse: “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5).
H.H. also mentioned the strong relationship with God will enable us to present love to everyone who deals with us.
At the end of the meeting, H.H. have answered the questions of the attendees and gave them some memorial gifts, then they have taken a memorial picture with H.H.
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