Today evening, H.H. Pope Tawadros II prayed the Resurrection Liturgy at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Abbasia, Cairo, with the contribution of several General Bishops Vice patriarchy in Cairo along with some priests and monks. The Divine Liturgy witnessed the participation of a large number of people.
The prayers were broadcast on Egyptian television, Official Website of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic satellite channels, and the COC channel of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s media center on the Internet.
The cathedral witnessed a large number of people who came to congratulate, from among statesmen, representatives of many institutions and bodies, and ambassadors of some countries, while the sides of the cathedral were filled with worshipers from the church.
H.G. Bishop Yolios, General Bishop of Old Cairo and Social Services, thanked the people who congratulated on behalf of H.H., the Holy Synod and Coptic bodies.
Major General Tariq Afifi, Chief Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic, attended to congratulate on behalf of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and representatives of the heads of parliaments, sheikhs and ministers, and on behalf of the Grand Imam, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and the Grand Mufti, Dr. Shawqi Allam.
Also present were the Ministers of Electricity, Supply, Environment, Health and Population, Youth and Sports, Social Solidarity, Local Development, Immigration and Affairs of Egyptians abroad, Culture, Water Resources, Tourism and Antiquities, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, the Minister of State for Military Production and a number of senior leaders of the armed forces, the Ministry of Interior, representatives of judicial bodies, and ambassadors of some countries, representatives of a number of Egyptian unions, parties, universities, and many bodies and institutions.
At the beginning of the sermon, H.H. congratulated the fathers, the metropolitans, bishops, priests, deacons, and all the children of the Church in Egypt and all countries on the Day of Resurrection.
H.H. pointed out that the Resurrection of Christ is a daily event in a person’s life, and gives him a positive eye (view) of life, and the positive eye is characterized by being realistic, comprehensive and humane.
His Holiness explained four examples of personalities who were present in the events of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord Christ, and these personalities, some of which have a positive eye and others have a negative eye, are:
1- John and Judas Iscariot: They are among the twelve disciples of Christ, and John became the disciple whom Jesus loved, and he used to show the service of Christ and His miracles to people, so he had a positive view, while Judas looked at Jesus with a materialistic view, and estimated Him with money, and handed Christ over to the Jews cheaply, and eventually realized his mistake and went on to hang himself, so his view was negative.
2- The thief on the right and the thief on the left: they were the two who were crucified next to the Lord Christ,“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”His eyes were negative and he deserved death, while the thief on the right rebuked the thief on the left and said to him, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.
“Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.””
(Luke 23:42)
3- Pontius Pilate and his wife: Pilate was the Roman governor at that time, and his wife warned him about the Lord Christ.
“Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.””
(Matthew 27:19 )
She had the positive eye for life, while Pilate delivered Him to the cross, so he had the negative eye.
4- A man and a woman: The woman is Mary Magdalene from whom the Lord Christ expelled the evil spirits. She was affected by the Lord Christ and began to serve Him. She went crying to the tomb of the Lord Christ early in the morning on Sunday, and met Him and thought he was the gardener, but when He said to her: “Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).”
(John 20:16 )
She had the positive eye, while the man was Thomas, the disciple who lived with Christ for a long time, and when the Lord Christ appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, Thomas was not present with them. When he knew, he did not believe them, so he had a negative view, but the Lord Christ appeared again to the disciples a week after the Resurrection and said to Thomas:
“Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
(John 20:27)
His Holiness made it clear that a person needs, on the Feast of Resurrection, to receive this grace and blessing, to have a positive look on life, and to search for beauty in nature and in every situation, every decision, and every person, and thus help in building people and society.
At the conclusion of the sermon, H.H. said: “We take this opportunity to send greetings, love, appreciation and pride to His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and to all the officials in our dear country, and we congratulate our country and the Arab and Islamic peoples on Eid al-Fitr, which falls in a few days.
H.H. then added: We thank God that our feasts, fasts, and prayers are close to each other, and we all feel that we are in a strong spiritual period, starting with fasting and prayers, as well as the festivals that are close to each other.
His Holiness said that the coincidence of the feasts with each other increases the love and the beautiful Egyptian relations that we live in every occasion.
His Holiness said that we pray for everyone and for the disputes, conflicts and wars that exist in many places, and we thank God for the peace that is in our country, and we pray for every person who needs prayer if he is in distress or problem, and His Holiness completed that we pray for the countries that have been subjected to earthquakes, crises and disasters, and for the sake of all humanity.
His Holiness concluded his speech by inviting everyone to have a positive eye so that we can work together, build our society and our homeland, and rejoice in God’s work in our dear country.
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