His Holiness Pope Tawadros II delivered his weekly sermon at the Wednesday meeting this evening, from the Church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Pope Kyrillos the Pillar of Faith in Cleopatra in Alexandria.
The sermon was broadcast on Christian satellite channels and the C.O.C channel of the Church’s Media Center on the Internet.
The meeting was attended by H.G. Bishop Bavly, the General Bishop of the churches of the Montazah sector, Bishop Ilarion, the General Bishop of the churches of the western sector of Alexandria, Father Abram Emil, the Patriarchal Vicar of Alexandria, the church priests, and a number of the priests of Alexandria.
His Holiness continued the series of “Strong, Short Prayers from the Liturgy” and addressed part of the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of our teacher St Luke, Verses (9-14).
H.H. referred to a short prayer that the Church raises in the Gregorian Mass, which is: “Mercy for the Repentant.” In the beginning, H.H. explained that the Church’s primary concern is to call every soul to repentance, because this is what Jesus Christ commanded in the Holy Bible:
“and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!””
(Matthew 3:2)
“Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
(Mark 1:15)
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
(Luke 5:32)
H.H. pointed out that the spiritual state of any person is either on the side of the “Pharisee” or on the side of the “tax collector,” and H.H. set four steps for a dialogue of mercy for those who repent, which are:
God calls everyone to repent, as an example of the prophet David when he was called by the prophet Nathan
1- A call from God
“Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.”(II Samuel 12:9)
David responded, shed tears, repented for his sins, and wrote a psalm of repentance.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; …Against You, You only, have I sinned,
(Psalms 51:1/4)
Therefore, every time a person reads the Bible, he is listening to the call to repentance, and Christ, morning and evening, says “Repent” in a collective way so that the person can repent and call his family to repent and help them hear the call of Christ.
2- Human response:
A person must respond daily because responding is the most wonderful thing, just as the Roman jailer responded when he thought that the prisoners had escaped after the earthquake, but Paul and Silas reassured him, so he asked to know the way to salvation.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
(Acts 16:31)
On the other hand, there are people who did not respond, such as Judas Iscariot. Therefore, man must respond when he hears the call, “Given for us salvation (for the past), forgiveness of sins (for the present), and eternal life (for the future) to him who partakes of Him.”
3- Opening the door to hope from God:
When a person responds to God’s call, God opens the door of hope, like the example of the woman who was caught in sin.
“When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.””
(John 8:10-11)
God always opens the door of hope to the repentant person, so repentance protects against despair, worries, and psychological troubles.
4- Perfection of mercy and joy for the repentant:
A repentant person always feels joy and happiness.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28)
“‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’”
(Luke 15:9)
Therefore, if a person wants to feel comfortable and at peace, he must pray and offer repentance and tears to wash away his sins.
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