This evening, H.H. Pope Tawadros II delivered his weekly sermon at the Wednesday meeting in St. Mark’s Cathedral 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.

His Holiness prayed the raising of incense vespers, with the participation of the general bishops supervising the pastoral sectors in Alexandria, Hegumen Abraam Emil (General Deputy of the Patriarchate in Alexandria), the priests of the church, and a number of priests of Alexandria.

After the vesper prayers, the top technical diploma and high-school students were celebrated. Father Karas Youssef (the official of the General Secretariat Service for the secondary stage in Alexandria), presented three examples of distinguished service attendees. He also presented the statistics and activities of the leaders of the service for the past year. A dialogue was held with His Holiness, during which he answered several questions related to the highschool stage and its academic challenges. Following this, Pope Tawadros honored 88 of the top technical diploma, high-school and equivalency degrees students.

Before the start of the sermon, Pope Tawadros congratulated the church members who excelled in degrees and were honored today, along with all the congregation of the Coptic Church, on the approaching Feast of Nayrouz and the Coptic New Year. He thanked the presenters of the ceremony’s segments and also congratulated the students who graduated from preparatory school.

His Holiness resumed the series “Qualifications for Service,” where he discussed the ninth qualification for service, which is “The Servant is a Student.” His Holiness reflected on the verses from (2 Timothy 2:1-6): “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”

Pope Tawadros explained that the importance of discipleship in the life of a servant is that it is:
1- A necessity for ecclesiastical life and a Biblical commandment
2- The method to progress
3- The correct path to success

His Holiness spoke about how to enter the life of discipleship through:
1- The school of the Bible (the holy word)
2- The school of a role model
3- The school of encouragement
4- The school of righteousness

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