Today (Saturday), H.H. Pope Tawadros II prayed the Divine Liturgy in the Church of St Gawargious and St Anthony in Nozha, Heliopolis, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of its establishment (1974 – 2024).

Three of the Church’s bishops and a number of priests participated in the Liturgy prayers, in addition to the priests, deacons and congregation of the church itself.

In the Liturgy’s sermon, His Holiness congratulated the church’s priests, congregation, deacons, servants, and archons on the golden jubilee, praising their service, which resulted in servants who served the Coptic Church in many places.

In the sermon, he addressed the topic of “hypocrisy” through the Gospel of the Mass, known as the Gospel of Woes, in which the Lord Christ rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy. His Holiness pointed out that this Gospel reveals the difference between the true spiritual life and the empty, fake life, pointing out that hypocrisy makes a person’s spiritual life weaken and crumble, just as moths do to wood.

Pope Tawadros chose five stations in the Liturgy that help us live the true spiritual life, far from appearances and hypocrisy. These are:

1) The “Catholicon” station: which concludes with a sentence taken from the words of the First Epistle of St John (1 John 2:15 and 17): “Do not love the world or the things in the world… the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” It means that we use the world in our lives without being attached to it or loving it, which helps us to live a true life with God.

2) “Greet one another with a holy kiss” station: His Holiness explained the established church tradition in practicing the ritual of the holy kiss, which is that every man shakes hands with the person man next to him, and likewise the women, who shake hands with the women standing next to them. He described the method of practicing this ritual as “elegant and posh” in the language of our time. He pointed out that the message that the church wants to deliver to us is: Be a “peacemaker” and fill your heart with true love.

3) “O you who are seated stand” station: That is, if you are heedless or falling into sin and weakness, pay attention, stand up and help others so that they too stand up.

4) “Look towards the East” station: The spiritual meaning is to prepare for the coming of Christ who will come from the east (Matthew 24:27).

5) “Worship God in fear and trembling” station: It is a call to humility and submission to God.

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