The Holy Spirit was the One who gave the necessary power for the work of preaching. The sending of the Holy Spirit was a promise from the Lord (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7), however, despite this He said to them, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Fr. upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:29). Where will this power come from? He said to them regarding this, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8).

The Spirit of God was essential to them for they could not work without Him. The Holy Spirit worked with them in preaching and teaching. They waited according to the Lord’s command. Their previous preparation for service which lasted more than three years did not dispense them of the Holy Spirit and His work in and with them. Perhaps these ten days which they waited were days of prayer and hope, from the heart, in preparation for the coming work.

1. Our Behavior Inside and Outside of Church

It is very noticeable that many people during Pascha Week are one thing inside church and completely different outside. In side church, black curtains, somber hymns, solemn readings, and concentrating on the suffering of Christ. Outside of church, we often laugh, joke around, socialize, think and talk about many worldly issues. We lose all the spiritual depth that we gained inside church. Let us concentrate our thoughts, conversations, and meditations around the events of this holy week and the Passion of our Savior.

2. Retreat

From El Keraza Magazine, April 20, 2007, pp. 9-10

Congratulations my beloved brothers and sons on the occasion of Glorious Resurrection Feast, and for the grace of resurrection which God granted us to live another life in the happy eternity. I also congratulate our beloved President Mohamed Hosni Mobarak, on the great results achieved from his last tours for the best interest of Egypt and the whole Arab world, wishing him and you all the blessings and good, and may God keep the world in peace and security.

My brethren and children in the lands of immigration, clergy and laity.

Peace to you from the Lord and grace, with my greetings to you during the Glorious Feast of Nativity. Wishing you in these occasions a new holy life that is better than what it was in the previous year.

I wish to say to you that the birth of Christ was an annunciation of salvation, as the angel said to the shepherds "I bring you good tidings of great joy … for there is born to you this day … a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11) Therefore, in His birth, His name was called Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

"I write to you, youth because you are strong and the word of God is abiding in you and you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:14).

As sin is separation from God, repentance then is returning to God. God says: "Return to me, and I will return to you" (Malachi 3:7). When the prodigal son repented, he returned to his father (Luke 15:18-20). True repentance is a human longing to return to the origin from which it was taken.

Originally published in El Karaza Magains, on Friday, August 5, 2005

I would like to meditate with you in the teachings of St. Paul the Apostle about the spiritual building, as mentioned in his first Epistle to Corinthians, where he said: “According to the grace of God which was

given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” (1 Co 3:10-13).

So what are gold, silver, and precious stones? What is straw, and what is fire?

My beloved children in the lands of immigration, clergy and congregation,

Grace to you and peace from our Almighty and Holy God. Sincere greetings to you for the glorious Feast of the Resurrection. May God bring this occasion upon you every year while you are full of goodness and blessing.

Christ, to whom is glory, rose despite the tight security over His tomb. He appeared to His holy disciples and strengthened their faith. He spoke to them about matters pertaining to the kingdom of God. He granted them the authority of the priesthood, and gave them the responsibility of pastoral care of His Church and His people. After forty days of visiting them, He arose to heaven and sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).

Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, had spent forty days with His disciples the saints talking to them about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3)…afterwards and prior parting ascending to Heaven, He told them “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49).

So what was this power which they needed to await? He told them “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Yes, they couldn’t start their service preaching spiritual work unless they were endued with that power from on high; the Holy Spirit being upon them…

Peace on the Feast of the Nativity

We congratulate you my brethren on the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, to Him be all Glory. We hope for you all on this Feast a joyous year, blessed by God, and that He may bless the whole world.

And on the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, we remember among its many meanings that the angels sang saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.” (Lk 2:14) Today, we hope that our contemplation will be on peace, which God wills for Earth, especially as the world and every person needs peace.

There are three types of peace which each person needs: peace with God, peace with people, and peace of heart.

Peace with God is that a person lives a life of righteousness and stays far from all sin and evil. Therefore sin is distance from God, and enmity from God and disobedience of His commandments. If man disobeys his God, man looses his peace.