Author: ramez

Admit it… Isn’t church just sheer boredom?

Admit it… Isn’t church just sheer boredom?

By: Bishoy Sharobim

Do you ever get bored during the Divine Liturgy? Do you ever feel church is just incredibly dry and routine? Do you ever think to yourself that you are wasting your time in going to church? Or that it is extremely useless and yields no profit to your life whatsoever? Come on, please admit you’ve had thoughts along these lines before.

Maybe you ponder to yourself, “Oh, I could be at home studying for my exams, or I could be catching up on lectures and tutorials” and those aren’t even sinful alternatives, right? I mean by all means, shoot for the stars in terms of your studies and career. I really admire seeing hard working people and if you didn’t know, two great modern day saints that inspire and are dearly loved by Copts,  Fr PishoyKamel and Pope Shenouda III,  were known to have been extraordinary successful in their studies.

So the question remains: why do we attend masses frequently when the benefit is less than the cost?

A holy Russian bishop once wrote to an abbess of a convent the following: “The Inward Temple. There is no need to weep much over the destruction of a church; after all, each of us, according to God’s mercy, has or should have his own church—the heart; go in there and pray, as much as you have strength and time. If this church is not well made and is abandoned (without inward prayer), then the visible church will be of little benefit.”

I ask you to please kindly try to read that quote a few times and let it sink in. I believe this quote holds profoundly important spiritual guidance. The part I want to highlight is: If this church [that is our hearts] is not well made through inward prayer then the visible church will be of little benefit.… then the visible church will be of little benefit? What could this line possibly mean?  Does it actually imply that attending church is utterly useless to me, if I don’t master the art of prayer or at the very least make some sort of significant progress in my prayer life (Let’s ignore any technicality around the words “inward prayer” for now). Oh my goodness! What a very revolutionary piece of wisdom? Oh my. This quote can finally explain so many years of extremely mundane and dry church attendance and help us finally figure out just exactly what is going on.

Doesn’t this make sense my brother and sisters? Take for example a university student. Perhaps this student is very diligent in attending the lectures for his course and rarely misses any. However, this particular student becomes quite busy at home and cannot seem to make the effort nor the time to study at home. What do you think? Do you think such a student will be successful in his studies? He attends the lectures – an integral component of succeeding in one’s university studies, right? Isn’t that enough for him to do well and perhaps even reach a stage where he enjoys the subject itself (because when we become successful in things we much more tend to enjoy them)?

No! It is highly doubted that the student will ever succeed in that subject. Moreover, he will probably hate the lectures and become frustrated in attending them because he would fail terribly to comprehend what is going on in. Additionally, there is no mental connection between his brain and the study of the particular subject.

We do the exact same thing spiritually. Yes, we attend the liturgies regularly, perhaps even twice or more a week. However, will we benefit if we don’t pray and don’t fulfil our element of struggle and striving at home? Will we feel joy in the liturgy, or rather frustration and boredom? No, we definitely will not receive any of these things which our most treasured church offers us. Instead, we will regard the liturgy in the same way as the slothful and indolent university student who hates his work, is repulsed and frustrated by it and wants to cease attending lectures. And all of this is simply because he didn’t put in the effort and time at home.

So my brothers and sisters, we are exceedingly blessed beyond our imagination to be born into the glorious Coptic Orthodox church, where there is no greater joy than in following the teachings of the church handed down to us by our saintly forefathers. Come, let us deeply internalise the importance of prayer in the spiritual life, and having done this, then we will bear stronger arms in applying ourselves diligently and consistently to the all-important work of prayer. And finally, we will cry out with ecstasy alongside the psalmist saying “How lovely is your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD” (Psalm 84:1-2).

O our beautiful Lord Jesus Christ, grant us such happiness that is found in the Orthodox Church!

Evidence for the Resurrection

Evidence for the Resurrection

By: St Mark Youth 

‘For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; and you are still in your sins!’ (I Corinthians 15:16-17)

 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith without which the whole building falls. It seems hard to imagine that such a supernatural event could stand the scrutiny of scores of historians and philosophers unless there was some proof for its occurrence. This proof is put forward by William Lane Craig, through four objective facts:

Fact 1: After His crucifixion, Jesus was honourably buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a tomb. As a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, well known by many of the Jews and evidently Pontius Pilate himself, he is unlikely to be a Christian invention. This, along with the fact that the chief priests posted guards on Jesus’ tomb, shows that the location of the body of Jesus was known, prior to its disappearance on Easter Sunday.

Fact 2: On the Sunday after the crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of His women followers. The discovery of the tomb by women (whose testimony in 1st century Israel was regarded so untrustworthy that it would not even be admitted into a Jewish court) is further proof to the truth of the whole story. For if the resurrection was a fabrication then its authors would not have used women as the first discoverers, rather men in hope of convincing the Jews. Also, the early Jewish allegation that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus (Matthew 28:13) proves that the body was in fact missing from the tomb on Sunday morning to which the Jewish leadership had no better explanation.

Fact 3: On multiple occasions and under various circumstances different individuals and groups of individuals experienced appearances of Jesus risen from the dead. The appearance narratives in the Gospels provide multiple, independent attestations of the appearances which are then summarised by Paul in I Corinthians 15:5-8.

Fact 4: The disciples suddenly and sincerely came to the believe that Jesus was risen from the dead despite their having every predisposition to the contrary. The disciples were in a catastrophic state following Jesus’ death; not only was their Lord dead but He had been crucified and thus by Jewish law is considered accursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). What would drive this group of mostly uneducated, scared men and women to then suddenly and openly proclaim that He is risen from the dead and preach to the whole world? Not only that, but to accept torture and even death for their preaching. Could it be seeing and talking to the very Man they buried with their own hands?! Certainly yes.

But more importantly than this mere historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is our personal proof that ‘God raised Him from the dead’ (Acts 13:30); which is our own experience of the Risen Lord and His work in our individual lives. Alfred Ackley, in his Easter Hymn, writes:

‘You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.’

Fr Mark Basily – 103.2 Interview (Palm Sunday Bombings)

Blog Originally Posted on Hope 103.2 website. View the original at:
http://hope1032.com.au/stories/life/news/2017/please-pray-egypts-christians-attackers-says-coptic-priest/#.WOyH7W8VxRE.facebook

Listen: Father Mark Basili from St Marks Coptic Church in Arncliffe, Sydney, reflects on centuries of persecution of Coptic Christians.

Australia’s Egyptian Christians have rallied to prayer for their brothers and sisters in faith, after the ISIS attacks on two churches in Egypt on Sunday.

As news of the attacks came through, Father Mark Basili from St Marks Coptic Church in Arncliffe, Sydney, spoke to Open House presenter Stephen O’Doherty.

He called for prayers for both Egyptian believers, and for the attackers themselves, after the shocking bomb attacks in Alexandra and Tanta that claimed at least 45 lives.

“We ask all the Christians to share with us in prayer and we also pray for the attackers, that God would have mercy on them and also touch their hearts,” he said. “As Christians we’re called to love everybody, even those who persecute us.

Father Mark, who has been in touch with clergy friends in Egypt since the attacks, said the attacks were clearly timed to hurt the largest number of Christians possible as they gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, an annual tradition for many Christians.

“Palm Sunday is the celebration of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, and for the Coptic Orthodox Church it’s one of the most significant feasts and probably the most crowded day in the whole church calendar,” Father Mark said.

“It’s devastating to begin this beautiful period of Easter in this kind of way. It definitely would have been one of the most crowded days of the whole year in church.”

The attack follows a suicide bombing in December last year on St Peter and St Paul church at St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, which killed 24 people; as well as the murder of 21 Egyptian Christians by Islamists on a beach in Libya in 2015.

Father Mark explained that Egyptian Christians are sadly familiar with persecution. In fact on the Open Doors ‘World Watch List’, a ranking of the 50 nations where Christians are treated the worst, Egypt ranks at number 21.

“The Coptic Church has always been an attacked minority,” Father Mark said. “Christians are living in fear and persecution, all for their love for Christ and just wanting to worship Jesus.”

The Church That Predates the Bible

The Coptic Church is one of the most ancient of the Christian faith. It was established the first century AD by St Mark the apostle, the author of one of the Biblical gospel texts. He travelled to Alexandria in Egypt and from there Christianity spread all across Egypt.

Both the Coptic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria are believed to be descended from that early church plant in Alexandria.

“It’s a very ancient, special and beautiful church,” said Father Mark, who is himself named after Mark the Apostle. “But it’s definitely stained with the blood of the martyrs throughout the centuries.”

Australia has large Coptic congregations in both Sydney and Melbourne, as well two Bishops, a monastery, dozens of churches and thousands of parishioners.

“It’s a very active church with a lot of young people, very devout, and probably the reason for that is the strength that comes from being persecuted in Egypt,” Father Mark explained. “When you are persecuted for Christ’s sake it does strengthen your faith, make you closer and more dependent on God. You can see that ripple effect in the parishioners and the way their faith is deeply rooted, in the way they worship.”

Catholic Archbishop’s Personal Connection to Egypt

In response to the Palm Sunday bombings, Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher has also joined in the call to prayer, inspired not only by his faith but his personal connection to Egypt.

“My own grandmother was born in the then-peaceful city of Alexandria, after her family fled persecution elsewhere,” he said in a statement. “As we gather in parishes across Australia this week to commemorate the Lord’s Passion, let us be thankful and never take for granted that we are able to do so in safety; and let us remember in our pryaers who are dying for their faith in Christ.”

Australia’s Coptic congregations are looking forward to a visit by the Coptic Pope Tawadros II in September this year.

Sacrament of Unction

Sacrament of Unction

By St Mark’s Youth

Join us as we contemplate on the Unction of the Sick! Read the following Bible passages as you come across them below, to supplement the blog!
Mark 6
James 5
Luke 10
Psalm 23
Joel 2

The Sacrament of the Unction of the Sick is one of the holy Seven Sacraments of the church (do you know the others?). The sacrament allows the sick who are faithful, to be healed from psychological and physical diseases.  The priest anoints the person with the holy oil from which they obtain the grace of remedy/healing from God.

We read in Mark 6, Christ travelling through Nazareth performing miracles of healing. There is something peculiar though… “Now he could do no mighty works there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and health them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief” (Mk 6:5-6). This was Christ’s hometown, and there was something preventing him from performing many miracles there.

St John Cassian reflects on this; “If the faith of those who bring them or of the sick is lacking, it may prevent those who possess the gift of healing from exercising it.” Christ was shocked because of the lack of faith of the people in this hometown!

Origen goes further to take something more beautiful out of this: “Mark presents the all-surpassing value of God’s divine power, even in those who do not believe” – God’s power is stronger than our lack of faith! He continues, “Mark did not deny that grace works even more powerfully among those who have faith. He does not flatly say that Christ could do no mighty work there at all, and stop at that point… but he added that he laid his hands on a few sick folk. The power in him overcame their unbelief.”.

What does this mean for us, and our lack of faith? The Unction of the Sick seems quite abstract… can we gain psychological and physical healing from a simple prayer and anointing with oil? Of course with faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains – and furthermore, God can overcome our lack of faith (as above)! Let us pray to God to strengthen the holes in our faith, so that His grace may work more powerfully in us.

You may have heard of these prayers before as ‘Kandeel Prayers’, where the priests visit your house and light cotton wicks in a bowl of oil. This is indeed, the Sacrament of the Unction of the Sick. In the early Church, Christians used to perform this prayer – it was known as the Sacrament of Lamps.

In the early church, oil in a lamp was lit, from which hang seven other lamps. Each lamp was lit at the beginning of every prayer.  This rite now occurs with seven wicks, made from cotton wool, which sit in a plate of oil. The number seven signifies the seven spirits of God, which are mentioned in the Book of Revelation (Rvltn 3:1).  The Spirit of God dwells and sanctifies the oil in order to heal those anointed by it. The wicks are placed in the sign of the cross, in the plate of oil.

Indeed we see the Biblical mentions of this sacrament, in our reading of James 5:13 “Is anyone among you sick ? Let him call for the elders of the church , and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord”. Lent is a time where the Church recommends families to invite parish priests into their homes, and partake of this blessed sacrament!

Here we must remember the definition of a sacrament – these are the workings of God and His grace, through His creation. The priest is the one who prays, but it is God who heals, for the sacrament is not a person’s work but the work of God.

The act of God healing through the prayers of others is seen in our reading of Luke 10:8-9 “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, heal the sick who are there, and say to them, The Kingdom of God has come near to you.” The disciples, similar to modern day priests, enact this sacrament through God’s grace.

Psalm 23 reminds us that the Lord provides healing. This Sacrament has a beautiful value and benefit in our Orthodox church. Let us pray for faith, for our hearts to be opened and experience a direct encounter with the Grace of God.

Glory be to His holy name forever, Amen.

The Resurrection of the Dead

The Resurrection of the Dead

For reference while reading this blog, join and contemplate on the following readings:
1 Corinthians 15-16
Matthew 24
1 Thessalonians 4-5
2 Thessalonians 2
2 Peter 3

The Resurrection is at the centre of our faith and St Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 15, when he states that if Christ is not risen from the dead, then we, as Christians, are the most pitiable of people because our faith is empty. However, fear not, St Paul confirms that Christ truly has risen, through the testimony of his life, where he preaches Christ’s Resurrection to his martyrdom!

Sometimes we find ourselves doubting the resurrection because we think it doesn’t make sense scientifically, which requires that something be observable and repeatable under certain conditions. But one thing we have to realise is that the resurrection is not meant to be looked at scientifically, but it is to be looked at as a historical event. And one of the biggest pieces of evidence that this historical event really occurred is the witness of the Apostles after Christ’s resurrection. These normal people could have gone back to their everyday lives, and accepted that they were fooled in the three years of Christ’s ministry. Instead they dedicated their whole lives to spreading the message of Christ and His Resurrection. Would they dedicate their lives to a lie? Some may argue they just did it because it made them fill their time, kept them united or made them famous. Sure, that would have lasted for a while. But when they were threatened with and were at the point of death, for any sane person, that would have been the final straw. Nobody would die for a lie! And yet we see all of the Apostles, except for John the Beloved, being martyred for the sake of Christ. And if you think they did it because of peer pressure or because they were together and everyone was doing, then think again! St Mark was martyred in Egypt, St Paul in Italy and St Thomas in India, and so they weren’t there supporting each other at their toughest moment and it would have been easy for them to admit that they were preaching a lie so that they could save their lives. And yet they didn’t! And they didn’t because they were sure of what they had seen and what they had heard, and they knew that Christ had truly risen from the dead! So the question still stands, why would so many of them die for a lie? And if you can’t find an answer then this is just one piece of evidence to convince you that Christ truly is risen!

The rest of the readings mentioned tell us how to respond to the Resurrection of Christ. The gist of it is that we should always live with the Resurrection at the forefront of our mind, living out what we say in the Creed where “we look for the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  The chapters tell us to be ready for His coming, since we know neither the day nor hour, but that we should not wait in fear, but in joy and comfort, as we know that Jesus will come to save those who believe. This waiting time should also be used as an opportunity to “put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8) and to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) And the best way to do this is in the Church, and by living her life of prayer, repentance, and by participating in her Sacraments.

Fr. Alexander Schmemann: Reflections on Pope Shenouda III

Fr. Alexander Schmemann: Reflections on Pope Shenouda III

Saturday, February 11, 1978

Immersion yesterday and today in a totally unknown (to me) world of Coptic Christianity. Right away I must express my main impression: it is edifying and it is alive. I remember my trip to the Middle East in 1971 and my impression of something outlived, nominal, dying, chained to the past—the existence of a non-existent world. Lifeless Hierarchs. Fear. Lies. Corruption.

And then, last year in Los Angeles, I met His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, the Patriarch of the Coptic Church. Right away—an impression of genuine life, spiritual openness. And now, inCairo, I am meeting the very Coptic reality. There are about seven million Copts in Egypt! And this church, despite persecutions (Byzantine, Arab, Turkish), despite the surroundingsea of Islam, despite its isolation and loneliness, and the whole spiritual and political chaos of the Middle East, is revived and alive!

In the morning, a long reception at the Patriarchs residence. Right away, we talk about the essential—the Church, ways to unify, mission, Africa, youth.

In the evening, I witnessed something truly amazing. In the packed cathedral, seven thousand people listen—as they do every Friday—to the Patriarch. In front of him, on a little table, hundreds of little pieces of paper with questions. He chooses five or six and answers them so simply, and at the same time so deeply (about the meaning of “Lord have mercy”; about the death of a mother—“where is she now?”; about a fifteen-year-old girl—“should she go to a monastery now?”; about somebody who promised to work in the church school if he passed his exam and has not kept his promise, etc.). Then he lectures about the temptations of Christ in the desert, and again—genuine, lively, pastoral, nurturing. Where in the Orthodox world can one see and experience this, a patriarch with the people, in a live dialogue?

But then today I had an extraordinary day: a visit in the desert to three monasteries with an uninterrupted tradition from Anthony the Great, Makarios, etc. In one of them is the sarcophagus of Ephrem of Syria. And the most amazing, of course, is how very much alive it all is: Real monks! In my whole life, I have seen only imitations, only playing at monastic life, false, stylized; and mostly unrestrained idle talk about monasticism and spirituality. And here are they, in a real desert. A real, heroic feat.

So many young monks. No advertisements, no brochures about spirituality. Nobody knows anything about them and they do not mind it. I am simply stunned. I have a thousand questions, and I will have to gradually start sorting it all out. Right now, this trip to the desert remains in my memory as something radiant.

_____

Editor’s Note: The Rev. Alexander Schmemann was a leading Russian Orthodox theologian influential in U.S. church life in the cause of religious freedom in the Soviet Union and in the world-wide ecumenical movement. He was an adjunct professor at Columbia and New York universities and at Union and General theological seminaries in New York City. He was also dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y.

5 Things You Need to Know About Lent

5 Things You Need to Know About Lent

by: Christina Ibrahim

It’s that time of the year again! We find ourselves at the beginning of another Lenten season, and every year it’s the same drill; frantically trying to finish all the meat and cheese in the fridge so we can replace it with tameya and Minicol. But every year as we go through the motions, have we ever really stopped to think about why the Church in its wisdom has put in place the traditions and rites during this blessed time?

So here are 5 things you need to know about the lent, on this journey.

  1. Why is the lent 55 days?

Simply put, we have 7 days for Preparation Week + 40 days when Jesus fasted in the wilderness + 7 days for Passion Week + 1 day for Lazarus Saturday.

  1. Origin of the Lent

The period of Lent, was first observed by the apostles themselves or in the immediate post – apostolic period in preparation for Easter baptism. It was said that the fast lasted for approximately 2 days, commemorating the time the Lord spent in the tomb. It was only following the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D that the Lent became the fixed 40 days we know today.
Source: The Paschal or Lent Fast: Apostolic and Perpetual (Oxford, UK: John Henry Parker, 1845)

  1. What does “fasting” actually mean?

The Old Testament Hebrew word for fasting is ts-oom, which means to cover your mouth. However in the New Testament the Greek translation for fasting was nace-ty-oo, which means to abstain from food. 

  1. So is abstinence necessary in fasting?

“There can be no knowledge of the mysteries of God on a full stomach.” St Isaac the Syrian (Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way)

When we abstain from food for a period of time, the Lord grants us a poor and contrite spirit, allowing us to come to Him begging for His forgiveness and mercy, pleading with Him to reveal to us our sins, knowing that through a broken spirit He will hear and “give heed to the voice of my cry.”(Psalm 5)

  1. Is it just about the food?

No. It’s about so much more than that, Isaiah 58 reads:
“Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul?  Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?  Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? “

Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’”  (Isaiah 58:5 – 7)

God does not require burdensome fasting rituals and ascetic practices, but that we show love and mercy in every aspect of our lives, through good works. By putting away our sin, we allow Christ the opportunity to renew our hearts and He promises that, “Your healing shall spring forth speedily.” What more can we really want than healing and revival during this time of Lent?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spear in Your Side

Spear in Your Side

by: St Mark Youth

Every time. Every time…
I tend to ignore your wounds, your sores.
I pick the spear, yet I’ve been there before.

I hide from your face as I run to my shame
Yet the next day your goodness I always proclaim
Bowing down I utter your name
Praying that kindly You’ll forget my blame

You are good
You are merciful
You are kind

Yet as I momentarily forget these gifts
The truth of Your crucifixion I must reminisce
The spear that pierced your innocent side
Is the spear that I push further with my pride

I am Pilate
I am the soldier
I am a sinner

Teach me Lord to put down the spear
Teach me Lord to live in your fear
As I gaze O Lord at thy Passion
Allow me to act in Christian fashion

Put down the spear
Live in His fear
He will hold you dear
And make your conscience clear

3 Things To Do This Lent!

3 Things To Do This Lent

by Meena Awad

Welcome to Lent! Get ready to be smashed spiritually. Get ready to go through dry periods. Get ready to be attacked with division, complacency, judgement, gossip and anything that can go wrong. “But joy comes in the morning” – Psalm 30:5 and “he who endures to the end will be saved” – Matthew 10:22. For “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” – James 1:12.

So let’s go over 3 quick things that will not only help us benefit this Lent, but open our eyes to the beauty and sweetness of the Lord.

1 – Annoy your confession father!

We all avoid that one person who comes to us and has the exact same conversation every time. Unfortunately for our confession fathers, they can’t run away. So go be a pest. Every moment this lent you have a chance to confess, take it! Even if you confess more than once in that week. Take this opportunity to develop a strong connection with your father of confession. Have confession more times now than you ever have before. Even if you’re saying the exact same thing every time, even if you don’t have anything to say at all, take the opportunity to sit with him, he will tell you what to do.

2 – Focus!

The world is a noisy and disturbing place. Yet no noise on earth compares to the chaos found in the mind and heart of one who is unfocused.

St John Climacus divides this lack of focus into two things; Tedium and Despondency.
“Tedium reminds those at prayer of some job to be done, and in her brutish way she searches out any plausible excuse to drag us from prayer…” – St John Climacus

It’s a common problem. The constant feeling of having no time to pray or when we do pray, we remember, “Oh, I forgot to message family/friends/boss etc”, “I need to finish prayer quickly so I can work/serve/wake up for the mass tomorrow etc”. Or we just lose concentration during prayer and we think of everything but the prayer.

Despondency is the opposite end of the spectrum. It is when we have all the time and energy in the world, but don’t care enough to dedicate it to God and our spiritual life.

Both are problems of focus. Both have the same solution. St John says the best way to overcome these are by; mourning our past sins and thinking of eternal blessing. So this lent, let us truly mourn and repent of our sins so we can refocus on God. Take time in a quiet place each day. Take note of our short fallings and all that is heavy on our hearts, and mourn over them. Ask, “how can I separate myself from the One I love like that?” Then turn to the Lord and tell him “Forgive me sweet Lord, for I turned from you, I rejected you and caused tears to fall from your pure eyes.”

But repentance is not enough, there needs to be reconciliation. So now we return to God! We now learn that a relationship with a fleeting pleasure can never compare to a relationship with an unconditionally loving and eternal God. Pleasures will pass, no matter how great they may seem, but what God has for us endures forever. For, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

And in this way we will neither have Tedium nor Despondency.

3 – Get romantic with God.

It’s incredible what we will do for the things we love; stand up for hours to buy a burger and not complain once, spend thousands to see our idols and have no regrets, talk all night with the boy/girl we love and not get tired. Yet how often do we stand up to eat the Bread of Life and complain, give some money to the poor and have regrets or refuse to stay up and pray because we are tired? It’s time we take the romance in our lives that is aimed toward our passions and turn them toward God. Romance is a natural function inside all humans and it was put inside us by God for God. “All things were created through Him and for Him.” – Colossians 1:16

So this lent, let’s get romantic with God. Take a peaceful nature walk with the Lord. Spend what we can on gifts for His children. Light some candles when we sit with Him and stay up late talking truly and intimately with Him, sharing all our deepest thoughts, feelings, ambitions and dreams. Take Him with us everywhere we go, refusing to let go of His hand. Let our hearts beat as one, in total synergy with God. Let this Lenten period be a honeymoon between us and our most Beloved One.

“Scarcely had I passed by them, when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go.” – Song of songs 3:4

Lenten Fasting – Revisited

Lenten Fasting – Revisited

by Shenouda Girgis

Holding the dog hostage and setting the eagle free – Lenten fasting revisited.

Diving into the Lenten season, we find ourselves face to face with an ogre in the room… the infamous no fish, no meat, no milk, no nothing fast. And my first reaction to the impending despair, is to honey the thought with a dose of cognitive behavioural therapy.

Don’t worry, it’s short.

Wait, I can’t lie to myself, its darn long.

Ok, let’s be truthful. It’s not that bad, I always look back and it was like nothing.

At this point I’ll start clenching my fist with a couple of catchy one liners; “what doesn’t kill me, can only make me stronger.”

With our mind fixated on the thought of the seriousness of the situation, we gradually develop our own maxims that push us to fast with more austerity. We become completely focused on eating less to discipline the body and free the soul, tame the dog to guide the eagle. This works – for a time. Then what? After a couple of dodgy fasts, we reminisce on the glory days, where fasting meant so much and felt, like, sort of- liberating. We relabel the focus with the same maxim that we developed a couple of fasts ago, and at it headfirst we go again!

It doesn’t work so we keep trying to uphold this cheap one-line which we can so sternly stare down and focus our glassy eyes on. The one line we set on a pedestal is usually a couple of cheaply put together words that are easy to remember and generally guide the intended thought behind the veil of the words. The more we think, the more the words take on new meaning and the initial thought in all its integrity is lost. What is left is a few flat words that Google thesaurus would dutifully snicker at. With time, we find this one line sink real deep into our mind and sort of take over our whole being, a bit like a mantra. Fasting and non-fasting times, we are just naturally gravitating toward eating less. Fasting loses its meaning; food becomes the obstacle to our goal; if we could just eat less, we would glimpse the shadow of the days of honey and milk. And do you see the monster we’ve developed?

In the beginning we loved food. The joy and complete utter miracle of eating was fresh in our senses. The rich crunch through an apple sent our spirits soaring. We were thankful with a heart overflowing with bliss. We were positive, we were happy. Fasting was a hold on our diet; a tool to violent recollection and inner peace; a stern development of character; it was the perfect balance between the eagle and the dog. Not an assassination of the poor dog. Now we’ve hung the dog at the stake, and the eagle has flown high. We’ve convinced ourselves into thinking we could be free like an angel. But we’re not angels. We’re human, we are body and spirit. The balance between the two and the complete cohesion and fullness of the two is a bliss more glorious than angels. Sort of like the dog attached to the eagle like a kite in an innocent boy’s hands.