Beloved brother, I beg you to
review your accounts! All that is on earth will perish, and all that is in heaven is permanent! "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and dust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Mt. 6: 19, 20). These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ for your life, so I
beg you to listen to them and to ponder them well. For this is a truth that we often lose sight of because of our earthly preoccupations and our temporal and narrow
aspirations. "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mt. 16: 26). In Truth, Dear brother, You need to find Jesus
Christ in the depths of your being! He is in the ship of your life which is tossed by high waves. All that you need to do is to call Him and say: "Master, I perish", and immediately He will rise and save
you from the waves of life and the pressures of sin. Would that you experienced what St. Augustine did when sin had embittered his life. He then heard the words of the Gospel "now it
is high time to awake out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor
of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (Rom. 13: 11 - 14). After that, St. Augustine met the Lord, repented, was united to Him, and became a monk, then a bishop, a saint, and a Christian philosopher. He
said to the Lord: "Where were you, O Lord, when I was panting for You? You were in me.... deeper than my depth, and higher than anything that is high... You were with me... but to my misery, I was not with
You." Dear reader, let us begin; let us grow in Christ, and may the Lord be with you. My Lord Jesus Christ, My Lord Jesus Christ, |
Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate WHAT NEXT?
Bishopric of Youth bookstore
Number 45
by HG Abba Moussa Bishop of the Youth
Dear Reader, We have
quickly reviewed the Sacred Sacraments of the Holy Church. Christianity has no objective other than that: "holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb. 12: 14). The only objective of these
seven sacraments is to sanctify your being for Christ so that He becomes everything in your life. By becoming everything, the Lord does not annul your ordinary natural life be it studies,
work, success, marriage, the begetting of children, and such like. What is meant is that all these should be sanctified in the light of Christ and that the Holy Spirit work in you so that your life might have another flavor
to it and a beautiful meaning. Simply, your finite and earthly life gains an infinite and heavenly dimension. Imagine with me that your life opens up to the Lord
Himself, to eternity, to immortality, to the things of the spirit and of heaven. Believe me, your life will have a new taste, and a desire for the Kingdom and for your eternal heritage will be born in your
heart. You will not be content to be lost in the dust and in what is made of dust, or to be lost with those who are lost in the crowd of worldly life! |
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