"What am I living for?" While that is an important question, the most important question of all is "Who am I living for?" Only one person can insure that I will never die because he has already died for me and conquered death! If he was willing to die for me, I'm for sure going to live for him!

Day 16 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramhat, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.

The Sixteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramhat

Departure of the Saint Anba Khail (Mikhail), the Forty-Sixth Pope of the See of St.Mark

      On this day of the year 483 A.M. (March 12th, 767 A.D.) the holy father Anba Khail (Mikhail), the forty six Pope of the See Of St. Mark, departed. This father was a monk in the monastery of St. Macarius and he was knowledgeable and ascetic. When Pope Theodorus the forty fifth Patriarch, his predecessor, departed the bishops of Lower Egypt (Delta) and the priests of Alexandria gathered in the church of Anba Shenouda in Cairo. A Dispute arose among them about who was fit, and finally they called Anba Mousa, Bishop of Ouseem, and Anba Petros, Bishop of Mariout. When they arrived, Anba Mousa found the priests of Alexandria obstinate, he rebuked them for that, and dismissed them that night so their minds and souls might calm down. When they met the next day he mentioned to them the name of the priest Khail the monk in the monastery of St. Macarius. They unanimously agreed to his choice and obtained a decree from the Governor of Egypt to the elders of the wilderness of Sheahat (Wadi El-Natroun) to bring him from the monastery. On their way, when they arrived to Geza they found father Khail coming along with some elders to fulfill a certain task connected with the monastery. They seized him, bound him, and took him to Alexandria where they ordained him Patriarch on the 17th. of Tute, year 460 A.M. (September 14th., year 743 A.D.). It Happened that there was a drought in the city of Alexandria for two years, and on that day the rain fell heavily for three days and the people of Alexandria considered that a good omen.

      During the reign of Marawan the last of the Khalifas of the Umayyad rule and during the governorship of Hefs Ebn El-Walid and during the days of this father many great tribulations fell upon the believers. A large number of the believers fled from Egypt and the number of those who denied Christ was twenty-four thousand, and because of that the Patriarch was in great sorrow until God perished those were responsible for that. This father endured many difficulties from Abdel Malek Ebn-Marawan the new governor. He imprisoned, beaten, chained, and tortured him with many other ways of painful tortures, then he released him. The Patriarch went to Upper Egypt to collect alms and when he came back, the Governor took the money from him and threw him back in prison. When Keriakos king of Nuba knew that, he was extremely enraged, he prepared one hundred thousand soldiers and marched down to Egypt. Going threw Upper Egypt he slew all the Muslims that he met, until he reached El Fostat (Cairo), he camped around the city threatening to destroy it. When Abdel Malek the Governor saw the army surrounding the city and that all this had taken place for the sake of the Patriarch, he became terrified, so he released him from prison with great honor. The Governor entreated the Patriarch to mediate peace between him and the king of Nuba.

      The Patriarch agreed to his request, so he went with some of the clergy to meet the king and asked him to accept the peace from abdel Malek which the king accepted and returned back. Abdel Malek respected the Christians and lifted up all his retribution. When the father the Patriarch prayed for the sake of the Governor's daughter, who was possessed with an unclean spirit, and with his prayers the unclean spirit left her, the Governor increased his respect for the Christians. This father debated with Cosmas the Melchite Patriarch concerning the Hypostatic Union. Pope Khail wrote him a letter, signed it along with his bishops, which said in it: "It is not right to say that in Christ two distinct Natures or two distinct Persons after the Hypostatic Union." Cosmas was convinced with that and asked to become a bishop under the authority of Anba Khail. When Anba Khail completed his strife, he departed to the Lord whom he loved after he had spent on the Chair of St. Mark twenty-three and half years.

May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.

Readings for Tuesday of fifth week of Great Lent

Matins

Numbers 10 : 35 - end Numbers 11 : 1 - 34 Proverbs 3 : 19 - end Proverbs 4 : 1 - 9 Isaiah 40 : 1 - 8 Job 25 : 1 - 6 Jobs 26 : 1 - 14

Numbers 10 : 35 - end

Numbers 11 : 1 - 34

Proverbs 3 : 19 - end

Proverbs 4 : 1 - 9

Isaiah 40 : 1 - 8

Job 25 : 1 - 6

Jobs 26 : 1 - 14

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Matins

Matins Psalm

From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.

Psalms 86 : 5,6

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.

Matins Gospel

Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Mark the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.

Mark 9 : 14 - 24

And Glory be to God forever.

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Liturgy Gospel

Paulines Epistle

Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Philippians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.

Philippians 2 : 22 - 26

The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.

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Catholic Epistle

A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. John .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.

1 John 3 : 2 - 11

Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.

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Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.

Acts 24 : 10 - 23

The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.

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Synaxarium

Day 1 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramoudah, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.

The First Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah

Departure of St.Silvanus the Monk

      On this day the holy father Abba Silvanus the monk departed. This blessed man became a monk in the monastery of St. Macarius, and he strove in every narrow path. He fasted for long periods with prayers and many vigils in humility and love and he became a great father. God had granted him to see Divine visions. He commanded his disciples never to cease working with their hands, and to give alms with what surpassed their needs. One day a lazy monk saw him with his disciple absorbed in working with their hands, and he said to them: "Do not labor for the food which perishes" for it is written: "Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." When the old man Abba Silvanus heard that, he told his disciple: "Give the father a book, take him to the church to read, and shut the door on him without leaving with him any thing to eat;" and the disciple did as he was commanded. When the ninth hour came the old man and his disciples ate and did not invite the monk. During that time the monk was gazing with his eyes toward the door waiting for someone to invite him to eat.

      When he became very hungry, he left the church and asked the old man: "Have the brethren eaten to day?" and St. Silvanus replied "Yes". The monk asked: "Why you did not call me to eat with them?" He replied: "You are a spiritual man has no need for food for the body. You have chosen the good part, but we are humans in need of food for the body, for this reason we need the work of our hands." The monk knew that he had transgressed with his words and he bowed before the holy man asking for his forgiveness. The holy man told the monk: "O my son we need to work, for Mary needs Martha, and through Martha, Mary was praised." Thus the monk was rebuked by the teaching of this father, and he worked with his hands continually, and he gave alms with what remained over. This father wrote many helpful discourses about the spiritual strife. When he finished his strife in a good old age, God made him know the time of his departure. He called the monks that were near by, he was blessed by them, and he asked them to remember him in their prayers, then departed in peace.

May his prayers be with us. Amen.

Raid of the Arabs of Upper Egypt on the Wilderness of Scetis

      On this day also the Arabs of Upper Egypt rose up and attacked the desert of the great St. Macarius. They plundered what was in the churches and monasteries. The monks gathered together, prayed, and interceded with the holy fathers, and the Lord Christ drove them out. The monks were saved from their hands and they gave thanks unto God.

Departure of Aaron the Priest

      On this day also the righteous Aaron the priest, the brother of Moses the first prophet of the Law, departed. He was from the tribe of Levi, and God wrought by his hands many miracles in the land of Egypt. God chose him and his sons to be His priests, and gave them the tithes and the offerings of the children of Israel. When the sons of Korah rose up against him, God destroyed them, by commanding the earth to open its mouth and swallowed them up alive. He pleased God by his good conduct, keeping the Law, and then departed in peace.

Glory be to God forever. Amen.

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Divine Psalm

Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.

Psalms 86 : 17 - 17

Hallelujah.

Divine Gospel

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.

John 8 : 12 - 20

And Glory be to God forever.

Howard Thurman lovingly critiqued Christianity, which has often ignored the direct teaching and witness of Jesus in relationship with those who are oppressed. This excerpt is from one of Thurman’s most well-known books, Jesus and the Disinherited. I think this message is important today and always.

To those who need profound succor and strength to enable them to live in the present with dignity and creativity, Christianity often has been sterile and of little avail. The conventional Christian word is muffled, confused, and vague. Too often the price exacted by society for security and respectability is that the Christian movement in its formal expression must be on the side of the strong against the weak. This is a matter of tremendous significance, for it reveals to what extent a religion that was born of a people acquainted with persecution and suffering has become the cornerstone of a civilization and of nations whose very position in modern life has too often been secured by a ruthless use of power applied to weak and defenseless peoples.

It is not a singular thing to hear a sermon that defines what should be the attitude of the Christian toward people who are less fortunate than himself. Again and again our missionary appeal is on the basis of the Christian responsibility to the needy, the ignorant, and the so-called backward peoples of the earth. There is a certain grandeur and nobility in administering to another’s need out of one’s fullness and plenty. . . . It is certainly to the glory of Christianity that it has been most insistent on the point of responsibility to others whose only claim upon one is the height and depth of their need. This impulse at the heart of Christianity is the human will to share with others what one has found meaningful to oneself elevated to the height of a moral imperative. But there is a lurking danger in this very emphasis. It is exceedingly difficult to hold oneself free from a certain contempt for those whose predicament makes moral appeal for defense and succor. It is the sin of pride and arrogance that has tended to vitiate the missionary impulse and to make of it an instrument of self-righteousness on the one hand and racial superiority on the other.

That is one reason why, again and again, there is no basic relationship between the simple practice of brotherhood in the commonplace relations of life and the ethical pretensions of our faith. It has long been a matter of serious moment that for decades we have studied the various peoples of the world and those who live as our neighbors as objects of missionary endeavor and enterprise without being at all willing to treat them either as brothers or as human beings. I say this without rancor, because it is not an issue in which vicious human beings are involved. But it is one of the subtle perils of a religion which calls attention—to the point of overemphasis, sometimes—to one’s obligation to administer to human need.

References:
A note on language from Thurman’s editors: “We realize that inclusive language is noticeably absent in Howard Thurman’s writings. As gifted and prophetic as he was, Howard Thurman was also a product of his times, and inclusive language was not a part of the social consciousness. Regardless of language, the substance of Howard Thurman’s work is inclusive. His life and theology were inclusive, and if he were writing today his language would more accurately reflect this worldview.” [1] While his masculine words might suggest that Thurman didn’t consider other perspectives, he did see many women in his life (for example, his mentor Mary McLeod Bethune and his wife Sue Bailey Thurman) as peers and leaders. We must grant this same sympathy to all those who write with sincerity in previous times and various cultures.