Cana of Galilee Wedding

O people who love Christ, come see and be amazed, about this mystery, that was revealed to us today.

For our Lord Jesus Christ, gathered with His virgin mother, and our fathers the apostles, He revealed to them His divinity.

Six jars of water, changed into chosen wine, through His great glory, in the Wedding of Cana of Galilee.

The Wedding of Cana of Galilee

The Lord was invited and came to a wedding. Is it any wonder that He who came to that house for a wedding, came to this world for a wedding? 

Therefore He has a bride here whom He has redeemed by His blood and to whom He has given the Holy Spirit as a pledge. He took her from enslavement to the devil, He died for her sins.  He arose again for her justification.

Who will offer such great things to His bride? Men may  offer some trinkets or other things from the earth such as gold, silver, precious stones, horses, slaves, farms or estates. Will anyone offer His blood? For if He gives His blood to His bride, He will not be alive to take her as His wife.

But the Lord, dying free of anxiety, gave His blood for her in order that when He arose, He might have her whom He had already joined to Himself in the womb of the Virgin. 

For the Word was the bridegroom, and human flesh was the bride. And both are the one Son of God and likewise the Son of man. That womb of the Virgin Mary where He became the head of the church was His bridal chamber.

He came forth from there like the bridegroom from His bridal chamber, as Scripture foretold: "And he, as a bridegroom coming forth from his bridal chamber, has rejoiced as a giant to run the way."  He came forth from the bridal chamber like a bridegroom; and having been invited, He came to the wedding. 

St Augustine

Happy Epiphany

This is the Lamb of God, who carries the sin of the world, who brought a horn of salvation, in order to save His people.

Ⲫⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲓϩⲓⲏⲃ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ Ⲫ̀ⲛⲟⲩϯ : ⲫⲏⲉⲧⲱ̀ⲗⲓ ⲙ̀ⲫ̀ⲛⲟⲃⲓ ⲙ̀ⲡⲓⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ : ⲫⲏⲉ̀ⲧⲁϥⲓ́ⲛⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲧⲁⲡ ⲛ̀ⲥⲱϯ : ⲉⲑⲣⲉϥⲛⲟϩⲉⲙ ⲙ̀ⲡⲉϥⲗⲁⲟⲥ

An Act of Christ's Love and Care

Feast of the Resurrection 2011

Feast of the Resurrection
24 April 2011
His Grace Bishop Suriel
Bishop of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions
The Resurrection: An Act of Christ's Love and Care

Nativity Feast 2011 Divine Liturgy Sermon

Fr. Daniel Hanna Reads the Nativity Papal Message from H.H. Pope Shenouda III, and gives a sermon about being Rooted in Prayer, about the Gift of Salvation, and seeking God's will in our life

http://www.smsv.ca/

The Power of the Resurrection and the Joy and Evangelism of the Martyrs

The Power of the Resurrection and the Joy and Evangelism of the Martyrs
H.G. Bishop Serapion

Today we rejoice as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who by His death trampled down death, and bestowed eternal life upon those in the tomb.

At the beginning of this year, the Church offered a group of righteous martyrs in Nag Hammadi. We pray that God may repose their pure souls in the Paradise of Joy. We also pray for their families that God may grant them the joy of the Resurrection and the heavenly consolation. We also pray for their murderers so that God may open their eyes and lead them to the way of truth. Today, as we remember the victims of Nag Hammadi, it is not to mourn the viciousness of the crime and the injustice that is falling on our brothers and sisters the Christians there, but rather to see our martyrs through the light of the power of the resurrection of our Living Christ

The resurrection of Christ is a great power. It is one that changes sadness to joy. A power that changes suffering for the sake of Christ to joy in the fellowship of His suffering. It is a power that changes the blood of the martyrs to become the seeds for the growth of the Church. St Paul the Apostle, who was martyred for the name of Christ, experienced the power of the resurrection in his life and said, “that I may know Him and power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Phil 3: 10) St Paul called all those, who struggle or are persecuted for the sake of Christ, to look upwards to Christ, “..let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12: 1-2)

The Power of Christ’s Resurrection Changed Martyrdom in Christianity to Joy and Evangelism

The martyrs rejoiced in martyrdom, because through Christ’s death and resurrection, He defeated death. St Athanasius said, “Before the divine sojourn of the Saviour, even the holiest of men were afraid of death, and mourned the dead as those who perish. But now that the Saviour has raised His body, death is no longer terrible, but all those who believe in Christ tread it underfoot as nothing, and prefer to die rather than to deny their faith in Christ, knowing full well that when they die they do not perish, but live indeed, and become incorruptible through the resurrection.”

St Stephen the Protomartyr received his persecutors with an angelic face. Rather than look at their faces full of evil, instead “he being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7: 55) Because his heart was full of joy and peace, he did not curse those who stoned him, but asked for their forgiveness. With the martyrdom of St Stephen, a great persecution fell on the Church in Jerusalem and many were scattered in Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Did the Church weaken? Did evangelism stop? Actually, what happened was the opposite, “those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4)

St Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred in 108AD when Emperor Trajan ordered that he be presented to the fierce animals in Rome, was joyful. And when the soldiers came to bind him, he kneeled down and cried with a joyful voice, “I thank you, O Master Lord, for You granted me the honour of loving You fully and permitted me to be bound in iron chains like Your apostle Paul.” On the way to Rome, he wrote a letter to the Christians in Rome expressing his joy and desire to present himself as a sacrifice to God on the altar of divine love, and he begged them not to interfere, because of their love for him, and stop the imperial decision to throw him to the wild beasts. Here are a few words of what St Ignatius said, “The truth is, I am afraid it is your love that will do me wrong. For you, of course, it is easy to achieve your object; but for me it is difficult to win my way to God, should you prevent my martyrdom …Grant me no more than that you let my blood be spilled in sacrifice to God, while yet there is an altar ready…How glorious it is to leave this world so I may rise again in His presence!” When St Ignatius reached Rome, he kneeled down and asked Christ to lift the persecution from the churches. Then they released two lions, which devoured him immediately.

St Justin Martyr witnessed that martyrdom is evangelism and said, “You can clearly see that when we are beheaded, crucified, thrown to the wild beasts, bound in chains, thrown in fire, or any other means of torture, we don’t relent in our faith. The more we face these sufferings, the more people become Christians and join our faith in the name of Jesus Christ” The martyrs saw that this was a fulfilment of our Lord Jesus Christ’s saying, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (John 12:24) St Augustine reflected on our Lord Jesus Christ’s saying to His disciples, “Behold, I send you as lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:3) and said, “There was a flock of wolves and a few lambs. When the many wolves preyed upon the few lambs, the wolves changed to lambs.”

My Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

Let us rejoice today in the power of the resurrection of our Good Saviour and Living Christ

Let us rejoice with the joyful martyrs as they meet the Resurrected Christ

Let us pray that God may grant to enlighten us with His resurrection so we may be ready to carry the cross and may have a fellowship in His suffering.

Let us pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters that God may strengthen their faith and sustain them in their struggle.

Let us pray for the peace of the One, holy, catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Let us pray for our beloved father and vigilant shepherd, H.H. Pope Shenouda III that God may keep him for many years and give him health and strength.



His Grace Bishop Serapion is Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles (www.lacopts.org)

WATANI International - 4 April 2010 - 26 Baramhat (Parmhat) 1726 (Coptic Calendar) - 19 Rabie al-Akhar 1431 (Arabian Calendar) - Year 10 - Issue 477.
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Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
Rejoicing in Hope (Romans 12:12)
H.G. Bishop Serapion

Today, we rejoice in hope as we celebrate the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the midst of today’s culture of despair, which is prevalent throughout the world, we as Christians nonetheless rejoice in hope. The Feast of the Resurrection is a source of everlasting joy and hope in the midst of an economic recession, unemployment, financial and social instability, and fear.
One of the great teachers of the Church, St Gregory the Theologian, guides our reflections and meditations on the message of joy and hope in this, the Feast of feasts and the Festival of festivals. We celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection itself, not as an event still hoped for, but as one that has already occurred, uniting the world to itself.
The Feast of the Resurrection is the feast of our salvation, the feast of our liberation, the feast of our reconciliation, and the feast of our being like Christ.

The Feast of Our Salvation
We see how the Feast of the Resurrection is the feast of our salvation in this meditation from St. Gregory:
Today salvation has come to the world, to things visible and to things invisible.
Christ is risen from the dead; rise with Him. Christ has returned to Himself; return. Christ is freed from the tomb; be freed from the bonds of sin.
The gates of Hades are opened and death is destroyed, and the old Adam is put aside and the new is fulfilled. If anyone in Christ is a new creation, be made new.

The Feast of Our Liberation
St Gregory teaches us that the Feast of the Resurrection is the feast of our liberation from the slavery of sin when he says:
Today we have totally escaped Egypt and Pharaoh, and we have been freed from the clay and the brick-making. And nobody hinders us from celebrating a feast of exodus for the Lord our God and keeping feast “not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).

The Feast of Our Reconciliation
St Gregory further teaches us that the Feast of the Resurrection is the feast of our reconciliation with one another:
Let us be made brilliant by the Feast and embrace each other. Let us call brothers even those who hate us, and much more those who have done everything out of love for us. Let us concede all things to the Resurrection. Let us grant pardon to each other.

The Feast of Our Becoming Like Christ
Finally, St Gregory shows us that the Feast of the Resurrection is the feast of our becoming like Christ when he says, “Let us become like Christ, since Christ also became like us.” In another passage, he offers the following beautiful meditation:
Yesterday I was crucified with Christ,
Today I am glorified with Him.
Yesterday I died with Him,
Today I am made alive with Him.
Yesterday I was buried with Him,
Today I rise with Him.
But let us make an offering to the One who died and rose again for us.
Let us offer our own selves, the possession most precious to God.
My beloved, let us pray that our Lord may “fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that we, too, having sufficiency in everything always, may abound in every good deed.”
Let us pray for the peace of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

His Grace Bishop Serapion is Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles (www.lacopts.org)


WATANI International - 19 April 2009 - 11 Baramouda 1725 (Coptic Calendar) - Year 9 - Issue 427.
WATANI - 19 April 2009 - 11 Baramouda 1725 (Coptic Calendar) - 1st Issue Year 51 - No. 2469 - 2nd Issue Year 9 No. 435
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