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2026-06-17: The Little Church - Spiritual Life in Marriage

Introduction
Little Church

If our household is a little Church, then we can look at some characteristics of the Church and see how they apply in our household.

  1. The Church is a House of Prayer
  2. The Church is a House of Faith
  3. The Church is a House of Peace and Forgiveness
  4. The Church is a House of Service
  5. The Church is a House of Shared Joy and Shared Sorrow
House of Prayer

Don't let your home become the place where you sleep, eat and manage responsibilities. Let is be the house of God. Don't let God be a guest in your house, but let it be His house - a place where He is invited, recognized, spoken to, heard, and experienced.

"My house shall be called a house of prayer." (Matthew 21:13)

Cornelius the Centurion (Acts 10)

This is a man whose whole household was saved! Why? Because he was a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and who gave alms and prayed to God always. This is not a lesson or topic on prayer, but suffice it to say that just as the Church is (in the words of the Lord Christ) a House of Prayer, so also my Little Church - my home - should be called a house of prayer.

The Little Church becomes a house of prayer when prayer is no longer an event - it is the atmosphere and the norm. When you walk into the Church, you find people going to pray - even if there's no meeting or liturgical service. Because it is a house of prayer.

House of Faith

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." (Acts 16:31)

Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans, not knowing where he was going... just with faith.

A funny example: Vacationing...

House of Peace & Forgiveness

There is nothing you can do that the Church will not offer you forgiveness for. That means in the form of the sacrament of repentance & confession - that you come to the Church in order to receive forgiveness. The Body and Blood of Christ are given for salvation, remission of sins and eternal life to those who partake of Him. The whole economy of salvation and the sacramental life is based on the fact that we are forgiven. So how about my Little Church?

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:15)

Remember when Joseph the Carpenter found out that St Mary was pregnant? "Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly." (Matthew 1:19) - See how he was a man of peace! He wasn't looking to have a conflict! He was looking to keep the peace. And here the Lord sent him an angel to tell him that this is all a misunderstanding... she did not do anything wrong, but rather this is the work of God. Recognizing the voice of God, he woke up and took to him his betrothed wife.

Sometimes we close off our minds to the idea that there might be a misunderstanding, or that I might be wrong, or that maybe there's something I don't understand. Instead, I assume, I ascribe intention, I refuse dialogue, I reject any possibility that I might be wrong. But this is not peace! Peace requires humility.

-----

Remember Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13)

Abraham's servants and Lot's servants were fighting... so Abraham looked at Lot and said "Let there be no strife between you and me..." (Genesis 13:8-9). And he told him if you go left, I will go right. If you go right, I will go left. The whole land is in front of you. Abraham, for the sake of peace, was willing to compromise. Even though he is Abraham! He is the older one! He is the one with all the riches. He is the patriarch! But peace requires humility.

House of Service

"Through love, serve one another." (Galatians 5:13)

There's a story of a church in Upper Egypt that was located within a Christian cemetery. The city allowed them to move the graves and as they are moving the coffins, they come across two that are very heavy. Usually coffins of people who have been dead for a long time, their body has decayed and what is left is bones - so the coffins become light. But these two were heavy. So they called the priest and he opened the coffins and they found the bodies of the two were preserved - a man and his wife. They had been buried for 25 years, but their bodies look as if they were buried an hour ago. The priest wanted to know their story and he went around the whole village asking about them until he learned and pieced together their story. 

The wife was one day struck with paralysis in one side of her body and could no longer move around, or feed herself. So the husband started to serve her. He would carry her, feed her, take her out, etc. For 15 years he served her. And from everything he was doing, he got diabetes - and of course he's not taking care of himself, only caring for her... and he went blind. So he got so upset and went to pray and said "Lord, you know my wife is paralyzed, you know we don't have children to serve us. I was the one who was taking care of her! Now who will take care of us?? And not only that, how could you deprive me of the blessing of serving her??" And as he is saying these words, he feels his wife's hand on his shoulder, patting him! "You're up??" She said "I'm all better now... my legs and my arms and everything. Now it's my turn to serve you." And for 10 years, she served him faithfully.

25 years of serving each other and the Lord rewards them by preserving their bodies and then revealing their story

Source: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2087580212022559 

What about in the regular daily life?

Sidenote: Remember that the Church is not just inward facing, but She also extends Her arms out to others. And here I want to mention that if your Little Church is a House of Service, it will not just serve you and your family, but it will serve others as well.

Story of Anba Abraam and the family who wanted another son. Anba Abraam told them "you will have a son this year - but see that extra room in your house? Make it into a room for the poor."

House of Shared Joy & Sorrow

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15)

In the church, we have a baptism or a wedding and everyone comes wearing bright colors and everyone is excited and very happy and ready to share in the joy of the couple who is getting married, or the person who is being baptized.

In the same church, maybe even on the same day, we have a funeral and everyone comes wearing less-bright colors and they are somber and ready to share in the sorrow of the family of the reposed.

My Little Church should be the same. When my wife is sorrowful, there is no way that I will be joyful - but rather, I will share in her sorrow. And when my wife is celebrating, I should celebrate with her. Sometimes I depend more on my "feelings." And if my feelings don't match those of my spouse, I feel emotionally distant. But that is not the Christian marriage. That is not the Little Church! The Little Church is one where I share in joy and sorrow.

The Lord Jesus, Himself, did this! When He went to the tomb of Lazarus, we read that Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, "He groaned in the spirit and was troubled." then "Jesus wept." Although He knows that Lazarus will rise... yet He shared in their sorrow. On the other hand, the Lord shared in the joy of the Wedding of Cana! So He did both.

Also this shared joy and sorrow is not only with my spouse and children! But just like the Church extends her arms outward, so can my Little Church... when someone is sorrowful, I can invite him into my Little Church, comfort him, prepare a meal for him, etc. Or I can send something to him from my Little Church. In this way, my home is like the Church that shares in someone's sorrow.

When someone is celebrating a success, I can invite him into my Little Church and celebrate his accomplishment.

St John Chrysostom gives one warning to this, though: "If you are inclined to entertain and give dinner parties, there should be nothing immodest or excessive about them. And if you should find some poor, saintly man who just by stepping into your house would bring God's blessing upon you, invite him." (p. 62)

This is important because as soon as I invite immodesty into my Little Church; as soon as I allow sin or drunkenness or revelries to enter my Little Church, it ceases to be a Church.

Other Examples
Conclusion

When my house is a Little Church, then just as the Church has produced saints, so also my house will produce saints. And just as the Church is a light in the world, so also my house and all its members will be lights in the world. Just as the Church is the presence of God, so also my house will be the presence of God. The goal of marriage is not coexistence or happiness, but salvation. 

“The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together. Men will take up arms and even sacrifice their lives for the sake of this love. Because when harmony prevails, the children are raised well, the household is kept in order, and neighbors, friends and relatives praise the result. Great benefits, both for families and states, are thus produced. When it is otherwise, however, everything is thrown into confusion and turned upside-down. Everything is in disarray.”

Deacons Service

Deacons Service

2021-10-03: Faithfulness and Wisdom in Reading

Nehemiah 8

The people had not read the word of God for a very very long time. Especially after having come back from captivity. They weren't even familiar with some of the laws and the feasts that Moses had written about. So they called for Ezra to come and to read it to them.

1 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. 3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

When the deacon says "Stand up in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel" it is a message to stand and be attentive and to hear and listen to the word of God. You can test yourself now and ask "do I remember the Pauline from today? Do I remember the Catholic Epistle and the Acts and the Gospel from today?"

4 So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose;

A platform of wood that was made specifically for this purpose - this is for us, the ⲙⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲁ. And it was a platform higher than the rest - actually the ⲙⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲁ should be at the highest point in the church so that all of us are standing below the word of God because the word of God has authority over us. ⲙⲁ is Coptic for "place" and ⲉⲩⲁⲛⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲟⲛ is "Gospel" so ⲙⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲁ is the "place of the Gospel"

and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

This is like when Abouna reads the gospel and we find deacons on his left and his right, holding the candles.

5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Just as Abouna says "blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" before reading. And he holds the Gospel above his head when he says it in order to say that "all of us - even the priest or bishop - are under the authority of the word of God" and this is why the bishop or patriarch removes the crown from his head while reading.

And all the people stood up, as the deacon says "Stand in the fear of God" - and if you enter the church and the gospel is being read, just stand in your place and don't move until the Gospel is done.

Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Just as when we say "Blessed is he..." we all bow our heads toward the ground

7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.

Sermon is to explain the gospel of today to the people, just as here the Levites when to help the people understand the law.

8 So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

This part is very important for readings. "Distinctly" - "Gave Sense" - there is a difference between someone who is reading and saying all the words right, and someone who is giving sense. When you read a question, it's different from reading a sentence. You have to know how to read in a way to give the sense to the people - with the right pauses, and inflections. Need to read with a loud voice and help the people to understand.

9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

There was no screen or Coptic Reader back then, all they did was hear the word of God. And the word of God pierced their hearts even to the point that they were emotional and started to weep and mourn because they were not following the Law. It is a big responsibility for the readers. Maybe there's someone in the church who doesn't read the Bible at home... maybe this is the only time in the whole week that he hears the word of God. Give it a chance to pierce His heart. Maybe he will be like St Anthony, who heard a single verse in the church and went and sold all that he had.

All of this applies just the same with those who are serving in the sanctuary. Almost every deacon response is an instruction for the Congregation... "Pray for the Holy Gospel" - "You who are seated stand" - "Let us attend." - "Amen Amen Pray" - etc. If the congregation cannot hear you, then who are you talking to?

So when you come to say a response outside and you don't see a microphone, take the microphone and bring it to you to say your response. Or if you see the microphone is already out and the leading deacon took care of it, come close to it and say in it. And if you're on the altar, turn the microphone on, come close to it and say your response clearly. 

In this way, we are giving our beloved congregation members the chance to hear the word of God clearly and to understand it, to  follow along in the prayers, and to understand their role in the liturgy.

Deacons Service

2022-01-12 Deacons' Meeting

Spiritual

Acts 6-7: Contemplations on the Life of St Stephen

Lessons from the Life of St Stephen

Brave Enough to Say Yes to the Call of Service
Filled with Faith and the Holy Spirit
Handled Opposition and False Accusations with Grace
Good Knowledge of the Word of God
Pray for those who Persecute You
Strive to be of Good Reputation

Administrative

Announcement - New Adult Deacons Class

 

Deacons Service

2023-08-27: Am I Spiritual?

Spiritual vs Church-Goer

What is a spiritual person?

A spiritual person is someone who, when he prays, he means it. He is not just saying words or going through motions, but he is speaking to God with genuineness.

What is a church-goer?

A church goer is someone who goes to church – they go to liturgy and Sunday school and Keraza and Bible Study and preservants and Vespers and Tasbeha.

It is important to attend the Liturgy and receive the Eucharist on Sunday because it is the day of the Lord. 

Some people say “well Sunday is so crowded” or “Sunday is so long” – but Sunday is the day of the Lord!

Some people say “well I went on Friday” or “I went on Saturday” – but Sunday is the day of the Lord! It’s good to go to an extra liturgy during the week and many people are even serving in the Friday or Saturday liturgy…. But Sunday is our day and the day of the Lord that we should be spending with Him and hearing His word and receiving His Body and Blood. Actually, the Church lectionary is based on the Sunday readings! The message that the Church is trying to give you is in the Sunday lectionary! On Friday and Saturday and the weekdays, it is related to the saint of the day… so it may be the same readings every week even… but Sunday the Church has a specific message for us that is communicated in a cycle over the whole year

One of the Commandments is to keep the day of the Lord, and that is Sunday. In Egypt, their day off every week is on Friday and so every church in Egypt has liturgy on Friday… but even so, the Christians pleaded with the government and said “we need to go to church on Sunday this is the day of the Lord” and the government said “fine – Christians can go to work at 10am on Sunday instead of at 7 or 8am”

Are all church-goers spiritual?

No… you might be going to all of the services and liturgies, but you do not have any relationship with God. And actually this is called living a dual life.
Life in the church – you are a servant, you are a deacon, you attend some meetings… but in the end, you have 0 relationship with God. And maybe not just that, but you are doing bad things! This is the life of hypocrisy (Matthew 23).

Are all spiritual people church-goers?

Yes! You cannot be spiritual without the Church.

Some people think that when they grow in their spiritual life, then it becomes less important to go to church (e.g. because they are spiritual and are speaking to God regularly outside of church prayers, and are fasting and doing prostrations, etc. That is not right. Actually, the more spiritual you grow, the more you need the church. The church feeds your spirituality and your spirituality feeds your benefit from the church.

People can go to church and they are not spiritual… but you cannot be spiritual without going to church!

How to be Spiritual (and not just church-goer)

Have a Spiritual Canon and Commit to it

With your Father of Confession

I will ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer them with yourself... don't answer them out loud, but really answer them seriously with yourself.

Do you Pray?

Do you pray every morning and every night? If you do not, then you don’t have a spiritual life.

How can you grow spiritually without communicating with God?

You need to start your day with prayer and end it with prayer. Every day!

And not just “Our Father” – you are not children anymore. Use your Agpeya. Every morning and every night, at least!

Focus on the quality of prayer.

If you do not pray every morning and every evening... then you are just a church-goer.

Do you Read the Bible?

Do you read the Bible every day? If you are not, then you don’t have a spiritual life!

How can you grow spiritually if you are not hearing the voice of God? In Prayer, I talk to God – in the Bible, God talks to me.

If you are not reading the Bible every day, then you are a church-goer.

Sometimes we do read the Bible every day, but we get nothing from reading it. It goes in one ear and out the other. We might close the Bible and not even remember one word that we read, and have nothing to apply for ourselves and it changes nothing for us... in this way, the Bible to me is DEAD like any other book.

But instead, after you read it, ask yourself: “What is God’s message for me?”

I can find in a chapter one verse, one promise, one inquiry, one request, one prohibition, one privilege… write it down! And write one or two lines reflection/meditation. This is what we give to you in MS and HS as the Bible Passport. It is for your own spiritual growth. It's one of the ways that we want to help you to become spiritual and not just church-goers.

In this way, I change the Bible from just “words on a page” – to LIFE.

Do you Fast?

Do you fast Wednesday and Friday? Did you fast St Mary’s Fast? Apostles Fast? Great Fast? You are not young… Fasting will not hurt your health. Fasting will help you to develop self-control.

When you fast, you need to be serious in your fasting… don’t say “I’m going out with my friends so it’s okay today to break my fast… no big deal. Fast is 55 days if I break one it’s not a big deal.” This is not fasting. It’s lack of self-control.

Fasting is not just abstain from a certain kind of food, but works with repentance, prayer and bible. Not instead of, but beside.

Fast from devices instead of spending hours and hours on devices. “e.g. This fast I will completely stay away from social media” 

Fasting has three dimension: abstinence, quantity, quality

If you are not fasting and not developing your self-control, then you are just a church-goer.

Do you Confess?

Do you have a Father of Confession? Do you confess regularly? Are you honest in your confession? Are you living the life of repentance?

I lie, I swear, I gossip, I judge, I…. And Abouna prays the absolution, and two weeks later I come back and give him the same list. I am not fighting. I am not trying to be a godly man. I am not asking the Holy Spirit to fill me and guide me to live a godly life.

Steps before confession:

  1. Admit to yourself that you are wrong (some people will deny that they are wrong)
  2. You are sorry about it (some people know they are wrong and brag about it)
  3. I will do whatever it takes to avoid it again through the grace of God (I will fight the good fight, I will complete the race) – some people know they are wrong and are sorry, but don’t want to stop
  4. Correcting the result of sin (e.g. if I got angry at someone, I need to go and apologize and say “I am sorry, I was angry and I should not have spoken to you like that”; if I lie, I should apologize and tell them the truth)
    Prodigal Son, St Paul, St Peter, Ninevites, Jonah, Nicodemus, Manasseh the King, Rahab, Thomas, Samaritan Woman, Adam and Eve, Demas the thief, Zaccheaus – restored 4 fold and gave half his goods to the poor
  5. Have confidence that God will accept your confession and forgive you (e.g. unlike Judas, who doubted God’s forgiveness)

Then, after these five steps, sit with Abouna in confession.

If you are not living a life of repentance, if you are not confessing regularly, if you are not honest in your confession... then you are just a church-goer.

Is God the Priority in your Life?

We can sum these up with this question. 

How much time do you spend with God and how much do you spend on your phones, tablets, social media or video games? If you spend 2-3min with God and 5 hours with the other things… what do you think?

For a church-goer, God is Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning and that's it.

For a spiritual person, God is every minute of every day. Everything that I do is for the glory of God. I like to spend time with the Lord every day. To speak to Him and to hear His words for me. To develop self-control that I may abstain myself from falling into temptation. To live a life of repentance. To mirror Him.


Deacons Service

2023-10-29: Wisdom and Discernment

https://notes.morcous.com/books/virtues/page/the-virtue-of-discernment-wisdom-he-metropolitan-youssef

Introduction
Wisdom the Requirement of the Deacon
Heavenly Wisdom vs Earthly Wisdom
Acquiring Heavenly Wisdom
Why do I need Wisdom?
Deacons Service

2024-02-04: Performing our Daily Vows

Introduction
Spiritual Rule
What is the Spiritual Canon
Fruit of the Spiritual Canon
Some Practical Steps
Deacons Service

2024-03-30 - Let us Attend

Copy and Shadow of the Heavenly Things
You who are seated stand
Look towards the East
Let us attend
Deacons Service

2024-12-11 - Giving

Our topic for today is the virtue of Giving. The Lord Jesus in Luke 6 says: "Give, and it will be given to you"

The commandment that He tells us is "give" - there is no specific, just "give."

There are many things that we can give: a smile, a good word, money, time, energy, a listening ear, a warm welcome. And the more we give, the more we receive.

We'll read together today from 2 Corinthians 8. We read in the Book of Acts, that there was going to be a famine in the world. And the disciples determine to send relief to Judea. So St Paul, as part of his missionary journey, collects some of those funds to go back to Jerusalem.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, St Paul talks about giving to the Corinthians, by giving them the example of the Macedonians.

"Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality."

"For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability"

"they were freely willing,"

"imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints."

"And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God"

"So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well."

"But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also."

"I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others."

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."

"And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have."

Finally, what can I give?

All of these are needs that have in front of them the virtue of giving

As deacons, we are servants. The deacons in Acts 6 were chosen in order that they can serve the tables and serve the widows. We are servants of the people, and part of our role and our responsibility is to give to the people. We have a very important liturgical role in guiding the people in prayer - whether from inside or outside. But the more important role is to give.

Deacons Service

2025-11-30: Reverence for the House of God

The Church: House of God

Psalm 84

How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

The Dwelling of God

  1. The First Paradise
    • God and man dwelling together
    • We lost this and were separated from God

  2. The Altar
    • Meeting with God

  3. The Tabernacle & The Temple
    • God dwells among us but He is still separate from us

  4. The Church
    • God abides in us and we in Him

God is Holy

My Response to Holiness

Consumed by Holiness

How to Approach God's House

High School Service

High School Service

2022-08-12: St Moses the Strong

Objective:

The Transformative Power of Repentance

Key Verse:

"Return to me, and I will return to you" (Malachi 3:7)

Visual Aid:

Attached to this page.

Introduction:
  • This week, we will study the life and stories of one of the great desert fathers - our father the Strong Abba Moses (Ⲡⲓϫⲱⲣⲓ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲙⲱⲥⲏ)
  • I hope that when we learn the stories of St Moses, we will take him for ourselves as an intercessor and remember him in all of our prayers, and follow his example
  • St Moses is widely known in the whole world as a model of repentance - even in Egypt they call him "Anba Moussa el Aswad" - Moses the Black. And you might find him called that in English sometimes... yes, he was dark in skin. But the name refers to the darkness of his life. His sinful life which was missing the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • So let's take some stories from his life, including some miracles, and see what we can learn from him
Stories of Abba Moses:
  • His Early Life and Baptism
    • He was the slave of a high government official. The official could not tolerate Moses’ dishonesty and violence, so he drove him out.
    • Moses became the head of 70 leaders of robbers in the wilderness of Egypt. He was strong and fierce and committed all kinds of sins – any sin that you can think of.
    • He used to pray to the sun and say “If you are god let me know and You, the God whom I do not know, lead me to You”
    • One day, he heard a voice saying to him “the monks of the wilderness of Scetis know the real God. Go to them and they will inform you.” He went to Scetis and met with Abba Isidore who took him to Abba Macarius the Great who taught him about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnation, the Redemption.
    • Moses accepted Christ, repented and confessed publicly all the sins he had ever committed, before being baptized. Abba Macarius saw a tablet that was all black and each time Moses would confess a sin, the angel would erase it from the tablet until it was white
  • The Story of the Robbers
    • St Moses entered his cell and found four robbers raiding it.
    • He overpowered them, tied them all together and lifted them over his shoulder like a bag of sand. He brought them to the church and asked St Macarius what he should do? He was still new to being a Christian and he didn’t know how he could deal with them without being violent.
    • St Macarius told him “yes let them take whatever they want! And set them free!”
      • (St. Macarius was known for another story when he found his cell being robbed and he let them finish robbing it. Then when they were done, he went in and saw that they left a jar of olives. So he ran outside and yelled to them that they forgot something).
    • When the thieves knew that St Moses was a former thief who had repented, they repented too.

  • Angels and Demons
    • St Moses multiplied his disciplines and especially in eating and in prayers.
    • But the less he ate and the more he prayed, the more he was consumed by dreams.
    • He couldn’t stand to be in his cell anymore. But Abba Isidore advised him to return to his cell. St Moses refused.
    • So Abba Isidore took him to the roof of his cell and they looked over one side and saw many devils trying to get into the cell. Then they looked over the other side and saw innumerable angels defending the cell. He went back to his cell without fear.

  • Buckets of Water
    • St Moses would go in the middle of the night to the cells of the elder monks and take their water pitchers and fill them with water without their knowledge. They lived far from one another and the cells were 2-5 miles away from the water

  • Welcoming to all Visitors
    • Abba Moses was very welcoming to all visitors and received them with joy.
    • One time a visitor came to the monastery and met with Abba Arsenius. And Abba Arsenius had taken a vow of silence. So the visitor left his cell very annoyed and offended that he received a cold welcome. Then he asked to see Abba Moses and Abba Moses rejoiced and received him and made him food.
    • Another time, there was a period of fasting in Scetis when everyone was to abstain from food. Some visitors came from Cairo to see Abba Moses. When he saw them, he started to prepare a lot of food for them. The monks around him saw the smoke coming from his cell and accused him of breaking the fast to the priests. But the priests knew his habits, so they said in front of the whole congregation of monks “O Abba Moses truly you have sacrificed the commandment of the people to fulfill the commandment of Christ”

  • Bag of Sand
    • Once the Fathers of the Scetis were holding a council to reprimand a monk who had committed a fault. St. Moses was invited, but he refused to attend. The priest went to him, and said, Come, for the people are expecting you.
    • St. Moses arose, took a basket filled with sand that had a hole in the bottom of it, carried it on his shoulder and started walking towards the council. When the monks saw him coming with the bag of sand, with sand pouring out of the hole, they asked him the reason of his behavior.
    • He said to them, The sand you see running from the bag represents my sins which are always following me, and yet, today I am coming to judge the grain of sand of my brother?
    • When they heard this, they left the council and every monk went to his own cell, as none could judge that monk.

  • Visitor for Abba Moses
    • One day a visitor was coming to the monastery and he said to Abba Moses “I am here to see Abba Moses the Black – do you know where I can find him?” Abba Moses replied “What would you want with him? He’s a sinner and nothing he can say is of any value” – the man kept walking to the monastery and asked the other monks in shock “Is it true what I heard about Abba Moses?” They said “What did the guy look like who told you that?” and he told them “Very big and strong and dark skinned” and they told him “that was Abba Moses”

  • Sickness and Healing
    • One day the devil envied him and struck him with sores on his foot. He was unable to move. When he knew it was a temptation from the devil, he increased in asceticism and worship until his body was like burnt wood.
    • God saw his patience and toil and relieved him from his pain and he was healed.

  • Ordination as Priest
    • He was elected to be ordained a priest.
    • He went in front of the Patriarch who decided to test him. The patriarch told the clergy to cast him out and reviled him saying “You think you are worthy of the priesthood, you who are black with sin?” and Abba Moses turned around and left saying to himself “It is good what they have done to you, O black one”
    • When the Patriarch saw his humility, he called Abba Moses back and ordained him to priesthood and said to him “Now you have become entirely white”

  • His Martyrdom
    • In 370 AD, St Moses went with some Desert Fathers went to visit St Macarius.
    • St Macarius said “My brethren, I see one of you worthy of the crown of martyrdom and he is going to shed his blood in the wilderness” St. Moses said “Probably me, since the Lord said that all who take by the sword shall perish with the sword”
    • When the Barbarians raided Scetis, Abba Moses was sitting with seven of his disciples. He told them to flee and that he would stay behind. Six of them stood behind and the Barbarians came and killed them all. The one monk who was hiding saw seven crowns coming down and crowning them

  • Some Sayings of Abba Moses

    • “Humility of heart precedes all virtues, and the desire of the belly is the source of all passions. Pride is the basis of all vices and love is the origin of all goodness.”

    • “Four virtues aid the young monk: Continuous meditation on the word of God, watchfulness, fervent prayer, and considering himself as nothing.”

Body:
  • The power of repentance is TRANSFORMATION
    • Abba Moses who was head of 70 heads of robbers, became head of over 500 monks
    • Abba Moses who took many lives in murder, gave his life for Christ
    • Abba Moses who used to daily eat a whole lamb, ate ten ounces of dry bread
    • Abba Moses who hated all humankind, came to love everybody
    • Abba Moses who was a giant in stature, became humble in spirit
    • Abba Moses who committed every sin, we call him Saint and Abba

  • Transformation Comes from Repentance
    • Transformation comes from the renewing of the mind, as we read in St Paul's epistle to the Romans: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2)
    • Renewing of the mind is the definition of Repentance
      • Repentance comes from the Greek "Metanoia" which means "Change of Mind"
    • “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19)
Application:
  • It is never too late to repent of a sin and confess it
  • Repentance is not just a mental action or a thought or a decision - it is reflected in actions
  • Repentance goes hand-in-hand with the Sacrament of Eucharist
Contemplation:

Sometimes the thing that stops us from sitting in confession is the very thing that we should be repenting of and confessing about! Lord, give us the strength of Abba Moses who overcame the demons that were enslaving him. Give us the courage of Abba Moses who left behind his old life and his past self, and was reborn and consecrated to You. Give us the humility of Abba Moses who recognized and admitted his weaknesses and his sins. Give us the patience of Abba Moses who even before his repentance, did not cease to seek You. Give us the asceticism of Abba Moses who despite his size and his strength, did not focus on the physical needs as much as the spiritual. Let us be like Abba Moses, Lord, we who are black with sin, who are slaves of sin, who are lacking in our repentance. Let us be light in the world of darkness as Your Saint, Abba Moses was. Through the prayers of St Mary and St Abba Moses the Strong and St Rebekah, grant this to us, O Lord, and more. Amen.

Resources:
High School Service

2022-09-09: Life of Martyrdom

Objective:

Martyrdom in our Daily Life

Key Verse:

"He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39)

Visual Aid:

Attached to this page.

Introduction:
Body:
Conclusion: 
Application:
Contemplation:

Lord, we have too often forgotten Your suffering on our behalf on the Cross, Your humility in emptying Yourself and taking our form, Your life of service, and all that You do for us on a daily basis. Even when we give thanks to You in our prayers, and utter words of gratitude, we find ourselves not living a true life modeled after Yours. Let us, O Lord, live a life of suffering. Let us leave behind our comforts - let us remember Your discomfort on the Cross when we have a minor inconvenience. Let us pray for those who persecute us and hurt us. Let us love them. Let us strive to serve You, even (and especially) at our inconvenience. Let us suffer for the sake of others - accept less for the sake of someone else receiving more. Lord, we can only strive to be like You, but through a life of suffering, and fellowship with You, we can know You. And may we, according to Your will, receive the reward that our fathers and mothers the martyrs received - those who truly lived in fellowship with You.

Resources:
High School Service

2022-09-30: The Book of Job

Objective

Key Verse

Body

Introduction
Skit

Characters:

First Debate

Job: My friends, I am so glad that you came by to comfort me.

Eliphaz: Job, I had no idea you looked so awful. What in the world did you do for God to do this to you?!

Job: I did nothing. I am totally innocent.

Eliphaz: Yeah right... if you were innocent, this wouldn't have happened to you. But look at you, your sons are crushed and dead. Your possessions are completely gone. God is the one who does great things - who gives rain and water and children and prosperity. You DEFINITELY did something.

Job: If only God would take my life, so that I no longer have to feel this pain! But as for you - you call this coming to comfort me? What does your arguing prove? You want to rebuke me? Then show me my mistakes! What did I do wrong to deserve this?

Bildad: Look Job, I think what you need to do is ask God for forgiveness. I mean if your sons sinned, then they got their reward. But you're still here so ask God to forgive you! God is the one who holds the whole world in his hand!

Job: That I can agree on. God is almighty. I am amazed at the wisdom of God that would allow a righteous person to suffer. I am blameless, yet I do not know myself. 

Zophar: You're all talk! You want to be vindicated? Stop talking - everything you're saying is foolish. You're a liar! Oh (mockingly) "my doctrine is pure and I am clean in the eyes of God" - get out of here. What God has done to you is less than your sin deserves.

Job: Here I sit, being mocked by my friends. I, who call on God and God answers me. I, who am just and blameless - and I am ridiculed. I am as wise as you. I know that the Lord holds all of the world in his hands. (praying) Lord, I ask of you just two things - do not withdraw Your hand from me. And do not let me be afraid of You. Call out to me and I will answer. Or let me speak and then You respond to me. Make me know my transgressions and my sin.

First Debate Summary: 

Second Debate:

Eliphaz: Is this conversation even worth my time? This is absolutely pointless. Who do you think you are? I'm telling you what all the elders have told us, and what I have seen with my own eyes. The WICKED lives in pain; he dwells in desolate cities; he will not be rich; he hungers. The WICKED.

Job: You are all terrible comforters! Not one of you is wise! Lord, please give me relief.

Bildad: You think WE are stupid?! You're the one tearing yourself in anger and not understanding us. The wicked loses everything. He lives in darkness. He lives in terror. He lives without shelter. He is surrounded by traps and destruction. These are the dwellings of the wicked and this is the place of him who does not know God.

Job: How long will you torment me with your words? Aren't you ashamed of how you're treating me? No. I know that my Redeemer lives.

Zophar: But Job, haven't you seen it yourself? Haven't you seen how the wicked in this world live? They don't live happy and joyful lives. They live in misery! We've all seen it.

Job: I'll tell you what I have seen. I have seen that the wicked live and grow old and even mighty in power. I have seen that they have many children and descendants. I have seen that their houses are safe from fear. I have seen that their livestock and their animals reproduce. I have seen that they sing and dance and spend their days in wealth. Even though they reject God. How often does a wicked person live in darkness? How often does destruction come on them? Can anyone teach God knowledge? How can you comfort me with empty words that are full of lies and falsehood?

Second Debate Summary:

Third Debate:

Eliphaz: Why should God even care if you are righteous, or if you make your ways blameless. What do you think, that because you fear Him, he brings judgment on you?! That makes no sense. Your wickedness is great. Your iniquity has no end. You probably made people swear to you. You probably took clothing from someone who needed it. You probably didn't give water to the thirsty, or food to the hungry. You probably sent widows away empty and hurt orphans. You are so far into your sin that you can't even see it.

Job: My complaints are futile. If only I knew where God was, so that I could go and present my case to Him. Then, at least I would know His answer to me. Then He would take note of me. I cannot see Him, He is not here. He knows my way - I have kept His way, I have kept His commandments, I have treasured His words. But others on earth have been violent - violent on others, on animals, and even on the land - and yet they are not charged with wrongdoing. And if I'm saying something wrong, which of you will prove me to be a liar?

Bildad: How can any man be righteous? God has all dominion and fear. No one who is born of a woman can be pure.

Job: No matter what, I will not forsake God. I will not speak wickedness. I will keep my integrity. Where does wisdom come from? From God! The fear of the Lord is wisdom, departing from evil is understanding. As I was in the days of my prime, when I had everything and people would come to me for wisdom and for help - even people older than me. But now even the ones younger than I am come and mock me. My wealth has been turned into poverty.

If truly I have sinned, then let God's justice come upon me, but let it be weighed on honest scales. It's not fair.

If I have looked at a woman in lust, then let others bow down for my own wife.

If I have mistreated my male or female servant, or taken from the poor, or raised my hand against an orphan, then let me arm fall off my shoulder.

If I have put my trust in gold, or rejoiced in my wealth, or stolen food or money from someone, then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.

Third Debate Summary:

The Fourth Friend: Elihu

Elihu: Since I am younger than all of you, I waited before speaking. And I listened to all of your words. So now you listen to my words. Job, I heard you saying many times: "I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, there is no iniquity in me. Yet God finds occasions against me and counts me as His enemy." Look, Job, in this you are not righteous.

Who are you to contend with God? How can you say whether or not God counts you as an enemy? Don't you realize that we should all be delivered to the Pit?

Self-righteousness is in itself sin! God is good and He loves everyone - the righteous and the wicked - equally. He shows no partiality to anyone.

Conclusion
Lessons

Lessons from Job

Lessons from Job's Friends

Why do bad things happen to good people?

  1. Who are good people?
    • "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)

  2. What are the bad things?
    • Sin that comes from man
      • Can we blame this on God? God has given free will to all people. When people sin against each other, this cannot fall on the shoulders of God
    • Natural Disaster
      • Nature does not discriminate good or bad - a fire might be warm to someone (favorable) and uncomfortably hot (unfavorable) to others.
      • Hurricanes are uncomfortable for Floridians, but they have ecological benefits in tropical environments. The rain gives a needed boost to wetlands and flushes out lagoons to remove waste and weeds. The winds move sediments from bays into marsh areas to revitalize the nutrients, etc. They help to balance the heat in the atmosphere.
      • But even Natural Disasters are a result of the Fall of Man
        • "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:22)
    • Illness
      • Illness is also a result of the Fall of Man
      • However, God may use it for good

  3. Why might God let a "bad thing" happen to someone
    • Suffering might be a warning to avoid future sin
    • Suffering might be an opportunity to have faith in a difficult time and to be rewarded
    • Suffering might be to widen your perspective about something or someone and push you to repent

  4. Can we always know the reasons for suffering?
    • No - but what we know is that God uses all things for good.
    • "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Application

Contemplation

Lord, we cannot stand before You and compare ourselves to Job - Your righteous and faithful disciple, who lived a life of love and sacrifice for You. And even Lord in his hardship and tribulation, in his temptations, he loved You. And yet we falter at the slightest inconveniences. I consider if I have said an evil word in traffic because I was inconvenienced by a few seconds. I consider if I have fallen into anger simply because of a common cold. I consider all of my sins O Lord before You, that were not worth the time or the effort that we put into them and yet we consider them small or insignificant, while falling short of Your glory. I ask You, O Lord, to give me the repentance and righteousness of Job that I may live my life in faith and in the trust that all good things come from You and that You will use all things for good.

Resources

High School Service

2022-12-02: Manhood - Integrity

Visual Aid:

Attached to page

Objective

Key Verse

"Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." (Titus 2:6-8)

Introduction

What makes you a man?

When do you go from being a boy to being a man?

Scripture on Becoming a Man

"Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." (Titus 2:6-8)

St Paul is writing to Titus here and giving him instructions to exhort the young men with. To guide the young men into manhood.

We can relate these to many of our topics, but one that stands out is Integrity

Integrity

The dictionary definition of Integrity is actually pretty good - The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

We are gonna break this down into two parts for today:

  1. Being a man of your word
  2. Being a man of THE Word

In essence - Don't be Fake! One of the big attractors to non-believers in the first centuries to join Christianity was that the Christians were genuine and full of integrity. They did what they said. They believed in what they said. They acted morally and ethically even when the pagan society did not.

Nowadays, many people leave Christianity or reject Christianity because of Christians. Because they don't do what they preach. They're fake. They don't have integrity.

Today we're going to look at these two parts and take some case studies for them and decide in those case studies what the right thing to do is.

Body

Case Study 1

Kyrillos is a 9th Grade boy who loves playing video games. He hops on Xbox Live twice a week with his friends from church around 8pm, after he finishes his homework and they play 2k for a few hours. One night, Kyrillos’ mom needed to head to bed a little early because she had an early morning; so she reminded him of one of his weekly chores: “Don’t forget to take out the trash tonight!” Kyrillos responded “Bet! I got you mom – after I finish this game.” She said goodnight and went to sleep. That night, Kyrillos and his friends played until midnight. Kyrillos was really tired at the end and couldn’t even focus on what was in front of him; he knocked out on the couch. In the morning, Kyrillos’ mom woke up very early, realized the trash was still in. So she took the trash out herself.

Case Study 2

Anthony is a 10th grade boy who has a lot on his plate – he is taking an almost full schedule in High School, along with 2 College Classes. He’s also on the school’s Basketball team. He does Preservants at church. He has chores to do at home. Anthony was visited in his home by two servants – they were surprised to find his Bible Passport completely empty… they explained to him the importance of reading the Scripture on a daily basis. Anthony agreed with them. Anthony gave them his word that he would start from that day and try to read at least three times a week. That night, Anthony read 12 chapters and filled in three boxes a week for the next four weeks.

Case Study 3

Pishoy is a 9th grade boy who doesn’t have that much money. One day, he’s out with his friends and they decide to hit McDonalds for a quick lunch. Pishoy only has two dollars to spend, so he decides to grab two things from the dollar menu. He also gets a water cup. He sees that the rest of his friends also purchased a drink cup. When he gets to the soda machine, he looks behind him to make sure the employees aren’t looking, and he fills his water cup with Sprite. He takes his place with his friends and eats his meal.

Pishoy did not end up repenting from his McDonalds sin… in fact, he justified it in his mind and said “well it’s not like McDonalds needs the money.” A few days later, he’s with the same group of friends and they decide to hit the 7-11 for some snacks. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money. All his friends would be snacking on Takis and Hot Fries without him… he realizes that 7-11 is just as rich as McDonalds and they wouldn’t feel any pain from a bag of chips. He uses the “5-finger discount” and grabs a bag of Takis.

Case Study 4

Petro is a 10th grade boy who maintains a 4.0 GPA. He is, by God’s grace, very intelligent and very hard working. This semester, he started to take a college math class in addition to his High School classes. The college class turned out to be much more difficult than any class he’d ever taken. Petro needed help. He needed to maintain his GPA… and it’s not like this class ACTUALLY matters for the career he wanted. Petro’s assignments were stacking up. He didn’t have time to focus on these difficult math assignments. Petro started googling the answers… he found a website made for his exact textbook. Just enter the numbers from your problems and you get a solution – with the work and the answer and all. Petro used this to solve all of his assignments and his online exam. Petro did not get caught.

Petro, not learning from or repenting from his past indiscretion, took another college class the next semester – English Composition. This class was even harder and more workload than the math class. He had an essay due in just a few days that he wasn’t sure where to start with it. When doing his research, he found a similar essay online about a similar topic. He took the essay and changed several of the words in it from the other topic to his topic. The new paper was unrecognizable from the old one and Petro was proud of the work that he had done. Petro submitted it. The Plagiarism Checker returned a 75% match and Petro got caught.

Case Study 5

Samson is a 10th grade boy. He attends Sunday School and Bible Study every week, and he is a deacon. He understands the principles of his faith and tries to live by them. A girl at school takes interest in Samson. She starts showing him more attention and starts to text him pretty regularly. At lunch, she sits by him and sometimes they take pictures for the ‘gram. They aren’t officially dating or anything like that, but Samson starts to spend some time with her outside of school as well. Samson starts posting some of the pictures on his social media. When confronted by a servant, Samson tells the truth – they aren’t dating; they’re just friends; even though he knows that she likes him.

Contemplation

Grant us, O Lord, to have integrity in everything that we do. Integrity in our school and work. Integrity in our homes with our wives and children and parents and siblings. Integrity in our ministry and our service. Integrity in all of our actions and interactions. Let us, O Lord, be like You - You who never wavered in doing what is right, in accomplishing Your ministry and Your goal, You who never said You'd do something and didn't do it. You, O Lord, who are the perfection of all that is good and the model for Integrity. Let us take the example of the saints before us who lived lives of integrity. The example of Job who when his friends even asked him "Why do you still have integrity" he knew to be unwavering. Let us not succumb to the temptations that test our integrity - peer pressure and image and falsehood.

Resources

High School Service

2023-01-13: Offering of Incense

Objective

Key Verse

“Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2)

Visual Aid

Attached

Body

Introduction
Vessels of the Offering of Incense
The Order of the Rite
The Circuits of Incense
The Litanies

Application

Contemplation

Lord, we thank you for allowing us to experience and to live the work of salvation on a weekly and even daily basis. We thank you for giving us and preserving for us ritual practices that bring us closer to Your saints and Your heavenly ones. We ask you O Lord that our prayer is lifted up to you as incense and that You smell the aroma of our prayers as a sweet aroma of incense - well pleasing to You. Let us be dependent on Your will for us, and accepting of Your will for us - for we know that all good and perfect things come from you, and that all things that come from You are good and perfect. Let our prayer reflect this - let us continually pray that Your will be done. And in this way, we participate with You. 

High School Service

2023-01-20: Theophany, Baptism, and Sanctification

Objective

Key Verse

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Body

Introduction
What was the Purpose of Circumcision?
Where did Baptism come from?
What happened in the Baptism of Christ?
Baptism in the Church
What happens on the day of our Baptism?

Application

Resources

High School Service

2023-02-17: Be a Peacemaker

Objective

Key Verse

"But I tell you not to resist an evil person..." (Matthew 5:39)

Body

Peace
Peacemaking & Troublemaking
Peacemaking
Troublemaking
Peacemaking is a Show of my Love to God

Application

Contemplation

Resources

High School Service

2023-02-24: Spirituality of Fasting

Objective


Key Verse


Body

The Antiquity of Fasting
What is Fasting?
Fasting and the Body
Fasting and the Soul
Why Fast
How to Fast

Application


Contemplation

Resources

High School Service

2023-02-24: Consecrate a Fast

Objective

Key Verse

Body

What is Fasting
Why don't we like Fasting?
Pitfalls in Fasting
How to Fast

Application

Resources

High School Service

2023-06-16: Ethics and AI

Objective

Key Verse

"He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known.“ (Proverbs 10:9)

Visual Aid

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zb7om5xwkp5yx8p/Artificial%20Intelligence.pptx?dl=0 

What is Artificial Intelligence

Neural Networks
Knowledge-Based AI
Probability
Machine Learning
Uses of AI

Is AI Good or Bad

What is Intelligence?
What is Artificial?
AI is a Tool

Dangers of AI

AI Can (and Will) Lie to You
AI Can Manipulate You
AI Has a Fingerprint

How to use AI

Inappropriate Uses for Artificial Intelligence
Appropriate Uses for Artificial Intelligence

Contemplation


Resources

High School Service

2023-09-29: The Cross in Our Lives

Objective

  1. Learn the history of the Holy Cross
  2. Learn the importance of the Cross in our lives

Key Verse

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Body

What is the Cross to you?
The Power of the Cross: Good Friday
The Cross is our Weapon of Victory
The Cross as a Declaration of Faith
The Cross in the Church
The Cross was not Random
Conclusion

The Cross is special. It is foreshadowed and typologized and pointed to from the beginning of time, it is an integral part of the economy of Salvation, and the life of the Church, and my personal life as a Christian. I can use the Cross practically in my life by holding it in my hand, by invoking its name, by signing myself, others, food, places, etc. with it.

Application


Contemplation

Resources

High School Service

2023-10-13: The Eternal Existence of God

Objective

  1. What is God like
  2. The eternal existence of God
  3. Heresies regarding Gods eternal existence and how to refute them
  4. How does Gods eternal existence affect my life

Key Verse

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

Body

Introduction: The Name of God
What are the names of God?
What is God's Name?
ⲫⲏⲉⲧϣⲟⲡ
The Eternal Existence of God
Verses about the Eternality of God
What can we know about God?
How does God's eternal existence affect my life?

Application

Do you sometimes worry about what might happen in the future? Contemplate on how knowing that God is eternal can help us to not worry about these things and on how we should act toward God to show that we understand that He is everlasting.

High School Service

2025 HSG Winter Convention (SALT): Intro Topic

Objective
Introductory Topic

The opening session will establish the foundation for the entire convention, preparing the hearts and minds of attendees for the discussions to come by covering these points:

Overview of the Stations

In addition to the introductory station, the convention will include three stations, each addressing a specific root of anxiety and offering a biblical approach and practical steps to overcoming it

Resources

Topic

Introduction
Effects of Anxiety
Cause of Worry & Anxiety
Overcoming Anxiety
High School Service

2026 Spring Break Spiritual Day - Introduction (IOTA)

"There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 12:4)

Introduction

Sunday Theotokia: "You are called truly, • O blessed one • among women, • the Second Tabernacle •
which is called • the Holy • of Holies, • wherein are the tablets •
of the covenant • and the Ten Commandments • which are written • by the finger of God. •
They have directed us • to the IOTA - • the name of salvation - • Jesus Christ."

The Ten Commandments, given by God and written by His finger on two tablets, have directed us to the IOTA. And the IOTA is the name of Salvation: Jesus Christ.

We have a category of hymn in the Church called "Psalis" which are said before the Theotokia. And these Psalis typically all focus on one topic: the name of the Lord. Saying the name of the Lord.  There is great power in the name of the Lord.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (Proverbs 18:10)

The name of the Lord means:

  1. Enlightenment
    • Monday Psali: "Let the name of the Lord • abide within us • so that He may shine • upon our inner being"
    • Tuesday Psali: "When they uttered it • their minds were enlightened • and their hearts ascended • to the heights."
  2. Ability to Give Others
    • Wednesday Psali: "If we are needy • for the money of this world, • and we have nothing • to offer as alms; •
      yet truly we have • the precious pearl of great price • which is the sweet name full of glory • of our Lord Jesus Christ. •
      When we continue to keep Him • in our inner being • He will make us rich • that we can give to others. •
      We do not ask for • the wealth of this world • but for the salvation of our souls • by calling upon His holy name."
    • Peter and John: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
  3. Nourishment
    • Tuesday Psali: "For them it was • a Living food • which filled their souls • and their bodies too. •
      For them it was • a fountain of living water • sweeter than honey • in their mouths. •
      When they called upon it • their hearts rejoiced • and their bodies • blossomed."
  4. Sweetness and Joy

    • Friday Psali: "Our hearts are happy • and our tongues rejoice • whenever we sing to the name • of our Lord Jesus Christ."

    • Saturday Psali: "The remembrance of your holy name • gives joy to our hearts • O my Lord Jesus Christ • my good Savior."

  5. Power to Purify
    • Monday Psali: "Everyone who says: • 'my Lord Jesus' • is likened to a sword • casting down the enemy."
    • Thursday Psali: "Once more my beloved • let us keep away • the evil inclinations of our heart • that lead us to sin. •
      Let us incessantly • bless the name of Salvation • that is for our Lord Jesus Christ • proclaiming and saying: •
      O my Lord Jesus Christ • who is born of the Father • before all ages • have mercy on us according to Your great mercy; •
      O my Lord Jesus Christ...

I want to focus on #5 - Power to Purify

Purity is not only "behavior"

What is my first response to a sinful thought? To a temptation? To an image I wasn't expecting to see? I come to you in the name of the Lord.

"If you celebrate a feast and are joyful, say: Jesus;
if you worry and suffering: Jesus;
if the sons and daughters laugh: Jesus;
those who touch water: Jesus;
those who must flee from barbarians: Jesus;
those who see wild beasts or other frightening things: Jesus;
those who have pain or illness: Jesus;
those who have been taken captive: Jesus;
those who were unjustly judged and suffer injustice: Jesus.
The name of Jesus alone is on their lips and is their salvation and their life: He and His Father."
(St Shenouda - A Catechesis against Apocryphal Texts)

Three Stations:

  1. Recognize: How does temptation work in the mind?
  2. Respond: Immediately with the name of the Lord Jesus, not negotiation
  3. Rule: Build a rule of life so purity becomes sustainable and becomes my way of life
High School Service

2026-07-14: “I Send You to the World” (HSB Summer Convention)

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21)

Background

image.pngThe order matters!

“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)

The Lord commanded the disciples to wait until they received power from the Holy Spirit, and then go witness for Him in Jerusalem, then branch out to Judea and Samaria, and then to the end of the earth. And if you read the Book of Acts, you will find that exact structure in the Book of Acts.

And this is the reality of serving. I need to let the Lord prepare me, and then start in my inner circle in my family, then branch into serving my church and community, and then the rest of the world.

Many people get very excited about going on a Mission Trip and evangelizing in a foreign country and going to do many services away from their city and their church… but unless I have a foundation of serving my family and serving my community and my church, I will not be successful.

Nation of Israel

I want to start by talking about the Nation of Israel and the Old Testament.

I Send You into the World

Fast forward a few thousand years… the Lord Jesus gathers His disciples in the Upper Room. He washes their feet. He eats with them the Passover. He gives them His Body and Blood and institutes for them the Eucharist. He teaches them about the Holy Spirit. And then He prays to the Father these words:

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world… I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:15-18, 20-21)

"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."

“As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."

What is the World?

So what is the world we are being sent into? What does it mean "I send you into the world?" This isn't some abstract sentence... but the "world" is where you're going when you leave this convention.

This is the world we are being sent into. And for all of these different settings of the world, there is a Danger of Conformity.

But also in all of them, there is an opportunity (and a commandment) to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We'll take the settings one by one, and try to identify the dangers of conformity, and the opportunities to witness in each one. As we go through them, examine yourself. Ask yourself if you are conforming or if you are witnessing. Ask yourself if you are taking seriously the mission that the Lord has sent you on.

1. School

Conforming

Witnessing

2. Friendships

Conforming

Witnessing

3. Entertainment

Conforming

Witnessing

4. Everyday Life

Conforming

Witnessing

5. Digital World

But there’s one more world that didn’t exist when the New Testament was written, and it’s a world that ALL OF YOU are Sent into TODAY. Probably even BEFORE you leave this convention…

The Digital World!

20 years ago if you wanted to escape from the world, you could go home… but now the world comes with you, in your pocket and in every screen around you. Constant notifications and buzzing and trying to get your attention.

And it actually encompasses all of the above..

So let’s identify some of the dangers of conformity in the digital world, and opportunities to witness.

Conformity

Witnessing

Conclusion

All of these examples boil down to about five virtues:

  1. Integrity - doing the right thing when no one is watching
  2. Purity - guarding your senses, your heart and your mind
  3. Love - treating everyone as made in God's image and concerned for their salvation
  4. Courage - willing to stand apart from the crowd
  5. Hope - when someone leaves a conversation with me, they are more hopeful and they feel they have seen Christ

Notice that we didn't say anything about preparing a sermon. We didn't say anything about giving a speech. We didn't say anything about learning apologetics. Don't think that "I Send You into the World" means I am sending you to give a sermon, no but let your life be a sermon.

People must see Christ in your life before they hear about Him from your mouth.

Hymns School

Hymns School

Message to the Hymns Servants 2021

I consider last year's hymns classes to be a huge success: We had more classes than ever, more servants than ever, taught more hymns than ever. We had many new servants who didn't teach hymns rise up and teach hymns (Amanda, Merna, Sandy, Mark, Andrew, Jan). Many dedicated servants who continued to teach hymns. God bless you.

Every year, we will try to move into a little bit more structure as a Hymns School. Last year, the goal was to get accustomed to the new classes - now we are separated by age and smaller classes, and a loose curriculum. This helped inform finalizing the curriculum for this year - understanding the levels of the kids at each age group... seeing where we are and where we want to be. This year, we will start to keep track of what each class learned at the age group to help inform the next years. Also this year we will start with the curriculum website.

I just want to share some points with you:

MS & HS Summer Youth Retreat

MS & HS Summer Youth Retreat

2021 MS and HS Summer Youth Retreat

Goals:

Outline

Resources

Below are some ideas for the above outline... they are just potentials and nothing is set in stone. It is impossible to cover all of the below, but we should cover at least one or two items in every station.
The important thing will be interactive delivery, activities, etc.

Introductory Topic:

Day 1: Does God exist

Goal: At the end of the day, we have arrived at the conclusion, from four different and independent perspectives, that God exists.

Station 1: Creation (Bible)
Station 2: Science
Station 3: Philosophical (Patristic)
Station 4: Historical

Day 2: Which God?

Goal: At the end of the day, we know how to defend our Christian faith against some of the common attacks

Station 1: Prophecies
Station 2: Logical
Station 3: The Resurrection
Station 4: Modern-Day Miracles and Saints
MS & HS Summer Youth Retreat

2022 MS and HS Summer Youth Retreat

Key Verse

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
(John 8:31-32)

Goals

Day 1 - Homosexuality

Resources

Outline

Day 2 - Feminism

Resources

Outline

MSB Sunday School

MSB Sunday School

2022-03-03 Parents Meeting

Topic: The Role of the MS Parent

Introduction
The Parent: The Spiritual Enabler
The Parent: The Spiritual Model
The Parent: A Guard and Protector
The Parent: In Correction and Reproof
The Role of the Church
Conclusion
Technology Tutorial

 

 

 

MSB Sunday School

Responsibility as a Deacon

Introduction

Activity

Scripture

Rites of Ordination

Church Canons

MSB Sunday School

Responsibility in Boundaries

Introduction

Activity: Circle of Trust

Boundaries with Friends

Setting, Maintaining, Enforcing Boundaries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSB Sunday School

2026-08-05: History of the Liturgy (2026 Summer MS Boys Convention)

“Keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.” 
(1 Corinthians 11:2)

Introduction

We live in the most advanced society that has ever existed. Technology, Medicine, Communication, Information, etc. has NEVER been at a higher level.

And if you go to any Protestant Church, you will 

What is Liturgy?

Liturgy is Holy

It used to take 45 days to get from Florida to Washington state. Then cars were invented and it could take only 45 hours. Then planes were invented and it takes 4.5 hours! But God forbid the plane is an hour late... and if it's 3 hours late, I'm demanding a refund! This is the world we live in... we got so used to having everything fast and easy.

If I want food from a specific restaurant, I can push a button on my phone and it's here. If I want access to any information in the whole world, I can push a button on my phone with AI and I have it. We have Reels and Shorts and Doomscrolling. This is the fast-paced world that we live in.

Liturgy transcends all of that. Liturgy does something different. Liturgy is slow-paced. Liturgy brings us back to reality... because reality is not fast-paced. If I want to grow in virtue like being thankful, I cannot push a button on my phone and now I'm a thankful person. If I want to overcome a sin like lustful thoughts... I cannot push a button on my phone and overcome. I can't just read a book and it's done. These things take time. Liturgy brings us back to the pace of reality.

And this is what it means that Liturgy is Holy. Holy means Set Apart from the World. Set Apart for God.

When we enter the Liturgy, we enter into God's time.

For example, when Abouna prays: "Therefore, as we also commemorate His holy Passion, His Resurrection from the dead, His ascension into the heavens, and His sitting at Your right hand O Father" - we are commemorating events that happened in the past. We are remembering them and keeping them as a memorial... but then Abouna continues "and His Second Coming which shall be from the heavens awesome and full of glory." - this is an event that hasn't happened yet! So how can we commemorate it?

It is because in that moment, we are not in the world's time. If you check your watch or look at a clock or look at your phone, yes you will see that time is progressing. But in the Liturgical Ritual we are seeing past, present and future converge to one point.

God, is timeless and eternal, He is not bound by time as we are, He is the creator of time itself, and He is inviting us to be present with Him. If I understand my role in the liturgy, then I will find myself in His presence, and His presence is outside of time.

Liturgy is Given by God 

Liturgy is how God wants to be worshipped.

The concepts of liturgy, sacrifice and ritual were not invented by man, but have been the expression of worship that is acceptable to God since the beginning.

What we have in our hands with Liturgy is something that is given to us by God. It is not for us to change to adapt to our desires.

Liturgy is the Work of the People...

In the Old Testament, everything related to the work of the priest, the sacrifices, the tabernacle or the temple, etc. is called in Greek "λειτουργία" which is the word "Liturgy."

This word means "work of the people."

Some people treat the Liturgy as a show that they watch... they come to the Liturgy, stand in their place and become silent observers. If we treat the Liturgy like a show, not only will we miss out on the actual experience, but we're more likely to just get completely distracted. The Liturgy is not a very entertaining show to watch! So if it starts to get boring, I start to divert my attention elsewhere and get distracted with my social media, or a game on my phone, or reading the news, or trying to "multi-task" during the Liturgy.

But we are not meant to be watchers or observers of liturgy, but rather active participants. When you go to a show, the entertainer is facing you and he's trying to make you laugh or invoke an emotional response - but when you come to the liturgy, the priest is not facing you, but he's facing east WITH you, because he, LIKE you, is a participant. He, like you, needs repentance. He, like you, needs to eat of the Eucharist. He, like you, needs salvation. So I, like him, need to participate in the Liturgy. 

This is why the word "Liturgy" is used - because it means "work of the people." And actually we can expand the definition to be "work of the people FOR the people"

What is History?

  1. Finding Sources
    • The Holy Scripture
    • Patristic Writings
    • Church Canons
    • Architecture & Iconography
    • Liturgical Manuscripts
  2. Analyzing Sources
    • Is this source reliable?
    • How old is this source? 
      • Do you think an older source is better or a newer source?
      • Both are valuable! They tell us about different time periods and can show us how things developed or changed over time!
    • Does this source show me something that is in line with what I already know from the history?
  3. Extrapolating Facts
    • What facts does this source give me?
  4. Making Conclusions
    • Based on what I already know, and what I have already gathered, and the facts this source has given me, what do I think happened? What is the history?
    • Review

Early Liturgy

The Last Supper

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Liturgy in the Apostles

“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” (Acts 20:7)

Liturgy in the Early Church

St. Justin the Martyr in his work called the "First Apology," writes:

On Sunday, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.

The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered, admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.

Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves...and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandment, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and for a considerable time, he gives thanks (Eucharist) and we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded these prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying, “Amen.”

When he who presides has given thanks and people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine, and water and take them to those who are absent.

Here, we see:

How did Liturgy Change?

Codifying the words of the Liturgy
Liturgy of St Basil Liturgy of St Gregory Liturgy of St Cyril
St. Basil St. Gregory St. Mark - translated and updated by St. Cyril
Addressed to God the Father Addressed to God the Son Addressed to God the Father
Cappadocian Style Cappadocian Style Alexandrian Style
All prayers AFTER Epiclesis All prayers AFTER Epiclesis All prayers BEFORE Epiclesis
Any Time Any Time, Usually Feasts

Any Time, Usually Fasts
The Order of Prayers

Old

Current

The Day of Liturgy
Does Liturgy Still Develop?
  1. By the consensus of the Holy Synod
    • The Holy Synod consists of every Coptic Orthodox bishop in the world and is the final say on any ritual or liturgical changes
    • Changes take many years or decades to be studied, approved, and implemented
    • No priest or deacon can just decide to change things however he wants

  2. To meet the pastoral needs of the people
    • Adding "air" to the Litany of the Travelers
    • Adding "success to the students, jobs to the needy" to the Supplications
    • Litany of the Seasons - Nile River!

  3. For practicality
    • Throwing water vs. touching the head of each person
What Doesn't Change?
  1. The Doctrine of the Church
  2. The Role of the Bishop, Priest, Deacon
  3. The Key Components of Liturgy
    • Thanksgiving
    • Reconciliation
    • Institution
    • Anamnesis
    • Epiclesis
    • Distribution

Newsletter

Newsletter

12/2025 - Kiahk Article

Kiahk Sunday Midnight Praises

Praise is the work of angels - they stand before the Throne of Grace praising God without tire or boredom; it is their utmost pleasure, fullness and joy to praise their Creator! Praise in the church is the HIGHEST level of prayers and talking to God. It is participation with those angels and heavenly hosts.

During the blessed Coptic month of Kiahk, the Church comes together in PRAISE to prepare for the Nativity Feast and for the Advent of Christ, the Logos and only-begotten Son of God.

7 Theotokia & 4 Canticles

Sometimes, you will hear of Kiahk Praises being called “7 & 4.” This is an old name that references the praises of the Sunday Kiahk Vigil: 7 Theotokia and 4 Canticles (or Hos). Along with each of the Theotokia and Canticles, the Church arranges several associated Psalis, Lobsh, Melodies and Expositions.

Theotokia: Greek word that means glorification to the Theotokos (Mother of God).

Hos: Coptic word meaning “praise.” The English word “Ode” is sometimes used.

Canticle: English word that means a hymn whose words are taken from the Bible.

Psali: Greek word that means “chant.” These hymns are typically acrostic or alphabetic poems composed in Greek or Coptic.

Lobsh: Greek word that means “explanation.”

Melodies: These hymns are typically poems composed in English or Arabic.

Exposition: These are explanations that are chanted and then read.

During Kiahk, vigil is kept for the whole night in prayer, chanting, reading Scripture, and praising! Our flesh is weak; alone, who of us can do this without boredom, tire or sleepiness? But when we come together as a Church, through the Holy Spirit, we receive strength and encouragement and energy!

The Order of Praises

Examine the order of the Sunday Kiahk Vigil below - for each of the 4 Canticles and 7 Theotokia, it refers to all of the associated praises in order: first the Psali, then that Canticle or Theotokia, then the Lobsh, then the Melodies, and finally the Expositions.

  1. Introduction to the Midnight Praise
    • ⲧⲉⲛⲑⲏⲛⲟⲩ (Arise O Children of the Light)
    • Great Kiahk Ode
    • Midnight Alleluia
    • “Amen Alleluia” Melody
  2. 1st Canticle (Exodus 15)
  3. Monday & Tuesday Theotokia
  4. 2nd Canticle (Psalm 135)
  5. Wednesday & Thursday Theotokia
  6. 3rd Canticle (Daniel 3)
  7. Friday & Saturday Theotokia
  8. Conclusion of the Watos Theotokia
  9. 4th Canticle (Psalm 148, 149, 150)
  10. Sunday Theotokia
  11. Conclusion of the Kiahk Sunday Vigil
    1. Exposition of the Laborers
    2. Antiphonary
    3. Conclusion of the Adam Theotokia
    4. Concluding Litany
    5. Conclusion of the Midnight Praise
Major Themes of the Praises

Praise is due to the Holy Trinity

“Worship befits the Holy Trinity • the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit • we worship, we praise, and glorify • One God, Creator of all souls. •
To Him is due all glory and praise. • Worthy of all honor and heaven. • Without beginning, existing before the ages. • Eternal, Omnipotent and Immortal.
Kiahk Praise on the Holy Trinity (see Article on this hymn!)

The Incarnation of the Son of God

“The Incorporeal was incarnate • resembling us in the flesh • for the Word became flesh • and dwelt within us. •
For the ever-existent Being • has appeared in the last days • and the One outside of time • came and was subject to time. •
The Incomprehensible was touched • and the Unseen has been seen • the invisible Son of God • became a perfect Man.”
Second Lobsh on the Wednesday Theotokia

The fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies

”Isaiah prophesied • about the birth • of Immanuel•the Almighty King • Ezekiel saw a door • through which the Lord entered • He sealed the door and claimed it • highly exalted. •
Highly exalted are you • and your Son Jesus • when He was born of you • the earth was adorned • and also Daniel • prophesied and said • I saw the high throne • highly exalted.”
O M A R Y - Melody on the 8th Part of the Sunday Theotokia

The fulfillment of Old Testament types and symbols

”The burning bush seen by Moses, • the prophet, in the wilderness; • the fire inside it was aflame • but never consumed or injured it. • The same with the Theotokos, Mary, • who carried the fire of divinity; • nine months in her holy body • without blemishing her virginity.”
Melody on the Thursday Theotokia

Glorification of the Virgin Mary

”Come all today • O orthodox people • that we may glorify • Mary the Virgin.
Everyone honors • the pure one • Who is full of glory • Mary the Virgin.”
Psali on the Monday Theotokia

St Mary’s Acceptance of God’s Will and Her Given Role in Salvation

”Virgin Mary, the wise Theotokos, saved Adam through her beloved Son” … “You are the rational hook that catches Christians and raises them up to heaven.”
Exposition on the Friday Theotokia

Melismatic Hymns of Kiahk

Melismatic refers to hymns that have many melisma (hazzat) - when a word or syllable or sound is musically extended for several seconds (or minutes). During the month of Kiahk, several melismatic hymns are offered to the Lord in praise, in addition to those of the standard Midnight Praise, enriching the Sunday Vigil.

Great Kiahk Ode

The Great Kiahk Ode is a collection of excerpts from the Psalms arranged in order about: Praising the Lord, St. Mary, the Heavenly Orders, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Saints, the Patriarch and Bishops, Praising the Lord. The first verse is chanted in a melismatic tune of about 20 minutes.

Midnight Alleluia

The hymn of Midnight Alleluia is two words: “Alleluia. Alleluia.” These two words are extended to almost 30 minutes of melisma arranged as a medley of the entire body of Coptic Hymns and Praises. It is a small taste of heaven and the work of angels who “praise Him and exalt Him above all, forever.” (Daniel 3)

Third Canticle Hymns

The hymns ⲥ̀ⲙⲟⲩ ⲉ̀ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ (Bless the Lord…), ϩⲱⲥ ⲉ̀ⲣⲟϥ (Praise Him) and ⲁ̀ⲣⲓϩⲟⲩⲟ ϭⲁⲥϥ (and exalt Him above all, forever), similarly, allow us to experience a glimpse of the heavenly praise to the Lord that “endures forever!” (Psalm 111)

ⲧⲉⲛⲉⲛ

The hymn of ⲧⲉⲛⲉⲛ is the Praise of the Three Saintly Youth - the hymn continues the theme of offering a perpetual sacrifice of praise of the Lord: “They praise and glorify God at all times.”

The Exposition of the Laborers

The Exposition of the Laborers is read, detailing the laborers of Matthew 20:8 (“Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first, a denarius for each.”).

Who are the laborers? The patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, the cross-bearers, the virgins; the archbishops and bishops; the hegumens and priests; the archdeacons, deacons, subdeacons and readers; the archons and the sinners who repented; and finally, “the brothers who labored with us in this psalmody” — all of those who labored in offering the sacrifice of praise in the vigil.

The conclusion is chanted melismatically: ”O Christ our Savior • grant them their rewards • for their labors • in the heavenly kingdom.”

Serving the Lost Sheep

Serving the Lost Sheep

2026-07-04: Qualities of the Lost Sheep Servant (Nashville Lost Sheep Service)

He is trustworthy
Always Growing and Learning


Patient
Focused on Eternity
Is Not Perfect
Is Spiritual

Servants Meeting

Servants Meeting

Liturgical Theology

Introduction
Liturgy of Time - Introduction
Liturgy of Time - Agpeya I
Liturgy of Time - Agpeya II
Liturgy of Time - Agpeya III
Liturgy of Time - Agpeya IV
Liturgy of Time - Raising of Incense I
Liturgy of Time - Raising of Incense II
Liturgy of Time - Raising of Incense III
Liturgy of Time - Weekly Cycle I
Liturgy of Time - Weekly Cycle II
Liturgy of Time - Weekly Cycle III
Liturgy of Time - Weekly Cycle IV
Liturgy of Time - Weekly Cycle V
Liturgy of Time - Weekly Cycle VI
Liturgy of Time - Yearly Cycle I
Liturgy of Time - Yearly Cycle II
Liturgy of Time - Yearly Cycle III

 

Servants Meeting

Liturgical Theology: Theophany Feast

Historical Development of the Theophany

Egypt Before Christianity
1st Century
2nd-3rd Century
4th Century
5th Century
10th Century

The Baptism of Christ

Circumcision and Baptism
Where did Baptism Come From?
The Baptism of Christ

Themes of the Theophany

The Manifestation of the Holy Trinity

"This is My beloved Son in whom I am pleased. He has performed my will; obey Him, for He is the Giver of Life." - Verses of the Cymbals

"You have seen the Holy Spirit • coming down from heaven • and you have heard the voice of the Father • proclaiming and saying: •
'This is My beloved Son • with whom My soul is well pleased • He does My will; hear Him • for He is the Life-giver." - Second Doxology

The Sanctification of the Waters

"The sea beheld and fled, • and the Jordan turned away. • O sea, why have you fled? • Stand firm that you may be blessed. •
Behold the waters have seen • the Maker and Creator • and they feared; • agitation and confusion overtook them." - First Doxology

"The only-begotten God • came to the Jordan • and the portrait that was destroyed • and ruined by sin, •
He restored it once again • by the baptism of water; • He demolished the head of the dragon • upon the waters of the Jordan." - Second Doxology

Veneration of St John the Baptist

"A proud name is your name, • O kinsman of Immanuel. • You are great among all the saints, • O John the Baptist" - Verse of Cymbals, ⲟⲩⲣⲁⲛ ⲛϣⲟⲩϣⲟⲩ

All of the Theophany Psalis

Rite of the Theophany

The Readings
Paramoun Vespers Matthew 4:12-22 Jesus beings His ministry; prophecy from Isaiah "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light..."
Paramoun Matins John 3:22-29 John the Baptist exalts Christ ("He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."
Paramoun Liturgy Luke 3:1-18 John preaches to the people
Feast Vespers Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Feast Lakkan Matthew 3:1-17 John the Baptist Prepares the Way; John Baptizes Jesus
Feast Matins Mark 1:1-11 John the Baptist Prepares the Way; John Baptizes Jesus
Feast Liturgy John 1:18-34 John's testimony of Christ
Second Day Vespers Luke 3:21-22 John Baptizes Jesus
Second Day Matins Matthew 3:13-17 John Baptizes Jesus
Second Day Liturgy John 1:35-51 "Behold the Lamb of God" - 
Theophany Paramoun

The Rites of the Paramoun are identical to that of the Nativity.

Theophany Feast
  1. Vespers Praises & Vespers if the Feast is on Sunday or Monday (because it means the Paramoun was prayed early)
  2. Veneration for St John the Baptist
  3. Midnight Praises
    • Great Canticle
    • Midnight Alleluia
    • 7 & 4 - Psali and Exposition for each Theotokia
  4. Liturgy of the Waters (Lakkan)
    • On Covenant Thursday and Apostles' Feast, the Lakkan is prayed AFTER Matins (as all church services are - wedding, baptism, etc.). On Theophany it is prayed before Matins. This is a remnant of the original practice that the Nile waters were sanctified and THEN the people went to Church to pray the Feast
  5. Matins
    • Like Nativity and Resurrection Feasts
  6. Divine Liturgy

Lakkan

Order of Lakkan
  1. Thanksgiving Prayer, Incense, Verses of Cymbals
  2. Prophecies
  3. Incense & Pauline
  4. Ⲟⲩⲣⲁⲛ ⲛϣⲟⲩϣⲟⲩ, Ⲡⲁϭⲟⲓⲥ and Trisagion
  5. Psalm & Gospel
  6. Ⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲛⲁⲓ ⲛⲁⲛ
  7. Gospel Response
  8. Litanies (Sick, Travelers, Seasons, Leaders, Departed, Oblations, Catechumens)
  9. Supplications
  10. Litanies (Peace, Fathers, Assemblies) - Can be Inaudible
  11. Creed
  12. Aspasmos Adam
  13. Anaphora
  14. Absolutions
  15. Distribution
  16. Concluding Prayer
Prophecies
Anaphora
Servants Meeting

Preaching & Evangelism

In the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen.

Who, What, Where, When, How of Evangelism

Introduction

Background

The first idea for this topic came over a year ago after the 2024 OCAD. Many of our youth - most are servants - came to me in the Youth Meeting and talked about their struggles at OCAD. They felt ill-equipped for some of the conversations that happened or the people who approached the table. Some were even discouraged at the end of the day... 

At the same time, there was a lot of excitement around OCCM and the influx of catechumens and the potential to baptize youth. And a lot of excitement about bringing catechumens and inviting them to every meeting and every convention and every outing, etc. but without seeking any guidance.

And there were several other interactions that I had with various youth since then that felt a little off...

One time there was a guy who came into the Church because he was just looking for someone to talk to. He wanted to talk to the priest... so I sat with him for a little while in private, and then he left. That evening, I heard the youth talking and excited and someone asked me about "the new catechumen."

One time I was telling the youth on Thursday that we have a baptism tomorrow before liturgy, try to make it! And there were excited faces as they asked "is it an adult baptism??" But a look of disappointment when I said "no, it's a baby."

We all rejoice when there is a new member in the Body of Christ, and when someone has gone through the catechism and decided to dedicate his life to Christ and to the Orthodox life. But the process itself requires a lot of wisdom and a lot of cooperation with the Holy Spirit to do it right.

At the same time, many youth - and especially young men - are coming to the Orthodox Church inquiring and seeking. Many of them are seeking something different than what the society in the US has to offer... the society is emasculating them and diminishing their value because they are men. So how are we to interact with these people? How are we to respond to them? Should we just baptize everyone who comes our way? Will that save them?

These are some of the ideas we will discuss in this Retreat

First topic: Who, What, Where, When, How of Evangelism

Second topic: Characteristic of the Evangelist

What is Evangelism

We'll start with the word itself: Evangelism.

εὐαγγελίζω - euangelizō - Evangelism - Preaching the Gospel

εὐαγγέλιον - Good News - (eu = good, angelion = message (like angelos = messenger)) 

Gospel - Godspel - God (Good) Spel (News, Narrative, Speech - reciting/speaking something)

Evangelism refers to the preaching or spreading of the Gospel - good news.

Why?

Why Preach the Gospel?

(See “The Harvest is Plentiful”)

  1. Evangelism is a Commandment
    • ”Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15)
    • ”As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)
    • ”You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)
    • ”You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matthew 5:13)
  2. Evangelism is Love
    • If we love God, then we must love our neighbor; and if we love our neighbor, then we must care for their salvation. We would do all we can to rescue them!
  3. Evangelism is the Mission of the Church
    • The Book of Acts!
    • Some people say that the time of Evangelism is ended… that’s preposterous!
    • ”And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)
  4. Evangelism is the Outcome of the New Life
    • Evangelism is for the sake of those we are serving… I don’t gain anything from it. Is that not the outcome of my dedication to the New Life of Baptism? Is that not denying myself, taking up my cross and following Him?
  5. Evangelism is the Greatest Mission
    • Think of worldly missions… a doctor is trying to prolong life. A lawyer or judge is trying to bring about justice. A Software developer is trying to facilitate communication and knowledge. Artists are trying to bring joy to people.
    • All of this is temporary… but the mission of the Evangelist is eternal life. So it is greater than those other missions.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

"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)

St John Chrysostom - "There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not try to save others."

Are we Slacking? Why doesn't Orthodoxy recruit? Why doesn't she advertise? Why doesn't she evangelize the way others do? Why doesn't she simplify? Why doesn't she scale? 

A world saturated with marketing, messaging and "growth strategies" Orthodoxy is obscure...

The Church is NOT an organization or an institution... it is not a place that is trying to have many numbers and big quantity, but it is a place focused on quantity. It is the Body of Christ - not metaphorically, but literally. And it accepts members who want to join it, and then heals them. The Church is a hospital for sinners - when the sinners approach the Church, they get the treatment they need through the Sacraments.

John 6

What?

Why Bring People In?

Activity: Why do you want to bring others into the Church?

Some say "I don't want them to go to Hell."

Some say "I want them to have a Heavenly Reward."

According to St Basil, both of these are missing the mark...

Activity: What is the Gospel Message?

What is the Gospel?

How?

How to Preach Christ
How the Church Preaches the Gospel

The Church has a responsibility towards every single person in the world - not only toward the believers. Three groups of people in the world. Active Believers, Lost Sheep (who are believers but are lost) and the Non-believers.

"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)

The Church service can be classified into three ministries - Jerusalem, Samaria, End of the Earth:

  1. Ministry of Spiritual Care (Active Members)
    • Preventative: How to prevent them from being lost
    • Nurturing: How to nurture them to grow into spiritual maturity

  2. Ministry of the Lost Sheep
    • Outreach: Searching for the Lost Sheep
    • Healing: The Lost Sheep who returns will be full of wounds - how to accept him and prepare a godly and therapeutic atmosphere to promote his healing

  3. Ministry of Evangelism (Non-Believers)
    • Preaching the Gospel
    • Grafting (Catechism)

What about Apologetics?

Who?

Who is the Evangelist?

Tomorrow we will discuss the characteristics of the Evangelist, but for now it suffices to know that NOT EVERYONE is called to Evangelize in every way or at all times.

All Christians are called to Evangelize by our good deeds, actions, words, manner of speech, manner of dress, modesty, virtue, etc.

NOT All Christians are called to Evangelize by the word…

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11)

On top of that, some wisdom is needed when getting into Debates or Discussions. These require a different setting (e.g. NEVER Alone, NEVER with Multiple People). I have heard from many of our youth: “I attend a Bible Study with my Protestant friends and I am trying to bring them to the fullness of the faith.” What can come out of this setting? And it’s usually someone who is NOT consistent with Sunday School or Bible Study or even Liturgy. And as they are “trying to bring people” they are getting further and further from the Church. They are having more and more questions.

NOT All Christians are called to Evangelize by the word, and the one who is, needs some characteristics and some preparation which we will talk about tomorrow.

Where?

Where to Evangelize

"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)

  1. Jerusalem: Your circle; your workplace; your school/classes
    • "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
      • By your good deeds, clean language, modesty in dress, high moral standard, smile, peace even in tribulation, joy even in suffering, patience even with a difficult personality
    • We, as Christians, permeate our society...
      • Careers: Medical Field, Engineering, Retail, Real Estate, Business, Law, etc.
      • Hobbies: Gyms, Fields/Clubs, Stores, 
      • Think of all the places you go, all the people you interact with... how many of them do you see regularly? How many see something different in you?
      • Like Christmas lights
    • We will be asked...
      • "What is the reason for the hope that is in you?"
      • "How are you able to smile so much?"
      • "How are you able to be so patient with that person (e.g. my boss, my coworker, my employee, etc.)?"
      • "Why aren't you eating meat?"
      • "Why aren't you going out drinking with us?"
      • "What are you doing this weekend?" - "What did you do last weekend?"

  2. Judea and Samaria: Your community
    • "Come and See" - needs someone to "Go and Tell"
    • E.g.
      • Nursing Homes
      • Prisons
      • Orphanages
      • Women's Shelters
      • Homeless Shelters
    • Find those who are "in need" and show them Christ, who will satisfy their needs
      • “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
        Because He has anointed Me
        To preach the gospel to the poor;
        He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
        To proclaim liberty to the captives
        And recovery of sight to the blind,
        To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
        To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
      • Do I know someone who is poor? Or if I don't, do I know where to find the poor?
      • Do I know someone brokenhearted? Struggling... just lost someone in their family, or just found out about a hard diagnosis, or just lost their job, or going through a difficulty? Lonely? Did I preach the Gospel to them? Did I go and tell them about the Lord Christ who can satisfy their needs? 
      • Do I know someone in captivity? Or do I know where to find the captive? Or someone who is spiritually captive?
      • Do I know someone who is oppressed?

  3. The end of the earth: Global Missionary Work
Process of Catechism
  1. Inquirer
    • Bring him/her to the Divine Liturgy.
      • Not the Youth Meeting. Not Sunday School. Not Servants Meeting. Not Bible Study. Liturgy. "Come and see." 
    • Prepare them in advance (communion, men and women seating, hair covering, appropriate attire, etc.)
    • Be there and ready to accept them
    • Let them meet Abouna!

  2. Catechumenate
    • After many weeks of attending liturgies, asking questions, forming a relationship with the priest, they may be ready to become a catechumen
    • Catechism has three components:
      • Doctrinal Formation (catechism classes)
      • Liturgical Formation (liturgical praxis)
      • Spiritual Formation (spiritual canon)
    • Later in the Catechumenate
      • Community Integration
      • Service Integration
    • No less than one year
      • Discipleship
      • Liturgical Experience
      • Adequate time to learn
      • Scriptural Study
      • Time to get to know them
      • Moral Transformation
      • Doesn't end in baptism
      • Giving the best chance to succeed as a Christian
        • "And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:47-48)
        • "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." (1 Cor 11:27-30)
        • "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6)
  3. Christian Initiation
    • Sacrament of Confession
    • Sacrament of Baptism
    • Sacrament of Chrismation (Myron)
    • Sacrament of Matrimony*
    • Sacrament of the Eucharist

  4. Catechism after Initiation

Workshop #1

Activity #1

A man enters the Church. You introduce yourself, and welcome him. He says "My name is Jack, I go to a non-denominational Church." How do you respond?

Scenario from work

Scenario from school

Scenario from tabling

Activity #2

For each category of church service, list services that would fall under it that you can think of.

Who is the Evangelist?

Introduction

Evangelizing to Non-Believers

From George B. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkAmEY2cfD0 around 40min

How do we know what we know? Epistemology...

  1. Senses (Material)
  2. Mind (Concepts)
  3. Heart (People)

How do we know God?

  1. Senses? No
  2. Mind (Reason)
  3. Heart (Faith)

Evangelizing to Non-Believers, which eye do we use? Only the 2nd.

"Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there." (Acts 17)

He cannot be seen by the 1st, and the Atheist does not know Him with the 3rd. But we must know Him by the 3rd in order to effectively talk about Him with the 2nd.

People must see Christ in your life before they hear about Him from your mouth.

Sharing our faith is like music. The words of the Gospel are like the lyrics, but your lifestyle is like the melody of the song. The melody enhances the words just as our lives enhance the message of the gospel.

Development of the Evangelist
  1. Be a Good Christian
  2. Be Merciful
  3. Be Ready to Answer
  4. Be a Wise Evangelist

These are steps in order… none of them is ever complete, but unless I first show progress in the first one, I can’t go to the second one. Unless I show progress in the second one, I can’t go to the third one. Unless I show progress in the third one, I can’t go to the fourth one. Sometimes I am jumping to the third or fourth one and completely neglecting the first or second.

Resources

Servants Meeting

2026-02-15: Benefit from the Fast

Introduction

“From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness – besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)

What is Fasting?

How to Fast?

"Four times a year the Church invites us to purify and liberate ourselves from the dominion of the flesh by the holy therapy of fasting, and each time the success of the therapy depends precisely on the application of certain basic rules." - Fr Alexander Schmemann (Great Lent)

The Gospel for the Pre-Fast Sunday talks about: Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving. These three things ask us to consider our relationship with ourselves (via Fasting), with God (via Prayer) and with others (via Almsgiving).

When I fast, there will be an aspect with myself, with God and with others.

Myself: Food Aspect
God: Spiritual Discipline Aspect
Others: Mercy and Charity Aspect

The Fruit of Fasting

Fasting is NOT the fruit.

Servants Meeting

Liturgical Theology: Covenant Thursday

Introduction to Covenant Thursday

Events of the Day
Name of the Day
Gospel Accounts

Preparing the Passover

Eating the Passover

Washing the Feet

Judas' Betrayal

Eucharist

Gospel of Luke

Passover History

Given that we read the Gospel accounts of that night, now let's connect them with some of the historical context of the Passover and see if we can reconstruct the events of the Lord's Supper and see how we can benefit from it.

Rites of Covenant Thursday

Readings of the Day
1st Hour

Exodus 17:8-16

Moses lifts his hands

Acts 1:15-20

Replacing Judas

Luke 22:7-13

Prepare the Passover
3rd Hour

Exodus 32-33

Consequences of the Golden Calf

Matthew 26:17-19

Prepare the Passover
6th Hour

Jeremiah 7:1-15

Ezekiel 20:39-44

Sirach 12:13-13:1

Mark 14:12-16

Prepare the Passover
9th Hour

Genesis 22:1-19

Slaughter of Isaac

 

Isaiah 61:1-7

"Spirit of the Lord is upon me"

 

Job 27-28

Matthew 26:17-19

Prepare the Passover
Liturgy of the Waters

Genesis 18:1-23

Proverbs 9:1-11

Exodus 14, 15

Joshua 1, 3

Isaiah 4:2-4

Isaiah 55:1-56:1

Ezekiel 36:25-29

Ezekiel 47:1-9

 1 Timothy 4:9-5:10 John 13:1-17
Liturgy of the Word


1 Corinthians 11:23-34 Matthew 26:20-29
11th Hour

Isaiah 52:13-53:12
John 13:21-30
Matins
3rd, 6th, 9th Hours of Thursday

Liturgy of the Waters
Liturgy of the Eucharist
11th Hour of Thursday

Contemplations, Interpretations and Meanings

Judas' Betrayal
Washing the Feet and the Mystery of Love
The New Covenant

Appendix

History of Preparing the Myron

Resources

Cited
Referenced
Servants Meeting

Liturgy of Time: Importance of the Psalms

Notes
Resources:
Servants Meeting

2026-08-16: Mistakes of the Past - Lessons in the Present

"That you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done” (Ezekiel 16:63)

Biblical Examples

Yesterday's mistake becomes today's lesson when God's work in my life produces a different response.

Mistakes of the Past
  1. Recognize the Mistakes
    • You should know in every confession what your weaknesses and sins are. Focus especially on those things that are repeated... there is something that in every confession, I repeat it. Sometimes I wish  I could go to Abouna one time - JUST one time - and NOT say this sin." I want to go to him one time and say "By God's grace, and by your prayers, Abouna, this situation has improved or ended." But every time I say the same thing!
    • Yesterday's mistakes teach us more than any sermon could teach us
      • When you see how much a mistake costed the Lord Christ
      • And how much a mistake costed you
      • You will HATE the mistake
    • I can identify different categories in my life:
    • Relationship with God, Others, Self
    • You can also identify categories in the service which we will talk about in the last section
  2. Don't Dwell
    • Dwell can lead to Returning to Sin
      • "Cleanse us from all blemish, all guile, all hypocrisy, all craftiness, and the remembrance of vice-bearing death."
      • I fall into judgment a lot, especially with my boss at work - because he does this and that and this and that... you just judged him again... in confession!
      • Many sins, when I dwell on them - even in an attempt to repent! - I put myself in danger.
      • I'm in a relationship and Abouna told me to end the relationship - but I keep dwelling. I keep thinking. Don't dwell!
    • Dwell can lead to Despair
      • I start to say "I cannot be forgiven" or "I am no longer a son of God" or "God will not accept me" or even "The Church will not accept me" or EVEN "Abouna will not accept me"
      • These lead to isolation which further leads to despair.
      • Mistakes Do NOT mean Failure
    • Hope not Despair 
    • The correct response to recognizing my sin is actually to have hope in the forgiveness of the Lord and the efficacy of His Blood.
  3. Learn from the mistake
    • When there's a hole in the ground - the first day, you fall in it. 
    • What about the second day? You fall in it again? No! You walk around it - actually you'll probably even announce to everyone who is with you about this hole in the ground! 
  4. Teach Others from the Mistake
    • The repentant sinner is the BEST one to bring another sinner to repentance - because he experienced it! He experienced the sin and he experienced the solution! He'll say "I was like you... this does not go away except with a FoC and Psalms and Tasbeha!"
    • When we get together and start talking about others, it only takes ONE person to say "Ah! I made a commitment that I'm not gonna talk about others and gossip and judge." 
    • Psalm 50
Lessons in the Present
  1. Change is Possible
    • Deception: You can't change - "This is your nature" - "This is your personality" - "This is who you are" - "This is your cross to carry"
    • With God, change is possible
    • Or else why would St Paul say "be transformed by the renewing of your mind"
    • Even the word repentance - metanoia - means "change of mind"
  2. Take an action
    • After every confession, every sermon, every liturgy, every SS Lesson, every Servants Meeting, etc. take an action. 
    • What are you gonna do?
    • You regretted your mistake, awesome.
    • You said it out loud and confessed it with Abouna, great!
    • You received the absolution - may God absolve you!
    • Now what? Take an action!
      • “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” (Luke 19:8)
    • Make a commitment with yourself and a commitment to God 
  3. Listen to the Wise People Around You
    • Serious People, Focused People, Eager People, Wise People, Watchful People
    • Surround yourself with those people
  4. Don't Allow the Devil to Trick you Twice... Or another time
    • Day by day or year by year
    • Goha... there's a hole in the ground in front of his house. He walks out of his house and falls into it. The next day, he walks out of his house and falls into it. Everyone is watching him day by day leave his house and fall into the same pit. So someone goes to him and says Goha! Don't you know there's a hole in front of your house - he said "No, I know!" - "Okay, so don't fall again tomorrow!" Next day, he came out and fell right into the hole again. The moral of the story is that sometimes, we don't learn from our own mistakes
      • Someone can know the problem, be able to describe it, understand it, and still fall into it.
      • "Give me chastity and continence, only not yet.” St Augustine (Confessions)
    • Don't you know that when you take the phone to your room, the night is gone? No prayer, no Bible, no self-control... how many times did that happen before? Are you Goha!?
    • Find the Root of the Problem - What happened BEFORE I made the mistake? BEFORE I fell?
      • Every time I take my phone in the bathroom, I fall into the sin of lust.
      • Every time I stay up late I fall into the sin of laziness
      • Every time I answer a phone call from flan I fall into gossip
      • Every time I go on a cruise I fall into such and such sin
      • Every time I spend time with this person I judge
      • Every time I go out after liturgy, I am late to Servants Meeting
      • Every time I go to this person's house, we gossip and we judge and we talk negatively about the service and...
      • (Meme it hurts when I do this)
    • "forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead," (Philippians 3:13)
  5. Don't Give Up
    • Every attempt is weighed
    • Every struggle makes a difference
    • Every confession
    • Every promise - even if you only last two days - makes a difference
  6. Rejoice in the Victories
    • If you overcame one time, rejoice! 
Mistakes and Lessons in the Service

This is a good framework for examining myself on a regular basis.

Now, let's take that framework and apply it to our service. This year, we will be presented with the same or similar situations as last year.

So let me prepare myself! Let me identify the mistakes I made last year in my service, especially those that I made repeatedly, and see how I can address them this year in my service. How can I diligently take yesterday's mistakes and make them lessons for today?

We have four categories and each person can focus on just one mistake from each category. The point of this workshop is not to write a lot. It's not to list out all of my failures and mistakes and how I fell short and all that. It's just to identify one area of growth in each category. None of us is perfect, and ALL of us have room to grow in every category.

  1. Mistakes in my Faithfulness
    • Being late to Sunday School
    • Not preparing my lesson adequately
      • Using AI
      • Bare minimum
      • Not going deep myself
    • Missing or being late to Servants Meeting 
    • Waiting until the last minute
    • Late to submit Lesson or Hymns

  2. Mistakes with my Fellow Servants
    • Gossiping about another servant
    • Getting angry or defensive
    • Not communicating
    • Holding a grudge
    • Not helping another servant, or letting tasks fall into the same servant's hands all the time
    • Being overly critical
    • Creating division
    • Assuming bad intention (instead of giving the benefit of the doubt)

  3. Mistakes with Coordinator, Ameen Khidma or Abounas
    • Not following through with instructions
    • Being defensive when corrected
    • Complaining instead of communicating
    • Assuming I know better
    • Not offering up my ideas
    • Being upset when my idea is not accepted/implemented/implemented in the way I envisioned

  4. Mistakes with my children
    • Spending time with my children
    • Checking on them
    • Getting to know them
      • What are their interests?
      • What extracurriculars do they do? (Play an instrument? Play a sport? Chess?)
      • What do they want to be when they grow up?
      • What is their major?
    • Visiting them
    • Encouraging them
    • Praying for them regularly, by name
    • Does every child KNOW that I love him?

 Mistake of the Past Lesson in the Present
Faithfulness

Fellow Servants

Coordinator/Ameen Khidma/Abounas

Children

The change I need to make this year is: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

One commitment I will make with myself is: _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Virtuous Women Fellowship

Virtuous Women Fellowship

2025-11-16: Love God & Love Others (Virtuous Women Fellowship)

Parable of the 10 Virgins

Matthew 25:

To Love God is the main goal of our Spiritual Life

Love God
How to Love God
 How to Love Others
Virtuous Women Fellowship

2026-08-23: Blessed are the Peacemakers (Virtuous Women Fellowship)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrFd-3-nrds 

Youth Meeting

Youth Meeting

2022-10-04: Dealing with Burnout (OCCM)

Visual Aid

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1dd74ty6rcbm8vg/Dealing%20with%20Burnout.pptx?dl=0 

Introduction

I’m very happy to be joining you here today at OCCM and here at UCF – I graduated from UCF in 2013 and I haven’t actually been back on Campus since then. And we didn’t have OCCM back then, we had OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship). OCF at UCF – not sure if that is still around or not. The topic that we have for you today is one that most college students struggle with these days. Dealing with Burnout. Raise your hand here if you’ve experienced burnout before… yeah, let me tell you – it doesn’t get easier.

But today, God willing, we’ll talk through some of the causes of Burnout and some exercises to help deal with burnout.

Exodus 18 - Burnout is Not Good

Let's start by opening the Scripture and reading together from Exodus 18. At this point in the story of the Exodus, Moses has taken the Israelites - the people of God - out of Egypt and they’ve crossed the Red Sea and God is sending them manna from heaven and God gave them water from a rock. God has been doing wonders in their sight. And now we'll read about Jethro - Moses' father in law - coming to visit Moses and the Israelites from his own land.

7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. 8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 And Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. 14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. 19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. 20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. 21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”

24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.

So in this chapter we see that Jethro, Moses' father in law, came and spent time with Moses. Moses told him all the things God did with them. Then Jethro offered a burnt offering to God. Then he kind of just observed Moses. He saw that Moses stood "from morning to evening" listening to the people's problems and judging between them.

So Moses basically had a never-ending todo list. Do you know how many Israelites walked out of Egypt with Moses? It's estimated 2.4 million. Moses is standing from morning to evening with the people lined up. It would be impossible to ever finish. And it's not like he's doing things that are pointless or of no value. They're important! He's helping people. He's serving God. He's being a leader. 

How many of us have a todo list of things that never seems to get shorter? As you get older it only gets longer. I remember my to-do lists...

So Moses was in that same situation but x100! And Jethro was clear with him "the thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out." Jethro was clearly telling Moses - you're going to get burned out. And he recognized that burnout is NOT a good thing. Remember that by this time Moses was over 80 years old. So he gave Moses some advice - write out God's law for the people, and put judges over them - rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. And Moses heeded his father in law's advice.

So it's established here pretty early in the Bible - and pretty early in human society that burnout is a bad thing. And we aren’t the first ones to experience burnout. And there are solutions and exercises to burnout.

Outline

One strategy that I learned from Abouna Daoud a long time ago was to treat something like burnout as a disease.

A disease manifests as symptoms, and then you find out the Diagnosis (in this case Burnout) and you start to look for the root cause while pursuing treatment plans. It's the same with burnout.  We will look at the Symptoms, some common Root causes and some treatment plans.

And in general, I’ll say that we’re going to look at it holistically – we’ll see the Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Symptoms, Root Causes, Treatments.

Let’s start with Symptoms. I’m going to show you two very short videos - about 10 seconds each - of people who are burned out. People of completely different backgrounds, ages, genders, etc. They are burned out for completely different reasons, but they respond to burnout in exactly the same way.

Symptoms

Video 1 (Alexandra)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9k73p2kpy4sm1ve/Alexandra%20Burnout.mp4?dl=0 

This is my daughter Alexandra about 3 years ago. She had a very long and difficult day with a very hectic and full schedule. She had to wake up at the crack of dawn - 11:30am. She then was forced to change her diaper and eat breakfast. She had about two hours of play time. And then had to go down for a nap. After a three hour nap, she had about two more hours of play time before having to eat dinner. Then another hour of play time before her dad came home. Then she had another four hours of play time with him. At that point the day was long and she was burnt out. We’ll watch a few seconds of her reaction here

Video 2 (Malcolm in the Middle)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xi1yq8ubc41l4nh/Hal%20Lightbulb%201080p.mp4?dl=0 

This second example is from an old show called Malcolm in the Middle.

I love this clip. It's hilarious; it gets me every time. But look how he responded to his wife - "WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING??" This is a man dealing with some real burnout. He's been changing a lightbulb for probably four hours.

Symptom 1: Stress

Stress is a bad thing that is not normal; not created for us by God. God created humans and didn't intend for them to have stress.

Stress is closer to being a sickness - like the flu. And sometimes you won't feel stressed out and think "oh I need to do more" - can you imagine if you didn't have the flu and thought "oh I need to go get the flu" - of course not!

So stress is a physical symptom of Burnout, and one that I’m sure all of you are familiar with.

Symptom 2: Lack of Productivity

Another symptom of burnout is being less productive. And this is a mental thing – it’s the Law of Diminishing Returns.

The more you try to do in less time, the less productive it will be. The higher the quantity, the lower the quality.

Imagine you are reading 30 pages of a book in an hour and it's taking the whole hour. Then you up it to 40 pages in an hour. You’ll get less from the 40 pages than you got from the 30 pages.

It’s like a farmer who has two people help him run the farm and they get everything done in a timely manner. So he hires two more... he starts to make less money! Because even though he has more employees, he only has three wheelbarrows! Each person is doing less work than before.

When we are burned out - doing too much, trying to fill our time, etc. we become less productive.

This happens to me all the time. I look at the list of things I have to do - I have this and this assignment for work, I have assignments for school, exams to study for, sunday school lesson to prepare, and whatever else - sometimes I will look at this list and I’ll stare at it for like 10min, I’ll write it out in ten different ways, and then I'll go play video games.

Symptom 3: Sacrificing Relationships

We also find that we sacrifice relationships with others when we’re burned out. Someone asks you to go out or to spend time together and we say “I wish I could man but I’m so busy. I have to study for this and that and I have work and etc.” And actually we start to isolate ourselves and this isn’t good for us. 

Symptom 4: Deaf to the Voice of God

Probably the most important, most common, and most affected symptom is that we simply can't hear God's voice.

The Lord said in the Psalms "Be still and know that I am God" – but when I’m burnt out, there is no “being still” or “knowing God.” When I’m burnt out, the first thing I’m going to sacrifice is my prayer and Scripture time. It’s the first thing I won’t have time for. Sometimes I may even sacrifice my Church time – I don’t have time for Vespers this week, I need to study. I don’t have time for Tasbeha this week, I have exams. Or I may be standing in the Church and I'm physically there, but mentally I am somewhere else completely... I'm thinking about all the things I need to do.

Conclusion

We saw these symptoms in both videos. Alexandra was definitely stressed. And standing there crying about it wasn’t going to make her any more productive. And she wasn’t about to stop crying on my behalf. And I don’t think she was thinking of God at that moment (or being still). The same with our friend Hank – stressed, less productive, not bothered by his relationship with his wife.

So we’ve essentially defined burnout. And usually when you are burnt out, we said the first thing you sacrifice is your Spiritual Life. Usually the second thing is sleep or your health – “I’m gonna stay up all night to get this done”; or just chowing down on fast food and chips. Usually the third thing is relationships. And the last thing we’ll sacrifice is the things that are burning us out in the first place.

Root Causes

So now we’re going to go through four root causes. These are not all the root causes. And our goal today isn’t that you memorize them, but try and see what you relate to. You may relate to one or more of them. You may not be burned out right now, but you feel burnt out at other times. So try and relate to one or more of these.

For each one, we will see some examples of it, and then we’ll see the appropriate Treatment for it, of course using the Scripture and the Church Fathers as our guides.

And you’ll notice that most of our treatments are spiritual in nature. We’ll have some practical applications, of course, but do you have any idea why our treatments must be spiritual in nature?

Because we are spiritual in nature! We are physical and spiritual. Outward man who is perishing, is physical. Our inner man who is being renewed day by day is spiritual. And we focus on nourishing our outward man; our physical, but we forget to nourish our Spiritual. And it’s unfortunate because it is our Spiritual Man that will help us navigate the world and give us strength to complete the things we commit to, and revitalize us from burn out.

In any case, let us go through each of these root causes one by one.

Root Cause 1: Fast-Paced Life

This fast-paced, always-busy life leads to being overtired or fatigued which are other words for burnout.
We are ALWAYS running

So what do you think the treatment is?

Treatment 1: Rest and Retreat

Rest: Remember that the fourth commandment in the OT is to honor the Sabbath. Keep the Sabbath holy. The day of rest. So this is a commandment from God and not just any commandment it's one of THE ten commandments. Like the top ten list. Raise your hand if you've never murdered. Raise your hand if you've never stolen. If you've never committed adultery. Great. We always say those are the important ones. But keeping the Sabbath and resting - we never really consider that one. But God had it right there in the top five. That means it's important!

Some people say "I don't rest because the devil never rests" - when did the devil become your role model?? God, Himself, rested. He took time - 1/7 of the time to admire His creation and rest on the seventh day. Are we more capable than God??? This was also the solution for Moses - delegate so that he can rest. So how do we rest? What do we mean by rest?

We ALWAYS get this wrong. The true concept of Rest that was assigned by God for the Sabbath and performed by God in the 7th Day of Creation is not what we think it is today. Today we think Rest is sleeping all day, or rest is playing video games and just numbing our mind. But the true concept of Rest is to Delight. When God rested on the seventh day, He didn’t just leave humanity and the world to do what they wanted - He admired His creation. Genesis tells us that God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. Rest doesn't mean running errands, or numbing our mind, or just going to sleep. It means delight. Delight in three things...

  1. Delighting in ourselves – The Physical and Mental Rest come from delighting in ourselves.
    • Physically resting of course is the Physical rest - this is what even Moses had to do.
    • Mental rest comes from doing something you love - if you love painting, reading, cooking, programming, singing, playing games, solving puzzles, playing sports, woodworking. Having healthy hobbies to do in moderation and that give you rest. It's important to have time to ourselves to do the things we love. And we use those things to glorify the Lord in His Creation and in using and revitalizing the mind and the talents that He gives us.
  2. Delighting in others - Emotional Rest comes from delighting in others.
    • Spending time with family or friends. Talking to them, sharing with them, relating to them. Sometimes we let Social Media numb this idea for us, but it hits different when you’re physically with someone. You see their facial expressions, hear their voice, feel their touch. And it’s healthy – we need it.
    • Sometimes you spend time with family or friends and you get home – even though it was a long day, even if you did something labor intensive – and you just feel rested. Delighted.
  3. Delighting in the Lord – This is Spiritual Rest.
    • Reading His word. His Psalms. Singing hymns. Speaking to Him. Remember that the true rest comes from God.
    • Giving yourself retreat. Look what St. Paul writes in Hebrews: "For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." (Hebrews 12:3)
    • Remember the words that David wrote in the Psalms - "Be still and know that I am God" - to hear God's voice, and to rest spiritually means to be still. To have some quiet time to hear God's voice and delight in God's presence.

If life is fast-paced, then the solution is to Be Still.

How do we do it Practically? A concept called “Retreat”

Imagine if someone was running a business and didn’t take inventory every day… he would just wait until his shelves were empty, and then order more stuff. The business would fail! He wouldn’t be ready for customers. No, he needs to take stock every day and see what needs to be ordered. So by the time the shelves are empty, he can restock them. This is the purpose of Retreat, to take inventory.

You can practice Daily Retreat in a very easy way every morning (or if your schedule doesn’t allow, then every evening). 20 Minutes per day. Read your Bible. Then give yourself some time to think and reflect about what you read, what you’re going to pray about, how you want your day to progress, what happened the last day and how to improve it, etc. And then stand for prayer. 

As the Saint, HH Pope Kyrillos VI says, "there aren’t good or bad days – there are days with prayer and days without prayer."

Root Cause 2: Improper Concept of Satisfaction/Success

Some people have their whole lives mapped out based on salary.

Sometimes we have an improper concept of satisfaction and success. We think that Success means having the most money or having fame – TikTok fame or YouTube fame. How many followers I have. But these things have no end. This is what the Lord says to Jeremiah about the Israelites.

“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13)

Goals that cannot be met.

All of these behaviors stem from an improper concept of satisfaction and success, and lead directly to burning out. In this case we burn out because we can’t keep up – and more than that, no matter how hard we try to keep up and if we do actually keep up, it doesn’t give us the Satisfaction that the Lord gives us.

People miss out on the most important parts of their life simple because they’re “grinding”

You won’t get these days back. It’s good to be goal-oriented and to have goals and to strive for them, but they should be reasonable, and you have to weight them against what you’ll be missing out on.

So what do you think is the Treatment for this one?

Treatment 2: Set your eyes above

The treatment here is to focus on Eternal Life. We read throughout the Scripture

Set your eyes on the final goal. Look past this life that we are in, and into the next life that is to come and realize that THAT is your target to be achieved. The land of the living.

So what’s a practical exercise here? If you’re sitting here and you’re relating to this root cause and you want to change, what is your next step? In reality, whether you relate to this or not, we should all be taking this step which is to ask ourselves this question – “Is this for God’s glory?”

When I make a big purchase, when I decide on my major, when I choose what to wear, when I decide where to celebrate my birthday party, when I am picking places to go with my friends, let me live with this question: “Is this for God’s glory?” By doing this, wearing this, buying this, going there, will I be glorifying God? I wish we had bracelets that instead of “What would Jesus do” they said “Will this Glorify God?”

Set your eyes above the things of the earth.

Root Cause 3: Comparing Myself to Others

Another thing that I may be doing that is causing me to burnout is comparing myself to others. And this one is very dangerous. Just like the last one, comparing myself to others has no end.

We read in the Scripture that "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." (Proverbs 14:30). Envy rots the bones.

When I compare myself to others, I can never find peace.

We see this in the service as well

We also see the opposite where comparing myself to others gives me lower self-esteem

There is no peace and no end to envy. Envy rots the bones.

Of course envy itself can be its own discussion or series and can be studied very deeply, but here we are looking at Envy that leads to burnout. 

So what is the treatment for that?

Treatment 3: Share the Burden

St Paul tells us to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2)

Root Cause 4: Giving from what I don't have

It ends up being a grind. Just excessive work. Basically trying to live a life that God has not given us - trying to do something that God didn't give us. Everyone is given something. Gifts, passions, capacities, etc. If we try to give outside of those capacities it leads to burnout.

Sometimes it's because others place expectations on us that are not in our capacity.

Sometimes it's because we want to please others.

See what Solomon writes to us in the Proverbs – “it is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later consider one’s vows” (Proverbs 20:25)

So what do you think the treatment is for this one?

Treatment 4: Learn to say no

It's much easier to get INTO a situation than to get out of it.

Before making any decision or taking on anything new, I need to carefully consider it as Solomon wrote. I need to pray about it and let the Lord guide my decision. I need to see if it’s the right thing to do. I need to recognize that I have limits. I have bandwidth

Something that I do all the time:

So we need to recognize that. If I agree to something that is one hour... I need to also drop something else that's one hour. Always ask yourself "what is this going to cost me? What am I going to have to say no to by saying yes to this?" If we don't ask ourselves this question, what do you think will be most impacted? What is always the first to be impacted? My spiritual life. My bible time. My prayer time. My quiet time. And then my sleep and my physical health. So it's important to ask this question - if I take on this thing that will take an hour, then I'll lose an hour of studying today. Then maybe tomorrow to make up that hour, I'll have to buy a lunch instead of making my lunch.

With this also means learning to say no. If you can't say no... you're gonna have a bad time. It's much better to say "I'm sorry I can't" than to say yes and not do it. Remember the parable Christ told about the servant who did the will of his master.

Don’t say no to everything! But carefully and prayerfully consider something before saying yes to it. 

Actually, if your keep your Spirit Nourished, then God the Holy Spirit will guide you to say no, and give you the strength to say no. Or guide you to say yes and give you the strength to complete what you obliged to yourself.

Conclusion

Review

So let’s go back to the Root Causes. What is the Treatment for each one?

Fast-Paced Busy Life – Rest and Retreat
Improper Concept of Satisfaction/Success – Set your eyes above – “Is this for God’s glory?”
Comparing ourselves to others – Share the Burden
Trying to give from what we don’t have – Learn to say no

What if I can't?

What if...

“The thing that you do is not good.” (Exodus 18:17)
The Lord has an escape plan! Stop and assess!! 
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6)

 If you can't do these things, then you're too busy and that's unacceptable. As Jethro told Moses - "What you are doing is wrong." A change is needed.

Something has to give. God always has an escape plan so place your trust in Him.

Concluding Prayer

We pray that God, the Holy Spirit, Who abides in us would give us comfort when we are burned out, guidance to say no when we should, strength to humble ourselves and share our burdens with others, and wisdom to nourish our Spirit through rest and daily retreat, continually delighting in the Lord so that our inner man may be renewed day by day. 

Youth Meeting

2025-01-02: Discipleship

Sources:
Different Ways of Learning
  1. Pupil
    • The word "pupil" comes from the pupil of the eye)
    • Pupils learn passively (e.g. by seeing, hearing) 
    • Children in Elementary School are pupils
  2. Student
    • The word "student" comes from the same root as "study"
    • Students learn by studying (e.g. experiments in a lab, research in the library, writing papers, etc.). There is more effort than just sitting in a classroom and learning by feeding.
    • Those in MS, HS, College, etc. are students
  3. Disciple
    • From the root word "discipline"
    • Disciples learn through discipline. Followers of a teacher imitate him and he disciplines them. 
    • Followers of a Teacher (e.g. followers of Christ, followers of desert fathers) are disciples
    • The Lord disciplined His disciples:
      • He started by teaching them as pupils
      • Then He sent them out to do some ministry and then come back with a report (Luke 9: "And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done"
      • When the disciples told Him they could not cast out a demon, He told them "because of your unbelief"
      • When James and John argued about who would sit on the left or right, and the disciples were jealous He told them "no, to be the first, you must be last. To be the greatest, you need to be servant of all."
      • Through discipline, He formed their personalities so that they became His disciples
Christian means Disciple

Acts 11:19-26 When Barnabas and Paul went to Antioch they found there followers of Christ, and they added more to the Lord, "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26)

The word Christian and the word Disciple are synonymous

The day I stop being a disciple, I have stopped being a Christian

Christianity is a religion of discipleship: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20)

A servant who simply gives a lesson is making pupils. A servant who assigns homework or activities or research on top of that, is making students. But a servant who disciplines to transform others into the Image of Christ, is the one who makes disciples. Part of making disciples is to teach them as pupils and letting them do research as students; but the discipline which aims toward transforming others into the image of Christ is an essential part of the ministry.

Into the Same Image

The Copy Machine Analogy

Principles of Discipleship

How do I become a learner?

“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.
The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away." (Isaiah 50:4-5)

We will take these two verses are our guide. These two verses are about the Lord Jesus Christ. "I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting." (Isaiah 50:6)

The Lord Jesus made Himself a Disciple before making disciples

1. Developing the Heart of the Disciple

“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,

The Lord Jesus had the Tongue of the Learned

One problem in this generation is that I know everything.

Pope Theophilus went to the desert to listen to a word of wisdom from the elder St Arsenius. He went as a disciple (despite being the POPE!)

Some people go to confession not to listen to advice, but to challenge and convince Abouna to approve their agenda.

If I have the Tongue of the Learned, I will go to seek advice without intention of showing off, or of convincing someone, or starting a debate, make an argument, but with the intention of learning.

The Tongue of the Learned is...

A true disciple, at every moment of his life, is learning something

St Antony is said to be like a bee going from one flower to another flower in order to learn spirituality and how to live the true monastic life.

Parents can discipline, Abouna can discipline. But if you do not have the heart of a learner, all of this discipline will be in vain and produce nothing.

2. The Purpose of Becoming a Disciple

"That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary."

Selflessness

In college to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer. Maybe I am learning to have a good career, good money, comfortable life. But how many are learning in order to serve others and to help them? The heart of the disciple, is the selfless heart. A person who denies himself.

In season

The Purpose of Becoming of Disciple is to Serve Others

3. The Discipline of the Disciple

He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.

It is not "I will attend seminary, graduate, and now I've finished my discipleship" - "I will go through preservants and when I'm finished, I'm done with discipleship"

Discipleship is a continuous life-long process

"Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments." (2 Timothy 4:23) - even in the last moments of his life, St Paul asked for the books and parchments so he could read, learn and continue his discipleship. St Paul who preached in three continents, saw the third heaven, wrote more than half of the New Testament, who was disciplined at the hand of Gamaliel and learned by revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ directly - and in the last breaths of his life, asked for the books and parchments to read and to study and to learn.

The Lord gives us an opportunity to learn every morning - and not just every morning, but every moment of every day

4. The Attitude of the Disciple

The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away."

A true disciple is the one who is not rebellious and does not turn away.

Does not pick and choose "I like this, I will take it. I don't like this, I will leave it." Sometimes even with the Scripture or Early Church Fathers - I like this verse, I will use it. I don't like this verse, I ignore it "It's not fit for the 21st Century." Open Buffet style.

The Lord Jesus did not turn away

Life of Discipleship

So far, we have been talking about discipleship in a vague sense. One should be a disciple of:

From HH Pope Shenouda III Book Discipleship

HH Pope Shenouda goes into far greater detail and many examples in his book, and I recommend for you to read those chapters. 

Now let's shift our focus to the discipleship of a spiritual father. Learn from a Spiritual Father.

Discipleship of a Spiritual Father

Firstly, our discipleship is to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are called Christians meaning "Disciples of Christ." So how can I be discipled to another person as a spiritual father?

The answer to this is in 2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." - How many generations of discipleship do we see here?

  1. The Lord Jesus
  2. St Paul
  3. St Timothy
  4. "faithful men"
  5. "others also"

St Paul writes: "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ."

We are talking here about how you can be a disciple to your father of confession, or another spiritual father, or your father the bishop, or your parents, or your servants

How did Christ Disciple the Twelve?

The Lord Jesus used five methods to teach the disciples and prepare them for their ministry:

  1. Active learning
    • He would take them on the side and teach them in private, or he would give a sermon publicly and they would be present to hear it.
  2. Passive learning
    • They lived with Him and watched Him
    • When He forgave
    • When He prayed
    • From His faith
    • From His care for others
  3. Direct Supervision
    • He let them participate with Him in the service (e.g. shadowing)
    • Feeding the multitude, He took their opinion, then had them split the people, then had them distribute, collect the fragments, etc.
  4. Indirect Supervision
    • He sent them to serve by themselves, gave them all that they needed, and when they came back, they told Him all that they had done; He corrected the part that they missed
  5. Retreat
    • He took time with them to be away from the crowd
    • He had time for prayer and reflection and meditation with them

Why am I mentioning these points?

To see the seriousness of the Twelve in their discipleship.

When being a disciple to a spiritual father, all of those aspects are necessary. The Life of Discipleship requires all of those things

Characteristics of Spiritual Fatherhood
  1. Secure in his faith, experienced; reflects the Lord Jesus
    • "If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14)
    • Remember the copy machine - you can expect to become like the spiritual father you are following
    • You want a spiritual father who has experience - personal experience, in that he has gone through the spiritual life, and also experience from other people he has mentored over many years. Many people when a new priest is ordained flock to him to be their father of confession, but it's better to wait and to give him time in his service first. And NEVER change spiritual fathers or father of confession without first asking your original father of confession for his guidance and blessing in doing so.
  2. Gives sound guidance and advice supported and reinforced by the Scripture and the lives and sayings of the saints
    • You want to have a spiritual father who gives you sound guidance and advice
    • A good spiritual father will give you good advice, and this advice will be backed by the Scripture and the lives of the saints
  3. Accessible
    • You want a spiritual father that you have access to on a regular basis. You see him weekly, you have several opportunities during the week to meet with him or to ask him for 5min of his time. You don't want a priest who lives in a different state or Timezone than you. You don't want a priest or a bishop who is responsible for a thousand other things and may take a few days to get back to you. Of course, you can have more than one spiritual father, but the main father of confession should be someone who is accessible
    • There is a story about Fr Mikhail Ibrahim when his wife departed and that evening he was taking confessions and meetings and consoling a man whose wife had departed six months prior
  4. Open to questions and asking for explanation
    • A good spiritual father will always be open to questions and asking for explanations
    • This is different from one who entertains debates and arguments and controversy
  5. Gives principles to apply according to the character of the disciple, knowing that (s)he will not be the exact copy
    • A good spiritual father knows your strengths and weaknesses, your character, your personality. He does not want to erase your personality. He knows you are your own person.
    • He also knows that he is his own person with his own personality, psychology, etc.
    • He knows you will never be an exact copy of him or of some ideal
  6. A person can have more than one spiritual guide
    • Take the example of St Antony who was said about him that he was like a bee going from flower to flower 
What do I need Guidance In?
Youth Meeting

2025-01-21: My Role in Liturgy (OCCM)

Visual Aid

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/r2zej2ljh8y5c778a8dn9/My-Role-in-the-Liturgy.pptx?rlkey=1cws6xytdbtbhvac5464m8ikz&dl=0 

Introduction

Every Sunday, we come to the liturgy, we attend, we take communion, we go home. Same prayers, same time, same routine, say "Lord have mercy" 100 times, metanoia here, bow down here, sign of the cross here, etc. And it's easy for that to get boring. We might think of the Liturgy as being unchanging or static. Show of hands, who here has gotten bored in liturgy?

I had the idea for this topic because I was standing in liturgy the other day and I was standing with the young children in the deacons' section. And Abouna was praying the Thanksgiving Prayer, and I looked down to the kids and saw that many of them were just looking out at nothing. Some of them are looking at their friends. Some of them are fidgeting. And I thought to myself, as Abouna is saying "Let us give thanks to God the Pantocrator" - how many of us are actually giving thanks? And I looked over to the section with HS and College and saw the same blank expressions, some people on their phones, some people yawning, some people on their watches.

We don't understand the purpose of liturgy. Is the purpose of liturgy just to take communion? If that's the case, why does it have to be so long? Why does it need so many words? Are the words needed to transform the bread and wine into Body and Blood of Christ? Is the Liturgy some magical incantation that can change bread and wine into Body and Blood? Why do I have to be there for that? Why don't we have the priest say the words, make it into Body and Blood, and then we come for the Distribution part? People when they are sick receive Communion without attending the Liturgy - Abouna just brings it to them. Why do we need to attend liturgy to receive Communion?

On top of that, if we're gonna be there for so long, why not make it more exciting? Why don't we borrow from the Protestant Churches with their guitars and drum sets and worship teams? Why don't we sing the songs that we like instead of those old Coptic Hymns that don't "match the times"? Maybe I hear those other songs and I can feel them moving my spirit, sometimes even bringing me to tears. Wouldn't those songs be more effective?

Today we will discuss and explore these questions.

Agenda:

What is Liturgy?

Some characteristics of Liturgy:

Liturgy is the Work of the People...

The word "Liturgy" comes from the Greek λειτουργία meaning "work of the people." λαός means "people" and ἔργο means "work" (like the word ergonomics which is the study of work or specifically the study of work efficiency).

As with many Greek words, this word was used with a specific meaning prior to Christianity. Ancient Greeks used the word to describe a "public service" which was done for the people, by the people. When the Old Testament was being translated to Greek in the early centuries Before Christ, the term was adopted to refer to the ministry of the tabernacle, the temple, God and the name of God. 

Some people treat the Liturgy as a show that they watch... they come to the Liturgy, stand in their place and become silent observers. If we treat the Liturgy like a show, not only will we miss out on the actual experience, but we're more likely to just get completely distracted. The Liturgy is not a very entertaining show to watch! So if it starts to get boring, I start to divert my attention elsewhere and get distracted with my social media, or a game on my phone, or reading the news, or trying to "multi-task" during the Liturgy.

But we are not meant to be watchers or observers of liturgy, but rather active participants. When you go to a show, the entertainer is facing you and he's trying to make you laugh or invoke an emotional response - but when you come to the liturgy, the priest is not facing you, but he's facing east WITH you, because he, LIKE you, is a participant. He, like you, needs repentance. He, like you, needs to eat of the Eucharist. He, like you, needs salvation. So I, like him, need to participate in the Liturgy. 

This is why the word "Liturgy" is used - because it means "work of the people." And actually we can expand the definition to be "work of the people FOR the people"

Liturgy is Given by God 

Liturgy is how God wants to be worshipped.

The concepts of liturgy, sacrifice and ritual were not invented by man, but have been the expression of worship that is acceptable to God since the beginning. As early as Cain and Abel, we see that God distinguishes between what is acceptable worship, and what is unacceptable worship. In Noah, we see that he is to distinguish between clean and unclean animals, take 7 each of clean animals and 2 each of unclean animals, and the purpose was because only clean animals were to be used for worship and sacrifice. It was God who laid out in Exodus how the tabernacle should be constructed - what materials, how much of each material, how they were arranged, etc. It was God who in Leviticus ordained specific instructions for each of the burnt offerings, gave them feasts, detailed the rituals for the day of atonement, gave them a daily raising of incense morning and evening, the showbread and the lighting of the candles, the vestments of the priests. It was God who told Moses how to anoint Aaron for the priesthood, and Samuel how to anoint Saul and David for the kingship. It was God incarnate, the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the New Covenant and the Liturgy with the twelve disciples and told them "do this in remembrance of Me." It was the Lord Jesus who then taught the apostles HOW to do it during the 40 days after the Resurrection. In turn, those disciples and their disciples would be the ones who authored the Liturgies that we still use today.

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

The Lord is particular about:

  1. Who is doing the worship
  2. Where they are doing the worship
  3. How they are doing the worship

How did God respond to those who wanted to worship in other ways?

  1. Their sacrifice was not accepted by Him - such as is the case with Cain who was not intentional about his offering to the Lord. Such is also the case with King Saul who offered a specific sacrifice that it was not his role to offer. These, who did not intend to profane God but did it out of ignorance or even out of haste, were offered many chances for repentance but unfortunately, they did not until the end of their lives.

  2. They profaned God - such is the case with Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron, who were deliberate  in offering profane fire, or the sons of Eli who the Scripture says "were corrupt and did not know the Lord". Or Korah, Dathan and Abiram who rebelled against God's choosing of Moses. These, when they profaned God by intention, and from a position of leadership, were killed. Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire, the sons of Eli were killed in war, and Korah Dathan and Abiram were swallowed by the ground. 

What we have in our hands with Liturgy is something that is given to us by God. It is not for us to change to adapt to our desires.

Liturgy is Holy

What does the word "holy" mean? Set Apart

If I have towels that are used for the drying of the liturgical vessels, they are set apart for that use. Or if I have towels set apart for the Korban, they are set apart for that use. I cannot take those towels and use them to dry my body after a shower. I cannot take the Paten or the Mysteer or the Chalice and use them for my lunch. These things are holy. They are set apart for God.

Liturgy is set apart from the rest of the world in almost every aspect

Set Apart From Time

The world is fast-paced - we have Instagram Reels, and YouTube shorts. We have fast-food and we have drive-thru. We have classes scheduled back-to-back and they have a start time and an end time. We are almost always in a hurry. If you drove to Seattle, it would take 45 hours. If you walked there it would take 45 days. We have planes that can take us there in 6 hours but God forbid it's even 1 hour late. And if it's 3 hours late, I'm complaining and writing an email and demanding my money-back. This is the world we live in.

But the Liturgy transcends all of that. We step out of the world's clock and enter God's time.

For example, when Abouna prays: "Therefore, as we also commemorate His holy Passion, His Resurrection from the dead, His ascension into the heavens, and His sitting at Your right hand O Father" - we are commemorating events that happened in the past. We are remembering them and keeping them as a memorial... but then Abouna continues "and His Second Coming which shall be from the heavens awesome and full of glory." - this is an event that hasn't happened yet! So how can we commemorate it?

It is because in that moment, we are not in the world's time. If you check your watch or look at a clock or look at your phone, yes you will see that time is progressing. But in the Liturgical Ritual we are seeing past, present and future converge to one point.

God, Who is timeless and eternal, Who is not bound by time as we are, Who is the creator of time itself, is inviting us to be present with Him. If I understand my role in the liturgy, then I will find myself in His presence, and His presence is outside of time.

Set Apart From Space

When I look around my campus, I'll see flyers for events, I see people tabling for random clubs and hear them calling out, I see people playing games like frisbee or hackie sack at the mall, I see advertisements for restaurants or products, I hear music of the world playing. When I look at my phone, there are notifications to watch a YouTube video or to go back and scroll Instagram, or of news in the world that I might be interested in, or a text from a friend about nothing, or a reminder to do my homework. Again, this is the world we live in.

But the Liturgy transcends all of that. We step out of the world and enter the heavens.

You have heard the term "Liturgy is heaven on earth" - everything in Liturgy is meant to transport you to the heaven. You are surrounded by the icons of the saints and angels - these are not just pictures or decoration, but they are windows into heaven, showing us the saints and angels who are worshipping with us even in that moment. The sound of the hymns and the aroma of the incense are glimpses of the heavenly worship. The architecture, icons and layout of the church are designed to lift you up from your earthly concerns to the heavenly reality.

God, Who is outside of space and matter, Who is not bound by space as we are, Who is the creator of the universe and all that is in it, is inviting us to be present with Him. If I understand my role in the liturgy, then I will find myself taken out of this world and dropped in His world. I leave behind the distractions and I can focus on Him.

The church is not just a physical building, but it is a spiritual space that unites us with the Divine.

Set Apart From The Self

We talked about the external distractions and noise that are related to our space in the world. But what about the internal distractions, noise and chaos?

In the world, I am overwhelmed by my responsibilities - juggling school, work, personal goals, family expectations, friendships, relationships, church service, extracurriculars, etc. I feel like I am spread too thin. I don't have the mental space to focus or even to breathe. I am worried and anxious - about the future (career, health, success, getting into grad school, etc.) and about the past (did I say the right thing, did I make a mistake). I feel regret and guilt from wronging someone, or saying the wrong thing, or falling into sin. I am restless - doom scrolling, keeping up with trends, etc. I have doubts about my faith or my purpose or my identity. I have emotions. I have perfectionism. And on top of all that, I have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) so even if I had more time, I would fill it with something else, lest I miss out. Even if I am quiet on the outside, the inside is raging with all of this chaos!

The Liturgy transcends all of that. In the Liturgy I can find peace - and specifically, inner peace. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of Peace, will abide in me and I in him. Liturgy gives me a chance to have silence. To have calmness. To have reflection. To surrender all of my stresses and anxieties and the noise of my life into the hand of the Lord. When I am still, I can open my heart to hear God's voice instead of my own.

If I know my role in the liturgy, then I can leave behind the stress of this world - of work, home, school, and even the stress of entertaining myself. And I can find peace. 

What is my Role in Liturgy?

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30)

We are going to discuss four points here:

Participation of the Mind

An imperfect analogy: If I know nothing about Soccer, and you ask me to sit down and watch a 2 hour soccer game, I'm going to get bored. But once I learn about Soccer, and I learn the game, then I will be able to follow what's happening in the game, and I am less likely to get bored. What does it mean to learn the game?

The same goes for the Liturgy. If you know nothing about the Liturgy or about the Scripture or about the Church History, or about the Gospel - then you will come to the Liturgy and you will be bored.

So our first point here actually starts BEFORE the Liturgy. What is my role BEFORE liturgy.

Learn the Liturgy, Read books. Watch videos. Be observant. Ask questions. There are many ways that we can engage with the Liturgy and with the worship of God intellectually.

If you learn about the Liturgy and its structure and flow, the more you will follow it and be able to follow the story and the rhythm of worship. The more you learn about the different rituals and motions, you will have a better understanding of what is happening. The more you learn of the Scripture, the better you will understand the readings of the day. The more you learn about iconography, the more you will see how the stories of the saints relate to the themes of the Liturgy. The more you immerse yourself in the teaching of the Church - whether it is theology, apologetics, biblical studies, patristics, etc. - the more you will be able to see the coherence of the line between what the Lord Jesus taught, the disciples preached and the Fathers kept.

Worship is not an action that is void of intellect. Many atheists make this accusation against Christians - that we have foregone intellect and science in favor of faith. No, but rather we recognize that God is the source of all intellect and of all wisdom.

Everything in the Liturgy has a purpose, has a meaning, has a symbol - but it is only with our intellect and our mind, can we recognize these symbols and meanings and purposes.

Be careful of the danger of focusing only on your mind and intellect, without giving any attention to your spirit: “If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian.” – Evagrius Ponticus

Participation of the Body

The Body is an instrument of worship

"But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." (1 Cor 9:27)

My body begins to participate even from the night before, when I start my Eucharistic Fast, and when I make sure I get good sleep before Liturgy. If I deprive myself of a healthy amount of sleep before the Liturgy, I will do myself a disservice - my body and my mind will be tired.

Fasting: The Eucharistic Fast serves as a way of reminding us that our physical needs should not overshadow our spiritual needs. By fasting, we are bringing the body to the same level and desire of the spirit, which desires for communion with God. We deny ourselves physical nourishment for a time, to recognize the spiritual nourishment of the Liturgy and the Eucharist

Prostration, Bowing Head: When we prostrate or bow our heads, we perform an act of humility, we lower ourselves before God as a putting off of our ego.

Standing: St Basil, when talking about the traditions we have received, talks about standing as being a sign and recognition of the Resurrection.

Look Towards the East: Looking toward the East is about looking back to our old home which was the Paradise of Eden "in the East" (Genesis 2) and looking towards the Second Coming of Christ who will come from the East.

Sign of the Cross: Making the sign of the cross engages us in the sacrifice of the Cross. As we say in the Doxology for the Feast of the Cross: "The cross is our weapon, the cross is our protection"

Participation of the Senses: The Liturgy intentionally engages all of our senses:

Singing: The biggest role that I have in the Liturgy is to sing the hymns and chant the responses. Do you know that a Liturgy cannot be prayed if there isn't a congregant? Abouna cannot pray the liturgy by himself. Abouna and a deacon cannot pray a liturgy by themselves, but they need at least a third person to be the congregation.

Let me sing every "Lord have mercy" and every "Amen" and every response.

Participation of the Spirit

What did the Lord Jesus Christ say to the Samaritan woman? God is Spirit, and those who worship God must worship in… SPIRIT AND TRUTH. If I am worshipping in Spirit and Truth, then each Lord have mercy will be different. In the first one I will be pleading with God for the peace of the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church; in the second one for Pope Tawadros, Anba Youssef, Anba Basil and Anba Gregory; in the third one for Abouna Aaron and Abouna Jerome and the my hegumens and priests and deacons BY NAME; etc.

Because if I say the same Lord have mercy time after time then not only am I not worshipping God in Spirit and Truth, but I am falling into one of the traps the Lord mentioned in the sermon on the mount: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7)

Another important aspect of “Worship God in Spirit and Truth” is to take it personally. Imagine that in church I say "pray for the peace of the Church..." and then I go outside and I complain a lot, make problems, argue with the servants or Abouna, disagree about everything, talk about people behind their back, etc.

Or I say in the liturgy "pray for our archpriest Pope Tawadros and Anba Youssef" and "pray for the heguments, priests and deacons..." and then I leave and go on Instagram to say things against HH The Pope or HE the Metropolitan or the priests

Or I stand in liturgy and say “pray for the air of the heaven” and I walk outside and smoke a cigarette.

How would the Lord Jesus Christ respond? Am I really worshipping in Spirit and Truth?

Participating in the Spirit means to close my eyes and pray.

I mentioned in the beginning the reason that I thought of this topic to give to you all today - ask yourself in every liturgy. While Abouna is praying the Thanksgiving Prayer, what am I thankful for? How can I express my Thanksgiving to the Lord? And pray those words.

When you find yourself in the litanies and the deacon tells you "pray for the peace of the Church" - pray for the internal peace of the Church. Pray for the external peace of the Church. Pray for the unity of the Only Only Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Pray for those who have separated themselves from the Orthodox Faith.

When you hear the deacon telling you "pray for the holy gospel" - pray for the spread of the gospel message to those who haven't heard it; pray for the hearts of those listening to be opened to the gospel message (starting with your own heart);

When you hear the deacon telling you "pray for the Pope and Bishops" - pray for them by name. "Remember O Lord Your Servant HH Pope Tawadros II. Protect him, guide him, give him Your wisdom, let him do your will, keep him for many years on his throne, extend his life. Remember O Lord Your Servant HE Metropolitan Youssef. Protect him, guide him, give him Your wisdom, let him do your will. Give him more time in the day. Calm the hearts of our diocese. Give him a time for rest. Take care of his health.

When you hear the deacon telling you "pray for the salvation of the world"

When you hear the deacon telling you "pray for our kings and leaders, our government and our military"

When Abouna says “He will appear to judge the world in righteousness and give each one according to his deeds” the congregation cries out “According to YOUR Mercy O Lord not according to my sins.” Because this sentence is dealing with MY salvation. It’s a prayer – Lord I don’t agree with this judging according to deeds because if you judged me according to my deeds alone I would not have eternal life. But judge me with YOUR MERCY. – I am saying this out loud and I am pleading with God.  I am not just singing a hymn

This is my main role in the Liturgy. The participation of my spirit. This is why the liturgy starts with: "Lift up your hearts"

Go in Peace

At the end of Liturgy, Abouna says "Go in peace"

Communal prayer enhances personal prayer; personal prayer enhances communal.

Sometimes I make the excuse not to pray at home because "I don't know what to say" or I pray but I find that my words are few and they just feel like empty words. Let me influence my private prayer with communal prayer - I can remember the Litanies and pray based on them. I can also just pray Psalis and hymns from the liturgy or the praises!

At the same time, this will enhance my time in liturgy because I become conditioned to prayer and to the words of prayer.

Embody the peace you received and go out and carry it in your life and interaction. I can't leave the liturgy and go argue with my brother. I can't leave the liturgy and go and curse and watch inappropriate movies or listen to music unbecoming of me as a Christian. My mom used to say "omal betroo7 El kenesa leh" (well in that case, why are you even going to church). 

Sunday being the day of the Lord, it's good for us not to have work and that isn't just so we can attend liturgy, but so that we can go in peace after. To visit our brethren and visit the sick and serve the poor. To go and help our parents and our friends. This is how we take the peace that we received, double it and give it to the next person!

Youth Meeting

2025-12-11: Discernment (SALT)

Introduction
Discernment of Thoughts and Speech
Discerning the Will of God
Discerning My Abilities
Ask the Lord for Discernment
Youth Meeting

2026-03-03: Means of Temptation (Arabic Youth Meeting)

Introduction
1. From Behind: Past Sins

Satan may tempt us from behind by bringing up past sins

2. From the Front: Anxiety

Satan may tempt us from the front - through worrying about the future, fear of what will come, etc. This is called Anxiety.

Anxiety is a problem with PERCEPTION and NOT reality.

All of these are temptations to loosen our faith. But the Lord answers anxiety in Matthew 6.

3. From the Left: Obvious Sins

Sometimes, Satan tempts us from the left side with the obvious sins.

4. From the Right: Good Deeds, Bad Motives

If the left side is sin and evil, then the right side is good! Sometimes I am tempted to do good deeds, but with the wrong intention or motive. Or I justify my bad motives by good deeds.

5. From Below: Laziness

Satan may tempt me by pulling me downward, like gravity making me heavier and harder to move... laziness.

6. From Above: More Than I Can Handle

Satan can also tempt me from above, pulling me up and raising me up with pride to take on more than I can handle

7. From Outside: The Senses

I can be tempted by my senses from the world around me.

8. From Within

Sometimes, I am tempted from within. The devil is not within me - but I can be tempted by my human thoughts, desires, passions, dreams. Many times, these are also shaped by what I take in and what media I consume (#7)

 

 

Youth Meeting

2026-04-27: God in my Daily Life

Introduction

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3)

What does it mean to "set your mind on things above?"

We are living in the world with many responsibilities... work and career, school and education, service, relationship, family.

On top of that, I want to have some leisure, some relaxation, I need time for myself.

How do I fit all of this in 24 hours? How do I fit God in with all of this? Even harder, how do I PRIORITIZE God in all of this?

We will look at the day as three different times and three levels...

1 - Routine: Time Set Apart for God

Sometimes I try to do the MINIMUM to calm my conscience... things I've heard in confession... "I pray throughout the day" - GREAT! But what does that mean? Usually it means I don't pray with the Agpeya, I don't pray in the morning, and I don't pray in the evening. But I want to calm my conscience.

But if I am SERIOUS, the attitude will be different.

Components of the Spiritual Canon

  1. Accountability Partner
  2. Diary
  3. Daily
    1. Morning Prayer
    2. Evening Prayer
    3. Prostrations
    4. Scripture Reading
  4. Weekly
  5. Monthly
2 - Faithfulness: God in my responsibilities
  1. Work and Career - and not just the day-to-day but navigating a changing career landscape and being a little anxious about what's coming (e.g. AI, larger labor pool, less jobs) and trying to figure out  how I will progress or get promoted or achieve my goals.

  2. School and Education - things I still want to learn - specializations I want to enter - apprenticeships or fellowships or internships I want to participate in

  3. Service - serving in the Church; serving my community; volunteering in any organization

  4. Relationship - my wife, or my fiancee, or the person I am courting for marriage, my children

  5. Family - my parents and my in-laws and my cousins and my siblings and their families

How is success defined? 

Faithfulness

3 - Rest: Sinless Leisure Time

St Anthony story

Hobbies

Social Time and Hangouts

Vacation = vacation from God? From Church? Definitely not... 


Youth Meeting

2026-08-06: New Stage in Life

Introduction

Today, as we welcome our new youth to the Youth Meeting, and as we start a new year in Sunday School & Youth Ministry, we want to reflect on this stage of life... college. For those who are new, it's a good look ahead, and for those who are already in college or grad school, it's a good retrospective.

How is this stage of life characterized?

Characteristics of the College & Grad Era
  1. Discovery: Discovering your gifts, passions, calling
  2. Transition: From dependence to adulthood
  3. Preparation: Academic, Professional, Spiritual, Relational
  4. Freedom: Make your own choices - you CHOOSE to come to the Youth Meeting
  5. Formation: Establishing life-long habits, values, character
  6. Flexibility: Fewer long-term commitments, flexible variant schedule
  7. Learning: Learning about the things you like/enjoy/want to pursue, learning about life
  8. Responsibility: Managing money, time, work, priorities
  9. Health: Energy, health, ability
  10. Decision: Decisions about career, decisions about moving, decisions about marriage
God in Everything

Now you are in the world with many responsibilities... work and career, school and education, service, family, friendships, etc. On top of that, I want to have some leisure, some relaxation, I need time for myself. How do I fit all of this in 24 hours? How do I fit God in with all of this? Even harder, how do I PRIORITIZE God in all of this?

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3)

What does it mean to "set your mind on things above?"

We will look at the day as three different times and three levels...

1 - Routine: Time Set Apart for God

Sometimes I try to do the MINIMUM to calm my conscience... things I've heard in confession... "I pray throughout the day" - GREAT! But what does that mean? Usually it means I don't pray with the Agpeya, I don't pray in the morning, and I don't pray in the evening. But I want to calm my conscience.

But if I am SERIOUS, the attitude will be different.

Components of the Spiritual Canon

  1. Accountability Partner
  2. Diary
  3. Daily
    1. Morning Prayer
    2. Evening Prayer
    3. Prostrations
    4. Scripture Reading
  4. Weekly
  5. Monthly
2 - Faithfulness: God in my responsibilities
  1. Work and Career - and not just the day-to-day but navigating a changing career landscape and being a little anxious about what's coming (e.g. AI, larger labor pool, less jobs) and trying to figure out  how I will progress or get promoted or achieve my goals.

  2. School and Education - things I still want to learn - specializations I want to enter - apprenticeships or fellowships or internships I want to participate in

  3. Service - serving in the Church; serving my community; volunteering in any organization

  4. Family - my parents and my in-laws and my cousins and my siblings and their families

  5. Relationship - my wife, or my fiancee, or the person I am courting for marriage, my children

How is success defined?

Faithfulness

3 - Rest: Sinless Leisure Time

St Anthony story

Hobbies

Social Time and Hangouts

Vacation = vacation from God? From Church? Definitely not... 


Youth Meeting

2026-05-07: Courting Q&A

Should family issues be considered red flags in a relationship? For example, if a guy has a lot of conflict or drama with his family, could that affect his relationship with the girl he’s interested in? Is that something she should be concerned about?

When one goes to court another person, is there a specific age difference between each person (same age, 1 year, 2 year difference, etc.) that is best or is this dependent on each couple? Is this a big deal when you are considering courting someone?

If a girl is not really interested in a boy but she thought of maybe giving him a chance and she started courting him… or vice-versa, is that considered ghosting?

If all sins are the same, me thinking a lustful thought is considered committing a sin so how does that differ from doing physical actions with someone (not sex)

What are the most important qualities to look for in a future spouse?
What are some good qualities we should look for in men/ women we want to eventually marry?

What are early red flags people tend to ignore but shouldn’t?

What is your opinion on long distance courting?

How do we know for real that this person is serious in her/his relationship with me?

When should one start praying about this? How do you know that marriage is the calling God is giving you and not something else?

How to know if the person likes you

How long should one get to know another person before marriage?

How can I prepare to be a good wife even before I meet someone?

How do you know if it’s appropriate to start a court?

At what age should one start to court a potential spouse?

What role do finances play in relationships?

What advice can you give about dealing with a heartbreak?

How to deal with rejection?

Youth Meeting

2026-06-20: Lamentations Conclusion (AYM Microconvention)

"Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old," (Lamentations 5:21)

Lamentations on Good Friday
Everything is Ruined
1. Change Your Perspective
2. Turn us back to You, O Lord
3. And We will be Restored
Conclusion

On Friday, everyone thought it was over. The disciples, the chief priests and the Romans thought that's it... He is dead. But God was not finished, because the sufferings of the Cross come before the glories of the Resurrection.

And the Lamentations teaches the same mystery. Jeremiah saw the destruction of his city, after he had even prophesied about it. After he tried to stop it by bringing about repentance. After all of that... and the Temple is destroyed, the city is brought to the ground and the people are taken. And all he can do is Lament. 

He starts by looking at the city and its desolation, for 2.5 chapters. Then, halfway through the 3rd chapter, he changes his focus to be on God. And by the end of the 5th chapter, he is singing a song of hope and a song of renewal and restoration.

"Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old," (Lamentations 5:21)

The problem was not the ruins and the city, the problem was the loss of communion with God.

When I face:

The temptation is always the same "Everything is ruined." and "It's over."

Take three steps:

1 - Change my perspective (stop looking at the ruins, lift my eyes to God)

2 - Allow the Lord to turn me back to Him (grace of the Sacraments, the Scripture, the Relationship with Him)

3 - Trust that He will restore, and experience His restoration and renewal

Youth Meeting

2026-07-31: Delight in the Lord (Priest Family Convention - HS & College Youth)

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

In this Psalm, the word “Delight” is the Coptic word ⲟⲩⲛⲟϥ which means “Rejoice.”

The word "Delight" reminds us of a specific hymn: ⲡⲓϩⲗⲟϫ

"Delight is the Church. Delight is the people assembled in it. Delight is the image of this martyr, Saint (...) the martyr of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Here, the Coptic word ϩⲗⲟϫ means “Sweetness” and in Arabic حلو.

Delight in the Church

The Church, Herself, gives us many avenues for experiencing this sweetness and rejoicing. In the Sacraments, the Scripture, the Hymns of the Church, the Iconography of the Church, the Lives of the Saints, Church History, Patristics, Dogmatics, Apologetics, etc.

For everyone, there is something. I know some youth really love hymns and because of hymns they are attached to the Church. Some youth really love iconography and because of iconography, they are attached to the Church. Some youth fall in love with the Lives of the Saints, or with learning Church History, or with reading the Fathers, or with studying Apologetics… there is something for everyone in the Church to find sweetness and delight in the Lord.

Delight in the Hymns of the Church

St Augustine, a great saint in the Church had such an experience when he was visiting Milan and he heard them singing the hymns of the Church. Hearing the hymns gave him an emotional response, and he shed tears… but they also gave him a spiritual response. Truth was distilled into his heart – he learned something from the hymns. A feeling of piety welled up from it – he was driven to humility and repentance.

How many tears did I shed, as I was deeply stirred by the voices of Your Church sweetly swelling in the singing of Your hymns and canticles! Those voices flowed into my ears, and truth was distilled into my heart, and a feeling of piety welled up from it. The tears poured forth, and I was happy with them.
St Augustine - Confessions Book 9 Chapter 6

Delight in the Saints of the Church

"Delight is the Church. Delight is the people assembled in it. Delight is the image of this martyr, Saint (...) the martyr of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Delight is your holy name, O chosen one of Christ, the strong and courageous and blessed one, O Saint (…).”

The stories of the saints and martyrs of the Church give us a model, give us hope, and give us an intercessor.

Today is the Feast of St Marina

The stories of the martyrs BEFORE St Marina were the reason she desired to live a life of Christ. She delighted in the lives of the saints and martyrs.

Now, when we read her story, we can delight in the Lord who NEVER forgot her and would send His angel always to heal her. We can delight in her bravery and ability to stand up for her faith and not deny her Christ. We can delight in the crown that she received.  

Delight in Serving Others

Acts of Mercy

We also delight in serving others. When we go and visit the sick, sit with the elderly, serve the children of the Church, serve our community in nursing homes, homeless shelters, orphanages, etc. we see the Lord Jesus Christ, and we come back with that sweetness.

“for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’“ (Matthew 25:35-36)

St Pishoy is the perfect example of this. St Pishoy ministered to strangers - when a man came to his door, he sat him down and washed his feet and in this, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. When an elderly monk was trying to climb the mountain, he carried him on his back, ministering to him - and in this, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of the other monks are even jealous of the sweetness that he experienced.

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

St Paul says - you have free will! You have freedom! But don’t use your freedom as an opportunity to serve yourself, but serve others. Sometimes we think that when I do “whatever I want” or even to satisfy my own desires, then that is sweetness, rejoicing, delight… no. The real sweetness and delight is using my freedom to serve others.

E.g. I may have money - and I can use this money to buy myself exquisite meals, hundreds of dollars at a steakhouse, my favorite restaurants, big buffets, etc. and there are people in my community that can’t find more than one small meal per day. Although I am free and it is my money to use however I want, let me use my freedom to serve others.

Delight in my Family

Here I am mentioning this point SECOND on purpose, although it actually comes FIRST.

I cannot serve my community or serve outside unless I first serve in my own home and my own family.

“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)

The disciples were commanded to serve in Jerusalem FIRST - the inner circle, the family. Then in Judea and Samaria - the church and community. Then in the ends of the earth.

And when I serve my family faithfully, I will taste the sweetness of the Lord. Delight in your family! God chose our family for us. It is important for me to serve my family - to help around the house, to offer my talents to my parents and my siblings, to be obedient to my parents. Any “One Another” commandment - love one another, pray for one another, bear with one another, be kind to one another. All of these apply to my family FIRST, before to others.

And here we can take a special note to talk about being in the family of a priest. The Lord chose for you these parents, and chose for you to be the son or daughter of the priest… and this is for your salvation! This is a great blessing that you have:

Delight in your family! Faithfully obey and submit to your parents! Support them in their ministry!

Delight in My Spiritual Life

Delight in the Scripture

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3)

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7-11)

”Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)

Delight in the Psalms

Acts 16 - after Paul and Silas were jailed in Philippi: “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” When the jailer woke up he despaired, and drew his sword to kill himself. But St Paul called him and said “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

”Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:16)

“be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-20)

In both of these verses, the Psalms and singing “make melody in my heart to the Lord” or “sing with grace in my heart to the Lord.”

Delight in the Psalms!

St Athanasius writes a letter called “The Letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms” where he goes through the psalms and categorizes them:

“The book of Psalms is like a garden containing things of all these kinds, and it sets them to music, but also exhibits things of its own that it gives in song along with them.” (Ch. 2)

“And it seems to me that these words become like a mirror to the person singing them, so that he might perceive himself and the emotions of his soul, and thus affected, he might recite them.” (Ch. 12)

When I am said, there are psalms of rejoicing. When I am thankful, there are psalms of giving thanks. When I am persecuted, there are psalms of comfort.

Podcast

Podcast

2024-07-19 Keepin It Apostolic

Questions: Ethos

Can you share with us your background and journey into studying Church Rites? What initially drew you to this field of study?

My name is Morcous Wahba, I am first and foremost a Coptic Orthodox Christian. I am a husband and a father. I serve as a Subdeacon in my parish in Orlando, FL, and I'm a Software Engineer by trade.

Of course, growing up in the Southern Diocese, we had the great model of HG Bishop Youssef; when he visited our churches and prayed tasbeha with us; when he encouraged the chanting of hymns during liturgy, etc; when he would release a press release about the rites of the church like "this Sunday we will be celebrating the 29th of the Coptic month instead of the fifth Sunday of the month."

I remember when I was in elementary school or middle school, HG wanted the Aspasmos Adam and Aspasmos Watos to be learned and chanted in the churches in English. So he sent out a note to all the churches that for the first half of the year, every church should sing Rejoice O Mary every Sunday and for the second half of the year, every church should sing O Lord God of Hosts. And I remember the servants teaching us these two hymns and chanting them every Sunday until everyone learned them. 

I had great servants in my church, who encouraged us to learn hymns and who modeled for us the true spirit of hymnology. When I was in elementary or middle school is when websites like coptichymns.net and tasbeha.org started to appear - and they had recordings of hymns for all occasions. They had forums where people would discuss the rites of the Church. 

I remember when the Deacons Service book came out by Albair Mikhail - "Al Assess fe khedmet el shammas" and it had all the hymns in it and a bunch of Arabic text that I couldn't read. And then when the same servant, Albair, released the HCOC CDs (Heritage of the Coptic Orthodox Church) and they were high quality group recordings for all of the hymns. We would buy all these things and use them to learn.

As with most youth, I had questions about the Church Rites... like why do we say ⲛⲓⲥⲁⲃⲉⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ (a hymn about the robe of Aaron) instead of Saved Amen when the Bishop is present? You start to look for answers, read books, watch videos, ask priests and bishops, etc. 

All of these things kind of cultivated in me the love of all things ritual. 

What do you say to people who have the mindset of “who cares” about Church Rites?

I mean I think the answer is "God cares."

The concept of ritual was not just invented by man, but it has been an expression of worship that is acceptable to God since the beginning. As early as Cain and Abel, we see that God distinguishes between what is acceptable and unacceptable offering. In Noah, we see him build an altar and offer clean animals after coming out of the ark. Same with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was God who in Exodus specifically laid out how the Tabernacle should be constructed - what materials, how much of each material, how they are arranged, etc. It was God who in Leviticus ordained specific instructions for each of the burnt offerings, and ordained feasts, and the rituals for the day of atonement and the raising of incense day and night, and the showbread and the lighting of the candles and the vestments of the priests, and all of those things. It was God who gave the rites for anointing of priests and anointing of kings.

It was actually the people who said "who cares" in the Old Testament who ended up being rebuked or punished by God. Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron, the sons of Eli, King Saul, Korah, Dathan and Abiram, etc.

So I don't think the mindset of "who cares" is appropriate at all.

But there are other negative attitudes when it comes to the Rites and Hymns of the Church. One that I hear pretty often is "Rites were made for man and not man for rites." It's a rewording of the verse from the Gospels that "the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, therefore the Son of Man also is Lord of the Sabbath." Like the Rites were made FOR you, to HELP you, to ENHANCE your relationship with God; you were not created to be a SLAVE to the rites. And the Lord Jesus said those words right after he said something similar - he quoted from Hosea saying "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Both of those verses, when taken outside of their context, seem to say that Rites are not important to the Lord. But we have to distinguish between broadly applying those words, and applying them within their context.

The Pharisees were very extreme. For example, when the Lord rebukes them, He tells them "Woe to you" for you tithe mint and rue and anise and pass by justice and love of God. He's telling them like you go and measure out 10% of your spices to offer as a tithe, but in your dealings with people, you are not just. You do not love God. You do not love your neighbor. You're just doing it for the sake of ritual. And so He rebukes them. But there's a very important phrase that He says in that same breath: "these you ought to have done without leaving the others undone." Do both!

We do like the Pharisees sometimes: we do ritual at the expense of our brother. I can imagine a scenario where a deacon is holding the censer for Abouna, and another deacon rushes over and takes it from him to make sure it gets held the "the right way." Or a deacon says a hymn the wrong way, or makes a mistake, and someone else rushes over to correct him or make an example of him or something like that. Or the fights for the microphone that happen in some places. Or the arguments that happen over the "correct ritual" and the "only way to do it." In those cases, someone might be doing ritual, but without love of God or love of neighbor. Without mercy or justice. And it will not be acceptable to God.

But when we do ritual in the correct way, it will be well-pleasing to God.

How do you see Church Rites evolving or adapting to contemporary cultural and societal changes?

I remember in his first few years as Pope, HH Pope Tawadros was discussing in Egypt the Litany of the Waters. And he's telling the people "we're praying for the Nile! Why should the believers in America pray for the Nile River? They should pray for the Mississippi River!" It was so funny, but it also showed very clearly that HH understood that there are pastoral needs in different places and at different times.

HH Pope Shenouda III recommended to the Synod to add a word to the Litany of the Travelers: "Air" - those who are traveling by rivers, seas, roads, lakes [air]. This was a response to a societal change; the invention and widespread use of air travel.

In the time of HH Pope Shenouda also, they added a small one-line litany to the Litanies that start with "Yea we ask You O Christ our God..." - "Success to the students, work for the needy." There was a need in society at that time, and it was added.

There is a liturgical scholar by the name of Fr Robert J Taft (Catholic) who said "There is no ideal form of the liturgy from the past that must be imitated, liturgy has always changed."

All this to show that the Church and the hierarchy of the Church is aware of the pastoral needs and is not opposed to modifying the liturgical text, or even the rituals for the sake of those pastoral needs.

Are there any challenges or opportunities you foresee in this regard?

I think technology is both the biggest opportunity, but also the biggest challenge.

The history and historical development of our ritual is accessible to the general public now more than ever. Coptic Manuscripts that are scattered at museums around the world, are accessible at our fingertips. Large groups on Social Media are dedicated to discussion of ritual and some of the very knowledgeable academics frequently participate in those groups. People are starting to be more interested in ritual, and particularly in restoring rituals that we have lost or that we have lost their meaning. So it's an opportunity to restore to practice that which was lost. 

But that also comes with a word of caution. We have to recognize that the ritual  - the same scholar mentioned before, Fr Robert Taft wrote "As a historian, my job is not to change the tradition, but to tell the truth about what happened. It is the job of the hierarchs to decide what to do about it." He does the job of the historian, figuring out what the facts were - but he leaves the job of reform or evolution or change to the hierarchs of the church. Sometimes, people in their zeal for returning to "the original" forget to account for the fact that there might be a reason it changed in the first place. Sometimes, those who are engulfed in the academia and the sources, are not quite as in tune with the pastoral needs of the flock.

But unfortunately, even when that happens, we're met with challenges. 

When HE Metropolitan Youssef announced through the diocese the establishment of American Coptic Orthodox Churches, people in Egypt went wild. It spread across Social Media and with every share, a new more misleading comment was attached to it. His Eminence was just serving his flock in a way that made sense for them. And by God's grace, those churches have found much success in our diocese. When HE Metropolitan Serapion allowed some churches to celebrate Nativity Feast on Christmas morning Dec 25, if there was a pastoral need, people in Egypt went wild. Again, it spread across Social Media and misleading comments were everywhere. 

And vice versa - when a church in Upper Egypt has some diversity in their ritual and it gets posted on social media and shared everywhere, people - even here in the States - go on the offensive. You can't blame them for their zeal in remaining "unchanged" but it presents an obstacle for evolving Church Rites to address pastoral needs.

So we can see how technology can be both an opportunity and a challenge.

How do you navigate the balance between preserving the traditions of Church Rites and responding to the needs of a changing community?

This is the definition of pastoral care. How do you minister to a group of people in a way that makes sense to them, without compromising the dogma and traditions of the Church? And to say it differently, how do you minister to the people in such a way that brings them closer to the dogma and traditions and spirituality of the Church, particularly the Eucharist.

Questions: In-depth

Church Rites

Can you explain what Church Rites encompass and their significance within religious practice?

The significance of Ritual in our religious practice can't be understated. Any time you walk into a liturgical service, there is ritual being performed. Whether it's Abouna with the censer, or a procession of the deacons, or the way that someone enters or leaves the sanctuary, etc. It's a core part of our liturgical service. If you walked into a church and didn't see these components, you would not think it's a Coptic Church, or even an Orthodox Church. So what is ritual?

The Divine Liturgy in general, and the Eucharist in particular, remove the boundaries of time. We are abiding in Christ and He in Us... but Christ is eternal. We commemorate the Passions, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ - all events that actually happened in history - but we also commemorate the Second Coming which in the context of our time, hasn't happened yet. The Divine Liturgy also removes the boundaries of space. When we celebrate the Liturgy, we are celebrating with all of the other churches around the world in the past, present and future. We are partaking of Christ's One Body and Blood.

Ritual refers to the tradition that was developed and refined over many centuries, that grounds us to liturgical time and place. It lets us - corporeal and temporal beings - participate with the Incorporeal and Eternal. When we observe ritual, we experience the heavenly.

For example, when we sing the part of the liturgy called the Sanctus: "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and Earth are full of Your holy glory." The words of this hymn are from Isaiah 6 when Isaiah saw the Seraphim and describes them with their wings and how they call to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts" - we are not just repeating their phrases, but we are chanting WITH them. We are participating with them.

And the Church gives us many different things that fall under the heading of "Ritual" and that contribute to this experience: we have raising incense, singing hymns, holding candles, vestments of the clergy, the readings, the fasts and feasts, processions, iconography, the shape of the church building and the baptismal font, etc.

What are some common examples of Church Rites that people might encounter in different denominations?

One thing that comes to mind (and ironically it's not from any sort of denomination, but from the secular world) is graduation ceremonies.

Every year when I attend a graduation ceremony it's so funny to me - they are wearing specific robes and hats and based on what degree you have, your robe and hat are different. They walk in with a procession usually, and with specific music for that procession. At HS Graduations (at least in Florida), they bring the Student Government President to pass the torch to the next Student Government President. What's the point of all this? Could it be done without all this?

During COVID, many graduations (HS and College) were cancelled. The people who were graduating that year felt like they missed a milestone. I read an article that said a university was cancelling their graduation ceremony this year due to protests on campus (about the war). And one of the people who commented said "My high school graduation was cancelled for COVID, and now this... it feels like my class is cursed." - These celebrations of achievement are "rites of passage" (note the wording there... rites of passage) and when they are skipped, someone may feel like he hasn't moved on.

And there are many other examples within both secular society and across various faiths: Inauguration of a president, weddings, funerals, coronation of a king, etc.

Rituals ground us to certain milestones of life and of society. They give a sense of meaning and help to establish a shared identity.

How have Church Rites evolved over time, and what factors influence their adaptation in modern contexts?


What theological principles underpin various Church Rites, and how do these principles shape their practice?

Of course, everything that we know about God is through revelation. In the Orthodox Church, we don't say that dogma or theology is "developed" as other Churches might say, but that it is revealed. Revealed through the Scripture and through the Church - including through Councils and canons of the Church, through liturgy, through patristic writings, through art like iconography and the church hymns, and also through ritual.

How do Church Rites reflect and reinforce theological beliefs and doctrines within different religious traditions?

There are also many things in the rites of the Church - like in the liturgy when Abouna signs the congregation. During the beginning of the Anaphora, he does three signings. He signs the people with "The Lord be with you all" and then the sanctuary deacons with "Lift up your hearts" and then himself with "Let us give thanks to the Lord." And then the next signings are at "Agios" where he signs himself on the first one, the deacons on the second one and the people on the third one. It's inversed. And it expresses the equality of all of us - people, deacons and priest - in needing this Mystery, and in needing salvation and forgiveness of sin, and in needing to eat of the Eucharist.

When we have a procession in the Church, we always go counterclockwise which reminds us that we are moving contrary to the world. But when we do the procession of Judas, we move clockwise because he moved with the world.

Of course also the text of the liturgy, the psalmody and the hymns are integral to the expression of our theology and doctrine. 

An example from the Thursday Theotokia - "We have become worthy to have, the Tree of Life to eat from, which is the Body of God, and His True Blood" - See how this expresses for us the understanding that the Tree of Life which is mentioned in Genesis and in Revelation is the Eucharist. And even the wording of "Body of God" (ⲡⲥⲱⲙⲁ ⲙⲫⲛⲟⲩϯ) expresses that Christ is God and that His Humanity (including His Body) is united with His Divinity in One Nature.

An example from Sunday Theotokia - we say "One Nature out of Two: A holy Divinity coessential with the Father and incorruptible. A holy Humanity begotten without seed coessential with us according to the Economy." 

In the 12th Century, we had a very important patriarch named Pope Gabriel II Ibn Turaik. In the History of the Patriarchs, you can read a story about his first few days as patriarch. It was the custom back then to go to the monastery of St Macarius after your consecration as patriarch. And when he went, and he was praying the liturgy, he came to the Confession at the end and said "I believe that this is the Body of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, which He took from our Lady the Theotokos Saint Mary, He made it one with His Divinity" - and when the the monks of St Macarius heard those words "He made it one with His Divinity" they were like "it is not our custom to say those words." It's not what was passed down to them. They weren't against those words as a theological belief, but it was just not part of their received tradition. So they refused to accept it. But Pope Gabriel told them "this is how it was transmitted to me by the bishops on the day of my consecration as patriarch." So both of them were firm in their stance. They resolved it by adding to "He made it One with His Divinity without mingling, without confusion and without alteration." And until today that is what we use in the Church. 

Church Rites and My Life

How can individuals incorporate Church Rites into their daily spiritual routines or personal lives? What benefits do people derive from actively participating in Church Rites?

There is a strong link between communal prayer and personal prayer. So for example, when you are praying by yourself in your room, you will still say "Our Father who art in heaven" and "We believe in one God" and even "Make US worthy to pray thankfully." Even if I am by myself, I remember that I am part of the Body of Christ and everyone else is included in my prayer. And when you are standing in communal liturgy, you find responses like "I believe" or for example in Pascha "My Lord Jesus Christ, My Good Savior, the Lord is My Strength and My praise..."

On top of that, there is room for private prayer, you are still (in the words of Abouna in the Liturgy) lifting up your hearts to the Lord. On top of that, my participation in Liturgy will enhance my personal private prayers, and my personal private prayers will enhance my participation in Liturgy.

Some people treat the Liturgy as a show that they watch... they come to the Liturgy, stand in their place and become silent observers. If we treat the Liturgy like a show, not only will we miss out on the actual experience and participation that we've been talking about, but we're more likely to just get completely distracted. The Liturgy is not a very entertaining show to watch! So if it starts to get boring, I start to divert my attention elsewhere and get distracted with my social media, or a game on my phone, or reading the news, or trying to "multi-task" during the Liturgy.

But we are not meant to be watchers or observers of liturgy, but rather active participants. When you go to a show, the entertainer is facing you and he's trying to make you laugh or invoke an emotional response - but when you come to the liturgy, the priest is not facing you, but he's facing east WITH you, because he, LIKE you, is a participant. He, like you, needs repentance. He, like you, needs to eat of the Eucharist. He, like you, needs salvation. So I, like him, should participate in the Liturgy. 

What does participation look like?

It takes several different forms, and the good news is that there are instructions given throughout the liturgy by the deacon, that tell us or remind us with what to do. 

So the first form is the participation of the body.

Second form is participation of the spirit.

Finally, participation with chanting the hymns and responses. Participate in every single ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲉ ⲉⲗⲉⲏⲥⲟⲛ (Lord have Mercy). HG Bishop Mettaous in one of his books about the Liturgy he talks about how you can make each one different. And this responds to the people who say "oh Jesus said don't be like the heretics with vain repetitions." It's your job to make them not vain repetitions. Again, don't do ritual for the sake of ritual, but let the ritual guide your worship.

So now, after participating in the liturgy, when I go back to my home to stand for prayer, there is no longer the question of "I don't know what to say." In Liturgy when you followed the instructions of the deacon, you set a model for yourself of how to pray, what to pray for, and who to remember. Now when you go home, you won't find yourself lacking in words. 

Another thing - people think that praying at home is just with the Agpeya. And it is very important to pray the Psalms and the Hours. But you can also sing hymns. You can sing parts of the Tasbeha. You can sing the Morning Doxology in the morning and the Theotokia of the day in the evening. While you're driving, you can sing hymns and praises. All of these contribute to your prayer life - and when you do them outside of liturgy, they will also contribute to your experience inside liturgy.

In what ways do Church Rites foster a sense of community and belonging among believers?

If you think about a graduation ceremony, it's the one single time that the entire student body comes together as one.

If you think about a wedding or funeral, these are the few times that all members of an extended family might come together as one (either to celebrate or to mourn).

And if you think about the Church, when we observe specific rituals, is when we come together as one. Think about the Resurrection Feast and how it is the one night of the year that the entire body of believers makes a conscious effort to be there and the church is packed, as we all observe the ritual.

Ritual brings us together. It is an expression of the Biblical Truth that we are all members of One Body and Christ is the head.

Not only that, but when we come together, we are stronger. HG Bishop Basil on the evening of the consecration of St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Ft Myers, FL was giving the Vespers sermon and he said "how many of us can go home and stand all night in prayer and reading the Scripture? None of us. But when we come together for a 14 hour consecration overnight, we are supporting each other and able to pray together and stay without getting tired." And he is so right.

Have there been historical moments or movements that significantly impacted the practice and interpretation of Church Rites?

Liturgy is ever-evolving. Sometimes something may change based on pastoral needs of the people.

Sometimes something may change based on trying to uphold the Tradition of the Church in the face of persecution. So when the government says "you can't build any more churches" but the number of faithful is increasing daily, they build more altars within the same church and pray more than one liturgy in a day. 

Can you share examples of individuals or communities whose lives have been profoundly influenced by their engagement with Church Rites?


How can Church leaders effectively guide and support congregants in integrating the spirit of Church Rites into their everyday lives?

Just like before, I think it all starts with the experience in liturgy. I'm very fortunate to serve in a parish with priests who support the teaching and chanting of hymns and consider it very highly as an integral part of the spiritual upbringing of our children. We teach and chant the Coptic Readings like Ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ ⲫⲃⲱⲕ, ⲕⲁⲑⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲛ and ⲡⲣⲁⲝⲓⲥ on a regular basis. We teach and chant long hymns like ⲙⲉⲅⲁⲗⲟⲩ in the Great Fast or the great ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲛⲓⲭⲟⲣⲟⲥ on the Resurrection Feast. We teach and chant Coptic hymns as well as English hymns and we sing the Tasbeha not only in Arabic and English but also in Coptic. But to get to this point required a lot of time and requires a lot of trust between the father the priest and the servant who is coordinating the deacons and the servant who is coordinating Sunday School and Hymns Classes. It's important that everyone is on the same page, knowing that they're all pursuing the same goal.

Deacon leaders should be wise in choosing what hymns they will say, based on guidance from the father the priest who is more in tune with the pastoral needs of the congregation. In a certain parish - especially if it's a large parish - it may not be the best pastoral care for a deacon to chant a long hymn by himself. Whereas in a smaller parish, it may be okay. The father the priest may look at the congregation and out of a pastoral duty, tell the deacons that today we need to focus on English hymns. So we have to be knowledgeable to do that, but also flexible.  So I think the first point is that the deacons have to be on the same page as the father the priest, and follow his guidance and be flexible for the sake of the pastoral care of the congregation.

Another point for deacon leaders is to be wise in their use of microphones. Sometimes a microphone is needed especially to start a hymn, maintain the pace, change the pitch, adjust the tune, etc. But sometimes it's good to draw back and let the deacons and the congregation sing together.

Which leads to the third point - Education. It's so important in our churches to teach the Rites and Hymns to all ages - children, youth and adults; male and female. It's important to teach more difficult topics like Ritual Development to the servants, or pre-servants. It's important to integrate rituals and hymns in Sunday School lessons and sermons. And it's important that when we teach a hymn, we teach when it is chanted, and what is its meaning. And when we teach a ritual, we teach how it's done, but also why.

Wrap-Up

Looking back at our conversation today, what key insights or messages about Church Rites do you hope listeners take away?

I hope listeners will take from this podcast that the Rites and Hymns of the Church are for YOU. They're not just for the priest and the deacons. They're not just for a select group of deacons who are good at hymns. They're for you. No matter how old you are, or if you're male or female. They are for YOU and they can enhance your relationship with the Lord.

For our listeners interested in incorporating Church Rites more meaningfully into their lives, what practical steps or advice would you recommend?

Especially if you are someone who struggles to pray at home, try to incorporate some components of the Liturgy or Tasbeha into your prayer at home. Whether it's parts of the Tasbeha to sing, or if it's remembering the Litanies that we pray. Participate in the Liturgy with your body and your tongue and your spirit, and then take that experience home with you.

Is there anything else you'd like to share or emphasize about Church Rites before we conclude today's podcast?

If you want to learn more about the Rites and Hymns of the Church, I encourage you to check out the Asaph Hymns Institute. It's a Hymns Institute in our diocese of the Southern United States. It has several programs to serve a wide range of experience levels. There's also an annual convention which is open to all to attend (even if you're not a student). You can find the website through the Diocese or at www.sushymns.org.

The diocese also has a new convention that started last year called Liturgy and Life which is held in the St Mary and St Demiana Convent in Atlanta, GA in October. You can find more information through the Diocese website and social media.

If you want to read from some of the modern Liturgical Scholars of the Coptic Orthodox Church, I recommend that you pick up any of the books published by Fr Arsenius Mikhail (formerly Ramez Mikhail). Also the folks at Theology Academy have been hard at work translating many of the books authored by Fr Athanasius el Makari which cover a very wide array of topics in the field of Rites and Hymns which are also very good for reference.

What is a legacy you want to leave?

Let's drop the legacy question