The Departure of David, the Prophet and King.
1st January - 23rd Keiahk
On this day, of the year 2990 of the world, the great King and the saintly honoured prophet David, the son of Jesse, departed.
He was the second king over the children of Israel and the first among their kings to walk in virtue and in justice. He was from the tribe of Judah from Bethlehem. God chose him to be a king over Israel, when Saul, the son of Kish, disobeyed the commandment of God.
God commanded the Prophet Samuel to anoint for Him one of the children of Jesse, a king over Israel. Samuel chose the eldest son who had a good appearance and was tall in stature, but God rejected him and said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)
Jesse called all his sons and showed them to Samuel and he chose David and anointed him king. God was with him in all his ways, for his purity of heart and his meekness. He overcame Saul who wanted to kill him on several occasions. Once Saul went out to kill David and he went into a cave to attend to his needs. David came to him secretly and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe (I Samuel 24:4) to show him that he wouldn’t stretch his hand to kill him. Another time David found him sleeping and he took his spear and a jug of water that was by his head and did not hurt him and spared his life for the second time. (I Samuel 26:1-25) When David’s men told him to destroy Saul, David said, “The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.” (I Samuel 26:11)
When a man announced to David the news about the death of his rival Saul saying, “I stood over him and killed him,” David took hold of his own clothes and tore them and he mourned him. David called one of the young men and said, “Go near and execute him,” (2 Samuel 1: 11-15) and he struck the man so that he died. God honoured this Prophet over all mankind, for he had many virtues. Besides the virtue of humility, he was a prophet, a righteous man, and a just king. In spite of that, he called himself a “dead dog” and a “flea”. )I Samuel 24:14) God praised him by saying, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:22; Psalms 89:20; 1 Samuel 13:14) God protected Jerusalem for his sake during his lifetime and after his death, and He made the kings of the people of Israel from his seed, and He called Himself “his Son.” He prophesied in the Book of Psalms, which is a book full of useful teachings and good instructions. David’s might and power were supported by God. When he was young and guarding his father’s sheep, once a bear and another time a lion attacked his sheep and David killed both the bear and the lion.
When the army of Israel faced the army of the Philistines and Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, whose height was six cubits and a span, and who was armored with a bronze helmet on his head and a coat weighing five thousand shekels of bronze, and he had bronze grieves on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders and the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; Goliath went out, stood up and cried out to the armies of Israel, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give us a man that we may fight together.” The Philistine presented himself for forty days, morning and evening. All of Israel heard these words and were dismayed and greatly afraid. When David came to visit his brothers and brought provisions to their camp, he saw and heard Goliath. David was moved with divine zeal and said to him, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” David took out a stone and he slung it and he struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank in his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and cut off his head and removed the reproach of Israel. (I Samuel 17) David lived 70 years, 30 years of which were before he became a king. He was born one thousand, one hundred and twenty years before Christ. His prayers be with us all. Amen.
The Martyrdom of St. Ignatius,
of Antioch. 24th Keiahk - 2nd January
On this day, the honourable St. Ignatius, Patriarch of Antioch, was martyred. He was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist and travelled with him to many cities. St. John ordained him Patriarch of Antioch where he preached the life giving Gospel, converted many to the knowledge of God, baptised them, illumined them, and showed them the error of worshipping idols. The pagans were enraged, they seized him and tortured him with various tortures. They put burning coals in his hands and pressed his hands for about two hours. Then they burnt his side with red hot pitch and burning oil. They combed his body with iron combs. When they became tired of torturing him, they cast him in prison where he stayed for a long time. When they remembered him, they brought him out and promised him great rewards and then threatened him. As he was steadfast in his faith, they threw him to the wild beasts and they devoured him and rendered him into pieces. He delivered up his pure spirit in the hand of the Lord Whom he loved. His prayers be with us. Amen.
The Birth of St. Takla Haymanot,
the Ethiopian. Today also, we commemorate the birthday of St. Takla Haymanot (Thecla Hemanot), the great Ethiopian saint. His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever.
PatriarchAmen.
The Departure of St. John Kama (Khame).
3rd January - 25th Keiahk
On this day, the great Saint John Kama departed. He was from “Shubramento” of the region of “Sa”. His parents were God-fearing Christians and he was their only child. They forced him to marry against his will. When he entered his wife’s room, he stood, prayed for a long time, then came near the young girl and said to her, “My sister, you know that the world and all of its lusts will go away. Do you agree with me to keep our bodies pure and clean?” She answered and said, “My brother, the Lord’s Name lives. This also is my desire and now the Lord has given me what my heart desires.”
They mutually agreed to live together as brother and sister and to keep their virginity. When they slept, the angel of the Lord came and covered them with his wings. For their many virtues, God planted a vine for them which grew up and covered their place of sleep. That was a sign of their purity and holiness; for what they did was above human nature, that two young people, a man and a woman, would sleep next to each other without being driven by the lust of the flesh; for who can come near a fire and not be burnt, unless it is God’s divine power and care that keeps them and preserves them. When their parents saw that they lived together for a long time without having any children, they thought that this was due to the fact that they were young. One day John said to his wife, “My sister, I desire to go into the wilderness to become a monk and I cannot do that without your permission.” She gave him her permission and he placed her in one of the virgins’ convents. There she became a virtuous nun and she performed many miracles, so they chose her to become the abbess of the convent. As for St. John, when he left his town, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and guided him to the wilderness of Scetis “Shiheet”. He went there and became a monk in the cell of Saint “Darudi” in the monastery of St. Macarius. He stayed with this saint learning piety from him until the saint departed. Then the angel of the Lord told him to go west of the monastery of St. John the Short and to build a cell for himself there. He went and did as the angel commanded him. Three hundred brethren gathered around him and became his disciples. They built a church and a house with a garden for themselves and Saint John Kama taught them how to pray and the use of the “Epsalmodia”.
One night, St. Athanasius the Apostolic appeared to them while they were singing the song of the three young men. St. Athanasius revealed many mysteries to him. Another time, St. Mary appeared to him and told him, “This is my dwelling forever, and I shall be with them as I have been with you and this monastery will be named after me.” The church of the monastery was named after the Virgin
St. Mary.
Some of the monks of upper Egypt desired to be under the guidance of St. John Kama and they asked him to come to see them. He called a brother named Shenouda, and gave him the responsibility of caring for the brethren until his return. When he returned, he found that he performed the task perfectly. When St. John Kama completed his course, he departed in peace. His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
The Martyrdom of St. Anastasia.
5th January - 27th Keiahk
On this day, of the year 34 A.D., St. Anastasia, was martyred. She was born in the city of Rome in the year 275 A.D., to a pagan father whose name was “Britastanos” and a Christian mother whose name was “Flavia”. Her mother baptised her secretly without her father’s knowledge and she brought her up in the teachings of the Christian faith. She was steadfast in her faith and no one was able to dissuade her. When she was of marriage age, her father gave her in marriage to a pagan youth, against her wishes. St. Anastasia prayed to the Lord Christ with fervent supplications, asking Him to separate her from this pagan youth who was away from the faith. When her husband left to go to his work, she also left to visit those who were imprisoned for their faith and she ministered to them, comforted them, and offered them whatever they needed. When her husband learned about this, he shut her up in the house and placed guards over her. She continued to pray and ask God with tears and supplications to save her from the hands of her husband. God answered her prayer and speeded up his death. She distributed her wealth among the poor and those who were in prison, the confessors and the strivers, for the sake of the faith. When her fame reached “Florus”, the Governor, he brought her before him to inquire about her religion. She confessed that she was a Christian. He tried to entice her to leave her faith by promising her many precious gifts. When she did not listen to his promises, he punished her by torturing her with various tortures and when he became weary of her he ordered her to be drowned. She came out from the sea unharmed with the grace of God. When the governor learned that she was still alive, he ordered that she be tied up to four pegs on the ground and be beaten ferociously, then be thrown into a pit of fire. They did so until she gave up her pure soul and received the crown of martyrdom. Her prayers be with us. Amen.
+ The Advent Fasting:
Friday 25th November the Advent Fasting started. It continues for 43 days and ends by the Feast of Holy Nativity at 7th January. It is allowed to eat fish during this fasting except on Wednesdays and Fridays and usually we abstain from food until 3pm. For those who got health reasons they can consult their father of confession. The Advent Fasting is a preparation for the Feast of Incarnation of our Lord. We fast 40 days taking an example of the Lord’s Fasting and from Moses Fasting for 40 days before receiving the Law and Commandments. We fast also extra three days in commemoration of the days fasted by people during the time of St Abraam the 62th Pope of Alexandria for the miracle of moving the mountain. The blessed month of Keiahk falls during the Advent days in which we sing and read all about the Incarnation of the Lord. Let us all pursue fasting in humility and repentance and offer our hearts to be holy sanctuary for our Lord the Child of the Manager the Incarnated Lord.
+ Doxologies of Keiahk
Doxologies and Praises of the blessed month of Keiahk started at St. Mary’s church Saturday 10th December 7 - 11 pm. During the week it will be held on Monday & Thursday every week 6:30 - 9 pm.
Mass 8-10am
Meditations of The Bible Readings
4th Sunday of the blessed month of Kieahk Luke 1: 57 – 68.
Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people. Luke 1:68 Zachariah the priest stayed silent for a full 9 months … and during this 9 months, he had visions of many things and understood a lot … during his months of silence, he understood and saw what he has not comprehended all the years of normal uttering … he saw with his own eyes, how God listens to prayers … even at the times when he thought answering (his prayers) became impossible … till the appropriate time …
He saw the Virgin Mary visits Elizabeth and heard by his own ears what he could not utter with own tongue … he knew and understood who his son is … he is John the forerunner, the Baptist who comes to prepare the way of the Lord.
During his months of silence, he saw the pages of the Torah (the Old Testament) unfold before his eyes … thousands of years mankind waited … and here is the awaited by all generations is coming … and his own son is the last of the prophets of this period and is the joining (bridge) with a new testament and era … the time of salvation and grace. How great are the fruits of the life of meditations … and how great are what one can see and benefit from a life of quietness and silence … the one who speaks continually will never learn! … but he who is always attentive and listening, is always growing (in the Lord) … the glory of heavens and its greatness is known to the saints through a life of meditations and quietness away from the noise of the world. In a life of meditations, we learn many things … we progress before the Lord … to grow and be strong in spirit.
+ For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways
The angel carried the child John the Baptist at the age of 2 years to the desert … there in the quietness of the wilderness and its silence … in the wilderness harshness this young child grow … twenty eight years of continuous preparations … for a mission which John the Baptist will fulfil in a short time, does not exceed six months in total.
This voice crying in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3, John 1:23) … who is stronger than lions’s roaring, needed all these long years so that his voice can reach the end of the earth but his echo will reach all generations past for thousand years and those to come..
Moses … fled to the wilderness escaping from Egypt, feeling he has failed in his mission … and after 40 years in the wilderness Moses emerged leading the people of Israel … the man who is impatient and reckless became a patient man more (patient) than any other person on earth … the man who is learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians became a prophet of God who received the law and Torah.
Elijah the prophet was a strong and powerful before Ahab the king … but it is strange that he was afraid before Jezebel, Ahab’s wife … when he (Elijah) heard her threats, he was scared and here it became necessary for this great prophet to take a period of meditations in the wilderness … and here the Lord takes him on a journey in the wilderness of forty days and nights fasting after only one meal … a journey where he learned a lot (1Kings 19) … he knew that the Lord has reserved 7000 knees did not bow before Ball (1kings 19:18) … David the prophet … in the wilderness tending the sheep (as a shepherd), he spent the best days of his life … he song his best psalms … and this young boy shepherd much stronger than goliath the mighty who petrified all of Israel’s army … he learned the secrets of power and it’s source in the quietness of the wilderness and the life of meditations Also, Paul the Apostle … the first thing he did after he knew the Lord Jesus and believed in Him … he emerged to the wilderness and spent long months meditating in self-examination and preparing himself for a life serving (the Lord) and struggles.
Athanasius the apostolic … how little were the years he spent with Anba Anthony in the wilderness, but it was a source of strength and blessing for all his life … he written a collection of the most beautiful books where he defended the faith against the philosophers of paganism … How often we need type of retreats … perhaps we cannot emerge to the wilderness … but we can create our own virtual wilderness where we can emerge to it … through silence and being away from the world noise and clatter … the noise and clatter (of the world) has ruined our lives … our talk became screams … we lost our quietness and inner peace … we lost our feeling of sins … this is due to hearing many cursing … to the extent that cursing became our speech … we often among loud music and songs of
the world and it’s blaring clatter and take from it examples and tales which filled our thoughts and imaginations … our children no longer sing hymns at home … but dance and sing (songs of the world) … isn’t this a sad affair indeed … we no longer desire to go to the Lord’s house as David did in the past … but we desire and await eagerly the television soap operas and the worldly celebrations and (even) the lotto results … is it to this extent we have lost our spiritual feelings? … My beloved, leave this extreme crowded company … make a day for yourself where you can retreat with your Bible and by yourself … in strong prayers … and self-examination and learn how to grow and be strong in spirit through self-examination (before the Lord).
+ So, … he grew and became strong in spirit
To hear well … one must learn to be quiet first … one can not hear and talk at same time! … to understand fully …. One must learn to read first because one cannot understand what he knows nothing of … isn’t this a given understanding??? But how often do we apply it in our lives??
The foolish rich man … he was preoccupied with his stores and money … pulling down his barns and building new ones … filling all it with his physical needs and said to himself “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry”( Luke 12:19) … poor is this man … for he has lost himself in his physical needs and pleasures … and in the same night his soul was required of him … what has he gained.
Do you believe dear beloved …? That Ananias and Sapphira had been condemned while in the midst of the church … and among the apostles … but they were preoccupied with their physical life and possessions whilst they were in the church (community) … even as they were listening to the apostles’ teachings … and they even went as far as lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-13) …
Esau was very busy … always preoccupied with his hunts and efforts … and once in his emersion in his hunger and physical labour, he sold his birth right of being the first born, which is very valuable to him and should have protected it.
And you beloved one … do you give yourself the chance to grow and be strong in spirit … or are you too preoccupied and have no time at all … In the past year for an example … how many time did you retreat by yourself in a self-examination
(reconciliation & confession) ??? … how may time you offered a true repentance??? How many times you went to confession and part taking of the Eucharist (holy communion)??? How many chapters of the Holy Bible have you read??? How much time (hours) you spent in prayers??? How many spiritual practices you have applied to your life for your spiritual benefit??? How many fasts you fasted and benefited from??
Beside all this …. How many hours you spent in front of the T.V??? How much time you spent in parties of the world and pleasures of the body?? How many cigarettes have you smoked and hurt your own body and health??? How many hours you spent in trivial joking and unbecoming action??? Or in visitations of gossip and idle talk??? Or in gambling??? Put this 2 lists beside each of them …. And remember how many time you were invited to prayer and you said “I have no time” … and how many times you delayed your repentance and reading the Holy Bible because you have “no time” … indeed one must feel ashamed of ones self … is it possible you spent much time on the things which has no )spiritual( benefit, 10 time as much as you spent in spiritual practice and after all you say “I have no time”
Do uou now know why you don’t grow spiritually …. Do you realise why year after year passes and you still not strong in spirit … do you realise the secrets of your lukewarm and tepid attitude and your spiritual struggle … my beloved, it is the opportunity of the new year … arrange your times … be honest with your self and precise … set to your self a spiritual program of growth … there must be a daily reading of the Holy Bible … there must be a self-examination daily and monthly … and there must be confessions and part taking of the Eucharist (communion) regularly … there must be prayers and fasting regularly … go back to your confessional father and spiritual guide and advisor and agree with him on a spiritual routine for the new year … so that this new year is not another year of spiritual failure … and who knows, if you will have another chance after this or not???
Make it a new year of Spiritual Growth and be Strong in Spirit.
What 2023 is taking us for
When we look back at the years 2020 - 2022 we shall notice that these years were dominated mainly by Covid-19. Main aim of many communities was to survive the panademic. In the meantime many important aspect of life were ignored. Here we are at the beginning of 2023 standing there trying to rescue what ever we can save from this passing storm. Young people especially are suffering more than most. Yes, we have many casualties from the older people but the long-term effects are going to be the burden which young people have to carry for many years to come. Let us look at few aspects of the changes we have to face in 2023 and beyond.
1.
Revolting against their own creation seeking different styles of life:
I do not say new for theses styles have been always there from ancient times. The difference that human started to accept them and consider them normal but even encourage and protect who adapt these styles. Children in Kindergarten are being told about these styles of life and encouraged to experiment about it. School are full of posters which explains these trends. Education curriculum is full of compulsory explanation and study about them. Educations are told to protect and ensure freedom of practice of these trends regardless of any religious or community objection. It is quite serious. Many young people started to adopt these styles the same way they play games. They are exotic and create a lot of fantasy around it. Many started even to reject their own natural bodies experimenting with other styles. They even threaten to become suicidal of getting lost in depression if they are not allowed freely to practice what they want. Parent lost authority or even the right to educate their children about what is suitable or not. Human is revolting on the natural way they are created. They started to change medically the way their bodied perform with no regard to future or long-term consequences. When some realized that they went to the wrong way it became very difficult to revert to natural and normal style they are born with. St Paul in the Epistle to the Roman says: “ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave the over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting” )Roman1:28(.
2. Losing inner and natural peace breaking boundaries: This is one of the serious trends spreading among young people. The Bible tells us: “For bodily exercise profits a little” (1 Timothy 4:8). However young people are losing their peace in sports. Look at the incidents in many sports events when they resort to violence. Even in a popular sports like soccer we can witness demonstrations and incredible amount of violence when a team loses. Sports used to be practiced with dignity known as sports spirit. This has gone. Players used to be models young people look at and learn good behaviour from them. Not anymore.
Not only in sports but in many other activities. It became
normal to hear about young youth roaming streets and shopping centres causing a lot of trouble, It is a generation which is losing their directions and hope in future.
I have read an article how even animals and insects. It says that 13,000 patients are injured by animals not only snakes but by cats, bees, spiders,.. Nature strikes back!.
A recent survey has concluded that 10,000 creeps (registered sex offenders) live among us in Victoria alone. How to protect our children?
I read a scary article titled “From Russia with hate” it tells about the horrible cyber assaults on Australia and the rest of the world. We all witnessed the attack on our personal data kept by Optus and Medibank. The data has been stolen and even sold to criminals to steal our own valuable wealth and information. Not only Russian cyber criminals but it spread to many dark web groups around the world. While the net became an essential tool to process and manage all our activities it also opened the gate for criminal groups to spy and harm us and our children and youth.
3. Are we losing school education for our children:
During the COVID-19 time schools started to education children on-line while they are home. It was a great idea which helped our children to continue education while unable to go to school. However we started recently to suffer from many adverse results. Schools are losing many teachers and workers. Many school starting 2023 with huge shortage of teachers. It may take few years to rectify this issue. Not only schools are suffering of lack of workers but many businesses, factories and shopping centres. Education is suffering the most. It is also sad to watch level of achievements for our young people is going down. Some schools started to manipulate the rules to achieve unreal high results depriving many of the low achievers chances for high education. Cost of education is going higher beyond many of the families. They have to accept to place their children in inappropriate environment which do not suit their tradition or religion. We need to look seriously at how are children are educated.
4. Extreme weather conditions:
Recent weather phenomena started to appear. Many of them are rare which can happens once in a hundred years.
Here in Australia weather swings between very dry and very wet. Flooding became so normal in many areas affecting the livelihood of many people. extreme cold conditions are experienced this winter in US leading to many death and casualties. Is is truly the world is getting hotter or
colder getting wetter or drier. It looks there is a great human factors in misusing resources and polluting the environment. Sometimes I wonder in fifty years time will our children have the same pattern of weather today or different. Are we ready for these changes?.
5. What are we doing to our bodies? I read a recent article how state of Victoria is so advance in the art of Tattooing that it has won many awards. In the Old Testament the Lord ordered His people not to disfigure their bodies. In Leviticus 19:28, “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves.” Our bodies are sanctuary to the Holy Spirit we should not disfiguring them in anyway. Many people regret it and it became so difficult to remove them and get the body to the clean beautiful nature of creation. Not only tattooing but these days many try to change their bodily appearance spending big fortune to get these changes. The inner beauty is the real gift we should always keep and have.
6. War in Ukraine: War for no reason. May be personal ambitions. It is an example which other countries can take. This war spreads a dark cloud around the war. Let us pray it does not be a start of a world war. Lord have mercy on the world.
O Lord the Departed:
We pray for the repose of Late Mrs Fayka Zaki Attalla sister of Adel Attala and mother of Mary wife of Samuel Zakhary. John Faheem and his wife Lori, Nagwa wife of Fahmy Bedros and Nagy Morcos and wife Helena. She is grand mother of Amir, Tamer, Rosemary, Rebecca, John, Mary, Mark,Marina and Mina, Patrick, David, Demiana and Noah. She also a great grand mother of Raphael, Elysa, Liam, Eliyana and Fiona May the Lord repose her soul and comfort all family members. Family receives condolences next Sunday after the liturgy 11am at St Mary’s Church
May The Lord repose his soul and comfort all family members Funeral was conducted Thursday 29th Dec at St Macarius Church
Coptic Hope Charity
Christmas Hamper Appeal – 2023
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” Luke 2:14
Beloved congregation of the Diocese of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions, As we approach the festive and holy season of Christmas and the Feast of the Glorious Nativity, Coptic Hope Charity is pleased to announce the Christmas Hamper Appeal2023.
With the love and generosity of the Coptic Orthodox congregation, Coptic Hope Charity Christmas Hamper Appeal supports our less fortunate brothers and sisters across the poorest villages and provinces throughout Egypt.
Coptic Hope Charity confirms that all donations collected for the Christmas Hamper Appeal is to provide hampers to be distributed amongst as many families as possible, including the 1700 families in our Family to Family program.
Your gift of $60 for each Christmas Hamper will provide; Meat, rice, flour, butter, milk, and sugar etc to make celebrating Christmas a special time for our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
To contribute to Coptic Hope Charity Christmas Hamper Appeal or assist with ongoing support please donate with reference “Christmas Hamper Appeal” to the following bank account or via our PayPal account at www.coptichope.org.au
Account Name: Coptic Hope Charity Limited ATF BSB: 063-159 Account Name: 10686722
Tax deductible receipts for all donations above $2 will be issued upon receipt. All funds raised by Coptic Hope Charity are for the sole purposes of the services provided by Coptic Hope Charity to serve the poor and in need.
On behalf of Coptic Hope Charity, we would like to thank you for your love, generosity, and support.
For further information please call Nagy Banoub on 0423 411 715 or email: info@ coptichope.org.au
Construction of New Buildings started Thursday 28th April
The new Building is expected to be ready within 12 months. church services are continuing as normal as in the Timetable inside the Bulletin. You can donate monthly contribution using Direct Debit forms available in the church or downloaded from church website. Cost of building works is around $12,000000. Your support and donations will be blessing and very appreaciated.
