Verses and Fathers Sayings

Verses and Fathers Sayings  

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  

Hebrews 12:2

"He humbled Himself and came down from His exaltation, then by His humbleness humility was soon among men; so again after His resurrection and ascension He was in glory at the right hand of God His Father"

St. Ephrem the Syrian

Verses And Fathers Sayings

And raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 2: 6

We, who were not worthy of earthly glory, are lifted
up to the kingdom of heaven; enter heavens, and
take our place before the divine throne.

St. John Chrysostom 

PEACE

"PEACE I leave with you, My Peace I Give you."   John 14:27

An inspiring story

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake.
The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall.
This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest with her youngster in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.

Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

I Became Perplexed And I do not understand

I Became Perplexed
And I do not understand

From the inspiration of Daniel (8)

Gabriel the archangel accompanied Your prophet Daniel,
And showed him some interpretation of Your mysteries.
Daniel cried because his body became very weak,
And was astonished by the vision because he did not understand it.

May You reveal to me the mysteries of Your love,
So that I may see the history under Your control,
And see my life the subject of Your concern!
Let Your angels accompany me,
But remind me of my weaknesses lest I become self-conceited.
May I remember that I am a weak human being, but with You I 

become strong and understanding!

May the mighty kingdoms succeed one another,
And the Antichrist appears.
But You alone are the fortress of the church and her power!
You will never allow the Antichrist to reign except for a limited time!
His kingdom will end and Your saints will reign forever in heaven! 


Fr. Tadros Malaty
From the Inspiration of the Book of Daniel    

Verses And Fathers Sayings

 

You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble.

Psalm  32: 7



Prayer rising in a man’s heart
will open up the doors of heaven.
(St. Ephrayem the Syrian)

The Debtor

The Debtor

We must flee to God in our many tribulations, whatever they may be - domestic worries, ill health, dangers to those dear to us.  The Christian can have no other refuge but his Savior, his God. He will have no strength in himself, but in him in whom he has taken refuge.

Yet, beloved, among all human tribulations none is greater than to be conscious of one's sins.  If one's conscious is at peace, one can turn into one's heart and there find God.

But if because of the multitude of his sins his heart has no rest and God is not there, where can a man fly in tribulation? If he flies from the country to the town, from the market place to his home, anguish follows him.

Wherever he goes he finds his enemy - wherever he goes he drags himself with him - no troubles are more bitter than those of conscience.

But even there, God comes to our aid by pardoning our sins, and our healing lies only in his forgiveness.  If a man owes a great sum of money, he is very much afraid of what will befall him - his only hope lies in being forgiven the debt. How much greater the fear of knowing that we shall perish in paying the debt of our sins.

Beloved, we may be sure of his forgiveness, only let us not incur that debt again.


      DAILY READING WITH
St Augustine --- The Heart at Rest

Mark the Evangelist

 St Mark The Apostle

Quick Facts  

He was born in the Pentapolis or Qairawan (Now Tunisia or Libya according to other sources) approximately 15 years after our Lord was born. 

He witnessed the preaching of our Lord in Palestine as well as his passion. 

He is the author of the earliest Gospel to be written (it was written in Greek). 

He was the founder of Christianity in Egypt or in Alexandria at least. He came to Alexandria approximately 48 AD.  According to some sources, St. Peter preached in Babylon about the same time St. Mark was in Alexandria, however he focussed on the Jews of Babylon (A city near Memphis, Cairo now). 

St.Mark was arrested during a festival of Serapis (the Serapion-Abbis Greek Egyptian god) in AD 68 and martyred by being tied to a hose's tail, and dragged through the streets of Alexandria's district of Bokalia for two days until his body was torn to pieces. He was buried under the church he had founded.The Church celebrates his martyrdom on the 8th of May each year.His head is in a church named after him in Alexandria, and parts of his relics are in St. Mark's Cairo's Cathedral. The rest of his relics are in the San Marco Cathedral in Venice, Italy. 

Of his titles are: The Apostle, the Evangelist, the Witness and the Martyr.

Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲁ̀ⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ - Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲥⲧⲏⲥ - Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲑⲉⲱ̀ⲣⲓⲙⲟⲥ - Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲙⲁⲣⲧⲩⲣⲟⲥ

ST. Mark's Preaching

Preached in Cyprus with Paul and Barnabas:  
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark. Acts 12:25 NKJV


Preached in Colossians: 
Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him). Colossians 4: 10 NKJV

Preached with Paul in Romans: 
As do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. Philemon 1: 24 NKJV

Preach with Timothy in Ephesians: 
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. 2 Timothy 4: 11 NKJV

Preached In Egypt:  
St Mark the Evangelist (Auther of the second Gospel) has been connected with the city of Alexandria since earliest Christian tradition,  after the ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. During this time, Mark converted many to Christianity and performed many miracles. He is considered the founder of the Church in Alexandria and the first Bishop of Alexandria. Wrote the Book of Mark, and the Cyril Mass

Memorial 
30 Baramoda (Parmouti) Ⲡⲁⲣⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ - Coptic Calendar - Martyr Calendar - Coptic Synaxarium 
30 Miyazia (Miyaza) ሚያዝያ - Geez (Ge'ez) Calendar – Ethiopian Calendar - Ethiopian Synaxarium

Read more: The Martyrdom of Saint Mark The Evangelist

http://coptorthodox.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/martyrdom-of-saint-mark-evangelist.html

The Power of the Glorified Resurrection‏

                                                        

The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our Christian faith.  As St. Paul wrote to us: "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised: and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 ESV

The resurrection of Christ overcame the power of death, and now St. Paul can say: "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  1Corinthians 15: 55

The resurrection of Christ abolished death, with its different types: The Bodily , Spiritual death and  Eternal death.
 
The resurrection of Christ is the best proof for our resurrection.  Christ is the only “person” in history who died and rose again so as not to die once more.  Contrast Christ to other people in history who temporary rose from the dead (e.g. Lazarus)  Christ told us: “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.  John: 11: 25 ESV and He proved it.

God intent in the creation of Man: God created man for eternity, and in Genesis, we are told that we were created “in God’s image” Genesis 1: 26 and given this, we find that the man was blessed by many important characteristics:

Wisdom, Intellect and Speech:  God gave man the power of Intellect.  We can study and analyze things, deduce knowledge, and we are capable of growth and progress.
Holiness:  Man is the only creation who is given the opportunity to be holy as God is holy.
Freedom:  When God created Man, He gave him freedom. Out of His great love, God created us with a free will to either choose to live with Him or not.

Everlasting Life:  We were created for Eternity !  Please take a moment to think about the implications of that !!!
Christ killed Death that killed All: Through the Incarnation, it became possible for Christ to die on our behalf, and to renew our fallen nature.  According to St. Athanasius, the Incarnation had two primarily objectives: To lift up the punishment of death  and renew the fallen nature of man. The resurrection opened the doors of paradise for us.  

Death in the light of the Resurrection:
For the saints and the righteous, death became something they long for.  When our church celebrates the feast of a certain Saint, we celebrate on the day he/she left this world, and went to live with the Lord forever. We read in the history of the Church, that the Martyrs would wear their best clothes when going to where they would be martyred, and they would be filled with joy. Christ’s resurrection conquered death  "Who abolished death and brought Light and immortality to light through the gospel"  2 Timothy 1: 10 ESV

O Lord Let Your True Light shine and enlighten our hearts "I am the Light of the world, he whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the Light of Life"   John 8: 12

Adherence To The Written Word

 During His trial, Lord Jesus adhered to the written word. He responded the devil three 

times from the written words, as He meant to say: This is the word of God, which I will 

never add, or remove, nor change any of it

Adherence To The Written Word

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Genesis 3: 2 - 3 NKJV

Eve made mistake 3 times in quoting God's words

And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden. Genesis 3: 2 NKJV, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat. Genesis 2: 16 NKJV
By this, woman decreased God's words and His goodness

The woman said: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it. Genesis 3: 3 NKJV
While the Lord God commanded the man: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. Genesis 2: 17 NKJV
Thus, she added to the Lord saying: nor shall you touch it, showing God as harsh and tyrant in His judgment.

The woman said: lest you die. Genesis 3: 3 NKJV. Then, Eve changed the certain punishment the Lord God said: you shall surely die. Genesis 2: 17 NKJV

The woman removed, added, and changed God's words. On the contrary Lord Jesus adhered to the written word. He responded to the devil three times from the written words, as He meant to say: This is the word of God, which I will never add, or remove, nor change any of it