Friday, December 30, 2011

Depth





Depth

Depth in Spiritual Life: Care for your own salvation, live by the bible, strengthen your faith and do not neglect your prayer.

Depth in Church Life: In order to be closer to Christ your father, do not diverge from your mother Church. Connect by means of grace, turn your home into an Altar and Church.

Depth in Practical Life: Do not have an outwardly religion. In order to gain heaven, you have to turn your Christianity into works that glorify the Lord.


Luke 5: 1-11

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.

2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
 
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,

10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
   Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”

11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.




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The Journey





The journey

 But remember, if you follow the path Christ took, don't promise yourself the good things of this world; he walked by a rough road - follow him.

Reflect on the reward he has promised, and then what you suffer now cannot be compared with what is in store for you. This life is short even if it is passed in labours and trials, and when these are over comes unending happiness.

If you are truly a Christian don't despise the path Christ took: choose to follow him in his sufferings, looking for no other road than his.

It seems a hard way, but it is a safe one: there is another, easy one, but it is infested with terrorists.
When you are our strength we are strong, but when it is our own we are weak.

Let us come home at last to you O Lord, so that we shall not be lost. We are not afraid of there being no home to come back to, though we fell away from it; for our home is your eternity, and it does not fall because we are not there.

There we shall be still and see; seeing we shall love; and loving, we shall praise him. This will come to pass in the end, in that kingdom which will have no end.


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




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Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Body of Christ





The Body of Christ

 Let us live in him since we are his members; let him dwell in us whose temple we are.

The love which is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit makes us one body: let us love this unity and fear separation. There is nothing a Christian should be so afraid of as be separated from the body of Christ: if that happens, he is no longer one of his members nor does he live by his Spirit.

There are many Christians, but only one Christ. Christians themselves, along with their head, from one Christ because he has ascended into Heaven. We are many and he is one, but the many are one in him. There is one man, Christ, consisting of head and body.

Understand what has been God's grace for us! Rejoice and give thanks that we are not only Christians but Christ himself; for if he is the head, we are his members: he and we are the whole man.

The fullness of Christ is head and members - Christ and the Church. He did not wish to separate himself from us, but deigned to attach himself to us, becoming 'God-with-us' that we might be with him.

He was far from us, very far indeed; what can be so far apart as creature and creator, God and man, justice and iniquity, eternal life and mortality? How then did he come near, that he might be in us and we in him?  'The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us.'


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

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Verses and Fathers Sayings






Therefore do not cast away
your confidence, which has great reward.
(Heb. 10: 35)



Temptations and afflictions,
even when numerous,
is your way to perfection,
and are not a cause for perishment.

(St. Augustine)



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Monday, December 26, 2011

Who Can Save Us?






Who can save us?

There are those who rely on their important friends or their own abilities, and others on their wealth - a presumption common to man. But do you really suppose that another man can save you from the wrath to come? The psalmist says, 'his brother shall redeem him', but who is his brother? It is he who after his resurrection said, 'Go and tell my brothers'.

When we call God our Father we are calling Christ our brother, and so need not fear the evil day, since we are not relaying on ourselves or our powerful friends but on him who died for us so that we might not die an eternal death, who humbled himself that we might be raised up.

If Christ be not our redeemer who can save us?

For even if a man has led a holy life, it will go hard with him if you put aside your mercy when he stands before you. But you do not search out our sins in anger, and so we believe that one day our home will be with you. This is our hope, but let us know ourselves.

If we reckon up our deserts they are only a list of you gifts; and let us not say we have no debt to pay, in case the devil should prove us wrong, and take us to himself.

Let us answer that our debt has been paid by Christ, that holy victim we receive at your altar, in whom we have triumphed over the enemy.


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



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Gold Wrapping Paper



Gold Wrapping Paper

 Some time ago a mother punished her five year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and she became even more upset when the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
       
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her mother the next morning and then said,
'This is for you, Mummy.'
       
The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over reaction, but her anger flared again when she opened the box and found it was empty. She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner
       
'Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package?'
        
She had tears in her eyes and said, 'Oh, Mummy, it's not empty! I blew kisses into it until it was full.'
        
The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put her arms around her little girl, and she begged her forgiveness for her thoughtless anger.
        
An accident took the life of the child only a short time later, and it is told that the mother kept that gold box by her bed for all the years of her life.
        
Whenever she was discouraged or faced a difficult problems she would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
        
In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings, have been given a Golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and GOD. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.
        
Family and friends are like angels who lift us to our feet, when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
       
    
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Billy's Final Wish - True Story of Billy with Terminal Leukemia




 True Story of Billy
 with Terminal Leukemia

There are so many Billys out there for us to Remember during this Christmas. If you "tear up" go ahead, who's watching? Do you feel blessed during this Christmas Season? 
While being grateful for God's blessings in your lives, please pray for those unfortunate children of God.    Love Your Alexander Kurien Achen (James Achen, Kadackel, Pallipad, Kerala, India).
        
In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26-year-old mother stared down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia.         
Although her heart was filled with sadness, She also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up & fulfill all his dreams. 
Now that was no longer possible.. the leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dream to come true.
        
She took her son's hand and asked, 'Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?
' Mommy,' I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.' Mom smiled back and said, 'Let's see if we can Make your wish come true.'
        
Later that day she went to her local fire Department in Phoenix , Arizona , where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. 
She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6 year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
        
Fireman Bob said, 'Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat - not a toy - one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, and a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots.' 'They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix , So we can get them fast.'
        
Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, Dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. 
Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day And Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic's' van, and even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the local news program. 
Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.
                
One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed In the hospice concept - that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent As a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and Asked if it would be possible to send a fireman In uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.
        
The chief replied, 'We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes.... Will you please do me a favour? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the Lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire?' 'It's the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?'
       
        
About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window-------- 16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room.  With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they LOVED him.
       
 With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, 'Chief, am I really a fireman now?'
 'Billy, you are, and The Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand,' the chief said. 
 
With those words, Billy smiled and said, 'I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and The angels have been singing..' He closed his eyes one last time.
       

    This is a true story
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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Come And See




The Skit Performed at the 2011 COYA Conference 
Theme: Come & See 
CAST: Bishoy Ibrahim, Andrew Hanna, Dena Mikhail, Bishoy Kolta, Karim Habib, Ben Marcus Rouby Sida...

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Christmas Goose





Christmas Goose
           
 There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays.
        
His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
        
One snowy eve, his wife was taking their children to service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus' birth. She asked him to come, but he refused: "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!"
        
So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm.
       
        
He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.
        
When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window.
        
In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on.
        
They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly.
        
A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them.
The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.
 
       
Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. 
Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.
        
"Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.
        
Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese.
        
He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn – and one by one, the other geese followed it to safety.
        
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!"
  
      
Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier.      
"Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese – blind, lost, perishing.
        
God had His Son become like us so that He could show us the way and save us.
        
As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm.
        
He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: 
"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"




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