Monthly Archives: February 2021

  Faith for Faith’s Sake  Fr. Simon Esshaki We all probably know people who do not take their faith seriously. It is possible that if you are reading now, you have either gone through a time where you were weak in faith, or are going through one now. It could be because the faith seems like it is too much of a routine - the weekly Mass, daily prayers, fasting, etc. Sometimes we lose the meaning of the faith because it gets diluted by the shallowness of our fallen humanity and of this world, and we sometimes get affected by that. [...]

الاحد الثاني من الصوم متى 7: 15- 27 By Fr. Mazin Hanna   الاحد الثاني من الصوم متى 7: 15- 27 15 ((إِيَّاكُم والأَنبِياءَ الكَذَّابين، فإِنَّهم يَأتونَكُم في لِباسِ الخِراف، وهُم في باطِنِهِم ذِئابٌ خاطِفة. 16من ثِمارِهم تَعرِفونَهم. أَيُجْنى مِنَ الشَّوْكِ عِنَبٌ أَو مِنَ العُلَّيْقِ تين؟ 17كذَلِكَ كُلُّ شَجَرةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ تُثمرُ ثِماراً طَيِّبَة، والشَّجَرَةُ الخَبيثَةُ تُثمِرُ ثِماراً خَبيثة. 18فلَيسَ لِلشَّجَرَةِ الطَّيِّبَةِ أَن تُثمِرَ ثِماراً خَبيثة، ولا لِلشَّجَرةِ الخَبيثَةِ أَن تُثمِرَ ثِماراً طَيِّبَة. 19وكُلُّ شَجَرةٍ لاتُثمِرُ ثَمَراً طَيِّباً تُقطَعُ وتُلْقى في النَّار. 20فمِن ثِمارِهِم تَعرِفونَهم. ها هو يسوع مرة أخرى يضعنا امام تحدي جديد، هو الوعي والتميز بين التعليم الصحيح والتعليم المزيف [...]

Allow Christ to Know You “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” (Mathew 7:23). These are pretty chilling words to hear from Jesus. For many of us, these are the last words we ever hope to hear from Jesus. These words, at a glance, seem unfitting to come out of the mouth of Jesus. I mean, does it make sense that Jesus could ever say that he does not know us? Jesus, who is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity? Ominiscient (All-Knowing)? It is probably safe to assume Christ was not making a mistake or talking out of [...]

Lenten Preparation in Light of the Gospel of Matthew By Fr. Daniel Shaba   In 1 Samuel 16 we see that David is anointed king by Samuel. Interestingly enough, what follows his anointing and enthronement as king brings light to the kingship of Christ. A chapter later, in 1 Samuel 17, King David faces one of his biggest challengers and the enemy of his people, Goliath. In contemporary times people have used the phrase “David versus Goliath” to describe a tough fight or even a battle worth fighting for. It is no coincidence that David is faced with a battle following [...]