His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria, Patriarch of the See of Mark, thanked President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for his presence at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ and his congratulations to the Copts on the Merry Christmas,
Noting that his presence caused joy He rejoiced for everyone, thanking all officials for their efforts and effort in preserving the security and stability of Egypt, in a world dominated by tension and wars.
The Pope said. Tawadros: “We must be one and avoid everything that harms this unity, and preserve our great and precious country. All countries of the world are in God’s hands, but Egypt is in God’s heart, and we always pray for every responsible person so that God may give him peace.” And blessings, and may he perpetuate this love and peace on the land of our country.”
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II also offered thanks, in the speech delivered on his behalf by His Eminence Bishop Jeremiah, the General Bishop and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, to Counselor Adly Mansour, former President of the Republic, for receiving a phone call to congratulate him on the Eid, extending his thanks also to Dr. Mustafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, and the Speakers of the House of Representatives and the Senate for congratulating them on the Eid, His Eminence Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mosque, and His Eminence Dr. Nazir Ayyad. The Mufti of the Republic, religious leaders, the Egyptian Family House, all ministers, governors, and heads of judicial bodies, Specialized national councils, security leaders, diplomats, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, public figures and media professionals. His Holiness Pope Tawadros said, in his sermon during the Divine Mass at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital: " Our joy at Christmas increases with the visit of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and offering congratulations to everyone, and in this wonderful scene the unity and permanent cohesion of the Egyptian people is evident.”
Pope Tawadros offered congratulations to all Copts everywhere in the world, pointing out that the birth of Jesus Christ It reveals a number of cold hearts and warm hearts, and cold hearts are far from God and live in sin, and the Church teaches us before the start of the Holy Gregorian Lent the parable of the sower that Jesus Christ gave, which is It is said that a human farmer went out to plant, and a number of seeds fell from him on several paths, representing human hearts. They fell on the road and on rocky ground, and produced little fruit, then the plant died. The third type of cold hearts is the thorny earth that suffocates any plant in its stages of growth. This is also the case with some hearts. Humans.
He added: " Warm hearts are the hearts that live in fear, and there is another type that only waits for reward, and the third type of land is the land that has given full fruit and is the one that works with love. The first type works with fear of everything, and the second type works with wages. As for the third and best type, it is the heart that He works with love, and because God loves him, he loves God and loves others because every human being is God’s creation, and if we want to trace the story of birth, we will find characteristics that highlight the characteristics of these warm hearts.”
He continued. Pope Tawadros said that the first quality that makes a person’s heart warm is the person who lives simply, and the element of consumption has become the ruler in a person’s life. Simplicity makes a person’s heart warm, and so the shepherds had warm hearts, relying on God in all the affairs of their lives. The simple life sets the human spirit free. Pointing out that the second type of warm-hearted people are those searching for the truth in a world full of falsehood, so a person must search for the truth, and this is how the Magi who worked in astronomy and saw the star Which indicates the birth of a king in Jerusalem, and they went on a long journey until the star stood over the village of Bethlehem, and there they saw the baby Jesus being born, and they presented their gifts of “gold, frankincense and myrrh,” which are symbols in the life of Jesus Christ. He explained that if a person wants to be one of the people with warm hearts, he must work in silence, and there are people who search for noise, and forget that praise comes from God in heaven, and such people who worked in silence is Saint Joseph Al-Najjar, and the meaning of his name is “He who increases.” “By grace,” indicating that purity of heart makes a person’s heart pure. If a person’s heart is pure from evil and sin, then you are one of those with warm hearts. Such personalities are the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and she was She has a pure heart, and she responded to the angel with a very humble expression, and provided an example of purity of heart, so we call her “the pride of our race.” Men and women.
Pope Tawadros mentioned another scene for those with warm hearts. He is a resident of the village of Bethlehem. At the time of Christ’s birth, there was a population census, and there was crowding in the village. When St. Joseph the carpenter and the Virgin Mary came, the hour of his birth had passed. It came, they had no place, but the owner of a house in the village of Bethlehem did not tell them no, but told them I have a feeder, which is the place where livestock eat, and it represents the heart of a person who is looking for a solution. It is easy for him to say no. But it is better and greater to look for solutions, and “Bethlehem” has become One of the most famous places in the world, and the word Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” Or “House of Blessing,” when you help a person solve his problems, you are one of those with warm hearts.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros noted that a person needs love, wisdom, and mercy through which a person’s heart becomes warm, and from here the heart rejoices. God and he will have a share in the kingdom
