The best way to evaluate a person in his life is through tests and temptations. This helps to evaluate one s experiences and personality. That s why David the Prophet asked God in Psalm 139 :23-24 saying: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Pope Tawadros II calls us in his article (Test Them All) to test them all; hold on to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5: 21) Our faith in Jesus Christ should be the axis and pillar of our life. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? This goes along with saving oneself from evil Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. This heart should express love through good deeds The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5: 6)

True fasting should be accompanied by a righteous repentance. It is devoted to the sanctification of God and takes us a step forward. Abba Joseph, Bishop of Texas, in his article Why did we fast? asks what we got after all fasts. He said that it s all about the quality and not the quantity. Mount Mokattam was moved in only three days through fasting and praying. Fasting therefore, should be accompanied by prayer, praise, love and forgiveness. The bible says: Declare a holy fast;

I write this article to declare I disagree with HG Bishop Makarios on his latest statement on accepting the baptism of Catholics and about the Protestants which included insults to these churches. Such statements contain unacceptable references to Catholics and Protestants, at the time we are in dire need to love, unity and commitment to the teachings of the Bible. The statement doesn t help the church and may be destructive to the Council of Churches of Egypt by calling for division and non-acceptance of the other. Moreover, they contradict with the ideology of His Holiness Pope Twadrous II, at the time Bishop Makarious stated he only mentioned the vision of the church. Unfortunately, he mentioned in his statement some information that are far from the faith and included accusations like the Catholic and Evangelical churches only arrived to Egypt with the British and French invasion. This has nothing to do with the faith!

Power does not mean violence since violence only expresses weakness, while power means having true and unshakeable faith emanating from strong love supported with tolerance, patience and powerful prayer. HG Bishop Benjamin in his article The Concept of Power told us about the meaning of power and its most important images. He explained that Power means victory over sin, seeking virtues and adherence to the right. Power appears in several images, the most important of which is Love. This means giving and sacrifice even one s life for the others justly like Jesus Christ and martyrs did. for love is as strong as death.. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. (Song of Songs 8)

Some of our Coptic Church people have recently experienced some pitfalls, especially the youth of the Diaspora who were affected by the actions of some of their bishops and priests, who impose their control over the deacons of the Church, specifically when a new priest is appointed to their churches. In the terms of reference of churches financial and administrative committees. I wrote two articles about the regulation to select the priests and deacons council in 2013 when the Holy Synod issued regulation of the selection of the priest, which was ignored by many bishops later as they ordain general priests and assign them later to certain churches.

By his blood, the era of systematic martyrdom led by the Roman Empire against Christianity came to an end. He is Pope Boutros XVII, who was called the Seal of the Martyrs as he was the last martyr among his children at that time during the ages of martyrdom. In his article on Pope Peter the Seal of the Martyrs , Abba Bakhomius, Bishop of Behaira and Matrouh, talked about the spiritual lessons learned from the Biography of this Patriarch. First lesson is the discipleship as he was taught by the Patriarch Thaouna XVI all details of Christian faith, the same faith of the Fathers of the Church.

God has turned St. Paul s weakness to the good of mankind, where he led him to believe and became a preacher of Christianity after he oppressed its followers for years. God said about him in (Acts 9:15) he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel . In his article entitled Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another , HG Abba Serbion, Bishop of Los Angeles, said It is clear that the divine choice for the ministers does not give them an immaculacy, but gives them power and fill them with grace. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (Philippians 3: 15) St. Paul has never doubted he was sent by God: Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead) (Galatians 1: 1)

Christianity and teachings of the Holy Bible rejects and condemns homosexuality. St. Paul in (Romans 1: 24-27) said ‘Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.’ Homosexuality is one psychological and social disorder. It results in a deviation in psychological development and psychological identity as well as behavioral and moral deviation that clearly needs to be treated. Homeopathy has nothing to do with the human biology and there are no genes in human that causes homosexuality according to many researches. Therefore, parents have to carry their role in raising their children well.

No matter how dire or terrible situation you have, you may still be better than the vagrant Ted Williams, I mean the great: Ted Williams who was nicknamed the Golden Voice! Williams grew up in Bedford, Brooklyn, New York, worked for three years in the US Army before he left it. He joined a school to be a voice over talent, and worked as an anchor for a while. He amrreid and had 9 children, including 7 girls. But his life began to break down since 1986. He joined a group of drug dealers and was arrested several times for theft and possession of drugs. He was imprisoned twice for three months in 1990 for theft and the second for two months in 2004 for forgery, theft and obstruction of official work.

During the visit of the Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, we, the Egyptians, decided to support him in order to support our country against the evil forces and enemies of Egypt abroad. Egypt and the Middle East region are going through very critical situation that are no secret with too many political and economic challenges. Copts don’t need to receive any instructions from somebody to teach them how to take care of their homeland. They support their country knowing that change and building need time. Moreover, they have good understanding of the challenges that face their country at the moment. These challenges only need the Egyptian to unite and do their best to overcome their problems.

This weekend, I picked up Nelson Mandela s "Long Walk to Freedom" and reread parts of this well-thumbed tome. The last time I read it, the world was a very different place; this time, I found that its themes of social inequality, injustice, resilience and courage resonated in new ways. Perhaps because of my work with the International Rescue Committee, I found myself reflecting on another long walk to freedom -- that of strong women, like Sherine. Widowed before she was 20, pregnant and terrified of living under ISIS rule, in November, Sherine fled Mosul, Iraq. She wandered through desert, survived waves of fighting and dodged landmines -- all while searching for refuge to give birth.

Cast Away is an American epic survival drama film directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. The film depicts a FedEx employee stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific and his attempts to survive on the island using remnants of his plane s cargo. Chuck Noland is a time-obsessed systems engineer, who travels worldwide resolving productivity problems at FedEx depots.While flying through a violent storm, his plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Four years later, Chuck has adapted to the meager living conditions on the island, having become adept at spearing fish and making fires. Four years later he decided to save himself and find a way to return to his home by making a little boat.

As I am writing this article, I have to acknowledge I do not know anything about football! In my youth under president Gamal Abdel Nasser, this game a huge pot in which most people participated. We had two choices: to join the fans club, or to boycott. in both cases, we were following a scenario written by the regime. The great Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim once said: The era of pen has come to an end and the age of the foot has started! Another great writer called Abdul Rahman al-Sharqawi once left a meeting with us to listen to a game in the radio. I was astonished by what happened as I used to consider him a role model and a great writer. For me, Sharqawi was a leftist author of one of the finest novels. For half a century, the image of the writer, who neglected everyone and sat on the edge of a chair to listen to a football match, has been etched in my memory, engraved with a question: What is the secret of football?

Copts all over the world and especially in Australia, were so happy to watch the great celebration and opening of the highest Coptic lighthouse outside the Egyptian border (Eporo Tower) in the heart of Melbourne, Australia, in the presence of His Beatitude Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, and his partner in the apostolic service Abba Soriel, bishop of the Melbourne Diocese and his accompanying delegation. The celebration was also at tended by several members of the Parliament of the state of Melbourne, led by the Australian MP of Egyptian origins Peter Khalil and was covered by Egyptian and Australian media. Mrs. Nabila Makram, Egypt s minister of migration and the Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Khairat to the Australian Federal Capital of Cambra were part of the celebration which proves the Egyptian identity of the tower

In the movie (The Interpreter) Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York City. She was raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country, but also holds US citizenship. The U.N. is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), Matobo s president, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Kidman told the intelligence officer that her tribe believes that the only way to get rid of your sorrows is to save a soul. She explained that if one of their tribe is killed, they bring the murderer and tie him that he wouldn t be able to swim and then they throw him in the sea.

The bible tells us many stories about great people who made great mistakes like Esau sold his glory, his honor and his place with a lentil plate, and afterward he had a desperate life. It told us about Samson who lost his power and place among his people because he loved a strange woman. Another great man who was supposed to have a place among the noble apostles and men of God who will condemn the tribes of the twelve sons of Israel, but sold his master with money, it is Judas Iscariot. The lust for eating, the emotional relationship, and the money are three weapons of Satan to remove our names from the Book of Life and write it in the Book of Death. A priest told me about a girl who wanted to leave Christianity and get married to a Muslim man. The priest went to police station to try to change her mind, but she insulted him severely and so did the policemen. He went to the church and complained to St. Mary about the lost girl and the insults he received. Soon, he knew that the girl had an accident and died. He was so sad that she lost everything for nothing.

St. Peter in (Acts 3: 6) told a lame man who was born like this: I dont have money, but I give you what I have : stand up and walk. This happened after the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. In a short period of time, the man was expecting some food or material, but this response was conclusive and practical. St. Peter gave him what was greater than the material gifts, which is healing. The lame man entered into the temple and was seen by everybody making them wonder what happened! the people asked St. Peter how did they heal him? Its the power of Jesus Christ, he answered.

The terrorist attacks in Europe reached 124 attacks from 2014 to 2017, which led to the death and injury of 211 people. This raises questions about the power and influence of terrorist organizations and especially ISIS in Europe where the most powerful security agencies are working. Do we deal with a situation of security or civilization? Last Wednesday, six French soldiers have been injured after a car slammed into them before speeding off in a suspected terror attack in Paris. This came days after a failure stab to kill attempt in France as well as several terrorist attacks in France killing dozens of people including children.

No one can deny the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the 1952 revolution by the free officers who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood. This revolution was used to propagate the Wahhabi ideology in Egypt by developing Al-Azhar and establishing Al-Azhar university where the study was limited to Muslims only. Moreover, the Saudi Arabia opened its doors to the Egyptian workers where they absorbed the cultural backwardness of Wahhabism and spread Hijab, Naqab, beard and jilbab. After the revolution of June 30, Egyptian government has been seeking the blessings of the clerics and worked hard to fight and resist terrorism but due to the failure of the law and the police to face terrorism the National Council to combat terrorism and extremism was established. However, the membership of the church in this council raises many questions concerning the role of the church in terrorism. I believe this membership only aims to use the approval of the church on its decisions and promote this before the whole world. Yet, this can embarrass His Holiness Pope Twadros II and the church before its congregation, especially in the Diaspora.

Dr. Magdy Yaccoub is a modest loving man who is a rare heart surgeon. He gave lessons in love without preaching as Saint Teresa did. His loving heart served the people using little science and much love making him an ambassador to Christ in the work of mercy in the developing and poor countries. He established centers in several countries to treat children and to spread the love of Jesus Christ among the nations. He knows how to follow that voice of Jesus Christ that calls us to be merciful and holy (Luke 6:36) (1 Peter 1:16). Being saints is not limited to working miracles, but also to show mercy and love. Therefore, the name of Dr. Magyd Yacoub may be remembered one day as the saint of mercy.

When the Egyptian constitution decided to give a positive discrimination to the Copts, the Coptic MPs should have defended the Copts and demanded their needs. Yet, those MPs failed to represent the Copts and claim their rights. The very first law that they should have cared about was the unified law of houses of worship. But they failed to pass a respectful law to protect the Copts. Instead, it became a law to prevent the Copts from building houses of worship or open the already existing closed ones.