My Beloved the benevolent                                   November 2024

Grace and peace, wishing you all goodness and blessings

I am pleased to congratulate you all on the start of the Nativity Fast, which begins this year on Monday, November 25^th, wishing you an acceptable blessed fast.

+ In the book of Isaiah, the Lord defined the characteristics of acceptable fasting in response to the people’s question, “’Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’” Isaiah 58:3 The Lord answered them, “Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high.” Isaiah 58:4

Fasting has its ascetic practices of abstaining from food, prostrations, etc. which are important, but these types of practices are not enough for fasting to be acceptable. Acceptable fasting is accompanied by the ascetic practices of repentance, doing good, and changing man’s behavior towards God and towards others. God made it clear to the people: “Is it a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?” The answer is no; not because humbling yourself before God is wrong. The people of Nineveh humbled themselves before God after they heard Jonah’s call for the destruction of the city, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let him eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?” Jonah 3:5-9

We note that the fasting of the people of Nineveh included two practices: the ascetic practice, which is fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting on ashes; and the behavioral aspect, which is repentance, turning from their evil ways, and removing injustice. Therefore, God accepted their fast because it was a fast accompanied by repentance and doing good in removing injustice, “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” Jonah 3:10

+ Acceptable fasting is the fasting that includes ascetic practices and behavioral practical practices, “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?” Isaiah 58:6-7

+ On the Day of Judgment, Christ the King  will sit on His throne to judge the inhabited  world with justice, and will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” Matt. 25:34-36

+ Doing good not only makes our fasting acceptable, but makes our whole lives acceptable before God on the      Day of Judgment.

+ Doing good deeds is not simply for the needy, but rather for Christ, who called the needy the least of His brothers.

+ Doing good has multiple avenues, some of which were mentioned by Christ, such as feeding the hungry, caring

for the thirsty, the naked, and the neighbor, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, and offering shelter to the relative; these are examples, but are not limited to the categories of the needy.

We must strive to do good deeds, especially during the period of a blessed fast, so that our fast is an acceptable fast.

1- Caring for the hungry, thirsty and naked means caring for needy families who cannot cover their basic needs and need monthly assistance. You can support a number of these families through Santa Verena Charity’s Christian Family Sponsorship program, where youcontribute a monthly amount that is allocated to a specific family in need due to special circumstances such as the departure of the family’s breadwinner or an illness, and not having a monthly income to cover their basic needs. You can adopt one or more needy families in Egypt. The Christian Family Sponsorship program helps thousands of needy families in Egypt; thanks to the grace of God that works in the hearts of hundreds of the beloved people who adopt these families by donating monthly.

2- Caring for the sick: You can take care of the sick by visiting them.  The sick need someone to visit and ask about them; as Christ said, “I was sick and you visited me”. It is good for a person to visit sick people among his relatives and friends; but it is better for a person to visit sick people to whom he is not related; and we visit and care for them because we see Christ in every sick person, so we visit Christ.

The sick also need assistance, whether here in America or in Egypt; the Diakonia service organizes the ministry of the sick with the churches within the diocese.

3- Caring for the prisoners: Jesus Christ said, “I was in prison, and you came to Me,” The prisoner, whether unjust or oppressed, needs spiritual care and visits; the Diakonia service organizes care to prisoners in prisons within the diocese area. In Egypt, the church has an effective service inside prisons; and Santa Verena Charity is helping the families of these prisoners.

The areas of benevolence are many; so, you, dear reader, should strive to do good and choose the avenue that suits you to obtain the heavenly reward.

 May the Lord bless your offering to support Santa Verena’s charitable programs.

Metropolitan Serapion