The Baptist

John the Baptist is an intriguing person. He is the last prophet and he is the first one crying in the New Testament. He is the greatest among those born of women. But he who is least, is greater than he, a sign to Jesus Christ who in the flesh is six months younger than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11). The son of the priest, but he never practiced his priesthood in the temple. He is the only prophet about whose service prophecies were written (Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1; 4:5) due to the importance of his role.

This voice crying in the wilderness had to come before the Christ who does not cry or shout and whom no one in the streets heard him. He is the connection between the Old and New Testament. He was the only prophet who saw the fulfillment of his prophecy of Our Christ. His final task was to witness to the true light. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light, that all through him might believe” (John 1:6-7). For this reason, his role was not to prepare the minds by explaining old commandments, but to prepare hearts to see the true light and recognize it.

St. Ambrosious says, “Many regard John the Baptist as a symbol to the law, it can rebuke sin, but not forgive it."

By: H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Dear beloved,

If there is a contest to choose from all the years of your lives, which one of them will be the best? Do not make yourself tired to search the past, but I wish that the New Year will be the best, and to be the ideal year.

May this coming New Year be the most acceptable before God and men. Let us remind ourselves with these words before the beginning of every New Year. Some people train themselves to have an ideal day to spend in the best spiritual and social manner. So, let us have an ideal year in which every day and every hour is ideal.

By: H.H. Pope Shenouda III

One of the excuses for not giving thanks is the fact that we do not know what is good for us. Truly, it is only God -with His vast wisdom- who knows what is good for us. But our human wisdom is limited and cannot see into the future.

For example, who would believe that selling the upright Joseph as a slave, and unjustly throwing him into the prison will be for his benefit and the benefit of his brothers and father, Egypt and the surrounding countries? Perhaps the righteous Joseph did not give thanks when he was sold as a slave, and when he was unjustly accused and thrown into prison but, undoubtedly, he frequently gave thanks and knew that “...God meant it for good .... Save many people alive” (Gen. 50: 20)

We do not know what the future holds but we know one thing; that the future is in the hands of God. We thank God because He keeps the whole future in His hands to manage with His good will and give good things to His children. We therefore, have confidence in all that comes from God's hand filled with love. By faith, we see the hand of God in all the incidents we face. And since we are comforted with the work of God, we should rejoice and give thanks.