+ The peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. I would like to wish you all a holy Advent fast. May it be a time of blessing and spiritual growth through our Lord's grace.

+ In the previous newsletter we began speaking of the spiritual symphony concerning God's preservation to those who are merciful and kind to the poor. In the first segment of the symphony David the Prophet sings: "You shall preserve me from trouble" (Ps. 32:7). We spoke of how the Lord preserved David from trouble by examining some passages from his psalms. Now we will mention two other examples of God's preservation.

St. Paul the Apostle

+ St. Paul also had a tender heart towards the poor and helpless. He says to the priests of the church at Ephesus: "I have showed you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that He said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). He also says to the church at Rome: "He who gives with liberality... he who shows mercy with cheerfulness... distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality" (Rom 12:8;13).

+ Truly the Lord preserved this merciful apostle from trouble and gave him spiritual comfort and joy. He expressed this joy in saying: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation" (2 Cor 1:3,4)... "I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation" (2Cor 7:4).

The Believers in the Church of Macedonia

+ St. Paul says to the Corinthians about the believers in Macedonia: "Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering of the saints" (2 Cor 8:1-4). As St. Paul mentions, even though these believers were poor, yet they gave "in the riches of their liberality... beyond their ability... freely willing... imploring with much urgency [to have] fellowship of the ministering of the saints". The ministering of the saints in this verse refers to the believers in need. Because the Macedonians were so merciful to the poor the Lord preserved them from the great trouble that befell them: "In a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy... abounded". The Lord preserved the believers in the Church of Macedonia because they freely gave "beyond their ability."

+ Indeed my beloved brethren, the Lord preserves those who consider the poor and helpless and show compassion towards them. When we give "freely willing" and according to our "ability, yes, beyond [our] ability", the Lord will make the abundance of joy abound if we experience a great trial of affliction.

+ This is the end of the first segment of the symphony. In the next newsletter we will contemplate on the second segment where David sings: "He guards all his bones and not one of them is broken" (Ps. 34:20). May our Lord compensate you with the incorruptible instead of the corruptible, the heavenly instead of the earthly and the eternal instead of the temporal.

Bishop Youannes
General Bishop and Secretary of H.H. Pope Shenouda III