Diakonia Message – Nativity Feast 2023
+
Diakonia Message – Nativity Feast 2023
The Peace and the Blessings of the Lord be with you all.
My beloved,
Happy New Year, and Blessed Nativity Feast!
We thank God for His love and care through the last year. We also thank Him for all the services that were presented through the Diakonia Service and its different ministries. We give special thanks to all who served and sacrificed their time and money to support this service. Thank God for His work with His Grace Bishop Abraham leading this service with compassion, sacrifice, and wisdom, in addition to his other responsibilities in the church and Diocese.
I wish to mention one of the special services of the Diakonia, which is the Foster Care service. By God’s grace, we have received the needed licenses to begin this important ministry. This service covers a critical pastoral need in the Diocese and her churches. In the United States, we do not have orphanages as in Egypt; instead, we have foster homes that take care of the children and youth in need. Some of the children face special circumstances in which they need foster homes until their situation improves. In addition, some families wish to adopt children and take care of them. I pray for the great success of the Foster Care service.
I wish to remind you in the New Year of the advice that Saint Paul the Apostle gave: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6: 9-10).
I pray that we always remember that:
1- We must serve any person in need with love and a spirit of goodness.
2- Doing good needs patience. We must never stop doing good because there are endless opportunities to be a source of good.
3- Doing good can lead to disappointment and resistance, since not every project succeeds from the start. We may knock at a door to do good, but it never opens. Saint Paul advises us: “And let us not grow weary while doing good.”
4- Doing good needs time. When we plant a tree, we are doing a good deed, but we do not reap the fruits of that tree at once, but in due time. Saint Paul reminds us that we have to believe that we shall reap, but “in due season.”
5- The fields of doing good are numerous, but we have to prioritize.
6- The church does good for everyone, but the church has her responsibilities toward her people (“especially to those who are of the household of faith”). This does not mean that we limit our doing good to the people of our faith only. It means that we must not neglect our pastoral responsibilities.
We ask our Good Lord in the New Year to grant us the will to do good without boredom, believing that God will help us succeed and will make us worthy to serve His Holy Name. Happy New Year.
Metropolitan Serapion
Of Los Angeles, Southern California & Hawaii
December 2022
Your prayers, suggestions, participation and support are needed.
Please use the following link for online donation: Donation
Email: diakonia@lacopts.org
Tel: 909-334-2227
Website: ladiakonia.org
For correspondence/support:
Coptic Orthodox Church-Diocese of Los Angeles
Diakonia Department
4909 Cleland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90042