Worthy of the Calling
"I,therefore, the prisoner
of the Lord, beseech you
to walk worthy of the
callingwith which you were
called." (Ephesians 4:1).
Ourbeautiful
church
is
a
church
of
martyrs.
Saint Paul the apostle is
an
obviousexample
of
faithfulness to the Lord
Jesus. After Saint
Paul
converted
t o C h r i s t i a n i t y,
the Holy Spirit
worked in him.
He
proclaimed
the good news
ofChrist
and
testified to the
Lord Jesus in many
countries. He also
wrote some ofthe
basis of Christian
faith in fourteen
epistles.
Some
of these epistles
were written while hewas in
prison because of his faith.
He concerned for the
salvation of others.Saint
Paul endured great suffering.
How
great
were
the
sufferings which SaintPaul
endured because of his love
for the Kingdom of God?
They were written inhis
epistles. Nero seizedhim,
tortured him severely, and
cut off his head. While
Saint Paul was walkingwith
the executioner, he met a
kinswoman of the Emperor
who had believedthrough
him. She walked with the
saint weeping. He comforted
her and asked herfor her veil.
He wrapped his head with
it. The executioner cut off
his head andleft it wrapped
in the veil. The executioner
met her on his way back, to
hisastonishment, he found
the veil again in her hand. He
believed on the LordChrist.
Up tonow, many Christians
when they get the choice
either to stay Christian
and getkilled or to leave
Christianity and save their
43
lives, they choose to be
killedrather than leaving
the Lord Jesus. One day, a
Christian group decided to
takea bus from Minya to the
Monastery of Saint Samuel
the
Confessor.
People
withguns forced the driver
to stop the bus claimingto
be security officers and
ordered the passengers to
get out of the
bus. Then,they
separated
the
men from the
women
and
children,
and
instructed them
tosurrender their
mobile phones.
They told the
men to recite
the
shahada.
Whenour heroes
refused,
the
gunmen opened
fire. in Tanta,
blood covered benches
inside SaintGeorge church
when a bomber slipped past
security measures and blew
himself upnear the altar.
May the Lord Almighty
help us all to be worthy
of thecalling through the
intersessions of these great
saints.