As we step into a new year and prepare to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity on 7 January, it appears impossible to shirk off the burdensome legacy of coronavirus we carry from 2020 into 2021. COVID-19 has cast its shadows on our lives, relations, human interaction and communication. It has enforced upon us new social standards that promote distancing, not out of aloofness but out of care for one another’s safety.
Our eyes look pleadingly up to Heaven as our hands and souls rise in prayer, imploring our Heavenly Father to look kindly upon His creation. More than two millennia ago, God did just that when He gave His one and only Son, incarnated without sin as the Son of Man Jesus to redeem Adam and his children from their sins. Through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, we were by His grace saved and given eternal life.
We firmly believe that our Heavenly Father who loves us dearly, desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. In face of the harsh experience that we went through last year, and that we carrying into the new year, we pray to You, dear Lord, that You may protect and bless us, and that You may preserve our nation from all harm as You always did. We again sing the New Year hymn: “Year upon year has passed, and the Lord has always taken care of me…. Every single day He has carried me in His eternal arms.”
Oh Lord full of love, we hand our lives to You to manage according to Your righteous will. Give wisdom to those charged with taking decisions and managing matters on earth. Bless our Church, her clergy and congregation. Oh Father, let the Feast of the Glorious Nativity be a feast of joy, peace and goodwill. I extend my heartfelt wishes to the pastor of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the loving wise Pope Tawadros II, also to all metropolitans, bishops and priests of the Church. I also extend my sincere greetings to the beloved heads and pastors of all Churches in Egypt, praying that their prayers and supplications would call upon our Father’s heart to have mercy on His creation and protect our nation from all harm.
Watani International
1 January 2021