NEBAB #52 The Great Fast: Qidist

NEBAB #52

The Orthodox Tewahedo Magazine

THE GREAT FAST (LENT)

WEEK 2: QIDIST


The Spiritual Education Unit

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Archdiocese of the Caribbean and Latin America



In this issue:

    1. Holiness

    2. Commentary on the Gospel Reading: "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" 

    3. Faith and works

    4. “Ask Abba/Kes”

    5. Miracle of the Virgin Mary

    6. Children’s corner

    7.ይበል ግዕዝ 

    8. Orthodox Q&A

 
Holiness

ጾመ እግዚእነ አርአያሁ ከመ የሀበነ
Our Lord fasted to give us His (image) example

Welcome to the beginning of the 40 days fast of our Lord! The great fast is now well underway, and may God accept our fast with prayer and almsgiving! Just as we fast because our Lord fasted, and by fasting we come closer to Him, in the 2nd week of Lent, we are called to be holy as God is holy- called to the perfection of closeness, that is, unity. The meaning of holiness is in 2 parts- God's holiness and our sanctification, which is the will of God:

"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication" - 1 Thessalonians 4:3

God is holy. The angels since the first day of creation have cried "holy holy holy", and when our Lord taught us to pray to our Father in heaven, He taught us to start by declaring the holiness of His name. God is by definition holy because there is no impurity in Him. The simple act of declaring His holiness is no small thing- it takes a prominent place in the worship of the church. Declaring the holiness of God is far more than simply saying "Yes God is holy", rather, it is to place God on the throne of our hearts, where He desires to sit and rule as King. 

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" - 1 Peter 3:15

God, who is self-existent, has holiness as a natural property. Our holiness can only exist in relation to His, hence the command:

"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:15-16

Our holiness is to desire unity with our Lord and God, Jesus Christ- desiring unity, to draw near to Him, to be His friends.

"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." - John 15:14

Our holiness means keeping close to God, but it also means keeping far from sin which separates us from God.

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." - James 4:4

For this reason our Lord told us:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. - Matthew 6:24


Store Up for Yourselves Treasure in Heaven
Matthew 6:16-24


Where is your wealth stored? Republic Bank? CIBC? Scotiabank? Do you feel secure having your money there? You should. They are very good at keeping your money safe. You don't expect that these banks will suddenly shut down or that your money will be easily stolen from them, or lose all its value by depreciation tomorrow. But eventually either the bank will stop or you will stop, and then you cannot withdraw or deposit or transfer. What you keep in these banks is no good to you once that happens. In the end, nothing you keep in this life can benefit you after it ends. The most valuable thing we can invest is time, and the only way to get a return on that investment is to invest in eternity.

Store up for yourself treasure in heaven. St Basil the Great of Caesarea taught us about  the Christian responsibility to social justice:

"What could be more ridiculous than this incessant toil… If you want storehouses, you have them in the stomachs of the poor. Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven."

And again:

"The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked… the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy. You are thus guilty of injustice toward as many as you might have aided, and did not."

The only bank you can withdraw from at the end of your life is the stomachs of the hungry, the cups of cold water given to the thirsty, the backs of the naked covered by clothing. This fast, do not forget to deposit in this bank, to store up treasure in heaven, where financial crashes do not corrupt, nor mortgage back securities break in and steal. As a Christian, the foolishness of living above your means is equalled by the foolishness of lighting your money on fire, and if you keep it, it will be burned by fire:

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." - 2 Peter 3:10


Faith and Works: The Stomachs of the Poor

During this fast, make an investment in eternal life by budgeting how much you would have spent on food- and how much you are not spending because of the fast. Give this money to the church and use it to feed the poor.

If there is a strong feeding program for the homeless or families in need near you, contribute to their work. If there is none, ask your priest about starting one in your parish.


Ask Abba/Kes

How can we keep the command to not store up treasures on earth in this world that requires us to have savings?


Our Lord does not call us to be destitute. We cannot give charity if we do not have. We must work to earn and earn to give. Christians are responsible to take care of our needs and our families, and after that, if we save the excess instead of giving it, that is idolatry.


BIBLE QUIZ!
What did God say to the rich man who decided he would pull down his barns and build bigger? (Luke 12)

A Miracle of the Holy Virgin Mary


There was a certain woman who had made a vow that she would fast [in honor] of Our Lady Mary.


When her husband learned about her vow, he made her to stop fasting and forced her to eat.


One day she opened her box and found it full of gold.


Since she knew and was very sure that neither this gold nor anything else could be hers in the world to come, and that Our Lady Mary had given it to her instead of the reward for her vow, she was sad and wept very bitterly.


When her husband saw that she was sorrowful, he was very sorry for her in his heart, and he asked her about the matter of her sadness.


She said, “I am very sad because you have made me give up fasting to Our Lady Mary.”


He said, “Fast as you please!”


So, the woman fasted instead of eating.


Afterward, when she went to her box and opened it, she found no gold whatsoever inside.


She rejoiced greatly, for she knew that Our Lady Mary was well pleased with her, and that she had put her [treasure] [in the place] where there is no decay.


The woman told her husband all that she had seen, and he repented of what he had done and joined the fast. He served Our Lady Mary with all his might and obtained [everlasting] life through fasting.

O Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us!


LIJOCH! The Children's Corner

This week, enjoy a story about St Thomas the apostle when he went to India:

When St Thomas went to India he arrived at a place called Kerala, and the king there heard that someone from Jerusalem had come and he asked him to build a palace for him like Jerusalem's world-famous temple. Thomas was happy to do it, so the king gave him gold and sent him on his way. 

Thomas started helping the poor in Kerala by using the gold to give them jobs, while he taught them the Christian faith and baptised them. After a year the king checked on the progress, and instead of seeing a construction site, he saw the poor people working. He was upset, thinking Thomas had tricked him, and threw him in prison.

That night, the king had a dream, where he saw a beautiful palace, and he asked the angel standing there:
"Whose palace is this?"

The angel answered him, "This is the palace Thomas is building."
"How can I get it?" the king asked?
The angel told him "You can only inherit this palace by becoming a Christian."

When the king woke up, he released Thomas from jail and asked to become a Christian. Thomas baptised him, and the Indian Orthodox Church was established in Kerala.


ይበል:ግዕዝ (yibel Ge’ez)
Let's reclaim our forefathers’ language

ቅድስት 
qidist

Qidist comes from the root verb ቀደሰ qedese - to sanctify, to hallow (make holy). From this root we get the common adjectives ቅዱስ qidus and ቅድስት qidist, the masculine and feminine forms of the adjective 'holy'. We also get the word ቅዳሴ qidase, which literally means a proclamation the holiness of God, and is commonly used to mean the liturgy. The liturgy is called qidase because it's actually named after one specific prayer- the very first liturgical prayer ever uttered by the angels in heaven- qidus qidus qidus- "Holy, Holy, Holy, perfect Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of the holiness of Thy glory".

In the Our Father prayer, we say አቡነ ዘበሰማያት ይትቀደስ ስምከ abune zebesemayat yitqedes simike- our Father who is in heaven, let Your name be hallowed. As we have previously learned, the prefix ተ- te- in Ge'ez usually signifies the passive form, so ቀደሰ qedese - to hallow, becomes ተቀደሰ teqedese - to be hallowed. From there we can add the prefix ይ- yi- or sometimes የ- ye-, which is the most common way to form the subjunctive mood in Ge'ez. 

The subjunctive is not hard to understand. It expresses something that is not necessarily true as though the speaker would like it to be true. This is often translated into English as 'let it be', so you can think of the subjunctive as expressing 'let it be'. E.g. ኮነ kone - to be, can become ይኩን yikun - let it be/so be it. In this case, ተቀደሰ teqedese - to be hallowed, becomes ይትቀደስ yitqedes - let it be hallowed, where the 'it' refers to ስምከ simike - 'Your name'. So ይትቀደስ ስምከ yitqedes simike means 'let Your name be hallowed' or- 'hallowed be Your (Thy) name'.

Look out for the prefix ይ- yi- or የ- ye-  before a word in Ge'ez where something like 'let there be light' or 'let your hearts be in heaven' is said, and you'll find examples of the subjunctive all over. 

Grammar concepts to revise: the passive voice, the subjunctive mood

ORTHODOX Q&A

Why does the EOTC talk to the dead? Is it proper to talk to those who have died, and what is the right way and the wrong way to do it?

We talk to those who have died because they are not dead. Those who die in Christ are alive in Him. We talk to those who died in the faith because they are members of the body of Christ, the same as us. Our relationship with them does not change much after this life ends. We ask them to pray for us. Saul forced a witch to bring the soul of Samuel up from Hades, by the power of the demons, but we talk to those who have died only by the power of God, in the unity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Send us your questions at: seu.eotccarla@gmail.com



Short message on behalf the Spiritual Education Unit:

His Grace Abune Thaddaeus, Head Administrator Archimandrite Abba Gebreyesus, and all clergy and faithful- thank you for the opportunity to share this labour of love with you. Thanks also to the team of the Spiritual Education Unit for their hard work.
-Liqe Teghuan Tekle Mariam Greene


References
CONTACT US:
Archdiocese headquarters: Medhane Alem (Saviour of the World), Old Golden Grove Rd. Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago.
Tel. 868-642-4230.
e-mail: eotc.arch.carla@gmail.com

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