Anointed to Proclaim Good News to the Poor

Main idea

قداسة البابا شنوده الثالث explains that Christ came primarily for redemption, and at the same time came to proclaim to the poor — that is, the poor physically and spiritually — the salvation and mercy of God.

Spiritual and educational dimension (from a Coptic Orthodox perspective)

1. The poor meant are all who suffer: the poor, the sick, the sinful who repent, the broken in heart, and the foreign nations — who need God’s salvation and mercy.
2. Christ proclaims the restoration of the divine image in humanity lost through sin, and opens the gate of paradise for everyone who believes and repents.
3. The call includes physical and spiritual healing: healing the sick, casting out demons, and restoring the humbled to their dignity.
4. God stands with the weak and the poor, not with the proud; the lifting of the humble and the lowering of the proud is a repeated biblical principle.
5. The priesthood and shepherds are required to seek the poor: visit the needy, console the broken, and comfort the suffering instead of occupying themselves with the famous.
6. No one should despair of God’s mercy regardless of their sins; the example of the penitent on the cross and the thief who repented testify to God’s wide mercy.
7. Simple acts done in love (like a cup of cold water) do not lose their reward before God, and love is measured by the heart not by quantity.
8. Practical conclusion: we imitate Christ’s example and proclaim to the poor with mercy and compassion, we raise up the crushed and give the hope of salvation to all.

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