The New Year

The lecture focuses on blessing as the greatest request a person can offer to God at the beginning of a new year, because it includes all spiritual and material goodness and extends to affect the person and everything around him.

Lecture Summary

1. Blessing as the essence of all requests
   His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that people ask for many things at the beginning of each year, but the one request that contains all goodness is the request for blessing, because it includes everything a person needs in this life and the next.
2. The meaning of blessing in the Christian understanding
   Blessing is not merely a verbal congratulation, but a request for a comprehensive divine gift that carries goodness, protection, success, and peace, and extends to include the whole life.
3. Blessing in the Holy Bible
   From the beginning of creation, God blessed humanity, and blessing appeared in the lives of Adam, Noah, and Abraham, then continued through generations, encompassing offspring, work, land, and all aspects of life.
4. From material blessing to spiritual blessing
   In the Old Testament, blessing often appeared in material forms, but these were symbols of deeper spiritual blessings that God revealed later, leading the people from earthly goodness to heavenly goodness.
5. Blessing and giving
   Giving is one of the keys to blessing. A person who gives to others does not only grant them a blessing, but also receives blessing from God and the blessing of sincere prayers from those in need.
6. The blessing of obedience
   His Holiness emphasizes that blessing is closely connected to obedience, explaining that obedience to God’s commandments and the Church brings blessing, while grumbling and rebellion lead to its loss.
7. The person as a blessing to others
   The blessed person does not keep the blessing for himself, but becomes a source of blessing to all around him: his home, family, service, and community, just as the saints were throughout history.
8. A call to a blessed life
   The lecture concludes with a sincere call for every person to seek a life prepared to receive blessing, not only by asking for it, but by living in a way that pleases God and makes life fruitful and blessed.

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