His Holiness Pope Shenouda III’s Address on the Anniversary of His Ordination as Bishop of Education: On Discipleship and Education

Pope Shenouda III speaks about discipleship, explaining that a person cannot teach others unless he has first learned and mastered the life of discipleship. He states that his discipleship began when he was young and continued throughout his life, because he trained himself every day to be a disciple who learns new knowledge as much as he is able. He emphasizes that knowledge begins but never ends, and that the first form of knowledge is knowing God, a knowledge that does not come entirely from books, but has other forms of knowledge as well.

Spiritual Message

The talk then moves to the principle of seriousness, which Pope Shenouda considered a fundamental principle in the stages of education, life, and service. He explains that seriousness in work was a reason for his development in the areas in which he served, whether in Sunday School, the Sunday School Magazine, the Theological Seminary, teaching, or writing. He also explains that serving God requires a person to take seriously the responsibility entrusted to him and not wait for circumstances to become ideal before beginning to work and make improvements.

Educational Lesson

Pope Shenouda gives examples from his educational service, explaining how he cared about preparing lectures and teaching, and how he tried to make educational meetings serious and regular. He also speaks about opening the Theological Seminary to more students seeking knowledge, and about the expansion of education until the teaching spaces became full and the teaching eventually moved to the cathedral. He emphasizes that serious education requires preparation, thought, and continuous readiness, and that a teacher should be prepared even when unexpected circumstances occur.

Practical Application

Pope Shenouda stresses the importance of organizing time and not allowing numerous engagements to prevent a person from fulfilling his essential duties. He points out that the many responsibilities and meetings caused a number of books and lectures he had prepared to remain unpublished, and therefore he wished to dedicate more time to scholarly retreat and writing. He asks that he be given the opportunity to work on his various responsibilities so that he can provide the Church with more books and teaching, and he concludes by expressing his desire for more scholarly retreat and the publication of new works.

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