Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Love is the base of Christianity and we believe that God is love. Thus, the believers have to witness to this love. Dr. Rasmi Abdel Malek, Head of the Department of Humanities in the seminary in his article Education for the Testimony of Christian Love assured us that true love is the love of the Lord with all the heart, and this is what we really need today. He cited a saying by the late Father Bishoy Kamel saying: The church today needs martyrs of love more than of blood. To love your enemies is better than to offer your blood. We need today those who love the Lord from all their hearts. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind ; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. Our fathers loved God above all, and therefore, they were powerful in facing tribulations and persecution. St. Paul the Apostle stood before kings and testified about Christ. St. Anthony left all his riches and chose the path of spiritual suffering. Thus, he despised lusts of the world and became as martyr of love. Give your heart to the Lord and make it immersed in His love to find comfort and joy.

Recently Egypt was facing a lot of rain and that causes the country to be flooded with water and that cause a mess as the country doesn t have the proper sewer system that could contain all this water. Unfortunately, there is misadministration in Egypt most probably cause this problem to happen and repeated every year. Egypt now suffers from lack of water because of “Renaissance Dam” that Ethiopia is building, however, we can t see an y strategic plan to use this free water coming from heaven.

The Ethiopian PM Abi Ahmed, man of peace, is now waving the bloody shirt before his country s parliament. This comes after he prevented the Ethiopian-Eritrean border war, which is no different from the common border in the waters between the Nile Basin countries. He should realizes that sovereignty over the waters of the Nile is restricted by the non-emergence of armed conflict. Certainly, he should have learned this when he got the Nobel Peace Prize the other day. There is no need for antisemitism and arrogance in front of your people, especially when it comes to war. Even if you have a legal right to build the dam, the nature of water issues is both legal and political. Negotiations to avoid damage and armed conflict are the best solution. It was better for you to try to lower the tension than to increase it by threatening war. "Some say things about the use of force (by Egypt). It must be emphasized that there is no force that can prevent Ethiopia from building this dam," Ethiopia s prime minister told parliament. "If there is a need to go to war, we can mobilize millions, and if some can fire a missile, others can use bombs, which is not in our interests." Abi Ahmed said: Some say things about the use of force by Egypt, I must emphasize that no force can prevent Ethiopia from building the dam, and if there is a need to go to war, we can mobilize millions of soldiers. If a party can fire a missile, the other can use bombs.

The Egyptians praise the honorable and dedicated role played by the police for protecting the country against all dangers, and they express their sincere appreciation for the security vigilance being made to prevent crime, as well as their gratitude for all the sacrifices of the security men and the price they pay and the martyrs and injured people they offer. This kind of appreciation is kind of offering a shield of heroism, dignity, and pride to every individual and rank in the security apparatus. The good relationship between citizens and police derived not only from their vital role in keeping the streets safe, but also for showing mutual respect and reverence for the law. Any violations to the rights of the people by policemen may affect that relationship and image. Thus, it is the duty of security chiefs to investigate the violations and take all necessary measures to assure the public about their freedom and dignity. During the last few weeks, there have been repeated complaints of incidents of police violations after many people have been stopped to be asked to check their IDs, and surprisingly, their smart phones, which was denounced later by the National Council of Human Rights. The law says that any search of personal belongings or property, apart from identity documents, can only be conducted upon a warrant issued by the public prosecution or the legal investigation authorities. Such warrants are never general in nature; they do not apply collectively but individually, to serve specific legal purposes. On the other side, the Ministry of Interior said on its official page that the information included in the statement by the National Council of Human Rights was based on unreliable sources that attempt to sow confusion and tension on the Egyptian street, and that all the cases searched or caught had been according to full legal proceedings, but this was not the information I got from several eye witnesses. The confusion and tension on the Egyptian street was caused by the police’s unwarranted search of individuals’ mobile phones, which was not carried out according to the law. These incidents have raised fears of renewed police tyranny and may destroy the good relationship between police and citizens.

President Sadat, had an old saying during the Middle East crisis and peace negotiations with Israel that ninety-nine percent of the cards were in the hands of the Americans. Sadat was right and, but the collapse of the Soviet Union led to confirm his saying and prove his wisdom. I wonder if he would remain in his vision today or would he change his mind? In the last five years, the Kremlin has been less interested in Russia s economic growth than in strengthening Russia s geopolitical influence. Back in 2014, following Russia s annexation of Crimea and its military intervention in eastern Ukraine, Moscow - imposed by economic sanctions - seemed isolated. Western leaders criticized President Putin believing that their criticism and the pressure of sanctions on the Kremlin would change the behavior of the Russian government, and even US President Barack Obama disregarded Russia as a regional power.

Another Arab country which Lebanon is going to turmoil again after economic and political difficulties the people face without any hope for near solution. The Lebanon government found the solution for these economic difficulties is to impose more taxes but this time on what? This time on whatsapp program that people use to talk to their lovely one.

President Sisi affirmed in a meeting with a group of Egyptian scientists that the system of values and ethics in the society is the first ruler of the behavior of citizens and plays an important role in development. Dr. Mohamed Ghoneim, a member of the Council of Egyptian Scholars, stated that the members of the Council offered President Abdel Fattah El Sisi the establishment of a committee for development of ethics and conscience, and to promote the values of work and belonging. They suggested that the commitee works under the auspices of the Presidency and supported by Al-Azhar, education and the media, and assuring the economic and social situation should be improved so that the moral content of individuals may improve.

I understand the anger of the people at the government during last few days, and I believe it is OK for two main reasons: the first is cumulative and the second is inadequate in the management of the crisis. We have not been accustomed to painful surgical treatment after we stayed for decades extending until the royal era dealing with painkillers, and perhaps re-read the speeches of the governments after July 52, and the promise of prosperity to come which were just a mirage. Even military adventures were justified tickling Nationalist sentiments and only drained our resources. Loans became a sustainable solution instead of exceptional. The use of ‘subsidies’ with indiscriminate economic policies was a rope to hang all development efforts. We destroyed manufacturing and agriculture as we moved towards revenue and speculative economy and lost our ability to export. The mechanisms of education and culture have retreated and the population bomb explodes in our face to devour the remaining resources. Corruption spreads to strike all walks of life. It is noteworthy that the population explosion and corruption were protected by religious cover that justifies and deepens the problem. Therefore, the correct remedies were painful and the feeling of pain increased. The biggest shock was the parliament, which did not approach its oversight functions and has been an executive office for the government. Therefore, cyberspace and the virtual world have become an alternative censor and an open opposition arena without objective rules or controls. The proper language of dialogue was absent and was replaced by security solutions. There are indications looming to revive the substantive dialogue and to build the wall of trust and raise the ceiling of the media freedom in order to build a healthy political life, which was one of the goals of July 1952 revolution. To come late is better than not to come.

During the football match between Algeria and Pyrmaids, Algerian fans called Egyptian president enemy of God, “and Tunisians did the same after the wining of Qais Said the presidential elections. In the Sudan, the demonstrators said they have either victory or being like Egypt. In Gaza, they insult the Egyptian army during their celebrations. Most of them have a strong hatred and even envy against Egypt, so we reaffirm that Egypt belongs to the Egyptians. The Egyptian people are of the sons of Ham, while the Arabs are of Semitic origin (Jewish cousins). Thus, we have to reconsider our relations based on personal benefits and national security. We need to differentiate between those who target our country or make ally with its enemies, and those who represent source of threat. We need to get rid of the illusions of the inherited ties after they proved to be catastrophic since 1948, and built our foreign policies on the basis of Egypt s interests and national security. The overwhelming majority of Egyptians (about 98%) are from the sons of Ham, and they are unrelated to Arabism. I say we must base our policies on our national interests and the requirements of our national security. It is not a matter of hostility, but a call for realism and objectivity and building our policies based on our national interests and respect for my country and its institutions and symbols.

Abi Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, who won the Nobel Prize is a brilliant politician who has done a lot for his country. I like what he did even though he caused harm to Egypt by developing his country on our expenses. He resolved peace in the region, released political prisoners in Ethiopia, made a comprehensive reconciliation, and received in his office the opponents who were exiled and sentenced to death. He respected rights and freedoms and democracy and ended the state of emergency in the country as prat of the political reform policy. Abi Ahmed also won awards from religious leaders, as well as high international awards for his historic role in national unity and the establishment of internal peace in his country He excreted efforts to release Ethiopian detainees abroad and signed agreements with other countries to find several seaports for his Landlocked country. He reconciled with Eritrea and ended the border conflict with it and also agreed with them to use their ports, which means the neutralization of the most important ally of Egypt. He also signed an agreement with France to build a naval fleet for Ethiopia and train its staff and protect the country which means neutralizing Egypt s allies as well after conducting joint exercises with the US military in July. His government renewed the joint defense agreements with India, brought in the highest foreign direct investment in the entire East Africa region, convinced Chinese factories to move its textile industries in Ethiopia instead of Bangladesh after a crises, and persuaded Turkey to invest $ 2.5 billion in Ethiopia. He also gave China and other countries the opportunity to buy and lease agricultural land in the areas that will benefit from the Renaissance Dam Lake, which means they will be interested in completing the project for their own interests, not to mention the loans of the Chinese banks to complete the project. Furthermore, he allowed Chinese companies to invest in electricity and electronics projects which means their benefits are linked to the Renaissance dam. Ethiopian Airlines under his era became the first in Africa and made a net profit equivalent to 6 billion Egyptian pounds. He had a great role in spreading peace in southern Sudan and in northern Sudan, he had a very strong vital role in the Sudanese revolution and helped the military council and the rebels to reach the current agreement. This man made the greatest achievement for his country including freedom, national reconciliation, democracy, peaceful transfer of power, and many political reforms. He is only 42 years old and we can t compete with him.

Trump announced a fast withdrawal of the American troops from north of Syria were the majority of Kurdish live there, a day after Turkey announced its strike against Kurdish describing them as militant and terrorists. Kurdish people were just fighting beside US against Isis and US was so happy to find someone can help them in such situation but unfortunately US betrayed Kurdish. Although all European countries, Russia, most of Arab countries condemned the military action that Turkey did, however, It seems Turkey doesn t care about any of them and only cares about killing Kurdish people.

Education is one of the key factors to develop a country. However Egypt doesn t appear that much in the world university rakings, but the American University in Cairo (AUC) changed that fact after it had been ranked among the world s top 200 Universities in the annual QSGraduate Employability Rankings, with an 86 percent rate within a single year post graduation. Thus, it came in the 191th place out of 200. The rankings consider five key factors to select the universities, such as the reputation of the institutions among employers, alumni outcomes, university partnerships with employers, employer-student connections and graduate employment rate.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. (Psalm 32) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91). Living in the house of the Lord is not difficult since God wants everyone to come to Him. He blesses them and offers them rest, help and shelter. Dr. Rasmy Abdul Malik, head of the Department of Humanities at the Seminary, said in his article for those seeking safety talked about the conditions and qualities of dwelling in the house of the Lord. The conditions are summarized in the purity of the heart and doing good, purity of the senses and keeping distance from what defiles man. They also include speaking right and seeking justice and following the commandments of God and the teachings of the Bible.

I do not know why some clergy or civilians are trying to escape the sense of guilt concerning this massacre, especially since it does not concern too many people today. We do stand with our homeland, and the Egyptian armed forces, and the regime. Yet, Maspero massacre is still awaiting justice and neutral investigation. We demand an apology from those responsible for the massacre that was aired online and, therefore, we can not blame it for the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group. They are individuals who belong to the Armed Froces, and revealing them won’t offend the great national institution of the Army. 27 martyrs were killed in the incident between being run over by armored vehicles, shooting and deliberate killing. There were four jeeps and three Armored vehicles behind them. The armored vehicles began to move a few minutes after the military police began using force to disperse the demonstrators and prevent them from advancing to the area around Maspero building, the same method used to break up a demonstration on Tuesday evening, October 4. Three armored vehicles, one after the other, moved swiftly in the Nile Corniche Road towards the October Bridge and suddenly changed their direction to run over the demonstrators killing 12 and injuring 5 according to documentary testimonies and live recordings. One of the injured people said that he was carried and thrown into an entrance of a building after those who moved him thought he was dead. The bodies were in terrible condition that Dr. Majid Lewis, Director General of the Forensic Medicine Department, said in a telephone interview that he has never seen bodies in such a bad state before, even the victims of the Luxor massacre in 1997 with bodies mashed and bones crushed. Here, I want to write their names to be remembered forever: Osama Fathi, Amin Fouad Amin, Ayman Saber Beshay, Amin Nassif Wahby, Gamal Fayek Wanis, Girgis Rawy Raji, Sameh Girgis Fekri, Romani Makari Girgis, Shenouda Noshy Attia, Hady Fouad Attia, Wael Mikhail Khalil, Mikhail Tawfik Gendy, Shahat Thabet Moawad, Sobhy Gamal Nazim, Issa Ibrahim Rizk, Fares Rizk Ayoub, Michael Mosaad Gerges, Magdy Abdo Rizk, Mounir Mouni Megally, Mossad Mehanna Mossad, Mina Ibrahim Daniel, and Nassif Raji Nassif. Remeber them and know that their souls are still awaiting justice.

In a number of previous articles, I talked about the importance of the implementation of the state and all its institutions for all mechanisms of thinking through the activation of modern administrative systems, with the support of the political leadership that accepts and encourage change. In the time of Dr. Hussein Kamel Bahaa El Din, Minister of Education, he assured me that he was facing enormous societal resistance after declaring binding decisions to restore discipline in schools, and thinking about designing a new curriculum entitled ‘Ethics’ that includes the messages of peace and love and all other noble values mentioned in the Holy Quran and the Bible. He showed me a huge file containing a huge number of sick notes provided by parents to respond to the punitive measures taken to impose the regularity of students in classrooms. This was faced by a strong minister supported by the powerful regime of Mubarak at that time. Therefore, I call to support the current Minister of Education knowing that he is waging a war with beneficiaries of the corruption of the current situation and the system of private lessons. I was delighted to hear President El-Sisi talking before the World Youth Forum about the features of a country that thinks. He said, Egypt is now responsible for building houses of worships of Muslims and Christians since citizens have freedom of worship. He also talked about renewal of religious discourse and the importance of changing our minds with the change of society and time. Enlightenment intellectuals believed that human endeavors should be directed towards the promotion of knowledge and rationality, rather than emotional reactions. They called for the secularization of education in the ‘state of thinking’.

The prophets left us a few Scriptures called the Twelve Minor Prophets which speak of what sin does to us and how we live the life of repentance. One of these Minor Prophets is Hosea. HG Bishop Bakhomios, Archbishop of Al-Buhaira, Matrouh and North Africa in his book "Hosea" explained to us that the prophetic books tell about an important historical period in the life of the people of Israel, the Babylonian and Assyrian captivity, and also about the Lord s call to the people to repent through his prophets. Hence Hosea tells us about the sins of the people that led them to captivity, the reproach of the Lord to his people and his warning to them, and the Lord s call for them to come back and offer a collective repentance before Him.

Turkey announced lately that it is willing to go to war in Syria against the Kurdish people. Unfortunately with US is not a country you can depend on or trust right now we are not sure what could happen in the region next year. Germany and most of Europe condemned the operation turkey is going to do in Syria, however, it seems that Erdogan believes that he is in the strongest position to decide what he wants to do regardless of any other opinion.

At the time security services in Egypt seriously dealt with calls for a revolution and arrested many people and canceled a football match between Zamalek Egyptian team and Senegal, media was under great pressure as well that it couldn’t decide weather to cover the terrorist attack on security ambush in Sinai or to cover the celebrations of what we don’t know. On the other side, the president said to the people who welcomed him at the airport that nothing serious is happening and assured that he is following the procedures of randomly removing citizens from subsidy system, and ordered to stop such farce. On the other side, the Egyptian Parliament announced to discuss raising minimum wages and retirement wages. The president cleverly realized that revolutionary advocates and instigators of the country used rumors of corruption and building palaces to ignite the situation since the people are already suffering from bad economic conditions. The price of the US dollar is decreasing, but nobody feels such decrease and progress. He also realized that this was the reason behind the revolution of January 25, 2011.

The Egyptian Cabinet Media Center published the latest data on the number of churches and service buildings that have been legalized by the main committee for the legalization of churches in Egypt, which was formed in January 2017 under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and the membership of six ministers and representatives for the churches. At the last meeting on Monday, the committee agreed to legalize 71 churches and service buildings, bringing the total number to 1,179 churches and buildings. According to human rights reports, the Egyptian churches have submitted about 3,730 applications for legalization of churches and service buildings. Thus, in just two years, about 32% of the applications were considered and accepted. If there are some approvals on the license of some churches, because they do not get the due approvals, for example, churches built on state land and others need approvals from the Ministry of Agriculture or Antiquities, the committee is subject to the completion of licenses to complete these papers. There is no doubt that the Committee is dealing with a large response to requests for codification, and take into account the maintenance of the state social peace, which made the province of Minya top of the list of churches that have been licensed. Reports indicated that the committee approved the legalization of 189 churches and buildings in Minya governorate, equivalent to 10% of the total churches that were legalized. It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian state is keen to build new churches in new urban communities, where the state has taken into account the existence and establishment of places of worship. There is no doubt that the great achievement in the file of legalization of churches in Egypt, which was expected to issue many years ago, is a landmark and distinctive in the history of Egypt, in the framework of the Constitution and law, belonging has become to the country under the civil state before all other belongings. Importance of national unity needs to be acknowledged in order to develop the homeland and to achieve social peace. This requires positive steps on the ground including the legalization of churches, which already witnesses positive and effective steps.