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Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty · Catechism · 515

Faith Q&A › Catechism › 4. The Unique Work of the Church

How can someone fulfill his role as an active living member of the Church?

The answer

A believer ought to ask himself if he likes to steal (or take away) from others like a raven or to do God’s work in helping others. St. Augustine says, “That ark contained both kinds; and if the ark was a figure of the Church, you see indeed that in the present deluge of the world, the Church must out of necessity contain both kinds, the raven as well as the dove. Who are the ravens? Those who seek their own. Who are the doves? Those who seek the things that are Christ’s.”1031 St. Ambrose adds, “The Church has gold, not to store up, but to lay out, and to spend on those who need.”1032

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

1031 St. Augustine of Hippo, On the Gospel of St. John 6.2 (NPNF I/7:40).

1032 St. Ambrose of Milan, Duties of the Clergy 2.28 (137) (NPNF II/10:64).

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.