SPSA Church Giving (opens in a new tab)

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty · Catechism · 741

Faith Q&A › Catechism › 19. The Sacrament of Repentance & Confession

The days are running out and the time of our departure from this world is approaching, so why postpone our repentance?

The answer

Our life in this world is a gift from God and is a journey alongside Him, in which we offer repentance daily until we depart to the eternal glory. Do not postpone today’s repentance till tomorrow.

St Jacob of Sarug says, “If we begin the day, the night brings us down, then the night leaves us and gives us a day and then the night snatches us from the morning, and morning brings back to the night. A fast-paced way to travel, yet we were not willing to benefit from this or to pay attention to our steps along the way.”

St. Basil the Great says, “this present life is the time for penance and for the remission of sins; in the life to come, the just judgment of retribution will take place,”1441 and “after departure from this life there is no opportunity for good deeds, since God in his forbearance has provided the present life for doing those things that please Him.”1442

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

1441 St. Basil of Caesarea, The Morals 1.2 (FOTC 9:71).

1442 St. Basil of Caesarea, The Morals 1.5 (FOTC 9:73).

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.