The answer
Asceticism in the Coptic Church is not a goal in its own, but it is one’s practical response to the divine love. If our Lord offered His life for us, it is fitting for us to desire to offer our lives as a sacrifice of love to God. We despise worldly pleasures as a sign of our inner longing to enjoy the eternal joy of the new life in Christ Jesus. Believers, especially monks, have a single goal, that is to enjoy the inner Kingdom of God as a preliminary step to encountering God face to face in eternity.
Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty