On the Sunday of the Wedding of Cana, we contemplate the role of Mary, as intercessor for us. When she saw that the drink is running out at the wedding, she went to Jesus. Similarly, Mary intercedes for us before God and leads us to Him. For more on the gospel of this week,
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Ash Monday on the 20th of Feb 2012 marks the start of Lent, we are all invited to come to Church and to receive the ashes symbol of our repentence seizing our growth in our relationship with God. Let us take the time to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we have done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need. We especially remember our brothers and sisters in areas of political unrest or natural disasters asking the Lord to comfort them and guard all the volunteers and rescue forces.
I would also like to remind you about the petition against homosexual marriage legislation which is still on our parish website: www.stcharbel.org.au. Please click this link and sign the petition.
May God bless you all!
Fr. Dr. Antoine TarabayRector
St. Charbel’s College and Church
142 Highclere Avenue
PUNCHBOWL NSW 2196
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Season of the Great Lent
Entrance to Lent Sunday—The wedding of Cana of Galilee
20th Year—Number 996 Sunday 19/02/2012
Do whatever He tells you
‘On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone waterjars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.’ ” John 2: 1-11
Transformation
Jesus performed this miracle to reveal his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Through this miracle, we witness the revelation of God's abundant grace and the faith in those who believe. This miracle is about transformation. It is about water being transformed into wine, not replaced by wine. It is about hope. It is about the present and the future coming together.
A miracle of abundance and grace
This is a miracle of abundance, of transformation and new possibilities. Turning water into wine is a miracle of grace. This miracle reveals the unimaginable glory of Jesus and anticipates his ultimate moment of glorification three years later - his death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus' first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee is a sign that through Jesus Christ, God has come among us in a new way. The miracle of turning water into wine is a promise that through Jesus Christ God is pouring out on us and on all of creation grace upon grace in unimaginable abundance.
God’s love through a miracle
Jesus starts his ministry with a miracle that symbolizes the abundance of God's redemptive love in the person of Jesus. This miracle is a foretaste, a foreshadowing, that points into the future when God will pour out his grace abundantly on the world through a cross and an empty tomb. This particular miracle took place at a time of great joy and celebration - at a wedding. Life empowered by grace is a life that is full of joy-a life worth celebrating.
His miracles are present with us in many ways
But the truth of the matter is that his miracles are present with us in many ways, often unnoticed. But whether we recognize him or not, the fact is that Jesus is with us, and his miracles of new life and purpose, hope, confidence and peace, are with us as well. And so does Jesus continue to change water into wine.
The new wine is a new creation
The sign John gives us in the Bible reveals the glory of Jesus. The sign calls us to faith and trust in the one who can deal with any problem in our lives "his disciples begun to believe in Him”. The Gospel reading today is about a sign. Jesus had just supplied a wedding with the best wine by turning water into wine. The new wine that Jesus provides will never run out. It is also a new creation. The old creation, with its burden of sin is erased, and the new creation, the action of the spirit, is now available. The new creation is the kingdom of God. And what is the entrance fee? Only the consent of faith.
Lent
It is a time of repentance and self-examination. Fasting in Lent does not mean a way to loose weight but to create a sense of need, which should remind us to seek God and holiness. That is, to try to gain a sense of God’s presence and to try to live out our faith more fully.Lent provides us with an opportunity to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need. In Lent, we take responsibility for our acts and thoughts Lent is self discovery of the parts of ourselves we don't want to discover, through prayer, fasting, and other disciplines. It is the opening up, the turning over to God, the repenting of our sins, the turning away from that which does not please God.
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Try Mary
Do you have a problem? Try Mary. It costs you nothing.
But a warning: The ship of Mary leads only to the shores
of the Church of her son Jesus
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Saint of the Week
Saint James, Hermit & Disciple of Saint Maroun (+5th C)
Maronite Feast Day: February 20
James of Cyr was a hermit and one of the disciples of Maron. These disciples of Maron are an extension of their spiritual Father and Founder: they went to his school of asceticism, learned from him and were directed by him. These disciples are described by Theodoret as flowers in the garden of Maron.
Many of the disciples never met the saint, but only heard about his life and virtues and his new school of asceticism and solitude. They wanted to imitate his life of devotion and sacrifice, so they became his followers. The disciple James was still alive when Theodoret wrote about him.
James was 'instructed in the heavenly way by the great Maron who loved him very much. He lived with Maron for a while and then went off to live by himself. However, James excelled hislnaster in his acts of penance and good deeds. Maron accepted as his dwelling the ruin of a temple, and for clothes he used the skins of goats to protect himself from the cold and the rain. James refused all of this and lived in the open air, saying that the skies were his roof. James thus exposed himself to the intemperate weather, quite often being drenched with rain and submerged in the snow and the ice. In the summer, he was exposed to the burning sun. He accepted everything with great patience, as if he were not enduring all of the sufferings in his own body, but in the body of a stranger. He sustained everything with the strength of the Spirit.
Bishop Theodoret wrote that he himself went out to see James and to observe him. After remaining with the holy hermit, Theodoret wrote of many examples of James' holiness and life of penance. It seemed that his body did not suffer from all of these mortifications. Indeed, it seemed as if he did not have a body at all, saying with Saint Paul, "We do indeed live in the body, but we do not wage war with human resources. The weapons of our warfare are not merely human. They possess God's power for the destruction of strongholds. We demolish sophistries and every proud pretension that raises itself against the knowledge of God; we likewise bring every thought into captivity to make it obedient to Christ. We are ready to punish disobedience in anyone else when your own obedience is perfect." (2 Corinthians 10: 3~)
He spent his time looking for the exercise of virtues. In seeking solitude, he went to the mountains, far from the city. This mountain became famous because of him and people would go there and take soil from this place, which they considered holy. This place is still referred today as "Sheikh Khouros," or "the holy one from Khouros."
St Eustathius Patriarch of Antioch,
Maronite Feast Day 21 February
Eustathius of Antioch, sometimes sur-named the Great, was a bishop and patriarch of Antioch in the 4th century.
He was a native of Side in Pamphylia. About 320 he was bishop of Beroea, and he became patriarch of Antioch shortly before the Council of Nicaea in 325. In that assembly he distinguished himself zealously against the Arians, though the Allocutio ad Imperatorem with which he has been credited is hardly genuine. His anti-Arian polemic against Eusebius of Caesarea made him unpopular among his fellow bishops in the East, and a synod convened at Antioch in 330 de-posed him for adultery, [1] which was confirmed by the emperor.
For instance, in the dispute with Eustathius of Antioch, who opposed the growing influence of Origen and his practice of an allegorical exegesis of scripture, seeing in his theology the roots of Arianism, Eusebius, an admirer of Origen, was reproached by Eustathius for deviating from the Nicene faith, who was charged in turn with Sabellianism. Eustathius was accused, condemned, and deposed at a synod in Antioch. The people of Antioch rebelled against this action, while the anti-Eustathians proposed Eusebius as the new bishop, but he declined. He ordained a Bishop, Mor Joseph for Edessa. Later that Bishop went to India with Thomas of Cana and 72 fami-lies. He was banished to Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he died, probably about 337, though possibly not until 360.
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Ash Monday
"Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.
Ash Monday is the first day of Lent in the Maronite Rite.. On this day, Christians focus on their complete sinfulness and the necessity of Christ's suffering and death to insure their salvation. Ashes are referred to many times in the Old Testament as signs of sorrow, mourning, humility, and repentance, and on Ash Monday they are used to remind people of their mortality -- that "you are dust, and to dust you shall re-turn" (Genesis 3:19).
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