"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"(Matthew 21:9)
Please click on this link to read the PDF version of Kadishat for this week with Arabic translation:
As you may be aware, the 5 Precepts of the Catholic Church tell us that
As you may be aware, the 5 Precepts of the Catholic Church tell us that
"You shall confess your sins at least once a year" (CCC 1457) and
"You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least at Easter." (CCC 1389).
As such, we are all encouraged to celebrate Easter with a clean heart and conscience by receiving the Sacrament of Confession. Confessions will be available all throughout Holy Week in the Church.
Good Friday
We are pleased to announce that His Excellency Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio, will be joining us on Good Friday. The Stations of the Cross will commence at 9am from Roberts Park and will be followed by the Rite of Adoration of the Cross at St Charbel’s Multi-Purpose Hall at 10.30am and at 3.30pm in English.
The full program for Holy Week is now available on our website: www.stcharbel.org.au.
Good Friday
We are pleased to announce that His Excellency Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio, will be joining us on Good Friday. The Stations of the Cross will commence at 9am from Roberts Park and will be followed by the Rite of Adoration of the Cross at St Charbel’s Multi-Purpose Hall at 10.30am and at 3.30pm in English.
The full program for Holy Week is now available on our website: www.stcharbel.org.au.
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Maronite Sports Day
The Maronite Sports Day is an annual event held on Easter Monday at Condell Park. On this day, all the Maronite parishes come together to participate in friendly inter-parish sports games. Families and young people are invited to attend. For more information, contact the SCYA Coordinator on 9740 0919 from Monday to Friday between 8am and 4pm.
The President of Lebanon at St Charbel’s
It is with a sense of pride that we inform you that His Excellency General Michel Sleiman, President of the Republic of Lebanon, will be coming to St Charbel’s Parish on Wednesday 18 April 2012 starting from 11.30am as part of his tour in Australia. More details will follow in the coming weeks.
I wish you all a blessed week!
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
Rector
St. Charbel’s College and Church
142 Highclere Avenue
PUNCHBOWL NSW 2196
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20th Year—Number 1002 Sunday 01/04/2012
Season of the Great Lent
Palm Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: Philippi 1: 1-13 & John 12: 12-22
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
“ The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord the King of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.
It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him! ’ Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ” John 12: 12-22
Reflection of the Week
Holy Week - A Journey with Christ
As Holy Week begins, we are going to contemplate Christ's unending love.
It is a time to contemplate and celebrate the deepest mystery of our faith - that our all-powerful God, in the person of Jesus Christ, was willing to suffer a cruel death for love of us. As we share this final journey with our Lord, it is good to remind ourselves that our lives too are a journey, that takes us to Him, and He is with us every step of the way. As the living Body of Christ today, we must commit ourselves to Christ's love and make the passage to it.
Palm Sunday (Reading-Ph. 1:1-11 Gospel-John 12:12-22)
On this day, the Church calls to mind Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to accomplish His Paschal Mystery. Christ entered in triumph into His own city, to complete His work as our Messiah: to suffer, to die and to rise again.
In today's Gospel, St. John looks back on this event in the light of his Easter faith. Even before Jesus' cross was set up, His heavenly Father reveals its fruitfulness. The hour has come when Jesus will be raised up and glorified, so that He may draw all people to Himself. A strange hour in which every reality will come to signify its opposite: dying is living; losing is winning. The tomb while apparently barren and sterile is the incubator of new life.
Holy Thursday (Reading -1 Co. 11: 23-30 Gospel - Luke 22: 1-23)
On the Thursday of Holy Week we recall the last Passover meal Jesus shared with his disciples. It is the first Eucharistic Meal. Jesus took bread and wine and changed them into his Body and Blood. This truth requires faith from us, which is His gift. Christ invites the human family to sit at table so that it may find life and unity in Him. Holy Thursday is the day when the death and resurrection of Jesus were made accessible to us in sign and sacrament in the Mass. The last supper also presents for us the epitome of Jesus' preaching in the story of His washing the disciples' feet. By washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus showed the regard, which God has for us. What in return can we show to Him? And with what respect and sensitivity should we treat our families, friends and acquaintances?
Good Friday (Reading- Hebrews 12: 12-24 Gospel - John 19:31-37)
It is time to live the hour of Jesus, that hour dark and glorious for which He had come. We see in the passion what it means to reject God wilfully and deliberately: we glimpse something of the horror of sin and the wonder of God's love. We follow His every footstep to the loneliness of Golgotha. Everything happens quickly and seems to collapse. Yet, even in what seems complete dereliction - "Father, why have you deserted me?" - Jesus with outstretched arms, attracts and gathers to Himself mankind and the universe. All seems lost, but in reality all is about to begin. Jesus leads us through His passion and death on the cross to something much better and much greater, to a new life with a fresh hope. That is the meaning of the Resurrection. If we look beyond the cross and behind the tortured figure, we see dimly outlined, with the eyes of faith, the face of the risen Christ.
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Meditation
The paschal mystery of Jesus consisted of suffering, death and resurrection. Suffering is one aspect of living and dying. It is a part of the human condition and we cannot eliminate it from our lives. We need to see that suffering has a positive dimension; it is a way of discipleship - a way of walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
If we have a proper Christian attitude, we need to embrace any suffering, which comes our way in life, just as Jesus embraced the cross for love of us. If we do this, then we too, after our earthly life is over, will rise with Him in glory, providing we have lead lives, which are pleasing to the Lord
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The Maronites and Lebanon (4)
Maronites: Indigenous Lebanese descendant of the Phoenicians (1)
To be able to better understand our Maronite history and identity it is important to look at the religious origin of the Maronite church and also the origin of the Maronite people. Our Rite is 1300 years old but us, as Maronite people date from three million years BC.
What do we understand by Maronitism?
Maronitism is the Christian movement inspired by Saint Maroun, his disciples and his monasteries. The cradle of the Maronite movement was Syria, and from Syria this movement reached Lebanon through the missionary impetus of the disciples and monasteries of Saint Maroun.
Are the Maronite people in Lebanon originated from Syria ?
While the missionaries came from Syria, the people did not. It is completely wrong to say that Lebanon was uninhabited until the persecutions ousted the Maronites from Syria at the beginning of the 6th century compelling them to seek safety in Lebanon. The Syrian origin of the Maronite in Lebanon is religious, not ethnic. The great bulk of the Maronites are indigenous Phoenicians, not Syrians.
Is there any interesting archaeological findings in Lebanon ?
Stone implements have been found at Joubb Jannin aged approximately 300 000 years;
Fish fossils about 75 million years old have been found at Sahil’Alma and in Haqil Byblos;
∙ In 1978, a French archaeological mission discovered in the region of Naher’ El Kabir stone implements dating from 800 000 years;
Other researches and findings leave no doubt about the continued occupation of this region by human being, without interruption for almost 3 million years.
The most interesting archaeological finds was two human skeleton embedded in a rock shelter, one of them was found at Kasr’ Aqil above Antilyas and the other at Antilyas. Both of them turned out to be a child skeleton with strong Mediterranean appearance dating back 30,000 years. This discovery indicates that since at least 30,000 years ago Lebanese people have been of a proper Mediterranean type, independent and different from that of an Arab type. It is therefore contrary to all beliefs to maintain that Lebanese are Arabs.
Next Sunday: Maronites: Indigenous Lebanese descendant of the Phoenicians (2)
Who are the Phoenicians ?
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Liturgical Program for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and the Resurrection
Palm Sunday 1 April 2012
7.30am First Mass
8.45am Second Mass and Procession
10:00am Mass and Procession (English)
11.30am Palm Sunday
5.30pm Fifth Mass and Procession
7.00pm Mass and Procession (English)
Monday 2 April 2012
7.30am Morning Prayers for the first day of Holy Week with Mass
6.00pm Evening prayers, Arrival to the Port ritual & Procession of the Cross
8:00pm Evening prayers and Stations of the Cross in English for the Youth
Tuesday 3 April 2012
7.30am Morning Prayers for Holy Week with Mass
6.00pm Evening prayers & Procession of the Cross.
8:00pm Evening prayers and Stations of the Cross in English for the Youth
Wednesday 4 April 2012
7.30am Morning Prayers for Holy Week with Mass
6.00pm Oil ritual with blessing of the oil followed by Mass & Procession of the Cross
8:00pm Evening prayers and Stations of the Cross in English for the Youth
Holy Thursday 5 April 2012
7.30am Morning Prayers for Holy Week with Mass
6.00pm Evening Mass with the Washing of the Feet - Church will be left open all night
Good Friday 6 April 2012
7.30am Blessing and receiving of the Holy Bread
9.00am Stations of the cross starting from Roberts Park
10.30am Rite of Adoration of the Cross at St Charbel’s New Multipurpose Hall
3:30pm Rite of Adoration of the Cross in English & Procession of the Cross
6.00pm Prayers of the Passion (Litany of ةنم ا م انأ the Sorrowing Mother)
3:00pm. Rite of Adoration of the Cross – The Blessed Naamatallah Centre - Appin
Saturday 7 April 2012
7.30am Morning Prayers
11.00am Prayers of Reconciliation and Confessions
5.30pm Resurrection Mass
12.00am Midnight Mass - Rite of Peace
Resurrection Sunday 8th April 2012
Masses: 7.30am, 8.45am, 11.15am., 5.30 pm in Arabic and 10.00am & 7.00pm in English
Resurrection Monday 9th April 2012
Masses: 7.30am, 8.45am. 11.15 am, 5:30pm In Arabic and 10.00am in English
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Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Charbels-Maronite-Catholic-Church-Sydney/365277440154672
http://www.stcharbel.org.au/
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Charbels-Maronite-Catholic-Church-Sydney/365277440154672
http://www.stcharbel.org.au/
