Dear parishioners and friends of St Charbel’s Parish,
On this Sunday, the Maronite Church reflects on Jesus healing of the Leper.
Lepers had to live in complete isolation, it was forbidden for them to have any physical contact with others. Many of the Jews regarded leprosy as a punishment from God. We can liken leprosy to sin, because sin defiles your soul. Jesus forgives our sins just as instantly as he cleansed the leper if we truly seek forgiveness. We must call out to Him, trust in Him, and believe in His ability to forgive, "Lord, you can cleanse me."
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Adult Faith Formation and Baptism
The Diocesan Centre for Faith Formation is launching its Adult Faith Formation Classes for 2013 on Saturday the 23rd of February at 4pm at St Charbel’s youth house. If you or any adults you know would like to learn about the faith or would like to become Catholics, please contact the Monastery for more information.
Bible Study
During Lent and for spiritual renewal in this Year of Faith, the Fathers of St Charbel’s will be holding Bible Study nights in parishioners’ homes in English and Arabic. If you are interested in hosting an evening, please contact the parish office.
I wish you all a blessed week and a spiritually fruitful Lenten journD On this Sunday, the Maronite Church reflects on Jesus healing of the Leper. Lepers had to live in complete isolation, it was forbidden for them to have any physical contact with others. Many of the Jews regarded leprosy as a punishment from God. We can liken leprosy to sin, because sin defiles your soul. Jesus forgives our sins just as instantly as he cleansed the leper if we truly seek forgiveness. We must call out to Him, trust in Him, and believe in His ability to forgive, "Lord, you can cleanse me."
I wish you all a blessed week and a spiritually fruitful Lenten journey.
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
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21st Year—Number 1048 Sunday 17/02/2013
Season of the Lent
The Leper Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: Roma 6: 12-23 & Mark 1: 35-45
“I do choose. Be made clean!”
“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.” Mark 1: 35-45
Reflection of the week
Forgiving our sins.
This miracle of the healing of the leper is God's declaration to Israel and to all of mankind that Jesus of Nazareth is the only one who can heal the worst of our diseases. We need to know that only Jesus has the power to heal the leper, and the power to heal our spiritual leprosy.
Lepers had to live in complete isolation, it was forbidden for them to have any physical contact with a others. Many of the Jews regarded leprosy as a punishment from God. We can liken leprosy to sin, because sin defiles your soul. The lepers had to go to Jesus to be cleansed and required a priest as a witness to prove they had been healed. This shows us that the sickness of sin can only be cleansed through Jesus’ forgiveness.
This man did not doubt that the Lord had the power to cleanse him, but he doubted if the Lord would do it, just as some people doubt whether Jesus will deliver them from their sin and think they might have gone too far. But hear Jesus' response, "I am willing; be cleansed". Jesus is always willing to forgive us, even when we may not think so. We just have to be willing.
Jesus instructed the man to make sure he follows the Mosaic Law, and tell no one but instead, first "go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering." Jesus knew that the man would go home to his family, and also tell his neighbours what had happened. How could he not? But before he did that, Jesus wanted the man to first do what the Law required, and get pronounced clean by the priest, and then also make an offering, just as Moses commanded.
Was the leper looking for Jesus?
If this man was full of leprosy, he probably had not had much human contact for many years. But for some reason, he sought the human contacts of Jesus because he knew what He was capable of.
The leper must have drawn away the few people in the small towns, but he would have fell on his face and implored Jesus when he met Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." How did the leper recognise Jesus? Either he had seen Jesus before, or he had heard descriptions of Him. Or maybe, as the crowds gave way before the leper, Jesus did not move out of the way, but let the leprous man draw near. However it happened, the man prostrated himself before Jesus and begged for cleansing. This request was not conditional upon the ability of Jesus to heal, but rather upon His willingness. God gave the leper the opportunity to find Jesus in order for him to be healed. It was his faith and determination which appealed to Jesus. If we show faith and determination, nothing is impossible. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20).
Jesus forgives our sins just as instantly as he cleansed the leper. But we as believers must truly seek forgiveness. We must call out to Him, trust in Him, and believe in His ability to forgive. Then, all it takes is those few words, “you can cleanse me”.
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Prayer
We pray for leprosy sufferers, That we might see them healed.
We pray for those who work with them, Out in the battle field.
We do not see the suffering, Or the anguish they've endured.
But Lord, it is our dearest wish to see the victims cured.
We thank you for your Blessings, Lord Given to us each day.
Help us to be more caring, And not just walk away.
To those who are suffering, Lord, We pray that they will find
Thy loving, tender mercies, In body, soul and mind.
Amen.
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Saint of the Week
Saint James, the Hermit of Cyrrhus
Hermit and Disciple of Saint Maroun (+5th C)
Maronite Feast Day: Feb 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 sub-merged 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 inttl 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."
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COMMUNION AND WITNESS
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (18)
PART THREE (1)
“We proclaim ... a crucified Christ ...
the power and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24)
66. Christian witness, the primary form of mission, is part of the Church’s deepest vocation, in fidelity to the mandate received from the Lord Jesus: “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). When she proclaims Christ crucified and risen (cf. Acts 2:23-24), the Church becomes ever more fully what she is already by nature and vocation: the sacrament of communion and reconciliation with God and between men.[66] Communion and witness to Christ are thus two aspects of a single reality: both draw from the same source, the Holy Trinity, and rest on the same foundations: the word of God and the sacraments.
67. The word of God and the sacraments nourish and give authenticity to other acts of divine worship and the devotional practices of popular piety. Progress in the spiritual life entails an increase in charity and leads naturally to witness. Before all else, the Christian is a witness. To be a witness, however, calls not only for a Christian formation which imparts an understanding of the truths of faith, but also for a life in harmony with that faith, a life capable of responding to the expectations and needs of our contemporaries.
The word of God, soul and source of communion and witness
69. Meditation on the mystery of the Church as communion and witness, in the light of the Scriptures, that great book of the Covenant between God and his people (cf. Ex 24:7), guides us to the knowledge of God; it is a “light for our path” (Ps 119 *118+:105), “lest we stumble” (Ps 121: 3).*67+ May the Christian faithful, as heirs of this covenant, always seek truth in the whole of the divinely inspired Scriptures (cf. 2 Tim 3:16-17). The Bible is not a historical curio, but “the work of the Holy Spirit, through which we can hear the very voice of the Lord and know his presence in history”*68+ – our human history.
Next Sunday: PART THREE (2)
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