Season of the Cross - 4th Sunday

Dear parishioners and friends of St Charbel’s Parish,

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of the Cross. In our Gospel, we reflect on the second topic of this period and that is, waiting for the coming of the Lord in prayer and spiritual perseverance and to remain loyal to the service that has been entrusted to us by the Lord like the ‘faithful and wise servant’ (Matt 24:45).

Please click here to download the full Kadishat newsletter with Arabic translations.

October- Month of the Holy Rosary
The Catholic Church dedicates the month of October for the Holy Rosary and the first Sunday of the month is Rosary Sunday.

Throughout the entire history of the Church, in the Sacred Scripture and in each appearance of our Blessed Mother, the call to prayer has always been emphasised. To quote from St. Padre Pio, it is important to love Our Lady and “pray the rosary, for her rosary is the greatest weapon against the evils of the world today”.

I encourage all the youth to persevere in your prayer life and I invite you to join our rosary group every night at 8.30pm in the Church. It is only through prayer that we can face the spiritual turmoils in our lives today.

St Charbel’s Annual Dinner
Tickets are selling fast for St Charbel’s Annual Dinner on the 13th of October 2012.
Through your support, we are hoping to raise funds to launch our new project: St Charbel’s Nursing Home. Your support today will help us look after you and your loved ones tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing you all next Saturday at St Charbel’s Multi-Purpose Hall. Tickets are available by contacting the Monastery on 9740 0998.
I wish you all a blessed week by the intercession of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary!

In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay

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20th Year—Number 1029 Sunday 07/10/2012
Season of the Cross
4th Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 & Matthew 24: 45-51

Who is the wise and trustworthy servant

“Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom the master placed over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed that servant if his master's arrival finds him doing exactly that. In truth I tell you, he will put him in charge of everything he owns. But if the servant is dishonest and says to himself, "My master is taking his time," and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. ” Matthew 24: 45-51

Reflection of the Week

Discipleship
Today's Gospel reminds us of responsible discipleship. The disciple is not to be concerned with the timing of the final revelation of Jesus. Rather the disciple should concentrate on living the life of a servant. It is on this that the disciple will be judged. Matthew is especially concerned with those in the Christian community who exercise positions of leadership. They have a special obligation to carry out their ministry of service in the manner taught them by Jesus.

Rise to Serve
The Glory of God is a person standing up!
Surely Lord, you do not want me to stoop,
to hide myself, to humble myself.
What I am and what is most beautiful in me comes from you.

My intelligence, my talents and my sense of responsibility are your gifts to me day after day.
You do not want my intelligence to turn into arrogance, my abilities to be used to subjugate others.
You do not want my faith and my confidence in your presence, to become a careless assurance, self-righteousness, or a groundless claim to have the whole truth.
You want me standing up so that I may follow Christ and help those who are overwhelmed with grief, with poverty and hardships to rise again. If you give me strength and intelligence, it is to better serve others.

A Servant of Christ Jesus
Loving Christ, you identified with me in the agonies of humankind, and you even went so far as to bear the consequences of my sins. You adopted me as your child and commissioned me to be your servant. I need your help to fulfil my call to service by identifying with the needs of my brothers and sisters and in communicating your love and grace to them. I understand that my response to your great love must be commitment. Discipleship will not lead to softness, and may lead to suffering. I am learning my Lord, that my service to you must be rendered to your human creatures about me. I am to be in some amazing manner, a visible member of your divine personhood. O God you have entrusted me with an awesome responsibility. Enable me, by your grace, to be your faithful and effective servant. Amen.

This week’s Reading
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11
The theme of today's reading is that the 'Day of the Lord' comes when people least expect it. Christians belong to God and live in His Light. We are to work while the light of Jesus shows us the way. If we are loyal to the way of Christ, leading a life of faith, hope and love, then the timing of the Lord's coming will be of no significance, for we will be in a state of readiness.

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A Day to Remember
St. Charbel was declared a saint on October 9th 1977 when the Church recognised his sanctity. 

On this day, Pope Paul VI said of him, 

"He helps us to understand in a world very often fascinated with riches and comfort, 

the irreplaceable value of poverty, of penance, 

and of asceticism in freeing the soul in its ascent to God". 

Saint Charbel was the first person from Lebanon to be declared a saint for the universal church.

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The first Sunday of October
Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

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 Saint of the Week

Our Lady of the Rosary
1st Sunday of October

Our Lady of the Rosary is a title of the Virgin Mary related to the prayer of the Rosary, whose origin has been attributed to an appa-rition of Our Lady to St Dominic in 1208 in the church Prouille, near Carcasonne in the south of France.

Pope Pius V instituted the feast of “Our Lady of Victory” to com-memorate the naval victory of Don John of Austria over the Turk-ish fleet at Lepanto on the 7 October 1571, the first Sunday of the month. The victory was attributed to the help of the Mother of God, because a rosary procession had been offered on that day in St. Peter’s Square in Rome for the success of the League in pre-venting Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. Two years later, at the request of the Do-minican Order, Pope Gregory XIII in 1573 allowed this feast to be kept in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1671 the observance of the feast was extended by Pope 

Clement X to the whole of Spain.

Somewhat later Pope Clement XII, following the victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August 1716 (the feast of our Lady of the Snows), at Peter-wardein in Hungary, decreed that the Feast of the Rosary be cele-brated by the whole Church on the first Sunday in October.
In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to “Our Lady of the Rosary”. Today’s cele-bration invites all of us to meditate often on the mysteries of Jesus’ life.

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The Maronite Liturgy:The Maronites and Lebanon (31)
The Maronite Liturgy:

Awaiting for the second coming of the Lord
To follow up the previous article about the Maronite Liturgy, we have found it important to display to our readers the following information:

What do we understand by liturgy?
Liturgy is viewed as being the outward expression of what the faithful feel towards God. The aim of good liturgy is to praise God and grow nearer to Him. Since people express themselves according to their culture, liturgy can be Eastern, Western, African... In this diversity the church shows itself to be universal. Each liturgy or ritual, whether Antiochienne, Byzantine, Latin, or Copt... is basically the expression of a particular race’s devotion.

What is the Maronite liturgy?
The Maronite church started in the diocese of Antioch. In the 4th century, it comprised Phoenicia, Syria and Palestine. This diocese had its own liturgy (the Syrio- Antiochian liturgy) so called because the Syriac or Aramaic language was used for the religious ceremonies or prayer in common in this area. Christ himself spoke it, and the words of consecration sung by the Maronite priest at mass are practically the same words that Christ used in the last supper. Maronites spoke Syriac until the last century, but now it is a dead language except in a few regions of the Middle East.

What are the origins of the Maronite liturgy?
The Maronite liturgy is the Syriac liturgy of St. James of Jerusalem originated and developed as follows:
1) St. Peter and other apostles brought the liturgy of the last supper to Antioch where it developed.

2) This early liturgy of Antioch was ascribed to St. James the Less, first bishop of Jerusalem, and modified for use at Jerusalem. In its Greek form, this liturgy of St. James was used throughout the entire ecclesiastical jurisdiction or patriarchate of Antioch.
3) A later translation into Syriac become the Syriac liturgy of St. James or the Maronite liturgy.
4) This Liturgy was enriched by the hymns and prayers of St. Ephrem, James of Saroug and other fathers of the Antiochian See.

Next Sunday: The Maronite Liturgy (2)
Where there any factors that modified the Maronite Liturgy?

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Season of the Pentecost - 4th Sunday

 Dear parishioners and friends of St Charbel’s Parish,

This week, we reflect in our Sunday mass on the Gospel of St Luke (10:21-24): 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see’. In this Gospel, Jesus makes clear that the true source of our happiness is God and God alone. He also tells us that He is the perfect revelation of God. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God. To read more about this Sunday’s Gospel, about the Maronites and our events and activities, please click the link below:

Please click here to download the full Kadishat newsletter with ARABIC translation.

June- Month of the Sacred Heart

As mentioned in a previous message, the Catholic Church dedicates the Month of June for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The term "Sacred Heart of Jesus" denotes the entire mystery of Christ. The "Sacred Heart" is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Saviour, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers (from the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy).

We pray during this month that the Spirit penetrates our thoughts, our desires, our words and our deeds so that the Sacred Heart of Jesus may shine through us.

St Anthony of Padua- Feast Day: 13 June

Last Wednesday, June 13, the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of St Anthony of Padua, a Father of the Church. St Anthony is a very loved Saint and the “finder of lost things.” We entrust him with all the lost children of the Church so that, through his intercession, they may find their way to the Catholic Church and to Our Lord.

I wish you all a blessed week!

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20th Year—Number 1013 Sunday 17/06/2012
Season of the Pentecost
4th Sunday
Readings of this Sunday: 1 Corinthians 2: 11-16 & Luke 10: 21-24

'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see’

“Just at this time, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.

Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'

Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.' ”

Luke 10: 21-24

Reflection of the Week  

"Rejoice that your names are written in heaven" Luke 10: 21-24

This passage of the Gospel is usually called our Lord's "hymn of joy" and is also found in St. Matthew (11:25-27). It is one of those moments when Jesus rejoices to see humble people understanding and accepting the word of God. Today’s Gospel tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). 

Jesus makes clear that the true source of our joy is God and God alone. Regardless of the circumstances, in good times and bad times, in success or loss, God always assures us of victory in Jesus Christ. Our Lord also reveals one of the effects of humility--spiritual childhood. But spiritual childhood does not involve weakness, softness or ignorance rather it involves humility that leads us to a true recognition of who we are in God and of our dependence on Him.

Jesus' prayer

Jesus' prayer tells us about God and about ourselves. It tells us that God is both Father and Lord of earth as well as heaven. He is both Creator and Author of all that he has made, the first origin of everything and at the same time, goodness and loving care for all his children. All fatherhood and motherhood is derived from him (Ephesians 3:14-15). Jesus' prayer also contains a warning that pride can keep us from the love and knowledge of God.

God gives grace to the humble

Jesus contrasts intellectual pride with childlike simplicity and humility. Just as pride is the root or every sin and evil, so humility is the only soil in which the grace of God can take root. It alone takes the right attitude before God and allows him as God to do all. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34, James 4:6). Nothing can give us greater joy than the knowledge that we are God's beloved and that our names are written in heaven. Do you seek to be like Jesus Christ in humility and simplic-ity of heart?

In Jesus we see the perfect love of God

Jesus makes a claim which no one would have dared to make: He is the perfect revelation of God. One of the greatest truths of the Christian faith is that we can know the living God. Our knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we can know God personally. Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as our Father. 

To see Jesus is to see what God is like. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God -- a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God -- a God who loves us completely, unconditionally and perfectly. Jesus also promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in his name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with confidence, ‘Our Father who art in heaven give us this day our daily bread’.

Do you pray to your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for you?

Reference: http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/luke1017.htm

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Physical eyesight is an incredible gift. 

Being able to see the rich colors and diversity of objects in our world 

cannot be equalled by any of the other senses. 

Spiritual eyesight is an even greater gift. 

It allows us to “see” those things that cannot be equalled by anything in this physical world.

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Saints of the Week:  

St Leontius of Tripoli, Martyr

18th June

Very famous saint in Lebanon and Phoenicia in the early Christianity era.

Saints Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus were Roman soldiers who, according to Christian tradition, were martyred for their faith.

Leontius was Greek by origin, and served as an officer of the imperial army in the Phoenician city of Tripoli in Lebanon during the reign of Vespasian (70-79). Leontius was distinguished for his bravery and good sense, and the people of Tripoli held him in deep respect because of his virtue.

The emperor appointed the Roman senator Adrian as governor of the Phoenician district, with full powers to hunt out Christians, and in case of their refusal to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, to give them over to torture and death. On his way to Phoenicia, Adrian received a report that Leontius had turned many away from worshipping the pagan gods. The governor sent the tribune Hypatius with a detachment of soldiers to Tripoli so as to find and arrest the Christian Leontius. Along the way the tribune Hypatius fell seriously ill, and being near death, he saw in a dream an angel, which said: "If you wish to be healed, you and your soldiers should say three times: 'God of Leontius, help me.'".

Opening his eyes Hypatius beheld the angel and said, "I was sent to arrest Leontius, how is it that I should appeal to his God?" At this moment the angel became invisible. Hypatius told his dream to the soldiers, among whom was his friend Theodulus, and all of them together asked for help from the God whom Leontius confessed. Hypatius was immediately healed, to the great joy of his soldiers, but only Theodulus sat aside, pondering the miracle. His soul was filled with love for God, and he told Hypatius to proceed twice as quickly to the city in search of St Leontius.

Upon their arrival in the city, a stranger met them and invited them to his house, where he lavishly hosted the travelers. Learning that their hospitable host was St Leontius, they fell on their knees and asked him to enlighten them with faith in the True God. They were baptized there, and when Leontius prayed over them calling on the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, a luminous cloud overshadowed the newly-baptized and poured forth rain. The remaining soldiers in search of their commander arrived in Tripoli, where the governor Adrian had also arrived. Learning what had happened, he order Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus to be brought to him. After threatening them with torture and death, he demanded that they renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.

All three firmly confessed their faith in Christ. Hypatius was put under a column and raked with iron claws, and Theodulus was mercilessly beaten with rods. Seeing the steadfastness of these saints, they beheaded them. 

After torture, they sent Leontius to prison. In the morning he came before the governor. Adrian tried to entice him with honors and rewards, but accomplishing nothing, he gave him over to new tortures. Leontius was suspended head downwards from a pillar with a heavy stone about his neck, but nothing could make him renounce Christ. The governor gave orders to beat the sufferer with rods until he died. They then threw Leontius' body outside the city, but Christians reverntly buried it near Tripoli.

The deaths of these martyrs occurred between 70-79. The accusation against St. Leontius and his sufferings and death are recorded on tin tablets prepared by the court scribe (commentarisius). These tablets were placed at the grave.

St Jude or Thaddeus or Laba, Apostle

19 June 2012

Son of Cleophas, who died a martyr, and Mary who stood at the foot of the Cross, and who annointed Christ's body after death. Brother of Saint James the Lesser. Nephew of Mary and Joseph; blood relative of Jesus Christ, and reported to look a lot like him. May have been a fisherman. Apostle.

Wrote the canonical Epistle named for him. Preached in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia with Saint Simon. Healer. Exorcist. Could exorcise pagan idols, which caused the demons to flee and the statues to crumble.

His patronage of lost or impossible causes traditionally derives from confusion by many early Christians between Jude and the traitor Judas Iscariot; not understanding the difference between the names, they never prayed for Jude's help, and devotion to him became something of a lost cause.

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The Maronites and Lebanon (14)

Lebanon for the Maronites (3)

Amioun 694

The Emperor was determined to crush the Maronite Marada. The Byzantine troops moved from Syria to Lebanon, the main stronghold of the Maronites. According to Maronite chronicles, the Patriarch’s nephew, Abraham, sent his uncle 12,000 strong army from Syria. They joined the Lebanese Maronites and what was left of the Marada army under the leadership of Prince Massoud. The 2 armies met in 694 and the decisive battle took place at Semar-Gebail (district of Batroun) and in Amyoun (district of al-Kura). The Byzantine army was smashed and their leaders Maurikios and Markianos were killed in this battle. They were buried in Amyoun and Shoueti-Akkar respectively.

Lebanon for the Maronites.

This decisive victory of the Maronites, rallied around the Patriarch John Maroun, most of the population of Lebanon. Patriarch John Maroun was endowed with a militant apostolic spirit, in which he impressed upon the Maronites. Thus Lebanon was established and consecrated as a national and religious home-land for the Maronites, headed by Patriarch John Maroun and his successors. 

To defend this national homeland the Maronite community was organized not only as a hierarchical church but also as a military body and mainly as a agricultural society. 

When in Syria, Patriarch John Maroun resided in Antioch and in St. Maroun Monastery, in Lebanon his residence was in Kfarhai (Batroun’s district) where he built a monastery there, to house the skull of St. Maroun in which he transferred this miraculous relic from St Maroun Monastery in the province of Apamea, Syria.

References:

1- Rev Mahfouz J,(1987), Short History of the Maronite Church, Jounieh, Imp. St Paul.

2- Harb, AK.(1985) Les/the Maronites, Lebanon, Atallah S.A.R.L

Next Sunday:

Crusaders… 400 years before the Crusaders

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Links:

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