Sunday 24 February 2013

Season of the Lent - The Hemorrhaging woman Sunday

A message from Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
 
Dear parishioners and friends of St Charbel’s Parish,

As we enter into the 3rd week of Lent, we reflect this Sunday on the Healing of the Haemorrhaging Woman who touched Jesus in the crowds. In this week's Gospel, we also read about the healing of Jairus' daughter. Jairus was the ruler of the synagogue. He was a man of substance, rich and powerful and religiously prominent. On the other hand, the haemorrhaging woman in the crowd was a social outcast. She was unnamed and considered unclean as one who was under the judgment of God. Jesus treats Jairus and the woman both equally. The same healing power of God is available to both. Both Jairus and the woman show faith in Jesus and seek him out.

To read this week’s Kadishat, please click on the link below:
Please click here to download the full Kadishat newsletter.

Caritas- Project Compassion
Each year, the Caritas Project Compassion runs during Lent. People across Australia donate money and offer hope to the millions of families who fight for justice, peace and survival every day. Project Compassion 2013 carries the message: "Open doors into the future" which is taken from Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 encyclical Spe Salvi, 35, “We work towards a brighter and more humane world so as to open doors into the future”.

We encourage all parishioners to support this worthy cause by collecting a box from the back of the Church and returning it at the end of Lent with any donation you can offer.

We pray that the Lord may reward your generosity with His blessings and graces.

Adult Faith Formation Classes
As mentioned in last week's message, the Diocesan Centre for Faith Formation is launching its Adult Faith Formation Classes for 2013 at St Charbel’s Parish. If you or any adults you know would like to learn about the faith or would like to become Catholics, please contact the Monastery on 9740 0998 for more information.

I wish you all a blessed week.
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay

-------------------------------------------------------

21st Year—Number 1049 Sunday
Season of the Lent
The Haemorrhaging woman Sunday

Readings of this Sunday: 2 Corinthians 7: 4-11 & Luke 8: 40-56

Only believe
“Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.

As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her haemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.’

When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’ While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.’ When Jesus heard this, he replied, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.’

When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.” Luke 8: 40-56

Reflection Of The Week

The Touch of Faith
Today’s Gospel shows us that In faith we can get close to Jesus and touch God in a way that the crowds who try to get a handle on the figure of Jesus fail to achieve.

Today’s Gospel reading concerns very human needs and responses such as love, grief, need, generosity, sickness, fear, hope, healing and joy.

The stories of the raising of Jairus’ daughter and the healing of the haemorrhaging woman are both about healing of body and spirit and consequently the healing of community.

In both healing we find our own stories, our own truth. And we are constantly asked to embrace the truth of the Gospel: to be the good soil, to no longer be confined by the demons that once controlled us. And through the Gospel story interacting with our story, we are to come to some kind of healing in our own lives. That’s how we live the good news.
 
A world of touch
The stories in Mark's Gospel are a vision of a world of touch that is loving and just,
where we see our calling to heal, make whole and restore the community where we enable one another to name and to seek for what heals us. where all this is done in response to the overwhelming love and grace of God, which is for every one of us, and for the entire world.
 
The healing of the Lord
The healing that Jesus brings is more than just relief of symptoms, it's more than just the physical release from pain, disease or discomfort. For what Jesus brings is something more, it's a healing of the whole, a restoration not just of body or mind but something which reaches beyond that to family, relationships, acceptability in society. Not only does Jesus cross socio-economic boundaries, but he also crossed the boundary lines of the religious establishment. As Jesus states, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Later, in the story with the hemorrhaging woman, Jesus declares, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
 
Message of the Gospel
The message of this Gospel is that the poor have power and even priority in Jesus’ mind. Jesus stops his pursuit of healing Jairus’ daughter to hear the truth of an anonymous, abused and tormented woman. He gave her priority. Jairus did everything right. He addressed Him properly, as an equal. He knelt at his feet. He humbly asked Jesus to heal his daughter. But the woman with the flow of blood did not even address Jesus. She spoke to herself, “maybe if I touch him, He’ll heal me,” They were at the opposite ends of the social spectrum. But when Jesus called her daughter, He affirmed again that the poor and the outcast are sons and daughters of the family of God The woman is physically healed, and also socially restored.
 
He calls us to grow in faith
Where faith is there, no matter how small - He responds to it - where it is weak, misdirected, hesitant - He strengthens it. He calls us and challenges us to grow stronger in our faith.
 
Faith in Jesus
That is what healing is all about. It's pushing past the crowd, to touch Christ. It's seeing that smile, and knowing that love, and hearing Jesus say, "My daughter. My son. The faith that made you reach out and touch me has made you well. Go in peace. Look how richly Jesus responded to her needs. Healing. Both of Body and soul.

-------------------------------------------------------

Saint of the Week

Saint John Maroun (+707)
The 1st Patriarch of the Maronite Church
Maronite Feast Day: March 2


Saint John Maroun, monk of the Monastery of St. Maroun and Bishop of Batroun and Mount Lebanon, was elected the first Patriarch of the Maronite Church during the second half of the seventh century AD (c 686 AD), when the See of Antioch lay vacant. He was the first Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, and the 63rd in succession to St. Peter, who founded the See of Antioch in the first century AD. This marked the beginning of the ecclesiastical, national, and organizational structure of the Maronite church.

St. John Maroun and his followers were forced to migrate to Lebanon following assault by imperatorial troops and persecution during the Muslim conquest. The Patriarchal Seat was then transferred to kfarhai, batroun, where a monastery was built (Rich Mro = “Head of Maroun”) to house the skull of St. Maroun.

Traditionally, this was where St. John Maroun died and was buried on 9 March 707 AD. His feast is now celebrated on the second day of March in the Maronite calendar.

St. John Maroun was endowed with a militant apostolic zeal, and under his leadership, a decisive victory was won by the Maronites, which drew the population of Lebanon around the Patriarch. However, St. John Maroun was not only a national leader; he was also a Saint who was active in apostolic missions, teaching, preaching and visiting his people, especially during a time of plague (685AD), for which he wrote a special mass. He also wrote a book on theological doctrine.

-------------------------------------------------------

COMMUNION AND WITNESS
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (19)

PART THREE (2)

70. The exegetical schools of Alexandria, Antioch, Edessa and Nisibe contributed significantly to the Church’s under-standing and dogmatic formulation of the Christian mystery in the fourth and fifth centuries.[69] For this, the whole Church remains indebted to them. The representatives of the various schools of textual interpretation were agreed on the traditional principles of exegesis accepted by the Churches of both East and West. The most important of these principles is the conviction that Jesus Christ incarnates the intrinsic unity of the two Testaments and consequently the unity of God’s saving plan in history (cf. Mt 5:17). The disciples would only come to understand this unity after the resurrection, once Jesus had been glorified (cf. Jn 12:16).

A second principle is fidelity to a typological reading of the Bible, whereby certain Old Testament events are seen as a prefiguration (a type and figure) of realities in the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, who is thus the hermeneutical key to the entire Bible (cf. 1 Cor 15:22, 45-47; Heb 8:6-7). The Church’s liturgical and spiritual writings bear witness to the continued validity of these two principles of interpretation, which shape the ecclesial celebration of the word of God and inspire Christian witness. The Second Vatican Council went on to explain that the correct meaning of the sacred texts is found by considering the content and unity of the whole of Scripture, in the light of the living Tradition of the whole Church and the analogy of faith.[70] For a truly ecclesial approach to the Bible, it would be most helpful to read, both individually and in groups, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini.

71. The Christian presence in the biblical countries of the Middle East is much more than a sociological factor or a mere cultural and economic success story. By rediscovering its original inspiration and following in the footsteps of those first disciples whom Jesus chose to be his companions and whom he sent out to preach (cf. Mk 3:14), the Christian presence will take on new vitality. If the word of God is to be the soul and foundation of the Christian life, the Bible should be readily available within families; this will favour daily reading and meditation on God’s word (lectio divina). Suitable means must be found to establish a genuine biblical apostolate.

72. Modern communications media can prove an excellent means for proclaiming the word of God and promoting reading and meditation on that word. Simple and accessible ways of explaining the Bible will help to dispel prejudices and mistaken ideas about the Bible which become the source of needless and demeaning controversies.[71] Here it would be wise to explain the necessary distinction between inspiration and revelation, inasmuch as a lack of clarity about these two concepts in the minds of many people leads to a false understanding of the sacred texts, with con-sequences for the future of inter-religious dialogue. The media can also help to disseminate the teachings of the Church’s magisterium.

73. To achieve these goals, it is important to support the means of communication which presently exist and to work for the development of suitable new structures. The training of specialised personnel in this sector, so critical not only in the light of rapid technical advances but also be-cause of its pedagogical and ethical implications, is an increasingly urgent task, especially in view of evangelization.

74. Nonetheless, for all the importance of a wise use of the communications media, the latter can never take the place of meditating on the word of God, personally appropriating its message, and drawing upon it in order to respond to the questions of the faithful. This will lead in turn to a greater familiarity with the Scriptures, a yearning for a deeper spirituality and a greater involvement in the apostolate and in mission.[72] Depending on the particular pastoral conditions of each country in the region, a Year of the Bible could be celebrated and then followed, if appropriate, by an Annual Bible Week.[73]

Next Sunday: The liturgy and sacramental life

 -------------------------------------------------------


 Links:
Join us on facebook to get notified about the next post:

-------------------------------------------------------

Sunday 17 February 2013

Season of the Lent - The Leper Sunday

A message from Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay

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."

Please click on this link to view/download the full Kadishat newsletter with Arabic translation:





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

============================================

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”.

============================================

 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.

============================================

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."

============================================

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

68. “They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). With these words Saint Luke makes the first community the prototype of the apostolic Church, that is to say, one that is founded on the Apostles chosen by Christ and on their teaching. The Church’s principal mission, which she has received from Christ himself, is to preserve intact the deposit of the apostolic faith (cf. 1 Tim 6:20), the foundation of her unity, while pro-claiming this faith to the whole world. The Apostles’ teaching brought out the relationship of the Church to the Scriptures of the first Covenant, which find their fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ (cf. Lk 24:44-53).

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)

============================================

 Links:
Join us on facebook to get notified about the next post:

============================================