Sunday, 17 June 2012

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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