Firstly, a Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and grandfathers! And a Happy Father’s Day also to all my brothers, the priests and monks, who are spiritual fathers to many souls! May Our Lord bless you and keep all fathers safe!
SCYA Annual Dinner
It was so beautiful seeing over 500 young people gathered at The Bellevue last friday night for St Charbel’s Youth Dinner to support our youth association. The night was a big success with great entertainment and a beautiful crowd. Thank you to all the sponsors, donators and to all who came and supported this event.
Feast of the Birth of Our Lady
On the 8th of September, we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. We recall the birth of the woman chosen by God from the beginning of time to bear His Son and bring life to the world. Through Mary, salvation was made possible. We honour Our Lady on that day and every day asking for Her intercessions and prayers for us before God.
This Week’s Gospel
In this week’s Gospel we read about the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with ointment and her tears while He was in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). This sinful woman opened her heart to Jesus and by doing that she was moved to repent for her sins. May we, like this woman, open our hearts to welcome Our Lord into them.
To read our newsletter for this week, please click on the link below:
Please click here to download the full Kadishat newsletter with Arabic translation.
Have a good week! May Our Lord bless you the intercession of Our Lady!
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
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20th Year—Number 1024 Sunday 02/09/2012
Season of the Pentecost
15th Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10 & Luke 7: 36-50
She has shown great love..
“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him that she is a sinner.’ Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ ”
Luke 7:36-50
Reflection of the Week
We all are in debt
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is visiting a certain town, he is been ministering in the area, and so one of the local religious leaders hosts a dinner for him at his house. Simon the Pharisee is the host. Simon invites some of the prominent citizens to the dinner, the good people that we would like to have at a dinner for the visiting teacher.
An uninvited guest and her actions
But then somebody else shows up, an uninvited guest. She is a woman, and she too has heard of Jesus. And now she crashes the party. She is really eager to be where Jesus is and to show him her extreme gratitude. She does some extraordinary things: She gets down by Jesus’ feet, and, weeping, she wets his feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair! She even kisses his feet and anoints them with some perfumed oil! This woman is really going overboard with her love and appreciation for Jesus!
A sinful woman
But now here is the real shocker: The woman who is doing this- -not only is she an uninvited guest but she was a known sinful woman! She had a bad reputation. So who is she to crash this party and get near our honoured guest and make such a scene? She should not be here, mixing with all the good religious folk.
Simon’s reaction
Simon is thinking something about Jesus. How come Jesus is letting this sinful woman come near him and do these things? If he were really a prophet sent from God, he would know about this woman, and he would not let her near him. Simon the Pharisee has been evaluating the visiting teacher, and he comes to a conclusion about him. He rejects Jesus, because he lets a sinner get next to him and welcomes her display of love.
Simon accused Jesus of the very thing he himself was guilty of – spiritual blindness…! He was blind to his need; she saw her need. Simon saw her past, but Jesus saw her future
Jesus’ response
Jesus knows what Simon is thinking, and so he explains what is going on by way of a story. Two people owe money. One has a certain size debt, the other has a bigger debt, but they both are in debt. And they both are unable to pay. But the one to whom they owe their debts--the money-lender decides to cancel the debts of both. It does not matter how big the debt, what matters is that it is forgiven, purely by the generosity of the lender.
It may look like some of us are bigger sinners than others and even the respectable people, are still sinners. We are still in need of God’s for-giveness. We all are debtors before God, good and bad alike, and we are all alike unable to pay.
> Jesus looked beyond the woman’s body and saw her soul. He saw her in a way no other man had.
> Jesus looked beyond her act and saw her intent. Repentance and true gratitude and worship.
> Jesus looked beyond her sin and saw her faith. Repentance and faith bring salvation…!
> Jesus looked beyond her past and saw her future "go into peace…"
God’s forgiveness
The only thing that will work is God’s forgiveness, and that is freely given to big debtors and little debtors alike. Only do not pretend that you are not a debtor! Do not think that you do not need forgiveness, that you do not need a Saviour. And do not look down your nose at those really bad sinners that God chooses to forgive.
Ref: http://www.freerepublic.com/
Jesus proved He was a prophet by His ability to supernaturally know Simon's thoughts…!
The woman's sins were open,
Simon's sins were hidden;
Simon's sins involved the flesh, hers
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8th September
Feast of the birth of
The Blessed Virgin Mary
Readings: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 & Luke 8:16-21
Feast of the birth of
The Blessed Virgin Mary
Readings: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 & Luke 8:16-21
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Saint of the Week
5th September
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 26, 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun.
On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.
Today the order comprises Active and Contemplative branches of Sisters and Brothers in many countries. In 1963 both the Contemplative branch of the Sisters and the Active branch of the Brothers was founded. In 1979 the Contemplative branch of the Brothers was added, and in 1984 the Priest branch was established.
The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers.
The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families.
Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.
From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1971-1980, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1997
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and re-published in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.
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The Maronites and Lebanon (26)
The Ottomans era (5)
The Ottomans era (5)
The move to Bkerky
Prince Bashir II
The Shihabs succeeded the Maans in 1697. They originally lived in the Hawran region of south-western Syria and settled in Wadi at Taim in southern Lebanon. The most prominent among them was Bashir II, who in many ways was much like his predecessor, Fakhr al Din II, wanting a strong and independent Lebanon. Bashir was an ultra-liberal, his palace contained a mosque and a chapel, he himself was a Maronite Christian by baptism, Muslim by matrimony, and Druze by convenience rather than by conviction.
Under Bashir II, as conditions slightly improved, The Maronites stood now in expectation of finding glory after their long history of suffering and tribulation. Wadi Kannoubine was where the Patriarch took refuge during the period of great hardship, which lasted 383 years, from 1440 to 1823. As peace slowly returned, the Patriarchs envisaged the transfer of their seat to Dimane, Bkerke in winter. The first Patriarch to consider such a move was Youssef HOBAISH, who occupied a house overlooking the valley and belonging to a partner in ownership of a farm west of the village. But the first to act on the idea was Patriarch Hanna EL HAJJ, who built the Patriarchal residence in Dimane now known as the Old Residence, in the center of the village, while near it he erected the church of St John-Maron, now the parish Church. The present residence was the work of Patri-arch Elias HOAYEK, who laid the founda-tion stone on September 28, 1899.
In 1703, cloister of Bkerke was built by Sheikh Khattar EL KHAZEN. It had a little Church with a presbytery alongside. In 1730, it was taken in charge by the Antonine order. In 1750, Bishop Germanos SAKR and Sister Hindyieh Oujaymeh took it as a house for the Congregation of the Sacred Heart. In 1779, an apostolic decree was issued dissolving the Congregation of the Sacred Heart and putting the house at the disposition of the Maronite community for any useful purpose.
In 1786, the Maronite Synod of Bishops declared that Bkerke should be a dependency of the residence at Kannoubine. In 1890, Patriarch Hanna EL HAJJ restored it, adding part of the ground floor and the whole of the upper story. Brother Leonard, the Lazarist, was the architect. He also planned the residence at Dimane.
Ref: History of the Maronite Patriarchate
www opuslibani.org
Next Sunday: The Ottomans era (6) The end of the Ottomans era
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