Welcome to this week's edition of Kadishat, St Charbel's weekly newsletter!
As mentioned in last week's message, the Maronite Church is at the beginning of a new liturgical year and is preparing for the Birth of Our Lord. This Sunday is the Sunday of the Renewal of the Church and we read from St John's Gospel about Jesus calling us His sheep who recognise His voice. We are called to be His flock and to commit ourselves to belonging, to keeping enough silence, investing enough discipleship, immersing ourselves deeply enough in community so we learn to listen, hear, and obey the call of God in our lives.
To read more about this Gospel, please click on the link below:
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Feast of the Lebanese Maronite Order
On the occasion of the anniversary of the foundation of the Lebanese Maronite Order on 10 November 1695, we join together as monks, clergy, consecrated and lay people in a prayer of thanks to God for the gift of monastic and consecrated life in the Church. We particularly pray today fot the Lebanese Maronite Order and its Superior General Most Reverend Abbot Tannous Nehme, asking for the Lord's graces upon all those who answered His call and dedicated their lives to God in the Lebanese Maronite Order so they are true witnesses to His Kingdom and that they walk along the path of sainthood in the footsteps of Charbel, Rafqa and Neemtallah and Blessed Estephan.
Conference on the Apostolic Exhortation
St Charbel's Centre for Research is organizing a conference about "The Apostolic Exhortation: The Church in the Middle East, Communion and Witness" with Their Graces Bishop Ad Abikaram & Bishop Robert Rabbat on Thursday 29 November 2012 at 7:30pm in St Mary Mackillop's Hall. We encourage you all to attend.
St Barbara's Feast Day
St Charbel's Parish invites you to a Family event on the occasion of St Barbara's feast day on 30 October 2012 at 6:30pm. Entry is $10 per person. The program includes rides, games for the kids, a masquerade costume parade & prizes.
For more information, please contact Fr Challita Boustany or the parish office.
I wish you all a blessed week by the intercession of St Charbel and all the saints.
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
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21st Year—Number 1034 Sunday 11/11/2012
Season of the Birth of Jesus
Renewal of the Church Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: Hebrews 9: 11-15 & John 10: 22-42
My sheep hear my voice
“At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’
Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’
The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?’The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’ Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law, "I said, you are gods"? If those to whom the word of God came were called "gods" and the scripture cannot be annulled can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, "I am God’s Son"? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’
Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, ‘John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in him there. ” John 10: 22-42
Reflection of the Week
Who is your shepherd?
In today’s Gospel Jesus is calling us his sheep, and He also calls us to be shepherds. There is no higher calling than to recognize genuine love, unconditional caring, the inviting voice of the true Shepherd, God. To be in his flock is to commit ourselves to belonging, to keeping enough silence, investing enough discipleship, immersing ourselves deeply enough in community that we develop the instinct to listen, hear, and obey the call of God to take care of one another, to take care of ourselves, and to take care of our world.
The voice of God
There are many competing voices that compete for our attention each day. But the voice of God speaks to us in many ways, but the question is not so much when, where, or how, but rather what:
What do we hear that voice say to us?
He speaks to us words of relationship. He is not only the shepherd and we are the sheep, but he says to us what kind of shepherd he is. Jesus is defining the quality of his relationship and his responsibilities as one who will lead, feed, and protect his flock. In all of those things, his desire is to be a blessing, a benefit, and a good thing for us.
Jesus speaks to us words of reassurance. Some of the most important words of reassurance the Lord can speak to us are those from Mathew 28:20, “I am with you always.”
Jesus speaks a word of hope. Hope is what our faith is grounded upon. Hope sees God at work even in the darkest of circumstances. As Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” If the voice we hear speaks of despair and doom and fatalism, it’s probably not the voice of the Shepherd.
Jesus speaks a word of trust. So many voices in our world today speak of fear but our Shepherd casts out fear from our lives.
Jesus speaks a word of Forgiveness. Christ came to this earth and died on a cross so we would know the power of forgiveness. Yet so many voices today speak of revenge, or hatred, or the differences that keep us apart.
God breaks through the loud, confused noise of our world to speak words of hope, trust, forgiveness, and truth. And as we hear the voice of the Shepherd, we are called to echo that voice. We are called to speak words of hope, trust, forgiveness, and truth. We are called to be his sheep and hear his voice.
We are called
The Shepherd’s call is about both grace and response. We are the sheep because we are called. We are secure, and no one can take us out of his hand. But, at the same time, we are his sheep because we hear the Shepherd’s voice. We will experience his protection in suffering and persecution and opposition, and going through great tribulation, after which he will wipe every tear from our eyes. So there is responsibility. Our job is to hear his voice, to trust him. In hearing his voice, we look not to our-selves, but to him. It is his hand that keeps us. We do not keep our-selves. But we keep looking to him.
Do you know the shepherd?
Everyone has a shepherd, but not everyone can say, "The Lord is my shepherd." For some, their shepherd is money, success, social status, some hobby, or being at the top of the corporate ladder. Many people know about the shepherd, but they don’t know know the shepherd.
You desire to purify our hearts and to lead us to repentance draw us together as a community and help us to open our hearts to appreciate the gift of each other.
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Saint of the Week
13 NovemberSt John Chrysostom,
Doctor of the Church,
In 349 John was born in Antioch, a center of both culture and here-sies. His father, Secun-dus, was a high-ranking army officer and probably a Roman and a Christian. His mother, Anthusa, was Greek and praised by her son for her piety and virtues. After a classical education, John was baptized during Easter 368.
He then aspired to become a monk and practiced severe austerities for several years, which led to an impairment of his health.
Ordained to the priesthood in 386, he began his illustrious career as a preacher. After twelve years, he succeeded Nectarius as the Patriarch of Constantinople. He instituted many reforms in the ecclesiastical life of the patriarchate, a project which made him unpopular with some of the clergy.His bluntness also created many enemies at court, one of them being the impress, Eudoxia. In 402 John was exiled and underwent great sufferings while travelling from one place to another. He died on September 14,407. His renown as a preacher won for him the name of "Chrysostom," or "Golden
Mouth." For this reason, he is the patron of preachers.
It was John Chrysostom who took the Antiochene liturgy to the imperial court at Byzantium and who wrote the liturgy which bears his name. In addition to being a Father and Doctor of the Universal Church, he is the patron of the entire Byzantine Church and the patron of preachers.
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COMMUNION AND WITNESS
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (4)
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (4)
PART ONE(3): The Christian and ecumenical life (2)
15. The Second Vatican Council points out that, to be effective, the path of ecumenism should be marked “by prayer above all, by example, by scrupulous fidelity to the ancient traditions of the East, by better knowledge of one another, by working together and by an understanding attitude towards persons and things”.*11+ It would be most fitting for all to draw closer to Christ himself. Jesus draws into unity those who believe in and love him; he gives them the Spirit of his Father as well as Mary, his Mother (Jn 14:26;16:7 and 19:27). These two gifts, different in level, can be a powerful source of help, one that merits greater attention on the part of all.
16. Our common love for Christ, “who committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips” (1 Pet 2:22) and the “close bonds”*12+ which exist between the Catholic Church and the Churches of the East not in full communion with her, are an urgent summons to dialogue and unity. In a number of cases, Catholics are linked to the Churches of the East not in full communion by reason of common religious origins. For a renewed ecumenical pastoral outreach in view of common witness, it is helpful to have a clear understanding of the Council’s openness to a certain communication in sacris for the sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick;[13] this is not only possible but even to be commended in some situations, in accordance with specific norms and with the approval of the ecclesiastical authorities.[14] Marriages between Catholics and Orthodox are numerous and call for particular ecumenical attention.[15] I encourage Bishops and Eparchs to apply, to the extent possible and wherever they exist, pastoral agreements on the gradual implementation of a joint ecumenical pastoral effort.
18. I invite the Catholics of the Middle East to cultivate relationships with the faithful of the different Ecclesial Communities present in the region. Various joint initiatives are possible. Common Bible study and a wider diffusion of the Bible could, for example, initiate this process. Particularly fruitful forms of cooperation in the area of charitable activities and the promotion of the values of human life, justice and peace could also be developed or expanded. All this will contribute to greater mutual knowledge and the creation of a cli-mate of esteem; these are indispensable conditions for promoting fraternity.
Next Sunday: Interreligious dialogue
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