"You are Peter' and on this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18)
The Maronite Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has chosen the Gospel reading of Matthew 16:13-20 which gives the Catholic Church the foundation for the office of the Pope to read on the Sunday of the Sanctification of the Church.
In this Gospel, Jesus asks His apostles, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" The Apostles responded, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Our Lord then turned to them and asked them, "And you, who do you say that I am?" St. Peter, still officially known as Simon, replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Our Lord recognized that this answer was grace-motivated: "No mere man has revealed this to you, but My heavenly Father."
Because of this response, our Lord said to St. Peter, "You are 'Rock,' and on this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." In this Gospel reading, Jesus confers the leadership of His Church on earth to His apostles.
And this leadership has been passed on throughout the centuries to all the popes and to our current Pope Benedict XVI to lead 'in persona Christi'. We pray for the intentions of the Holy Father and all the Bishops on this Sunday and always.
New Liturgical Year
As we approach the season of Christmas, the Maronite Church starts a new Liturgical Year beginning this Sunday 4 November with the Sanctification of the Church and is followed by the Sunday of the Renewal of the Church. The Church's year of worship, year by year, helps us to recall the mysteries of Christ's life among us but always in the light of the Easter mystery and in the awareness that Jesus is ever-present to us through His Spirit and in His Church. For us, each liturgical year should be like climbing a spiral by which we become more like and ever closer to our Saviour Jesus Christ, so that ultimately we may be one with Him in His glory.
Prayer for a new Maronite Bishop of Australia
As you may be aware, the Vatican is in the process of appointing a new Bishop for the Maronite Diocese of Australia, as a successor to His Grace Bishop Ad Abikaram.
We pray that Our Lord will guide the Church and the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI in selecting a new bishop to shepherd our Maronite Eparchy of Australia. May our new Bishop be according to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I wish you all a blessed week!
Please click here to download the full Kadishat newsletter.
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
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21st Year—Number 1033 Sunday 04/11/2012
Season of the Birth of Jesus
Sanctification of the Church Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: Hebrews 9: 1-12 & Matthew: 16: 13-20
Upon this rock I will build my church“And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is?
But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and oth-ers Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Jesus says to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: You are Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: That you are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.” Matthew 16: 13-20
Reflection Of The Week
The Holy Church
In today’s Gospel Peter speaks up with his answer ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” Peter gives a brief answer, but one which contains the whole sum of our salvation. In this answer, Peter confesses Jesus as Savior “You are the Christ”, and as Son of God.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That confession is the rock on which the church is to be built. The importance is not on Peter but on Christ, the Son of the Living God. Christ is the rock and foundation on which the church is to be built. Christ is the Rock on which the Church shall stand.
Jesus is the real foundation of the church; but it is by this confession—modelled by Peter and the other apostles—that the real foundation is held and believed upon by God's people throughout the church age. On the basis of this confession, believers all around the world are members together of the household of God.
Reflection
We need to respond to Christ’s call. Amid all the voices we hear each day, we need to take the time to listen to the voice of Jesus in our lives, but not only to hear His voice but also to follow Him, for it is only through Christ and His mystical Body, the Church, of whom we form a part, that we can gain salvation.
As the season of the birth of Jesus commences let us prepare to welcome Jesus into our lives. Each of us, at times, is a lost sheep when we stray from God through sin, rebellion or a lack of faith. At times like this, the important thing to remember is God’s infinite love for us. Not only does God welcome us back after we turn from Him; He goes out to find us and volunteers to carry us back to His graces.
May we learn to lay out our burdens and sins before Him, in particular seeking His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is then that the light will shine through us, the light of Jesus, who is the Light of the World.
(By Gwen Simon)
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The Liturgical Year
The Church's year of worship, year by year, helps us to recall the mysteries of Christ's life among us but always in the light of the Easter mystery and in the awareness that Jesus is ever-present to us through His Spirit and in His Church. For us, each liturgical year should be like climbing a spiral by which we become more like and ever closer to our Saviour Jesus Christ, so that ultimately we may be one with Him in His glory.
The Church's year of worship, year by year, helps us to recall the mysteries of Christ's life among us but always in the light of the Easter mystery and in the awareness that Jesus is ever-present to us through His Spirit and in His Church. For us, each liturgical year should be like climbing a spiral by which we become more like and ever closer to our Saviour Jesus Christ, so that ultimately we may be one with Him in His glory.
In the Maronite Rite, the first Sunday of November marks the beginning of the Liturgical Year. The year commences with the Season of Announcement. The Sundays of the Church, even though not directly related to the Season of Announcement, form a fitting introduction to it. If the first of November falls on either a Monday or Tuesday, the feasts of the Renewal and Consecration of the Church are celebrated on the same Sunday. If November 1st falls on any day other than Monday or Tuesday, the Consecration and Renewal of the Church are observed separately, on the first two
Sundays of November.
The Sundays in honour of the Church, ini-tially four or five in number, originated in Jerusalem on September 13, 335 in honour of the newly built Church of the Resurrection, the Anastasis. Outside of Jerusalem, this cycle of Sundays was observed, not in honour of any particular Church, but in honour of the universal Church. Before the close of the fourth century, the cycle had spread northwards and was being ob-served annually in Tyre and Sidon. The physical church structure becomes a symbol of the spiritual realities of Christ's redemptive act. These Sundays of the Church remind us that the entire saving mission of Christ today takes place through His Church.
The Sundays in honour of the Church, ini-tially four or five in number, originated in Jerusalem on September 13, 335 in honour of the newly built Church of the Resurrection, the Anastasis. Outside of Jerusalem, this cycle of Sundays was observed, not in honour of any particular Church, but in honour of the universal Church. Before the close of the fourth century, the cycle had spread northwards and was being ob-served annually in Tyre and Sidon. The physical church structure becomes a symbol of the spiritual realities of Christ's redemptive act. These Sundays of the Church remind us that the entire saving mission of Christ today takes place through His Church.
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Saint of the Week
Saint Michael Archangel
Maronite Feast Day: September 6, November 8
Saint Michael the Archangel is one of the principal angels appointed by God to his service. He appears in Jewish and Catholic tradition as the field commander of the army of God. He is directly referred to in scripture in the Book of Daniel and in Revelation. According to Saint Thomas, he is the prince of the last and the lowest choir, the angels. However, Saint Basil and other Greek Fathers place him at the head of all angels, and call him the Archangel in reference to his rank.
From scripture, Catholic tradition gives Saint Michael four offices:1. To fight against Satan;
2. To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death;
3. To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages;
4. To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgement.
We can turn to Saint Michael the Arch-angel in our darkest hour and when we are most afraid. He protects all who call on him. He has the power to overcome all evil.
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COMMUNION AND WITNESS
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (3)
PART ONE(2): The Christian and ecumenical life (1)
11. It is in this restrictive, unstable and lately violence-prone context that God has permitted his Church to grow. She lives there in a remarkable variety of forms. Along with the Catholic Church, a great number of venerable Churches and Ecclesial Communities of more recent date are present in the Middle East. This mosaic demands a significant and continued effort to build unity in respect for the riches of each, and thus to reaffirm the credibility of the proclamation of the Gospel and Christian witness.[6] Unity is a gift of God which is born of the Spirit and which must be cultivated with patient perseverance (cf. 1 Pet 3:8-9). We know that it is tempting, whenever our divisions make themselves felt, to appeal to purely human criteria, forgetting the sage counsel of Saint Paul (cf. 1 Cor 6:7-8). He entreats us: “Be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). Faith is the centre and the fruit of true ecumenism.[7] Faith itself must first be deepened. Unity is born of constant prayer and the conversion which enables each of us to live in accordance with the truth and in charity (cf. Eph 4:15-16). The Second Vatican Council encouraged this “spiritual ecumenism” which is the soul of true ecumenism.[8] The situation in the Middle East is itself a pressing summons to holiness of life. The vari-ous martyrologies are proof that saints and martyrs of every ecclesial community have been – and certainly remain today – living witnesses of this untrammelled unity in the glorified Christ, a foretaste of our “being gathered together” as a people finally reconciled in him.[9] For this reason, within the Catholic Church herself we need to consolidate the communion which bears witness to the love of Christ.
12. On the basis of the indications set forth in the Ecumenical Directory,[10] the Catholic faithful can promote spiritual ecumenism in parishes, monasteries and convents, in schools and universities, and in semi-naries. Pastors should ensure that the faithful come to see themselves as witnesses of communion in all areas of their lives. Communion in this sense is certainly not confusion. Authentic witness calls for acknowledgement and respect for others, a willingness to dialogue in truth, patience as an expression of love, the simplic-ity and humility proper to those who realize that they are sinners in the sight of God and their neighbour, a capacity for forgiveness, reconciliation and purification of memory, at both the personal and communal levels.
13. I encourage the efforts of theologians who work tirelessly for unity, and I express my appreciation for the activities of local ecumenical commissions at different levels and of the various communities which pray and work for the goal of unity by promoting friendship and fraternity. In fidelity to the Church’s origins and her living traditions, it is also important that all speak with one voice in addressing the great moral questions dealing with the truth about man, the family, sexuality, bioethics, freedom, justice and peace.
14. An “ecumenism of service”, moreover, already exists in the fields of charity and education between Christians of the different Churches and Ecclesial Com-munities. The Middle East Council of Churches, to which the Churches of the various Christian traditions in the region belong, offers a promising setting for a dialogue which can develop in love and reciprocal respect.
Next Sunday: The Christian and ecumenical life (2
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