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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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