Welcome to this week's edition of Kadishat- our last edition for 2012!
On the last Sunday before the beginning of the New Year next Tuesday , we read the Gospel about the Finding of Jesus in the Temple as written by St Luke. Like other Jewish boys, Jesus became personally responsible before the law. Jesus, at the time of the Passover, is in his Father's house with the teachers of the law when Joseph and Mary be-come distressed and worried for his safety. He had become separated from them and they did not know his whereabouts. Upon finding him in the temple, they reproached him for disappearing from them. Jesus' reply to his parents foretells where obedience to the will of his Father will lead him: He will be lost to death and on the third day he will be found again on Easter morning when he will be robed in glory. (Source: This edition of Kadishat).
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This Tuesday is the 1st of January - New Year's Day—A day of peace
In 1968, Pope Paul VI declared the first day of the year, a day of peace. It is vital to reflect on the birth of Jesus who is the light of the world, the foundation of love and affection. Jesus is the source of all peace. He is the paraclete, that is, the Counsellor - the giver of inner peace. Let us ask Jesus to penetrate our hearts today and grant us that peace and serenity which cannot be measured, so that we can flood the world with his astounding peace.
I wish all our community a Blessed New Year!
In God’s Love,
Fr. Dr. Antoine Tarabay
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21st Year—Number 1041 Sunday 30/12/2012
Season of the Birth of Jesus
Finding of Jesus in the Temple Sunday
Sunday’s Readings: Hebrews 7: 11-19 & Luke 2: 41-52
He was obedient to them“ .Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. As-suming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour. ” Luke 2: 41-52
Reflection of the week
Always here
At the age of twelve, Jesus, like other Jewish boys, became personally responsible before the law. Jesus, at the time of the Passover, is in his Father's house with the teachers of the law when Joseph and Mary become distressed and worried for his safety. He had become separated from them and they did not know his whereabouts. Upon finding him in the temple, they reproached him for disappearing from them. Jesus' reply to his parents foretells where obedience to the will of his Father will lead him: He will be lost to death and on the third day he will be found again on Easter morning when he will be robed in glory. There will be many times in the life of Jesus when Mary and Joseph and later the disciples will have to learn to cope with the apparent absences of Jesus.
However, no matter how difficult and perplexing their life with Jesus would become as his Mystery unfolds, Mary and Joseph were willing to submit completely to the will of God. As Christians, like Mary, Joseph and his disciples, we must learn to cope with the times in our lives when we feel the absence of Jesus. Jesus is always with us, but we, in difficult circumstances, do not al-low ourselves to feel his presence.
Walking with Jesus
Just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, who did not recognize the presence of Jesus after his resurrection, there are times in our lives too when we are unable to grasp that he is walking along with us. Yet whether we recognise him or not, whether we sense his presence or refuse it, he is there, even when we have no possible reason for hoping so. He is praying within us in the silence of our hearts, in an unvoiced prayer.
The world does not give peace
We live in an anxious world. A world where old boundaries are shifting and old values are being replaced by newer less certain ways of living.
Anxious - about those phone calls we have to make,
Anxious about those bills we have to pay,
Anxious about buying a new house,
Anxious about finding a new car,
Anxious about money being tight this month,
Anxious about many and many things….
So worried, about the looks, weight, diet,
So worried our car is not the best,
So worried we are paying too much for the insurance,
We all get anxious and worried - about many things.
In the world we are not at peace. The world makes us anxious sand wor-ried. The world does not give peace. The world gives anxiety.
The answer is that we don't have to live without Jesus. we need to hear these words of Jesus again,:"Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." he promises us the Holy Spirit: "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you."
Through the Holy Spirit we can hear God's voice today. Through the Holy Spirit we can learn what God is saying to us, and eventually put our anxie-ties to rest.
And through this we might learn to love God more and more so that we can keep his word, and embrace all the wonder of a life freed up, with all our fears behind us.
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“Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,
a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say: I am going away and shall return.
You heard me say: I am going away and shall return.
If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.
I shall not talk to you much longer, because the prince of this world is on his way.
I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.
I shall not talk to you much longer, because the prince of this world is on his way.
He has no power over me,
but the world must recognise that I love the Father and that I act just as the Father commanded.
but the world must recognise that I love the Father and that I act just as the Father commanded.
Come now, let us go.”
John 14: 27-31
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COMMUNION AND WITNESS
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (11)
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION for the MIDDLE EAST (11)
PART TWO (1):
“The company of those who be-lieved were of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32)
37. The outward aspect of the nascent Christian community was described in terms of spiritual qualities which express the Church’s koinonia: those who believed were of one heart and one soul. This phrase conveys the profound meaning of giving witness, which is the reflection of an interior life both personal and communitarian. By letting itself be inwardly knit together by divine grace, each particular Church can experi-ence anew the beauty of the first community of believers which was united in that faith moved by charity that visibly characterizes the disciples of Christ (cf. Jn 13:35). Koinonia brings consis-tency and coherence to witness, and demands constant conversion.
Conversion for its part brings communion to perfection and in turn consolidates witness. “Without communion there can be no witness: the life of communion is truly the great witness.”[31] Communion is a gift to be fully accepted by all and a reality to be constantly built up anew. I invite all the mem-bers of the Churches present in the Middle East, each in accordance with his or her vocation, to consolidate communion, humbly and prayer-fully, so that the unity for which Christ prayed may be realized (cf. Jn 17:21).
38. The Catholic notion of the Church looks to the communion which exists between the uni-versal and the particular. There is a relationship of mutual interiority between the universal Church and the particular Churches, and this identifies and makes concrete the Church’s catholicity. The presence of the whole in each of the parts gives each part an inner impulse to-wards universality, an impulse that in one sense is manifested in the missionary impulse of each of the Churches and, in another sense, in the sincere recognition of the goodness of the other parts, which includes acting in harmonious co-operation with them. The universal Church is a reality which precedes the particular Churches, which are born in and through the universal Church.[32] This truth is faithfully reflected in Catholic teaching, especially that of the Second Vatican Council.[33] It leads to an understanding of the hierarchical dimension of ecclesial com-munion and allows the rich and legitimate diver-sity of the particular Churches constantly to develop within that unity in which particular gifts can become an authentic source of enrich-ment for the universality of the Church. A re-newed and lived awareness of these basic prin-ciples of ecclesiology will allow for a rediscovery of the distinctiveness and richness of Catholic identity in the lands of the East
Next Sunday: Patriarchs and Bishops
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