What gift will you give Jesus this Christmas? The gift of your “Past, Present and Future”….
Brothers and Sisters,
Today we celebrate the Genealogy of Jesus. We listen to the names of a long list of individuals, some of which were great and some of which were not so great. This list of individuals concludes with the birth of Jesus who came not to wipe away the past but rather to perfect it. If you notice there has always been a struggle to attain this perfection that Jesus brought. Even his own life was a struggle to the very end when he was crucified on the cross. Jesus’ Genealogy and life is somewhat like our own don’t you think? I’m sure that there are plenty of people in our ancestry who were great and others who were not so. Even our own life is often scarred with events or things that take place that we are not too proud of. However one thing is for certain, we should never be embarrassed by our past or by own genealogy. Rather, we should learn from the good and the bad aspect and use what we learn to perfect our own lives. This is why we need to offer our past to Jesus as a gift this Christmas and not be embarrassed by it because it is one aspect that forms our identity in more ways than we think. We should be proud of who we are, with our strengths and with our weaknesses, with our dreams and our aspirations.
Further, we also need to place our present and our future in his hands. With Jesus at the centre, our lives become so much more meaningful. Rather than measuring our lives by the things that have taken place in our past or by our family history, having our present and future life centred on Jesus will mean that we can measure ourselves on how much we reflect the image of Jesus in our lives. Becoming Christ-like may not mean that we become the most influential person in history like him, but it will mean that through him we will be able to have some influence on those who cross our paths in this life-time.
Our Christmas preparations are well underway and the Christmas Novena started beautifully on Tuesday both in Arabic (after the evening Mass) and in English (at 8pm). Christmas Adoration and Carols by Candlelight were also a perfect way of experiencing the Christmas spirit in the midst of our Lord. Thank you to all the committees who are working so hard to prepare all these events. The Holy Door of Mercy was opened last Saturday by His Excellency Antoine-Charbel. It will be open every day until the 20 November 2016 (from 6.30am till 10pm), so please make the pilgrimage and obtain the graces and indulgences from the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Finally, on behalf of all the priests and parishioners I would like to congratulate the Year 12 students, Sisters, Staff and parents at the Maronite College of the Holy Family on the excellent HSC results. We wish you every success for your future.
Fr Tony Sarkis
What gift will you bring Jesus this Christmas? The gift of your “Weaknesses”…
Brothers and Sisters,
As we celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist through our Liturgy this week I want to focus on a particular gift which you may consider to be a little strange. Last week I spoke about giving Jesus the gift of your “strengths” and this week I have chosen the gift of your “weaknesses”. You are probably asking yourself: how can your
weakness be a gift? How can a negative be a positive?
We all have weaknesses and whether or not we identify them or face them they can prove to be a big burden in our lives or a cross that we carry throughout our lives. These weaknesses can vary greatly. So how do we give Jesus the gift of our weaknesses? We give him this gift by firstly acknowledging that this weakness exists and that God has created us and loves us even with our weakness.
Secondly, we accept that this weakness is part of our identity, a part of who we are.
Thirdly, we need to work on this weakness with every effort so that it does not
allow us to fall into the trap of sin and destroy our relationship with God. We must not let it get the better of us, we must use everything that we have in our power to resist the temptation to be complacent and allow it to take over our lives.
Fourthly, we need to pray for this weakness.
Lastly, we need to place it in the hands of Jesus as an offering or a sacrifice that at times we must live with for the rest of our lives. However when we place our weakness in the hands of the Lord the cross that we are
carrying becomes lighter because we allow him to carry this cross with us. This weakness then turns into
something that we can learn from carrying us to the salvation and holiness that our heart truly desires.
So this Christmas, place in the hands of Jesus the gift of your weaknesses and allow him to help you in carrying your cross.
The preparations for the birth of our Lord are truly in full swing. The stunning nativity in the church with all the Christmas decorations is captivating the hearts of all. A very big thank you to our Seniors and Media committees and youth who have organised these and who have truly been living the spirit of Christmas by helping with all the decorations and events. The count down to the Christmas Novena has begun and we are exactly ten days away from the start. We will be praying the Novena in Arabic after the evening Masses and in English later on in the night (at 8pm except for the night of the Carols). Please keep an eye out for the announcements and flyers so that you don’t miss out.
Fr Tony Sarkis
What gift will you bring Jesus this Christmas? The gift of your “Strengths”…
Brothers and Sisters,
Today we arrive at the third station of this Glorious Season with the visitation of our Lady to her cousin Elizabeth. When Mary heard the great news that Elizabeth would bear a child in her old age, her joy in hearing this news together with her love for her cousin drove the also mother-to-be to visit her and to serve her.
Without hesitation, Mary realised that Elizabeth needed her and she used all her strength to travel in the early months of her pregnancy. While she was there, Mary used all her strengths and talents in the service of her cousin. The early months of a pregnancy are typically very hard on the mother-to-be. However, not-withstanding this, Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months until she gave birth to John.
Through the example of Mary we are called to do the same. We are called to give our strengths and talents in the service of our Church. Each one of us is talented in a particular field or discipline and we need to work together and put these in the hands of the Church in the pursuit of holiness and the Kingdom of God.
It doesn’t matter what the strength is. Some of us are talented academically, some professionally, others in music or entertainment, others in cooking, the list is
endless. What is certain though is that we are all equal in the eyes of God and our Church needs us in whatever capacity we can offer.
At times our pride may stand in the way. For example, if I am a doctor or a politician, it may be difficult for me to work on data entry or cleaning. And yes the Church should be more prudent in making use of people’s strengths according to each person’s proper role. However, if we look to the example of Mary again, we see the “Mother of God” leaving everything to cook and clean for and nurture her expecting cousin. Mary is the pinnacle of
humility and we are called to do the same.
Pope Francis’ current visit to Africa is a wonderful example of how he used his strengths and challenged himself, his security and the world in the midst of the turmoil in the countries that he is visiting to bring to them the Word of God.
In our parish there are many people who offer their strengths in the service of their Church. Last Monday many of these people attended the Pastoral Council Meeting to plan for Christmas and other events as one team
united in the example of the Holy Trinity. I encourage all our parishioners to do the same and offer their strengths as a gift to our Lord this year. What are you waiting for, the Church needs you! Our Lord needs you!
Fr Tony Sarkis
