The Life of The Spirit Is Manifested In Us
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On Saturday 2 February, we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of Christ to the Temple. In this feast we remembered, O Heavenly Father, the gift that Joseph and Mary had offered to the world when they presented to you the child Jesus in the temple. On this occasion, we present to you all the children in our families, we commend them to your sublime will and entrust their future to you so your graces work in the world through them as they become your holy tools.
On this fourth Sunday of the Glorious Epiphany of the Lord, we offer ourselves to God as we reflect with our Mother the Church on the Gospel of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, to learn from him how to draw from the water of life. This passage of the Gospel leads us to think of Christ the Son of God, the giver of the true water of life to those who seek it so they never thirst again.
Christ has opened the gates for us to worship God in the spirit and made us realise that there is no true worship to God outside the law of the spirit. The spirit makes us die from the works of the body in order for us to worship God in his new order. The life of the spirit is manifested in us when we bear fruit to God and at the moment in which His life triumphs in us.
Let us stand before God like the Samaritan woman did at Jacob’s Well and ask ourselves: our we being led by the spirit of truth? Are we truly searching for the water of eternal life? Are we ready today to quit our old habits and let the spirit of God renew us from within and nourish our inner human for our own good and the good of the universal Church?
Let us open our hearts and minds today to the mystery of the Son as manifested in the depth of time, and let us work on creating new spaces in our lives and on digging new wells at the bottom of our souls to hold in them the water of eternal life.
On a parish note, “the old nights are back” is the theme which the Committee of the Elderly in our parish has coined for activities it has prepared for the end of this week, bringing us back to the old beautiful time in our villages and their evenings and customs. Our village customs reflect the beauty of the family spirit of love and friendship between us. Come to enjoy and remember together the old days through these activities which will be held at the hall of the Cathedral for three days, on 6, 7 and 8 February.
On Wednesday this week, the preparatory classes for the children of the First Holy Communion in the Parish will start. Around 100 children will participate in the spiritual and sacramental preparations for the next 5 months. We pray for them and thank the teachers for volunteering and for their work and love. On Wednesday evening, a new initiative will be launched in the parish under the name of “The Living Word.” It is an initiative of religious education in English for our youth and other parishioners to have more depth in our faith which is built on the Word. The sessions of The Living Word will be held every Wednesday at 8.00 pm, in English.
We pray to you O Lord and ask your Holy Spirit to work in us and lead us to salvation through your Son Jesus, from whom we draw the water of life which is never exhausted.
O Lamb of God…
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In the first Sunday after the Theophany, the Church offers us the testimony of John the Baptist about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist said it in the spirit of prophecy as he saw the whole Mystery of Redemption in just one moment, the moment of the
sacred baptism in the Jordan River.
John had been awaiting that moment, the moment of sighting the Lamb of God to announce Him to everyone and lead all people to Him. This was essentially his mission, to pave the way for the Lord then disappear so the New Testament would start. In just one sentence captured by John the
Evangelist in today’s Gospel, John the Baptist summarised his role in comparison with the role of the Lord: “behind me comes one who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” (John 1: 30).
Baptism is first and foremost an initiative from God who speaks to us before we answer Him, who has accepted us before we became worthy to accept Him and who took our sins and our death to give us life.
In his epistle today, Saint Paul urges the Corinthians with divine authority, but also with the humility of Christ, to return to the teaching of the Church, obedience and repentance. His objective was to fight false ideas about faith. He seemed tough with his words, but he assured them that his rigorism, as well as his authority, were not to destroy them but to build them up.
What about us who have been baptised and believe, do we bear witness to our faith in our daily lives? Do our deeds express our words and are our words consistent with our deeds? In our life journey, do we know that it is Christ who carries us and liberates us by His cross of love and His victorious resurrection?
O Lord, illuminate our paths to announce your truth like John and disappear as he did so you appear through us.
On a parish note, the committee and teachers of the First Holy Communion of our children have started the preparation for the Sacrament’s program this year. The enrolment deadline ends soon. It is an important phase in the lives of our children as we give them through it the treasure of faith preserved in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
We hope that this time is a period of rest to recharge our energy so we start strong with the Lord Jesus in this new year, whether in our parish, at work or in our families.
Deyim Deyim
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, starting a new season of our Liturgical Year. After the Season of the Birth of the Lord, when the Son of God became man to save us, the Trinity appears today in a glorious image in which we are liberated by the Father’s voice, the Son’s baptism and the Spirit’s descent.
This revelation comes after a state of expectation and awaiting the Messiah the Saviour. The good news came through John who said “I baptise you with water… He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3: 16). John pointed to the Messiah and disappeared after he said “He must grow greater, I must grow less” (John 3: 30). With John the Baptist the Old Testament concluded and the New Testament started, the Testament of the great grace.
In his epistle today, Saint Paul reminds us that we have been saved not because of our own upright actions but by the free grace that has overflown us through our Lord Jesus Christ. But how can someone obtain the grace if they are not in touch with the giver of that grace? In the midst of a corrupt world which attracts us to be a part of it, John’s call prompts us to repent and return to God in order to receive the blessing. Are we aware of its importance?
Give us O Lord to be faithful to your grace and to renew our baptismal vows by devoting ourselves to you so we can maintain the presence of the Holy Trinity in our daily lives saying: Deyim…Deyim…
The Lebanese people have kept many traditions related to the Feast of the Epiphany, including the women preparing special food and sweets such as Awamet which are made with wheat flower, cut into small balls, cooked in oil and dumped in sugar syrup. They also make Zlabia and Macaron, calling these sweets “baraket el-eid”. One of the most prominent Lebanese beliefs is that Jesus walks around and visits the homes at midnight while saying: ‘Deyim, Deyim’, meaning ‘Everlasting, Everlasting’. Just before midnight, people would pray while kneeling to receive the blessing when Jesus passes by, and lift up their supplications which are answered because the gates of heaven are open on this night. They used to light up fire as January is very cold and sit around it, stirring the fire with a long stick. If they see a lot of sparks they become optimistic and they ask God to give them as much money or other things. Some of the other beliefs is that all the trees kneel for Jesus when passing except for the fig tree because of its arrogance, so they would burn its branches as a punishment. On this night, the housewife would go and check the food provisions in her house, stirring them while saying ‘Deyim, Deyim’, believing that the blessing would descend on them. On this day, the faithful bring their children to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. In the morning of the Feast day, the masses are celebrated and the faithful bring with them bottles of water with a green stick for the priest to bless them so the sick would drink from it to be healed, and the homes sprinkled with it to cast out bad spirits, mice, rats and so on. One of their sayings: “whoever does not have someone to baptise let them baptise a stick on Epiphany.” Some people used to celebrate mass at the spring water of the village so its water would be blessed. They would also make a dough on this night and the dough would rise without yeast. One of the traditions too is the priest visiting the homes, sprinkling them with water to bless them.
On a parish note, as we begin this new year - we have a hint of sadness in the air as we farewell Sr Margaret and Sr Guita who are leaving our parish community to start their new mission at St Maroun's Dulwich Hill. We thank both for their dedication, service and presence with us. Sr Guita supported the ministry of our Seniors Committee and had an active presence with their initiatives and events. Her cheerful spirit and smile will be missed around the parish. Sr Margaret leaves us after a tremendous 22 years of participation and service in the life of our parish family; particularly the youth. During her many years as assistant Youth Chaplain, she helped develop many of our current and former parish leaders. She used her experience and knowledge to support adult faith formation and her weekly newsletter contributions are always helpful in breaking open the Gospel of the week. We thank Sisters Margaret and Guita and wish them well on this next chapter of their religious ministry. We are joyful to welcome Sr Marlene and Sr Cynthia who will be joining our community.
