The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Just as Jesus came to seek out the lost, we too have been called to do the same. In our thriving parish at OLOL we continue daily to encourage one another and to provide foundations and guidance for those who seek to know more about the Catholic faith. The ongoing weekly faith formation programs have been a great success in bringing our parish family together, and this past week many gathered to hear about “Confession” as presented by Msgr. Shora Maree. Of course, the great highlight of the week has been the Maronite Diocesan Youth Convention “Arise.”
What an amazing weekend it was, with approximately 300 young Maronites uniting together from across the major cities of Australia, to share their heritage and their Maroniteness at Stanwell Tops in Sydney. Great friendships were formed, faith was strengthened, and hope was ignited with a desire for more of these events to be arranged on a regular basis. Our youth are the hope of today, and we must therefore continue to encourage and empower them to lead the Church into the future.
This week also, our Women’s faith formation group was blessed with a spiritual retreat, nourishing body and soul to persevere serving in the Lord’s vineyard with love. Our Clergy too have been graced this week with a wonderful outcome to the Clergy Meeting, which was attended also by our brother priests and bishops of the Melkite, Chaldean, and Armenian Churches. Unity of heart and mind was evident within our diversity, with Fr. Brian Lucas (Secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference) giving a special presentation that inspired and educated those present. In the spirit of today’s Letter of St. Paul “So then you are no longer strangers…..through him (Christ Jesus) the whole structure is held together….in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God, in the Spirit.” May our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, continue to guide and bless you all.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We have all been called in one way or another to be ‘disciples’ for the Lord. Today we hear from the mouth of Jesus, that scripture was fulfilled in Him, at the moment He spoke the words written in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit of God sent him out to proclaim the good news to the poor, to free captives from the chains of oppression, and to give sight to the blind. Today the Maronite Church celebrates the Feast of one such great disciple – St. Charbel. He needs no introduction, for his holiness lives on in every Lebanese family, and in fact the entire Universal Church. OLOL Co-Cathedral has been blessed to have a relic of our great saint placed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament this week, for veneration by all. As we adore the Trinity, truly present, we give thanks to our God for the gift of Saint Charbel, and all the martyrs and saints by whose blood our land of Lebanon has been nourished.
We pray this week especially for all our youth attending the Maronite Youth Convention - that they may be empowered and encouraged to persevere in their discipleship and ministry to which each has been called. Our preparations for Feast Week continue to progress for the coming 13-23 August, and our community is buzzing with activity for the Lord’s harvest!
Once again, another extract from Laudato si’…
With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves”.
May God bless you and your families.
A bruised reed he will not break
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is very easy to become intolerant of the world and its affairs, even indifferent, when we are safely hidden inside our own homes and busy with our own lives. Today, Jesus shows us that He too was faced with so much negativity and lack of compassion, but nothing could take away the love and care that remained in His Sacred Heart for all. “A bruised reed he will not break…” – there is so much ten-derness in that small phrase if we meditate on what it means. In His Love and Mercy, Our loving God treats every fragile, broken heart with gentleness and for-giveness. He does not want to bring more sadness and grief upon anyone, especially upon those who already suffer from lack of faith and hope. He is the hope of all the hopeless, the strength of all the weak, and courage of all who fear.
We must continue to trust and to hope in Him, but we must also act on that faith that we hold, and continue to share it with others. Prayer is our weapon, and our protection, but as Catholics we must also speak out against evil and oppression. The nations that put their hope in Jesus will not be disappointed, and hope itself will give us the courage to stand up and defend our faith and our Church. And this Sunday, as we celebrate the Feast of the Massabki Brothers (Maronite Martyrs), we look to them as examples of defenders of the faith.
With great faith and hope, our family at OLOL Co-Cathedral has been united in our efforts with preparing for the many activities being presented this month, including the play “Beauty and the Beast” which the team of young Fersen have organised. I hope that we can show our support for them by attending, and inviting family and friends also to attend.
I leave you this week with another extract from Laudato si’… “Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and good-ness. ‘Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker’ (Wis 13:5); indeed, ‘his eternal power and divinity have been made known through his works since the creation of the world’ (Rom 1:20).” May God bless you and your families in abundance.
Fr Tony Sarkis
