Grant us O God Holy Priests, like St Maroun
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This week we celebrate two big feasts in our Maronite Church. Firstly, this Sunday is the Sunday of the Faithful departed. In the Roman Catholic Church it is known as All Souls day and is celebrated on 2nd November. In our Maronite Church we dedicate the last week before the beginning of Lent to our Faithful departed who have gone to their rest hoping in God. Our belief is that our loved ones actually fall asleep through death in the hope of being raised to eternal life. All Masses this week will conclude with the Maronite prayer of incense.
The second feast is the feast of our Father and Founder of the Maronite Church - St Maroun. Alt-hough his feast actually falls on Monday, we will be celebrating the Liturgy of the Feast on Sunday together with the readings from the Sunday of the Faithful departed. Saint Maroun whose simple ascetic life and spirituality in the late fourth and early fifth century has grown and developed into the Maronite Church of today is a wonderful example for us. From the time of his death in 410 AD to today in 2015, the Maronite Church has flourished and today more than ever we can see the fruits of this spirituality in the many vocations that we have in our Church. St Maroun who was a priest brought about the presence of God in the community in which he lived.
This leads to me to ponder on the following question today: What kind of priest do we need in our Church today in 2015? Three things come to mind. These are: A man who can bring about communion and unity, someone who gathers. A man who heals and consoles, someone who administers the sacraments. A man who has a vision and is in love with his parish, someone who is a pastoral worker. For the Church today, we are need of priests who possess these attributes.
We thank God for the vocations in our Diocese and in particular our parish that is a fertile land for vocations. This is a sign of God’s blessing. We have nine vocations in our parish, Dory Zaouk, Joe Maroun, Nehme Khattar, Tony Mattar, Charbel Dib, Danny Nouh, Robert Bayeh, Ghassan Nakhoul and Sid Isaac. This week we offered up the Mass on Friday night for Dory Zaouk who has said “yes” to the Lord after he heard his voice saying “follow me”. Dory will begin his seminary formation on 16 February at St John Vianney Seminary Boorooma in Wagga Wagga. Thanks be to God for his vocation. We also thank his family who have supported and nurtured his vocation along with the Sisters of the Maronite College of the Holy Family where Dory studied and worked. We wish Dory every success in this beautiful journey and pray:
My Lord and my God, Your message of love for us was made manifest through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Today you call many to spread your message of love to the world's darkest corners, but only very few are chosen. Bless your chosen ones O Lord, with endurance and perseverance in love, that they may be one with you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
