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.