To Believe is to Live
Brothers and Sisters,
The Glorious Season of the Epiphany is truly upon us! Although it will be short lived, lasting for eleven days before we start preparing for lent through the commemoration weeks, it will hopefully be a very meaningful station in our spiritual and liturgical Christian life this year. Through the Epiphany, the Holy Trinity is revealed to us in the baptism of our Lord in the Jordan River at the hands of John the Baptist, his forerunner. In order for the Trinity to be truly manifested, Jesus’ divinity and his humanity is revealed at his baptism. For this reason this feast is called the Epiphany because it is the revelation of two foundational doctrines of our faith. In Syriac it is called Dinho and in Arabic Zoohoor. The mystery of the Trinity is beyond our human understanding; however the grace that we receive through the sacraments and especially the sacrament of Baptism helps us to grow in faith so that we can truly believe.
The Trinity is represented through many aspects of our Christian life. The sign of the cross is a very important one which is modelled on the Trinity. The family which consists of a father, a mother and children is also a representation of the Trinity. Saint John speaks of the spirit, the water and the blood (1 John 5:6-8) and Jesus Christ, the Church and the Holy Spirit are also models and images of the Trinity. All these images and representations are good, but how are we as Christians representing the Holy Trinity in our lives? Whether at home or at work or on holidays or in society in general, how are we revealing the Holy Trinity to those that we come into contact with? If we believe in something we must truly live it and exemplify it in everything that we do and everything that we say. There is no point confessing our faith through the creed and consuming the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist and then cursing and slandering our brother or our sister. If we believe then we must truly manifest our belief in our lives.
On a parish note, I would like to thank the Sodality of the Immaculate Conception, the Seniors Committee and the Ladies of our parish who truly helped us to live our Maronite traditions through the making of the traditional sweets and savouries. It is through your work and dedication that our Maronite heritage is kept alive. Further, a very special thank you to the Sodality for donating 14 new stoles for the priests and the Antoun family for donating the candles and the linen. In working together as one, we all manifest the unity of the Trinity in our parish. May the Holy Trinity be Deyim Deyim in your lives.
