Consecrating & Renewing ourselves in Christ
Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Happy New Liturgical Year! Welcome to the new liturgical year in our Maronite Church. As with all Traditions, the Maronite Church organises its Liturgical and Biblical life around the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. The aim of this is to enable us to cultivate a life which is centred on Christ so that we can in turn think and act like him so that we can enter one day into his glory. Each day brings with it a different Epistle and Gospel Reading and each Season brings with it a Liturgical dimension that allows us to discover the reality of our Lord in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. This Liturgical dimension is beautifully represented with the change in colours of that Season. This colour change allows us to transition from one Season to another and emphasises the beauty and symbolic significance of that particular Season.
This prayerful journey towards the Kingdom of God is two-fold. It is individual and it is communal. Through our individual reflection on the scriptures and the lives of the saints we grow in our individual Christian knowledge and depth. Through our communal participation we grow together as a Church. Do you ever notice how each time you listen to a particular passage from the Gospel or the Epistles you discover and learn something new? It is the same with the different seasons. Although they are repeated through the liturgy, each time we participate in them we experience something new in our relationship with each person of the Holy Trinity. This means that each year that both the Church and the faithful live and experience deeper faith which elevates us towards the Holy Trinity so that we can be united with it and with each other.
This year we will celebrate the Consecration and Renewal on one Sunday (being this Sunday). It is fitting that we start the year off with the Sunday of the Consecration and Renewal of the Church by actually focussing on the Church. The Gospels focus on the Jewish temple and Jesus as the New Temple. We are asked to renew our lives and reconsecrate ourselves to Christ and his life of redemption. Each year this helps us to refocus and put our lives back on the path to holiness. Let us all try this new year to make a resolution that allows us to do this.
On a parish note, we are now entering into the joyful time of the year where we celebrate the birth of our Lord. The Pastoral Council met this week to start planning for Christmas. Some dates that you need to start putting in your diaries include: Christmas Novena starts on Thursday 15 December and Carols by Candlelight will be held on Friday 16 December. On Wednesday, His Excellency Bishop Antoine-Charbel celebrated the 7pm Mass to commemorate the souls of the deceased Bishop, priests and sisters who have served our Eparchy in Australia. On Thursday night our Stewardship Committee met to discuss important matters relating to the maintenance of the church and its facilities. Finally, as we begin this Liturgical year and to celebrate the conclusion of the year of Mercy, His Excellency will ordain four new subdeacons next Saturday 12 November in a private ceremony. These are Robert Albayeh, Charbel Dib, Ron Hassarati and Wade Ayoub. Three of these men are sons of this blessed parish. Please join me in praying for them and their families as they begin their journey of consecrating their lives to Christ.
Father Tony Sarkis
