A Profound Resonating Silence
Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we begin our journey to Christmas. The birth of our Lord is certainly one of the most joyful Seasons in the life of the Church. Today’s Gospel speaks to us about the visit of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah and next week’s Gospel speaks to us about the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary. It is in these two announcements that we are faced with the Theology of contradictions. Even though Zechariah was a priest who believed, he was weak in faith. He symbolises the Old Testament. Mary on the other hand was young but strong in faith. She represents and symbolises the New Testament, the new beginning. Mary responded with great joy and enthusiasm and her “Yes” continues to resonate today. On the other hand Zechariah’s doubt brought him into a deep silence which also resonated and continues to resonate till this day.
This profound resonating silence allowed Zechariah to contemplate the great mystery of God and think more carefully about God’s will for his life. Through his silence he was able to discover God, so much so that when John was born he cried out with joy and enthusiasm (in the same way that Mary did) “God is compassionate”. If we contemplate on this for a moment, we realise how important silence is in our lives. If we make an effort to be silent and listen, we give ourselves the opportunity to discover many beautiful things. We start listening to what others have to say, we start listening to our own internal thoughts and emotions but most importantly through all of this we listen to what God has to say. Silence allows us to sift through our thoughts and discern what is important and what is superfluous. Silence allows us to make the right decisions so that when we do speak, our words resonate the voice of God.
On Saturday four men who have been discerning and listening to God’s voice were ordained to the Subdiaconate. Three of them are from our parish, Ron Hassarati, Robert Albayeh and Charbel Dib. All of them, like Zechariah are married. It is wonderful that we can continue this beautiful tradition in our Church and it is truly a blessing. Ron is a father of three and has been serving with Monsignor Shora in the Hills Parochial District. Ron has been a teacher for many years at the Maronite College of the Holy Family. Robert is a father of three and is very passionate about helping and showing mercy to all those in need. He has been working with the homeless for many years and is the coordinator of our parish charity group, Heaven on Earth. Charbel is a father of two and has served many committees in this parish including Fersen. He is currently working as Resource Coordinator at the Institute of Mission for the Catholic Diocese of Parrmatta. Robert Albayeh and Charbel Dib will be serving here at Our Lady of Lebanon. On behalf of all the priests and parishioners, I would like to congratulate them and I ask you all to pray for them as they begin this new phase of their journey.
Father Tony Sarkis
