“Look! My servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights…” (Mt 12:18)
Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ,
On the 8th Sunday of Pentecost, we live an experience with the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the Lord who drives the Church towards happiness and joy. On this Sunday, our Maronite Church celebrates the Feast of the Three Massabki Brothers: Francis, Abdul-Mooti and Raphael. The Massabki Brothers are a great example for the real meaning of this expression “Look! My servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights…” as the lives they lived and their martyrdom for their faith in Christ mirror this Sunday’s Bible.
During his life on earth, Jesus irritated the Pharisees and the leaders of the Jews because he exposed their hypocrisy and fanaticism and threatened their authority and status among the people. They conspired against him and planned to set him up, trying to get rid of him in many ways, until they crucified him. This was the culmination of their plot as those who did never meet together met against Jesus and those who never agreed amongst each other agreed to kill him.
Here we ask ourselves: does Jesus irritate us in our lives because of his statements? Does he irritate us with his teachings and his insistence on love, pardoning and forgiveness? Do we wish sometimes that we were not Christians imagining that we could then be “free to do what we want?”
We are in a perpetual war, and the Lord Jesus who is our Leader teaches us the art of spiritual battles, calling us to the confrontation: “I am sending you like sheep among wolves”, recommending us to be wise, humble and firm in the face of persecution, and granting us the Holy Spirit to work in us and to speak in us and through us.
The Three Massabki Brothers lived a life of faith which they defended to death. They knew that protecting their faith and defending it would mean silence, perseverance and trust in the one who says to us “and when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say.” Their faith was so strong and firm that they defended it to death, to martyrdom, to become martyrs of the Church of the Lord.
This is our Maronite Church since its establishment. Her whole history is built on defending our faith in Christ with our blood. And as the Lord confirms to us, God does not forget this blood; a crown is awaiting the martyrs in heaven.
On the parish matters, the preparations to celebrate the parish feast in August (4-15) are well under way on every level. Thanks to all the members of the various committees and to all the parishioners for their efforts to make the feast a testimony of joy for the Lord and his Church. Our parish youths have attended the Maronite Youth Convention held under the theme “I have called you by Name”, meeting youths from other parishes around Australia for three days with the participation of his Excellency the Maronite Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay. We pray for our youths to be the spirited future of our parish and eparchy. On Wednesday 11 July, there will be an entertainment gathering for the teens in the parish under the theme “Our Heritage”… Be there in big numbers, we are waiting for you! I wish you a blessed week with the Lord.
