Give Us Lord Holy Priests
Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ;
Our Maronite Church has now concluded its Season of the Epiphany and this Sunday begins the three-week of commemorations before we enter into the Season of the Great Lent. Each week the Maronite Church invites us to reflect upon and pray for the Priests, the Righteous and the Just and the Faithful departed respectively. We find ourselves this week at the Sunday of the Priests.
It is of vital importance that we continuously pray for and remember all our priests, those who are living and those who are departed. This occasion is a great opportunity to give some serious thought to the work the priests do in the parish and to say a prayer asking God to keep our priests dedicated to their life of prayer, to be loyal to the flock of Christ which they have been made responsible of, to remain faithful and grounded in the faith of Christ and to grow in dedication in all areas of their priestly life.
On this occasion, I invite all our parishioners to light a candle for all priests around the world. Let this candle be a replacement for the stones that we throw them with when we are unhappy with things a priest is doing. Let this candle be an offering of gratitude and appreciation for all the good that the clergy do. Let this candle be a prayer of blessings and graces for all priests and that God may have mercy on the souls of those priests who have gone before us. Let this candle be a prayer that the Lord of the Harvest may send more laborers into His vineyard.
Our Church celebrates today also the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. According to Moses' Law, every firstborn male shall be designated to the Lord. Forty days after the birth of Jesus, the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus) went to the temple to offer a sacrifice prescribed in the Law: two turtledoves or two young pigeons. The Church celebrates this feast since 541. On that day, candles are blessed, symbolizing the light of which the old Simeon said: "for my eyes have seen the salvation which you have made ready in the sight of the nations." (Luke 2: 30-31). During the week of the Commemoration of the Priests, the priests, deacons and subdeacons of the Eparchy are holding their annual spiritual retreat. And of course, the priests, deacons and subdeacon of our parish are participating in the retreat which will be held under the theme "Am I my brother's guardian?" (Genesis 4: 9). Hence, the weekday masses in the parish will be as follows: on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, masses are held at 7 am and 6 pm, while on Wednesday, masses will be celebrated at 7 am, 5.30 and 7 pm.
After a well-deserved long rest, the holiday season is over! As most of our parish children have returned to work or study, we wish you all the best for the new year. All activities in the parish, including Fersen, Teens, Arabic classes, etc, will resume this week. Our committees are doing a wonderful job preparing for these activities. We have planned for many things for this year. We ask for your assistance and support to continue building your family parish.
