Our Last Week on Mission in Sydney Australia

What it Means to be Maronite: Spiritual Roots

By His Excellency, Bishop Gregory J. Mansour

When I meet someone from the Middle East for the first time they usually ask me where I am from. I say I was born in the United States and so were my parents, but my four grandparents were from Ehden, Lebanon, Damour, Lebanon, Damascus, Syria and Tibneen, Lebanon. The families from Ehden and Damour migrated to Nazareth, in what is now Israel, over the course of three hundred years. My ancestral roots are Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese and American!

Our ancestry is important, but our identity and our spiritual roots are much deeper than the location of our ancestors, the language we speak and our ethnic background. We can be Maronite Catholic because of ancestry, the choice of our parents, or because we made the choice ourselves as adults. But no matter how we became Maronite, by virtue of our involvement with this beautiful Church, we are responsible for Her care and well being. There are seven traits of Maronites that can help to define who we are and who we ought to be.

First, Saint Maron, the spiritual father of the Maronite Church, went beyond all measure in his love for Christ. He was an “open-air” hermit, subjecting himself to the sufferings caused by the weather. He made himself available to God and to others while spending his days and nights in fasts and vigils. While he sought only solitude, others sought him for spiritual help. As a priest he was intimately connected to the life of the Church, his life was fulfilled by his service to others and he gave the totality of his being in this noble service.

Second, Maronites from the very beginning were bridge builders. Abraham,
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Our Sydney Mission Continues...

His Excellency, Bishop Robert Rabbat of the Melkite Diocese of Australia and a friend from his days at Annunciation Cathedral in Boston.

We presented a lesson on Saint Maroun to the children of St. Joseph's parish during their visit to St. Maroun's Cathedral in Redfern.

Solemn Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Saint Maroun with His Excellency, Bishop Ad Abikaram at Saint Maroun's Cathedral.

We presented a vocation talk to the youth of Our Lady of Lourdes, Earlwood.

Voice of Charity Radio, Australia interviewed us for a program on our mission and vocation.  Tune in online.

Visiting with some of our lovely Maronite families in Sydney to spread the word about vocations.

A friendraiser luncheon sponsored by a dear friend drew 40 women from the Sydney Maronite parishes to raise awareness of our Congregation and to ask for support and vocation promotion.

A Letter from Our Bishop on Pope Benedict

A Letter from His Excellency, Bishop Gregory J. Mansour, Eparchy of Saint Maron, Brooklyn

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

I awoke this morning, as all of you did, to the surprise news of the Holy Father’s renunciation of the Petrine Ministry in the Church, to which he was elected by the College of Cardinals eight years ago. I cannot think of the Church without him at the helm. Nor could I have thought eight years ago of the Church without Blessed John Paul II. We live in Christian hope.
Pope Benedict spoke of the Church as a ship, and the one who serves at the helm, the Pope, serves in Peter, the fisherman’s, place. He needs strength of soul and body to do so. Moreover, the Pope said, even though there is suffering and prayer associated with the Petrine ministry, in the modern day a Pope needs much strength to carry the Church’s mission well. Pope Benedict examined his conscience many times, and he said he came to a certainty that this is his time to “let go”. This is bold, loving and wise.
Notice that the Pope does not “resign”. Patriarchs and Bishops resign, because they send in their resignation to the Pope. But the Pope “lets go”, he used the word “renounce”, which is the word we also embrace during Lent, to renounce whatever does not lead us or those we serve to be closer to God. What an act of humility and love for the Church!
The Holy Father asked all of us once again to entrust the Church to the True Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and he asked the Blessed Mother to intercede for the Church’s Cardinal electors, so that by the Holy Spirit they may elect a worthy successor. The Holy Father asked God and us to forgive his shortcomings, and pledged to live the rest of his life in devoted service to the church through prayer.
Wow, what a witness to faith in God, and in his Church! The Holy Father’s talk to the Cardinals, a beautiful talk given in Latin, so we know that this was quite freely and soberly thought and prayed out, can be read here:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2013/February/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20130211_declaratio_en.html
I hope everyone will read it.
May God bless Pope Benedict the man, the Christian, the Bishop, the Pope, and the faithful “Servant of the Servants of God”, and bless the Church, the ship of Peter, as she continues to live and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.
+ Gregory