The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light attended this year’s
National Apostolate of Maronites (NAM) Convention in San Francisco, California
from July 7th to July 10th, 2016.
We were blessed with the opportunity to meet and mingle with over 1,500
of our Maronite parishioners who attended from all over the US to meet and
greet our Patriarch, his Eminence and Beatitude Cardinal Beshara Peter Rai.
This is the second time in NAM Convention history that a Maronite Patriarch has
blessed us with his presence.
On a personal note, my parents, Joseph and Wendy, and my
brother, Peter, also came to the Convention all the way from Sydney, Australia.
We had a table in the exhibitors area where we met so many new
(and not so new) people and were able to speak to them one on one. There were a
number of highlights: we attended two Theologies on Tap. The first was held at
the Exploratorium in Downtown San Francisco and was hosted by Fr. Tony Massad
and Sister Therese Maria. The second was held in the Atrium of the Hyatt
Regency Hotel and was hosted by Fr. Guy Sarkis. We were able to listen to a number of
talks on a wide variety of topics including “prayer and entrepreneurship” and
the “four pillars of healthy living”.
We attended the Patriarch’s Panel Commission on the affairs of
Lebanon in its current political and economic state, where we were able to
listen to the many concerns and issues plaguing Lebanon at the moment. Directly after the panel, the Patriarch filmed
his weekly teaching on the Gospel on Telelumiere. His topic was the life of St.
Charbel in honor of the saint’s feastday coming up on July 23.
Also, we were interviewed by Telelumiere and were asked about
the foundation of our community, and what brings us to NAM each year. We attended the evangelical concert of Lebanon’s Christian
singer, Joumana Mdawar, who moved the audience to tears by her strong faith,
radiant joy and sweet angelic voice.
At the conclusion of the Convention, we spent a day of
sight-seeing in San Francisco with my family. We saw the iconic Golden Gate
Bridge, the Cable Car Musuem, the famous Lombard Street, the Victorian houses
of old and even the house of “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
May God bless the efforts and work of all those involved in this
year’s Convention. It was a great success. We look forward to attending next
year in Greenville, South Carolina, God willing.