By Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh
The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light
facilitated a MYO/MYA Regional Retreat at the St. John Paul II Maronite
mission in Sleepy Hollow, New York on Saturday, March 11th. The
theme was “Be Made Clean” and was based on the gospel of the Second Sunday of
Lent, the Healing of the Leper. We were blessed to have among us and as one of
the keynote speakers, His Excellency, Bishop Gregory Mansour.
This Regional Retreat brought together over 130
teens and young adults from the following parishes, including their dedicated
volunteers: St. John Paul II mission; Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral, Brooklyn,
NY; St. Louis Gonzaga Parish in Utica, NY; St. Sharbel’s parish in Somerset,
NJ; Our Lady Star of the East parish in Pleasantville, NJ; Our Lady of Lebanon
parish in Easton, PA; St. Maron’s parish in Philadelphia, PA; and St. Anthony’s
Parish in Danbury, CT.
A number of pastors from the parishes mentioned were in attendance: Msgr. James Root (Brooklyn, NY); Fr.
Dany Abi-Akar (Sleepy Hollow, NY); Fr. Kamil El-Choufeiti (Pleasantville, NJ);
Fr. Simon El-Hajj (Easton, PA); and Fr. Aaron Sandbothe (Utica, NY).
This retreat day was filled with activity, prayerful
communion with God, and with much laughter and fun (and even a surprise visit
from the ice cream truck). We had two presentations for the day, one from Fr.
Dany Abi-Akar, pastor of the host parish, on the cleansing gift of confession;
and the other from Bishop Gregory, on the power of the Eucharist to heal and
bind our wounds.
The morning included small group discussions, which
focused on some of the fears we may have on approaching confession, and, more
positively, how confession improves our relationship with God. The MYO small groups were facilitated by our dedicated volunteers, and Sr.
Therese Maria led the MYA.
One of the highlights was the large number of young
people who went to confession despite the many misgivings and fears they
expressed earlier. We had priests stationed around the beautiful church offering
the saving mercy of Christ. It was uplifting to see these young people approach
Jesus with tears in their eyes during Exposition of the Sacred Mysteries.
The day concluded with Divine
Liturgy, dinner and a dabke party. We would like to thank Fr. Dany Abi-Akar and the
parish and volunteers of St. John Paul II mission for hosting this event and for
their outstanding hospitality. Thanks for all their hard work, the preparation
and service of the meals, and the donation of the ice cream truck. A very big
thank you to Mrs. Frances Mourani for coordinating this event at the local
parish level.