By Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh, MSCL
The MYO Regional Retreat “Maronite Identity and Spirituality” was held at St. Anthony of the Desert Church in Fall River, MA on Saturday, April 28th, facilitated by the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light. The two presentations for the day included Msgr. David George, on what it means to be Maronite, and Jacques Barbour, a psychotherapist, on the power of claiming our identity in Christ and the dangers social media pose.
Over 40 teens including a team of dedicated volunteers attended from: St. Anthony, Fall River; Our Lady of Purgatory, New Bedford; St. Anthony, Lawrence; St. Theresa, Brockton; St. George, Cranston, RI; and St. Anthony, Danbury, CT. Also, the pastors and deacons attending were: Msgr. Joseph Kaddo, Fr. Joseph Daiff, Fr. Herbert Nichols, Fr. Edward Correia, and Deacons Brian Dunn and Donald Massoud, and Subdeacon James Demers.
This retreat day was filled with activity, prayerful communion with God, and with much laughter and fun. The morning and afternoon included small group discussions, which focused on how we pray as Maronites and how we see Christ as depicted in our Divine Liturgy. The afternoon small group discussion focused on some of the ways that social media is trying to distort our true identity as children of God, and the pressure that social media is putting on teens these days to project a certain image.
Also, we had vocation testimonies by Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh and Br. Marwan El-Khoury, a Monk from the Order of St. Basil, and a Q & A discussion.
The day concluded with Divine Liturgy, dinner and a dabke party. Thank you to Msgr. Joseph Kaddo and the parish and volunteers of St. Anthony for hosting this event and for their outstanding hospitality.