Beloved Parishioners and Friends of St. Maron,
I pray you are well and in good health with all your loved ones.
The Autumn Season is here presenting us with the cooler weather and the beautiful colors of nature. We thank our God, the Creator, who formed this earth so beautifully. I hope you will find some time to walk in nature and to gaze upon the beauty that we have before it disappears. You and I are called to enjoy every minute of our life, with or without the presence of the Corona virus. Every day is a gift from God, we are to live it to its fullest, with all the challenges that come our way. Covid-19 is still a challenge in our daily walk, but we need to do the best so that we can continue living our life and moving with our daily activities. Wearing a mask, sanitizing our hands, and social distancing becomes a habit that we need to live with for the time being, just as we adjust to the cooler weather by wearing coats, hats and gloves. It is most important to hold on to our faith. Jesus is the most essential gift that we need in our life. You and I are called to live our faith during this Covid-19 period more than ever before. You should put all your efforts to pray every day, to read the Bible during the time you are locked in, and to come to church on the weekend or during the week to receive the most Holy Communion. There are some people who unfortunately have not received Communion in maybe half a year and they need to make the time and the effort to receive It. If they can not enter into the building for health reasons they could arrange the time to come after church, or if they are sick to arrange a visit where I would be happy to take Communion to give it to them even outside of their doors. I ask you please to call upon me and make these arrangements for me to visit you. I will continue to practice safety and precautions, as you are, in order to protect everyone from the Corona Virus, especially the vulnerable among us.
I encourage all parents to register their children for the MCF, Maronite Christian Formation program, that we start the first week of October. It is a must that the children should receive religious instruction. We will visit the situation on a monthly basis to see when we will resume our classes here in our church, meanwhile we will be doing them online.
I join my prayers with yours on behalf of the sick and the challenged, especially those from Covid-19. We also unite our prayers on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Lebanon and ask the Lord to sustain them and bring them out of this very difficult crisis in their lives. A special thanks to all those who supported the drive that we are shipping to Lebanon. May the Lord God bless and protect you from evil and harm and increase your faith and your love.
Please keep me and all our parishioners in your prayers as you are in mine.
With prayers and best wishes, I remain,
Devotedly yours,
Chorbishop sharbel Maroun
