Beloved Parishioners and Friends of St. Maron,
I pray that this newsletter reaches your hands and finds you in good health of spirit and health with your loved ones. I also hope that all of you are feeling confident and strong as we near, hopefully, the end of the pandemic as we see people more active and returning back to semi-normal life.
During June we celebrate Father’s Day, a day that is special to all of us, not because of our earthly fathers only, but also because we celebrate our Heavenly Father, who loved us so much, to the point of sending His Only Son to die for us on the cross. Our hearts, and love, and prayers turn to all the fathers in our community and beyond, asking God Our Father to guide, protect, and shelter them from all harm, as they nourish and protect their families. This year we are celebrating a special Year of St. Joseph, who was and is the best model of a father. Joseph cared for Mary and Jesus with love, dedication, and commitment, despite the challenges that he faced. He accepted God’s will for him and took it to heart and raised Jesus, and protected Mary, the Virgin-Mother. All fathers are encouraged to turn to Joseph for inspiration and guidance and ask him to help them during this year and throughout their whole life.
During June we also celebrate a feast of a special saint in our tradition, Saint Aquilina, whose feast day is celebrated on June 13th, with St. Anthony of Padua. Aquilina was a young girl from Byblos, north Lebanon, one of the oldest cities in the world. She converted to Christianity at the age of 12 and refused to renounce Christ when her father, a pagan ruler, tried to force her. She suffered martyrdom at the hands of her father because she refused to give up Christ. Oh how much we need young and older people like her these days, who are committed to their faith and willing to die for Christ. May she be an example for us, who are defending our faith and trying to follow our Lord Jesus every day. We should not forget the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29th. These 2 pillars of the Church, who have given their lives to preach Christ, and inspired millions to convert to Christians in the Middle East and Europe. At the end one was beheaded and one was crucified upside down on the hills of Rome to glorify God. We pray that the Lord God may bless us all, through their intercessions, and protect His Church that He built upon Peter, the rock.
Hope is on the horizon, as always, and we are hoping that by July 1st our bishop will lift up the dispensation from attending Sunday Liturgy and we will return back to our normal life that we missed so much. We didn’t know how precious it is until we started losing it. Please make all efforts to return back to church and to be committed and be present with your brothers and sisters in the faith.
Wishing you all a very blessed a beautiful summer season, I remain,
Devotedly yours,
Chorbishop sharbel Maroun
