Beloved Parishioners and Friends of St. Maron,

Peace and grace to you in the Lord Jesus with the hope that you are all healthy and protected from the viruses and other harm. I also hope that you are protecting yourselves and keeping good hygiene, for your sake and the sake of the vulnerable and the sick around you. The key is to keep sanitizing and social distancing when necessary. This is a difficult period we are passing through, it will go away sooner or later, and life will return back to normal through God’s grace.

While many of you are not able to come to church for different reasons during this pandemic, it is important that you don’t keep distance from Jesus. Cling to him as the branches cling to the vine to receive life. Without Jesus, who is the source of life, our existence means nothing. Being distant from the church should not lead us to detach ourselves from Jesus or even weaken our faith. We need faith today more than ever before. It is an opportunity for us to seclude ourselves in our homes to build up a stronger relationship with Jesus and with our family. There must be a reason why this lockdown is taking place, a reason we don’t understand. Maybe it is a time for us to reunite ourselves with our loved ones and find time to pray, to read our bible, and to build a stronger relationship with Christ, our Lord. One thing I fear is that if this period stays much longer some people will lose their connection with Jesus because it was weak to start with. I think of priests, bishops, and even lay people, who were imprisoned for many years and yet they kept their relationship with Jesus and it even became stronger after they came out of prison. This period can make you better and not bitter if you allow Christ to work in your life. Let us consider ourselves in prison at this time, but keep our relationship with Christ deeper and stronger.

Your home of St. Maron misses you tremendously and wish we can be together soon, to hold spiritual and social activities, however we will approach that slowly until the time arrives. I wish I could see each and every one of you personally, or talk to you on the phone for a long period, however, due to the many tasks we need to do here at church it makes it hard to do that. I hold you all in my prayers every day. I ask God to bless and protect you during this pandemic, and to shelter you from harm with your family and loved ones.

Be assured of my prayers for you and I ask you to please remember me in your prayers.

In Christ’s Hope,

Chorbishop sharbel Maroun