May the peace and grace of the Lord Jesus be with you always. As we enter the month of September, I send you greetings in the Lord Jesus and lift you up in my prayers as I petition God to continue blessing our community. September is a special month for me as I commemorate and celebrate my 34th Anniversary as your Pastor. I came to this parish as a 7 month-old priest and found a home and a beautiful community that I find joy in serving it. In the 34 years, I grew to see an amazing spirit of love and dedication that has made a huge change and difference in the life of this parish. Being in a location that is far from most of the Maronite Parishes, except our sister of the Holy Family, makes it more challenging, but I found a family and community here that have surrounded me with a lot of care and love as my own biological family, that has made my ministry enjoyable and fruitful through God’s grace. Every September 13th, I have a special day to give thanks to God who put me in Minneapolis and to have put you all in my life. I am thankful to the Bishops who have trusted me in my ministry, Archbishop Zayek, Bishop Chedid, Bishop Shaheen, and our present Bishop Elias Zaidan. I am thankful for all the priests, deacons and seminarians who have come to help in our parish. I am thankful for Subdeacons Gabe, Subdeacon James, and Deacon George for their ministry.

No Priest can serve a parish by himself. He needs the support of the parishioners and organizations that exist within. Our groups are so committed and so generous in supporting our mission. I call upon all of you, with no exception, to be more involved and to be a living part of our community, to contribute your time and talents wherever you are needed. Do not wait to be asked to do something, rather take the action to be involved. In the end, this is the most important gift that you can give to the Lord and the world, building a bright future for your parish. Our ancestors left us an amazing gift that we have in our hands. We need to preserve and cherish it and pass it on to the next generation. I renew my commitment to you and I stand ready to serve you in any way possible at any time. My heartful thanks and prayers are offered to the soul of our brother Raymond Haik who willed in his will to sponsor the Pentecost Mosaic that was revealed recently on our altar. May the Lord grant him eternal rest and reward him generously.

I pray and hope that all of you will be able to join us at our festival and work together to welcome other people who are visiting us and to make this event a great success in our community.

Thanking you for your love and prayers, I remain, Devotedly yours,