Maronite Voice - Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

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y Marie-Elizabeth DoharFlint, MichiganYouth RetreatFr. Gary George, Eparchial Youth Director, with youth at aregional retreat held at Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Flint,Michigan.Fr. Hanna Tayar and the parish family of Our Lady ofLebanon Church in Flint, Mich., hosted Maronite youthfrom eight parishes Friday, February 13, throughSunday, February 15, 2009.Under the direction of the Eparchial Youth Director, Fr.Gary George, the 80-plus youth, their advisers and religiousleaders gathered for a retreat of spiritual enrichment andspiritual preparation for the upcoming Lenten season. Inhonor of the Valentine’s Day holiday, the theme of the retreatcentered around the concept of unconditional love aspresented in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that Hegave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should notperish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).From this theme, the youth, with the guidance of Fr.Gary, Fr. Rodolph Wakim, and Fr. Hanna, tackled topics oflove, relationships, and intimacy. A great talk between theyouth and the priests about “Where Do We Belong?” raisedsignificant questions and stimulated extensive dialogue thatleft all participants engaged and intrigued. The participantswere extremely intelligent and insightful; their comments andquestions greatly contributed to the substance and materialdiscussed over the weekend.Following this discussion, Noha Zerka, a young adultadviser to the Flint MYO, and Matthew Romah, a youngadult adviser to the Pittsburgh, Penn., MYO, shared theirexperiences and gave witness to God’s presence in their lives.These two presentations raised even more questions andintensified the participants’ interests in the weekend’s theme.After the presentations, the youth participants spent timemeeting new people, forming new friendships, and rekindlingold friendships during icebreakers, snacks, and dancing tomusic provided by Matthew and Alex Romah.The next morning, the youth participants began a busyday with a morning prayer that embraced the principles andbeliefs of St. Valentine. Following morning prayer, the youthlearned about types of conditional and unconditional love,and broke into age-appropriate groups to further discuss theimplications of these types of love. After lunch, courtesy ofJohnny Solomon and Johnny Boy Subs, the youth enjoyedsome free time with more dancing and socializing.Following free time, the youth prepared themselves fora reconciliation service. During this service, the BlessedSacrament was exposed, and the youth were encouraged tomake a good Lenten confession. The youth were remindedthat the absolution that is granted through the sacrament ofReconciliation is a pervasive sign of God’s unconditionallove, and that the act of confession is an act that can onlystrengthen and deepen an individual’s relationship with God.The youth then traveled to a sports facility, where theyplayed flag football, soccer, dodge ball, and arcade games.Even Sr. Celine Nohra joined the youth in the arcade, playingair hockey and other games!Saturday evening, the youth were treated to a specialValentine’s Day dinner and hafli. During the hafli, MichaelTannous of Cleveland, Ohio, beat several others during afrenzied game of musical chairs. The participants danced forhours and enjoyed spending the evening with their friends,before heading back to the hotel.Sunday morning, the youth gathered for liturgy followedby a breakfast prepared by the parishioners of Our Lady ofLebanon Church.Noha Zerka and Johnny Solomon, the MYO advisersfrom Flint, planned a beautiful retreat, and the hospitality ofFr. Hanna and the parishioners of Our Lady of Lebanon wasoverwhelming. All participants had an amazing and enrichingweekend, and are truly grateful for the time and dedication ofthe host parish. VocationAwareness/SupportThe need for vocations in the Church is critical. One ofNAM’s most significant undertakings has been itsassistance to the Church in promoting an awareness ofvocations. As part of its Vocation Awareness Program, NAMconducts an annual Vocations AwarenessPoster/Essay/Multimedia Contest for Maronite religiouseducation students from kindergarten through high school.A packet, which includes a cover letter, contest brochure,local contest brochure and a contest flyer for posting in theparish, was sent to every parish (addressed to the religiouseducation director).Entries must be postmarked by May 15, 2009 (entriesafter this date will not be accepted). Send all entries to KimthJ. Richey at 1649 34 Street NW, Washington, DC 20007.In further support of vocations NAM is closely alignedwith the Order of Saint Sharbel and invites all Maroniteclergy, religious and seminarians in the United States asguests of NAM at all NAM events. The Maronite Voice Volume V Issue No. III Page 8 March 2009
Anaheim, CaliforniaIn the Middle of Remodeling, aFire and Bank ClosureFire gutted the Church Hall and damaged part of St. JohnMaron Church in Anaheim, California.by Fr. Antoine BakhMembers of St. John Maron Maronite Church inAnaheim were all excited about remodeling andexpanding the church hall, adding a second floorwith classrooms and an outside patio area. The excitementwas cut short by a fire the day before Christmas Eve last year.The fire gutted an entire building and damaged part of thechurch. The facilities destroyed included the kitchen,bathrooms, two classrooms, the library and the pastor’s andsecretary’s office. Thankfully, no parish records were lost,because many items had already been relocated due to theconstruction project which began in October.The police said the fire was caused by arson and is stillunder investigation. Just two weeks after the fire, the bankwhich gave the parish a construction line of credit was shutdown by the FDIC. The continuance of the loan is stillpending.Currently, Liturgy is celebrated in nearby St. AnthonyClaret Catholic Church. Please keep the parish in yourthoughts and prayers. For further information please contactFr. Antoine Bakh at 601 N. Woods Avenue, Fullerton, CA92832 or by email: email@johnmaron.org., or call (714) 525-4216. San Diego, CaliforniaBusy Time at St. Ephrem ChurchHow splendid it is!!! Our youth groups have been veryfaithful to their weekly Rosary Prayer gatherings, onThursday evenings, come rain or shine! What greatexamples they are to us all. What do they do when they meet?Well, along with praying the Rosary, and holding roundtablediscussions moderated by Fr. Nabil, they also enjoy a socialhour. As well as that, they host guest speakers on a monthlybasis who address them on topics that are current and relateto the temporal and spiritual life. These guests are usuallyPh.D.s who are experts in their particular field, and have awealth of wisdom to share. Our guest for February was Dr.Maha Moses, Ph.D., in Psychology whoThe Sisters of Mother Theresa’s Congregation celebrate NewYear under the protection of Mary, Mother of the Light inSan Diego, California.addressed the youth on the topic of “What are the real effectsof what we take into our bodies.” Much was learned to helpdiscern what is good for us and what is not, both spirituallyand physically. God bless our youth and those who give oftheir time and talents to be with them.As the Season of the Holy Birth of Our Lord drew to aclose, how blessed we were to welcome clergy from the HolyLand who joined us in prayer for peace in the Holy Land andthroughout the world. The only hope for peace is prayeroffered through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God!The Parishioners of St. Ephrem rang in the New Year bydedicating an intention that no matter how difficult this yearmay be, no matter what the challenges also may bring, wewill choose the way of the Lord for He alone is the way, thetruth and the light! We will take things step by step duringthis year to be closer to the Lord, trusting in his DivineProvidence. We were very blessed to have the Missionariesof Charity, Mother Theresa’s congregation, join their prayerswith us for this dedication, as they so often do. Uponreflection, we have been quite blessed in that we have had avery close relationship with the Sisters for the past seventeenyears. They have joined us for many of our liturgicalcelebrations and have prayed earnestly for our intentions.We owe them a great debt of gratitude. We feel they are trulymembers of our church family!During the Week of Prayer for Unity in the Church, wewere offered a day retreat and lunch hosted by Dr. and ClairMansour family. We had several guests among us whooffered their prayers and hopes for Unity. Deadline for next month’s issue of TheMaronite Voice is March 25, 2009.Pictures have to be original. Digitalpictures must be in “JPG” format.The Maronite Voice is alsoavailable online in a pdf format atwww.stmaron.org The Maronite Voice Volume V Issue No. III Page 9 March 2009
Page 1 and 2: TheMaronite VoiceA Publication of t
Page 3 and 4: Eparchial AssignmentsHis Excellency
Page 5 and 6: THE ORDEROFSAINT SHARBELRichmond, V
Page 7: North Jackson, OhioThe Antonine Sis
Page 11 and 12: open our heart to love of God andne
Page 13 and 14: y Beth MajewskiWaterbury Connecticu
Page 15 and 16: Lawrence, MassachusettsBishop Visit
Page 17 and 18: Mr. Carlos Slim Helu, Maronite Conv
Page 19 and 20: Just LookThe following article, wri

Maronite Voice - Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

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