THE JOURNAL OF THE MELKITE CATHOLIC EPARCHY OF NEWTON · Shepherd, Bishop Nicholas Samra. ON THE COVER. F r o m t h e E d i t o r Winter 2014 • SOPHIA 3 Dear Readers, Did you hang

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Inside:Eparchial ClergyConference AddressPage 4

Holy TraditionPage 12

Melkite Pilgrimageto RomePage 20

THE JOURNAL OF THE MELKITE CATHOLIC EPARCHY OF NEWTON

How great are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you have wrought them all!(Psalm 103:24)SOPHIASOPHIA

Volume 44, Number 1 • Winter 2014

2 SOPHIA • Winter 2014

The Publisher waives all copyright to this issue. Contents may be distributed free and without spe-cial permission in publications that are distributed free. Wherever possible, please include a cred-it line, indicating the name of SOPHIA magazine.

Unsolicited manuscripts, articles, and letters to the editor are welcomed. The editors assume noresponsibility for lost manuscripts or photos. The content of all articles, past, present and future,remains the expressed personal opinion of the individual author and may not reflect, in its entirety, the opinion of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton.

PO Box 189, Temecula, CA 92593 • www.melkite.org Phone: 714 600 3660 • Fax: 714 695 7500 • Email: [email protected]

Published quarterly by the Eparchy of Newton. ISSN 0194-7958.Made possible in part by the Catholic Home Mission Committee and a bequest of the Rev. Allen Maloof.

PUBLISHER: MOST REV. NICHOLAS J. SAMRA, EPARCHIAL BISHOP

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Rt. Rev. Archimandrite James Babcock

COPY EDITOR: Rev. James Graham

PRODUCTION: Deacon Paul LeonarczykDESIGN AND LAYOUT: Doreen Tahmoosh-Pierson

SOPHIAADVISORY BOARDDr. Fran Colie, Rev. George Gallaro, Very Rev. Lawrence Gosselin, Deacon Paul Leonarczyk, Rt. Rev. Michael Skrocki, Rev. Justin Rose

SSOOPPHHIIAA THE JOURNAL OF THEEPARCHY OF NEWTON FORMELKITE CATHOLICSIN THE UNITED STATES

In This Issue

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Share with us!Have you ever dreamed of being awriter? Perhaps having your voiceheard on the printed page?Is there a subject that youhave wanted to address ora story that you are excitedto tell? We would love to hearfrom you!

SOPHIA welcomes and encouragesupdates and photos from all of ourparishes and also invites manuscripts,articles, and letters to the editor fromparishioners.

Submissions will be subject to review bythe editorial staff and only those approvedby the publisher will be published.

All submissions can be sent to:E-mail: [email protected]

USPS: SOPHIA LetterboxPO Box 189Temecula, CA 92593

Phone: 714 600 3660

SubmissionsDeadlineAll materials

(photos/articles/parish news)for the Spring issue of

SOPHIA magazine are dueMarch 1, 2014.

A Letter from the Editor ............................................................3From the Bishop – As Strings to a Lyre ......................................4Letters ........................................................................................7Crushing Metal – Renewing Our Hearts ....................................8Good Gifts Shared – Learning from the Magi ............................9Prayer of the Heart – Part 1 ....................................................10Holy Tradition ..........................................................................12Priest Hero ..............................................................................14Office of Educational Services – Event Schedule......................15Ancient Faith Radio..................................................................16National Melkite Convention ..................................................17Pilgrimage to Rome ..................................................................20Does Mary Bridge Islam & Christianity ....................................24Grassroots Ecumenism ............................................................26Abraham Today & Yesterday ....................................................29Priesthood Sunday....................................................................31Priesthood: Not So Complicated ..............................................32St. Paul to Us Today ................................................................33The Power of Prayer ................................................................35What’s Your Melkite IQ? ..........................................................36Around the Eparchy ................................................................38About the Call to Priesthood....................................................40National Association of Melkite Women ..................................41Navigating the Eparchy ............................................................43

Melkite PilgrImage to Rome

In November 2013 His BeatitudePatriarch Gregorios III arranged aspecial audience with Pope Francisso that His Holiness could meet theMelkite Church, bishops, clergy,and laity. About 100 people wentfrom the US and the total number ofMelkites from all over the worldexceeded 300. The front coverphoto was taken at the meeting ofHis Holiness Pope Francis with ourShepherd, Bishop Nicholas Samra.

ON THE COVER

From the Editor

From the Editor

Winter 2014 • SOPHIA 3

Dear Readers,

Did you hang up that beautiful newdiocesan liturgical calendar for 2014 yet?Did you read it before you hung it up?No? Well, then, go take it down,

take it over to the kitchen table, andread the inspiring stories of howtwelve men were called to the holypriesthood. You will find a keen cross-section of our clergy, some old, someyoung, some married, some celibate,some Arabs, some Americans. Anyman can be called. But sometimes notall listen. At least not at first; butbehold, Our Lord says, “I stand at thedoor and knock” (Revelation 3:20).The church needs priests; maybe itneeds you.Be sure to read the heartfelt mes-

sage of Bishop Nicholas to his clergy.Presented as by a father to his sons,this resonating message has within itthat deep love Sayidna has for his cler-gy. A bishop can do nothing withouthis clergy who are dedicated to hisvision for the sheep entrusted to hiscare by God. Read it twice!Would you like to go on a pilgrim-

age to Rome and missed the last one?Turn to the center of this issue andtravel with Archimandrite PhilipRaczka as he takes our pilgrims aroundthe Eternal City to all the shrines andbasilicas and points of antiquity. It’sthe next best thing to being there. Wehave yet to receive the transcripts ofthe Pope’s and Patriarch’s messages tothe Melkites who traveled to Rome forthe historic occasion of an encounter

with our spiritual leaders. Perhaps wewill be able to present them to you inthe next issue.If you enjoy this issue, then thank

the generous people who supported theBishop’s Appeal. There is no subscrip-tion rate for SOPHIA. It is sent to youcompliments of the Eparchy, and isfunded by the donors to the Bishop’sAppeal. Do you still have time to sendin your donation to the Appeal? YES!Go. Do it!I wish every one of our readers a

happy, holy, and blessed New Year!May God’s blessings be showeredupon you throughout 2014. Pleaseremember me in your prayers.

Your Editor,Fr. James Babcock (unworthy priest)

by Rt. Rev. Archimandrite James BabcockEditor-in-Chief

A Letterfrom the Editor

Memory eternalRT. REV. EDMOND MICHEL GHAZAL, B.C.O.

Please remember in your prayers the departedpriest-servant of God, Father Edmond MichelGhazal, B.C.O., who fell asleep in the Lord recently.Fr. Edmond was born 1 August 1931 in Mashghara,Lebanon, and ordained priest, 27 July 1958. Heentered the Chouerite Monastery and taught at theChouerite schools; then he served in the Eparchies of Beirut and Marjeyoun, and for fifteen years at St. Elias in Zahle. Fr. Edmond was assigned to Our Lady of

Redemption, 1 July 1986, and served the St. Michael Mission, Plymouth, MI until his retirement. He received the honor of Stavrophore (Cross-bearer) on 24 October 2002.

He reposed in the Lord early on 17 November 2013. May his memory be eternal!

From

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Ishare with you today some thoughtsabout the activity of our EparchialChurch so that we may “think” and

“envision” concrete ways to live outour communion, in order to be morecredible in our testimony and procla-mation of the Gospel and more fruitfulin our pastoral work.Remembering Jesus, our Teacher and

Lord, washing the feet of his disciples(John 13), impels me to renew my willto be your servant in Christ, so that ourbeloved Church of Newton may shine inits beauty, its grace, its light, and itsenthusiastic love. Our local church mustgrow ever closer to Christ, theBridegroom, who offers his life for theChurch, his Bride, in the wedding cham-ber of the Cross. Can this be possible?Without any doubt, it has been and itwill be, with the grace of the Lord.

Every One of You Should Strive to Be Part of the ChorusI admire the life of the God-Bearer,Ignatius, the saintly bishop of Antioch.He was called to spill his blood forChrist, while he wished that his deathwould continue to be a gift, as hisentire life had been, a life given for hispeople, whom God entrusted to him astheir bishop. A true icon of the “beauti-ful shepherd who gives his life” to wit-ness to the truth of the love of God inJesus Christ.St. Ignatius is about to die. In his

last days he feels compelled to addressthe Christian people of Ephesus:“Since love does not allow me to besilent concerning you, I have thereforetaken the initiative to encourage you,so that you may run together in harmo-ny with the mind of God.” He contin-ues: “Run together in harmony withthe mind of the bishop, as you are infact doing. For your council of pres-byters, which is worthy of its name andworthy of God, is attuned to the bishop

as strings to a lyre. Therefore in yourunanimity and harmonious love JesusChrist is sung.”Let us then embrace the sincere tes-

timony of St. Ignatius and his ardentexhortation: “you must join this cho-rus, every one of you, so that beingharmonious in unanimity and takingyour pitch from God, you may sing inunison with one voice through JesusChrist to the Father, in order that Hemay both hear you and, on the basis ofwhat you do well, acknowledge thatyou are members of his Son. It is thenadvantageous for you to be in perfectunity, in order that you may alwayshave a share in God.”“Every one of you must join this

chorus”: we should want this togetherwith determination, responsibility, anda spirit of sacrifice. The communion ofthe presbyters, deacons, and religiousaround the bishop is an essential ele-ment for witnessing to the symphonyof God’s Trinitarian love that must beunfolded, uttered and made visible.Let us all learn from the humility of

Jesus in the upper room not to over-power the voices of others. It would bea false note to the detriment of harmo-ny, a cacophony rather than a sympho-ny. The other risk is squirming one’sway out, to be a string by oneself.Instead it is necessary to make our owngift available so that “the mosaic” weall form is accomplished and seen.Therefore we must keep an ear to oth-ers, to synchronize ourselves with oth-ers, to appreciate and value difference,to be open to sharing our “orchestralscore” with others. Swiss theologianHans Urs von Balthasar reminds usthat truth is symphonic! When we raisewalls, we betray our belonging to thepresbyterium, and contribute to a falsenote. With St. Augustine of Hippo onemay say: “If you can sing in tune, donot clash by your behavior…

Therefore, I exhort you, brothers, in thename of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be all ofone accord in speaking, so that no divi-sions are among you, but united in perfectharmony of thought and intentions.”

Our Communion is Grace and Mission“God is love!” and this love is commun-ion in itself and within us; a gift of Godfor us, but also a task and a commitment.We are on a journey, pilgrims in this his-tory: we are like clay jars in which thistreasure is stored. Knowing our humanweakness, the Lord prayed that the loveof God would cement human beings,making them “one” as the Father and theSon are one. “I want all of them to beone with each other, just as I am onewith you and you are with me. I alsowant them to be one with us. Then thepeople of this world will believe that yousent me” (John 17).In today’s life conditions, everything

is fragmented, provisional; nothing isstable. A whirlwind breaks and crushesall relationships, those sacred and moreintimate: God-man, husband-wife, par-ents-children, brother-sister, and thoseexternal and public ones of social lifetogether. In these living conditions, theunity of the Church is sincerely soughtand hoped for by many. We hope andpray that this same unity is seen in thehistory of mankind. In the first Epistleof Peter: “Now who is there to harmyou if you are zealous for what is right?Even if you do suffer for righteousness’sake, you will be blessed. Have no fearof them, nor be troubled, but in yourhearts reverence Christ as Lord.Always be prepared to make a defenseto anyone who calls you to account forthe hope that is in you, yet do it withgentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3).We should enter the twists and turns oftoday’s world and offer Christian hopefor the future. Our specific contribution

by Most Rev. Nicholas SamraEparchial Bishop of Newton

“As Strings to a Lyre: Let Us Sing in Unison with One Voice”

The Introductory Address of Bishop Nicholas to the Eparchial Clergy Conference

24 September 2013

From the Bishop

From the Bishop

depends on the ways we are able towork together so that the God of hopewill open a new future for mankind andspecifically for our Church in this timeand in this place.“For with You is the fountain of life;

in your light do we see light” (Psalm36:9). In the mystery of God-Agape,man’s life is a mystery, the mystery ofthe gift and love of oneself for othersand the Church—a communionbetween brothers who love each other.“Let your light shine before men thatthey may see your good works and giveglory to your Father who is in heaven”(Matthew 5:16). Our love is the onlyway of truly witnessing to God’s love.“You are the light of the world. A cityset on a hill cannot be hid. Nor wouldone light a lamp and put it under abushel, but on a stand, and it gives lightto all in the house” (Matthew 5: 14-15).“Do all things without grumbling orquestioning, that you may be blamelessand innocent, children of God withoutblemish in the midst of a crooked andperverse generation, among whom youshine as lights in the world…”(Philippians 2: 14-15). As the icon ofthe Holy Trinity, the Church under-stands herself in the light of eternalagape, since she knows and sees thatTrinitarian love is the foundation of herpastoral work among men and women.In communion with the Father, the

Son, and the Spirit, every pastoral ini-tiative has to find its life-giving“womb” from which it comes and towhich is always related (1 John 1). Thispastoral work ought to be a working ascommunion to find concrete ways thatmanifest the communion in our Churchof Newton and all other Churches.The “spirituality of communion” is

that light which will allow our peopleto see us, priests, deacons, and reli-gious, for what we are; that is, theBody of Christ. He holds it togetherand makes all of its parts work perfect-ly, as it grows and becomes strongbecause of love: “We are to grow up inevery way into him who is the head,into Christ, from whom the wholebody, joined and knit together by everyjoint with which it is supplied wheneach part is working properly, makesbodily growth and up-builds itself inlove” (Ephesians 4:15-15).

Beautify Our Church and Our WorldServing our Church begins with a con-version—to receive the light of Christ.And this conversion begins with each

one of us—to find the light in our-selves, to enlighten how we look atourselves, at others, at the world, athuman life and at the Church.In order to beautify our look we must

fix it on Jesus. The Nazarene went toevery town and village. He taught intheir meeting places and preached thegood news about God’s kingdom. Hehealed every kind of disease and sick-ness. The blind were able to see, thecripples walked. People with leprosywere healed, and the deaf were able tohear (Matthew 9 and 11). With thesemessianic signs, He reveals himself as“the way, the truth, and the life” (John14) and as “the light” (John 8). By“deeds and words” He announces thenew image of God-Agape: “God is loveand communion” (1 John 4). The Gospelis liberating. It has to do with the “fleshof men.” It is not a simple new doctrine.It is enlightening, since it has the powerto explain human existence in its origi-nal beauty and destiny. This Gospelclears away the world’s darkness.Let us then look with a beautiful

gaze at the life of our Church ofNewton in the light of the Trinitarianlife of God-Agape and God-Koinonia(1 John 1, 4). We can do this becausethe communication of the God-love-communion happened in human histo-ry, culminating in the death and resur-rection of Jesus, the last and definitivemanifestation of the God/love. Thelove of God is not a doctrine but ratheran event, and, as such, it continuesthroughout history. We are free becauseChrist has set us free (Galatians 5:1).The Church continues as a prophet-

ic sign of unity and peace because ofTrinitarian love. We discover the truenature of the Church in the mirror ofGod’s eternal communion. The Lordmade the Church holy by the power ofhis word—our role is to become theholy word of God in our preaching andactions. In Galatians, Paul exhorts usto walk by the Spirit and tells us plain-ly the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-con-trol…if we live by the Spirit, let us alsowalk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another,no envy of one another” (Galatians5:16, 2-26). Bear this fruit with eachother and with the people you serve.Communion of and in the Church is anindispensable fact of our credibility asgodly ministers. We cannot follow theway of the world tending to individual-ism—we need to build communion.

More Out-Reaching Parishes from Our CommunionWe start with ourselves, renewing ourcommitment to love and serve on thelocal parish level, on the eparchiallevel, and national and internationallevels as well—we live in symphonywith diversities and variances—yet weare in communion. We have a well-structured ecclesial life—the Eucharist,the proclamation of the Gospel, the wit-ness of charity—and yet we need tothink outside the traditional box a bit tofind new ways of building fellowship. Ihate to even say this, but some parishesare on life-support systems, barely liv-ing places of God’s love. Our parishesbecome missionary when they succeedin receiving, hosting, caring, and edu-cating in love. The parish is the con-crete space in which one learns to lovein this way, in accord with the newcommandment of love which is thesummation of the ancient law: “Loveanother as I have loved you.”The outcomes or consequences for

our daily pastoral work are manifold.We must aim at holiness with greaterardor, submitting our life to the mys-tery of God: integrity and not half-measures of self offering. Conversionas service (diakonia) is based uponconversion as self-giving (kenosis),which leads to conversion as commun-ion and as fellowship (koinonia) withGod and the people we serve. Thiscommunion is the hope for our parish-es, our Eparchy, our future in thiscountry, and for all our people.Our pastoral work needs more vital-

ity. Through service we witness theGospel’s power. We communicateGod-love grounded in the sacramentalmysteries. Water, oil, the Eucharist,spoken words of forgiveness, a unitedbody of clergy, the grace of marriedlove—these are humble vehicles thatcommunicate to the world the grace ofcommunion with God.The presbyterium validates unity of

the local church. The presbyters, the dea-cons, and religious live with their bishopand among themselves a more fraternalcommunion—spiritual, pastoral, human.Our regional Protopresbyterates shouldperiodically gather together their priests,deacons, and religious in order to mani-fest their communion more visibly, topromote and coordinate common pas-toral activity, and to see that their spiritu-al needs are taken care of.The laity along with the clergy in

our parishes and missions of eachContinued on page 6


Protopresbyterate should work togeth-er pastorally. The pastoral work shouldbe in harmony with the choices andindications of our Eparchy. During theliturgical seasons of the pre-manifesta-tion feasts of Christ (Nativity,Theophany, Encounter), the Great Fast,and the Pascha-Pentecost time, specialmoments of prayer should be celebrat-ed as a sign of the communion of allthe people.No one should hang back—each of

us needs to move forward because if wedo not go ahead, we will be regressing.I urge you, each priest, deacon, andreligious of the Church of Newton,despite how old or young you think youare, to move forward with intelligenceand humility. Every one of you mustjoin this chorus. We need to eliminateevery form of laziness, weakness, andegoism, and renew our diligent andserious work on the road to the heaven-ly reward. If you are vibrant, and showit, your parish will reflect the God-love.We cannot let any obstacle stand in

the way of communion. In GalatiansPaul reminds us that we must “makeroom” for our brothers and sisters, “bear-ing one another’s burdens” (Galatians6:2) and resist temptations which con-stantly beset us and which provoke com-petition, careerism, distrust, and jealousy.We must seek what is positive in others,to welcome it and prize it as a gift fromGod, and as Blessed John Paul II tells us:“not only as a gift for the brother or sis-ter who has received it directly, but alsoas a gift for me.”

Discernment and Reception“As strings to the lyre,” let us practice“community discernment,” for theSpirit speaks through our laity also—somany people are gifted and talented. Weneed to bring them into Church min-istries, involving them, particularlythose more committed, in our pastoraland financial councils, and as catechists,readers, ushers, singers, servers, and soon. God gives each parish, no matterhow small or large, all the gifts neces-sary to build his Body in communion—your task is to search out spiritual laityand call them to leadership.First and foremost, I beg you to rec-

ognize this as such, as formation andeducation in the faith. Some parishesare extremely weak on this path. Thesocial life of the parish flows naturallyfrom mission, liturgy, feasts, and the

like. You are not social directors—youwere ordained to serve the Body ofChrist. Stand firm on this. You arecalled to make God’s people holy! Andyou can accomplish this gradually andwith measured pace.

The Spirit of Life and Love: Source of Our CommunionIn order to make this communion visibleit is necessary that we recover, in ourpastoral work, the interior principle ofour acting; that is, the Word becomeflesh in Jesus. God has given us the HolySpirit, who fills our hearts and “dwellswithin us.” He is our life and love. TheSpirit converts hearts from their hard-ness: “I the Lord your God will causebreath to enter you, and you shall liveagain… I will take away your stubborn-ness and make you eager to be com-pletely faithful to me” (Ezekiel 37, 11).The Spirit of the risen Lord now

lives in us: “Do you not know that yourbody is a temple of the Holy Spiritwithin you? The Spirit is in you and isa gift from God. You are no longeryour own. God paid a great price foryou. So use your body to honor God”(1 Corinthians 6).Each presbyter, deacon, religious,

and lay-person in our parishes andeparchy should ask, “How does a per-son inhabited by God’s Spirit work?”“What does it mean to become attunedto this Spirit of Christ?” (Romans 8and 1 Corinthians 3).St Paul offers us some clear teaching

on God’s Spirit and our desires: don’tobey your selfish desires (Galatians 5)and let God’s Spirit who lives in you ruleyour desires, so that you are alive becauseGod has accepted you (Romans 8).Let us relate to one another, acknowl-

edging each other by deeds of love. Letus come together in a common unionthat makes us “one body,” because bysharing in the same loaf of bread, webecome one body, even though theseare many of us (1 Corinthians 10).These are not empty words—ourChristian testimony is then in this com-munion, this love.Let us work together in the

Vineyard of Newton so that God’spromise in Jeremiah 31 may be ful-filled: “I will bless the soul of thepriests [I add deacons and religious]with abundance, and my people shallbe satisfied with my goodness.” Don’tget tired of helping others. Don’t give

up. We should help each other whenev-er we can, especially if they are follow-ers of the Lord (Galatians 6).

Living in Communion to Stir Up New VocationsAs clergy of Newton we must lookbeyond today and look to the future. “Ifyou love each other, everyone will knowthat you are my disciples” (John 13).Your call as priests, deacons, and

religious is to gather our pilgrim flockwhich the Lord has entrusted to you.You must help to overcome divisions,heal rifts, settle conflicts and misunder-standings, and forgive offenses. Thisliving in communion will conquerhuman individualism and thus becometestimony for stirring up new voca-tions. If young people see priests, dea-cons, and religious who appear distantand unhappy, they will hardly feelencouraged to follow their example.They will remain hesitant if they are ledto think that this is the life of a priest,deacon, or religious. Instead, they needto see the example of communion,which can reveal to them the beauty ofbeing a priest, deacon, or religious.Only then will a young man say, “Yes,this could be my future. I can live likethis.” Please remember—you are theads and billboards for future vocations.Be happy!Every priest, every deacon, and

every religious, faithful to his voca-tion, should radiate the joy of servingChrist and draw all people to respondto the universal call to holiness.Consequently, in order to foster voca-tions and to be more effective in pro-moting the discernment of vocations,we cannot do without the example ofthose who have already said “yes” toGod and to his plan for the life of eachindividual. Your personal witnessaffects our future.

ConclusionLet us then enter into the dynamism ofJesus: “Do not suppose that I came todo away with the law and the prophets.I didn’t come to do away with them,but to give them their full meaning”(Matthew 5). Are we asking then forsome particular miracles or a new“labor of Hercules?” No! We are onlyasking for what the Lord expects fromour pastoral zeal, our filial love, thehonesty of his friends: “Every one ofyou should strive to be part of the cho-

Clergy Conference Address Continued from page 5Fr

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LettersLetters


rus.” We are united with Him andamong ourselves; we are in commun-ion with our bishop and with the peo-ple of God. We are a communion ofparishes working together in order tobe fruitful and credible. Let us play ourbeautiful symphony, let us sing in uni-son, and let us build up the Body ofChrist, always together, as strings to alyre. “Think the same way that Christ

Jesus did. Christ was truly God. But hegave up everything and became likeone of us. Christ was humble. Heobeyed God and even died on a cross.Then God gave Christ the highestplace and honored His name aboveothers” (Philippians 2).“Lord, Lord, look down from heav-

en and see, visit this vineyard, theChurch of Newton, guide it, preserve

it, bless it and make it grow, becauseyour right hand has planted it.”My love and God’s blessings on

each of you and the communities yourserve!

†NicholasEparchial Bishop of NewtonSeptember 24, 2013

LETTERS EDITORto the

JAN THOMPSON REPLIES

Dear Mr. Dodson,Thank you for your kind comments about

my article in SOPHIA; it has opened manydoors for me and my ancestral research.There is a book that may be of interest toyou that speaks of all of the Arabic settlers inthe North Dakota area and much more. It isPrairie Peddlers: The Syrian-Lebanese inNorth Dakota by William C. Sherman, PaulL. Whitney, and John Guerrero. It was pub-lished in 2002 by the University of MaryPress in Bismarck, ND.

If you decide to use the article, I wouldappreciate that my references be included.In addition, the article omitted credit to the“NDSU Archives, Fargo, N.D. (st000092)”for the photo of the group of people in frontof the schoolhouse.

All the best to you,Jan Thompson

Dear Editor:

I appreciated the story a

bout the Melkites in Rugby, North

Dakota. The Melkites were

not the only Arabic settl

ers in the

area. I believe that there

were also Maronite, Ort

hodox, and

Muslims. Many North Dakotans kno

w that the first mosque

in the U.S. was proba

bly in Rugby, but not

many know

about the Melkites.

During my last visit to

Rugby I asked the lo

cal priest

(Roman Catholic) whe

re I could find the gr

aves of the

Catholic Arab families.

He directed me to an

older section

of the Catholic cemetery

. The Arabic names wer

e there, but

I can’t recall any right n

ow. (I am not of Arabic d

escent, but

I am Melkite, and was interested

in this connection to ea

rli-

er Melkites in North Dakota

.)

I think that a version of J

an Thompson’s piece wo

uld be a

great addition to the New Earth, the dioc

esan paper for the

Fargo Roman Catholic

Diocese. I will pass on t

he pdf ver-

sion of SOPHIA to the editor to see if th

ere is interest and, if

there is, she could cont

act you.

Thank you.

Christopher Dodson

Executive Director, Gen

eral Counsel

North Dakota Catholic

Conference

103 South Third Street,

Suite 10, Bismarck, ND

58501

701-223-2519

Dear SOPHIA editor,I receive your quarterly magazine and I have really

liked the articles about Pope Francis and the Orthodox

coming together, and also the informative articles

about Syria.Two of my cousins are interested in receiv-

ing your magazine as well. Could you mail it to them?

Could you also mail to them Vol. 43 Nos. 2 & 3?

We're very concerned about the situation in Syria.Thank you,Samar AtallahEditor’s note: copies were sent as requested.

Dear Abouna Jim,In the Fall issue of SOPHIA, the articles on Maaloula statethat our Melkite Mar Sarkis Monastery is on the top of thecliff at the bottom of which Mar Taqla Monastery is situated.When you enter Maaloula and reach the center of the vil-

lage, the paved road divides in two: If you bear left and keepdriving or walking you’ll have to climb up a hill to visit MarSarkis Melkite Monastery. If you bear right you’ll reach Mar Taqla Monastery at the bottom of a cliff called in Arabic Al-Fajj. Between the two

monasteries are souqs and houses and churches. A pretty long distance separates them.

The two articles also leave the impression that the famous town fell to the rebels and

still is under their control, which is not the case. Maaloula was almost immediately recap-

tured by the ruling regime. According to an email I received recently, a similar tragedy

seems to be taking place in Sadad, an entirely Syriac Orthodox Christian village belong-

ing to the province of Homs. May God have mercy on our suffering people. In Christ the Lord,Fr. Alam

A Y

oung

Mel

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When we woke up that Sundaymorning in July, it seemedlike any other day. Following

our usual routine, little did we knowthat later that day, we could have metour Creator.We sat in church and awaited the

liturgy. After hearing the beginning ofFr. John’s sermon, we sat at the edge ofour seats, listening intently. Later, itseemed surreal. Matthew 14 intro-duced the topic of faith. Fatherexplained that we need to have faithwhen skies are clear, and even morewhen a storm follows. Like Peter, weshould not lose faith. Even through ourtrials and darkest moments, we mustlook up and acknowledge that God isinevitably in control through it all.Letting the teaching sink in, asthe liturgy continued, I couldnot get his homily out of mymind. The thoughts were withme through each song and peti-tion and Holy Communion.In remembrance of Saint

Elias the Living (20 July), Fathergoes around the church parkinglot, blessing the parishioners’cars before everyone goes onwith their day and week, askingGod to bless the cars and keepthe passengers safe while wedrove. My mom, being her usualself, jokingly asked one of ourchoir members if they hadblessed our car. In response and keepingup the humor, one of them responded,“Yes, Nawal, we blessed it twice just foryou.” Blowing this comment off as a bitof humor in our morning, no one thoughtthat in reality those “two blessings”would later remind us of God’s grace.I grabbed my mom’s car keys and

bolted toward the car, only to realizethat my slick cousin was already aheadof me. Beating her by a hair, I sat in thefront seat on our way home fromchurch. When we were asked what wetook from the sermon, all mouths in thecar were still for a while. My brainflooded with thoughts, trying to decidewhich I should utter. After a good five-minute silence, my sister Maya finally

spoke up. As if we had rehearsed earli-er, she, Mom, my cousin Zeina, and Iall spoke the same words: “It was soreal what he said.” After all I had beenthrough in my life, I knew that sermonwas for me and my healing family.As we pulled into our driveway, we

wondered what was on our agenda forthe rest of the day. Wanting to injectsome competition into our day, I sug-gested go-karting at Mountasia. Wewere all eager to get started. Franticallysearching for something to wear andpacking clothes for our later commit-ment, we hopped in my grandfather’sLexus sports car. We were off down ourhill and ready to win. We hit the redlight and turned up the radio. My sister

had just put her seatbelt on, and thegreen light signaled safe to proceed.As we drove down the road I looked

to my right and saw what seemed to bean elderly man pulling out of theWellstar parking lot. I knew he couldnot make the turn before we wouldpass this driveway. The man must havebeen extremely frightened—webelieve he had pressed the gas insteadof the brakes. Bracing myself, Iwatched, knowing this would not endwell. His car was headed straight to T-bone into my side of the car.My mom proactively turned the

wheel and pressed the brakes to reducethe impact. With her “third arm,” at

least it seemed so after the accident, shewas also pressing the horn. I heard thehonking and saw the metal crush, yetfelt no impact. I watched as his carcrashed into ours. I saw the elongatedhood of the Lexus now blackened andmuch shorter. We had been pushed intothe turning lane in the middle of SandyPlains, one of the busiest roads on aSunday afternoon. Looking around, Irealized that the road was empty. I couldhear no distinct voices. Only muffledsounds entered my ears. As if it all were a dream, I awaited

the moment when I would sit up in mybed to the sound of my reassuring tele-vision, and realize this was all in myhead. This moment—it would have

been so peaceful, so calming—never occurred.Checking back into reality, I

turned around to check on mysister and cousin. My mom, inher calming voice, instructedme to call the police. As Ireported the accident, my mindwas racing. How did we sur-vive this crash? We shouldhave been dead. The other carhad slowed down immensely.It was as if God was standingright there, holding back thecar from inflicting us withmore than minor sore necks.My seatbelt did not even give atug. We left our car and walked

to the gas station across the street.Finding out that the driver I thoughtwas a man was actually a woman, I felteven worse for her. My cousin Zeina and I kept my sis-

ter calm and helped her breathebecause of her asthma, while my momtalked to the police. Then we called mygrandparents and Zeina’s family toinform them of this miracle. We couldhear the emotion and imagine tears ofrelief springing from our families’ eyesas they were assured we were all inperfect health. Though I would havereceived the most damage and pain, Ihad none. Not even a sore muscle. Athome, Zeina and my sister applied icepacks for mild neck pain. Everyone

by Hala Fuleihan

Crushing Metal, Renewing Our Hearts

Stewardship

Stewardship


was amazed we were not injured. Then smiles appeared on our faces

as we realized it was God who was, is,and will always be in control of ourlives. We all remembered the sermonfrom earlier that morning. In stormsand clear skies, keep your eyes onJesus. “Blessed twice just for you.” Iseemed to be hearing that line all day.How reassuring it is to know that even

the slightest joke can make an impacton a person’s day.After that day, now I understand the

importance of living each day like it isyour last, but ultimately understandingthat we need to live each day for God.He explains to us that we all have apurpose to live out. Obviously, wehave not fulfilled it yet. We watch andlisten to our God and His plan for us.

Watching how fast the lady’s car wascoming toward us, and watching mymom turn the wheel until it could nothave gone any further, made us all real-ize that we are not promised a tomor-row. The real question, though, is whatwill we do with the today we have? †

Hala Fuleihan, Marietta, GA, is a parishionerat St. John Chrysostom Church, Atlanta, GA.

The icon of the Magi depicts theseWise Men from the East offeringgifts of gold, frankincense, and

myrrh to the infant Jesus. They enduredsignificant dangers and traveled consid-erable distances to offer their preciousgifts to the newborn King. What abeautiful example of stewardship theyset for all Christians, helping us toappreciate and share God’s gifts.The Magi represent a longing to

seek God, searching through scienceand tradition to relate to their Creatorand discover His plan for them.Imagine their arduous journey fromPersia to Palestine, over deserts andhills, a trip that took many monthsthrough the unknown.What a strong determination they

must have had. Without doubt theyfaced questions and uncertainty at thestart. During their expedition, newchallenges and setbacks would havebeen matter-of-fact. Yet they continuedtheir journey and persisted in theirsearch for “the Child born to be king ofthe Jews.” When they finally met thechild Jesus, “they kneeled down andworshiped Him. They took out theirgifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrhand gave them to Him.”The story of the Magi is not simply a

colorful part of the Nativity season(Christmas); it also presents importantcharacters who model a path of faithfulstewardship worthy of consideration.They offer an example of a true searchfor God using the intellectual gifts they

had, a willingness to overcome any dif-ficulties in their journey towards God,and the witness of offering the best theyhad once they encounter the child Jesus.Saint John Chrysostom, one of the

best-known Church Fathers, wouldsay, “The rich men are not the oneswho have much, but the ones who givemuch. For what one gives away, he/shekeeps for all eternity.”We are called to understand that all

we have in life—from life itself, to ourintellectual abilities and specific tal-ents, and to our faith experiences andmaterial possessions as well—all wehave is a gift from God, and each of usis called to act as a proper and goodsteward of these gifts.Reflect on how the Magi were careful

stewards with their knowledge and expe-rience, as well as stewards of their timeand effort. Saint Basil the Great, anotherChurch Father, highlights that truewealth comes through sharing what wehave first received from God Himself.Lastly, whatever we have is not

ours. All is God’s, and we are simplycaretakers of His riches. As we learn togenerously give of ourselves, of ourtime, talents and treasure, we onlyincrease our wealth and make eternalinvestments. Christian stewardship isall about becoming good caretakers ofall that God has given us.Think about all that God has given

us: our health, our families and rela-tives, our opportunities in life, all ourtalents. God has given each of us special

and unique gifts. Holy Scripture tells usthat all is a loan. God lends everythingto us and reminds us that one day Hewill ask us to give an account of whatwe have done with the gifts He hasgiven us. How have we used our time,our talents, and our treasure? Have welearned the blessedness of generouslygiving to others from all we have?One day, a parishioner complained to

his pastor that Christianity is one cease-less “give, give, give.” To which the pas-tor replied, “Thank you for the finestdescription of Christianity I have everheard. You are right, Christianity is allabout a constant ‘give, give, give.’ Godhas given His only Son to the world toshow His great love. His Son has givenHis life on the cross to forgive our fail-

ures. His disciples have given all they hadto make sure the Good News wasannounced to all people everywhere. Andafter all that giving, God asks us, His fol-lowers of today, to imitate His own gen-erosity by giving, by offering back fromall that He has given each of us.So, yes, being a Christian is one

perennial “give, give, give,” but from agood and blessed perspective. The giftsof the Magi and the teachings of theChurch Fathers help our understandingof Christian stewardship and what itmeans to act as true followers of theLord Jesus Christ. “From those whohave been given much, much will berequired; from those who have beenentrusted much, much more will beasked” (Luke 12:48). †

by Pappas Giorgios

Good GiftsShared:

Learning fromthe Magi

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“Christianity is either a fire—or itdoesn’t exist.”

These are the thought-provokingwords of Mother Maria Skobtsova(in Hidden and Triumphant, the

Underground Struggle to Save RussianIconography, Irina Yazykova, ParacletePress, 2010). Mother Maria, a Russianémigré in Paris who died in a Nazi gaschamber in 1945, reminds us of theessence of our Christian faith and life.Often, people think of Christianity as aphilosophy to live by or as a list of dog-matic or intellectual truthsto believe in; or they see itas a set of religious ritualsor a moral code of behav-ior or even some type ofself-help program. Yet,Christianity is really noneof these things. MotherMaria’s words challengeus to acknowledge thereality at the heart of our Christian faith.“Christianity is either afire, or it doesn’t exist.”Our Lord Himself

said: “I have come to casta fire upon the earth, andhow I wish it werealready kindled” (Luke12:49). St. John theForerunner announcedthe coming of Christ,saying: “He will baptizeyou with the Holy Spiritand with fire” (Matthew3:11). And, on Pentecost,the Apostles received thegift of the Holy Spirit intongues of fire and, atonce, began to set the world on fire withlove for Christ.What is this fire of which the scrip-

tures and Mother Maria speak?St. Maximos the Confessor offers

this magnificent description: “Theunspeakable and prodigious fire hiddenin the essence of things, as in the bush,is the fire of Divine love and the daz-zling brilliance of God’s beauty insideeverything.” It is this fire of divinelove that our Lord came to spread upon

earth; this is the fire that Mother Mariasays defines Christianity. Indeed, allthe practices of our Christian religion,all the dogmatic truths and moral prin-ciples in which we believe and bywhich we strive to live, all the liturgi-cal services and the entire mystical lifeof the Church are aimed at one andonly one goal: to fuel and increase thefire of divine love in our hearts. For itis by divine love that we are saved.Without this divine fire in our hearts,all the practices and beliefs of our

Christian faith are but empty gesturesand curious ideas; with it, thesebecome the means of our divinization.For this fire of divine love is not

merely an attribute or quality of God;rather, as St. John reveals, “God islove” (1 John 4:8); love is the essenceof God. “Love is the very life of theDivine Nature,” according to St.Gregory of Nyssa. And the outpouringof divine love, the energy of God, isthe cause and sustenance of the uni-

verse. All that exists is the expressionof divine love.Like the Apostles, we too have been

baptized with the Holy Spirit and withfire. In our baptism and chrismation, thisfire of divine love has been “poured intoour hearts by the Holy Spirit who hasbeen given to us” (Romans 5:5), so that“you may know Christ’s love which sur-passes knowledge, in order that you maybe filled unto all the fullness of God”(Ephesians 3:16-19). Moreover, this bap-tismal gift of the fire of divine love is not

some impersonal “cosmicforce” that controls theuniverse. Rather, it is amysterious encounterwith a divine Person.Christ our God—DivineLove Himself—has cometo dwell in our heartsthrough faith by the powerof the Holy Spirit. “It isnot I who live, but Christis living in me” (Galatians2:19). “For me to live isChrist” (Philippians 1:21).And so, “Christianity is animitation of the DivineNature” (St Gregory ofNyssa).But do we experience

this fire of divine love inour lives? Are we on firewith Christ? When weattend the Divine Liturgyare we like the discipleson the road to Emmauswhose “hearts wereburning” in the presenceof Christ? Or, as BishopNicholas asked in his pas-

toral letter for the Apostles Fast: “Hasour fire for Christ grown cold? Is ourprecious gift of the fire of baptismalgrace scarcely smoldering for lack ofthe fuel of prayer? Is it being suffocat-ed by the corruption of the world andall its material temptations that threat-en to snuff it out?”How can we recover the spark of

God’s life and love in our souls? Howcan we fan the embers of divine love inour hearts into the flame of zeal for

by Deacon Paul Leonarczyk

Prayer of the Heart, Part I:The Fire of Divine Love

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Christ? How can our Christian faithcome alive for us? St. Dimitri ofRostov provides this answer: “To kin-dle in his heart such a divine love, tounite with God in an inseparable unionof love, it is necessary for a man topray often, raising the mind to Him.For as a flame increases when it is con-stantly fed, so prayer, made often, withthe mind dwelling ever more deeply inGod, arouses divine love in the heart.And the heart, set on fire, will warm allthe inner man, will enlighten and teachhim, revealing to him all its unknownand hidden wisdom, and making himlike a flaming seraph, always standingbefore God within his spirit…”Only when we nurture a relationship

with God in daily prayer can the fire ofdivine love we received in baptismhave a life-changing effect in us. Thisis why in the patristic tradition interiorprayer is seen as the key to all graces.Prayer is the only bond that links us toGod; it is the essence of our personalrelationship with God.Father Matta El Maskeen (Matthew

the Poor), a contemporary monk of theEgyptian desert, reminds us that “wecan only reach God from the depths ofour souls.” While truly God is presenteverywhere, He does not exist every-where in relation to us, but rather, “Heexists everywhere in relation to Hisown nature, which fills the whole uni-verse. But there is no place at all in thisvast universe where we can meet Godexcept within ourselves. Here, He waitsfor us; here we face Him and talk toHim; here, He answers us” (OrthodoxPrayer Life, the Interior Way, Fr. MattaEl-Maskeen, SVS Press, 2003).“Enter eagerly into the sanctuary

that is within you,” said St. Isaac the

Syrian, “and you will see the sanctuaryof Heaven; they are one and the same.By one entrance you enter both. Theladder leading to the Kingdom ofHeaven is hidden mystically withinyour soul.” “Enter within yourself, andremain in your heart, for there is God”(St Ephrem the Syrian).Truly, God dwells within us because

of our baptism: “Are you not awarethat you are the temple of God and thatthe Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1Corinthians 3:16). But Christ’sredeeming work only becomes a per-sonal reality for me, when I turn toHim in prayer. “Faith in Christ is not atheory. It is a power that changeslives… But our faith in Christ will everremain powerless until we meet Himface to face within ourselves… Prayeris an effective power that brings us intocontact with the Christ who is actuallypresent within us… He who does notuse the power of prayer, never makescontact with the Christ who is withinhim.” Without prayer we lose the gloryof our divine image, and we no longerresemble God, “for prayer is the condi-tion in which we discover our owndivine image” (Orthodox Prayer Life).Truly, we were created to pray! According to St. John Chrysostom,

prayer is life: “If you deprive yourself ofprayer it is like taking a fish out of water.For as water means life to a fish, soprayer means life to you.” And so he rec-ommends that prayer should be “a con-stant state which endures by night andday.” Our Lord Himself instructs us thatwe “must pray always and not lose heart”(Luke 18:1), and that we should “watchand pray at all times” (Luke 21:34).Likewise, St. Paul bids us to “pray with-out ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

And so, in these words of Scriptureand the Fathers, we begin to see thevital importance of establishing a regu-lar prayer life, a rule of prayer, as it iscalled. For, as with any person, unlesswe are in regular communication withGod we cannot have a relationship withHim. Without an active life of personalprayer, we cannot sustain a relationshipwith God. “Do we treat God with arudeness that allows us to wake up,hear the radio, smell the coffee, andcheck our emails before, if we are in apious mood, we nod in His direction?Far too often we act as if God is notthere… When we can go whole daysnot speaking to Him, to Someone weknow is in the same house with us, weshould know that our relationship is introuble” (Becoming Icons of Christ,Mother Rafaela, SVS Press, 2011).In this series of articles on prayer of

the heart, we will explore the question ofhow we can fan into flame the embers ofdivine love in our hearts and deepen ourpersonal relationship with God. We willseek the wisdom of the Holy Fathers,especially as distilled in the practicaladvice of St. Theophan the Recluse, a19th century bishop who was a spiritualforebear of Mother Maria, and who, likeher, understood that “Christianity iseither a fire—or it doesn’t exist.”In the meantime, you might want to

pick up at your local bookstore a copy ofThe Way of a Pilgrim, a charming anddelightful account of a man who is seek-ing to understand the meaning of St.Paul’s advice to “pray without ceasing.” †

Deacon Paul Leonarczyck serves at Our Ladyof the Cedars parish in Manchester, NewHampshire, and is the Chancellor of theEparchy of Newton.

The 2014 Melkite Association of Young Adults National Retreat

June 28 - July 2, 2014 Chicago, Illinois

Registration is open to all parishioners, ages 18-26 and one year removed from high school.Come join us in prayer, service, and fellowship aswe explore this year’s theme: “Discovering OurFellow Eastern Christian Churches.” To sign up,

go to www.usmaya.org and like us on Facebook for updates on registration and costs.

Save Date!Save Date!the

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Part TwoHoly Tradition:Living and Dynamic

The Nicene Creed describes theChurch as “One, Holy Catholicand Apostolic.”

• It is “One” because there can beonly one true Church with onehead, who is Christ.

• It is “Holy” because the Churchseeks to sanctify and transfigureits members through the HolyMysteries (Sacraments).

• It is “Catholic” because theChurch is universal, with membersin all parts of the world. The word“Catholic” comes from the Greekkatholikos, which means world-wide or universal.

• It is “Apostolic” because its teach-ings are based without break orchange on the foundations laid bythe Apostles.However, the Christian Tradition

means much more than the faith thatJesus Christ imparted to the Apostlesand that since the Apostles’ time hasbeen handed on from generation to gen-eration in the Church. It means thebooks of the Bible the Creed, the decreesof the Ecumenical Councils, andthe writings of the Fathers. Itmeans the canons, the servicebooks, the holy icons. In fact, itmeans the whole system of doc-trine, church government, wor-ship, and art that EasternChristianity has articulatedthrough the ages.While honoring what we

inherit from the past, EasternChristians are aware that noteverything received fromthe past is of equal value. Among the various ele-

ments of the Tradition,pre-eminence belongs tothe Bible, to the Creed, tothe doctrinal definitionsof the EcumenicalCouncils; these areaccepted as something

absolute and unchanging, which can-not be eliminated or revised. Other parts of the Tradition do not

have the same authority. The decreesof the Council of Jerusalem, for exam-ple, do not stand on the same level asthe Nicene Creed, nor do the writingsof Athanasius or Symeon the NewTheologian occupy the same positionas the Gospel of St. John. Furthermore, not everything received

from the past is necessarily true. As abishop remarked at the Council ofCarthage in 257, “The Lord said, ‘I amtruth.’ He did not say, ‘I am custom.’”

We make a distinction between the Tradition and traditions. The Tradition, with a capital T, is thelife of the spirit of the Church. Itensures the continuity of truth and lifein the Church, and gives it stability,continuity, and unchangeability.Although traditions (with a lowercaset) or customs are the concrete and his-toric manifestations of the Tradition,they may change. As in the Bible, wedistinguish between the letter and thespirit, so, in the Tradition of theChurch in general, we distinguishbetween the precept and its expression.

It is necessary to question the past. Many traditions handed down from thepast are human and accidental—suchas pious opinions—or worse, are not atrue part of the one Tradition, the oneessential Christian message. In theByzantine period, we EasternChristians were not sufficiently criticalin our attitude to the past, and thisoften resulted in stagnation, merepreservation and repetition of receivedideas and ways of doing things.Today this uncritical attitude can no

longer be maintained. Higher standardsof scholarship, increasing contacts withWestern Christians, and increasingpressure from secularism and atheismhave compelled us Eastern Christians,in the present era, to look more closelyat our inheritance and to distinguishmore carefully between the Traditionand traditions. This is necessary toavoid both rigid conservatism that per-mits no change in traditions and heed-less liberalism that undermines theTradition. Now Eastern Churches,thanks often to contact with the West,are able to see more and more clearlywhat is essential in their own heritage.

Eastern Christians must see the Tradition from within. We must enter into the inner spirit of ourTradition. We must seek to understand itand to allow it to form our way of life.To live within the Tradition, it is notenough to give assent to doctrine, forthe Tradition is more than an abstract setof propositions. It is life in the HolySpirit. It is a personal encounter withChrist in the Holy Spirit.

The Tradition of the Church is a living reality, which the Christian must live daily in a mystical way. By adhering to the teaching of theScriptures, the EcumenicalCouncils, and the writings of theFathers; by observing the canonsof the Church; by frequentlyparticipating in the Eucharist,where the Tradition becomesan empirical reality; we are

Holy Tradition –What It Is...What It Is Not!by Dr. Frances Nejmeh Colie

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FR JOSEPH GEBARA APPOINTED NEW COADJUTOR BISHOP FOR BRAZIL

The Reverend Father Joseph Gebara has beenappointed Coadjutor Bishop of the Eparchy of

Nossa Senhora do Paraiso em Sao Paulo (Our Ladyof Paradise in Sao Paulo) in Brazil.

Bishop Joseph was born in Amatour, Lebanon, in1965 and ordained priest in 1993. He holds a doc-torate in theology from the Institut Catholique in Parisand a doctorate in history of religions and religiousanthropology from the Sorbonne University in Paris.

He has served in pastoral roles in the parishes ofSaint-Julien-le-Pauvre and Notre-Dame des Champs inParis, and is currently parish priest of Our Lady ofDeliverance in Hadath, Lebanon. He is also a lecturerat the Saint Paul Theological Institute of Harissa, SaintJoseph University of Beirut, Saint Esprit University ofKaslik, and the Antonine University of Baabda.

The Eparchy in Brazil has 443,000 Melkites, with11 priests, three deacons and four religious.

members of the Body of Christ and areled to the “contemplation of God,” abeautiful expression of St. Nilos (5thcentury). St. Gregory Palamas, in sum-ming up the Patristic doctrine ofChristian life, suggests that the ulti-mate purpose of human life is theoptia;that is, “seeing God” (In Defense of theHesychasts, 1, 3, 42). Or, to use St.Gregory of Nyssa’s words, human lifeis a strenuous and endless ascenttowards God; that is, “deification”(theosis) (On the Life of Moses, ed. W.Jaeger, pp. 112ff).

The living Tradition enables us to become our authentic selves.The Tradition is not a dead letter, mere-ly a collection of dogmas and practicesof the past. It is the history of salvation.It is the life of the Holy Spirit, who con-stantly illuminates us so that allChristians may become sons and daugh-ters of God, living in the Divine light ofthe All-blessed Trinity. The goal is notto follow established paths, but to forgeour own inner-directed, subjective lifeby entering freely into the will of Godcommunicated to us in the HolyTradition. Not to become what otherswant me to be, but to “become who Itruly am”; that is, who God created meto be. Thus, the key value for the modeof subjective life is authentic connectionwith the inner depth of one’s uniquelife-in-relation to the Holy Spirit.In this respect, the Holy Tradition

can be seen as strikingly contemporary,given the shift in Western life to a sub-jective mindset. It is probable thatthose forms of religion that tell theirfollowers to live their lives in conform-ity with external principles to the neg-lect of the cultivation of their unique

subjective lives will be in decline. Bycontrast, those forms of religious lifeand beliefs that help people to live inaccordance with the deepest, sacreddimension of their own unique livescan be expected to grow.

The Eastern conception of theTradition is not static but dynamic.The Tradition is not a dead acceptanceof the past but a living experience ofthe Holy Spirit in the present. TheTradition, while inwardly changeless(for God does not change), is constant-ly assuming new forms, being per-ceived with fresh insights, and beingexpressed in new ways, which supple-ment the old without supersedingthem. Eastern Christians often speak asif the period of doctrinal formulationwere wholly at an end, yet this is notthe case. Perhaps in our day otherEcumenical councils will meet, and theTradition will be enriched by freshstatements of the faith. Russian Orthodox theologian

Georges Florovsky beautifully express-es the idea of the Tradition as a livingthing: “Tradition is the witness of theSpirit; the Spirit’s unceasing revelationand preaching of good tidings…Toaccept and understand Tradition wemust live within the Church, we must beconscious of the grace-giving presenceof the Lord in it; we must feel the breathof the Holy Ghost in it… Tradition isnot only a protective conservative prin-ciple; it is primarily the principle ofgrowth and regeneration… Tradition isthe constant abiding of the Spirit andnot only the memory of words.” In thewords of Christ, “when the Spirit oftruth has come, He will guide you intoall truth” (John 16:13). This divine

promise is the foundation of our EasternChristian devotion to the Tradition.It is important to emphasize timeli-

ness as well as timelessness, two fun-damental aspects of the Holy Tradition.The Tradition exists in time, speakingto every generation in its own lan-guage, but it expresses unchanging andunchangeable truths. Fr. Florovskywrites: “Tradition is not a principlestriving to restore the past, using thepast as a criterion for the present. Sucha conception of Tradition is rejected byhistory itself and by the consciousnessof the Orthodox Church. Tradition is acharismatic, not a historical event”(“The Catholicity of the Church” inBible, Church, Tradition, p. 47).In other words, the Tradition is a gift

of the Holy Spirit, a living experience,which is relived and renewed throughtime. It is the true faith, which isrevealed by the Holy Spirit to the truepeople of God. Therefore, the Traditioncannot be reduced to a mere recitationof quotations from the Scriptures orfrom the Fathers. It is the fruit of theincarnation of the Word of God. The Tradition is an extension of the

life of Christ into the life of the Church.According to St. Basil it is the continu-ous presence of the Holy Spirit:“Through the Holy Spirit comes ourrestoration to paradise, our ascensioninto the kingdom of heaven, our returnas adopted sons, our liberty to call Godour Father, our being made partakers ofthe grace of Christ, our being calledchildren of light, our sharing in eternalglory, and, in a word, our being broughtinto a state of a ‘fullness of blessing’(Romans 15:29), both in this world andin the world to come” (St. Basil ofCaesarea, On the Holy Spirit, XV). †

From the 1940’s tomaybe the end of the1950’s, our family of

ten children lived onCongress Street betweenClinton and Henry Streetsin Brooklyn, New York.My parents, Alice andMichael Coriaty, were bothborn in Lebanon and likedto attend the liturgy in thebasement of the annex church of TheVirgin Mary, on Clinton Street,between Congress and Amity Streets.It was known in the community as

“St Mary’s,” and Father NicholasAraktingi celebrated liturgy daily, withhis brother George Araktingi as server.They lived in an apartment onCongress Street. The church was verypoor and Msgr. Elias Skaff, pastor ofthe Church of the Virgin Mary on 8thAvenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets,thought of closing down the annex forlack money to repair and heat it.My father was a widower with four

small children when he met my mother.They married and had six more chil-dren. My brother Peter, Mom’s first-born, had a club foot at birth. This con-cerned her and she mentioned it to Fr.Araktingi, probably asking him to prayfor Peter. When she brought the baby,about 10 months old, to the doctor, hewas amazed that the foot had straight-ened out and thought it a miracle.Fr. Araktingi was a very holy man.

Even though I was very young I couldtell this. The Coriaty children attended

St Paul’s School, and were required toattend 9 AM Mass every Sunday at theRoman Catholic Church with the otherschool children.During the summer, Mom brought us

to the Syrian Church around the cornerfor Sunday Liturgy. We could not under-stand Arabic and there were four or fiveof us in a pew listening to Fr Araktingiand his brother celebrate. George had a

very weak, shaky voice andhis responses initiated gig-gles among the little Coriatychildren. Once started, itwas hard to stop. Mom wasstanding during the serviceat the little organ to singhymns, and would give us alook that eventually scaredus to silence. Mom used toattend daily liturgy and Dad

would often pass the collection basket.I remember that Fr Araktingi was

slowly losing his eyesight and Msgr.Skaff finally closed the little churchannex, but Fr. Nick continued to cele-brate liturgy when he could. Passing thechurch during the day, I would see himwalk up and down on the outside withbeads in his hand, deep in prayer. Heused a cane to help him navigate.I feel he was my hero, and my fami-

ly’s, too. He was holy and close to God.Even a small child could not help butrecognize what a humble, good man hewas. When I go back to Brooklyn tovisit my sister, I sometimes walk pastthe church and cannot help but feel hispresence and see him walking up anddown outside. The church facade stillremains even though it was sold manyyears ago. I enjoyed a good, solid child-hood back in those days.My mom, Alice, and Fr. Araktingi (I

think he was named a monsignor butnever used the title) remain my trueheroes. Thank you for giving me theopportunity to reminisce and finallytell of this holy priest. †

by Julia Coriaty, Haddonfield, NJ

Priest Hero: Fr Nicholas Araktingi

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PRIEST HERoMemory Eternal

SOPHIA welcomes and encourages updates and photos from allof our parishes and also invites manuscripts, articles, and lettersto the editor from parishioners. Submissions will be subject toreview by the editorial staff and only those approved by the publisher will be published. All submissions can be sent to:

[email protected]

USPSSOPHIA Letterbox

PO Box 189 . Temecula, CA 92593

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Often a small thing can open adoor to a whole new world. Afew years ago a parishioner

mentioned something called AncientFaith Radio to me at the coffee hourafter Liturgy. I tucked the name in mymind skeptically; until then I had beendisappointed with what I could find onthe web about my faith. That isn’t tosay that there aren’t any good sites con-cerning our faith out there. There are.Sadly, they are few and far between.I tried Ancient Faith Radio and was

instantly impressed and hooked.Since then hardly a day has goneby when I haven’t listened to it.John Maddex humbly began

AFR (web address www.ancient-faith.com) by sharing someOrthodox music files with hisfriends on the internet back in2004. Now he is CEO of a largeorganization that, as his websitesays, “Brings the Ancient Faith tothe Modern World,” with music,podcasts, and publishing. (A pod-cast is a recorded radio-like audioprogram that is played on an mp3player, smartphone, or a comput-er.) They have a complete Facebookcomponent and an app for smartphones,which is how I use it with my iPhone.It is also a testament to the faithful fans

who offer it financial support throughoutthe year. Ads do appear here and therereminding the listeners that AFR is listen-er supported. When a lightning strikedestroyed AFR’s music servers, the callwent out to the fans for help. One sent acheck for $5,000 and the station was upand running within a week.Ancient Faith Radio has two basic lis-

tening modes—music and talk. On thefirst, one can listen to Orthodox music24/7; on the other one hears the podcasts.The music is well chosen and beau-

tiful. It ranges from soloists to wholechoirs singing music from manyOrthodox traditions in many lan-guages. They also sprinkle in readingsof the day, quotes from the ChurchFathers, and promotions for upcomingpodcasts and series. I listen every dayas I get ready for my commute to workand often on the way home as well.

The music accords with the churchcalendar so that one hears music asso-ciated with the latest feast day. Since itis an Orthodox station the timing candiffer from our calendar but that isminor. In 2013 Great Lent lasted a fewweeks longer for me. The talk mode is where AFR truly

shines. The well-done podcasts offer awide variety of style, content, andhosts. One can quickly become a fan,looking forward to the next “episode,”and these come regularly. Nearly all of

the podcasts are archived as well. Ihave heard many great book recom-mendations, and I have also had greatemail exchanges with their hosts. These are a few of my favorites:Search the Scriptures: Presbytera

Dr. Jeannie Constantinou offers a com-plete study of the Scriptures throughthe eyes of the Church Fathers. Shebegan years ago in the book of Genesisand has “only” made it as far as theProphets in over 150 episodes andcounting. Her passion for ancient his-tory and the Church Fathers, combinedwith her deep knowledge of the Bible,makes for an engaging listen.Musings from the High Desert: Fr.

Gabriel Rochelle is pastor of a churchin Las Cruces, New Mexico, whosepodcasts are always a surprise and adelight. His humble and quiet mannerdraws one into a very interestingworld. Recently he has done a series onbooks that “touch the heart and mind,”discussing works ranging fromOrthodoxy to science fiction.

At the Intersection of East and West:Michael Hyatt is famous in the busi-ness world as the former CEO ofThomas Nelson Publishing and as abestselling author, but as his podcastbumper says, “he is also a deacon inthe Orthodox Church.” He does pod-casts of his adult education classes. Heexcels with his series based on books. Ihighly recommend his series on GreatLent when the time comes.Orthodoxy Live/Ancient Faith

Today: Ancient Faith Radio offers twotalk shows. One can hear themlive or listen to them on podcastsanytime. Orthodoxy Live is hostedby Fr. Evan Armatas. He answersquestions from the callers on mat-ters of the faith in a very engagingand entertaining way. AncientFaith Today, hosted by KevinAllen, is more topical, usually fea-turing authors or experts as guests,as well as calls from listeners.Imagine my surprise one eveningwhen Allen took a call from thevery same parishioner who rec-ommended AFR to me!AFR makes available many

weekly sermons from churches aroundthe world. How about hearing six dif-ferent takes on, let’s say, Theophany, orany other of the great feasts of the year?Currently my favorite homilist is Fr.Josiah Trenham from Riverside, CA,on his weekly podcast, The Arena.AFR also serves as a great outreach

to non-Orthodox. Many of the livecalls and emails heard on AFR beginwith something like, “I have beenexploring Orthodoxy for quite awhile.” The podcasters do a good jobof answering these people eitherdirectly or by the example of theirapproach. None will back away fromclearly explaining the case forOrthodoxy, but they do it without turn-ing off Christians of other denomina-tions. In fact, some of the podcastersare converts themselves.Ancient Faith Radio can be a great

supplement to anyone’s faith life. †

Deacon Elias serves at Our Lady of PerpetualHelp parish in Worcester, MA.

by Deacon Elias Bailey

Ancient Faith Radio Opens a Door to a Whole New World


In September 2013 His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios IIInotified the Melkite bishops that a special audience hadbeen arranged with Pope Francis at the end of Novemberso that his Holiness could meet the Melkite Church; bish-

ops, clergy, and laity were invited to participate in this greatevent. Bishop Nicholas immediately began planning a trip forour American eparchy. The response was overwhelming. About100 people went from the US and the total number of Melkitesfrom all over the world exceeded 300.Most American pilgrims arrived in Rome on Monday 25

November, the same day that President Putin was visiting PopeFrancis. People were staying in several different hotels but thelargest group was in Nova Domus Hotel near the Vatican. I vol-unteered to show them around Rome using the Vatican tourbus—Roma Cristiana.The first afternoon we went to see St. Peter’s Basilica. Inside

the door the first chapel on the right contains the beautiful Pietasculpture by Michelangelo. The next chapel on the right has

the grave of the soon-to-be Saint John Paul II. The right handpillar holding up the main dome has against it on one side thefamous bronze statue of St. Peter that is dressed up for feastdays and on another wall the tomb of the soon-to-be Saint JohnXXIII. Beneath the main altar is the tomb of St. Peter andagainst the back wall of the church is the Altar of the Chairwhich contains the simple wooden chair that St. Peter used. Wefinished our excursion with a delicious meal in a small restau-rant in the quaint area near the Vatican called the Borgo.On Tuesday our group visited the Vatican Museums and the

Sistine Chapel. These museums are huge and contain sculp-tures, paintings, and tapestries from many periods in history.The highlight of the tour is to see the Rooms of Raphael and theSistine Chapel with its frescoes by Michelangelo on the ceilingand altar wall and those by Perugino on the side walls.After lunch the pilgrims again visited the Basilica of St. Peter

and saw the grottoes where the popes are buried and the TreasuryMuseum. Many people were very brave and climbed up inside themain dome to the top, from which one can see all of Rome. In theevening a short ride on the subway took us to the famous TreviFountain and the Spanish Steps. These sights are actually morebeautiful at night than in the day because of the dramatic lighting.On Wednesday most of the group went by the Roma

Cristiana bus to Old Rome (Vecchia Roma), the district thatwas lived in before the unification of Italy in 1870. There theysaw the church of San Andrea, which has the largest dome inRome after St. Peter’s (75 feet across). We walked to Campodei Fiori, which has been an open air market for centuries.Another walk took us to Piazza Navona, the most famous in

Rome after St. Peter’s. It is built on the site of an ancientRoman racetrack. The houses and churches are built over theseating area and the racecourse is now the open piazza adornedwith three beautiful fountains.We had lunch, and then visited the famous Pantheon with its

concrete dome measuring 142 feet in diameter. It has surviveduntil our time because in 609 AD it became a church. Nearby isthe church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. This is the only gothic-style church in Rome and the home of the Dominican Order.Inside one can see frescoes by Filippo Lippi, the grave of SaintCatherine of Siena, the statue of the risen Christ by Michelangelo,and the tomb of Fra Angelico, the great 15th century painter.On our way back to the bus we saw Largo Argentina, which

has temples from 300 BC—the oldest yet found in Rome. TheRoma Cristiana bus then drove us all around Rome to see manyfamous sights. Our last activity of the day was to see CastelSant’Angelo, from which you can see Rome in all directions. The Papal Apartments at the top of the castle are very beautiful and

interesting. Connected to the Vatican by a passageway on topof a wall, the castle was built as the mausoleum of the EmperorHadrian and became the refuge of the popes in time of war.Thursday was a very busy day with a dual focus. In the

morning we visited Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest church inRome dedicated to the Mother of God, and saw the famous iconSalus Populi Romani and the boards from the crib of Christ. Inthis beautiful basilica Fr. Ephrem Kardouh celebrated the litur-gy for us in English. We then went to St. John Lateran, thecathedral of Rome. This church built by St. Constantine hasnear it the baptistry that he also built and the Holy Stairsclimbed by Christ when He saw Pilate.After a quick lunch we went to see the Coliseum and Roman

Forum. Of note in the Roman Forum is the Arch of Titus withits scene of the Jewish Temple furnishings being carried off toRome in 70 AD. We then visited the church of San Pietro inVincoli (St. Peter in Chains), where the chains of St. Peter areunder the altar and the famous statue of Moses carved byMichelangelo adorns the tomb of Pope Julius II.On Friday many people went to Assisi and others toured on

their own. A small group came with me to the Circus Maximusand the Melkite Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, where wesaw the famous Mouth of Truth and the skull of St. Valentine.Afterwards a leisurely walk took us to see the Four-Sided Arch,two ancient temples, and the Theater of Marcellus. On the Tiber Island we saw the Basilica of St. Bartholomew and

then walked into the quaint medieval area called Trastevere. Theheart of this district is Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere with thechurch of the same name. This church has beautiful Byzantine

Melkite PilgrIm age to Rome 2013By Archimandrite Philip Raczka


mosaics in the apse and in a side chapel one of theworld’s oldest icons of the Mother of God. It is a great area for shop-ping and eating delicious Roman food. A very small group was priv-ileged to see the excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica. Here we sawthe ancient tomb of St. Peter and the remains of his bones.

Seeing the Pope and the PatriarchSaturday was the big day for the Papal Audience. We left thehotel early so that we could go through the security check at St.Peter’s Square in plenty of time, but we were then held up enter-ing the Clementine Audience Hall in the Papal Palace becausethe Pope was delayed in his schedule. Once in the audience hallwe waited for the Pope while he met privately with our bishops. When Pope Francis entered the room everyone was very excited

and stood up and clapped with great energy. The Patriarch delivereda speech in French about the Melkite Church and the troubles in theMiddle East. The Pope responded in Italian, stating his concern forthe Christians of the Middle East and his desire that the Melkites ofthe Diaspora would hold on firmly to their Church and traditions. After the speeches Pope Francis was presented some gifts. He

greeted the first two rows of pilgrims and then left the room. Theaudience became somewhat chaotic because more than 200 peo-ple who were not Melkites followed us into the Papal Palacefrom the square and were pushing and shoving to get to the Pope.At 4 in the afternoon we celebrated the Divine Liturgy in

St. Joseph Church near the hotel because of our departure onSunday morning. The very beautiful liturgy was served by

Bishop Nicholas, Archimandrites Edward Kakaty and JohnAzar, Fathers Michael Jolly and Ephrem Kardouh, and DeaconDennis McCarthy. Those present gave a generous donation tothe church in thanks for letting us use it.In the evening the Patriarch and 15 bishops attended Vespers

at the Greek College—San Anastasio. The service was beauti-fully chanted in Greek and the congregation consisted mainly ofthe American Melkites. Afterwards we visited for the last timethe Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.Sunday morning many pilgrims headed to the airport for

their flight home. Some, however, were not leaving untilMonday or Tuesday. They were able to attend the PatriarchalLiturgy at Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The church was packedand the event was televised on Telelumière.Everyone who went to Rome was tired at the end of their trip

but very satisfied that it was an enjoyable experience. We visit-ed many beautiful churches and tombs of saints and saw manymonuments. We met our fellow Melkites from around the coun-try and around the world. We had the honor of see Pope Francisand receiving his blessing. It was certainly a worthwhile andmemorable experience. We hope that there may be anothermeeting of the pope with our Melkite Church, and that manymore faithful will be able to make this pilgrimage. †

Archimandrite Philip Raczka is Rector of the Annunciation Cathedral inRoslindale, MA, and Protosyncellos of the Eparchy of Newton.

Melkite PilgrIm age to Rome 2013By Archimandrite Philip Raczka

Melkite PilgrImage to Rome 2013

Melkite PilgrImage to Rome 2013

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Non-Muslims generally harbor apejorative view of Islam. Here Ioffer a different perspective, a

Marian outlook espoused by ArchbishopFulton J. Sheen in his book The World’sFirst Love, and shared by other devoteesof the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Mary in the Muslim Holy BookContemporary interest in Islam and theQur’an, its sacred book, runs high.Among the queries

raised concerningthe Qur’an is theplace Mary, theMother ofJesus, occupiesin Islam. Forthe past twomillennia peo-ple have givenmany faces toMary. Some of themost impressive ver-bal images of her arefound in the Qur’an.And ample evidenceexists that the sourcesof its Marian referencesare found in earlierChristian traditions.Mary and her son Jesus

the prophet occupy a privi-leged place in the Qur’an.Mary is the only woman whosename is cited. Her name is repeatedfrequently. The expression “Jesus sonof Mary” appears 13 times, and “Jesus,the Messiah, son of Mary” is foundthree times. Mary’s name or referencesto it appear about 45 times.According to the Qur’an, God made

Mary and Jesus a sign, a witness tofaith: “And We made the son of Maryand his mother a portent” (Sura 23:50;Sura 21:91).Both the Qur’an and the entire

Islamic tradition consider Mary themost blessed and prominent of women.This belief reaches back to Muhammadas noted in Musnad by Ibn Hanbal. Thefounder of Islam placed Mary aboveeven his daughter Fatimah, and saidFatimah would have been highest

among women were it not for Mary. Christianity and Islam are both mis-

sionary faiths originating amongSemitic peoples. They have this incommon: belief in one God, who isjust, merciful, omnipotent, omniscient,and who acts in history. AcceptingJesus as prophet and Messiah, Islamthus elevates his mother, Mary, to aspecial position and role.

Islam’s CreedIslam is the only greatpost-Christian religion of the world.Since it originated in the seventh centu-ry under the leadership of Muhammad,it was able to include some elements ofChristianity and Judaism along withsome customs of Arabia. Islam seems to use the doctrine of

the unity of God, his majesty and hiscreative power, to reject Christ as theSon of God. Not understanding theconcept of the Trinity, Muhammad rec-ognizes Christ as a prophet announcinghimself, that is, Muhammad.

Christian Europe, the West, barelyescaped eradication at the hands of theearly Muslim jihadists. At varioustimes the Muslims were repulsed nearTours, Vienna, Lepanto, and otherareas. The Church across North Africawas destroyed by Muslim invasions.Presently Islam is again on the rise andflexing its power.Though Islam is a heresy, as Hilaire

Belloc declared it to be, it is the onlyheresy that has never declined. Rather,it has rebounded. Other heresies expe-rienced a period of vigor and influ-ence, but later declined andlapsed into doctrinal decay atthe death of the leader, andeventually faded away asa social movement.

Islam, on the con-trary, has

endured and hasnot declined in numbers or in the loy-alty of its followers.On the surface of things, the mis-

sionary efforts of the Church withMuslims have failed. They seem almostunconvertible. Muslims believe theyhave the final and definitive revelationof God and that Jesus Christ was only aprophet announcing Muhammad, thelast of God’s real prophets.Currently, the hatred of Muslim

countries toward the West is becominghatred against Christianity itself. There

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

Does Mary Bridge Islam and Christianity?

Mariology

Mariology


is still grave danger that the temporalpower of Islam may return and bringwith it the menace that will overcomethe West, which has ceased to beChristian, and affirm itself as the greatanti-Christian world power.Some believe that Islam will even-

tually turn to Christianity, and in a waythat missionaries do not expect. TheseChristians believe that this will happennot through the teachings ofChristianity, but through inviting theMuslims to veneration of the Motherof God. This is their line of reasoning.

Role of MaryThe Qur’an, the Muslim holy book,contains many passages about theBlessed Virgin Mary. It speaks of herImmaculate Conception and the VirginBirth. The third chapter details the his-tory of Mary’s family in a genealogythat goes back through Abraham andNoah to Adam. Comparing theQur’an’s description of Mary’s birthwith the apocryphal gospel versionreveals a similarity that indicatesMuhammad probably depended on thelatter. Both books describe the old ageand barrenness of Mary’s mother, Ann.In the Qur’an, when Ann conceivesMary, she says, “O Lord, I vow andconsecrate to you what is already with-in me. Accept it from me.” When Maryis born, her mother says, “I consecrateher with all her posterity under yourprotection, O Lord, against Satan.”The Qur’an makes little mention of

Joseph, but Muslim tradition appreciateshim. Joseph asks Mary, who is a virgin,how she conceived Jesus without a father.Mary responds, “Do you not know thatGod, when he created the wheat, had noneed of seed, and that God by his powermade the trees to grow without the helpof rain? All that God had to do was to say,‘So be it,’ and it was done.”The Annunciation, Visitation, and

Nativity are also included in the Qur’an.Angels are depicted accompanying ourBlessed Mother and saying, “Oh, Mary,God has chosen you and purified you,and elected you above all the women ofthe earth.” The 19th chapter alone con-tains 41 verses about Jesus and Mary.

FatimahFor Muslims, Mary is the true Sayyida(Lady). In their belief, only Fatimah,the daughter of Muhammad, wouldrival her. After the death of Fatimah,Muhammad wrote, “Thou shall be themost blessed of all women in Paradise,after Mary.” In a variation of this text,

Fatimah says, “I surpass all thewomen, except Mary.”This highlights another point; name-

ly, why our Blessed Mother in the 20thcentury should have revealed herself inthe insignificant village of Fatima,Portugal, so that all future generationswill know her as Our Lady of Fatima.Because nothing happens withoutdivine reason, some believe the VirginMary chose to be known as Our Lady ofFatima as a pledge and sign of hope tothe Muslim people, and as an assurancethat they who show her great respectwill one day accept her divine Son too.Evidence to support these views is

found in the history of Muslim occupa-tion of Portugal for centuries. Whenthey were finally driven out ofPortugal, the last Muslim ruler had abeautiful daughter named Fatimah.She fell in love with a Catholic youngman. For him she not only stayedbehind when the Muslims left, but alsoembraced Catholicism. Her young hus-band loved her so much that hechanged the name of the town wherehe lived to Fatima. Consequently thevery place where Our Lady appearedin 1917 bears a historical connection toFatimah, the daughter of Muhammad.The relationship of Our Lady of

Fatima to Muslims is evident in theenthusiastic reception Muslim people inAfrica, India, and elsewhere offered tothe pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima.They attended prayer services in honorof her and allowed religious processionsand prayers in front of their mosques. InMozambique some Muslims becameChristians soon after the statue of OurLady of Fatima was erected.In a number of countries Muslims

frequent Marian shrines to pray and tohonor Sayyida.Christians and Muslims in Lebanon

share the feast of the Annunciation asan official national holiday in a spiritof dialogue and of mutual understand-ing and respect.In an effort to show a common

ground between Christians andMuslims, an Australian imam namedhis house of worship in the sheepcountry between Melbourne andGeelong the Virgin Mary Mosque. Thiswas reported in the Sydney MorningHerald on May 27, 2007. “Let usprove that Christianity and Islam havemany things in common,” said theblind Somali named Sheik Isse Musse.“We both revere the Virgin Mary.Generally Muslims name their schools,their mosques, their streets, everything

after men. Let us show there is nothingwrong in naming a mosque after a per-son like Mary.” He added, “Some peo-ple could not digest it, but I keptexplaining. Is not the Virgin Marymentioned in the holy Qur’an? Isn’tshe a very important and pious person?Yes. So what is stopping us giving hername to our mosque?”

Missionary challengeIncreasingly we will see, I think, thatthe Christian missionary apostolateamong the Muslims will be successfulin the measure that it preaches OurLady of Fatima. Mary signals theadvent of Christ, bringing Christ to thepeople before Christ himself is born. Itis sound apologetics, then, for our mis-sionary effort to begin with somethingthe people already accept. Because Muslims are devoted to

Mary, our missionaries wisely endeav-or to enlarge that devotion with therealization that Our Lady will bringMuslims along the rest of the journeyto her divine Son. She never acceptsany devotion for herself, but alwaysbrings the devotee to her Son. As thosewho lose devotion to her lose belief inthe divinity of Jesus Christ, so thosewho intensify devotion to her gradual-ly acquire that belief.Many missionaries, in Africa espe-

cially, have already broken down thebitter hatred and prejudice of Muslimsagainst Christians by their works ofcharity, their schools and hospitals, andother social services.It remains now to employ this Marian

approach: to interpret chapter 41 of theQur’an to show them it was taken fromthe Gospel of St. Luke and that Marycannot be seen as the most blessed ofwomen if she did not give birth to theSavior of the world. If Judith and Estherwere prefigures of Mary in the OldTestament, we may assume that Fatimaherself was a post-figure of Mary.Let us pray that Muslims acknowl-

edge that the reason Fatima gives placein honor to Mary is that Mary is differ-ent from all other mothers of the worldand that without Jesus she would benothing. May they find refuge in theBlessed Virgin Mary, who was given tous by God Himself.Mary is clearly a bridge between

Islam and Christianity. †

Brother John Samaha is a member of theSociety of Mary (Marianists). He was born inSan Francisco to Lebanese immigrant parentsand is a retired teacher and prolific author.

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“The light of the East has illu-mined the universalChurch, from the moment

when ‘a rising sun’ appeared above us:Jesus Christ, our Lord, whom allChristians invoke as the Redeemer ofman and the hope of the world.”Thus began Pope John Paul II’s

1995 apostolic letter Orientale Lumen(“Light of the East), which encouragesLatin Catholics to better know the tra-ditions of the Christian East.Rather than collecting dust on a

Vatican shelf, the letter has continuedto inspire a Washington, D.C.-basedgrassroots ecumenical movement foralmost two decades. Initially plannedas a single meeting to discuss JohnPaul’s work, the Orientale LumenConference has become an annualgathering open to anyone. In someways, it has kept the light of Orthodox-Catholic dialogue burning while offi-cial dialogues have hit roadblocks.And for that it has received acclaim

from leaders in both the Orthodox andCatholic Churches.“Although you say your movement is

grassroots, I’m convinced it’s rooted inheaven and inspired by the Holy Spirit,”the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew,Archbishop of Constantinople, told theapostolate on its 10th anniversary.“It’s exactly the kind of thing the

ecumenical movement needs,” saidPaulist Father Ronald G. Roberson, atop ecumenical officer of the UnitedStates Conference of Catholic Bishops.“People go home from these confer-ences and talk to their friends,” saidFather Roberson, who is associatedirector of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariatfor Ecumenical and InterreligiousAffairs. “The hope is they go back andtalk to people and it has a ripple effect.It’s an excellent project. My initial pes-simism was not well-founded.”That would have been in 1996,

when Jack Figel, a Byzantine Catholicfrom Fairfax, VA, and MetropolitanKallistos Ware, who teaches at Oxford,

were planning the initial event.Figel, who grew up in a Slovak fam-

ily near Pittsburgh, rediscovered hisEastern Christian roots when he was incollege. In the early 1990s, he met apriest in England who wanted to revivepublications of the ecumenical Societyof St. John Chrysostom. The result wasEastern Churches Journal. Later,when the priest, Father Serge Kelleher,and an Orthodox bishop, Vsevolod ofScopelos, wanted to reprint a liturgicalbook from 17th century Kiev, Figelstarted Eastern Christian Publications,which he still runs. ECP’s list includesbooks, DVDs and CDs on ecumenismand Eastern Christianity.Figel met Orthodox Bishop

Kallistos Ware, a theologian and a met-ropolitan in the EcumenicalPatriarchate, in 1996.“Over dinner, I proposed the idea

of holding an open-to-the-public ecu-menical meeting about OrientaleLumen,” Figel recalled during a recentinterview in Washington. “BishopKallistos immediately agreed andeven got his diary out and we plannedthe conference for June of 1997. Iknew the dean here at CatholicUniversity, Father Raymond Collins. Iwent to him with the idea; he thoughtit was great. He said he wouldcosponsor it as the dean of theologyand religious studies.”In the apostolic letter, John Paul

reminded Christians that “a particular-ly close link already binds” Catholicsand Orthodox. “We have almost every-thing in common; and above all, wehave in common the true longing forunity,” John Paul wrote.Both Churches are apostolic in ori-

gin and have a valid episcopate, priest-hood and the seven sacraments.The Pope pointed out that unity

between Rome and Constantinopleendured “for the whole of the first mil-lennium, despite difficulties. We haveincreasingly learned that it was not somuch an historical episode or a mere

question of preeminence that tore thefabric of unity, as it was a progressiveestrangement, so that the other's diver-sity was no longer perceived as a com-mon treasure, but as incompatibility.”The Pontiff recommended “improv-

ing our knowledge of one another” inorder to grow in unity. “The children ofthe Catholic Church already know theways indicated by the Holy See forachieving this: to know the liturgy ofthe Eastern Churches; to deepen theirknowledge of the spiritual traditions ofthe Fathers and Doctors of the ChristianEast, to follow the example of theEastern Churches for the inculturationof the Gospel message; to combat ten-sions between Latins and Orientals andto encourage dialogue betweenCatholics and the Orthodox…”Just the things the Orientale Lumen

Conferences have been doing ever since.The first conference featured

Metropolitan Kallistos; Melkite CatholicBishop Nicholas Samra, and BishopBasil Losten, then-eparch of theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church ofStamford, Conn, who said, “Beyond anyquestion, Orientale Lumen is the mostimportant Catholic document on theEastern Churches since the SecondVatican Council.”“Everyone who came—we had

about a hundred people at that firstconference—said that this was a won-derful idea and that we should keepdoing it,” Figel said.

Heavy HittersBut if the conferences are grassroots,it’s far from being a simple forumwhere ordinary Christians sit aroundand say nice things to one another. It’sbeen able to attract quite a few “heavyhitters” in the ecumenical world overthe years, and because only their mainspeeches are recorded, they often feelfree to speak candidly during question-and-answer sessions.“I’ve heard the most radical things

said by people in an informal setting,

Grassroots Ecumenism of Friendship Keeps Orthodox-Catholic Hopes Aliveby John Burger . July 16, 2013

Orientale Lumen Conferences Boost Participants’ Knowledge of Issues, Forge Ties

Light of the EastLight of the East


off the record, bouncing ideas off eachother, in an environment where you’renot speaking as a representative of theChurch,” said Joseph Bernard, aByzantine Catholic from Virginia and aregular attendee.“I’ve been told by Church officials

involved in the official dialogue that inmany ways what we do with OrientaleLumen they couldn’t do themselvesbecause if any of them hosted it, peo-ple would think there’s some agenda,there’s something behind it,” Figelsaid. “And this, not being connectedwith any particular Church—everyoneis open and welcome to come—it’s notconnected, so there’s no agenda.”Patriarch Bartholomew himself

addressed the gather-ing when it met inIs tanbul—ancien tConstantinople—forthe first time, in 2004.Other speakers overthe years have includ-ed Cardinals EdwardCassidy of thePontifical Council forPromoting ChristianUnity, Donald Wuerlof Washington andWilliam Keeler ofBaltimore; GregoriosIII, Melkite Patriarchof Alexandria and Allthe East; two recentprimates of the Orthodox Church inAmerica—Metropolitan Jonah andMetropolitan Tikhon, and ArchimandriteRobert Taft, S.J., a preeminent historianof the Byzantine liturgy.Orientale Lumen delegations have

traveled to Rome to meet Popes JohnPaul II and Benedict XVI, as well asthe Pontifical Council for PromotingChristian Unity.Figel tries to alternate the annual

conferences between ecumenical dis-cussions and education on issues in theEastern Churches. In addition to JohnPaul II’s Orientale Lumen letter, theconferences have looked at the Pope’sencyclical on ecumenism, Ut UnumSint, in which he expressed his open-ness to a new approach to exercisingpapal primacy; Mary; primacy andconciliarity; the Eucharist; EasternCatholic Churches; patriarchates; litur-gy as a foundation for dialogue; icons;Eastern Church feast days; monasticspirituality; the councils of the Church,and theology of the laity.Normally meeting in Washington,

D.C., Orientale Lumen has met in

Istanbul three times. The first of thosevisits, in 2004, was extended with a bustrip to the city of Iznik, the ancient siteof Nicaea, where the first and seventhecumenical councils were held. Thesite of the first council, the imperialpalace, is now under a lake, but visitorstoured the ruins of a church that was thesite of the seventh council, which con-demned iconoclasm. The group thengathered in the synthronon, an area ofcircular benches behind the altar, whereMetropolitan Kallistos gave a talk onthe importance of the councils inChurch history and the development ofthe Nicene Creed. The group then recit-ed the Creed together as an ecumenicalprayer for Church unity.

Ecumenism of FriendshipUnity is the common theme runningthrough each conference, and thisyear’s gathering, held June 17-20,brought together a panel of expertswho were involved in writing a 2010“vision statement” on what steps couldbring about full communion betweenOrthodox and Catholics.Several members of the North

American Orthodox-CatholicTheological Consultation spoke abouttheir statement, “Steps Toward aReunited Church: A Sketch of anOrthodox-Catholic Vision for theFuture”: Protopresbyter James Dutko,an Orthodox pastor from Binghamton,N.Y.; Father Thomas FitzGerald, deanand professor of Church history andhistorical theology at HellenicCollege-Holy Cross Greek OrthodoxSchool of Theology in Brookline,Mass.; Father Sidney Griffith, profes-sor in the Department of Semitic andEgyptian Languages and Literatures atthe Institute of Christian OrientalResearch of The Catholic University ofAmerica; Father Roberson, and Sister

of Charity Susan Wood, professor oftheology at Marquette University andpresident-elect of the CatholicTheological Society of America.Also speaking were Metropolitan

Tikhon and Archimandrite Robert Taft,S.J., who taught for many years at thePontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.Metropolitan Tikhon arrived in

black cassock and white klobuk.Sporting a long greying beard and pec-toral medallion of the Theotokos, hedelivered his talk from notes on anApple laptop at the podium.“The first invitation I accepted after

my election was lunch at Jack Figel’shouse. I was able to get a glimpse intothe great work he’s done with Eastern

Christian Publicationsand the manyOrientale Lumen con-ferences throughoutthe years,” he said,commending Figel’s“energy and zeal inthe valuable work ofsharing Christian tra-ditions both Easternand Western.”The conference

took place at theWashington RetreatHouse, run by theFranciscan Sisters ofthe Atonement, whosechapel was modified

for the three days with a temporary iconscreen. Sung morning liturgies were inthe Byzantine or Armenian rite andincluded a Moleben to the Holy Spiritand Akathists to Christ and the Motherof God.“We try to provide a balance in our

agenda [among three things:] prayer,for the soul; plenary talks and lecturesfor the mind, and fellowship for thespirit,” Figel said. Attendees develop“ecumenical friendships” and returnyear after year to keep those friend-ships alive. “Everyone who comes hasan interest in ecumenical dialogue andwants to learn about each other andmore about each other’s traditions, aswell as from our speakers,” Figel said.Those friendships are on the lay

level but also among priests, bishopsand theologians. That helped keepOrthodox-Catholic relations alivewhile the Joint InternationalCommission for Theological Dialoguebetween the Catholic Church and theOrthodox Church was suspended forsix years, after a contentious meeting

Continued on page 28

in Emmitsburg, Md., in 2000, over therole of Eastern Catholic Churches.“We kept meeting all through that

time, every year,” Figel said. “So somehave said we kept the dialogue alive,even with a small spark. And now it’sgrown with the Ravenna document andplenary meetings almost every yearand making great progress. During thedownturn of the official dialogue, wewere still maintaining the relations andkept on meeting.”From 2000, when the meeting in

Emmitsburg failed, until the 2006meeting in Belgrade when internation-al dialogue resumed, notable attendeesof conferences in Washington, SanDiego, or Istanbul included PatriarchBartholomew of Constantinople,Patriarch Gregorios of Antioch,Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore,Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia,Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos, andMsgr. Johan Bonny from the PontificalCouncil for Unity in the Vatican.“While the two patriarchs andArchbishop Vsevolod were not mem-bers of the dialogue,” Figel pointedout, “they played significant roles inecumenical relations.”Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, retired

Major Archbishop of the UkrainianGreek Catholic Church, attended thesecond OL conference in Constantinople,in 2007, and took note of the atmosphere.“He felt the experience with our group islike what it will be in heaven: perfectunity, because he said, ‘In your group Ifelt no confessional politics. No one hadan axe to grind. They were all there as pil-grims to learn from each other and praytogether and so forth.’ The letter he wroteme said this is a foretaste of what fullunity is going to be like,” Figel recalled.The recent gathering in Washington

was attended by a healthy mixture ofbishops, priests, deacons, and laity, manyof whom have roles in their churches,such as ecumenical officers, teachers,cantors and lectors. Catholic religious,such as Benedictines, Augustinians,Dominicans and Oblates, some of whomare Eastern-rite, shared meals with peo-ple who had no particular degrees in the-ology, history, ecclesiology or liturgy butseemed to be very well versed in thosesubjects, particularly in regard to rela-tions between East and West.“We’ve made tremendous strides

[over the years]. It gives you a greaterunderstanding of the universal

Church,” said Benedictine FatherPaschal Morlino, pastor of St.Benedict’s parish in Baltimore.“Orientale Lumen is a wonderful

opportunity for both sides, Catholic andOrthodox, to get together and discusswhat we have in common and also todiscuss what separates us,” saidOrthodox Deacon Michael Bishop, fromBaltimore. “Often the real problems arenot the issues, but our perception of theissues. This was an opportunity for us tohear ‘the other side’ of the coin.”“The word is being spread,” said

Gloria Brissette, a Ukrainian Catholicfrom San Diego. “If just one new soulgoes forth to enlighten others we havesucceeded.”

Sister ChurchesFigel’s apostolate to foster greaterunderstanding is going beyond theconferences. One of his latest venturesis Theosis magazine, which featuresarticles on spiritual topics, prayers andinformation for each day of the liturgi-cal year. Most of the feast days are dif-ferent from those on the Latin Catholiccalendar, and a Roman Catholic mightfind many of the saints commemoratedto be unfamiliar. The magazine, whichlooks a bit like Magnificat, is intendedfor both Orthodox and Catholics.In addition, Figel runs Orientale

Lumen TV, which is putting together aseries of educational videos called“Sister Churches 101,” to introduce awider audience—through YouTubeand parish screenings and discussiongroups—to the issues involved inCatholic-Orthodox dialogue.For many Christians, it’s a subject that

doesn’t often come up on their radarscreens. Panelists at this year’s confer-ence discussed means of getting the wordout, particularly since their vision state-ment suggested ways average Christiansmight be more involved in ecumenism.“Some people have come to experi-

ence division as the norm, thinking,‘Why do we need to do anything?’”lamented Father Roberson.“We can remind our congregations

of our sister churches more often thanwe do,” suggested Father Griffith. “Weusually have a pulpit where we canaddress hundreds of people. Peoplecould be made more aware of lots ofthings, such as icons.”The 60-70 people gathered for this

year’s conference—estimated to consist

of some 40% Roman Catholic, 40%Byzantine Catholic and 20% Orthodox—were seen as leaven who can helpincrease ecumenical awareness.“The very fact that this group gath-

ered for prayer would not have beendone by your grandparents,” saidFather FitzGerald. “Some work has fil-tered down to the grassroots—not asmuch as we like.”“Sometimes we on the Consultation

wonder if anyone cares,” said FatherDutko. “You do, and it matters a lot.…How many times have you been asked,‘Do you really believe the Church canbe united?’ You’re going to live to seeit. That’s what I believe. The reality isreflected in the prayer of our Lord—that all may be one. If you don’tbelieve his prayer can be fulfilled, howdo you expect ours will? Since this ishis prayer it must also be ours.“As believers, all of us are called to

be agents of healing of the divisionbetween East and West,” Father Dutkocontinued. “The task of unity is ours—all of us. It’s four-fold: we pray foreach other, talk with each other, servethe Lord together, love one another.On the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul[patron saints of Rome] and St.Andrew [patron of Constantinople],could we not seek opportunities toencounter each other in similar ways?Open houses, tours of our places ofworship and receptions for guestswould be good ways to break the ice.Prayer services, educational forums,spirituality.” For Figel, the motivation goes back to

what Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomewsaid: “Although you say your movementis grassroots, I’m convinced it’s rooted inheaven and inspired by the Holy Spirit.”“That’s what motivates me,” Figel

said. “I get these ideas. I can’t thinkthat they come from anywhere else butthe Holy Spirit and all I do is say ‘Yes,’and it happens.” †

Grassroots Ecumenism of Friendship Continued from page 27Li

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OFFICE OFVOCATIONS

www.melkite.org/[email protected]

ForefatherForefather


The West Bank of theJordan River and theGaza Strip have

been under Israeli occupa-tion since 1967. Althoughthe Israeli forces withdrewfrom Gaza in 2007, stillthey had imposed a tightblockade on 1.5 millionPalestinians, transformingGaza into the largest openprison in the world.The city of Hebron,

which is full of biblical his-tory, has been the scene ofhuman rights violence for along time. In 1992, 67 Jewsare reckoned to have beenkilled by rioting MuslimPalestinians. In 1994, aJewish settler, BaruchGoldstein, gunned down 29Muslim Palestinians wor-shipping in the Ibrahimimosque.Nearby Kiryat Arba is a

Jewish frontier settlement,built in 1970. However,the Palestinians in Hebronregard the Jewish settlersin Kiryat Arba and inHebron itself as intrudersand occupiers. At thesame time, the militantleaders of Kach and GushlEmunim believe thatJewish Israelis must takeover in Hebron.The Israeli government is strategi-

cally planning for the creation of aJewish-only area, which would tieKiryat Arba settlement, the cave ofMachpelah, and the other downtownsettlements together. As a result, thelives of the Palestinians in Hebron arecontinuously threatened and they aredeprived of their basic human rights.(UNOCHA.org. The Daily Beast,Open Zion. Rachel Cohen, “Seeing Itfor Yourself: Injustice in the SouthHebron Hills.” July 2, 2013)This article attempts to look at this

tragic conflict from a religious pointof view.The Middle East has been known

for a long time as the cradle of civiliza-tion. It is also the birthplace of threegreat religions: Judaism, Christianityand Islam.These religions have the same God

and essentially the same rules of con-duct. Their concepts of good and evilare the same.Thus, Jews, Christians, and

Muslims, following their respectivereligions, live remarkably similar lives.They also trace their faiths to the firstPatriarch, Abraham.

Who was Abraham and where did he come from ?We find the story of Abraham in theOld Testament of the Bible, in the Book

of Genesis, chapter 11:26through chapter 25:11.Abraham was born in

Ur of the Chaldees, inwhat is now southern Iraq,about 3500 years ago. Hisfamily was possibly ofAramean stock. Ur wasthe center of moon-godworship. The Sumeriansat that time built the tow-ering Ziggurat and wor-shipped false gods.But Abraham made a

covenant with the oneGod. According to the OldTestament and the Quran,Abraham saw a great lightbeyond Sumer. And theLord said to Abraham;“Leave your country andyour father’s house, for theland that I will show you.”Abraham’s journey

from Ur to Haran passedMari, the northern city ofMesopotamia, today’sIraq. Abraham stayed inHaran until his fatherTerah died. Haran was acity where people of dif-ferent races and languageslived together in peace.Abraham set out with his

clan for the unknown landof Canaan. Passing throughAleppo, Hamah, andDamascus, the clan came to

the country that lies between the JordanRiver and the Mediterranean Sea, theHoly Land. Abraham’s clan pitched theirtents in the open and built an altar to theone true God. Abraham sought a pas-toral life among the Canaanite farmers.Abraham lived at peace with those whowere there before him, the Canaanites,the ancestors of today’s Palestinians.Abraham was not a fanatic, but a

tolerant man, respectful of the gods ofothers. He was a wise and a wanderingman. Somewhere in Canaan he foundwhat he sought.This revelation was the concept of

“Covenant,” a binding commitment

by Nimer Haddad

Abraham Today and Yesterday


Abraham Today and Yesterday Continued from page 29Fo

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CONGRATULATIONS DEACON DENNIS MCCARTHY

St. Ann Parish in Waterford, Connecticut, celebrated the 10th Anniversary of

Deacon Dennis McCarthy who was ordainedat the Melkite Convention in July 2003 inProvidence, Rhode Island. Although now

attached to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parishin Worcester, Massachusetts, he frequentlyserves with Archimandrite Edward Kakaty in Waterford, his home parish before moving near Worcester nine years ago.

May God grant him many years!

between God and man. Though favoredby God, Abraham lacked what he want-ed most, a son to ensure his succession.Sarah, being barren, gave him herEgyptian maid Hagar.When Hagar became pregnant, she

felt proud. Then, harassed by the jeal-ous Sarah, she fled. But an angelordered her to return, saying, “You arewith child and shall bear a son, and shallcall his name Ishmael. And he will be awild man; his hand will be against everyman, and every man’s hand againsthim” (Genesis 16:11-12). Thus, the firstBedouin and forebear of the Arabiantribes was born (Quran, Surah 3).When Abraham was 99 years old,

God spoke to him and promised him asecond son, to be born of his wife Sarah,who was 90 years old. Abraham smiledat this thought and Sarah laughed whenshe heard of it. “After I am grownold…?” she asked (Genesis 18:12).But God expanded his Covenant

with Abraham. Through his secondson, to be named Isaac, he wouldbecome a “father of many nations.”After Isaac was born, Sarah again

became jealous of Hagar and said toAbraham, “Cast out this bondwomanand her son.” Sarah had her way.But “God was with the lad,” and

Ishmael too became a father of nations,and the Arabs, who are Semites too, arehis descendants.

When she was 127 years old, Sarahdied in Hebron in the land of Canaan.Abraham purchased a piece of proper-ty—the cave of Machpelah—as a tombin which to bury his dead. WhenAbraham died, aged 175 years, hissons Ishmael and Isaac buried him inthe cave of Machpelah also.Today, the cave of Machpelah lies

under the great Mosque of Abraham.Here the long journey ended.The symbol of heritage shared by

the three faiths, the Dome of the Rock,draws the devout to the traditional spotwhere Abraham prepared to sacrificehis son at God’s command.Here Solomon, 800 years later, built

the first temple. From here, Muslimsbelieve, the prophet Muhammad wascarried up through Islam’s seven heav-ens to the very presence of God.Christians believe that the Holy

Land is the birthplace of Christianity.Here Jesus Christ was born, was cruci-fied, and rose from the dead.Theologians and historians estimate

that one-third of the Semitic Jews ofJesus’ era converted to Christianity andchose to stay in the Holy Land.The Christian Palestinians survived

14 centuries of Islamic rule, but theyare not surviving 65 years of Zionistrule. Their number is decreasing dra-matically and statistics show that in twodecades, the followers of the greatest

world religion, Christianity, will ceaseto exist in the country of its birthplace.Monsignor Joachim Schroedel, pas-

tor of the German-speaking Catholics inCairo, has said, “When Pope Paul V1visited the Holy Land in 1964, the num-ber of Christians living there was still15 per cent. Now they are only two percent.” (Schneller magazine [German],January 2013)We have traced the roots of a man

who is honored and considered “manof God” by the three faiths.

What can the Jewish Israelis and theMuslim and Christian Palestinianslearn from the life of their forebear?1.Abraham showed tolerance to thosewho were there before him.

2.Abraham respected the beliefs ofothers.

3.Abraham purchased a property to buryhis wife and did not take it by force.

4.Oriental Jews, the Sephardim, andthe Arab Muslims are cousins from areligious point of view.

5.Coexistence between the descen-dants of Ishmael and Isaac is possi-ble. History affirms that Jews livedamong Arab Muslims in peace in thepast. †

Nimer Haddad is the Chair of the EvangelizationCommittee at St Joseph Church, Lansing, MI.

Vocations

Vocations


Several of our Melkite parishes around the country celebratedPriesthood Sunday, 27 October 2013, in various ways, accordingto reports they sent to the Vocations Office.

At St. Basil, Utica, NY, the Parish Council and parishioners present-ed a cake decorated with a heartfelt inscription to their priest. After theLiturgy, everyone enjoyed refreshments in the vestibule of the church.At St. Jacob, San Diego, CA, the clergy were invited to a restaurant

for lunch. The pastor gave a brief talk about the priesthood. Watcheswere presented to the clergy in appreciation.The people of St. George parish, Milwaukee, WI, offered a monetary

gift to their priest.In Lansing, MI, at St. Joseph parish, the pastor gave a homily on the

history of the various ministries and responsibilities of the differentranks of priesthood.The parish office and the diocesan Vocation Office put together a display

about priesthood at St. John Chrysostom, Atlanta, GA, and souvenir book-marks were distributed. The students in the church school made posters ofwhat priesthood is. The Ladies Society provided a complimentary cateredluncheon and commemorative cupcakes in the Cultural Center. †

Parishes Celebrate Priesthood Sunday

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Priesthood Sunday 2013 coincidedwith the Seventh Sunday of theHoly Cross, when the Gospel

reading was Luke 8:41-56.And, in that Gospel reading, we see

our Lord Jesus Christ performing someof His priestly duties.In the Christian Church, priesthood

cannot be separated from Jesus Christ.He was sent by the Father to be the finalblood sacrifice that takes away the sins ofthe human race. But, since He went will-ingly to His death, and knew what itwould accomplish, Jesus was also sent tobe the priest who performed this sacri-fice, this mystery of redemption. This iswhy, in the Liturgy, in the prayer of theCherubikon before the Great Entrance,the celebrant says, “You are the One whooffer and are offered, who receive andare distributed, O Christ God.”So priesthood in the Church comes

from Jesus Christ. Historically, priest-hood developed out of the Jewishpriesthood, the priesthood of Romanreligion, and the priesthood of otherancient religions. But none of thosereligions or their priests had any con-nection with the Passion, Crucifixion,and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, theSavior of the world.In the Church, beginning with the

very first disciples of Jesus—Andrewand Peter, James and John—becominga priest starts with Christ’s call. That’swhy we talk about “vocations”—inLatin, vocatio means a “call.” Jesuscalled the disciples to “come, followMe,” and they did. Jesus still calls peo-ple to follow Him so that they can con-tinue His work in the world.We have to admit that Christian

priesthood is not specifically men-tioned in the Bible. Only two of whatwe now call Holy Orders are describedin Scripture: the order of Bishop,which comes from the Greek wordepiskopos, meaning “over-seer” or“supervisor”; and the office of Deacon,from the Greek diakonia, meaning“service.” The Apostles, whom we rec-ognize as the first bishops, devotedthemselves to prayer and preaching,and appointed deacons to care for the

material needs of the people.As the Church grew, in the period of

about 70 years after the death of Christ,the need for ministers of prayer andpreaching also grew. The Apostles andtheir successors, the bishops, appoint-ed and trained men who would becalled “priests” to preach, pray, andcelebrate the Holy Mysteries, such asthe Eucharist and Baptism. Becausemature men were chosen, they werecalled presbyters, meaning “elders” inGreek. But because they studied andtaught and celebrated rituals, as priestsin other religions did, they also came tobe called priests.In the Church today, we tend to

think of a bishop as a priest with extraauthority and extra responsibility. Buthistorically and theologically a priest isan assistant, called and trained, towhom the bishop has delegated someof his authority and responsibility.So, very early, the Church developed

three holy orders: deacons, priests, andbishops. Priests took care of local wor-shipping communities, while bishopswere over-seers of all the congregationsin a city or a territory. This is still thecase today. Each community has apriest—and many are also blessed withdeacons. The local communities in anarea form a diocese, headed by a bish-op, who is responsible for directing andcoordinating them all. Each congrega-tion is the Church in that place, but allare members of the Church in the larg-er area and in the whole world, too.Following the example of Jesus, who

called Himself the “Good Shepherd,”priests in charge of parishes are called“pastors” (Latin for “shepherds”), andbishops are called “chief pastors,”because they have responsibility for allthe flocks and all the shepherds.We also follow the example of Jesus

by saying that priests and bishops arecalled to be priests, kings, and prophets.Jesus was the Great High Priest whooffered the perfect and ultimate sacri-fice for the salvation of the world. Hewas also a king, setting forth God’s lawand ruling God’s people. And He was aprophet, proclaiming the word of God,

teaching what it meant, and callingpeople to follow God faithfully.Every priest and bishop has to per-

form these functions too. Priests andbishops celebrate the Holy Mysteriesthat bring salvation concretely into ourlives. They administer the churchaccording to God’s law and the canonsof the Church. And they proclaim God’sword, preaching and teaching and call-ing people to be faithful Christians.But priesthood is not about power; it

is about responsibility and authority.The power is God’s, as we see in Luke8:41-56. Just touching the hem ofJesus’s robe connected the bleedingwoman with God’s healing power. Andthe touch of Jesus’s hand, with thecommand of His voice, restored life tothe dead girl. It is the call from Jesus’svoice and the touch of Jesus’s handthat connect His priests and bishopswith His power. His power gives themauthority and responsibility to connectpeople with that power for enlighten-ment, guidance, strength, healing, sal-vation, and eternal life.Priesthood sounds complicated, but

really it isn’t. Priesthood is God work-ing through those He has called to con-tinue in the world His work of teach-ing, healing, and saving.We pray that He will call many to

this office, and that they will hear andrespond like the Disciples. Listen foryour call. The People of God need you.The Body of Christ needs you. TheChurch needs you. †

by Fr James K. Graham

Priesthood: Not So Complicated As It Seems

Great Lent

Great Lent


Even today St. Paul continues tocommunicate with us.Why does the Church highlight St.

Paul so brightly in its liturgy and histo-ry? How does this fit into the contem-porary scenario of salvation historyand the new evangelization?Church historians reckon that St.

Paul was born around 10 A.D. in Tarsus,now located in Turkey. Following hisconversion to Christianity he becamethe Church’s foremost evangelizer inspreading the gospel among the Jewsand the Gentiles.His contribution to the spread of

Christianity in the first century contin-ues to remind us of our baptismal obli-gation to spread the Gospel.Early in his papacy Benedict XVI

honored his missionary legacy andreflected that “The Church is by naturemissionary. Its primary task is evange-lization. In the third millennium theChurch feels with renewed strength thatChrist’s missionary mandate is morepressing than ever.” This observationinvites us to recall the genius and sanctityand zeal of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Itencourages us to imitate what he taughtand to renew our missionary spirit.

The perennial power of PaulHow did Saint Paul do it? What did hespeak, write, and do to attract so manyto Christianity? He was a dynamicevangelizer, the premier Apostle of theGentiles. Sitting in a pew, or participat-ing in a Bible study circle in the thirdmillennium, it can still be difficult tofathom the meaning he loaded intoterms like “flesh,” “spirit,” and “theworld.” But, promise biblical scholarslike Father Joseph Fitzmyer, a Paulineauthority, there is power to be found inPaul’s letters of faith, proclaimed yearsbefore the gospels were composed.

What he said yesteryear fits this year.The meaning of Saint Paul’s letters is thesame today as they were for his contem-poraries. They cannot be different. The1993 Pontifical Biblical Commissioninstruction, The Interpretation of the Biblein the Church, explains the “actualization”

of the word of God. It wants to help usunderstand what the Bible is saying to ustoday in the third millennium. God didnot speak through the inspired writersonly for the people for 2000 years ago.Beginning with what the scripture

text meant for its own time, actualiza-tion invites us to do three things: hearthe text from within one’s own situa-tion, identify the aspects of the presentsituation underscored by the text, anddraw from the text the meaning thatguides us to the will of God. Althoughthe biblical texts have been composedin the languages and circumstances ofthe past, they reveal their message forus today as we apply their message topresent-day circumstances and expressit in today’s language.

What was Paul telling us?Paul describes for us the effects ofChrist’s redemptive act, what he didfor humanity. He comments on the var-ious effects of the redemption as look-ing at the event from ten differentangles. From one angle he explainsthat Christ justified us – justification;from other angles, he depicts salvation,reconciliation, expiation, redemption,freedom, sanctification, transforma-tion, new creation, and glorification.Each angle of vision derives from

Paul’s Jewish or Hellenistic back-ground and education. He tells us thatJesus Christ justified us, that he madeit possible for us to stand before Godthe judge and hear a verdict of acquit-tal as one would in a court of law todayfollowing a trial. Is there a differenceamong all these images or facets of thesaving act of Jesus? Not really. ChristJesus did this, and Paul simply usesdifferent images to convey the results.In examining Paul’s theology, the

experts tell us to recast what Paulpreached into a form that Paul himselfdid not use. In this way we attempt tosynthesize his teaching.What Paul proclaimed to his con-

temporaries, he proclaims to us today.

Paul’s conversionThe Acts of the Apostles gives us three

different stories of Paul’s conversion.We find the episode on the road toDamascus in chapter 9, and the others inchapters 22 and 26 recall the incident.But these are Luke’s accounts of Paul.Only once does Paul write about what

happened to him, and this is recorded inGalatians 1. Paul speaks of his call fromGod. He does not use the word “conver-sion,” but speaks of his “call.”Paul is unaware of Luke’s description,

and Paul makes no mention of an incidenton the road to Damascus. Mainly, Paulrecounts his call because he is insistingthat he is an apostle, “not from humanbeings nor through a human being, butthrough Jesus Christ and God the Fatherwho raised him from the dead” (Gal 1:1).Some people were denying that Paul is anapostle. Paul insists that he is, and strug-gled to be recognized on the same level asthe twelve apostles.

Paul’s letters preceded the gospelsPaul’s letters have special significancebecause they were written before thegospels. He gave us an interpretation ofChrist before the early Church hadrecorded the story of Christ. The lettersthat most scholars agree were written byPaul himself (1 Thessalonians, Galatians,Philippians, 1 and 2 Corinthians,Romans, and Philemon) were writtenbetween 51 and 58 A.D. The earliestgospel, Mark, was written about 65 A.D.Our earliest portrayal of Jesus ofNazareth, then, is given us by Paul. Forthis reason, Paul is the first theologian ofthe Christian faith.

Paul’s theological vocabularyIn Romans 9:5 Paul talks about theMessiah according to the flesh.Naturally he means his human descentfrom David as David’s progeny. Paul also talks about the flesh in

opposition to the spirit. He does notmean the Holy Spirit, but the charac-teristics of the human being that attimes he calls the flesh and at othertimes the spirit. Paul does not work withthe Greek or Roman idea of body andsoul. He regards the human being as a

St. Paul Speaksto Us Today

by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.


unit. In referring to the human being asflesh or spirit or mind, he is mentioningdifferent aspects of a composite that hedoes not separate into parts.When Paul refers to the human

being as flesh, he means humanity’searth-oriented tendencies. When hetalks about the human spirit, he meansthat aspect of the human being’s open-ness to God and God’s influence.When he refers to the human being asheart, he means the emotive and affec-tionate aspect of the person. When hetalks about the mind, he means theintellectual capacity.

The core of Paul’s theologyWhat is the heart of Paul’s theology? Hehimself responds, “We preach Christcrucified.” His proclamation is that Godhas not done this before in human histo-ry, that God has entered human historyin a new form. God sent his Son andthat Son died for us on the cross. Theconsequence is the Resurrection.The key to Paul’s theology is

expressed in terms of what he himselffrequently stated in various ways. Forexample, in 1 Corinthians 1:21-24, Paulsays, “For, since in the wisdom of God,the world did not come to know Godthrough wisdom, it was the will of Godthrough the foolishness of the procla-mation to save those who have faith.For Jews demand signs and Greekslook for wisdom, but we proclaimChrist crucified, a stumbling block toJews and foolishness to Gentiles, but tothose who are called, Jews and Greeksalike, Christ the power of God and thewisdom of God.”The cross puts Christ Jesus himself

at the center of God’s way of salvation.God works the salvation of humanity

through Christ Jesus. Everything inPaul’s teaching is oriented to his Christ-centered understanding of salvation.

What would Saint Paul tell us today?This is not an easy question to answer.But really he has already told us. Wewould like to locate answers to the prob-lems of our current times in a facile man-ner by looking into the Bible. But thisrequires study, reflection, and prayer.When we read Paul today, we are read-

ing him through the lens of patristic teach-ing, theological reflection, and the dog-matic tradition of the Church – theChristian wisdom of centuries. Paul givesindication of what is pertinent to our con-dition, but he does not give the full answer.The purpose of discussing Paul’s

theology is to offer a descriptive pres-entation of Paul’s Christian faith and todetermine especially what Paul meantwhen he addressed the Christians ofthis day. This also challenges us toascertain what his theology means forus here and now. Paul’s theology is an exposition of

the inspired biblical heritage of earlyChristians that has an existential mean-ing for our faith today. Paul’s theologyis part of biblical theology. In biblicaltheology we find two poles or aspects:one is descriptive – it describes; theother normative – it prescribes. Paul’smeaning for the faith of people todaycannot be anything other than the mean-ing he intended for his contemporaries.

Reading the letters of Paul todayIt is not a simple matter to grasp Paul’smeaning immediately. His letters arenot a quick and easy read. When weexamine the proclamation of prodigiousPaul in his letters, we need to realize

that we need an accurate translation andsome professional guidance. We cannotgrasp his message in a simple glance.There are some passages of the New

Testament to keep in mind whenapproaching St. Paul. In 2 Corinthians1:13 Paul says, “For we write you noth-ing but what you can read and under-stand, and I hope you will understandcompletely, as you have come to under-stand us partially….” Then look at 2Peter 3:15: “And consider the patience ofour Lord as salvation, as our belovedbrother Paul, according to the wisdomgiven to him, also wrote to you speakingof these things as he does in all his letters.In them there are some things hard tounderstand that the ignorant and unstabledistort to their own destruction just asthey do the other scriptures.” So we cansee that even as Paul’s letters were beingcollected by the early Church the faithfuldid not find them easy to understand.In the Acts 8:30-31 when Philip is

evangelizing the Ethiopian eunuch, whois reading Isaiah 53, we are told, “Philipran up and heard him reading Isaiah theprophet and said, ‘Do you understandwhat you are reading?’ He replied, ‘Howcan I, unless someone instructs me.’”We cannot simply open the Bible and

expect to understand everything rightoff the bat. The Greek text of Acts saysliterally, “Unless someone guides me.”

Paul’s challenge continuesSt. Paul helps us to recall the wonderof our creation and the greater wonderof our redemption. He inspires us toponder the Paschal Mystery and to askGod to bring to perfection the savingwork He has begun in us. Perennial,passionate, prodigious Paul is ourmodel for the new evangelization.

St. Paul to Us Today Continued from page 33G

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How

it Works

How

it Works


Here is a question to ponder: “Whatis prayer and how does it work?”

My dictionary defines prayer as“the act of offering reverentpetitions, especially to God:

Communication with God and recogni-tion of His presence as in praise,thanksgiving, intercession, etc.; a formof words appropriate to prayer, amemorial or petition.”It continues: “Synonyms: adoration,

devotion, invocation, litany, petition,request, supplication. See petition.”I turned the pages back and located

petition. This is what I found: “Arequest, supplication, prayer; a solemnor formal supplication. A formal requestaddressed to a person in authority andasking for some grant or benefit, theredress of a grievance, etc. See syn-onym under ask, pray.”The dictionary often has us check-

ing and double-checking words withsimilar meanings to make sure that wefully grasp the meaning of a particularword. Sometimes we may feel as if weare spinning in a circle that persistent-ly brings us back to the original word.People who pray frequently and

attend religious services regularlyunderstand the meaning of prayer anddo not require definitions from a dic-tionary. These people are already intouch with the Lord and maintain anopen communication or conversationwith our Heavenly Father. They havespiritually sound and faithful belief orawareness that God is listening andhears our supplications.Hebrews 4:16 says, “So let us confi-

dently approach the throne of grace toreceive mercy and favor to find help intime of need.”We are told in 1 John 3:21-22,

“Beloved, if our consciences havenothing to charge us with, we can besure that God is with us and that wewill receive at his hands whatever weask. Why? Because we are keeping hiscommandments and doing what ispleasing in his sight.”For many unfortunate persons who

choose not to believe in God (atheistsand agnostics) or to accept that He isour Supreme Creator, life must bebland and empty. They prefer not tohave the Commandments imposed

upon them, believing that they are freerwithout God’s laws. In fact, these people are enslaved to

their sins and have lost the meaning oflife. When desperate and difficult situa-tions arise in their lives, they are unableto master their problems and they oftenbecome despondent. They trust veryfew people, have no one to turn to, andare unable to make sound decisions. How sad that their choices entrap

them into deeper sin, underminingtheir freedoms. Sin separates themfrom God and from eternal salvation.But here’s the key to resolving an

unbeliever’s despondence: our HeavenlyFather loves us more than we can imag-ine and is forever ready and waiting tohear from the fallen if they are sincerelywilling to repent and change their ways.We read, for instance, in 2

Chronicles 30:9, “For when you returnto the Lord, your brethren and yourchildren will find mercy with their cap-tors and return to this land; for merci-ful and compassionate is the Lord,your God, and he will not turn awayhis face from you if you return to him.”We pray also when our conversa-

tions and thoughts are focused on Jesusand Mary and the saints.How does prayer work? How do

you develop a mind in conformity withtruth? Are the answers to these ques-tions complicated?I am not a theologian and I struggle to

reach philosophical conclusions, yet Iknow that prayer turns impossible situa-tions into things that are possible. Perhapslike you, I am someone daily seeking tolive my life with concentration of willand the energy of my soul. I know thatlife should radiate the love and compas-sion of Jesus and Mary rather thanindulge in aimless worldly infatuations.The power of prayer touches human

hearts, and because it has the power toovercome natural laws, prayer,although intangible, is the essence ofcommunication with God. It is rootedin the Holy Trinity.Prayer works, or is answered, when

we develop a relationship with ourHeavenly Father, Jesus, the Holy Spiritand Mary. Daily prayer, reading the HolyBible, and regularly participating in theLiturgy, as well as praying as a commu-

nity in church and/or in small groups, arevaluable sources of spiritual living.Quietly display your faith with grace,humility, and ease, never with arrogance.Practice makes perfect. Developing

relationships takes time. Our God is apatient, understanding, and compas-sionate Father. He understands thatsometimes our thoughts become dis-tracted during prayer, and that some-times because we are imperfect humanswe will stray from His commandments.Nevertheless, when we hold tight to

our convictions, supplications, anddedication to the Lord, we make thebest of our personal relationship withHim. We know that He is always withus and that He will sustain us in diffi-cult times as well as uplift us in timesof jubilation. We empower ourselveswhen we communicate with God.The grace of prayer works when we

strengthen our faith and trust in theLord with constant dedication and con-viction. Remember to always givepraise and thanksgiving to God, wholoves us more than we can imagine.Regardless of our means, we achieve

peace in our hearts when we thank Godfor providing us with all the blessingsHe showers upon us daily. Learn to bepatient and to maintain your focus sothat your faith may skyrocket!The Theotokos prayed daily from

midnight to dawn. She recited thePsalms from memory. Imagine herdynamic and pure love of God!Surely she rejoiced while chanting

Psalm 9:1-2:O Lord, I will praise you with all my

heart, and tellEveryone about the marvelous things

you do,I will be glad, yes, filled with joy

because of you.I will sing your praises, O Lord God

above all gods.I have briefly touched on the power

of prayer and its positive impact inindividual lives as well as in the world.Indeed, volumes could be writtenabout prayer. May God grant you manygraces! Please continue to pray forworld peace, for the safety of all themilitary and their families. †Mary Sayad is a parishioner of St. Ann parishin Woodland Park, NJ.

by Mary Sayad

The Power of Prayer


Qui

zQ

uiz

1. Which of the following Old Testament peopleendured the loss of family, personal illness, andmuch sorrow but still continued to praise God?a. Abrahamb. Isaacc. Jobd. David

2. Who was the first king of Israel?a. Saulb. Davidc. Solomond. Nathan

3. Which Old Testament prophet was taken toheaven in a chariot of fire?a. Isaiahb. Danielc. Nathand. Elijah

4. When Christ was transfigured on the mountain, which two Old Testament people were seen talking to him?a. Moses and Isaiahb. Moses and Elijahc. Moses and Danield. Adam and Eve

5. Who was the first martyr for the Church?a. Saint Philipb. Saint Matthiasc. Saint Stephend. Saint Paul

6. Which of the following is not one of Saint Paul Letters?a. Letter to the Romansb. Letter to the Thessaloniansc. Letter to the Niceansd. Letter to the Philippians

7. Which of the following was not one of the original five patriarchates in the early Church?a. Kievb. Constantinoplec. Romed. Antioch

8. Which of the following saints was a bishop?a. Saint Basil the Greatb. Saint John Chrysostomc. Saint Nicholas of Myrad. All of the above

9. Who was the patriarch of the Melkite GreekCatholic Church of Antioch in 1724?a. Maximos II (Hakim)b. Cyril VI (Tanas)c. Athanasius IV (Jawhar)d. Ignatius IV (Sarrouf)

10. Name the feast day: A daughter is born toJoachim and Annea. Nativity of the Mother of God (Theotokos)b. Presentation of Mary to the Templec. Falling asleep of Maryd. Encounter of the Lord in the Temple

11. Which feast day occurs forty days afterPascha/Easter?a. Annunciationb. Pentecostc. Transfigurationd. Ascension

12. Which of these is the most important feast of the Melkite Church?a. Nativity of the Lord/Christmasb. Pascha/Easterc. Theophany/Epiphanyd. Pentecost

by Abouna Dmitry

WHAT’S YOUR MELKITE IQ? A Self-Assessment for Your Fun and Enlightenment

See how much you and yours know about your faith and traditions by completing this self-quiz. You can find the correct answers on page 40.

Do some research to learn more about the topics that especially interest you.


Quiz

Quiz

13. Jesus Christ isa. A great man in whom God livedb. A holy prophetc. True God and True Mand. A god who appeared as a man before

going into heaven

14. Which of these statements is true and correct?a. There are three Gods –

Father, Son, and Holy Spiritb. There is one God who sometimes acts as

the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Holy Spirit

c. There is one God, Jesus Christd. There is one God in three Persons:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

15. In prayer, which of the following do we do? a. Communicate with Godb. Praise Godc. Ask things of Godd. All of the above

16. Holy Communion isa. Ordinary bread and wine offered in

memory of Christb. Truly the Body and Blood of Christc. A sacrament which is to be received only

by holy peopled. A symbolic re-enactment of the Last Supper

17. The Anaphora isa. The portion of the Divine Liturgy beginning

after the Creed in which the gifts of bread and wine are presented to God

b. The portion of the Divine Liturgy when the people receive Communion

c. The Portion of the Divine Liturgy when the priest brings the bread and wine from the Table of Oblation to the Altar

d. The portion after the Divine Liturgy when the priest makes announcements and welcomes guests to the parish community

18. In the Eastern Churches, the priesta. Has special powers to perform mysterious

actionsb. Must always be marriedc. Is a Christian man ordained by a bishop to

perform the duties of preaching, teaching, and conducting worship

d. Takes the place of Christ as the head of the Church

19. The altar breads are calleda. Prosphorab. Prestolc. Prokeimenond. Prothesis

20. The Royal Doors are so named becausea. The Christian king/emperor used to walk

through themb. In ancient times, the king/emperor purchased

the royal doors for the churchc. Christ our King is brought through the doors

in the form of the Eucharistd. Gathering of persons

Our Lady of Perpetual Help –Worcester, MAThe 2013 class of Melkite deaconcandidates attended a recent liturgycelebrated by Bishop Nicholas atOur Lady of Perpetual Help Parishin Worcester, MA. Our pastor,Archimandrite Paul Frechette,Deacon Elias Bailey, and DeaconDennis McCarthy concelebrated,and many members of the parishwere present. Bishop Nicholasblessed the beginning of the year-long celebrations of our 90thanniversary as a church and the50th anniversary of the current church building. He also wasteaching at the Deacon Formation Program as part of the reg-ular course of studies, as he has done for several years atnearby Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA. Housing oureparchial Deacon Formation Program at the college hasproven to be congenial for all involved. After liturgy, every-one gathered in the hall for coffee and Middle Eastern food.Several people stopped by the bishop’s table and visited withhim. He said that he would be traveling to Lebanon for theSynod of Melkite bishops, and asked people to pray for him,especially given the political and religious unrest in that area.

The Feast of St. Nicholaswas celebrated after theDivine Liturgy on Sunday 8December 2013, two daysafter the actual feast day, 6December. Deacon DennisMcCarthy donned the St.Nicholas costume and gath-ered the children to sharesome of the saint’s biogra-phy. Adults also enjoyed theshow, and everyone learnedwhy St. Nicholas is calledthe Wonderworker. Hereceived that name because

he performed many miracles by the power God gave him. Forexample, it is said that he brought three children back to lifeafter they were killed by a butcher and sold as meat. He was also known for innumerable acts of charity, such

as giving his money to the poor and helping those who werein pain. As a result, he became the time-honored giver ofgifts in the East and the West. The actual person, St.Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, was adopted as thepatron of Byzantine Christians. In the United States, he wastransformed into the secular character, Santa Claus.After sharing St. Nicholas’ story, Deacon Dennis handed

out small gift packets to all of the children and then to all ofthe adults.

Our Lady of Redemption – Warren, MIKnights of Columbus 15057, Chawki Sabak, Grand KnightKnights of Columbus Council 15057, at Our Lady ofRedemption Melkite parish in Warren, MI, was chartered in2010 and has been very active in promoting charity, unity,and fraternity in the parish and the community.Although our council is still small in numbers, it is big on

activities. For the past two years, our council has sponsoreda scholarship program for the parish members graduatingfrom high school. We have also participated in the Coats forKids program that donates new coats for needy children inthe local area. We have also started a food bank to replenishour church food pantry for the many needy families that visitthe church for help. For four years we have sold TootsieRolls on Palm Sunday; the proceeds go to a center that helpsmentally-challenged children in Michigan. Our council hasalso helped our youth and teens in their fund-raising activi-ties. We have hosted many family nights with card parties,made pancake breakfasts for the parish, and solicited dona-tions from the community.On the spiritual side, our council members helped at the

2013 Melkite Convention by inviting the Knights ofColumbus Color Corps to celebrate the Divine Liturgy withthe community, introducing them to the richness and beautyof our Melkite Church. Our council has also participated ina Corporate Communion, at which all council members goto Communion together, demonstrating the unity thatKnights have toward one other and their church.In July 2013 the Supreme Council of the Knights of

Columbus honored Our Lady of Redemption Council 15057with the Columbian Award for all the charitable and spiritualactivities our Knights participated in throughout the year.Our council is still growing and working to fulfill our pledgeof charity, fraternity, and unity in the church and community.

St Demetrius – Cliffside Park, NJ“Love one another as I have loved you” is the call of everyChristian, and certainly one of our primary missions at St.Demetrius, Cliffside Park, NJ. Following Jesus’ commandsis many-faceted and requires outreach to every person in thecommunity. The “Encounter” religious education and Arabicprogram on Sunday mornings helps young children discov-er our faith and our traditions by learning how to pray inArabic. Our Theotokos Women’s Society hosts Co-ed BibleDiscussion, Wine and Cheese Social; this year, we areexploring the Gospel of St. Luke every other Friday at 6:30pm. The Theotokos Women’s Society also presented ourannual Big Parish BBQ on 20 October. The St. Joseph Men’sGuild cares for the less fortunate, monitoring the needs ofthe community, maintaining our church building, and run-ning our Food Pantry. The St. Joseph Guild also sponsoredour second annual St. Demetrius Feast Day Boat Trip aroundManhattan on the Great Martyr’s memorial, 26 October


EPARCHYEPARCHYAround the

2013. Our greatest gift and the center of our lives is the DivineLiturgy, celebrated every Sunday at noon and always followedby a social hour. Everyone is welcome at St. Demetrius MelkiteCatholic Church. For more information, please [email protected]. We hope to see you soon.

Saint Elias – Brooklyn, OHIn May 2013 Bishop Nicholas made first pastoral visit to St Eliasparish. During his five-days with us he met with all parish organi-zations, including the Pastoral Council, the Ladies Guild, the HolyName Society, the Youth Group, and the Sunday School. We wereinspired and energized by his teaching and his pastoral charisma.He taught us to be aware of preserving and defending our faithagainst earthly attractions and heresies. We can do this by beingattached to the real sources of our Faith: the Bible; Tradition, whichis the life of the Church since its institution by Jesus Christ; and theDidache, which is the teachings of the Holy Fathers who passed onthe True Faith. As an Apostolic Church, we deliver this same Faithto new generations, especially by our example.We learned from Bishop Nicholas the importance of the

three T’s: Time, Talent and Treasure. He not only spoke aboutthese essentials of stewardship but also lived them among us.We saw him sharing with Father Naim pastoral visits to the eld-erly and the sick; we saw and heard him sharing his talents ofteaching, preaching, and serving; and we saw him tithe from thehonorarium he received from us.Bishop Nicholas concluded his visit by celebrating a Pontifical

Divine Liturgy, sung by our choir directed by Richard Anter III.During the Liturgy, the bishop blessed Joseph Ade with the minororder of Subdeacon, bringing happiness to the whole parish fami-ly. At the end of the Divine Liturgy we celebrated the ground-breaking for the shrine of our Lady of Protection. During the

farewell banquet that followed, Bishop Nicholas presented theLadies Guild with a plaque commemorating their founding 90years ago. Ladies Guild President Jamileh Habib Shakkourreceived the award on behalf of the organization.

St Joseph – Lansing, MIEncouraged by the success of the Middle Eastern Food Festivalin April, St. Joseph Ladies Society presented a new one-dayfundraiser in September, the one-plate-only “Kafta Kombo.” InNovember, we welcomed Bishop Nicholas for a five-day pas-toral visit. He met with virtually every organized group in theparish, from the church school classes and teachers to the LadiesSociety and the Pastoral Council, the Stewardship Council, andthe Property Council. His Grace provided direction, listened,gave encouragement, and shared his vision for the eparchy. Itwas especially good to connect and to receive his encourage-ment as the parish continues to establish new patterns after twoyears with no permanent pastor. After Great Vespers on Saturdayevening, at which the Most Rev. Earl Boyea, Bishop of Lansing,co-presided with Bishop Nicholas, we enjoyed a banquet gener-ously provided by Walid El-Chaer and the Albassa CulturalCommunity. At the banquet the Pastoral Council presented thefirst St Joseph Parish Award of Honor posthumously to CharlesSawaya, a long-time pillar of the parish. His daughter, VioletSawaya Rahme, accepted the award on behalf of her recently-deceased father. The Ladies Society earmarked 10 percent of theproceeds from the kafta sale and the banquet, amounting to$230, for NAMW’s fund to support our seminarian. At thebeginning of December, St Joseph parish announced our newwebsite, www.MelkiteChurch.org, and our new Facebook page,www.Facebook.com/MelkiteChurchLansing, thanks to the skilland work of Pastoral Council member Michael Mekhayel. †

It was profoundly moving to see ourPatriarch cry as he presided over the funeralof three members of our Melkite Community

recently murdered by the Jihadists inMaaloula. The armed Muslim extremistsinvaded their home and ordered them toembrace Islam. They refused and died asmartyrs. May their ultimate sacrifice be aregeneration for the Church and a comfort

for the distressed Christians of Syria.



When I was invited to performa wedding in SouthernCalifornia recently, I notified

the Western Regional Clergy that Iwould be in the area and would like togive talks about vocations. Doing thishad two advantages. First, it saved theVocations Office a separate flight andlodging expense, and second, an in-person, face-to-face presentation notonly was more effective than printedarticles, posters and bookmarks, butalso underscored their message.Archimandrite James Babcock invit-

ed me to visit Virgin Mary Mission,Temecula, and St. Jacob Mission, SanDiego. He serves as pastor of bothcommunities. There, I met with highschool boys and young adult menwhom Fr. James thought would benefitfrom a get-together regarding thistopic. Discussion in the meetings pro-vided me contact information. I havealready begun an email dialogue withthese men and have sent them readingmaterials on prayer and spirituality thatwere donated to the Office byArchimandrite Frank Milienewicz ofSt. George Church, Birmingham, AL.Fr. Francois Beyrouti, Pastor of

Holy Cross Church, Placentia, invitedme to celebrate the liturgy and give ahomily on vocations.On the weekend of the wedding,

Archimandrite Fouad Sayegh, Pastor ofSt. Anne Church in North Hollywood,had arranged for me to celebrate theliturgies there so that he could travel toChicago for a wedding. I shared mythoughts and hopes in the homily onvocations. Fr. Fouad and Deacon Tareq

Nasrallah scheduled a dialogue afterthe second liturgy with the St. AnneMelkite Young Adults, the YouthGroup, and other youth of the parish.I have also given presentations at St.

Basil the Great Church, Lincoln, RI,and St. George Church, Birmingham,AL, at the invitation of their pastors,and, of course, in my own parish of St.John Chrysostom, Atlanta, GA.

One visit to a parish is certainly notthe magical solution but it is a begin-ning. I look forward to hearing fromother pastors about scheduling visits totheir parishes. If these visits are wellreceived, follow-up visits and actualvocation development programs willbe very viable possibilities in ourMelkite communities.For many reasons Melkite families

have been reluctant for too long toencourage their sons to considerbecoming priests and deacons. The for-mer pride of families in giving a priestto the Church has become dormant.All of us together, hand in hand, need

to be open, willing, and cooperative inorder to create a positive climate in ourparishes for present and future vocationsto the priesthood in the Melkite Church.Our need is great, vital, and immediate.We are all rich in what we have

received from our families and fromour spiritual fathers and mothers.Many of our clergy and lay people alsohave found spiritual richness fromadopting this holy Church as their own.Now all of us must be willing to give

back on all levels for what we havereceived! Now all must whisper in theears of our young ones and others theneed, the effect, the pride, and the beau-ty of serving God’s Church in ministry!Now all must assist—but first we mustallow His voice and His call to be heard!I am asking for and encouraging

people in every region to assist boththe Vocations Office and our wholeEparchy in this vital and much-neededwork of developing awareness of voca-tions and of how everyone can takepart in it. At the recent ClergyConference, I told Bishop Nicholas ofmy concern to revitalize the Vocationswebsite, www.melkite.org/vocations.It is in the works now.I welcome all of your inquiries, sug-

gestions, and discussions through theVocations Office by email at [email protected] and by telephone at404-373-9522. †

by Archimandrite John AzarEparchial Director of Vocations

Southern California Parishes HearAbout the Call to Priesthood

…but firstwe mustallow Hisvoice andHis call tobe heard!

…but firstwe mustallow Hisvoice andHis call tobe heard!

Voc

atio

nsV

ocat

ions

1. C - Job2. A - Saul3. D - Elijah4. B - Moses and Elijah5. C - Saint Stephen6. C - Letter to the Niceans7. A - Kiev8. D - All of the above9. B - Patriarch Cyril VI (Tanas) who reigned

from 1724 to 175910. A - The Nativity or Birth of the Theotokos

11. D - Holy Ascension of the Lord12. B - Pascha/Easter, the Feast of feasts13. C - Jesus Christ is true God and true Man

who came to save mankind14. D - There is one God in three Persons:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit15. D - All of the above: communicate, praise, and ask16. B - Holy Communion is truly the Body and

Blood of Christ17. A - The portion of the Divine Liturgy after

the Creed

18. C - The priest is called and ordained by a bishop to preach, teach and worship

19. A - Prosphora, breads made from pure wheat flour, round, stamped on the top with a four-pointed cross, thus dividing each into four parts; each part is marked with the following letters: IC, XC, NI, KA – (Jesus Christthe Conqueror)

20. C - Christ our King and God is brought through these doors in the form of the Holy Eucharist

Answers to Melkite IQ Quiz on page 36

NA

MW

NA

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NAMW recently received a letter from our seminarian Thomas Moses, currently attending SS. Cyril & MethodiusSeminary near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The NAMW officers have approved a monthly stipend, which he beganreceiving in September, from the funds contributed by our local parish chapters. I spoke to him recently; he’s very

happy and doing well. He travels to Akron, Ohio, on Sundays to serve our community of St. Joseph. Here is his letter:

Carol Caven, Treasurer, reports that dues are coming in, as well as extra donations for the 2013-2014 year. We’ve alsoheard that parishes are already having or setting dates for their annual fundraising events to assist our seminarian. Space islimited, but please send short articles and pictures any time you have a NAMW/vocations-related event. We want to see asmany parishes as possible represented in these pages. Send your articles to me, Rosemary Shabouk, or to Susan Elek. Thesewill also be put on the website. Call us for addresses if you’re not using email.Some of the vacancies for Parish Representatives have been filled. Thank you to those who came forward to help.

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; So ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest.”

(Mt. 9:37-38)

NA

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To join the National Association of Melkite Women or to renew your membership, complete and mail this form with your Dues check for $10.00 made payable to NAMW to:

Carol Caven, NAMW . 2030 N. Glenoaks Boulevard . Burbank, CA 91504PLEASE PRINT:

NAME ________________________________________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS ____________________________________________________________________________________________

CITY, STATE, ZIP ________________________________________________________________________________________

TELEPHONE ______________________________________ EMAIL ____________________________________________

PARISH __________________________________________ Please Circle one: NEW MEMBER RENEWAL

Remember to keep our need for vocations in your prayers. Be an advocate, encourage our youth to participate in your parish.

Do you know a young man who may have a vocation to the priesthood? Does he even see it in himself? Pray for him.

Talk to the Director of Vocations, Rt. Rev. John Azar [email protected]

Prayer for VocationsCONTEST

In each issue of SOPHIA, we have included a different prayer for vocations; these have beentaken from a variety of sources. Now it’s yourturn to compose a new Prayer for Vocations. Thiscontest is open to NAMW members, friends,youth groups, and religious education classes.Send your submission, neatly printed or typed, to:

Susan Elek, 11243 Fairway Drive,

Sterling Heights, MI 48312 or to [email protected].

Include your name, address, parish; contact phonenumber or email, affiliation, if any (NAMW, MAYA,NAMY), parent’s name and child’s age, if applicable.

Fr. Michel, our Spiritual Advisor, will chooseprayers for future issues of SOPHIA. We areeven discussing new prayer cards for the mem-bers. Will your prayer be on the cards? The dead-line for submitting your prayer is the end ofFebruary, 2014. There may even be some prizes.Good luck to all!

Prayer for VocationsCONTEST

NAMW CONTACTINFORMATION

Rosemary ShaboukPresident

[email protected] (NY)

Margo SayeghVice President

[email protected] (CA)

Carol CavenTreasurer

[email protected] (CA)

Susan ElekSecretary

[email protected] (MI)

CORRECTIONIn the last issue of SOPHIA, “Membership2013” listed Lincoln, PA. This should have readLincoln, RI.

Navigating the Eparchy Hierarch

BISHOP NICHOLAS SAMRA617 323 9922

[email protected]

Bishop Emeritus BISHOP JOHN ELYA, B.S.O.

978 683 2471 [email protected]

Chancery Office SAIDEH DAGHER, Secretary

3 V.F.W. Parkway . West Roxbury, MA 02132 617 323 9922 . Fax. 617 323 0944

Protosyncellus ARCHIMANDRITE PHILIP RACZKA


Judicial Vicar ARCHIMANDRITE GERASIMOS MURPHY

352 683 [email protected]

Chancellor DEACON PAUL LEONARCZYK


Chief Finance Officer DEACON ROBERT SHALHOUB


Office of Religious Education DEACON SABATINO CARNAZZO


Sophia Magazine ARCHIMANDRITE JAMES BABCOCK,Editor in Chief


Sophia Press Publications SAIDEH DAGHER617 323 9922

Website melkite.org . [email protected]

National Association of Melkite Women (NAMW) ROSEMARY SHABOUK


Ambassadors ROSA AILABOUNI614 975 7672

[email protected]

Clergy Conference Coordinator FR. CHRISTOPHER MANUELE


Melkite Association of Young Adults (MAYA)

Board Member and Co-Chair Co-Chair

NAJEEB HADDAD RICHARD MC NEIL773 780 1549 978 407 2381

[email protected] [email protected]: usmaya.org

National Association of Melkite Youth (NAMY) FR. THOMAS STEINMETZ


Vocation Director ARCHIMANDRITE JOHN AZAR


Deacon Formation Director ARCHIMANDRITE PAUL FRECHETTE


Development Director ED NAHOM


Office of Communications, Diocese of Newton3 VFW ParkwayWest Roxbury, MA 02132ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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Documents

THE JOURNAL OF THE MELKITE CATHOLIC EPARCHY OF NEWTON · Shepherd, Bishop Nicholas Samra. ON THE COVER. F r o m t h e E d i t o r Winter 2014 • SOPHIA 3 Dear Readers, Did you hang