Homily of Bishop Mounir Khairallah in Our Lady of Lebanon Church,
Miami-Florida (USA)
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Dear Father Elie Mikhael,
Dear Maronites and friends in Miami.
It gives me such a pleasure to celebrate the Divine Liturgy with you this blessed Sunday.
Last Sunday, the Renewal of the Church, marked the beginning of our liturgical Year in the Year of the Faith declared by His Holiness the Pope Benedict XVI. It means that we are called to renew ourselves as members of the Church; to renew our faith in God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; to renew our confession that Jesus Christ is “the Son of the living God”, just as Peter said, and to renew our confession that his Church is “built on the rock” of the faith of Peter and “the gates of Hades will not prevail against it”.
We are called as Christians and especially as Maronites to renew our faith, to renew our engagement to carry the message of Jesus Christ and to be witnesses of his death and his resurrection first in the land of Christ, in Lebanon, in the Middle East – and then in all countries of the world where we are living and where we are citizens.
We are Maronites in the United States of America, in Canada, in Brazil, in Australia as we are Maronites in Lebanon, in Syria, in Egypt, in Cyprus or in Holy Land.
Are we ready to keep renewing ourselves and to serve our homelands as Jesus Christ asked us to be?
Renewing means to return to the Roots: to the spiritual, ecclesiastical, liturgical and social history of our Maronite Syriac Antiochian Church.
Our Maronite Church was built, at the beginning, in the Patriarchate of Antioch, who was founded by Saint Peter before Rome, known as a community of Bet Moroon (People of Moroon) , around the monastery of Saint Maroun, priest and hermit, who died in 410, and lived according to his hermitic spirituality. On 685, it was founded as a Patriarchate by Saint John Maroun, first Patriarch, in Kfarhay-Lebanon, organized with monastic rules where the Patriarch will be the Superior, and the Maronite community united under his leadership, as he is united to the Successor of Peter the Pope of Rome. That is how our Church preserved her faith and unity for centuries carrying her Cross after Jesus Christ and accepting the challenge of all persecutions, wars and difficulties.
We often use to say with Saint Ignatius Patriarch of Antioch: “where the Patriarch is, there is the Maronite Church! And where the Maronite Church is, the faith of Pope of Rome is”.
Our famous Patriarch Estephan Doueihi (1670-1704) used to repeat: “The faith of the Pope of Rome is my faith; the faith of the Catholic Church is the faith of my Church”.
This will explain why the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI announced on October 24 that our Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi was nominated as a Cardinal in the Church. This was in recognition for the great role that he witnessed the Patriarch doing in Lebanon as the Pope visited this land last September. The Pope was very touched and satisfied by his visit. He discovered that the Maronite Church and our beloved Lebanon can be important and active in the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the Middle East, and how they can render support and life to the rest of the Christians in the Middle East as they live together. He encouraged the role that they are playing in the conviviality and the dialogue in charity and truth with the Moslem and Arab peoples. He encouraged us to remain in our countries and to be the disciples of Jesus Christ living the charity and serving our brothers without any confessional and religious distinction. He repeated many times: “You have to build together the Peace for a peaceful society according to the human Rights. Here is your role and your responsibility”.
He said to us Maronites: “You have to preserve your unity around your Patriarch and your Bishops, successors of the apostles, and with the Church of Rome and the Successor of Peter. You have to preserve your special identity, your spirituality and your traditions in the heart of the Universal Church. Your Maronite Church has given many great saints to the Universal Church”.
He said to the Christians of the Middle East:“Remain in your countries; here our Lord Jesus Christ was born, performed his miracles, was crucified for the salvation of the all humanity and, after his resurrection, sent his apostles and disciples to all over the world to carry the good news of salvation”.
Our Patriarch Rahi, the 77th Maronite Patriarch, said immediately after his election in March 2011 that he will operate to renew of our Church according to the resolutions of the Maronite Patriarchal Synod, that was held in Lebanon in four sessions between 2003 and 2006, and with the active participation of all our Bishops and dioceses, including especially the Intishar or Expansion Dioceses.
Four constant elements were issued by this Patriarchal Synod:
1- The Maronites are fully attached to the person of their Patriarch and the Patriarchate in Lebanon as guarantee of their unity and permanency.
2- The Maronites are fully attached to the tradition of their Antiochian Syriac Maronite Church at all levels.
3- The Maronites are fully attached to Lebanon, “which is more than a country. It is a message to the world” as Blessed Pope John Paul II used to say, and “An Example Country” as the Pope Benedict XVI said recently; because Lebanon is the Land of the foundation of their Maronite Church, the Land of the spiritual roots, and the Land of the saints and the Holy shrines.
4- The Maronites are fully attached to their new countries and civilizations and fully consciences that can be Maronites and different within the Universal Church carrying their specific vocation and mission with their specific maronite charisma.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Miami and in all of the United States! You are Maronites, you are Bet Moroon in America. You have to live your specific identity. Your role and your responsibility are to be fully Americans and fully Maronites. Because the identity of your beloved America, as your emeritus Bishop Stephen Doueihi used to write and to repeat: “is made by her Unity through Multiplicity. In order to be fully American, we must be fully ourselves. We are fully ourselves, if we live the Difference of our heritage. Our heritage started one thousand years before the discovery of America”.
So we should not be afraid about the future of our Church existing in all over the world. Jesus Christ is always with his Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Give us your hearts, your minds and your will, and we can collaborate with the Christians of all around the world to build the Church of Jesus Christ according to the Maronite Syriac Antiochian Charisma entrusted to us by God. Each one of us has his and her role to play in building the community of the People of God.
I pray today that God’s love will enflame our hearts and rekindle that zeal for the church that will make us want to serve it better with holiness, charity and humility.
I would like to close with Saint Paul saying: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Romans 12:2). Amen.
