Homilies

Seattle, WA 9-26-06

My dear people of Seattle:

I was delighted to see over one hundred people joyfully and devotedly attend the
Divine Liturgy at St. Matthew’s Church last Sunday. I hope and pray that more of
you will come again this coming Sunday, October 1, at 12:30 PM, to praise the
Lord together as a happy family, to bid farewell to your outgoing Pastor Fr.
Charles Kattan and to welcome your new Pastor Father Samir Abu Leil.

A parish is a vivid example of God's loving presence among us. One of my
favorite definitions of a Parish: “A Parish is a layout of love over a piece of
geography. God our Father loved the area of Seattle, Washington. So He placed
in it the Mission and future Parish of St. Joseph. This Mission is intended to serve
the Eastern Catholics, all the Eastern Christians, all the Arabic Speaking people
coming from the Near East and even all those who come to it for spiritual and
social help.

How many baptisms, marriages and funerals will take place in this Community
of the People of God dedicated to God’s glory?... People talk of mother nature;
but, really, it is God's goodness who loves us much more than a mother can ever
do. The Psalmist sings: “Your goodness and kindness, O Lord, will follow me all
the days of my life.” (Psalm 23:6)

We are born in a natural family. The church is our family. She gives us
birth spiritually through the water of regeneration in Baptism and strengthens us
through the anointing, the Myron, of the Holy Spirit. She makes us all brothers
and sisters as one in a large loving family.

We are nourished naturally by material food and drink. The church gives us the
true spiritual food, the Body and Blood of our Lord. "My body is a true food and
my blood a true drink," says our Lord. Mother Church provides us with the
heavenly food. “Taste and see how sweet the Lord is!”

It is not good for an individual to be alone. He or she needs help and extension
of one's personality into another. Mother Church fastens a natural union with
a seal of grace to make love stable, fruitful and eternal into a holy matrimony.
“The man leaves his father and mother and clings to hid life. They become one
flesh. And what God put together, let no man put asunder.”

In our journey through life, we are exposed to physical sickness and
weakness. We need healing. Mother Church gives us the healing through
the sacrament of reconciliation and of the Anointing.

Besides the personal dimension of sanctification, of being a bridge between
earth and heaven, there is also an ecclesial dimension; namely: the importance
of Saint Joseph Church and of the Eastern Catholic Church in general as a
witness to the Catholicity of the One, Holy and Apostolic Church of God.
Our Lord said: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” (John 14:2) We
apply this to the beauty in variety inside the Catholic Church. If the Church
had one single way of thinking and praying and ministering to the needs of the
people of God, it may still be One, but it would be less catholic, that is universal.
We say in the Creed: “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”
Apostolicity is our specialty as Melkites and Eastern Christians. The early
Apostles Peter, Paul and Barnabas went forth from Antioch to convert the
world to Christ. “To all the earth their voice resounded and to the end of the
world their message.”

"No man is an island." No church is an island either. St. Joseph Mission and
future Church in the Seattle, Washington area is not and will not be for its own
parishioners only; but the Church and all her parishioners are for the service of
the Seattle area and the whole Washington State. "Thus, let your light shine, so
that people will see your good work and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
(Matthew 5:16)

A church - be it in Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles or Seattle - is not a stone or brick
construction, but a living community of faith. And the Eparchy/Diocese – be it of
Seattle, Boston, Miami or Newton - is the family of parishes, as the parish is the
extended family of families. As the parish is proud of and grateful to her
parishioners, so the Eparchy of Newton is proud of and grateful to her living and
active parishes now including St. Joseph Mission of Seattle. She cherishes this
youngest “parish.”

A mother was asked: “Whom do you love most among your children?”
What a hard question to answer! But the wise and loving mother replied: “I love
the young one to see him/her grow, the sick one to see him/her healthy and the
absent one to have him/her come back.” Likewise, the Eparchy of Newton looks
with special love to your young Mission. With joyful hope, she is grateful to God
and to Father Peter Karam, Founder of St. Joseph Mission and to Father Charles
Kattan, the first and outgoing “Pastor.” She welcomes joyfully the new young
“Pastor,” Father Samir Abu-Lail. May I personally, as the Eparch Emeritus of
Newton, act as the “midwife” on behalf of our Eparch the Most Reverend Cyril
Bustros and welcome joyfully Father Samir Abu Leil as the new “Pastor” of this
growing and promising “Parish” of St. Joseph. I fervently ask St. Joseph, the
Protector of the Divine Family to make his Community grow as Jesus did “in
wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52)

God bless the Founders, the workers, the supporters, all the members and
beneficiaries of this young “Parish,” the sign of God’s love to Seattle and to us
all.

* * * * *

(LUKE 5:1-11)

THE MIRACULOUS CATCH

St. Joseph Mission at St Matthew Church, Seattle, WA
9-24-06

"Do not be afraid. From now on you will be fishers of men" (Luke 5:10)

A TRUE STORY
Did you hear a fish story recently? People exaggerating their exploits and making
of a small smelt a giant sword fish? Today’s Gospel is not one of those stories
that you heard. “The Miraculous catch” is a true story, with a deep lesson taken
from the core of our religion. It raises our awareness from the realm of fish
swimming in water or replenishing our tables, and to be “as dumb as a fish,” to the
new kind of fish walking on two feet and created in the image and likeness of
God. The first disciples of Christ were promoted, as in the Gospel of the day,
from ordinary fishermen to extraordinary fishers of men.

UPSTAIR, DOWNSTAIRS
Many of us are old enough to remember the T.V. show entitled: "Upstairs,
downstairs"? That serial show used to present two parallel stories, one of the
masters living upstairs and the other of the servants living downstairs. To
outsiders it looked like the same house; but in reality there were two different
worlds miles apart. The view on life, the personal concerns, the problems and
the opportunities were all together different between the upper class masters and
the low income servants living downstairs. I am not saying who was better or who
was happier. All I am saying is that these were two different worlds miles apart. In
God’s eyes, maybe the people downstairs were much higher than those upstairs.
We are as high as we aim to be. Our thoughts are not always up to God’s
thoughts. Sometimes, as our Lord said: “The first will be last and the last will be
first.”

WITH JESUS OR WITHOUT JESUS
The reading of the day shows us the vain efforts of Simon Peter and his
companions without the Lord. Simon told Jesus: “Master, we have worked hard all
night and have caught nothing, but at your command I lower the nets.” Then,
when he followed Jesus’ advice, they caught such a great number of fish that their
nets were tearing. You see: without Jesus, nothing; with Jesus, plenty. Without
Jesus, darkness; with Jesus, light.

DOUBLE PERSONALITY
Each one of us has more or less a double personality, a downstairs and an
upstairs. The eyes of the body see the material world, downstairs. The eyes of
the spirit see spiritual things, upstairs. Under the clouds, there is thunder and
lightening and rain and wind; over the clouds there is serenity. Here again, with
Jesus or without Jesus, that makes the greatest difference, my friends. With
Jesus, we are over the clouds. Without Jesus, we are in the middle of the
storm.

SWIM AND SWIM OR SWIM AND PRAY
Almost forty years ago, I watched a Television debate between a priest and an
atheist, the famous Madelyn O’Hare. The atheist asked: "Reverend, if we are in
a high see and our boat is sinking, you pray and I swim; who will be saved?" The
answer of course is: "My friend, you swim and swim and swim; but I swim and pray
and swim and pray. I have a better chance to be saved; because God is with
me." Remember the beautiful hymn we sing during Lent: “God is with us. Give
ear, all you nations, and be humbled. For God is with us!”

DOING IT ALONE
In our family, in our business, in our relationships, in the sweet and sour of life, it
makes a great difference if we insist on doing it alone, by our own strength, or if
we draw on the power of Jesus. “At your word I lower my net,” said Peter.” Did
you ever try to pull yourself up by your shoe strings? Try it! It is impossible.
Prayer which puts us in harmony with God’s power is our best elevator to reach
upstairs. This is precisely the role of religion: to open our eyes to our spiritual
reality and to unfold our potential through God’s power.

AT THE END OF THE ROPE
Sometimes, when we face great difficulties and we feel like we have reached the
end of our rope, then we are tempted to despair. Our salvation comes from the
Lord. “My help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth,” we sing with the
Psalmist, in the vespers service of Thursday. I heard it put that way once by Rev.
Robert Schuler, author of "the Power of Possibility Thinking": "You say, 'I reached
the end of my rope; what shall I do? Tie a knot and hang on?' - No! When you
reach the end of your rope, reach out to another rope called hope; then you can
cope." St. Paul says: "I can do everything by Christ who strengthens me". With
the Lord Jesus, “everything is possible to God.”

THE FULFILLING VOCATION
We heard in the Gospel of the day the story of the call of the first disciples. They
were fishermen, dealing with fish. After the miraculous catch, Jesus calls them to
be fishers of people, instead. He raises them to a higher level of work. Instead of
fish, they look now for people; instead of material concerns, they look for spiritual
values. But sometimes our spiritual values are lowered by material concerns.
Instead of minding the spiritual activities such as Sunday School, spiritual
retreats, Bible study, etc., we spend our time in material and social activities,
bingo (thank God, we do not have it anymore,) outings, haflies, bazaars. Far from
me to be knocking down these activities which are really an outstanding proof of
attachment and devotion and love; but I am simply saying that, instead of being
fishers of men, we seek good time as guardians of the aquarium. If we have no
spiritual progress, material prosperity will never assure our survival as a church.

When young men think of a career, how many think of becoming a teacher, an
engineer, a Doctor, a lawyer, a businessman or a business woman, etc., without
giving a chance to becoming a priest or a religious? Forty years ago, at an
Ultreya at the Holy Rosary Church Hall in Lawrence, toward the end of the school
year, I saw hanging from the ceiling round cards containing the different careers
the students were planning to poursue after their graduation: lawyer. Doctor,
businessman, taxi driver, etc. I looked and looked, in that Catholic school to find a
card for priest, deacon or nun… Why should God come second in our
consideration for a fulfilled life? Every time I see a young man intelligent, open,
like our altar helpers here, I ask him: “Do you want to be a priest?” And I pray
inside: “O Lord, let it be so. Amen!”

THE HIGHER LEVEL
At the Divine Liturgy, the priest invites us “to lift up our hearts.” And we answer:
“We lift them up to the Lord.” Let us focus our attention, today and in the
following days, on the higher level of our reality. This requires a special effort. It is
easier to go down than to go up. However, if our efforts are with Christ, the result
will be as outstanding as the miraculous catch. We will have plenty of good result;
yet our nets will not be torn apart. We will cherish Jesus' company and prefer it to
anything else in the world.

INVITATION TO JOY
Finally, As we have crossed the threshold of hope and welcomed the Third
Millennium of the Incarnation, the Espousal of Heaven and earth through the Birth
of our Lord Jesus, let us remember that God our Father is the God of joy. Jesus
our Lord came to give us life and joy in abundance. “Do not be afraid any longer,
little flock; for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) Let
us draw from His goodness inspiration, motivation and energy for our journey.
Let Him be at the center of all our joyful celebrations; for every good gift and
every perfect grace comes from Him, the Father of light; and to Him we render
glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and
forever and ever. Amen.

Final remark: As a conclusion to our homily, let us participate joyfully in the
celebration as a happy family, far from being as dumb as fish, let us sing joyfully
as canaries and nightingales, praising the Lord.

St. John the Baptist Church, Northlake, IL – 9-19-04

(Mark 8:34-38)

“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35)

Today’s reading presents to us a paradox, I would say an oxymoron. Oxymoron,
a very interesting word, is explained in the Webster dictionary as “a figure of
speech in which two contradictory words are placed together for epigrammatic
effect, as sad pleasure, round square, hateful Christian and the like.” If you win,
you lose; and if you lose, you win. Doesn’t this sound like an ad for losing weight
and gaining good health? If we seek pleasure, if we attain pleasure on a short
term, we may be jeopardizing our chance of a more secure pleasure on the long
range. This certainly makes sense. So, this is not an oxymoron after all. This is
a fact of life. “No pain, no gain.” Without the Cross, there is no resurrection.

This is like a special kind of oranges we have in Lebanon. It is called the “sugar
orange - Laymuun seqqari.” It tastes sweet while you eat it; but it leaves a bitter
taste in the mouth, something like the taste of grapefruit rind. How could you
enjoy fully its sweetness, when you know that it is not going to endure, and the
end result may displease you? On the other hand, if you feel the discomfort of a
bitter medicine; yet you know of the good effect to come; then you would not mind
the hardship. Life is bound to have difficulties and contradictions, if we accept the
hardships of life joyfully with Christ, our hardships become an occasion of joy, as
St. Paul wrote: “I am overflowing with joy all the more, because of all our
affliction.” (2 Corinthians 7:4) When we seek ourselves, we are left on our own
and we lose ourselves. But when we forget ourselves and seek God, we find God
and, with God, we find everything, including ourselves. Adam and Eve, seeking to
be like God by eating of the forbidden fruit, lost themselves and brought upon
themselves and all their descendants utter emptiness. On the other hand, if we
empty ourselves in the presence of the Lord, we give God a chance to fill us.

God created us to inherit the kingdom prepared for us before the creation of the
word, as Christ tells us. The kingdom of God is the state of things where we are
happy and lacking of nothing necessary for our happiness. And how do we get
our true and eternal happiness? By carrying our cross every day and following
Him through the way of the Cross to Golgotha and to the tomb, before we reach
our glory as He did. He told the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day
of His glorious Resurrection: “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer
these things and enter into His glory?” Here is the sour sweet reality: If you suffer
you get well; if you refuse to make a special effort you wouldn’t reap the expected
fruit; if you sit and rest, you would not be able to reach where you are heading to
find a more permanent rest.

In every life, some rain should fall sometimes. If we accept it and offer it up,
carrying our cross with Jesus, we will be sharing in His passions, which lead to His
Resurrection. Our cross may be a sickness, which afflicts us and keeps
reminding us of our human condition and even of our mortality. Offer it up. Our
cross may be a difficult person we have to live with, a neighbor, a fellow worker,
even a husband or wife, or a child of ours who goes astray; offer it up. Our cross
may be a handicap in our studies if we are in school, or in our business; offer it up
to God who is capable of making strength out of weakness. We also have to
assume some acts of penance, fast and abstinence in due season. Let us
remember that the more we sacrifice, the more we suffer, the better we imitate the
Lord Jesus who suffered and died to lead us to His Resurrection.

To conclude, here is a puzzle for you – especially to the young people around
and to all those young at heart: “What is the thing which gets bigger and bigger
the more you take out from it and smaller and smaller, if you add to it?

--- Did you ever dig a hole in the ground? The more you take out of it and the
deeper it becomes. If you fill it, it gets smaller. We call this emptying oneself and
letting God in. It certainly bears repeating: The more we love ourselves, the less
place we have to love God and neighbor. Our Lord “emptied Himself, taking the
form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He
humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross. ”
(Philippians 2:7-8) Let us imitate Him in His generous love and His devoted
service; and let us empty ourselves of our selfishness and let Him fill us with
energy and joy and enthusiasm to serve Him and serve each other. Helping
others helps us getting out of our emptiness and finding God. I heard an old
saying in a retreat a long time ago:

“I sought happiness and it evaded me.
I sought my God, and He eluded me.
I sought my neighbor and I found all three.’

May God direct our steps to love Him unselfishly by serving each other and
finding our happiness in love.

To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

St. Basil Seminary, 9-11, 2005 and 9-10-06

(John 3:13-17)

"GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON SO THAT
EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MIGHT NOT PERISH BUT MIGHT HAVE
ETERNAL LIFE." (JOHN 3:16)

“Being loved is …”
A long time ago, I heard a statement which left a permanent impression on my
mind and which helped me cope in difficult situation. Here it is: “You know that
you are loved when anything you say or do is not going to be taken against you.”
The opposite is also true: When you hate people, anything they say or do is
going to be taken against them. Oh! What a relief to know that you are among
people who love you; then you can let your hair down and be yourself. And, let
us face it, you cannot clean your head if you don’t let your hair down! Happy are
we when we have people who love us. Yet we are the happiest if we know that
God loves us.

God loves us all
Good news! God loves us. God loves you. God loves me. He loved us so
much that “He gave His only begotten Son to deliver us from death through His
own death on the Cross. If we believe in Him, we obtain forgiveness of sin and
eternal life. If we reject Him, He is not the one who judges us. As we heard in the
Gospel of the day: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:17) Being
excluded from heaven, God forbid! would be of our own making. Being with Jesus
or being without Him makes the difference between heaven and hell.

Is there heaven and hell?
Sometime, I hear people say casually: Who can tell if there is a heaven and a hell
or a life thereafter? Nobody knows. (This is what they say, and they are dead
wrong!)
People talk sometimes about “life after life.” Books have been written on this
fascinating and sometimes frightening topic. But to every story there is an
objection. We may be wasting our time proving or disproving a thing of which
nobody has a first hand knowledge. And even if we proved it beyond doubt, to
our head, how could we pass it on to our heart and then to our daily life? It has
been said: “The greatest distance in the world is 22 inches, between our head
and our heart.

Of course, nobody knows for sure; because nobody went there and came back to
tell...

Is that so? Did you hear of a man called Jesus Christ? This God Man Jesus is the
only one who can give us an answer.

Jesus alone knows. He went and came back.
Our Lord Jesus is the only one who has a first hand knowledge. We heard in the
reading of the day: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has
come down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven. (John 3:13) He had
first hand knowledge and He was willing to die as a sign of His sincerity and as a
ransom, a price, for our deliverance, to assure for us eternal life. This is why St.
John continues: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have
eternal life.

The story of the serpent in the desert)
(Numbers 21:8-9 & John 3:14)) See the bishop’s staff… The serpent mounted
over the pole made a cross. That was a symbol of our Lord on the cross.
Anyone looking at Him and believing in Him will get the needed healing and will
have eternal life.

“The wage of sin is death,” writes St. Paul. God, who creates us and wants the
best for us, would not give us death. On the contrary, He loved us so much that
“He gave His only begotten Son to deliver us from death through His own death
on the Cross. If we believe in Him, we obtain forgiveness of sin and eternal life. If
we reject Him, He is not the one who judges us. As we heard in the Gospel of the
day: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world might be save through Him.” (John 3:17)

GOD’S PROMISE
This is God’s promise to us, eternal life. God loved us, you and me, form all
eternity. He loved us so much – and it feels so good to repeat it again! -- “that
He gave His Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but
might have eternal life.” What a reassuring promise!

A little boy was playing on the deck of a ship. A great storm hit the ship. Tidal
waves were tossing it up and down and threatening to sink it. The little boy was
having fun following his playing ball from one side to the other of the deck, back
and forth, as the waves were rocking the ship up and down, right and left. A
frightened passenger who was clinging to the rail of the deck with his two hands
shouted at the boy: “Stop your silly game! Little boy. Aren’t you afraid? The boy
answered confidently: “No! I am not afraid. My Dad is the captain of the ship. In
the mind of children, their parents can do anything. As children of God, with the
confidence and the pure heart of children, as our Lord recommends us, we
believe in God’s promise and we know that He is going to give us eternal life.

CONDITION TO OBTAIN ETERNAL LIFE:
1) Faith 2) Faith with trust 3) Acting faith, with good deeds 4)
Growing faith.

1 - FAITH

But that promise is attached to some cooperation from our side: Belief, faith.
"Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life.” “Go, make
disciples of all nations.... whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever
does not believe will be condemned. Our Lord Jesus wandered sadly, and He
told His Apostles: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

-- Of course He will, thanks to you and me; but first, thanks to Him who will keep
us faithful!

2 - FAITH WITH TRUST

Not mere ascent, but trusting faith, as "We entrust, recommend, one another to
Christ our God. Faith/trust of a child in his/her parents....

3 - ACTING FAITH - “Show me your faith by your deeds,” writes St. James in his
universal Epistle... Inactive faith stagnates. Stagnant water is a source of death,
instead of life...

4 - FAITH ALIVE, which means GROWING FAITH

In nature, a tree, an animal or a human being cannot stand still. Either they grow
or they decrease. Means of growth: Religious Education Programs, for children
(Sunday School) and for Adults (Bible study, retreats, workshops, religious books,
etc.... Blind faith is an ideal. “Blessed are those who did not see and yet
believe.” However, “faith seeking understanding” is much more worthy of our
efforts.

Other ways of continuing our spiritual education: Pamphlets and booklets at the
door of the church, religious magazines, and articles about religion in secular
press (with warning - People talk more and more about religion on these days, but
know about it less and less...)

Conclusion:

God is faithful, his promises can be trusted; but He demands our cooperation - "If
we believe..." If you grow in your faith and if you act on your faith. Have you
read a religious book lately? Have you read a page from the Scriptures or a
religious article today? Keep growing in the faith and in the love of God and of
each other.

Our great exemplar of a living, active and growing faith was Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, now Blessed Mother Teresa. She exemplified Christian charity and self
giving to the extreme. She kept working and helping the poor until the day of her
death. To the three religious vows taken by all religious, poverty, chastity and
obedience, Blessed Mother Teresa added one more vow in her Congregation:
The vow to serve the poor.

Do we keep an active faith? When was the last time we did a good deed to a
person in need? “I believe, Lord, strengthen my unbelief.” Give me faith and
trust and growth and active faith to create a better world as did Mother Teresa
and many saints. For you are the Savior of our souls and bodies, and to You we
render glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever.
Amen.

* * * * *