Dear brothers and sisters,
In these days of reopening after a long year of a global pandemic, we ask the Lord to keep you and your families healthy and safe from all viruses and illness. Although we were deprived of seeing you on a weekly basis, you stayed in our prayers and thoughts at all liturgies. Now, even though we continue to broadcast liturgy online, you are able to attend physically; no limits and no masks.
Despite the fact that the annual MYO National retreat was cancelled for this year, our children are determined to participate again in the upcoming retreat. Thank you, as always, to the Holy Family Society and the Knights of Columbus, who constantly support this motivating MYO event. The MYO continue to demonstrate their commitment and participation in a variety of activities and we are so proud of our MYO group. The MYO group (ages 12 to 17) will be joined at the retreat by our Faith Formation children who will turn 13 this coming fall and winter. This is an indication that the church MYO and MYA groups are growing slowly, in a steady and secure rhythm. Please encourage your children to enroll in Faith Formation and MYO and altar serving. Encourage them to also participate in the annual summer camp that will be held during one week in August. It is once a year event. Don’t let your children miss it.
We pray this month for the peace and security of the United States of America as it celebrates its Independence Day on July 4. May the Lord keep this country a country of peace, security and safety with the true Christian values of the Gospel. At this time, I invite you to also pray for our country of origin, Lebanon, the land visited by our Lord Jesus, and which is going through a very difficult time. Not just the Coronavirus, but severe economic crisis and suffering as a result of the economic siege and embargo against Syria. We encourage each of you to continue giving to Caritas Lebanon, the major Catholic Charity of the country and the Middle East, or directly to any beloved ones you know in the country. Thank you for your support and thank you for your prayers. I would once again like to thank all parishioners and members of the councils and groups of the parish who helped in assisting the parish in all aspects of its mission. Your participation and your commitment to your church and community is highly appreciated and noticed. Although the church does not presently have a certain annual dues policy on parish families and members, that is originally the duty and opportunity of participation, parishioners are welcome to participate and fulfill their duties of participation in their various ways between donating and volunteering. This is vital for the life of the mission of the church and its growth. Thank you for continuing to contribute in support of the church. Because of your generosity, the church is mortgage free. What a great success. We know that it still needs support in order to build a fund for expansion to add basic needs, such as a classroom for our children, one more bathroom and one office. Due to the present situation, our future plans are temporarily delayed.
The annual Fall Festival Saturday will be Saturday, September 11, and will mark a new beginning of church events, as we all gather together to make this day a very special event.
Thank you for your trust and for treating the church as your home through your generosity and care. May God bless you all and may you have a great month of July. We wish all of our families beautiful days of family life and relaxation time. Thank God we all survived the bad times and we praise the Lord for all his gifts.
God bless you all,
Abouna Emmanuel Nakhle-Ghorr +
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