January 31, 2010

Symposium 2010

From January 7th to the 9th, 2010, people gathered in San Diego were treated to an amazing symposium. January 6th had marked the 1600th anniversary since the Synod of Mar Isaac. The Synod was significant in the history of our Chaldean Catholic Church in that it was the first official synod. There had been synods before St. Isaac’s in 410 AD, but these were not full gatherings of the entire church, and are considered “proto-synods”.

What was so significant about our first synod? Why had our fathers the need to convene it? How would the affect the theological expressions, liturgy, and history of the church? Taking these lessons to heart, how could we use the wisdom of our fathers and their love for God to go forward into the future preserving our faith in a hostile world? These were some of the questions addressed in the symposium.

The speakers at the symposium addressed these questions in an authentic way. Fr. Samuel Dinkha, Mar Ibrahim Ibrahim, Mar Sarhad Jammo, Mar Bawai Soro, and Fr. Andrew Younan were the speakers for this event. Each is an intellectual resource from our beloved church, but more importantly, each has a love for his church’s rich treasure of faith, and a love for his people with genuine concern for our well-being and salvation. Many people who attended were filled with amazement, not only due to some intellectual curiosity being satisfied, but rather also because of the fervor, passion and love that permeated throughout these lecturers.

Each evening was also adorned by a wonderful program. The first day’s lectures gave way to a musical play, accompanied by an instrumental section and choir. The play scope was epic, covering from the first days of our Mesopotamian history through the high tides of empires through massacres and martyrdom, up to allusions to the current plight of our Christian people in the Middle East. The play carried the audience through many different emotions of triumph, wonder, sadness, laughter, despair, and hope. The performance of the play itself was a source of hope to many. The quality of the play showed how so many people, including many of the young, put in countless hours for learning their parts, preparing the props and rehearsing the play. The play was written by Bishop Mar Sarhad Yawsip Jammo, with the accompanying musical score being created by Luay Yousif.

Attendees of the symposium would be treated again to such quality and care at the next nights banquet and the final night's play.

To watch the lectures online, CLICK HERE.