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| Vol.3, Issue 14
July 2006 |
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From the Bishop's Desk:
Young
Disciples and Growing
Eastern
Catholics celebrate First Communion with a solemnity that
surpasses the practice of both the Eastern Orthodox and the Western
Catholics; indeed, both the immediate and the extended family are
involved, the whole parish is involved, and the Bishop himself presides
the ceremony; it is a liturgical feast and a social event, it is a
milestone in the life journey of the youngster and his family.
Chaldean
and Assyrian Catholics have developed a sound tradition in regard to
First Communion: it is administered to youngsters around the age of 10;
they receive an extensive instruction on major articles of doctrine and
morality; they get acquainted with the Eucharistic liturgy of their rite
as well as with the rite of Forgiveness. Thus, they are made ready to
benefit from all the sacramental and spiritual means which they will
surely need through their earthly journey.
There
is no fullness of spiritual life without uniting ourselves to the
sacramental body and blood of the Lord. In Christianity, uniting
ourselves to our Lord is not an intellectual or emotional communication
or inter-acting, neither is it an abstract communion of faith, but it
has to be expressed in a liturgical ceremony that follows the pattern
established by the Lord himself--first at the paschal banquet and then
as the Risen Lord in Emmaus--to be performed in fulfillment of his own
command.
Our
people understand and acknowledge the relevance of this decisive station
in the lives of their children. Indeed, it is hard enough, the observer
may notice, to find a family in our parishes that misses to provide the
requirements of First Communion to their youngsters. On the other side,
the catechetical teams in our parishes provide their best effort toward
the formation of these young disciples of the Lord.
In
our Diocese, the months of June and July are reserved to the
celebrations of First Communion. The Bishop participates in person in
each celebration, to signify the ecclesial dimension of the event. The
joy generated from the celestial banquet encompasses the whole parochial
community and beyond.
The King has prepared a great feast; come to the
Banquet! Our families happily oblige. What ameaningful and
magnificent call and custom!
News & Events
ST. PETER CHALDEAN
CATHEDRAL, SAN DIEGO, CA.
On June 09 & 10,
2006, 122 boys and girls received their first communion. Bishop Mar
Sarhad Y. Jammo celebrated Mass on June 10. God bless our children.
There were 12
baptisms in June, {Jonathan Maroki \ Tamara Maroki \ Maldini Zanayed \
Jalen Jamo \ Giovanni Hanna \ Lauren
Suerth \ James Alkas Youhanan \ Melania
Attar \ Joseph Hami \ Lance Al-Rayes \
Andrew Al-Rayes \ and Alvin Karana}.
God bless them.
There were 2
marriages, {Haitham Bidi & Banan Yousif \ Samer Tominna & Sarah
Kalabat }. Congratulations.
There were 3 deaths,
{Susie Kalla \ Sabih S. Michal \ Mary Ateeq}. God rest their souls.
The Chaldean Community in San Diego mourned the
loss of Susie Kalla on June 9, 2006. May God bless her soul, and
grand her family strength.
Fr. Michael Bazzi is
on a trip to the Middle East with a group of 47 men and women from the
parish, they will be visiting places in Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan, Syria
and Lebanon. We wish them a safe return on July 08.
ST. MICHAEL CHALDEAN
CHURCH, SAN DIEGO, CA.
On June 10, 2006, 38
boys and girls received their first communion. Mar Sarhad Y. Jammo
celebrated Mass. God bless our children.
There were 5
baptisms in June, {Anthony Jacob \ Joseph Yousif \ Ronie Adil Alshaikh\
Paul Yousif \ and Taliyah Marie Mamou}.
God bless them.
There was only 1
marriage {Derik Dabish and Nicol Krikorian}. Congratulations.
There were 3 deaths
{Yaqoub Y. Mikha \ Habib Petrus \ and Ayoob Toma}. God rest their
souls.
ST. PAUL ASSYRIAN
CHALDEAN CHURCH, NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA.
On July 09, 2006, 12
boys and girls will receive their first communion. God bless them.
St. Paul church will
host the second Chaldean Assyrian Youth Convention from July 20- July
23, 2006 under the title “Find Peace in The Lord.” A large number of
youth will participate so they can increase their knowledge of how to
live their faith and religious experience in peace with the Lord and
their neighbors.
ST. GEORGE CHALDEAN
CHURCH, SANTA ANA, CA.
On June 18, 2006, 12
boys and girls received their first communion. Mar Sarhad Y. Jammo
celebrated Mass. After the ceremony, the families gathered at the hall
for a nice breakfast. God bless our children.
There was 1 death in
June. God rest the soul.
ST. MARY’S ASSYRIAN
CHALDEAN CHURCH, CAMPBELL, CA.
On June 25, 2006, 10
boys and girls received their first communion. Mar Sarhad Y. Jammo
celebrated Mass. God bless our children.
There were 2
baptisms in June. God bless them.
There was 1
marriage. Congratulations.
There was one death.
God rest the soul.
MAR AURAHA CHALDEAN
CHURCH, SCOTTSDALE, AZ.
On June 03, 2006, 19
boys and girls received their first communion. Mar Sarhad Y. Jammo
celebrated Mass. God bless our children. The Sunday after, on June 04,
2006, the feast of Pentecost both Bishops Mar Sarhad Jammo and Mar Bawai
Soro celebrated Mass.
There were 12
baptisms in June. God bless them.
There were 4
marriages. Congratulations.
ST. THOMAS ASSYRIAN
CHALDEAN CHURCH, TURLOCK, CA
There were 2
baptisms in June. God bless them.
There were 2
marriages. Congratulations.
There was 1 death.
God rest the soul.
St. Thomas church
will have a celebration (dukhrana) on July 02, 2006, for the feast of
their patron St. Thomas the apostle.
ST. BARBARA
MISSION, LAS VEGAS, NV.
The mission
celebrated their first marriage blessing on June 25, 2006 for Tony
Shamoon and Roa Babika. Fr. Felix Shabi congratulated the community as
they shared joy during this happy occasion. Congratulations.
Breath of Life Chaldean Catholic Youth Group
God is good! All the time!
Genesis 2:7 – “The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the Breath Of Life, and so man became a living being." The Breath Of Life (BOL) Chaldean Catholic youth group was formed in February 2006 by twelve individuals who wanted to understand God by understanding their own lives. Today we have grown to over 50 youth dedicated to praying the rosary once a week. BOL does not stop there! Following the rosary, we have meditation time, fun activities, live music, group talks, and other spiritual exercises. BOL youth make time for prayer every Saturday night instead of participating in "fun" activities outside of Church. We try to relate BOL to the point of life (To know, love, and serve God).
During BOL prayer meetings we get closer to God by participating in the activities and prayers. As we gain wisdom about ourselves and our God, we spread our Love of God to our families and friends. Our love carries on past our families into our everyday lives where each one of us is called to be the image of Christ. We accomplish this by becoming servants of God. Beginning this summer, we will begin to raise money for several outreach projects for our community as well as our less fortunate brothers and sisters in Iraq.
Because of the support of Bishop Sarhad Jammo, this special group of individuals will make a difference in the lives of many. We will strive to become holy children of God. As BOL grows in knowledge and love, we will support our community to the best of our abilities. We ask that anyone who reads this to pray for this group and all of the Chaldean youth. "Pray not for a lighter load but for stronger shoulders" - St. Augustine of Hippo. We invite all youth (High school and college students) to our prayer meeting. BOL meets every Saturday night from 7pm-9pm in the old rectory at:
St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral
1627 Jamacha Way, El Cajon, CA, 92019
The Divine Drama
by Fr. Andy Younan
In a human play, representation is made in the absence of the reality it signifies. When we watch Hamlet performed, we know that Prince Hamlet himself is not before us on the stage – that it is an actor. We are separated from the reality, even if the play is somehow historical. This separation becomes greater in the case of movies or television – here not even the actors are present to us. But this is the case because of human limitation.
How often is it said, after watching a historical documentary, that it would be impressive to actually see the event with our own eyes, and not through a medium – to be present there in actuality, to behold it directly? It is not the mere sight that we desire, because even photographs and real-life footage are not enough. Rather, we desire to be there ourselves; to have contact with the thing itself. Even more is this the case with Christ – how sweet it would be to see Christ with our own eyes, to touch him with our hands, and not simply to hear about him in stories, or watch depictions of him in movies! He himself told his disciples, “blessed are the eyes that see what you see…” (Lk 10:23). 
Human attempts to depict Christ, therefore, always fall short. When we watch a movie about the life of Christ, we are looking at an electrical image of an actor using a script written by a man who may or may not have based his ideas on Scripture, or most likely on a translation of Scripture that is also human and imperfect. The situation is the same when we consider an icon or image of Christ. The Lord is present, in any of these situations, in a very distant way; similar to the way Hamlet is present to us when we watch Shakespeare’s play (though greater, because through grace Christ lives in our hearts).
The Mass is not a merely human reality; it is not a play written by a mere man. It exists because of the command of Christ (“do this in memory of me”), who is both God and man. God’s play is not like a human play. God does not have human limitation, and God’s Drama is not the depiction of a depiction, or the image of an image, or the shadow of a shadow, like our dramas are. In God’s Drama, the scene that is depicted is really there; the main Character is truly present. In God’s Drama, in God’s Representation of the Sacrifice of Christ, the one Salvific Sacrifice is truly made present before our eyes and hearts. We are not watching a movie, or contemplating a symbol, at Mass. We are really there at the scenes of the cross and the empty tomb, and Christ is really here with us, and we can only be made aware of this through the eyes of faith. We recall here Christ’s admonition to Thomas: “Blessed are those who believe but do not see.” (Jn 20:29).
Finally, this is the final demonstration of the power of God’s Drama, that through this overflowing of God’s grace we are made not only to be present at his very sacrifice, as if we were simply watching the events happen as spectators, but also to be partakers of his one sacrifice, to be members of his cast of characters. He includes us in his Divine Drama through Communion, and this is an honor which is not even given to the angels:
The One whom the fiery tremble to look upon; Him do you see in Bread and Wine on the paten. Those clothed with lightning are burned upon seeing him, While miserable dust eats him with unveiled face.
Corpus Christi
In 1519, on the Roman Catholic Feast Day of Corpus Christi, Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda discovered a lush semi-tropical bay on what is now the southern coast of Texas. The bay, and the city that later sprung up there, took the name of the feast day celebrating the "Body of Christ."
As of the 2000U.S. Census, the city had a population of 277,454 people (though a July 1, 2004 estimate placed the population at 281,196), making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The translation of the city's name is Body of Christ, given to the settlement by the Spanish, in honor of the Blessed Sacrament (Eucharist).
The city is often referred to as "The Sparkling City by the Sea," particularly in literature promoting tourism. Locals and natives often just call it Corpus. Since 2003, the city has earned numerous awards including
- All-America City 2003
- Digital City
- One of the best cities to stretch your paycheck
- One of the least depressed cities in the nation
- Second Dumbest City in the US (Men's Health Magazine, 2005).
The city is home to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is served by the Corpus Christi International Airport on the west side of the city.
يقول مار بولس الرسول في احدى رسائله
بخطايانا نصلب المسيح
اليوم زرتك يارب واقفة امام المحراب ...
في بيتك يارب
بدأت سلامي ساجدة امام جلالك المقدس
كيف حالك اليوم يايسوع؟
يا رب كم مرة صُلبت اليوم؟
وكم فرد اهانك بخطاياه؟
وكم من آلاف ارتكبوا الخطايا في هذه اللحظة؟
قبل ألفي عام قاسيت على الجلجلة.. والى الان تقاسي
الى متى يبقى هذا العذاب؟
والى متى يبقى الانسان في طريق الخطيئة؟
ها انني يا رب انطرح امام قدميك
اقدم لك نفسي وصلاتي المتواضعة
صلاة خاطيء... يريد ان يواسيك
صلاة نفس ضعيفة ... تريد ان تتزكى بحضورك ألالهي في هذه البرشانة
الصغيرة
اني اصلي لتوبة كل خاطيء ورجوع كل ضال الى احضان الآب المنتظر
ارحمنا يا ابن داؤد
فالى من نذهب يارب وانت لديك كلام الحياة
ارحمنا يارب ارحمنا ... اننا عليك اتكلنا
فبدون حبك ألالهي
لا قيمة للانسان ولا وجود له
فلا عزاء الا في المسيح
ولا راحة ولا سلام الا في المسيح
لانك انت يا رب ملك السلام
لينا صومو
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