A Parish, A Gift from God
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 and 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.
+ Bishop John Adel Elya,
Eparch Emeritus of Newton