Our Lady of Maronite 950 North Grace Street, Lombard, IL 60148 Tel: 630-932-9640 / Fax: 630-932-9463 Rev. Fr. Pierre El Khoury Cell: 713-972-2990 www.ollchicago.org

Renewal of the Church Sunday November 8, 2015

Saint Sharbel Relics Visit On behalf of all the members of Our Lady of Lebanon Parish in Lombard, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our visiting clergy, family, friends and guests on this blessed occasion. Through the intercession of St. Sharbel, may God The Father touch our hearts by His Spirit and transform us into the likeness of His Son Jesus. Tuesday, November 10 7:30 PM – 9:00 P.M. Rosary and Healing Mass Wednesday, November 11 9:00 A.M. – 7:00 P.M. Perpetual Adoration and Veneration of Relics 7:30 PM – 9:00 P.M. Meditation and Eucharistic Adoration Friday, November 13 2:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. Perpetual Adoration and Veneration of Relics 7:30 PM – 9:00 P.M. Healing Mass and Procession

Page 1 of 9 Saint Sharbel Makhlouf Youssef (Sharbel) Makhlouf was born on May 8, 1828, in the small village of Bikaa-Kafra in the high mountains of Northern Lebanon. His parents were poor but very religious. He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer and solitude. Joining the In 1851, Youssef left home at the age of twenty-three and entered the Monastery of St. Maroun at a place called Annaya in the mountain district of Jbeil (Byblos). In the monastery, Youssef chose the name “Sharbel”; and Sharbel is an name, which means “the story of God”, and it was the name of one of the Antioch church martyrs of the second century. He was ordained priest in Bkerke July 23, 1859. Father Sharbel lived in St. Maroun’s Monastery for a period of sixteen years. In 1875, his religious superiors gave him permission to retire to the nearby hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul, where he lived for 23 years until his death. During those twenty-three years, Sharbel lived an extremely hard life, one of severe mortification. He wore a hair shirt, slept on a straw mattress with a plank for a pillow, and for his one meal of the day was content to eat the meagre left-overs from the monastery. Sharbel was an extraordinary man of prayer, hard work, meekness and prudent silence. He displayed a remarkable devotion to the Eucharist, spending hours in preparation for Mass and hours in thanksgiving afterwards. He endured fatigue, hunger, poverty and cold with the courage of a martyr in a total gift of self. The Miraculous Light On December 16, 1898, Sharbel suffered a massive stroke while saying Mass and died just eight days later on Christmas Eve. He was seventy years old and was buried in the monastery cemetery. For the next forty-five nights his tomb was surrounded by a dazzlingly bright light. This was witnessed by an increasingly large number of people. His Holy Remains Are Found Incorrupt Eventually permission was given by the church authorities for the tomb to be opened in order to examine the body. To everyone’s surprise his body was found to be perfectly preserved, in spite of the fact that the grave had been flooded by heavy rains, leaving the body floating on a sea of mud. Sharbel was lifted out and given fresh clothing before being placed in a wooden coffin in a corner of the monastery’s private chapel. However, it was found necessary to change his clothing twice per week because his body was perspiring sweat & blood.

Page 2 of 9 In 1927, more than twenty-eight years after his death, Sharbel’s body still incorrupt and was examined by two physicians of the French Medical Institute at , then transferred to another coffin lined with zinc. In the Holy Year 1950, pilgrims to his reported seeing liquid oozing from a corner of the tomb. Two months later, the seal on the coffin was broken and the body was examined again. Once again it was found to be free of any trace of corruption and the fluid continued to issue from its pores. Miraculous Cures and the Road to Canonization In 1950, the monastery started keeping records of miracles attributed to Saint Sharbel. In less than two years it accumulated more than twelve hundred such claims. Two miraculous cures were selected for the purpose of his Beatification: The first miracle occurred with a nun by the name of Sister Maria Abel Kawary. She had suffered serious intestinal problems for fourteen years and had been given up by doctors as a hopeless case, but after praying all night beside Sharbel’s grave, she was cured instantaneously. The doctor who examined her at the time recorded her cure as ‘a supernatural happening which is beyond man’s power to explain.’ The second miracle accepted by the Sacred Congregation was the restoration of sight to a blacksmith named Iskandar Obeid. He had lost the sight in one eye after suffering a blow to it while at work. Eminent eye specialists announced that the damage to the iris was so severe that he would never see through it again. Thirteen years later he took the advice of friends to visit the tomb of Father Sharbel. On returning home he had a dream in which a monk appeared, promising to cure him. The next morning he found he could see perfectly out of both eyes. And no medical explanation could be found. On 9th October, 1977, just twelve years after his beatification, Pope Paul VI presided over the canonization proceedings and announced to the world that Blessed Sharbel had joined the ranks of saints in heaven. The saint’s body, however, did not remain incorrupt. By 1965 it was found to have succumbed to the laws of nature, leaving only bones of a reddish color. Although miracles attributed to his intervention have continued to this day. Saint Sharbel is an “admirable flower of sanctity blooming on the stem of the ancient monastic traditions of the East.” Pope Paul VI Saint Sharbel pray for us!

Page 3 of 9 WHY DO WE VENERATE RELICS? A relic is something connected with a saint or blessed, including a part of their body (e.g. hair or a piece of bone), their clothing, or an object that the person used or touched. Many people have reported outstanding blessings and conversions through contact with relics, and many have reported healings. Similar are the cases of the woman cured of a hemorrhage by touching the hem of Christ’s cloak (Matthew 9:20-22) and the sick who were healed when Peter’s shadow passed over them (Acts 5:14-16). "And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them" (Acts 19:11-12). Keep in mind what the Church says about relics. It doesn’t say there is some magical power in them, whether a bone of the apostle Peter or water from Lourdes. The Church just says that God is the one who works miracles through the saints and their relics. The relics are one of many instruments in the hand of God and God use it to bring conversion and healing, physical and spiritual. The fact that God chooses to use the relics of saints to work healing and miracles tells us that He wants to draw our attention to the saints as “models and intercessors.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 828). The Church strived to keep the use of relics in perspective. St. Jerome (420 A.D.) wrote in defense of relics: "We do not worship, we do not adore, , but we venerate the relics of the saints in order to praise and adore God whose martyrs they are." In all, relics remind us of the holiness of a saint and his cooperation in God's work. At the same time, relics inspire us to ask for the prayers of that saint and to beg the grace of God to live the same kind of faith-filled live. The relics brings a moral revolution, the return to faith and the reviving of the virtues of the soul. Saint Sharbel relics, which is visiting our parish, contains a bone fragment.

Page 4 of 9 الرسالة إلى العبرانيّين .11:9-15 يا إِخ َوتِي، أَ َّما ال َم ِسي ُح َف َق ْد َظ َه َر َع ِظي َم أَ ْحبَا ِر ال َخ ْي َرا ِت اآلتِيَة، وٱ ْجتَا َز ال َم ْس ِك َن األَ ْع َظ َم واألَ ْك َم ل، َغي َر َ َ َ ال َم ْصنُوعِ بِاأل ْي ِدي، أ ْي َل ْي َس ِمن ه ِذ ِه ال َخلي َقة، َفدَ َخ َل إِلى قُ ْد ِس األ ْقدَا ِس َم َّرةً وا ِحدَة، ال بِدَ ِم التُّيُو ِس والعُ ُجول، بَ ْل بِدَ ِم ِه ُه َو، َف َحقَّ َق لنَا فِدَا ًء أَبَ ِديًّا. فإِذا كا َن َر ُّش دَ ِم التُّيُو ِس والثِ ْي َرا ِن و َر َما ِد ال ِع ْج َل ِة على ال ُمنَ َّج ِسين، يُ َق ِد ُس أَ ْج َسادَ ُهم َفيُ َط ِ ه ُر ُهم، َف َكم بِاألَ ْح َرى دَ ُم ا ْل َم ِسيح، الَّذي َق َّر َب نَ ْف َسهُ هللِ بِال ُّروحِ األَ َز ِل يِ قُ ْربَانًا ال َع ْي َب فِيه، يُ َط ِ ه ُر َض ِمي َرنَا م َن األَ ْع َما ِل ال َم ْيتَة، ِلنَ ْعبُدَ هللاَ ال َح ي ! و ِلذ ِل َك َف ُه َو ال َو ِسي ُط ِل َع ْه ٍد َج ِديد، و َق ْد َصا َر َموتُهُ فِدَا ًء ِلتَعَ ِد يَا ِت العَ ْه ِ د األَ َّول، َحتَّى يَنَا َل بِ ِه ال َم ْد ُع ُّوو َن َو ْعدَ ا ْل ِم ْي َرا ِث األَبَ ِد ي . Letter To The Hebrews 11:9-15 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God. For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

Reflection

God wants his people to be “set apart” from sin. He wants us to be holy. In the Old Testament, they believed that a person has to be sprinkled with the blood of animals to stay clean in the flesh. In contrast, Jesus offered his own blood, that we might be purified. He purified us by his blood from the very sin in our lives, that condemns us to living in eternity outside the City of God, outside the place of his presence, and that condemns us to hell. Jesus wasn’t just some nice guy who died on a cross. He is God, and he became a sacrifice “without blemish”. And by his Blood, we overcome evil and sin.

Page 5 of 9 Gospel of John 10: 27-28 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. "خرافي تسمع صوتي وأنا اعرفها فتتبعني. وأنا أعطيها حياة أبدية ولن تهلك إلى األبد وال يخطفها أحد من يدي."

تعليق على اإلنجيل

لكل إنسان أذن روحية يسمع بها صوت هللا. وهذه األذان: إ ما تنشغل بصوت هللا وتتمرن على تمييزه فتتعرف عليه بسهولة وتطيعه. هؤالء لهم "حواس مدربة" )عبرانين 5: 14(. وإ ما تنشغل بمالهي الدنيا وال تعود تسمع صوت هللا وال تطيعه. فاألذن الداخلية تسمع ما يتوافق مع ما في القلب. كثيرون ضعفت عندهم حاسة السمع. أما الخراف فتعرف راعيها، وهذا ألنها منشغلة باهلل وبخالص نفسها وليس بملذات العالم. أما الشهوات فتغلق األذان الروحية، وليس لهم عذر لكبريائهم وشهواتهم. الراعي الصالح يعطي لمن يسمع: حياة أبدية - لن تهلك إلى األبد - ال يخطفها أحد. خرافي تسمع صوتي: هؤالء هم أبناء هللا الحي وأبناء للملكوت. هؤالء هم البسطاء.

REMEMBER IT

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

Deacon’s Corner

A few days ago we celebrated All Souls Day, November 2, 2015. In thinking about All Souls, I believe that all of us have certain special memories of a loved one that has gone before us to be with our Heavenly Father. But yet we must remember that our time here on earth is destined to be only a time of pain and suffering. We must remember that we must endure here and live in the State of Grace in order to be with Him in the LIGHT. And we can only remain in the State of Grace by asking Him for forgiveness of our sins by utilizing the Sacrament of Reconciliation, one on one, with a priest.

Page 6 of 9 OLL Kitchen's Corner

Recipe of the week: Adas Bil Hamoud (Lentil Soup) Prep time 10 min Cook time 30 min Servings

Ingredients . -1/2 tablespoon of olive oil . -2 cup chopped onions . -1 pound brown lentils . 3 cloves garlic, minced . 1(16 ounce) package frozen whole leaf spinach . 1 tablespoon dried mint . crushed-salt to taste . 3/4 cup lemon juice

Directions . Heat oil in large pot over high heat. When oil is very hot, add onions and stir until onions begin to turn dark brown and caramelize, about 10 minutes. . Put the lentils, garlic, frozen spinach, and mint into the pot. Pour in enough water so that it is about 2 inches deeper than the lentil mixture. Stir well to loosen browned bits of onion on the bottom of the pot. . Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. If soup gets too thick, add a little more water. Salt to taste. Lower heat and stir in lemon juice Pray and Thank God for all his gifts.

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Mass Celebration

The Consecration and Renewal of the Church: Page 9 Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles: page 774

Sunday Readings

1st Reading: Hebrews 9:11-15 (Sacrifice of Jesus) Holy Gospel: John 10:22-42 (My sheep hear My Voice)

Mass Intentions

9:30 A.M. Lucile and Victor Wertz, Tammer and Mary Caleel, Maria Louise Caleel (Req. by Annette Caleel and the Caleel Family), Nicolas Dandan (Req. by Issa and Vivian Dandan) 11:30 A.M. Antoun Dakhoul (Req. by Albert Dakhoul) Norma and Richard Boden, Deceased members of Jage Family, Habeeb and Mae Jage (Req. by Terry Boden)

Schedules 9:30 a.m. Mass 11:30 a.m. Mass

Estephan Azzo, Cassandra Chahoud, Andres Ballines, Leila Nehra Altar Servers Yasmina Mulcahey, Ramez Sayegh

English: Edgar Lutfallah Cheryl Blum Readers : Rania Tannous Lutfallah

Robert Antoon, John Albani, Tony Boumitri, Ushers Frank Kermend Ed Kneip, George Zogaib

Page 8 of 9 Announcements  THANK YOU We would like to thank the Shaker family and Mr. Nadim Saleh of Alta , Inc. for their kindness and generosity in providing the shampooing and disinfecting of the Shaker Hall carpeting, along with the removal of scuff marks from the floors of the religious education classrooms. Again, thank you and may God bless all the many people who give from their time, talent, and treasure for the up building of God’s church!  SAINT SHARBEL RELICS The relics of Saint Sharbel will be visiting our Parish on November 10, 11, & 13. The program is as follows: Tuesday, November 10th: 7:30pm-9pm Rosary & healing mass. Wednesday, November 11th: 9am-7pm Perpetual Adoration, 7:30pm-9pm Meditation & Eucharistic Adoration. Friday, November 13th: 7:30pm-9pm: Healing Mass & Procession. All people who are willing to assist during the visit of Saint Sharbel relics please come see Abouna after Mass.  BAKE SALE Our annual Christmas Bake sale fundraising event is on Sunday, December 13th. Anyone who is willing to donate please call Abouna or Mrs. Madeline Malek (847-533-5698). To pre-order go to our website (ollchicago.org) or pick up a pre-order flyer at the entrance. We appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you! French log cake are available in chocolate and vanilla. All logs come 12 inches long. All pre- Orders need to be submitted no later than December 1st 2015.  THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE Our parish MYO invite you to participate in our annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Your donation will help to fill food pantries to alleviate the hunger of many families and individuals this winter. Please do not donate expired food or something that will spoil. Place donations in the appropriate box in our hall narthex by Sunday, November 22nd. If you are in need of food, please contact Abouna at the parish office. Thank you for your support and generosity!

Let us remember and pray for Our Beloved Ones who died during the month of November  Joseph Basil  Saleme Gossan  Nasafe Kassis  Sarah Bolis  William Halowi  Farida Khattar  Helen Dandan  Anton Ibrahim  Robert D. Kooiker  Linda T. Fischer  Joanne Ibrahim  Thomas A. Neely  George Gage  Herbert Jage  Selma Jage Vokal  Regina Gage  Theodore W. Jage  Joseph Windsor  Richard Gorra, Jr.

Collection: Sunday November 1, 2015: $ 2905 Thank you and May God bless you! Page 9 of 9