Saint Maron

Jesus Appears in the Upper Room May 17, 2020

The disciples were with Jesus for three years, but they did not recognize him after He rose. The Resur- rection of Jesus is not a consoling hypothesis invented by the disciples, but something that has displaced them. And Jesus knows it. In fact he tries to offer ever more convincing evidence, in a sort of ascending scale: the empty tomb, the apparition of angels to women, the apparition to Mary of Magdala, the meeting with the those like us who will have to believe without two disciples of Emmaus, and now the apparition to all seeing, without being able to put our finger in the eleven gathered together. Here Jesus shows his hands wounds of the One who saved us. Jesus is truly ris- and feet, shows himself as a person alive in flesh and en! It is not an evanescent ghost, a shadow, an in- blood, even eats a portion of fish. The Risen asks for consistent and unreal appearance, or a projection of something to eat; only a real body can eat. The Lord our fantasy. It is not easy for the apostles to believe himself demonstrates the reality of his bodily resurrec- in the resurrection of Jesus after seeing him die and tion. buried inside a grave! But Jesus is risen! He is real- The evangelist Luke insists a lot on the corporeality ly alive. He calls himself The Living. Death had no of the Risen One and perhaps he does so thinking of power over him. This is the good news; this is the certain news that we are called to tell everyone! Je- sus eats again with his disciples after the resurrec- tion before finally going up to the Father. Jesus shows himself, speaks with his disciples, and makes himself touched. These are the three important ac- tions that tell who the true witness is. The witness is one who has seen, heard, and touched. The Gospel of this Sunday concludes: “you are witnesses of me”. Not preachers, but witnesses, it's another thing. With the simplicity of children who have good news to give, and cannot keep quiet, and it blooms from their eyes. The good news: Jesus is not a ghost, He is the power of life; He envelops me in peace, forgiveness, resurrection. Today, this pres- ence of Christ is given to us every day in the Eucha- rist, the divine and very human gift of a closeness and love that accompanies us daily. Not only can we touch Jesus, but possess him and be possessed by him to metabolize his mercy, his gentleness, his gaze, his availability towards the brothers and sis- ters who walk with us.

11466 Kercheval Street, Detroit, MI 48214-3307 Office: 313-824-0196 Website: www.saintmarondetroit.org Email address: [email protected]

Saint Maron Catholic Church

LITURGY INTENTIONS An Act of Spiritual Communion Sun. May 17: Jesus Appears in the Upper Room My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most (Lit p 315) Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I de- sire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this Liturgy for all deceased members of Ghanem and moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spirit- Nahal Families, by Georges & Mary Ghanem ually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were al- Liturgy for Boulos and Margaret Helou, by Cesar ready there and unite myself wholly to You. Never per- and Diane Helou mit me to be separated from You. Amen. Liturgy for Charbel, Victoria and Katrine Fares, by (Our father… … Glory be) Cesar and Diane Helou LIVE STREAMING

STAYING HOME LET US READ OUR BIBLE DAILY 7 PM SUNDAY LITURGY 11 AM Sunday May 17 Rom 10:1-13 Lk 24:36-48 “The family that prays together Monday May 18 stays together” Phil 3:1-12 Jn 11:1-16 Tuesday May 19 Phil 3:13-21 Jn 11:17-28

Wednesday May 20 Phil 4:1-7 Jn 11:32-44 Thursday May 21 Ascension of the Lord May’s Prayer Intention Acts 1:1-14 Mk 16:15-20 Friday May 22 Remember, O Lord, your children suffering from Phil 4:8-14 Jn 3:12-15 fear and threatened by epidemic. Give us the Saturday May 23 peace you gave your disciples on the day you rose Phil 4:15-23 Jn 14:1-6 from the dead. Heal everyone infected, guide and protect the medical community who care for them. Accept our repentance and have mercy on us. We pray to you, O Lord.

BREAD AND WINE Please contact the Rectory to donate the Host and Wine for $50.00/month, we will be accepting dona- tions from three different families each month.  Bread and Wine for the month of May 2020, in lov- Donation by mail $ 1,190 ing memory of Wadia and Mary Abi Samra, and Peter Michael , by the Faddoul Family Online Donation $ 825  Bread and Wine for the month of May 2020, in lov- ing memory of Nabil Matar, by John & Samira Ma- Thank you for all who support St Maron during tar this difficult time. You can support the Church by mail or through our website donating online  Bread and Wine for the month of May 2020, in lov- www.saintmarondetroit.org/donate-online ing memory of Sarkis Douaihy and Josephine Chibani, by Joseph & Mirna Douaihy Saint Maron Catholic Church

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION SIGNUM MAGNUM (III) DEVOUT IMITATION OF THE VIRTUES OF THE MOST HOLY MARY 1. True devotion to the Most Holy Mary reflects her virtues. Neither the grace of the divine Redeemer, nor the powerful intercession of His Mother and our spir- itual Mother, nor yet her sublime sanctity, could lead us to the port of salvation if we did not respond to them by our persevering will to honor Jesus Christ and the Holy Virgin with our devout imitation of their sublime virtue. It is therefore the duty of all Christians to imitate in a reverent spirit the examples of goodness left to them by their heavenly Mother. This, venerable brothers, is the other truth to which we are pleased to call your attention and the attention of the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, that they may sec- ond with docility the exhortation of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council: "Let the faithful re- member that true devotion consists neither in fruitless and passing emotion, nor in a certain vain cre- dulity. Rather, it proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to know the excellence of the Mother of God, and are moved to a filial love toward our mother and to the imitation of her virtues." Imitation of Jesus Christ is undoubtedly the regal way to be followed to attain sanctity and reproduce in ourselves, according to our forces, the absolute perfection of the heavenly Father. But while the Catholic Church has always proclaimed a truth so sacrosanct, it has also affirmed that imitation of the Virgin Mary, far from distracting the souls from the faithful following of Christ, makes it more pleas- ant and easier for them. For, since she had always done the will of God, she was the first to deserve the praise which Christ addressed to His disciples: "Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother." 2. "Through Mary to Jesus." The general norm "Through Mary to Jesus" is therefore valid also for the imitation of Christ. Never- theless, let our faith not be perturbed, as if the intervention of a creature in every way similar to us, except as regards sin, offended our personal dignity and prevented the intimacy and immediacy of our relationships of adoration and friendship with the Son of God. Let us rather recognize the "goodness and the love of God the Savior," who, condescending to our misery, so remote from His infinite sanctity, wished to make it easier for us to imitate it by giving us as a model the human per- son of His Mother. She, in fact, among human beings, offers the most shining example and the clos- est to us, of that perfect obedience whereby we lovingly and readily conform with the will of the eter- nal Father. Christ Himself, as we well know, made this full closeness to the approval of the Father, the supreme ideal of His human behavior, declaring: "I do always the things that are pleasing to Him." 3. Mary, the new Eve, the dawn of the New Testament. If we then contemplate the Virgin of Nazareth in the halo of her prerogative and of her virtues, we will see her shine before our eyes as the "New Eve," the exalted daughter of Sion, the summit of the Old Testament and the dawn of the New, in which "the fullness of time" was realized, which was pre- ordained by God for the mission in the world of His only-begotten Son. In truth, the Virgin Mary, more than all the patriarchs and prophets, more than the "just" and "pious" Simeon awaited and im- plored "the consolation of Israel...the Christ of the Lord" and then greeted His advent with the hymn of "" when He descended into her most chaste womb to take on our flesh. It is in Mary, therefore, that the Church of Christ indicates the example of the worthiest way of re- ceiving in our spirits the Word of God, in accordance with the luminous sentence of St. Augustine: "Mary was therefore more blessed in receiving the faith in Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. 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