Dear Flock of Christ of the Diocese of Our Lady of Lebanon,

“Peace be with you.”

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy …for today in the City of David a savior has been born… and this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
(Luke 2: 10-12)

As we prepare to celebrate the Mysterious Birth of Jesus our Savior, I would like to wish all of you a Blessed Christmas Season. In the midst of holiday festivities I desire that in the 2003rd Anniversary of our Lord’s Birth, that our prayer and faith as “one Body” be renewed in the Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer and Savior, Son of David and Son of God.

Saint Ephrem our Syriac Father has noted:
“In a single body are both Prayer and Faith to be found, the one hidden, the other revealed; the one for the Hidden One, the other to be seen. Hidden prayer is for the hidden ear of God, while Faith is for the visible ear of Humanity.”

My brothers and sisters of the family of Beit Maroun, and those among you that are God-fearing, “to us this word of salvation has been sent” (Acts 13: 26) through faith and prayer.

During my three years as your Father and Bishop, I have had an opportunity to visit most of our parishes, and witness your ardent desire to live up to the image of Christ following our Maronite Tradition. For all of you devoted parishioners in the Diocese, I thank God, our Father. To our priests, parishes, missions, and the Maronite communities existing in the 34 states of the Diocese of Our Lady of Lebanon, I want you to know that I am proud of your commitment to preaching the Gospel and witnessing the life of Jesus and the Tradition of our Church.

As the author of “The Epistle to Diognetus” said,
“ In a word, what the soul is to the body, Christians are to the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians throughout the cities of the world.” (Paragraph 6)

The words of this letter from Apostolic times is a word of encouragement to all the Maronites throughout the Diocese and worldwide. The words of the Angel to the Shepherds, “Do not be afraid” apply to you, little flock of Christ, in this new and blessed country of the USA. We are to assume the responsibility of the saving mission through proclaiming the Gospel of the Good News, of Our Lord Redeemer.

In this season, as we celebrate Christmas and the New Year, I would like to proclaim the upcoming year, 2004, as a special and holy time of “Maronite Diocesan Renewal and Awareness” as it marks our “Ten Year Anniversary”.

As Vatican Secretary of State, Angelo Cardinal Sodano noted in the Papal Decree of the establishment of the Diocese of Our Lady of Lebanon, dated March 12, 1994:

“In fact, we greatly desire that looking back upon the very ancient monuments and documents of their own history (the Maronites in the Diocese), these communities strengthen the courageous determination to renew their resolve and confirm the piety of their forefathers”

It has been thirty-seven years since the official establishment of a Maronite entity and Bishop in the United States. On the dawn of our 10 Year Celebration of our Diocese of Our Lady of Lebanon, I am writing you, before God, to remind you as your Shepherd to deepen your education in the faith and encourage you to live and to witness the sacred disciplines of our Maronite Church; as we inherited them from Peter, Paul, the Apostles, and all the Fathers of the Church of Antioch that have been passed on through our fathers and mothers who came from the holy mountains and valleys of Lebanon and the Middle East to us here today in the United States.

Your role today is to honor, live, and promote that “Ancient Roots” of our Maronite Church and to nourish these traditions, which our ancestors, the first settlers from the 19th century, in the United States have previously planted in this “New Soil” of the New World, America.

So what can we do to experience the fulfillment of our Maronite Tradition?

Our Apostolate is doing the Work of God, the Father, “who willed our salvation by sending his only Son, in the fulfillment of times”, as St. Paul said to be born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of our God and Ptroness of our Diocese. Our Diocese today is living in special times. I call to you, my flock, to be aware and dedicated in our Sacred Liturgy, Convocation, and Synod.

I urge you this Christmas Season to participate actively in all the special celebrations of our Maronite Tradition that prepare us for Christmas. Please attend Church for the Sunday Eucharist; practice the Mystery of Reconciliation by going to confession as John the Baptizer and Forerunner proclaimed, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path.” (Luke3:4). Our tradition has an abundant treasure of Christmas Celebrations. All of them focus on adoration to the Child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as the Holy Family. Especially through the Christmas Novena that starts on the 15th of December and continues for nine days until Christmas, I recommend that you live them in your local parishes; God will make us holy and give us vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life in return.

I would also like to announce our upcoming Diocesan Convocation. I am calling upon you to come to our Headquarters, St. Raymond’s Cathedral, in St. Louis, for our 2nd Diocesan Convocation March 17-21, 2004. It will be a time of renewal and celebration for our 10-year anniversary, as well as update on preparation for the 2nd Session of the Special Patriarchal Synod next October in Lebanon.

For more information, please contact our website at usamaronite.org or the patriarchal website for the synod at maronitesynod.org.

Finally, I have repeatedly said to you, the Maronite Church, as a Catholic Church, has the right and duty to preach the Gospel of the Good News to every culture and place where the Church exists. In this context, we always need to look to His Beatitude the Patriarch as the keeper and holder of our unity and identity as Maronites, universally bound to the greater Catholic Church represented by the Apostolic See and headed by His Holiness, the Pope, for those leaders we offer our prayers, more than ever this Christmas.

In closure, may our Lord bless you at His Holy Birth and may the Holy Family of Bethlehem be for families a wall of protection.

Let us all sing with Saint Ephrem to the Christ Child saying:
“To You, Lord, do I offer up my faith with my voice, for prayer and petition can both be conceived in the mind and brought to birth in silence, without using the voice. Refrain: Blessed is Your birth, for Your Father alone is aware of it.”

Sincerely yours In Christ

+Robert J. Shaheen D. D.
Bishop of the Eparchy of
Our Lady of Lebanon