SAINT GEORGE MARONITE CHURCH

AN EASTERN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE

WEST SYRIAC ANTIOCHENE TRADITION

Week of May 7, 2017 Fourth Week of the Resurrection

Annette Garcia - Parish Secretary Ex. 100

Nick Morey – Bookkeeper Ex102

Jo Ann Reed - Financial Consultant

Michele Chebib - Hall Manager Ex. 104

Deborah Mery Fernandez - Cultural Arts Director

Richard Karam - Church Attorney

Edward Karam - Church Realtor & Lector Coordinator

Soumaya Doenges - Greeter Coordinator

Ameen Al Bahloly- Altar Server Coordinator

Regina Aune - Archivist

Fernando Fernandez - Athletic Director

Brendan George - Pastoral Council Chairman

Jose Fernandez - Finance Committee Chairman

Candy Monsour - LAS President

Patricia Karam - Scholarship Committee Chairman

Elyse Karam, Monica Chavez, & Sabrina De La Cruz -

MYO Directors

Samantha Karam Naffah - MYP President

Crystel Harb - Religious Education Coordinator

Crystel Harb & Katy Emerson – MYA Coordinators

Dave Sweeney - Veterans Committee Chairman

Toufic Khalife & Larry Monsour - Grounds Committee

Liturgy Schedule:

Monday-No Liturgy

Tuesday 5:30 PM

Wednesday - Friday 12:00 Noon

Saturday 5:00 PM, Sunday 8:00 AM & 11:00 AM

Saint George Maronite Catholic Church

6070 Babcock Road, San Antonio, TX 78240

Offices: (210) 690-9569 (210) 690-2240

Fax: (210) 690-5093 www.stgeorgesa.org

Hall: (210) 696-5937 www.stgeorgemaronitecenter.com

Fr. Charles Khachan, MLM – Pastor Ex. 101

E-mail: ckhachan@gmail.com

Deacon Tom Billimek

Gym: http://www.sgmgym.com/

Bingo: http://www.randysbingo.com/

Merciful Like the Father!

Religious Education & Bible Study

Pre K - 12th grade-See bulletin for schedule

Ladies Altar Society (LAS)

See bulletin for schedule

Maronite Youth Organization (MYO)

See bulletin for schedule

Adoration

Tuesday 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Mystery of Reconciliation (Confession)

30 minutes before Liturgy and upon request

Mystery of Baptism & Chrismation

Parents and Godparents must meet with the pastor to make

arrangements

Mystery of Crowning (Marriage)

Notify the pastor ONE YEAR in advance for the necessary arrangements

Sick and Hospitalized

Contact the pastor for visitation

Memorial Sunday and Lebanese Luncheon

Last Sunday at 11:00 AM

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Intentions and Readings of the Divine Liturgy

Sat. May 6th 5:00 PM Liturgy for Robert Dieck (40 Day) req. by his loving family

1Pet 5:1-14 Jn 6:60-71

Sun. May 7th 8:00 AM Liturgy for Jamile Nader req. by Ralphie Karam

11:00AM Liturgy for Theresa Rizzo req. by Rizzo & Wartian Family

Heb 13:18-25 Fourth Week of the Resurrection Jn 21:1-14

Mon. May 8th No Liturgy

1Thes 1:1-10 Lk 5:1-11

Tues. May 9th 5:30 PM Liturgy for Robert Beathe

1Thes 2:1-12 Lk 8:22-25

Wed. May 10th 12:00 Noon Liturgy for Uy Kee Chiam req. by Cresenciana B. Uy

1Thes 2:13-20 Jn 6:1-15

Thurs. May 11th 12:00 Noon Liturgy for Mike Ayoub

1Thes 3:1-13 Jn 6:16-21

Fri. May 12th 12:00 Noon Liturgy for Roberto Rodriguez req. by Jo Ann & Curtis Reed

1Thes 4:1-12 Jn 6:22-27

Sat. May 13th 5:00 PM Liturgy for Billie Sahley req. by Kathy Birkner

1Thes 5:12-28 Mt 14:22-33

Sun. May 14th 8:00 AM Liturgy for David Saliba req. by Ralphie Karam

11:00AM Liturgy for Susie E. Juarez req. Frank & Susan Rizzo

Eph 2:1-10 Fifth Week of the Resurrection Jn 21:15-19

We apologize for any inconvenience if a name of a loved one was

misspelled or dropped off the list of masses by mistake.

May 7, 2017

Flowers: In memory of Theresa Rizzo req. by The Rizzo & Wartian Family

Refreshments: The families of the first communicants and Faith Formation program

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Bertha Acevedo,

Rocky Anawaty,

Amira Andera,

Regina Aune,

Corey Baines,

Gerry Baines,

Sharon Benson,

Pamela Gabriel Craig,

Terry Griebel,

Marina Curie-John,

Diana Curi-Ryder,

Josephine Daaud,

David Emerson,

Norma Emerson,

Zeyna Faris,

Brendon Fuselier

Muriel Keogh George,

Hank Grage,

Betty Gudat,

Harry Hilton,

Jackie Hill,

James Hughlette,

Sal Isgro,

Marie Joseph,

Al Jowdy,

David Karam,

Elyse Karam,

Eugene Karam,

Mary Anne Karam,

Mary Ann Trad Karam,

Donna Khattar,

Marie La Monica,

Richard La Monica,

Margaret Craig Loyd,

Gloria Maldonado,

Charles Malouff,

Louise Malouff,

Maria Marines,

Karen Martinez,

Elvira Mery,

Maria Mery,

Paul Mery, Jr.,

Tony Moawad,

Connie Moller,

Adele Morrison,

Nancy Nasif,

Tim O’Connor,

Jose Olvera,

Roger O’Shaugh-nessy

Thelma O’Shaugh-nessy,

David Palazzo,

Noel Palazzo,

Ashley Polley,

Larry Raba,

Tanya Raba,

Curtis Reed,

Curtis Michael, Reed

Kirsten Reed,

Rose Ribble,

Johnny Rodriguez,

Pedro Rosas,

Gloria Saliba,

Marie Schechter,

Bella Rodriguez Torres,

Rose Trevino,

Jeanette Van Delden,

Gene Viola,

Joe Walker,

Miriam Wells,

Cathy Turcotte Wolfe,

George Yamin.

Sophie Abdo Karam - June 24, 2016

Ted Van Delden - September 27, 2016

Amira Mery Dean - November 14, 2016

Anthony Mery, Jr. – November 30, 2016

Grant Peisen - December 12, 2016

David Saliba - December 23, 2016

Robert Dieck - February 17, 2017

Roberto Rodriguez - April 3, 2017

Saturday, May 6th (5:00 PM)

Lector: Joe Khattar

Ushers: Frank Dieck & Gladys Salisbury

Greeter: Karen Sacre

Altar Servers: Jeremy Daly & Kiersten Salinas

Sunday, May 7th

Lector: (8:00 AM) Frank Westermann

Lector: (11:00 AM) Edward Karam

Ushers: Toufic Khalife, Adriana Khalife &

Marcel Noujeim

Greeters: Christina Antoun

Altar Servers: Eddie Martinez, Dean Martinez,

Maroun Harb & Harry Doenges

Saturday, May 13th (5:00 PM)

Lector: Ralphie Karam

Ushers: Janie Rivas & Joe Rivas

Greeter: Souraya Sarkis

Altar Servers: Zack Karam & Aaron Mery

Sunday, May 14th

Lector: (8:00 AM) Frank Westermann

Lector: (11:00 AM) Larry Karam

Ushers: Elmosa Herrera, David Sweeney &

Larry Monsour

Greeters: MYA

Altar Servers: Ilya Noujeim, Jacob Farah, Joseph

Hannah & Diego Medina

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SUNDAY MAY 7TH Qurbono (Liturgy) 8:00 and 11:00 AM Second Collection for Our Lady of Lebanon

Shrine and Basilica

TUESDAY MAY 9TH Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be

from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM followed by the Qurbono (Divine Liturgy) at 5:30 PM. Adora-tion will resume at 6:00 PM and will con-clude with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Adult Bible Study at 7:00 PM.

SUNDAY MAY 14TH Qurbono (Liturgy) 8:00 and 11:00 AM Rosary at 10:40 AM Second Collection for Catholic Communica-

tion Campaign.

BE READY FOR THE LITURGY Join us every Sunday at 10:40 AM as we prepare ourselves to participate in the Liturgy and pray the Rosary. And, on the last Sunday of every month, to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

DEEPEST SYMPATHY

Our deepest sympathy to: The family and friends of Therese Antoun,

mother of Nabil and Tony Antoun. Therese passed away in Lebanon on Sunday, April 30, 2017.

The family and friends of Phillip Karam who passed away in Houston on Thursday, April 27, 2017.

Grant them rest O Lord and may your perpetual light shine upon them.

ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION We are preparing to start an adult religious edu-cation class for those who are interested in learn-ing more about the Catholic and Maronite Faith. We offer an opportunity to come together in a small group to learn more about our faith. Ses-sions focus on the teachings and experience of the Church and give participants a better under-standing of the teachings of the Catholic Church. If you are interested, please contact Fr. Charles for more information.

NAM The National Apostolate of Maronites, in cooper-ation with Jouzour Loubnan, is sponsoring a me-morial grove of 10,000 Cedar Trees in the moun-tains of Lebanon. Each tree sponsored will be commemorated by an inscribed plaque to be mounted on a board which stands at the entrance of the forested area. For more information bro-chures are available in the foyer of the church or you can go to www.namnews.org.

NAM SCHOLARSHIPS The John A. Solomon Memorial NAM

Scholarship is open to active members of the MYO who are graduating seniors.

The Naomi and Paul Kassouf NAM Scholarship is open to high school sen-iors whose parents are members of NAM.

The Thomas and Jennie Ayoob Memorial NAM Scholarship is open to current col-lege students.

USEK and NDU Scholarships are open to college students who are members of NAM or their parents are members of NAM.

See the church office for applications. Deadline May 15, 2017.

FOLKLIFE FESTIVEL The 46th Annual Texas Folklife Festival is around the corner. The dates this year are June 9, 10 & 11, 2017. Volunteers are needed to make this event a success. Please sign-up for at least two shifts. You can sign-up to volunteer at the church office starting this week or after all week-end liturgies starting on Saturday, May 13, 2017.

BABY ITEM DRIVE We would like to ask the community to donate baby items such as diapers, formula, wipes, clothes, blankets, etc. Items will be donated to the St. Brigid conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society, Providence House and Guadalupe Home, to be given to expectant mothers in need of help. All contributions are greatly appreciated.

Community Life

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Eparchial Lenten Appeal $11,091.00 Our Parish Goal $11,000.00

You can now contribute online, https://www.stgeorgesa.org/donate-online/

“God loves a cheerful giver!” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

STEWARDSHIP Our Gift to God and our Church

LAS CORNER

Cookbooks for sale, $25.00 each. LAS Meeting May 21st There are a limited number of grape leaves ,

large kibbe trays and small kibbee trays availa-ble for sale.

May 7 - First Holy Communion May 14 - Mother’s Day May 25 - Ascension Thursday June 4 - Pentecost Sunday June 9-11 - Texas Folklife Festival

FROM POPE FRANCIS

Let us allow ourselves to be surprised by the newness that Christ alone can give.

May his tenderness and love guide our steps.

LENTEN EPARCHIAL APPEAL Thank you for all those who contributed to the success of the Annual Lenten Eparchial Appeal and helped us reach our goal of $11,000.00. Your contributions will assist in the urgent needs of our Eparchy. May God bless you and repay you a hundred fold.

MAY SECOND COLLECTIONS Today’s second collection is for the National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon. This collection

will support the financial obligations of the Shrine and help in repairs, maintenance and expansion projects have always consumed the meager finances. The National Shrine has expanded over the past four decades and has provided spiritual support to countless pilgrims and visitors.

Next week, May 14, our second collection is for the Catholic Communication Campaign. This campaign connects people with Christ, here and around the world in developing countries, through the internet, tele-vision, radio, and print media. Fifty percent of funds collected remains in our Eparchy to fund local com-munications efforts. Your support helps spread the gospel message!

April 30, 2017 Month to date Year to date Our 2017 Goal

Regular Collection

$2,775.00

Online Donations

$500.00

$18,472.00 $62,356.00 $ 175,000.00

Overage/Shortage -$112,644.00

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When Mary Comes

Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary Does Mary, the Mother of God, really appear to people on earth? Since the first Christian centuries, many followers of Jesus have insisted that she does. In the third century, St. Gregory the Thaumaturge (213-270), a bishop in the Eastern Church, wrote that Mary came to visit and advise him. She also came to St. Athanasius (fourth century) and St. John Damascene (eighth century) — both Doctors of the Church. In the centuries that followed, the founders of many religious orders similarly reported that Mary came to guide and encourage them. Over time, accounts of visits from Mary have come from all over the world. What Are Apparitions? What does it mean when someone claims that Mary has appeared? According to Father René Laurentin, a re-nowned French Mariologist, an apparition is a “manifestation perceived by a subject of a being, the vision of whom in this place and in this moment is unexplainable according to the normal course of things.” Genuine apparitions are unexplainable because they come from God. But this definition does not mean all apparitions are the same. Even in apparitions that the Church has approved, those “manifestations” of Mary were often wonderfully different. Vision-aries had contact with Mary through different physical senses — especially touch, hearing, and sight. For example, twenty-four-year-old Sister Catherine Labouré, the visionary of the 1830 Rue de Bac apparitions of Mary in Paris, said she knelt before the Virgin, who was seated in a chair, in the convent chapel as they talked. Catherine, whose mother had died when she was nine years old, impulsively placed her hands upon the silkrobed knees of her heaven-ly Mother. That contact was unforgettable. “I am sure that it was the happiest moment of my life,” she later wrote. That same happiness was shared by fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, to whom the Virgin appeared in 1858 at Lourdes in southern France. Bernadette never touched the Mother of God, but she never forgot her heavenly smile. In several other apparitions, those who saw Mary did not hear her speak. That included apparitions at Pont-main, France, in 1871 and at Knock, Ireland, in 1879. At Pontmain, villagers were bracing for invasion by the Prus-sians. Mary appeared only to four children standing among the villagers. Beneath Mary’s feet a banner unfurled that asked the village to pray and reassured them, God will hear you in a little while. Apparitions and Mary’s Holiness The first followers of Jesus agreed that Mary was very close to God. They cherished and honored her as Christ’s mother. And Jesus wanted her to be close to those he left behind. From his cross, Jesus told his mother to see the apostle John as a son. Then he told John, “This is your mother,” asking him to care for Mary from then on (Jn 19:26-27). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, “When the course of her earthly life was finished, [she] was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death” (966). Mary was holy in a totally new way. Luke’s Gospel confirms that holiness when the Angel Gabriel asks Mary to be the Savior’s mother; Gabriel greets Mary with, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (1:28). As a result of her unique holiness, God wouldn’t allow Mary’s body to decay. St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), a Doctor of the Church, explained that Mary’s body was sacred, like the Ark of the Covenant described in the Old Testament. It had held and carried God. So, Mary’s unique holiness makes her especially “qualified” to appear as God’s messenger in our world. Belief in Mary’s Apparitions In the last 500 years or more, claims of Marian apparitions have increased enormously. Mary has reportedly come to different countries on all six major continents. But along with the apparitions approved by the Church, there have been false “copycat” claims. Following apparitions of Our Lady of Beauraing in Belgium in 1932-33, nineteen “visions” of Mary were reported within weeks. They were studied and soon denied by the Church. How should Catholics view these supernatural claims? The Church teaches that Scripture and Tradition (doctrine transmitted by the apostles and later by the Church) have already provided what Catholics must know and believe. Scripture and Tradition comprise Revelation, the revealed and complete truth about God and salvation. No new teachings or truths are needed or can be added. Consequently, belief in the approved appearances of Mary is optional. Catholics are free to believe or ignore them. Did Mary really appear long ago on a hilltop to Juan Diego at Guadalupe in Mexico? Or to three children tending sheep in 1917 in Fátima, Portugal? Or, could she have appeared in 1984 to hundreds of people gathered on a beautiful little farm in Betania, Venezuela? Each individual may discern where approved appa-ritions fit in his or her faith life. Continued on pg. 7

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How the Church Evaluates Apparitions The Church carefully studies claims of apparitions, as it has for centuries, to protect the faithful from false claims. Sorting out false claims is important for Catholics. The Church still evaluates apparitions with an approach developed in the eighteenth century by theologian Prospero Lambertini. Lambertini, who later became Pope Benedict XIV, es-tablished categories for the evaluation of apparitions. Every study is to be done under the direction of the bishop in the diocese in which an apparition claim is made. No apparition may contradict Church teaching or the Gospel. It is thought that the local Church will make the best judgment about a local apparition report. An apparition is categorized by the Church as: • “Not worthy of belief” — lacks characteristics of something origi-nating with God • “Nothing contrary to the Faith” — may or may not be of divine origin • “Worthy of belief” — shows traits of an occurrence arranged by God “Worthy of Belief” Apparitions found to be “worthy of belief” are also called “approved” or “recognized” by the Church. In 2008, Fa-ther Salvatore Perrella, a theologian from the Pontifical Marianum, an institute in Rome that studies Mary, said that down through the centuries, out of hundreds of claims, full Church approval has been given to only twelve apparition reports. In these apparitions that are “worthy of belief,” Mary seems to foster spiritual conversion and reconciliation. She reminds people to pray, worship God, and live in peace. Often, Mary appeared to simple, humble people or to children. Mary’s Continued Presence Mary continues to appear in the contemporary world. In May 2016, final approval was also given to a thirteenth claim — the appearances from 1983-1990 of Our Lady of the Rosary at San Nicolas in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For-mal approval was never given to the apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe. They occurred in 1531, centuries before modern guidelines for studying apparitions emerged. And yet, the Church has clearly endorsed the Guadalupe claims. A feast day was assigned to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. In 1945, Pope Pius XII named Our Lady of Guadalupe as patroness for both North and South America. The Church permits special devotions — pilgrimages, prayers, liturgies — to approved apparition sites. In addition to a feast associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Church calendar for the dioceses of the United States includes the feast of the Our Lady of Lourdes on February 11 and the feast of Our Lady of Fátima on May 13. Modern Church teaching reminds Catholics that Mary is indeed the “Mother of the Church.” Perhaps it’s safe to assume that this Mother will always be nearby, ready to come when and where the world needs her most. Apparitions of Mary Approved by the Church: • Laus, France (1664-1718) Rue de Bac (Miraculous Medal apparitions) in Paris, France (1830) • La Salette, France (1846) • Lourdes, France (1858) • Pontmain, France (1871) • Knock, Ireland (1879) • Fatima, Portugal (1917) • Beauraing, Belgium (1932-33) • Banneaux, Belgium (1933) • Akita, Japan (1973-1981) • Kibeho, Rwanda (1981-1989) • San Nicolas, Argentina (1983-1990) • Betania, Venezuela (1984)

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