The Ordination of Deacon Joseph Elias in the parish of Saint Maroun in Australia

15/5/2015

Sydney- M. E. TIMES Int'l: Earlier this month, Joseph Elias was ordained as Deacon in the Parish of Saint Maroun- Australia, by Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay at St. John's Church in Mount Druitt, Sydney.

The ceremony was attended by Malik Abu Tanous the General Superior of the congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries, a number of priests, nuns, parents and relatives of Deacon Joseph Elias.

Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay gave a sermon and these are some excerpts:

Today the Diocese of St. Maroun’s joy, and our joy is complete, by the ordination of the first priest after I was chosen to be the shepherd of the sons of the Maronites here in Australia. With this first priestly ordination we live the communication in the sacrament of priesthood with the first two apostles to their successors, the bishops and the priests and their assistants by laying on of hands without interruption to the ultimate age.

We meditate today the calling for the ministerial priesthood and the condition rule laid by our Lord Jesus to take care of the herd. When Jesus asked Simon again, a second time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord," he answered, "you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Take care of my sheep."

At this moment the Lord Jesus asks the same question to Deacon Joseph Elias, saying to him: O Joseph do you love me! Of course, Deacon Joseph answered him, Lord, you know everything and you know I love you. Then the Lord Jesus says to him: Follow me on the path of devotion and holy priesthood.

Priesthood is the love of Christ, a contribution with him in the work of salvation, it is an abandonment of self completely as the Messiah of who the Apostle Paul says in his letter to Philip, “being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself becoming obedient even unto death and that the death of the cross.”

Your Priest ordination coincides at the beginning of this month dedicated in honour of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. To her intercession we entrust your priesthood and priestly life. She is the Mother of priests, Mother of the Church and Mother of believers. She is a fellow of the priest in his openness and especially in his call to repentance because the kingdom of God is near.

“And priests today are invited as Pope Francis says, not to detach from the world, turning inward or simply practice traditional religious rituals as is the case with many of those who think they complete their religious duties through service of sacraments and participation in religious ceremonies of their parishes and do not look ahead to see the huge numbers of people who have never heard of Christ yet."

The great danger threatening us today, priests and bishops, is our joy to see a good number of people arriving to churches and taking part in religious ceremonies, while disregarding that their percentage continues to decline. Pope Francis, who comes from a long pastoral experience, tells us about this realistic situation and invites us to go to the geographical and social partners of the world and tells us: “Christ called us to go out and look for the lost sheep, reassured by the presence of the ninety-nine near us. But today the situation is completely different,” he says. Without neglecting the wayward sheep which we regained, we have to go and look for the ninety-nine who have become deceived today, far from the Church and God. Dear Joseph, you are invited today to achieve this message after you gave up a lot of things in order to follow Christ, and I am very happy to be the first to let him share with us the sacrament of the priesthood in order to be the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep and their sheep know him, and make your priesthood open to the world and be especially the shepherd who is looking for all who are living today far from Christ, his word and his church. "