Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
When I was in high school, I was part of a church youth group that met twice a week. The youth group was the highlight of my week. Many of us in the group ordered our whole lives around our encounter with Jesus facilitated by this youth group. Of the 30 or so members of the group four of us became priests 1 girl became a nun and many people dedicated their lives to serving God. We would often sing together contemporary Christian music. One of the songs that we would sing was entitled freedom, based on the verse we read in scripture this Sunday, where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. As a high schooler freedom was an intriguing topic. High school was the time when I began to go places without my parents. Many of the people that I knew chose to see freedom as the ability to make bad decisions, and to partake in risky or dangerous behaviors. John Paul II, when speaking about freedom so that what we should be pursuing is the freedom to choose or do the good. When we have Spirit of the Lord we are able to do things that are difficult, and we are able to identify goods that are beyond this world. Saints who accepted death and martyrdom rather than deny their faith were free. Saints who dedicated their lives to the service of God and others were free. Jesus, when he was nailed to the cross after having been beaten and mocked was free. As a high schooler this kind of freedom was attractive, and this freedom was part of the reason that so many of us in that church youth group chose to pursue paths that seem to limit our freedoms.
-Fr. Alex Harb
- This Sunday, we will be picking parsley and chopping tomatoes and onions. We would love to have 40-50 people to stick around and help. - St. Vincent de Paul First Saturday of Every month 6:30 pm- 8 pm serving meal at men's Gettysburg shelter 1921 S Gettysburg Ave, Dayton, OH 45417. - Initiatives- To what is God calling you? What are your hopes, dreams, and ideas for our parish? What do you want to do? Mission, charity, prayers, work, fundraisers, or maintenance? How can we support you? - Festival cooking schedule Sunday, August 5 12 pm (parsley). Monday, August 6 10 am(grape leaves) (15-20 people would be great), and Thursday, August 9, 5 pm (kafta) (10 people would be great). - House of Bread Monday, August 13 9 am - 2:30 pm. Come all or part time. - The Syriac College videos will begin to appear on our parish website. - We have a great opportunity for our $15,000 matching grant, we are are at $7300 and can accept donations of $250 or more. The donations can go towards naming rights for any part of our building project. - Pilgrimage trip to Our Lady of Lebanon Shrine and Basilica August 15. We will leave from the church at 1:15 pm and be back around 1 am. - We are 20 days away from hosting The Greater Dayton Lebanese Festival. Sign up sheet will be available in the hall. With 250 volunteers, we only need to volunteer 3 hours each the weekend of the festival. With 125 volunteers, we only need to volunteer 6 hours each the weekend of the festival. We also need to volunteer for the preparation of the festival. - Church-wide garage sale small fundraiser. August 16- 18, 9am - 2 pm under the tent. We will collect furniture and household donations to sell to benefit the Church. Coordinators and volunteers needed for pricing and selling. Weekly events:- Young adult meet up this Thursday after the Kafta- Adult Arabic class Saturday 11:15 am- Children's Dabke class Saturday 11 am- Adult Dabke class Sunday 8 pm- Bible Study Sunday 10am
Upcoming events:
- Initiatives- To what is God calling you? What are your hopes, dreams, and ideas for our parish? What do you want to do? Mission, charity, prayers, work, fundraisers, or maintenance? How can we support you?
- House of Bread Monday, August 13 9 am - 2:30 pm. Come all or part time.
- The Syriac College videos will begin to appear on our parish website.
- We have a great opportunity for our $15,000 matching grant, we are are at $7300 and can accept donations of $250 or more. The donations can go towards naming rights for any part of our building project.
- Pilgrimage trip to Our Lady of Lebanon Shrine and Basilica August 15. We will leave from the church at 1:15 pm and be back around 1 am.
- We are 12 days away from hosting The Greater Dayton Lebanese Festival. Sign up sheet will be available in the hall. With 250 volunteers, we only need to volunteer 3 hours each the weekend of the festival. With 125 volunteers, we only need to volunteer 6 hours each the weekend of the festival. We also need to volunteer for the preparation of the festival.
- Church-wide garage sale small fundraiser. August 16- 18, 9am - 2 pm under the tent. We will collect furniture and household donations to sell to benefit the Church. Coordinators and volunteers needed for pricing and selling.
Weekly events:
- Adult Arabic class Saturday 11:15 am
- Children's Dabke class Saturday 11 am
- Adult Dabke class Sunday 8 pm
- Bible Study Sunday 10am
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