Spiritual Activities and Gatherings

Homily on the Gospel of Luke 17:22-37
by Father Vincent Farhat,
At Our lady of Purgatory Catholic Church, New Bedford, MA,
First mass for those who have fallen asleep in the Hope of the Resurrection.

Massachusetts, March 11, 2020

“Remember me in your kingdom”, as we celebrate the first Mass for this group and we remember in a special way all the names who have been placed in this book, and all the deceased members, all our loved ones, we remember them in our prayers and in our Mass today.

Today’s Gospel reading (Luke 17:22-37): it is a great reminder for us. It is a great reminder for us that sometimes we concern ourselves with storing up so many things for what is to come. We want to make sure we have enough food; we want to make sure we have enough clothes; we want to make sure we have everything that we need, just in case something happens. Right? And St. Luke is trying to tell us today none of that matters and all of us know that none of that matters. What matters is our relationship with God. In the end, it is all that matters. This man in the Gospel is not going to take his candles with him; he is not going to take his barn with him. What he will be taking with him is his soul and his relationship with God. During the season of Lent, this is a perfect time for us to reflect on all of these things; it is a time to reflect on the meaning of forgiveness. It is a time to reflect on the meaning of helping those who are in need, of helping those who are marginalised, of doing everything we can to act the way that Jesus wants us to act. For this reason, this is why Jesus came.


Jesus came to save us from our sins and to prepare [us] a place: paradise, eternal life with Him. This is all a stage rehearsal. What we do every day is just a rehearsal, and how we rehearse here is how God will judge us on the Last Day. And hopefully, we will be in a place where God will say to us, “Job well done, my good and faithful servant”. As we go through the season of Lent, people have to remember that this is what matters in the end. In the end, you will be at peace, and I can guaranty this. You will go at peace if you can forgive one another and you can ask for forgiveness. That is all that matters in this beautiful Gospel reading. Let us reflect on that. Amen. More...

The first Mass " Remember me in Your kingdom" for our brothers departed in the Hope of the Resurrection
at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY
with the Blessings of The Most Bishop Gregory Mansour
The masses will follow on the third sunday of each month.



As the seventh year of our journey of faith draws to a close, we are delighted to celebrate together the first Holy Mass for the repose of the deceased in the blessed Parish of Our Lady of Lebanon. We invoke the Heavenly Father’s guidance to help us continue our journey together and serve our spiritual message “Remember Me in Your Kingdom”, in one heart and one hope.
Eight years ago, we went through the painful reality of an unexpected departure; this death whose deep meaning we could not comprehend but accepted it obediently. However, by the divine grace that shone upon us and enlightened our path, our eyes were opened and we read again the words of Jesus Christ “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” we gained new found faith and joy. We came to understand that death is about crossing to the Light, to Jesus Christ, the creator of Life. We answered the call of God and gathered to pray for the repose of our departed brothers and sisters, participate in the Eucharist and share their life with Jesus Christ. Our hearts find solace in His resurrection; our souls light in His love and mercy. Our concerted cry of repentance to Him is: “Jesus remember me when you come into Your kingdom”.By God’s will and with the blessings of all Christian denominations, our journey started on June 1st 2006. This journey is about testifying to Christ and serving His divine project. We cannot but thank the Lord for the work of the Holy Spirit who gives us strength to pursue our ecumenical mission in Lebanon and other parts of the world namely Jordan, Nigeria, Cotonou, London, Oklahoma, Argentina, Massachusetts and Canada. And with you we are now forty four parishes. Congratulations everyone! Our work also consists of spreading the Word of Life through our monthly message “To My Five Brothers” and the lectures we organize to interpret and discuss the Holy Bible in our headquarters in Zouk Mkayel. The purpose of our work is to grow in faith and perform acts of mercy so the righteousness of Jesus Christ fills our lives and grants us eternal life.
Our deepest and most heartfelt thanks are extended to the divine providence for the gift of this gathering today. We pray and hope to remain living signs of the light of Resurrection so that together we exclaim: “Christ is Risen. Truly, He is Risen!” We also extend our gratitude and appreciation to the Most Reverend Bishop Gregory for his fatherly support and for embracing our mission.Reverend Father James Rout, thank you for your love and support.Heartfelt thanks to all those who have worked faithfully and sincerely to spread our spiritual mission in this blessed parish and especially to Mr. Antoine Nassour.And you, dear friends, thank you for being here today and for your invaluable efforts. We ask God to send His blessings upon you and grant your dear ones departed His great mercy.
Thank you
Remember me in Your Kingdom Community

The homily of Father Philip Raczka during the Divine Liturgy
For the faithful departed in the Hope of the Resurrection
«Remember me in Your Kingdom»
Our Lady of the Annunciation, West Roxburry, Massachussets.

October 24, 2012

Does God Send People to Hell?
Does God send people to hell? This is a good question. We all know that after we die either we go up to heaven or down to hell. 20 years ago the movie “Ghost” showed this by having good people see a bright light and follow it and people who committed murder were grabbed by dark demons and taken down screaming into hell. If we look in the Bible, we see several places where Jesus talks about bad people being condemned for their sins. In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus says that those who do not care for others will be condemned and banished from his sight at the end of the world. There are other places where He talks about those who do not obey God being condemned. So, God indeed condemns some people to hell.
But other people go there because they want to go. This may sound strange and it is. How could someone want to go to hell? It starts out in very small ways that people run from the presence of God. When we are in God’s presence especially in Church and at prayer we see ourselves, as we are both what is good and what is bad. People do not want to see what is bad.
• They do not want someone to tell them that stealing money from work is wrong.
• They do not want someone to tell them that living together before marriage is wrong.
• They do not want someone to tell them that being mean to others is wrong.
When we are in the presence of God, our own conscience will tell us these things. So what do people do? They start to run away from God. They do not spend time in prayer. They do not go to the liturgy. They avoid things to do with God. This way their conscience will not tell them, they are wrong.
This running away from God becomes a habit with them. It gets stronger as it goes along so that they even do things like going to the wedding reception and not the wedding in the church or the baptism reception and not the baptism. They even go to wakes and when the priest starts praying, they run out of the place as if it was on fire. What happens when this person dies? They spent years running away from God. Do they all of sudden turn and run towards Him? Maybe so, but also they may keep running as they have been doing all their life. The person who went towards Jesus all their life, would I think, go to Him at the end also.
The great writer C. S. Lewis wrote a book about this phenomenon called the Great Divorce. In the book people in hell are given a holiday to go to heaven to see if they would want to be there instead. In the book, they go and everyone wants to be there instead. Then an angel or saint comes to them and tells them that if they want to stay in heaven they have sins they must confess.
• One told to be sorry for divorcing her husband, but she is not.
• A bishop told to be sorry for being more interested in his own ideas about Jesus than Jesus Himself, but he is not sorry, and so the story continues ultimately only one person from the bus is willing to be sorry for his sins and stay in heaven. The others go back to hell so they can keep their sins.
We should spend our lives running towards Jesus and not away from Him. By running towards Him, we will see what is wrong in us and we can be sorry for it, and when we see Him after death, we will be happy to see Him and go towards Christ. If we spend our life running away from God, we will be running away from Him after death, also and will indeed send ourselves to hell. More...