Chose the name Charbel to meet monastic and holiness in his name (Antoine - Charbel).

Bishop Antoine Charbel: "I ask St Charbel, to intercede for me that I may be a good shepherd and lead my flock to green pastures"

3/6/2013

(Translation of this article appears in Arabic section)

His Eminency Archbishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay the new patron of Australia and New Zealand Maronite parish and Bishop Aad Abi Karam ex-patron of the diocese presided an inaugural mass at Saint Maroun Cathedral in Redfern Sydney, assisted in the liturgy pastor of Batroun Maronite diocese Bishop Mounir Khairallah representing The Maronite Patriarch Boutros Bechara Al- Rahi and the Custodian of Saint Maroun church Monsignor Emmanuel Saqr, Monsignor Shora Maree and President-General of the Lebanese Maronite Order Abbot Tannous Nehme.

The Mass was attended by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paul Gallagher, chairman of the bishops of Australia, Archbishop Hart Danis, and a number of Eastern denominations and representatives of the Australian and Coptic Church, the Eastern Churches as well as priests, monks and nuns of the Maronite community.

Also, the Mass was attended by Jean-Daniel the Lebanese Ambassador, George Bitar Ghanem Consul General in Sydney, Daryl Melhem MP representative of the Federal government, Philip Ruddock MP representative of the Opposition Leader,  Attorney General Greg Smith MP representative of the NSW Government, John Robertson MP the Leader of the Opposition in the NSW, and MPs Thomas George, Tony Issa, Barbara Perry and a large number of Australian and Lebanese personalities as well as heads of associations, institutions, and a large crowd of the Maronite and the Lebanese communities.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher read a message of His Holiness Pope who congratulated the Archbishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay and the Maronite community.

And then Bishop Khairallah read the Patriarchal Inscription in Arabic. Cardinal Bill read the Bible in English while Abbot Tannous Nehme read it in Arabic.

After the Mass Bishop Tarabay receives congratulations from the audience at the "La Montage" with a cocktail reception.

Excerpts from the speech of Bishop Abi Karam

The hand over from a bishop who has completed his term to a bishop, who is launching his mission, involves passing on 15 introduced organizations and structures, councils of priests, pastoral councils and committees, … all these I proudly pass on to the new bishop, knowing without doubt that they will assist him and will be essential instruments in his pastoral ministry.

How happy I am to present my successor with faithful souls, loving hearts, open minds. I present him with dreaming children, visionary youth, men and women waiting in hope, and elder people praying, led by priests who share in the vision and the dreams, confidently advancing together.

I also thank all the priests for their zealous work in the various parishes, which has enriched the diocese, allowing us to work together to write a new history for the Maronites of the Expansion.

We can be proud of our history of working with bishops and priests. This has been for me and for the Diocese a source of spiritual, ecclesial, and ecumenical enrichment, and in particular for the Maronites participating in Latin Rite parishes. To all of you, my venerable brothers, my deepest, grateful gratitude.

Dear Brother Bishop Antoine-Charbel,

You carry within you the heights of Tannourine, the depth of Qannoubine and the spirituality of the Order of the saints…the Lebanese Maronite Order. In gratitude and acknowledgement you have as well, the trust of the head of the Church, His Holiness Pope Francis, represented among us by the Apostolic Nuncio Most Reverend Paul Gallagher.

You have also the solicitude of the head of our Maronite Church, His Beatitude our Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Cardinal Rahi. You have the support of the Maronite Synod of bishops and the love of your brother priests, who will make you proud as they gather around you like a wreath, with justness, holiness and support.

In my last words here, I thank God and my Church with its bishops and priests and all those with whom I worked. I ask forgiveness of all those I might have wronged even if unwillingly. I also apologize for anything I failed to do and in the words of St Paul I say to you: I have run the race, completed what the Lord asked of me and witnessed to the good news and the grace of God.

Excerpts from the speech of Bishop Charbel Tarabay

Tonight, at the commencement of my Episcopal tenure, the first step for me is to renew my vows by which I consecrated my life to the Lord, and to serving Him and you, his brothers and sisters, especially the little ones. For me, the face of the Lord is beyond conception, unless I can find it reflected in some way within both the face of humanity and the faces of each individual child of God.

The essence of my call and vocation are to be found in the words of the Lord: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit.” (John 15:16)

Moreover, I realise that when God chooses someone, he gives also, with his election, an abundance of gifts and blessings, he bestows the fullness of love and mercy. From the start of my consecrated life, I noticed how the Lord rained down upon me blessings without number and beyond my desert.

Such generosity has left me questioning, as the Psalmist did: “"What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?”

In preparation for my Episcopal ordination, I chose to have my spiritual retreat at the Monastery of Our Lady of Qannoubine in the Holy Valley of Kadisha in Lebanon. My time there was an opportunity to stay close to the roots of the Maronite Church where our forefathers lived and responded to the call of holiness and gave real witness to the Lord through an ascetic life of prayer, sacrifice and martyrdom.

As proud Maronite Australians, faithful to our rich heritage and traditions, let us continue to contribute to this generous land of Australia, the land of the Holy Spirit, and to the mission of its people.

I would like to thank all the Australian leaders who travelled to Lebanon to attend my episcopal ordination.  As a proud Australian, I have been privileged to call Australia home since 2004. It is today the nation closest to my heart as it is the land of my mission, the land where Our Lord has called me to serve His people.

Thirty years ago, the Lord called me to consecrate my life to Him in the Lebanese Maronite Order of Monks. Since then, the Order has been my home and my spiritual mother where my talents were nurtured, my faith was deepened and my character was moulded. I cannot thank the Order enough for all that they have offered to me. I especially thank the Superior-General, Most Reverend Abbot Tannous Nehme, who is a role model for monastic life and spiritual fatherhood.

It is fitting that I take as my patron, St Charbel, the first canonized saint of the Lebanese Maronite Order. In his honour, and that of St Anthony, whose name my parents gave me, I take as my episcopal name, Antoine-Charbel.  I ask St Charbel, the holy hermit, who reached the glories of heaven to intercede for me that I may be a good shepherd and lead my flock to green pastures.

I am one of you, I know you and you know me. In the recent past, you have known me as Fr Antoine Tarabay, Rector of St Charbel’s Church, Monastery and College, and today, I am Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay. The name and the responsibilities may have changed but our relationship, collaboration and unity in the Lord remain unchanged. I trust that we will always work hand in hand faithful to our Church’s teachings and traditions and open to the diversity of our country Australia. I greet the elderly, our families, the children and especially the youth to whom I say:

Dear young people, as your new Bishop, I would like you to know how proud I am of all of you, and that you are a priority in my apostolate. You are the future and a source of hope

for the Church. We need your ideas, your energy and your talents.

My dear Maronites of Australia, you belong to one of the largest Maronite Dioceses in the world. This diocese spreads across a vast country, an entire continent. Our Church here possesses a unique identity which has been organically formed by living Maronite traditions in this prosperous land of diversity.

May I humbly follow the example of His Holiness Pope Francis, when he asked the faithful to pray for him at the beginning of his pontificate. I now invite you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to pray with and for me to Our Lord.