Announcement
Messages

Christmas Message

To all parishioners
 
I want to take a moment in this joyous holiday season and share with you my true feelings on this special Christmas.

We are blessed to be building such a strong community.  I cherish every moment we are together, and I feel that we are building a community in the true sense of the word.  I also feel that our children are developing a sense of belonging, our adults have found a place of worship, and the rest of the parishioners are bonding together day after day.
Bonding this community together has been most rewarding to me.  I want you all to know, that my message to you, in this Christmas is a message of Love.  Loving one another would conspicuously show our identity, and our value system.
This community is coming together nicely because we care to be together, and we care to know one another, and we care to help each other.

  Father Jean Younes

Our resolution for the upcoming year should be to shepherd new parishioners into our loving and caring community. We should all make an effort to bring new parishioners to our world of worship to pray and be together. The journey of this year has been most gratifying, from setting our 3 councils, to our calendar activities to finding a new church, to teaching our children religious education, to sending clothes and toys to the poor in Lebanon and to reaching 108 families in our parish. I believe we have had a blessed year.

Finally, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year full of Love, Hope and Peace.

God bless you all

Father Jean Younes M.L.

Westchester Catholic Maronite Mission
Administrator
December12th, 2007

 

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Second message

Dear Parishioners & Friends

A new season is starting for our Mission and I am full of Hope. Hope that what we have built so far is going to grow even more this year. Hope that our children will strengthen their ties to our Heritage, Culture and Beliefs. Hope that more and more families will join us and existing families will increase their participation in Church activities.
Over the past year, our Mission grew tremendously; We now have more than 100 families and close to 350 parishioners who are registered. We have created all the organizations that are critical to the success of our Mission. The Advisory Council is helping me manage all aspects of the life of our Mission. The Stewardship Council is setting up all the financial procedures to ensure full
transparency of our accounts. The Fundraising Committee is preparing plans to enable us to have our own Church in due time. MYA, MYO and Junior MYO organizations were launched last year and have defined a very active plan for this year. We have also launched several other organizations: Ushers,
Hospitality Committee, Altar Boys… Our Choir has been enchanting us during our Masses for many months.
As we start the new season, we have moved our Masses to a new location in White Plains (52 N Broadway) at the Sisters of Divine Compassion – Good Counsel Campus, where we have more space and are able to celebrate Masses twice a month as well as for the major Christian Holidays. We have also
launched the Heritage Program, which will provide religious education to our children according to our culture and traditions. The Mission organizations and committees have planned a very active and diverse list of events, activities and celebrations, which I hope will encourage all of you to participate and help.

Sincerely,

Father Jean Younes
Administrator
Westchester Maronite Catholic Mission

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First Message

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it! We are gathered today to announce the launch of the Westchester church construction project.
This project is ours, indeed, but we should not forget that it is God's project as well, for God is the Master of the house and we are His children. So let us rejoice together for the goal we are seeking is sublime- it is a contribution to build a new house for God. We cannot deny that all churches in this city are houses of God, but the flavor of our Eastern Church will add a special perfume to the Western Christian spirituality that will be joined together in this great county of Westchester!
There is no doubt that God is the source that inspired this mission; He has chosen you to build His house for He has seen goodwill in your hearts. This goodwill shall not remain words, dreams or wishes; you and I shall join efforts and work hand-in-hand to achieve God's wish and turn this goodwill into deeds by providing human and financial resources. Obstacles may hinder our project, but have no fear, for the Lord is with us and the house we are building is His.
This house will embrace our prayers and masses; it will witness our children's baptisms and marriages; in this church we will share hopes and joys.

The dreams you and I have for this new parish are splendid. We dream of an ideal church, enjoying unity, solidarity, brotherhood, equality and love. I believe You and I are ready for this journey, so let us begin by putting our trust in God alone.
I extend my thanks to the Most Reverend Bishop Gregory Mansour, Reverend Msgr. Michael Thomas and Reverend Msgr. Ignace Sadek for the trust they have put in me. I would like to especially thank Father Joseph Irwin whose kindness and generosity has given us the opportunity to worship in such a beautiful and magnificent church.
Finally, I thank every person present here today for believing in me to assume this service- the service of being a member in the new family.

Sincerely,

Father Jean Younes
Westchester Mission, June 18, 2006