Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan Bishop William Shomali has greeted the Christians who followed the Sunday Mass from their homes in order to preserve their safety. He also conveyed admiration and appreciation to His Majesty King Abdullah II Ben Al-Hussein, as well as to the Prime Ministry that has been acting in unison, to all medical departments that are active within the Ministry of Health, to the private sector, to the Arab army, and to the security apparatuses.
This was reported during his presiding at the Sunday Mass celebrated on March 22 at the St. Mary of Nazareth Church, in Sweifieh, western Amman. The Mass was also broadcast on Radio Jordan and the abouna.org websites, which are affiliated with the Catholic Center for Studies and Media, in order to enable Christians to participate in the Sunday Mass from their homes in the wake of the clamped curfew and the banning of gathering to curtail the Corona pandemic (COVID-19) infection.
The Mass was concelebrated by parish priest Tony Hreimat and Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader, director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) and parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Na’our.
In the Sunday homily, Patriarch Shomali called for the rediscovery of “praying at home”. He said: ”These days, while we are at home, we have time to enhance our family relations and discover their values. We also have time to raise a daily family prayer that eliminates from us–with the power of God– this dreaded scourge and the more dangerous social scourges such as gossip, pride, envy, grudge, selfishness, vanity, lies, and others.” He added: ”While the world is facing a different kind danger as the number of the dead people stands at more than 12,000 and the number of the infected stands at over 300,000, let us pray in our homes to drive off diseases.”
Concluding his homily, Bishop Shomali urged the Christians to stay in their homes, to follow the instructions of the security authorities, and to take the necessary medical precautions intended for their safety. He said: “Let us warmly pray for the entire world. Let us pray so that needed panacea is found, let us pray for the infected, for the medical staffs, for the security apparatuses, and for everyone who works for us while we are staying in our homes.” The bishop added that His Holiness the Pope has dedicated next Wednesday, March 25, corresponding to the Feast of the Annunciation to a collective prayer by various Christian churches in the world, whereby everyone would recite the prayer of “Our Father, thou art in heaven” unanimously at mid-day.
At the end of the Holy Mass, Parish priest Fr. Tony Hraimat recited Psalm 91, that says: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”
For his part, Fr. Dr. Bader said at the end of the Mass celebrated for the second week without worshipers: “We, undoubtedly, regret this situation, implying the shuttering of churches on Sundays, just as the case with mosques as prayers were not held last Friday. Yet, despite that we thank the Almighty God for the availability of social media outlets and media outlets in general, to serve believers and families in their homes whether on Friday or Sunday. He also underlined the security efforts undertaken by the Arab Army designed to provide useful and constructive instructions. He said: ”We want to ensure a prosperous future for the generations to come, for the children, for the youth, and for the elderly. We want to preserve the prosperity and achievements of this dear country as it has always been under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, where his Hashemite leadership has always been a model to be emulated in wisdom, in perspicacity, and in guiding the country towards the shores of safety, peace, stability and prosperity.
Fr. Bader also greeted all the people working in the health field–whether in the Ministry of Health or in the private sectors–who are bearing these days a huge responsibility designed to preserve human life and dignity where this is a gift from God that we are to preserve and we are accountable to that.
CCSM Director Fr. Bader concluded, “Today, Jordan sets a model of the wonderful mosaic image that we have become accustomed to throughout our history. We want to proceed with the so far attained achievements, but we want citizens to be aware of the critical situation we are living through so as to bring about a safe, prosperous and bright future.
Source: Amman-en.abouna.org
