This priest is unappreciated by the Lebanese parishioners who make unrealistic demands on him. Two years ago, the grandson of a parishioner lay practically lifeless in Boston Children's Hospital. The parents had expended no expense in attempting to salvage the life of their first born child. After 15 hours of surgery the top physicians in the country told them that every know procedure in modern science had been used to save his life and it was now time to pull the life support.
They called the pastor. Now, imagine this. He had just returned from a 5 day mandatory conference and retreat. It was the one week each year when we celebrate our patron St. Ann. The Church had more Roman Catholics than Maronites attending this novena. It was his first night back. When the phone call came, he never hesitated. He apologized to those assembled for his absence due to the mandatory conference and asked their understanding for the sad situation with this family's 7 month old child. He got in his car and drove 3 1/2 hours to Boston to counsel and attend to the family in this great time of grief. He then returned to NY to make arrangements for the funeral - not at our small church (the family was quite large) - but with one of the larger RC Churches. He asked his non-salaried volunteer Secretary to have special missalettes made up for the funeral, with the baby's photo on the cover. He not only officiated at the funeral Mass but also asked our organist to provide special musical arrangements. To my dieing day, I will never forget this funeral! Following the distribution of Communion when there is that time for reflection, Doug (the organist), played Brahm's lullaby. To see that tiny white coffin in the aisle and the baby's enlarged photo on a stand in the sancturary, with physicians and medical professionals from both Albany Medical and Boston's Children's Hospital in attendance, left me in total awe of this priest!
Yet today, two years later, the same family demands more Arabic in the liturgy, a choir (we are only 35 families, most of which are aged), and other perks, has left me totally bewildered. When our Lord was crucified on Golgotha, the only disciple present was St. John. The others had all fled. This is the situation in our small parish. Here is an extraordinary priest who speaks 8 languages fluently and has worked industriously to build up this parish, yet some of the parishioners simply take him for granted. I spend countless hours praying for him; especially that he will not cave to these ungrateful people. I trust in my heart that our Lord sent me to this parish to assist him with his plans to grow it and render the parish akin to any of its RC cousins.
Please remember Fr. Elie in your prayers!
But also from what I have read in this post it suprises me that the Lebanese parishoners REALLY make so many unrealistic demands on him. When I had read this post I thought, if it is tough just being a priest of a Latin rite parish, then it must not be so easy for a priest of a Maronite, Melkite, or any of the Eastern rites. IMHO, the demand for more Arabic is unrealistic. This is America and the liturgy can be celibrated in English. I think if my memory is correct, there is a part or parts that are done in Aramaic, or the lanugage that Jesus spoke. Plus I have seen pictures of the Maronite rite worship and it would look like it was the Latin rite with the alter and the priest facing the people.
In the end your pastor has to lay his foot down and say, kindly but firmly, no, so that he does not end up burning out. It is great that he can be a priest in both the Maronite as well as Latin rite. Also I never thought this parish community was a small one, I thought there were more parishoners. The family in question should be thankful that at least Father Elie was able to get a larger Latin rite parish to be able to accomadate the funeral liturgy. When help is asked, like it was in my home state, CT, when there was a Ukranian rite parish church building that was distroyed in a propane gas explosion and since rebuilted, they had to used a Latin rite pasrish for their worship while the new church was being built. The family should be thankful for the help that this pastor offered and not make unrealistic demands.
May God also bless you in your efforts to be the best parishoner of your adopted parish.
That is very sad, and I will pray for him.
I love the Byzantine Rite and the liturgies are stunningly beautiful, but there is often a problem with people from the “homeland” of the liturgy in question when they are in the US. They still regard it as their possession, something that is all about their former country and not about God. Certainly, this is not true of all of them, but it is something that I have seen happen before.
From reading your posts regularly, I know how hard you (and he, of course) have worked to get this parish going. I hope these people come to their senses; he sounds truly wonderful, the kind of priest most parishes would do anything to get, and it is terrible to think that this is the response of some of the people. It is very sad indeed.
Just did a Google search under the main website for the Maronite rite on the east coast and found the parish of St. Ann. It just has an e-mail address and the regular address. It is a small parish.
I’m sorry, but I would have to question the intentions of any who demanded arabic in a Christian service in America. Aramaic would be great but... is there much arabic in it already? Is it licit to use a language other than the vernacular or latin? Or is arabic now the vernacular in parts of Detroit?