SUNDAY SCHOOL GRADUATION. God has sent all of us at Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church many blessings in 2018.

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1 2018 NEWSLETTER THE ANGEL SAID Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Luke 1:30-31).

2 God has sent all of us at Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church many blessings in O ur entire parish including the children, youth, college students, young adults, Our Lady s Society have worked together to grow as a community of faith. We have put our faith into action by the many social activities within our parish and outreach programs to serve the larger community. Our children in kindergarten to grade 8 attend classes every Sunday following the Divine Liturgy. We are very grateful for the hard work of our teachers who plan the lessons to make sure all the children learn and grow in their faith. The religious education of all parishioners is our highest parish priority and our Sunday program helps the children begin to learn more about the Bible, the Divine Liturgy, Church history, the hymns, and many other elements of our Church and faith life. SUNDAY SCHOOL GRADUATION This year, we started our Eastern Christian Formation/Sunday School classes on January 7. In addition, our children participate in parish activities, such as the washing of the feet of the twelve apostles during our Great and Holy Thursday on March 29.

3 Graduation for the children s program was on June 3 and we recommenced on September 9. On September 30, we had a meeting of teachers and parents to review the classes and activities. The parents s participation and input is critical as everything we do is meant to supplement the children s daily faith life and education at home. The parents requested we have additional events. On Saturday, October 20 we held an evening Saints Day Party. We encouraged everyone to dress as their favorite saint, describe that saint, and participate in a variety of educational activities that helped CHILDREN S CHOIR everyone learn more about the saints. On November 11, following the Divine Liturgy we held a family day for all the children and their parents. This was a great learning experience for everyone. Since November 18, our newly formed children s choir has been leading the hymns of the Divine Liturgy every third Sunday of the month. On November 25, we celebrated the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (Nov. 21). Young girls carried lit candles and flowers and joined the procession to re-enact the Entrance of Mary. Our Eastern Christian Formation program year-end event was on December 16. After the Divine Liturgy our children put on a wellrehearsed musical Christmas play. From July 16-20, we held our fourth annual Vacation Bible Camp for children ages We were particularly blessed with the visit of Patriarch Joseph Absi, Archbishop Nicholas Antiba, Bishop Nicholas Samra and accompanying priests on July 17 prior to their meeting with Bishop Timothy Freyer and tour of Christ Catholic Cathedral, formerly the Crystal Cathedral. On July 20, Patriarch Joseph returned to preside at an evening Divine Liturgy.

4 YOUTH WITH BISHOP NICHOLAS SAMRA Another highlight of our parish has been the many spiritual and social activities of our youth. As in previous years, they have been exceptionally focused on their spiritual growth. The youth meet every Sunday after the Divine Liturgy for a variety of spiritual presentations and also meet for social outings. We are grateful to Robert Fragnito, Antoinette Hilo, Amin Abukhader, Crystal Atallah, Giana Riad, and others for their many hours of preparations. On January 15 the youth had lunch at a Mexican restaurant then went bowling. On Sunday, January 21, we started our first joint monthly web-meeting with the youth of Saint John of the Desert Melkite Catholic Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Our youth attended an Anaheim Ducks hockey game at Catholic night at the Honda Center on February 9 and an Angels Baseball game on July 23. On April 29, the youth had a very exciting Capture the Flag game at Holy Cross Church. From June 27-29, we held a three-day Theology of the Body retreat at Holy Cross Church. One of the youth, Marina Nassar, explained her understanding of the Theology of the Body: It is a lifestyle that allows you to respect yourself, God, and the people in your life. Don t be afraid of you, you were created in his image and there will never be another you! Marina also added: This week we learned the difference between love and lust, how to have self-control, who we are, our purpose, the special meaning of the body, and the difference of loving versus using. Finally, one of the most important lessons we learned was why we should not give our body up until marriage. At marriage you make a promise not only to your spouse, but to God as well. Your wedding vows and promises become spoken with your body. Eliana Haddadin shared her highlights: The people we are as individuals, our true identity, is not defined by what we wear or even what we do. We are sons and daughters of God, that is our true identity. Something really important I learned over the last 3 days was that we must first love God and love ourselves before we are truly able to love others as Christ loves us. The Theology of the body is more than just another lesson, it s a way of life.

5 Our youth were also very active volunteers during our fourth annual children s Vacation Bible Camp from July From Thursday, August 2 to Sunday, August 5, the youth of Holy Cross Church and Annunciation Melkite Catholic Mission attended our fifth jointly organized retreat at the Celebrity Ranch in Hemet on the theme Lord Teach Us to Pray. The youth participated in the following six talks: Prayer in the Christian Life by Father François Beyrouti, The Prayer of Azariah: How to survive the furnace of life, by Robert Fragnito, Imaginative Prayer, by Father Gabriel Azar, Chilling with God: The Different Levels of Prayer, by Father Musil Shihadeh, Love and Prayer...One Heart...One Faith, by Tanya and Gilbert Barrios, and We who mystically represent the Cherubim. An Explanation of the Divine Liturgy, by Seminarian Mikhael Naddaf. Our weekend consisted of bonfires, skits, a dance lesson, spiritual and social activities, regular communal and private prayer, and quiet time for journaling and personal reflections. A particular highlight for everyone was Friday night s confession that lasted over four hours. The cell-phone free weekend was initially difficult, but some youth commented on how rewarding it was to unplug and spend time with other youth listening to God, the leaves, and the sounds of nature. We returned to Holy Cross Church on Sunday morning and led all the hymns of the Divine Liturgy before going home to collapse. Since October 7, the youth have been leading the choir on the first Sunday of each month. The youth continue to meet every Sunday after the Divine Liturgy to listen to presentations, discuss, and present on a variety of spiritual topics such as Church history, peer-pressure, Theophany, job skills and resume writing, the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments), the Great Fast, How to read the Bible? The Rosary, Spiritual Preparations for Easter, Understanding Holy Week, Theology of the Body, Prayer, How to be a Christian in Today s Society, Abortion, Music, Life after High School, the Case for Christ, Euthanasia, Suicide prevention and helping a friend in crisis, Apologetics, Iconography: The Second Council of Nicaea, What is a Melkite Catholic?, The Theotokos, and other topics. We are concentrating on the skills and the tools the youth need to live and defend their faith and how to apply what they learn to their daily lives, noted Robert Fragnito, the youth coordinator.

6 MT. RUBIDOUX ALL MINISTRIES HIKE On August 21, shortly after our youth retreat, some of our college chaperones from Annunciation and Holy Cross began to meet almost every week to organize activities and spiritual discussions. On September 13, we were particularly blessed to have a family discussion on life principles with Faisal Jaber, founder of Philz Coffee at the Fullerton location. ACTIVITIES FOR THE ADULTS. We have also had many activities for the adults of our parish. On Saturday, January 13 from 9 a.m. to noon, parishioners met to discuss parish leadership formation. Bishop Nicholas presented on the theme living stones as found in 1 Peter 2:5 like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. He reminded us that everyone has an integral role to play in the health of the parish. Our young adults have been meeting every month for luncheons, hikes, and spiritual discussions. Father François discussed our goal to become disciples, through prayer and study, and make disciples, through service and evangelization. Greg Kremer, the senior pastoral consultant for Renew International presented, via a webinar, the Be My Witness: Formation for the New Evangelization parish leadership formation program. Bishop Nicholas highly praised this program and emphasized the need for adult faith and leadership formation programs in all our Melkite parishes. He encouraged us to implement this program and adapt it to our Melkite parishes in order for Holy Cross Church to be a role model for other Melkite parishes throughout the United States. We formed a leadership team, began to meet to review the surveys and study the following modules: Leadership matters, Evangelization matters, Sunday matters, Welcome matters, Belonging matters, Witness matters, Mission matters, and Planning matters.

7 On January 14, Bishop Nicholas presided at the morning Divine Liturgy at Holy Cross. In the evening, we went to Mission Viejo for the Melkite Divine Liturgy at Saint Kilian s Roman Catholic Church. We had wonderfully organized luncheons following both Liturgies. During the two months before the start of Great Lent, the seniors of our parish got together on January 5 and February 2 for an evening of card games, backgammon, and socializing. Every month the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange organizes a dinner for the Catholic and Orthodox clergy in Orange County. On January 15, we hosted the dinner at our parish. From March 16-18, some parishioners attended the L.A. Religious Educators Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center. In preparation for Holy Week, our choir held an English and Arabic Byzantine choir concert on March 23. On April 21, Michael Farah invited all the Melkite parishes of southern California to Celebrity Ranch for lunch and the opening Polo tournament. We attended a Catholic and Orthodox prayer service at Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church on May 18. Father François Beyrouti was the keynote speaker and focused on the Orthodox and Catholic faith that already unites all Apostolic Christians. On May 7 and 8, Father François Beyrouti gave two full days of talks on the Eastern Catholic Churches to all the senior classes at Mater Dei Catholic High School.

8 On May 4, May 31, and June 21, Deacon Elias Kashou led an Arabic prayer service for the sick and gave a spiritual reflection. On October 10, we gathered for the 101st Anniversary of the apparitions of Fatima, had a spiritual reflection by Nelly Fattouch, and prayed the Rosary. We welcomed seminarian Mikhael Naddaf from June 9-August 6 who assisted in the pastoral activities of the parish. Our Diocese is blessed to have a seminarian gifted with many academic, social, and pastoral qualities and we are happy to report that he survived pastoral boot camp. Our Lady s Society is also very active. They prepare and serve refreshments and snacks following the Sunday Divine Liturgy, prepare frequent luncheons, hold an annual bake sale on Palm Sunday, and on November 16, had a Ladies Salad Night social in the parish hall. On April 29, June 29, September 30, and December 30 we prepared dinner in the Church hall kitchen and served meals to all those at the Catholic Worker s Isaiah House women s shelter. With the generosity of our parishioners we were also able to donate blankets for those who need them for the winter months. On November 4, following the Divine Liturgy, Deacon Peter and Jan Lauder gave a talk to the whole parish on the history and significance of the Shroud of Turin. We plan to have more presentations to the parish in order to encourage more adult faith formation.

9 Many parishioners came together on November 9 for a full day of Church cleaning. We have volunteered at the Toys for Tots warehouse and distributed toys for the last two years. On December 15 we will distribute toys at Holy Cross Church to needy families from the neighborhood. MAINTENANCE. Our parish is blessed with many active parishioners who regularly volunteer to paint, plant, and keep the grounds beautiful. We also completed some urgent repairs and made some necessary purchases. In August we purchased a neighboring house which will now give us the needed land to start architectural plans for a new hall and Church. The continued exceptional financial generosity of our parishioners allowed us to pay the full $880,000 price without a mortgage. We now rent this house for $3600 a month.

10 MAINTENANCE. In August and September, we completed much needed repairs on the leaking and collapsing flat roof over the hall, youth room, and Church perimeter. This was an urgent project as we had frequent leaks in many areas. In addition, the wood structure underneath the roof had deteriorated in several places and there was an imminent danger of collapse. Immediately after this project we upgraded the electrical panel in order to add another 10 ton A/C unit to the Church. This was a much requested and necessary project as the previous A/C set-up was insufficient for the large number of parishioners who attend each Sunday. We also added an A/C unit in the youth room. To support our continued growth please make a donation at HolyCrossMelkite.org or use the enclosed envelope. Thank You for your kindness and generosity. Contact Us HOLY CROSS MELKITE CATHOLIC CHURCH 451 West Madison Avenue Placentia, CA (714) YouTube.com/HolyCrossMelkite Facebook.com/HolyCrossMelkite Twitter.com/HCMelkite

11 Thank you for everything you do for Holy Cross Church as we continue to grow as a family of faith. Your excitement and exceptional generosity has made 2018 a year of miraculous accomplishments for our little parish that has a big heart. With the growing number of parishioners and volunteers, 2019 looks very optimistic. Our primary focus will be to continue to know, to love, and to serve, our Risen Lord as we grow as disciples through prayer and study and make disciples through service and evangelization. This year I celebrated my sixth year at Holy Cross Church and my twenty-year priestly ordination anniversary. It is a privilege and honor to serve you as together we continue to serve Jesus Christ and His Apostolic, Melkite Catholic Church. Please contact me anytime if you would like to use your God given gifts to serve the future growth of our wonderful parish. Be assured of my gratitude and prayers for you and your family. Father François Beyrouti fbeyrouti@gmail.com Cell: (714)

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