Christ is among us! He is and He always will be!

How great is the bounty of the Lord our God! His blessings to us never cease! All that we have, we have received from Him. Indeed, our very life and the lives of those who are dear to us are among the most precious blessings our gracious God gives to us.

On this past Thursday, 1 September, our Melkite Church commemorated the beginning of the new Church year. This tradition of beginning the Church year on 1 September has its roots in the Old Testament. The Feast of Trumpets, which was celebrated on the first day of September (Tishri in the Hebrew calendar), was given by the Lord to Moses so that the people would offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for the bounty of the harvest. In the Book of Numbers, we read that the Lord commanded the Israelites to sacrifice animals without blemish or impurity and to offer the first fruits of grain and wine to Him in thanksgiving for the bounty He had given them. (Num. 29:1-2)

According to later rabbinical traditions, the first day of September was the anniversary of the creation of the world, the beginning of all of God’s blessings. The first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, issued what is called the first "Indiction," the start of a cycle of 15 years, on 1 September 312 A.D. A few years later in 325, the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea adopted the first day of September as the opening of the new Church Year, and this day has been observed in the Eastern Churches ever since.

In the Liturgy of this day, our Church commemorates the beginning of Christ’s public ministry when He entered the synagogue in Nazareth and read these words from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me…to proclaim the Lord’s year of favor." (Luke 4, 18-19) Indeed, every year the Lord gives us is His "year of favor!"

Now, at the start of this new Church year, it is good for us to recall the Lord’s command to Moses to offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. This command of God was not given only for the Israelites. Indeed, this is a sacred duty given to all the children of God: to make a return to the Lord in thanksgiving for the blessings He lavishes upon us.

When a neighbor does us a kindness, do we not feel compelled to offer something in return? There is a lovely custom among some people that whenever a relative or neighbor brings a dish of food to their homes, it is never returned empty. When the dish is returned, it is filled with something just as delicious as that which the grateful recipient had received.

How, then, can we return the overflowing dish our Lord has given us? How can we make a return to the Lord? The Lord Himself gives us the answer… God commanded the Israelites to give Him—not their left-overs or their surplus—rather, God commanded them to give Him their first and choicest fruits. He asks no less of us! This is the way we offer our thanks to God: by making our sacrificial offering to His Body, the Church. And the generosity of our sacrifice to the Church represents the depth of our gratitude to God Himself.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, having just completed my first year as Father and Shepherd of all the Melkite faithful in the United States, I take this opportunity to ask you to offer your sacrifice to Christ by making a generous contribution to our Melkite Catholic Church in America. Christ brought our Melkite Church from the Middle East to America more than one hundred years ago with a specific purpose. He has united us with our brothers and sisters in this country in order to accomplish a particular work. He has given our Church a special mission in America. This mission is to bring to our brothers and sisters the beautiful treasure of our Melkite liturgy and tradition in order to provide them Christ’s rich nourishment to ease their spiritual hunger.

This year I have made the Archbishop’s Appeal to coincide with the beginning of our new Church year in order to remind us of our duty of making a return to the Lord for His abundant goodness to us. During these days you will be receiving in the mail a personal letter asking you to join with me in generous support of the many good works and critical needs of our Melkite Catholic Church in America.

My dear friends in Christ, it is vital that each of us realizes his own personal responsibility for supporting our Church in America. We estimate that there are well over 200,000 Melkites living in the U.S. In our churches, we have about 30,000. I have had requests from Melkites around the country—from Houston, Raleigh, Toledo, Allentown, Tampa, and several areas of California—for Melkite parishes to serve their families. Sadly, there are none in these areas. We must seek out our brothers and sisters and establish new missions and parishes to serve them. They hunger for their spiritual patrimony. At the same time, our fellow citizens of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds—our neighbors and our friends—also need to know the saving truths and traditions of our Melkite Church. Indeed, the Melkite Church is a rich treasure that God gives to all people, not only to those of Arabic descent.

In order to do this, dear friends, we need to foster and encourage vocations to the Holy Priesthood! This year, a portion of the money you donate to the Archbishop’s Appeal will be used to establish a Vocation Fund in order to bring together young men from throughout the Eparchy to help them discern a calling to the Melkite Priesthood. I have no doubt that there are among you today young men serving at our Liturgies whom the Holy Spirit is calling to be Melkite Priests. Ask them, encourage them, support them!

Another portion of the money you donate to the Archbishop’s Appeal will establish a Church Building Fund to transform our current missions into full-fledged Melkite parishes by purchasing land and building our own churches to serve them. We plan to start with San Diego, New Orleans, and Charleston, SC where we already have Melkite Missions that are meeting in Latin churches. This building fund will also be used to open new missions in areas where we have Melkite faithful but no Melkite parish to serve them.

And so, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am asking each Melkite family in every church in our Eparchy to make a donation of at least $100 to the Archbishop’s Appeal. While I know that this represents a sacrifice for some of you, I am also aware that for many others, God has given you the means to give much, much more. To you, I say, please make an offering that represents a true sacrifice for you. Mother Theresa of Calcutta used to say that Christ calls us to give not from our surplus but from our need. This is the kind of giving God assures us He will reward "with good measure flowing over!"

Dear friends, as you can see, our Church in the U.S. can grow tremendously if only we have the financial resources to fund it. Please help me to promote vocations among our young men. Please help me to reach out to our Melkite brothers and sisters and to build up our Church in America.

I ask you to prayerfully read the letter and brochure you will receive from me in the mail and to offer the Lord your own sacrifice of thanksgiving by making the most generous contribution you are capable of to the Archbishop’s Appeal. Return the Lord’s dish filled with your first and choicest fruits. I assure you that your offering will be put to good use and will directly touch the lives of your fellow Melkites.

May Christ, our Divine Benefactor, bless you and your families with every good gift and every perfect grace. May He give growth and vocations to our Melkite Catholic Church in America.

Thank you for joining me is this noble and blessed work of Christ. With my prayers and blessing, I remain,

Your devoted Father and Shepherd,

+ Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros

Eparch of Newton