Issued by the Catholic Center for Studies and Media - Jordan. Editor-in-chief Fr. Rif'at Bader - موقع أبونا abouna.org

Published on Monday, 15 July 2019
Sunday Mass at the Chaldean Church of Mar Ith-Alaha in Dahok

Dahok/ en.abouna.org :

Mar Ith-Alaha (God is present) is the name of the Chaldean parish in Dahok. Parish priest Fr. Imad Khoshabeh celebrated Sunday Mass on July 14, 2019 which was concelebrated by Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader, parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Na’our, Jordan.

After reading a passage from the Bible according to Luke on the healing of the hunchbacked woman who was suffering for 18 years, Fr. Bader talked about the issues that devastate humanity and societies nowadays quoting a verse form the Book of Proverbs, which says, “Despondence cause man’s back to bend.”

He said: "Your country, Iraq, had its back bent in the past years, and we are at the start of the fifth anniversary of the forcible displacement of Christians from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, when you welcomed many of them and some of them took refuge in Jordan. The back of Iraq has been bent following the successive wars and the simultaneous decline of Christians. But we must not despair because Lord Jesus who healed the hunchbacked woman is definitely able to heal our homelands and societies, badly damaged by violence and immorality.

After the Mass, the faithful gathered in the monastery garden and greeted the guest priest, Fr. Bader. Tea and sweets were also served.