At the parish of Our Lady of the Holy Land in Chicago

In August 2009, I came to Chicago, whereby the founding committee for the establishment of an Arab Catholic parish invited me to celebrate a Holy Mass which I did with pleasure, during which I prayed for the families present from different regions. The beautiful dream that Mr. Majdi Bader and his companions had at the time was to establish a church that would serve a mother church that encompasses at its people. At the time, we prayed fervently for the church to see the light.

This week, namely  in 2024, I accepted the invitation of dear parish priest Fr. Wisam Mansour to participate in the event marking the first anniversary of the parish, which coincides with the celebrations marking  the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross on the following Sunday amidst a large, wonderful, and lively attendance. My dear uncle, Father Manuel Badr, Knight of the Holy Sepulcher, concelebrated the Holy Mass.

These good endeavors are beautiful, the good intentions are noble, and the pioneering dreams are authentic that made the people of this place move with determination-- with the blessing of the Latin Patriarchate in the holiest of cities, namely Jerusalem--from a state of spiritual vacuum to a state of joy by establishing a church and a parish that opens its arms on Sundays and holidays to receive its sons and daughters.

Congratulations and well wishes are conveyed on this fulfillment of the wonderful dream. Furthermore, how beautiful it is for this wonderful parish to be given a dear name, namely "Our Lady of the Holy Land". She is blessed Mary who lived in Her country, or rather our holy country, and whose love our families conveyed to the farthest places, to be the Mother and Intercessor in all places, times, and homelands.

O Our Lady of the Holy Land, pray for us!