In opening remarks at 10 a.m. Mass Jan. 29 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said it was “a great pleasure” to be with the congregation in “our Cathedral dedicated to St. Paul, as we, as a parish community, celebrate the great feast of the conversion of St. Paul.”
The feast officially fell days before, but the archbishop said “we have the great privilege of moving it to a Sunday so that we can celebrate with all of you, and most especially with Archbishop Samir Nassar” from Damacus, Syria. “We pray for you and for your Church often, and we ask for your prayers as well,” Archbishop Hebda said to the visiting archbishop.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis formed a partnership with Archbishop Nassar’s diocese through the Center for Mission, which promotes the missionary life of the Church and coordinates support for global mission outreach of the archdiocese. The “Damascus Partnership” was formalized Jan. 25, 2017 — on the feast of the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle — who experienced his conversion on the road to Damascus and is patron of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Jan. 29 Mass used readings from that feast day.
Archbishop Nassar, who leads the Maronite Archeparchy of Damascus, arrived in the Twin Cities Jan. 26 for a weeklong visit that included parishes, a school and private receptions. He concelebrated Mass both at the Cathedral and later that afternoon at a Maronite-rite Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. He visited NET Ministries in West St. Paul Jan. 27, an organization that sends teams of missionaries across the country to lead retreats and other events for youth. During each stop, the faithful were invited to write their name and a message, words of encouragement or a commitment to pray for his archeparchy in a dedicated journal, said Deacon Mickey Friesen, director of the Center for Mission.
During his homily at the Cathedral Mass, Archbishop Hebda said the people of the local Church are blessed to have the example of Paul, “the greatest of persecutors of the early Christians,” as a reminder that “no matter what it is that we’ve done in our lives, that there’s always that possibility of conversion.”
In addition to gratitude for Archbishop Nassar’s friendship, Archbishop Hebda said the archbishop’s presence is a reminder of hope. When he receives cards from Archbishop Nassar, with mentions of bombings and other difficulties affecting Christians in Syria, “there’s always that message of faith and of hope,” he said.
“I think that God would call a very special man to be the bishop in Damascus, a place that is so significant in the life of our Church and certainly in the life of our patron, St. Paul,” he said. “And I’m grateful that (the Lord) called Archbishop Nassar to that position and placed within his heart such great hope.”
In an apparent reference to the Jan. 27 vote by Minnesota Senate Democrats to codify the right to abortion into state law, Archbishop Hebda said the feast of the conversion of St. Paul reminds the faithful that “we can never write anyone off, no matter what they’ve done, what vote they’ve taken, what law they’ve passed. That, indeed, there’s always that possibility of conversion.”
Referring to a 3-by-4-foot icon created to honor the partnership, which depicts St. Paul’s baptism into the Church by St. Ananias, Archbishop Hebda said the icon’s image of the Cathedral and “that famous church in Damascus … where St. Paul would have been baptized” speaks to “the hope that we need to have.”
“It speaks to that desire for conversion in each of our lives and for the recognition of what can happen when, indeed, somebody is able to turn their life over to Christ,” Archbishop Hebda said.
“Having experienced conversion in our own hearts, having recognized the mercy that comes from having a God who forgives our sins, we then go forward, and we share that with others,” Archbishop Hebda said during his homily. “Walking hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in Damascus, let’s commit ourselves on this feast of the conversion of St. Paul to being women and men of conversion, to be women and men of hope, and to always be the bearers of the Gospel.”
The icon, completed in 2021, was blessed and dedicated in late January last year. Archbishop Nassar was unable to travel to the U.S. for the dedication last year because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The icon is mounted on a wall in the baptistry at the back of the Cathedral. Before its permanent mounting, it traveled to several parishes across the archdiocese for viewing. Archbishop Nassar is taking home an 18-by-24-inch copy of the icon that he said will hang in the cathedral in Damascus.
“We’re so grateful to have you here,” Archbishop Hebda said during his homily, addressing Archbishop Nassar. “We’re grateful that this icon will go with you to remind you to pray for us as we pray for you.”
In a light moment near the end of Mass, Archbishop Hebda recalled growing up in Pittsburgh near a Maronite parish, with “many immigrants from Lebanon.”
“We would always tell the … Maronite boys ‘Our Mass is shorter than yours.’ And then they would say, ‘Yes, but in our Mass, we speak the language that Jesus spoke,’ because they speak Aramaic as part of their words of consecration. So, it’s a beautiful tradition in the life of the Church.”
Archbishop Nassar offered brief remarks near the end of Mass, referring to a theme of the faithful spending their lives seeking the answer to “the key question, ‘Who are you, Lord?’” Archbishop Nassar said the recent Archdiocesan Synod and the pastoral letter that followed was one way Archbishop Hebda helped provide the local Church with “a common answer.”
“This is really a very interesting kind of living the Church, living the faith,” Archbishop Nassar said of the Synod.
In contrast, the Church in Syria provides the answer in silence, Archbishop Nassar said. “We have persecution and suffering since many, many years … So, we are a persecuted Church, we are a very little Church,” losing members day after day, he said.
“We show our faith in silence; we cannot evangelize,” Archbishop Nassar said. “We evangelize in (silence) and we die in (silence). That’s why I ask your prayers to think about us. … You live here in America, in paradise,” he said. “So, try to be grateful for your country, for your Church, and you have to support your Church.”
Syrians live with misery, poverty and suffering, Archbishop Nassar said. They lack electricity, fuel, gas and medicine. He encouraged the congregation to support the Church and its clergy.
“We have to pray for them, we have to support them so they can give us more and more — a good answer to ‘Where are you, Lord?’ Amen,” Archbishop Nassar said.
In an interview Jan. 26 about the partnership, Deacon Friesen said, “When you think about all the things that separate us from what’s going on in the life of people in Syria — politically, economically, culturally — our faith finds a way that we can be united. And I just love that.”
Bishops, just like the pope, are signs of unity, Deacon Friesen said. As successors to the apostles, they are signs “that you are united in one faith,” he said.
A reception with Archbishop Nassar followed Mass, where the archbishop was asked what the local faithful can best do to help. “Keep praying,” Archbishop Nassar said. “Pray for us.”
