JORDAN - On Saturday, May 15, 2021, Bishop William Shomali, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan, celebrated Holy Mass at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Tla' Al-'Ali, during which the Union of Religious Congregations celebrated the silver and golden jubilees of priestly ordinations as well as permanent vows of several religious men and women.

Concelebrating were Patriarch Fouad Twal, Franciscan Fr. Rashid Mistrih, Fr. Dr. Rif'at Bader, parish priest, in the presence of Sr. Michelin Maalouf, Chancellor-General of the Rosary Sisters, several religious men and women, and the faithful.

Sr. Cecil Hijazin, president of the Union of Religious Congregations, said that the encounter before the altar of the Lord is to celebrate the golden jubilee of the ordination of Fr. Farah Hijazin and the profession of vows by Sister Carmela Dal Barco. She added that the celebration marks the silver jubilee of Fr. Rif'at Bader, Fr. Bashir Bader, Sr. Clara Mu'asher, consecrated Sawsan Qub'ain, Sr. Majida Haddad, Sr. Nadine Sha'ban, Sr. Hanadi Jouri, as well as the pronunciation of the permanent vows by Sr. Athar Shima, Sr. Afaf Jamal, and Sr. Sawsan Yousef.

In his homily, Bishop Shomali focused on the verb "to choose" noting that it is repeated 19 times in the New Testament as the Lord chooses the Church to be "the salt of Earth and the light of the world".

He added: “Humanity is also chosen because Jesus died for all just as He chose the twelve disciples, loved them, taught them, and sent them to sow the seeds of His teachings. In today's reading (Acts 1: 15-26), the apostles prayed together so that God would choose one of them to take the place of Judah. Later, it became clear that the Lord wanted Saint Mathew who was remembered yesterday."

He concluded: “We are meeting today to thank God and praise Him for the free grace of choosing us. He chose a path for each one of us, leading to free salvation. Therefore, let us ask Him to protect us in this world so that we become witnesses of His resurrection and love, and builders of His Church through our righteous journey.”