Earlier today I was with members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Eohsj Eastern Lieutenancy) as we joined with Good Shepherd Parish (Yonkers, NY) and His Beatitude, Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM. It the occasion for a pastoral visit to the Arab Latin Catholic Community at which time a group of the children of the parish received the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion.
It was an exceptional afternoon to be with our Lieutenant, Her Excellency Vicki Downey. Our work as members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre is to support the work of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem البطريركية اللاتينية في القدس , and by extension the communities here.
Nice to have met Father Davide Meli and Abouna Fares Hattar.
The Good Shepherd Community is one of two communities of Arab Catholics in Yonkers, NY. The other being the Christ The Savior Melkite Church (FrMusil Shihadeh). Too many think of the Arab community being Muslim but in reality there are Christian faith communities dating back to the time of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.