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March 12, 2020NORMAN – Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Norman is being spiritually enriched by a relatively new arrival, Father Nabil Mouannes.
The Maronite Rite Catholic church is Father Nabil's latest stop in a unique life journey. Originally from Lebanon, he has seen violence and bombings first-hand in the Middle East nation. At one time, the turmoil made him question his faith. Those days are long over.
Today, Father Nabil, 62, is a great ambassador for Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith. He is in his fourth month at Our Lady of Lebanon Catholic Church and is very pleased to be in Oklahoma.
"The people here are so wonderful. They are so very nice," he said.
As shepherd of Our Lady of Lebanon, he works with a smaller congregation of some 40 families. The congregation first met in 2007 and moved into their building at 500 Alameda in Norman in 2008.
"We are very family oriented here," parishioner Danette Mondalek said. "I love it here. We also have a ridiculous amount of dinners," she said and laughed.
Regarding Father Nabil, she said, "He is so full of energy and very devout."
Archbishop Coakley said some Catholics may not be aware that there are different rites within the faith. The Latin Rite is the largest, but there are other rites with their own liturgical and spiritual traditions.
The archbishop explained the liturgy of Our Lady of Lebanon, the Maronite Rite, is a bit different from Latin Rite. Yet, they both are Catholic.
"They are in full communion with Rome," Archbishop Coakley said.
This past year, the parish expressed its solidarity with Christians in Lebanon who are experiencing challenges with violence and conflicts with some Muslim sects.
Father Nabil witnessed some of that violence in the early 1980s during a civil war. He was aghast at the horrors inflicted against innocent people. In 1983, a year before he was ordained, Father Nabil's doubts came to the surface.
"I couldn't understand why so many innocent people were being hurt," he said.
He asked God to give him a sign to continue his road to the priesthood. During this time, he experienced bombings and rocket attacks in his community, and was hit by a car, but was not harmed. While fleeing a bombing with his family, his car was falling off a bridge and somehow “came back up.”
His uncle convinced him these were signs from God and there was no other reason why he was still alive.
That was enough to convince him to be ordained on Sept. 16, 1984. He studied in France and then came to the United States in 1992.
At Our Lady of Lebanon, he is dedicating special services for the safety of Christians still persecuted in Lebanon as well as for the consecration of the Blessed Mother. This month, he will celebrate a healing Mass and prayers will be offered for those suffering from the coronavirus.
The motto of Father Nabil best sums up the man.
"Smile and the whole world will smile with you."
Steve Gust is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Our Lady of Lebanon Catholic Church
maroniteok.org
(405) 321-3097
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