Adam Plomaritas and
Adam Plomaritas and Christina Thomashefski perform music as Fr. Andrew Seba says mass singing his praises ‘Ignite the Spirit’ makes beautiful music BY VANESSA DENHA GARMO Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth. — Psalm 96.9 Give unto the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. — Psalm 29:2 It is a form of prayer and worship common in the Protestant and Evangelical Christian circles and now Catholics are participating in this devotion. The Eastern Catholic Re-evangelization Center ministry (ECRC) is among those Catholics. This year, they introduced a new program, Ignite the Spirit, “which is essentially a Eucharistic prayer service that allows us to pray in a different way, through the gift of music,” said Spencer Sandiha, organizer of the program and an ECRC board member. Fadi Attisha, video director of Mar Toma Chaldean Catholic Productions, brought the idea to the ECRC board and was confident the community would respond. “It is such an inspirational way to praise God,” said Attisha. “As a video director, I have filmed this kind of worship in Protestant groups and there is no reason we as Catholics can’t do the same.” A committee was created and on the last Friday of every month at 7 p.m. musicians lead the attendees in song and meditation. “This program is simply a different form of prayer where all are invited to come to adoration and be moved through live music,” said Sandiha. Attisha is also producing a television series on the program to air on Catholic stations around the globe as a Mar Toma program. “You can really feel God’s presence when you praise and worship Him,” said Attisha. “The Holy Spirit is all over the place and people are moved to stand up, lift their hands high and sing.” Ignite the Spirit features a live band including guitarists, drummers, violinists, pianists and other musicians. “We start off in silent adoration and through the night we have various forms of music, various forms of instruments, various forms of prayer and mediations, but most importantly we are in the presence of Jesus Christ Himself, in the Eucharist,” said Sandiha. The program is geared towards a diverse audience — youth, elderly and everyone in between. “We want anyone who yearns to grow closer to the Lord and an audience who really want to understand and feel His presence in their hearts,” said Sandiha. The ECRC committee is also establishing its own Praise and Worship band that will perform at every Ignite the Spirit event. “A lot of people are intimidated by new things and new ways of prayer,” said Sandiha. “It’s more comfortable to stay in our own little quiet comfort zones, but Jesus really calls us to grow closer to Him and if we aren’t doing everything we can to grow with Him, frankly we aren’t doing enough.” Aware that most people will be hesitant to stand up and praise the Lord in music, Sandiha is asking everyone to give it a try at least one time. “I encourage everyone to give Ignite the Spirit a shot to assist you in your relationship with Jesus,” said Sandiha. “As St. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians, ‘Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.’” 24 CHALDEAN NEWS JUNE 2015
the highest journey San Diego has two new priests BY BIANCA KASAWDISH History was recently made at St. Peter Cathedral in San Diego as the first two seminarians of Mar Abba the Great were ordained priests. In attendance were five bishops and more than a dozen priests, along with so many faithful friends and family that many were left standing or watching a live stream. Although both were born and raised in San Diego, Fr. Simon Esshaki and Fr. Ankido Sipo were cut from very different cloth. Fr. Simon Esshaki: A Call from God Fr. Simon Esshaki, 23, was raised very close to the church by parents who taught him and his two sisters everything they could about Jesus. He joined the seminary at 17 years old, and his father, Deacon Keith Esshaki, was his main influence to become a priest. One of the main things that got him discerning the priesthood was meeting Fr. Andy Younan, rector of the Seminary of Mar Abba the Great. “When he first came, it was the first time that I could relate to a priest. There was one time in Bible study where he was talking about how he played video games. It was at that moment that I realized that priests were ‘normal’ people just like everybody else. Through my interaction with Fr. Andy and seeing how happy he was as a priest, the priesthood became really attractive to me,” said Fr. Simon. He had another moment on a visit to Michigan while speaking to a good friend of his father’s, now Bishop Francis Kalabat, who told him to open his heart to God and be ready for whatever it was that He wanted him to do, whether it was marriage or the priesthood. “From that point on, I asked God what He wanted of my life, and fully trusted in Him. I found that God was calling me to the priesthood,” said Fr. Simon. Fr. Simon said his journey to priesthood was the best time of his life as he grew to love his brother seminarians and grew closer to Christ. The more time passed, the more excited he became to finally become a priest. Now, he said, he feels like he is living in a dream as he looks forward to a lifetime of service to God and his church. “I love being with people in the most important moments of their life. The priest shares the joys of people’s lives and also the sorrows,” he said. “It is truly an honor and a grace from God that He has allowed me to be a priest and be so close to His people.” New priests Ankido Sipo and Simon Esshaki flank Bishop Sarhad Jammo. Fr. Ankido Sipo: Filling Up Heaven In contrast, Fr. Ankido Sipo, 28, was planning on becoming a professional tennis player after high school, but quickly found it wasn’t worth giving up so much for. He went on to become a personal banker for almost three years until he joined the seminary. He was also inspired by Fr. Andy. “Watching what he has done in the community, and especially in my own life, made me want to do the same for others,” said Fr. Ankido. Through his journey, he said, he learned virtue and what it means to give up his own desires to fulfill the needs of others — to be a spiritual father, which required much patience. When asked about his heroes, he said, “A hero is someone ready and willing to first know the needs of others and then to fulfill those needs, and is willing to be unrecognized for doing it. This person would have to be like God and leading others towards God since he would know that God is the ultimate source of our happiness and would know how to give God to others.” Fr. Ankido said the joys of being a religious leader have been the little things that usually go unnoticed. “For example, seeing the excitement on a child’s face when they hear about God’s love for them, watching a community come together on a feast of Our Lady to celebrate God’s work in our heavenly Mother, or hearing the sigh of relief upon forgiving the sins of a penitent,” he said. Fr. Ankido said we can promote vocations by being a people worth sacrificing so much for, by being open to holiness and to transcendence. Being true and honest, looking for the real good of the other, and exposing superficial things for what they are, he said, may lead others to see that life is deeper than what most believe. When they search for this depth, he said, they just may end up in a seminary or convent. “Young people need to stay involved in the Church and open their hearts to God, being ready to serve Him and His Church in whatever way He wants. That’s how happiness comes, when we are completely open to the will of God,” said Fr Simon. “All I can achieve in the priesthood is through the grace of God, because it is through Him that people can change their lives; I am just His instrument.” Said Fr. Ankido, “I want to fill up heaven with Chaldeans united around Christ in His holy church.” JUNE 2015 CHALDEAN NEWS 25
