Courtesy of Daybreak TV - Our Daily Bread Our Daily Bread host, Fr. Paul D. Seil makes Tabouli with Fr. Georges El-Khalia OF St. John Maron Church in Williamsville

“Our Daily Bread” host Father Paul D. Seil makes tabouli with Father Georges El-Khalia. With Sonia and Wade Badawy, he helps to prepare hummus and kibbi.

The guests are from St. John Maron Parish in Williamsville, as the August episode features some incredibly delicious Lebanese recipes and highlights this Eastern rite Catholic Church. Father El-Khalia is a former pastor at St. John Maron.

While chopping parsley, Father El-Khalia says that the Maronite Church is in full communion with Rome. They began in an area known as the Fertile Crescent, which today comprises the countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel. Their common language is Aramaic, the same language spoken by Christ.

Of all the Eastern rite churches, the Maronite Church is the only one known by the name of a person: St. John Maron. Born in the middle of the fourth century, St. John Maron was a hermit, who attracted many followers by the miracles he worked. The Maronite Church is the only Eastern Church that has always maintained its bonds with Rome.

A priest from Lebanon arrived in Buffalo and organized a Seneca Street parish in 1903. This house of worship, named St. John Maron, was home to 400 Lebanese settlers. Buffalo quickly became the “mother” Maronite Church for the Lebanese people in Western New York, and was the fourth Maronite parish to be established in the United States. The present-day facility was built in Williamsville in 1960.

Join Father Seil in the kitchen as he prepares some traditional Lebanese food on Saturday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 a.m. and noon on WKBW-TV Channel 7.

Visit odbtv.org for more recipes.