Saturday, July 15, 2006
LEBANON COMES CLOSER TO HOME
I will probably never visit Lebanon. I don't know anyone who lives there, even though I do have relatives currently living in the Mid-East. When I see stories about Hezbollah and bombing, I read them like a novel, something happening to someone else in another universe. I don't understand the politics, and I don't necessarily want to. There are so many other problems closer to home vying for my attention. Lebanon, though, came a little closer to Northeast Ohio this afternoon.
A blog reader sent in a request for prayers. I hope she won't mind if I post it here.
Perhaps you know that I am also a Maronite Catholic. The Maronites are from Lebanon, the only Eastern Catholic church named after a saint--St. Maron. The Maronites never separated from Rome. I forward this story from Minneapolis. The priest, Fr. Sharbel Maroun, is a dear friend. Please pray for all the people who are suffering in Lebanon, especially my Maronite brothers and sisters. I will also try to forward a video. Thanks. Alice.
She also sent in this story from the Star Tribune that details the difficulties that tourists are experiencing. My heart went out to this mother:
Maggie Jacobs, 37, a Minneapolis dental hygienist who was born in Lebanon and moved to Minnesota in 1988, returned two weeks ago from a relative's wedding, leaving daughters Antoinette, 17, and Rosie, 14, to visit her parents in Batroun, in more peaceful northern Lebanon. "So far they're OK," she said.
Minnesota Maronite Catholics are people I can relate to, and so the war in Lebanon now has a human face. I have prayed for Fr. Maroun and for his parish. I hope the rest of you will take a moment to do the same.
