“When we love our neighbor, when we love our enemy, when we love those who have done us wrong, then and only then can we begin to change hearts and minds.”
On Tuesday, August 25, 2020, His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph gathered with leaders of CAMECT – Christian Arab and Middle Eastern Churches Together – to beseech God to heal His world, including Beirut and all of Lebanon following the explosion there earlier this month that killed hundreds of people and left hundreds of thousands more wounded or homeless.
The leader of the Antiochian Archdiocese preached that Christians must open their minds and hearts – and those of their friends and enemies – “to the idea of seeing the image and likeness of God in our neighbor.”
“The only way we can do that is to let the light of Christ shine through us,” the metropolitan said. “This is what will save Lebanon. This is what will save America. This is what will save the world from death and destruction, racism and bigotry, selfishness and greed.
“Let us together, here tonight, take this message to everyone we know in Lebanon and even here in America as we face political division and social problems of our own. Let us illumine the world with the eternal and brilliant light of Christ so that all may come to eat of the heavenly bread and be satisfied not only for the moment, but for eternity.”
The gathering of Christian leaders at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York also showed the world that they have not forgotten the Lebanese still suffering in the weeks following the explosion.
His Eminence thanks those who have generously donated funds to aid the victims. It is not too late to give. Metropolitan Joseph asks those who have not yet donated to consider a financial gift.
Photo credit: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
