Dear friends,

Amidst all the hurdles of the war and the alteration between fear and hope, with prayerful thoughts to the Lord to show his control of events in the Middle East. The war in Gaza continues with apparently no intention to stop the fire. Thus, everyday we still witness the horrors of massacres and the scene of children of men and women killed with cold brutality.

In fact, we are affected, we feel depressed, we hate to watch our TV, we are bound and become almost enslaved to watch the horrors just around us. We are forgetting our own plight and the imposed reality of financing the war with our money, while we are kept alone and isolated looking for a solution to continue spreading the message of peace and reconciliation.

We have hoped that the United States could have a serious impact in stopping the war, but it appears apparently that the USA is not able and is not qualified to have a serious pressure on both parties. In fact, we are poor guys, we don’t understand how a third party continues providing weapons and nonetheless, pretends to be a mediator for peace.

All this is over our understanding. The only thing we can do besides praying is asking questions: Why? Until when? What have done to the children that are daily massacred? What is the responsibility of children, men and women to be condemned to starvation? All that is so absurd, we don’t have any hope in any political human power.  

We need a strong faith to keep believing that the boat of humanity will not sink to perdition. We still believe in God, and more than ever before we are convinced, in the power of the Commandments of God and the vital need for survival “to love our neighbor as ourselves” with an important addition or rather a clarification, “to love our enemy, to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who hurt us”.

Soon, within a few days we shall open the 42 scholastic year at Mar Elias Educational Institutions. We shall open with the gathering of all our students together. We shall tell them that a year passed and another begins, and we are called to impact our society with hope wishing the recognition of the respect and the dignity of everybody.

We shall tell them that we are not condemned to live with our diversity, but we are privileged to have the opportunity to share our lives with others who might have a different view, but we have the obligation to create unity within our diversity. It would be so poor to live isolated as Christians or Muslims or Druze or Jews, each apart. There is nothing more precious, more enriching, more elevating than our togetherness.

I appeal to you friends of Ibillin to continue providing us with your friendship and your prayers. I must tell you that Pilgrims of Ibillin are trying their best to be of real assistance for us to fill the gap resulting from the drastic cuts imposed on us by the authority in order to finance a war we don’t want.

Please continue praying for us, you are extremely important because you represent for us the beautiful face of America which does not side with one side against the other.

I am particularly happy that God willing I will be with you in the US and we would have a thorough exchange of our experiences. Meanwhile, I wish you the very best, peace and happiness.

Yours Fraternally,

Abuna Elias Chacour
Archbishop Emeritus of Galilee