NNA - Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, is currently presiding over a Mass service in appreciation of the beatification of the Capuchin fathers, Leonard Owais Melki and Touma Saleh, at St. Anthony Al-Badawani Church in their town in Baabdat.

In his homily, the Patriarch considered that “with the beatification of two Lebanese martyr monks, God addresses, once more, the Lebanese officials, politicians and people, during the difficult circumstances we are living at all levels, calling us to open up to the work of the Holy Spirit.”

“Let us put aside the voices of our personal, factional, partisan and sectarian interests, so that we can hear what the Spirit is telling us. When we all come out of ourselves, the Spirit unites us again as one, under the law of love, truth, freedom, justice and peace, in a homeland that we can then truly consider as “a final homeland for all its children,” al-Rahi said, citing the prelude to the Lebanese Constitution.

“It is not acceptable for political parties to view each other with hostility when the country is in dire need of reconciliation on clear national foundations that stem from Lebanon's constants,” he stressed.

Al-Rahi prayed to the Lord Almighty, on this blessed occasion, to enlighten the minds and consciences and to preserve Lebanon, a land of holiness and one that praises and glorifies the Lord.

=========R.K.