Restoration
Posted September 21, 2005:
A Prophet in Action
by Fr. John Catoir (1969).
Having just returned from a visit to Israel, I thought I might report some of my impressions. In a land so permeated with a sense of the holy, it is a sad fact that hatred is thriving—of Arab for Jew and of Jew for Arab. But in the midst of this hatred, one prophetic voice is speaking forthrightly to both sides—Archbishop Raya, bishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee.
Born in Lebanon, he is an Arab to the tip of his beard, and we were privileged to be his guest during our visit. He is a man of extraordinary power and authenticity.
To understand his influence, one must first realize that Arabs live in a patriarchal milieu. Among the Arab-speaking citizens of Israel, there are Christians, Muslems, Druze, and other smaller groups. The vast majority of the Christians are Melkite Catholics, in union with Rome, under Archbishop Raya.
The non-Christian Arabs have no comparable headmen, and this puts them at a distinct disadvantage both politically and psychologically. Consequently they turn to the Melkite archbishop, the most important Arab in the country, as their spokesman.
What impressed me most about him was his absolute and total commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When he first arrived, he gave a speech on television calling upon all the Arab people to put down their hatred for the Jews, to follow the teaching of Christ and pursue the thorny path of brotherhood.
In the next breath, he challenged the Israeli government to rectify the injustices done to the Arab refugees, to return their lands, to provide shelter for the homeless and food for the hungry.
Each side was stung by his reproach, and passions ride high in this country of deadly enemies.
It is one thing to make a speech and then go into hiding, but Archbishop Raya has been speaking continually since he arrived. I was with him in a tiny village where countless Arab refugees had migrated years before, filling every corner of available shelter to the point of bursting. These people have been driven from their land and have remained virtually homeless since 1948.
They are in no mood for brotherhood talks, but the archbishop in full authority commands them to stop hating the Jews, to purge their hearts of hatred and contention which breeds only misery and further suffering.
At the closing session of the Israeli parliament he thundered to the Jewish representatives, alternating between French, Arabic, and English for all to understand, that they have done to the Arabs some of the very same things they themselves lament so bitterly in their own history of persecution.
It is quite a thing to see a living prophet in action, challenging the inflamed passions of ancient enemies.
Excerpted from an article by a former director of the Christophers, who is also a friend of Madonna House.
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