Télé Lumière Prays for the South of Lebanon and Offers Meditations Rejecting War and Calling for Love and Peace
You can find a photo album at the end of the text.
In conjunction with Christmas, and amidst the harsh developments that the South of Lebanon is suffering from, causing harm to families and towns, and in light of fears of how the situation will evolve in the next stage, Télé Lumière-Noursat TV station held an Ecumenical Prayer lead by a group of Bishops and Priests from all Churches, on the intention of peace in the South of Lebanon, in Saint Maron Church – Bauchrieh.
Participants in the Prayer were also the General Manager of Télé Lumière and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Noursat Mr. Jack El Kallassi, and the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, Télé Lumière - Noursat Family.
The Service began with a welcome speech addressed by the Director of Nour Al Chark Media Channel Marie-Therese Bacha Hnein, which was followed by some reflections delivered by their Eminences the Bishops and the Priests, reflecting love, peace, harmony, and the rejection of violence, fundamentalism, and extremism.
Afterwards, Mr. Jack El Kallassi, the General Manager of Télé Lumière and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Noursat, delivered a speech that within the framework of a Prayer that carried a lot of hope and condolence, and he said: “
O Lord, we pray for the corrupt, the tyrants, the enslaved, the criminals and the murderers, so that darkness becomes light in them. We pray for the end of violence, hatred and ashes. We pray, O Lord, for the end of destruction, weapons, incitement and devastation. We pray for the eradication of fossilized fundamentalism and for the Lord to enlighten the mind of Man.”
At the end, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs delivered a speech entitled “The Ecumenical Fortification of Vulnerable Areas... Rather, of the Homeland,” and said:”
This small homeland, which the entire world yearns for, and which was envied by most of the peoples of the earth, fell five decades ago into a quagmire of divisions, conflicts, and internal and external wars, with the accompanying decline at the general levels: moral, economic, social, and political, of course.
Those who killed Lebanon at that time killed a universal model that humanity yearns for today in light of the international movement of peoples and the mixing of nationalities, races, ethnicities, religions, political affiliations, and other dimensions of diversity and difference. […]
Despite all this, Lebanon remains the homeland and the message[...]
Our people in the South, who are steadfast in every sense, on the borders of an occupation that casted a shadow on the people of Palestine for three-quarters of a century, and which sometimes tries to extend to us, and tries to steal some of what is ours, represent the Lebanese miracle and the doctrine of a life raised from the ashes.
How many times, throughout our modern history, have our people in the South suffered from wars, aggressions, destruction, and displacement, despite their steadfastness and, most often, their silent resistance?
The human bleeding that the South suffered from wasn’t been suffered by any other region, no matter how neglected it was. Yes, there are those who persevere, regardless of the sacrifices, and there are those who [...] migrate. As they turn their migration into steadfastness in a different way, by supporting those who remain and through reconstruction and development of the region by their production abroad, a prelude to his return, albeit intermittently.
It is belonging to the land, the homeland, and history, before whom sacrifices are permitted. They are the roots that refuse to be uprooted, clinging to an identity that cannot be replaced by anything.
Our history in the Middle East Council of Churches is long in solidarity with the South, and even in supporting its steadfastness to the utmost limits and with all our capabilities” ... as well as the projects that we have implemented and are implementing there indicate that. [The Secretary General’s full speech will be published in the Momentum issue, on Wednesday 03.12. 2024].
Moreover, the Prayer included hymns performed by members of the choir of in Saint Maron Church – Bauchrieh.
