Divine Liturgy with His Eminence and Beatitude, Bechara Peter Cardinal
Rai
The Maronite Servants of
Christ the Light attended Divine Liturgy for the Christians of the Middle East on
Thursday, September 11, 2014, at Our Lady of Lebanon Church, Washington DC.
The Liturgy was celebrated by
His Eminence and Beatitude, Bechara Peter Cardinal Rai, our Maronite Patriarch,
and concelebrating were Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, and
his predecessor, Cardinal Emeritus Theodore McCarrick, and Archbishop Carlo
Maria Vigano, Papal Nuncio to the United States, as well as other Catholic leaders
and faithful.
Cardinal Rai was in Washington
DC for the Conference on “Defending the Middle East Christians”, which was
sponsored by an American NGO from September 9 to September 11. Following the
close of the Conference, Cardinal Rai, along with other Eastern Catholic
Patriarchs were granted an interview with the President of the United States to
discuss the dire situation and persecution of the Christians in the Middle
East.
Cardinal Rai mentioned in his
homily during the Divine Liturgy that he, along with the other Patriarchs, were
able to speak with Mr. Obama for approximately 40 minutes and apprise him of
the awful situation that Christians now find themselves in the Middle East in
the wake of the militancy of ISIS.
In celebrating Divine Liturgy,
the Gospel reading was taken from St. John, “…unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a
grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12: 24).
Cardinal Rai paralleled this
Gospel text with the situation of the Christians in the Middle East, that is,
that out of their great sufferings, united with Christ on His Cross on Great
Friday, there will come a Resurrection Sunday. The sufferings of our fellow
Christians in the Middle East will bring new life, just like the grain of
wheat.
Liturgy was followed by a
reception in the hall hosted by Chorbishop, Dominic Ashkar, Pastor of Our Lady
of Lebanon, Washington DC.