November 24, 2001

Fr. Aktham and Fr. Ra’ed visiting with family.

Tomorrow is Christ the King Sunday, which has become a weekend focused around youth events in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Tonight there was a Mass for the youth. Abuna Ra'ed Abusahlia, the Chancellor of the Patriarchate and a native son of Zababdeh, preached on the subject of Living Stones, the members of the church who are in the "Holy Land". This is an image with which we have become familiar in our time here, to distinguish between the living church and the sights most often visited by pilgrims, the "Dead Stones" or museum pieces of church history.

At one point in the sermon, Abuna Ra'ed was saying, "We are Christians. We are Arabs." - at which point he was interrupted by one in the congregation who pointed at Marthame. "Nevermind. I will give him Palestinian nationality" was his reply. Of course, this is the same priest who was going to make Marthame a Bishop a few weeks ago...