Beirut, October 19, 2024. The Lebanese capital was in turmoil as Israeli missiles had again struck the city's southern neighborhoods during the night, while the war continues. However, a group of seven friends chose not to hole up at home and get in the car. The Charfe monastery was a half-hour drive, where Monsignor Jules Boutros was waiting for them.

“We decided to hold the Beginning Day of the Lebanese Communion and Liberation community anyway, despite the war, because we felt a strong need to come together and address the hardship and pain of these days,” says Roni Rameh, a long-standing member of the movement in Lebanon. Due to the circumstances, not everyone could come, but “we all experience a deep communion.”

The day was very simple. The bishop's lesson focused on hope, taking up the text of the Fraternity Exercises preached by Monsignor Giovanni Paccosi, followed by an assembly and Mass. To put God back at the center of everything. “Putting Him back at the center is the most precious thing we can do,” says Monsignor Boutros. “That is why I chose the theme of hope, and the reference to the symbol of the anchor seemed very pertinent to me. Indeed, as the text of the Exercises says, hope is like an anchor because it does not eliminate storms, but it establishes a stable point, which does not yield to bad weather. As I looked at the faces of those present, it was clear to me: either our hope is firmly anchored in God, or dark and dangerous thoughts take over during the day, such as the fear of bombs and disease, the difficulty of seeing a solution to Lebanon's countless problems, the lack of prospects for the younger generation.”



In fact, it was young people who did not miss the event. Among them was Marcello, who shares, “I went to the Beginning Day with a big question, because it is hard to face what Lebanon is going through. Where does our true hope lie?” It is not an abstract question. The war has worsened the already complicated Lebanese situation: there are not enough spaces to house displaced people, hospitals are collapsing, the economic and political crises race towards disaster while rockets rain down from both sides.

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Being in your early 20s in this chaos cannot be easy. “The bishop's lesson and the assembly served to remind me that if we lean on God, everything can be carried in trust. Even war. I used to envy, but also did not understand, my peers I met in Europe while I was studying: they have everything and are often sad or unhappy. Today, we are called to experience difficult times, but we have a hope stronger than anything because it rests on Christ, and I can count on many friends to help me remember that.”