by Maureen Finnegan, Archdiocesan Deputy President Media Officer

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In June and July, I became the unsuspecting host of a priest from the Holy Land, Father Makarios Jerries, who is a Melkite Catholic priest from Haifa.

 

Fr Makarios was unable to return home from Rome at the end of the academic year on account of the conflict between Israel and Iran, and so – at the request of his friend, my grandson Fr James Finnegan, who was doing research in Iraq at the time – I gave Fr Makarios a room in Knotty Ash.

 

Unsurprisingly, I speak no Arabic (or Hebrew), and Fr Makarios – though a very intelligent man – is only just beginning to speak English, so I began to worry at first that he would feel somewhat alone or isolated during his stay with us. Very quickly, however, it became apparent that bonds of love and friendship can be forged without the need for words. Makarios went everywhere with me; to the shops, to the UCM, to visit the sick, even to the dentist! He was happy to go anywhere, to encounter other people, and to share – however he could – his story of being a Christian in the Holy Land. He became so loved and well known by the people who met him, and such was his love for them in return, that he was even convinced at the last minute to come on the archdiocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes.

 

The UCM – as with all Christians – are called to promote the values of family life, and our example should be the Holy Family, once strangers themselves in a foreign land, fleeing danger and violence.

 

My guest this summer reminded me that words are not always necessary to show the face of Christ to the stranger; openness of heart and the courage to encounter and accompany the ‘other’ will allow us to bring the light of Christ to the stranger, and to those who live in darkness.

 

Dates for the diary

Our November bi-monthly Mass is at Blessed Sacrament, Aintree on 12 November, with our next business meeting following on 18 October in the Gibberd Room at the Metropolitan Cathedral (1pm).