Loving Leo in Lebanon

What a shot in the arm, to put it mildly, the just-concluded papal trip to Lebanon has been.

You’d have thought the pontiff was a rock star.

And as much as I love the pope and his midwestern charm, it’s not about Leo. After all, we still barely know him, in many ways.

But Lebanon is a disastrous failure. And the pope making the time for the Christians there, especially, is a great comfort and encouragement. I think of when Francis visited Iraq. Long-suffering people who are sticking it out in the land of their birth are reminded that they are loved and not forgotten and there is hope — even in this valley of tears, as we (maybe especially the Irish) like to say.

For the rest of us, it is an awesome opportunity to see the beauty of Maronite Catholicism — the church’s Eastern lung on display, as John Paul II might have put it. Leo’s first stop was to pray at the tomb of the beloved monk St. Charbel Makhlouf, who died in 1898, sometimes described by Westerners as the Lebanese Padre Pio, a beloved saint and intercessor.

I always love when the frenzied media stops for a moment on a place and subject of such mystic quiet. It doesn’t happen often.

Leo, at Monastery of Saint Maroun in Annaya, where St. Charbel’s remains are, said:

The Holy Spirit formed him so that he could teach those who live without God how to pray, those who live immersed in noise how to be silent, those who live ostentatiously how to be modest, and those who seek riches how to be poor. All of these behaviors are counter-cultural, yet, that is precisely why they attract us, just like fresh, pure water draws those walking in the desert. . . .

Saint Charbel has never ceased to intercede for us before our Heavenly Father, the source of every good and grace. Even during his earthly life, many went to him to receive comfort, forgiveness and advice from the Lord. After Saint Charbel’s death, his work multiplied and became like a river of mercy. . . .

Sisters and brothers, today we entrust to Saint Charbel’s intercession the needs of the Church, Lebanon and the world. For the Church, we ask for communion and unity, beginning with families who are small domestic churches, then parish and diocesan communities, and finally for the universal Church. Communion and unity. For the world, we ask for peace. We especially implore it for Lebanon and for the entire Levant. But we know well – and the saints remind us – that there is no peace without conversion of hearts. May Saint Charbel, therefore, help us to turn to God and ask for the gift of conversion for all of us.

Quick fun sidebar parochial fact about Charbel: In the madness of midtown Manhattan — especially this time of year, pray for us — if you stand at the front entryway of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, you can see the mosaic of St. Charbel all the way in the front, a chapel Cardinal Dolan added in recent years, especially to remember persecuted Christians.

On this trip, the pope has been visibly moved by the gratitude and enthusiasm of the people more than once. And in clips, you can see why:

To young people, he said yesterday:

Perhaps you regret inheriting a world torn apart by wars and disfigured by social injustice. Yet there is hope, and there is hope within you! You have a gift that many times we adults seem to have lost. You have hope! You have time! You have more time to dream, to plan and to do good. You are the present, and the future is already taking shape in your hands! You have the enthusiasm to change the course of history! The true opposition to evil is not evil, but love — a love capable of healing one’s own wounds while also caring for the wounds of others.

At the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, he beautifully said:

We see the face of Jesus reflected in those who suffer and in those who mend the wounds that life has caused.

You can read his homily from Mass this morning here, where he talked about how one can have gratitude and give praise to God where there are so many reasons for disillusionment:

As with all papal apostolic journeys, there are the implications for the Church and the people and culture and politics on the ground. And there are also the messages for the conversion of hearts the world over.