“DO all we can, and then even more” is Melkite leader Bishop Robert Rabbat’s impassioned plea to Lebanese Australians on behalf of their embattled homeland.
Bishop Rabbat, Eparch of the Melkite Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand, rallied his people to respond in the wake of the August 4 explosion that rocked Beirut killing more than 200 people, injuring more than 6000 and leaving about 300,000 homeless.
He made the plea in a pastoral message to the Melkite Catholics of Australia and New Zealand, many of whom are Lebanese and have family and friends living in Lebanon.
“A week has passed since the disaster took place, yet many are still so disoriented by these events that they are moved to despair, not only of (Beirut) but for the future of the entire nation,” Bishop Rabbat said in the message as Lebanon battles political and economic crises.
“The future will bring what it brings; now there is much to be done, and done urgently.
“As for the future, let us take heed of the Psalmist, ‘Commit your future to the Lord! Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.’ (Psalm 37:5)”
Melkite parish priest of St Clement’s, South Brisbane, Fr Elie Francis and his parishioners are among those responding to the calls to help the people of Lebanon.
“We have lots of relatives and families in Beirut but thank God that we have only one injured, seriously injured, but he is alright now, thank God,” he said.
Fr Francis said the injured man he referred to was a brother of one of his parishioners.
“He lives in Beirut next to the port (where the explosion occurred). And the house, Oh, my God, ruined …,” he said.
“And he was in the house so it was likely he would be injured but now he is alright.
“He’s been released from the hospital, and he is good, thank God.
“All the parishioners they are very worried about their family and their relatives in Lebanon.”
The parish has been collecting donations to add to the Melkites’ appeal across Australia and New Zealand.
Fr Francis said donations would be directed through Red Cross and religious organisations in Lebanon, instead of through the Lebanese Government “because we don’t believe in the Government now”.
He said he and his parishioners had prayed for Lebanon every day in the week leading up to the feast of The Assumption on August 15.
“We’re still praying at every Mass, every prayer time, every meeting,” he said.
His message to the community was to “just keep praying and, please, remember that God always looks after His children”.
“Don’t be scared,” he said.
“God said for us, 365 times in the Bible, ‘Don’t be afraid …’ so we are always under God’s blessing and mercy, and we believe that He will take this situation from the Lebanese and hopefully Lebanon will come back normally as we dream it to be.”
Bishop Rabbat, in his pastoral message, said “our first response must be heartfelt prayer”.
“Indeed, who could view the broadcasts from Beirut and not be moved to tearful prayer,” he said.
“Try to set aside a little time each day to commend the city and its inhabitants to the loving-kindness of the Good Lord.
“On an immediate level, our most pressing task is to bring as much aid, relief and support as possible to the afflicted people of Beirut.
“In both these endeavours – prayer and action – St Augustine of Hippo, advises us, from across the centuries, ‘We must pray because everything depends on God, and we must act as if everything depends on us’.
“It is not healthy, nor is it constructive, for us to look back in grief for our beloved Beirut, rather we must face what has happened, and even from a great distance, we in the Diaspora must do all we can, and then even more.
“I urge all people of good will, mainly all the Australian Children of the Cedars, Lebanese born or long settled, to answer this most urgent appeal of the ancestral homeland.”
