The international Faith and Light movement divided Italy into three provinces: North, Center, and South. The North was paired with the province of Galilee. That's why Angela Grassi, coordinator of the Northern province, and Marco Bove, spiritual assistant, were accompanied by Lucia Casella, vice-coordinator of the movement internationally, to Galilee from January 11–18 to meet the emerging Faith and Light community and to forge new and unexpected bonds of friendship.
Conflicts, enemy peoples, wars between religions. We have some idea of these things, but we don't truly know what it means to live amid such tensions. In Israel, they know all too well. It has been this way for decades. Yet Faith and Light is capable of kindling hope even in the midst of all this.
Eight years ago, thanks to Sister Aida, a Lebanese Franciscan, a small group was born in Maghar, in Galilee, thirty kilometers from Nazareth. It brings together families with disabled young people and friends seeking to live the spirituality of Faith and Light. Maghar has twenty thousand inhabitants, five thousand of them Christian. There is a church and Greek Catholic priests. But they must contend with the Druze and Muslims, who years ago set fire to Christian homes and buildings. The sisters risked their lives, as everyone did. Later, facing insuperable difficulties, they relocated elsewhere. The community lost strength and hope. Without the sisters, all seemed lost. Fortunately, it was not.
Meanwhile, not far away in Eilaboun, a young sister from the Nazareth congregation took up the message of Faith and Light. Sister Camelia, working alongside Sister Wardeh—much older but equally filled with energy and love—is Lebanese, as is her companion. For six years, their house has been an anchor for the roughly thirty-five hundred Christians of Eilaboun, who live alongside fifteen hundred Muslims. The sisters organize catechesis in nearby villages, visit families, and represent the Church. The pastor, Greek Catholic Father Maroun, comes from Cana to say Mass on Thursday and Sunday.
The church bells ring few times, while the muezzin calls Muslims to prayer five times a day. Even here, where inter-religious relations are better, it is not easy to live Christian faith.
In 2008, Lucia Casella visited both groups. Now we return to Eilaboun from the Northern Italian province, which was paired with Galilee because maintaining contact with neighboring countries has become difficult due to constant political and religious tensions. Those of us from Lombardy, Piedmont, the Valley of Aosta, and Veneto had chosen to call ourselves "The Great River," thinking of the Po. We could not ignore the thirst for peace that marks our friends in Israel. So our province became "A River of Peace."
In Eilaboun, where everyone speaks Arabic and the sisters interpreted for us in French, we found a vibrant community, marked by solid spiritual strength. At our first gathering, at Sammaher's house—she was celebrating her birthday—we asked the young people what they wanted to do with us. The first thing they thought of was prayer. The next day, in the parish hall, we prayed before beautiful icons. As each person passed a candle from hand to hand, they offered their intention or sat in silence for a moment. We felt how deeply this gesture, repeated at every meeting, had strengthened their bonds.
For four days straight, families gathered to be with us, delighted to have us as guests. Don Marco offered a reflection on the parable of the mustard seed, a symbol of friendship planted in the heart of the community. It gave us a chance to clarify which difficulties hinder the seed's growth and what fruits have been born and are ripening.
It became clear that parents and young people—friends, sadly, are few—fear that the sisters of Eilaboun, too, will be transferred. They are afraid they cannot manage alone. After a long reflection on their gifts (many), on the fears and difficulties that emerged, and on each person's responsibility in keeping the community alive, two important steps were taken: the community gave itself a name, St. George in Eilaboun, and Lucia appointed a team to animate and support the group, pending official recognition as a Faith and Light community. A mother, two young women, two friends, and Father Maroun said yes, along with Sister Camelia. Everyone pledged to "be good soil that receives the seed of friendship," to deepen the Charter, and to use the Road Map. Our promise was to return for the election of the community coordinator.
In Maghar we met some women—mostly very young and already mothers—ready to dedicate themselves to young people with disabilities. "This is a true family; charity unites us," they told us. A powerful sign. The group wants to grow stronger, though it still needs to deepen its understanding of Faith and Light spirituality. The path here requires more time. But hope is firmly rooted that we will recognize this community too one day. From Maghar, as from Eilaboun, someone will travel to Italy in 2011 to celebrate with our province the fortieth anniversary of Faith and Light.
The seeds grow. They will bear excellent fruit.