Holy Week Greeting from Taybeh, Palestine

[Raised in Denver, Dr. Maria Khoury returned to the family village of Taybeh, Palestine, with her husband after the Oslo Accords in 1993. They wanted to boost the economy and raise their children with centuries-old Palestinian Christian values and traditions. Today’s meditation consists of excerpts from her Holy Week greeting from Taybeh. Read the entire message on her blog.]

Reflecting upon my favorite champions of the Church is the easiest of all tasks while I am sitting in the middle of the wilderness. However, it has turned into a lifelong journey to understand these holy people of God and to even attempt to be like them in the smallest way.

As I mentioned many times, I live in a world that has other champions, and this month, the local Palestinian female hero is Hana Al-Shalaby, who has gone way beyond 35 days on hunger strike and near death to protest her unlawful kidnapping and being held in “administrative detention” by the Israeli army.

As much as I try not to be of this world but to live in this world, and survive my own strange world, the evil one continues to play with my mind. When I feel extra sorry for myself for living in the middle of nowhere, I just stare down at the Jordan Valley where St. Mary of Egypt spent more than forty years of her life seeking forgiveness from God, and I figure, if she survived having absolutely no materialist things, maybe I can somehow manage with running water only twice a week, unstable electricity, and total occupation with no freedom of movement whatsoever. I am sure we are all familiar that one must suffer to know God and to gain gifts of the holy spirit.

Since I live in the highest mountain region of Palestine, the West Bank of the Jordan River, not only do I see the Jordan Valley but so many other things like the lights shining at night from Jerusalem reminding me that Christ is the True Light of the world with the promise of eternal life. His holy resurrection took place in this holy city where ongoing bloodshed, hostility, and violence continue until this day. However, Christ always reminds us of true justice, and He always stood with the oppressed. Thus, we, as Christian people, remain peaceful and wait for a just peace.

…..Most people know the story of St. Mary of Egypt well since she walked the streets of Alexandria because she left her parents when she was twelve and sold her body for pleasure and money, but in today’s Middle East culture, she would have been a victim of honor killing for bringing shame to her family. She did not come to the Holy Land for a spiritual experience but saw pilgrims getting on the boat for the Holy Land and came just for the fun of it. Little did she know at possibly eighteen years of age that this would be the life-changing experience she never planned. If God is working in your life, I bet you are doing so many things you never planned on doing.

Did she ever think that she would be a spiritual ambassador? My children still cannot believe it, and they become adults. I remember every April 1^st the joke was, "ok, Mom, if St. Mary of Egypt is really a saint, why did the Church assign her to be remembered on April Fools’ Day?" Well, so goes the conversation again of trying to look down and see the Jordan Valley with a vision not of what we were, but of what we want to be in this lifetime and for eternity. Not sure I have taught my children to be faithful servants of God, but surely this is what St. Mary of Egypt has taught me. I do not know how she lived in the middle of no man's land without absolutely anything, but the grace of God was sufficient for her…..

May we be enlightened to recognize our Lord and Savior and partake of the Bread of Life as St. Mary of Egypt. May this holy resurrection we are about to experience at the glorious Pascha be a life-changing experience for all of us to know the truth. St. Sophronius indicated that God will work amazing miracles and generously bestow gifts on those who turn to Him with faith, who hear, read, and seek light for themselves in the story of St. Mary of Egypt, surely for me, the ultimate champion in reflecting forgiveness….

God of all grace and goodness, we thank you for your saints, who show us your way. Amen.