Our Lady of Soufanieh

Dear Friends,

Sometimes it is hard to find the words that are in your heart, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

Borrowing from my friend Stephanie Georgieff's theme on Madonna's, I found this image of Mary and Child. Mary appeared 3 times in this town outside Damascus in recent times. The yellow that you see in the picture is olive oil weeping from the picture.

Christianity is only represented by about 10% of the population in Syria, which makes this image even more special. From the New Testament, we know that both Saint Paul and Saint Thomas visited this area. From the Old Testament, Abraham is a well known and revered name.

We here in Canada are preparing to welcome 25,000 refugees from Syria in the coming months and I thought it would be interesting to give just a snippet of information. Syrian culture goes back thousands of years, and is thought to be as important to history as Egyptian.

What does the name Damascus bring up for you? Silk, of course, as it was on the famous Silk Road. In terms of cuisine, think coffee, hummus, baklava, tabbouleh and shish kebab.

The current troubles in Syria arose because of suppression of pro-democratic parties. It means that millions of people have been displaced. Imagine having to leave behind not just your belongings but in a way, your cultural heritage. These are ordinary people who now must learn a whole new way of life and adapt to a completely different climate. One might call it a modern day Exodus.

We have a proud history of welcoming people from all over the world and respecting their beliefs and culture - it is why we call it The Canadian Mosaic. It won't be easy, but I believe we will benefit in ways we cannot even imagine.

The words of the Epistle from Michaelmas, which I have heard for many years have never been truer or more relevant than today. We can and will extend the hand of friendship.

Sparky