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Pre-Christmas joy spread in Beirut among Christian and Muslim youth

"Jesus wants us to help people, especially at Christmas," added Thea Rizkallah, 8 years old.

Pre-Christmas joy spread in Beirut among Christian and Muslim youthO

n a gloomy, rainy Saturday morning in Beirut, 92 years old Julia happily greeted her friends, both Christian and Muslim, who had come to set up a Christmas tree in her modest apartment.

“Well done. I love you, “she told her friends, each of whom greeted the beaming woman with kisses before breaking out in a” Jingle Bells “chorus.

Julia, a Catholic Maronite, was one of 10 recipients on Dec. 8 of a poor elderly Christmas tree decoration project that put together Lebanese volunteers from the Knights of Malta, a Catholic organisation, and “Who is Hussein,” a Muslim Shiite group, as well as Girl Guides affiliated with St. Vincent de Paul’s local community.

Julia, widowed for 40 years, had spent her career as a homemaker. She lives with her unmarried 66-year-old son, Nicholas, who is having trouble finding work as a house painter in his trade.

Lebanon doesn’t have government-sponsored programs for the vulnerable. Julia is one of the recipients of the Elderly Guardianship Program of the Knights of Malta Lebanon, in which the youth volunteers of the order visit elderly people’s homes on a monthly basis.

And on this day, Julia was gleefully basking in the royal treatment, seated by her street-level balcony window, while her guests vigorously displayed teamwork: planting the tree, untangling and adding lights and displaying brilliantly decorated decorations, singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.”

“Jesus Christ called us to bring people happiness, to help make their lives easier,” Lea Chalhoub, a 17-year-old girl guide, told Catholic News Service as she decorated Julia’s tree. “Lebanon is a country where Christians and Muslims live together, and we need to work together to create a better society.”

“Specially at Christmas, Jesus wants us to support others,” added Thea Rizkallah, 8.

Switching to entertainment mode, some of the party danced to a stream of Christmas tunes from a computer. Clapping and singing along, Julia could hardly contain herself early, joining them for a little jig, her cane, like a vaudeville queen, holding out horizontally.

“My legs and arms are no longer so solid,” Julia apologised, resuming her dance in a seated position, tapping her cane to the beat. Then, selecting a shade from a mishmash of things placed next to her in a tub, Julia asked her to paint her nails.

While the singing started, Malta volunteer Zahraa Omeiry applied the festive maroon color like a caress to every eye. A neighbor, with groceries on the street, paused at the balcony window to look in at the festivities and asked, “Is it your wedding day? “As Julia displayed her nails proudly.

Among Julia’s guests, Zahraa and her cousin, Nour Omeiry, Shiite Muslims, have recently joined the Beirut Jesuit-run St. Joseph University Malta community where they both study political science.

“Helping the less fortunate, making people happy, is so important,” Nour Omeiry told the Catholic News Service.

“We are all people, and we have to work together,” she said of the coexistence between Christian and Muslim. “Bonding with each other and doing something that we both want to do, is fantastic,” she said. Unlike other Muslims in Lebanon, with a tiny tree and a festive meal, her festive always celebrates Christmas.

Julia’s tree was illuminated to great cheers with a manger set under its leaves, and the young and old sang “Feliz Navidad” together.

Glory be to Allah. You ‘re better than gold, “Julia explained to her guests.

Nicholas, who had quietly kept himself on the balcony to allow his mother to enjoy the attention alone, said to CNS: “I am so grateful that with this visit God has blessed us. When I see my mum so happy, I feel at ease, “he said, his eyes full of emotion.

The Knights of Malta manages a network of 30 different operations across Lebanon, including community health centers, mobile medical units, and elderly day care centres.

The Lebanese branch of “Who is Hussein” sponsors events such as bringing flowers to sick and needy hospitals and providing food during the Ramadan season and coordinating the “10 days of kindness” during the Ashura feast.

Young people from both Christian and Muslim communities have also partnered together to help the elderly during Ramadan’s Iftar feast.

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