This is the edited version of Bishop Tarabay’s homily for the Birth of John the Baptist.
Every now and then, something unexpected opens our eyes – a voice, a word, a visit, a moment that feels larger than life. This Sunday’s celebration of the Birth of St John the Baptist gives us exactly that kind of moment. And in recent days, Lebanon experienced something very similar during the historic three-day visit of Pope Leo XIV. Both events carry the same message: God still shows up. He appears when we are tired, when the future feels uncertain, and when we wonder whether our prayers are still heard. When He comes, He brings a hope far deeper than we expect, a hope that reshapes how we see ourselves, our faith, and our world.
The visit of Pope Leo XIV was a powerful reminder of God’s nearness. It felt as though the Gospel was unfolding again before our eyes. The arrival of John the Baptist was not simply an elderly couple finally receiving a long-awaited child. It was the quiet beginning of God fulfilling His promises. Likewise, the days in Lebanon revealed that God has not abandoned His people, even in hardship and darkness.
These were days of blessing, emotion, and grace. I had the privilege of sharing them with more than forty young pilgrims from Australia. Their joy and openness made the experience even richer. Fr Danny Nouh and I kept saying to each other, “What a gift. What a grace to witness this with our young people.”
On behalf of our Maronite community in Australia, I was able to greet the Holy Father. When I told him I was accompanying a youth group from “down under,” he smiled broadly: “very good,” he said. I asked for his blessing and his prayers for all of you, and I told him that we eagerly await his visit to Australia in 2028. He blessed us warmly and said he looked forward to it. In that brief encounter, the distances between Rome, Lebanon, and Australia seemed to dissolve.
For many pilgrims, this was their first time seeing a pope in person, just as the neighbours who witnessed the birth of John felt the joy of a long-awaited moment. At Bkerke, when the Popemobile passed right in front of our group, the cheers were so full of life that it felt like the ground itself was lifting. It was the kind of joy that erupts when faith becomes tangible, when young people discover that God’s love reaches exactly where they stand.
Several moments from the visit touched me deeply:
First, watching Pope Leo kneel at the tomb of St Charbel – the first pontiff ever to visit Annaya. It affirmed that holiness from a small Lebanese mountain continues to speak to the whole world, and it confirmed the mission of the Maronite Church: to evangelise and to offer saints to the universal church.
Second, the solemn Mass in Beirut, where the pope reminded everyone that Christians in Lebanon and the Middle East still have a vital mission in the Levant today.
Third, his silent prayer at the Beirut port with families of the victims. There were tears, but also a profound strength, a clear cry for peace, justice, and for Lebanon to be protected solely by the legitimate forces of the state.
Carrying these moments in our hearts, we returned safely to Australia, but not unchanged. We came back with stories, blessings, and a renewed conviction that God is still working in Lebanon, still breathing life into places that feel forgotten. Families here in Australia felt this too. Watching the events from afar, many felt proud of their faith, their heritage, and their homeland. For Lebanon, the visit was more than a major event. It was a tired nation feeling seen again, a quiet assurance that it is not forgotten by God or by the world.
From that place of hope, Pope Leo offered three invitations to the Lebanese people:
- Draw strength from your saints, and let their courage shape your own.
- Work for peace, remembering that peace begins with the heart.
- Choose reconciliation and purification of national conscience, allowing God to heal wounds long left unattended.
These words reach us as well. They call our Maronite community in Australia to unity, prayer, and steadfast support.
As we return to today’s feast, we remember that the birth of John the Baptist was not simply the fulfilment of a promise, it was God’s plan moving forward. John became the voice preparing the way for Jesus, the bridge between what had been and what was to come. His life reminds us that salvation is God’s work, not ours, and that His timing is perfect even when we do not see it.
And so, like John, like Lebanon this week, and like every believer who dares to hope: we trust that God still visits His people, and He always brings life where we least expect it.
His Excellency Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay, is the Maronite Eparch of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.
