Father Dan Corrou says all Jesuit Refugee Service operations have been suspended. Many of the agency’s employees, like thousands of other residents of southern Lebanon, are fleeing toward Beirut or making plans to.

Ahead of the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Daniel Corrou, S.J., pastor of St. Joseph Church in Beirut, Lebanon, calls us to embrace “a story of love” rather than fear.

Shelters have opened in northern Lebanon to provide what everyone hopes will be a temporary lodging for the displaced Christian families from the new war zone along the border with Israel.

Dark days indeed appear to be looming ahead for Lebanon. Forces far beyond the control of its already embattled citizens—plagued by years of economic and political instability—are dictating their nation’s future.

The pope’s appeal came after the assassinations of Hamas political leader and peace negotiator Ismael Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut earlier in the week.

My recent visit to the Holy Land revealed fear and depression but also the grit and resilience of a people to whom the prophets preached and for whom Jesus wept.