CHURCH

AS IT SHOULD BE

At Holy Trinity in Georgetown last night, there was a middle eastern dinner and a movie "Promises" shown with a special after film discussion led by the Social Justice Lay Minister Eli McCarthy who spent time as a UN trained mediator of sorts in Israel.
The movie PROMISES shows a Jewish guy trying to broker friendships between Israeli kids and Palestinian kids, in Israel (many such efforts take place on US soil but its much harder to do in Israel) and makes connections through soccer and kids play in spite of check point barriers and nervous parents.
The event was a successful collaboration between the DeChantal group (led by Eve Marie who is a cordon bleu trained amateur cook and former diplomat with the US State Department) and the Holy Trinity Social Justice Ministry. Eve Marie instructed the volunteer kitchen help how to make Schwarmas (did you know plain yogurt mixed with olive oil make a perfect dressing for pita stuffed grilled chicken?) and served up grape leaves, fruit salad, grilled egg plant and other tasty treats which were gobbled and gone in a New York minute.

Many thanks to the DeChantal folks, Eli and the Social Justice Ministry, Holy Trinity and all Jesuits everywhere for a special evening that had everyone thinking and talking peacebuilding in this most volatile and ironically most holy place on earth.