This past fall while on a pilgrimage through Greece and Turkey with Bishop John Iffert of the Diocese of Covington, following the footsteps of St. Paul, I was blessed to be able to have a beautiful dinner with the small CL community in Athens. Months prior, when I knew that I was going to be spending a few days in Athens, one of my first thoughts was, “I wonder if there is anyone in the movement there, and how can I be with them?”, and through a lot of online searching, I found an email address for a parish priest in Athens – Fr. Raffi. I sent an email to him, introducing myself and the dates I would be in Athens and offering to get together. I didn’t even know if he spoke English! I was shocked when only three minutes later my phone was ringing with a call through WhatsApp from Greece. It was him! He greeted me warmly and expressed how excited he was to plan a dinner with me and another couple in the movement who live in Athens, Paul and Elena. Once in Athens, Fr. Raffi picked me up from the hotel and on our drive we got to know each other. He told me of his incredible history: Armenian by descent, born in Lebanon, raised in Austria, now a priest serving at a German speaking parish in Athens. He told me of his assignments around the world: principal of a school in Los Angeles, vice-rector of the Armenian Seminary in Rome, police chaplain in Vienna, military chaplain in Greece, assignments in Syria, and Lebanon, and this fall how he will be taking a new assignment in Armenia. I was amazed. During dinner, one moment that stayed with me was when in response to a question I posed to Paul, our host, about what the movement has meant for his life, he responded, “belonging to Someone changes everything.” I left their home not knowing exactly what that meant, and not knowing how to comprehend the incredible witness of faith I met in those people.

Fast forward to this spring, and Fr. Raffi sends me a message that he will be traveling to America, visiting Cincinnati and DC in June! I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to introduce him to our local community, which has been a place of encounter and belonging for me. I made plans with Fr. Raffi for the days he was going to be in town for us to get dinner with my local Bishop, to have an interview with him on our local Catholic radio station, for him to join our School of Community, and for my family to host him for dinner, as well as a large community dinner (we kept him busy!). It was an incredible blessing to be able to accompany him at each of these events. I found that each time he shared his story, the other’s reaction was always the same: “That’s amazing! How could you travel like that? Don’t you have a home? Have any of these places felt like home? Weren’t you worried about going to yet another new place? Were you lonely? Aren’t you scared to say yes to a new assignment?” Every time, the same questions, and in response to each of these questions, Fr. Raffi would shrug his shoulders and say that he was simply doing as he was asked, and that he knew it would always be good, and that Jesus would take care of him. As my wife and I said goodbye to Fr. Raffi we were reflecting on the way home about how Fr. Raffi always said the words, “It will be good,” because it was not a flippant or a dismissive comment, but he meant it. There was confidence and deep faith behind his words. He knew it would be good - he was certain.

My wife and I have been struggling with the feeling of “home” after moving twice in the last three months. The moves were not far geographically, but having to find a new home and it “feeling” like home have been two different things. Accompanying Fr. Raffi during these days helped me to concretely understand that “home” is wherever God is calling you right now. It is the present, and it is not meant to be permanent. These homes are fleeting. Seeing how Fr. Raffi lives, I now better understand that our eternal home is with Him. Paul’s comment at dinner in Athens months ago came back to me – that yes, belonging to Someone changes everything. It means that we can always be at home, moving through this life with a community that strives together homeward towards our Father, to whom we belong.

Jimmy, Cincinnati, OH