Solar time

Baby boom. Miriam and Raymond just had their firstborn last week. Alexander and Gabriella Frohlich also wrote to say they just had a baby boy. Shukri our computer handyman ( he had to come almost every other day in the past months to help get my computer running as I'm totally lost with these gadgets) also had his firstborn. We pray for the health of both babies and moms and congratulate them on bringing new life to the Church.

Today is also the feast of St Francis of Assisi. Yesterday evening we had vespers and the transitus (passing on) liturgy at St. Saviour's monastery. It was very crowded - the parishioners came, and all the Salesians, and the Capuchins and the lone Conventual, and many other religious communities. The sermon was pretty long though and I couldn't hear half of it as I was sitting behind a pillar. Anyway 10 friars made their solemn profession in the middle of Vespers. The Transitus was very touching - we read the last moments of St Francis' life, the lights were dimmed, candles were lit at the relic of St Francis, we sang the traditional "O santissima anima" (O most holy soul) and ended with the "Salve Sancte Pater" (Hail Holy Father [Francis]). Then we lined up to kiss the relic. The Custos who was holding the relic said something to me but I didn't catch it; Thiago was filming me. Today we'll have a solemn Mass there also. The Custos will preside. Yesterday I got to meet him for a few minutes. It's good to meet him.

Meanwhile a couple of movies are causing a talk topic in our area. One was shot in Hebron itself - quite a feat if you know what Hebron is like (see the latest clash there in http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017448824&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ). It's about a Palestinian girl who broke the curfew in order to attend her graduation. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7649354.stm The other film is "Religulous" (as in "religion + ridiculous") that scoffs Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Let's see what the reaction here will be. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017445507&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Another news that's rocking us is the water level of the Sea of Galilee. It's dropped 2 meters this year. It already lost 5 meters since 2004. Now that's bad news. If the lake dries up, we'll have a big water problem.

And tonight we officially revert to solar time. That means we lose one hour of sleep!