Mass yesterday and today

Yesterday's papal Mass at the Kidron valley (lying between the Old City and the Mt. of Olives) was something ...... of a letdown. Security was super tight. Though the mass began at 4.30pm, we had to leave at 12.30pm to line up under the scorching sun, x-rayed and frisked, then a very long wait under the sun again till the Mass began. There was a tension in the air. The pope had just been criticised for his yad Vashem speech and the sheikh had hijacked the conference that made the pope walk out. Thousands of Jewish protesters had gathered near the pope's residence on the Mt of Olives ..... rumour has it that they had planned to harm the pope. Also in the Old City, small muslim children were taught in school to throw stones at the pope and spit at him. I learn this from the little children themselves when I spoke to them yesterday. So there was a terrible tension in the air when the pope arrived for Mass.

The crowd was noticeably very small - mainly foreign pilgrims and religious nuns. Even the number of priests were very limited. There was no enthusiasm, no chanting "Benedetto", no dancing and singing spontaneously ..... it was pretty subdued. Soldiers lined both sides of the vally, and I noticed a soldier with boniculars on the western slope with a machinegun aimed at the altar. I told some of the other priests and no one believed it till they squinted and saw it themselves. We notified our heads who also didn't believe it till they saw it themselves. That's security - anyone unauthorised who dares to near the altar or the pope will get shot on the spot.

The liturgy was quite interesting - especially the singing of the 2nd reading in Byzantine tone, and there was an unscheduled intercessory prayer in Armenian. Other than that, all we could remember was the scorching sun - everyone was burnt red and we all had headaches last night.

During communion I remembered you all - everyone I could visualise - and all your intentions at the papal altar.

I left for Bethlehem at 8pm after the Mass ended. Stayed overnight but got up real early to go to Manger Square in front of the Basilica of the Nativity for the 2nd papal Mass this morning. Reached the Square at 6.45am but found it quite empty - with only several priests from the Ecole Biblique. I wondered where the rest of the Jerusalem friars were. Much later at about 8am they arrived. They said there was miscommunicaiton between the Israeli and Palestinian sides so their 2 busloads of friars were stuck at the checkpoint. Lucky me .... my choice to come early saved me from that aweful experience of standing at the security checkpoint, no knowing what would happen.

Now here the Mass was packed packed packed!!!! And we had Catholics from Gaza and other refugee camps like Jenin, Zebibde and even Taybe and other West Bank districts closed by Israeli security. And many women wore traditional bedoiun costumes. It was like a carneval - the combined choir was leading in songs and chanting "Benedetto! benvenuto!" (Benedict! Welcome!) It was a stark contrast from yesterday's sombre (one nun said it was like a funeral) mood. Here in Bethlehem, people were standing on chairs, singing, waving flags, interrupting the homily with shouts and claps.

The liturgy was an eclectic mix - we had another lovely 2nd reading sung in Byzantine tone (that's the Greek rite) and we had the Alleluia and gospel reading sung in Syriac tone (Syriac is a close relative of Aramaic spoken by Christ). It was very unique and beautiful - and reminded everyone our aramaic/syriac/greek roots of our Church.

There was a scorching sun - Mass began at 10.30am - and ended at 12pm. We were burnt to a crisp. It was unbelievably hot and because there were no clouds, the sunrays beat directly down and peel off the skin from your flesh. During communion I prayed for everyone one of you like I did yesterday. It was a quite moment but very intense.

After Mass the pope went to greet the Christians from Gaza - everything broke lose - a security nightmare. All the refugees rushed to plead with the pope for help and the security had to surround the pope to protect him and whisk him off quickly. Palestinian security was pretty tough as well. Snipers on every rooftop in Manger Square. Anyway the pope had a special reception for these Gazans in our franciscan monastery.

As soon as the pope was gone - other people rushed up to the altar, stripping every flower from the stage to bring home as souvenirs. Others rushed to have their photos taken at the pope's throne. Total chaos. But that's the Middle East for you. You cannot deny the joy and enthusiasm that was so much lacking in yesterday's Mass.

Tomorrow the pope will celebrate Mass at the Mt of Precipice in Nazareth up in the north. I'm not going because it's an event for the friars of the north - they couldn't come down south for these two days' events. Hope they'll enjoy themselves!