Mother Teresa's feastday

Yesterday I was called out on an emergency ... due to the change from daylight saving to solar time in Palestine, some people in Palestine who work in Israel (they haven't switched to solar time yet) missed out on Mass. So they wanted me to celebrate Mass for them.... last minute .... at 4.30pm outside the Old City. No worse timing is possible because literally thousands of muslims were cramming into the Old City to pray. I was stuck at Damascus Gate for 20 minutes in 5 meter long city gate trying to get out. Crushed. It was very frightening. Finally I managed to get out only to find the road outside was blocked with hundreds and hundreds of cars, trucks and buses bringing more muslims into the Old City.

This morning I had to go to Bethlehem for Mass too .... the feastday of Mother Teresa. The sisters invited me over to celebrate the Mass. But because of the time difference between Palestine and Israel, we had to coordinate well our timing in crossing the border. The Mass had some lovely readings that emphasised love. I reminded the sisters of their special vocation in their society and in the world - they live in Bethlehem, the place where the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us; Almighty God becoming a baby in a manger, the poorest of the poor. The sisters in Bethlehem should serve the original poorest of the poor - the baby Jesus; and pray for the rest of their sisters and the world here.

After Mass the superior showed me a video of Mother Teresa called "The Legacy". It was very touching. It focussed on her funeral, with flashbacks recalling her life and works. Then I had the loveliest lunch this year - fried rice noodles, fried fish cooked in spicy marinade (S.E. Asian style), fried veggies and figs picked fresh from the garden. Sr. Frances a filipina was the cook. And I got fresh chillies too from the garden. Sr Aroti the superior chopped up a chilli and onion, mixed olive oil, lemon juice and salt; and I had the loveliest condiment to go with the food. I left out the quails. The sisters doggy-bagged it for me, plus 3 large loaves of bread baked by the Salesians. The sisters get coupons to pick up free bread from the Salesian bakery. Going home was a nightmare as I had to wait 40 minutes at the Israeli Security checkpoint. We finally made it through and the road back to Jerusalem was smooth - being Sabbath the Jews don't drive (well, most anyway). As Damascus Gate was blocked with people and cars, I had to enter the Old City from the New Gate and walked 1 km back to the Flagellation. But the lunch made it worthwhile.

Found out that Jesus spoke to Mother Teresa 3 times in her life: the 1st was to found the society of the Missionaries of Charity, the 3rd was to found a movement to "adopt" priests (support and care for priests) called the Veronica Movement (now called the Corpus Christi Movement). Bet you can't guess what the 2nd time Jesus asked Mother Teresa to do!!! He told Mother Teresa to ask President Ronald Reagan for money to feed the poor! She went to the US and did just that. Reagan gave her US$50 million on the spot!!!!

Anyway this year being the Year of the Priest, I asked the sisters for something to read about Mother Teresa's speeches to priests. She and her sisters have a deep respect for priests because they consecrate bread and wine to become the poor Body and Blood of Christ - the poorest of the poor. This is a spiritual aspect already found in St Francis of Assisi 800 years earlier. So I'll be reading up on some of her writings this week.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!