Fr Hanna released

Mr. Bird eats his breakfast
of lettuce after his
morning shower

It actually rained today ... about 10 minutes but quite heavy. A total surprise to everyone ... arabs rejoiced but traditional jews were totally upset. To rain during the feast of Sukkot is a bad omen, of God's displeasure. It should only rain after the feast which lasts 8 days. That's because Sukkot was once an autumn harvest feast ... the fruit were gathered and kept temporarily in tents (Sukkot = Tents) in the fields before being stored in barns and store-houses for winter. Rain would have destroyed the crops and rotted the fruit. I was only worried for Mr. Bird as his cage was out in the courtyard and I was at class one kilometre away.

Opening of the school
year at St. Saviour's church

We received good news this afternoon though ... Fr Hanna who was kidnapped on Sunday by Islamists in the village of Knaye (Syria) was released today but put under house arrest. The other 20 parishioners however are still missing. Please pray for them. Yesterday an Orthodox priest was also kidnapped. The evil that these Islamists perpetrate will certainly meet with Divine Justice. But the saddest thing about this whole persecution is the silence from the rest of the Catholic world. They seem more interested in debating whether to wear a veil in church; or receiving communion by hand ... while christians in the Middle East are hunted like animals, shot, crucified and left for wild animals to eat. Where is the Catholic conscience? Where is the Catholic heart?

Yesterday morning saw some violent riots in the Al Aqsa esplanade. But things calmed down and today, the first day of Sukkot, there was no trouble. In fact the police presence was markedly reduced. School has started and it was reassuring for the first year students to be able to come to school without security barriers and checks and tear gas and rocks being thrown. Let's see how the rest of this semester goes.