Sabbath

It's the Sabbath again. Busy today. Am preparing for the Indian Mass now at St. Savior's Church (not St. Francis Xavier but the latin name for "Holy Redeemer") and then later in the day I will have to travel 100 km to Netanya - a city by the coast - to celebrate the Filipino Mass. In between there're lots of chores to do.

Suspicious package in orange
on the left of the photo

Yesterday while on my way back to work - I had to go buy food for our workers because we planned a thank-you lunch for one of our volunteers who will be leaving today - there was a familiar scene at Jaffa Street. Road cordoned off. At the tram station in front of the Municipality Buildings there was an unattended package. The bomb squad was called in. It looked all too familiar ... like the last 2 Intifadas. It took about half an hour when the bomb squad decided it was harmless and reopened the road. Well you can never be too careful. Better safe than sorry. The recent attacks in Germany have made us here more aware of our surroundings. Sometimes it gets paranoid ... but it saves lives.

The weather has been very pleasant : not too hot and there's a cool breeze blowing all the time. But this has not drawn in the tourists. Visitors and pilgrims have fallen in numbers drastically ... some shops have even closed because it's no longer worthwhile keeping the shop open when no one comes in. Shops closed in summer? Unthinkable! The last time this happened was during the Intifada. And that explains the disappearance of tourists - the fear of war, bombings and violence. Just remember the poor Hong Kong couple who was attacked on the German train last week. Wrong place, wrong time.

We continue to pray for peace in our region. With all the attention focussed on the violence in Europe, the world has forgotten that here in the Middle East christians and minorities are being killed by the hundreds EACH DAY. Yes the world has forgotten us. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/syriac-catholic-patriarch-warns-western-politicians-and-media-mislead-world/#.v5iqa0lmhqa

See https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/765493613592148/