Last Day

At the Tomb of
St. George

Christmas was a hectic weekend. The borders were opened only for a few hours so to get to Shepherds Field in Bethlehem for Vigil Mass was a rushed affair. I brought some 18 local asian sisters in Jerusalem for the Mass. Because of the hassle of border closures, many if not most of the communities and congregations refuse to enter the other side of the border. We managed to celebrate the Vigil Mass and then rushed back to Jerusalem on the other side of the border before it closed. The traffic though going in and out was heavy and it took one hour to get there.

Shepherds Field was very empty compared to the previous years. Only one filipino group and 3 Indonesian groups were there. All protestants. Christmas Day itself was very quiet. Most churches were closed due to the lack of pilgrims and tourists. There are no festivities or carolling. All Christmas celebrations except Masses are cancelled due to the tragic war. I have never ever in my life here experienced such a sad and quiet Christmas as this year. Not even during the 2 Intifadas and other Gaza wars. The mood of this Christmas is so heavy. No one can even smile. People avoid saying "Merry Christmas" as there's nothing merry about it.

At the Church in Arimathea

On Boxing Day the local asian sisters asked me to organise a halfday pilgrimage to Lod, Ramle and Jaffa. In Lod we prayed at the Tomb of St. George the dragon slayer. In Ramle (Arimathea) we celebrated Mass at the Church of St. Joseph of Arimathea. Then at Jaffa's St. Peter's Church we visited the Crusader ruins and had a picnic lunch before going home. It was enjoying ... a brief distraction from the pain and suffering in our country.

Yesterday the Nuncio came to our Chinese Convent for home cooked lunch. He wanted the meal on the last day of the year to be a homely, private asian meal. He is filipino. All went well and we enjoyed ourselves in a very informal gathering.

Let's pray that the new year will be kinder and more loving than this year.