Forgotten Christians in Gaza

Yesterday I had the chance to meet a Missionary of Charity Father (Mother Teresa's male branch of the congregation). He was in Gaza to visit the sisters working in there and was trapped inside when the check-points were closed indefinitely. He managed to come out when the checkpoint was opened for one hour yesterday and came back to Jerusalem. And he had terrifying stories to tell, some of which I had already heard from the sisters who work there. There are only the Missionaries of Charity and the Rosary Sisters who remain in Gaza together with the parish priest Fr Manoel.

The Christians live in fear inside Gaza; constantly tormented and hassled by extremists. There are only some 50 Catholic families and a few more Orthodox families, all united in order to survive. Their family members go missing, many kidnapped, tortured and even killed. But we hear nothing about this in the news. The Church secretary was one day told by a group of masked men to convert to Islam, he refused, so they dragged him outside the Church and chopped off his head. Fr Manoel brought the widow and her young children to meet the extremists and said "We forgive you". Even the sisters live in fear and never venture far out of their convents. Anyone who contacts the sisters for food or medicine are questioned by masked men in the streets, often dragged into alleys, beaten or killed. There is constant fear and death lurks at every corner in the street, every knock at the door .... if you are a Christian in Gaza. But the Christian world has almost forgotten about them.

You Christians who live in peace and prosperity, consider for one moment the aweful tragedy of your brothers and sisters in Gaza. Say a rosary for them, pray for them, gather into prayer groups and unite your supplications to the Divine Mercy to protect these poor Christians. Offer your Mass intentions for them. This is the least you can do as you go out to work and return home for a nice meal, and share the company of your family. Today a Christian will go out to work in Gaza, and not return home to see his family.

Check out these websites on the suffering Christians in Gaza
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813061916&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56231

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183053071382&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64786

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.in.gaza.need.your.help.says.barnabus.fund/10940.htm

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080115/FOREIGN/506016306/1001

Follow up

Thanks to the Faith Tours group from Singapore that offered their generosity in supporting our project. In fact right now I just met with another Faith Tour group down at the Flagellation Chapel.

The big news in Israel right now is the Bible burning incident. See the link below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7413134.stm

Anyway just to follow up on my trip back from the hospital in Nazareth - I stayed back at the Annunciation Basilica (Nazareth of course) for the candle-light vigil (takes place every Saturday night from 8.30-9.30pm). It was impressive. Over a hundred locals and pilgrims joined in. The vigil is a procession beginning at the piazza between the Basilica and St Joseph's Church. The rosary is recited and the procession goes around to the road and into the lower Basilica courtyard, around the porticoes and into the lower basilica where the Gospel and homily is preached in front of the Grotto of the Annunciation. I was told the crowds usually are alot bigger, into a couple of hundred people. It was very impressive. If you're stopping by Nazareth, make sure you join in!

Meantime I'm the hebdom this week. Have to preside at mass and all the prayer hours. The other students have their exams now. And today is Jean Paul's and Marco's birthdays. Me? Still trying to get used to the new medicine - have been nauseus the whole day and lost my appetite.
Will restart my work as much as I can.

Thought for the day - regarding the Bible burning incident - we should learn to be more tolerant of others; if we react like what was reported, it only shows that we're afraid and not convinced of our own religion's truth to withstand outside opinions. It shows more weakness and cracks rather than strength of position. It is a loser's way of getting even. And you get very bad press.

Back home

Got back from Nazareth yesterday night (or rather this morning - after midnight). The Holy Family Hospital is pretty quick in its laboratory process. Several tests were taken of my blood and within 1 hour the results were out. I couldn't understand anything and the sister in charge just said "hhhmmmmm" and then the doc came later (very much later - there didn't seem to be a doctor anywhere. There's a big shortage here for doctors so if you want to pratice here as part of evangelisaiton and mission - this is it) and checked my documents and said "hhmmm". So we didn't get anywhere. Well one thing is sure, here they prescribe only beta blockers because this doc told me to get back on this medication. I said no way - but he insisted that it doesn't affect my asthma, it'll only make me cough. Hhhmmmm somehow docs here cannot see the relationship between excessive coughing/spasms of the trachea and the trigger of an asthma. No wonder we have a saying here "If you're sick, you'll die faster if you see a doctor".

Anyway all my checkup ended by lunch time yesterday. I spend the afternoon visiting a few churches in Nazareth such as the magnificent basilica of the adolescent Jesus in the Salesian school right at the very top of the Nazareth mountain. It was stupendous. Being Saturday the students had no classes but only extra-curricular activites. Beside the Basilica was a classroom where 4 boys were practicing the traditional arabic mandolin and drum. It was fantastic - not just a chance to hear really traditional arabic music but to see such young kids are keeping their traditions alive.

I also visited the Mensa Christi Church in the Old City of Nazareth. It's a small church with a huge stone right in the middle near the altar. A late tradition says when Jesus came back to Nazareth (to read the Scroll of Isaiah cf Luke 4), he also had a meal here on this stone with his disciples. Lower down the hill I visited the Synagogue Church runned by the Melchite Church. I also went up the Mt. of Precipice to have a great view of the Jezreel Valley, Mt. Tabor (Transfiguration mountain) and the whole of Nazareth.

Pilgrims!

Thanks to the pilgrims of the Millenium group (Hong Kong) that came to Lourdes and the Holyland. They were very generous to help raise funds for the special project that I asked them to consider. They came with Fr Philip Chan from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, some 34 people. I only had time to see them this morning when they came to the Flagellation Monastery for Mass. Then I led them in the Way of the Cross till we reached the Holy Sepulchre. Since it was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the solemn Mass was underway. The Millenium group had the rare chance of participating in the procession around the Tomb of Christ with the Blessed Sacrament carried by Bishop Fouard.

So here are the names of the Millenium group pilgrims who donated for a very worthy cause to enable two students to study here in the Holyland:
Mrs Teresa Chan & fmly, Lee Chung Siu King & fmly, Rosalina Lee, Lucy/Maria/Mary/Margaret/David Lee & fmly, Francis/Elizabeth Wan, Cecilia Ho, Wang Lee Ai Ming, Pamela Yeung, Helena Lo, Chan Man Kam, Yeung Kit Lan, Lee Chi Cheun/Chi Yung/Kit Lam, Chan Yuk Hin, Edith Yung, Alice Yeung, Lourdes Chan, Legion of Mary (HK), Charles/Catherine Ma, Wong On Mui, Mo Lam Kuen, Patrick Au, Rebecca Cheng, Lo Yuet Ho, Maria Goretti Lee.

God bless you all and please continue to spread the word around so that we can sponsor the young priest and nun to study the Bible and earn a Diploma here in Jerusalem. Thanks very much!

ps you'll not hear from me for the next 3 days as I'm going back to Nazareth and have a checkup at our Italian Hospital run by the St John of God fathers.

More Thanks

Thanks very much to Cecilia and Daniel Cavero, and Kyla Kwong for their help to the Kassis family. We will pray very hard for you all.

Thanks

Sincere thanks to Paulette, Paula, Yvonne and Irene for their offerings to help the Kassis family. Will remember you all in our prayers here in the Holyland.

Back again

Grateful thanks to Pascale Schrader-Litmaath, Tina Kwan, Marina Kwan and the St. Joseph's Ladies Guild for their generous help in raising funds for another very very important matter (not the Kassis family). We will remember you in our prayers here in the Holyland.

Long break from writing the blog. Was awefully sick with asthma provoked by the beta blocking BP medicine. Whole week was gasping for air, almost confined to bed all the time. Decided to stop the medicine and now got Norvasc which is not a beta blocker. After 3 days of this new medicine, the asthma has reduced considerably today but another side-effect has come up - vomitting and headache. Yesterday's headache was so severe I nearly fell several times because I couldn't balance. The cook brought up food for me in my room as I hadn't gone down for meals for 3 days. I first thought Norvasc wasn't working and the BP has gone up again (sure felt that way) but after measuring the BP for 3 days it's pretty ok I guess (higher than when taking the beta blockers) 140 / 88. So maybe its the weather. I hear there's a newspaper report that the weather (Hamsin winds) is making people sick generally throughout Israel.

And I was up to the throat with work the whole week. Imagine trying to write when you have a splitting headache - and I was chasing a dateline which was yesterday.

Well I did go out on Monday evening - was still feeling sick though. But William is going to leave Israel to study in Rome because he cannot get a visa to stay in Israel (he's Lebanese remember?). So I brought him to the chinese restaurent for dinner and we chatted for an hour. Then went home, but not before I stopped by a new supermarket in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. Now this is political - the supermarket is modern, like Welcome or Park N Shop with fresh bread/pastries and canned food etc... (they hardly exist here in my part of the world...I know you guys are so used to this you cannot imagine them not existing elsewhere.) it is so "modern" around my parts here that it's causing quite an excitement. Problem is - its runned by muslims .... right in the middle of the Christian Quarter. So while lots of Christians want to go in and see and buy the stuff (alot cheaper than the other little shops), everyone is scared what others will say. I fact I couldn't go in last week because I was in my habit and there were lots of Christians hanging near the supermarket to see who goes in and out. If I did go in, it would appear to be like an official sanction...and God knows what the consequences will be. So anyway on Monday night 9pm I went in to buy some apple-buns (which are alot cheaper than the 8th Station). The shop was really impressive - two storeys and exactly like a supermarket we have back home. Still I have to come back there only late in the night so as not to cause a scandal among the Christians.

One more news - Sr Irmina left us suddenly last week. I know that Sr Geronima has to leave in June for her final profession and new posting but Sr Irmina's leaving was very surprising. No one to replace her yet.

OK I need to rest for while now. Am still not 100% ok.