More swine flu

After an aweful asthma attack last night, I could only grab a couple of hours of sleep at 4am and woke up at 7am. It's really exhausting. But luckily the cool breeze blows at about that time so it's nice ..... but of course the muezzin also starts singing at that time so ...... catch 22 situation.

This morning after some work I was feeling pretty weak probably due to lack of sleep and also I hadn't eaten since yesterday evening. No wonder I was feeling weak and dizzy. But I had to go to the pharmacy to buy anti-mosquito cream because I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes here. Luckily our janitor had to go to the Post Office which is near the pharmacy (1km away from my house) so he drove me up ... was feeling to weak to walk. On the way back, we stopped and he got me a baguette shwarma which i gulped down. Now I'm feeling alittle stronger.

Here in Israel, swine flu is making people panic. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418593926&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull We have almost 2000 cases now. And 5 dead.

Our Mass readings on the Torah ended yesterday when the death of Moses was recounted. The readings now continue through some interesting passages from the prophets. Go read them!

Defeating swine flu 2

BBC has posted the video of 50 rabbis and mystics on the plane praying for the defeat of the swine flu in Israel - watch one even speaking on the phone to God (something done back in 1994 or 95 also ... and remember it worked!)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8196807.stm

Defeating swine flu

Powerful (creative) way to stop swine flu - a group of rabbis hired a plane, flew around Israel praying and blowing the shofar (ram's horn) to cast away the swine flu. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1106794.html Sounds like Jesus casting the legion of demons into 2000 swine that drowned in the Sea of Tiberias.

You think it's funny? I remember back in 1994(5?) when there was a terrible drought here and all 3 religions had rituals to pray for rain (Jews fasted and went to the Wailing Wall to pray, Muslims fasted and went to the Dome of the Rock's "Supplication for rain" pulpit to pray, and we christians fasted and went to pray on Mt Calvary for rain) - and a group of rabbis took a plane that flew all round Israel, crying and praying for rain ..... and when the plane landed.... it started raining! See the power of prayer up on a plane? Now if airlines are quick to pick up this line and offer special flights for prayer to overcome the economic crisis, they'll ride over the same economic crisis on a crest and solve all their problems!

All gone

What a waste! Medicine that you had kindly sent to me was stopped by the Customs here and they decided the quantity was too large for personal use and have decided to destroy them. The guy from the Tax office called me - he was pretty nice and asked me to speak with the director if they could change their minds; but when I called the director, he said he's not in the office and is away on vacation but when he heard it was my case, he said there's nothing to discuss, all the medicines must be destroyed unless I agree to pay a commercial tax. Well i can't afford that, so it as to be destroyed. If I didn't agree to that, I will be charged an amount everyday until I agree to release the medicines for destruction.

So a word to you guys - thanks for your help but if you decide to send me anything, please do so in small amounts (medicines must not be more than 2 packs) otherwise this will happen again.

Congratulations Massimo & Stefania

Was out at the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass this morning at 4.30am. Had some special intentions to pray. It was cool and breezy. Lots of clouds today so it remained cool the rest of the day. Perfect weather for a wedding.

And what a wedding! Massimo and Stefania finally tied the knot ... here in Jerusalem! They're italians who live in HK but wanted to marry here in the Holyland. Their families also came over from Italy for the simple but beautiful event. Yours truly was instrumental in arranging everything for them here ... from documentation to finding a choir. And what a choir! I got the franciscan Magnificat choir to sing and they were fabulous - the rendition of Ave Maria by soloist was unforgettable! And of course the location of St Anne's Church was perfect - acoustically and photogenically. This 12th century Crusader Church next door to my monastery lies on the spot where Christ healed a paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda. And the bride was beautiful in a two piece white and silver cheongsam-inspired gown with elaborate frog buttons. The groom was in a chinese suit of ivory serge with frog buttons. Other guests dressed in similar theme. I arranged for Fr Bissoli to preside at the Mass as he's Veronese, close to the region where Massimo and Stefania come from. Mass lasted from 12pm to 1.30pm. Then we went to lunch at 2pm.

Lunch was at Nafoura Restaurent, up on the western hill of the Old City next to the Latin Patriarch's Palace. Lovely food of arabic salads, chicken, lamb, rice and kebabs on a open grill; followed by arabic sweets and fruit. Lots of wine but I prefer the house lemonade which is pretty famous for those in the know. And the happy couple gave me a 10 kg basket of italian goodies - salamis, cheeses and lots of different jams, spreads and sauces. I had to carry this home (1 km) and it was pretty tough as my ankle was already hurting. Now both arms are hurting! They're lovely gifts and Massimo/Stefania are so kind ... but those food are off my strict diet (otherwise I'll die: that's what the docs tell me) so I'll share them with the poor of Mother Theresa's sisters.

The bride and groom's parents were very happy and appreciative of my arrangements for the wedding. Everything went smoothly. Massimo and Stefania promised that when they have a baby, they'll bring it here to Jerusalem for it's baptism - and this time I must preside!

Transfiguration feast

OK some time since I last updated the blog. Busy? YES. I was up on Mt. Tabor for the feast of the Transfiguration. Left on Wednesday morning and stayed over till Thursday evening. It's a 2 hour drive from Jerusalem. The view up there is tremendously beautiful - the plains of Jezreel below and further north are the mountains of Nazareth; and south lie the mountains of Samaria.

Crowds of Bedouin Catholics have camped up on our church grounds for the past 3 days. They've done this for over 100 years, some men telling me their grandparents use to bring them here to camp over for the feast of the Transfiguration when they were kids. It's part of the local tradition here (since Peter couldn't pitch 3 tents here!!!) when the friars from Nazareth used to lead the local Christians in pilgrimage to Mt. Tabor for the feast of the Transfiguration during the Ottoman days when the Turks forbade us to build a monastery and church up on the mountain. All they could do was build tents and stayed overnight.

Anyway the mountain top was filled with local arab christians. They camped, barbequed and sang right through 3 nights. You can imagine how little sleep we had. On the vigil of the feast, at 11pm the Melkites (arab byzantine catholics) marched up the mountain and celebrate Mass in the grotto of the Transfiguration till 2am. Lots and lots of youths! Over 200 or so marched through the night to get here. Then later at 4am the latin catholics marched up the mountain to celebrate Mass till 7am. Less youths and more adults. I heard confessions till almost midnight. And I remembered everyone of you as I prayed right through midnight up on this holy mountain. Got up at 6am to help Fra Benito the sacristan to clear up the church (they burnt alot of candles inside the church) and move some 200 chairs for the solemn Mass at 10.30am. Other friars from Nazareth also came to help. It was good work and the upper altar (the one above the grotto) was beautifully decorated for the Custos to preside the mass. But the heat and humidity didn't help and I was dripping wet under the habit after moving 100 chairs or so.

The Custos presided officially, meaning he got to wear the bishop's mitre even though he's not a bishop. Extremely inpressive. Some 30 priests came for the concelebration. The Mass was all in arabic and it was beautiful. After that the guys from Mondo X prepared a fantastic banquet for 500 people. It took them 3 days to do it, and baked a massive cake over a metre long! Those guys are fantastic! I got to see some of their chores - like farming along the slopes of Mt Tabor, raising chickens and turkeys!!! Mondo X is an institute founded by franciscan Brother Eligio in Milan for detoxifying drug users solely through prayer and work. it's got an 80% success rate and is now over 40 yrs old. Here in the Holyland, they manage our Casa Nova hostel on Mt Tabor as well as the kitchen and a small shop. Those guys are really great and have been asking me to stay over for a couple of days so we can talk, but I never had the time nor the car to get there. This time we had a little more time to talk. But I promised I'll be back a little longer with them. The Custos made me promise! He really cares for these guys who're undergoing through alot in the detox programme. And I can tell you from my friendship with them these 7 years, they're some of the most sincere people I know. Transfiguration for them means alot more than to you and I.

Well after the Mass I had little time to eat as I had to help clear up the church, and lots of local christians wanted to chat ... which took up alot of time. Anyway the Mondo X guys were watching out for me and kept pulling me aside to give me a drink or a bite to eat. I was dead hungry. And some of the campers were very kind too, they kept giving me cups of coffee they were brewing over the camp fire and asking me to join them .... chatting that is. I got to practice my arabic with them and it was fun as our pronunciations are quite different - they have the northern Nazareth dialect and I pronounce the Jerusalem dialect.

Got home that evening with the Custos in his private car - like WOW!!!! Not a daily privilege i can tell you!!! It's got diplomatic immunity and we passed the check points without being stopped. When I reached home I was so tired I slept right through till next morning ... with an asthma attack in between.

OK so have been resting since cos my ankle is really bad and now my right knee as well. Could be due to the humidity of Mt Tabor. Walking down our staircase is a killer. But I have to go to the library to get books, or feed the canaries so I must go downstairs. It's no fun.

Today is the feast of St Dominic and the dominicans of Ecole Biblique are having a great feast. Don't know if anyone from our house went to represent us.

Now I have to get back to work. Study study study even during summer hols ... sounds like some of you kids out there.

Pain but no gain

Last night was alot cooler. I realised I get up at night not only because of the heat but mostly because of the pain coming from the pinched nerve on my right arm. That's the main cause of my sleepless nights .... and the muezzin who "sings" full blast at 0.30pm, 4am and 4.30am. These few nights the muezzin has been "extravagent".

And more about pain, the ankle yesterday evening was hurting so bad I couldn't walk. Someone had to help me back to my room after dinner so the pain became really bad. Might have to resort to painkillers now. Will stay in bed or at least keep walking to a minimum now.

The forceful eviction of the two Palestinian families is still drawing attention in the media, with the leftwing paper HaAretz condemning it. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105316.html Not that it's going to be any use. Ambassador Oren's answer to the US http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105309.html is a bottomless pandora's box; to suggest that the land was Jewish before the State of Israel was founded can be countered by the fact that before the Israelites entered the Land, the Jebusites were living here in the 12th century BC, and this can go back in an endless argument. And that's why archaeology is such a political science here in Israel... every dig is to prove or disprove who lived in the Land first.