Good Friday

Procession around the Empty Tomb
on Maundy Thursday

Yesterday was Maundy Thursday ... I though it would have been a quiet day but instead I got called up at 8.30am to get to work at lunch time. Bit of a dilemma as I had to go to Jaffa to help with the Konkani Mass at 7pm. So as soon as work started, I kept pushing the workers to finish by 5pm so I could get to Jaffa on time. Lucky for me they did finish on time and I rushed t Jaffa for the Mass. It was a smaller crowd than usual (which could go up to 2000 people) but still quite large. After Mass I rushed home at 10pm and slept right through as I was utterly exhausted from a whole day's work.

Forgot it was the switch to Daylight Saving Time at 1am (which became 2am), When I got up today it was suddenly 7am. Had to manually change some clocks to summer time.

So today is my 25th anniversary of ordination. No Mass to celebrate ... it's Good Friday. In fact no celebration until maybe Easter Sunday. But no one has remembered it here anyway so no big deal.

Solemn celebrations continue in the Holy Sepulcher for the Easter Triduum. Few people are at home so I decided today instead to go to Notre Dame Center for the english service at 3pm. It was very crowded and the Nuncio presided at the Passion, Veneration of the Cross and Communion service. A really great liturgy because there was no MC to tell people "Please stand. please sit". The liturgy just flowed organically and people followed what the priest and choir did ... standing, kneeling and sitting at the appropriate times without promptings from someone at the microphone. What a relief!

Another view of the procession

If I'm feeling stronger I might join in this evening's Funeral Service at the Holy Sepulcher when the statue of Christ is brought down from the Cross on Mt. Calvary, anointed with spices and wrapped in a linen cloth and placed inside the Sepulcher for a whole night. This is the only liturgy of its kind in the entire world. Truly spectacular.

Tomorrow for the Easter Vigil I think I shall join the Salesians at Rosary convent. I'm quite tired of italian and latin in the liturgy. A bit of english can be quite stress relieving.

Holy Monday

The 4 MC martyrs
of Yemen

2nd day into Holy Week. On Holy Monday we get to celebrate Mass at the 5th Station from 6am to 8am ... one Mass each half hour. That's the only time Mass is ever celebrated at that Station.

The weather has gone even more crazy today ... drizzling all night and morning, very cold winds but the sun shines bright whenever there's a break in the clouds.

Police and military presence is still on high alert during this week's feasts. Dog patrol and mounted police continue to patrol the streets, stoping and body-searching young men and women in public.  In this heightened alert tension, we recall also the 4 Missionaries of Charity martyred in Yemen together with 16 of their co-workers. It was horrific ... those cowardly muslims who killed the defenseless nuns for caring for their muslim abandoned handicap. The sheer ingratitude and bestial nature of these murderers. Even here in the Holy Land we never forget one moment of our precarious situation - the constant muslim threat to our existence. We already saw it rearing its ugly head at Christmas when they forbade us to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem ... no lights, christmas trees or carols allowed in public. Yes that's how bad it was ... but you never read it in the news. The muslims threatened to burn christian shops and houses who put up christmas decorations.

The packed church
during the Mass

In Jerusalem the patriarch presided at a Mass to remember these martyrs. The parish church of St. Savior was packed. It was a very sad day but everyone had only high regards for these simple nuns who sacrificed their lives to serve the poorest of the poor regardless of race or religion. It's a profound reminder to us all during Holy Week that we too are all called to carry our crosses and follow Christ to Calvary. Some have taken their mission more seriously.

Palm Sunday

The stone of Bethpage

Cold and very windy ... and it rained last night. We thought the Palm Sunday procession from Bethpage to Jerusalem (1 km up and down the  Mt. of Olives) would be wet and miserable. But by noon the sun was up and the procession got underway. It was crowded but not as previous years. Many people have avoided Jerusalem for fear of terrorists' attacks. Police were everywhere to secure the route.

I decided not to join in ... not even to St. Anne's Church (Sheeps Pool) where the procession always ends. Have been feeling so weak from exhaustion and medication ... and the chronic diarrhea. But I managed to join in the parish procession in the evening at New Gate though. Bands of bagpipers march from Notre Dame into the Old City through New Gate ... the only christian city gate. It's a once a year opportunity for christians to express their faith publicly and the local crowds were there to support ... christians from jerusalem and other parts of the country joining in. Here are some photos of the procession taken by friends.

Crowds leaving Bethpage to Jerusalem

The Passion of Christ sung at solemn
Mass in the Holy Sepulcher 

More crowds heading for Jerusalem

Franciscan friars leading the procession

Down the mt. of Olives

Holy Week starts

My palm

Today is the last day of Lent ... the last Saturday before Palm Sunday. Thousands of indian migrant workers packed into the Old City to make the Way of the Cross ... it's the only day they are free to worship because Sunday is a working day. All the indian priests in the country were at hand for confessions and leading the Way of the Cross in groups. It was very crowded in the streets, something we have not seen for a long time since the war started. Yes it's a war ... everyone admits it except the government.

I bought a palm branch for Palm Sunday procession yesterday. Many christian shops have started selling them ... braided in traditional style. They come in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. The medium costs US$10. Pretty hefty but since I didn't have a palm last year, I thought I should get one this year. I'll probably not go for the whole procession from Bethfage down to St. Anne's (Sheep's Pool) but I'll wait at Gethsemane of maybe at St. Anne's itself where the Patriarch will bless the people with the Blessed Sacrament.

Exhaustion has overtaken me and I've been sleeping for the past several hours ... in fact I slept during work and class. Total body shut down. Holy Week will be a long rest for me .... I hope.

Jerusalem Marathon

The weather was fine the last few days - temp. as high as 28 degrees ... almost like summer. Then the last 48 hours saw a turnaround ... temp. dropping down to 10 degrees. It rained the whole night as well and the wind is bitterly cold. I have to turn on my 2 radiators to stay warm at night as my asthma is back again after a course of courtesans and antibiotics. My body is falling apart ... I can feel the overpowering pressure and tiredness in mind and body. Too much work, too much worries and my allergic asthma is recurring after the medication has stopped. I've lost over 5kg. And people around me are warning me of a breakdown ... I should take a break. Easier said than done.

Marathoners at Jaffa Street junction

The weather did not dampen the Jerusalem Marathon this morning though. Thousands of participants joined in the cross-City run. Roads were closed till noon and no traffic was allowed. There was no train service as well since the route followed parts of the rail system. I wanted to carry some stuff to the chinese sisters convent but at the Jaffa Street junction I was stopped by police. There was no way I could cross the road as the marathoners had taken over the road. One thing though - police presence was super heavy with even the dog unit and mounted police joining in. Luckily there were no incidents ... with only 2 stabbing attempts thwarted outside of the City.

Holy Week starts in 2 days ... let's hope there'll be no incidents as well.

Emergency Ward again

Was in hospital for a couple of days. Symptoms appeared to be the flu coupled with an allergic reaction but after tests at the Emergency Room, the docs say it's a severe allergic reaction plus exhaustion. Am under heavy medication. And I lost my voice. And work has been accumulating. I start at 4am each day and end by midnight ... mostly without a meal. The mental exhaustion is even worse than the physical.

The wave of violence continues ... not like the previous Intifada when co-ordinated attacks occurred. It's still lone wolf attacks, sporadic and often involving youths below 20 yrs of age. But recently a few attacks involved guns and explosives. Police and soldiers have tightened control in and outside the Old City but it is not stopping thee attacks. Everyone is saying the Israeli military is not prepared for this new method of aggression. Newspapers have been analyzing this phenomenon and say it's the result of frustration by youths who see they have no future.  The political stalemate has left many young people without school, work or freedom of movement. The youngest in jail is a 12 yr old girl who tried to stab a soldier.

People try to get on with their lives despite all the blockades, stop-and-search and other inconveniences. It's not easy But the sense of hopelessness hangs heavily. "What can we do?" is the answer. Streets are now filled with Spring fruit such as strawberries but few families can afford to buy them now that work restrictions have tightened, cost of living skyrocket and everyone is barely getting by day by day. This year looks miserable.

Saved by the flu

Artichokes are in
season

48 hours of violence ... starting with a 50 yr old arab woman stabbing policemen inside the Old City yesterday morning; then her son and an accomplice went on a shooting spree at Salahaddin Street in East Jerusalem, while at the same time 60km away another attack took place in Petah Tikvah and 70km away american tourists were killed or wounded in Old Jaffa.

This morning a shooting spree from a moving car hit a bus in Ramot (north of Jerusalem); the same car came into Jerusalem just outside the Old City and opened fire indiscriminately ... critically wounding a passing christian. Later we found out he was Victor who used to work in our kitchen. Word is that he was shot in the head.

I would have walked by that section of the road at that time everyday to go to work, but today because of the severe flu I stayed home and that saved my life. Well being saved from being shot is one thing .... but the flu is really killing me in other ways: painful joints, fever, chills, coughing fits with congested lungs; and a dreadful asthma reaction which I now think is an allergy to a new toothpaste that I'm using. There's a chemical in there that I'm severely allergic to.