St. Berard & companions

3 of the 5 kittens in the garden

The stray cat that lives in our courtyard somewhere has given birth. It's not the first cat to do that and neither will it be the last. But this one was a little different ... she has 5 kittens instead of the usual 3 than we 've seen in all these years. And though the cat is black with streaks of orange, her babies are 3 black, one orange and one white. And they're quite cute. However I dislike cats as the hairs provoke an asthma attack. With the cold and rainy weather, these poor kittens should be hiding under the Porter's room. Yet they're fat and fuzzy and very playful. I think the pilgrims have been feeding them.

Another day with very cloudy skies and drizzle. It didn't feel as cold although it was only 9 degrees. In fact this whole week the temp. will fluctuate between 4 degrees to 9 degrees. And it will rain again on Friday. That will be very nice as the rain is still needed. And it is winter after all.

Rain clouds this morning

Today we celebrated the feast day of St. Berard & companions ... our franciscan protomartyrs. That means they were our first martyrs in the Order. They were preaching in a mosque in muslim Spain and was arrested and sent to Morocco where they were beheaded. Their deaths had such an impact on the franciscans that they decided to open more missions in muslim countries especially in the Holy Land. And St. Anthony of Padua, who was an augustinian monk, was so inspired by the protomartyrs that he left the Augustinian Order and became a Franciscan friar.

There was a terror plot at Joseph's Tomb in Samaria. Joseph as in the 12 sons of Jacob, He died in Egypt but his body was brought back to the Promised and buried in what today is Samaria. Many jews go there to pray and apparently an arab had plotted to cause massive injuries. Thank goodness it was thwarted. But it another sign that things are not right ... that violence is building up and this summer might after all end up in a war that all the analysts have been warning.  http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/local/terror-attack-foiled-at-josephs-tomb-33712

The forceful repatriation of african illegal immigrants is dividing Israeli society. Hardline right-wingers want them all out. Religious and left-wingers say it's not Israeli nor in keeping with Judaism which has a tenet in protecting the unfortunate.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-jewish-groups-tell-pm-forcibly-deporting-africans-betrays-jewish-values/

The situation in Gaza is getting so bad a warning is out that a humanitarian crisis is about to happen if aid does not enter the Strip. No electricity or water ... not enough medicine or food .... but today Israel has permitted Gaza to have 3G internet service. Note that the rest of Israel is on 4G. Well good ... so it seems ... if 3G is more important than electricity, water, food and medicine.  https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/palestinians-finally-to-get-3g-in-west-bank-after-israel-lifts-ban-1.5730677

Another day of rain

The night market under tents

It rained again today after a sunny morning that lasted only a few hours. The dark rain clouds blew into Jerusalem and the wind was cold. I think the highest temp. we had today was 9 degrees ... but like the local weather forecast says "I feels like 4 degrees".

Last night coming home in the rain ... and some hailstones as well ... I saw the night market opened inside Damascus Gate. Most of the vendors were finding shade in the awnings of shops but one had a tent spread over his veggies. Very creative. Needless to say I arrived home soaking wet. Luckily I didn't catch a cold. Some guys in our house are quite sick from the weather ... coughing, fever and aches in the joints. Yesterday while the sun was out in mid-morning, I went to the Supersol Supermarket 2 kms away. I used to accompany a professor there every Sunday but he has since retired and returned to Sicily. I've hardly been back there since. I was surprised to see the changes they made in the supermarket ... much more spacious and a lot more goods. However I wanted Coleslaw dressing and nowhere in Jerusalem can it be found.

Supersol supermarket

This evening we had a doctoral defense. The candidate did a very thorough work, investigating literature from early Judaism to 5th century Church Fathers. He used to come everyday to the library and research his thesis. Very hardworking. I hope he had a good mark. Yes it's time for exams. Good thing it's raining because the students are all staying at home to study. Keeps them focussed.

It's time for another meeting now. Hope it ends quickly so we can have dinner and go to sleep.

Rain all night

Damascus Gate roundabout all wet

It rained all night ... at times quite heavy. We were expecting it as it was forecast and we were looking forward to it. So it rained a little after 9pm. It didn't feel very cold in itself. It was the wind that was cold ... and it was very strong.

My right shoulder and neck was hurting quite much yesterday so I could hardly sleep. At 4.30am I decided to go to the bakery to buy fresh bread for breakfast. It's such a pity because our sisters had prepared a great breakfast of cheese, ham and eggs ... but we have only stale bread. So I went to the 24 hr bakery to buy arabic Kaik which is sesame bagel in a very odd shape. It was raining but I managed to walk there and back with no incident. The shops along Musrara are mostly opened for 24 hrs because workers from different shifts gather to eat and drink hot coffee. There were around some 50+ such workers ... those looking for day jobs in construction sites, who were huddled under pergolas and shop corners drinking their coffee and eating pitta bread with hummus. It's another world that few people get to see in the early morning hours. Some were older men, seasoned workers who need to feed their families ... others are young adults trying to make money to build a house and get married. It's unbelievable how hard some people have to work just to earn a few dollars a day.

My commission for 2018

Yesterday evening after dinner we received our commissions for 2018. Usually it's done after playing tombola but we've not played it for many years now. Instead everyone is given a present and a piece of paper which designates our protector saint for 2018. This year it's the Holy Name of Jesus (last year it was St. Ephrem the Syrian); then the virtue to inculcate is contrition, then a phrase of inspiration from the desert fathers and the deceased I must pray for Fr. Brancher.
It's a nice tradition to keep which many religious communities have abandoned. But our Custody continues with this tradition and it takes place on the same day for all our communities so we all are united in a way.

On a less happy note, jewish settlers were filmed destroying arab property ... over 100 olive trees ... with soldiers standing by doing nothing. It's dreadful and unjust.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-filmed-destroying-100-palestinian-olive-trees-as-idf-appears-to-look-on/

On the jewish side of the country, thousands of jews in the southern city of Ashdod protested against the ultra-orthodox push to force all shops to close on the Sabbath. The backlash will eventually spread to other cities.  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5070433,00.html

And yesterday clashes continued in the Territories over Trump's declaration ... with 46 palestinians wounded. Doesn't look good. This will not fizzle out and if noting is done to turn the situation around, it will explode in summer.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.834551

Busy

Sabbath calm in Jerusalem

It's a shocking 16 degrees today ... so hot I'm wearing only a T-shirt. And then I read that Singapore is 22 degrees and people there are wearing winter clothes!!! Hahahahaha

Sabbath has come and Jerusalem is very quiet. Few cars in the streets, less people and all shops closed. This is the heart of the ultra-orthodox jews and they are determined to enforce the no-work Sabbath Law ... even throwing stones and attacking people who break it. In Jaffa / Tel Aviv instead where the ultra-orthodox have not yet made a stronghold, the city is alive and vibrant with weekend parties, night excursions and lots of fine dining. What a world apart ... 60 kms to be exact. Lucky for us in Jerusalem we have the arab eastern side of Jerusalem which does not observe the Sabbath. However being Friday evening, muslims do not open their shops as well. It's their day of prayer and rest. Well, you can't win.

Jaffa bustling
with weekenders

I've been very busy with many chinese catholic groups coming to make a pilgrimage. Been rushing from one site to another on foot to meet them (as they requested), present a short talk and welcome them in the name of the Custody or the Patriarchate, since no one else speaks mandarin here. It's great to meet people from all  parts of China but it is also very tiring. Yesterday evening I had to travel 10 kms to meet 2 groups in 2 different parts of Jerusalem. No choice but to go by taxi as I have only 15 mins to travel between them.

Everyone is saying that a war will soon break out: in the northern border with Lebanon and/or the south with Gaza. We have had relatively few violent incidents the last year but now with the almost daily missile attacks from Gaza and the coming of ISIS in the Syrian border and the Iranian Shiite forces in Lebanon, the army thinks the signs are pointing towards a war.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.834343

Well one of the tensions we've seen this week is the rioting and deaths of palestinians who are resisting Israeli army raids to arrest the killers of a jewish rabbi. And riots continue over Trump's declaration to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. 47 palestinians have been wounded today in clashes with israeli soldiers. While Jerusalem is very calm, the other towns in the Palestinian Territories are on fire with clashes.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/clashes-break-out-in-nablus-as-soldiers-search-for-rabbis-killers/    and    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.834551

Weekend begins

Mounted police on patrol

From 9 degrees this morning, the temp. has risen to 14 degrees now. Warm enough to remove one hoodie. but the pullover remains. I wonder what further surprise nature has in store for us here. One thing's for sure ... the warm weather has encouraged hundreds more muslims to come into the Old City for Friday prayers. That explains the rise of police and soldiers in and around the Old City. Even the mounted police are patrolling outside the City.

This morning I had to rush to the Patriarchate to meet a chinese group and help translate while they had an audience with the bishop.  I find myself more and more in demand for this translator job. It's usually chinese to italian or english and vice versa. But that means working at irregular hours and not getting paid a cent. I do it mainly for the chinese pilgrims who have come such a long way to see the oldest bishopric in the world ... indeed the place where the Church was born .

Today the jewish rightwing newspaper published a study that says 1 in 12 christians are persecuted in the world. hat makes christianity the most persecuted religion in the world. But on one talks about it. And the shameful thing is even christians themselves are not aware or care to be aware about it.   http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/1-in-12-Christians-worldwide-persecuted-report-shows-533453

Pork supermarket at Rishon le Zion

And the whole circus about the law forbidding food and grocery shops to open on Sabbat has taken a strange twist: the Minister who fought to have it passed, and even threatened to resign if it were not passed, now says he had nothing to do with it nor is he interested in enforcing it ... and worse, that the law is not necessary!!!!!! What a turnabout face!!! It seems he has caught Trump's virus of selective dementia. It's all about appeasing the ultra-orthodox groups. The whole political scene here is a circus. Well I guess selling pork then shouldn't be a problem if we go by the Interior Minister's turnabout memory.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/minister-says-he-wont-enforce-law-to-shut-mini-markets-on-shabbat/

Half day break

24 degrees in Tel Aviv/Jaffa today

A rare break today not from work but from Jerusalem. I was called to go help our Jaffa community this afternoon. I took advantage of a free car ride as the parish priest of Jaffa was in Jerusalem for a meeting. We drove to Jaffa at 2pm and much as I love to see the scene of the central plains in winter ... I fell asleep in the car because months of exhaustion crept up on me. When I woke up ... I found myself in Rishon leZion, a city 20 minutes from Tel Aviv. The parish priest needed to go to a non-kosher supermarket to get some groceries ... meaning he needed to buy pork. Imagine my surprise (or horror) to find the cold storage section filled with various parts of the pig ... from tail to ears. Pork is an absolute no-no for jews and muslims so there are very very few shop that sell pork and always at a very high price. In Rishon lesson there are few ultra-orthodox jews so such a supermarket is possible. If it were in Jerusalem, the ultra-orthodox would have burnt the place down.

10 degrees in Jerusalem at the
same time

Once I finished my job, I prepared to go home. It was a nice 4 hour break to get out of Jerusalem. I'm beginning to find it suffocating to live and work in there. I need to get far away for some fresh air. And coincidentally it was the superior of the Jaffa monastery's birthday. He asked me to stay for dinner and prepared a room for me to stay overnight but I couldn't. I have to meet the bishop in Jerusalem at 8am tomorrow and then confessions at 3.30pm. Too bad for me. I would have loved to stay overnight and get a very well deserved sleep with no worries.

Tel Aviv was warm and sunny ... 24 degrees. It was like summer. A T-shirt was enough. But after the 45 min. ride back to Jerusalem, I had to wear to hoodies to keep warm. Jerusalem was only 10 degrees. It's amazing how the weather can be so different in 2 places 60 km apart.

In the news, there's a shocking article of how rightwing groups coerce arabs into selling their property ... including blackmail and threats.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.833169

One positive news though is that the Syrian city of Raqa has seen the first Mass celebrated since it's liberation from ISIS control. The surviving christians celebrated Christmas in the bombed out church and lit candles ... there was little cheer but lots of thanksgiving.  

Meantime the Post Office has warned that letters and parcels will face major delays because they're changing their operating system which require several days closure of the entire postal system in Israel. Horrors.

Midweek

Sunrise this morning

You may not have read this in your news agencies, but here we've been under almost a daily barrage of rocket fire from Gaza. Almost all have fallen on empty plots of land and so far there are no injuries ... but it is scary to live in the neighbouring cities of Ashkalon and Ashdod. Some newspapers are saying there'll be a war in summer now that Hamas has stocked up enough arsenal to fire these rockets. Let's hope not.

5 years ago today

The skies are once again cloudy after a brief moment of sunshine. This morning the dew was so heavy we thought it rained last night. The sunrise was however spectacular... over the Dead Sea. We expect some in over the weekend ... which will be nice as long as it's not a storm like last week. 5 years ago on this day there was a massive snow fall. Here's a pic to remind you what it looked like at Damascus Gate.

This morning I noticed a rise in price presence. Even the mounted police are in the streets. I wonder why. It's only Wednesday and not many muslims from outside the City have come here.

Mounted Police on patrol today

Exams will soon start in our school. It has already start in some other schools. Lot of nervous students in the library .... usually you don't see them there at all. Students skipping prayers and meals just to squeeze an extra hour of revision. I have to invigilate 2 BA theses. That means a lot of reading.

There was a piece of disturbing news regarding the Israeli Welfare service, which by Law, will not help homeless people because they don't look dirty enough. How dreadful ... to force people to look undignified so as to receive some money or aid.   https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.833394

And the very high cost of living is given a study on ground zero. Even american slim (jewish migrants) find it unbelievable that things here cost double of that in America.  http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Milking-Israelis-for-what-theyre-worth-517331