Rain

Sleeping cosy cat at a shop entrance

It rained all night ands very cold. 10 degrees at most. I was terribly sick with a very high fever, aching joints, stomach cramps, dizziness and nausea. Despite the fever I was shivering so hard I had to wear many layers of clothes to keep warm ... till 1.30am when the fever and shivering subsided. Then I went down to the refectory to drink a cup of hot coffee. I felt better but the aching joints would not stop so I did not sleep till now ... a good 30 hours. It was terrible and I have not been so sick for a long time. Today I feel better but very tired and sleepy. But I still have class so I'll have to walk another 1km to the university to teach. I'm substituting a prof. who cannot make it for his class. Tomorrow I'll have to go back to hospital to check if my bone graft is still growing or rejected.

The sky is still very dark and drizzling but still lots of muslims continue to come into the Old City to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque. Shop-keepers are keeping a close eye on the rain ... but also on municipality officers who catch illegal hawkers. This morning I saw a young arab staying on a ladder watching for police and occifers while illegal hawkers sold their wares quickly before the rain comes.

Lookout on a ladder for police

It was a rough night for the country as the PM chose to accept a ceasefire with Gaza after heavy fighting for 2 days. Israelis who had been bombed were not happy with this apparent surrender and rioted in the southern cities. Today they plan to march in Tel Aviv. The Defense Minister resigned in protest at the soft approach to Gaza because he advocated a massive attack. The country is right now torn in two. Hamas in Gaza has fired over 400 missiles and has probably depleted it's cache of weapons ... it cannot retaliate so a ceasefire is its only option.

A pro-ultra-orthodox mayor has been elected for Jerusalem in yesterday's runoff. Doesn't sound good for us though he has promised to be a mayor for everyone. That usually means giving in to the ultra-orthodox demands and minority rights will again be squashed. Jews will still get away with vandalizing, attacking and spitting at christians and there will be no investigations and arrests. But even worse the implosion within judaism will worsen because the secular and non-ultra-orthodox communities will also be attacked and excluded by the ultra-orthodox who will impose their practices on all other jews living in Jerusalem.

No war

Sunset at Tsahal Square

The barrage of missiles fired from Gaza into Israel continue today. A total of 400 missiles had been fired, one israeli died and several injured. Israel sent more weapons and manpower to the border. Everyone is waiting for a war ... while the Israeli cabinet met to discuss the matter. Now surprisingly we receive news that the cabinet will soon declare a ceasefire. Well it's not the first time a ceasefire has been agreed and broken .... we'll have to see what happens in the next 24 hours. Israelis living in the border cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod etc... that have been bombed are not at all happy with a ceasefire. They want retribution.

Our wall of blooming plunbargo

I've been feeling very sick today. Many of our guys in the house are coughing with fever. Today at noon I began to have a high fever, joint pains, nausea and dizziness. I came home still feeling sick but couldn't rest or sleep. The whole body aches. I sure hope I'm not catching the virus. It's horrible. The weather is partly to blame I guess. It's humid and cold. But it seems good for the plants ... the roses and other flowers are blooming suddenly.

The school has added another class for me on Tuesdays ... teaching english to the seminarians from our Philosophate (house for philosophy students). And tomorrow the Salesian University asked me to go substitute a prof. who can't make it for class. It'll be a busy day tomorrow ... hope I'll get well by then.

War?

Seen at 5th Station

What a barrage of missiles today! Yesterday Gaza fired 17 rockets and today 80. Israel is not bombarding Hamas positions inside Gaza. Yesterday the Israeli army made a secret raid inside Gaza but were beaten back by Hamas. One high-ranking officer was killed. Emboldened by their success, Hamas today launched 80 rockets into southern Israel. Despite the pledges to a truce ... it seems no one is keeping to their part of the bargain. Only a war can solve this tension.

Yesterday after our long walk up and down the Mt. of Olives to celebrate our feast day, Leo and I went to Arab Fried Chicken to buy 2 pieces of chicken to eat. It was a takeaway so I didn't know what was in the box except what we had ordered. Back home we opened the box and found 4 pieces of chicken instead of 2 and an extra box of french fries. Well we ate it anyway but I went back today to pay for the extra pieces. After work I walked down to East Jerusalem ... it was dark at 4.30pm and quite cold. When Explained to the same guy who took my order what happened and placed the 15 shekels on the cashier counter but he refused. He said I'm a regular customer and a friend so he won't take the money. I felt bad but also grateful that there are good people still. I know and have seen with my own eyes several times when poor school children or poor widows stop by AFC and ask for a drink or some bread, and the workers give them chicken as well as money.

A section of the only road running along the Dead Sea collapsed when rain waters washed the foundations of a section of the road. It just collapsed and flowed into the Dead Sea. It's very dangerous now to travel in the desert as rain water flowing down from the cities uphill carry boulders and sand.

Well all this is little comfort when 150km away from that road, a war might be starting in Gaza.

11/11 at 11.11

Sunset over Mt. of Olives

It was a lovely Sunday. I had the Armenian Mass at the 3rd Station and the armenian twins came to help me. They are our seminarians and everyone is very proud of them. Identical twins who speak and read armenian. But they don't know the armenian liturgy so I have to teach them the hymns and Creed. But they are rally a great help because they can respond during the Liturgy and help sing the hymns and prayers while I can get on with the priestly parts. The armenian Catholic laity were very delighted to have young armenian vocations and chatted with them for a long time after Mass.

The desert toward Jericho

Then at 1pm I went for a long walk away from Jerusalem ... specially up the Mt. of Olives. It was a very cloudy day ... at times it almost looked as if it would rain but didn't. The walk was therefore not as difficult given the weather. It included a walk down the Kidron Valley then up the Mt. of Olives to the Lutheran Augusta Victoria hospital. A total of about 3 km. From the back of the hospital, you can see the entire Jordan Valley and the desert stretching from the Herodion (King Herod's palace where he died) in the south to the mountains of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan (ancient Moab) in the east and Jericho desert to the north-east.. It's amazing.

Mt. of Olives looking southwards

I went there with Bro. Leo ... we wanted to celebrate our feast day in quiet reflection away from the noisy City. And the hospital was the perfect place. Leo and I talked about the Gospel of Mark for 2 hours while overlooking the immense desert. Then we walked back to the City, passion by the Nunciature. We went through the Rockefeller Museum into East Jerusalem as we bought some necessities for the week. Then Leo came to play with Buddy and Chilli while our Indian sisters pampered him with indian food and goodies. And so our feast day celebration ended.

Today is 11/11. I watched for a few minutes the remembrance celebrations of the end of the First World War. Though Israel didn't exist back then, our PM was at the Paris Peace Forum with other heads of State for this event. A divided world killing each other out of fear and unfounded hatred ... nothing was learned. 20 years after the WW1 there was the WW2 and the horror of Nazism and the Holocaust, and the Japanese atrocities in the East. Will humanity ever learn?

Onomastico

One floral arrangement

The morning started early with Mass at the Empty Tomb at 6am. The filipino group from Jaffa that booked it came late so I started the Mass with the 15 filipino priests whoa re here on pilgrimage with the 4 chinese sisters. During the sermon the Jaffa group came ... and they were so many the Tomb was packed and several had to stand outside. Giving out communion was a challenge. Anyway I offered the Mass for your intentions and prayed for you all.

2nd floral design

Then I had to give a recollection to the same filipino community. It was a good talk. 40 minutes. Then   I rushed home to pick flowers from our garden to make 2 floral arrangements for our dining table.  The plumbago bush and Salvia bushes are all blooming like crazy so I picked lots of flowers. And the color scheme is perfect ... pastel blue on indigo. It's my feast day today ... Pope St. Leo the Great ... so there's a lunch celebration. The cooks made 2 cakes for me ... one black forest and one blueberry cheesecake. Both my favorites. The cook also made beef shawarma for the main dish and tagliatelle for starters. All in all it was nice. We use the greek term "onomastico" to refer to our patron saint's day. It's usually celebrated in place of birthdays.

There's a viral video on the flash floods in Petra, the ancient Nabatean city in Jordan. A major tourist spot, everything came to a halt when waves of water and sand and stone flowed down into the archeological park. 8 were killed and many injured. I guess there'll be lots of repair work to do and the site will be closed to tourists for some time.  https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Three-Israelis-lost-communication-in-Jordan-floods-571520?fbclid=IwAR0BgdVWVLIzPosW8UGxPWxga0YseatHTRvFcP27kQE9nz9VRRknGSeIyzQ
and
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-46162772/deadly-flash-floods-hit-jordan-s-iconic-city-of-petra?fbclid=IwAR0KB8cqOSDmXsnj1fIvZKtU22IwEwjeS4NzlLfUEk9O90kbPEQZtBIOb_U

Here we are hoping for more rain but Jerusalem is not getting it's share of it. Let's hope the coming months will be more promising to us.

Only a drizzle

Sunrise over the Mt. of Olives

It looked like raining today with cloudy skies again but the sun came back up by noon. Then when we thought it would be warm (20 degrees maximum), it started to drizzle. Typica; autumn I guess .... very unpredictable weather. Nevertheless I'm enjoying it ... the unpredictability is winter.

The whole morning was filled with chores and favors for others .... buying 10 bags of small hosts for our Jaffa Church, buying an asperges for a deacon, correcting a student's thesis, meeting with him and discussing the mistakes and corrections, then bringing the chines sisters to meet our Archbishop. Meantime I also cooked some seafood curry and Leo the seminarian cooked rice so we could eat lunch together. But stupid me ... I forgot he's allergic to prawns so he couldn't eat any. We wanted to celebrate our feast day together ... tomorrow is the feast of St. Leo the Great, both his and my patron saint. Well we'll do something else together on Sunday to celebrate then .... tomorrow he has a school excursion and I have class.

Bread and cheese
picnic 

Last Sunday we went for a walk to the hill opposite Jerusalem's Old City. I was my dream since 1990 to come here and see the walls of the City, enjoying the quiet nature and eating bread and cheese. Well after 28 years it finally came true. We had bread and cheese and we watched the City walls and the people who also came to see the panorama. We read Khalil Gibran's The Prophet aloud. It was very fun and relaxing .... far from the madding crowd. Well not totally. A gang of crows were hopping around waiting for crumbs and a cat was meowing for some food as well. 

Friday passed rather quietly here ... despite the crowds there was no tension in the Old City. But in the center of the country, someone placed a pig's head on a synagogue door. This has raised alot of ire throughout the country and you can be sure there will be revenge attacks on arabs, muslims and christians. 

Dies Academicus

Packed hall

Today we celebrated the Dies Academicus with a series of speeches, the keynote speaker being the emeritus cardinal Grocholewsky. It's an annual event held jointly by our university faculty and the dominican Ecole Biblique. Students and staff from both universities filled the Immaculate Hall to standing room only. No other catholic institute in the Holy Land can boast that.

In conjunction with this academic event is our library's exhibition on the traditions and translations of the Bible .... many rare and ancient bibles conserved from the Middle Ages to the 17th century. That's where my part comes in ... me and my team of volunteers form the Catholic University of Milan who helped organise the exhibition. We worked so hard for the past 8 months to get this exhibition off ... and while the volunteers go back to their hostel to sleep after a hard day's work ... I stay awake worrying and planning for many other responsibilities. Last night I slept only 3 hours.

Well tomorrow it's going to be another busy day so I'm sleeping early.