New day

Sunrise today

The turkish incursion into Syria is terrible ... and is causing ripples of dismay if not fear around our region, not least Israel. Thousands of christian and yezidi and Mandean refugees under Kurdish protection are now open to attacks ... by turks and ISIS.  If Trump could so easily dump the Kurdish allies after so much suffering .... no one is harboring any illusions that America will always have Israel's back. Time to have backup plans. Just received news that 3 have died by turkish fire ... including a baby.

School has started .... 2nd day today. Already the tables in the library are half filled and within the coming week, all will be filled. I need to put up rules to free up some tables otherwise many students will not be able to study. So much logistics to consider ... it's giving me a headache trying to fulfill everyone's requests. Added to this, the jewish holidays have deprived me of workers living in Palestine because the borders are closed ... and those who can come are sick.

Sunset today

Soon the feast of Sukkoth will start and everything will close down again ... some for 8 days. I've been warning our students living in Palestine to look for lodging in Jerusalem during this time otherwise they will miss school for a week ... the borders being closed for the week.

I sprained my back a 2nd time ... it put me back in bed for a day. But I've learned to adjust my position to relieve the pain so I can walk and work again. Adaptation is the key to survival.

Reparation day

Mounted police at Damascus Gate

It's Yom Kippur today ... popularly known as Day of Atonement but more properly Day of Reparation. All public activities stopped by 3pm yesterday and at sunset the whole country was silent. No cars in the street ... the only day in the year when the streets are totally empty of traffic. Its a day when israelis go out in bikes ... not to go anyway but simple to enjoy the empty streets. Along the City walls of the Old City, the main street was also empty of cars except for police cars and police motorbikes and mounted police. It was eerie. Some families of jews walked home from prayers at the Wailing Wall ... talking softly. Some were barefoot to show repentance.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-shuts-down-for-yom-kippur-2/?fbclid=IwAR3X4JM7UNBc6PJD7eBJQOYBDvVLRL-s_5A_IccutI9POOKebPh9x2hC160

On the eastern/arab side of the City, life was as usual last night. Kebab sellers were roasting in the streets and people continued to loiter around in the chill, enjoying the breeze. But this morning most arab shops were closed. Not because they observe Yom Kippur but because all the borders with Palestine are closed and shopkeepers living there cannot come to Jerusalem to open shop. Hence even East Jerusalem was also relatively quiet.

Only police cars on the streets

Closure of the borders meant that our workers living in Palestine could not come to work. I was rushing between the 2 libraries because both were short of workers due to the closure. Then those workers who have Israeli citizenship have Yom Kippur as a compulsory day off. I could get no paper work done in our IT and Finance departments due to this. I'm quite afraid for next week when Sukkoth starts because the borders will be closed for a week. No workers for a week!!! I'll be working time and stretching to the limits.

School reopens

Ap. Admin. presides
at Mass

Yesterday was the inauguration of the new academic year. The opening Mass was presided by the Apostolic Administrator (who is also a franciscan and alumnus of our school). There's a bumper of new students this year in both the BA level and postgrad level. There're not enough rooms in our monasteries around Jerusalem so other convents and hostels have to take them in.

Yom Kippur begins tonight ... solemn day of fasting for the jews. Even most non-observant jews will fast at least on Yom Kippur. It's not simply for the atonement of sins, as what is commonly thought, but also the removal of sins and a consideration of the severe consequence of sins that this feast is all about. And it begins at sunset with a strange prayer called the Kol Nidre. It's a prayer which pre-empts any sins committed in the coming year regarding vows and promises made but cannot be fulfilled. It asks for pardon and forgiveness of all these future sins ... so it sounds like you can go ahead and make empty promises anyway. Well I'm sure it's not meant to be like that ... but it sure offer a loophole.

Felled palm branches

5 days from now is the feast of Sukkoth or booths or huts. Public palm trees have been cut so that the palm branches are given to poor jews who can't afford to buy them to build huts for the feast. For 8 days they must eat all their meals inside these huts. A lot of food sold in shops will be fruit and vegetable based reflecting the autumn harvest ... so that's good for me.

The whole country is in jitters as the utterly inconsistent Trump announced he's pulling US troops out of Syria, leaving the ally Kurds to be killed by Turkish troops. It's a betrayal ... after the Kurds supported the US troops fighting off ISIS. Now Trump pulls the rug off their feet. Everyone from both parties as well as around the world condemns Trump as ungrateful and disloyal to allies. Which makes Israel panic because now they realise they cannot count on Trump to watch their back. He will betray anyone anywhere anytime. Utterly immoral. View this in the context of Iran's growing threat in our region and you can understand why it's a scary situation.

After the rain

New 1st Station cast

It's the 1st Sunday after the feast of St. Francis and the 800th anniversary celebrations of Francis meeting the Sultan Al Malik in Damietta. The past 3 days celebrations was not all over yet. This morning new iron casts of the Way of the Cross were fixed on each of the Stations and blessed in a procession by the Custos and the friars this morning. I couldn't join in as I was celebrating the Armenian Mass at that time.

When Mass ended, I had to go to my office 1km uphill to meet a needy family that couldn't pay its rent. Then M. Teresa's sisters came to collect the last instalment of vitamins, first aid kits and clothe for Syria. It was a lot and the  2 sisters couldn't damage. luckily some Salesian seminarians passed by and helped the sisters carry the huge boxes and sacks to their convent 700m downhill.

Bernese Mountain
dog

After that I went to Jungle petshop to buy Buddy and JJ their mixed-seed food. It was sunny and cool so the walk was very pleasant. At the shop there was a huge Bernese Mountain dog ... it's thick fur had lice so he was given a shampoo. Throughout the process he was very calm. I liked it. Unfortunately I have no room to keep a dog ... so I have to settle with Buddy and JJ. And believe me, they are more demanding than a dog.

It's been the 3rd night that I've slept only 3 hours. I'm very exhausted from this. I'm hoping tomorrow to be better as I don't have class. My sprained back is over and I can walk ... though my left ankle as usual hurts whenever the weather changes.

Yesterday's unexpected rain is still hitting the headlines ... and the southernmost city of Eilat saw rain today. Really strange weather we're having.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5603154,00.html

1st rain of winter

Rain ... and my plants are happy

It rained this afternoon. The first rain of winter. It started with large drizzle and then heavy drops. Then it rained with thunder rolling ... for over an hour. What a great start to winter. The wind was chilly and the damp ground smelt nice. The hot dry ground was cooled by rain.

However for the jews it's a bad sign ... a sign that God is displeased. It should only rain after Sukkoth which is a week from now. Now is the harvest season which climaxes with Sukkoth. To rain now will render the fruit harvest rotten by the rains. It's therefore seen as a punishment by God.

Profession rite this morning

Earlier this morning we had the solemn profession of 4 of our friars. Great event as their families from Latin America, Syria and Italy came. The church was packed. This year like last year, we have a bumper group of seminarians ... 22 new ones plus 3 who have returned from their apostolic year. There's no more room in the seminary and the classrooms are overcrowded. That's a good sign for us ... but for the seminarians we must try to provide sufficient food and lodging and study materials for them all. I think the total number of seminarians are 80 plus.

I had to go to our house in Jaffa for a job. Woke up at 3am and left home at 4.45am ... luckily there was no traffic in the highway as it's the Sabbath. Reached there at 6.10am and rushed to get my job done. The rest of the friars were ready to go to Jerusalem for the solemn profession so I went back with them. It was a short stay for such a long journey ... one hour and a half to get there ... another hour and a half to get back ... but only one hour there to finish my job. Hope I get to stay a little longer next time ... to rest.

Francis Day

Statue, relic & Rule of
St. Francis at St. Saviour
church

It's the feast day of St. Francis. There was a pontifical Mass presided by Cardinal Sandri with 6 bishops, Custos and abbot. Lots of religious and laity in attendance. The entire liturgy was broadcast live over the Internet. Very impressive event ... the cardinal came to represent the Pope on this 800th anniversary of St. Francis meeting the Caliph Al Malik of Damietta (Egypt) who ruled the Holy Land at that time (1219).

I had Mass with the M. Teresa sisters at 6.30am so I didn't join in the pontifical event. But it was quite a night. Was awaken at 1.30am by loud banging on a door or wall. I thought someone was stuck in the library elevator (yes we have night scholars who do research in the dead of night) so I went to check all 5 floors. No one inside. The banging stopped but I couldn't go back to sleep. At 4am I had to go buy barley loaves for breakfast and there ... as I opened our main gate, stood an indian priest with 2 luggages. He had been waiting and banging on our door all night. Too bad for him because he never informed anyone in our house he was coming. And he wasn't meant for our house anyway ... he should have gone to our house 2 kms away but he never had an address nor a telephone number to call. Big time drama. Anyway we gave him a room to sleep and later in the afternoon we had to bring him to the other house where he should be staying.

Paper & sackcloth effigy & card

Then later I tried to rest but was called to do odd jobs as one of our workers reported sick. At 4pm I had to back to the MC convent for adoration, confession and Bible conference. The sisters made a small paper cutting of me and a feast day card ... all in sackcloth and paper. Very creative. Anyway it ended at 7pm and I walked home through the long way in order to avoid the road where muslims can attack me. However the streets in the other part of the Muslim Quarter has few street lights. There're lots of stairs and going downhill in the dark is dangerous. So if I don't get killed by muslims, I'll die breaking my neck falling down the dark stepped streets of Herod's Gate. What a way to end the feast day.

Transitus

Transitus in candle-light

Today is the Transitus or Passing of St. Francis which we celebrate in the evening. For 800 years it's been the same moving liturgy ... the reading of the last hours of St. Francis' life ... the singing of the Canticle of the Sun, the lights are turned off leaving only the candle-light in our hands as we sing the ancient hymn to send the soul of St. Francis to heaven O Sanctissima Anima and the final when all the sons and daughters of St. Francis hail as our common father. It's very moving.

The special altar to St. Francis' relic was created by an italian artiste and the Custos who presided over the liturgy blessed everyone with the relic. The Church of St. Savior was packed to standing room only.

The Custos gives the blessing

Our young friars ... 26 of them ... renewed their profession during the liturgy. This year again we have  an abundant flow of vocations and our seminaries are full to over capacity. There's been so many young vocations that we had to divide the seminary into 2 locations and now even that's not enough so we have to house some of our seminarians in the guest-house. That good and hopeful sign.

After 2 days in bed, my sprained back is alot better. I managed to walk and stand ... so I slowly made my way to St. Saviour's for the Transitus. It was worth it. Now it's time to go home slowly ... and rest till tomorrow for the feast.