R.I.P.

 Our loyal friend and dear colleague Katie passed away this morning from a short and sudden illness. May God grant her eternal repose and peace in the kingdom.

Katie Lai

Acorns

Acorns mean autumn

Almost a week since I updated my blog. There's a lot of work to be done. But also the psychological toll is weighing heavily on me. Yes Jerusalem is safe and has not had any problems ... but the indirect casualties are everywhere. People may laugh and seem to carry on like normal daily life ... but unconsciously everyone is affected. Economically prices of everything is going up. Subconsciously people avoid going out unless necessary. Gatherings are less frequent. Migrant workers too are traumatised, and a clear reminder was 2 days back when a Thai migrant worker was killed by a missile in Galilee.

Talking about deaths, yesterday evening we received news that one of our workers but more a friend to everyone, Shibly, died after a long illness. He was an orphan that the Franciscans took in, gave him an education and job. He eventually became the head Kawas or dragoman, who leads all public processions of the Franciscans; and private chauffeur and bodyguard of the custos. Then he was diagnosed with liver cancer last Christmas and was home for almost 9 months now. Everyone feels sad.

It's not been a happy week to say the least. I've lost my memory several times. Yesterday was the worst. Three times I stood by the road not knowing where I was or what I was doing outside the Old City. My muscular control has no been good and my shaky hands caused me to spill coffee over my keyboard and totally destroyed it. I needed to go to the shop to buy a new one but I forgot where or why I was going out for.

Autumn

Bread seller

It's been getting chilly and humid this week. The dew is heavy in the morning and the stone pavements are wet and slippery. People are wearing hoodies and jackets. The autumn harvest has begun and because autumn here is very short - only a couple of weeks - winter will soon start. We hope this year it'll rain and even snow. We need it as last winter here was no rain at all.

Schools open and close depending on the situation of the war, and the jewish feasts. Borders were closed on the jewish New Year last week, and will close again today for the Day of Atonement for several days over the weekend. Some of my workers will not be able to come to work ... our institutes will be running on half the personnel; lessons will be taught online. People try to live as normal as they can. This morning on my way to work, there was a bread seller with bread (called ka'ek) on his head, walking 1km out into the open market at Damascus Gate to sell it. Each piece used to cost 4 shekels but now I'm not sure. It's probably higher now.

Our monastery in Tyre which served as a station for passing refugees from south Lebanon has closed due to the encroaching danger of bombings. Everyone has moved to our other monastery in Beirut further north. It's a little more secure but missiles have no eyes and no one can guarantee one won't land near or on the monastery. The friars there continue to provide food, water and shelter to passing refugees but we don't know for how long this will continue as food is running out.

Solemn profession

Five days have passed since my last update. The violence has increased, cities on both sides of the border have been bombarded. People have been killed, injured and displaced. Properties have been destroyed. Fighter jets and helicopters continue to fly overhead. Police stop and search anyone on the streets.

17 new friars

Today marks one year of that terrible4 day that started the war. We are spending it in fasting and prayers. May this tragedy never happen again. Too many innocent lives have been lost. And in the end, nobody wins. Those not affected by the war are still affected indirectly ... with the rising cost of food and services. Many businesses have ground to a halt.l Unemployment is high. Tourism is almost non existent.

Solemn profession of vows

I spent the weekend at Jaffa where I have to substitute the filipino chaplain who's stuck in Dubai. Fewer people come to Mass as many are afraid of more missiles landing on us. On the highway, cars fly pass quickly to reach their destinations ... and avoid being caught in the middle of a journey when the missile sirens sound.

Despite the tensions and difficulties of travel, some people made it to the solemn profession of 17 of our seminarians on Saturday. The church was not very crowded as expected. But our brothers braved the situation and went ahead with their profession. All come from Asia, Africa and Latin America. There are still many vocations there. There's still hope for young instruments of peace.

Night of lights

Missile over Al Aqsa

Last night's barrage of missiles once again reminded us the fragility of normal life here in this region. peace is not elusive, Peace is not wanted. 

It was about 8pm when alerts were sounding on my phone. Then the sirens sounded and the sky was lighted up by almost 200 missiles. The fact that no one was hurt except one unfortunate guy in Jericho killed by missile debris, shows that it was an orchestrated event to please the local public.

Empty streets

The missiles kept coming for about half an hour. Then all was normal again. We can only just pray that things will calm down instead of escalating.

Today the streets and roads were empty ... few if any one were out. Schools were cancelled, shops closed and offices too. I wasn't told that so I went to work only to find I'm the only one working. The main gate of the compound was closed. Well I decided to stay in office instead of walking back 1km home. I tire too easily. I need a long rest. These events are too fast for me to catch up.

Migrants event

Barbecue and mooncakes

The chinese community gathered on Friday evening to celebrated a belated Mid-autumn festival. It was not easy for the workers to come from various parts of the country especially the north because of the war. Still about 20 managed to come. They prepared meat for barbecue and I brought mooncakes which they were homesick for. It was also a good break for some of them who live daily and nightly under missile attacks. That night they could sleep in peace.

Migrant Day Mass

The next morning there was the Mass for Migrants Day [resided by the auxiliary bishop Rafic of Galilee. Several hundred migrant catholics from over a dozen countries gathered for the Mass, each in their national costumes. After Mass there was a cultural show and pot luck lunch from each nationality. It was very enjoyable and for a few hours, everyone forgot there was a war going on. 

The regional events the past few days were quick and unexpected. Jerusalem is still calm and safe though security has been stepped up. Families from the north especially Haifa and Akko have moved down south.  Our Sunday Masses were more crowded as a result for these Christian families displaced by the war.

Un-mercenary saints

 It's the weekend again ... another week has flown by. Soon the end of the year will arrive. Winter appears to be cold this year ... judging from the chill that we're already experiencing now. What is lacking is the rain. It should come in the next few weeks after Sukkot ... fingers crossed.

Cosmas and Damian

Yesterday was the feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damian, the 2 Syrian brothers who were also medical doctors. There was once an ancient monastery dedicated to them here in the Old City., Today it is the 6th Station of the Cross run by the Little Sisters of Jesus (Charles de Foucauld). A few of the remains still exist in a closed-off part of the chapel. The MC sisters wanted to see so I brought them there. The ancient mosaic floor was still there with some arches. We prayed for the sick in the ancient ruins. Cosmas and Damian healed the sick without asking for money ... hence their greek nicknames "the holy un-mercenaries." With the high medical prices and insurance, we need to pray to these 2 saints to protect the sick who are poor and cannot pay for medical services. 

There's an icon of them inside the ruins. Few people get to see this place as it's not open to the public. But it's good to know it exists. Special arrangements can be made to see it after contacting the Little Sisters.

Ancient ruins of the monastery

The fighting in the north has not abated. And just after midnight a missile from Yemen entered local airspace into Tel Aviv. Luckily it was detected and taken down before it hit any targets on the ground.  The damage would have been substantial. At 4am the roar of fighter jets disturbed the silent night  ... they were flying in droves and I could hear them overhead my room. Everyone here is praying for peace ... for a stop to the violence. But it remains as elusive as the winter rains. Maybe Cosmas and Damian can heal these wounds of hatred.