Al Qaeda has declared all Christians in the Middle East to be targets of killings. It's all turning into a nightmare. What is the christian West's response to this?
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/03/iraq.christians.threat/index.html
It's frightening to see how many parcel bombs sent to embassies not only in Athens (some exploded) but also to various heads of govts. And there was the suicide-bomb in Taksim Square in Istanbul - a few metres away from the Greek Orthodox Church. This week's violence worldwide is unprecedented and we can smell a sort of organised plan in all this. It's all very frightening.
Yesterday was a pretty down day ... for some of us. Osvalda our librarian decided to spend 3 days in the hermitage in Gethsemani - she lost her mother a year ago. Some others like me spend the day thinking of all the people we lost - relatives, friends, students or teachers ... it was a day to remember them all; and to thank God for their lives. It was sombre. The house was quiet and there was no school. No one wanted to talk. Everyone wanted some time for recollection and privacy.
Today the students have exams - those who didn't take them last semester. The air hangs heavy. Tomorrow it's back to hospital to check 3 more suspected melanomas in the mouth and results of the 1st biopsy.
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
All Souls Day
"We remember those who have gone before marked with the sign of faith" - words from the Eucharistic Prayer. And so we turn our memories back to those who in some way or other have touched our lives; the big and little people who crossed our paths. And moreover, we spend time to reflect on how we touched their lives and how their eternal destiny was in a small way shaped by our encounter.
Our morning Mass was celebrated for family and relatives. The second Mass is optional and we'll see if anyone else wants to celebrate it later in the morning. Evening Vespers will be combined with the 3rd Mass and we will remember friends, benefactors and all whom we have encountered in this life - that we may share the next life in joy and peace eternally.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord .
Meanwhile we cannot forget the killing of Catholics in Baghdad ... yes I'm haunted by this because this is the reality that we here live day after day. The news and images of death is the topic of our talk and thoughts. The whole attempt to save them was botched; a total disaster. Today the survivors are gathering the pieces of their life. The Church staggers onto another day. For the rest of the world, it's yesterday's news headline, shafted to the archives, buried in the corners of collective memory.
http://insidethemiddleeast.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/01/baghdad-church-attack-the-day-after/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11668634
Yesterday evening a huge rally took place in the Mamilla area of the New City. The surveillance helicopter was hovering overhead till almost 9.30pm because some 10,000 uni. students were protesting that the govt. is giving stipends to Yeshiva students (Jewish theological schools who seldom pay taxes and serve in the army) but not to university students (who pay taxes and serve in the army). Let's see the outcome. http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Article.aspx?id=193580
And a general strike was averted this morning. It would have paralysed the country as the Histadrut (trade union) had called for industrial action across the social and economic board.
Our morning Mass was celebrated for family and relatives. The second Mass is optional and we'll see if anyone else wants to celebrate it later in the morning. Evening Vespers will be combined with the 3rd Mass and we will remember friends, benefactors and all whom we have encountered in this life - that we may share the next life in joy and peace eternally.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord .
Meanwhile we cannot forget the killing of Catholics in Baghdad ... yes I'm haunted by this because this is the reality that we here live day after day. The news and images of death is the topic of our talk and thoughts. The whole attempt to save them was botched; a total disaster. Today the survivors are gathering the pieces of their life. The Church staggers onto another day. For the rest of the world, it's yesterday's news headline, shafted to the archives, buried in the corners of collective memory.
http://insidethemiddleeast.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/01/baghdad-church-attack-the-day-after/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11668634
Yesterday evening a huge rally took place in the Mamilla area of the New City. The surveillance helicopter was hovering overhead till almost 9.30pm because some 10,000 uni. students were protesting that the govt. is giving stipends to Yeshiva students (Jewish theological schools who seldom pay taxes and serve in the army) but not to university students (who pay taxes and serve in the army). Let's see the outcome. http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Article.aspx?id=193580
And a general strike was averted this morning. It would have paralysed the country as the Histadrut (trade union) had called for industrial action across the social and economic board.
Monday, November 1, 2010
All Saints Day
All Saints Day today but little joy as everyone here is overwhelmed by the senseless killing of priests and laity in our Church of Our Lady of Salvation in the christian quarter of Baghdad. Yes, they are martyrs of the faith. They were killed simply because they were christians.
How ironical that only a week ago the Bishops Synod in Rome convened to discuss the state of the Church in the Middle East. Yesterday's killing says it all. The Synod could not have a clearer response than that. BBC calls it a catastrophe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11463544
This is the price to pay to be a follower of Christ here in the ME. This is the cross to carry. The powers in the world are set against believers, and it's relentless aggression is increasing. Calvary is ever before our eyes.
How ironical that only a week ago the Bishops Synod in Rome convened to discuss the state of the Church in the Middle East. Yesterday's killing says it all. The Synod could not have a clearer response than that. BBC calls it a catastrophe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11463544
This is the price to pay to be a follower of Christ here in the ME. This is the cross to carry. The powers in the world are set against believers, and it's relentless aggression is increasing. Calvary is ever before our eyes.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Catholics killed
As we begin to celebrate All Saints Day, several Catholics were killed in Church in Baghdad during evening Mass. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/31/iraq.violence/index.html?hpt=T2
When will the persecution end? What is the rest of the world doing?
Latest news is the priest was also killed. A suicide bomber was the culprit.
When will the persecution end? What is the rest of the world doing?
Latest news is the priest was also killed. A suicide bomber was the culprit.
Time is flying
Last day of October. How time flies ... 2010 the first decade of the new millenium is coming to an end. And what have we done so far? Where are we going?
Yesterday we looked back a decade to recall the assassination of Itzak Rabin, the Israeli PM who came so close to bringing peace in the Holyland but was killed by a Jewish militant extremist. A huge rally took place in Tel Aviv.
Yesterday Krakatau - the monster volcano in Indonesia began to erupt (following last week's Merapi eruption) ... just a century ago Krakatau blew itself up in the loudest eruption ever - 13,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Ironically there is an awe-ful beauty to this destructive power. Photo by Marco Fulle (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1203028/Will-Krakatoa-rock-world-Last-time-killed-thousands-changed-weather-years-deadlier.html)
Soon Advent will arrive. The new liturgical year will begin. Another journey begins.
Today's 1st reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us some courage and support to continue our journey in life. It speaks of God's relentless love for his creatures - and note, the text is not speaking of Israelites but of the Egyptians and Canaanites the hated enemies, an "accursed race from the beginning [of creation]" - they were the recipients of God's infinite love. That being so, how much more those who believe in God? This consolation strengthens the soul in the face of a new sojourn towards 2011.
Yesterday we looked back a decade to recall the assassination of Itzak Rabin, the Israeli PM who came so close to bringing peace in the Holyland but was killed by a Jewish militant extremist. A huge rally took place in Tel Aviv.
Yesterday Krakatau - the monster volcano in Indonesia began to erupt (following last week's Merapi eruption) ... just a century ago Krakatau blew itself up in the loudest eruption ever - 13,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Ironically there is an awe-ful beauty to this destructive power. Photo by Marco Fulle (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1203028/Will-Krakatoa-rock-world-Last-time-killed-thousands-changed-weather-years-deadlier.html)
Soon Advent will arrive. The new liturgical year will begin. Another journey begins.
Today's 1st reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us some courage and support to continue our journey in life. It speaks of God's relentless love for his creatures - and note, the text is not speaking of Israelites but of the Egyptians and Canaanites the hated enemies, an "accursed race from the beginning [of creation]" - they were the recipients of God's infinite love. That being so, how much more those who believe in God? This consolation strengthens the soul in the face of a new sojourn towards 2011.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
So much for good advice.
So I tried to follow my own advice and tried to eat 70% of my appetite. Or as close as I could. I didn't take the salad nor the pastasciutta (which was rice today which I don't eat), I took about 350 grams of stewed beef and 5 diced eggplant (each was about 1 inch big). Then I got terribly sick. I'm not used to eating so much now; I think 100 grams of meat would have sufficed. Was in bed the whole afternoon with dreadful nausea. Couldn't get the food out of my system. So much for good advice.
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