Last Day

At the Tomb of
St. George

Christmas was a hectic weekend. The borders were opened only for a few hours so to get to Shepherds Field in Bethlehem for Vigil Mass was a rushed affair. I brought some 18 local asian sisters in Jerusalem for the Mass. Because of the hassle of border closures, many if not most of the communities and congregations refuse to enter the other side of the border. We managed to celebrate the Vigil Mass and then rushed back to Jerusalem on the other side of the border before it closed. The traffic though going in and out was heavy and it took one hour to get there.

Shepherds Field was very empty compared to the previous years. Only one filipino group and 3 Indonesian groups were there. All protestants. Christmas Day itself was very quiet. Most churches were closed due to the lack of pilgrims and tourists. There are no festivities or carolling. All Christmas celebrations except Masses are cancelled due to the tragic war. I have never ever in my life here experienced such a sad and quiet Christmas as this year. Not even during the 2 Intifadas and other Gaza wars. The mood of this Christmas is so heavy. No one can even smile. People avoid saying "Merry Christmas" as there's nothing merry about it.

At the Church in Arimathea

On Boxing Day the local asian sisters asked me to organise a halfday pilgrimage to Lod, Ramle and Jaffa. In Lod we prayed at the Tomb of St. George the dragon slayer. In Ramle (Arimathea) we celebrated Mass at the Church of St. Joseph of Arimathea. Then at Jaffa's St. Peter's Church we visited the Crusader ruins and had a picnic lunch before going home. It was enjoying ... a brief distraction from the pain and suffering in our country.

Yesterday the Nuncio came to our Chinese Convent for home cooked lunch. He wanted the meal on the last day of the year to be a homely, private asian meal. He is filipino. All went well and we enjoyed ourselves in a very informal gathering.

Let's pray that the new year will be kinder and more loving than this year.

Christmas

It's Christmas but there's nothing festive or merry about it. No festivities. Only Masses were celebrated and in sombre mood. There is so much pain and suffering, so much fear and death ... no one in living memory has celebrated a Christmas like this year.

I can only repeat the prayer at the mixing of water and wine during Offertory "May we come to share in His divinity as he humbled himself to share in our humanity" Christmas is God becoming man so that man can become like God ... perhaps in all this suffering in our land, we may taste the comfort of God's divinity

The Nativity scene at Manger Square in Bethlehem this year

Christmas this year ....

Christmas this year ....

Aid Appeal

This Christmas, please share God's blessing with your fellow Catholics in the Holy Land. Make a difference in their desperation.  

"What you do unto the least of these my brothers, you do unto me"

MC convent bombed

Photo from 2022 the little 
babies cared by the MC sisters

MC convent on fire

Injustice

Nadia and Samer ... mother and daughter killed by snipers in the Catholic Church in Gaza

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May the rest in peace.

May divine justice prevail and may we live to see it

M. Teresa convent bombed, sniper kills 2 catholics, seven wounded

 

Weekend

Donuts this winter

It's the weekend again. I'm glad we had several days of drizzle. Hopefully next week it'll rain again. It'll raise the Sea of Galilee levels again. And maybe stave off a drought next year.

Sr. Kolbe of the MC sisters in Bethlehem transferred to Amman last week. She hardly is able to walk anymore and the war and closure of Bethlehem had made it difficult for her to have medical treatment. So once the border was partially opened, she was brought out to Jerusalem and transported to Amman where there are more sisters to care for her. We wish her all the best in her retiring years.

Our local Catholic hospital

The hospital dietician has put me on a new diet to to reduce my cholesterol and diabetes. It's more meals than I usually take but less in amount. I'm allowed rice once a day but only 1 cup.  No sugary foods and sodas and fruit juices. That means no winter donuts which I saw in our 24 hr bakery. Dinner is vegetable soup. Because of the frequency of meals, I don't actually feel hungry despite the small portions. I have 2 months to bring my cholesterol and blood sugar down. Tomorrow is another appointment with the cardiologist. Because my insurance covers my heart tests but in a different hospital quite far away and I have to wait in line, I prefer to do it at our local Catholic hospital. Less hassle, it's closer to home, but I have to pay 250 shekels. I guess it's worth it considering the transport fare I'd need to pay to get the insurance hospital.