October 6, 2002 — Mudeif Productions

*A Mass in honor of the Rosary Sisters on their feast day.*

Kul 'am w-intum bi-khayr - every year and with y'all goodness, the literal translation of this customary greeting at feast times. Today is the feast of the Rosary Sisters' order, and the church turned out in full to celebrate. There are three sisters serving in the village, two of them teaching in the school, and their ministries are deeply appreciated by the people here (and by us). Their order has been here almost as long as there has been a Latin (Roman Catholic) parish. Sister Elba, who is quite gifted in music, has added to a new sense of hymnody to the worship here - some of the tunes are quite familiar, even if the words aren't.

We adjourned to the church hall for coffee, words of appreciation, and ululating. What celebration would be complete without ululating? We went to visit the home of another of our teaching colleagues for some home-cooked msakhan and a splendid view of the village from the west.

In the evening, several of the local members of the University's English department came by for a visit. They are hoping to build more connections with the Latin School in Zababdeh (as are we), but mostly we talked politics. Just at the most desperate moments here, there are these incredible voices of reason that come ringing through. These folks, like most people here, deeply worry about an impending war in Iraq and its effects on them. Even so, they remain hopeful that a future generation of Israelis and Palestinians will be able to seek a just solution to this bloodletting. We all agreed that, at some point, it needed to begin with repentance, with everyone admitting their own wrongdoing. It seems the furthest from everyone's mind these days.