December 1, 2002

Fr. Aktham has taken a little extra time after the Latin Patriarchate's spiritual retreat to visit with his family in Jordan. He is from the Hijazin family, a large family in Karak, a mostly-Christian town south of Amman. A number of the priests of the Patriarchate come from this family, including Fr. Faisal Hijazin who normally works at the Patriarchate Seminary in Beit Jala but filled in for Fr. Aktham this morning at the Latin Church of Visitation. (The seminary closed this year because of the violence in the Bethlehem area and because they had great difficulty getting Israeli visas for their foreign - mostly Jordanian - students. They hope to open again next fall.)

Stay awake.

The first Sunday in Advent, the gospel lesson this morning was about the master who charges his employees to "Stay Awake" for his return (Mark 13). The candles we light during Advent, said Fr. Faisal, are those which remind us to stay awake and keep watch. He also spoke briefly and eloquently about how the arrival of God incarnate in Christ is also a sign of new life for us.

After lunch, we received visitors from American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA). The school, in partnership with the Women's Studies Centre, has given them a proposal for a computer center, with special emphasis on women and girls' professional training. The key part of the proposal is updating the school's archaic computer equipment. When asked for an idea about the current technology, the computer teacher told ANERA, "We want to take all of this equipment and throw it in the garbage." Well put. Hopefully this will come through. Then next, n'sha'allah, is the language lab.