October 7, 2001

The Latin Church honors the tireless work of the Rosary Sisters.

Today we worshiped at the Latin Church of Visitation. Many people were out in the hills picking olives, and so attendance was rather slim. No one has invited us to join them this year, but that's because the harvest this year is particularly light. We didn't have a strong rain last winter, and that has affected the harvest tremendously. The olives are few in number and small in size. Usually there's a good harvest every other year, so this is no different. But given the brutal economic situation, a good harvest would have been helpful to say the least. Today was a special day in the Latin Church - it is Rosary Sunday, particularly important because we have three Rosary Sisters serving in the village and working in the school and parish.

Orthodox liturgy.

After Mass, we headed over to the Orthodox church - today was the fortieth day after the death of a young man from a neighbor's family. He died of cancer only months after being diagnosed at age 25. Obviously, the grieving will go far beyond the forty days.

Tonight the air raids started on Kabul and Afghanistan - one of our friends in the States pointed out with great irony that today is Peacemaking Sunday in the Presbyterian Church. Having seen for ourselves the aftermath of the Gulf War in Iraq, we fear what may be in the days ahead for the people of Afghanistan. Reports came on CNN of stadiums full of football fans chanting "USA! USA!" when hearing the bombing had started. And we're confused as to why there're anti-American sentiments in the world?