Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

The greatest value in the church is not truth, but unity, and yet it does try to make amendments for its errors. Pope Francis visited the Indigenous peoples of Canada show brilliantly how the church and state can work together to correct its faults. The quality of the apology that Pope Francis made appeared genuine and is regarded as a first step in a long process of healing. The church really does try to make amends for the wrongs it has done.

The church is doing that with the portrayals of some of the women in the bible. Last week, we celebrated the feast of Mary Magdalene. A sermon by Pope Gregory in the seventh century conflated the sinful woman of Luke Gospel to Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalen. Recent efforts have undertaken the rehabilitation of Magdalene's reputation forever stained by a careless sermon. 

Today's feast was also an attempt to separate and draw distinctions between the two Marys because this was the feast of St. Martha, sister of Mary, while Mary's feast day was last week. The church now calls this day the memorial of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany, while last week's was clarified to refer to Mary of Magdala. It is important to make these distinctions because the wrong use of words can hurt our understanding of people. Thankfully, the church is trying to get it right after two centuries. Thank you, Pope Francis.

Yesterday, I continued my endeavor to clear out the community freezer where food had been stored for far too long and forgotten. I cooked some ground beef into hamburgers, which we did not have a chance to eat because the part time house cleaner ate the. I also baked some chicken with onions and garlic, and the house smelled so much like home this morning. We found some vegetables, which I thawed and tossed, and some cheeses that had been stored for far too long. The refrigeration is colder than what we use in the states and frozen foods last a lot longer, but still.....    Anyways, the freezer is cleared out.

Yesterday, we had to tend to the wounds of a Jesuit who checked on the honey bees in the garden. He bumped the hive that caused the bees to get angry, and he got stung on the top of his ear. With the stinger removed, he healed quickly with some application of vinegar and garlic. ~ The U.S. student that was hospitalized boarded a flight for the U.S. and happily returned home to more comfortable quarters. All is good. BC did a fine job in connecting with her support systems.

This morning, I went to a friend's new apartment to bless her two story apartment. She sold her house and found a small, quiet apartment in a low traffic area. It is a quiet neighborhood. Though it is small, it is still a three bedroom apartment with a combined dining area and parlor. It is much larger than many apartments in the Boston area. It is quite spacious, but not too large. It is one third of the size of her current house and yet it will be more than comfortable. Her son with his two dogs will live on the floor above her. It is an ideal set up.

This afternoon I attended a lunch with the Filipinos in honor of the Founding saint of their Teresian order. Saint Povedo was a Spaniard who founded the Teresians in Cova Donga. We had tons of food and refreshments and tons left over. I told them that there have found a new Jebel in town and they are calling it Jebel John as they keep feeding me food. Fortunately, I'm eating mostly vegetables. As it is a Friday, the day off, the streets are quiet and all activity is low, which is good because it is reaching 99 degrees during the day. Still, the nights are the best!

This is a holiday weekend. I think it is tied to an Islamic New Year. Most people are out of town for vacation. Tomorrow and Sunday we will celebrate the Ignatian feast day with donuts at the end of Mass. I'm fitting in some meetings, and as usual, there is a constant movement of people into and out of the area, because this is Jordan, a special place in the Arab world and a strategically important place to the West. If we could only find a way to bring some rain to this parched land.