Katutura English

2012-01-08T10:41:00.003+01:00

Image from Würzburg Diocesehttp://www.kirchenserver.net/bwo/dcms/sites/bistum/verbaende/erwachsenen_verbaende/fdk_familienbund/z-nachrichten/index.html?f_action=show&f_newsitem_id=54389Luke’s Gospel 2:12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”The chanceIn the wide free fields the shepherds wandered in the night, when, lo! the sky burst open with

2011-12-31T17:33:00.003+01:00

No the world will not crumble in the YEAR 2012 BECAUSE you are there and you are precious. The world will get better because you are there, all of you. I think so!Most cordial Love and Wishes for the precious 2012..wird die welt wohl nicht untergehen. und sie ist besser, weil es euch gibt. finde ich.allerherzlichste grüsse und wünsche zum jahr 2012!DorotheeFrom my friend Dorothée unto you,

2011-12-18T16:28:00.005+01:00

Luke 2:7 “She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.” When we were children at the home or at the school, we had pleasure to stage the narrative of the Christmas story, often enriched by songs, that made it sound like a small children’ opera. In every representation, the most

2011-12-18T16:28:00.004+01:00

2011-12-03T20:58:00.002+01:00

My well-beloved had a vineyard The so-called Old Testament - so it is said - would speak about an avenging God who would punish people. While, on the other hand, the New Testament would proclaim, a loving God. In the Old Testament, so - it is said - people would have lived under the talion law: an eye for an eye, a tooth for

South Africa today

2011-10-04T22:01:00.001+02:00

With the help of F.W. de Klerk

2011-10-04T21:48:00.005+02:00

Far too long did I remained silent concerning the people of south Africa, Zimbabwe, and the others! I am sorry about that. I receive daily direct and indirect news and, if there are signs of hope, signs that, in some ways, life could and are be better since 1994, the over all reality is dismal fort the majority of the people. There is fear and there is despair mingled with unflinching

2011-07-18T21:31:00.004+02:00

Very happy Birthday dear Madiba! 18 July 2011 Madiba certainly knows the mesning of Katutura. In fact the Herero people dumped in a noman's land, by the white apartheid power, lamented, when they vere brutally deported from Windhoek: « Aikona Katutura » which means:« For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. »Hebrews 13:14At Robben Island Mandela

2011-03-25T20:10:00.006+01:00

In the Kitchen« In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel ... »Luke 1:26"Giotto got it wrong.I was not kneelingon my red satin cushionin a shaft of light,head slightly bent.Actually I had justcome back from the well.Placing the pitcheron the tableI bumped against the edgespilling wateron the floor.As I bentto wipe it upsuddenly a glowas though someonehad open the doorto the sunRag in handhair across

2010-09-21T20:47:00.006+02:00

"He even prayed 'with a pen in his hand'"[1]Reviewed by Peter L’Estrange NEWMAN’S UNQUIET GRAVE: THE RELUCTANT SAINTBy John Cornwell Published by Continuum, $24.95John Henry Newman, an English Catholic cardinal and former Anglican renowned for his scholarship and writing, is to be beatified in Birmingham, England, on Sept. 19 by Pope Benedict XVI.The pope is a keen student of Newman’s writing.

2010-07-09T20:55:00.002+02:00

The Church today I think we cannot delay taking Jesus and the Gospel seriously. Kevin Dowling whom I had the great luck to meet and even to work with for a time in a Cape Parish has a prophetic message for me, for us and I am grateful to put it in the English blog Katutura. It speaks for itself. Of course, it would be good to have a debate on so grave a matter. Simply because the Church, a

2010-04-29T11:28:00.002+02:00

Dear friends, Sister Gemma’s text on the Good Shepherd today reflects my own thinking and I am so grateful to her to write it so crystal clear! I profoundly believe that another “Church is possible”, but it does and can grow only from grassroots’ level.Claire-Marie'If you want to be a good shepherd, you have to learn to think like a sheep'Sister Gemma Simmonds gave the following reflections on

2010-04-27T21:48:00.005+02:00

I am so very grateful to John Dear for this excellent text on leadership! I translated shortened parts of it into french for Katutura. Mandela's appreciation of John Dear is enlightening and I will reflect further on it. (the images, I found)Mandela's Way By John Dear SJ Created Apr 20, 2010 Here's a scene I'll never forget -- sitting in the Edenton County Jail with my comrade-in-dissent Philip

2010-03-26T21:53:00.003+01:00

Truth will make you free (John 8:32) For the sake of clarity, I take the liberty to insert this excellent account of the National Catholic Reporter whose address is given below with much gratitude! In this sad affair, truth acknowledged alone might eventually heal the credibility gap between the Catholic Church hierarchy and the grassroot people. Credibility gap: Pope needs to answer questions

2010-03-18T17:50:00.004+01:00

Confusion in the Catholic ChurchI am pleased to offer to the English reader of my blog Katutura, this analysis of Sister Joan Chittister. Although her view point is America, she makes a world wide survey of what is happening in the Catholic Church. I am most grateful to Joan Chittister for her clear sighted thinking, her courage, and wish to share with you, dear readers, her search for truth.

2010-02-16T21:42:00.006+01:00

Ash WesnesdayOn the swiss Jura peasant farm, our mother went to church and gave us Kids, a few ashes she got from the priest to put on our head and it was a gentle pious form of fun for us! We knew our lunch would be macaronis with grated cheese and an « oeuf au miroir » each. Plus spinach and that was that.In the Swiss Sisters House it was more complicated, solemn imposition of ashes on our veil

2010-01-02T23:43:00.002+01:00

EpiphanyIt was usually on January 6th, that we rejoiced at the wise men's visit to the little one sheltered in a sheperds' hut. Nornally, we could think that baby Jesus would have been about two weeks old.But « time » can't be measured when it's a question of looking for someone loved! The wise men may have been three or many more. Pilgrim in search of meaning, yesterday and today, with one great

2009-11-29T22:01:00.001+01:00

29th November 2009, a sad day for us, in Switzerland and above! A majority of people said « YES » to the interdiction to have minarets built and majority of people said « NO » to the interdiction of exporting arms Lead Kindly light Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The

2009-11-26T22:54:00.002+01:00

BBC HARD TALKhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8376923.stm (You can watch the full interview at the address above)One thing I try never to miss is the BBC Hard Talk! From Monday to Thursday, each afternoon at 3.30 pm. Yesterday, 25th November, Han DongFang and Steven Sackur faced each other for 25 minutes talking straight! Steven guides his guest through the tough meanders of his

2009-11-05T11:34:00.010+01:00

Just a little message of friendship and couragewith love from claire-marie Aperçu

2009-11-03T10:18:00.003+01:00

HOPE IN AN AGE OF DESPAIR Albert Nolan INTRODUCTION The theology that I and others have been engaged in in South Africa has been described as contextual theology. The theological questions we dealt with were questions that arose out of our social context which for the most part was the social context of apartheid and the struggle against apartheid. The context today is different – very

2009-02-25T21:04:00.002+01:00

Ash Wednesday 2009Ongoing conversion, that is what Lent seems to suggest. I believe that Lenten season, 40 days - Sundays excluded - means a whole life of increasing awareness of our becoming more and more human, day after day like Jesus did and does through his risen Spirit in today’s fragile world. Sign that spring will at last comeDuring Lent some people fast. There are many ways of

2007-05-17T21:03:00.000+02:00

To see bettera minor eye operation will be performedand I will be away from dear Katutura and my dear friendsuntil June 3rd.I will returnseeing better, loving moreand keeping in touch in the meantime through a loving daily prayerfor each of you passing by Katutura!

2007-04-29T20:27:00.000+02:00

Dear friends, you are all in my heart and in my prayer. If I wrote seldom in English, the reason is my own limitation in energy, not in the desire to share with all a few life experiences, a few thoughts, a prayer!I have read and keep reading the thought provoking, action provoking book "Jesus Today"A spirituality of radical freedom."Jesus Today" is becoming, naturally enough, part of my

2007-03-17T21:34:00.000+01:00

17th March 2007Saint Patrick’s DayIt is a very happy remembrance: Saint Patrick’s Day in South Africa! It was a school holiday. With my Irish fellow Sisters, with the people, we rejoiced and we prayed and we sang ...Christ be with me, Christ within me,Christ behind me, Christ before me,Christ beside me, Christ to win me,Christ to comfort and restore me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ in

2007-03-01T08:52:00.000+01:00

To pray and to work for justicego together!!!Jesus, the jewish peasant, so close to the people, prayed in the language that all could understand, it was a dialect called “aramaic”Hearing the words pronounced is like a music flowing down to my very soul from Him who dwell and prays in me in us…We can listen to him and pray with him, and our prayer can and ought to be people driven and Creator

2007-02-25T21:51:00.000+01:00

This Sunday February 2007as I walked leisurely towards Bois-Cerf, to pray, Joan Baez' voice didn’t leave me as some thirty, forty years back when she was singingJust a little Boy…Just a little rain falling all around,The grass lifts its head to the heavenly sound,Just a little rain, just a little rain,What have they done to the rain?Just a little boy standing in the rain,The gentle rain that

2007-01-04T00:28:00.000+01:00

Blessed New Year 2007Really time slips between our fingers and its gone! We can't hold it even to greet Friends, People we love so. Friends and people who loves us we know. It is the 4th January 2007 here in CH. On 31st December 2006 my sister, born in 1916, went to God one quarter of an hour before we could say good-bye. She slipped away just like that still wanting to get there before the new

2006-12-31T22:43:00.000+01:00

From 2006 to 2007, just a few more steps to go, dearest friends from everwhere! We are wanderers on this planet of ours and we wonder as we wander on and on and on, building with Jesus a world inhabited by people whose birthright is to LOVE and to be LOVED!Jesus showed us the way, he who is nothing else but COMPASSION... in action!armed with COMPASSION, we move on into 2007 and we will get so far

2006-11-29T21:28:00.000+01:00

The Pope in Turkey: maximum police security presenceBackground: as the people in Turkey could perceive the Pope's visite:“Turkey should use this papal visit to clear the serious misconceptions and prejudices its guest harbours with regard to Islam and Muslims. Pope Benedict is also known for his opposition to Turkey joining the European Union. Before taking over as Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger, as

2006-11-08T19:32:00.000+01:00

Can the sins of apartheid be forgiven?David Beresford is asking this question in The Guardian, November 7th 2007.Is it justifiable to forgive a crime against humanity?How do the people feel? The people who suffered death and torture and dying from the hands of P.W. Botha's agents of aparhtied... This is an agonizing moment of reflection and there is no ready made answer!This is what the media

2006-11-01T23:50:00.000+01:00

P.W. Botha has passed away on Tuesday, October 31st 2006APARTHEID strongman P W Botha, commonly known as the Groot Krokodil, died last nightat his Die Anker home near Wilderness. He was 90.Pieter Willem Botha was born on January 12, 1916. He was prime minister of South Africafrom 1978 to 1984 and state president from 1984 to 1989.Botha suffered a light stroke on January 18, 1989 and was succeeded

2006-10-27T20:28:00.000+02:00

He is blindI see him once a week. He feels me once a week. I am 83 years of age. He is twenty!He is born blind and he sees the world through music, melody, rhythm!He is a thought of God vibrating in human flesh and soul!Because he is blind he speaks of light...God is the source of light, so God is the source of all music, melody, rhythmI am supposed to be the teacher and he teaches me

2006-10-12T21:19:00.000+02:00

Let it be No. 2The tears are a source of energyAlready Anna Politkovskaya lay in rest!True journalist, seeking the truth behind what she saw, she reported the realities fearlessly.“She stood and was counted”. That is what Anna Politkovskaya did as she workedwith total dedication as a journalist in Moscow!She had to die. The establishment fears truth, it cannot endure truth because it is builtand

2006-10-10T21:07:00.000+02:00

I contemplate our small endangered planet tonight 10th October 2006 and pray:What are the news as reported in the world media?Wars and rumours of warsWeapons and ever more weaponsViolence, crimes, fear, anguish all over the worldjournalist Anna Politkovskaya. murdered for telling the truthNorth Korea's reported nuclear testBomb threats in Geneva and in LondonPanic... children crying...why?And I

2006-09-20T00:13:00.000+02:00

During these troubled times when Vatican-Rome seemsto sap the energy of people of Good will,to put loads on their backs with learned declarationthat hurt grassroot peopleand not Muslims only…we pray:with Jesus and Rumi"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi;'for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers.Call no one your father on earth;for one is your heavenly Father.Nor be called leaders,

2006-09-18T21:42:00.000+02:00

Exhausted by the recent polemic springing from Benedict 16th talk on September 12th 2006 in Regensburg University I sought for sanity and found Rumi:Rumi an orthodox Muslim,a universal mystic beyond the rigid confines of orthodoxy.I found peace in this great poet and mystic.“Rumi is especially poignant today, in the face of our current war.Born in Afghanistan in 1207, he and his family fled to

2006-08-10T16:49:00.000+02:00

In South Africa: 1956In Switzerland: 2006It’s 50 years ago and I am able to say: “I was in our beloved South Africa when the Women’s marched, at their risk and peril, for their rights!” They didn’t accept the “dompas”and they were so right!" Passes mean prison; passes mean broken homes; passes mean suffering and misery for everyAfrican family in our country; passes are just another way in which

2006-06-18T22:10:00.000+02:00

Bush, in Irak, has a brainwave: a truth and reconciliation commissionEveryday iafrica.com, (address e-mail: news&views@metropolis.co.za) brings news and viewsfrom South/Southern Africa.It is a precious daily updating, in so far as press agencies are seriously informed. We are mostgrateful for this service!Thursday last, 15th June 2006, Agence France Press reports in parts:(I gratefully quote)“

2006-06-05T20:03:00.000+02:00

PentecostThe Spirit of Jesus today as full of creative strength, as of old when He moved all over the waters,creating the place we inhabit and creating each one of us!No wonder we think of flames and fire thinking of the Spirit, we do not merely think,we FEEL the warmth and the light and the consolation and we so want to share it beyond all borders with every living creature... with nature,

2006-05-20T09:07:00.000+02:00

More than a month that I last wrote a message in Katutura english !I have no excuse other than the winter freezing cold and the late, late spring blossoms!I dream to contemplate fields of daffodils in England, to feel the south African autumn breeze,to catch a ray of morning light in an encounter with far away friends…Wherever we are, we face the reality, the concrete reality of an increasingly

2006-03-17T20:59:00.000+01:00

IrelandPatrick , the apostle of Ireland, was born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461. How good it would be to go back to Ireland – today - to breathe the freshness of its natural soul ! The Green Isles, with most friendly people and friendly smiles, outstretched hands greeting you “how are you?” and your answer

2006-02-16T21:32:00.000+01:00

South Africa todayWe cannot live without hope. Hope has been, and is tremendously inspiringin South Africa, hope that we may continue to work hard to achieve“the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of people”!Build a rainbow Nation! So many died for it!A beautiful dream! An impossible dream?From Mary Rose Hendrikse Cape Town(This work comprises 47 matchboxes each painted with

2006-02-05T23:11:00.000+01:00

Stand up and be counted ! In a rather small village of the Jura, Switzerland, there is a factory named LABOILAAT and the patrons are "Swissmetal". Because of economic reasons, the boss say, it has to be restructured and many workers will be sacked!So in a courageous movement of solidarity, these

2006-02-02T21:48:00.000+01:00

No I wouldn’t make a caricature of the prophet Mohammedsimply because I have never seen him face to face! But above all because for so many Muslim friends(and for members of other religions as well),he is the messenger of Allah just as Yeshuah is the messenger of God! If Mohammed were here and now present amongst us today, he could face the

2005-11-13T20:23:00.000+01:00

From one world to anotherCharles de FoucauldCharles de Foucauld was my first love. As a little girl amongst other children on the farm, I listened carefully to mum and dad: they were speaking of Charles the soldier. The soldier, the student, then the Man who followed Jesus to the desert to live and love Him in the people living there. Like Francis of Assisi, the Little flower. Our own little

2005-11-02T22:13:00.000+01:00

http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/564/564_09_RosaParks.shtmlIn loving memory of a soul Sister of so many little Sisters!(grateful thanks to Socialist Worker, Claire Marie)OBITUARY: "ROSA PARKS“ "A life history of being rebellious” By Brian Jones November 4, 2005 Page 9AFTER MARTIN Luther King, Jr., the most widely recognized figure of the civil rights movement is Rosa Parks.Her famous act

2005-10-18T21:01:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, 17th October 2005we celebratedthe world day against exclusion and for the eradication of poverty.In Switzerland, the "poor" gathered at La Place Saint François and remained there the whole day, ready to share their thinking, their experiences of exclusion and poverty with friendsand with passers by.It was a workday, so friends were few and those who could come only arrived in the late

2005-10-11T21:13:00.000+02:00

Apocalypse day after day…When a beloved friend dies beside you, and oh! you're totally helpless, no word can surge from the depth of suffering. You just suffer! Raw suffering! A muted cry no one ever will hear! You die with your beloved! A long long silence, darkness… you let go. You suffer. No more anger, no more revolt… you let go, you die as the hours slowly keep falling into nothingness.

2005-10-01T19:36:00.000+02:00

Dear friends, you could believe Katutura is about to vanish! Of course not! I have been loaded with piles of texts to translate and this job demanded all my leisure time and concentration!Now the job is done and I find my friends again through the gracious service this old computer which is gettting slower and slower. May be that's just as well in a world of rush and races and stress!I have the

2005-07-12T17:09:00.000+02:00

Debts cancellationMassive aid increase for AfricaI read about it, I talk with people of many different views and opinons.I even listen to Tony Blair pushing for "making poverty history" in Africa.And I keep wondering what the African grassroot peoplethemselves are feeling, thinking, saying. I do not so mean their leaders (those of the G5) I mean the African who make Africa.Since I am back in

2005-07-11T09:26:00.000+02:00

I have received these few lines from Louis, a dear friend who livesin Bethlehem.I share his thinking and felt it good to share it with all people around."Bethlehem 10 July 2005Dear friendsPeace and all Good.Never in my life have I seen a bigger contrast as that of last week,between Wednesday and Thursday, in London. What happened there is terrible.Also my Muslim friends are upset and say that

2005-06-17T20:42:00.000+02:00

1976, 16th JuneOne student wrote to The World newspaper:"Our parents are prepared to suffer under the white man's rule. They have been living for years under these laws and they have become immune to them. But we strongly refuse to swallow an education that is designed to make us slaves in the country of our birth."On June 16th 1976, the school children, by the thousands, took to the streetsand

2005-06-06T19:48:00.000+02:00

Prayer before the planetFloating amongst stars in the universeour inhabited planet, our only homethe creator dreamt it alive, vibrantlove incarnate in the earth, in the peoplein me… a relay place between heavenwhere we come from and the same heaven where we go toNot alone, all together, hand in hand, heart to heartmind to mindwhy then the rumours of wars, so foreign to the earth, so foreign to

2005-05-14T20:58:00.000+02:00

Contextual theology: Pentecost today!"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”(John 3:8)Spirit of God in the clear running water,blowing to greatness the trees on the hill,Spirit of God in the finger of morning,fill the earth,bring it to birth,and blow where you will.Blow,

2005-05-09T00:06:00.000+02:00

8th May 2005 Mothers' DayBecause I feel that in the heavens aboveThe angels, whispering one to another,Can find among their burning terms of love,None so devotional as that of "Mother"...Edgar Allen Poe

2005-05-05T15:52:00.000+02:00

May the 5th is a very special day 5th May 1948Just arrived from Switzerland via England and Ireland, I arrived where I had been sent: South Africa. On that day, in a small south african boer town named Aliwal North, the capital of the then Orange Free State, I began the year's formation as a Sister, the novitiate. Nearby, in the veldt, the large, mostly waterless Orange river slept as it streched

2005-04-30T21:58:00.000+02:00

April 30th The noble, courageous Kingdom of Lesotho is dear to my heart!Because of its people, its animals be they mountain horses or mohair goats,Because of its blues mountains and its deep blue sky!Because of the air we breathe and the precious water we drink when it has rained!Now this very day, the people of Lesotho go to the polls and SAPA reports(I gratefully quote)"Maseru - The first ever

2005-04-27T21:53:00.000+02:00

These lasts weeks, freedom theology and theologians were again scrutinized, in turn weighed, found wanting, judged and condemned because ecclesiastical authorities had decreed they should be condemned. Theology of liberation is still alive because the Spirit of Jesus continues to blow where it wills. So take heart and consider the freedom puzzle with:Mzwakhe MbuliIs freedom a puzzle? Is freedom a

2005-04-24T21:47:00.000+02:00

I had a dreamDid you ever expérience the complete sense of bewilderment when you just don't know what you should do or what you shouldn't do? Where you should go and when, and where you shouldn't go and why? It is excruciating at times! You ask friends for advice and you realize that they are not part of your existential reality. You stand alone with the challenge and your conscience.So you wait,

2005-04-20T23:42:00.000+02:00

Conclave in the Vatican"His own did not receive him"From Leonardo Boff(translation & adaptation C.M.J) 20.04.05The Cardinals of the catholic Church arrived from all parts of the world, each bringing with him the anguish, the hopes of their people afflicted by HIV AIDS, suffering hunger and victims of wars. They arrived at Saint Peter's throne to choose a new pope. As the rite obliged, they got

2005-04-19T09:25:00.000+02:00

Early morning awareness of YeshuaAwaken by the traffic rush and a thousand noises, I sought a loving heart to heart with Yeshua, his life giving spirit, his joy, strength, warmth, light giving spirit, and Oh! he stirred deep within my soul, a peace filled breath. A breath pregnant with that of all creatures, beloved ones, so many fondly loved ones, who have reached, after a short wandering on

2005-04-17T21:29:00.000+02:00

On the way, never to get thereHappily they had climbed into the 28 seaters mountain busson its way to the Grand Saint Bernard Pass in Switzerlandwhen it happened: a most terrible accidentit crashed 150 meters down a ravineso far 12 dead, many wounded, all deeply shockedthe end of a project, of a short, well deserved holiday, of a dream(Key Stone photo from Radio suisse romande, today's edition,

2005-04-12T20:33:00.000+02:00

On the moveToday, two asylum seekers were deported by the police although very many swiss people, helpers, friends had said: NOMr Mermoud, the chief authority simply said: GO This happens in Lausanne, SwitzerlandTonight the two are back in the land they had left during the war in YougoslaviaTo morrow some more will be picked up and forcibly removed! Mercilesslyfrom this land of plentyWe are the

2005-04-03T20:57:00.000+02:00

John Paul II has diedyesterday in Rome.Born in Poland. He was elected Pope andlived in Rome, at the Vatican, which is a Stateas well as a huge Palace and a Basilica.The pope travelled widely all over the earthwanting to tell people about Faith in God.He spoke a lot. He saw the millions of people below himpeople who strained their faces upward to get a glimpse of him.He spoke with the mighty ones

2005-02-17T20:51:00.000+01:00

Dear Friends, it may be that you come surfing to Katutura and find nothing new! I want to apologize because I think we must never disappoint anyone! The problem is: all the flat dwellers must leave because the Owner has so decided!So it is a question of looking for a place to be. Not on the moon, you see! Not even in heaven of course because heaven is terribly, deeply rooted in the folds of our

2005-01-25T01:53:00.000+01:00

Far too long have I been silent! I love every friendly visitor and I hate disapponting any, just because, there's nothing new! I am sorry! Yes there are things new, but we live a particularly hard time, the reason being, that we all must leave this house, and find a roof somewhere else! That's what we do and, like for Jesus who didn't have a stone to lay his head on, it is not easy when your

2005-01-06T20:24:00.000+01:00

Fare well my child! So many people have lost dear ones in South East Asia. We mourn with them, we feel their heartbreak and we pray and we know: the souls are back to the creator who made them… Today too, with our dear Madiba, we grieve because his only son left to him has passed away. One of his daughters Makaziwe Mandela, died in 1948 aged only nine months, and his eldest son, Thembekile

2005-01-05T22:30:00.000+01:00

So long an absence! I have to apologize to the friends who come and ... find nothing new for so long! But I'll soon come back with a thought, a sign of friendship, a little story... a question, many questions! I'll tell you a secret: the times have been tough because like many other "wandering people" I am looking for a shelter, a shelter for the mind, a shelter for the heart, a shelter for

2004-11-26T21:56:00.000+01:00

From: iafrica.com (gratefully acknowledged) JOHANNESBURG Madiba a favourite among Africans Posted Fri, 26 Nov 2004 Former South African president Nelson Mandela is the most popular world player among the people of Africa, SABC radio news reported on Thursday... According to a BBC-SABC-Markinor poll, which surveyed more than 7500 people in 10 African countries, 90 percent of urban Africans

2004-11-26T14:54:00.000+01:00

From: iafrica.com (gratefully acknowledged) JOHANNESBURG Madiba a favourite among Africans Posted Fri, 26 Nov 2004 Former South African president Nelson Mandela is the most popular world player among the people of Africa, SABC radio news reported on Thursday... According to a BBC-SABC-Markinor poll, which surveyed morepen. but for now i will take it one step at a time. step at a time.

2004-11-14T20:57:00.000+01:00

Acquittal In happier days A little late, this news of the acquittal of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela A woman of the people, who loved much, suffered much, took part in the struggle against apartheid, made many mistakes, got through many humiliations, and in July 2004, was finally acquitted of a jail sentence for innumerable charges. Her political career is finished, though the "little people of

2004-11-14T17:42:00.000+01:00

November 11th St Martin of Tours He was born in what is now Hungary in 316 son of an officer in the Roman army. He soon felt called to the life of Christ and served a term of imprisonment as a conscientious objector who felt that military service and Christianity were incompatible After his release there occurred the famous incident, which took place near Amiens, when he gave half his cloak to

2004-11-12T20:40:00.000+01:00

Arafat He may have made mistakes, we all do… Some will remember him by his errors of judgement Other, the majority, will remember the "old Man" by his life long commitment to the palestinian people Mandela speaks "Yasser Arafat was one of the outstanding freedom fighters of this generation, one who gave his entire life to the cause of the Palestinian people," Mandela said in a statement.

2004-11-08T21:47:00.000+01:00

Bush comes back (04.11.04) He was always there, haunting, terrorizing all his ennemies: the terrorists. Amongst them the dark skinned people, arab looking people belonging mostly to what he calls the rogue states, that is Bush's judgement! But: "…the U.S. (and, sometimes, its allies) has ... behaved as the biggest rogue state, ignoring international laws and norms and acting only in the richest

2004-10-30T11:57:00.000+02:00

October-November 2004 Can you imagine the way time flies past us and we never ever can hold it! We fly away with time till we reach home at last. Spent! October in our beloved South Africa is the month of the jacarandas in bloom and we forget, facing beauty, that we are angry, hungry, thirsty… for justice and a better world even under our new dispensation. The struggle continues. We have no

2004-09-26T21:28:00.000+02:00

I am an alien So be careful little feet where you walk Be careful little ears what you hear Be careful little eyes what you see Be careful little little tongue what you say And oh! be careful little heart… In today's swiss votations results: "NO we won't make it easy for you to be an alien in this land where you fled thinking, may be you'd find a little milk and honey on you way to nowhere…

2004-08-26T21:35:00.000+02:00

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross On a train journey today, I marvelled at August nature's beauty and, suddenly grieved that, were I to die, I would be deprived of this quasi sensual ongoing marvel! Lo and behold, a friendly voice, nay, just a whispered thought from a departed brother of mine, Jean, or was it Mum, Dad, innumerable friends in heaven (?) clearly said: "When you die, your liberated soul will

2004-08-22T23:52:00.000+02:00

Basil Saint Basil the Great Saint Basil was born in 1464 into a peasant family living in the village of Yelokhovoe near Moscow. When the child grew up, his parents sent him to learn shoemaking. The fool-for-Christ-sake was happy to help those in need Basil passed away at the age of 88 in 1552 Symbol: supernatural fire, Feast Day: January 2 Patron of Russia Fancy telling something about Basil

2004-08-11T23:47:00.000+02:00

Clare and Francis loved each other and they loved Yeshua Here they are!

2004-08-11T14:29:00.000+02:00

Today is the feast of Saint Clare My name sake as a sister and I like it! Meaning of the name: bright, clear, brilliant. Patroness of: embroiderers, goldsmiths, eye disease, needle workers, television, good weather, gilders, and laundry workers Who is she, this great friend of the Poverello? Clare was born into the nobility of Assisi on July 16, 1193 As a little girl she was known by

2004-08-07T20:57:00.000+02:00

Wedding Bells Two beautiful young people had their wedding blessed in the prayerful reformed Temple, in Corsier Khalil Gibran, a wise man and a poet knowing life and people wrote what follows and this is what I offer to the happy couple as they launch forth into the unknown: "You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death

2004-08-06T20:39:00.000+02:00

Mount Thabor: they went climbing, James, John and Peter and of course, Jesus. And behold, Jesus looked radiant, happy, his better self one would say. Transfigured says the Church today. The three friends were in awe. Happiness is contagious! Time stood still... yet Jesus said: let's go down where the little people live and are hungry, thirsty for justice that is: for BREAD, when their hunger

2004-07-29T21:17:00.000+02:00

Paul Simon and Garfunkel sing tonight in Basel and how good it would be to listen and sing along with them, as of old when we dared face the multiple systems and say: enough is enough! and go on signing "And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made and the sign flashed out its warning, in the words that it was forming. And the signs said, "The words of the prophets are written on

2004-07-02T20:51:00.000+02:00

June 30th Irak: Baghdad, False start "The Iraqi government has approved reinstating the death penalty, President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar said in an interview published on Wednesday, the day the interim authority is due to take legal custody of former president Saddam Hussein. "We held a meeting shortly after the transfer of power, during which we took some decisions including

2004-06-30T19:54:00.000+02:00

ROBBEN ISLAND, South Africa Nelson Mandela lit the Olympic torch on Robben Island where he was imprisoned for 18 of his 26 years imprisonment, for opposing apartheid. South Africa for the first time took part in the global relay of the flame. Mandela, who struggled a bit to light the torch, jokingly told photographers, "Don't worry about taking photos of the torch. Rather take a

2004-06-29T21:24:00.000+02:00

Born free! You didn't ask to be born Nor wished it and yet Oh! the planet were all the poorer without you, dear friend of all, of mine! "O Thou the One from whom breath enters being in all radiant forms … in each new instant" I thank the creator who imagined you so as you are: unique amongst other "uniques" and Oh! so alone among so many who dwell in your heart like on an open market place…

2004-06-26T21:20:00.000+02:00

Wedding bells They've met and they've fallen in love! Nothing more beautiful than that! From two different continents et cultures, butlove bridges deserts, and seas and gaps of any sort! This sunny afternoon, the little church bells rang raputurously, cascading from a green illtop right into the Leman blue waves down below! Singing for joy! So beautiful, so radiant, the groom, the bride

2004-06-24T21:53:00.000+02:00

THE FLAME The connection that existed between religion and burial traditions is due to the belief of the ancient Greeks that the relationship between life and death is dialectic. From the lifeless ground, birth is given to a bud. The symbol that represents the idea that life and death are connected is the sacred Olympic Flame. In 1948, Lausanne and Geneva were on the Olympic Torch

2004-06-21T22:02:00.000+02:00

Space tourism today! SpaceShipOne Makes History: First Manned Private Spaceflight (freely and gratefully adapted from Leonard David's report) MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA – The first non-governmental rocket ship flew to the edge of space today and was piloted to a safe landing on a desert airport runway here. Civilian test pilot, now turned astronaut, South African born, American Mike Melvill (62)

2004-06-21T00:08:00.000+02:00

Sunday, 20th May 2004 World refugee day Along highways ans byways they flee from an unkind inhumane world of war and violence seeking a home a refuge a shelter Fleeing the war lords who bring money to arms dealers while the blood of innocents flows along dirt roads All over the world, refugees seek sanctuaries and seldom find it How is it that in Switzerland asylum seekers are feared

2004-05-30T12:20:00.000+02:00

Spirit of the Founding Time Challenge for Today "John the Baptist sent two men to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' " Jésus replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you

2004-05-29T21:13:00.000+02:00

Pentecost Flames and wind! This God experience called Pentecost, happens in our lives, I think, when, suddenly you know you just have got to roll up your sleeves and get things done. Without counting the cost! Whole heartedly. You have experienced the reality, social, political, cultural, economic and even religious, you have lived the reality together with others and you see and fathom

2004-05-27T17:49:00.000+02:00

Amnesty International Yesterday, 26th May, the 2004 annual report of Amnesty International was made available to the public. The terrorists, using any means to spread terror, are mentioned, and the governments using any anti terrorist means are mentioned. AI condemns the murder of the UNO reprentative in Bagdad as it condemns the USA for its war against terrorism in Irak. For years, I

2004-05-23T21:32:00.000+02:00

2004-05-23T21:17:00.000+02:00

>"Do you love me?" St Sulpice near Lausanne Third Easter Sunday, 10.30 a.m. Ecumenical cult in the Reformed Temple A group of pilgrims en route for Compostella from Lucerne, invited me to join them in St Sulpice Reformed Temple in the vicinity of Lausanne, where they were to arrive for the 10.30 ecumenical service. I was there long before the time. In the Temple, a breath of peaceful

2004-05-22T23:33:00.000+02:00

Cannes Film festival 22.05.04 Just a few hours ago, the "Palme d'Or" of the 57th edition of the Festival de Cannes was attributed to "Fahrenheit 9/11" by Michael Moore. *Quite some years past, I saw "Roger and me", a Film realised by Michael Moore about whom I never had heard a word! This movie attempted to show the daily reality of General Motors workers in the USA et elsewhere in the

2004-05-20T22:29:00.000+02:00

The Ascension (continued) To receive a critical feedback to an entry in the Blog is an encouragement to deeper and more earnest reflection. It opens a window to new horizons! Thank you to my partners in dialogue! Here goes! Children, and even grown-ups, often, still visualise the ascension of Jesus as a "climbing to the heights". Many have told me so. A going up to heaven leaving earth

2004-05-19T21:41:00.000+02:00

The Ascension 2004 When Steve Biko died (as a result of torture from the South African police) on September 12th 1977, Grassroot people all over the land "knew he was risen" and lived on in their hearts, as a tremensous energy to continue the struggle. Idem with Archbishop of San Salvador, Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez ... 24 March 1980: "If I am killed, I shall arise in the

2004-05-17T21:51:00.000+02:00

2010 World Cup, continued It is such a wonderful experience to get feedback to an entry in the Blog that I hasten to pick it up in a most simple way. "I'll do it my way". Explaning why I felt like the township people when FIFA's president showed (on TV): South Africa! Looking back just a little: football (or soccer) in South Africa: in 1950 I was teaching in a black township Secondary