One Summer Day In Cana
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A celebration is in danger of coming to a halt. Nahalel, Bezer, and Jezebel are worried. Even their chief, Ephraim, is at a quandary. What surprises await in Cana?
Norbert Mercado
"In this age of revolution, the contemporary writer should utilize the pen for the preservation of peace," Norbert Mercado, a Filipino author, stressed. The books he has written and published, including his anthologies, unapologetically assert the indispensability of peace in a nation’s progress. The author has written more novels than any Asian writer had in just a brief period of time. In fact, he has surpassed the number of novels written by world-renowned novelists like Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1970) and American authors Ernest Hemingway (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1954). Solzhenitsyn has four novels to his credit, while Hemingway has eight. His style of writing is simple and succinct, but poignant and colorful like Hemingway’s THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, and Solzhenitsyn’s ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DESONOVICH. "The simpler the novel, the better," he said. In line with Japanese Yasunari Kabawata’s writings about the Japanese way of life, most of Norbert’s novels focus mostly on the current situation in his country. Kabawata is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968. His books present hope to the Filipino, especially to the "economic exiles" in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan whom he has spent most of his time with, in their daily struggles. But most of all, his novels lucidly show the futility of war and violence in the resolution of political-economic-class conflicts in the Philippines. "War should not be used as an instrument in resolving political conflicts. Writers who abet wars and revolutions must think of the widows and the fatherless, the chaos, destruction, and suffering of the people whom they claim to be concerned about," he said. What if, like Solzhenitsyn, Hemingway, and Kabawata, he eventually wins the Nobel Prize? What will he do with the US$1,000,000 award? "I will use the prize for establishing a Peace Foundation that will assist in the formulation of policies which will resolve the current shooting conflicts in the country and help alleviate the continuing poverty of our countrymen." He will take charge of the foundation and personally campaign for a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the Philippines. "The insurgency and the secessionist rebellion have foreign support. A Nobel title will give me the personality to approach the leaders involved in the conflicts," he explained. Born on March 25, 1955, he is the youngest among the children of Mr. and Mrs. Aurelio Mercado, Sr. of San Manuel, Tarlac. He graduated from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, with two degrees, Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication. Voted Outstanding Campus Journalist in 1974, he was a columnist and associate editor of the Philippine Collegian, the campus publication of the University of the Philippines. He has also written articles for various newspapers and magazines in the Philippines, as well as abroad. He also won the 1981 National Essay Writing Contest sponsored by SIDESTREETS Magazine. Norbert is a graduate of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), the topmost armed forces school in the country, where he was conferred a Master’s degree in National Security Administration (MNSA) and the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He graduated from the NDCP at the age of 32, the youngest in Class 21 which had already produced several generals in the Armed Forces, and the youngest graduate in the history of the National Defense College of the Philippines. He was elected one of the fifteen directors of Class 21. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity (Applied Servanthood), Honoris Causa, for his almost 30 years work in Christian literature. His batch mates include Senator Robert Barbers, Undersecretary of Trade and Industry and Bulletin Columnist Nelly Villafuerte, Actor and Producer Fred Galang, Rev. Peter Vasaya, and the His Royal Highness Sultan of Sulu and Sabah Ishmael Kiram. A sports lover, he was a rifle marksman in his UP ROTC days, and a winner of the 1988 and 1989 5,000 meter-run sponsored by the National Defense College Alumni Association. His sports include swimming, basketball, volleyball, boxing, karate, cycling, and marathon among others. A traveler, he has attended various international conferences and trainings in Asia and Europe. His travels have widened his insight not only of places, but also of people he has constantly observed and empathized with. He is the youngest graduate of the Singapore Haggai Institute for Third World Leaders in 1980 at the age of 24. "Let us work for peace in our country, in any way we can," Norbert stressed. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Ria M. Mercado
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One Summer Day In Cana - Norbert Mercado
ONE SUMMER DAY IN CANA
by
NORBERT MERCADO
Also by Norbert Mercado
NOVELS
72 Hours in Moscow
Cambodia's Children of Sorrow
The Children of Mars
Even the Grass Bleeds
I Don't Need A Throne
The Korean War
The Last Romanov
In The Shadow Of The Roman Empire
Farewell Darkness!
The Roman Governor of Judaea
Morning Glory
Love Is Beautiful
Prepare For Eternity
Dulce Extranjera
For more information on Norbert Mercado, visit
http://norbertomercado.blogspot.com
ONE SUMMER DAY IN CANA
Norbert Mercado
Copyright © 2014
Norbert Mercado has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction, and except in case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This book is sold, subject to the condition that is shall not, by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 978-1-311-09712-5
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
VERSION: 2014-09-28-1200
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Last Chapter
Endnotes
Dedication
A Historical Novelist For Peace
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Back to Table of Contents
. . . CHAPTER . . .
1
"LOVE ISN’T JUST AN EMOTION, BUT A COMMITMENT. The person who really loves commits himself to his beloved, not just for a season, but up to the last breath of his life," Josephus, a rabbi in the village of Cana, said as he exhorted Jonathan and Rachel before the audience of family and friends, and visitors that summer morning in Cana. The ten maidens of Rachel were all there in the wedding ceremony which would be followed by a feast. The maidens were her relatives and friends. Jonathan, on the other hand, also chose ten of his friends as his witnesses during the virginity rite of Jewish marriage. This rite was called the chuppah.
The chuppah rite of Jewish marriage exacted a physical union between the bride and the groom to test whether the bride was still a virgin. The chuppah could not be done until the groom fulfills the dowry for his wife which was a minimum of 50 shekels. Once the dowry is fulfilled, the father of the bride gives his consent to the chuppah, according to the Jewish custom of marriage. Even before the dowry was paid, the man was already considered as the legal husband of the Jewish girl because of the written contract called ketubbah. Jonathan signed the ketubbah with Benjamin, the father of Rachel. It was signed ten months ago by Benjamin and John, in the presence of Rebekah, the mother of Rachel, and Jacob and Martha, the parents of Jonathan.
Among those who were present to witness the wedding ceremony that summer morning in Cana was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus and his disciples were also there to witness the wedding ceremony together with Mary. Martha, the mother of Jonathan, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were relatives and friends. It was Martha who invited Mary to witness the wedding ceremony that morning. Determined to please Martha in her request, Mary told her son Jesus to accompany her to the wedding ceremony. Jesus obliged, and invited His disciples to accompany Him and His mother to Cana.
Rachel is very beautiful,
Mary told Jesus who was standing beside her. They and the disciples were on the side of Rachel, and they could see