I wrote yesterday about our trip to the Parish of St. Joseph for their celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph. After Mass, we'd intended to go to lunch at the main restaurant in town, Jozefi's, but the Pastor of the church had insisted that we stay for the meal in the Rectory, and so we did.
There was a lot of food, and it was delicious!
Before everyone else was ready to leave (they were still animatedly discussing the priest in the U.S. whose comments had gotten people in the Balkans all riled up), we excused ourselves and figuratively waddled our way down to Jozefi's Restaurant, where the proprietor, Jozefi, seemed a bit hurt that we weren't going to eat.
Since it was the Feast of St. Joseph, his patron saint, he'd planned on us eating there for free. I tried to explain to him in my very broken German that the Pastor had *insisted* that we stay for lunch, and that we were by then completely stuffed. It seemed as though he couldn't quite comprehend our refusal of his offer of hospitality.
I felt bad, but still stuffed.
Jozefi's Restaurant, like so many of the homes and shops in Albanian-speaking parts of Kosovo, flies not only the Kosovo flag, but also the Albanian flag, and the U.S. flag as well. (I've even seen a banner that consists of the Kosovo *and* U.S. flags together as one entity -- very odd, more than slightly disturbing, and something I've not yet been able to photograph.)
Each of us had a macchiato, while sitting outside on Jozefi's patio in the cool, crisp spring air.
Blessings and peace to one and all,
Fr. Tim, SJ
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