Pope's Encyclical:
The Joy of the Gospel

(see: need to cancel "archive" in some search results) V2Catholic.com   - A voice for the poor 
Edited by Hong Kong prison chaplain Fr John Wotherspoon O.M.I.  胡 頌 恆 神 父   

DV  A new menu 7 days a week to encourage people who are trying
 to follow the example of Pope Francis by concern for issues like these

DG - Since August 3, 2013, this website has saved dozens of Africans from going to prison in HK. 
See "Drugs", below

V2Catholic is now on Facebook.
God bless the kind FB editor in Australia!

Wishing all dear readers the peace of Christmas right through 2014 !  

 
Please enjoy: 
Say Merry Christmas (YouTube - 4,812,000 hits) 

 
 
and  this one      and  this one


 
Imitating Pope Francis Francis 



Tuesday
 December 24   

Christmas Eve



Midnight Mass readings

(scroll down to "Midnight Mass")

 


Did Mary have a midwife?

There is a joke about what would have happened if three wise women had shown up at Jesus’ birth instead of three wise men. It goes, “Three wise women would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts.”

(My theory, for what it's worth:  Mary's midwife was her cousin Elizabeth, who lived in the vicinity. Elizabeth helped Mary, just as Mary had helped Elizabeth at the birth of John the Baptist)

My theory not worth much according to
http://bustedhalo.com/questionbox/did-elizabeth-serve-as-mary%E2%80%99s-midwife    
(can't link)

(Comments welcome here)

Vatican II & Renewal (1)

16 Documents of Vatican II

A Call to Action
Assn Catholic Priests Ireland

Bp Pat Power
Bp Geoff Robinson
Bruce Duncan
Catalyst for Renewal
Catholica
Catholics for Ministry  
Catholics for Renewal 
STANDUP4VATICAN2
The Swag
VII - Voice of the Church

We Are Church

 


Excellent articles on Mission
 
Hugh McMahon SSC

 

 

 



The age of internet empires  - an important summary of how we are influenced by Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook 
(English note: "empires" contains "spies"!)

Today is the anniversary of Lottie Moon, a small woman with a huge heart who served as a missionary in China for nearly forty years in very difficult conditions


May 25, 26

 


Israeli press give details of Pope’s visit to Holy Land

 


Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 

(good timing for Christmas ... sheep)

24.  Evangelizers thus take on the “smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice. An evangelizing community is also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this may prove to be. It is familiar with patient expectation and apostolic endurance. Evangelization consists mostly of patience and disregard for constraints of time


Yesterday I saw a large nativity banner ....as a backdrop for a happy group of people who were singing Christmas carols at the Star Ferry entrance on Hong Kong Island. First time I've ever seen Mary, Joseph and the Magi wearing glasses!  (...in HK even tiny children are put in glasses to enhance their academic whatever).  Maybe next year Baby Jesus will have specs?


The war on drugs "a holocaust in slow motion"  (with video)

This website's Tanzania File (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- with links to all letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons

South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons


Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity  Vatican II Reflection - 307

"All right, I'll do it. Tell me where you need me and when" 
- Eric Liddell (Chariots of Fire, Gold Medalist)
    


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John W
   mini-Blog
Visit to Matteo Ricci Centre by Deacon Edwin Ng  and Fr Sebastian (Asian delegate of Prison Pastoral Care) - Fr Sebastian working towards an Asian  meeting of Catholic prison chaplains (..encouraged by Pope Francis' desire to do more for the poor)

Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Tuesday, please bless the people of South Asia

On this 24th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Inner Mongolia
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 


Monday
 Dec 23   

Today's Mass readings



Nativity06.JPG (127524 bytes)

Click to enlarge


The Meaning of Bethlehem

Bethlehem ought to develop in us a sensitivity to what is authentic and simple, starting with asking ourselves whether it might not be possible to celebrate and be happy with fewer things .... that our ethics become enriched with criteria of authenticity, simplicity of life, and caring for others


Pope Francis 
Dec 22: 

Appeal for homeless families

The Poor Cannot Wait! I call on everyone: individuals, organs of society, authorities, to do everything possible to assure that every family has a place to live

This website's kind bloggers
(past and present)
with archives of articles:

Bakhita
 
Hazel C
 
Daniel Daring
Inigo Joachim

Brian Lewis
 
Judith Lynch 
 
Martin Mallon
Chris McDonnell  
Bill Mulcahy 
Des O'Donnell
Darlene Starrs
 TASMAD
David Timbs
 
Peter Wilkinson
   Harry Winter  
 John Wotherspoon


  Weekly Archive 
of
main page menus

Previous archives 
2013  2012  2011
2010  2009  2008

John W:
Previous Daily Blogs


Click to 
enlarge
Nativity06.JPG (127524 bytes)


My year of leaning – and leaning into Christmas

Look at the figures in the Christmas crib. Notice how all of them, animals included, are leaning in towards the child in the manger. Each of them is an icon of God leaning into us


Not yet a state


South Sudan edges towards civil war

A cycle of revenge and fear is building momentum. Large-scale mobilisation among different ethnic communities intent on revenge for what they see as targeted killings. The leaders have got to come together and do so on television or this is going to get much worse 
(South is mainly Christian??)



Click 
to enlarge

2013-12-20pope.jpg (62663 bytes)

More photos of that small boy holding the Pope's cap!



2011 Prize-winning Palestinian documentary
5 Broken Cameras
 
- free here on YouTube

Amazon - see reviews, one of which says:
5 Broken Cameras is a vital resource for anyone trying to understand the tragically undertold story of the Palestinian side of the conflict. Here we see the life of a young Palestinian boy growing up in the immense shadow of land theft and brutal occupation by the Israelis


boat-people02.jpg (50248 bytes)
Australia's asylum seeker policy is breaking people

In the land of the fair go, is this really what most Australians want? Do Australians who want asylum boats to stop also support the indefinite and prolonged detention of children, pregnant women and vulnerable men or women? Do we really want to ''break people''?

c.f. Authorities took 2 days before launching search for doomed boat




Readers of this website know of my medical concern about homosexual behaviour - see my file "Same-sex marriage": two elephants  in the men's room, but I regard this new Tanzanian law as barbaric:
Gays, lesbians to spend life in jail as new Bill passed  


Yesterday someone told me about Cao Dai, a new religion in Vietnam.
Google "cao dai" for Wikipedia and other articles


Interactive Bible Quiz - Philippians
Based on the actual words of the Bible. 
How many times you can get 3/3 ?!


Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 
 

24.
The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first , and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast.

Such a community has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy. Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The Lord gets involved and he involves his own, as he kneels to wash their feet. He tells his disciples: “You will be blessed if you do this” . 
An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others



Just before Christmas, an honest politician, a generous loan shark and Santa Claus were riding in the elevator of a very posh hotel. Just before the doors opened they all noticed a $20 bill lying on the floor. Which one picked it up? Santa of course, because the two other two don't exist!

This website's Tanzania File (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- with links to all letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons

South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons


Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity  vat2-abbott.jpg (25097 bytes) Vatican II Reflection - 306

Educated lay Catholics are no longer "sheeple"


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John W
   mini-Blog
Visit yesterday to Matteo Ricci Centre by former Zhaoqing CAS teacher Liam and Hao
Liam now works as an English teacher in Vietnam, at a campus of  RMIT

Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Monday, please bless the people of Europe & North Asia

On this 23rd of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Guangxi
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 


Guantánamo Bay: banned Nativity scene

Sunday December 22   

The readings of today's Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Reflection on today's Mass readings by Daniel Daring:
How shall we respond to this sign?
Christmas is not about a tree or Santa Claus. Christmas is about our response to the sign given to us by God signifying that our salvation is drawing near. Will this sign be enough to make us trust in God for our salvation?

Today in Northern Hemisphere: the Winter Solstice            I wish all Chinese readers a Happy Winter Festival!


David Timbs
(Melbourne)

Immanuel: God – with – us
- The quiet time before Christmas

This Christmas we could have no greater gift than to be assured that we live, breathe and glory in the ultimate comforting truth that, in Jesus, born in Bethlehem, God is truly with us

Pope Francis:
Thank you Holy Spirit

Inspiring photos:

Abp-Bergoglio01.jpg (24769 bytes)


cf

2013-04-09PopeFrancisAtMass.jpg (68152 bytes)

inmates.jpg (66142 bytes)

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2013-11-07pope.jpg (21651 bytes)  report
01  02
 

 

Newness, harmony, mission

Engagements of Pope Francis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks for checking
 this website each day

 

 




More and more churches open their doors to homeless this Christmas
   (may this virus spread throughout the world!)



Low-cost internet on smartphones altering way Somalis stay connected to world

Controversial mine in Australia to provide coal for China

New jobs in Australia will cost lives in China: see Power Crazed


A conspiracy of suppression

Philippines typhoon relief and rebuilding effort a sham corruption feast of inflated costing. (The further down you read this article, the more you shake your head ....and pray: Jesus, please give the Philippines better leaders!)



Beautiful
Christmas story

During the 2010 Christmas season, the Benedictine sisters of Baltimore found themselves in the midst of a modern-day Christmas story. The sisters were asked to provide shelter to an eight-month-pregnant Muslim woman seeking asylum in the United States

Pope to Curia:  "Don't turn into a bureaucratic customs house"

The reflection by Fr Des O'Donnell OMI posted on this website on Dec 20
 has now also been posted on the website of Ireland's Association of Catholic Priests: 
Francis is ‘a modern Christmas’ to the confused world

Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 


23.
The Church’s closeness to Jesus is part of a common journey; “communion and mission are profoundly interconnected”. In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded.

That is what the angel proclaimed to the shepherds in Bethlehem: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people". The Book of Revelation speaks of “an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tongue and tribe and people"


A man found himself in terrible financial difficulties. He is so desperate that for the first time in his life he gets down on his knees and prays to God for help. 'Dear God, I desperately need your help. I have no money to spend on Christmas presents for my family. Could you possibly arrange it so that I win the Lottery?'

The lottery draw is held, but he wins nothing. He sends another prayer to God. 'My business has gone bust and if I don't get some money soon I'll lose my car and my Christmas will be will be very difficult. Please fix things so I win the lottery.' Lottery night comes, but he's unlucky. So he prays to God again. 'Please God, I've lost my car and now they're trying to take my house. Please help me to win the Lottery or our Christmas will be ruined.' Come lottery night, he again fails to win anything. 'Undeterred, be prays to God again. 'I am now a bankrupt, my house has been repossessed by the finance company and so has my car. We are now living on the street, but all I need to get my life back together and perhaps enjoy some kind of Christmas is to win the lottery.'

Suddenly there's a flash of brilliant light as the heavens open and the man is confronted by the very voice of God himself. 'Hey, do me a favour will you, buy a ticket.'



New letter from a Tanzanian inmate in a Hong Kong prison
This new letter (in Swahili) is similar to previous letters, aiming to create more awareness of the risks involved in trafficking to Hong Kong & China.
The letter also mentions the names of a mastermind and his subordinate

This website's Tanzania File  (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- with links to all letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons

South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons 


Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity  Vatican II  Reflection 305

"May everyone learn from childhood to have compassion for others and to be generous in helping those in need"


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John W
   mini-Blog
Last night as I was waiting to cross Nathan Road at the corner of Nathan and Jordan Roads ....I saw the same sight as I've seen on this night for the past few years:  Christmas carolers on the top deck of a double-decker bus, singing carols, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.  God bless them!  
  2011 photo      2009      2009

And in Australia, as elsewhere, many homes are specially decorated for Christmas, like these homes in Melbourne


 Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Sunday, please bless the people of Africa

On this 22nd of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Zhejiang
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 



 Saturday  December 21          Readings for December 21

Pope Francis:
Christmas in this time of conflict is a call from God. Do we want to receive Him or not? In a world afflicted by war, this Christmas makes me think of God’s patience. He never tires of waiting for us. There are those who ignore him. But God is patient, and the peace and serenity of Christmas Eve are a reminder of God’s patience toward us



Growing threat of ransom-ware CryptoLocker
(click "more" for examples of this problem)

Wikipedia: CryptoLocker

-----------------------

Please encourage more people to see 1-10
  re Bishop Bill Morris:

1: Judge's conclusions
2: Canon lawyer's report
 
3: Radio interview with judge

4:  "The Age" file of letters

5: Summary re Rome
6: Frank Brennan's update

7: ABC radio Fr Frank Brennan

8. Update from Frank Brennan

9. Vatileaks & Bp Bill Morris

10: Tablet letter - Frank Brennan

After reading 1-10, check the "Pravda" report of CNA

Google "Morris" at top of this page for many articles re Bishop BM, the most recent being talk of March 26, 2013:
  Reclaiming the Spirit of Vatican II

 

 

 




Is it the Francis effect? Bishops across England and Wales focus on poverty this Christmas


(Overdue) Good news:

Obama commutes sentences of eight crack cocaine offenders
- using his power of clemency to make statement about what the administration believes is an overly punitive criminal justice system

c.f. Life in prison for stealing a $159 jacket 


Bishop Pat Power: 
Bethlehem now

To make the journey from Nazareth in Israel to Bethlehem in Palestine today, Mary and Joseph would have to cross through approximately 70 Israeli barriers


 
Middle East deteriorating relationship of Muslims and Christians:

Bridge that needs rebuilding



Questions from a Ewe:

The survey I wish the Vatican would have conducted... Emotional abuse of women in the Church


Central African Republic atrocities escalate amid rampaging rival militias

Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 


22.
 God’s word is unpredictable in its power.
The Gospel speaks of a seed which, once sown, grows by itself, even as the farmer sleeps. 
The Church has to accept this unruly freedom of the word, which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our calculations and ways of thinking

--------------------------

Highly recommended: This Power Point of The Joy of the Gospel



Yesterday at a detention centre, an inmate asked me to pray for his ankle.
But when I crouched down and put my right hand gently on his ankle and said a prayer, the inmate said "what are you doing?".  I said "you asked me to pray for your ankle".  "No I didn't", he replied, "I asked you to pray for my uncle".
(Using English in Hong Kong is a clear and present danger)

My post on Jamii Forums has had 150 hits

This website's Tanzania File  (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons


South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons


Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity  Vatican II  Reflection 304

Children should have a taste for the apostolate from their earliest days, helped by an apostolic spirit in their families and schools


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John W
   mini-Blog
One of the most prestigious and expensive schools in Australia is The Southport School (TSS) on Queensland's Gold Coast. It's current website shows a former student who is now attending Harvard University in the US. 
In the past week I've met two graduates from the school .... now attending a Hong Kong detention centre. One is a HK citizen, the other from Korea

 Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Saturday, please bless the people of Central & North America

On this 21st of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Yunnan
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 


Friday
 December 20

Readings for December 20


Fr Des O'Donnell OMI
         My thoughts - Christmas 2013


We believers are immersed in the mystery of the Incarnation, that just 2000 years ago of 15 billion, God has stepped into our almost invisible dot in the expanding universe. I find myself joining Professor Fredrick Crews to wonder ‘Why, we must ask, would the shaper of the universe have frittered away 15 billion years, turning out quadrillions of useless stars, before getting around to the one thing he really cared about seeing to it that a miniscule minority of earthling vertebrates are washed clean of sin and guaranteed an eternal place in his company ? The beauty of the Christmas crib can no longer hold it all for me.

The ecclesial explosion called Pope Francis has revived my sagging adhesion to Rome, as he speaks about, writes about and witnesses to, ‘the joy of the Gospel’. Francis is a modern Christmas to the confused world

 


This has to be one of the photos of the year!

(child destined to be a Capuchin?)

Liturgy - New Translation

1998 ICEL Sacramentary
Misguided Missal
 
The new translation
Ghastly process/result

Ron Schmit:
 1962 Mass a condemnation of Vatican II

PrayTell

------------------------------------------

Spirituality

 Sacred Space 
 Daily prayer online.
Available in 19 languages


Jackie Evancho  - To Believe
to-believe.jpg (305669 bytes)

Pray-as-you-go.org
Daily prayer with 
beautiful music

Whole text of 1966 Jerusalem Bible

 

 

Previous Smiles file


 
Extremist Catholic (?) groups continue to criticise Pope Francis
e.g. one     e.g. two


Vatican’s representative seeks immunity over sex abuse inquiry

Royal Commission hears Vatican told priest to offer a Mass every Friday for his victims

 

Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 
 Holiday

This website's Tanzania File (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- with links to all letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons

South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons


YouTube:
Kindergarten children talking about Christmas   

Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity      Holiday

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John W
   mini-Blog
  Very fruitful meeting last night with kind editor of V2catholic's Facebook page who is in HK on holidays from Australia.  Editor has shown me how to put replies on the page ...hope to start soon.

Meeting last night ...so a slim menu today


Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Friday, please bless the people of South America

On this
20th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Sichuan
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 

 

Thursday  December 19

Mass readings for December 19

Pope Francis: (the original English of this text needs to see a doctor)

The message announced to us in the Gospels is a message of joy. The evangelists describe a joyful event to us. They do not discuss the injustice of the world and how God could be born into such a world. The first Christmas was not a condemnation of social injustice and poverty; it was an announcement of joy



    The world's hard-hearted airline   (Comments welcome here)

I have loved Qantas ever since I was young. In 1984 I visited Winton in Queensland, the birth-place of Qantas. In 1996 I won a Qantas competition prize in HK. Twice I have taken groups of more than 20 people from HK/China to Australia on Qantas. Qantas has been good to me. And I understand how Qantas, like any  business, has to manage its finances responsibly.
But I was very sad two years ago when Qantas suddenly grounded its entire fleet and left tens of thousands of passengers stranded around the world. I was very sad when I heard how the Qantas CEO was giving himself a salary increase of more than two million AUD while the airline was in financial difficulties.
And I was very sad yesterday when I collected my January ticket for Australia from the down-sized Qantas office in HK ....where even some of the few remaining staff (loyal, long-serving people) have been given notice

My feeling is that Qantas' present economic difficulties are linked to a recent policy of "Profits before passengers" ....beginning from the time Qantas was privatised. This policy of greed is what Pope Francis is leading the charge against.  The greed affects governments which want quick money through privatisation....in the process doing immense harm to icons like Qantas and Australia's Commonwealth Bank (whose privatisation led to thousands of staff being sacked)

See: a list of privatisation deals in Australia over the past 20 years

Yesterday I came away from the HK Qantas office thinking that the world needs a good dose of socialism to make up for the harm that extreme capitalism has caused

See comments at Don't cry for the flying kangaroo  and at More of the same management will kill it

and see second half of this article in its treatment of capitalism, and last part of this article re privatisation

This site's full statistics
 for November 2013 

 

To publish an article on this site please contact Fr John Wotherspoon omi:   jdwomi@gmail.com  


If you find a broken link in this website,
  please contact: jdwomi@gmail.com

   

Why I collect rubbish for Pope

Taking a stand

Navigation Aids      

  Standing up to bullies

"Reform of reform" agenda

Too Western/European 

Abortion - a true story

"Same-sex marriage": two elephants
 in the men's room
     

     Near Death Experiences

Globalisation of Indifference

Tale of Two Brains


John's other sites: 

www.doctorjesus.org

www.riccicenter.com 

www.simplebible.info 

www.china8.org 

  www.jesustower.com 

www.oneminuteenglish.com 

China Library
 - essential reading for anyone interested in China's Christian history

 


Tablet 
report
Middle-East.jpg (46515 bytes) Prince Charles highlights plight of Christians in Middle East
The Prince of Wales addresses an audience of religious leaders at a reception for Middle East Christians at Clarence House on Tuesday.  The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols were at the event    (Video)

Child sex abuse Church plays part of Christmas villain


Pope canonizes Peter Faber, SJ
....and by-passes Vatican procedure
(hope he'll do same for Romero and Ricci)

Pope calls for humility:
"When you see a Christian who doesn’t want to humble himself, who doesn’t want to serve, a Christian who struts about everywhere: it’s ugly, eh? That is not a Christian: that’s a pagan!”

Preparing a generation of 'Francis bishops'

 


China government-Church standoff over bishop's burial
(outcome remains to be seen)

Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 


21.
The Gospel joy which enlivens the community of disciples is a missionary joy. The seventy-two disciples felt it as they returned from their mission. Jesus felt it when he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and praised the Father for revealing himself to the poor and the little ones. It was felt by the first converts who marvelled to hear the apostles preaching “in the native language of each” on the day of Pentecost. 

This joy is a sign that the Gospel has been proclaimed and is bearing fruit. And the drive to go forth and give, to go out from ourselves, to keep pressing forward in our sowing of the good seed, remains ever present

The Lord says: “Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out”. Once the seed has been sown in one place, Jesus does not stay behind to explain things or to perform more signs; the Spirit moves him to go forth to other towns.


Tourist walks off pier while browsing on Facebook
(be careful of what appears on Facebook...)


British women drug mules jailed for more than six years in Peru

Tanzanian man with 83 heroin capsules in stomach arrested at Dar es Salaam airport (...Drug Lords still trying to send drug mules to HK/China...)

This website's Tanzania File  (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- with links to all letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons

South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons


Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity 
Vatican II  Reflection 303

Christians should become involved in their local community
and take an interest in local events
   


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John W
   mini-Blog
"Profits before people" leads to lower standards of service, lower standards of safety, mistaken economic decisions etc etc.  The more you think about it, the more urgent and timely is Pope Francis' call for an end to rampant capitalism whereby the rich get richer and the poor get poorer 

Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Thursday, please bless the people of South East Asia  

On this 19th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shanxi
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 

Wednesday  December 18

Mass readings for December 18


Q: What does Christmas say to people today?

A:  Pope Francis:
 
“It speaks of tenderness and hope. When God meets us he tells us two things. The first thing he says is: have hope. God always opens doors, he never closes them. He is the father who opens doors for us. The second thing he says is: don’t be afraid of tenderness. When Christians forget about hope and tenderness they become a cold Church, that loses its sense of direction and is held back by ideologies and worldly attitudes, whereas God’s simplicity tells you: go forward, I am a Father who caresses you. I become fearful when Christians lose hope and the ability to embrace and extend a loving caress to others. Maybe this is why, looking towards the future, I often speak about children and the elderly, about the most defenceless that is. Throughout my life as a priest, going to  the parish, I have always sought to transmit this tenderness, particularly to children and the elderly. It does me good and it makes me think of the tenderness God has towards us.”   
c.f. Papal Embrace (ok for priests to hug children at this distressful time of sex abuse inquiries?)


Pope Francis marks birthday (Dec 17) with online card and meal with homeless

Vatican II - Renewal (2)

Hans Küng: 
 
Letter to bishops  

Revolution to stop authoritarianism 

Fr Joseph Ratzinger: 
Writings on Vat II 
(link gone...anyone able to find it?)   

Robert Mickens:  
Vatican Implosion

Nicholas Lash:     Vatican II: 
Of Happy Memory - and Hope?

Robert McNally:  
Crisis & Criticism in the Church 

Priests 9 Masses a day
 - need to ordain married men

The evil of compulsory celibacy

Link between compulsory celibacy and sexual abuse

Why are women not being
 ordained to priesthood?

 

 

 



Japan increases defence budget amid tensions with China

Tokyo announces plans to buy drones, jet fighters and destroyers
(May wise heads in China and Japan soon put a stop to this madness)

ABC Islam's forgotten animal welfare tradition



Check the 
amazing photo!

Chinese surgeons reattach a man's severed hand after keeping it alive on his leg for a month
(brilliant ...and sure convenient for scratching itchy foot!)




Major US academic body backs boycott of Israeli educational institutions


Power Crazed

A quarter of a million deaths a year could be avoided in China if coal power there were shut down

Synthesis

 

 

Full text

 


20.
The word of God constantly shows us how God challenges those who believe in him “to go forth”. Abraham received the call to set out for a new land. Moses heard God’s call: “Go, I send you” and led the people towards the promised land. To Jeremiah God says: “To all whom I send you, you shall go”. 

In our day Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples” echoes in the changing scenarios and ever new challenges to the Church’s mission of evangelization, and all of us are called to take part in this new missionary “going forth”. Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel.


Santa-in-prison.jpg (61171 bytes)

Click to enlarge 

(charged with breaking and entering??)

Global Drug Survey 2014

This website's Tanzania File (stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- with links to all letters  from Tanzanian inmates  in Hong Kong prisons

South America file (stopping S. Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
 -
letters from S. American inmates in HK prisons


Francis wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity  Vatican II  Reflection 302

Hoping and praying that the present-day ecumenical winter of decreased interest and commitment will not last


  2013-01-03jw.jpg (36451 bytes)
John W
   mini-Blog
A hope that came to me after Mass yesterday morning:  China will make Christmas Day a public holiday, as one of the "international" holidays (like January 1).   Please God!

Sun: Africa           Mon: Europe & Russia          Tues: South Asia          Wed: East Asia    
     
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific        Frid: South America           Sat: Central & North America 
   
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Wednesday, please bless the people of East Asia

On this 18th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shandong
Please join me in praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month


 

On revolving map:

Left click bottom right silver button

Left click country

Left click state/province

....till you find your city/town !

 

Left click this table of flags for details of hits on this main page 

free counters          
Table shows location of readers:
Australia - 28%;  UK - 17%;  HK - 15%;  US - 18%;  Canada - 7%  
(..well done HK!)


This website was launched  in construction mode in Hong Kong on November 20, 2011   - the Feast of Christ the King.
The official launching  was held on the Gold Coast, Australia,  on January 20, 2012   
Map and Flag Counter began Feb 11, 2012.  Previous visits 4,932.
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Recent Hong Kong photos          Previous China photos        Ming Pao articles

Fr John Wotherspoon O.M.I.  胡 頌 恆 神 父   
 Email:   jdwomi@gmail.com  
     Hong Kong mobile  (852) 6709 5674
 China mobile  13030213703 -  out of action for the time being
Mail address: PO Box 74013 Kowloon Central Post Office, Kowloon , Hong Kong

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