Ron W. Nikkel
|
City
of God
As I watched the scene unfolding
around me I realized that contrary to all appearances this was more like
the City of God than any city I’d ever been in – even the wealthiest
most modern cities in the world. It was defined not by gleaming
commerce, complex infrastructure, citadels of entertainment or
architectural wonders, or even a proper city plan, but by human love and
generosity shared among people who had nothing to lose except each other
|
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
|
|
 |
Coal
hard facts for religious investors |
|
 |
 |
Israeli
security forces accused of using Palestinian children to gather
intelligence |
|
 |
Victorian
bushfires: threats continue despite cooler conditions
(with video) |
|
|
|
69. It is imperative to evangelize
cultures in order to inculturate the Gospel.
In countries of Catholic tradition, this means
encouraging, fostering and reinforcing a richness
which already exists.
In countries of other religious traditions, or
profoundly secularized countries, it will mean sparking new
processes for evangelizing culture, even though these will
demand long-term planning.
We must keep in mind, however, that we are constantly
being called to grow. Each culture and social
group needs purification and growth.
In the case of the popular cultures of Catholic peoples,
we can see deficiencies which need to be healed
by the Gospel: machismo, alcoholism, domestic violence, low
Mass attendance, fatalistic or superstitious notions which lead to
sorcery, and the like. Popular piety itself can
be the starting point for healing and liberation from these deficiencies.
|
|
 |
 |
Senior
Moment: Yesterday after my usual Monday afternoon visit
to Lai Chi Kok Detention Centre, I went to the nearby Sham Shui Po
computer centre to buy some blank DVDs. A very busy place, packed with
people .... where I seemed to be the oldest item on two legs. I felt pleased with
myself as I used a credit card machine to inter my password ...thinking to myself "this old fellow can keep up
with all these young'uns" ....only to discover that instead of my
password I had entered my mobile phone number!
|
|
 |
 |
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
South Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters from South American inmates in HK prisons
|
 |
|
| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
 |
Vatican II
Reflection - 355
May
the Church get out of the business of being a business
|
|
John W
mini-Blog |
My
weekly article for today's HK Ming Pao newspaper
(On
MP website)
Today's
topic: Valentine's Day ! |
|
|
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 11th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the
prisoners of Hunan
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month
|
| Martin
Mallon
(Ireland) |
Praise
is for everyone - Pope Francis
It was with great interest that I read Pope Francis’ homily of January 28,
2014 wherein he reflected on praising God through prayer. This was the most
inspiring homily on praise I have read or heard |
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 |
|
 |
 |
Faith
helps Canadian speed skater achieve Olympic dream
(surname:
Wotherspoon-Greggs!) |
|
Recommended
by a reader:
This series of articles related to child
sex abuse in the Church
|
November
17, Systemic issues arising from
the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry, here
November
24, Sexual abuse, Don’t mention
Canon Law, here
December
4, Flogging a dead horse at the
Royal Commission, here
December
10, Vatican and Zero Tolerance
protocols, here
December
13, Bella Figura and the Vatican, here
December
17, ++Mark Coleridge and the Humpty
Dumpty principle of Canon Law, here
December
21, Cracks in the Church Dyke at
the Royal Commission, here
January
7, The revival of misprison of a
felony. here.
January 15, Sex abuse, the de facto
privilege of clergy, here.
January 23, The Inquisition
of the Catholic Church at the UN, here.
February 7, The United
Nations and the ‘Warts and all’
history, here
See related UCAnews
article, February 6, Cracking the
Vatican’s culture of
opacity-on-clerical-crimes, here
|
|
 |
Pope
to visit Sri Lanka?
Cardinal Ranjith (leader of Reform of Reform and close friend of dictator
president ) continuing to lobby for papal visit. Someone please tell
Pope Francis about the real situation in Sri Lanka ....and how visiting
there is not a good idea (c.f. recent Commonwealth leaders' meeting in Sri
Lanka ...many problems) |
|
 |
 |
Today is 50th Anniversary of sinking of Voyager
Today is anniversary (1993) of a famous doctor:
Fred Hollows
|
|
 |
Interactive
Bible Quiz - Philemon
Based on the actual words of the Bible.
How
many times can you get 3/3 ?!
|
|
|
|
Challenges
to inculturating the faith
68. The
Christian substratum of certain peoples – most of all in the West – is
a living reality. Here we find, especially among the most
needy, a moral resource which preserves the values of an authentic
Christian humanism.
Seeing reality with the eyes of faith, we cannot fail to
acknowledge what the Holy Spirit is sowing. It
would show a lack of trust in his free and unstinting activity to think
that authentic Christian values are absent where great numbers of people
have received baptism and express their faith and solidarity with others
in a variety of ways.
This means more than acknowledging occasional “seeds
of the word”, since it has to do with an authentic Christian faith which
has its own expressions and means of showing its relationship to the
Church.
The immense importance of a
culture marked by faith cannot be overlooked; before the
onslaught of contemporary secularism, an evangelized culture, for all its
limits, has many more resources than the mere sum total of believers.
An evangelized popular culture
contains values of faith and solidarity capable of encouraging the
development of a more just and believing society, and possesses a
particular wisdom which ought to be gratefully acknowledged. |
|
|
|
After seeing this, how can I ever
complain about a train in HK being over-crowded?!
|
|
|
 |
Mexico's lost daughters- how young women are sold into the sex trade by drug gangs
The (elderly) nuns tell me, without hesitation, that they
would stand together and create a wall with their bodies and die for the
women and children they protect.
Six
adults, two children shot dead in Guatemala near drug route
Britain must join debate on new approach to war on drugs
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 South Americans from
being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters
from South American inmates in HK prisons
|
 |
|
|
|
| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
 |
Vatican II
Reflection - 354
May bishops bite the bullet and divide big dioceses into smaller
dioceses,
each with its own bishop
|
|
John W
mini-Blog |
Hong Kong's
train/metro is one of the best in the world ....rarely any disruption to
services ....but one
happened yesterday when I was on the way to Lo Wu Prison (on the HK
side of the border). Usual journey of 45 minutes took double that time and
twice involved changing trains! But what struck me most was the calmness
of passengers on the crowded train: no "rage", no arguing with
rail officials ... just calm. Very impressive |
|
|
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 10th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the
prisoners of Hubei
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month |
David Timbs
(Melbourne)
|
Pope
Francis and the rage of the Traditionalists:
Who’s angry with whom and why?
Part
One
Some
have gone quiet and folded. Some have gone quiet but continue to sulk and
seethe. Others are still making their voices heard, noisy, angry,
resentful and full of rage. What they all have in common is their feelings
of frustration at and betrayal by Benedict for his abdication and their
palpable collective contempt for Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis.
|
Pope
Francis:
Thank
you Holy Spirit
Inspiring photos:
Newness,
harmony, mission
Engagements
of Pope Francis
Many
thanks for checking
this website each day
|
|
Darlene Starrs
(Canada)
|
What
St. Bernadette tells us about Christ and the Poor
Those who belong to Christ and who suffer,
particularly, with long term illness, are God’s poor. Bernadette had to
cope with Asthma, so she is willing to help with those who must also
endure this disease. Bernadette’s
story attests to the enduring and abiding presence not only of Mary, but
of Christ, who is our Lord, our redeemer, our lover, our brother, our
friend, and our healer
|
|
Recommended
by readers
(please send items to jdwomi@gmail.com)
|
Sochi Games
- Thank
you Mom (Video)
A modern "Born Free"
story from Africa - Man
hugging lions (Video)
Saint
Paul tube/metro/mtr map - brilliant!
(can you find the hairdresser?!)
|
|
 |
The
Story of Jonah....
View this clip of a little girl telling the story of Jonah....
she is so adorable!!
Enjoy her story telling.... it will make your day.
This
is priceless and you will never read the story from the Bible again
without smiling after hearing this.
|
|
 |
Why
Grassroots Survey Ordered by Pope not done by Indian Bishops?
Challenge
to India's 200 bishops as they continue their annual meeting begun Feb 5
(scroll down to English!)
|
|
 |
 |
Why
we need to pray often to Matteo Ricci!
(I've been praying to him for
years!) |
|
 |
Our
Digital Future
Comments
on NCRonline: Be part of the solution
|
|
 |
Cardinal
O'Malley responds to UN report
UN
committee report on Vatican abuse a missed opportunity
|
|
|
|
67. The
individualism of our postmodern and globalized era favours
a lifestyle which weakens the development and stability of personal
relationships and distorts family bonds.
Pastoral activity needs to bring out more clearly the
fact that our relationship with the Father
demands and encourages a communion which heals, promotes and reinforces
interpersonal bonds.
In our world, especially in some countries, different
forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we
Christians remain steadfast in our intention to respect others,
to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships and to
“bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2).
Today too, various associations
for the defence of rights and the pursuit of noble goals are
being founded. This is a sign of the desire of many people to contribute
to social and cultural progress.
|
|
|
Click to enlarge:
Na
|
|
|
|
|
Tanzania: Aliens
(?)
arraigned for Sh9bn drugs
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 South Americans from
being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters
from South American inmates in HK prisons
|
|
|
| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
|
Vatican II
Reflection - 353
This article implies small dioceses, with
a family spirit,
not huge dioceses
run like an impersonal business
|
|
John W
mini-Blog |
Today's First Reading at Mass
sounds like it was written by Pope Francis:
Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the
homeless poor, give relief to the oppressed |
|
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 9th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the
prisoners of Henan
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month
|
 |
Anniversary today of Saint
Josephine Bakhita FDCC
who died on this day in 1947.
Today a good day to pray for peace
in her native Sudan |
The
unjust treatment
of Bishop Bill Morris
Tribalism
lives on, for better and for worse
|
|
|
What
if Modi becomes Indian premier? |
|
|
Vatican’s
welcome ally - Queen Elizabeth |
|
| Pope
Francis |
Francis
meets real-life Philomena, subject of Oscar-nominated film
"I
felt liberated from my shame after meeting the Pope" |
|
The
New Translation |
Brentwood
bishop ticks off his top liturgy official in row over revised Mass
translation
Full
text of Fr Michael Butler's letter
A
second go at the new Missal
|
|
|
Exploiting
consumers needs to be illegal
It's
time to heatproof our cities
|
|
|
Johansson
row has boosted Israeli settlement boycott, say activists |
|
| www.chess.com |
A great site -
has 9,000,000 members (including jw) - can play games on line any
time - instant opponents - good for improving the (aging) mind! |
|
|
|
66. The
family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all
communities and social bonds.
In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds
is particularly serious because the family is the
fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others
despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place
where parents pass on the faith to their children.
Marriage now tends to be viewed as a
form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or
modified at will.
But the indispensible
contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary
needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is
not born “of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the
depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a
total communion of life”
|
|
|
Click to enlarge:
|
 |
|
|
|
HMAS
Melbourne seizes estimated $706 million in drugs from ship off coast of
Tanzania!
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
South Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters
from South American inmates in Hong Kong prisons
|
|
|
| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
|
Vatican II
Reflection - 352
May bishops/dioceses bite the bullet re the need for smaller dioceses
|
|
John W
mini-Blog |
Please join me in my custom of
saying a prayer each morning and night for these "specials":
South Sudan, the
Central African Republic, Syria, Israel-Palestine,
China-Japan-Philippines.
In my home I have a map of the world on one wall, and I look at the above
places as I pray for them. Some people put their hand on the map at each
place as they pray for it.
How
maps can help us pray
|
|
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 8th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the
prisoners of Heilongjiang
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month
|
 |
The
Pope's Sex Problem:
Survey Reveals Frustrated Flock
German
bishop's (confidential?) report for Synod on Family
|
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
Pray-as-you-go.org
Daily prayer with
beautiful music
Whole
text of 1966 Jerusalem Bible
Previous Smiles
file |
|
 |
Why progress in women's rights has been compromised |
|
|
 |
Passion
has a place in border protection's age of reason |
|
 |
|
Holy
See representative at UN expresses surprise at accusations by child rights
committee |
|
| Happy
Birthday today |
Charles
Dickens (1812). His novels caused British
society to be more compassionate.
May there be some modern day CD's to combat "the globalisation of
indifference" |
|
 |
Austrian
bishop: "Since Francis, one can breathe easier" |
|
 |
Deciphering
capitalism's corrupt metaphors |
|
|
|
 |
65.
Despite the tide of secularism which has swept our societies, in many
countries – even those where Christians are a minority – the Catholic
Church is considered a credible institution by public opinion, and trusted
for her solidarity and concern for those in greatest need.
Again and again, the Church has acted as a mediator in
finding solutions to problems affecting peace, social harmony, the land,
the defence of life, human and civil rights, and so forth. And
how much good has been done by Catholic schools and universities around
the world! This is a good thing.
Yet, we find it difficult to make people see that
when we raise other questions less palatable to
public opinion, we are doing so out of fidelity
to precisely the same convictions about human dignity and the common good.
|
|
|
Tanzania
drug traffickers now change tack
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
South Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters
from S. American inmates in HK prisons
|
|
|
|
|
|
A
Senior Moment:
After visit to
Queen Elizabeth Hospital yesterday morning, I had a rest after lunch
before going to Lai Chi Kok Detention Centre. After the rest I was
washing my face with soap and water ...when I looked in the mirror and
noticed I had soaped up my face with my shaving stick, ready for a
shave! (Usually shave only in morning)
|
|
| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
|
Vatican II
Reflection - 351
May future popes
follow Benedict's humble example in resigning
|
|
John W
mini-Blog |
Yesterday's menu had the story of Queen
Elizabeth due to meet Pope on April 3.
Is it possible that Queen and Pope might announce one of the surprises
mentioned by Archbishop Justin Welby in
this report at the end of last year?
p.s. Prayers
please for woman in Shenzhen, two months pregnant, thinking of abortion.
Has had two previous abortions. Husband in prison in HK
|
|
|
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 7th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the
prisoners of Hebei
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month |
|
|
Queen
Elizabeth due to visit Pope Francis on April 3 |
This
site's full statistics
for December 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
|
|
|
|
Scathing
UN report demands Vatican act against child sexual abuse |
|
|
Australia's
booze culture on trial |
|
 |
Many
young Nigerians are fundamentalists because they've been abandoned |
|
Recommended
by a reader |
Why
the obsession with lighter skin? |
|
|
|
64. The
process of secularization tends to reduce the faith and the
Church to the sphere of the private and personal. Furthermore, by
completely rejecting the transcendent, it has produced a growing
deterioration of ethics, a weakening of the sense of personal and
collective sin, and a steady increase in relativism.
These have led to a general
sense of disorientation, especially in the periods of
adolescence and young adulthood which are so vulnerable to change.
As the bishops of the United States of America have
rightly pointed out, while the Church insists on the
existence of objective moral norms which are valid for everyone,
“there are those in our culture who portray this teaching as unjust,
that is, as opposed to basic human rights. Such claims usually follow
from a form of moral relativism that is joined, not without
inconsistency, to a belief in the absolute rights of individuals. In
this view, the Church is perceived as promoting a particular prejudice
and as interfering with individual freedom”.
We are living in an information-driven society
which bombards us indiscriminately with data – all treated as being
of equal importance – and which leads to remarkable superficiality
in the area of moral discernment. In response, we
need to provide an education which teaches critical thinking and
encourages the development of mature moral values
|
|
|
On the way to Hei Ling Chau drug treatment centre yesterday, in Hong
Kong's Central district, I noticed an elderly man on a pedestrian-free
street look around anxiously before urinating against a construction
site wall. He was relieved (no pun intended) that there were no
people around. But he overlooked the fact that above him was a walkway
with hundreds of pedestrians.....overlooking him! |
|
|
|
How TZ spies, police
seized $5.5m heroin
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 South American inmates in Hong Kong prisons |
|
|
| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
|
Vatican II
Reflection - 350
The Church
needs to reform the process of appointing bishops
|
|
John W
mini-Blog |
At Lai Chi Kok Detention Centre two days
ago I spent some time with five (5) deaf and dumb inmates from China
who are in the same dining room. I've got to know them over the
last six months (they were 2 at first) and they enjoy a ...well
....chat ...using sign language ....and a simple prayer. All have read
the booklet Dr Jesus and they
look forward to a little prayer each week ...for which we make a
circle as
in this photo. Please join me in asking Jesus to heal
them. |
|
|
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 6th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the prisoners of Hainan
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month
|
Chris
McDonnell
(Wed UK blogger)
|
Darkness
on the edge of town
We are approaching the first Anniversary of the resignation of
Benedict and the ‘storm’ that is Francis shows little sign of abating, thank
goodness. The Spirit has blessed the Church with a Bishop in Rome who is indeed
a pastor of his people. Change is in the air and we had better get used to it.
But more than that, we should positively welcome it
|
Vatican II - Renewal (2)
Hans
Küng:
Letter
to bishops
Revolution
to stop authoritarianism
Fr Joseph Ratzinger:
Writings
on Vat II
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?
|
|
|
Africa's
anti-gay laws |
|
 |
Video:
A beautiful Irish blessing (recommended
by a reader) |
|
|
Bring
Inquiry On
Did an undercover policeman help to instigate a major
riot?
|
|
 |
Spain's jobless women become the boss to beat the recession
EU
corruption 'breathtaking' - watchdog
Medjugorje
and Marian apparitions in Argentina |
|
|
Why
funding private schools is a smart idea
Don't
rob the poor to pay the rich
It's
all relative: The poverty wars are back
Abuse
of power does nothing to protect us
|
|
|
|
63. The Catholic
faith of many peoples is nowadays being challenged by the
proliferation of new religious movements, some of which tend to
fundamentalism while others seem to propose a spirituality without
God.
This is, on the one hand, a
human reaction to a materialistic, consumerist and individualistic society,
but it is also a means of exploiting the
weaknesses of people living in poverty and on the fringes of society,
people who make ends meet amid great human suffering and are looking for
immediate solutions to their needs.
These religious movements, not without a certain
shrewdness, come to fill, within a predominantly individualistic culture, a
vacuum left by secularist rationalism.
We must recognize that if part
of our baptized people lack a sense of belonging to the Church, this is
also due to certain structures and the occasionally unwelcoming atmosphere
of some of our parishes and communities, or to a bureaucratic way of
dealing with problems, be they simple or complex, in the lives of our
people. In many places an administrative approach prevails over
a pastoral approach, as does a concentration on administering the
sacraments apart from other forms of evangelization.
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For the Year of the Horse
(many versions of this one):
A man decides to try horseback riding, even
though he has had no lessons or prior experience. He mounts the horse,
unassisted, and the horse immediately springs into motion.
It gallops along at a steady and rhythmic pace, but the man begins to slip
from the saddle.
In terror, he grabs for the horse's mane, but cannot seem to get a firm
grip. He tries to throw his arms around the horse's neck, but he slides
down the side of the horse anyway. The horse gallops along, seemingly
impervious to its slipping rider.
Finally, giving up his frail grip, the man attempts to leap away from the
horse and throw himself to safety. Unfortunately, his foot has become
entangled in the stirrup, and he is now at the mercy of the horse's
pounding hooves as isr head is struck against the ground over and over.
As his head is battered against the ground, he is mere moments away from
unconsciousness when to his great fortune...
Bill, the Wal-Mart greeter, sees him and unplugs the horse.
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Good news: since August 3 last year, when this
website's Africa campaign began (see Tanzania file, below), not one
Tanzanian drug trafficker has joined the Hong Kong prison population on
arrival from Africa ...as compared with before the campaign when at least
several were arrested every week. In fact, since Aug 3, only two drug
traffickers from the whole of Africa have been arrested on arrival from
Africa: a man from South Africa and a man from Nigeria ....as compared
with before the campaign when at least several non-Tanzanians were
arrested each month. So ...for
the past six months, no new Tanzanians,
and only two non-Tanzanians ....which means this website's campaign has
indeed been blessed by the Good Lord and has saved more than a hundred
Africans from going to prison in HK.
This website's Tanzania
File
(stopping Africans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters
from Tanzanian inmates in Hong Kong prisons
This
website's South
America file
(stopping
South Americans from being tricked into bringing drugs to HK)
- letters
from South American inmates in Hong Kong prisons |
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| Francis
wishes to release Vatican II's bold vision from captivity |
|
Vatican II
Reflection - 349
May
bishops deal wisely and honestly with the issue of sex abuse
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John W
mini-Blog |
Yesterday at the local post office I met two
of Mother Teresa's sisters. One of them had just returned from an
exhausting month at Tacloban in the Philippines. She said bodies are
still being recovered after the typhoon of last year. She said the real
death toll is now around the 10,000 mark. She also told how dozens
of people took refuge in the sisters' centre when the typhoon struck
.....and how the centre remained unflooded, despite the roof having been
blown away! |
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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 5th
of the month, Jesus
please bless the
prisoners of Guizhou
Please join me in praying for
prisoners in one part of China each day of the month |
