ISIS is a wake-up call to learn more about Islam. See videos at this Islam File

Growing global conflict a bonanza for arms makers

The world's biggest arms producers are doing well, with shares of the top 12 publicly listed firms  rising by almost 30 per cent on average in the last year.

Pope breaks taboo by marrying cohabiting couples  
Headline is misleading:
most Church marriages in recent decades have been of cohabiting couples! There's no "taboo" except in the sense that there's not supposed to be sex before marriage

Mission impossible

Team Australia is being geed up for war in the manner of a desperate coach approaching the final quarter. But is this really necessary?

Psalm 22:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I call to you for help, but day and night you give no reply.

I am a worm and not a man.
Everyone who sees me makes fun of me.

They taunt  me: "He trusted in the Lord, why doesn't the Lord help him?"

Like water I am poured out, my bones no longer connected. My throat is parched, my tongue sticks to my jaws.

Many evil people attack me. They make holes in my hands and my feet. They await my death.

Jesus, please help me understand how these words predicted your suffering

Recording

Acts 16:

We went to a number of towns in Macedonia. In Philippi, the Jews had no prayer hall. They met on the river bank. We went there one Sabbath and preached to the women who were meeting there

One of these women was Lydia. The Lord opened her heart to what Paul was saying. She and her whole household were baptized

Jesus, open the hearts of more people to accept your word

Recording

Recommended: check these readings early morning, think about them during the day, check them again at night. This habit gives us extra energy, courage, motivation, peace and compassion for each day

Matthew 27:

Jesus was put on the cross about 9am. From about noon until 3pm there was darkness over all the land.

About 3pm Jesus cried out the words of Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

A little while later he again cried out in a loud voice. Then he died.

At that moment the holy curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom,  and there was a violent earthquake.

The Roman soldiers were terrified.
Their leader called out "Truly this was a son of God".

Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for the salvation of the world

Recording

With permission of the author and his publisher, OMG! passes on a significant portion of a shocking memoir by Australian Bishop Bill Morris. Shocking because it is a perfect example of the tyranny that has marked the Church’s governance for the past 40 years, at least. Until the Lord gave us Pope Francis.

273. My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it is not an “extra” or just another moment in life.

 Instead, it is something I cannot uproot from my being without destroying my very self. 

I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world. 

We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing.

 All around us we begin to see nurses with soul, teachers with soul, politicians with soul, people who have chosen deep down to be with others and for others.

But once we separate our work from our private lives, everything turns grey and we will always be seeking recognition or asserting our needs. We stop being a people.

New Letter in Swahili from a Tanzanian inmate in a HK prison
- in response to publication by Tz government of names of 250 drug traffickers in prison in Tanzania

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

John W  mini-Blog:

On visit to a prison last Sunday, I asked the inmates if they enjoyed Cardinal Zen's moon cakes at Mid-Autumn (Sep 8).  They said they did, and also enjoyed a leg of chicken at main meal ....to which one inmate added "Up till then, I didn't think HK chickens had legs, just wings!"

Text and recording:
My weekly article in today's Ming Pao newspaper.
Topic:  HK had democracy - in 1941
(on Ming Pao website - click "Australian in HK")

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Tuesday,  please bless the people of South Asia

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 16th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Qinghai

Pope warns on 'piecemeal World War III'  (BBC)
A "piecemeal" World War III may have already begun with the current spate of crimes, massacres and destruction, Pope warns

(no mention of this story in ABC Australia ... c.f. my theory Pope has been blacklisted by ABC since he expressed support for Palestinian state)

A Chinese Author Takes On China

China is no closer to democracy than it was a decade ago. The answer, he says, may lie in the roots of China’s complex political culture, particularly the dogma that China must remain unified at all costs. 

John Allen:
Church at risk in Ukraine

What’s at stake in Ukraine isn’t just geopolitics or the military balance of power, but also one of the most remarkable Catholic communities anywhere in the world.

Psalm 31:

Recording

A traditional prayer on this day:
The Stabat Mater

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last

Luke 2:

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

Recording

John 19:

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.

Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son. 

Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home

Recording

O dear Mother, fount of love.
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.

Darlene Starrs (Blogger from Canada)
Who is the Pope really listening to?
I am seeing holes in his papacy! The religious sisters of the U.S. continue to be brow beaten by Cardinal Muller and the C.D.F.; no one is talking to the ACP and the Irish Church; excommunications go uncorrected; the universal church remains saddled with an imposed Roman Missal; and women and the laity continue to be kicked to the curb, when it suits a local bishop.

c.f. European and male hegemony in the church...  (Questions From a Ewe)

Book Review:
“On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City”
A book by Alice Goffman

Irish Association of Priests:

Statement on the October Synod on the Family
The debacle of the New Missal needs to be in the mind of those who are present at the Synod. The New Missal was ill conceived and should never have been accepted by the Hierarchies throughout the world. The language was very wrong and every rule of translation was disregarded. The theology was also archaic and the Missal was unfit for Liturgy. The Leadership in the Irish Church needs to learn from such a major blunder. No other official document can be allowed to emerge from Rome or from a Synod, which is foreign to what we know to be appropriate in our Church and suitable for the people of our Church

Israel's watershed moment that wasn't
Liberals abroad seem to think that for Israel, Operation Protective Edge was a turning point — a wake-up call telling this country that it couldn’t keep going on like this, from war to war to war with no chance for peace. +972 speaks to a number of powerful figures in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s inner circle, past and present, to hear their vision of where Israel is headed following the latest Gaza war.

22m people in Africa face Ebola threat

Fascinating history of the discovery of the atom, involving Einstein, the Curies etc

Pages 108-111:

You should never believe atoms, because they make up everything

272.  The work of evangelization enriches the mind and the heart; it opens up spiritual horizons; it makes us more and more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit, and it takes us beyond our limited spiritual constructs.

 A committed missionary knows the joy of being a spring which spills over and refreshes others. 

Only the person who feels happiness in seeking the good of others, in desiring their happiness, can be a missionary.

 This openness of the heart is a source of joy, since “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35 ).

 We do not live better when we flee, hide, refuse to share, stop giving and lock ourselves up in own comforts. Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide.

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Monday,  please bless the people of Europe & Russia

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 15th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Liaoning

Gerard O'Connell:
China: Yes & No to Francis

Hong Kong’s bishop, Cardinal John Tong Hon, told me recently that ever since Francis’ election, China’s official media have given him a neutral, even positive press, and never published negative reports on him. “That’s quite remarkable,” he stated.      

Saving the Children (60 Minutes)
- what a moving story, with plenty of humour, too!  "Man went on two week holiday, as a result of which he has thousands of children!"

In one of the more remarkable humanitarian stories of WWII, Briton Nicholas Winton helped save hundreds of Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II

From Glasgow girl to 'internet bedroom radical' and ISIS bride  (CNN Video)

Another video I have watched recently: Secrets of the Koran
- gives a clear history of how the Koran was written after Muhammad died ....and has helped me once and for all to know the history of Mecca and Medina!

See also: my Islam File

Psalm 77:

Recording

An interesting, though very long
article about fiery flying serpents!

Philippians 2:

Recording 
(song: The Philippians Hymn)

For today's  Feast of The Cross,
a beautiful poem Retreat
by James McAuley

Verses 2 & 3:

Soon you must return to tasks
That sicken and appall:
The calumnies will never cease,
Look only to the sign of peace,
The Cross upon the wall.  

This is that sole instrument
That measures every chart;
This square and level overrules
The subtle calculus of fools
By a celestial art.  

John 3:

Recording

Belgian bishop urges real dialogue at October 5 Synod on Family
(with link to full letter of the bishop)
The Church must ask itself if the ban on communion for the divorced and remarried properly reflects what Jesus intended with the Eucharist. “We have to bear in mind that a large company of publicans and sinners were at table with Jesus”

If there’s a shortage of priests in Ireland, why not ordain women to diaconate?

Pope appoints Oblate General to be a member of Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples

Chicago priest 'receives death threats' after gun control rally outside store

Nigeria - Boko Haram - a reflection by a Nigerian Oblate:
Mission in an adverse context
Just like ISIS in Syria and Iraq are on a slaughtering, genocidal and jihadist mission, so also the Islamic sect commonly called Boko Haram is on almost the same mission

Sri Lanka's asylum seeker expulsion plans to be challenged in Supreme Court

Pages 101 - 103:

272.  Loving others is a spiritual force drawing us to union with God; indeed, one who does not love others “walks in the darkness” (1 Jn 2:11 ), “remains in death” (1 Jn 3:14 ) and “does not know God” (1 Jn 4:8).

 Benedict XVI has said that “closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God”, and that love is, in the end, the only light which “can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working”.

 When we live out a spirituality of drawing nearer to others and seeking their welfare, our hearts are opened wide to the Lord’s greatest and most beautiful gifts. Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God. Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of God. If we want to advance in the spiritual life, then, we must constantly be missionaries. 

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Sunday,  please bless the people of Africa

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 14th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Jilin

 ISIS is a wake-up call to learn more about Islam. Please check the videos at this Islam File

Hong Kong diocese won't penalize protesting students

Boycott of classes planned over Beijing's restriction on democracy     

 Israeli intelligence veterans refuse to serve in Palestinian territories

"I just returned from a visit to Gaza and found it ruined on a scale that I was not prepared for, despite all the pictures"

Walking Amid the Rubble of Gaza

Psalms 20-21:

May the Lord protect and help you,
may he give you your heart's desire
and fulfil every one of your plans.

Some trust in chariots or horses,
but we trust in the Lord.

 Lord, please protect and help Pope Francis.  Please bless all his plans

Recording

Acts 16:

In the town of Lystra,  Paul recruited Timothy, whose mother was a Jewish Christian and whose father was Greek

As they visited one town after another, they announced the decisions taken in Jerusalem about what Jewish practices to follow

The local churches continued to grow strong in faith as well as grow in numbers

One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and said "Come across to Macedonia and help us". We immediately crossed the sea to Macedonia 
(Luke was now with Paul)

Jesus, if someone asks me for help, may I say "yes"

Recording

Matthew 27:

As Jesus was taken to the place of crucifixion, a man named Simon, from Cyrene, was made to carry Jesus' cross.

Jesus was then nailed to the cross and hung on the cross. Two robbers were crucified with him,
one on his right, and one on his left.

Above Jesus' head was a sign with the charge against him: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews".

People passing by that place made fun of Jesus. So did the religious leaders. They mocked and taunted him.

Jesus on the Cross,
thank you for suffering so much for the salvation of the world

Recording   (c.f. image at left)

(English of this headline not correct: should read
At Mass on Sunday, Pope to marry cohabiting couples and couples with kids
.... otherwise couples are cohabiting at Mass?)

Politics trumps physics

Given the relentless long-term trend towards global warming, it should be a case of all hands on deck. But the world of politics appears to have trumped the laws of physics

Click to enlarge

New book by Fr Ambrose Mong: Are Non-Christian's Saved? (Amazon link)
Joseph Ratzinger's Thought on Religious Pluralism

This book "digs deep into Joseph Ratzinger's educational, cultural, and religious background to reveal his eurocentric bias, particularly in his ecclesiology, ecumenical theology, and attitude toward religious pluralism" 

Recommended by a reader

271. Clearly Jesus does not want us to be grandees who look down upon others, but men and women of the people. 

This is not an idea of the Pope, or one pastoral option among others; it is an  injunction contained in the word of God which is so clear, direct and convincing that it needs no interpretations which might diminish its power to challenge us.

 Let us live them sine glossa, without commentaries. By so doing we will know the missionary joy of sharing life with God’s faithful people as we strive to light a fire in the heart of the world.

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Saturday,  please bless the people of Central & North America

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 13th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Jiangxi

 ISIS is a wake-up call to learn more about Islam. Please check
the videos at this Islam File

HK Tycoons Go Ivy with Harvard Gift

The Chans owe their wealth entirely to their father, and to the developer-friendly policies of government officials. However, they again illustrate how much of Hong Kong’s wealth is concentrated in a very few hands, mostly developers with close ties to officials.

High court verdict spells the end for Australian immigration detention as we know it

Obama strategy fails on Sunni-Shia divide

For generations, first under the Ottomans, then under the British,  the Sunnis were the top dogs in Baghdad. Since the demise of Saddam Hussein, the majority Shia have been the winners; and they have been more interested in seeking revenge against their former tormenters than in building a nation

Psalm 19:

The heavens proclaim the glory of God, the starry skies are the work of his hands.

The stars can't speak, but they are God's handwriting. The sun is God's love shining on  the whole world.

The universe is a masterpiece,
and so is God's law which shines in our hearts.

The precepts of the Lord enlighten our lives each day. The law of the Lord gives joy and wisdom to our hearts.

The decrees of the Lord are to be desired more than gold, they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

But  often we are unaware of  our errors. Lord, please protect us from making mistakes.

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you

Recording

Acts 15:

Some time after this, Paul said to Barnabas "Let's revisit the towns where we preached the word of the Lord".

Barnabas suggested taking John Mark with them, but Paul opposed this, since John Mark had deserted them on the previous trip when the situation became dangerous

After a violent argument, Paul and Barnabas split up. Barnabas went with John Mark to Cyprus. Silas joined Paul for his next journey

Jesus, at your Last Supper  you prayed  for the unity of your followers.  Help us avoid arguments

Recording

Matthew 27: 

After the Roman soldiers scourged Jesus, they made fun of him:
- they put a red cloak on him.
- they made a crown out of thorns.
- they put a reed in his right hand.

Then they knelt in front of him saying "Hail, king of the Jews".
They spat on him. They took the reed and hit him with it.

When they had finished making fun of him, they dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucify him.

Jesus, please don't let me hurt other people by making fun of them

Recording

We have an open Pope, now can we have an open Church to join him?

A Progressive Estate Tax
Unless we reduce skyrocketing wealth and income inequality, unless we end the ability of the super-rich to buy elections, the United States will be well on its way toward becoming an oligarchic form of society where almost all power rests with the billionaire class.

- Why no mention of this story on ABC?   (because critical of Israel?)

Last Wednesday at Hei Ling Chau Correctional Centre, a local Chinese inmate with a huge Oxford 8th Edition Dictionary asked me "what's a selfie?"!

271. It is true that in our dealings with the world, we are told to give reasons for our hope, but not as an enemy who critiques and condemns.

 We are told quite clearly: “do so with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet 3:15 ) and “if possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all” (Rom 12:18 ). 

We are also told to overcome “evil with good” (Rom 12:21 ) and to “work for the good of all” (Gal 6:10 ).

 Far from trying to appear better than others, we should “in humility count others better” than ourselves (Phil 2:3). The Lord’s apostles themselves enjoyed “favour with all the people” (Acts 2:47 ; 4:21 , 33; 5:13 ).

Australians facing death penalty in China for drugs

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Friday,  please bless the people of South America

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 12th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Jiangsu

 ISIS is a wake-up call to learn more about Islam. Please check
the videos at this Islam File.
More concern about Islam
might prevent repeats of "9/11"

Cardinal Zen:
With Occupy Central we may have provoked the Emperor’s ire

"when it is our fellow Chinese who want to enslave us forever, then our heart is wounded. We cannot resign ourselves to be slaves, what other choice do we then have but to resist?"

Meeting Jesus in a Manila slum

 How to change structures that
 keep the poor impoverished?

China Gets it Wrong

Beijing’s soft power hasn’t worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet or  Xinjiang

Psalms 17-18:

Lord,  when trouble breaks out on every side, please protect and help me.

For you are my strength, my rock, my fortress, my savior. I love you, Lord who save me because you love me.

Lord, you are my lamp who lightens my life. I will praise you among the nations.

Lord, thank you for loving and helping us

Recording

Acts 15:

Some Jewish Christians came to  Syrian Antioch from Judea and said that non-Jewish Christians should be circumcised. Paul and Barnabas argued against such an idea, and went to Jerusalem to discuss this issue with the apostles there

During a long meeting, Peter reminded everyone how the Holy Spirit had been poured out on non-circumcised people.

James  spoke of how all peoples are meant to be consecrated to the Lord

James then issued a teaching for non-Jewish believers:
"All we ask you to do is to abstain 
- from food sacrificed to idols
- from blood from the meat of strangled animals
- from fornication. 
Avoid these, and you will do what is right"

Jesus, please don't let me make unreasonable demands on other people

Recording

Matthew 27:

Early in the morning, the religious leaders had Jesus bound with ropes. They then took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

The leaders accused Jesus of many crimes. To the governor's amazement, Jesus remained silent.

The leaders persuaded the crowd to demand the execution of Jesus. They called out to Pilate "Crucify him".

Pilate asked "Why? What has he done wrong?" The crowd shouted all the louder "Crucify him. Crucify him".

Pilate then washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said
"I am innocent of this man's blood". The crowd shouted "His blood be on us and on our children".

Pilate then ordered Jesus to be scourged and crucified.

Jesus, please help people who are condemned to death
(see images, left)

Recording

Portrait of an (Oblate) Italian missionary in Korea

Fr Maurizio has worked for 25 years with the poor and marginalized in the divided peninsula

The makeup of Synod of Bishops on the Family is disappointing

Click to enlarge

The new Thirty Years' War

After centuries of relative harmony between the majority Sunni and minority Shiite branches of Islam, today across the Middle East, they are in conflict

?

270.  Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length. 

Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. 

He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness.

 Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully (interconnected) and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Thursday,  please bless the people of S.E. Asia & Pacific

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 11th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hunan

 ISIS is a wake-up call to learn more about Islam. Please check the videos at this Islam File

The worst day of Alfreda's life began when she was arrested at gunpoint by police in an internet cafe in Manila on 3 October 2013.

Save Alfreda from torture

I have signed this petition. May it help Alfreda, as a previous petition helped that Sudan lady condemned to death      

Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders shave heads in protest

 "Hair" and "law" sound similar in Chinese, and dissidents have used head-shaving to mock China's limited rule of law

Editorial by Uri Avnery, a former Israeli parliamentarian, writer and peace activist

The danger of the Islamic State and of Israeli Messianic Zionism

One cannot help being reminded (by ISIS) of the beginnings of the Nazi movement - its resentments, its thirst for revenge, its attraction for all the poor and humiliated

Psalm 16:

Please protect me, Lord, I take refuge in you. You are the source of all true happiness.

I bless you, Lord, who guide and lead me. Even at night you direct my heart.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad. My body shall rest in safety now and always.

You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence; at your right hand, happiness for ever.

Thank you, Lord, for the little joys you give us each day ....and the big joy you've prepared for us in Heaven.

 Recording

Acts 14:

Some Jewish leaders arrived from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium. They turned the people of Lycaonia against Paul and Barnabas

The people stoned Paul and, thinking he was dead, dragged him outside the town

The disciples gathered around Paul's body. As they did so, he stood up. The next day he and Barnabas went to the town of Derbe

After Derbe, they went back to Pisidian Antioch via Lystra and Iconium.  In each place they encouraged the believers to persevere in the faith, especially during difficult times in their lives

In each place they also appointed elders to be church leaders

Eventually Paul and Barnabas arrived back in Syrian Antioch, where they gave an account of how God had opened the door of faith to non-Jewish people

Jesus, please help me persevere in the faith, like Paul and Barnabas

Recording

Matthew 26:

Peter went to the place where the religious leaders had Jesus on trial. A young woman in the courtyard of the place  said to him "You are a friend of the Galilean".

In front of the woman and people around her, Peter said "I don't know what you're talking about".

Peter went to the gateway of the place, where another woman said to people around her "This man is a friend of the Galilean". Peter replied strongly "I don't know the man".

Not long after this a group of people said to Peter "You are his friend. We can tell by your Galilean accent".

Then Peter even more strongly replied "I do not know the man".

At that very moment, a rooster crowed. Peter remembered Jesus' words "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times".   Peter went outside and wept loudly.
(c.f. 2 images at left)

Recording

Manhattan

The words that follow, Manhattan , were written in October 2001, just days after the 9/11 attack. The clearing of the site was underway, a process that would take many months.  Mary Chapin Carpenter’s haunting song “Grand Central Station” written just after the first anniversary, captures the pain and emotion of those days

Death of leader will cause al-Shabaab to 'fall apart'

2003 photographs of  Chinese women about to be executed by bullet for drug smuggling

No date: video of public execution in China

Who regulates a world marketplace that exploits workers?

269.   Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is nothing else than the culmination of the way he lived his entire life.

 Moved by his example, we want to enter fully into the fabric of society, sharing the lives of all, listening to their concerns, helping them materially and spiritually in their needs, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep; arm in arm with others, we are committed to building a new world.

 But we do so not from a sense of obligation, not as a burdensome duty, but as the result of a personal decision which brings us joy and gives meaning to our lives.

New letter in English from a Tanzanian inmate in a Hong Kong prison - in response to publication by Tz government of names of all Tz inmates in overseas prisons 

There are 400 Tanzanians in overseas prisons on drug trafficking charges - figure is at end of this article which is mistaken in saying there is a death penalty in HK and Macau

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

This website's Hong Kong file
(encouraging local drug addicts to come off drugs)

Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:

Sun: Africa        Mon: Europe & Russia     Tues: South Asia      Wed: East Asia  
Thurs: S.E. Asia & Pacific       Frid: South America       Sat: Central & North America 
  
Jesus, today, Wednesday,  please bless the people of East Asia

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:

On this 10th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hubei

Pope Francis:
Thank you Holy Spirit

Inspiring photos:

Link
Link		Links 01  02	Link
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Link	Link		Link
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Newness, harmony, mission

Engagements of Pope Francis

Zenit.org - reports from Rome

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

This website tries to stop "tanks"
(war, global warming, exploitation of the poor, globalisation of indifference, liturgical "reform of the reform" & other anti-Vatican II forces etc)

  Weekly Archive  of main page menus

Previous archives 
2013  2012  2011 2010  2009  2008

Previous Bible Blogs of this website

Previous Smiles file

John W: Previous Daily Blogs

The unjust treatment
 of Bishop Bill Morris

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

Why are women not being
 ordained to priesthood?   (updated)

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

Imposter Priests
- refusing to pass on the teaching of Francis' The Joy of the Gospel

HK Democracy File - essential reading

HK Asylum Seekers File

IS (ISIS) File - Essential Reading

Gaza File - essential reading

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1998 ICEL Sacramentary

Misguided Missal 

The new translation
Ghastly process/result

Ron Schmit:
 1962 Mass a condemnation of Vat II

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 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

The Last Supper -  Bohdan Piasecki 
(click to enlarge)

Bob Welsh - My Christmas Eve

 A Tale of Two Brains

The Story of Jonah 
as Told by The Cutest Little Girl
(gets even better as it goes along)

North Africa refugee boat - Link

Abortion Survivor’s Letter
 to the Abortionist

Tribalism lives on, 
for better and for worse

16 Documents of Vatican II

This website's 
Reflections on the 16 documents
 of Vatican II 

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

The evil of compulsory celibacy

Link between compulsory celibacy
 and sexual abuse

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

     Near Death Experiences

Globalisation of Indifference

Many thanks for checking
 this website each day

This site's full statistics
 for August 2014 

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

John W'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