"Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation

129 (b): Civil authorities have the right and duty to adopt clear and firm measures in support of small producers and differentiated production. 

To ensure economic freedom from which all can effectively benefit, restraints occasionally have to be imposed on those possessing greater resources and financial power.

To claim economic freedom while real conditions bar many people from actual access to it, and while possibilities for employment continue to shrink, is to practise a doublespeak which brings politics into disrepute.

Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the areas in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good.

The Paris tragedy makes us try to deepen our understanding of IS: how and why did it start? What keeps it going? How can it be stopped?

c.f. this talk by former UN Secretary General : Kofi Annan blames US invasion of Iraq for rise of ISIS

“The folly of that fateful decision was compounded by post-invasion decisions. The disbandment of the security forces poured hundreds of thousands of trained and disgruntled soldiers and policemen onto the streets. 

The ensuing chaos has proved an ideal breeding ground for the Sunni radical groups that have coalesced around the Islamic State label” 

Ruth 1 (a)

In the days of the judges, there was famine in the land. Because of the famine, a man from Bethlehem named Elimelech moved to Moab.

Elimelech took with him his wife Naomi and his two sons.

Elimelech died. The two sons married Moabite women: Orpah and Ruth. But then the two sons also died.

Ruth 1 (b)

Naomi was heart-broken. She had lost her husband and two sons.

She decided to return to Bethlehem, and told her daughters-in-law to go back to their own homes.

Orpah went back to her people.
But Ruth with great loyalty and love chose to go with Naomi.

Ruth said: "Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people shall be my people. Your God shall be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried."

Dear God,  in time of trouble, 
please help people to be loyal and kind to each other

Recording

Acts 18.1-4

Paul left Athens and went to the city of Corinth. He met a Jewish couple who had recently left Italy when the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome

The couple were tentmakers, like Paul himself. Paul stayed with them and they worked together

Each Sabbath Paul preached in the prayer halls, trying to convert Jews as well as non-Jewish people

Jesus, thank you for the example of Paul who worked to support himself and didn't live off others

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

Mark 15.42-47

Joseph from Arimathaea was a rich man who had become a disciple of Jesus. After Jesus died on Friday, he asked Governor Pilate for Jesus' body.

Joseph wrapped the body in a clean burial cloth and put it in a tomb in a rock cave. He then put a large stone at the cave's entrance.

Mary of Magdala and another woman watched Joseph as he put Jesus' body in the tomb

Jesus in the tomb, please give eternal life to everyone who dies today

Recording

165 (a): We must not think that in catechesis the kerygma gives way to a supposedly more “solid” formation. Nothing is more solid, profound, secure, meaningful and wisdom-filled than that initial proclamation. 

All Christian formation consists of entering more deeply into the kerygma, which is reflected in and constantly illumines, the work of catechesis, thereby enabling us to understand more fully the significance of every subject which the latter treats.  It is the message capable of responding to the desire for the infinite which abides in every human heart. 

My regular article in today's Ming Pao newspaper
with the topic: Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance (SODO)
is on Ming Pao website - click "Australian in HK".
Free access to article with recording today from about noon to 8pm HK time. Text without recording

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 17th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shaanxi

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 17th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Malawi

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please pacify Boko Haram 

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)

"Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation

129 (a): In order to continue providing employment, it is imperative to promote an economy which favours productive diversity and business creativity. 

For example, there is a great variety of small-scale food production systems which feed the greater part of the world’s peoples, using a modest amount of land and producing less waste, be it in small agricultural parcels, in orchards and gardens, hunting and wild harvesting or local fishing. 

Economies of scale, especially in the agricultural sector, end up forcing smallholders to sell their land or to abandon their traditional crops. Their attempts to move to other, more diversified means of production prove fruitless because of the difficulty of linkage with regional and global markets, or because the infrastructure for sales and transport is geared to larger businesses.

To see where HK's proposed "Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance" and Australia's attack on traditional marriage teaching are coming from and going to, please read this disturbing article:

What is the "Gay Agenda" in America?

I suspect that the vast majority of gay people - certainly the people in HK I minister to - have little interest in a "gay agenda". 

I suspect that the people pushing the agenda are the extremists of the gay population.  

Joshua 23-24

As Joshua neared the end of his life, he urged the Israelites to stay faithful to the Lord while living with many foreign neighbours:

"Continue to observe everything written by Moses. Do not mingle with the foreign peoples still among you. Do not utter the names of their gods

Stay loyal to the Lord your God.
Love the Lord your God.

If you stay faithful, the Lord will bless you. If you are unfaithful, everything will go wrong for you.

Choose today whom you will serve: the Lord our God, or false gods.

As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord."

Dear Lord, may Joshua's dying words be true for me: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".

My recording of this reading

Psalms 14-15  

So many people live and act as if God doesn't exist. Some foolish people even say there is no God.

So many people have left the way of justice and truth. So many people follow the way of falsehood.

Lord, help us to live as we should. Help us not to slander, help us not to wrong others.

Lord, help us to stand firm in the way of goodness

Recording

Acts 17.29-34

Paul continued speaking to the intellectuals: "We have no excuse for thinking that the Creator looks like something carved in gold, silver or stone

God overlooked that sort of thing when we were ignorant. But now he is telling everyone to repent and believe in Jesus raised from the dead"

Some intellectuals laughed at Paul. A few became believers

Jesus, please give intellectuals the humility to believe in you

Recording

Mark 15.33-39

Jesus was put on the cross sometime after  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

The leader of the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus, when he saw how Jesus died, said "Truly this man was a son of God"

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

Recording

Advent Soon Arrives

Advent speaks of the promise of restoring our "sight", allowing each and everyone of us, to recognize the "salvation of God", in the coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

I finished watching this documentary yesterday. What a monster. People need to know this terrible era of Russian history in order to avoid it happening again

164. In catechesis too, we have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first announcement or kerygma, which needs to be the centre of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church renewal. 

The kerygma is Trinitarian. The fire of the Spirit is given in the form of tongues and leads us to believe in Jesus Christ who, by his death and resurrection, reveals and communicates to us the Father’s infinite mercy. 

On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation must ring out over and over: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”

 This first proclamation is called “first” not because it exists at the beginning and can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things. It is first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in different ways, the one which we must announce one way or another throughout the process of catechesis, at every level and moment.

 For this reason too, “the priest – like every other member of the Church – ought to grow in awareness that he himself is continually in need of being evangelized”

10 years ago today

2005-11-16 to 2005-11-22- CAS, Marco Polo, Mazenod Centre, more toys, Cecilia

This website's statistics for October 2015. 
God bless all kind blogers and readers ...including those on FaceBook.

True story: last Thursday night I joined two other men for an evening meal-meeting related to prison ministry ...at a restaurant on the 27/F of a building. As we took the lift at the G/F, two overseas women also entered the lift. As we got out on the 27/F, the women stayed ....they were going to a higher floor. But then, two hours later as we took the lift to go down to the G/F, the same two women were again in the lift! They had just finished a meal on the 29/F. We joked with them about their not being able to find their way out of the lift. 

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

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 16th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Afghanistan

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please pacify ISIS 

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)

"Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation
   

126. We can also look to the great tradition of monasticism. Originally, it was a kind of flight from the world, an escape from the decadence of the cities. The monks sought the desert, convinced that it was the best place for encountering the presence of God.

Later, Saint Benedict of Norcia proposed that his monks live in community, combining prayer and spiritual reading with manual labour (ora et labora). 

Seeing manual labour as spiritually meaningful proved revolutionary. Personal growth and sanctification came to be sought in the interplay of recollection and work.

This way of experiencing work makes us more protective and respectful of the environment; it imbues our relationship to the world with a healthy sobriety.

Inmates to own countries after acquittal by HK court  

      (Background)

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

If any kind HK friend could help me please with processing prison inmates' mail, I'd be most grateful. Too much mail for me these days. I receive letter from inmate, scan it, then email to family in Africa/South America etc. Then receive email reply from family, print it and post it to inmate. Kind helper welcome to use my P.O. box address. 

Joshua 11-12

Some kings in the north combined to fight the Israelites.
But the Lord delivered them into the power of Israel.

Eventually the whole country had rest from war, and the land was divided up among the 11 tribes.

So it was that the Lord gave the Israelites all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled there.

The Lord granted them peace on all their frontiers just as he had sworn to their ancestors.

Of all the promises that the Lord had made to the House of Israel,
not one failed.  All were fulfilled.

Dear Lord,  please give peace to nations troubled by war

My recording of this reading

Psalm  8

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth.

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and stars which you have arranged, then I stop and think: what are we insignificant humans that you should care about us?

Yet you have put us in charge of the world. Everything is subject to our control.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth

Recording

Acts 17.10-12

That night Paul and Silas left for the town of Beroea. At the local prayer hall, the Jews were very open-minded and they warmly welcomed the word of the Lord

Every day they studied the Scriptures to check that Paul's words were true. Many Jews and many non-Jewish people became believers

Jesus, please help people be open-minded when hearing your message

 Recording

Mark 15.16-20

After the Roman soldiers scourged Jesus, they made fun of him.

They put a purple cloak on him. They made a crown out of thorns and put it on his head

They knelt in front of him and mocked him saying "Hail, king of the Jews". They hit his head with a reed, and spat on him

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

I have signed
this petition

Amnesty petition to free Albert Woodfox

Woodfox has spent 40 years in solitary confinement in USA, locked up alone in a tiny cell with little natural light for 23 hours a day. The UN says more than 15 days of such confinement is torture. Shame, USA, shame, shame, shame.

I tried to post a comment, but it was not published. In fact no comments published. UCANews blocking all comments in case someone criticises them?  If any reader is able to post a comment, please let me know: jdwomi@gmail.com   Why does UCANews keep on pushing the gay agenda?

Moral Blankness
A leaked letter from David Cameron offers a remarkable – and terrifying – insight into his mind

161 (b): Clearly, whenever the New Testament authors want to present the heart of the Christian moral message, they present the essential requirement of love for one’s neighbour: “The one who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the whole law… therefore love of neighbour is the fulfilling of the law”. 

 These are the words of Saint Paul, for whom the commandment of love not only sums up the law but constitutes its very heart and purpose: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’” 

To his communities Paul presents the Christian life as a journey of growth in love: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all”.

Saint (?) James likewise exhorts Christians to fulfil “the royal law according to the Scripture: You shall love your neighbour as yourself”, in order not to fall short of any commandment.   (re "Saint" James ...see here - scroll down to menu of May 3)

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

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 13th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Mali

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, on this Muslim day of prayer, please bless all Muslims!

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)

"Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation

125. If we reflect on the proper relationship between human beings and the world around us, we see the need for a correct understanding of work; if we talk about the relationship between human beings and things, the question arises as to the meaning and purpose of all human activity.

This has to do not only with manual or agricultural labour but with any activity involving a modification of existing reality, from producing a social report to the design of a technological development. 

Underlying every form of work is a concept of the relationship which we can and must have with what is other than ourselves.

Together with the awe-filled contemplation of creation which we find in Saint Francis of Assisi, the Christian spiritual tradition has also developed a rich and balanced understanding of the meaning of work, as, for example, in the life of Blessed Charles de Foucauld and his followers.

                                           Kevin Rudd blasts George Pell over climate change

Joshua 10

Five kings in the southern part of the land made war on Gibeon. The Gibeonites appealed to Joshua for help.

Joshua and his soldiers marched through the night and caught the armies of the 5 kings by surprise
and defeated them.

The Israelite army also attacked other southern towns and captured them.

Joshua and his army were victorious in the south because the Lord supported and helped them

Dear God, please help me in the battles of life

My recording of this reading

Psalm 7 

Lord God, I take refuge in you.
Please rescue me from people who are trying to hurt me.

Lord, please stop bad people from doing bad things. Please help good people to keep on doing good things.

Lord, I will sing to you and thank you for your goodness to me.

Lord, please help me to avoid evil and to do good

Recording

Acts 17.1-9

Paul and his friends next went to the town of Thessalonika. On three Sabbaths,  Paul spoke at the local prayer hall, explaining how Jesus is the Anointed One

Some Jewish listeners and many non-Jewish people became believers. But the religious leaders, out of jealousy, stirred up a gang from the market place

The gang dragged some believers to the city council. The leaders shouted "The people who have been turning the whole world upside down, have come to our town. They claim there is another emperor, Jesus"

The believers were eventually allowed to go on bail

Jesus, please don't let jealous people stop anyone from becoming a Christian

Recording

Mark 15.1-15

Early in the morning, the religious leaders had Jesus bound with ropes. They 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".

Giving in to the crowd, Pilate then ordered Jesus to be scourged and crucified

Jesus, help people who are condemned to death

Recording

Pope urges Catholic church to disavow conservatism and fundamentalism
Before his speech to bishops, Francis visited the city of Prato, where seven Chinese nationals were killed in 2013 following an industrial fire in a factory where they lived and worked. Francis criticised the “inhuman” conditions they lived in.

 161 (a): It would not be right to see this call to growth exclusively or primarily in terms of doctrinal formation. It has to do with “observing” all that the Lord has shown us as the way of responding to his love.

 Along with the virtues, this means above all the new commandment, the first and the greatest of the commandments, and the one that best identifies us as Christ’s disciples: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you”. 

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

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 12th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Guinea-Bissau

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please pacify Al-Qaeda

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)

    "Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation

124. Any approach to an integral ecology, which by definition does not exclude human beings, needs to take account of the value of labour, as Saint John Paul II wisely noted in his Encyclical Laborem Exercens.

According to the biblical account of creation, God placed man and woman in the garden he had created (cf. Gen 2:15) not only to preserve it (“keep”) but also to make it fruitful (“till”). Labourers and craftsmen thus “maintain the fabric of the world” (Sir 38:34).

Developing the created world in a prudent way is the best way of caring for it, as this means that we ourselves become the instrument used by God to bring out the potential which he himself inscribed in things: “The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and a sensible man will not despise them” (Sir 38:4).

As I see on today's menu Pope Francis' Laudato Si positioned next to  George Monbiot's Age of Consent, I can't help feeling they are saying the same thing: our dear world is very sick, and needs urgent medical attention.

If we keep going the way we are, our sickness is going to just keep on getting more serious. Some things have got to change, and soon. 

May ordinary citizens become so concerned about the need for change that politcal leaders will have the courage to make urgent decisions for the good of the world

Joshua 9

After hearing that the Israelites had captured Jericho and Ai,
other peoples of the region formed an alliance to fight against the Israelites.

But the people of Gibeon used another strategy: they tricked the Israelites into thinking they were not locals but had come from far away.

So the Israelites made a treaty with them.

When the Israelites realized they had been tricked, they kept their side of the bargain and did not attack Gibeon.

Instead the Gibeonites became wood-cutters and water-carriers
in the service of the Israelites.

Dear Lord, please help nations to make treaties instead of war

Acts 16.25-37 (a)

Late that night in prison, Paul and Silas were praying and singing God's praises, while the other prisoners listened to them

Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison. All the doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners

The main jailer drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking the prisoners had escaped

But Paul shouted to him "Don't hurt yourself. We are all still here"

Recording

Acts 16.25-37 (b)

Trembling, the jailer threw himself at the feet of Paul and Silas. Then he escorted them out of the prison asking "What must I do to be saved?"

They said "Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and both you and your household will be saved"

They explained the word of God to him and his family. He washed their wounds and then they "washed his wounds" by baptizing him and all his household

They had a meal together in the jailer's home, to celebrate the family's conversion to belief in God

Jesus, let more people know the joy of conversion

Recording

Mark 14.66-72 

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 were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth"

Peter replied "I don't know what you're talking about"

Peter went to the gateway of the place, where the woman saw him again and said to people around her "This man is one of them".
Peter denied it

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 then wept loudly

Jesus, please help me not to deny you.  Give me courage to say "I am a Christian"

Recording

Chris McDonnell (Wed UK blogger) 

Let’s have a conversation

The Ministry of Fear, to borrow the title of Seamus Heaney’s poem, has no place within the Christian community. If there are some who cannot speak for fear of consequence, then those for whom consequence is of no matter must speak for them and, willingly, be identified

Robert Mickens

160. The Lord’s missionary mandate includes a call to growth in faith: “Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you”. Hence it is clear that that the first proclamation also calls for ongoing formation and maturation. 

Evangelization aims at a process of growth which entails taking seriously each person and God’s plan for his or her life. All of us need to grow in Christ. Evangelization should stimulate a desire for this growth, so that each of us can say wholeheartedly: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” 

10 years ago today

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

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 11th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Eritrea

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please pacify Al-Shabaab 

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)

   "Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation

123 (b):  In the absence of objective truths or sound principles other than the satisfaction of our own desires and immediate needs, what limits can be placed on human trafficking, organized crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood diamonds, and the fur of endangered species? 

Is it not the same relativistic logic which justifies buying the organs of the poor for resale or use in experimentation, or eliminating children because they are not what their parents wanted? 

This same “use and throw away” logic generates so much waste, because of the disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary.

We should not think that political efforts or the force of law will be sufficient to prevent actions which affect the environment because, when the culture itself is corrupt and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer upheld, then laws can only be seen as arbitrary impositions or obstacles to be avoided.

Joshua 8

Once again the Israelites attacked the town of Ai, this time with a special strategy:

5,000 men went by night to the back of the town and hid themselves in the nearby hills.

In the morning Joshua and the rest of the people marched towards the front of Ai.

When the king of Ai saw them coming, he led his people out for battle.

In chasing the Israelites, the king of Ai left his town undefended.

Then the 5,000 Israelites attacked
Ai from the rear and set it on fire.

When the men of Ai looked back and saw their town on fire, they realized they were caught in a trap.

The Israelites easily won the battle
and captured Ai.

Dear Lord, please give leaders the courage of Joshua

Psalm 6

Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength. My body is racked with pain. Please heal me, Lord.

I am exhausted with my groaning.
Every night my pillow is covered  with tears.

Lord, please hear my prayer.

Dear Lord, please help people
who are in distress of mind or body

Recording

Acts 16.16-24

One day we met a slave girl who made a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. The girl followed us each day shouting "These are the servants of God"

Paul said to the spirit possessing her "I order you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to leave her". The spirit immediately left her, but her owners were angry that she could no longer tell fortunes.

The owners seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to court, saying to the magistrate "These people are causing a disturbance in our city". A crowd supported the owners in calling for their punishment.

They were given many lashes and put into prison with their feet in irons

Jesus, please help Christians who are suffering in prison
because they announced your message

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

 Mark 14.53-65

The men who arrested Jesus took him to a meeting of the religious leaders. The leaders wanted to condemn Jesus to death, even if they had to use false evidence

Jesus remained silent before their accusations.

Then the main leader challenged Jesus: "Are you the Saviour, the Son of God?"

Jesus replied "I am". The leader then called out "We have heard him claim to be of Divine origin. This is blasphemy"

The rest of the leaders shouted "He should die". Then they spat in Jesus' face and hit him with their fists

Jesus, thank you for submitting yourself to insult and spittle
for the salvation of the world

Recording

The unlikely Australians caught up with international drug lords

Tanzania election result a blow for democracy

 159. Another feature of a good homily is that it is positive. It is not so much concerned with pointing out what shouldn’t be done, but with suggesting what we can do better.

 In any case, if it does draw attention to something negative, it will also attempt to point to a positive and attractive value, lest it remain mired in complaints, laments, criticisms and reproaches.

 Positive preaching always offers hope, points to the future, does not leave us trapped in negativity. How good it is when priests, deacons and the laity gather periodically to discover resources which can make preaching more attractive!

10 years ago today

2005-11-10,11 Welcome back Garth & Paul; Ricci day & evening classes; Bakhita study centre

Nigeria's Wellington Jighere almost lost for words after Scrabble world title triumph in Australia

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

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 10th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Guinea

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please pacify Boko Haram 

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)

"Same-sex marriage" file

Islam File    The New Translation

123 (a):  The culture of relativism is the same disorder which drives one person to take advantage of another, to treat others as mere objects, imposing forced labour on them or enslaving them to pay their debts. 

The same kind of thinking leads to the sexual exploitation of children, and abandonment of the elderly who no longer serve our interests. 

It is also the mindset of those who say: Let us allow the invisible forces of the market to regulate the economy, and consider their impact on society and nature as collateral damage. 

South China Morning Post report of the acquittal of six of the nine elderly foreigners accused of drug trafficking. Legal team is hopeful that the three others will also be exonerated

Background

Joshua 7

The Lord had told the Israelites 
not to keep anything for themselves when they captured Jericho.

But one man disobeyed the Lord
and secretly kept some of the spoils.

As a result of that man's disobedience, the Israelites were defeated in battle when they attacked the town of Ai.

The disobedient man's identity was found by drawing of the lot:
- of the 12 tribes, one was chosen, the tribe of Judah.
- of the tribe of Judah, one clan was chosen, that of Zerah.
- of the families of Zerah, one was chosen, that of Zabdi.
- of the men of Zabdi, one was chosen, Achan.

Achan admitted his guilt. He and his whole family were then stoned to death and a great cairn built over them. All of Achan's possessions were burnt.

Dear Lord, please don't let me disobey you

My recording of this reading

Psalm  5

At the start of this day I pray to you, O Lord, my King and my God. 

I offer you my prayer and ask for your help.

Through the greatness of your love, I have access to your friendship. 

I bow down in reverence and worship.

Lead me, Lord, in the way you want me to go.

It is you, Lord, who bless good people. 

You surround them with favors, as with a shield.

Lord, I adore you as my Creator

Recording

Acts 16.11-15

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

Mark 14.43-52

While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. Judas had with him a large crowd of men with swords and clubs, sent by the religious leaders

Judas had told these men "The one I kiss is the man. Take him".
So Judas went to Jesus and said  "Teacher" and kissed him. The men  then seized Jesus

Jesus said to them "Am I a robber that you needed to capture me with swords and clubs?  Day after day I was openly teaching in the Temple"

All the apostles then deserted him and ran away

Jesus, when  I am being treated unfairly by other people, please give me strength

Recording

Being the Temple of the Holy Spirit

Dear Jesus, Doctor Jesus, please heal Christina who is fighting a dramatic battle with cancer!

158 (b): The greatest risk for a preacher is that he becomes so accustomed to his own language that he thinks that everyone else naturally understands and uses it. If we wish to adapt to people’s language and to reach them with God’s word, we need to share in their lives and pay loving attention to them. 

Simplicity and clarity are two different things. Our language may be simple but our preaching not very clear. It can end up being incomprehensible because it is disorganized, lacks logical progression or tries to deal with too many things at one time. We need to ensure, then, that the homily has thematic unity, clear order and correlation between sentences, so that people can follow the preacher easily and grasp his line of argument. 

10 years ago today

2005-11-09 Wedding reception of Louis and CAS kindergarten English teacher Minnie

The biggest smiles I saw yesterday were on the faces of remand inmates in an activity room at Lo Wu Women's Correctional Institution, as they saw the SCMP photo/report about the release of six accused foreigners - including Sally and Luu who were in the very same room only 7 weeks ago. Inmates genuinely happy to see two of their friends released. May the same happy result be true for more such inmates.

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 9th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Henan

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 9th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Central African Republic

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please pacify ISIS 

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 HK Asylum Seekers' File
(stopping South Asians from being "people smuggled" to HK)