Islam File    The New Translation

"Same-sex marriage" file

                                                                                      

About a week ago I posted a Tanzaian HK inmate's letter on Jamii Forums in East Africa. Item has so far attracted more than 80 comments. Most of them are in Swahili but a few are in English. Swahili comments can be translated by Goole Translate. Some comments say that the letter - and I - are not genuine! Yesterday I posted a reply to try to prove genuineness!  Five pages of comments here

                

Let's see if something similar happens here at this Nigerian blog where I've just posted a message about another Nigerian drug mule being arrested at HK airport.

Proverbs 6

Idler, go to the ant.  Ponder her ways and grow wise. No one gives her orders, yet she makes sure of her food.

Night and day you spend so much time sleeping. In no time poverty and want will be at your pillow.

Avoid deceitful people, those who have leering lips, winking eyes, shuffling feet, beckoning fingers.

Avoid people with a haughty look
and people who sow dissension.

Do not desire the beauty of your neighbour's wife. Adultery means trouble and disgrace.

Dear God, please give us the wisdom to avoid deceit and dishonesty

Psalm 72

O Lord, please bless the king,
that he might serve your people with justice.

May the mountains bring forth peace for the people and the hills, justice.

The kings of Sheba and Seba bring him gifts. All nations will serve him.

He will save the poor when they cry for help and the needy who are helpless.

He will have pity on the weak and save the lives of the poor.

May every tribe be blessed in him.
May every nation bless his name.

May all the nations know and love you, Lord

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

1 Thessalonians 1.1-6

From Paul, Silvanus and Timothy
to the Church of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
in Thessalonika. Wishing you grace and peace

In my prayers for you, I thank God our Father for your faith in action, your work for love, and your persevering hope

When we brought the Good News to you, it came to you not just as words, but as power from the Holy Spirit

By the grace of the Holy Spirit, you accepted the Good News,
despite great opposition from many quarters

Jesus, help people accept the Good News, despite opposition

Recording 

John 13.21-30

Jesus became visibly upset and said to his disciples at the meal
"One of you is going to betray me. It is the one to whom I give a piece of bread  that I have dipped in the dish"

He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot. Immediately, Satan entered Judas

Jesus said to Judas "What you are going to do, do quickly". 

Judas left the meal. Night had fallen

Jesus, please don't let me ever be disloyal to you

Recording 

Why people in Hong Kong scoff at China’s grandiose Belt and Road plans

The Joy of Love - Pope Francis' letter - on love in the family      Full English text

45: Recording of 45:

“A great number of children are born out-side of wedlock, many of whom subsequently grow up with just one of their parents or in a blended or reconstituted family… The sexual exploitation of children is yet another scandalous and perverse reality in present-day society. 

Societies experiencing violence due to war, terrorism or the presence of organized crime are witnessing the deterioration of the family, above all in large cities, where, on their outskirts, the so-called phenomenon of ‘street-children’ is on the rise”.²⁸

The sexual abuse of children is all the more scandalous when it occurs in places where they ought to be most safe, particularly in families, schools, communities and Christian institutions.²⁹

Peter Johnstone
(Catholics for Renewal)

51c: Recording of 51c:

“We note that often the businesses which operate this way are multinationals. 

They do here (in poor countries) what they would never do in developed countries or the so-called first world. 

Generally, after ceasing their activity and withdrawing, they leave behind great human and environmental liabilities such as unemployment, abandoned towns, the depletion of natural reserves, deforestation, the impoverishment of agriculture and local stock breeding, open pits, riven hills, polluted rivers and a handful of social works which are no longer sustainable”.[30]

019: Recording of 019: 

Evangelization takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20).

In these verses we see how the risen Christ sent his followers to preach the Gospel in every time and place, so that faith in him might spread to every corner of the earth.

On this day in 1953
at Guardian Angels Church
Wynnum, Brisbane

My First Communion
Certificate was signed by American Fr Rudolph Blockinger O.F.M. Cap. ,
born 2-8-1886, died 20-12-1969, a missionary in China 1922-1952 ...maybe it was he who planted the China seed in my heart?

This is brilliant!
http://www.drawastickman.com/index.htm

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 24th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Inner Mongolia

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 24th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Zambia

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

Letters from (mainly African) inmates in Hong Kong prisons - and other drug trafficking items:   2016

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

Proverbs 4-5

Acquire wisdom, never forget her. Do not desert her. She will keep you safe.

Wisdom is life to those who obtain her, health for the entire body.

Take no notice of a loose-living woman, go nowhere near the door of her house.

Drink the water of your own cistern, fresh water from your own well.

Find joy with the wife you married in your youth, let hers be the love that always holds you captive.

Dear Lord, please give married people the wisdom to stay faithful to each other
My recording of this reading

Psalm 71

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Please hear me and help me.

Be a rock where I can take refuge.
Rescue me from people who want to hurt me.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope. In you I have trusted since I was young.

From my mother's womb you have been my help. My hope has always been in you.

Now that I am old, please do not forget me. Now that my strength fails, do not abandon me.

Now that I am old and grey-headed, may I continue to trust in you and proclaim your help.

To you I will sing with the harp.
All day long my tongue will tell of your goodness to me.

Lord, may all elderly people put their trust and hope in you

Recording 

Colossians 4.3-21

Pray for me, in my chains, that I may proclaim the message of Christ as clearly as I should

Be tactful with people who are not Christians. Use friendly conversation with them

Greetings from the believers here with me. Greetings to all the believers in your area

Grace be with you all

Jesus, may my conversation with non-Christians help them know you

Recording 

Today's Gospel:

John 13.1-15

While Jesus and his disciples were eating a meal just before the Passover, Jesus got up from the table, removed his outer clothing,  and wrapped a  towel around his waist as an apron

He then poured water into a basin, and like a slave, began to wash the disciples' feet, wiping them with the towel he was wearing

After washing their feet he said to them "You are right in calling me Master and Lord. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have humbly served you, you should humbly serve one another

I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done for you"

Jesus, please help us to serve other people humbly, just as you humbly served the disciples

Recording 

   Darlene Starrs (Blogger from Canada)

The Joy of Love - Pope Francis' letter - on love in the family     Full English text

44: Recording of 44:

The lack of dignified or affordable housing often leads to the postponement of formal relationships. 

It should be kept in mind that “the family has the right to decent housing, fitting for family life and commensurate to the number of the members, in a physical environment that provides the basic services for the life of the family and the community”.²³ Families and homes go together. 

This makes us see how important it is to insist on the rights of the family and not only those of individuals. The family is a good which society cannot do without, and it ought to be protected.²⁴

 “The Church has always held it part of her mission to promote marriage and the family and to defend them against those who attack them”,²⁵ especially today, when they are given scarce attention in political agendas. Families have the right to “to be able to count on an adequate family policy on the part of public authorities in the juridical, economic, social and fiscal domains”.²⁶ 

At times families suffer terribly when, faced with the illness of a loved one, they lack access to adequate health care, or struggle to find dignified employment. “Economic constraints prohibit a family’s access to education, cultural activities and involvement in the life of society. In many ways, the present-day economic situation is keeping people from participating in society. Families, in particular, suffer from problems related to work, where young people have few possibilities and job offers are very selective and insecure. Workdays are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods away from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day”.²⁷

51b: Recording of 51b:

There is a pressing need to calculate the use of environmental space throughout the world for depositing gas residues which have been accumulating for two centuries and have created a situation which currently affects all the countries of the world. 

The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world, especially Africa, where a rise in temperature, together with drought, has proved devastating for farming. 

There is also the damage caused by the export of solid waste and toxic liquids to developing countries, and by the pollution produced by companies which operate in less developed countries in ways they could never do at home, in the countries in which they raise their capital

Now you know why I travelled like this when I was in Nairobi!

18: Recording of 18:

I have dealt extensively with these topics, with a detail which some may find excessive. But I have done so, not with the intention of providing an exhaustive treatise but simply as a way of showing their important practical implications for the Church’s mission today.

All of them help give shape to a definite style of evangelization which I ask you to adopt in every activity which you undertake.

In this way, we can take up, amid our daily efforts, the biblical exhortation: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say: Rejoice” (Phil 4:4).

10 years ago today

This website's April statistics. 

God bless all kind readers and bloggers

From a reader in Australia:  Catholic horses

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 23rd of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Guangxi

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 23rd of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Djibouti

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

Letters from (mainly African) inmates in Hong Kong prisons - and other drug trafficking items:   2016

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

Letter from a South African woman in prison in HK for drug trafficking - trying to warn others not to suffer the same fate:

How many people did the Holy Spirit come down upon at the first Pentecost?

Usually we think of just the group of 12 apostles. The Acts of the Apostles (1.14) speaks of 11 apostles (with Matthias added just before Pentecost) plus several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. That makes about 20 people (...not 12, not 13, not 120)

c.f. these images of Pentecost

In this week after Pentecost,
 let's each day pray the beautiful

  Pentecost Sequence

Proverbs 2

If you turn your ear to wisdom,
you will discover the knowledge of God.

For God himself is the giver of wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and discernment.

When wisdom comes into your heart, then prudence and discernment will protect you from evil.

Dear God, source of wisdom, please give us more wisdom

My recording of this reading

Psalms 66-68

O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shine its light upon us.

Let all the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.

O sing to the Lord, make music to his name. Rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.

Father of the orphan, defender of the widow, God provides a shelter for the homeless.

God gives his people strength.

May all the peoples of the earth know you and praise you, O God

Recording  

Colossians 3.15-16

May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts. Always be thankful

Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home in you. Help each other grow in wisdom

With gratitude in your hearts, sing songs to God

Jesus, live in my heart. Please live in my heart

Recording  

Today's Gospel:

John 12.23-33

Jesus said to his apostles Andrew and Philip "Now the time has come for me to be glorified.  Unless a wheat grain goes into the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain. But if it dies, it yields a rich harvest

Now sentence is being passed on this world. Now Satan is to be defeated. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to myself"

By these words, Jesus indicated the kind of death he would die

Jesus, lifted up on the Cross, you are the Saviour of the world

Recording  

Some Catholic bloggers create ‘cesspool of hatred,’ says Vatican aide
“Often times the obsessed, scrupulous, self-appointed, nostalgia-hankering virtual guardians of faith or of liturgical practices are very disturbed, broken and angry individuals, who never found a platform or pulpit in real life and so resort to the internet and become trolling pontiffs and holy executioners”

The Joy of Love - Pope Francis' letter - on love in the family      Full English text

41:   (Recording of 41:) 

The Synod Fathers noted that “cultural tendencies in today’s world seem to set no limits on a person’s affectivity”; indeed, “a narcissistic, unstable or changeable affectivity does not always allow a person to grow to maturity”. 

They also expressed concern about the current “spread of pornography and the commercialization of the body, fostered also by a misuse of the internet, and about those “reprehensible situations where people are forced into prostitution”.

In this context, “couples are often uncertain, hesitant and struggling to find ways to grow. Many tend to remain in the early stages of their affective and sexual life. 

A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilizes the family and may lead, through separation and divorce, to serious consequences for adults, children and society as a whole, weakening its individual and social bonds”.¹⁶

Marital problems are “often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect, to make sacrifices and to forgive one another. Failures give rise to new relationships, new couples, new civil unions, and new marriages, creating family situations which are complex and problematic for the Christian life”.¹⁷

49:   (Recording of 49:) 

It needs to be said that, generally speaking, there is little in the way of clear awareness of problems which especially affect the excluded. Yet they are the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people. These days, they are mentioned in international political and economic discussions, but one often has the impression that their problems are brought up as an afterthought, a question which gets added almost out of duty or in a tangential way, if not treated merely as collateral damage.

 Indeed, when all is said and done, they frequently remain at the bottom of the pile. This is due partly to the fact that many professionals, opinion makers, communications media and centres of power, being located in affluent urban areas, are far removed from the poor, with little direct contact with their problems. They live and reason from the comfortable position of a high level of development and a quality of life well beyond the reach of the majority of the world’s population. 

This lack of physical contact and encounter, encouraged at times by the disintegration of our cities, can lead to a numbing of conscience and to tendentious analyses which neglect parts of reality. At times this attitude exists side by side with a “green” rhetoric. Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.

016:   (Recording of 016:) 

I do not believe that the Pope should be expected to offer a definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the world.

It is not advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the discernment of every issue which arises in their territory. I am conscious of the need to promote a sound decentralization.

10 years ago today

2006-05-20,21 Visit to all 7 centers by Macau friends Clara, Cindy and Franco

During the recent annual OMI retreat, our guest speaker challenged us with the question "How many meals each week do I have with rich friends and how many meals with poor people?"  So, for the last few Thursday afternoons and evenings I've been trying to invite the poor for a meal in a local canteen. But I came unstuck yesterday when a kind parishioner spotted me and invited me for an afternoon snack! Afterwards I repaid the favor to a hungry drug addict.

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 20th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Sichuan

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 20th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Gambia

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

Letters from (mainly African) inmates in Hong Kong prisons - and other drug trafficking items:   2016

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

Drug kingpins wanted to kill me
- Tanzania's Godfrey Nzowa
- which is why when I met him on January 10, 2015 I was admitted to his office by armed guards! We had a 90 minute chat, after which I found myself thinking "this is the sort of person who should be president!" A number of times during our meeting he referred to his Christian faith and his love for the Bible ...and his belief that God protected him from being killed

In this week after Pentecost,
 let's each day pray the beautiful

  Pentecost Sequence

I spent yesterday morning at the High Court of Hong Kong, supporting two "remand" women (one from Kenya, one from Thailand) and one "sentenced" Peru woman  - all fighting drug trafficking charges. 

The Peru woman's "appeal against sentence" won her a reduction of a few months from her 8 year sentence

Letter in English from a South African inmate in a HK prison:  the pain of being away from his family ...and his medical problems

Proverbs 1

If you listen to these sayings, you will acquire wisdom. These sayings will help you develop virtue, justice and fairness.

Be careful of bad people who try to mislead you. A net is spread in vain if the bird is watching.

Wisdom calls aloud in the streets.
She delivers her message at the city gates:

"How much longer will you prefer ignorance to knowledge? The complacency of fools works their own ruin.

But whoever listens to me will live in safety. Whoever listens to me will choose good and avoid evil."

Dear God, please give us more wisdom

My recording of this reading

Psalms 61-65

O God, hear my cry, you who are my refuge and help.

In you alone is my soul at rest.  My help comes from you.

Take refuge in God, everyone in trouble. Trust him at all times.

O God, you are my God, for you I long. My body and soul thirst for you like a dry, weary land without water.

Your love is better than life, my lips will speak your praise.

On my bed I remember you. On you I muse through the night.

You are the Creator of the world.
You care for the earth, you give it water.

To you our praise is due, wherever we are on earth.

Lord, my soul clings to you. Your right hand holds me fast

Recording

Colossians 3.12-14

You are God's special friends. He loves you. You should be clothed in sincere compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

Allow for other's weaknesses. Forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you. You must forgive others

Over all these clothes, to keep them together and to complete them, put on love

Jesus, help me be a better and kinder person

Recording

John 12.12-19

People who had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover,
heard that Jesus was coming down to Jerusalem from Bethany

They used palm branches as they  went out to meet him, shouting "Hosanna! Blessings on the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord"

Jesus rode a young donkey down the hill, just as the Scriptures had predicted: "Daughter of Sion, behold! Your king is coming, mounted on the colt of a donkey"

Some religious leaders said to each other "Look, there is nothing you can do. The whole world is running after him"

Jesus, humbly entering Jerusalem on a donkey, may you be known and welcomed and praised by the whole world

Recording

Recommended by
 a reader in Australia

The Joy of Love - Pope Francis' letter - on love in the family      Full English text

40:   (Recording of 40:) 

  “At the risk of oversimplifying, we might say that we live in a culture which pressures young people not to start a family, because they lack possibilities for the future. Yet this same culture presents others with so many options that they too are dissuaded from starting a family”.¹⁴ In some countries, many young persons “postpone a wedding for economic reasons, work or study.

Some do so for other reasons, such as the influence of ideologies which devalue marriage and family, the desire to avoid the failures of other couples, the fear of something they consider too important and sacred, the social opportunities and economic benefits associated with simply living together, a purely emotional and romantic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, and the rejection of something conceived as purely institutional and bureaucratic”.¹⁵ 

We need to find the right language, arguments and forms of witness that can help us reach the hearts of young people, appealing to their capacity for generosity, commitment, love and even heroism, and in this way inviting them to take up the challenge of marriage with enthusiasm and courage.

(...paragraph 2: "conception of love" ?!)

48b:   (Recording of 48b:)  

The depletion of fishing reserves especially hurts small fishing communities without the means to replace those resources; 

water pollution particularly affects the poor who cannot buy bottled water;

and rises in the sea level mainly affect impoverished coastal populations who have nowhere else to go. 

The impact of present imbalances is also seen in the premature death of many of the poor, in conflicts sparked by the shortage of resources, and in any number of other problems which are insufficiently represented on global agendas.[27]

15d:   (Recording of 15d:) 

John Paul II asked us to recognize that “there must be no lessening of the impetus to preach the Gospel” to those who are far from Christ, “because this is the first task of the Church”.[14] Indeed, “today missionary activity still represents the greatest challenge for the Church”[15] and “the missionary task must remain foremost”.[16]

What would happen if we were to take these words seriously? We would realize that missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity. 

Along these lines the Latin American bishops stated that we “cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings”;[17] we need to move “from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry”.[18] This task continues to be a source of immense joy for the Church: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7).

Hong Kong taxi hold-up goes badly wrong, ending with alleged robber locked inside cab  ("that's not fare", he said ??)

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 19th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shanxi

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 19th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Sudan

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

Letters from (mainly African) inmates in Hong Kong prisons - and other drug trafficking items:   2016

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

Letter in English from a Nigerian inmate in a HK prison - how he was arrested with 59 pellets of cocaine in his stomach

And see these letters in English from another  Nigerian inmate in a HK prison
01  02  03

In this week after Pentecost,
 let's each day pray the beautiful

  Pentecost Sequence

From Janny Law, a Hong Kong volunteer in Malawi:

Zomba Prison Band ...and school uniforms

Chris McDonnell   (Wed UK blogger)

A tile or two this summer  

There are many aspects of the roof that concern us, not the least being ‘having a roof over our heads’

Job 40-42

Job said to God " My words have been frivolous. I will not say anything else."

God then reminded Job how God was creator of everything, including amazing animals like the hippo and crocodile.

Job then said to God "I know you are all-powerful. I have been speaking about things I don't fully understand. I retract all I have said and in dust and ashes I repent."

God then praised Job for his fidelity. God restored Job to good health.

God restored Job's possessions, more than he had before: 10 more children and thousands of animals. Job lived to be 140 years old and died full of peace.

Dear God, you never really answered Job's questions about the mystery of evil and suffering
....but I know your Son Jesus gave us the answers

Psalms 52-60

Lord, I will tell everyone about how good you are. You are our Creator. Everyone should love you.

Thank you for so often rescuing me from trouble. You uphold my life.

Sometimes I have so many troubles and cares that I can't get to sleep.

Sometimes I wish I was a bird 
and could fly away to a safe place.

When I fear, I will trust in you,
in you whose word I praise.

My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready. I will sing, I will sing your praise.

Each morning I will sing of your strength, and each morning acclaim your love.

O God, please help me to praise and love you every day

Recording 

Colossians 3.5-11

Kill all the bad things that trouble earthly life: fornication, impurity, evil desires, greed, anger, bad temper, spitefulness, abusive language, dirty talk and lying

You have deleted your old self, and have downloaded a fresh copy of the divine image. That image is Christ. He must be installed in every part of your life

Jesus, take over my life. Install yourself in every part of my life

Recording 

John 12.1-8

Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, for a dinner at  the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha

Mary put expensive ointment on Jesus' feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair

Judas Iscariot, the disciple who was going to betray Jesus, said "Why wasn't this ointment sold and the money given to the poor?"

He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal from it

Jesus replied "Leave her alone. She is anticipating and honoring my burial. Besides, the poor will always be with you. But I will soon be gone"

Jesus, may we anoint your feet by serving the poor

Recording 

The Joy of Love - Pope Francis' letter - on love in the family     Full English text

39:   (Recording of 39:) 

This is hardly to suggest that we cease warning against a cultural decline that fails to promote love or self-giving. The consultation that took place prior to the last two Synods pointed to the various symptoms of a “culture of the ephemeral”. Here I think, for example, of the speed with which people move from one affective relationship to another. They believe, along the lines of social networks, that love can be connected or disconnected at the whim of the consumer, and the relationship quickly “blocked”. 

I think too of the fears associated with permanent commitment, the obsession with free time, and those relationships that weigh costs and benefits for the sake of remedying loneliness, providing protection, or offering some service. 

We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects and the environment: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye. Narcissism makes people incapable of looking beyond themselves, beyond their own desires and needs.

Yet sooner or later, those who use others end up being used themselves, manipulated and discarded by that same mindset. It is also worth noting that breakups often occur among older adults who seek a kind of “independence” and reject the ideal of growing old together, looking after and supporting one another.

I have signed these two petitions

Support the Victorian Infant Viability Bill
The Bill put forward by Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins MP seeks to reverse Victoria's abortion laws of 2008, which have become one of the worst in the world, allowing abortion right up until the time of birth.
It is a medically recognised fact that babies born after 24 weeks are viable and likely to survive outside of the womb.  If this Bill passes, babies post-24 weeks pregnancy will no longer be allowed to be aborted.

Bill Shorten, please give me a say
"66% of Australians support holding a people's vote on marriage and I am one of them"

48a:   (Recording of 48a:) 

The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation. 

In fact, the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable people on the planet: “Both everyday experience and scientific research show that the gravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suffered by the poorest”.[26] 

015c:   (Recording of 015c:) 

We cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. 

Many of them are quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition. All of them have a right to receive the Gospel. 

Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone. 

Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. 

It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”.[13]

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 18th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shandong

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 18th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Ivory Coast

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

Letters from (mainly African) inmates in Hong Kong prisons - and other drug trafficking items:   2016

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