Islam File    The New Translation

"Same-sex marriage" file

Developing a thick skin in prison is done by the book at Lo Wu Correctional Institution 

Public libraries need to outsource the work to someone, and as a very tricky and fiddly job, it would be expensive to pay a regular company. Inmates are a good source of cheap labour for these tasks

Gary Younge: 

Orlando shooting exposes so many of America’s faultlines

Pope decries Orlando massacre and prays for victims

Letter from a South African woman in prison in HK for drug trafficking:

Ecclesiastes 1-2

Everything is temporary and  passing. What's the use of all our toil?

Our life is over in a few days. What's the use of all our toil?

The same fate awaits both wise person and fool. Death is always just around the corner.

Dear God, please help me understand the meaning of life.
Help me understand that there is life in heaven after life on earth

Psalm 93

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed, he has girded himself with power.

The world you made firm, not to be moved. From all eternity, O Lord, you are.

The oceans and coastlines of the world are majestic and powerful.

But greater than the roar of mighty waters, more glorious than the surging of the sea is the Lord on high.

Such a Lord, such a Creator, such a God. Truly your decrees are to be trusted.

Holiness is fitting to your house
O Lord, always and everywhere.

We praise you, Lord, our Creator

Recording 

2 Thessalonians 2.1-17

Regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, don't be deceived by wild speculation

Stand firm in your faith and avoid speculation

Keep the traditions we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter

May God strengthen you in everything good you do or say

Jesus, stop people spreading false information

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

John 19.1-3

Pilate then had Jesus taken away and scourged

The soldiers used thorns to make a crown and pushed this into Jesus' head

They dressed him in a purple cloak and mocked him saying
"Hail, king of the Jews".

They slapped him in the face

Jesus, scourged and made fun of, please help me not  to hurt anyone by my words or actions

Recording 

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

65: Recording

The incarnation of the Word in a human family, in Nazareth, by its very newness changed the history of the world. 

We need to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ birth, into that “yes” given by Mary to the message of the angel, when the Word was conceived in her womb, as well as the “yes” of Joseph, who gave a name to Jesus and watched over Mary.

We need to contemplate the joy of the shepherds before the manger, the adoration of the Magi and the flight into Egypt, in which Jesus shares his people’s experience of exile, persecution and humiliation. 

We need to contemplate the religious expectation of Zechariah and his joy at the birth of John the Baptist, the fulfilment of the promise made known to Simeon and Anna in the Temple and the marvel of the teachers of the Law who listened to the wisdom of the child Jesus. 

We then need to peer into those thirty long years when Jesus earned his keep by the work of his hands, reciting the traditional prayers and expressions of his people’s faith and coming to know that ancestral faith until he made it bear fruit in the mystery of the Kingdom. 

This is the mystery of Christmas and the secret of Nazareth, exuding the beauty of family life! It was this that so fascinated Francis of Assisi, Theresa of the Child Jesus and Charles de Foucauld, and continues to fill Christian families with hope and joy.

70: Recording

In the story of Cain and Abel, we see how envy led Cain to commit the ultimate injustice against his brother, which in turn ruptured the relationship between Cain and God, and between Cain and the earth from which he was banished.

This is seen clearly in the dramatic exchange between God and Cain. God asks: “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain answers that he does not know, and God persists: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground” (Gen 4:9-11).

Disregard for the duty to cultivate and maintain a proper relationship with my neighbour, for whose care and custody I am responsible, ruins my relationship with my own self, with others, with God and with the earth.

When all these relationships are neglected, when justice no longer dwells in the land, the Bible tells us that life itself is endangered. 

We see this in the story of Noah, where God threatens to do away with humanity because of its constant failure to fulfil the requirements of justice and peace: “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them” (Gen 6:13).

These ancient stories, full of symbolism, bear witness to a conviction which we today share, that everything is interconnected, and that genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others.

41: Recording 

At the same time, today’s vast and rapid cultural changes demand that we constantly seek ways of expressing unchanging truths in a language which brings out their abiding newness.

“The deposit of the faith is one thing... the way it is expressed is another”.

Let us never forget that “the expression of truth can take different forms. The renewal of these forms of expression becomes necessary for the sake of transmitting to the people of today the Gospel message in its unchanging meaning”.

10 years ago today

2006-06-14 CAS overseas staff Marg & Toni at Ricci Memorial Center & with Mrs Li
& baby at hospital

French robbers pick the wrong McDonald's

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

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 14th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Ethiopia

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)

"Only a fool says there is no God" 
 (Psalm 14)

As I have my daily orange at the start of breakfast, I often think how the One who caused oranges to evolve sure did a great job .... they show so many signs of intelligent design

c.f. 21 Amazing Benefits And Uses Of Oranges

Brawls, self harm and suicide attempts - leaked videos reveal cycle of violence in Hong Kong’s prison system

Chinese language report

Peter Wilkinson (Melbourne):
Reflections on China trip

We have been staggered at the progress that has been made since Deng Xiao-Ping opened the nation up to the outside world

Letter from a South African woman in prison in HK for drug trafficking:

Proverbs 30-31

Every word of God is true and of great value. Do not change or misinterpret God's words.

Do not give way to sexual excess.
Do not give way to drunkenness.

Be the voice of the poor, the unwanted. Uphold the rights of the needy.

Happy the man who finds a good wife. She is far beyond the price of pearls.

She looks after her household with care. She works diligently for her family.

She holds out her hand to the poor. She opens her arms to the needy.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty. The woman who is wise is the one to praise.

Lord, thank you for all the wisdom in the Book of Proverbs!

My recording of this reading

Psalm 92

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning, and your truth right through the night.

Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad. For the work of your hands, I shout with joy.

To me you give the wild ox's strength. You anoint me with the purest oil.

May we love and praise you right through our lives, right till the end of our days.

May we keep on proclaiming your goodness, proclaiming that in you, our rock, there is only goodness.

Lord, it is right and fitting to love and praise you

Recording 

1 Timothy 1.1-10

From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, to Timothy, true child of mine in the faith. I  wish you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ

Please stay at Ephesus and insist that no one teaches misleading doctrines or empty speculation about the Law of God

As a penal code, the aim of the Law is to make provision not for good people but for offenders: for murderers, for people who are immoral with women or with boys or with men, for liars and for perjurers  - and for everything else that is contrary to sound teaching

Jesus, please help law offenders not to offend again, and to make up for what they have done

Recording 

John 18.28-40

The religious leaders took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus "Are you the King of the Jews?"

Jesus replied "My kingdom is not a kingdom of this world. But I am a king. I came into this world to bear witness to the truth"

After further questioning, Pilate said to the leaders "I find no case against him, so how about I release him according to the custom of releasing one prisoner at Passover?

At this the leaders shouted "Not this man, but Barabbas".
Barabbas was a bandit

Jesus, help me be a better witness to good values

Recording 

   Darlene Starrs (Blogger from Canada)

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

64: Recording

“The example of Jesus is a paradigm for the Church… He began his public ministry with the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana (cf. Jn 2:1-11). 

He shared in everyday moments of friendship with the family of Lazarus and his sisters (cf. Lk 10:38) and with the family of Peter (cf. Mk 8:14). 

He sympathized with grieving parents and restored their children to life (cf. Mk 5:41; Lk 7:14-15).

In this way he demonstrated the true meaning of mercy, which entails the restoration of the covenant (cf. John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 4). This is clear from his conversations with the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 1:4-30) and with the woman found in adultery (cf. Jn 8:1-11), where the consciousness of sin is awakened by an encounter with Jesus’ gratuitous love”.⁵⁷

69: Recording

Together with our obligation to use the earth’s goods responsibly, we are called to recognize that other living beings have a value of their own in God’s eyes: “by their mere existence they bless him and give him glory”,[41] and indeed, “the Lord rejoices in all his works” (Ps 104:31).

By virtue of our unique dignity and our gift of intelligence, we are called to respect creation and its inherent laws, for “the Lord by wisdom founded the earth” (Prov 3:19). 

In our time, the Church does not simply state that other creatures are completely subordinated to the good of human beings, as if they have no worth in themselves and can be treated as we wish. The German bishops have taught that, where other creatures are concerned, “we can speak of the priority of being over that of being useful”.[42] 

The Catechism clearly and forcefully criticizes a distorted anthropocentrism: “Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection… Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. We  must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things”.[43]

40: Recording

  The Church is herself a missionary disciple; she needs to grow in her interpretation of the revealed word and in her understanding of truth. It is the task of exegetes and theologians to help “the judgment of the Church to mature”.

Within the Church countless issues are being studied and reflected upon with great freedom. Differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology and pastoral practice, if open to being reconciled by the Spirit in respect and love, can enable the Church to grow, since all of them help to express more clearly the immense riches of God’s word. 

For those who long for a monolithic body of doctrine guarded by all and leaving no room for nuance, this might appear as undesirable and leading to confusion. But in fact such variety serves to bring out and develop different facets of the inexhaustible riches of the Gospel

As I prepared the first Bible reading, above, from Proverbs, I couldn't help thinking that surely these two chapters, unlike most of the rest of the book, were not written by King Solomon: a warning about sexual excess, and the praise of one wife ....by someone who had 700 wives and 300 concubines?!

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 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, 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)

 Jesus' promises in 1675 

My family and 
the Sacred Heart

State leader quits American Civil Liberties Union after daughters were "visibly frightened" by men using women's restroom

Australian government urged to free jailed 'Chinese political prisoner'

Peter Wilkinson:

Why the delays in appointing Australia's bishops? (First published in The Swag, Winter 2016)

Choosing the next Archibishop of Melbourne How it should occur and why this is important

Proverbs 27-29

Do not boast about tomorrow,
since you do not know what will happen today.

Let others praise you, but do not praise yourself.

Better open reproof than voiceless love.

From one who loves, wounds are well-intentioned. From one who hates, kisses are ominous.

He who admits his faults will prosper. He who confesses and renounces his faults will find mercy.

A roaring lion, a hungry bear, such is a bad ruler of a poor people.

Lord, please help me practise the ideas in these words

My recording of this reading 

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High says to the Lord "you are my refuge in whom I trust".

The Lord will hide you and protect you. Under his wings you will find refuge.

You will not fear any night time terror, nor any attack during the day.

Upon you no evil shall fall, no plague approach where you dwell.

For you has he commanded his angels to keep you safe in all your ways.

Dear God, thank you for your protection day and night

Recording    

2 Thessalonians 3.10-16

We gave you a rule when we were with you: not to let anyone have any food if he refused to do any work

Yet we hear that some of you are living in idleness, doing no work themselves but interfering with everyone else's work

In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on such people to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat

Never grow tired of doing what is right

May the Lord of peace give you peace always and everywhere

Jesus, don't let me interfere in other people's business

Recording      

John 18.15-27

The main religious leader interrogated  Jesus about his teaching. Jesus told him "I have spoken openly in prayer halls and in the Temple. I have said nothing in secret. The people can tell you what I said"

At these words, one of the guards slapped Jesus in the face, saying "Don't speak to the leader like that".  Jesus replied "If I said  something wrong, point it out. But if there was nothing wrong with my words, why did you hit me?"

Meanwhile Peter was outside in the courtyard, keeping warm by a fire. Three times he was asked by different people if he was a disciple of Jesus. Three times he replied "I am not". After his third denial, a rooster crowed

Jesus, on trial before the leaders, please bless everyone on trial today, in every country

Recording      

Recommended by 
a reader in Australia

Meditation
From infamous criminals, to powerful corporations, to some of the world’s most successful athletes, meditation has never been so popular. But can it really make you smarter, happier and healthier? New research shows that it can affect the body as well as the mind, slow down

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

61: Recording

Contrary to those who rejected marriage as evil, the New Testament teaches that “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected” (1 Tim 4:4). 

Marriage is “a gift” from the Lord (1 Cor 7:7).

At the same time, precisely because of this positive understanding, the New Testament strongly emphasizes the need to safe-guard God’s gift: “Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled” (Heb 13:4). This divine gift includes sexuality: “Do not refuse one another” (1 Cor 7:5).

THE VICTIMS OF ‘MARRIAGE EQUALITY’
 - video of full talk by Dr David van Gend

66: Recording

The creation accounts in the book of Genesis contain, in their own symbolic and narrative language, profound teachings about human existence and its historical reality. They suggest that human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been broken, both outwardly and within us.

This rupture is sin. The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. This in turn distorted our mandate to “have dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), to “till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). As a result, the originally harmonious relationship between human beings and nature became conflictual (cf. Gen 3:17-19). 

It is significant that the harmony which Saint Francis of Assisi experienced with all creatures was seen as a healing of that rupture. Saint Bonaventure held that, through universal reconciliation with every creature, Saint Francis in some way returned to the state of original innocence.[40] This is a far cry from our situation today, where sin is manifest in all its destructive power in wars, the various forms of violence and abuse, the abandonment of the most vulnerable, and attacks on nature.

Millions of Chinese watch Australian football on TV

37: Recording

Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that what counts above all else is “faith working through love” . 

Works of love directed to one’s neighbour are the most perfect external manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit

Thomas explains that, as far as external works are concerned, mercy is the greatest of all the virtues: “In itself mercy is the greatest of the virtues, since all the others revolve around it and, more than this, it makes up for their deficiencies"

At last month's annual OMI retreat, we were challenged by these words: "Each week, how many meals do I share with the poor?" Since the retreat, I've been trying to have a special meal each Thursday night. Last night at a local canteen a former inmate and I had a simple meal ... including a bottle of beer. I like a glass of cold beer at the end of a hot day ....but last night's half a bottle was a bit too much for me. In future I think I need to look for two guests, not one! 

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 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, 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)

Islam File    The New Translation

"Same-sex marriage" file

I could write a book about all the things that happened yesterday:  usual Wednesday visit to Hei Ling Chau Island (this time the detention centre) .... telephone calls before and after visit trying to connect with lawyers on behalf of inmates....collection of items for inmates from Catholic Centre in Central ....then visit to Christine (cancer stage 4) in a local hospital ....then phone calls and trip to local guest house for father of an African inmate just arrived out of the blue in HK ....at the same time trying to be a peacemaker as one of my neighbours went on warpath about not having electricity for several days (...police almost called...)  ....then doing this website ....with no time for some 30 emails awaiting replies .... nor time to answer dozens of letters (including 12 more which arrived yesterday ...all from inmates). 

And just as I tried to steal 10 minutes - while doing website - for a game of Chess (at Chess.com) to keep my sanity ...in the middle of the game ....a Kenyan inmate (just finished 8 years in prison) phoned from HK airport to say about to return to Africa ....ever tried playing chess against a stronger opponent and at the same time rejoicing in a dear inmate free at last?  No trouble sleeping last night!

Proverbs 25-26

Cloud and wind, but no rain. Such is the person who makes a lot of promises but doesn't keep them.

Don't over-tax your neighbor's hospitality.

If people who don't like you are hungry or thirsty, give them something to eat or drink. In this way you will shame them into being better people.

Rain comes by the north wind. A ravaged face comes from  a backbiting tongue.

An open town, without defences.
Such is a person lacking self-control.

As a dog returns to its vomit so foolish people return to their folly.

Interfering in the quarrels of other people is like catching a stray dog by the tail.

No wood, and the fire goes out.
No talebearer, and quarrelling dies down.

Lord, please stop me from being  critical of other people

My recording of this reading

Psalm 90

O Lord you have been our refuge 
from one generation to the next.

Before the earth or the world existed, you are God, without beginning or end.

For you, a thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone so quickly.

We humans have a short life, our life is over like a sigh.

Our span is 70 years, or 80 for those who are strong.

Make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart.

In the morning, fill us with your love. Give success to the work of our hands.

Lord, help us realize the shortness of our life, that we may live our lives more wisely
Recording

2 Thessalonians 3.1-5

Pray that the Lord's message may spread quickly, and be received with honor as it was by yourselves

Pray that we may be protected from the interference of bigoted people

May your hearts focus on the love of God our Father and the fortitude of Christ

Jesus, don't let bigoted people influence me

Recording

John 18.1-11

After their Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples went to a garden near the Kedron valley

Judas knew they would be there, since they had often gathered there. Judas led the police and soldiers there to arrest Jesus

Jesus said to Judas' group "Who are you looking for?" They replied "Jesus the Nazarene".  Jesus said "I am the one you are looking for. Let these other men go free"

The group then arrested Jesus and bound him. They took him to the religious leaders

Jesus, please bless everyone who is arrested today, in every country

Recording

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

60: Recording

This brief chapter, then, will summarize the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family. 

Here too I will mention what the Synod Fathers had to say about the light offered by our faith.

They began with the gaze of Jesus and they spoke of how he “looked upon the women and men whom he met with love and tenderness, accompanying their steps in truth, patience and mercy as he proclaimed the demands of the Kingdom of God”.⁵⁴ 

The Lord is also with us today, as we seek to practice and pass on the Gospel of the family.

65b: Recording 

Saint John Paul II stated that the special love of the Creator for each human being “confers upon him or her an infinite dignity”.[38]

Those who are committed to defending human dignity can find in the Christian faith the deepest reasons for this commitment.

How wonderful is the certainty that each human life is not adrift in the midst of hopeless chaos, in a world ruled by pure chance or endlessly recurring cycles! 

The Creator says to each one of us: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer 1:5). We were conceived in the heart of God, and for this reason “each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary”.[39]

36: Recording

All revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel. 

In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead. 

In this sense, the Second Vatican Council explained, “in Catholic doctrine there exists an order or a ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith”.[38] 

This holds true as much for the dogmas of faith as for the whole corpus of the Church’s teaching, including her moral teaching.

10 years ago today

Yesterday as I walked from the ferry pier in Central after visit to Hei Ling Chau Island detention centre, I saw an armless beggar from China. This page of Dr Jesus was written especially for such people. I gave him a Chinese copy of the booklet, open at said page and explained who I was. At this stage I was squatting ...he was sitting on ground ....but as I went to put booklet and a HK$20 note into his begging bowl, up came a foot full of fingers which opened like chopsticks and received the book and donation! I look forward to a happy re-union in Heaven with him and many others like him ....all with perfect limbs as in Jesus' risen body!

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 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 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)

Islam File    The New Translation

"Same-sex marriage" file

Yesterday after making my monthly visit to Castle Peak Immigration Centre....where most of the asylum seekers are victims of people smuggling .... I pray that the Pope's words move many people to action:

Pope: Church needs to get political to fight human trafficking

Excellent 9 minute video
by Dr David van Gend: 

THE INJUSTICE OF 'MARRIAGE EQUALITY'

Chris McDonnell   (Wed UK blogger)

Since Pentecost, welcome to extraordinary time

Boff's ‘Come Holy Spirit’ explores our relationship with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. Boff suggests the presence of the Spirit at times can be clearly seen

Proverbs 23-24

If someone invites you for a meal,
be careful not to make a pig of yourself.

Don't waste your breath talking to foolish people.

Make sure your children receive a wholesome discipline.

Don't be a drunkard. Don't be a glutton. Avoid prostitution.

Brains are better than brawn.

If you make a big mistake and fall, get up and start again.

 Lord, please help me put into practice the ideas in these words

Psalm 89

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord. Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever.

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord. The heavens are yours, the world is yours.

Blessed the people who find joy in you, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face.

Thank you, Lord, for our beautiful world

Recording 

2 Thessalonians 2.1-17

Regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, don't be deceived by wild speculation

Stand firm in your faith and avoid speculation

Keep the traditions we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter

May God strengthen you in everything good you do or say

Jesus, stop people spreading false information

Recording 

John 17.4-21

I have glorified you on earth, and finished the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, it is time for you to glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world existed

Protect those you have given me. Protect them from Satan. Consecrate them in the truth

As you sent me into the world, so I am sending them into the world. May all my followers be united, so that the world will believe it was you who sent me"

Jesus, please protect our world from lies and deception. Please bless people who witness to the truth in difficult situations

Recording 

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

59: Recording

Our teaching on marriage and the family cannot fail to be inspired and transformed by this message of love and tenderness; otherwise, it becomes nothing more than the defence of a dry and lifeless doctrine. 

The mystery of the Christian family can be fully understood only in the light of the Father’s infinite love revealed in Christ, who gave himself up for our sake and who continues to dwell in our midst.

I now wish to turn my gaze to the living Christ, who is at the heart of so many love stories, and to invoke the fire of the Spirit upon all the world’s families.

We've left ourselves hopelessly exposed to China

65a: Recording 

Without repeating the entire theology of creation, we can ask what the great biblical narratives say about the relationship of human beings with the world.

 In the first creation account in the Book of Genesis, God’s plan includes creating humanity. After the creation of man and woman, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good” (Gen 1:31). The Bible teaches that every man and woman is created out of love and made in God’s image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26). 

This shows us the immense dignity of each person, “who is not just something, but someone. He/she is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself/herself and entering into communion with other persons”.[37]

34: Recording

If we attempt to put all things in a missionary key, this will also affect the way we communicate the message. 

In today’s world of instant communication and occasionally biased media coverage, the message we preach runs a greater risk of being distorted or reduced to some of its secondary aspects. In this way certain issues which are part of the Church’s moral teaching are taken out of the context which gives them their meaning. 

The biggest problem is when the message we preach then seems identified with those secondary aspects which, important as they are, do not in and of themselves convey the heart of Christ’s message. 

We need to be realistic and not assume that our audience understands the full background of what we are saying, or is capable of relating what we say to the very heart of the Gospel which gives it meaning, beauty and attractiveness.

As I enjoyed a lovely swim yesterday in the warm water of Coffee Beach, after my monthly visit to Castle Peak Immigration Centre .... as I looked up at the lovely blue sky .... I began thinking that the Good Lord had once again forgotten to check the weather forecast: heavy rain

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 8th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Heilongjiang

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 8th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Sierra Leone

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)

Islam File    The New Translation

"Same-sex marriage" file

Robert Mickens:

Pope is reforming Roman Curia by circumvention

Nigeria Says It Has Recovered $9.1 Billion In Stolen Money And Assets

Dominic

Proverbs 19-22

Where reflection is wanting, zeal is not good. People who go too quickly  miss their way.

Whoever is kind to the poor is kind to the Lord. The Lord will repay such kindness.

Children at play show what sort of people they will be in the future.

Better the corner of a loft to live in than a house shared with a scolding spouse.

Better to live in a desert land than with a scolding and irritable spouse.

Instruct children in goodness and justice and they will always be  good adults.

Lord, please help me put into practice the ideas in these words

Psalm 88

Lord my God, day and night I call to you for help. Please turn your ear to my cry.

For my soul is filled with evils.
My life is on the brink of the grave.

I am reckoned as one in the tomb.
I have reached the end of my strength.

Will your love be told in the grave? Will your wonders be known in the dark?

Fear surrounds me like a flood.

All my friends have deserted me.
My only companion is darkness.

Lord, please help people who are in despair

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

2 Thessalonians 1.1-5

From Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the Church in Thessalonika:
grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

We take special pride in you because of your perseverance,
despite persecutions and other troubles you have to face

People who refuse to accept the Good News are facing an eternal penalty: to be excluded forever from the presence of the Lord

So we pray that God will help you be the sort of people he wants you to be. In this way our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you

Jesus,  help me "keep going" when trials come

Recording 

 John 17.1-3

After saying many things to his disciples at the meal, Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed "Father, my time has come. Give eternal life to everyone you have entrusted to me

Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent

Recording 

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

58: Recording

64: Recording

Furthermore, although this Encyclical welcomes dialogue with everyone so that together we can seek paths of liberation, I would like from the outset to show how faith convictions can offer Christians, and other believers as well, ample motivation to care for nature and for the most vulnerable of their brothers and sisters.

If the simple fact of being human moves people to care for the environment of which they are a part, Christians in their turn “realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith”.[36] 

It is good for humanity and the world at large when we believers better recognize the ecological commitments which stem from our convictions.

35: Recording 

Pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposed. 

When we adopt a pastoral goal and a missionary style which would actually reach everyone without exception or exclusion, the message has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary. The message is simplified, while losing none of its depth and truth, and thus becomes all the more forceful and convincing.

Yesterday morning at a local McDonald's I was having a meeting with a social worker ....how to help the most helpless drug addicts. I mentioned one particular man I and others have been trying to help for many years. No sooner was his name on my lips than he walked through the door beside our table ....so we paid for a meal for him ....and had a most interesting chat!

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 7th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hebei

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 7th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Burkina Faso

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)