Passionate plea (in Spanish) by a Colombian inmate in a HK prison - "don't take drugs to HK!"

This little website does something that virtually no other website does: it gets people out of prison early! ...as well as stopping people going to prison!  

Yesterday at Hong Kong's High Court I once again had the joy of hearing a judge say as he sentenced an African for drug trafficking: "Because of your support for Fr John's campaign to warn people about drug trafficking to HK, I grant you a discount ..." (this time: 11 months) 

Pope: Christians must apologize to gay people for marginalizing them

Papal press conference touches a host of issues

Wisdom 1-2

Love virtue, honesty and simplicity, since God is found by people whose hearts are seeking goodness.

Selfishness, dishonesty and bad habits, these close the door of our hearts and prevent Wisdom from entering.

Bad people persecute good people, since the lives of good people are a reproach to bad people.

Lord, please help me to be a good person

Psalm 104 (a)

Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.

You make the clouds your chariot. You walk on the wings of the wind.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys. They give drink to all the animals of the field.

You make grass grow for the cattle and plants to provide food for people.

You give us wine to cheer our hearts and oil to make our faces shine.

You made the moon to mark the months. The sun knows the time for its setting.

Recording 

Psalm 104 (b)

How many are your works, O Lord. In wisdom you have made them all.

The earth is full of your riches
and the sea is swarming with life.

All things, great and small, look to you for food. You open your hand, they have their fill.

You send forth your spirit, and life is created. You renew the face of the earth.

I will sing to the Lord all my life.
May my thoughts be pleasing to him.

Bless the Lord, my soul!

Recording 

 Matthew 2.1-12

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, during the reign of King Herod.

Some months after Jesus' birth,
several  wise men from the East came to Jerusalem.

They said  "Where is the infant king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and we have come to offer him honor."

King Herod felt threatened by this news. He knew from the Scriptures  that the promised Saviour would be born in Bethlehem.

So Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem, pretending that he too would like to offer honor to the child.

The wise men headed for Bethlehem, guided by the star. The star filled them with joy. The star stopped over the place where the child was.

The wise men fell to their knees and honored the child. They offered him gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.

Then they returned to their own country by a different way,
having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.

Jesus, help me to honor you like the wise men

Recording 

Catholic Education Commission of Victoria warns parents against voting for the Greens

When I voted last week, I put Greens last in lower house (out of 4 choices) and did not tick them at all in the Senate (out of six choices). And because of its pro-Rainbow policy, I put ALP second last in lower house and did not tick it all in Senate

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

79: Recording

“When faced with difficult situations and wounded families, it is always necessary to recall this general principle: ‘Pastors must know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful discernment of situations’ (Familiaris Consortio, 84). 

The degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases, and factors may exist which limit the ability to make a decision. Therefore, while clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are to avoid judgements that do not take into account the complexity of various situations, and they are to be attentive, by necessity, to how people experience and endure distress because of their condition”.⁷⁹

‘Mentality of the Crusades’- Turkey and Pope Francis in row over Armenian genocide

83: Recording

The ultimate destiny of the universe is in the fullness of God, which has already been attained by the risen Christ, the measure of the maturity of all things.[53]

Here we can add yet another argument for rejecting every tyrannical and irresponsible domination of human beings over other creatures. The ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us. Rather, all creatures are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God, in that transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things. 

Human beings, endowed with intelligence and love, and drawn by the fullness of Christ, are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator.

55: Recording 

One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. 

The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! 

We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.

 The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.

When I left the High Court yesterday, where I attended the sentencing of a South African lady named Honey (... her real name ...), one of the first people I saw on the street was a man wearing a T-shirt with the words "Facts about Honey"! (He was making a bee-line for Admiralty MTR station)

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 28th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Beijing

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 28th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Lesotho

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)

Song of Songs 8

Set me like a seal on your heart,
like a seal on your arm.

For love is strong as death. Love is like a fire, a mighty flame.

No flood can quench love. No torrents can drown it.

Money cannot buy love.

Lord, please fill my heart with your love

My recording of this reading

Beautiful song by Carey Landry:
Like a Seal on Your Heart

And this one by The Beatles!
Can't Buy Me Love

Psalm 103

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.
All my being, bless his holy name. My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.

It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills. It is he who fills your life with good things, renewing your youth like an eagle's life.

The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so strong is his love for those who love him. As far as the East is from the West, so far does he remove our sins.

As a father has compassion on his children, the Lord has pity on all who love and honor him.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his angels, who heed the voice of his word. Give thanks to the Lord, everyone and everything. My soul, give thanks to the Lord!

Thank you, Lord, for your love and compassion

Recording 

1 Timothy 6.17-19

Warn people who are rich in this world's goods that they are not to look down on others. 

Tell them not to set their hopes on money, but on God who, out of his riches, gives us all we need for happiness

Tell rich people to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. 

In this way they will have a healthy account in the Bank of Heaven

Jesus, please help rich people do more to help poor people

Recording 

Matthew 1.18-25

This is how Jesus came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph.

But before they lived together,
Mary became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.

An angel  appeared to Joseph  in a dream and said

"Joseph, descendant of David,
do not be afraid to live with Mary as your wife".

Her baby has been conceived by the  power of the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son.

You must name him 'Jesus' ('God saves') because he will save his people from their sins."

Joseph  took Mary to his home as his wife. She gave birth to a son, Jesus.

Dear Jesus, Son of God, son of Mary, step-son of Joseph,
please help me understand how you are the Saviour of the world 

Recording 

   Darlene Starrs (Blogger from Canada) has decided to retire from V2catholic.

    Thank you Darlene for all your work over the past three years. 

    All of Darlene's articles can be accessed from list at very bottom of this 7-day menu: "Bloggers - past and present"

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

78: Recording

“The light of Christ enlightens every person (cf. Jn 1:9; Gaudium et Spes, 22). Seeing things with the eyes of Christ inspires the Church’s pastoral care for the faithful who are living together, or are only married civilly, or are divorced and remarried.

Following this divine pedagogy, the Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in an imperfect manner: she seeks the grace of conversion for them; she encourages them to do good, to take loving care of each other and to serve the community in which they live and work… 

When a couple in an irregular union attains a noteworthy stability through a public bond - and is characterized by deep affection, responsibility towards the children and the ability to overcome trials - this can be seen as an opportunity, where possible, to lead them to celebrate the sacrament of Matrimony”.⁷⁸

82: Recording

Yet it would also be mistaken to view other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination. When nature is viewed solely as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society. 

This vision of “might is right” has engendered immense inequality, injustice and acts of violence against the majority of humanity, since resources end up in the hands of the first comer or the most powerful: the winner takes all. 

Completely at odds with this model are the ideals of harmony, justice, fraternity and peace as proposed by Jesus. As he said of the powers of his own age: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mt 20:25-26).

54: Recording

In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. 

This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.

To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.

 The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. On the other hand,  lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

10 years ago 

2006-06-27 San Mao Hospital - baby Fong born 9 hours ago

After Yau Ma Tei Mass and visit to Christine in nursing home yesterday morning .....and before yesterday afternoon's monthly prayer for the sick at Yau Ma Tei...I was called to bedside of a 90 year old man dying in a hospital a long, long way from Yau Ma Tei ....pastoral worker at the hospital had spent more than an hour trying to find a priest, without success. Only way I could get to hospital and back in time for prayer service was to get a taxi (through the expensive Western tunnel ) at least one way, which I did. I then got the MTR (Metro) home. 

Cost going was $198 (I paid 200). Cost returning was $2.00.  Money not a problem - covered by donation received for attending last night's feast day Mass at YMT. The dear man went home to heaven before I reached the hospital, but his loving family appreciated a short gathering around his body still (no pun intended) in his bed at the hospital ...and I asked him to say one in Heaven please for the sick people at the prayer meeting!

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 27th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Tibet

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 27th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Uganda

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

These days much of my time is spent writing letters like the one referred to in this Court case summary ... also much time going to court to support inmates, as I did for the inmate in this particular case. One's presence in court gives encouragement to the inmate and seems to bring a blessing on the whole show

Welcome the marginalised - Pope invites refugees up on stage

Pope to genocide memorial on Armenia trip which begins today

Very sad story of a South African woman in prison in HK for drug trafficking. May her moving letter help others avoid the same fate:
      

c.f. readings for  Birthday of John the Baptist

Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah lived in a village not far from Jerusalem. Jeremiah's father was a priest.

God said to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. I have appointed you as prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah said to God: "Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am so young."

God then touched Jeremiah's mouth and said: "I now put my words into your mouth. Go and tell the people everything I ask you to speak.

Do not be dismayed by anyone. I am making you strong.

You must confront Judah's kings, priests and people. They will oppose you, but will not overcome you, for I am with you."

Lord, please give special courage
to people who speak your message for the world

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  

1 Peter 1.8-11

Jesus, foretold by prophets like John the Baptist, we praise you Lord!

Recording  

Luke 1.5-25

When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth who were really good people, but they were childless

Once when they went to the Temple in Jerusalem, Zechariah entered the inner sanctuary to burn incense, while all the people prayed outside

An angel appeared and said "Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife will have a son and you must name him John. He will prepare the way of the Lord"

Not long after this, Elizabeth conceived, and for 5 months she kept to herself, thanking God for taking away her humiliation at not being able to have a baby

Jesus, please help childless couples to have a baby

Recording  

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

75: Recording

In the Church’s Latin tradition, the ministers of the sacrament of marriage are the man and the woman who marry;⁷⁰ by manifesting their consent and expressing it physically, they receive a great gift. Their consent and their bodily union are the divinely appointed means whereby they become “one flesh”.

 By their baptismal consecration, they were enabled to join in marriage as the Lord’s ministers and thus to respond to God’s call. Hence, when two non- Christian spouses receive baptism, they need not renew their marriage vows; they need simply not reject them, since by the reception of baptism their union automatically becomes sacramental. 

Canon Law also recognizes the validity of certain unions celebrated without the presence of an ordained minister.⁷¹

The natural order has been so imbued with the redemptive grace of Jesus that “a valid matrimonial contract cannot exist between the baptized without it being by that fact a sacrament”.⁷²

 The Church can require that the wedding be celebrated publicly, with the presence of witnesses and other conditions that have varied over the course of time, but this does not detract from the fact that the couple who marry are the ministers of the sacrament. Nor does it affect the centrality of the consent given by the man and the woman, which of itself establishes the sacramental bond.

 This having been said, there is a need for further reflection on God’s action in the marriage rite; this is clearly manifested in the Oriental Churches through the importance of the blessing that the couple receive as a sign of the gift of the Spirit.

Colombia government and Farc rebels announce ceasefire deal
This is good news. DG! May lead to a reduction in cocaine production.
And ...Pope has said that if such a deal is signed, he will visit Colombia.
But ...article doesn't mention elephant in room: another group of rebels who are staying out of the agreement. I'll check facts with a group of about a dozen Colombians I'm due to see today for weekly prayer service at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre. With the help of a translator, I'm filling in for Spanish-speaking chaplain away from HK this month  

79: Recording 

In this universe, shaped by open and intercommunicating systems, we can discern countless forms of relationship and participation. 

This leads us to think of the whole as open to God’s transcendence, within which it develops. 

Faith allows us to interpret the meaning and the mysterious beauty of what is unfolding. 

We are free to apply our intelligence towards things evolving positively, or towards adding new ills, new causes of suffering and real setbacks.

 This is what makes for the excitement and drama of human history, in which freedom, growth, salvation and love can blossom, or lead towards decadence and mutual destruction. 

The work of the Church seeks not only to remind everyone of the duty to care for nature, but at the same time “she must above all protect mankind from self-destruction”.[47]

51: Recording

I exhort (everyone) to an “ever watchful scrutiny of the signs of the times”. This is in fact a grave responsibility, since certain present realities, unless effectively dealt with, are capable of setting off processes of dehumanization which would then be hard to reverse. 

We need to distinguish clearly what might be a fruit of the kingdom from what runs counter to God’s plan.

In this Exhortation I wish to consider certain factors which can restrain or weaken the impulse of missionary renewal in the Church, either because they threaten the life and dignity of God’s people or because they affect those who are directly involved in the Church’s institutions and in her work of evangelization.

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, 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 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 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

UK European Union vote - a disturbing article by George Monbiot:

Leave Well Alone

"Those who want to leave the EU refuse to make the most crushing argument against it. Here’s why"

Yesterday morning at HK's Catholic Cathedral, at the monthly clergy retreat, Cardinal John Tong, two bishops and 30 other priests and deacons humbly listened to an old priest from Australia give a 20 minute talk in very limited Cantonese on the topic of "Following Pope Francis in concern for the poor"

Letter from a Nigerian inmate in a Hong Kong prison - warning Africans about the danger of drug trafficking to HK

Song of Songs 5

The bride:
I sleep, but my heart is awake. I hear my beloved knocking.

I open my door, but he is gone. I search for him, but cannot find him.

Lord, please help me search for you until I find you

My recording of this reading

Psalm 101

My song is of mercy and justice.
I sing to you, O Lord.

I will try to walk with blameless heart. I will try to give my attention to what is good, not what is bad.

People who slander others, people of proud looks, these will not be my friends.

People who are good and do good, these will be my friends.

Dear Lord, please help me to avoid bad company

Recording

1 Timothy 6.3-10

Some people, because of ignorance and pride, have a craze for questioning and arguing about everything

Such a craze breeds jealousy and mistrust and unending disputes

People who have a craving to be wealthy are a prey to temptation.
They get trapped into all sorts of foolish and dangerous schemes which ruin their lives

The love of money is the root of all evils. It can cause people to leave the faith

Jesus, help me be content with a simple lifestyle

Recording

John 21.15-17

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Peter "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter answered "Yes Lord, you know I love you". Jesus said to him "Feed my lambs"

A second time Jesus asked him "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He replied "Yes Lord, you know I love you". Jesus said to him "Look after my sheep"

Then he asked a third time "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" An unhappy Peter replied "Lord, you know everything. You know I love you".  Jesus said "Feed my sheep"

Jesus, you know I love you. Increase my love 

Recording

c.f. comment on this story

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

74: Recording  

Sexual union, lovingly experienced and sanctified by the sacrament, is in turn a path of growth in the life of grace for the couple. It is the “nuptial mystery”.⁶⁹ The meaning and value of their physical union is expressed in the words of consent, in which they accepted and offered themselves each to the other, in order to share their lives completely. Those words give meaning to the sexual relationship and free it from ambiguity.

More generally, the common life of husband and wife, the entire network of relations that they build with their children and the world around them, will be steeped in and strengthened by the grace of the sacrament. For the sacrament of marriage flows from the incarnation and the paschal mystery, whereby God showed the fullness of his love for humanity by becoming one with us. 

Neither of the spouses will be alone in facing whatever challenges may come their way. Both are called to respond to God’s gift with commitment, creativity, perseverance and daily effort. They can always invoke the assistance of the Holy Spirit who consecrated their union, so that his grace may be felt in every new situation that they encounter.

78: Recording 

At the same time, Judaeo-Christian thought demythologized nature. While continuing to admire its grandeur and immensity, it no longer saw nature as divine.

In doing so, it emphasizes all the more our human responsibility for nature.

This rediscovery of nature can never be at the cost of the freedom and responsibility of human beings who, as part of the world, have the duty to cultivate their abilities in order to protect it and develop its potential.

If we acknowledge the value and the fragility of nature and, at the same time, our God-given abilities, we can finally leave behind the modern myth of unlimited material progress.

A fragile world, entrusted by God to human care, challenges us to devise intelligent ways of directing, developing and limiting our power.

49b: Recording

 If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life.

 More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat”

10 years ago today

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Australian Consulate-General in Wan Chai to vote for the July 2 General Election.
One thing that made me smile was to see that the Sex Party, which has been so hostile to Christianity, drew last place out of more than a dozen parties on the Senate ballot paper (for Victoria, where I'm registered).

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 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 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)

No mention of "safe schools" or the dangers of the rainbow agenda ... but plenty of pro-LGBT material and comments - at Eureka Street, a Catholic (?) website which I used to check every day, but now rarely check. Last night I looked to see how it was covering the approaching General Election in Australia. It didn't fail to disappoint me.

Looks like mules who are given drugs in Dubai are going not only to Hong Kong:

South African drug mule arrested on arrival from Dubai

Yesterday I went to the High Court in support of an African inmate due to be sentenced for drug trafficking. Not for the first time I heard a judge not very happy with the performance of HK Customs in accessing and using information which inmates are willing to provide. Better accessing and use would help catch the "Big Fish", reduce the spread of drugs in the community ... and help such inmates qualify for mitigation

Chris McDonnell   (Wed UK blogger)

Icons, East and West

We have got into the habit of being loose with language, careless of original usage, extravagant in our claims for words whose history we forget.

Song of Songs 3-4

The bride:
On my bed at night, I sought him whom my heart loves.

The groom:
How beautiful you are, my love.
You are wholly beautiful, my love, and without blemish.

Lord, please help me understand how much you love me

Psalm 100

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy.

Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him.
We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Go within his gates, giving thanks. Enter his temple with songs of praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.

Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age.

Dear Lord, please help us to serve you with gladness

Recording 

1 Timothy 5.19-23

Never accept an accusation brought against a church elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. If an elder is at fault, reprimand him publicly as a warning to others

Be fair to everyone and never be influenced by favoritism

As regards your frequent illnesses, I suggest you give up drinking only water, and have a little wine for the sake of your digestion

Jesus, help church workers to be fair and impartial

Recording 

John 20.11-18

Peter and John went home. Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb, crying. When she looked inside the tomb, she saw two angels in white. She also saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognize him

Jesus said "Woman, why are you crying?". Mary thought he was the gardener so she said to him "If you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him"

Jesus said "Mary" and she recognized him. Jesus then said "I will ascend to my Father"

Mary went and told the disciples all she had seen and heard

Jesus, please bless people who are crying at funerals  today. May awareness of your presence bring them peace and strength for the days ahead

Recording 

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

73: Recording

“Mutual self-giving in the sacrament of matrimony is grounded in the grace of baptism, which establishes the foundational covenant of every person with Christ in the Church.

In accepting each other, and with Christ’s grace, the engaged couple promise each other total self-giving, faithfulness and openness to new life. The couple recognizes these elements as constitutive of marriage, gifts offered to them by God, and take seriously their mutual commitment, in God’s name and in the presence of the Church. 

Faith thus makes it possible for them to assume the goods of marriage as commitments that can be better kept through the help of the grace of the sacrament… Consequently, the Church looks to married couples as the heart of the entire family, which, in turn, looks to Jesus”.⁶⁵

The sacrament is not a “thing” or a “power”, for in it Christ himself “now encounters Christian spouses… He dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another’s burdens”.⁶⁶

Christian marriage is a sign of how much Christ loved his Church in the covenant sealed on the cross, yet it also makes that love present in the communion of the spouses. By becoming one flesh, they embody the espousal of our human nature by the Son of God. 

That is why “in the joys of their love and family life, he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb”.⁶⁷ Even though the analogy between the human couple of husband and wife, and that of Christ and his Church, is “imperfect”,⁶⁸ it inspires us to beg the Lord to bestow on every married couple an outpouring of his divine love.

77: Recording 

“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Ps 33:6). This tells us that the world came about as the result of a decision, not from chaos or chance, and this exalts it all the more. 

The creating word expresses a free choice. The universe did not emerge as the result of arbitrary omnipotence, a show of force or a desire for self-assertion. Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things:  “For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it” (Wis 11:24).

Every creature is thus the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world. 

Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of his love, and in its few seconds of existence, God enfolds it with his affection. Saint Basil the Great described the Creator as “goodness without measure”,[44] while Dante Alighieri spoke of “the love which moves the sun and the stars”.[45] Consequently, we can ascend from created things “to the greatness of God and to his loving mercy”.[46]

49: Recording

  Let us go forth, then, let us go forth to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ. 

Here I repeat for the entire Church what I have often said to the priests and laity of Buenos Aires: I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.

 I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.

10 years ago today

Christine for whom I've been asking prayers (... cancer stage 4 ...) is now back in her nursing home after another time of treatment in a local hospital. After I visited her yesterday I noticed a very elderly female resident of the nursing home, using a walking frame, standing on the footpath near the main entrance of the nursing home. At first I thought she might be waiting for someone ...or taking a little exercise ....then I saw it ...in her right hand: a cigarette

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 22nd of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Zhejiang

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 22nd of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Rwanda

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)