Hope this is not true:

Indonesia says Duterte has given it permission to execute Filipina inmate

Due for release September 16:
Snowden

"Will show living conditions of HK asylum seekers who sheltered Snowden in HK  - report

Tomorrow, Sep 14, 11am Rome time:

The Opening Plenary Session of the thirty sixth Oblate General Chapter will be telecast LIVE via streaming from Rome
- at this link

Chris McDonnell (UK)

Fifteen decades on

Fifteen haikus after 9/11

Matthew 25.31-46 (b)

Then those good people on my right will say "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?

When did we see you thirsty and give you a drink?

When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, naked and clothe you, sick or in prison, and visit you?"

I will answer "Each time you helped and cared for a poor person, you helped and cared for me".

Recording   

Matthew 25.31-46 (c)

Then I will say to those on my left "Go away from me and join Satan and his angels in hell.

For I was hungry, and you never gave me food.

I was thirsty, and you never gave me anything to drink.

I was a stranger, and you never made me welcome, naked, and you never clothed me, sick and in prison, and you never visited me".

Recording  

Matthew 25.31-46 (d)

Those on my left will then ask "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?"

I will answer "Each time you refused to help and care for a poor person, you refused to help and care for me".

Those on the left will then go to eternal punishment. Those on the right will go to eternal life.

Jesus, please help me do more for poor people. Make me understand that when I help a poor person, I help you

Recording   

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

158: Recording

“Many people who are unmarried are not only devoted to their own family but often render great service in their group of friends, in the Church community and in their professional lives. Sometimes their presence and contributions are overlooked, causing in them a sense of isolation. 

Many put their talents at the service of the Christian community through charity and volunteer work. Others remain unmarried because they consecrate their lives to the love of Christ and neighbour. Their dedication greatly enriches the family, the Church and society”.

150: Recording

Given the interrelationship between living space and human behaviour, those who design buildings, neighbourhoods, public spaces and cities, ought to draw on the various disciplines which help us to understand people’s thought processes, symbolic language and ways of acting. 

It is not enough to seek the beauty of design. More precious still is the service we offer to another kind of beauty: people’s quality of life, their adaptation to the environment, encounter and mutual assistance.

Here too, we see how important it is that urban planning always take into consideration the views of those who will live in these areas.

156: Recording 

Some people think they can be good preachers because they know what ought to be said, but they pay no attention to how it should be said, that is, the concrete way of constructing a sermon. 

They complain when people do not listen to or appreciate them, but perhaps they have never taken the trouble to find the proper way of presenting their message.

 Let us remember that “the obvious importance of the content of evangelization must not overshadow the importance of its ways and means”. Concern for the way we preach is likewise a profoundly spiritual concern. It entails responding to the love of God by putting all our talents and creativity at the service of the mission which he has given us; at the same time, it shows a fine, active love of neighbour by refusing to offer others a product of poor quality. 

In the Bible, for example, we can find advice on how to prepare a homily so as to best to reach people: “Speak concisely, say much in few words” (Sir 32:8).

At Hei Ling Chau Correctional Institution yesterday, as usual I began by visiting inmates in the isolation section (near the main gate). One inmate was reading a newspaper - Sunday's Oriental Daily - he just looked up at me, looked back at the paper, looked back at me ....then we both had a good laugh.

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 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 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)

Front page of Oriental Daily
- click these images for full size
   

On-line copy of yesterday's Chinese report in HK's largest-selling daily paper Oriental Daily about this website's anti-drug campaign:
Video (...great shots of my home ...including washing on the line!).   Editorial
Report 1 - overall description of the campaign.
Report 2 - re recovery after prayer by mother of pop star Dicky Cheung - and re weekly gathering for the poor at Yau Ma Tei.
Report 3 - re letter writing campaign of African inmates to warn others not to bring drugs to HK

God bless OD for this extensive report. Please God it will do a lot of good to get support from the government for the anti-drug campaign. Whole report also here

Jeremiah 18

The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the house of the potter.

At the potter's house, Jeremiah watched the potter working.
Sometimes a vessel he was making wasn't shaped properly.

So the potter would take the clay and start again and shape the clay into a new vessel.

Then the Lord told Jeremiah: "The House of Israel is clay, I am  the potter. I  keep on trying to form Israel into a holy nation."

Lord, you are the potter, we are the clay - the work of your hands. Please mould us into what you want us to become.

My recording of this reading

Psalm 34

I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips.

In the Lord my soul shall make its boast, the humble shall hear and be glad.

Glorify the Lord with me, together let us praise his name. I sought the Lord and he answered me. From all my terrors he set me free.

The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere the Lord, to rescue them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. They are happy who seek refuge in him.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted. Those whose spirits are crushed he will save.

Lord, by our Bible reading and prayer, may we taste and see your goodness each day

Recording 

1 John 2.9-16

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the dark

Do not love the ungodly values of this world generated by the sensual body, the lustful eye
and a pride in possessions

Such things do not come from God

Jesus, please help me avoid worldly values

Recording 

Today's Gospel:

Matthew 24.9-44

Jesus spoke to his disciples about the future:

"On account of my name you will be hated, tortured and killed.
But the Good News of the kingdom will spread to every nation before the end of the world.

At the end of the world, the sun and moon will stop shining. Stars will fall from the sky.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all peoples will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and glory.

He will send his angels with a loud trumpet to gather good people from all parts of the earth.

Therefore you should live a good life, and you will have nothing to fear on your last day."

Jesus, please help me be a good person 

Recording 

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

157: Recording

All the same, the rejection of distortions of sexuality and eroticism should never lead us to a disparagement or neglect of sexuality and eros in themselves. 

The ideal of marriage cannot be seen purely as generous donation and self-sacrifice, where each spouse renounces all personal needs and seeks only the other’s good without concern for personal satisfaction.

We need to remember that authentic love also needs to be able to receive the other, to accept one’s own vulnerability and needs, and to welcome with sincere and joyful gratitude the physical expressions of love found in a caress, an embrace, a kiss and sexual union. 

Benedict XVI stated this very clearly: “Should man aspire to be pure spirit and to reject the flesh as pertaining to his animal nature alone, then spirit and body would both lose their dignity”.

For this reason, “man cannot live by oblative, descending love alone. He cannot always give, he must also receive. Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift”.

Still, we must never forget that our human equilibrium is fragile; there is a part of us that resists real human growth, and any moment it can unleash the most primitive and selfish tendencies.

149: Recording

The extreme poverty experienced in areas lacking harmony, open spaces or potential for integration, can lead to incidents of brutality and to exploitation by criminal organizations.

In the unstable neighbourhoods of mega-cities, the daily experience of overcrowding and social anonymity can create a sense of uprootedness which spawns antisocial behaviour and violence. 

Nonetheless, I wish to insist that love always proves more powerful.

Many people in these conditions are able to weave bonds of belonging and togetherness which convert overcrowding into an experience of community in which the walls of the ego are torn down and the barriers of selfishness overcome. This experience of a communitarian salvation often generates creative ideas for the improvement of a building or a neighbourhood.[117]

155: Recording

In this effort we may (need to think of) some ordinary human experience such as a joyful reunion, a moment of disappointment, the fear of being alone, compassion at the sufferings of others, uncertainty about the future, concern for a loved one, and so forth.

 But we need to develop a broad and profound sensitivity to what really affects other people’s lives. Let us also keep in mind that we should never respond to questions that nobody asks.

 Nor is it fitting to talk about the latest news in order to awaken people’s interest; we have television programs for that. It is possible, however, to start with some fact or story so that God’s word can forcefully resound in its call to conversion, worship, commitment to fraternity and service, and so forth. 

Yet there will always be some who readily listen to a preacher’s commentaries on current affairs, while not letting themselves be challenged. 

10 years ago today

Last night at the gathering for the poor at St Paul's Yau Ma Tei, some volunteers were talking about the front page of yesterday's Oriental Daily. Then someone added "and did you see the editorial on page 23?" And I said "What? Was there more?" I hadn't seen it. God bless reporters and editors at Oriental Daily!

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

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

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

Can Mother Teresa help Clinton
on adoption v. abortion again?

Today's Gospel: "The Prodigal Son"

c.f. Gospel for "Sunday 24"

Luke 15.11-24 (a)

Jesus told this story: a man had two sons. The younger said to his father "Father, give me the share of the estate that would come to me"

So the father divided his property between them. A few days later, the younger son left for a distant land where he wasted his money in wild living

When he had used all his money, that country had a severe famine, and he began to feel the pinch, so he got a job on a farm  feeding  pigs. He would willingly have eaten the pigs' food, but no one offered him anything

Recording

Luke 15.11-24 (b)

Then he came to his senses and said "How many of my father's paid servants have more food than they want, and I am dying of hunger 

I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be
called your son. Treat me as one of your paid servants." 

So he left the place and went back to his father

Recording  

Luke 15.11-24 (c)

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. 

Then the son said "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son"

Recording   

Luke 15.11-24 (d)

But the father said to his servants "Quick! Bring out the best robe
and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it. We are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and is found."

Jesus, please help me understand how much you love me, no matter what mistakes I make

Recording   

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

156: Recording

Every form of sexual submission must be clearly rejected.

This includes all improper interpretations of the passage in the Letter to the Ephesians where Paul tells women to “be subject to your husbands” (Eph 5:22). This passage mirrors the cultural categories of the time, but our concern is not with its cultural matrix but with the revealed message that it conveys.

As Saint John Paul II wisely observed: “Love excludes every kind of subjection whereby the wife might become a servant or a slave of the husband… The community or unity which they should establish through marriage is constituted by a reciprocal donation of self, which is also a mutual subjection”.

Hence Paul goes on to say that “husbands should love their wives as their own bodies” (Eph 5:28).

The biblical text is actually concerned with encouraging everyone to overcome a complacent individualism and to be constantly mindful of others: “Be subject to one another” (Eph 5:21). 

In marriage, this reciprocal “submission” takes on a special meaning, and is seen as a freely chosen mutual belonging marked by fidelity, respect and care. Sexuality is inseparably at the service of this conjugal friendship, for it is meant to aid the fulfilment of the other.

 Photos of life at the Vatican - great photos!

When the saint (Mother Teresa) came marching in ... to Bourke (inland Australia)

148: Recording

An admirable creativity and generosity is shown by persons and groups who respond to environmental limitations by alleviating the adverse effects of their surroundings and learning to orient their lives amid disorder and uncertainty. 

For example, in some places, where the façades of buildings are derelict, people show great care for the interior of their homes, or find contentment in the kindness and friendliness of others. A wholesome social life can light up a seemingly undesirable environment. At times a commendable human ecology is practised by the poor despite numerous hardships. 

The feeling of asphyxiation brought on by densely populated residential areas is countered if close and warm relationships develop, if communities are created, if the limitations of the environment are compensated for in the interior of each person who feels held within a network of solidarity and belonging. In this way, any place can turn from being a hell on earth into the setting for a dignified life.

George Monbiot

Here They Come Again
Corporate lobbyists and their captive governments try to wear down our resistance with one fake trade treaty after another.

154b: Recording

The preacher needs to be able to link the message of a biblical text to a human situation, to an experience which cries out for the light of God’s word. This interest has nothing to do with shrewdness or calculation; it is profoundly religious and pastoral. Fundamentally it is a “spiritual sensitivity for reading God’s message in events”, and this is much more than simply finding something interesting to say. 

What we are looking for is “what the Lord has to say in this or that particular circumstance”. Preparation for preaching thus becomes an exercise in evangelical discernment, wherein we strive to recognize – in the light of the Spirit – “a call which God causes to resound in the historical situation itself. In this situation, and also through it, God calls the believer”

10 years ago
 today

2006-09-11 Delivery of 515 tins of baby milk powder!

At the request of welfare staff at Tai Lam Women's Centre ...where the hospital section has a number of mothers with babies ...I bought a large supply of Pampers (size L) yesterday. This sure gave people on the street something to think about as I walked home from the shop.

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

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

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:
On this 11th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hunan

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

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, please bless all Muslims in my own country 

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

Aussie bishops get ahead of the curve on the 'Grayby Boom'
As the elderly population in many societies around the world explodes, the Catholic bishops of Australia are insisting that the challenges aren't merely economic and related to production, but are ultimately about the human dignity of aging persons.

Confronting the brutal beauty of Mother Teresa's challenge

It can be brutal to read Mother Teresa, because if you do, your life has to change.

Jeremiah 16-17

The Lord will bring back Israel's exiles, back to the land he gave to our ancestors.

Lord, my strength, my stronghold, all the nations will come to you and acknowledge that you alone are God in all the earth.

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

My recording of this reading

Psalm 33

Ring out your joy to the Lord, all good people, for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

For the Lord loves justice and right; he fills the earth with his love.

By his word the heavens were made, he spoke and the universe came into being.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord, he is the source of all true joy.

May your love be upon us, O Lord, since we place all our trust in you.

Lord, we trust in your precious love

Recording  

1 John 2.3-6

We can be sure we know God
only by keeping his commandments

Anyone who says "I know him"
and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth

We can be sure we are in God
only if we are living the same kind of life as Christ lived

Jesus, please help me live like you, live for you

Recording   

Matthew 23.1-36

Jesus told the people to respect their religious leaders, but he condemned the religious leaders
for not practising what they preached, for doing things just to attract attention, for craving front seats and places of honor, for being concerned only with externals

Jesus called the religious leaders
"hypocrites", "blind guides",
"tombs that look good on the outside but are full of dead bones".

Recording  

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

155: Recording

Saint John Paul II very subtly warned that a couple can be “threatened by insatiability”. 

In other words, while called to an increasingly profound union, they can risk effacing their differences and the rightful distance between the two. For each possesses his or her own proper and inalienable dignity.

When reciprocal belonging turns into domination, “the structure of communion in interpersonal relations is essentially changed”.

It is part of the mentality of domination that those who dominate end up negating their own dignity.

Ultimately, they no longer “identify themselves subjectively with their own body”,  because they take away its deepest meaning. They end up using sex as a form of escapism and renounce the beauty of conjugal union.

147: Recording 

Authentic development includes efforts to bring about an integral improvement in the quality of human life, and this entails considering the setting in which people live their lives. 

These settings influence the way we think, feel and act. In our rooms, our homes, our workplaces and neighbourhoods, we use our environment as a way of expressing our identity. 

We make every effort to adapt to our environment, but when it is disorderly, chaotic or saturated with noise and ugliness, such over stimulation makes it difficult to find ourselves integrated and happy.

154a: Recording

The preacher also needs to keep his ear to the people and to discover what it is that the faithful need to hear. A preacher has to contemplate the word, but he also has to contemplate his people. 

In this way he learns “of the aspirations, of riches and limitations, of ways of praying, of loving, of looking at life and the world, which distinguish this or that human gathering,” while paying attention “to actual people, to using their language, their signs and symbols, to answering the questions they ask”.

10 years ago
 on this day

Yesterday I was at the High Court from 10am to 4pm ...for two appeal hearings and a meeting. Both appeal hearings had the same two judges ...and in the afternoon case they kindly invited me to speak for a while about the anti-drug campaign. After the second case I attended a one hour meeting at the HC for a media interview. Then I walked to Central (about 15 mins) to collect expired Catholic newspapers for the prisons. And who did I see in Central? One of the kind judges! Someone Upstairs has a keen sense of humour!
What would be the mathematical chance of such a meeting, in a city of 7 million people?

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

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

And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month:
On this 10th of the month,  Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hubei

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

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

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)

Pope to close Holy Year with events for prisoners, the homeless

Even in Muslim Pakistan, there's rejoicing over Mother Teresa

Edward Snowden's Guardian Angels (I know all of them!)

  

Hong Kong refugees helped hide Edward Snowden after NSA leak

Yesterday I spent 8 hours at Tai Lam Women's Detention Centre.
Bad news: drug mules from Venezuela increasing (.. country collapsing ...people poor ... vulnerable to drug lords)

Good news: 
one of the group of some 20 people arranged/tricked/co-erced by Nigerian drug gang at Dubai airport has been acquitted! DG!

Jeremiah 15

Alas, my mother, for you gave me birth to be a man of strife and dissension for everyone.

I neither lend nor borrow, yet everyone curses me. Lord, remember how I suffer insult for your sake.

When I heard your word, I devoured it. Your word was my delight and the joy of my heart
for you called me to speak your word.

Lord, please increase my love for your word, my love for the Bible

My recording of this reading

Psalm 32

Happy is the person whose sin is forgiven.

For a while I refused to ask for forgiveness, and my body paid the penalty.

But then I said "Lord, forgive me" and my spirit and body revived.

Lord, when I do wrong, please give me the grace to say sorry and ask forgiveness

Recording  

1 John 1.5-9

God is light. There is no darkness in him. 

If we say we are in union with God while we are living in darkness, we are lying, because we are not living the truth

If we say we have no sin in us,
we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth

But if we acknowledge our sins,
God will forgive us and purify us from everything that is wrong

Jesus, forgive my sins. Please help me avoid sin

Recording

Matthew 22.34-40

In Jerusalem a religious leader asked Jesus "Which is the most important commandment?"

Jesus replied "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart.
And you must care as much about others as you care about yourself.

These are the two most important commandments. All other commandments depend on these two."

Jesus, please help me love you with all my heart and care for others as much as I care about myself

Recording  

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

154: Recording

We also know that, within marriage itself, sex can become a source of suffering and manipulation. 

Hence it must be clearly reaffirmed that “a conjugal act imposed on one’s spouse without regard to his or her condition, or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife”.

The acts proper to the sexual union of husband and wife correspond to the nature of sexuality as willed by God when they take place in “a manner which is truly human”.

Saint Paul insists: “Let no one transgress and wrong his brother or sister in this matter” (1 Th 4:6). Even though Paul was writing in the context of a patriarchal culture in which women were considered completely subordinate to men, he nonetheless taught that sex must involve communication between the spouses: he brings up the possibility of postponing sexual relations for a period, but “by agreement” (1 Cor 7:5).

146: Recording

In this sense, it is essential to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. They are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting their land are proposed.

For them, land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values.

When they remain on their land, they themselves care for it best. Nevertheless, in various parts of the world, pressure is being put on them to abandon their homelands to make room for agricultural or mining projects which are undertaken without regard for the degradation of nature and culture.

153b: Recording

It can also happen that we look for excuses to water down the clear meaning of the text. Or we can wonder if God is demanding too much of us, asking for a decision which we are not yet prepared to make.

 This leads many people to stop taking pleasure in the encounter with God’s word; but this would mean forgetting that no one is more patient than God our Father, that no one is more understanding and willing to wait. He always invites us to take a step forward, but does not demand a full response if we are not yet ready. He simply asks that we sincerely look at our life and present ourselves honestly before him, and that we be willing to continue to grow, asking from him what we ourselves cannot as yet achieve.

Many Spanish-speaking inmates from South America now at Tai Lam Women's Centre where I spent most of yesterday ....and I don't speak Spanish....so, one of the first things I did on getting home last night was to send an S.O.S. to a Spanish-speaking Dominican prison chaplain to please join me for my next visit to Tai Lam!

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 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, 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

My email sent yesterday morning to Director of Immigration on behalf of some very special asylum seekers I met two days ago at Castle Peak Immigration Centre. Here

This website's anti-drug campaign now includes a "European Front" - with yet another dedicated website:

www.europehk.com 
 
(...what a good name ...it was just sitting there ... not yet taken...)

I know almost everyone in this story, except Edward Snowden!

Fugitive whistleblower Snowden stayed in safehouses in Tai Kok Tsui, Sham Shui Po and K-Town

For Feast of Birthday of Mary

Micah 5.1-4

My recording of this reading

Psalm 12

Recording

Romans 8.28-30

We know that by turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those he has called according to his purpose.

They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers and sisters. 

He called those he intended for this; those he called, he justified, and with those he justified, he shared his glory.

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.

 Recording 

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

153: Recording

On the basis of this positive vision of sexuality, we can approach the entire subject with a healthy realism.

It is, after all, a fact that sex often becomes depersonalized and unhealthy; as a result, “it becomes the occasion and instrument for self-assertion and the selfish satisfaction of personal desires and instincts”.

In our own day, sexuality risks being poisoned by the mentality of “use and discard”. The body of the other is often viewed as an object to be used as long as it offers satisfaction, and rejected once it is no longer appealing.

Can we really ignore or overlook the continuing forms of domination, arrogance, abuse, sexual perversion and violence that are the product of a warped understanding of sexuality? 

Or the fact that the dignity of others and our human vocation to love thus end up being less important than an obscure need to “find oneself”?

145: Recording 

Many intensive forms of environmental exploitation and degradation not only exhaust the resources which provide local communities with their livelihood, but also undo the social structures which, for a long time, shaped cultural identity and their sense of the meaning of life and community. 

The disappearance of a culture can be just as serious, or even more serious, than the disappearance of a species of plant or animal.

The imposition of a dominant lifestyle linked to a single form of production can be just as harmful as the altering of ecosystems

153a: Recording

In the presence of God, during a recollected reading of the text, it is good to ask, for example: “Lord, what does this text say to me? What is it about my life that you want to change by this text? What troubles me about this text? Why am I not interested in this? Or perhaps: What do I find pleasant in this text? What is it about this word that moves me? What attracts me? Why does it attract me?” 

When we make an effort to listen to the Lord, temptations usually arise. One of them is simply to feel troubled or burdened, and to turn away. Another common temptation is to think about what the text means for other people, and so avoid applying it to our own life. 

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 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-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)

Welcome to your post-same-sex marriage world
Meet Evan. According to the current edition of Time Magazine, he and his baby are the new frontier in the brave new world same-sex marriage is creating for us. Biologically, Evan is a woman but we are not allowed to call her this.

Gender change for 4 year olds a package deal with gender-neutral marriage

Petition from a reader in Australia
- re freedom for "religious" schools to employ staff etc. I have signed

Chris McDonnell   (UK blogger)

When ice flows melt

Jeremiah 12-14

Lord, you are in our midst, we are called by your name. Please give us help and strength in this time of trouble.

Wherever I go I see sadness and despair. Our land has been invaded by the foreign soldier.

If I go into the countryside, I see men killed by the sword.

If I go into the city, I see people sick with hunger.

O God, you are our hope. For your name's sake, please forgive us and help us.

Lord, please help people whose countries are under occupation by foreign soldiers

Psalm 31

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in distress. My eyes are full of tears, my heart full of sorrow.

Everyone makes fun of me. My friends don't want to know me.
Save me, Lord, from this mess.

I praise you Lord, for you protect those who trust you. You keep them safe from slander and lies.

Be strong, let your heart take courage, all you who  trust in the Lord

I trust in you, Lord. My life is in your hands

Recording 

1 John 1-2

Something which has existed since the beginning, that we heard, that we saw with our own eyes, that we touched with our hands: the Word, who is life
- this is our subject

That life was made visible. We saw it, and we are giving our testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us

Jesus, Word-made-flesh, you are the Way, the Truth and the Life

Recording 

Matthew 21.12-16

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he went to the Temple. In the Temple there were money changers, and people selling pigeons.

Jesus tipped over their tables and drove them out of the Temple. He said to them "My house is a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a place for robbery".

Blind and lame people came to Jesus in the Temple. He healed them all.

Then he went out of the city to the village of Bethany and spent the night there.

Jesus, please protect  all places of prayer from corruption

Recording 

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

152: Recording

In no way, then, can we consider the erotic dimension of love simply as a permissible evil or a burden to be tolerated for the good of the family. 

Rather, it must be seen as a gift from God that enriches the relationship of the spouses.

As a passion sublimated by a love respectful of the dignity of the other, it becomes a “pure, unadulterated affirmation” revealing the marvels of which the human heart is capable. 

In this way, even momentarily, we can feel that “life has turned out good and happy”.154

---------

(The more I read this document, the more I feel it would have been better if written by married people. I also feel that many of its sections were written by a committee locked in a monastery, not by the Pope himself)

Hong Kong voters have tossed a localist time-bomb into Beijing’s court – and there’s no way to disable it

144: Recording 

A consumerist vision of human beings, encouraged by the mechanisms of today’s globalized economy, has a levelling effect on cultures, diminishing the immense variety which is the heritage of all humanity.

Attempts to resolve all problems through uniform regulations or technical interventions can lead to overlooking the complexities of local problems which demand the active participation of all members of the community.

New processes taking shape cannot always fit into frameworks imported from outside; they need to be based in the local culture itself. As life and the world are dynamic realities, so our care for the world must also be flexible and dynamic. 

Merely technical solutions run the risk of addressing symptoms and not the more serious underlying problems. There is a need to respect the rights of peoples and cultures, and to appreciate that the development of a social group presupposes an historical process which takes place within a cultural context and demands the constant and active involvement of local people from within their proper culture. Nor can the notion of the quality of life be imposed from without, for quality of life must be understood within the world of symbols and customs proper to each human group.

125: Recording

To understand this reality (popular piety) we need to approach it with the gaze of the Good Shepherd, who seeks not to judge but to love. Only from the affective connaturality born of love can we appreciate the theological life present in the piety of Christian peoples, especially among their poor.

 I think of the steadfast faith of those mothers tending their sick children who, though perhaps barely familiar with the articles of the creed, cling to a rosary; or of all the hope poured into a candle lit in a humble home with a prayer for help from Mary, or in the gaze of tender love directed to Christ crucified. 

No one who loves God’s holy people will view these actions as the expression of a purely human search for the divine. They are the manifestation of a theological life nourished by the working of the Holy Spirit who has been poured into our hearts.

'I'd be a burden'- Meet some of China's 61 million abandoned kids

Yesterday on my monthly visit to Castle Peak Immigration Centre, I met some inmates whose first language is not English who seemed to say they were from Belgium. Then the penny fell ....they were saying "Bel-jum" = "bail-jum" = bail jump = jumped bail!

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 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 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)