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V2Catholic.com A voice for the
poor Edited
by HK prison chaplain
Fr John Wotherspoon
O.M.I . 胡頌恆神父
jdwomi@gmail.com
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This website's anti-drug campaign saves people from going to prison in HK See & share inmates' letters! |
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How campaign began HK:how long prison for trafficking? www.AsylumSeekerHK.com |
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Thursday
February 2
40th
day after Christmas:
Candlemas
Feast of the
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
It's good to be home! Africa trip was great, but there's no place like home after 5 weeks on the road. Hot water in the shower, a PC that makes everything so quick and easy, an unfailing internet connection, the best transport system in the world etc etc.
Yesterday
morning I came back to earth by attending a High Court case of an inmate charged
with drug trafficking ....then went to a legal office for an interesting
experience (see 
below).
This Saturday February 4 the weekly Ming Pao magazine (on sale in shops in HK) has a cover story which mentions my work for prisoners. When internet link is available I'll put it on this website.
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings +
recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
c.f. readings for Feast of Presentation:
Malachi
3.1-2: The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to
send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will
suddenly enter his Temple.
Jesus presented in the Temple on this day, we praise
you Lord
My
recording of this reading 
Psalms
24-26: The Lord's is the earth and all
its peoples. It is the Lord who is Creator of the universe. May
all hearts open their doors to the Lord. Let him
enter, the king of glory. Lord I
hope in you all the day long. Forgive my sins and help me walk in your truth.
God my savior, teach me your way of truth
Recording 
Hebrews
2.14-18: The Son did not become an
angel. He became a man, so that he could die for us. By his death he took away
the power of the devil. He himself experienced temptation. He is able to help us
when we are tempted.
Jesus, please help me when I am tempted to do something wrong
Recording
Luke
2.22-32: When Jesus was 40 days old,
his parents took him to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as
the Law required. In Jerusalem there was an old man named Simeon. The Holy
Spirit had revealed to him that before he died, he would see the Christ of
the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit, he
came to the Temple, took Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying "Now,
Master, you can let your servant go in peace, for my eyes have seen the Savior.
He is a light to enlighten the pagans, and he is the glory of your people
Israel".
Jesus, true Light of the world, we praise you
Lord
Recording
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis:
The
Joy of Love - on
love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
291: Recording
The
Synod Fathers stated that, although the Church realizes
that any breach of the marriage bond “is against the
will of God”, she is also “conscious of the frailty of
many of her children”.
Illumined by the gaze of Jesus Christ, “she turns with love to those who participate in her life in an incomplete manner, recognizing that the grace of God works also in their lives by giving them the courage to do good, to care for one another in love and to be of service to the community in which they live and work”.
This approach is also confirmed by our celebration of this Jubilee Year devoted to mercy.
Although she constantly holds up the call to perfection and asks for a fuller response to God, “the Church must accompany with attention and care the weakest of her children, who show signs of a wounded and troubled love, by restoring in them hope and confidence, like the beacon of a lighthouse in a port or a torch carried among the people to enlighten those who have lost their way or who are in the midst of a storm”.
Let us not forget that the Church’s task is often like that of a field hospital.
---------------------------------------
Chris McDonnell
(UK)
The icon in its gentle serenity, offers a gracious resemblance of love and helps us focus on the beauty of God
---------------------------------------------
Pope's letter on climate change:
Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
Today
I am reading Day 30 of
this excellent little book 40
Days of Pilgrimage with Pope Francis: Care for Our Common
Home"
(used with permission)
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
265a: Recording
Jesus’
whole life, his way of dealing with the poor,
his actions, his integrity,
his simple daily acts of generosity, and finally his
complete self-giving, is precious and reveals the mystery of his divine
life. Whenever
we encounter this anew, we become convinced that it is
exactly what others need, even though they may not recognize it: “What
therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you”. Sometimes
we lose our enthusiasm for mission because we forget that the Gospel responds to
our deepest needs, since we were created for what
the Gospel offers us: friendship with Jesus and
love of our brothers and sisters.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
2007-02-02 Visit to centers in poor areas by China Education Fund group from Hong Kong
------------------------------------------
Yesterday after attending a case at the High Court, I went
to the nearby office of a legal firm to sign an affidavit for another HC case
coming soon. In the signing office I was very surprised to see photos of Mao Ze
Dong and other historic Chinese leaders as well as Lenin and Stalin. I thought
to myself, "Good Grief, Charlie Brown ...how can this be...am I really in
HK?". But then in a cupboard in the same room I saw things to reassure me:
a white statue of Pope Francis ....and a Crucifix!
--------------------------------------
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 South
East
Asia
And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month: On this 2nd of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Fujian
And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month: On this 2nd of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Niger
And
praying for one Islam-related
intention each day
of the week:
Jesus,
today, Thursday,
please pacify
Al-Qaeda
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday February 1
Thank you Jesus for my safe arrival back in HK yesterday morning! .... and for the past 5 weeks in Southern Africa and Dubai ... a most memorable experience which I hope has done a bit of good in several directions.
This morning I'm due to support an inmate at the High Court...followed by some shopping for inmates ....and then begins many jobs connected with the past month: printing and posting photos of the inmates' families; sorting and posting books, letters and other items from the families. If the past two years are a guide, these post-trip jobs will take many days ....to be followed by visits to the inmates themselves in various prisons of HK.
It's
good to be back home in Hong Kong. Please excuse me for being slow in answering
phone texts ....because my faithful Noikia has finally retired, therefore in
South Africa I bought a little Huawei ....and I'm going to need a while to learn
how to use it. But guess who the two people sitting next to me on the plane from
Dubai were? Two executives from a company called ....Huawei ...who gave me some
preliminary lessons!
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Exodus
26-27: God said to Moses:
"Make a cover for the sacred tent.
Make the cover's support frames of acacia wood.
Make a veil of purple, violet and red
behind which to put the sacred chest.
Make an altar out of acacia wood.
Make altar vessels out of bronze.
Make a sacred courtyard to go around the tent.
Place a sacred flame outside the veil
and keep the flame burning from night till morning."
My
recording of this reading
Psalms
14-15: So many people live and act as if God doesn't exist.
Some foolish people even say there is no God. So many people have left the way of justice and truth.
So many people follow the way of falsehood. Lord, help us to live as we should.
Help us not to slander, help us not to wrong others.
Lord,
help us to stand firm in the
way of goodness
Recording
Acts
19.11-20: So remarkable were the miracles worked by God
through Paul, that even handkerchiefs which had touched him,
were taken to the sick, and they were healed and evil spirits came out of
them. Some believers admitted how they had practised
magic. They collected their expensive books on magic and burnt them in
public. Things like these helped the word of the Lord
to continue spreading.
Jesus, what can I do to help your message
spread?
Recording
Luke 6.1-5:
One Sabbath day Jesus and his disciples were walking through a
cornfield. The disciples were hungry. They picked some ears of corn
and ate them. Picking corn on the Sabbath was regarded as unlawful by the
Pharisees.
So the Pharisees said to Jesus "Your disciples are
breaking the Sabbath law". Jesus replied "Don't you remember what King David and his
followers once did when they were hungry? They ate the Temple bread which
only the priests were allowed to eat. I am Master of the Sabbath".
Jesus, please help me understand
that love is more important than law
Recording
--------------------------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Sun:
Africa
Mon: Europe
& Russia Tues:
South Asia
Wed: East
Asia Thurs: S.E.
Asia & Pacific
Frid: South
America Sat:
Central & North America
Jesus,
today, Wednesday,
please bless the people of East Asia
And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month: On this 10th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Anhui
And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month: On this 1st of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Congo
And
praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Wednesday,
please pacify Al-Shabaab
------------------------
My Africa trips: 2015 - Tanzania, Malawi
2016 - Kenya, Uganda
--------------------
Video: What "gay marriage" did to Massachusetts
---------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
Tuesday January 31
Hello from Dubai Airport late afternoon of Jan 30 where I'm waiting for my flight to Hong Kong. A little while ago I had good chat with the manager of the Dubai Airport International Hotel .... concerning the issue of a local Nigerian Drug Gang using rooms at the hotel for the transfer of large quantities of cocaine to drug mules ...some of whom consume the drugs into their bodies ...others receive in "biscuits" and "chocolates" for their hand luggage.
Manager said that hotel staff are aware of this problem, and for some time now have been giving airport security full information about any suspicious Nigerians who book rooms at the hotel. This is good news. Of the 20 HK files I have of drug mules in prison in HK who received their drugs in the transit lounge of this airport, eight of them were given their drugs in a room of the hotel. Please God there will be no more such dealings.
The most precious items in my luggage are photos and other items from the families of the 27 inmates I have visited in South Africa, Lesotho and Zambia. Photos are at a non-public location on my server which a number of special readers know about. If anything happens to me, someone please print these photos and get them to Deacon Edwin Ng in HK to send to the inmates!
On the positive side, I'm really looking forward DV to posting the photos and other items myself, and then visiting the inmates in the coming weeks for sharing about the trip. Hopefully over the past few weeks most inmates have already heard the recordings from their families which I made and which Bruce Aitken kindly played on his Sunday night radio program "The Hour of Love" which so many inmates listen to.
I'm also supposed to deliver I can't remember how many hugs and kisses ....!
Thank you Jesus for Day 34! (the final day). Please bless everyone who made this trip possible and bless everyone I've met - especially the inmates' families. May the publicity done on this this trip help reduce the number of drug mules from Africa going to Hong Kong.
p.s. Hopefully in the next week or so there will be a report about the drug mule issue on "Special Assignment", the famous investigative program of the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Google "special assignment youtube" for previous programs to get a sample of what to expect ... journalism at its best!
---------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Exodus
25:
God said to Moses:
"Build me a sacred tent so that I may live among the people.
Let everyone follow the promptings of their heart
in making contributions for the building of the temple.
Make a sacred chest (ark) to hold
the stone tablets on which are the Ten Commandments,
Aaron's rod and some manna.
Also make a table for the bread of offering,
and a golden lamp-stand."
Dear
God, thank you for churches
and other special places for prayer
My
recording of this reading
Psalms
9-13: I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.
You have so often rescued me from trouble. Thank you! You are the best helper for people in trouble.
Please keep on helping me when troubles come. Please stop bad people from hurting others.
Please let peoples in all countries know they must avoid evil and live a
life of justice.
Dear Lord, thank you for
so often rescuing me
Recording
Acts
19:8-10: For three months, Paul went to the Jewish
prayer hall in Ephesus, speaking boldly about the kingdom of God. When some Jews strongly attacked the Way, he
stopped going to the prayer hall, and began daily discussions in a lecture room.
He kept doing this for two years, with the
result that people from many places, both Jews and non-Jews, were able to
hear the word of God.
Jesus, please give more and more people
the
opportunity to hear your word
Recording
Luke
5: 27-32: As Jesus walked along, he noticed a tax
collector sitting by the customs house. The collector's name was Levi (Matthew).
Jesus said to him "Follow me".
Leaving everything, he got up and went with Jesus. In Jesus' honor Levi
held a banquet in his house. Many tax collectors and social outcasts
were present. The religious leaders complained "Why do
you eat and drink with tax collectors and outcasts?" Jesus replied "It is not those who are
well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have come to call sinners, not
the virtuous, to repentance".
Jesus, thank you for befriending people who
were looked down on.
Please help me do likewise
Recording
Reflection on the above readings: Pope Francis continually speaks about the message of today's Gospel: Jesus specialized in hanging out with people on the fringe. So should the Church. So should every parish, every Christian institution/centre.
--------------------------------------------------------
Chris McDonnell (UK)
A monk whose name got mentioned
Merton was born on this day, January 31, in 1915, in the French town of Prades, his Father a New Zealander and his Mother American.
-------------------------------
Pope orders review of English Mass translation
Alleluia! This is urgently needed. Last week in Lusaka when I had no choice but to use the new translation for a radio staion Mass, I was really upset at having to battle with the contorted English for the prayers of Jan 26, the Feast of Timothy and Titus ...and in fact, at the Consecration, I reverted to the Vatican II translation...I'd had enough
See
why I'm happy with the Pope's review:
The
New Translation
------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
290: Recording
“The family is thus an agent of pastoral activity through its explicit proclamation of the Gospel and its legacy of varied forms of witness, namely solidarity with the poor, openness to a diversity of people, the protection of creation, moral and material solidarity with other families, including those most in need, commitment to the promotion of the common good and the transformation of unjust social structures, beginning in the territory in which the family lives, through the practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy”.
All this is an expression of our profound Christian belief in the love of the Father who guides and sustains us, a love manifested in the total self-gift of Jesus Christ, who even now lives in our midst and enables us to face together the storms of life at every stage.
In all families the Good News needs to resound, in good times and in bad, as a source of light along the way.
All of us should be able to say, thanks to the experience of our life in the family: “We come to believe in the love that God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16).
Only on the basis of this experience will the Church’s pastoral care for families enable them to be both domestic churches and a leaven of evangelization in society.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
Today I
am reading Day 29 of this excellent little
book 40
Days of Pilgrimage with Pope Francis: Care for Our Common Home"
(used with permission)
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
264: Recording
The best incentive for sharing
the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love,
lingering over its pages and reading
it with the heart. If we approach it in this way, its
beauty will amaze and constantly excite us.
But if this is to come about, we need to recover a contemplative spirit which can help us to realize ever anew that we have been entrusted with a treasure which makes us more human and helps us to lead a new life.
(Than
this treasure) There is nothing more precious which we can give to others.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
2007-01-31 Former CAS students Yanica and Angel, on holidays from Queensland University in Australia
------------------------------------------
Exiting Dubai means taking off your belt and shoes as you
enter the immigration area of Dubai Airport. Same happens in some other airports
in this part of the world. Which means it's good to wear clean sox ... and make
sure your trousers stay up without a belt!
--------------------------------------
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 31st of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Tianjin
And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month: On this 31st of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Nepal
And
praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Tuesday,
please pacify Boko
Haram
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy Lunar New Year of the Rooster!
Monday January 30
|
Thank you for a prayer! Dec 28 to Jan 30: |
|||||
|
|
|
South
Africa |
Lesotho |
Zambia |
Dubai |
Yesterday I attended the 12 noon Mass at St Mary's Catholic Church, Dubai ....led by an Indian Capuchin priest ....with a congregation of nearly 2,000 people ...and amazing overheads on three screens. Dubai has complete freedom of religion.
Then after a walk on the seashore of one of Dubai's beaches, I did a lot more walking in the African area of Dubai.
As I saw more and more of this busy, modern city, I kept thinking to myself: the whole place used to be desert. Just shows what can be done with deserts! Wikipedia: Dubai
Tonight I'm due to fly back to HK after a truly memorable trip. My Mass intention this morning was for all the kind people who made the trip possible.
Thank you Jesus for Day 33!
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Exodus
24:
God invited Moses, Aaron, Nadab and 70
other men
to see him face to face.
They saw God face to face and ate and drank in his presence.
Under God's feet the ground was like a pure blue jewel.
God then invited Moses to go up the mountain.
A cloud covered the mountain
and for 6 days the glory of the Lord settled on the mountain.
On the seventh day God spoke with Moses inside the cloud.
Moses stayed on the mountain for about 40 days.
Dear
God, thank you for times of prayer
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
8: How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth. When I see the heavens, the work of your
hands,
the moon and stars which you have arranged,
then I stop and think:
what are we insignificant humans that you should care about us? Yet you have put us in charge of the world.
Everything is subject to our control.
How great is your name, O Lord
our God, through all the earth
Recording
Acts
19.1-7: Paul left Corinth and went to the city of
Ephesus where he found a dozen men who had been baptized by John the
Baptist. He asked them "Did you receive the Holy
Spirit when you became believers?" They replied "We have not been taught
about the Holy Spirit". When Paul explained Jesus to them, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul then prayed with them using
the laying on of hands, and the Holy Spirit came down on them. They began
to speak in tongues and to prophesy.
Holy Spirit, please fall afresh on me
and
increase your influence in my life
Recording
Luke 5, 17-26: God's power was on display when Jesus healed people. People came from far and near to hear him teach, and to ask for healing. One day some people carried a paralyzed man through a crowd to Jesus. The man was on a stretcher. Jesus knew that these people believed he could help them, so he said to the paralyzed man "My friend, your sins are forgiven". Some religious leaders in the crowd were thinking to themselves that Jesus was wrong to say he could forgive sins.
So Jesus said to the leaders "Which is
easier:
to say 'Your sins are forgiven', or to say 'Get up and walk'?" Then to prove that he had authority to forgive
sins, he said to the paralyzed man "Get up, pick up your bed and go
home". The man got up, picked up his stretcher and
went home.
The crowd praised God for what they had seen.
Jesus, please give me more faith
in your power to forgive, your power to heal
Recording
Reflection on the above readings: Today's Gospel is one of the rare cases where Jesus links sickness and sin....implying that the man's sickness was a result of sin.
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
289: Recording The
work of handing on the faith to children, in the sense of facilitating its
expression and growth, helps the whole family in its evangelizing mission.
It naturally begins to spread the faith to all around them, even outside of the
family circle.
Children who grew up in missionary families often become missionaries
themselves; growing up in warm and friendly families, they learn to relate to
the world in this way, without giving up their faith or their convictions.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
Today I
am reading Day 28 of this excellent little
book 40
Days of Pilgrimage with Pope Francis: Care for Our Common Home"
(used with permission)
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
263: Recording
We do well to keep in mind the early Christians and our many brothers and sisters throughout history who were filled with joy, unflagging courage and zeal in proclaiming the Gospel.
Some
people nowadays console themselves by saying that things are not as easy as they
used to be, yet we know that the
Every period of history is marked by the presence of human weakness, self-absorption, complacency and selfishness, to say nothing of the concupiscence which preys upon us all. These things are ever present under one guise or another; they are due to our human limits rather than particular situations. Let us not say, then, that things are harder today; they are simply different.
But
let us learn also from the saints who have gone before us, who confronted the
difficulties of their own day. So I propose that we pause to rediscover
some of the reasons which can help us to
imitate them today.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
2007-01-30 Yunfu: funeral services for Fr Ma Si Wan, Thomas
------------------------------------------
After three days of walking around Dubai I still can't get used
to the fact that cars give way to pedestrians .... just like in Australia. I'll
need to forget what is practised here, or I'll be in trouble back in HK!
--------------------------------------
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 10th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shanghai
And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month: On this 30th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Nepal
And
praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Monday,
please pacify I.S.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday January 29
|
Thank you for a prayer! Dec 28 to Jan 30: |
|||||
|
|
|
South
Africa |
Lesotho |
Zambia |
Dubai |
Hello again from Dubai - see maps above.
I hope all dear Chinese readers have had a happy start to the new lunar year.
Here in Dubai there are many Chinese people. Also many, many Filipinas.
Yesterday after a record 12 hours sleep (7.30pm to 7.30am ...I was very tired after a month on the go in Southern Africa) I did a bit of walking ....and in the late afternoon had a 90 minute meeting with a reporter from a local newspaper. Hopefully there will be a story published next week warning people about the danger of drugs in the transit lounge of Dubai Airport (where at least 20 drug mules in prison in HK collected their drugs) ...a warning especially important for the large community of Filipino domestic workers here.
Today I'm hoping to attend Mass at a local church ...then possibly the beach!
Thank you Jesus for Day 32!
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
c.f. readings for Sunday 4
Zephaniah & other prophets:
Pride of heart leads us astray. See how they are listless, those whose souls are not at peace. Lord, I have heard of all your wonderful deeds in the past. Do them again in our day, Lord!
Even when everything seems hopeless, I trust in you Lord, I praise you Lord.
Seek the Lord, all you humble people. Seek integrity, seek humility.
In the days to come, people will say "We want to go with you, since we have learnt that God is with you".
Rejoice heart and soul, people of Jerusalem.
See, your king comes to you.
He is humble and riding on a donkey.
My
recording of this reading
Psalm 146: My soul, give praise to the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my days. Put no trust in princes, in mortal men in whom there is no help. Take their breath, they return to clay and their plans that day come to nothing.
They are happy who are
helped by Jacob's God,
whose hope is in the Lord our God, who alone made heaven
and earth,
the seas and all they contain. It is he who gives
bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free. It is the Lord who
gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down. It is the Lord who
protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan. It is the Lord who
loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked. The Lord will reign for
ever,
Zion's God, from age to age.
Lord, please increase my trust and
faith in you
Recording
1
Peter 5.5-14: To everyone else I say: do what the elders
tell you.
Wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other.
God refuses the proud and favors the humble. Bow down before the power of God, and he will
raise you up. Unload all your worries on to him, since he is
looking after you. Be calm, but careful, because your enemy the
Devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat.
Stand up to him, strong in faith. Peace to all who are in Christ.
Jesus, please protect me from Satan
Recording
Matthew 5.1-12: Jesus said to the crowds:
Blessed are poor and simple of heart people. They belong to the kingdom of heaven .
Blessed are people who are going through great sorrow. Their hearts will be filled with peace.
Blessed are people who lead just and honest lives. They will see the victory of goodness.
Blessed are people who show mercy to others. God will be merciful to them.
Blessed are people who have a clean heart. They will see God.
Blessed are people who are peacemakers.
They are God's children.
Blessed are people who are persecuted for the cause of right.
They will receive a great reward in heaven.
Jesus, please help me be
merciful and kind and just
Recording
--------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Daring: Year with Matthew - VI
Reflection
on the Baptism of Jesus
We are God’s beloved children. He loves us with an everlasting
love. Yet, the tragedy of every parent is a disobedient child. There are too
many Adams in this world
------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
288: Recording Education
in the faith has to adapt to each child, since older resources and recipes do
not always work.
Children need symbols, actions and stories.
Since adolescents usually have issues with authority and rules, it is best to encourage their own experience of faith and to provide them with attractive testimonies that win them over by their sheer beauty.
Parents desirous of nurturing the faith of their children are sensitive to their patterns of growth, for they know that spiritual experience is not imposed but freely proposed.
It is essential that children actually see that, for their parents, prayer is something truly important.
Hence, moments of family prayer and acts of devotion can be more powerful for evangelization than any catechism class or sermon.
Here I would like to express my particular gratitude to all those mothers who continue to pray, like Saint Monica, for their children who have strayed from Christ.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
Today I
am reading Day 27 of this excellent little
book 40
Days of Pilgrimage with Pope Francis: Care for Our Common Home"
(used with permission)
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
262: Recording
Spirit-filled evangelizers are evangelizers
who pray and work. Mystical
notions without a solid social and missionary outreach are of no help to
evangelization, nor are dissertations or social or
pastoral practices which lack a spirituality which can change hearts.
These unilateral and incomplete proposals
only reach a few groups and prove incapable of radiating beyond them because
they curtail the Gospel.
What is
needed is the ability to cultivate an interior space which
can give a Christian meaning to commitment and activity. Without
prolonged moments of adoration, of prayerful
encounter with the word, of sincere conversation
with the Lord, our work easily becomes meaningless;
we lose energy as a result of weariness and difficulties, and our fervour dies
out.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
2007-01-29 Good news update on Baby Ho (Biliary Atresia) + DVD program in a taxi
------------------------------------------
Hour
of Love HK
radio program 9.05pm HK time tonight
- with messages about African inmates in HK prisons (c. 9.25pm).
Program is due to play the last four recordings I made - in South Africa and in
Zambia - with the families of inmates in prison in HK
-------------------------------------------
This
is really good:
Prime minister shows lengths she'll go to for Britain
--------------------------------------
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 29th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Chongqing
And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month: On this 29th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Mauritania
And
praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Sunday,
please bless all Muslims in my country
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Saturday January 28
|
Thank you for a prayer! Dec 28 to Jan 30: |
|||||
|
|
|
South
Africa |
Lesotho |
Zambia |
Dubai |
Hello from Dubai where I arrived around 7am yesterday morning and where I once again (like Dec 28) received a free tea/coffee and biscuits when I spent some time with security officials at Dubai airport discussing the problem of drugs in the transit lounge of the airport.
Two days ago when I joined Fr Freeborn O.M.I. for a late afternoon visit to Lusaka Central Prison in Zambia, we heard officials say that earlier in the day they had deported 147 Ethiopians who had been found some days (?) earlier in a container bound for South Africa. Google "Ethiopians container Lusaka" for photos and info about such a terrible example of human trafficking.
In Dubai I'm hoping to meet some media representatives.
Thank you Jesus for Day 31!
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Exodus
23: Moses told the people:
"Don't be unfair to anyone, friend or foe.
Work for six days, then rest on the seventh day.
Work your land for six years,
then let the land rest and recover in the seventh year.
Three times a year you must celebrate special feasts:
the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the Feast of Harvest,
the Feast of Ingathering.
On these three feasts
all men must present themselves before the Lord."
God's promise:
"I will send an angel before you to protect you
and bring you to the land I have prepared for you.
Eventually you will possess this special land
and take it over from the peoples who live there now."
Dear
God, please help everyone love you
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
7: Lord God, I take refuge in you.
Please rescue me from people who are trying to hurt me.
Lord, please stop bad people from doing bad
things.
Please help good people to keep on doing good things. Lord, I will sing to you and thank you for
your goodness to me.
Lord, please help me to avoid
evil and to do good
Recording
Acts
18.5-11: In Corinth, Paul was rejected by the Jews, so
he spent his time preaching to non-Jewish people. Many Corinthians became
believers and were baptized. One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision:
"Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced. I
am with you". So Paul stayed in Corinth for 18 months preaching the word
of God.
Jesus, give Christians more courage to
speak your message
Recording
Luke 5.12-16: In one town that Jesus went to, a leper fell
on his face and pleaded "Sir, if you want to, you can heal me". Jesus stretched out his hand, touched
him, and said "Of course I want to!
Be healed!" And the leprosy left him at once. Jesus' reputation continued to grow.
Large crowds gathered to hear him speak and to have their sicknesses cured.
But afterwards Jesus would always go to a quiet place where he could
be alone and pray.
Jesus, please help me understand
that you want sick people to be healed
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
287: Recording
Raising children calls for an orderly process of handing on the faith.
This is made difficult by current lifestyles, work schedules and the complexity of today’s world, where many people keep up a frenetic pace just to survive.
Even so, the home must continue to be the place where we learn to appreciate the meaning and beauty of the faith, to pray and to serve our neighbour.
This begins with baptism, in which, as Saint Augustine said, mothers who bring their children “cooperate in the sacred birthing”.
Thus begins the journey of growth in that new life. Faith is God’s gift, received in baptism, and not our own work, yet parents are the means that God uses for it to grow and develop.
Hence “it is beautiful when mothers teach their little children to blow a kiss to Jesus or to Our Lady. How much love there is in that! At that moment the child’s heart becomes a place of prayer”.
Handing on the faith presumes that parents themselves genuinely trust God, seek him and sense their need for him, for only in this way does “one generation laud your works to another, and declare your mighty acts” (Ps 144:4) and “fathers make known to children your faithfulness” (Is 38:19).
This means that we need to ask God to act in their hearts, in places where we ourselves cannot reach.
A mustard seed, small as it is, becomes a great tree (cf. Mt 13:31-32); this teaches us to see the disproportion between our actions and their effects.
We know that we do not own the gift, but that its care is entrusted to us. Yet our creative commitment is itself an offering which enables us to cooperate with God’s plan.
For this reason, “couples and parents should be properly appreciated as active agents in catechesis… Family catechesis is of great assistance as an effective method in training young parents to be aware of their mission as the evangelizers of their own family
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
Today I
am reading Day 26 of this excellent little
book 40
Days of Pilgrimage with Pope Francis: Care for Our Common Home"
(used with permission)
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
261: Recording
Whenever we say that something is “spirited”, it usually refers to some interior impulse which encourages, motivates, nourishes and gives meaning to our individual and communal activity.
Spirit-filled evangelization is not the same as a set of tasks dutifully carried out despite one’s own personal inclinations and wishes.
How I long to find the right words to stir up enthusiasm for a new chapter of evangelization full of fervour, joy, generosity, courage, boundless love and attraction!
Yet I realize that no words of encouragement will be enough unless the fire of the Holy Spirit burns in our hearts.
A
spirit-filled evangelization is one guided by the Holy Spirit, for he is the
soul of the Church called to proclaim the Gospel. Before offering some spiritual
motivations and suggestions, I once more invoke the Holy
Spirit. I implore him to come and renew the Church, to stir and impel her to go
forth boldly to evangelize all peoples.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago :
2007-01-29 Good news update on Baby Ho (Biliary Atresia) + DVD program in a taxi
------------------------------------------
On Dec 28 when I visited the police office at Dubai Airport
(to discuss the flow of drugs in the airport's transit lounge) the staff kindly
gave me tea and biscuits. Yesterday morning when I went to another police office
at Dubai Airport (to discuss new info after my trip to South Africa) ... again
tea and biscuits. THEREFORE: If you any ever hungry at an airport, go to the
police office!?
--------------------------------------
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 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, today, Saturday,
please pacify the
Taliban
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday January 27
Hello from Lusaka airport in Zambia, where I'm waiting for a flight to Dubai....after another long but happy day:
This morning my faithful guide Bro Max and I were at the local Catholic radio station for 8.15 Mass, arranged by the O.M.I. director of the station Fr Singini.
Then we took part in a one-hour live program at the station, explaining the situation of people who are recruited as drug mules to go to Hong Kong.
Next we visited a nearby O.M.I. parish one of whose priests is the world's newest Oblate priest, Fr Abraham - ordained January 21. (A security guard at the radio station is named Isaac. Not often one meets Abraham and Isaac in one morning!)
Then after lunch back at the O.M.I. main centre, Delegation Leader Fr Freeborn kindly took me to a meeting with several prison chaplains, followed by a visit to Lusaka Central Prison and the National Marian Shrine....and lastly the airport....where after posting this mini-blog, I'll try to catch up on some email (internet working well here!)
What a month! I could a book about each day. I'm looking forward to a bit of a rest in Dubai and time to do a report on the trip and a number of other trip-related jobs.
My Mass at the radio station this morning was for all the people who made this trip possible, for all the people I've met on the trip (especially the families of prisoners in Hong Kong) ....and for Africa!
Thank you Jesus for Day 30!
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day of the week:
Sun:
Africa Mon:
Europe & Russia Tues:
South Asia
Wed: East
Asia Thurs: S.E.
Asia & Pacific
Frid: South
America Sat:
Central & North America
Jesus,
today, Tuesday,
please bless the people of South
Asia
And praying for prisoners in one part of China each day of the month: On this 24th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Inner Mongolia
And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month: On this 24th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Zambia
And
praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Tuesday,
please pacify Boko
Haram
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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 East Asia
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, today, Monday,
please pacify I.S.
Pope's surprise visit to drug treatment centre
Pope is practising what he preaches: "get out and mix with the poor"
HK
readers might like to join me in praying each day for one group of HK
prison inmates: Sun:
Lo Wu; Mon: C.I.C., Siu Lam, Tai Lam; Tue: Stanley
Wed: Hei Ling Chau Thu: Lantau
Fri: Lai Chi Kok
Sat: Hospitals, Pik Uk & other centres
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This website was launched in construction
mode in Hong Kong on November 20, 2011 - the Feast of Christ
the King.
The official launching
was
held on the Gold Coast, Australia, on January 20,
2012.
Map and Flag Counter began Feb 11, 2012. Previous visits 4,932.
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Thank you for checking this website each day. God bless all readers and bloggers!
Fr John Wotherspoon O.M.I. 胡
頌 恆 神 父
jdwomi@gmail.com
HK
mobile (852) 6709 5674
China
mobile 13030213703 - out of
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