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
Links, Search
& Archives Imitating
Pope
Francis
This
website's anti-drug campaign saves people from going to prison in HK
See & share inmates'
letters!
HK
Indon
Kenya
Nigeria
Phil
S.A.
S.Amer
Thail
Tanz
Ug
EU
How
campaign began
HK:how
long prison for trafficking?
www.AsylumSeekerHK.com
I am in Melbourne for a meeting. My phone number in Australia: +61 (0) 414099053 (until May 25)
Tues May 23
No
matter if I'm in Hong Kong or in some other place (...Australia at the moment..)
each night I check the Court List of the following day in HK's High Court and
Court of Appeal. The list is published each night at 6pm. In today's list which
is published here
I recognise a number of inmates' names ....as well as most of the judges' names.
God bless everyone in court today!
And...no matter if I'm in HK or elsewhere, each week night I also do a special piece of homework: recording the English editorial for the English page of the next day's edition of Ming Pao Chinese newspaper. The editorials and recordings are here. This job pays for the rental of my home in Temple Street. Saint Paul did tent-making to support himself. I do recordings!
How many Hongkongers are really living in
poverty?
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The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Judges 4:
After Ehud died, the
Israelites again began to stray from the Lord
and therefore again lost their freedom and peace. The Lord then used Deborah,
who was a judge and prophetess, to rescue the people. Deborah instructed Barak son
of Abinoam
to go and do battle with Sisera, the people's oppressor. Barak said he would go only if
Deborah went with him.
She agreed but then said that his hesitation would cause the Lord to give battle victory to a woman, not
Barak. When Barak's forces
routed those of Sisera,
Sisera fled and took refuge in the tent of Jael, wife of Heber. As Sisera slept from
exhaustion,
Jael drove a tent peg into his head and he died. So once again the Lord had
rescued the Israelites.
Dear God,
please give me more courage in the battle of life,
(and please protect and bless Barack
Obama!)
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
137: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and cried,
remembering Zion.
On the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps. For it was there that they asked us, our
captors, for songs.
"Sing to us", they said, "one of Zion's songs". O how could we sing the song of the Lord on
alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand wither. O let my tongue cleave to my mouth
if I remember you not, Jerusalem, above all my joys.
Lord, please help people
who have been exiled from their homeland
Recording
Galatians
3.26-28: Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are
children of God.
When you were baptized, you entered into a special relationship of
friendship with Christ. This relationship cancels out old labels like
Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. These old labels have
been replaced by a new one hanging around your heart: Made in Christ.
Jesus, help me better understand our
relationship
Recording
John
7.37-39: During the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem,
Jesus called out loudly in the Temple "If anyone is thirsty,
come to me.
Anyone who believes in me, come and drink!" As Scripture says "From his heart will
flow fountains of living water". Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit, which
people who believed in him were to receive. The Spirit had not yet been
given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Holy Spirit, flowing from the heart of Jesus,
please increase your influence in my life
Recording
Reflection
on the above readings:
A
famous song which uses the words of Psalm 137: By
the Rivers of Babylon (33 million views!)
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
130: Recording
On
the other hand, joy also grows through pain and sorrow.
In the words of Saint Augustine, "the greater the danger in battle the greater is the joy of victory".
After suffering and struggling together, spouses are able to experience that it was worth it, because they achieved some good, learned something as a couple, or came to appreciate what they have.
Few human joys are as deep and thrilling as those experienced by two people who love one another and have achieved something as the result of a great, shared effort.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text
Full Chinese text
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".
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
74: Recording
What is called for is an evangelization capable of
shedding light on these new ways of relating to God, to others and to the world
around us, and inspiring essential values. It must reach the places where new
narratives and paradigms are being formed, bringing the
word of Jesus to the inmost soul of our cities.
Cities are multicultural; in the larger cities, a connective network is found in which groups of people share a common imagination and dreams about life, and new human interactions arise, new cultures, invisible cities. (But) Various subcultures exist side by side, and often practise segregation and violence.
The Church is called to be at the service of a difficult dialogue. On the one hand, there are people who have the means needed to develop their personal and family lives, but there are also many "non-citizens", "half citizens" and "urban remnants".
Cities create a sort of permanent ambivalence because, while they offer their residents countless possibilities, they also present many people with any number of obstacles to the full development of their lives. This contrast causes painful suffering.
In many parts of the world, cities are the scene of mass
protests where thousands of people call for freedom, a voice in public life,
justice and a variety of other demands which, if not
properly understood, will not be silenced by force.
-------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun: Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South
Asia
Wed: East
Asia
Thurs: S.E. Asia,
Pacific
Frid: South
America
Sat: Cent, N 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 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, Tuesday,
please pacify Boko
Haram
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Mon May 22
Like
the Pope, I have a very high regard for Sant'Egidio - they are working with me
in HK to set up an NGO to help homeless people. So this article is of special
interest: Ivanka Trump to meet Sant'Egidio on anti-trafficking efforts
Slave husbands of
HK - men who marry into servitude
Catholic family desperate for policy change as
HK hospital refuses to release foetus remains
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Judges
3: Some of the Israelites
forgot the Lord their God
and worshipped false gods. As a result, they were
enslaved by the king of Edom for 8 years. They cried to God for
help
and God raised up Othniel, a nephew of Caleb,
to lead and rescue them. Then the land enjoyed
peace for 40 years. But when Othniel died,
the Israelites again began to do what displeases the Lord,
and were again enslaved, this time by Eglon king of Moab,
for 18 years. Once more they cried to
the Lord for help
and he raised up Ehud, a left-hander. As Ehud presented
tribute to Eglon,
he said to Eglon:
"I have a secret message for you".
When they were alone, Eglon thought he was safe,
because Ehud's knife was on his right thigh.
Ehud then used his left-hand to grab the knife unexpectedly
and killed Eglon. Ehud escaped from the
king's quarters
before the king's attendants knew Eglon was dead. Ehud then roused the
Israelites to fight and defeat the Moabites,
after which the land enjoyed peace for 80 years
Lord,
please raise up good leaders in every country
My recording of
this reading 01
02
Psalm 136:
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his great love is without end. It was his wisdom which made the skies,
for his great love is without end. It was he who made the sun, moon and stars,
for his great love is without end. It was he who rescued and protected his people
Israel,
for his great love is without end. He gives food to all living things,
for his great love is without end. To the God of heaven give thanks,
for his great love is without end.
We praise you, Lord, for your
great love is without end
Recording
Galatians
2.16-20: What makes us God's friends is not obedience
to the Law,
but faith in Jesus Christ. I have been crucified with Christ, and I live
now,
not with my own life, but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body, I live in
faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for
my sake.
Jesus, help me understand how you live in me,
and I live in you
Recording
John
7.1-13: Jesus now stayed in Galilee. He could not
stay in Judea because the religious leaders wanted to kill him. Not even his brothers believed in him.
In Jerusalem, no one spoke about him openly,
for fear of the religious leaders.
Jesus, people were scared to talk about you,
your brothers didn't believe in you, and the leaders wanted to kill you.
How small my problems are compared with yours
Recording
Reflection
on the above readings:
How great is the anguish of a father or mother who has been rejected by their children. Even greater must have been the anguish of Jesus ...rejected by his brothers...people didn't want to know him....some people even trying to kill him. Yet he did not give up and jusdt walk away from everything. He kept going. And he gives us strength to keep going in times of rejection and danger.
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
128: Recording The
aesthetic experience of love is expressed in that "gaze" which
contemplates other persons as ends in themselves, even if they are infirm,
elderly or physically unattractive.
A look of appreciation has enormous importance, and to begrudge it is usually hurtful.
How many things do spouses and children sometimes do in order to be noticed!
Much hurt and many problems result when we stop looking at one another.
This lies behind the complaints and grievances we often hear in families: "My husband does not look at me; he acts as if I were invisible". "Please look at me when I am talking to you!". "My wife no longer looks at me, she only has eyes for our children". "In my own home nobody cares about me; they do not even see me; it is as if I did not exist".
Love opens our eyes and enables us to see, beyond all else, the great worth of a human being.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
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.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
73: Recording
New cultures are constantly being born in
these vast new expanses ((modern cities)) where
Christians are no longer the customary interpreters or generators of meaning.
Instead, they themselves take from these cultures new languages, symbols, messages and paradigms which propose new approaches to life, approaches often in contrast with the Gospel of Jesus.
A completely new culture has come to life and continues to grow in the cities. The Synod noted that today the changes taking place in these great spaces and the culture which they create are a privileged locus of the new evangelization.
This challenges us to imagine innovative spaces and possibilities for prayer and communion which are more attractive and meaningful for city dwellers.
Through the influence of the media, rural
areas are being affected by the same cultural changes, which are
significantly altering their way of life as well.
-------------------------------------
Daniel Daring - Year with Matthew - 22:
------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
Mazenod Center on a hot Summer afternoon ....with Wendy continuing to make walking progress DG
------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun:
Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South
Asia
Wed: East
Asia
Thurs: S.E. Asia,
Pacific
Frid: South America
Sat: Cent, N. 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 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, today, Monday,
please pacify I.S.
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Sun May 21
On this day in 1861, in Marseilles, a French bishop died at the age of 78. He
had been born into an aristocratic family which was forced to flee from the
French Revolution. His family went to Italy as refugees. His parents had an
unhappy marriage and eventually divorced. In Italy the young Eugene de Mazenod
had an overpowering experience of the love of Jesus on the Cross. Eugene became
a priest and dedicated himself to serving the poorest parts of French society
such as prisoners and domestic servants. To further his work he joined with
other priests to form a new congregation in the Church. The group came to be
known as the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Today the Oblates have some 4,000
members working for the poor in most countries of the world. Google
"Oblates of Mary Immaculate" and the name of your country to see where
the Oblates are in your country. Saint
Eugene de Mazenod, pray for us!
This afternoon here in Melbourne all the Oblates of Australia plus several from
other countries (including 3 of us from HK/China) are beginning a 4 day meeting
to see how we can better serve the Church and the world in these troubled times.
Organisers of the Congress are asking O.M.I. friends to pray for the gathering.
So.....please dear readers of this little website...over these 4 days, please
each day say a little prayer for us .....maybe something like "Dear
Holy Spirit, please bless the O.M.I. Congress!"
Thank
you and God bless you!
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
c.f. Easter 6
Acts 8.14-17: The apostles in Jerusalem heard that people
in Samaria had accepted the word of God. Peter and John went to Samaria
to pray for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit. So far the Samaritans had only been baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit had not come down on them. When Peter and John prayed over them with the
laying on of hands, the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit.
Come Holy Spirit. Come down on me. Please help me
understand the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
66-68: O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shine its light upon us. Let all the peoples praise you, O God.
Let all the peoples praise you. O sing to the Lord, make music to his name.
Rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence. Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
God provides a shelter for the homeless. God gives his people strength.
May all the peoples of the
earth know you and praise you, O God
Recording
1
Peter 4.13-19: If you have a share in the sufferings of
Christ, be glad, because this means you will have an extra share of
happiness in the life to come. It is a blessing for you when they insult you
for being a Christian.
It means you have the Spirit of God resting on you. People who experience suffering for God's
sake, must trust themselves to the grace of the Creator, and keep on doing
good
Jesus, give strength to persecuted
Christians
Recording
John
14.8-21: At the meal, Jesus said to his disciples
"To have seen me, is to have seen the Father. I am in the Father, and
the Father is in me. Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do it,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you love me, you
will keep my commandments. I will ask the Father and he will give you
another Friend to be always with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth
who will be living in your heart. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and
my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home in his
heart".
Father, Jesus, Spirit of Truth - three
Persons, one God
- thank you for living in
my heart
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
Video commentary on today's readings - in Spanish with English subtitles
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
123: Recording After
the love that unites us to God, conjugal love is the "greatest form of
friendship".
It is a union possessing all the traits of a good friendship: concern for the good of the other, reciprocity, intimacy, warmth, stability and the resemblance born of a shared life.
Marriage joins to all this an indissoluble exclusivity expressed in the stable commitment to share and shape together the whole of life.
Let us be honest and acknowledge the signs that this is the case.
Lovers do not see their relationship as merely temporary.
Those who marry do not expect their excitement to fade.
Those who witness the celebration of a loving union, however fragile, trust that it will pass the test of time.
Children not only want their parents to love one another, but also to be faithful and remain together.
These and similar signs show that it is in the very nature of conjugal love to be definitive.
The lasting union expressed by the marriage vows is more than a formality or a traditional formula; it is rooted in the natural inclinations of the human person.
For believers, it is also a covenant before God that calls for fidelity: "The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Let none be faithless to the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord" (Mal 2:14-16).
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
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", while Dante Alighieri spoke of "the love which moves the sun and the stars".
Consequently, we can ascend from created things "to the greatness of God and to his loving mercy".
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
72: In cities, as opposed to the countryside, the religious dimension of life is expressed by different lifestyles (and) daily rhythms linked to places and people.
In their daily lives people must often struggle for survival and this struggle contains within it a profound understanding of life which often includes a deep religious sense.
We must examine this more closely in order to enter into a dialogue like that of our Lord and the Samaritan woman at the well where she sought to quench her thirst (cf. Jn 4:1-15).
Recording
-------------------------------------
Hour
of Love HK radio program 8.30
pm HK time tonight
- with items about HK prison inmates
-------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun: Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South
Asia
Wed: East
Asia
Thurs: S.E. Asia,
Pacific
Fri: South America
Sat: Cent., N 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 21st
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Yunnan
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 21st of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Benin
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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Sat May 20
This
is indeed good news. I hope a similar arrangement can soon be made for some of
the dozens of Kenyans in prison in HK:
80
Kenyans jailed in China to complete sentences at home
Yesterday here in Melbourne I had a 3 hour meeting with two
dedicated members of an organization which is trying hard to bring about
much-needed changes in the Catholic Church: Catholics
for Renewal
On the way home to the O.M.I. provincial house in Camberwell (where I'm most grateful for wonderful hospitality) I saw a group of 30 people staging a protest march against the government's agreeing to a huge coal mine in Queensland which could seriously affect the Great Barrier Reef. See: Australia's largest coal mine free to proceed. I was especially struck by the fact that 30 Victorians were braving a wet and very cold night to protect the Reef which is in Queensland.
While in the city centre yesterday I also visited St Patrick's
Cathedral where I was ordained a priest 44 years ago ....and I knelt for a few
minutes on steps near the building of the Victorian Premier for a prayer that
God would move the Premier and his government to stop their anti-family and
anti-Christian agenda (...e.g. abortion in Victoria is right up to birth ....a
baby may be aborted a minute before birth)
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Judges
1-2: After the death of
Joshua,
the Israelites continued their campaign to occupy all parts of the land of Canaan.
But as time went
on, the Israelites began to forget the Lord their God.
As a result, things went wrong for the Israelites. To help them, the Lord
appointed judges to lead them.
For a while the people followed the judges. But as soon as a judge died,
the people again lapsed into idolatry
Dear God,
please don't let me forget you.
Please help me pray to you and love you every day.
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
135: Praise the name of the Lord,
praise him, servants of the Lord. Praise the Lord for he is good.
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving. I know the Lord is great. He does whatever he
wills
in heaven, on earth, in the seas. Pagan idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths but they cannot speak.
They have eyes but they cannot see. Sons of Israel, do not trust in useless idols.
Sons of Aaron, trust only in our Creator and Lord.
Dear Lord, please help people
who worship idols to know and love you
Recording
Galatians
2.11-14:
Not long after this, when Peter came to
Antioch, I opposed him
to his face, since he was in the wrong. He had been accustomed to eating with
non-Jews, but when some friends of James arrived, people who insisted that
all believers should be circumcised, he kept away from the non-Jews. When I saw that Peter was not respecting the
true meaning of the Good News, I said to him in front of everyone
"You have no right to make non-Jews adopt Jewish customs".
Jesus, help me understand that it's sometimes
ok to criticize top Christian leaders
Recording
John
6.59-69: After hearing what Jesus said about his flesh
and blood, many of his disciples said "How can anyone believe in such
crazy ideas?" Many disciples then stopped following Jesus. Jesus said to the 12 apostles "What about
you? Are you also going to leave me?" Peter replied "Lord, who shall we go to?
You have the message of eternal life. We believe you are the Holy One of
God".
Jesus, please don't ever let me stop following
you
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
Today's first reading....the people stopped practising their faith. Today's Gospel.....many disciples stopped following Jesus. Today .... many people stop going to church.
----------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
120: Recording Growing
in conjugal love: Our reflection on Saint Paul's hymn
to love has prepared us to discuss conjugal love.
This is the love between husband and wife, a love sanctified, enriched and illuminated by the grace of the sacrament of marriage.
It is an "affective union", spiritual and sacrificial, which combines the warmth of friendship and erotic passion, and endures long after emotions and passion subside.
Pope Pius XI taught that this love permeates the duties of married life and enjoys pride of place.
Infused by the Holy Spirit, this powerful love is a reflection of the unbroken covenant between Christ and humanity that culminated in his self-sacrifice on the cross.
"The Spirit which the Lord pours forth gives a new heart and renders man and woman capable of loving one another as Christ loved us. Conjugal love reaches that fullness to which it is interiorly ordained: conjugal charity."
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
76: Recording THE
MYSTERY OF THE UNIVERSE: In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the
word "creation" has a broader meaning than "nature", for
it has to do with God's loving plan in which every creature has its own value
and significance.
Nature is usually seen as a system which can be studied, understood and controlled, whereas creation can only be understood as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us together into universal communion.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
71: Recording
Challenges
from urban cultures: The
new Jerusalem, the holy city, is the goal towards which all of humanity is
moving. It is (interesting) that God's revelation tells us that the
fullness of humanity and of history is realized in a city.
We need to look at our cities with a contemplative gaze, a gaze of faith which sees God dwelling in their homes, in their streets and squares.
God's presence accompanies the sincere efforts of individuals and groups to find encouragement and meaning in their lives. He dwells among them, fostering solidarity, fraternity, and the desire for goodness, truth and justice.
This presence must not be contrived but found, uncovered. God
does not hide himself from those who seek him with a sincere heart, even though
they do so tentatively, in a vague and haphazard manner.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
Visit to Seniors' Home in hills outside Yunfu. A number of the residents are lepers
------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun:
Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South
Asia
Wed: East Asia
Thurs: S.E. Asia, Pacific
Frid: South
America
Sat: Cent. & N
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 20th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Sichuan
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the
month:
On this 20th
of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Yunnan
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Saturday,
please pacify the
Taliban
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Frid May 19
On my last visit to Melbourne - in 2012 - I took part in a prayer
service for healing with a group in the Ferntree Gully area - photos.
Yesterday afternoon some of the same group arranged a similar prayer service for
about 40 people. A most worthwhile gathering. Jesus,
please bless all the people who prayed for healing yesterday! If
any of yesterday's 40 are today checking this website for the first time, I hope
you receive much courage and strength from the site's Bible readings and
readings from Pope Francis
Ethnic drug abuse in Hong Kong: news
video, with shots of Temple Street park near where I live. The
situation has become worse in the seven years since this video was made. See
this letter from a Nepal drug addict now in detention - Here
(scroll down to April 24)
Snowden slams HK for refusing families asylum
(see his video at this
link)
-------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from Simple
Bible
Joshau 23-24:
As Joshua neared the end of his life,
he urged the Israelites to stay faithful to the Lord
while living with many foreign neighbours:
"Continue to observe everything
written by Moses.
Do not mingle with the foreign peoples still among you.
Do not utter the names of their gods. Stay loyal to the Lord your God.
Love the Lord your God. If you stay faithful, the Lord will
bless you.
If you are unfaithful, everything will go wrong for you. Choose today whom you will serve:
the Lord our God, or false gods. As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord."
Dear Lord, may Joshua's
dying words be true for me:
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
134: O come, bless the Lord,
all you who serve the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God. Lift up your hands to heaven
and bless the Lord through the night. May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made both heaven and earth.
Lord, please protect my
family tonight and every night
Recording
Galatians
2.1-9:
14 years after that first visit, I again went
to Jerusalem,
with Barnabas and Titus. I explained to the Christian leaders how I had
been proclaiming the Good News to non-Jews. James, Peter and John shook hands with us as a
sign of partnership.
We were to preach to the non-Jews, and they to the Jews.
Jesus, please help all Christians to avoid disunity
Recording
John
6.52-58: The people said among themselves
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus replied "If you refuse to eat
my flesh, and drink my blood, you will not have life in
you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is
real drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and
I live in them. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself
draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever".
Jesus, thank you for the gift of your Body and
Blood
in Holy Communion
Recording
Reflection on the above Bible readings:
----------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
119: Recording In
family life, we need to cultivate that strength of love which can help us fight
every evil threatening it.
Love does not yield to resentment, scorn for others or the desire to hurt or to gain some advantage.
The Christian ideal, especially in families, is a love that never gives up.
I am sometimes amazed to see men or women who have had to separate from their spouse for their own protection, yet, because of their enduring conjugal love, still try to help them, even by enlisting others, in their moments of illness, suffering or trial.
Here too we see a love that never gives up.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
75: Recording
A spirituality which forgets God as
all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable.
That is how we end up worshipping earthly powers, or ourselves usurping the place of God, even to the point of claiming an unlimited right to trample his creation underfoot.
The best way to restore men and women to their rightful place, putting an end to their claim to absolute dominion over the earth, is to speak once more of the figure of a Father who creates and who alone owns the world.
Otherwise, human beings will always try to impose their own laws and interests on reality.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
70: Recording
It is also true that at times greater emphasis is
placed on the outward expressions and traditions of some groups, or on alleged
private revelations which would replace all else, than on
the impulse of Christian piety.
There is a kind of Christianity made up of devotions reflecting an individual and sentimental faith life which does not in fact correspond to authentic "popular piety". Some people promote these expressions while not being in the least concerned with the advancement of society or the formation of the laity, and in certain cases they do so in order to obtain economic benefits or some power over others.
Nor can we overlook the fact that in recent decades there has been a breakdown in the way Catholics pass down the Christian faith to the young. It is undeniable that many people feel disillusioned and no longer identify with the Catholic tradition.
Growing numbers of parents do not bring their children for
baptism or teach them how to pray. There is also a certain exodus towards other
faith communities. The causes of this breakdown
include: a lack of opportunity for dialogue in families, the
influence of the communications media, a relativistic subjectivism, unbridled
consumerism which feeds the market, lack of pastoral care among the poor, the
failure of our institutions to be welcoming, and our difficulty in restoring a
mystical adherence to the faith in a pluralistic religious landscape.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun: Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South
Asia
Wed: East
Asia
Thurs: S.E. Asia, Pacific
Frid: S.
America
Sat: Cent, N. 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 19th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shanxi
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the
month:
On this 19th of the month, Jesus please bless the
people of Sudan
And praying for one Islam-related
intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Friday,
please bless all Muslims
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thur May 18
Today's SCMP has this story (God bless the Post!): The prison chaplain who has stopped 150 drug mules reaching Hong Kong
The
West is mired in 'soft' development. China is trying the 'hard' stuff
Obor is implicitly based on the view that contact and trade stimulate self-interest and mutual regard, and reduce the likelihood of conflict
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from Simple
Bible
Joshua
22: The campaign to subdue
the whole land had taken a long time.
Joshua especially thanked the tribes from across the Jordan
for their help. These tribes - Reuben,
Gad and Manasseh - had been
given land on the Eastern side of the Jordan, but still helped in the campaign to control the Western side.
Joshua said to them:
"Despite the fact that the campaign has lasted so long,
you have loyally helped your brothers. Keep
on loving the Lord your God, following his paths.
Be loyal to him and serve him with all your heart."
Dear
Lord, please help me to be loyal - to you, to my family and to my country
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
133: How good and how pleasant it is
when people live in unity. It is like precious oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard. It is like the dew of Hermon
which falls on the heights of Zion. For there the Lord gives his blessing,
life for ever.
Dear Lord, please help all the
peoples of the world
to live as one family, in unity.
Recording
Galatians
1.11-24:
The Good News I preach is not a human message.
It is something I received from Jesus Christ. I used to persecute the church, but then God
called me to follow Jesus. I am a one-time persecutor who is now
preaching the faith I had previously tried to destroy. When I visited Jerusalem three years after my
conversion, the believers gave glory to God for what he had done for me.
Jesus, please turn more persecutors into
preachers!
Recording
John
6.42-51: The people criticized Jesus saying
"We know his father and mother. How can he say he has come down from
heaven?" Jesus replied "I am the bread of life. If you eat this
bread which has come down from heaven, you will live forever. I am the living bread which has come down from
heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
for the life of the world".
Jesus, living bread come down from heaven,
please help me understand how you give your flesh for the life of the
world
Recording
Reflection on the above Bible readings:
Ordinary bread gives ordinary energy and strength to our bodies. The Bread of Life gives us spiritual energy and strength
----------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
118: Recording Panta
hypomenei. This means that love bears every trial with a positive
attitude.
It stands firm in hostile surroundings.
This "endurance" involves not only the ability to tolerate certain aggravations, but something greater: a constant readiness to confront any challenge.
It is a love that never gives up , even in the darkest hour.
It shows a certain dogged heroism, a power to resist every negative current, an irrepressible commitment to goodness.
Here I think of the words of Martin Luther King, who met every kind of trial and tribulation with fraternal love: "The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls 'the image of God', you begin to love him in spite of [everything].
No matter what he does, you see God's image there.
There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off.
Another way that you love your enemy is this: when the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.
When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems.
Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.
Hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe.
If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and so on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends.
Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that's the strong person.
The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love".
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
74: Recording The
experience of the Babylonian captivity provoked a spiritual crisis which led to
deeper faith in God.
Now his creative omnipotence was given pride of place in order to exhort the people to regain their hope in the midst of their wretched predicament.
Centuries later, in another age of trial and persecution, when the Roman Empire was seeking to impose absolute dominion, the faithful would once again find consolation and hope in a growing trust in the all-powerful God: "Great and wonderful are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways!" (Rev 15:3).
The God who created the universe out of nothing can also intervene in this world and overcome every form of evil. Injustice is not invincible.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
69: Recording
It is imperative to
evangelize cultures in order to inculturate the Gospel.
In countries of Catholic tradition, this means encouraging, fostering and reinforcing a richness which already exists.
In countries of other religious traditions, or profoundly secularized countries, it will mean sparking new processes for evangelizing culture, even though these will demand long-term planning.
We must keep in mind, however, that we are constantly being called to grow. Each culture and social group needs purification and growth.
In the case of the popular cultures of Catholic peoples, we
can see deficiencies which need to be healed by the
Gospel: machismo, alcoholism, domestic violence, low Mass attendance,
fatalistic or superstitious notions which lead to sorcery, and the like. Popular
piety itself can be the starting point for healing and liberation from these
deficiencies.
-------------------------------------
10 years ago today:
------------------------------------------
Wild boar
in Austria gives British ambassador a scare
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun:
Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South Asia
Wed: East
Asia
Thurs: S.E. Asia, Pacific
Frid: South
America
Sat: Cent, N 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 18th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shandong
And
praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 18th of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Ivory Coast
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Thursday,
please pacify Al-Qaeda
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed May 17
Hello from a very cold Melbourne (minimum yesterday was 6 degrees). I haven't been here for 5 years. Yesterday as I walked around the Camberwell shopping centre (near where I'm staying) I noticed the same thing as I see each day in HK: little shops have closed ... can't afford the rent; house prices sky-rocketing ... as buyers from China pay prices that the locals can't afford. In Australia, HK and so many other places .... this is the sad result of "unfettered Capitalism" as in this article.
--------------------------------------------------------
Chris McDonnell
A time to pause, a time to act
He went further and said that he "categorically rejected combining parishes"
(What an important statement....thank Goodness for Cardinal Marx...his words are in stark contrast to reports from US that many dioceses are closing many parishes - jw)
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Joshua 11-21:
Some kings in the
north combined to fight the Israelites.
But the Lord delivered them into the power of Israel. Eventually the whole
country had rest from war,
and the land was divided up among the 11 tribes. So it was that the Lord
gave the Israelites all the land
he had sworn to give their ancestors.
They took possession of it and settled there.
The Lord granted them peace on all their frontiers
just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Of all the promises
that the Lord had made to the House of Israel,
not one failed. All were fulfilled.
Dear Lord, please
give peace to nations troubled by war
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
130: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice.
If you, O Lord, should
record our guilt,
Lord, who would survive? But with you is found
forgiveness.
For this we revere you. My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word. My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for the daybreak. With the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption. Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.
Lord, please forgive me for all
the bad things I have done
Recording
Galatians
1.1-7: To the church of
Galatia, from Paul, an apostle appointed not by man but by
Jesus Christ. Trouble makers among
you have changed the Good News. I am astonished that
you have begun following their false version
of the Good News.
Jesus, don't let people
be deceived by anyone who waters down or changes your Good News
Recording
John
6.35-40:
Jesus said to the people "The bread of
God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. Anyone who comes to me
will never be hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty. It is my Father's will that whoever believes
in me will have eternal life".
Jesus, living bread from heaven, please help
more and more people believe in you and love you
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
In
Hong Kong one of the most popular brands of bread is "Life Bread":
Each time we eat ordinary bread, let's try to remember the Living Bread from Heaven.
-----------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
117: Recording Here
hope comes most fully into its own, for it embraces the certainty of life after
death.
Each person, with all his or her failings, is called to the fullness of life in heaven.
There, fully transformed by Christ's resurrection, every weakness, darkness and infirmity will pass away.
There the person's true being will shine forth in all its goodness and beauty.
This realization helps us, amid the aggravations of this present life, to see each person from a supernatural perspective, in the light of hope, and await the fullness that he or she will receive in the heavenly kingdom, even if it is not yet visible.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
73: Recording The
writings of the prophets invite us to find renewed strength in times of trial by
contemplating the all-powerful God who created the universe.
Yet God's infinite power does not lead us to flee his fatherly tenderness, because in him affection and strength are joined.
Indeed, all sound spirituality entails both welcoming divine love and adoration, confident in the Lord because of his infinite power.
In the Bible, the God who liberates and saves is the same God who created the universe, and these two divine ways of acting are intimately and inseparably connected: "Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders" (Jer 32:17, 21).
"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless" (Is 40:28b-29).
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
68: Recording
The Christian substratum of
certain peoples - most of all in the West - is a living reality.
Here we find, especially among the most needy, a moral resource which
preserves the values of an authentic Christian humanism.
Seeing reality with the eyes of faith, we cannot fail to acknowledge what the Holy Spirit is sowing. It would show a lack of trust in his free and unstinting activity to think that authentic Christian values are absent where great numbers of people have received baptism and express their faith and solidarity with others in a variety of ways.
This means more than acknowledging occasional "seeds of the word", since it has to do with an authentic Christian faith which has its own expressions and means of showing its relationship to the Church.
The immense importance of a culture marked by faith cannot be overlooked; before the onslaught of contemporary secularism, an evangelized culture, for all its limits, has many more resources than the mere sum total of believers.
An evangelized popular culture contains values of faith and solidarity capable of encouraging the development of a more just and believing society, and possesses a particular wisdom which ought to be gratefully acknowledged.
----------------------------------------------
Daniel Daring: The Year with Matthew - 21:
His power over the fallen creation
-------------------------------------
10
years ago:
Prayers please for Baby Jia Jia - in urgent need of heart operation.
------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Please join me in praying for one part of the world each day:
Sun: Africa
Mon: Europe,
Russia
Tues: South
Asia
Wed: East
Asia
Thurs: S.E.Asia, Pacific
Frid: South
America
Sat: Cent, N 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 17th
of
the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Shaanxi
And praying for one of
the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 17th of the month, Jesus please
bless the people of Malawi
And praying for one
Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Wednesday,
please pacify Al-Shabaab
---------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
Please also join me in praying for the very many deformed and handicapped people from China who are on the streets of HK as beggars...as well as deformed people in China itself ...like Hung Chun Cai
My Africa trips:
2015: Tanzania, Malawi
2016:
Kenya, Uganda
2017:
Southern Africa, Dubai
--------------------
Video: What "gay marriage" did to Massachusetts
Frightening
YouTube reports:
LGBT radical impact
on educational institutions (No.
5); LGBT
infiltrating churches
(No. 6); US corporations massively
supporting LGBT agenda (No. 7). What
has happened in the US is now starting to happen in other places. Some
day our children will ask "why didn't you do more to stop this evil?"
--------------------------------------------
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.
Note: counter on this page + Map & Flag Counter record visits only to this
main/index page.
Visits to other pages and to Facebook page are not
recorded.
This site's 2017
statistics.
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
action for the time being
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