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
Tues June 13
I spent most of yesterday at the desk ....processing many jobs resulting from prison visits over the past couple of weeks. One new task I've taken on over the past year is searching Facebook sites for people involved in recruiting others to be drug mules. It's amazing how the big Drug Lords are not afraid of being on Facebook. But even more amazing is the way that HK authorities are not using Facebook information to go after the Drug Lords. In fact the authorities rarely use any information provided by inmates ...unless the inmates are informers. The situation is surely not as bad as Queensland in the 1980's ...but the thought crossed my mind last night when I read this: The cop who helped blow the whistle on Australia's most corrupt police force
HK man jailed
23 years for record NZ ice
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The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
1 Samuel 3: One day when the boy Samuel was serving in the
temple,
the Lord called to him "Samuel, Samuel."
The boy thought it was the old priest Eli calling to him
so he ran to Eli and said "Here I am." Eli replied "I did not call you."
Two more times the Lord called.
Both times the boy went to Eli. Eli now realized it was the Lord calling
Samuel.
Eli told Samuel to say "Speak Lord, your servant is listening"
the next time he heard the voice. The Lord told Samuel that Eli's family would
be punished
for the bad things they had done. The people quickly found out that the Lord was
with Samuel
and that Samuel was the Lord's prophet.
Dear Lord, please
help me to listen to your voice,
your voice in the Bible, in my conscience and in other people
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
Ephesians
4.17-19: Do not go back to living the aimless kind of
life that many non-believers live. Intellectually they are in the dark, because
they have shut the door on God's grace. They have a poor sense of right and wrong, and
have abandoned themselves to reckless living.
Jesus, help people who are confused about
the meaning of life
Recording
John
13.21-30: Jesus became visibly upset and said to his
disciples at the meal.
"One of you is going to betray me. It is the one to whom I give a
piece of bread that I have dipped in the dish". He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to
Judas Iscariot. Immediately, Satan entered Judas. Jesus said to Judas "What you are going
to do, do quickly".
Judas left the meal. Night had fallen.
Jesus, please don't let me ever be disloyal to
you
Recording
Reflection
on the above readings:
When
did Satan enter Judas?
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Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text
Full Chinese text
98a: Recording: Jesus lived in full harmony with creation, and others were amazed: "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" (Mt 8:27).
His appearance was not that of an ascetic set apart from the world, nor of an enemy to the pleasant things of life.
Of himself he said: "The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard!'" (Mt 11:19).
He was far removed from philosophies which despised the body, matter and the things of the world.
Such unhealthy dualisms, nonetheless, left a mark on certain Christian thinkers in the course of history and disfigured the Gospel.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
95: Recording
This
insidious worldliness is evident in a number of attitudes which appear opposed,
yet all have the same pretence of "taking over the space of the
Church".
In some people we see an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church's prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel have a real impact on God's faithful people and the concrete needs of the present time.
In this way, the life of the Church turns into a museum piece or something which is the property of a select few.
In others, this spiritual worldliness lurks behind a fascination with social and political gain, or pride in their ability to manage practical affairs, or an obsession with programs of self-help and self-realization.
It can also translate into a concern to be seen, into a social life full of appearances, meetings, dinners and receptions.
It can also lead to a business mentality, caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations whose principal beneficiary is not God's people but the Church as an institution.
The mark of Christ, incarnate, crucified and risen, is not present; closed and elite groups are formed, and no effort is made to go forth and seek out those who are distant or the immense multitudes who thirst for Christ.
Evangelical
fervour is replaced by the empty pleasure of complacency and self-indulgence.
-------------------------------------
Daniel Daring - Year with Matthew - 25:
--------------------------------
10
years ago today:
Welcome Back meal- Claire & Conor, Cyprian, David, Eldon, Gabriel, Garth, Ramon & Teray, Shaun
------------------------------------------
If Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the Last Supper - as
in this beautiful photo
- did Jesus wash her feet?! I think he did! ...with a few tears rolling
down her face. (So, Pope Francis was not the first to wash women's feet on
Holy Thursday!)
--------------------------------------
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 13th
of
the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Jiangxi
And praying for one of
the world's poorest countries
each day of the month:
On this 13th of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Mali
And praying for one
Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Tuesday,
please pacify Boko
Haram
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Mon June 12
Guardian
photos of HK "coffin" homes
Stop
using Filipinas as drug mules -
letter in HK media from a Filipina in prison in HK
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
1
Samuel 2: Hannah
praised God for giving her a child:
"My heart rejoices in the Lord.
The Lord, our fortress, is holy. Don't
speak proudly,
for the Lord knows what's in our hearts. The
Lord breaks the power of the strong.
He gives strength and victory to the weak.
He blesses the barren woman. The
Lord raises the poor from the dust,
and gives them a seat of honor with princes. The
Lord guards the steps of good people,
but scatters bad people in their pride." The
Lord blessed Hannah
and she gave birth to three more sons and two daughters. Her
son Samuel grew up in the temple.
The temple priest at that time was Eli. But
Eli's sons were bad men.
They stole the people's offerings to the Lord.
Dear God, please bless good
people like Hannah,
and please help bad people like Eli's sons to stop being bad
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
6: Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength.
My body is racked with pain. Please heal me, Lord. I am exhausted with my groaning.
Every night my pillow is covered with tears. Lord, please hear my prayer.
Dear Lord, please help people
who are in distress of mind or body
Recording
Ephesians
4.1-16: I implore you to lead a life worthy of your
vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete
selflessness, gentleness and patience. If we live by the truth and in love, we shall
become more and more like Christ. We are parts of the Body of Christ. Christ is
the head. Each part must do its bit to keep the Body healthy and growing
in love.
Jesus, help me understand how the Church is
your Body
Recording
John
13.1-15: While Jesus and his disciples were eating a
meal just before the Passover, Jesus got up from the table, removed his
outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist as an
apron. He then poured water into a basin, and like a
slave, began to wash the disciples' feet, wiping them with the towel
he was wearing. After washing their feet he said to them
"You are right in calling me Master and Lord. If I, then, the
Lord and Master, have humbly served you, you should humbly serve one
another. I have given you an example so that you may
copy what I have done for you".
Jesus, please help us to serve other people
humbly, just as you humbly served the disciples
Recording
Reflection
on the above readings:
Our troubled world urgently needs more leaders who follow the service
model of Jesus
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
97: Recording
The Lord was able to invite
others to be attentive to the beauty that there is in the world because he
himself was in constant touch with nature, lending it an attention full of
fondness and wonder.
As he made his way throughout the land, he often stopped to contemplate the beauty sown by his Father, and invited his disciples to perceive a divine message in things: "Lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest" (Jn 4:35).
"The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but once it has grown, it is the greatest of plants" (Mt 13:31-32).
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
94: Recording
This worldliness can be fuelled in two deeply
interrelated ways. One is the attraction of gnosticism,
a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set
of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but
which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings.
The other is the self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism of those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past. A supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying.
In neither case is one really concerned
about Jesus Christ or others. These are manifestations of an
anthropocentric immanentism. It is impossible to think that a genuine
evangelizing thrust could emerge from these adulterated
forms of Christianity.
-------------------------------------
From
a friend in Australia: The
Eyes of an Eagle
Video of an eagle's flight from the top of the world's tallest building to his handler below.
--------------------------------------
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 12th of
the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Jiangsu
And
praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 12th of
the month, Jesus please bless the people of Guinea
Bissau
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Monday,
please pacify I.S.
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June 11
Trinity Sunday
Yesterday I helped Deacon Edwin Ng and his team of volunteers with 3 Masses at Shek Pik Prison on Lantau Island - at which 7 inmates received Baptism, Confirmation and Communion. My association with one of the 7 is very special and goes back to when I first met him at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre about 3 years ago. He was waiting to be sentenced for a drug trafficking charge which would mean about 9 years in prison. I noticed him - silent and sad - and all I did was shake his hand as an act of encouragement ...I didn't say a word (often good to avoid words...especially with men) and just gave him a copy of the Old Testament (Chinese Simple Bible).
When I next saw him a few weeks later he had, on his own initiative, written out many chapters of the OT in an exercise book ...in beautiful writing....and he said doing this gave him peace. By the time he was sentenced he'd written out most of the OT. When he finished the OT I gave him the New Testament...which he wrote out in Shek Pik and posted to me. I then gave him the OT in English ...which he wrote out and posted. Then the NT in English. All the while this writing was building up his faith and his love for prayer....to the point where he began taking lessons for Baptism from Deacon Edwin and team. And as well as the Bible he has also written out Pope Francis' books The Joy of the Gospel and Laudato Si. And other inmates have started imitating his example in writing out the Bible. So ...yesterday was very special indeed. Thank you Jesus!
"We should stand firm on human
rights": Australia-based scholar recounts detention ordeal in China
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
c.f. readings for Trinity Sunday
Exodus 34: Again Moses went up the mountain and
stood before God.
God described himself: "I am the Lord,
a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger,
rich in kindness and faithfulness."
When Moses came down from the mountain
the skin on his face was radiant
after speaking with God.
Dear
God, we praise your tenderness and compassion
My
recording of this reading
Daniel
3.52-55: You are blest, Lord God of our fathers. To you glory
and praise for evermore. Blest your glorious holy name. To you
glory and praise for evermore. You are blest in the temple of your glory. To
you glory and praise for evermore. You are blest on the throne of your
kingdom. To you glory and praise for evermore. You are blest who gaze
into the depths. To you glory and praise for evermore. You are blest in
the firmament of heaven. To you glory and praise for evermore.
Recording
2
Corinthians 13.1-13:
Soon I will be with you for a third time.
What I ask is that you live the way God wants you to live. So, grow in your Christian life. Help one
another. Be united.
Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love
of God the Father,
and the friendship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, help me live the
way you want me to live
Recording
John
3.13-17: Jesus said to the religious leader:
"The Son of Man must be lifted up on a cross, as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so that everyone who
believes may have eternal life in him". God loved the world so much, that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but may
have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world, not to
condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
Jesus, only Son of God the Father, thank you
for coming into this world. Please help more and more people believe in
you
Reflection on the above readings:
Video
commentary on today's readings - in Spanish with English subtitles
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
96: Recording
Jesus took up the biblical faith in God the Creator,
emphasizing a fundamental truth: God is Father (cf. Mt 11:25).
In talking with his disciples, Jesus would invite them to recognize the paternal relationship God has with all his creatures.
With moving tenderness he would remind them that each one of them is important in God's eyes: "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God" (Lk 12:6).
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (Mt 6:26).
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
93: Recording
Spiritual worldliness, which
hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the Church, consists in
seeking not the Lord's glory but human glory and personal well-being.
It is what the Lord reprimanded the Pharisees for: "How can you believe, since you look to one another for approval, and are not concerned with the approval that comes from the one God?" (Jn 5.44)
It is a subtle way of seeking one's "own interests, not those of Jesus Christ" (Phil 2:21).
It takes on many forms, depending on the kinds of persons and
groups into which it seeps
-------------------------------------
Hour
of Love HK radio program 8.30
pm HK time tonight
- with items about HK prison inmates
-------------------------------------------
For
Trinity Sunday:
The Trinity decide to go on a vacation. The Son proposes to go to San Fransisco,
but the Father finds that place too liberal minded. So the Father proposes to go
to Jerusalem. "I can't go on vacation there!" says the Son,
"That's where I got killed!"
The Holy Spirit leaves to take a phone call. When the Holy Spirit returns, the
Father and the Son propose going to Rome. "Great idea" says the
Holy Spirit. "I've never been there!"
--------------------------------------
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 11th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hunan
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 11th of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Eritrea
And praying for one Islam-related
intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Sunday,
please bless all Muslims in my country
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Sat June 10
To help inmates
take part in my anti-drug campaign I've prepared this
information file. Also
aimed at helping inmates is a new NGO - Voice
for Prisoners -
kindly being formed by some special friends in HK. VfP
website is now
under
construction
English translation of a letter in Russian by a Russian man in
prison for drug trafficking - how he was tricked to go to Brazil and take drugs
to HK - here
(May 29)
In
this Pentecost week, let's each day pray the beautiful Pentecost
Sequence
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
1
Samuel 1: Each
year, Elkanah and his two wives Hannah and Peninnah, went to Shiloh
to worship the Lord. Peninnah
had children, but Hannah was barren.
Each year at the temple,
Peninnah would taunt Hannah because she was barren. One
year at the temple, Hannah prayed in great distress:
"God, if you give me a child, I will dedicate him to you". Not
long after, Hannah conceived a son whom she called "Samuel".
When Samuel was weaned, she took him to the temple
and gave him to the priest there to serve the Lord
for the rest of his life.
Dear God, please bless all
women who are unable to have a baby
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
5: At the start of this day I pray to you, O
Lord, my King and my God. I offer you my prayer and ask for your
help. Through the greatness of your love, I have
access to your friendship. I bow down in reverence and worship. Lead me, Lord, in the way you want me to go.
It is you, Lord, who bless good people.
You surround them with favors, as with a shield.
Lord, I adore you as my Creator
Recording
Ephesians
3.14-21:
This is what I pray, kneeling before the
Father from whom
every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes it name: May he give you power through his Spirit
for your hidden self to grow strong. May Christ live in your hearts through faith.
Planted in love and built on love, may you
continually focus
on the love of Christ, until your life is filled with that love.
Glory be to him whose power working in
us,
can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory be to him from generation to generation
in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen
Recording
John
12.42-46: Many people believed in Jesus, even some
important people,
but they did not admit it, through fear of being expelled from the prayer
hall. They put honor from people before the honor that comes from God. Jesus said openly "I, the light, have
come into the world, so that whoever believes in me, need not stay in the
dark any more".
Jesus, true Light of the world, please help me
put honor from you before honor from people
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
Ephesians (above) says to focus on Jesus. When Peter walked on water ... and focused on Jesus ...Peter kept walking. But when Peter focused on the storm ...he went down.
----------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
95: Recording The
natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the
responsibility of everyone.
If we make something our own, it is only to administer it for the good of all.
If we do not, we burden our consciences with the weight of having denied the existence of others.
That is why the New Zealand bishops asked what the commandment "Thou shall not kill" means when "twenty percent of the world's population consumes resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive".
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
92: Recording
There indeed we find true healing, since the
way to relate to others which truly heals instead of debilitating us, is
a mystical fraternity, a contemplative fraternity.
It is a fraternal love capable of seeing the sacred grandeur of our neighbour, of finding God in every human being, of tolerating the nuisances of life in common by clinging to the love of God, of opening the heart to divine love and seeking the happiness of others just as (our) heavenly Father does.
Here and now, especially where we are a "little flock", the Lord's disciples are called to live as a community which is the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
We are called to bear witness to a constantly new way of living together in fidelity to the Gospel. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of community!
-------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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 10th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hubei
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the
month:
On this 10th
of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Guinea
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Saturday,
please pacify the
Taliban
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Frid June 9
Yesterday morning at the High Court I was moral support for two young Russian women who were sentenced to about 10 years (after "cuts") in prison for drug trafficking. Both received slight sentence discounts for helping my anti-drug campaign. One woman's story is here (March 15). And a most pleasant surprise: a visitor in the court gallery was another young Russian woman who about two years ago was sentenced to about 20 years (after "cuts") in prison for drug trafficking (after pleading not-guilty and losing her case) but who earlier this year won her appeal for a retrial and a few days ago at the retrial was acquitted. May her case give hope to the first two women.
UK Election - this is good - George
Monbiot: Vote
in Hope.
In
this Pentecost week, let's each day pray the beautiful Pentecost
Sequence
(...please bless the UK!)
-------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from Simple
Bible
Ruth 3-4: Naomi told Ruth to go to the threshing
shed of Boaz
and to sleep there at the feet of Boaz,
this action symbolizing her wish to marry Boaz. When Boaz discovered Ruth there during
the night,
he praised Ruth for wanting to continue Elimelech's family. The next day, Boaz went to the gate of
Bethlehem
and met the only man who preceded him
in the legal right to marry Ruth. The man agreed to let Boaz marry Ruth
and so Boaz took Ruth as his wife. Boaz and Ruth had a son, Obed.
Obed was the father of Jesse whose son was King David.
Dear
God, please bless
all grandparents,
as you blessed David's great grandparents Ruth and Boaz
Psalm
4:
At the end of this day I praise you, Lord,
for all your love and help. O people of the world, how long will you close
your hearts to God?
How long you will keep on chasing false goals? Lord, you have put into my heart a joy that
cannot be obtained by big meals and plenty of wine. I will lie
down in peace and sleep comes at
once,
for you, Lord, make me dwell in safety and peace.
Thank you, Lord, for your love
and help right through today
Recording
Ephesians
2.19-22:
In God's Church you are not foreigners. You
are citizens. You are part of a building that has the
apostles and prophets
for its base. Christ Jesus himself is the foundation stone. You are being built into a house where God
lives.
Jesus, be the foundation stone
of my life
Recording
John
12.23-33: Jesus said to his apostles Andrew and Philip
"Now the time has come for me to be glorified.
Unless a wheat grain goes into the ground and dies, it remains only a
single grain. But if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Now sentence is being passed on this world.
Now Satan is to be defeated. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I
shall draw all people to myself". By these words, Jesus indicated the kind of
death he would die.
Jesus, lifted up on the Cross, you are the
Saviour of the world
Recording
Reflection on the above Bible readings:
The story of Ruth (first reading) helps to explain why King David's DNA contained so much loyalty and love
----------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
94: Recording
The rich and the poor have equal dignity, for
"the Lord is the maker of them all" (Prov 22:2).
"He himself made both small and great" (Wis 6:7), and "he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good" (Mt 5:45).
This has practical consequences, such as those pointed out by the bishops of Paraguay: "Every campesino has a natural right to possess a reasonable allotment of land where he can establish his home, work for subsistence of his family and a secure life.
This right must be guaranteed so that its exercise is not illusory but real.
That means that apart from the ownership of property, rural people must have access to means of technical education, credit, insurance, and markets"
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
91: Recording
One important challenge is to show that the solution
will never be found in fleeing from a personal and
committed relationship with God which at the same time commits us to serving
others.
This happens frequently nowadays, as believers seek to hide or keep apart from others, or quietly flit from one place to another or from one task to another, without creating deep and stable bonds.
This is a false remedy which cripples the heart and at times the body as well. We need to help others to realize that the only way is to learn how to encounter others with the right attitude, which is to accept and esteem them as companions along the way, without interior resistance.
Better yet, it means learning to find
Jesus in the faces of others, in their voices, in their pleas. And
learning to suffer in the embrace of the crucified Jesus whenever we are
unjustly attacked or meet with ingratitude, never tiring of our decision to live
in fraternity.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
Saturday night English Corner at Ricci Memorial Center - thank you Claire & Conor
------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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 9th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Henan
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the
month:
On this 9th of the month, Jesus please bless the
people of Central African Republic
And praying for one Islam-related
intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Friday,
please bless all Muslims
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Thur June 8
Last Monday at Tai Lam Women's prison I saw a very sad
no-longer-young Filipino domestic helper ....and heard how her harsh female employer of 8 years and
of whom she was very afraid (same employer for many years had given her only
HK$300 per month instead of regulation $900 for food allowance, but Filipina too afraid to
complain...) had recently forced her to work in the employer's office ...thus breaking
the law ("working illegally")....for which the Filipina was arrested
...and told by a uncaring duty lawyer not interested in her story "just
plead guilty and you won't have to serve such a long sentence".
I wrote a letter to the judge and supported the Filipina in her desire to plead "not guilty". Yesterday in Shatin Court (where I couldn't be ...I was already at another case at the High Court) the kind judge released the Filipina on bail ...and a different and caring duty lawyer contacted the Immigration Department to instigate proceedings against the employer. Filipina is now staying in Yau Ma Tei at one of the centres for special cases made possible by dear HK friends who are supporting the budding NGO "MercyHK". God is good!
(Also....Filipina will need to find a new employer from around September ...anyone able to help, please email me: jdwomi@gmail.com ....a very special case....while Filipina was in prison for 29 days, her eldest son, aged around 40, died in a traffic accident in the Philippines. Filipina wants to keep working in HK, to support her parents in the Philippines)
What next?! I can't really understand how this was done! Cocases?
Drug mule caught in China
'built suitcases out of 10kg of cocaine'
Is a Chinese popular term for Australia affectionate
or condescending?
In
this Pentecost week, let's each day pray the beautiful Pentecost
Sequence
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from Simple
Bible
Ruth 2:
Naomi and Ruth arrived
in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest. Ruth went to the fields
to look for left-over ears of corn.
She came to the attention of Boaz, Elimelech's clansman. Boaz was a kind man and
he told the men harvesting his crop
to let Ruth take some sheaves of corn, not just left-overs.
As one of Naomi's closest relatives,
Boaz was in a group of several men from which one man was
required by law to marry Ruth and produce children for Elimelech
Lord,
please bless all young wives who have become widows
Psalm
3: When people make fun of me for believing in
you, Lord,
I deeply remember how you are my help and my shield. Even when the whole world seems against me,
I can go to bed and sleep easy, knowing that you protect me. O Lord, please rescue me from people who plot
against me.
Lord our savior, please bless everyone who needs help.
Lord, thank you for your
protection and help
Recording
Ephesians
2.11-14:
You non-Jews were once without hope and
without God.
But now by the blood of Christ,
you who had nothing in common with us Jews,
have been united with us into one family. Christ is the peace between us.
He has broken down the barrier which used to keep us apart.
Jesus, break down barriers of misunderstanding which divide the peoples of the world
John
12.12-19: People who had gone to Jerusalem for the
Passover,
heard that Jesus was coming down to Jerusalem from Bethany. They used palm branches as they went out
to meet him, shouting "Hosanna! Blessings on the King of Israel who
comes in the name of the Lord". Jesus rode a young donkey down the hill, just
as the Scriptures had predicted: "Daughter of Sion, behold! Your king is
coming, mounted on the colt of a donkey". Some religious leaders said to each other
"Look, there is nothing you can do. The whole world is running after
him".
Jesus, humbly entering Jerusalem on a donkey,
may you be known and welcomed and praised by the whole world
Recording
Reflection on the above Bible readings:
What a great image for today's readings from Ephesians - Jesus using a rubber to erase the divisions we cause. All Christians are meant to imitate Jesus....we are supposed to be robbers, I mean rubbers!
-------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
145: Recording Experiencing
an emotion is not, in itself, morally good or evil. The
stirring of desire or repugnance is neither sinful nor blameworthy. What is
morally good or evil is what we do on the basis of, or under the influence of, a
given passion.
But when passions are aroused or sought, and as a result we perform evil acts, the evil lies in the decision to fuel them and in the evil acts that result.
Along the same lines, my being attracted to someone is not automatically good. If my attraction to that person makes me try to dominate him or her, then my feeling only serves my selfishness.
To believe that we are good simply because "we feel good" is a tremendous illusion.
There are those who feel themselves capable of great love only because they have a great need for affection, yet they prove incapable of the effort needed to bring happiness to others.
They remain caught up in their own needs and desires. In such cases, emotions distract from the highest values and conceal a selfcentredness that makes it impossible to develop a healthy and happy family life.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
93a: Recording Saint
John Paul II forcefully reaffirmed this teaching, stating that "God gave
the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without
excluding or favouring anyone".
These are strong words. He noted that "a type of development which did not respect and promote human rights - personal and social, economic and political, including the rights of nations and of peoples - would not be really worthy of man".
He clearly explained that "the Church does indeed defend the legitimate right to private property, but she also teaches no less clearly that there is always a social mortgage on all private property, in order that goods may serve the general purpose that God gave them".
Consequently, he maintained, "it is not in accord with God's plan that this gift be used in such a way that its benefits favour only a few". This calls into serious question the unjust habits of a part of humanity.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
90: Recording
Genuine forms of
popular religiosity are incarnate, since they are born of the incarnation
of Christian faith in popular culture. For this reason they entail a
personal relationship, not with vague spiritual energies or powers, but with
God, with Christ, with Mary, with the saints.
These devotions are fleshy, they have a face. They are capable of fostering relationships and not just enabling escapism.
In other parts of our society, we see the growing attraction
to various forms of a "spirituality of well-being"
divorced from any community life, or to a "theology
of prosperity" detached from responsibility for our brothers and
sisters, or to depersonalized experiences which are
nothing more than a form of selfcentredness.
-------------------------------------
Daniel Daring - The Year with Matthew - 24:
------------------------------------
10 years ago today:
------------------------------------------
Very hot yesterday ...hottest day of 2017 - 34 degrees - with very high humidity
- draining just to walk on the street ....which is why I walked underground from
the Court of Final Appeal to the Catholic Centre in Central ....via Central
Station ...which is about 800 metres long. As one worm said to another:
underground life is cool!
--------------------------------------
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 8th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Heilongjiang
And
praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 8th of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Sierra Leone
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Thursday,
please pacify Al-Qaeda
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Wed June 7
Three Hongkongers held at Bangkok airport over $10m cocaine haul
The number one mastermind in HK
who arranges for drug mules to come to HK is this
man
In this Pentecost week, let's each day pray the beautiful Pentecost Sequence
--------------------------------------------------------
Chris McDonnell
Why is it that each of us has favourite hymns, words and tunes that mean something to us?
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Ruth 1:
In the days of the
judges, there was famine in the land.
Because of the famine, a man from Bethlehem named Elimelech moved to
Moab. Elimelech took with him
his wife Naomi and his two sons.
Elimelech died.
The two sons married Moabite women: Orpah and Ruth.
But then the two sons also died. Naomi was
heart-broken. She had lost her husband and two sons. She decided to return
to Bethlehem
and told her daughters-in-law to go back to their own homes. Orpah went back to her
people.
But Ruth with great loyalty and love chose to go with Naomi. Ruth said:
"Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live.
Your people shall be my people.
Your God shall be my God.
Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried."
Dear God, in time of trouble, please help people to be loyal and kind to each other
My
recording of this reading: 01
02
Psalm
2: Why are the nations revolting against God?
Why won't the nations accept God? O kings and rulers of the
nations, listen to God's voice.
Serve the Lord with love and honor. Blessed are the nations that love
the Lord.
Let all the nations love you,
Lord. Let all the nations love you
Ephesians
2.4-10: God loved us so much, that when we were dead
through our sins,
he brought us to life with Christ. We are God's work of art, created in Christ
Jesus to live a life of goodness, as God originally intended us to
live.
Heavenly Father, help me live my life the way
you want me to live it
Recording
John
11.46-54: The religious leaders had a meeting to decide
what to do about Jesus.
They said "If this man keeps on doing miracles, everyone will follow him. Then
the Romans will see him as a threat, and they will wipe out our
nation". The main leader said "It is better
for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be
destroyed". These words had more meaning than the leader
realized, since Jesus was to die not just for the nation, but for the
whole world. Since the leaders wanted to kill him, Jesus
went to a remote area near the desert, and stayed there with his disciples.
Jesus, please help me better understand how
your death saved the world
Reflection
on the above readings:
Psalm
2 (above) hits the nail on the head: nations are revolting against their Creator
...and in the process not walking the Way of Life
-------------------------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of Love - on love in the family
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
145: Recording Experiencing
an emotion is not, in itself, morally good or evil.
The stirring of desire or repugnance is neither sinful nor blameworthy.
What is morally good or evil is what we do on the basis of, or under the influence of, a given passion.
---------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
92: Recording Moreover,
when our hearts are authentically open to universal communion, this sense of
fraternity excludes nothing and no one.
It follows that our indifference or cruelty towards fellow creatures of this world sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings.
We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people.
Every act of cruelty towards any creature is "contrary to human dignity".
We can hardly consider ourselves to be fully loving if we disregard any aspect of reality: "Peace, justice and the preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes, which cannot be separated and treated individually without once again falling into reductionism".
Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
89: Recording
Isolation,
which is a version of immanentism, can find expression in a false autonomy which
has no place for God. But in the realm of religion it can also take the form of a
spiritual consumerism tailored to one's own unhealthy individualism.
The return to the sacred and the quest for spirituality which mark our own time are ambiguous phenomena. Today, our challenge is not so much atheism as the need to respond adequately to many people's thirst for God, lest they try to satisfy it with alienating solutions or with a disembodied Jesus who demands nothing of us with regard to others.
Unless these people find in the Church a
spirituality which can offer healing and liberation, and fill them with life and
peace, while at the same time summoning them to fraternal communion and
missionary fruitfulness, they will end up by being taken in by solutions
which neither make life truly human nor give glory to God.
-------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
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 7th
of
the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hebei
And praying for one of
the world's poorest
countries each day of the month:
On this 7th of the month, Jesus please
bless the people of Burkina Faso
And praying for one
Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, 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
--------------------
Gay marriage: an elephant in the room (by John W)
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.
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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
action for the time being
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