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 pr
ison 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
Tue Nov 7
Gender
identity: why confusion?
/GD.jpg)
Pope: How to live life to the full - 223, below
My article in today's Ming Pao newspaper has the topic: Today is Melbourne Cup day! It is on Ming Pao website - click "Australian in HK". Free access to article with recording today from about noon to 8pm HK time. Text without recording
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Job 3-7:
Job broke the 7 day silence by wishing that
he had never been
born. He added "For me, there is no peace, no sleep. My
suffering doesn't let me rest." Eliphaz then spoke and reminded Job that God
corrects those whom he loves. Job replied that he was innocent of any
wrongdoing, so why was he being punished? He added: "Lying in
bed I wonder 'When will it be day?' During the day I think 'How
slowly night comes.'
Neither day nor night offers me any relief from my suffering."
Dear Lord, please give courage
and peace
to people who are suffering great pain or distress
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
16: Please protect me, Lord, I take refuge in
you.
You are the only source of all true happiness. I bless you, Lord, who guide and lead me.
Even at night you direct my heart. And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad.
My body shall rest in safety now and always. You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand, happiness for ever.
Thank you, Lord, for the little
joys you give us each day
....and the big joy you've prepared for us in Heaven.
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
Mark
2.23-28: One Sabbath day Jesus and his disciples were walking through a
cornfield. The disciples were hungry.
They picked some ears of corn and ate them. Picking corn on the Sabbath was regarded as unlawful by the
Pharisees. So the Pharisees said to Jesus "Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath law". Jesus replied "Don't you remember what King David and his
followers once did when they were hungry? They ate the Temple bread which
only the priests were allowed to eat. Go and learn the meaning of these words
'What I want is mercy, not superficial external offerings'. I am Master of the Sabbath."
Jesus, please help
me understand
that love is more important than law
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
No humor in the Bible? Surely Jesus had a smile on his face as he broke two taboos at the same time when going into the cornfield: walking on the Sabbath (only short distances allowed), and picking corn (illegal on Sabbath). Surely he was thinking to himself "this is going to be interesting!"
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text
Full Chinese text
223: Recording: Such sobriety, when lived freely and consciously, is liberating.
It is not a lesser life or one lived with less intensity.
On the contrary, it is a way of living life to the full.
In reality, those who enjoy more and live better each moment are those who have given up dipping here and there, always on the look-out for what they do not have.
They experience what it means to appreciate each person and each thing, learning familiarity with the simplest things and how to enjoy them.
So they are able to shed unsatisfied needs, reducing their obsessiveness and weariness.
Even living on little, they can live a lot, above all when they cultivate other pleasures and find satisfaction in fraternal encounters, in service, in developing their gifts, in music and art, in contact with nature, in prayer.
Happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text
Full
Chinese text
201: Recording
No
one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle
demands more attention to other areas.
This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles.
While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice: "Spiritual conversion, the intensity of the love of God and neighbour, zeal for justice and peace, the Gospel meaning of the poor and of poverty, are required of everyone".
I fear that these words too may give rise to commentary or discussion with no real practical effect.
That
being said, I trust in the openness and readiness of all Christians, and I
ask you to seek, as a community, creative ways of accepting this renewed call.
-------------------------------------
For Melbourne Cup day:
--------------------------------------
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 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, Tuesday,
please pacify Boko
Haram
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Mon Nov 6
My newest F/B page:
Africans drug-love scams
- named, begun and managed by a woman in another country who was about to marry
a Nigerian Drug Lord in Thailand....until she saw a story about the same man on
one of my websites - here
(April 22). At F/B link, click the story in Russian, then click
"translate" and you'll see a moving report in English about young
Russians tricked by Nigerian Drug Lords (including one in prison in HK). But
...groan...F/B site, because of its title, has attracted advertisements for ....
on-line dating!?!
I
read every word of this inspiring story...about a race that's on today in New
York!
Meb
Keflenzighi's Last Marathon
Return to simplicity - see beautiful words in 222, below
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Job 2: Satan asked permission from God to test Job even further.
God gave permission. Satan struck Job with sores and ulcers from the soles of his feet
to the top of his head. Job scraped himself with a piece of pot. His wife told him to curse God and die. But Job replied
"If we take happiness from God's hand, must we not take
sorrow too?" News of Job's situation reached three of his friends:
Eliphaz,
Bildad and Zophar and they decided to visit Job. When they drew near to Job, they did not recognize him.
They wept, tore their clothes and sat on the ground beside Job
for 7 days without speaking, stunned and saddened by Job's appearance.
Dear God, please help me imitate Job's trust and
faith
My
recording of this reading
Psalms
14-15: So many people live and act as if God doesn't exist.
Some foolish people even say there is no God. So many people have left the way of justice and truth.
So many people follow the way of falsehood. Lord, help us to live as we should.
Help us not to slander, help us not to wrong others.
Lord,
help us to stand firm in the
way of goodness
Listen
1
Peter 4.3-5: You spent enough time in the past living a
careless life, behaving indecently, drinking all the time, having wild
parties. Now that you don't do these things anymore,
people can't understand why you've changed, and they tell lies about you. They will have to answer for this to him who
will judge everyone at the end of their lives.
Jesus, rescue young people from wild party life
Listen
Mark
2.13-17: Jesus went again to the Sea of Galilee.
Many people came to him and he taught them there by the sea. Near the sea he saw a tax collector Levi
(Matthew) working at the customs house. Jesus said to him "Follow
me". He got up and followed him. Levi gave a dinner in his house for Jesus.
Sitting with Jesus were some tax collectors and "sinners".
In fact Jesus' followers included many tax collectors and
"sinners". Some religious leaders asked Jesus' disciples
"Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus himself answered them: "It is not
the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the
virtuous, but sinners."
Jesus, thank you for being a
friend
of people who are rejected and despised
Listen
Reflection
on the above readings:
When he chose his apostles, Jesus choose not one person from the royal
family, not one priest, not one scholar ....just fishermen and a despised tax
collector. Team Jesus was the world's most unlikely group. Success depended not
on the players but on the Coach!
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
222: Listen
Christian spirituality proposes an
alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and
contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession
with consumption.
We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that "less is more".
A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment.
To be serenely present to each reality, however small it may be, opens us to much greater horizons of understanding and personal fulfilment.
Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little.
It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack.
This implies avoiding the dynamic of dominion and the mere accumulation of pleasures.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
200: Listen
Since
this Exhortation is addressed to members of the Catholic Church, I
want to say, with regret, that the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is
the lack of spiritual care.
The great majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith.
Our
preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a privileged and
preferential religious care.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
Visit to home of Wan family in Sihui.....then...first ever visit to Sihui Cheng Zhong Primary School
------------------------------------------
Speaking of simplicity (222, above), yesterday I had a bit of a
clean-out from my home ....a number of items have been given to the little shop
operated by MercyHK on Cheung Chau Island ....where there will soon, please God,
be a weekly Flea Market (including some fleas from my home!)
--------------------------------------
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 6th of
the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Hainan
And
praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 6th
of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Liberia
And praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Monday,
please pacify I.S.
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Sun Nov 5
Last night I met someone who arrived in HK yesterday afternoon
from Beijing. He said he was so happy to be in 25 degree HK ....after leaving
Beijing which had 0 degree overnight! (...and see
below: why did Goliath die?!)
Pope
raises prospect of married men becoming priests
Letter
in English by a Colombian man in prison in
HK describing classic set up arranged by HK police and a HK informer - here
Tiananmen
Square to be cut from HK school history
-----------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
c.f. readings for Sunday 31
Ezekiel 33.-34: God told Ezekiel to say this to Israel's leaders:
"Punishment is coming for you shepherds who have fed yourselves
but not looked after the sheep. You have failed to make the weak sheep strong,
or to care for the sick ones. You have failed to bring back stray sheep
or look for lost sheep. On the contrary, you have been cruel to the sheep
and treated them badly. Therefore I will look after my flock myself.
I will rescue them from where they have been scattered. I will look for the lost one, bring back the stray,
bandage the injured, and make the weak strong. I will also judge the sheep themselves.
I will judge the fat sheep which have bullied the weak sheep. I will raise up a special shepherd
and put him in charge of all my sheep."
Lord, please help all leaders care for their
people,
like Jesus the Good Shepherd
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
23: The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I
shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. He guides me along the right path. He is true
to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me
comfort. You have prepared a banquet for me in the
sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil. My cup is overflowing. Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life. In the Lord's own house shall I dwell for ever
and ever.
Thank you, Lord, for being my
good shepherd
Listen
1
Thessalonians 1.7-2.12: You are a great example to other believers,
since it was from you that the word of the Lord spread to many places. Everyone knows how we planted the Good News in
your hearts, and
how you broke with idolatry and became servants of the living God. Let me remind you how we loved and served you,
like loving parents caring for their dear children.
Jesus, thank you for the people who nurtured
me as a Christian
Listen
Matthew
23.1-36: Jesus told the people to respect
their religious leaders, but he condemned the religious leaders
- for not practising what they preached
- for doing things just to attract attention
- for craving front seats and places of honor
- for being concerned only with externals.
Jesus called the religious
leaders
- "hypocrites"
- "blind guides"
- "tombs that look good on the outside but are full of dead
bones".
Jesus, help religious leaders be good
people
Listen
Reflection on the above readings:
The only real authority in today's world is moral authority ....like that of Pope Francis (and Mother Teresa) ... which so many leaders lack because they are not practising what they preach.
Video
commentary on today's readings - in Italian with English, Chinese and
Spanish subtitles
--------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
221: Listen
Various convictions of our faith, developed at the
beginning of this Encyclical can help us to enrich the meaning of this
conversion.
These include the awareness that each creature reflects something of God and has a message to convey to us, and the security that Christ has taken unto himself this material world and now, risen, is intimately present to each being, surrounding it with his affection and penetrating it with his light.
Then too, there is the recognition that God created the world, writing into it an order and a dynamism that human beings have no right to ignore.
We read in the Gospel that Jesus says of the birds of the air that "not one of them is forgotten before God" (Lk 12:6). How then can we possibly mistreat them or cause them harm?
I ask all Christians to recognize and to live fully this dimension of their conversion.
May the power and the light of the grace we have received also be evident in our relationship to other creatures and to the world around us.
In this way, we will help nurture that sublime fraternity with all creation which Saint Francis of Assisi so radiantly embodied.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
199b: Listen
True love is always
contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or
vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere
appearances: "The love by which we find others pleasing leads us to offer
them something freely".
The poor person, when loved, "is esteemed as of great value", and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor differ from any other ideology, from any attempt to exploit the poor for one's own personal or political interest.
Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that "in every Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom?"
Without the preferential option for the
poor, "the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime
form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged
by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today's society of mass
communications".
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
Prayers
please for A-Lin, cancer of neck/face + rice harvesting
Welcome back
for a visit former CAS teacher Paul from Adelaide
------------------------------------------
Hour
of Love HK radio program 8.30
pm HK time tonight
- with items about HK prison inmates
-------------------------------------------
When
David hit Goliath with a pebble, Goliath died of surprise: such a thing had
never before entered his head (!)
--------------------------------------
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 5th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Guizhou
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 5th of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Chad
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 Nov 4
Usually on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month, I join Fr Slawek
O.M.I. and his wonderful band of students & volunteers as they give out rice
boxes to a line of more than 100 poor people outside the Yau Ma Tei clinic not
far from my home. The clinic is also a methadone centre where hundreds of people
go every night for a special drink. And the area has many drug addicts, past and
present. Last night when a teacher invited me to say a few words to a group of
Form 3 (Year 9) students during their debriefing I expressed the wish they would
avoid the trap of drugs. The teacher quickly added "No problem with drug
addiction ....they already have a full-time addiction" (mobile phones)!
Letter in Spanish from a
Colombian man in prison in HK for drug
trafficking ....drugs, like those of nearly all South Americans, given to him in
Sao Paulo - here (Oct 16)
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
Job 1:
Job lived in Southern Israel. He had 7 sons
and 3 daughters.
He owned thousands of animals.
He loved God and was a good man.
Satan, one of the fallen angels, challenged God to let Job be put to the
test. God gave permission to Satan to test Job. On the same day, all Job's animals were
captured by raiders, and all his children died in a storm. Job tore his clothes, shaved his head, bowed
to the ground and prayed:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
naked I shall return to the womb of the earth.
The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back.
Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Dear God, please give us
courage and faith when life is difficult
My
recording of this reading
Psalms
9-13: I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.
You have so often rescued me from trouble. Thank you! You are the best helper for people in trouble.
Please keep on helping me when troubles come. Please stop bad people from hurting others.
Please let peoples in all countries know they must avoid evil and live a
life of justice.
Dear Lord, thank you for
so often rescuing me
Listen
1
Peter 3.8-11:
Be agreeable and sympathetic. Love everyone.
Have compassion and be self-effacing. Never pay back one wrong with another, or an
angry word with another one. Instead, pay back with a blessing. Anyone who wants to have a happy life must
banish malice from his tongue; he must avoid evil, do good and seek peace.
Jesus, when people are unkind to me, help me
to pray in my heart "Lord, please bless them"
Listen
Mark
2.1-12: After some time Jesus returned to Capernaum.
Crowds quickly gathered at the house where he was staying. While he was preaching inside the house,
four men carried a paralytic on a stretcher to the front door.
They couldn't get in, because of the crowd, so they went up on the roof,
took off some of the roof covering, and lowered the stretcher in front of
Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the
paralytic "Your sins are forgiven". Some religious leaders
present in the crowd thought to themselves "Who does this man
think he is? Only God can forgive sins". Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he
asked them "Which is easier? To say 'Your sins are
forgiven' or 'Get up and walk'? But to show you that I have authority to
forgive sins I now say: get up, pick up your stretcher and go home."
The man got up, picked up his stretcher and
walked out in front of everyone. The crowd said "We have never seen
anything like this".
Jesus, please heal my
friend.....(name)....who is a paralytic
Listen
Reflection on the above readings:
Today's Gospel is one of the rare occasions when Jesus associates sickness with sin
----------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
220: Listen This
conversion calls for a number of attitudes which together foster a spirit of
generous care, full of tenderness.
First, it entails gratitude and gratuitousness, a recognition that the world is God's loving gift, and that we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works: "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing and your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Mt 6:3-4).
It also entails a loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion.
As believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings.
By developing our individual, God-given capacities, an ecological conversion can inspire us to greater creativity and enthusiasm in resolving the world's problems and in offering ourselves to God "as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable" (Rom 12:1).
We do not understand our superiority as a reason for personal glory or irresponsible dominion, but rather as a different capacity which, in its turn, entails a serious responsibility stemming from our faith.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
199a: Listen
Our
commitment does not consist exclusively in activities or programs of promotion
and assistance; what the Holy Spirit mobilizes is not an
unruly activism, but above all an attentiveness
which considers the other "in a certain sense as one with ourselves".
This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good.
This
entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in
their experience of life, in their culture, and
in their ways of living the faith.
-------------------------------------
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 4th
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Guangdong
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the
month:
On this 4th
of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Mozambique
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Saturday,
please pacify the
Taliban
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Fri Nov 3
Yesterday morning I spent a frustrating time at the High Court
....prevented from giving information that would have helped a defendant. More
about this after the case is finished.
Pope says we should remember and celebrate our anniversary of
Baptism. Well, thank you Jesus for
baptising me with water on this day in 1946.
New
book -The Health Hazards of Homosexuality - attacked by mainstream media
-------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from Simple
Bible
1 Maccabees 15: In 138 B.C., Antiochus
son of Demetrius made war with Trypho.
This same Antiochus became hostile to Simon after the Romans re
newed their treaty with Israel. When Antiochus sent an
army to attack Israel,
Simon defeated that army. A disloyal and
ambitious Jew named Ptolemy got Simon and two of his sons drunk at a
banquet and killed them. Simon was succeeded by
his son John as leader of the Jews.
Dear God, please protect
good leaders from disloyalty
My
recording of this reading
Psalm
8: How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth. When I see the heavens, the work of your
hands,
the moon and stars which you have arranged,
then I stop and think:
what are we insignificant humans that you should care about us? Yet you have put us in charge of the world.
Everything is subject to our control.
How great is your name, O Lord
our God, through all the earth
Listen
1 Peter
1.3-7:
Wives, honor and respect your husbands. If some husbands
are not yet believers, they may find
themselves won over to the Lord, without a word spoken, by the goodness of
their wives. Wives, do not dress up for show: special hair
style, gold bracelets, expensive clothes - all outside stuff. What matters is what's inside: a sweet and
gentle disposition - that's what God likes. Husbands, be kind and thoughtful to your
wives, respecting them as equals.
Jesus, help husbands and wives
imitate your love
Listen
Mark
1.40-45: A leper came to Jesus and on his knees
pleaded
"If you want to, you can heal me". Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his
hand,
touched him and said "Of course I want to heal you. Be healed!" The leprosy left him at that moment and he was
healed. Jesus told the man not to tell people what had
happened
(in case people misunderstood Jesus' spiritual mission and tried to use
him politically). But the man told everyone. Soon Jesus could not go openly into any town
(for fear the crowds would become unruly) so he stayed in remote places. Even so, people from all around the district
would come to him.
Jesus, please heal people who
are lepers
Listen
Reflection on the above Bible readings:
The law (with good health reasons) said "don't touch a leper". But Jesus (with good healing reasons) broke the law
----------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
219: Listen
Nevertheless, self-improvement on the part of
individuals will not by itself remedy the extremely complex situation facing our
world today.
Isolated individuals can lose their ability and freedom to escape the utilitarian mindset, and end up prey to an unethical consumerism bereft of social or ecological awareness.
Social problems must be addressed by community networks and not simply by the sum of individual good deeds.
This task "will make such tremendous demands of man that he could never achieve it by individual initiative or even by the united effort of men bred in an individualistic way. The work of (improving) the world calls for a union of skills and a unity of achievement that can only grow from quite a different attitude".
The ecological conversion needed to bring about lasting change is also a community conversion.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
198b: Listen
This
is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They
have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in
their difficulties they know the suffering Christ.
We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them.
The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the centre of the Church's pilgrim way.
We
are called to find Christ in them, to lend our
voice to their causes, but also to be their
friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious
wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.
-------------------------------------
10
years ago today:
------------------------------------------
To go with today's Gospel:
--------------------------------------
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 3rd
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Gansu
And praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the
month:
On this 3rd of the month, Jesus please bless the
people of Burundi
And praying for one Islam-related
intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Friday,
please bless all Muslims
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thu Nov
2
All Souls Day
Yesterday at the High Court, with the help of a kind visitor from Australia, I
attended six cases. That record should stand for a while! An on-going concern:
"disparity of sentencing" ....there are kind judges and harsh
judges...there are legal teams which go to a lot of trouble and legal teams
which don't make much effort.
Colombian
anti-drug mule video - it's in Spanish but check the pictures!
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from Simple
Bible
c.f. Readings for All Souls Day
Isaiah 25: On
Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the Lord will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich
food, a banquet of fine wines. On
this mountain he will delete Death. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every
cheek. Lord, you are my God, I extol you, I praise your name. You, Lord, are a
refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in distress.
Lord, please give hope and courage to people who are sad and troubled in the
world today
My recording of this reading
Psalm 27: The
Lord is my light and my help, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of
my life, before whom shall I shrink? Though an army encamp against me, even then
would I trust. There is one thing I
ask of the Lord, for this I long: to live in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life. It is your face, O Lord, that I seek. Hide not your face. I am sure
I will see your goodness in the land of the living. Hope in the Lord, hold firm
and take heart. Hope in the Lord!
Lord, please increase my remembering, my longing and my hope
Recording
Philippians 3.20-41: Our
homeland is in heaven. We wait for the Savior from heaven who will transfigure
these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do this
by the same power he has as C.E.O. of the universe. So, do not stop running but
remain faithful in the Lord.
Jesus, please increase my longing for heaven
Recording
Mark 16.1-8: Jesus
died on Friday afternoon. Early on Sunday morning, Mary of Magdala and two other
women went to Jesus' tomb to anoint his body with
spices. They had been wondering how they would roll away the large stone, but
when they arrived, the stone had already been rolled away. When they went into
the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe and they were full of awe. But he
said to them "Do not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here. He has risen from the dead. Go and tell his disciples
he will see them in Galilee"
Jesus, when life seems hopeless, like a dead body in a tomb, please help us
remember how you rose from the dead....and you can help us "rise" from
any "hopeless" situation
Reflection on the above Bible readings:
One thing that nearly all cultures share: an instinct to remember the dead, to pray for the dead, to honor the dead.
-------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
218: Listen In
calling to mind the figure of Saint Francis of Assisi, we come to realize that a
healthy relationship with creation is one dimension of overall personal
conversion, which entails the recognition of our errors, sins, faults and
failures, and leads to heartfelt repentance and desire to change.
The Australian bishops spoke of the importance of such conversion for achieving reconciliation with creation: "To achieve such reconciliation, we must examine our lives and acknowledge the ways in which we have harmed God's creation through our actions and our failure to act. We need to experience a conversion, or change of heart"
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
198a: Listen
For
the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a
theological category rather than a cultural, sociological, political or
philosophical one. God shows the poor "his first mercy".
This divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have "this mind which was in Jesus Christ" (Phil 2:5).
Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a "special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness".
This
option - as Benedict XVI has taught - "is implicit in our Christian faith
in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty"
-------------------------------------
Pope
admits: When I pray, sometimes I fall asleep
--------------------------------------
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 2nd
of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Fujian
And
praying for one of the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 2nd of the month, Jesus
please bless the people of Niger
And
praying for one Islam-related intention
each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Thursday,
please pacify Al-Qaeda
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed Nov 1
All
Saints Day
Today I'm due to be at the High Court for five (!) cases... two from Africa, two from South America, one from the Sub-Continent ....two at 9.30, one at 10, one at 10.30 and one at 11.00. Usually one single case takes about an hour. All you Saints in Heaven, please help the five people being sentenced!
G r o a n ....
HK
to host Gay Games in 2022
Twist
in China's political theater
President
Xi's position at Party Congress wasn't dissimilar from recent ceremony marking
the 20th anniversary of HK's handback to China
Pope
appoints former missionary as new Tokyo archbishop
--------------------------------------------------------
Chris McDonnell
A self-help Christian Community?
Formation
for pastoral leaders in parishes rather than the closure of parishes or the
creation of ever-increasing numerical entities is a courageous and welcome
initiative....When will the day come when I can ordain the proven leaders of our
communities?
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Book Blog:
4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here
Readings are from
Simple Bible
c.f. Readings for All Saints Day
Revelation 7.9-17: I
saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, and
language. They were standing in front of the throne, with palms in their hands.
They shouted: "Victory to our God, who sits on
the throne, and to the Lamb". One
of the elders told me who these people are: "These are the people who have
been through the great persecution. They now serve God day and night in his
sanctuary. The Lamb is their Shepherd. He leads them to springs of living water.
God has wiped away all tears from their eyes"
Jesus, please help sorrowing people who are crying today
My
recording of this reading
Psalm 24: The
Lord's is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its peoples. It is he
who set it on the seas; on the waters he made it firm. Who shall climb the
mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? People with clean
hands and pure hearts, who desire not worthless things. They shall receive
blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves them. Such are the
people who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob.
God, by living a good life, help me to seek your face
1 John
3.1-3: Think of the love that the
Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children. And God's love
has even more in store for us in the future: we shall be like him because we
shall see him as he really is. This is why we must try to live good lives. We
must try to be as good as Christ.
Jesus, please help me be more like you
Matthew 5.1-12: Jesus
said to the crowds: Blessed are poor and simple of heart people. They belong to
the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are people who are going through great sorrow.
Their hearts will be filled with peace. Blessed are people who lead just and
honest lives. They will see the victory of goodness. Blessed are people who show
mercy to others. God will be merciful to them. Blessed are people who have a
clean heart. They will see God. Blessed are people who are peacemakers. They are
God's children. Blessed are people who are persecuted for the cause of right.
They will receive a great reward in heaven.
Jesus, please help me be merciful and
kind and just
Recording
Reflection on the above readings:
All you Saints in Heaven, great and small, pray
for us!
When the Saints Go Marching
In
-------------------------------------------------------
Pope's
letter on climate change: Laudato Si 我主應受讚美
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
217: Listen "The
external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have
become so vast".
For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion.
It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment.
Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent.
So what they all need is an "ecological conversion", whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them.
Living our vocation to be protectors of God's handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.
------------------------------------
Pope Francis: The
Joy of the Gospel
Full
English text Full
Chinese text
197: Listen
God's heart has a special
place for the poor, so much so that he himself "became poor" (2
Cor 8:9).
The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor.
Salvation came to us from the "yes" uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great empire. The Saviour was born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor families; he was presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could not afford a lamb; he was raised in a home of ordinary workers and worked with his own hands to earn his bread.
When he began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the
dispossessed followed him, illustrating his words: "The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor" (Lk
He assured those burdened by sorrow and
crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in his heart:
"Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of God" (Lk 6:20); he
made himself one of them: "I was hungry and
you gave me food to eat", and he taught them
that mercy towards all of these is the key to heaven (cf. Mt 25:5ff.).
-------------------------------------
10
years ago:
Visit to Zhaoqing by USA Frank Redmond - for volunteer work at Zhaoqing School for the Deaf
------------------------------------------
Flying fish:
Avery Ng gets jail term over tuna sandwich assault
--------------------------------------
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 1st
of
the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Anhui
And praying for one of
the
world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 1st of the month, Jesus please
bless the people of Congo
And praying for one
Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Wednesday,
please pacify Al-Shabaab
---------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
My Africa trips:
2015: Tanzania, Malawi
2016:
Kenya, Uganda
2017:
Southern Africa, Dubai (
The
Last Run)
--------------------
Australian Chinese for
Families Association
Gay marriage: an elephant in the room (by John W)
Video:
What "gay
marriage" did to Massachusetts
同志婚姻自2004年立法後，美國麻省的改變
（ 廣東話附字幕版）
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.
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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- 67095674
China
mobile +86-13828421861 - (only
when in China)
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