V2Catholic.Com

V2Catholic.com A voice for the poor Edited by HK prison chaplain Fr John Wotherspoon O.M.I . 胡頌恆神父 jdwomi@gmail.com

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Tues Dec 14

11 days to Christmas! If we think we have many problems, let's remember what Jesus' mother and her husband were going through 2,000 years ago at this time .... a donkey journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem ... with Mary soon to give birth .... and then nowhere to stay in Bethlehem

Yesterday morning I stood for 90 minutes at the registry counter of the Metropolitan (formerly Open) University to enrol 6 prisoners for correspondence courses. For some of the applicants their chosen course was not available or already full ... so I had to choose another course for them. At one stage my trusty Hang Seng EPS card refused to work. God bless the patience of the young guy who processed the applications (and the patience of the old feller he was serving)!

Disturbing article: Richest 1% take 38% of global wealth while bottom half get 2%

My reflections on Documents of Vatican 2: Eve and Mary

Wear mask & Cross!

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The Book Blog: 4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here Readings are from Simple Bible

1 Samuel 4: Around this time, the Philistines defeated the Israelites in a battle. The Israelites then went to Shiloh and took the Sacred Chest of the Lord. They took the Sacred Chest into battle with them but the Chest was captured by the Philistines. In the same battle, Eli's two sons were killed. When Eli heard that his sons were dead and that the Sacred Chest had been captured, he fell backwards off his seat, his neck was broken, and he died.
Dear God, please don't let me cause unhappiness for my family
My recording of this reading

Psalm 117: O Praise the Lord, all you nations. Acclaim him, all you peoples! Strong is his love for us. He is faithful for ever. May all the nations love and praise you, Lord
Listen

Galatians 3.26-28: Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are children of God. When you were baptized, you entered into a special relationship of friendship with Christ. This relationship cancels out old labels like Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. These old labels have been replaced by a new one hanging around your heart: Made in Christ
Jesus, help me better understand our relationship
Listen

Matthew 1.1-17 - the family tree of Jesus, Matthew's list:

1:1 A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

1:3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,

1:4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

1:5 Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was the father of Jesse;

1:6 and Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,

1:7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

1:8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah,

1:9 Azariah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

1:10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah;

1:11 and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

1:12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

1:13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

1:14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,

1:15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob;

1:16 and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

1:17 The sum of generations is therefore: fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ.

Reflection: Jewish ancestor lists, like those in many other ancient countries, never mentioned women. But Matthew mentions five women, two or maybe three of them not Jewish (Rahab, Ruth .... Uriah's wife).

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I spent a large part of yesterday afternoon processing the university receipts I had obtained yesterday morning .... remembering my own registration at Monash University in Melbourne 55 (!) years ago

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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 14th of the month, Jesus please bless the prisoners of Jilin

And praying for one of the world's poorest countries each day of the month:
On this 14th of the month, Jesus please bless the people of Ethiopia

And praying for one Islam-related intention each day of the week:
Jesus, today, Tuesday, please pacify Boko Haram

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Mon Dec 13

Yesterday afternoon at St Alfred's Church, Tai Wai, I attended the diaconate ordination Mass of Bro. Dominic Fung King Ho O.M.I. ... the very first ordination for HK's new Catholic leader Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan S.J. Please God Dominic will be ordained a priest in about 6 months time.

For my homily at Mass yesterday morning at Yau Ma Tei Parish I used a SCMP video about the beautiful work of the Gingko Restaurant in YMT ... which gives out more than 200 free meals each day to needy people and which recently opened a shop at 11 Nanking Street, Jordan to process clothing for needy people. Scroll down here for link to video (Cantonese, with English subtitles). Gingko is putting into practice the advice of John the Baptist in yesterday's Gospel: give clothing and food to the needy.

My reflections on Documents of Vatican 2: We need to imitate Mary

Wear mask & Cross!

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The Book Blog: 4 readings + recordings
Comments welcome here Readings are from Simple Bible

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 116: I love the Lord for he has heard the cry of my appeal. He turned his ear to me in the day when I called him. They surrounded me, sorrow, distress and the snares of death. I was helpless, so the Lord saved me. Calm down my soul, for the Lord has been good. I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? The cup of salvation I will raise to thank the Lord. O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful. Lord, you have loosened my bonds. I am your servant.
Thank you, Lord, for all your goodness to me
Listen

Galatians 2.16-20: What makes us God's friends is not obedience to the Law, but faith in Jesus Christ I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now, not with my own life, but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body, I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake
Jesus, help me understand how you live in me, and I live in you
Listen