2013 Articles by Fr John Wotherspoon 2012 articles
Dec
16: Bishop Schneider's pastorally disturbing visit to Hong Kong
My advice to good people puzzled/disturbed
by Bishop Schneider is: stop breathing his poisonous air. Rather, breathe
the fresh air of the Holy Spirit found in the daily messages of Pope
Francis
Dec
15: People are tired of hearing about Church. They want to hear about Jesus
"The
countries of Europe have turned secular mostly because the people are
tired of hearing about church. They hunger for spirituality and intimacy
with God, and all we give them is church"
Nov
12: How
a school principal's wisdom and determination
saved a whole town from Philippine typhoon
Oct 20: How maps can help us pray
Maybe a large map of the world in churches would help congregations
pray globally. Not a geography lesson, but a way of caring about
the whole human family, especially for groups and places going through
difficult situations
Oct
13: Aberrations
of Gospel Christianity
No one questions the enormous good that clergy and religious have done
over the centuries, but maybe it's time to return religion, return prayer,
return leadership to the rank-and-file, to ordinary life
Oct
7: Asylum seekers ....and us
We tend to have
nothing but contempt for "people smugglers", and in the way they deceive and exploit poor
people they deserve contempt, but their existence is an unwelcome reminder
that legal migration of poor people to better places is too little, too
restricted, too selfish on the part of the receiving places.
... Indifference to the situation of asylum seekers is indifference to Jesus....
Sep
30: Facebook
and the dumbing down of society
Just as we need to make a conscious effort, on a daily basis, to choose
healthy rather than junk food, just as we need on a daily basis to take
some exercise to keep fit ....so we need to make a conscious effort, on a
daily basis, to take an interest in current affairs
Sep
22: Pope's
prayer and Middle East peace: any link?
To deny the reality of intercessory prayer is to deny an ocean of Bible
teaching and spirituality history ....and to flatten our own pneumatic
tires
Sep
16: Globalisation of
Indifference
- term used by Pope Francis to describe a growing harshness towards the
poor: (asylum seekers, prisoners, people living in poverty). What
can be done to reverse this trend?
Aug
26: Two
men named Francis and the reason for Pentecostal growth
Pope Francis - and Francis MacNutt's prediction
Aug
2: "Reject
what is contrary to the Gospel"
Pope Francis is practising plenty of rejection
July 28: Weather and World Youth Day Storms in Spain, Rain in Brazil ....
July
21: Drug
Mules An issue affecting almost every country in the world, with
a real life story of a Tanzanian mule now in a Hong Kong prison. Article
names and shames some important people in Tanzania, including a prominent
politician Iddi Azan. Hopefully this article
will discourage people from being mules
July
6: A Rotating Papacy?To stop/prevent the Western/European
domination of the Church, maybe the papacy could become a rotating
leadership, with a new pope every 3 or 5 years from each of the main
regions of the world: Africa, Europe, South Asia, East & South East
Asia, South America, Central & North America.
June
21: Websites
- what's the best format?
A reflection on recent changes to CathNews, Eureka Street etc
June
17: Same-sex
marriage: two elephants in the (men's) room
On
the issue of same-sex marriage, I see two elephants in the men's room that no
one wants to talk about. The first one is taboo and is rarely mentioned in
same-sex marriage discussions. The second one is on the way to becoming a taboo topic.
By tabooing these topics, we are not doing the gay community or the general
community a favour. On the contrary, we are putting both at risk
June 15: Pope
Francis and Gnosticism
Christianity is a mud-on-the-boots religion, a down-to-earth
practice,
not a
pie-in-the-sky theory like much "New Age" thinking
June
13: Pope
Francis and Pelagianism
To what extent are some restorationist groups displaying a "Pelagian
current"?
June 8: Bishops who are following Pope Francis' example - two encouraging reports so far (any more?)
June
7: "Over
the top" - the love in Jesus' heart
The
more we remember Jesus' love, the more we become aware that every one of us has
benefited from his over the top love:
by protecting us, by rescuing us, by
healing us ....from scum situations
June 3: Corpus Christi Collect confusion - a confusing hindrance to prayer
June
1: Today is also the anniversary of someone most
Catholics have never heard of: Watchman Nee, who died on this day 1972 in a
Shanghai prison. This
article tries to show that Nee's life and
teachings hold many valuable lessons for Christianity in all parts of the
world
May
31: Mary
got involved, from start to finish
- Mary a model re Pope Francis' words "get out", "get
involved", "look outwards"
May
27: A new symbol for the Trinity: the three-blade fan
May
13: Loss
of enthusiasm "You can only have
long-lasting enthusiasm if you have a fire
that burns within you"
May
6: In each diocese a Vicar
for the Poor
Pope Francis wants a "poor Church that
cares more for the poor".
One way to promote this ideal is for each
diocese to have a specific person designated as "Vicar for the
Poor"
May 3:
Which James is which?
May 2: Pope Francis is giving new meaning to the famous words of Paul VI
April 30:
Divide
a parish into zones
How this was done in one HK parish
April
29: Imitating
Pope Francis'
common touch
Popes, bishops, priests and
religious with the common touch
should not be the exception. They should be the rule
April
28: Bangladesh
tragedy and Fair Trade and me
How many dioceses/parishes/schools
have/support a Fair Trade shop?
When Pope Francis speaks about "going out" and
"getting involved in the world" the Fair Trade issue is the sort
of thing he has in mind
April 26: The mud on Pope Francis' boots
April
24: Pope's
G8 should be G9?
Cardinal Tagle should be added to
group
April
22mitating
Pope Francis' liturgical simplicity
How can we imitate Francis who
prefers simple vestments and non operatic-type liturgy and who does not give
high priority to external dress?
April
17: Pope
Francis and the new translation
It's no secret that many priests and not a
few bishops around the world have refused to use the new translation.
The
fact that one of our number is now pope must surely be giving supporters
of the new translation a few sleepless nights
April
15: Imitating
Pope Francis'
simple lifestyle
I
suppose the psychologists would say we first need to downsize our image,
our
"keeping up with or surpassing the Joneses" ego
April
8: Imitating
Pope Francis' concern for the poor
"Are we helping as many
as God wants us to help?"
April 7: Picking up rubbish for Pope Francis
April
6: Keeping
up to date with Pope
Following Pope Francis is like
following Black Caviar!
April
3 Pope
Francis' "peculiar" actions
should be common
Living simply, special care for the
poor, avoiding ostentation .. should be normal practice for church leaders
April
1: Following
Francis' example
There are four areas of our lives
where we can try to follow the inspiring example of Pope Francis:
A simple lifestyle, concern for the
poor, liturgical
simplicity,
the
common touch
March
30: Holy
Saturday reflection
What place closed down some time after 3pm
on Good Friday?
March
25: Pope's
Pentecost Plan
Pope Francis hopes that after
Pentecost every diocese, parish, school and organisation
will develop a
strategy for putting into practice the goals of a simpler, humbler, more
caring Church
March 25: The Universe - God's Womb
March
24: Today's
Romero Anniversary
will inspire Pope Francis
In today's Palm Sunday Mass no doubt Pope Francis will refer to Romero as someone who followed Jesus
in laying down his life for others, a martyr for truth and justice
March 19: Pope Francis - like John XXIII and John-Paul I
March 18: Will Pope Francis give Communion on the hand?
March 17: Pope Francis has given us a spring in our steps
March
16: Pope
Francis - Day Two
Another day of good news
March
15: Pope
Francis - Day One
It's
as if Mother Teresa
became pope!
March
11: Praying
for a Romero Pope
May the new pope undergo a Romero transformation!
"Feb
4: "Our
vestments are pompous"
In this time of shame and
sorrow re child
abuse, it would be good,
as a sign of sorrow, for priests & bishops & cardinals & pope
to wear just an alb and stole
..to abandon the chasuble for "a year
of sorrow"
Feb
27: Be still and know that I am God
At
a time of sadness and shame, a time of disarray in the Church,
this song takes on more meaning
Feb
24: 2005
insights into 2013 conclave
Cardinal George Pell to be the
candidate for carrying on the JPII-B16 legacy?
Feb
19: If
next pope is a European, big disappointment in Africa, Asia, South
America ...again
61 of 117 cardinals are European
Feb 18: A Politburo
Papacy?
A
young Joseph Ratzinger suggested the Church needs more patriarchs. An older
JR then changed his mind.
Feb
17: Church's Obama moment
This time next month, I
wonder if the tears will again be flowing, for the first black pope in the
Church's history?
Feb
12: Near Death Experiences
We
should not base our faith on such books, but these books are a great
encouragement for our life of faith.
These books are especially an encouragement for families which have recently
lost a loved one - as one comment on the site of Mary Neal says: I
recently lost my 23 year old son and I cannot express how much hope and comfort
your book gave me
Feb 8: The
Calisthenic Mass
In the space of 25 minutes for a
daily Mass, people are up at start, down for readings, up at Alleluia,
down for homily, up for Prayer of Faithful, down for Offertory, up for
Pray brethren, down for Eucharistic Prayer, up for Consecration
acclamation, down after Lamb of God, up for receiving Communion, down
after Communion, up for Prayer after Communion....that's a 7-Up Mass!
Jan
28: A dysfunctional Church?
Laity to
the rescue?
What do you think?
Jan
20: The
new translation - a Humanae Vitae moment?
The unreasonableness of the new
translation is not unlike the unreasonableness (for many people) of
Humanae Vitae. Both the translation and HV impinge on, (trample on?) very
sensitive areas: liturgical life and sexual life
Jan
13: The
new translation after one year - readers' views
Our views can give courage to bishops, to help them
become "tank bishops"!
Jan
7:
"I see...now I get it" moments
Paul, Augustine,
Francis,
Ignatius, Eugene, Vat II
... and Benedict XVI