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war!v2catholic.com
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A
forum to promote and defend the vision of Vatican II Edited by Fr John
Wotherspoon O.M.I. 胡
頌 恆 神 父
Original articles have
"comments welcome here"
link
DV New
articles 7 days a week to
encourage people trying to follow the example of Pope
Francis
in implementing the vision of Vatican II by service of the poor, by
a simple life style, by simple liturgy,
by concern for Ecumenism, by concern for climate change, by concern
for renewal of the Church
- all underpinned by a rededication to the Bible.
Two particular concerns:
The New Translation"Reform
of the reform" agenda
The
Holy Spirit and Prayer
Martin Mallon (Tuesday
blogger from Ireland)
What happens when we permit the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Christ, to guide us and to dwell inside us? We are made free! We are
able to dump every form of fear and slavery we are experiencing, and we
experience the true freedom of being Children of God. This means that the Holy
Spirit helps us to realise who we truly are, the Children of God made in the
image of God. As we pray and allow the Holy Spirit into the centre of our lives
He gives us the grace, the strength and the will to abandon habits and
conditions which had left us enslaved
----------------------------------------------------
Today is the birthday of one of the world's greatest missionaries...very
few Catholics have ever heard of him: Hudson Taylor - he
followed Matteo Ricci in respect and love for Chinese culture and language, in
wearing Chinese dress (for which he was laughed at by other foreign missionaries
in his early ministry), a great spirit of Ecumenism
("non-denominationalism") and he had a great trust in God - refusing to
engage in fund-raising...his motto being: "God's work, done in God's way,
will never lack God's supplies" ....a contrast to our modern way of
running the Church like a business.
He was responsible for more than 800 missionaries going to China ....and he laid
the foundation for the phenomenal growth of evangelical house churches in China
today
This
famous quote of Taylor is most suitable for Pentecost week:
“Since the days of Pentecost, has the
whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days,
that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to
method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power.”
Today
is also the anniversary of St
Eugene de Mazenod who died on this day 1861 in France.
As a young priest he nearly died after contracting typhus from prison
ministry.
He founded the Oblates of Mary Immaculte
(OMI), a congregation with preference for the poor.
Coming from a troubled family, he is a patron of dysfunctional families.
Pentecost
Octave? In
this article on May 18, I lamented the fact that Pentecost is not followed
by an octave, like Christmas and Easter. Just discovered that this is a major
concern of some of the Traditionalists! (Google: octave of Pentecost). Reason
for abolition of octave in 1969 seems to have been that Pentecost is a time of
completion of the Easter Season: it's the 50th and final day ....so....not good
to add on another week. This argument satisfies the brain, but not the
heart...which wants a Pentecost honeymoon, not just a one day stand
In
this week after Pentecost, let's think about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit Today:Understanding.
According to the CCC,
in
understanding we comprehend how we need to live as followers of Christ. A person
with understanding is not confused by the conflicting messages in our culture
about the right way to live. The gift of understanding perfects a person's
speculative reason in the apprehension of truth.
How
to put this more simply?
- he had a great understanding of the game
- he had a poor understanding of mathematics
- she had a deep understanding of handicapped people
- she had a solid understanding of the Bible
- Ricci and Hudson Taylor had a deep understanding of Chinese culture
- the old doctor had a profound understanding of human nature
- Empathy is the experience of understanding another person's
condition from their perspective
Christian
understanding, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, includes all of the above types of
understanding, but goes further:
it's a special understanding of LIFE and of TRUTH
Reading Reflection Prayer
-
- with readers' comments - Menu for today May
21 -
readings for feast of St Eugene de Mazenod:
the best of all Good News; the automatic next step; simple preaching; preference
for the poor
Vatican II
Reflection 95One of the good fruits of Vatican II: the revised
rite of baptism for children
Pope
Francis' Pentecost Sunday homily - with three
themes:
Newness: "Do
we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God’s newness sets
before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have lost
their capacity for openness to what is new?" (w
o w !)
Harmony: "If
we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit, then richness, variety and
diversity never become a source of conflict" (love
is a many splendid thing!)
Mission:
"Let us ask ourselves: do we tend to stay closed in on ourselves, on our
group, or do we let the Holy Spirit open us to mission?" (touché
!)
In
this week after Pentecost, let's think about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (mentioned
by the pope in his homily above):
Today - Wisdom:
this
excellent article shows how Wisdom has been highly valued in all cultures
and religions
...which makes us think: the Holy Spirit has been present, is present, in all
cultures and religions, albeit unrecognized
Re
Wisdom - c.f. Brian Lewis' Conscience
as Wisdom of the Heart which has the words: Wisdom
of the heart is not only a virtue we acquire through repeated efforts as we go
through life, a product of our moral experience. It is also a Christian virtue,
a quality of spirit given us with the grace of Christ through the
indwelling Spirit
in our hearts. What Vatican II says about this gift of wisdom has particular
relevance here. 'The
intellectual nature of the human person is perfected by wisdom and needs to be.
For wisdom gently attracts the human mind to a quest and a love for what is true
and good. Steeped in wisdom, the human person passes through visible realities
to those which are unseen... It is finally through the
gift of the Holy Spirit
that the person comes by faith to the contemplation and completion of the divine
plan' (Gaudium
et Spes, n.15).
Illegal
drugs to be legalised?
On
international agenda - let it come soon DV so that small drug dealers no longer
need money to buy their drugs...and therefore no longer need to find new users
to get money for their habit
Reading Reflection Prayer
- with readers' comments -
Menu
for today May 20:
- walking along a well-lit street at night; family
tree influences; be on guard against bad leaders; morning, noon and
night
Flat
tire theology Daniel Daring
I am writing this article on the eve of
Pentecost. You will go to your church, hear the powerful testimony
about the disciples of Jesus being transformed by the
"wind" and the "fire", but I am afraid that you
will go back home and live your life without that transforming power
of the Spirit. The truth is that it is easier to celebrate than
live; it is also safer. The first Christians did not celebrate
Pentecost, but they lived a life filled with the power of the Spirit.
I
would love to exchange our celebration for their experience. I am
tired of hearing how the Spirit fell on them; I want Her to fall on
me as well; I am tired of a church that celebrates Pentecost, but it
is not filled with power from above; I want my church to be a
vehicle of transformation, a true witness to the values of the
Gospel
A
New Pentecost, 2013, the Holy Spirit as the Fire of Woman
Darlene Starrs
(Canada
Sunday blogger)
When all is said and done there is more to the New Pentecost than
the empowerment of women. There is also a new evangelization, a new
governance, and the emergence of a new laity. However, no aspect of
this New Pentecost can be achieved without the women and their gift
of feminine power, a power whose source is Jesus Christ
***
A
reflection on the Holy Spirit to help prepare for Pentecost:
Jesus is Christ, "anointed," because the Spirit
is his anointing, and everything that occurs from the Incarnation on
derives from this fullness. When Christ is finally glorified, he
can in
turn send the Spirit from his place with the Father to those who believe
in him: he communicates to them his glory, that is, the Holy Spirit who
glorifies him. From that time on, this joint mission will be manifested in
the children adopted by the Father in the Body of his Son: the mission of
the Spirit of adoption is to unite them to Christ and make them live in
him.
The notion of anointing suggests . . .
that there is no distance between the Son and the Spirit. Indeed, just as
between the surface of the body and the anointing with oil neither reason
nor sensation recognizes any intermediary, so the contact of the Son with
the Spirit is immediate, so that anyone who would make contact with the Son
by faith must first encounter the oil by contact. In fact there is no part
that is not covered by the Holy Spirit. That is why the confession of the
Son's Lordship is made in the Holy Spirit by those who receive him, the
Spirit coming from all sides to those who approach the Son in faith. -
CCC 690
***
Reading
Reflection Prayer
-
with readers' comments
-
Menu for today,
May 18
-
the vigil of Pentecost
Vatican
II Reflection 92
"Please stand for
the Prayer of the Secretary" (= "Prayer of the
Faithful" ?)
Foster
parent: you raise a child who is biologically neither yours nor your spouse's.
Step parent: you raise a child who is not
biologically yours but is biologically your spouse's.
Which means Joseph was Jesus' stepfather,
not his foster father.
Which means a lot of literature needs fixing (c.f. Google: "Joseph
foster father of Jesus")
Friday
May 17 - a public holiday
in Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea for
Buddha's
Birthday
John
W - Blog - May 17
China has 83 million handicapped people. Yesterday I met 5 of them in Hong Kong
I'd
like to nominate
this
moving article for Most Beautiful Story of 2013 Award
Ireland
needs better bishops - Brendan Hoban - "Bishops
are a bit like Dublin buses. You wait for ages for one to come along and
suddenly three arrive together"
A
reflection on the Holy Spirit to help prepare for Pentecost:The
prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles
by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise,
with the accents of "love and fidelity." St. Peter will proclaim their
fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost. According to these promises, at the
"end time" the Lord's Spirit will renew human hearts, engraving a new
law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he
will transform the first creation, and God
will dwell there with people in peace. -
CCC 715
Reading Reflection Prayer
- with readers' comments -
Menu for today May 17. Peter's
"Lord, you know I love
you" was spoken
in a "scene-of-the-crime" setting!
A
Spirit uncontrolled?
David
Timbs (CathBlog)
- what direction will Pope Francis take? Some suggestions....
Every
Thursday, Daniel Daring's
reflection on the Sunday readings, to help us prepare for Sunday: Pentecost Sunday:
The Spirit of
Jesus Christ is in us to teach us and to remind us of these simple truths: there
is no life without love; by obeying God’s will we record our names in the book
of life; the Holy Spirit makes Jesus’ presence real in our midst
A
reflection on the Holy Spirit to help prepare for Pentecost:The
dove.
At the end of the flood, whose symbolism refers to Baptism, a dove
released by Noah returns with a fresh olive-tree branch in its beak as a sign
that the earth was again habitable. When Christ comes up from the water of his
baptism, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove,
comes down upon him and remains with him. The Spirit comes down and remains in
the purified hearts of the baptized. In certain churches, the Eucharist is
reserved in a metal receptacle in the form of a dove
(columbarium) suspended above the altar. Christian iconography
traditionally uses a dove
to suggest the Spirit. -
CCC 701
R.I.P.
Fr Kevin Casey OMI
who died prayerfully surrounded by fellow Oblates in Indonesia the night before
last.
Kevin taught at Iona College in Brisbane before leading the OMI team that went
from Australia to Indonesia in 1969.
Kevin's Golden Jubilee was
celebrated in Indonesia on May 21 last year.
On
the margin Chris
McDonnell (UK
Wed blogger)
Nouwen then poses a question “Why do I avoid
silence?”, a challenge that asks us to face up to our difficulties. As we approach the feast of Pentecost may we be open to the Spirit
and may we help and sustain each other on the journey
A
reflection on the Holy Spirit to help prepare for Pentecost:The
fingeris another symbol of the Holy Spirit. "It is by the
finger of God that [Jesus] cast out demons." If God's law was
written on tablets of stone "by the
finger of God," then the "letter from Christ" entrusted to
the care of the apostles, is written "with the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." The hymn Veni
Creator Spiritus invokes the Holy Spirit as "
thefinger of the
Father's right hand." - c.f. CCC 700
China
Library - essential reading for anyone interested in China's Christian
history
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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