4th SUNDAY Advent (B) 21 Decemeber 2008

Now that we have reached the fourth Sunday of Advent, and with Christmas just a few days away, the focus of our liturgy is now very much on the birth of Jesus. We are being encouraged to prepare ourselves for his birth. This means that we are like those people of old who stood ready for the revelation that God was bringing about. The model for us is Mary, and we met her in the gospel.

There are three moments in today’s story of the Annunciation that we should ponder. The first is the appearance of the angel to Mary, and the greeting. What is happening here? The angel Gabriel, of course, was the messenger sent by God, and brought God’s word to Mary. The word Mary heard didn’t seem to offer any consolation, but came as a challenge and a shock. Mary was being asked to do something that she would never have dreamt of. She was being asked to participate in God’s plan for the world, and to become the mother of Jesus, his Son. She was being asked to nurture the Son of God, and bring him up in the world.

This leads us to the second moment in the story. Mary was troubled and confused. She was probably very frightened. She even asked the angel what it all could mean, and how it could come about. We should not underestimate the significance of Mary’s troubled response. If she is the model of Christian discipleship then her reaction reminds us that if we listen for the word of God we can also expect to be troubled when we hear it. Mary had to overcome her fear. Interestingly, fear often leads us to focus on ourselves. We are not sure that we will be able to achieve what others expect of us; we can fear making a mess of things; we can be afraid of what other demands might come if we accept this one. With Mary, however, we realise that the things she was being called to undertake would quickly turn her attention to the child developing in her womb. She was going to be a mother, and all her attention would soon be on the child and its welfare. Yes, she will change, particularly as the child grows within her. Her time of pregnancy will be a time to prepare for the birth of the child, and a time to come to know herself a little better. We could almost say that she won’t have time to be afraid because she will be so engaged in the life of someone else.

The third moment in the story came when Mary responded to the angel’s invitation, and indicated that she would do God’s will. This too is an important moment, because it represents a moment of decision and commitment. It is interesting to note that many of the early Christian writers spoke at length about the importance of Mary’s freedom in responding to God. The whole world was waiting for her response, they said, knowing that she could have said ‘no’. But she said ‘yes’, and trusted that God would continue to respond to her with a ‘yes’. I’m sure that she was not without occasional moments of doubt and fear, just as I am also sure that as time went on many things happened that she had not anticipated, nor that she understood. What this third moment tells us is that responding to God is not just a matter of working it out in our mind, and doing our best to understand God’s will. There is another step, and it involves the stirrings of our heart. The Annunciation reminds us that the “let it be” of Mary comes as much from her heart as from her mind. By the time she says yes to God, she is ready in her own heart to participate in the mystery of God’s plan. She accepts that she is face-to-face with Mystery, but she trusts that God will continue to beckon her.

This season of Advent is a time of quiet reflection, when we listen for God’s word. Each of us has our own experience of “annunciation” in some form or other. This is the time when we come to know that God is calling us to live the Mystery of our faith. It may not be some grand plan of public engagement in the world, but it will always be a call to live more fully in communion with God and to participate in and be a witness to God’s plan for our world. Like Mary we have the freedom to follow that call or to be deaf to it. Like Mary, we may be afraid of what God has planned for us. All around us there can be other voices that beckon us, and urge us to turn away from God. Some voices in our society want to forget God all together, as if God makes no difference. It will take courage to hear God’s word. It has always taken courage to hear God’s word! Of course we need to ask questions and test it, just as Mary did with the angel. One sure sign that we are responding to God’s word will be that we shift our focus from ourselves, and begin to see how we can do good for others. This is what Christians call love or charity.

This message of Advent comes in a special way to young people, and I would encourage you to find some time for quiet and reflection during what is a busy season of partying and celebrating. I don’t mean that there can’t be partying and celebrating – after all there is a lot to celebrate. But allow Mary to be your model as you listen to God’s word, face your own fears and questions, and find a way to respond in the depths of your own heart. Above all, cultivate a spirit of trust and hope, as you watch the life of the Holy Spirit grow in you. And in that Spirit, reach out to others in love and charity.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

堂區, 信仰團體

The article below has its original source in English by Fr. John Speekman.

過去30年﹐澳洲教友被灌輸了一些有關堂區﹐平信徒和堂區神父的錯誤信息﹔且有愈演愈烈之勢。

職是之故﹐現在幾乎所有事情都是“平信徒領導”﹐甚或到了一個遠超平信徒合理參與和合作的程度。暗藏著的意識開始漸漸披露﹐在沒有神父的堂區尤其明顯﹐就是：“不需要神父！”

羅馬教廷曾多次糾正這種想法。

結果往往是﹐堂區發生爭執﹐分裂和權力傾軌﹐善良的信眾被帶歪了﹐而教區則鬧聖召荒。這通常導致神職放棄他的責任﹐讓位給平信徒而立刻變成受歡迎的人物﹐或是神職把自己置於無休止的對抗與不和中﹐繼而被扣上“欺壓者”和“分裂者”的標籤。

堂區神父的本份﹐不是迎合一些對教會的虛幻構思（無論有多少人同意或支持）﹔也不是給教友的個人意見冠以與教會教導相同的地位﹔更不是因遷就一些人﹐而盲目地繼續做久已失效的工作。

堂區神父的任務是建立堂區—天主教堂區—基於天主教會的信仰﹐不是他個人或一些教友的信仰。

目前在不少堂區的“領導團”很喜歡﹐也很重視﹐他們所認為的教會概念。任何人只要參加了聖經研習班或接受了送聖體員訓練後﹐都成了專家﹐可以參與塑造教會的未來！

“噢﹐某神父真好人﹐他從不說不許。” 堂區神父常被降到要令教友高興和順從教友的意願。

細看一個這樣的堂區﹐通常是一個嘈雜的﹐以活動和個人為中心的論壇﹔幾乎人人都可以是“領導”﹐而天主的事情往往是靠邊站。充滿活力﹐熱情﹐友善﹐賦予生命﹐有多個小組﹐定期舉行燒烤和土風舞﹐快樂的團體﹐但只有一小撮人會辦修和聖事﹔對此﹐我們應該怎樣看呢﹖

有太多教友視堂區為一個提供各種各樣遊戲的遊樂場﹔在此間﹐他們能夠表現其天賦和創意。他們忙碌地在搖搖板﹐鞦韆和沙池間奔跑—教宗本篤所說的一種教會的職業治療。當終於進入學校內﹐他們仍只是想繼續玩樂﹐忘了堂區乃是學習聖潔的學校。當信仰生活和社交生活連成一體﹐通常都為前者帶來可悲的結果。

此外﹐現在一切事都要符合“這事能給讓我感覺良好嗎﹖”的標準。

這種教堂通常是充斥著以“我”為題的閑聊。這裡你找不到人們在進入或離開教堂時對天主虔敬的問候﹐反而常看到人們非常用心向各人招呼﹐以免疏忽了任何一個朋友。在這裡﹐神聖的意識已蕩然無存﹐彌撒的高潮往往是互相問候的平安禮。

無論有多少人參與﹐我認為﹐這種堂區都是失敗的﹐因其首要任務失敗了﹐就是要吸引人歸向基督﹔我們共聚﹐亦是為此。

堂區的牧者不應只努力於建立團體﹐更應努力於建立共融。和諧的團體是無價的﹐但它只能源於以耶穌基督為中心的共融﹔有了這共融後﹐團體的和諧會自然出現。

舉兩個信仰生活層面的例子﹐異端和罪惡 ﹐這都不是團體所能單獨挑戰的﹐我們只能通過依附在祂教會內的基督對抗它們﹐而真正的共融也自然同時而生。

神父和信眾同有建立一個以基督為中心的堂區的任務。接近基督﹐然後自動彼此更接近。只有這樣﹐才能成為一個強大﹐團結﹐值得參與的團體﹐亦只有到時﹐才有條件去履行傳播福音的使命。

Christian Ways To Reduce Stress

Someone sent me this lately, quite applicable...

'Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.'


1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19 Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Jesus.'

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33 Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Love those who are unlovable and those who hate you. (God Works miracle.)

36. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

37 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

'If God is for us, who can be against us?' (Romans 8:31)

33rd SUNDAY (A) 16 November 2008

Mt 25:14-30
When we listen to the parables of Jesus, like the one we have just heard in today’s gospel, we need to recognise that the story is being told at various levels. Each of these levels helps us make sense of Jesus’ teaching. The first level is the story itself, with all of the details it contains. The second level is the way the story is interpreted by those who were listening to Jesus, because it says something about their lives and the way they lived. The third level is the way the story says something about our lives. Let’s see how this parable works at these three levels.

At the first level it is really a story about commerce and finance. The parable speaks about talents. It helps to know that a talent was a unit of money. So Jesus is using a familiar example from the world of trade and finance to make his point. It almost seems a universal principle: if you have money you can make more, but if you don’t have it then you can’t do anything. The servant who received the five talents and the one who received the two talents both go off and trade with them, and very quickly their investment has doubled. When the master returns home they are both praised for their astuteness and their good use of resources. The parable also tells us about what seems to be another universal principle of trade and finance, namely that when people lose confidence the whole market can come tumbling down. I guess we have all heard a lot about this in recent weeks as our own world faces up to a financial crisis, which the experts say is partly a crisis of confidence. The servant in the parable who received the one talents is paralysed by fear, so he does nothing. Or rather, he does the equivalent of what people have done when there is a crisis of confidence: he hides the money, just as we hear of people putting their money under the bed. He won’t even put the money in the bank. People like this think it will be safe under the bed and they won’t lose it, but of course it loses its value, so really they suffer a significant loss. Notice how the master treats this servant: he has him thrown into prison.

The lesson from the parable seems quite clear. Those who use the talents wisely and generously will find that they have more than enough to share around. Those who cling to what they have been given out of fear that someone else may get some advantage from it will find that they are the ones who end up being miserable.

This brings us to the second level at which the story is being told. It is also a story about the people who were listening the Jesus. What was going on as they heard it? My guess is that they were shocked by the fate of the third servant. They would have felt a bit sorry for him, because he seemed to take the safe pathway. Jesus, of course, wanted to shock them. The spiritual meaning of the parable is not about making money and trading investments. The talents point to the things that God has given them, particularly the Law and the Prophets. The question Jesus wants them to face up to is: how have they used these graces of God. How faithful have they been to God’s plan for them? This means that they have to confront the question of just how well they know God. Do they simply know a God they should be afraid of because God is hard and demanding? Or are they free enough to take responsibility for their own lives and live in the spirit of God’s abundant promises? The parable is a judgement on these people. When they hear of the servant who is thrown out in the dark they are meant to recognise their own fate here. And this is a fate of their own making.

This leads us to the third level at which the story is unfolding. What is the parable saying to us? You might like to consider this from your own perspective, whether you are young or old, studying or working, beginning your career or about to retire, or whatever. Quite clearly it is meant to be heard as a story of God’s generosity to each of us. I don’t think it is really a story of what special gifts God might have given us so that we can compare ourselves with others. One important gift God has given all of us is his word, which we can reflect on. The more we take time to do this the more we will be like those servants who got double return on their investment. As we reflect on the word of God we will grow in wisdom that will help us make good choices for living. Another gift God has given us is the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist. The sacraments help us grow in personal friendship with Jesus, and to orient our lives within that friendship.

The overriding message of the parable for us is, I believe, that our Christian faith invites us to be people of boldness and confidence. The parable calls on us to live with imagination, so that the faith will truly grow in our world as we live openly, rather than fearful of God. I believe that the parable calls on young people particularly to project a positive image of a God who loves us and gives us the freedom to do good things in the world.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

29th SUNDAY (A) 19 October 2008

A question people ask quite frequently is about the relevance of their faith and religious practice to the rest of their lives. If we look around we can probably see a range of responses: from those who make their faith commitment central to their lives, to those who only think about it from time to time, and generally then only when things are difficult. Some people are looking for an excuse not to make a connection between faith and life – as if too strong a connection will somehow tie them down or restrict their freedom. Nevertheless, I believe it is important to acknowledge the legitimacy of questions about the relationship between faith and life. Only by asking them and facing up to the challenges they pose can be live authentic lives.

Something of this is going on in the gospel today, even if it has a nasty streak to it. Those who are asking Jesus questions are really trying to trap him and catch him out. We all know the style of question: no matter what answer you give you upset people and get them offside. The issue dealt with today was very important for the people who would have been following Jesus. These were the people who were suffering badly under the heavy and unjust taxes imposed by the Romans. So, if Jesus said that they should pay the taxes most of them would probably have walked away, seeing him as no different to their foreign masters and a betrayer of their religious traditions. On the other hand, if he told them not to pay the taxes then he would have left himself open to being accused by the authorities of being disloyal and subversive, and would have found himself liable to punishment, even death.

Jesus recognises the trap and refuses to be drawn into it. Two things are worth noting. The first is that he asks his questioners for a coin. Quickly and innocently they reach into their pockets and pull out one of the despised Roman coins. He has caught them out! They carry the coins with them, which suggests that they support what is on them. Jesus, on the other hand, doesn’t have one of these coins. They are the ones who are no doubt now red-faced! The second thing to note is that Jesus only answers their question indirectly. By telling them to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God he hasn’t said that they either must or must not pay the tax. They have to work out what belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar.

We can draw lessons for ourselves from these two points. The first lesson is to think seriously about the way we might pose our questions about the relationship between our faith and religious practice and the way we live our lives as citizens. It is not enough simply to ask the question with our minds already made up as to what the answer should be. There are some ways we can ask questions about our faith that are a genuine search for knowledge and truth. These are important and we should do this. But there are other ways where the starting point is that there must be something a bit odd about this ‘religion thing’, and about people who have faith. I think this would be an unfortunate starting point because it cuts off the possibility of getting to the truth, or even of finding ways to live an authentic life.

The second lesson we can draw from Jesus’ response is really about the way we use his teaching and the Bible in helping us to determine authentic ways to live the Christian life in our type of society. One thing Jesus did was to throw the question back to those who asked him. He wanted them to think through the issues in relation to the situation and to arrive at their own conclusion. This is important because it reminds us that the practical decisions we make about our lives all require good judgement on our part. We should not expect the Bible or Jesus to provide answers to every question we have about our practical situation. The world of that time was very different to our own. Rather, Jesus gives us fundamental principles that we can apply to our own practical situations. It is up to us to weigh up the facts, to understand the context we find ourselves in, and to bring the gospel to bear on these. This is what is called practical judgement, and it presupposes that we are developing a moral consciousness.

As young people develop their moral awareness there are two extremes to avoid. One is when we wrap ourselves up in religion, refuse to engage with the world, and think that the solutions to the challenges of modern living are simply a matter of following Bible or Church teaching. This amounts to ignoring the world we live in when making moral decisions. The other extreme is when we engage in the world without any reference to God, the Word of God or the Church. This results in poorly grounded moral choices. Our Christian faith really demands we be engaged in the communities where we live, in our workplaces and our places of recreation. These are the places where we are faced with decisions about very practical matters of life. This is where we work out the relationship between Caesar and God.

Fr Gerard Kelly

Lectio Divina

In September 2005, Pope Benedict XVI stated: "I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of Lectio divina: the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 25). If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church - I am convinced of it - a new spiritual springtime."

The article below has its original source in simplified Chinese.

論祈禱方式---聖經誦讀 Lectio divina

作者：柳偉賓修士

前言

祈禱乃靈修之根本，一個會祈禱的人他的靈修也一定很好，同樣地，一個靈修不好的人肯定不是一個祈禱的人。祈禱對一名基督徒是相當重要的。在福音中記載著耶穌常獨自一人去曠野裡去祈禱，在祈禱中獲取力量去完成天主的旨意，我們做他門徒跟隨他的人也應常常祈禱。 但現在的基督徒尤其是青年基督徒對祈禱越來越沒有興趣，認為祈禱不過只是念經而已，其實不然，祈禱是加深我們與天主之間的關係的一條紐帶，藉著祈禱我們與主交談，從主那裡領受一切屬天的祝福和生活的動力。

祈禱不僅是念經，祈禱不僅僅是在閒暇時間可以做，在生活中任何時間，任何地點都可以做。 祈禱的種類是多種多樣的，不過任何一種祈禱只要適合我們自身就好，因為我們的目的是為加深與天主與人與萬物的關係。 本文旨在介紹祈禱中的一種祈禱方式：聖經誦讀（ Lectio divina ），任何祈禱方式不是一次而永久的，需要長期鍛煉、摸索、細心體會方有驚人效果。

一、聖經誦讀

提起聖經誦讀有人不免會問，不就是念聖經嗎？ 其實沒有這麼簡單聖經誦讀和一般的讀經或讀聖書不同：一般的讀經或讀聖書有選擇自己喜歡的章節，或從中尋取安慰，但用聖經做聖經誦讀時我們並不知道天主要告訴我們什麼，我們只是以信德的精神來做，是無條件的。並且這個服從需要長期練習，而沒有很顯著的進展和改變。在練習時我們需要把自己的整個生活託付於天主手中，讓聖神帶領我們，不管聖經中的句子是安慰或具有挑戰性或指出我們的弱點與不足，都應順從。

“聖言是天主召喚我們的媒介，他借聖言召喚我們做他的門徒，這種召喚不是一種高深的知識，而是配合我們當時的心態。” [1] 聖經誦讀的目的是幫助我們與天主的召喚相遇，使我們與天主成為朋友，去邁向成全。 在做聖經誦讀時，我們要時刻準備好願意接受改變，這樣我們的行為才能更接近基督信仰的核心——愛。[2] 在做祈禱時，我們應全心的投入，惡魔的這種投入不是為達到某種目的，而是為獲得某種效果，只是單純地向天主開放，全身心地投入祈禱而已。

二、聖經誦讀的步驟

聖經誦讀的拉丁術語為 Lectio divina ，傳統的步驟有四個：誦讀（ Lectio ）、默想（ Meditatio ）、祈禱（ Oratio ）、默觀（ Contemplatio ），近日又有人在這四個步驟的基礎上加上第五個步驟即同情（ Compassio ）。 本段將按順序介紹此每個步驟。

1 、誦讀（ Lectio ）

“ Lectio 是讀，而且是讀出聲音來” [3] 這是聖經誦讀的第一步。聖經是天主的聖言，當人去讀天主的聖言時，是基督親自向我們說話，因此，聆聽相當重要，我們要以門徒的心的去聆聽老師對我們說話，正如聖經所載“看，我要誘導她，領她到曠野里和她談心”。 （歐 2 ： 16 ）和他心與心的交談，所以我們要用「心」來聆聽。在路加福音 10 ： 38 — 42 講述瑪爾大和瑪利亞的故事，當瑪爾大在操心忙碌為招待耶穌時，瑪利亞正在靜心聆聽耶穌的教導。 我們有時也往往像瑪爾大一樣為了很多事而掛慮，反而最重要的事被我們忽略了，所以我們也應像瑪利亞一樣在忙碌中抽出時間來靜聽耶穌的話。因此“讀經的「誦讀」更好解作「聆聽」，表示與主會晤，聽他說話”。 [4]

2 、默想（ Meditatio ）

“ Meditatio 是反省、思索或默想”。[5] 但不是今日西方靈修所注重的思考或推理的方式，而不斷重複聖經，其主要目的是要把這些聖經的含義深入至我們的生活中，並運用於生活中。 不斷地重複聖經就是把我們頭腦中所知道的東西轉化為我們心靈上精神食糧，用我們心靈的口去接受來自天主的話語，正如在路加福音耶穌聖誕的牧童朝拜了小聖嬰離去後“瑪利亞卻把這一切事默存在自己心中反复思想”。 （路 2 ： 19 ）默想聖經的目的是從中了解發現聖經的精神意義，並看這種意義和我們自身的關係並儘力去效法。

3 、祈禱（ Oratio ）

“ Oratio 是祈禱，由默想進入祈禱的一種很自然的現象” [6] 祈禱是對自己聆聽天主聖言的一種回應，真正的祈禱還是由天主主動引發的，這就指明了讀經與祈禱間的密切關係。交談是一種雙重的交往，不但要聽還要說。讀經是聆聽天主說話，祈禱是我們聆聽天主的話後對天主的一種回應。

“讀經與祈禱一起構成與天主談話的兩個不同時刻，將這兩個時刻連貫起來的是天主的聖言” [7] 讀經時我們聆聽天主的聖言，透過默想反复思索和吸收天主的聖言，然後在祈禱時把這消化了的天主聖言向天主回應，完成這個與主交談的過程。 因此不論讀經或祈禱時，天主聖言都是這對話的焦點及主要內容。

4 、默觀（ Contemplatio ）

“ Contemplatio 是默觀，在天主內用愛觀看或休息” [8]

誦讀聖經時的傾心靜聽，默想時對聖言的反复思索，以及祈禱時將這一切都呈現在天主台前，這一系列的過程都會自然地帶領他們到達默觀的境界，靜止在天主的聖愛內，去體驗天主的大愛，沉浸在愛中。“默觀指一種簡化或單純的凝視，由眾多的思想趨向一個思想，到達無念的境界；由繁多的說話變成一句話或無言的靜默”。 [9] 在靜默當中，用發自內心的愛去靜靜地觀看天主，並在天主用休息。

5 、同情（ Compassio ）

聖經誦讀的第五個步驟為最近人們所提出的，有人建議加上「行動」，因為不管讀經、默想、祈禱、默觀等都應結出仁愛的果實，都要付諸於「行動」。也有人提議加上「傳授」作為第五部分，目的是要人們把讀經默想的心得也「傳授」給他人，“多默基廷院長提出以「同情」作為聖經誦讀的第五個步驟”。 [10] 黃克鑣神父也認為以「同情」作為第五個步驟非常適當，所以本文就以「同情」作為聖經誦讀的第五個步驟。

黃克鑣神父認為“默觀是一種「一體的經驗」，默觀者從主體與客體間的對話方式漸漸進入「一體範疇」”。 [11] 達到了你在我內，我在你內的這種「你——我」之間合而為一的一體範疇。 就好像默觀者被天主愛的氣息所包圍著，他生活在天主的愛的氛圍裡，一呼一吸都能體驗到天主充滿著整個的我，使我們與天主融為一體，正如聖保祿說的“我生活已不是我生活而是基督在我內生活”。 （迦 2 ： 20 ）同時感到天主、我、人類、世界，萬事萬物一起組成基督身體，所有事物都是基督身體的一部分，由此產生「仁人愛物」的心態便是「同情」的要旨，亦是默觀的自然流露。（同上 89 頁）這同情亦通過行動和傳授成為具體表現。

三、聖經誦讀的方式

舉行聖經誦讀的方式不外乎兩種：（一）團體的聖經誦讀，（二）個人的聖經誦讀

（一）團體的聖經誦讀

團體的聖經誦讀大致可分五部分。

1、 禮儀：舉行團體的聖經誦讀應有禮儀來幫助大家進入其中，禮儀可由大家決定，因為此種祈禱的主要目的是幫助大家放下一切而開始祈禱。

2、 讀聖經：讀經方式有多種多樣，最常用的則有兩種

• 整段念：首先全部念一遍，然後再分段念，段與段之間停片刻對大家有所幫助。
• 分句念：按節念，大家輪流，每人念一節，可以按順序念或誰想念哪句就接下去，節與節之間停片刻。

不管整段或分句念，最好大家所用的聖經為同一譯本，因為不同譯本的聖經會使參與者容易分心。

3、 讀經完畢給大家時間和空間來做反省，對所讀經句作一回應，可給經句作出簡單的解釋，切記這種解釋不是討論。另一種回應是祈禱的果實，是聖經誦讀祈禱團體自己發展出來的，在得到共識後去實行。

4、 團體的回應：在最後留出一些時間做團體的信仰分享。

5、 結束祈禱


（二）個人的聖經誦讀

1 、準備工作：有時也可稱為“緩衝區”，因為是一個人從工作、運動到祈禱之間的一個緩衝收斂心神，其主要目的是使自己放鬆，祈禱時能專心，所以準備工作是很重要的。

2 、禮儀：從禮儀開始表示對祈禱的重視，再加上有特定的時間和地點更顯示出其重要性。選擇地點也是相當重要的，應把祈禱之地與日常生活及工作地點分開，使二者不相混淆，並把祈禱地點稍加佈置即可。讀經時的姿勢也是相當重要的，不論何種姿勢要始終保持體內血液循環流暢，頭腦情形，這是為培養氣氛為能更好的進入祈禱。

3 、口誦 : 竟問個人做聖經誦讀時，應將經文念出聲來，以眼看、以口讀、以耳聽加深印象，漫漫地念，體味其中深意，出聲誦讀還可幫助我們集中心神減少分心，並且 通過聲音使我們更好地記憶，藉自己的聲音把所讀經文深深印入我們的腦海，讓其成為我們生活的一部分，並在生活中表達出來。

4 、回應的祈禱：祈禱並不容易，是需要幫助的，用聖經內天主的聖言來與天主交談就容易了。例如在路加福音 18 ： 9 — 14 中法利塞人和稅利祈禱的比喻中，那個稅利向天主所做的禱詞“天主，可憐我罪人吧！”我們可以一邊唸一邊看天主所願啟示的是什麼，然後從中獲取力量。 我們由聖經進入祈禱，再由祈禱了解所讀的，這是相輔相成的。不要急於進入祈禱，應給予時間，讓所讀的這些經文、祈禱及所獲的思想深入心坎內而紮根。

5 、反复思索：每念一段經文，要慢慢讀，不斷地重複多次，讓聖經的話語深入我們心內。聖經中的每句話都具有天主的力量，都可改變我們的一生，我們要隨著聖神的推動而繼續，在不同的角度去了解同一奧跡，體驗並深入。

6 、收集：將所獲得的關於祈禱的體驗收集在我們的記憶庫裡，有的需要在組合後再收藏，有時也可用卡片或筆記本將所獲得的記錄下來備用，這些都可隨時取出誦念或幫助他人。

7 、結束禮儀：與開始時的禮儀無二，簡單而隆重，結束禱文可自編，但應包含：向天主祈求，以及所祈求的內容並賦結語。 [12]

結論

以上我們對聖經誦讀做了簡單介紹，談了此種祈禱的步驟及方式，只要我們按此步驟或方式去做，只要努力練習，堅持不懈，不論是個人或團體一起練習，對我們都是有很大神益的。 對於我們修道人祈禱更是必不可少的，惟有祈禱才能使我們對基督有信心和對人群有愛心，惟有祈禱才能使我們的聖召堅定，使我們與天主之間有更親密的關係，使我們更能清楚地聆聽天主的聲音，更能留意天主在我們生命中的運作，使我們在天主的愛內劃向心靈深處，在心靈深處找到平安。

——————————————————————————
參考書目：

Michael Casey 講述《傾心靜聽》本篤會修女譯

黃克鑣著《心靈流溢——禮儀以外的祈禱》天主教香港教區禮儀委員會辦事處出版 2000 年 2 月

肖先文神父講授“祈禱與生活”課堂資料《傾心靜聽》

——————————————————————————
[1] Michael Casey 講述《傾心靜聽》 本篤會修女譯 16 頁

[2] Michael Casey 講述《傾心靜聽》 20 頁

[3] Michael Casey 講述《傾心靜聽》 59 頁

[4] 黃克鑣著《心靈流溢——禮儀以外的祈禱》天主教香港教區禮儀委員會辦事處出版 2000 年 2 月初版 75 頁

[5] 肖神父講授“祈禱與生活”課堂資料《傾心靜聽》

[6] 參見 Michael Casey 講述《傾心靜聽》》 59 頁

[7] 《心靈流溢——禮儀以外的祈禱》 81 頁

[8] 肖先文神父講授“祈禱與生活”課堂資料《傾心靜聽》

[9]《心靈流溢——禮儀以外的祈禱》 83 頁

[10]《心靈流溢——禮儀以外的祈禱》 88 頁

[11]《心靈流溢——禮儀以外的祈禱》 88 頁

[12] 參見 Michael Casey 講述《傾心靜聽》 65 —— 72 頁

28th SUNDAY (A) 12 October 2008

This Sunday, the Archdiocese of Sydney celebrates Marriage & Family Sunday.

Spouses' Prayer

Father, all powerful and ever living God, we thank you and bless your holy Name, for you created man and woman to be a help and support for each other. Remember us today. Protect us and enable our love to be the mutual gift of self in the image of Christ and the Church. Enlighten and strengthen us for the mission of teaching our children to be authentic Christians and energetic builders of the earthly city. Enable us the grow old together in joy and peace so we can always praise and thank you in our hearts through your Son in the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Grant that I and my spouse may have a true and understanding love for each other.
Grant that we may both be filled with faith and trust.
Give us the grace to live with each other in peace and harmony.
May we always bear with one another's weaknesses and grow from each other's strengths.
Help us to forgive one another's failings and grant us patience, kindness, cheerfulness and the spirit of placing the well-being of another ahead of self.
May the love that bought us together grow and mature with each passing year.
Bring us both ever closer to You through our love for each other. Let our love grow to perfection.

(extracted from parish bulletin)

27th SUNDAY(A) 5 October 2008

When parents are in deep distress after being let down or rejected by their children they may well voice the lament of Isaiah in the first reading: “What more could I have done for my children that I did not do?” There is no pain more intense or distressing than that of being rejected. Like a sword of sorrow it pierces our heart and leaves us deeply wounded. Rejection is something we all encounter on our journey through life and Jesus was no exception. The terrible truth is that the Son of God came to earth, showed his love in every possible way and was rejected. In this very hard hitting gospel we are exposed to the blunt truth that God has done everything possible for us as a people by sending his Son to live among us. In return we have turned our back and offered him nothing but black ingratitude and cold indifference.

It does not take a great deal of imagination to see ourselves in this parable. Each of us is a tenant, cultivating a small portion of God’s vineyard and when the harvest time arrives we are expected to produce the fruits of right living, by displaying a brotherhood of caring, sharing and showing forth the charity of the gospel in our daily lives. By doing this we put into practice during the week what we profess to believe at our Sunday morning celebration of the Mass.

The parable challenges us to keep working in God’s service and not to become complacent. We can examine our conscience to see if we are producing the gifts of God’s love. The Lord is bitterly disappointed when we lazily sit back and fail to appreciate the beauty of our lives, the joy of our families and his loving care. There will be a day of reckoning for all of us. A time will come when we will be answerable for the way in which we have carried out the task God has given us to do. What then if at the end of life we have nothing to offer the Lord but the sour grapes of a pagan lifestyle? We will have smothered a beautiful being with indifference, ingratitude, selfishness and neglect and have become useless to God. Christ is concerned that we respond to his appeal to bear fruit and become an immense and beautiful harvest.

Fr. Jojo Eloja

Loretta 88

We celebrated the 88th birthday of Loretta. She has the energy and vitality of a 28 year old and the patience of Job. She is the jewel of the community. Loretta has been with CCC since the beginning. She rode through all ups and downs of the community and she is still smiling.

Happy Birthday Loretta.

25th SUNDAY (A) 21 September 2008

Some parables of Jesus seem to upset people more than others. I think today’s is one of those. It seems to go against all our sensitivities about fair play and about justice. If God acts like the landowner in the parable, then that is not how we expect him to act. Of course, that is the point of a parable: to shock us and to make us ask questions. But what is the question that we ask after hearing today’s parable?

In many ways our question is just like the one Peter asked a little earlier in the gospel. He went up to Jesus and said: we have left everything and followed you; we have taken a risk, what is in it for us? What will our reward be? This seems a reasonable question to ask. No one takes on something whose outcome they are not sure of. You can imagine Peter thinking this through: he is a young man, his whole life is before him, and he needs to make decisions. He is making a great sacrifice, but will the rewards be worth it. He wonders if this is the right decision. The parable itself sharpens the question when the landowner comes to pay out the wages. All the workers are looking for a reward – their wages for the day. The landowner seems to tease them by first paying out those who had worked the shortest time. Those who had been there all day expected they would get more. After all, they had been labouring all day, and had sacrificed a lot more than those recently arrived. They saw the latecomers as lazy and not doing a full day’s work. In the end they felt more deserving than those others.

I think we face these sorts of questions at particular stages in our lives. Those who have been on the Christian journey for a long time can sometimes feel that they have been building up credit or good will with God, and that they deserve to be rewarded generously. They may even question those who seem to have spent most of their life ignoring the practice of their faith, and only late in life return to it. They ask why should those people be rewarded when I have conscientiously lived my life keeping God’s commandments. At another stage in life people may ask the questions differently. I am thinking of young people who often wonder how seriously they should take their faith. Some give up their faith, using the argument that it is not worth the effort. They may even ask Peter’s question, what’s in it for me. It is probably no surprise that this question will be asked often throughout life.

What sense can we make of these questions in the light of the parable Jesus tells today? I think there are two moments in the parable that can help us. The first is the way the landowner goes to the market square to get workers. He seems less concerned about the urgency of having his vines harvested, and more interested in giving people work. It is as though just being involved in this work is its own reward, even more so than the wages they receive. At the same time he doesn’t make a judgement that they are lazy but recognises that their livelihood depends on some landowner giving them work. He offers them work so that they can at least feed their family that night.

The second moment in the parable comes when the landowner confronts the disgruntled workers who expected a higher wage than promised. The way they put the question they imply that he is unjust or unfair. But he sees justice and fairness differently. He, in fact, is more generous than would normally be expected, by giving the latecomers enough wages to sustain them for the day. In telling the parable this way Jesus is turning on its head the way they normally think of God and God’s justice. It is so easy to think of God in terms of rewards and punishments, as if God will reward you according to the amount of work you have done. Jesus here gives us a totally different way of thinking about God. God is generous – full stop! God’s graciousness is so bountiful that there is always plenty for all people. Those who think of it as payment for work done imagine that there are limits to God’s generosity, as if there won’t be enough to go around. They don’t know God.

Let’s return to our questions about why we engage with our faith or what is in it for us. I think the parable tells us that there are rewards, but that they are different to what we expect. The best reward, to use the imagery of the parable, is in simply having work. In other words it is in being engaged with the gospel and with faith; it is being engaged in God’s plan for the renewal of the human community. The reward is in watching good things happen with life. But to work this way requires an attitude to God that trusts that there are no limits to his generosity. There is a powerful image in the Old Testament that helps us appreciate this. When the people were in the desert God gave them manna to eat. They were to collect just enough to last them for the day, and then God would give more the next day. This requires great trust that God is generous and that being engaged in the kingdom is worthwhile. That is the answer to Peter’s question, what’s in it for us. That is why throughout the centuries young people have committed themselves to Jesus and his message.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

共融

共融是時時刻刻的戰鬥。

片刻疏忽也會動搖它﹔一件芝麻小事﹐就足以動搖它。

一個不慈善的念頭﹐一項固執的論斷﹐

一份濫情的執著﹐

一個錯誤的前題､野心､或自私自利﹐

一件行為﹐為自己而不是為上主。。。

上主﹐幫助我這樣審查自己﹕

我生命的中心是什麼﹖

是你或是我﹖

如果是你﹐你會將我們合而為一。

但是﹐如果我身邊的人﹐一個個漸行漸遠

這就是個警訊﹐說---

我把自己放在中心了。

節錄自 <希望的證人> 阮文順樞機主教

22nd SUNDAY (A) 31 August 2008

Let us now turn our gaze on the person of Peter and the church entrusted to his care and try to bring to our consciousness our similarity to Peter as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Even before the Jesus’ resurrection, Peter already occupied a privileged position among the Twelve, a position that made him a unique witness to Jesus. On many occasions, Peter spoke on behalf of the Twelve. With James and John he belonged to the group of three close friends of Jesus, and within the group of three, Peter was pre-eminent. But probably the most important indication of Peter’s being a witness to the faith about Jesus is found in Matthew 16:13-23. When Jesus asked them in Caesarea Philippi, “Who do you say that I am?” it was Peter who replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And with Peter, we also professed the same faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

We may ask the question, “What type of rock is Peter?” We can get a hint from Jesus’ reaction to Peter’s confession. Jesus said, “Blest are you Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” In other words, the solidity of Peter’s confession is not due to “flesh and blood”, to his human qualities and capabilities. We have seen already how limited Peter’s human capabilities were, how helpless and unproductive this fisherman was in his field of expertise, fishing! He could not have produced, humanly speaking, such a lofty spiritual insight. Jesus attributed Peter’s faith to the revelation of the Father. It is the Father’s grace, it is God’s mercy.

When Peter allowed ‘flesh and blood’ to dictate on him. After confessing Jesus as the Messiah, Peter heard how Jesus would become a suffering, humiliated Messiah, according to God’s plan. At once, Peter interjected, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Then Jesus rebuked him, “Get behind me, Satan. You are making me trip and fall. You are not judging by God’s but by human standards.” The rock has become a stumbling block so soon when “flesh and blood” determined his standards. One theologian commented, “Left to his own resources, the one who by God’s grace is permitted to be the bedrock is a stone on the path that makes the foot stumble.” The rock can become a scandal, a stumbling block. Peter is rock only when he relies, not on “flesh and blood” but on the grace and mercy of God.

To Peter who was promised God’s faithful help, to Peter whom Jesus promised to pray for in the Last Supper, so that his faith may not falter (Lk 22:32), to this same Peter, Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the keys of binding and loosing. These are the keys of forgiveness and mercy that Peter himself needed countless times, for him to remain the true rock of faith. Peter is not only the bearer of the keys of forgiveness but more often the recipient of forgiveness and mercy. The Church entrusted to Peter is no different from him. Pope Benedict once said, “The Church is founded upon forgiveness. Peter himself is the personal embodiment of this truth, for he is permitted to be the bearer of the keys after having stumbled, confessed, and received the grace of pardon. The Church is by nature the home of forgiveness, and it is thus that chaos is banished from within her. She is held together by forgiveness, and Peter is the perpetual living reminder of this reality: the church is not a communion of the perfect, but a communion of sinners who need and seek forgiveness. The keys to the kingdom of heaven are the words of forgiveness, a human being cannot speak of oneself but granted by God’s power alone.”

Two things we can learn from the gospel reading of today: (1) That the person of Peter is the complete embodiment of all of us here, who always seek forgiveness from God, because of the many failing we have, for the many times we become stumbling blocks to others instead of being a source of blessing. (2) We are call church not because we are saints but rather as a church we seek God’s mercy. And as a church we journey and we follow Jesus and as church we are asked to make God’s will our own in many ways, large or small. The church who journey to grow more and more in holiness as Jesus, we are church because we journey toward conversion not only of mind but also from our hearts of stone. As church we received the same forgiveness and mercy given to Peter, and like Peter we are also asked to give forgiveness to other who may have wronged us. It’s a hard asked, but Jesus did it. So Jesus’ hope we can also do it. This is who we are and this is what Jesus our Lord expects us to be as church.


Fr. Joselito Layug SSP

20th SUNDAY (A) 17 August 2008

What did you think of Jesus’ behaviour in the gospel story we have just heard? Many people are quite shocked that early on in the story he can ignore the woman, and then later on be so dismissive of her. To know what is going on, however, we need to focus on the woman – she is the central character. What can we say about her?

The first thing we notice is that she is a foreign woman, a Gentile. She doesn’t belong to God’s chosen people. This is why Jesus begins be ignoring her; it was the right religious thing to do. The next thing we notice about the woman is that she is in great distress; she is desperate. She is desperate for her daughter, who is tormented by a demon. So in fact she is behaving like a loving mother. This explains why she is so persistent in her pleading with Jesus. She is going to do whatever it takes to save her daughter. Later on, when Jesus acknowledges that she has great faith, we will understand that her faith is somehow tied to her capacity to love.

But that is to get ahead of ourselves! As the story unfolds, Jesus ignores her, and the disciples become agitated – she is annoying them. They seem to urge Jesus to say something to her, so as to keep her quiet and get her out of the way. But Jesus won’t follow this suggestion, and the woman herself and her persistence eventually make him change. She confronts him with a clever dialogue, finding a retort to everything he says. This dialogue is important because it shows how both Jesus and the woman change through the exchange. It all seems to revolve around a discussion about dogs. Jesus speaks of throwing food outside the house to the dogs, reinforcing what he had said earlier, that this Gentile woman is an outsider who does not belong to God’s Chosen People and is therefore not his concern. She twists this around and speaks of feeding the dogs inside the house under the table. She makes herself and her daughter insiders. This is a very subtle shift, and is also evident in the way she addresses Jesus. Previously, she had referred to him as Son of David, but now she refers to him as Lord. She has come to recognise him as Lord of all people, and not just God’s Chosen People.

At this point Jesus acknowledges her great faith. Yes, the saving gift he offers is for all people. Something new is happening here: it concerns the offer of salvation and it concerns faith. This woman recognises Jesus as the one who has the power to offer salvation even to those beyond certain boundaries of race, culture or religion. But we also see that her faith consists in her relentless pursuit of Jesus, desperately looking for the salvation he offers. She is faced with what would normally have been an impossible situation as a woman and an outsider, but she finds a way forward. She acts with great courage and creativity in discovering Jesus as the Saviour of all people.

How can you and I draw on this witness of faith? Let me suggest three things. The first is that we should embrace the faith of this woman, and the new situation it represents. This means that we should see our faith as something that puts us in relationship with all people. Faith should not be something that is seen simply as belonging to the Christian community, as if we practice and live it only with those people. With Jesus there is a new age of salvation, and it embraces all people.

The second way we can draw on this gospel is to develop a deep concern for the salvation of all people. The thing that motivated the Canaanite woman to act was the dire situation of her daughter. If we share her faith then we should take note of the people and situations where salvation seems absent. These could be the situations where hope has disappeared, and people feel trapped in certain situations or a particular way of life. It could be the situation where people become so absorbed in themselves that they slowly lose the capacity to love someone else. It could be the situation where people’s lives become shallow and meaningless, often while they are seeking illusory goals. The faith of the woman in the gospel challenges us to look outward, and help outsiders to find a place in the loving embrace of God.

The third way we can draw on this gospel is to show imagination in the way we live our faith. Other people will respond to the gospel of God when it is attractive, and not something that seems to make life dull and boring.

Recently, during World Youth Day, Pope Benedict reminded young people that the Lord is asking them to be prophets of a new age – and that new age was recognised by the woman in today’s gospel. Today the Lord asks you to be messengers of his love, drawing people to God and building a future of hope for all humanity.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

The Year of St. Paul

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, Caravaggio, 1600

Some resources that may help:

Catechesis of the Holy Father
Catholic Culture
Commentary on the Pauline Epistles by Fr. William G. Most

保祿的信仰及傳教經歷講義下載
李子忠
羅國輝

18th SUNDAY (A) 3 August 2008

The historical setting of the beautiful First Reading from the prophet Isaiah is the time when Israel is in exile. They are away from the fruitful land of the Covenant made by God with King David and the people. These chapters 40-55 from the prophet Isaiah are full of poems, promises and invitations to trust the same God Who formed that everlasting relationship with Israel.

These verses are taken from near the beginning of the final chapter of this part of Isaiah. The people are thirsty, hungry and feel abandoned. The prophet sings out this call to their imaginations to trust in the God of bread, water, wine and milk. These provoke even more thirst and hunger, but they also encourage hope in the One who claims to be faithful. They seem lost and unattended, but the prophet assures them that if they remain hopeful they will soon be bread-full, water-full and more faithful in responding to God’s loving care.

Today’s Gospel opens with Jesus withdrawing to a ‘lonely’ place with his disciples after hearing the beheading of John. We know that Galilee in those times was quite heavily populated and Jesus had become already a well-known figure. What was the reason for this withdrawal? It could have been to provide a period of rest and reflection for Jesus and his disciples, a time for the disciples to be taught by Jesus. However, a more obvious reason was to avoid possible danger after the execution of John the Baptist. This retreat is interrupted by a large crowd who come looking for Him. They bring sick people to be healed; his immediate reaction was one of deep compassion and he began to heal the sick. This contrasts with Mark’s version where Jesus’ compassion leads to teaching the crowds. The healing, of course, in its own way was a kind of teaching, as the teaching was also a kind of healing. Jesus’ aim was always to restore people to wholeness in body and spirit. That is the meaning of salvation. And when it grows late His disciples urge Jesus to send them all away. Jesus had seen them as the lost - like sheep without a shepherd and His heart was opened to them. The stage is set for the “Feeding of the Five Thousand.” The elements of the drama are familiar to us. The disciples have five loaves and two fish and though the disciples wanted Jesus to send the crowds to get their own dinner, Jesus commanded them to feed them instead. Jesus took what they have, blesses and distributes and miraculously there was enough for all and there were still left-overs as well.

If God really cares, why are so many needs still unfulfilled? Why is there so much hunger, so much loneliness, why are there so many without homes, without food, without education, without...? Can we really take the First Reading seriously? ‘Come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come!’ Where does such a world exist? ‘Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk.’ The next sentence is much more to the point. ‘Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy’ -- especially if that money could be spent on bread for others to satisfy their needs. ‘Listen, listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.’ Yes, if we really listened to the Lord, especially to the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, we would discover that there are ways for everyone to have their needs satisfied in abundance.

St Paul can say in the Second Reading, ‘nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph... For I am certain of this: neither death nor life...nothing that exists...can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord’.

Our readings teaches us three things today:

1. That God really cares about his people and that there is enough and more for everybody, only if we know or learn how to share generously to others;

2. That the ups and downs of life, whether they are spiritual, emotional, physical, or material, whether they are personal tragedies or natural disasters, are basically unavoidable but are in no way a contradiction of God’s loving care for his people. In fact, these things are in their own way necessary for us to grow in our awareness of where true peace and happiness lie;

3. That a great deal of God’s care and compassion devolves on our own shoulders. A great deal of the human suffering in the world has been caused by human agency and can be relieved by human agency. Jesus did not feed the crowd directly. He left that to his disciples. He still does. It is too easy to blame God, too easy to blame governments, too easy see these things as other people’s problems. But in realities they are also ours, they are mine.

This is the meaning of the Eucharist we are celebrating here today, namely, that as Christians we commit ourselves to share, to work with God in communicating his compassion to all. God is a caring person but, much of the time, he needs my co-operation to show people just how caring he really is.

Fr. Joselito Layug SSP

17th SUNDAY (A) 27 July 2008

In this Sunday we recall HOW Solomon asked God for Wisdom and how God was pleased to give him the gift. Now Wisdom is seen in the Bible as that which puts all things together sweetly end to end in good order. (Wisdom 8:1 ) If we look at the life of our Lord or even the life of Our Lady we can see how all the events of their lives make a wonderful whole….the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the pattern for life for all of us…even our Lady in her Assumption show us this. So we see the pat tern that will be for us in our pilgrimage to heaven. Our recent WYD showed us something of what is possible for us in sharing our faith, and living together in collaboration with our neighbours.

The great simplicity of God in whom there are no parts calls to us to strive after the life that God offers to us through our life in the Holy Spirit.. Remembering that the Spirit is the bond of union between the Father and the Son…Jesus was sent by the Father to join us in our world and to lead us to to the Father….but this required the work of the holy Spirit. …who came to us from the Father and the Son after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven..

A COMMON NEED FOR GOD;

God has reveald the Divine Persons of the godhead have an immortal need for each other simply in being God Almighty. The Father and the Son are God for each other. And from them comes the Holy Spirit of unity, communion and mutuality of service to one another.. God is certainly a great mystery who has deigned to reveal Himself as being One and Three instantaneously. This speaks to us of the great Power of Life that God lives and to which he invites us to partake.We each have a common need for God and so He has given us the Church…the Church Catholic which is the Church of Jesus Christ Himself. He is our Big Brother and the One who pours into us the Holy Spirit so that each of us may develop ourselves by his grace and become faithful Catholic Christians. When we live this life wee are giving great glory to God the Father.

In this context we experienced the World Youth Day celebrated in Sydney…the marvelous collection of young peoples and those with them who are young in heart
The Holy Father showed us the power of the Church united under him as the successor of Peter. In the church we are all God’s children and the Holy Father is our leader given to us by Jesus Christ Himself to enable each and all of us to find our way through life
In this way we serve one another, support one another, care for one another, co-operate with one another according to the gifts that God has given us. Thanks be to God

Great Southland of the Holy Spirit.. This is the name given by the Spanish explorers. The Holy Spirit offers us the power of life lived under the powerful influence of the Holy Divine One. …so we praise the Lord for the power of the Spirit that enables us to live as God’s holy people….old..young….or those bearing the burden of the day.. We are cared for and encouraged by the Blessed Mother, herself full of grace and peace.

Fr. Theodore Gillian OFM

WYD 2008

It was a remarkable and humbling experience to take this pilgrimage walk with hundreds of thousand of people who travelled from all corners of the world to Sydney for this historical event.

To read Cardinal Pell's homily at the July 15 Opening Mass, click here; also

• Address at the beginning of Closing Mass
• Address at the end of Closing Mass

To read Pope Benedict's speeches during his visit to Sydney for WYD 2008 follow this link.

Homilies from Pope Benedict:

• To the seminarians and young religious
• Closing Mass

The theme song Receive the Power, the lyrics and the video.

Journey to the Holy Land

Written by Hazel Yuen after her pilgrimage to the holy land in 2006. It took her 2 years to write. 367 pages of memories and with many photos. It is written in Chinese. Special price $15 a copy.

She is coming to Camperdown on 6 July. Maybe you can get her to autograph your copy.

ELEVENTH SUNDAY (A) 15 June 2008

We can only wonder at what was going on among the people that made Jesus so troubled when he looked at them. We are told that what he saw was a people who were harassed and dejected. Perhaps they were overcome with the burdens of living; perhaps the social environment was making certain aspects of life unbearable; perhaps they seemed to be moving along in an aimless sort of way. What is certain, however, is that Jesus felt something for them right in his heart. He felt compassion. It is the sort of reaction that goes beyond simply analysing the situation. He is concerned for them and their welfare, and he wants what is good for them. Of course, he has analysed the situation to some extent. When he says that they are like sheep without a shepherd he is making a judgement that the leaders in the society have been negligent or lacking in imagination in dealing with the situation of these people. A modern word that we would sometimes use for this is to say that they were clueless. Jesus clearly wants to lay the blame for some part of the people’s dejection at the feet of the leaders. But this is still a problem for all the people. Sometimes leaders are only as good as they are allowed to be.

This is why Jesus calls on all the people to pray, and he tells them what to say in their prayer. The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. Like all good prayers this one begins by acknowledging the reality of the situation before it petitions God. The situation is that the harvest is ripe. In other words, the time is ripe for something to happen. In speaking of the harvest in this way Jesus seems to be suggesting that among this people who are harassed and dejected there is a lot of good will, ability and eagerness to do good – it simply needs to be given the opportunity to come to life. So in acknowledging the situation this prayer also praises God for the blessings he has given to the people.

One of the effects of their prayer is that they will come to see their own situation a little more clearly. Not only will they recognise their troubles, but they will also see the resources that exist among themselves to deal with these. In fact, we see the prayer beginning to be answered when Jesus chooses some of the disciples and sends them out. Jesus has found among this people some who are able to be shepherds. He sends them out on a small mission, just among the local people. He speaks to them about what they are to do. When you look at the list – heal the lepers, cure the sick, raise the dead – it is all about bringing healing and wholeness to people. It is about restoring their hope. The Apostles are to help the people move out of that harassed and dejected state and move on with confidence in their life. People will begin to look forwards rather than backwards, where they would wallow in self-pity.

As we reflect on this gospel story there are a few lessons we can draw from it. The first is that we always need people who will throw light on our situation. Jesus behaved like a prophet by helping the people realise that they were harassed and dejected. It is quite common in our world to meet people who tell you that things are not quite right for them, yet they don’t know what is wrong in their lives. The prophet figure is the one who shines a light on our lives so that we can see them more clearly. The prophet figure is the one who holds up a mirror to us so that we can see ourselves as we really are. So, we need in our midst the prophet figure – the one who will feel compassion for us, and who has our best interests at heart. We also need people who can be shepherds or leaders. These are the people who can help us move forward to a different place, to a positive place where we can be filled with hope in what God has promised. These are the people who have dreams and a vision, and who can imagine how God’s plan can take shape concretely in our own situation.

The second lesson we can draw from the gospel story is that the prophets, the shepherds and leaders are going to be found among us, in our own communities. They need to be recognised and called forth – just as Jesus sent the Apostles. The third lesson is related to this one, and it is that we need to pray to God that these labourers will be found among us. An important thing that happens when we pray is that we begin to discern our needs as we present them to God, and we also begin to recognise what sort of people we need as prophets and shepherds at this time. Then they can be called and sent forth. Praying for labourers in the harvest may also have the result that we will allow these prophets and leaders to work among us, rather than challenge their authority.

As we reflect on these possibilities, I wonder if it would help to see World Youth Day next month as a time when we might see that the harvest is indeed rich, that there is a lot of talent among our young people, and that they themselves might be trained and graced to become the next generation of prophets and leaders among us.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

TRINITY SUNDAY (A) 18 May 2008

Every so often things happen that make us ask questions about God. During the week I have heard people asking what must God be like if so many people can be killed in natural disasters like the cyclone in Burma or the earthquake in China. Sometimes people struggle to believe in God when they are experiencing great pain or suffering, or watching someone else suffer. Other people seem to have no problem believing in God, and can’t understand why others have doubts. These varied responses force us to ask a basic question, “What is God like?” I believe we have an answer in our readings today on this feast of the Holy Trinity – which is a feast that focuses our worship on God.

I found myself reading and re-reading that phrase in the gospel that says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son”. Here, in this saying of Jesus, we have the basic Christian understanding of God. If you want to know God, then know that God loves. This may sound like a fairly easy thing to say, but we need to remember that at the time of Jesus there were competing images of God in the world. Other gods – pagan gods – may have exercised power; they may have acted in anger according to their mood on a particular day; or they may have exercised control over people’s lives, but you wouldn’t say that they loved. A god who loved would have appeared to many to be a weak god. Jesus preached something different; he knew what Moses knew, as we heard in the first reading, where God was described as a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness. The power of this God is demonstrated in love, and in God’s standing in solidarity with people. Rather than God’s greatness being demonstrated simply through his power over nature or his remoteness, the real greatness of God is found in his feelings for the people, in his desire for their welfare. For many people, this seemed like weakness, but in the message of Jesus this was God’s true strength.

The difference between this view of God and the pagan view is that the God Jesus reveals is a personal God who gets close to us. The other gods were nothing more than impersonal forces, perhaps like a cyclone or an earthquake. Jesus makes the point that God’s great act of love was that he gave his Son. The Son then reveals what God is like. The Son hasn’t come to condemn, but to offer salvation, to offer life. This means that God’s basic relationship to us is to be a friend to us. St Paul calls it fellowship.

I believe we can appreciate the real possibility of God’s closeness to us when we realise that he has given us the Holy Spirit as his gift. Paul talks about the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. In the first instance he is speaking about the relationship between the Father and the Son, and the love they have for one another. This is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. But Paul is also saying that God invites us into that very fellowship by giving us the Holy Spirit. This is what Moses was referring to in our first reading when he prayed to God to adopt us as his heritage. It is also why St John talks about us as becoming like God.

This is very important, because it suggests to us that when we understand God properly – when we understand that God is love – then we will also come to see ourselves in a new light. This takes us right back to the story of creation where man and woman were made in the image of God.

Once we purify our understanding of God we need to ask ourselves what our response to God ought to be. In our first reading we saw Moses’ response: he fell to his knees and worshipped God. This can be a challenge for many people today. Worship can seem like a fairly passive response, especially as our age is so used to lots of activity. But worship is not passive, and we know that some Christians prefer to dance and shout. But there are also people who think that worship is nothing more than an effort to appease an angry God. If you have the wrong understanding of God then you might easily think this. But if God is love, then an act of worship is fundamentally an act of love.

So, how do we love? One answer to this is to say that if we are made in the image of God then we love like God loves. We love by developing those qualities that we have seen in God. This means that we are people of kindness, tenderness, compassion, and faithfulness. When we love our neighbour in this way, we are also loving God. This is our act of worship. St Paul tries to be concrete about it when he says, help one another, be united, and live in peace.

These are no doubt things that we are always trying to do. Today’s feast of the Trinity gives more meaning to these very human desires. So, let’s worship God by lives that imitate God’s fellowship with us.

Fr Gerard Kelly