Little Shepherd: 29/11/2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The first Sunday of Advent C

First Reading: Jeremiah 33: 14-16. God has promised that he will rise up a descendant of David to save his people. Jeremiah reminds them that the time is near.

Second reading: Thessalonians 3: 12-4: 2. Paul reminds us that only holiness based on brotherly love can make us ready for Christ when he comes.

Gospel: Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36. Christ will come again with power, to bring our liberation. We should not be afraid, but stay awake, watching and praying.

Points for Reflection--From Fr Carlo Tei

1. The first part of the Advent Season is meant to remind us, disciples of Christ, that, while we are journeying on earth living the Gospel of salvation and announcing it to all men, we must always be watchful, looking to the glorious final coming of Jesus Christ our Lord. That event will mark the completion of the work of salvation centered upon him.

2. What is the proper attitude of those who believe in Christ towards this event? We are invited by the Word of God to play an active role in the world during our earthly pilgrimage, because even in the work of the new creation we are treated by God as human beings, that is: as the only creatures who, in everything, are invited to co-operate freely and willingly with him and his plan.

• First of all, we are invited to be filled with hope. Our faith tells us that Jesus has already begun the new creation. God the Father was and is standing by Jesus and, therefore, we are sure that Jesus is going to accomplish what he has already started: he is going to establish the Kingdom of love, to gather mankind into one family, he is going to destroy all barriers still standing among peoples and individuals. Jesus is going to create a new world based on justice, peace and love.

• Secondly, St Paul urges us to abound in love for one another and for all, and to grow in holiness while waiting for the glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus, because this is for us the only way we, led and strengthened by the Spirit of Jesus, can contribute to the creation of the new world. Every victory over selfishness and pride, every act of care for others, every contribution towards peace, justice and unity by Christians and also by all men of good will is a contribution to the salvation of the world. This is also the meaning of growing in holiness daily. It means putting all our energy and resources to a good use, for the betterment of the world and of human relationships.

PRAY FOR PRIESTS

Dear Lord,

We pray that the Blessed Mother wrap her mantle around your priests and through her intercession strengthen them for their ministry.

We pray that Mary will guide your priests to follow her own words, "Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).

May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary’s most chaste spouse.

May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the cross.

May your priests be holy, filled with the fire of your love seeking nothing but your greater glory and the salvation of souls. Amen.

Saint John Vianney,

pray for us!

Year for Priests June 19 2009-June 19 2010

PRAYER FOR CANONIZATION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II

為教宗若望保祿二世宣聖祈禱

天主聖三，我們感謝你將教宗若望保祿二世，賜給教會，使他彰顯天父的慈愛、基督十字架的光榮，及聖神愛的光輝。他完全信賴你的無限仁慈，及聖母瑪利亞慈母般的轉求。他給予我們耶穌善牧的生動肖像，並為我們指出成聖是基督信徒日常生活的必然本分，又是通往與你永恆共融的道路。請你因教宗若望保祿二世的轉求，依照你的旨意，賜給我們所需的恩寵。願他早日被列入諸聖的名冊。亞孟。

（意大利文由羅馬教區副主教魯義尼樞機批准）中文由香港教區禮儀委員會譯自意大利文版香港教區輔理主教湯漢准印 2005 年10 月6 日意大利文版见http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/Preghiera.asp

LENTEN MESSAGE FOR 2010 BY BENEDICT XVI

"The Justice of God Has Been Manifested Through Faith in Jesus Christ"

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is Benedict XVI's message for Lent, which was published today by the Vatican press office. The message has as its theme: "The Justice of God Has Been Manifested Through Faith in Jesus Christ."

Lent begins on 17th of February * * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel. This year, I would like to offer you some reflections on the great theme of justice, beginning from the Pauline affirmation: "The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ" (cf. Rm 3, 21-22).

Justice: "dare cuique suum"

First of all, I want to consider the meaning of the term "justice," which in common usage implies "to render to every man his due," according to the famous expression of Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century. In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what "due" is to be rendered to each person. What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness. Material goods are certainly useful and required – indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine – yet "distributive" justice does not render to the human being the totality of his "due." Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. Saint Augustine notes: if "justice is that virtue which gives every one his due ... where, then, is the justice of man, when he deserts the true God?" (De civitate Dei, XIX, 21).

What is the Cause of Injustice?

The Evangelist Mark reports the following words of Jesus, which are inserted within the debate at that time regarding what is pure and impure: "There is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him … What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts" (Mk 7, 14-15, 20-21). Beyond the immediate question concerning food, we can detect in the reaction of the Pharisees a permanent temptation within man: to situate the origin of evil in an exterior cause. Many modern ideologies deep down have this presupposition: since injustice comes "from outside," in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove the exterior causes that prevent it being achieved. This way of thinking – Jesus warns – is ingenuous and shortsighted. Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart, where the seeds are found of a mysterious cooperation with evil. With bitterness the Psalmist recognises this: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps 51,7). Indeed, man is weakened by an intense influence, which wounds his capacity to enter into communion with the other.

By nature, he is open to sharing freely, but he finds in his being a strange force of gravity that makes him turn in and affirm himself above and against others: this is egoism, the result of original sin. Adam and Eve, seduced by Satan’s lie, snatching the mysterious fruit against the divine command, replaced the logic of trusting in Love with that of suspicion and competition; the logic of receiving and trustfully expecting from the Other with anxiously seizing and doing on one’s own (cf. Gn 3, 1-6), experiencing, as a consequence, a sense of disquiet and uncertainty. How can man free himself from this selfish influence and open himself to love?

Justice and Sedaqah

At the heart of the wisdom of Israel, we find a profound link between faith in God who "lifts the needy from the ash heap" (Ps 113,7) and justice towards one’s neighbor. The Hebrew word itself that indicates the virtue of justice, sedaqah, expresses this well. Sedaqah, in fact, signifies on the one hand full acceptance of the will of the God of Israel; on the other hand, equity in relation to one’s neighbour (cf. Ex 20, 12-17), especially the poor, the stranger, the orphan and the widow (cf. Dt 10, 18-19). But the two meanings are linked because giving to the poor for the Israelite is none other than restoring what is owed to God, who had pity on the misery of His people. It was not by chance that the gift to Moses of the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai took place after the crossing of the Red Sea. Listening to the Law presupposes faith in God who first "heard the cry" of His people and "came down to deliver them out of hand of the Egyptians" (cf. Ex 3,8). God is attentive to the cry of the poor and in return asks to be listened to: He asks for justice towards the poor (cf. Sir 4,4-5, 8-9), the stranger (cf. Ex 22,20), the slave (cf. Dt 15, 12-18). In order to enter into justice, it is thus necessary to leave that illusion of self-sufficiency, the profound state of closure, which is the very origin of injustice. In other words, what is needed is an even deeper "exodus" than that accomplished by God with Moses, a liberation of the heart, which the Law on its own is powerless to realize. Does man have any hope of justice then?

Christ, the Justice of God

The Christian Good News responds positively to man’s thirst for justice, as Saint Paul affirms in the Letter to the Romans: "But now the justice of God has been manifested apart from law … the justice of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (3, 21-25).

What then is the justice of Christ? Above all, it is the justice that comes from grace, where it is not man who makes amends, heals himself and others. The fact that "expiation" flows from the "blood" of Christ signifies that it is not man’s sacrifices that free him from the weight of his faults, but the loving act of God who opens Himself in the extreme, even to the point of bearing in Himself the "curse" due to man so as to give in return the "blessing" due to God (cf. Gal 3, 13-14). But this raises an immediate objection: what kind of justice is this where the just man dies for the guilty and the guilty receives in return the blessing due to the just one? Would this not mean that each one receives the contrary of his "due"? In reality, here we discover divine justice, which is so profoundly different from its human counterpart. God has paid for us the price of the exchange in His Son, a price that is truly exorbitant. Before the justice of the Cross, man may rebel for this reveals how man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully. Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need – the need of others and God, the need of His forgiveness and His friendship. So we understand how faith is altogether different from a natural, good-feeling, obvious fact: humility is required to accept that I need Another to free me from "what is mine," to give me gratuitously "what is His." This happens especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Thanks to Christ’s action, we may enter into the "greatest" justice, which is that of love (cf. Rm 13, 8-10), the justice that recognises itself in every case more a debtor than a creditor, because it has received more than could ever have been expected.

Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love.

Dear brothers and sisters, Lent culminates in the Paschal Triduum, in which this year, too, we shall celebrate divine justice – the fullness of charity, gift, salvation. May this penitential season be for every Christian a time of authentic conversion and intense knowledge of the mystery of Christ, who came to fulfill every justice. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing. From the Vatican, 30 October 2009

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

SUNDAY GOSPEL _(CN+EN)

16 May 2010, The Ascension of the Lord

恭讀聖路加福音24:46-53
那時候，耶穌對門徒說：「經上曾這樣記載：默西亞必須受苦，第三天要從死者中復活；並且必須從耶路撒冷開始，因他的名，向萬邦宣講悔改，以得罪之赦。你們就是這些事的見證人。「看，我要把我父所恩許的，遣發到你們身上。至於你們，你們應當留在這城中，直到佩戴上自高天而來的能力。」耶穌領他們出去，直到伯達尼附近，就舉手降福了他們。正降福他們的時候，就離開他們，被提升天去了。他們叩拜了耶穌，皆大喜歡，返回耶路撒冷，常在聖殿裡稱謝天主。——上主的話。

Lk24:46-53
Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God. --The Gospel of the Lord.

PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH-IN MARCH

INTENTION: That the world economy may be managed according to the principles of justice and equity, taking into account the real needs of peoples, especially the poorest

The grave financial crisis which broke out in the second half of 2007 has been a glaring and tragic demonstration of the insecurity of the bases on which the world financial framework is built. The crisis was generated in an atmosphere of exaggerated optimism in a system which gave rise to the illusion that nothing could continue but growth. Together with a 'constructive euphoria', credit was abused, and loans were allowed without the requisite securities. 'Bad payers' accumulated, many could not or would not be responsible for their debts.

Unbridled speculation, secret lies, investments that promised impossible returns, were the normal procedure of financial enterprises, and no-one seemed to be able or to want to stop it. Until the bubble burst.

Today we are suffering the consequences of a global economic management that was irresponsible, incapable of limiting the ambition and avarice of a few. Once again, the weakest, and the poor, pay the highest price, unable to cope with paying their debts, with the consequent loss of millions of jobs, and many people losing their homes. It is not the greedy bankers or the unscrupulous speculators who have suffered the effects of the crisis most. Those who caused the catastrophe, and their institutions, have been and are being helped in many countries from State funds, to prevent the collapse of the whole system, in the hope of avoiding worse consequences for everyone. The double standards of the prevailing system, which privatises gain and socialises losses, are highly visible. When the system failed, the State had to pay, and goes on paying, with the people's money.

The real reasons for this situation are not just technical defects in the financial system, but the results of a profound moral crisis. Ambition, unregulated greed, the law of the most powerful, ruled. Consequently, and as the only real road to a solution, today a moral renewal is necessary on the large scale of modern societies and commercial relations. This is the basis of the Pope's intention for this month. Direct the world economy in a responsible way to achieve real solidarity. Learn that a change of mentality is needed in the way we live in the world together, that may produce new ideas and models.

Let us pray with the Holy Father that this crisis, which can mean a danger or an opportunity, may make us more capable of carrying out lasting changes. We cannot go on with the insulting inequality between the high level of consumption of the rich and the situation of the poor, which is becoming more and more tragic. The crisis is an opportunity to move in earnest towards alternative forms of economy. The bad moment showed that when political will combined with concern for the common good, in a few months huge funds could be produced to save the financial markets. It is possible to bring together great efforts for great solutions.

Little Shepherd

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The first Sunday of Advent C

PRAY FOR PRIESTS

JOHN BIBLE STUDY

PRAYER FOR CANONIZATION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II

LENTEN MESSAGE FOR 2010 BY BENEDICT XVI

SUNDAY GOSPEL _(CN+EN)

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