THE GREAT WALL

May 25, 2013

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and Third, by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius

 

I started the day by having mass with the Carmelite Sisters

and then came back up the hill to have breakfast with my students.

After breakfast they grabbed the 260 bus to head for Disney! (Sun Wei and Jingxian)

The gang

Off to see Mickey!

Getting on the 260

and away they went!! Late report has them not going to Disney because of the weather...and planning now to go to Disney tomorrow!!

Wang Wei came down with the students, so I spent a good deal of time going over Jilin work, the summer program, and other stuff with her today. She is finishing up her first year of grad school and has done really well. 

 
This guy is having an incredible year....and last year he won the Triple Crown and MVP. 

If you don't want to pitch to him, you have to pitch to Prince Fielder! A good time to be a Tiger Fan!!

Today's gospel and some comments:

People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16

It started in the 19th, but it was only in the 20th century that the Western world really romanticised childhood.  Only then did we begin to believe that a child was something superior to an adult: that he/she had a greater measure of innocence, virtue, and even wisdom than the average adult.  To all the ages that went before, that belief would have seemed very bizarre indeed. 

The world in the time of Jesus (and not only then) believed that a child was a deficient adult, a nobody who knew nothing, had nothing, and was nothing: an extension of the parents with no rights of its own.  So when Jesus said you must be like children to enter the kingdom (presence) of God, he meant you must be a nobody, a nothing….

Does this canonize ignorance and inexperience?  Like St Paul we are allowed to make appropriate distinctions.  “Brothers and sisters,” he wrote, “do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults” (1 Corinthians 14:20).   To be childlike is not the same as being childish.  Childlike qualities are simplicity, trust, openness, hope… so many of the qualities needed for living a spiritual life.  The French mystic Mde Guyon (1648 – 1717) wrote, “The simple ones, so far from being incapable of [spiritual] perfection, are, by their docility, innocence, and humility, peculiarly adapted and qualified for its attainment… they are less employed in speculation and less tenacious of their own opinions… they submit more freely to the teachings of the Divine Spirit: whereas others, who are blinded by self-sufficiency and enslaved by prejudice, give great resistance to the operations of Grace.”

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 There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.  Albert Einstein

 I got back to Hong Kong yesterday. The Beijing experience was a great one and one that I will not soon forget. 

I went to the Hong Hum train station this morning to meet a group of nursing students from Jilin Medical College. They are here for a one week clinical placement at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital.

I had a bus waiting to take all 16 of them to the Stanley House

Jingxian and Fr. Ed enjoy lunch at Stanley.

A group picture before they took off with Wang Wei to see a little of Hong Kong and Kowloon.

Monday, May 20, 2013...............From Beijing

 I used to think the Lord's Prayer was a short prayer; but as I live longer, and see more of life, I begin to believe there is no such thing as getting through it. If a man, in praying that prayer, were to be stopped by every word until he had thoroughly prayed it, it would take him a lifetime. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Three years ago a priest friend asked me if I would be willing to lead a retreat for him and his ordination classmates. I told him that given my Chinese level it would take me three years to prepare one. He said you are on for 2013! This will be another quiet week as far as the blog is concerned!

Today's gospel and some comments:

When the whole crowd saw Jesus, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, ‘What are you arguing about with them?’ Someone from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.’ He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’
When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand.
When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’ Mark 9:14-29

“If you are able,” the man said.  Once we allow the word ‘if’ a place in religion, all is lost.  It is like allowing a hole in the bottom of a bucket; no matter how small the hole, everything leaks out.  “Why do you say, ‘If you can’?” said Jesus.  What are you doing – hedging your bets? 

What happens when there is no ‘if’?  “All things are possible for one who believes.”  ‘Belief’ isn't a matter of calculating the odds and finding them to be satisfactory.  The word ‘trust’ would translate it better. The great tragedy of misunderstanding at the Reformation, people now see, was that this was missed.  Fiducia, trust, was an essential part of faith for Martin Luther.  For Catholics, fiducia was bracketed under the virtue of hope rather than under faith.  What Luther meant by faith included what Catholics meant by hope.  With hindsight we can say: it doesn’t matter how you draw the lines between faith, hope, and love.  They are three aspects of the religious spirit; it would even be better if we wrote them as a single word – faithhopelove. 

“I do believe, help my unbelief,” said the man in today’s reading.  Is that a contradiction?  Perhaps yes if you were to take belief as isolated from fiducia, trust.  There's a yes or no quality about pure belief, but there are many degrees of trust; in fact trust is all about degrees.  By trusting you learn how to trust, and by trusting again you learn to trust more.  Belief (or faith as we prefer to call it) doesn’t just lie changeless in the mind; it grows out of itself.  That's how every living thing grows. 

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Keep your fears to yourself but share your courage with others. - Robert Louis Stevenson

I got back to Hong Kong last night after a wonderful five-day trip to visit the Maryknollers workng in the Philippines. I spent most of the day catching up on office work.

Some pictures from the trip:

The Maryknoll House in Davao.

The grave of Maryknoll Bishop Joseph Regan M.M.

A sign welcoming us...the were close!!! 

Fr. Felter and friends....

Fr. Ferry and friends......

Fr. Burr and friend

Fr. LaRousse and friends 

Today's gospel and some comments:

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ So the rumour spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’ This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.  John 21:20-25

This is the closing scene of John’s gospel, and in it Peter is invited once again by Jesus, “Follow me!”  Jesus had predicted that he would follow him: "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later" (13:36).  That time has come.  Peter is now in a better position to understand what following Jesus will involve.  Jesus spells out the cost of that love that Peter has just professed three times (yesterday’s Gospel).  In his youth Peter was able to follow his own sweet will, but now “you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (verse 18). 
           
Peter has been given a leadership role in the community: “Feed (or tend) my sheep.”  He can have no illusions about what that will entail.  He will not lord it over others; instead, like the Good Shepherd, he will give his life for them.  He was crucified during the persecution by Nero in the mid-sixties of the first century.

I am having a great trip here in the Philippines. I am now in Davao and will fly back to Hong Kong tomorrow.

Mothers' Day 2013......May 12, 2013

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.  ~Robert Brault

I started the day by calling mom to wish her a Happy Mothers' Day. I had mas this morning at St.Anne's and then the radio show this evening. I fly to the Philippines tomorrow for a five-day visitation of our men working there. I will return to Hong Kong on Friday afternoon. 

I have the good fortune of having the Infamous One with me once again. The Infamous One is preparing to head to Africa on Wednesday to teach English for a while! ^_^ I am pretty proud of her and also a little worried. Keep 王雪丹 (Marina) in your prayers as she heads off on a big adventure later this week!

After mass this morning at St.Anne's

At the radio station

On the air

I will not be posting on this blog for the next five days!

Today's gospel and some comments:

He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24: 46-53

The Gospels contain many parables of a master who sets out on a long journey and gives his servants charge of his estate until his return. In the feast of the Ascension of the Lord parable becomes reality. Jesus departs to his heavenly Father and leaves his disciples in charge of the affairs of his kingdom till his return in glory. Each of the Gospels we have ends with a scene in which Jesus finally takes leave of his disciples. These farewell scenes focus not on describing the event in detail but on the last words that Jesus leaves with his disciples. In fact, the very fact of a bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven is described only by Luke. It is Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles from which we got our first reading today. A later ending of Mark also includes the Ascension. There are important similarities and differences between Luke and Acts on the one hand, and Matthew and Mark on the other, regarding the details of this farewell scene.

For example, in Luke-Acts the Ascension takes place in Jerusalem, whereas in Matthew and Mark it takes place in Galilee. Both traditions, however, agree that it took place on a mountain. In Luke-Acts the Ascension happens forty days after the Resurrection during which period Jesus appears repeatedly to his followers. In Matthew and Mark there is no indication of this time period between the Resurrection and the Ascension, rather the first appearance of Jesus to his disciples after the resurrection is also the last. The gospel writers apparently were not aiming at accuracy in historical details; they were more concerned with transmitting a message.

So what is the message, the charge that Jesus gives his disciples as he takes physical leave of them? The message is phrased differently in the Acts and in the Gospels:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Go into all the world and proclaim the good news  to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:15-18)

These are the last words of Jesus as recorded differently in the Acts and in Matthew and Mark. All of them are in agreement that (a) Jesus gave his disciples a mission, a task to engage them till he returns in glory, and (b) he assured them of divine assistance in the carrying out of this mission.

The mission is to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus to the ends of the earth, to go into all nations of the world and proclaim the good news  to the whole creation.. The universal reach of this mission is very clear. The message of Jesus is meant to be good news in the ears of all humankind irrespective of nationality or culture. Given the fact that till date many nations have embraced other religions in preference to the gospel, maybe it is time to ask: Are these people rejecting the message of Jesus or are they rejecting the messengers and the way in which they have presented it? The air of superiority and triumphalism assumed by many Christian missionaries is a disservice to the gospel and not part of the good news. Have we perhaps spoilt the Good Story in the telling?

At the beginning of the twentieth century, some mission-minded Christians started a periodical and called it "The Christian Century." That title was an expression of their triumphalistic belief that by the end of the century the whole world would have been Christianized. Today we have hopefully grown wiser and humbler as we realize that in the 20^th century, not only did we fail to Christianize the whole world, but rather that we added two world wars to our record of "accomplishments."

The spreading of the Good News to all nations is not a goal that can be attained by dint of human might and craft. That is why Jesus promises to empower his messengers from on high by his abiding presence and the Holy Spirit. The challenge of sharing the Good News with all humankind should, therefore, begin on our knees as we confess that we have often taken matters into our own selfish human hands and promise to give the Holy Spirit a chance.

The Infamous One Arrives in Hong Kong!! ........May 11, 2013

The Infamous One with the Infamous Duck in the background!

The infamous one with thousands of other folks taking a look at the floating duck in Victoria Harbor!

The Infamous One and Sr. Anastasia Lindawatti M.M.

Sr. Anastasia Lindawatti M.M.

 

My Tigers won the opening game of a big three-game weekend series against the Cleveland Indians.

Today's gospel and some comments:

On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.  ‘I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.’  John 16:23-28

“On that day” (that is, ‘when you see me again’, after the resurrection) “if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”  He is saying that our prayer should be addressed to the Father, but “in my name”, that is, in the presence of Jesus.  This is the pattern of prayer in the Liturgy.  The Eucharistic prayer is invariably addressed to the Father, “through him (Jesus), with him and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.”  All our prayer has the pattern of the Trinity stamped on it. 

This does not mean that we should never pray to anyone but the Father.  In the Catholic tradition we feel free to pray to Jesus, Mary and the saints, but always in the full knowledge that the Father is the ultimate destination of all prayer – just as every stream, even the raindrops streaming down your window pane, is making its way to the sea. 

Friday, May 10, 2013

"For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great." - Jose Ortega y Gasset 

 A busy office day, so I will not bore you with details.

From Xi' an

 

Back in Hong Kong...May 9, 2013

Nursing care comes in many forms.  Sometimes it is the ability to make someone feel physically comfortable by various means.  Other times it is the ability to improve the body's ability to achieve or maintain health.  But often it is an uncanny yet well honed knack to see beyond the obvious and address, in some way, the deeper needs of the human soul.  ~Donna Wilk Cardillo, A Daybook for Beginning Nurses

I flew back to Hong Kong from Xi' an yesterday. Xi'an is the ancient capital of the Middle Kingdom and one of my favorite Chinese cities. I have a good number of former students who work there, so it is always a lot of fun being there. On this trip I had plenty of time to enjoy their company! I am really proud of all of them!!!

I have the community mass this morning and then plan to spend most of the day in the office catching up on email and other stuff. This afternoon and evening I have meetings at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital.

My Tigers are playing some pretty good baseball as of late. Going into this evening's game with the Washington Nationals the Tigers have the best record in baseball.

American League
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
Boston	21	12	.636	-	12-6	9-6	159	126	+33	Lost  1	5-5	61.1
Baltimore	20	13	.606	1	8-5	12-8	163	136	+27	Won  3	6-4	50.0
NY Yankees	18	13	.581	2	12-7	6-6	133	125	+8	Lost  2	6-4	40.1
Tampa Bay	14	18	.438	6.5	8-6	6-12	142	144	-2	Lost  2	4-6	30.1
Toronto	13	21	.382	8.5	7-12	6-9	131	175	-44	Won  3	4-6	3.2
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
Detroit	19	11	.633	-	10-4	9-7	164	112	+52	Won  4	9-1	77.5
Kansas City	17	12	.586	1.5	10-5	7-7	125	109	+16	Lost  2	6-4	37.9
Cleveland	16	14	.533	3	8-7	8-7	150	125	+25	Won  2	8-2	40.2
Minnesota	14	15	.483	4.5	7-6	7-9	122	124	-2	Won  1	5-5	14.0
Chicago Sox	13	18	.419	6.5	7-7	6-11	104	119	-15	Lost  1	4-6	10.2
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
Texas	20	13	.606	-	11-4	9-9	142	113	+29	Lost  2	4-6	66.9
Oakland	18	16	.529	2.5	9-8	9-8	174	158	+16	Lost  2	5-5	46.4
Seattle	16	19	.457	5	9-8	7-11	120	147	-27	Won  1	7-3	11.5
LA Angels	11	21	.344	8.5	7-9	4-12	135	168	-33	Lost  3	2-8	10.6
Houston	9	24	.273	11	5-12	4-12	130	204	-74	Won  1	2-8	0.4
National League
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
Atlanta	20	13	.606	-	9-5	11-8	147	110	+37	Won  1	5-5	80.7
Washington	17	15	.531	2.5	9-7	8-8	113	125	-12	Won  2	6-4	33.3
Philadelphia	16	19	.457	5	8-10	8-9	128	155	-27	Lost  1	5-5	14.7
NY Mets	13	16	.448	5	8-8	5-8	138	138	0	Won  1	3-7	20.8
Miami	10	25	.286	11	5-11	5-14	99	148	-49	Lost  3	4-6	0.4
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
St. Louis	21	12	.636	-	7-5	14-7	156	114	+42	Won  1	7-3	79.2
Pittsburgh	18	15	.545	3	10-7	8-8	130	129	+1	Lost  1	5-5	29.4
Cincinnati	19	16	.543	3	13-6	6-10	158	137	+21	Lost  1	6-4	47.9
Milwaukee	15	16	.484	5	10-10	5-6	141	151	-10	Won  1	4-6	17.2
Chicago Cubs	13	21	.382	8.5	7-11	6-10	128	144	-16	Lost  1	4-6	8.3
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
Colorado	19	13	.594	-	11-5	8-8	166	137	+29	Won  1	5-5	54.7
San Francisco	20	14	.588	-	12-6	8-8	148	145	+3	Won  1	7-3	39.0
Arizona	18	15	.545	1.5	8-8	10-7	150	126	+24	Won  2	5-5	52.2
San Diego	16	18	.471	4	10-8	6-10	131	147	-16	Won  4	7-3	15.3
LA Dodgers	13	19	.406	6	7-10	6-9	109	145	-36	Lost  6	2-8

Some pictures from Xi'an:

Nursing graduates in Xi'an.

With the graduates and Zhang Xue's mom!

Han Chunguang and Mengmeng

That Snake looked like a worm!!

Zhang Jinna and I had morning flights so I had a cup of coffee and she had a strawberry shake at the airport.

Today's gospel and some comments:

‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.’ Then some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What does he mean by saying to us, “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me”; and “Because I am going to the Father”?’ They said, ‘What does he mean by this “a little while”? We do not know what he is talking about.’ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, ‘Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me”? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.  John 16:16-20

 The Resurrection happened in the tomb.  This death-and-resurrection event, which we call the Paschal Mystery, is the heart of our faith, and if the heart isn’t beating, the body is dead.  We have a lot of cheap knowledge: knowledge that has not been bought at the full price of experience.  It is easy to sign up to a list of beliefs; it is as easy as saying ok.  But everyone knows only one or two things really.  We know the dying and rising of Christ to the extent that our own life is being shaped by it, no more, no less.  The disciples made an honest admission, “We don’t know what he is talking about.”  That is always the first step in understanding: to understand how little we know.