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The Catholic Church

  • God Is!
    "In a way, all history cries aloud that God is." Pope Leo XIII
  • An important historical fact
    "The Catholic Church herself is an historic fact. Like a great mountain-range she bestrides the history of the past two thousand years. Whatever may be the attitude adopted toward her, it is impossible to escape her." Pope Pius XII
  • Not easily understood
    "Catholicism is a deep matter, you cannot take it up in a teacup." Venerable John Henry Newman
  • Not Perfect
    "Ought history to hide the faults of men and Orders? It was not after this fashion that the Saints laid open the scandals of their times... God indeed has conferred upon His Church the prerogative of infallibility, but to none of her members has He granted immunity from sin. Peter was a sinner and a renegade, and God has been at pains to have that fact recorded in the Gospels." Jean-Baptise Henri Lacordaire, O.P.
  • The Church
    "There is not and never was on this earth, a work of human policy so richly deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic Church... She saw the commencement of all the governments and of the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world, and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had crossed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished in Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveler from New Zealand, in the midst of a vast solitude, takes his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's." Thomas Babington Macaulay

Youth learn by example


  • Nothing is so contagious as an example, and our every really good or bad action inspires a similar one.

The Second Coming

  • I've no idea when Jesus is coming back. I'm on the Welcoming Committee, not the Planning Committee!

The Problems of Sin and Imperfection


  • Indeed each time we attempt to force a solution or our difficulties in a quick, easy way we refuse to enter the school of life. This is especially true of the problems of sin and imperfection. Our personal inclinations to certain types of sin and imperfection will be with us as long as we live. They are rooted in our unique nature and in the dark recesses of our past. To be sure, we must try to overcome them in the current of our existence, but we must also humbly accept the fact that possibly we shall never be wholly rid of them in spite of our efforts. It may be that we must live with a certain imperfection to the end of our life; that we must patiently try to cope with it in countless ways while never succeeding in eliminating it. A certain sin may persecute us until our last breath, humiliate us in the eyes of others, escape our understanding, and fill our eyes with tears. This fact we must accept. The Lord will never ask how successful we were in overcoming a particular vice, sin, or imperfection. He will ask us, “Did you humbly and patiently accept this mystery of iniquity in your life? How did you deal with it? Did you learn from it to be patient and humble? Did it teach you to trust not your own ability but My love? Did it enable you to understand better the mystery of iniquity in the lives of others? Did it give you the most typical characteristic of a truly religious person—that he never judges or condemns the sin and imperfection of others?” The religious man knows from his own life that the demon of evil can be stronger than man even in spite of his best attempts; he knows that it is the patience, humility, and charity learned from this experience that count. Success and failure are accidental. The joy of the Christian is never based on his personal religious success but on the knowledge that his Redeemer lives. The Christian is the man who is constantly aware of his need of salvation. Acceptance of the mystery of iniquity in our project of existence is a school of mildness, mercy, forgiveness, and loving understanding of our neighbor.

Suffering


  • There is at this moment, in the world, at the back of some foresaken church, or even in an ordinary house, or at the turning of some deserted path, a poor man who joins his hands and from the depth of his misery, without very well knowing what he is saying, or without saying anything, thanks the good Lord for having made him free, for having made him capable of loving. There is somewhere else, I do not know where, a mother who hides here face for the last time in the hollow of a little breast which will beat no more, a mother next to her dead child who offers to God a groan of an exhausted resignation, as if the Voice which has thrown the suns into space as a hand throws grain, the Voice which makes the worlds tremble, had just murmured gently into her ear, “Pardon me, one day you will know, you will understand, you will give me thanks. But now, what I am looking for is your pardon. Pardon.” These—this harassed woman, this poor man—are at the heart of the mystery, at the heart of the universal creation and in the very secret of God. What can I say of it? Language is at the service of intelligence. And what these people have understood, they have understood by a faculty superior to the intelligence although not in the least in contradiction with it—or rather, by a profound and irresistible movement of the soul which engaged all the faculties at once, which engaged to the depth of their entire nature…. Yes at the moment that this man, this woman, accepted their destiny, accepted themselves humbly—the mystery of creation was being accomplished in them. While they were thus, without knowing it, running the entire risk of their human conduct, they were realizing themselves fully in the charity of Christ., becoming themselves, according to the words of St. Paul, other Christs. In short, they were saints.

WORK TIRELESSLY FOR PEACE

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Spirituality


  • Spirituality is anything that reminds us we are already in the presence of a Loving God. Krister Stendahl

I will not fear, for you are ever with me


  • My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton

History of Maryknoll

  • Bishop James A Walsh
    James Anthony Walsh, son of James Walsh and Hanna Shea, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on February 24, 1867. After completing his elementary education in the public schools, he attended Boston College High School where, in extracurricular activities, his skills in debating and journalism were first recognized and developed. He began his college program at Boston College, interrupted it to study bookkeeping, transferred to Harvard College as a "special student", and completed his studies at St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. He was ordained on May 20, 1892, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. Early Accomplishments After ordination, Walsh was appointed curate at St. Patrick's Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts where he directed sodalities and organizations for both the young men and women of the parish. In 1903, he was appointed Diocesan Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and in 1907 founded The Field Afar magazine, a monthly publication about the foreign missions of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America Walsh's interest in the foreign missions led to his founding, together with Rev. Thomas Frederick Price, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (C.F.M.S.A.) (commonly referred to as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers) in 1911. He acted as spiritual father and co-founder, with Mother Mary Joseph Rogers, of the Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic (now called Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic). He served as Superior General of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers until his death in 1936. During the founding process and in his service as Superior General, Walsh made trips across the United States, to Rome and to other places throughout the world. A Lifetime of Service In 1933, Walsh was elected to the episcopacy and named Titular Bishop of Siene. He was consecrated in Rome on June 29, 1933, in the College of Propaganda Fide by Cardinal Fumasoni-Biondi. He died at Maryknoll, New York, on April 14, 1936.
  • Fr.Price
    Youth and Education As a youth, Price had close contact with the priests of his parish (St. Thomas, Wilmington, North Carolina). One priest who figured prominently in his early life was Bishop James Gibbons, newly appointed first Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina. Gibbons established his headquarters at St. Thomas Church and soon began to show a special interest in young Price. Price often served Mass for Gibbons and accompanied him on special trips throughout the Vicariate. With his religious background (especially the deep devotion of his mother to the Blessed Virgin), Price soon felt an attraction to the priesthood. He confided his interest to the parish priest, Fr. Mark Gross, and arrangements were made for him to enter St. Charles Seminary at Catonsville, Maryland, in August, 1876. On route to the seminary by ship, Price escaped death in the shipwreck of the Rebecca Clyde. Price attributed his survival to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After the accident, he returned home until January 1877. Price attended St. Charles' Seminary from January 1877, until his commencement on June 28, 1881. On September 1881, he entered St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 1886, by Bishop Northrup at the pro-cathedral in Wilmington, North Carolina (Both of Price's parents had died prior to his ordination.) Price was the first North Carolinian to be ordained to the priesthood, and he was assigned to missionary work in the eastern section of his native state. Early Years of Priesthood Within one year after his ordination, Price was appointed the pastor of the few Catholics in and around the towns of Asheville and Bern. After the first few years of priesthood, he obtained permission from Bishop Haid, his ordinary, to begin a statewide evangelization program. His methods were influenced by Fr. Eliott, a famous Paulist preacher. One of Price's tools for evangelization was the publication of the magazine Truth, which he began to publish and edit in April 1897. A second tool was the establishment of Nazareth Orphanage in 1898. Price's plan was to first help the underprivileged of an area and thereby win the favor of the general population who would then be more inclined to listen to the message of the missionary. Following the success of the Nazareth Orphanage, Price organized summer catechizing teams of seminarians. Finally, in 1902, Price opened his missionary training house at Nazareth. It was a preparatory seminary whose sole purpose was the education and formation of missionaries for the home missions. It was called Regina Apostolorum. From 1902 to 1909, Price directed the Regina Apostolorum and acted as its primary teacher and spiritual director. Plans for a Foreign Mission Seminary As time went on, Price began to emphasize more and more often in the pages of Truth the need of a seminary for the training of young American men for the foreign missions. At the same time, Rev. James Anthony Walsh, of Boston, was developing the same idea in the pages of The Field Afar. At the Eucharistic Congress in Montreal in 1910, the two priests met and began to formulate plans for the establishment of a seminary for foreign missionaries. With the approval of the American hierarchy, the two priests traveled to Rome in June 1911, to receive final approval from Pope Pius X for their project. After meeting with the Holy Father, Price traveled to Lourdes for the first time. During his stay at Lourdes, Price had a spiritual experience that was to significantly affect all of his future life. Price refers to the experience in his personal diary. A special devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and Bernadette Soubirous would follow him all the way to his death. Returning to the United States, Price, together with Walsh, began the plans for the establishment of the new seminary and the foreign mission society. After a brief stay at Hawthorne, New York, property was purchased at Ossining, New York, for the site of the new society: the American Catholic Foreign Mission Society (popularly known as Maryknoll). Foreign Missions Begin Price made an around-the-country tour of America to gain support for the new endeavor. By 1918, three young priests (Frs. James E. Walsh, Francis X. Ford, and Bernard F. Meyer) were ready for the foreign missions in China. On September 7, Price went with them as superior to the new missions. From the time of the foundation of Maryknoll, Price had understood that Walsh was the one capable of administering and directing the seminary itself. Price himself had always hoped to be chosen as one of Maryknoll's first missioners, and his dream was realized. Because of his age, Price had great difficulty learning the Chinese language. He also suffered from physical ailments. On September 12, 1919, he died in Hong Kong as a result of a burst appendix. In 1936, his body was exhumed and transferred to the cemetery at Maryknoll, New York. In 1955, his remains, together with those of Bishop James A. Walsh, were finally interred in the crypt below the Maryknoll Seminary Chapel.
  • History
    Maryknoll was established in 1911 as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America by the Bishops of the United States. Responsibility for its development fell to two diocesan priests, Fr. James Anthony Walsh of Boston and Fr. Thomas Frederick Price of North Carolina, with the commission to recruit, send and support U.S. missioners in areas around the world. On June 29, 1911, Pope Pius X blessed the founding of Maryknoll. Maryknoll's first missioners left for China in 1918. Today there are over 475 Maryknoll priests and Brothers serving in countries around the world, principally in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

A Chinese Proverb


  • Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

Chinese Wisdom

  • When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
  • The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.
  • The man who in view of gain thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends - such a man may be reckoned a complete man.
  • Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.
  • If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.
  • Those who are contented with what they have are often happy.
  • “A single beam cannot support a great house. ”
  • A vacant mind is open to all suggestions, as a hollow mountain returns all sounds.”
  • One's good deeds are only known at home; one's bad deeds far
  • He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.
  • Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock
  • Much wealth will not come if a little does not go.
  • Words are the voice of the heart.
  • The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
  • Virtue cannot live in solitude; neighbors are sure to grow up around it.
  • When anger arises, think of the consequences.

God Needs Us


  • The hardest cross to bear in life is the thought that we are wasting our time, that we are useless, that the world is rushing along and we, apparently, have not yet found our feet. For the missioner the monotony of merely marking time, of facing petty tasks, or even manufacturing small jobs to kill time can be especially disheartening. This monotony readily suggests to a nervous conscience that we could be doing better work elsewhere, that we are not really appreciated at our full worth, and that we are not given a chance to show what we could accomplish in busier circumstances. All of us have our daydreams of ideal conditions in which we modestly achieve wonderful success through our own plans, and in these dreams it is difficult at times to distinguish between inspiration and vanity. We all have our moments of dreadful tedium, when even our favorite books are distasteful and when we favor a chance visitor with unusual cordiality. At such times we could recall with profit the worlds of the blind English poet Milton: “ Thousands at His bidding speed, and post o’er land and ocean without rest; they also serve who only stand and wait.” God needs us where we are at; we are active even being merely on call; and the Omnipresent God is beside us even when we feel alone….Sentry work is essential though seemingly inglorious. There is a tendency in modern moods to emphasize the emotional side of religion; and we are all somewhat tainted by this error. We are only too prone to look for sensible consolation in our mission work, and in their absence we are tempted to take a grim view of life. The remedy for this self-centered condition is contemplation and service of God. Contemplation takes us out of ourselves and focuses our attention on God; service of God instinctively issues from our contemplation. We see that God needs us in His redeeming of the human race; and we forget ourselves in satisfying God’s need. Bishop Francis Ford M.M.

Decisions

  • focus
    "There is, I think, nothing in the world more futile than the attempt to find out how a task should be done when one has not yet decided what the task is." - Alexander Meiklejohn

From I have a Dream


  • And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Education


  • You should have education so that you won't have to look up to people; and then more education so that you will be wise enough not to look down on people. M.L. Boren

I CAN'T WAIT

Lessons for Life

  • Some Very Good Advice
    1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. 9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. 10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. 11. It's OK to let your children see you cry. 12. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. 14. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind. 15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. 16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. 17. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer. 19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. (OK – NOT you guys) Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. 20. Over prepare, then go with the flow. 21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. 22. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. 23. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' 24. What other people think of you is none of your business. 25. Time heals almost everything. Give time time. 26. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 27. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 28. Believe in miracles. 29. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. 30. Your children get only one childhood. 31. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. 32. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. 33. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back. 34. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. 35. The best is yet to come.

The source of faith


  • "Who am I?...I am one loved by Christ." Thomas Merton

Peace Prayer


  • Lord make me an instrument of your peace Where there is hatred, Let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is error, truth; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, Joy. O Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled As to console; To be understood,as to understand; To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

knowledge

  • knowledge
    It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.

The Eucharist


  • The nourishing quality of the eucharist, freely offered to anyone who's famished, has always been a central metaphor for me. I don't partake because I'm a good Catholic, holy pious and sleek. I partake because I'm a bad Catholic, riddled by doubt and anxiety and anger: fainting from severe hypoglycemia of the soul. I need food. Nancy Mairs

Seeking God


  • It needs more training to seek God among the rough stones of the dusty road than in the beauty of the sunset.

Building


  • He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example builds with one hand and pulls down with the other. Francis Bacon

The Miracle


  • Maybe the burning bush was burning all the time and Moses didnt notice. Maybe the miracle is when you stop and pay attention. Francine Prose

John of the Cross


  • How amazing and pitiful it is that the soul be so utterly weak and impure that the hand of God, though light and gentle, should feel so heavy and contrary. For the hand of God does not press down or weigh upon the soul, but only touches it; and this mercifuly, for God's aim is to grant it favors and not chastise it. "The Dark Night," Book II Chapter 5

God's Love


  • God's love for us is not the reason for which we should love him. God's love for us is the reason for us to love ourselves. How could we love ourselves without this motive?

Be Not Afraid


  • It is the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is a dream afraid of waking, that never takes a chance. It is the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live. A.McBroon

Spirituality


  • Spirituality is anything that reminds us we are already in the presence of a Loving God. Krister Stendahl

If my compassion is true


  • If my compassion is true,if it be a deep compassion of the heart and not a legal affair, or a mercy learned from a book and practiced on others like a pious exercise, then my compassion for others is God's mercy for me. My patience with them is His patience with me. My love for them is His love for me. Thomas Merton " No Man is an Island"

Youth learn by example


  • Nothing is so contagious as an example, and our every really good or bad action inspires a similar one.

Can you beat this?


  • Jesus promises you two things. Your life has meaning and you will live forever. If you get a better deal than that, take it!!!

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thursday- February 26, 2009

There is no economy in going to bed early to save candles if the result is twins. - Chinese Proverb

I was up late last night with some diocesan visitors, so I skipped the morning walk and started the day with morning prayers and mass in the chapel.

I had a nice phone call from Mom and Dad while I was in the office this morning. They sounded good and both of them were more than a little happy that Lansing is snowless for the moment. They were getting ready to watch Michigan State play Iowa in basketball.

I had a meeting this morning that lasted an hour or so and then spent the rest of the day in the office getting ready for next week’s lectures. I did find a little time to shoot over to to the supermarket and get a few things for the apartment and office.

Many students returned to the campus today and I spent a good amount of time with some of them here in the office listening to their winter vacation experiences. They seemed to have had a great time for the most part, there were of course a few sad romantic breakups as well as few failed exams that ruined the holidays for some students, but that is to be expected. For the most part they are all doing just great and are happy to be back with their classmates and friends. I also got lots of goodies from various parts of China!

Here are a few pictures of the newest Buick Dealership that just opened  here in Jilin City. I always felt that two Buick 别克 dealers were all that Jilin needed, but we now have three!!

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DSCN2535 Car sales are down in China, too!!

North China Drought 2009

A good part of Northern China is suffering from the worst drought in 50 years and the government here is more than just worried about the situation. The area affected grows more than half of China’s crops and is home for about 40 percent of the population. Dams have been opened, reservoirs drained, water trucked in and silver iodide capsules fired into the skies in hopes of producing some rain or snow.

I don't plan to do any commercials for the radio show in the near future. One of the new sponsors is Jilin Foods (snacks, junk food, etc) and according to a draft law submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, celebrities (I use the term lightly)  will share legal responsibility for advertising for 0013729e4abe0a480dc116 ood products that are found to be unsafe. The draft food safety law stipulates all social organizations and individuals who recommend unsafe food products in ads shoulder "joint liability" with food producers if the products harm consumers' rights and interests.

Imagine what could have happened to someone who was promoting Sanlu Milk at this time last year?!!

According to a law professor at Renmin University the expression "joint liability" means that consumers can sue for compensation from both the unsafe food's producers and the stars who promote the unsafe product.

Today’s gospel and some comments:

Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?" Lk 9:22-25 

Today’s gospel at the very beginning of Lent is a powerful one. I am reminded each and every time I read this passage that my life and work involve denying myself and taking up a cross. It's not as if Jesus’ sacrifice is insufficient in any way. Jesus has commanded us to live lives of self-denial, following his example of love in the highest form. This self-denial is certainly a sacrifice, helping to conform us to the Lord who gave himself freely for our sins. I know I'm guilty of pride and sometimes I see things out there that I want to do or have. But in the end, God's desire for me is to be holy - to become a saint - and share eternity with Him. In that light, everything else seems so tiny and insignificant.

Posted at 07:22 PM | | Comments (0)

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

ASH Wednesday 2009

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. - Johann Wolfgang van Goethe 

I begin today’s blog with a few comments on the speech given last night by President Barack Obama President Barack Obama to a joint session of Congress back in the US. It was fantastic!! I would say he gave America the audacity to hope again. Bluntly declaring that the “day of reckoning has arrived” after years of financial irresponsibility, President Obama told Americans on Tuesday night that “we will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”

In the opening passage of his address to a joint session of Congress, Obama said Art.obama.03 “the impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere,” the result of extravagant buying, gutted regulations and inadequate financial planning.

The president spared no one in his analysis of who was at fault: Too many everyday Americans bought homes they could not afford and did not think about their next mortgage payments. Too many banks handed out loans to people who could not pay. Politicians allowed the surplus to disappear with tax cuts for the rich. Regulations were gutted to help companies make a quick profit......

We have our work cut out for us, but this was definitely a move in the right direction. Change has arrived!!!

I started the day with my morning walk and then got the Lenten season started with Ash Wednesday mass in the chapel.

DSCN2530

I made a trip to the bank (those are always a pain) and took care of some   banking stuff this morning, but other than that I was in the office all day. A bunch of students and former students stopped by to say hello while I was working on stuff, so it was a good office day.

DSCN2531

Xu Feng the director of the Tianji Center also stopped by this morning for a nice visit. She was accompanied by Fr. Wang Gousheng. They are pretty busy at the Center these days and with many of their volunteers being college students they will be even busier starting next week. Some of our students were out working with Tianji in rural areas for the past two weeks and are just coming back now. The are involved in some great work!

DSCN2534

The coordinator of the college-wide English Corner, Bryan, stopped by to say hello and deliver some good food from his hometown. I get more than my fair share of specialty dishes, snacks, wines, etc. from the students parents each time they return from home.

Rescue efforts  

The most dangerous profession in China is without doubt mining!! Another huge explosion has rocked a mine in Shanxi province killing 74 and injuring 114. 

 Rescue efforts2

The newly elected governor of Shanxi gave a tearful apology to families of the Governor Wang Jun of Shanxi Province victims in a televised press conference yesterday. Unlike manyGovernor Wang Jun of Shanxi Province2 a mine disaster here, this one occurred at a licensed mine that had a very good safety record. Governor Wang Jun also announce that three executives responsible for mine safety were removed from their posts following the explosion.

Here is a link to some pictures of the terrible CCTV fire that happened a few weeks ago in Beijing. That fire will probably put a permanent end to unsupervised/unlicensed fireworks in big Chinese cities.

Today’s gospel and some comments:

'Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Mt 6:1-6 16-18

You could arrange this short gospel passage in two columns; at the head of one, you could write IN SECRET, and at the head of the other TO BE SEEN. Read the passage again and see this for yourself. One is left in no doubt that a deep truthful interiority is essential to a Christian life. A tree has to sink its roots deep into the ground, otherwise it comes down in the first storm (or perhaps it doesn't, because it has never been able to raise itself up). If you project your imagination down into the ground where the roots are, you find a strange world of darkness, silence and stillness. This is the opposite of the world above ground; there you have light, noise, movement. We are like trees in that respect. If we identify our life with the public part, the part ‘above ground’, we will not be able to withstand the storms of life, and we will have no profound resources for growth. Our actions, our lives, like trees, emerge from a rich darkness, silence and stillness.

The inner is not an escape from the outer. Thomas Merton was convinced that many people in monasteries are not really contemplatives at all but only introspective people, or people in flight from the pain and complexity of ordinary life. Real contemplatives know the urgency not only of going in but also of going out. Meister Eckhart said, “Not that one should give up or neglect or reject one's inner life, but in it and with it and from it one should learn to act in such a way as to let the inward break into activity and draw the activity into inwardness, and thereby train oneself to act in freedom. For one should turn one's eyes to this inner work and act no matter whether it be reading, praying or outward work. But if the outward work tends to destroy the inward, one should follow the inward. But if both can be as one, that is best, then one is co-operating with God.”

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

BACK HOME

"The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude." - Aldous Huxley

I arrived back in Jilin last night and it feels very good to be home again! I feel lucky in my ministry to be able to have two homes! 

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I got my day started with a very cold and snowy morning walk. Jilin has had over a foot of snow the past two days and the weatherman is predicting more snow in the days ahead. The temperature this morning was a chilly 20 below zero. After missing my walk for the past month and a half there was no way I was going to miss it today! I did see a few of the early morning regulars on my walk, but I think the heavy snow and low temperatures kept many of them inside!

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Classes don’t begin until next Monday, March 1st and most of the students won’t start arriving until this Friday, so I do have some time to get ready for the new semester and to start dealing with a ton of stuff that will be happening in the months ahead.

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I have a few meetings tomorrow and Thursday here on campus and then will head to Harbin on Friday for the radio station to cover the closing ceremonies of the 24th Winter University Games.

Today’s gospel and some comments:

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ Mk 9:30-37

When we are in the presence of death everything looks different. At family funerals we say to our cousins, “We shouldn’t wait for a funeral to bring us together; we should meet more often!” But then we go our ways and we don’t meet till the next funeral – or wedding. There's a solemnity about death that puts everything in a different perspective; things that usually seen either exciting or disappointing look a lot smaller than they used to. And as for our ambitions...!

Jesus had just spoken about his imminent death. Then he asked the disciples, “What were you discussing?” The gospel says, “They did not answer because they had been arguing about who was the greatest.” 

It’s the ego that has to stake a claim to being the greatest. The ego is a false identity, so everything can threaten it; therefore it’s always on high alert. Our true being makes no such claim; quite the opposite. Jesus sat down with them and patiently explained. "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." To illustrate what he said, he put a little child before them. Our true being looks out at the world with wonder instead of criticism and competition, and it looks up at God with wordless trust.

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Friday, February 20, 2009

Hong Kong (February 20th, 2009)

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It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan

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I had a good day yesterday with Jose. We went out to visit Zhang Zhou Island Cheung_chau_aft and spent most of the day there walking around, having lunch and chatting. There are for the most part no vehicles on the island (a few public security vehicles and a few others) so it is a really nice place to just walk around. Morgan and Wang Wei went there with me a couple of years ago and I have wanted to go back ever since. It is a very quiet and relaxing place. I believe there are two or three retreat houses located on the island!!

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No trips to Zhang Zhou today;I have to attend a meeting downtown.

My next post will be from Jilin!!

Today’s gospel and some comments:

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’ Mk 8:34-9:1

 In yesterday’s gospel passage Jesus introduced the scandalous theme of suffering. He was trying to draw the disciples into a deeper understanding of his identity. It was his hardest lesson, and it has to be learnt over and over again. In today’s reading the lesson continues. It is not only about him, it is also about us. “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

The Christian faith is seldom allowed to challenge the ego; instead it is used to extend it to infinity. But saints are people who have received the challenge and lived by it. They assure us that there is no such thing as a painless life, and so running from pain cannot be the answer: we only run into the arms of greater pain. Yes, they tell us, exclude all foolish self-imposed pain. Work with what is left – the inevitable pain of life. Rest at peace with this pain: it is your best teacher and friend; it opens the gate to life. It questions your understanding of who and what you are. It takes away your cushions so that you can feel reality. This is not horrible; it is a promise of life – because only reality can save us. If things go against you don’t take it as a personal insult; it is God trusting you. The dream of endless comfort is an insult, not this. God loves you enough to take you out of yourself.

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Thursday, February 19, 2009

From Hong Kong (February 19, 2008)

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"It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little." - Sydney Smith

Not too much to report on today. The first set of meetings ended yesterday at around 5:30. I have a few things to take care of today and then a meeting to attend downtown tomorrow afternoon, after that I will be ready to head back to Jilin.

Today’s gospel and some comments:

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ Mk 8:27-33

Caesarea Philippi (not to be confused with the other Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast) is in the north-east part of Israel called the Golan Heights, in the foothills of Mount Hermon, near the site of the ancient city of Dan. Caesarea Philippi was built on a massive wall of rock, more than 100 feet high and about 500 feet wide. The inhabitants were mostly non-Jewish, and the area was scattered with temples of the ancient Syrian worship of Baal. Nearby was the reputed birthplace of the great god Pan, the god of nature. (It would be called Panias, after Pan, but today it is called Banias, because the letter ‘p’ is absent from Arabic.) The English word ‘panic’ comes from Pan, who was reputed to be expert at causing it. There was also in Caesarea Philippi a newer variety of paganism: a temple in white marble to the godhead of Caesar.

It was against this pagan background that Jesus asks the question, “Who do people say I am?” And then the much more difficult question, “Who do you say I am?” That was Peter’s moment. His profession of faith echoes down the centuries, all the more loudly for the pagan background of its first utterance, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Compared to the massive rock on which Caesarea Philippi was built, Peter, ‘the Rock’, was very fragile. One moment he was walking on air after Jesus praised his insight (but that was in another gospel account – Matthew 16:17). And next moment he was dashed to the ground: “Get behind me, Satan!” Peter was like anything but a rock. But what’s a rock? It’s a large stone. A disciple has no business being like a stone. I suspect that Peter’s nickname ‘Rock’ was a joke on Jesus’ part, kind of like calling the biggest guy in the class ‘Tiny’. Peter was shaky, anything but rock-like. It’s easier to relate to such a person than to a rock. And Jesus had no problem with him: he remained his chief disciple.

Why did Jesus ask, "Who do people say I am? Who do you say I am?” Was he unsure of his own identity? It would appear that what he really wanted to know was why they were with him. People had projected false identities onto him from the beginning, attempting to squeeze him into the roles of village boy, king, a predictable kind of messiah.... He wanted to know if they were following him or just a projected idea of him.

No doubt it’s a question for us too. If we project anything whatsoever onto Jesus we don’t know him; he becomes a screen for our projections, and we see only ourselves. Our own self-made identities fit us because they are made to fit; our lies are never against us, always for us. Each individual, each group, each country, each religion, has its own lies; and these fit us like a glove. But we needn’t expect the truth to fit us. Our lies are comfortable, but we should expect the truth to be very uncomfortable. Perhaps that's why he spoke immediately about suffering and rejection. 

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

From Hong Kong (February 18, 2009)

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." - Benjamin Franklin

The first set of meetings should end by late this afternoon. I have another meeting on Friday that deals with Maryknoll schools here in Hong Kong and then I will be free and can head north.

The weather here has been pretty nice, especially compared to the weather back home in Michigan and the weather they are having these days up in Jilin (yesterday was 27 below zero).

Today’s gospel and some comments:

They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ Mk 8:22-26

In Italian they call it ‘campanilismo’. A ‘campanile’ is a church bell-tower – in the context, a village church bell-tower. ‘Campanilismo’ is the attitude of people who think their own place is the only real place in the world. It applies to bigger villages too: a New Yorker said, “New York is real; the rest is done with mirrors!”

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village; then when he had healed him he said, “Do not return to the village.”

 A village identifies you in too great detail. It locks you into a narrow identity. (And you do the same to the others; village is something we do to one another.) You are not free to see things differently from the other villagers – unless you are willing to accept the still narrower identity of village idiot. Leaving your village is like leaving the womb: it is a setting out into a new life.

Spiritually the village may symbolize the ego. One’s ego is seldom the independent thing it claims to be: it is supported (even imprisoned) by a rather small group of like-thinking people. When that ego is really isolated it is the village idiot. ‘Idiot’ comes from the Greek word ‘idios’, which means ‘peculiar, private’. We may have to become a village idiot for a time. It’s a long hard road to humanity.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Hong Kong (February 17th, 2009)

Hong Kong at Night

"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice." - Mahatma Gandhi

The meetings continue here in Hong Kong. It is good to see all the guys and spend some time with them in prayer and reflection. This evening we will be having a dinner with the Stanley House workers to celebrate the Spring Festival.

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Today's gospel and some comments:

Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’ Mk 8:14-21

The apostles’ lack of understanding is a favorite theme of Mark’s. Jesus sounds like an impatient teacher today: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember?”  He uses the same language that he uses when battling with the Pharisees! 

Mark uses the expression “the yeast (or leaven) of the Pharisees.”  The word ‘hypocrisy’ comes from Greek and means ‘acting a part on the stage’.  Then it came to mean pretence, especially pretence to virtue.  It is strange that so useful a substance as yeast should come to have such negative connotations.  You won't find a better example of these than in Milton's diatribe against the clergy in 1641.  He raged against “the sour leaven of human traditions mixed in one putrified mass with the poisonous dregs of hypocrisy in the hearts of Prelates.”  Someone else wrote that one ought “to mix a leaven of charity with one’s judgments.”  There, obviously, leaven has a positive meaning.  Both of these meanings are found in the Scriptures.   Jesus even likened the Kingdom of heaven to leaven in a batch of dough (Mt 13:33).  How can we hold these opposite meanings together? 

Every person has a capacity for good and evil; everything we use we can use for good or evil purposes.  Consequently every object we touch takes on associations of human goodness or evil, and even comes to symbolize them.  Leaven symbolizes rapid growth but it also symbolizes corruption.  Life experiences illustrate the truth of this every day. 

Hypocrisy is virtue that has nothing left but the external appearance of virtue.  This may seem like nothing, but at least it is a kind of twisted homage to virtue.  There’s no mercy or humility in Milton’s denunciations, and no suggestion of hope; only pure hate.  But Jesus could say repeatedly “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” and then sit down to table with them and even became friends with some of them.  He held open the door of hope.   

 

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Monday, February 16, 2009

From Hong Kong

 "Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition." - Abraham Lincoln

I arrived safely here in Hong Kong on Saturday night. The long (15 hours 32 minutes) flight went quicker than I expected as I was able to sleep for a good part of the flight. I am writing this blog at 3:30 in the morning as I am experiencing a little jet lag.

Meetings begin this morning and continue until Friday afternoon. I will most likely be heading back to Jilin on next Monday instead of Saturday as planned.

Today's gospel and some comments:

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.Mk 8:11-13

In the story that Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man asked Abraham in paradise to send a sign to his brothers to warn them.  But Abraham answered, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” To a royal official Jesus complained, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."  And in today’s reading he said, “No sign will be given to this generation.”  He was not for satisfying people’s demands for signs and proofs. 

Jesus of course did work signs and miracles, but not for ulterior motives.  Many people who want signs are seeking them for some purpose that has nothing to do with religion.  In the case of the Pharisees their motive was “to test him.”  I could seek signs in order to feel special, or to mask my deep loneliness, or even to compete with others in a prayer group. 

Everything speaks of God; isn’t that enough?  “Every creature is full of God and is a book,” said Meister Eckhart.  He was only giving voice to the long tradition.  “The heavens proclaim the glory of God / And the firmament shows forth the work of his hands” (Psalm 18).  On the road you need signs only if you don't know which way to go.  But we know the way we have to go.  “I am the way,” (John 14:6).  It would be strange if one were to develop a fixation on signs – admiring their shapes, colors, lettering, etc. – and never realize that they are all pointing somewhere else. 

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A Birthday Party in Alaska

Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect!!!!!

Mail-2Lu Ying and Mike's daughter Joy Elizabeth celebrated her 2nd  birthday in AlaskaMail-3 recently and Lu Ying was kind enough to share a few pictures of the big day!! A picture with her sister Olivia, and with Mail-1her dad and sister. 

So a big Happy Birthday to Joy Elizabeth.


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BRIAN AND EMILY!!!!

I went out last night with my siblings and a few nieces and nephews and had a great sushi meal. It was the first time I had been to this restaurant and I was very happy with the food and atmosphere. The company of course was great!!!
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Roxy and Mike!

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BRIAN, JOAN AND EMILY

DSCN2483This evening Mom, Dad and I went over to my sister Marcia's house for a pasty dinner. Joining us was Fr. John Klein, the pastor of Marcia's parish and what soon will be my new home parish in Lansing. Holy Cross my home parish will be closed on June 21st.

Fr. John's uncle was a great Maryknoll missioner in Latin America. Monsignor K-13 died in a tragic traffic accident in the Peruvian Altiplano in 1986.

I am winding down to the final two days of my stay at home. I leave on Friday morning for Hong Kong and a week of meetings and will be arriving back in Jilin (God willing) on February 21st.

I won't be posting anymore blogs from Lansing, but hope to post one or two from Hong Kong.

See you sometime next week!!

Today’s gospel and some comments:

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, ‘If someone says to father or mother, ‘Any support you might have had from me is corban/’ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.” Mk 7:1-13

It  must have been for Jesus to be among the common folks (past few gospel passages) and in today’s gospel we see why. Here they are: the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem. They are not bringing their sick, like the Galileans in yesterday’s reading. So they are not vulnerable, they don’t have to bother about love. That sort of focuses their minds so that they can think about the law. Immediately they find fault and go on the attack. “Shallow,” Jesus called them: more concerned with external regulations than with the inner reality; more concerned with law than with the heart (in the Scriptures the heart is a symbol of the whole inner life of a person).

We need to pay some attention to the word ‘corban’ in the last paragraph. Briefly, it means ‘gift’. Anything brought to the Temple treasury was said to be ‘corban’ and could never again be put to secular use. Now, a rebellious son might say to his parents, “Any benefit or enjoyment you might have by me, I now declare ‘corban’!” It meant that he was no longer bound to help or support them in any way! “You set aside God's commandment (to help and honor your parents),” Jesus said, “in order to implant your own tradition (corban).” For all their talk about God, religious lawyers can't really cope well with God. God seems too concerned with individuals, and is therefore unpredictable. Love just messes up the field for lawyers.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Meeting with some Lansing Nurses

Robbi Imhoff and Anne Barton-Dempsey met with other Lansing Nurses today to share their experiences at Jilin Medical College last year.


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I think everyone involved today was pretty happy!
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Fr. Brian at Holy Cross in Lansing

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Monday, February 09, 2009

A Visit with the Sullivans!!

"We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems." Lee Iacocca


I spent Sunday visiting some good friends. Pat, Jane, Brian, Abby, Bill and Laura Sullivan!!!
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Pat and Jane cooked up a great meal!

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Ma and Pa Sullivan (Pat and Jane)
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Expecting parents  (Brian and Abby)
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The youngsters (Bill and Laura)

It was a great day. 



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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Mom and Dad's 67th Wedding Anniversary!!!

DSCN2451Numquam Periit Amor- Love Never Dies

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Howard and Gertrude Barrons

DSCN2462Today we celebrated Mom and Dad's 67th Wedding Anniversary with a mass and family get together. Mom and Dad looked great and with all their kids and grandkids present it was a wonderful day.

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DSCN2437My cousin Jerry and two of his daughters (Kate and Corinne) came from St. Clair along with my cousin Nita's son Keith!

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Friday, February 06, 2009

A Visit with the Tellners!!

"We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." - Plato

DSCN2426Yesterday Mom, Dad and I paid a visit to and had lunch with the Tellners. Rose Tellner is a high school classmate of my parents.

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After lunch we headed over to see my brother, Bruce, and then on the way home I decided to get a ________

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as the ________really needed it.

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A CAR WASH

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Thursday, February 05, 2009

A Visit with My Aunt Betty

"I learned this, at least by my experiment: that if you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and endeavor to live the life which you have imagined, you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. You will put some things behind, you will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within you; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in your favor in a more liberal sense, and you will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is what they should be. Now put foundations under them." -Henry David Thoreau

DSCN2417Yesterday I took my parents to see my Mom's sister, my Aunt Betty. We had a great visit and got filled in on what all my cousins and their families are doing these days.

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From left: Dad, Aunt Betty and Mom.DSCN2423

Last night along with  my sisters, Gayle and Joan  and my parents we had a nice video chat with Wang Wei and her mom in Jilin.

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Tuesday, February 03, 2009

A Visit with My Uncle Norm!!

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; the way you play it is free will." Jawaharlal Nehru

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I took my parents on a quick trip today to see Uncle Norm and Aunt Ann. Norm or 'No-No' is my Dad's younger brother. As usual we had a great time which mostly involved listening to No-No and his brother talk about their youth, family, siblings and other stuff.

DSCN2411We had pasties for lunch!

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From Left: Uncle Norm, Aunt Ann, Mom and Dad.

Today's gospel and some comments:

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’  While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. Mk 5: 21-43

The Old Testament took thousands of years to unfold, but the events recounted in the gospels took place in just a couple of years.  Mark’s gospel in particular leaves an impression of great haste; it is like a child telling a story.  Many sentences begin with “And”; he often uses phrases like “straight away”, “and immediately". He also ‘sandwiches’ events, adding to the feeling of urgency: in today’s reading, for example, Jesus healed the woman while he was on his way to save the little girl.  There is an urgency about the whole gospel that makes it quite clear it is not just for reading; it is for doing.

Coming back to the beginning of the passage: look at the synagogue official.  Synagogue officials differ – or rather their circumstances differ.  In Lk 13:14 we saw an angry one: he was angry that Jesus healed an old lady on the sabbath.  But in today’s reading we see one who “threw himself at Jesus’ feet and asked him earnestly” to heal his little daughter who was dying.  It would be wonderful if we knew that it was the same official!  There is nothing like a crisis to restore our humanity: not any kind of crisis but one of the heart. Any crisis that only challenges your mind is not deeply challenging; you are not really open till your heart is open.  Your real inside is not your mind but your heart.  Culture and travel and training can open your mind, but that isn't much.  You are not open till your heart is exposed.  As soon as the official had a sick child he ceased to be an official and became a father. 

The words Jesus spoke to the little girl in today's gospel are quoted in Aramaic, his native language: talitha kumi, “little girl, get up!”  The New Testament is written in Greek, but the writers kept just a few words in Hebrew and Aramaic: Abba! for example, and the last word in the Bible, maranatha, and talitha kumi, an expression of great gentleness and tenderness.  It must have been as distinctive as his prayer; they remembered it forever in its own language.  Talitha kumi. 

Posted at 09:05 PM | | Comments (0)

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Back from China!!!

"Men build too many walls and not enough bridges." - Isaac Newton 

I just returned from a quick trip to China (China Township, Michigan) and the funeral of my cousin's husband. The funeral of Terrance Lanter Sr. gave me a chance to see many of my cousins for the first time in many years.

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From left: Brian, Joe, Jerry, Rosalie, Ida May, Nita and Bernie.
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Nita and Jackie

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Brian,Rosalie and Bernie

I will be doing a little more traveling this week for long overdue visits with my Uncle Norm (Dad's brother) and my Aunt Betty (Mom's sister). 
DSCN2373My sister, Marcia, returned home from the hospital today. She is doing great and her doctor is really happy with her progress.

Posted at 08:32 AM | | Comments (0)

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

A Night With the Idings!!

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin 


I had the evening mass at my home parish yesterday and then went over to Tim's home with my parents for dinner. Sheila (Tim's mom cooked a great meal) and Joey( Tim"s brother and my godson) flew home for the weekend.We had a great time and below are a few photos of the night with the Idings. 
Get-attachment-7.aspxAdam, Joey, Brian, My Mom and Dad and Tim. 
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Sheila, Brian and Pat
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Tim, Joey, Brian and Adam!
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Timothy Cardinal Iding and Brian.


Posted at 08:01 PM | | Comments (0)

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