Oscar Romero Remembered

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador.

The BBC commemorates Romero's legacy in its report on how the country is coping now, three decades after his assassination.

The wisdom of Romero includes such hard-hitting truths as the one below:

"A church that suffers no persecution but enjoys the privileges and support of the things of the earth - beware! - is not the true church of Jesus Christ. A preaching that does not point out sin is not the preaching of the gospel. A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel's call." (1/22/78)

To download a free copy of the e-book The Violence of Love, (231 pages, 963 kb) go here.

And watch this Youtube on Romero for a brief intro to his life and death.

Advent (4): Christmas Is God's Response to the Drama of Humankind

In a world where much has gone wrong over the years, and in and around Bethlehem in particular, which has seen so much violence.... a new message of its importance rings out from Pope Benedict in his message on the 4th Sunday of Advent.

Full report from EWTN below:


EWTN.com - Christmas Is God's Response to the Drama of Humankind

Advent (3): From CatholicTV

Amidst all the usual hassle and bustle of the Christmas season, take a break, have a kit-kat... better still watch this Christmas Under The Stars, a performance by All Saints Choir courtesy of Catholic TV:

Catch it here: CatholicTV

Advent (2): Mary's Christmas Dream

Just what is Christmas?

It wasn't December yet when I happened to see a TV ad for a "Christmas in Disneyland" complete with snowmen, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and friends. A few close buddies who happened to catch that ad started wondering what a wonderful thing it would be to celebrate Christmas there. Nothing wrong with Disneyland, I was thinking to myself... "heck....... just what has Mickey and Donald and Goofy got to do with Christmas anyway"?!

Last Sunday, we were at the mall and smack in the lobby was a giant snow-house with Santa, reindeer, sleds, and all things merry and bright with the theme "A Candy Christmas" - with lots of yep, you guessed it, candy of all shapes and sizes!

Then I found this story in my Sunday bulletin:

Mary's Christmas Dream

I had a dream, Joseph.

I don’t understand it, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our son.

The people in my dream had been preparing for about six weeks.

They had decorated the house and bought new clothes.

They’d gone shopping many times and bought many elaborate gifts.

It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren’t for our son.

They wrapped them in beautiful paper and stacked them under a tree.

Yes, a tree, Joseph, right inside their homes! They’d decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments.

There was a figure like an angel on the top of the tree.

Everyone was laughing and happy.

They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our son.

I don’t think they even knew him.

They never mentioned his name.

I had the strangest feeling that, if our Jesus had gone to this celebration he would have been intruding.

How sad for someone not to be wanted at his own birthday party!

I’m glad it was only a dream. How terrible Joseph, if it had been real!’

Author Unknown.

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My wife made a wry comment.... "looking at how we celebrate Christmas today... it was NOT really a dream, was it?!

Advent (1): Whose birthday is it, anyway?

We live at a point in time when our lives seem to be dictated by two exceptional forces - sheer speed and precious time.

Hence, we think on our feet, take quick showers, gulp down instant coffees and sprint to the train stations and multi-task at work. Satellite television brings us the news as it's unfolding anywhere in the world in real time. It is indeed a rare breed who can say he or she is either happily "offline", out of the rat race or actually stops to smell the roses!

For many of us I suspect, Christmas is also subject to the same conditioning - cleaning, changing, cooking, decorating, shopping, buying, giving and etc. Even our priests can vouch it's one of the busiest times of the year. There's the liturgy, homilies, confessions, carols, social outreach programs, home visitation for the sick and home bound to cater for among others.

We tend to get caught up in the frenetic rush toward Christmas that often we miss the opportunity of Advent - a whole 4 weeks - as a time for slowing down, taking stock of what's happening in our lives and the world around us, and pondering upon the coming of the Christ - back then, now and in the future.

It may be true that the world we live in today doesn't really afford us the time and space to do so. However, by the same token, it would also seem very lame to simply follow the crowd, plead ignorance or remain apathetic - especially when we feel something's not quite right with the present scenario.

Maybe the following story by the Rev. Fred Henry of Calgary can help illustrate the whole meaning of "missing" Christmas a little better:

In the land of puzzling tales there lived an eight-year-old boy named Jason. Now in this land and in the neighbourhood where Jason lived, the unexpected always happened.

Instead of football, they played knee ball; instead of children going to school, the teachers went to homes. In the summer time, it was not uncommon to see the water freeze, in the wintertime, leaves grew on the trees. It was a strange place.

One incident in the land of puzzling tales stands out - Jason's ninth birthday. As usual, the unusual happened. Jason's grandparents came from their home across the province to help celebrate. When they got to Jason's neighbourhood, they went to the Brown's house down the street and stayed there.

When Jason's mother baked a birthday cake, she gave it to the letter carrier to eat.

When the neighbourhood kids heard it was Jason's birthday, they exchanged gifts with one another and, of course, Jason got none.

There was a blizzard of birthday cards. The post office had to hire extra workers to handle the deluge of cards. Of course, in the land of puzzling tales the expected was unexpected, and all the kids, the moms and dads, the grandparents, and even a couple of dogs and a parakeet got cards, while poor Jason got none.

Finally, about nine o'clock that night, in a fit of frustration and anger, Jason went out and borrowed the school cheerleader's megaphone, rode up and down the street on his unicycle and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Whose birthday is it, anyway?"

The night was so silent that the echoes bounced for hours off the mountainsides: "Whose birthday is it, anyway?"

Year For Priests (4): Answering The Call

An article by Dan Luby which appeared in the Catholic Herald Malaysia's 25 October 2009 issue began like this:

The movie opens. A man sips beer at the kitchen table, surrounded by the happy choreography of holiday meal preparation. "So," someone asks him,"what's up in your world these days?" In the midst of chopping and washing and cleaning, ears cock. "Actually," he says after a pause and another sip,"I've been talking to my pastor about going to the seminary." The screen splits to show two reactions. In one, his brother laughs dismissively and says,"No, seriously dude,"... His college friend frowns and says,"Why are on are you doing that?" and his mother looks disapprovingly and says nothing.

On a parallel screen, his brother laughs and says, "That'd be great man, man,"....His college friend smiles and says,"It's about time," and his mom hugs him tight, saying nothing.

Luby then goes on to share his priest friends' answers to the same question, including what makes it either easy or difficult to say "yes" to the call of the priesthood.

I remember a few years ago in my previous parish when the priest surprised many of us with his opening statement of his homily: "Parents, please don't pray for vocations." Then he went on to ask, "How many of you parents have sat down with your children and talked to them about vocations? How many of you have talked about the possibilities of one of your sons joining the seminary? How many of you have discussed with your daughters about becoming a religious?"

His point was simple. It's no use just praying for vocations without doing something about it. I remember when I was young, we were always reminded of that, like it or not! In the end, two of my brothers entered the Seminary. One later left to marry to a girl he met during one of his pastoral stints, the other is quite happy being a monk in his religious order. I'd like to think that both of them found their vocations.

My 8 year old son has not been spared the same queries either. His reply: " I don't think I want to be a priest right now, because that would mean I can't become a train driver!"

I remember when he was born, we went to the chapel just before being discharged and on an impulse, put him on the altar table, and both his mother and I thanked God for the gift he had given us, and in return we gave him back to God, as a thanksgiving. As we left the chapel, we bumped into the chaplain who blessed him and asked in his French accent, "When he's older, come back and give him to me, eh?" I remember that both of us nodded our heads.

I think it's too easy to read into situations and jump to conclusions, but as parents, we are open to God's plan for our son, and would indeed be very happy if he so gets the "call". Fast forward to last week, he came back from school with a form that required us to fill out a few details including his future "ambition". I think he must be one of the few in his school to pen "train driver" in the column!!

Year for Priests (3): Pastors With Guts

Looking at our world today, there is no doubt that religious persecution is very much in vogue. Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and peoples of other faiths are routinely persecuted partly by those who govern them and wherever people of these religions form the minority. Sometimes these persecutions are carried out in the cover of darkness. At other times, it's done with the collusion of powerful individuals and government.

Today, the UCAN (Union of Catholic Asian News) website reported that the Religion and Peace Academy Nepal (RAPAN), an Inter Religious body, has warned that "people forcing political goals on religion are hampering the already peace process in Nepal." Closer to home, especially in recent times, we have seen unruly mobs threaten, make fun and belittle the beliefs and rights of the religious minorities.

Sometime ago, I received this particular email "A Pastor With Guts" on three different occasions. No doubt, many others would have received it too. What stands out about this story is how one pastor decided to stand up for what he believed in, irrespective of what others thought. His stance brought about the wrath of many who stood opposed to his position. Conversely, it also brought about many new believers, renewed the floundering faith of others and affirmed those who believed.

For no particular reason, my thoughts turned toward China and the trials and tribulations of the Church there over the years. I learned about Ignatius Kung (pic above). The Christian History Timeline website tells us that:

On the night of September 8, 1955, the Communists arrested Bishop Kung and about 320 other Roman Catholics. Many of these would suffer long years in prison, known no longer by their names, but by numbers. For 5 years, Kung was held in prison without a trial. Finally, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. To go free, all he had to do was to renounce the pope and accept the Communist puppet church. He refused to do either.

And so, for thirty years, he had to live the Christian life, relying directly on the Spirit of Jesus, because he was denied letters, books or the Bible. Much of his thirty years was spent in such strict isolation that the guards were not permitted to speak to him. He was not even allowed eye contact with another human being!"

The Cardinal Fung Foundation has more on his life and work.

Check out also a 1993 Interview by Kung on the Persecution of the Church in China.

Catholic News Service has a one page brief history of the Catholic Church in China.

Although Kung was released in 1985, he remained under house arrest until 1988. In 1979 he was secretly ordained Cardinal by Pope John Paul II. By the time his election as cardinal was published, he had already turned 80 and had lost the right to participate in the papal conclave - the meeting of cardinals who gather to elect the pope whenever there's a vacancy. He died on March 12, 2000 and is buried at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, California.

During this Year of Priests, we might want to think about all those whose religious freedoms are curtailed everywhere in the world, irrespective of our religious beliefs. We could also spend a little bit more time praying for those exemplary priests like Ignatius Kung who suffered greatly to remain faithful to the Catholic Church.