Back for a bit

Sorry for the lack of updates. Over the weekend I was at the Confirmation initiation camp help for the Confirmation class and the secondary 4 students who will be confirmed next year. We have about 65 kids, with 40 from my class. It was a riot. I delivered a session on the meaning of confirmation and in toto had only about 6 hours of sleep over both days.

Anyway, I'd like to share with you the official welcome of the World Youth Day cross in Australia.

The World Youth Day Cross enters the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Mark Graham)

From left: Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Australian Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, Cardinal George Pell and Australian Pime Minister Kevin Rudd sit near the World Youth Day Cross and Icon in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. The 3.8 meters cross and Icon of Our Lady are an invitation to attend World Youth Day in Sydney which will also mark the first visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Australia. (AP Photo/Mark Graham)

Contra errores Alfredo

A commentator, Alfredo, left a hilarious comment on Mark's blogpost on Equal Rights. I had to answer and I post it here for your amusement. My responses are in blue.

God has no rights, because he is not a citizen.
Who allocated to you the power to grant rights? Why must only citizens be granted rights and what is the basis of that? And what are the criteria of citizenship? Who grants citizenship (and thus grants rights)? When such questions are asked, the ridiculousness and untenability of the position that one has no rights unless he or she is a citizen is clearly displayed.

Something is conferred by a superior to an inferior. If someone confers rights on God, then he is superior to God. We don’t have such a conception of God. Do you?

Citizenship gives rights, and rights are a human invention, not a divine one...
Which human invented rights? Please name the human who came up with such a brilliant invention! Do let us know!

You say with arrogance: "women in the Church who fight for their so called 'rights' to be part of the ministerial priesthood have no concern over what God wants..."
God is not a man or a woman, its something just beyond our simple inferences and desires.

How do you know that God is not a man or a woman? Did God appear to you and tell you personally? Can you prove this by miracles to validate your claim of Divine Inspiration and Revelation? What makes you so sure that God is who you want God to be?

We did not invent God (which I hope you believe since you seem to believe that humans invented rights as well). If we did then we can make God to be whatever we want, mould God into our own image and likeness. Neither did we infer anything about God or mould God into an image according to our desires. But the simple fact of the matter is this. The image of God and His nature that we believe in and profess is not something we invented but is something that Jesus Christ revealed to us. He proved that He is from God and is God by miracles and signs. We trust in Jesus and believe in Him and so we take His Word and accept God as revealed by Him and in Him. In complete humility, we accept what is handed down to us in the Tradition of the Church and in the Sacred Scriptures. For we know we are neither God nor prophet and have no authority to change what is revealed and what is handed down.

But you and those like you on the other hand are the ones who are truly arrogant. You want people to change their beliefs to accommodate and agree with you. Just who do you think you are? You want to make God into your image and likeness and you want the Catholic Church to reject Divine Revelation for your newly invented God. Isn’t that the height of arrogance? And yet, in the classic modernist liberal style, you accuse us who hold on to what is received, neither adding nor subtracting, of arrogance. Wow.

What does "God" wants? Jesus, our closest human contact to that beauty, was close to women, and never said the women couldn´t be priests.
Did Jesus say they could? Where?

It´s proved there existed in the Church women diacons. So, why dont we have women priests? Not because a divine order, but a human one....
Firstly, deaconesses in the early Church served a particular purpose, the administration of baptism by full immersion. It was not appropriate for men to do this, or to enter a woman’s home to preach. This was during the early age of the Church when there were many adult converts. But as time passed and people were baptized as infants, the need for them vanished and so did their particular ministry. Such deaconesses never played a liturgical role, never read the Gospel aloud in Church, per Paul’s admonition. They were also not universal as the Armenians and Copts never had them as part of their tradition. Clearly, they are of a different class and not clergy. So, your point does not follow.

St Paul said that for God there is not difference between us, no men or women, no free or slaves, we are just humans. So, why dont the hierarchy recognize this?
You misquote scripture. St. Paul says that in Christ there is no male or female. And there IS no difference in the dignity between male and female. The Church DOES recognize and PRACTICE this. But equality in dignity is not the same as equality in function. You are committing the fallacy of equating function with dignity and therefore deny that dignity to those who cannot perform certain functions. That’s the fallacy of functionalism. Since men cannot give birth, are we deficient? Since we cannot menstruate or lactate, are we therefore deficient? Are the old/infirm/disabled who cannot perform the functions that others can therefore have less dignity? Should we eliminate and kill there people?

The equality of dignity is not the same are the uniformity of function. In fact, your comments belittle women. You say that women can only realize their full dignity by doing everything that a man does. Don’t you think that is insulting to the dignity of women? Why do you demean them by saying they have no dignity unless they can do this and that? You presume to tell them what they need to do in order to attain full equality and dignity. The Church on the other hand preaches a message of liberation. Women, according to the Church, don’t need to DO anything in order to have full dignity and equality. They possess this by virtue of being conceived as human beings and by that act of being a human being, a child of God, they possess the fullness of dignity.

That is truly a liberating message on the dignity of women, mulieris dignitatem. Pope John Paul II of beloved memory wrote a document by that same title. Read it to appreciate the Church’s teaching on women and the feminine genius.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. On Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday (depends on whether you spend it stuffing yourself silly or going for Confession) we celebrate carnival from the Latin carni vale, bye to meat.

Ash Wednesday, when we receive the traditional mark of repentance and are reminded to turn away from sin and towards the Gospel for we are dust and to dust we shall return, marks the start of 40 intense days of preparation for the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. We are exhorted to practice self denial and fasting, almsgiving and prayer.

Ok, so you all already know all this.

Why am I posting about Ash Wednesday today? Hmmm.... Before we get to that question, I want you to see something first.

Ash Wednesday in Rome, where the Pope and the College of Cardinals gather at the Dominican Church of Santa Sabina for the imposition of ashes and Mass.

Remember O man that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return

Christians all over the world gather to mark this occasion with prayer.

From Iraq
to Los Angeles where Roger Cardinal Mahony is archbishop
prayer and penitence is the order of the day.

The same is true from San Jose

to Mexico City.


In Catholic countries in Asia such as the Philippines, the turnout was huge.



Even in Macau, which is part of China, where Chinese live, Lent is marked with prayer and processions of the Passion of the Lord Jesus.

The procession route is from the Macau Cathedral to St. Augustine's Church.



The image of the Passion of Christ was carried through the streets amidst the festive Chinese New Year decorations.

Regardless of the festive season, Chinese Catholics from Macau, which is part of China where Chinese folks live, take the time to pray to mark Lent.


The elderly are not exempt and fervently offer their prayers.

Ok. Now I want to show you how Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent is celebrated in Penang.

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The photos above shows His Lordship the Right Reverend Antony Selvanayagam, by the grace of God and the favour of the Apostolic See, Bishop of Penang performing the Chinese Rite of Veneration of Ancestors.

The imposition of ashes and the fast and abstinence had been transferred to Friday, the 15th of February. Like I said earlier, I don't like the transferral of the fast and abstinence, but since it's an interior practice, once can always just do it. But in the local Church of Penang where there are many non-Chinese Christians such as Indians and Eurasians, the transferral of the imposition of ashes robs them of the opportunity to begin Lent the Catholic way.

The reason offered was 'pastoral', now becoming a dirty word. The Chinese needed their reunion dinner time on Wednesday, so too bad for the rest. Ok.... BUT then in the Cathedral on Wednesday night at 10PM when the Chinese are supposed to have their dinner, they went ahead and organized the Chinese New Year Mass.

I don't get it. If they can't come for Ash Wednesday Mass, then how can they attend the New Year Mass?

And what about the poor non-Chinese?

The former rector of the Major Seminary and now Administrator of the Cathedral, Fr. Francis Anthony of "We have Communion in the Hand ONLY here because Jesus said 'Take and Eat' so if you don't like it, go back to your parish" fame. Mark, the abusee has his account here.

Mind you, in Singapore, where Archbishop Nicholas Chia, who is Chinese, is the bishop, the imposition of ashes took place on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. So too in Kuching where the Chinese John Ha is Archbishop.

My friend lives in Malacca where the Chinese Jesuit Paul Tan is bishop. His village is predominantly Chinese and Catholic and served by the Chinese speaking CDD Fathers. The liturgy is in Mandarin. Can't get any more Chinese than that. And they had the imposition of ashes on.... wait for it..... Wednesday, Chinese New Year eve. Yep, that's right. Ash Wednesday on Wednesday for Chinese speaking Chinese Catholics who have been Catholic for ages.

Chinese bishops like Anthony Lee of Miri, who's also an accomplished exorcist had warned against this Rite of Veneration of Ancestors and does not permit it in his diocese. Most Chinese bishops are against it. When I showed it to my Chinese friend, he was stunned. Because as Chinese Catholics they already a special set aside to remember and pray for their ancestors. It's called All Souls Day.

Apparently Rome 'approves' of this Rite. Actually several Pope's have condemned it over and over again, including in Apostolic Constitutions, the most authoritative ordinary form of papal teaching.

The strongest condemnation of the Chinese rites came at the hand of Pope Clement XI with the Apostolic Constitution Ex illa die (March 19, 1715). To add force to his rulings, Clement XI attached the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae to their violations and required missionaries to take an oath on the Bible that they would observe his instructions “exactly, absolutely and inviolably ... without any evasion.”

The final and most forceful condemnation of the Chinese rites occurred on July 11, 1742 with Pope Benedict XIV’s Apostolic Constitution Ex quo singulari. The document reviewed the history of the Chinese Rites Controversy from its beginning in1645 and quoted in full the various papal statements against the Chinese Rites; reiterated the rejection of Mezzabarba’s “Eight Permissions” as “null, void, invalid, and completely futile and ineffective”; ordered Ex illa die to be observed “exactly, integrally, absolutely, inviolably, and strictly” under pain of automatic excommunication reserved to the pope; expanded the formula of the oath against the Chinese rites; and continued Ex illa die’s prohibition of further discussions of the issue, again under pain of automatic excommunication.

But somehow, Pope Pius XII was hoodwinked into authorizing it. I'm quite sure he would not have if he could see these pictures. Because of the declarations on the non-religious character of the cult of Confucius and the veneration of ancestors, Propaganda Fide issued on December 8, 1939, with Pope Pius XII’s approval, the instruction Plane compertum est in which it is said that (1) it is lawful for Catholics to participate in public honors paid to Confucius; (2) the image or name tablet of Confucius may be placed in Catholic schools and saluted by a head bow; (3) if Catholics are required to assist at public functions that appear to be superstitious, they should maintain a passive attitude; and (4) bows of heads and other marks of respect in front of the deceased or their images or name tablets are lawful and honorable. In addition, the requirement of the oath was abolished.

Fr. Peter Phan, who was warned by the CDF for ambiguity in his books, has a full account here on the origins of this Rite.

Does the Rite look non-religious to you? What do you think? Most Chinese speaking Chinese Catholics who grew up in the Faith don't approve.

PS
The photos were of last year's celebration in the Cathedral. But it should have looked about the same this year. Attendees, pls confirm if this is erroneous.

Tagged! - Book meme

I got tagged by Josephus of Bytexas. Haven't done one of these in a while. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).

I'm at the office, so the nearest book is 'USB System Architecture', haha. Talk about boring.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

The page is full of diagrams and captions. So discounting those, we come to some explanatory notes on 'IN transactions with Data toggle and Data Packet Errors'.

4. Post the next three sentences.

"Packet errors are encountered by the host when it receives the DATA0 packet. Having detected errors in the data packet, the host ignores the packet. Data is discarded and no handshake packet is returned to the target."

How's that? =)

5. Tag five people.

I tag Mark of Serviam, Mark of Confessio, Paul of Deo Juvante, Rita of Tigerish Waters, Turgonian of Epigone's Eloquence (who just swam the Tiber by the way, so keep him in your prayers) and Joshua.

Anyone else wanting to give it a go, just drop me a comment.

Confirmation class outing - Penang Botanic Gardens

How shall I liken taking the class to the Penang Botanic Gardens, the Home of Penang's large monkey population? Carrying coal to Newscastle? =) I don't know.

On Sunday, I took the students from my Confirmation class to the Penang Botanic Gardens for a session in the outdoors. I think it’s important to get out of class once in a while. We left by bus. Unfortunately, the large bus we chartered was in a accident so the driver substituted it with a smaller bus which could not accommodate my class. Some went there with their parents and others, like the teachers, stood. Fortunately, it was but a 10 minute drive away.

So, 30+ students made their way to the gathering spot, which was by a waterfall and beside a stream for the session on Baptism. Lillian, my co-teacher can be seen here giving part of the session.

I spoke later, using the prayer of the blessing of the water during the Easter vigil as the template. Using the bible, we moved through this prayer, so rich in scriptural allusions, to explain the significance of water, over which the Holy Spirit hovered at the dawn of creation. Water again is used by God, to destroy sin in the Great Flood which Peter says prefigured baptism. By passing through the waters, on the Ark, an image of the Church, Noah and his family were saved while sin was destroyed in a second creation. The Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea where 400 years of slavery was ended by the power of God who separated the waters of the Red Sea with a divine wind, the Ruach Elohim which is the same word used for the Spirit of God. By crossing the waters of the Jordan, the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years have come into the Promised Land. Baptism also brings us to the Promised Land, the Church, family of God. All these images and types were fulfilled by the Sacrament of Baptism, being born from above by water and the power of the Holy Spirit and being brought into God’s covenant family and made his Sons and Daughters in truth.

We also learned new words like gennatha anothen, being born from above, baptizo and berit and diatheke, the Hebrew and Greek words for Covenant.

During the lessons, we were constantly distracted and interrupted by the residents of the Gardens, the monkeys. Their presence and forays near us and our food excited the students and made it difficult for them to focus. Note to self: Bring monkey poison for the next outing.

After our lunch break, we played a game using water pistols. The day was hot and being sprayed was a relief. Many chose suicide just to get cooled off.

I then gave the second session, which flowed from the first, from baptism bringing us into God’s covenant family. I touched on the Lord’s Prayer, the Pater Noster.

The Lord’s Prayer us truly a model prayer and is way we should all be praying. But it is also a radical overturning of our conventional models of prayer and a great revelation on the nature and essence of God. When we prayer, we often conceive of God as the Great Cosmic Vending Machine. In goes a prayer and out comes what we want. God always answers our prayers but sometimes the answer is no or not yet. Our conception of God affects the way we pray. But Jesus, knowing that we often approach God only to ask and always focussing on us and ourselves and our wants and needs turns it on its head by teaching us to pray the our Father. It’s a vertical prayer first and foremost, directing our gaze beyond ourselves and upwards to God. Thus the mnemonic ACTS.

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving and finally, after all that,

Supplication

God first. We second because He is God and we aren’t.

I then introduced and explained the parable of the Prodigal Son, which of the entire corpus of Scripture, is the clearest and most accurate depiction of who God our Father really is. God is a Father who grants to His son, a son who could not wait for his death, what the son wants. Regardless of how this pains Him. This same old, rich and respectable Father who runs to meet his bedraggled, unkempt, smelly, pig feeding son and hugs him and restores his honour and sonship and orders a Feast of celebration before words can be uttered the because the son had turned back to him.

God is our Father. But He is also the Creator and Lifegiver. Both one and the same. What a great truth, was awesome wonder the Son has revealed to us that the Almighty is also Father, so easy to please and so hard to satisfy.

Because time was running out, I only had time to explain the basics of the most importance. When we pray for God’s Will to be done, and for God’s Kingdom to come, we pray for our own salvation because God’s wills us to be saved and His Kingdom is us with Him in Heaven. God is only a prayer away and the distance between us and Heaven is not light years of space but sin. When we choose not to do this, God has no choice but to tell us: Your will be done. And we end up in Hell.

We also talked about the daily dependence on God for our provision and the importance of the communal ‘our’. It’s never ‘my’ but ‘our’ for the Fatherhood of God, OUR Father is tied up with the brotherhood of man. We who share the Body and Blood of Christ, and following the adage ‘You are what you eat’ are really and truly one flesh and one Body in Christ. We are truly brothers and sisters, children of our Common Father. And so, this confession has social and communal dimensions and responsibilities.

And we talked about the most important part of this prayer. Forgiveness. Where other religions might extol forgiveness as a virtue, Christianity says that forgiveness is the essence. In fact, such is the importance of this clause of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus reinforces this clause by repeating it again, stating emphatically that the forgiveness we will receive is the forgiveness we mete out to others.

All in all, it was an okay trip and I hope they learned from it and become better Christians for it.

Nothing is impossible with God, so perhaps in time, these can actually, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be transformed into miles Jesu, soldiers for Christ.


The stranger we roped in to take our photo when I was forced to join me the group.

Happy Chinese New Year!

To all readers who are celebrating the Lunar New Year,

HAPPY
CHINESE
NEW YEAR!



May the new year bring you prosperity and good health and an abundance of God's choicest blessings!


For those of you who do not know, the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, which is also known as the Spring Festival, lasts for fifteen days and is the most important of all the Chinese festivals. It is celebrated in China, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and wherever the Chinese can be found in the vast Chinese diaspora. This year is the year of the Rat according to the Chinese zodiac.

One of the most important aspects of this festival is the reunion dinner on the eve of the new year. All the members of the family, regardless of whether they are overseas or in the neighbouring towns, will make the long trek to the eldest member's usually the parents, grandparents or great-grandparents home for the reunion dinner. But, due to the affluence of Chinese society, the reunion dinner is frequently held in restaurants and hotels these days.

The rush back for the reunion dinner has sparked a mass migration of hundreds of millions in China. Liberal amounts or liquor will be consumed as family members catch up on the latest news and gamble the night away.

In the morning of the first day on the new year, the eldest and most senior married couple will distribute red packets filled with money to all the unmarried members of the family who will form a line and greet them. This is the part that the kids look forward most to. All married couples are expected to give out the red packets and all unmarried people, including yours truly, are eligible. Red is the traditional colour of good luck and is worn by all Chinese on this day.

The kids will also go from house to house bearing new year wishes and collecting the 'ang pows' or red packets. Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time where families will pay a visit to the oldest and most senior member of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.

Some families may invite a Lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. These troupes come with drums and cymbals and will let off fire crackers which the Chinese believe will frighten away the evil spirits.

I have fond memories of those joyful days when I was a kid. The extended family, including my grandparents, a huge numbers of aunts and uncles and cousins thrice removed would gather at a great grand aunt's place for the reunion dinner. The table would then be cleared and out would come the cards. Black jack and poker would continue into the wee hours of the morning. Before fireworks were banned, we kids would go into the field and let off loads of firecrackers and play with sparklers.
Then, just before midnight, we would get into a car and go down town where the banking district was. The banks would vie and compete with each other to see which bank could let off the most firecrackers. The long red firecrackers would be let down the side of the banks headquarters and at the stroke of midnight, a mighty roar would gather and grow as the firecrackers were were simultaneously lit and the crowd would anxiously wait to see which bank would last the longest.


The gambling would then continue and I would renew my friendships with my cousins. it was so easy making friends when you're a kid. You could see each other only for a day and a year later, you can still pick up where you left off and go bounding off together looking for mischief. =) Those were fun times. When the gambling finally ends, I would get all the spare coins. That was fun!

My grandfather died many years back and the family began to move away and some have migrated overseas. For us the reunion dinner has ceased as there's just no one left.

Anyway, this was a little snippet into Chinese culture. Hope you've enjoyed it!