The seventh edition of the ‘Asian Mission’ initiative, which this year had as its motto “prepared for the mission; prepared for peace” was comemorated last February. This Catholic event brought together 50 participants, including eight young people from Japan, five from South Korea (more specifically from the diocese of Daejon), and the rest from the Philippine parishes of Nampicuan, San Fabian and Malasiqui, with 30 of these young people being part of the group ‘Servants Missionary Youth’.
On Saturday, 22nd February, Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang presided over the inauguration of an exhibition that takes a deeper look at the pastoral work that has been carried out by Saint Joseph the Worker Church in Iao Hon neighborhood, over the last 25 years. With this initiative, Macau’s youngest parish aims to make itself know to believers, both inside and outside of the Special Administrative Region.
The Church’s scriptures for Ash Wednesday seem to present to us a perplexing contradiction. Consider that the Old Testament prophet Joel insists that the Lord’s people present their faith publicly: “Blow a trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation. ” Further, the Apostle Paul testifies that we are “ambassadors for Christ”—that is, public representatives to the culture concerning the identity of the Lord. Contrast both these texts with the words of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, which seem to indicate that public presentations of the faith are unseemly and what is required for authenticity in our expressions of religious devotion is that they remain private and unseen.
As Pope Francis reminds us, “A pilgrimage is not just a journey in search of a place; it is also a journey of the heart.”
The Jubilee Year is a time of extraordinary grace in the Catholic Church, offering an invitation to renewal, forgiveness, and spiritual growth. Declared by the pope, this special year includes the opening of the Holy Doors in Rome and other pilgrimage sites, symbolizing the path to God’s mercy. Pilgrimages undertaken during this sacred time are profound acts of faith and devotion, helping us step away from the ordinary and journey toward God in both body and spirit.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus presents to his disciples three teachings on how to be true evangelizers. This counsel can also be seen as three essential steps in being leaders and educators after the model of the gospel.
Let me point out two more instances of Peter’s primacy over the other apostles. Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles tells us how Herod, after executing John’s brother James, arrested Peter (verses 1-3), “but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church” (v 5). Peter was released by an angel, and when he visited those who were praying for him, he gave them instructions to tell the other disciples that he had been freed (cf Acts 12:17).
After trying to answer the question what is Hope, and the question who are those who hope, that is after reflecting on the nature of hope and on hopeful pilgrims on the journey of life, we try to answer, in the third column, the question: What do we hope for? Let us consider hereafter the main object of Christian hope and its secondary objects.
‘A different form of prayer’. This is how Kevin Duggan sums up the importance of sacred music, regardless of whether or not it is performed in a religious or ceremonial context. A renowned musician, the English composer performed earlier this month in Saint Joseph’s Seminary and Church, in a recital promoted by the Macau Diocesan Liturgical Commission. Director of Music at Scotland’s Dunblane Cathedral, the celebrated organist interpreted works by Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach and Louis Marchand, but also by contemporary composers such as Jesper Madsen or Hans André Stamm. In the end, Mr. Duggan spoke with “O Clarim” about his career and the transformative power of sacred music.
A group of local pilgrims will travel to the Vatican next summer to cross the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. Led by Father Daniel Ribeiro, the Holy Year pilgrimage is not restricted to Italy and the Holy See alone. Participants will retrace Saint Paul’s steps in Asia Minor and visit the world of a modern-day saint, Saint John Paul II.
The Holy Year celebrations of the Archdiocese of Jakarta coincide with the launching of the “Kabar Baik” (“Good News”) initiative. The newly created Catholic platform is dedicated to evangelization and the dissemination of religious content in the Bahasa language. The “Kabar Baik” platform aims in particular to inspire Catholic journalists to make the main messages of Pope Francis’ magisterium accessible and disseminated to a wider audience.