Dear Brothers,
It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the most profound unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. God became man. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as the truth of the incarnation.
May the Lord Jesus make all your dreams, aspirations and wishes come true and may his blessing be with you forever.
Community of Saint Dominic’s Priory
We Christians are celebrating Advent, the season of hope. A few more days and we shall be rejoicing at Christ’s Birth! Are we ready to receive him in our hearts?
Advent means “coming,†“arriving.†Who is coming? Our Lord Jesus Christ! Historically, He came the first time when He was born at Bethlehem. Hopefully, we long for his Coming at the end of time – and of our individual time. And prayerfully, we hope in his daily coming to our lives. Through the season of Advent, we prepare for a very special coming: for the Birth of Jesus at Christmas, for his birth in our hearts and in our communities.
Indeed, the Lord is coming to each one of us this Christmas. Do we really, really believe it? Let us remember that when Jesus came the first time, when he was born of the Virgin Mary at Bethlehem, there was no room for him in the inn. Is there a room for him in our hearts? “If there is no room for him in our hearts, there is no possibility of celebrating Christmas†(Schillebeeckx). This Christmas too, “there will be no room for Jesus in the hearts of the selfish and proud persons†(Fulton Sheen).
There is a lovely story of a children’s Nativity play (from Margaret Silf). After many rehearsals the great day of presenting the play before the proud parents of the children and parishioners came. On stage: angels, shepherds, and Mary, Joseph and the innkeeper. Mary and Joseph knock at the door of the inn and ask: “Please, can we have a room for the night?†The innkeeper answers: “Sorry, there is no room in the inn.†After saying that, however, the little innkeeper had second thoughts of his own and added something else: “Don’t go away, you can have my room.â€
My dear friends, I ask myself: “Can Jesus have my room? Can He have yours? Can he have our rooms?†Perhaps our rooms are a bit messy; He will not mind, but let us clean them and prepare to be innkeepers who give his or her room to Jesus. I just received a Christmas card through the email of a friend with this message: “Each one of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus†(Max A. Maxwell). “Only when Jesus is formed in us will the Mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us†(CCC 526).
May the Lord continue growing in our hearts, in our families, in our communities!
And may those around us notice that we believe in Christmas by the way we treat them with kindness and compassion.
Mother Mary, Our Lady, and St. Joseph bless for us.
 (FG, OP)
In a few days we shall be celebrating joyfully the Nativity of Jesus. Until that day, we all have different programs and parties. Members of our Priory will attend and participate in different Christmas gatherings. On December 18, our community joins the religious men in Macau for a fraternal party at the Jesuits’ Retreat House in Coloane. On December 19, we shall celebrate Christmas at noontime with Mass, agape and Christmas Carols with professors and students of the University of Saint Joseph at the St. Joseph Seminary, Macau. On the same day, we shall also join our brothers working at St. Paul School for their Mass in the morning with program, and banquet in the evening. Just before Christmas, the members of our St. Dominic’s Priory will gather together in our community room to greet Marry Christmas to our Prior and enjoy each other’s company. We shall celebrate the Nativity of Jesus at midnight Mass to be followed by a fraternal agape to be shared by all.
The staff of our web page is grateful to the many people who encourage us and those who help us in different ways. The staff is particularly grateful to Brother Lawrence The Reh, OP, who is always there to enter competently the different items, news and illustrations.
We greet our dear readers and friends of this modest page wishing you all A BLESSED CHRISTMAS. We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Only when Jesus is formed in us will the Mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us†(CCC 526).
May Jesus continue to grow in our hearts and families and communities! And may those around us notice it by the way we treat them with kindness and compassion.
May Our Lady, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother bless us!
(dominicansmacau.org staff)
A member of our Dominican community in Macau, St Dominic’s Priory, has just published a new book on Vatican II. The publication came off the press in the first week of December, 2013 just a few days after the Year of Faith (2012-2013) and the commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of the inauguration of the Second Vatican Council (1962-2012) was closed. The publisher of the book is the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House in Manila.
The book is entitled “Vatican II at Fifty Moral and Social Teachingsâ€. It is a collection of essays written through the fifty years after the opening of the last Ecumenical Council. Most of them were penned in Manila, except three that were written in Macau, including the longest entry on the Pastoral Constitution of Vatican II Gaudium et Spes.
The author of Vatican II at Fifty is Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP who is at present an ordinary professor at the Faculty of Christian Studies of the University of Saint Joseph, Macau, and at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila. The book is also the author’s modest and grateful contribution for the celebration of his Golden Jubilee as a priest (1962-2012).
A leading archbishop in Myanmar has hailed the upcoming beatification of the south-east Asian nation’s first native son as a sign of the Pope’ love for the Church in Myanmar, formerly Burma.
“We are delighted to know that the first Burmese Blessed will be Isidore Ngei Ko Lat. The Holy Father is close to Myanmar and this first Blessed is the sign of Pope Francis and the Holy See’s love and attention,” said Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon.
His remarks came soon after Pope Francis on Monday authorized a decree recognizing the martyrdom of Italian priest Fr. Mario Vergara of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME ) and Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, a lay catechist, martyred in Shadaw (Myanmar) May 24, 1950.
The recognition of their martyrdom was among 12 decrees, including a miracle and 10 heroic virtues, that Pope Francis authorized. The other upcoming beatification is of 19th century Italian nun, Giovannina Franks, through whose intercession a miracle has been recognized.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Archbishop Bo described the “great joy and happiness,” of the Catholic community, caught by surprise by the long-awaited announcement. The journey began in May 2008, when the Catholic Bishops’ Conference wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI to “humbly ask the Pope to authorize the study of the cause.”
The beatification of Fr. Vergara and his catechist, the bishops wrote, will be a source of ” encouragement” for the whole community to live” a faith more in line ” with the Gospel and to witness to it “in a brave and heroic” way, even at the cost of dying because of hatred for the faith and giving their lives “for the Gospel.”
Archbishop Bo said the Church in Myanmar is preparing to celebrate 500 years of history and hopes for a visit by Pope Francis to the country. He said that the beatification is a first step on a long journey and “there are many others”, because they have many martyrs in Myanmar, who deserve sainthood. (From ucanews, December 11, 2013)
Source: Vatican Radio