Spirituality of the Cross (with insights from Office of the Passion)
Thursday 30 November 2006
寶血修女年避靜2006
Precious Blood Sisters Annual Retreat:
Spirituality of the Cross (with insights from Office of the Passion)
Spirituality of the Cross (with insights from Office of the Passion)
Thursday 19 October 2006
Poem for Friday 20 November 2006
Students, please listen to what I have to say:
“Seek your ADVENTURE!” not just on Day A.
Think outside the BOX! That means be creative!
From Day B onwards, be innovative!
C is for COURAGE and there is no more fear!
Follow your CONVICTIONS that you hold dear.
Let’s say: “I can DO it! You just wait and see!”
That’s faith in yourself, starting from Day D.
Manage your time wisely! Why not make a plan?
So NO more EXCUSES – I know you can!
I trust everything will be FINE and okay.
So try your best: “Your FUTURE starts today!”
No quitting in this school – O certainly not!
Never GIVE up but GIVE it all you’ve GOT!
GOD will GIVE you strength and bless SJSS.
Your teachers love you – expect nothing less.
Wednesday 27 September 2006
Friday Morning Prayer for 29 September 2006
Feast of St Michael the Archangel
Good morning! Time really flies! It’s already the last Friday in September. For three Fridays this month, we have celebrated three feasts: the Feast of the Birth of Mary (8/9), the Feast of the Holy Cross (14/9), and today, the Feast of St Michael (29/9), the angel. Michael is not just any angel. He is the archangel. Archangel means the angel leader. The suffix “arch” is added for something greater. For example, the US thinks that the communists and Iraq are their enemies. But the US has invaded Iraq because they think Iraq is their greatest enemy. The US thinks that Iraq is their archenemy. Anyway, if your name is Michael or Michelle, that means you have Michael as your patron. A Happy Feast Day to all the Michael’s and Michelle’s!
To start off today’s morning prayer, let’s read the Psalm on page 32 of your prayer book. The Psalms are Poems found in the Bible. [Psalms = p is silent! Say: S-AH-Ms] Please respond the part saying all. You may remember the word protector which we learnt last week. Protector: someone who protects. Defender: someone who defends. Trust: believe in and rely on. [Psalm 91]
Just two quick questions for you: In the psalm, almost every sentence has a “you” in it. Like: in the first verse: “The Lord will defend you.” “You have made the Lord your defender” in verse number 2, etc. And also in the response: “You are my defender and protector.” Can you guess who the “you” is in these cases? Well, the answer is simple. In the verses, the poet is talking to you, the reader, the audience, us. So really, the poem is about: “The Lord will defend us/me.” “We/I have made the Lord our/my defender” But in the response, the poet now talks to God. So we are saying: “God, you are my defender and protector.
Now – shall we sing Amazing Grace on Page 9 of your hymnbook? We will sing verse three only. [Song] Quite a few interesting things about this song which I would like you to pay attention to. The first line:
“Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come” means
“I have already come through many dangers, toils and snares”
In poetry, we often find sentence structure a bit unusual than what we would come across in normal situation. I am sure you know what dangers are. If you do not know what toils and snares are, please take a look at the second part of verse 3. It’s about “how grace hath brought me safe and grace will lead me home”. It’s old English here: hath brought means has brought. So this song is saying: “the grace of God has brought me safe and will lead me home after I have come through many dangers, toils and snares.” So we may safely guess that dangers, toils and snares are similar in meaning – or at least, things that do not make us feel safe! Indeed, the word toil means hard work. For example: Sophia gets very good results in her HKCE exams after five years of hard toil. [TOIL] A snare is a trap. Some people use a snare to catch small animals. The business world is full of snares for those who are not careful. It is easy to be tricked or fooled. [SNARE] Let’s sing the song again, now that we know what this song means.
Today, we celebrate the feast of St Michael the archangel, because God has given us St Michael and all the other angels to protect and defend us. St Michael and all the angels are God’s servants and they are here to help us. So let us say the prayer on page 32 to express our trust in God. Please make the sign of the cross and say the prayer together aloud. [Say: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.] Do not just make the sign without saying the words. [Prayer]
Thank you. I will see in you two weeks because next Friday we are having the Feast of St Francis – next Friday: a holiday for students.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
for transcript of today’s Morning Prayer
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
Good morning! Time really flies! It’s already the last Friday in September. For three Fridays this month, we have celebrated three feasts: the Feast of the Birth of Mary (8/9), the Feast of the Holy Cross (14/9), and today, the Feast of St Michael (29/9), the angel. Michael is not just any angel. He is the archangel. Archangel means the angel leader. The suffix “arch” is added for something greater. For example, the US thinks that the communists and Iraq are their enemies. But the US has invaded Iraq because they think Iraq is their greatest enemy. The US thinks that Iraq is their archenemy. Anyway, if your name is Michael or Michelle, that means you have Michael as your patron. A Happy Feast Day to all the Michael’s and Michelle’s!
To start off today’s morning prayer, let’s read the Psalm on page 32 of your prayer book. The Psalms are Poems found in the Bible. [Psalms = p is silent! Say: S-AH-Ms] Please respond the part saying all. You may remember the word protector which we learnt last week. Protector: someone who protects. Defender: someone who defends. Trust: believe in and rely on. [Psalm 91]
Just two quick questions for you: In the psalm, almost every sentence has a “you” in it. Like: in the first verse: “The Lord will defend you.” “You have made the Lord your defender” in verse number 2, etc. And also in the response: “You are my defender and protector.” Can you guess who the “you” is in these cases? Well, the answer is simple. In the verses, the poet is talking to you, the reader, the audience, us. So really, the poem is about: “The Lord will defend us/me.” “We/I have made the Lord our/my defender” But in the response, the poet now talks to God. So we are saying: “God, you are my defender and protector.
Now – shall we sing Amazing Grace on Page 9 of your hymnbook? We will sing verse three only. [Song] Quite a few interesting things about this song which I would like you to pay attention to. The first line:
“Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come” means
“I have already come through many dangers, toils and snares”
In poetry, we often find sentence structure a bit unusual than what we would come across in normal situation. I am sure you know what dangers are. If you do not know what toils and snares are, please take a look at the second part of verse 3. It’s about “how grace hath brought me safe and grace will lead me home”. It’s old English here: hath brought means has brought. So this song is saying: “the grace of God has brought me safe and will lead me home after I have come through many dangers, toils and snares.” So we may safely guess that dangers, toils and snares are similar in meaning – or at least, things that do not make us feel safe! Indeed, the word toil means hard work. For example: Sophia gets very good results in her HKCE exams after five years of hard toil. [TOIL] A snare is a trap. Some people use a snare to catch small animals. The business world is full of snares for those who are not careful. It is easy to be tricked or fooled. [SNARE] Let’s sing the song again, now that we know what this song means.
Today, we celebrate the feast of St Michael the archangel, because God has given us St Michael and all the other angels to protect and defend us. St Michael and all the angels are God’s servants and they are here to help us. So let us say the prayer on page 32 to express our trust in God. Please make the sign of the cross and say the prayer together aloud. [Say: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.] Do not just make the sign without saying the words. [Prayer]
Thank you. I will see in you two weeks because next Friday we are having the Feast of St Francis – next Friday: a holiday for students.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
for transcript of today’s Morning Prayer
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
Friday Morning Prayer for 22 September 2006
Playing before the Lord and praying to the Lord
Good Morning! As Mr Mackenzie says, the pr- sound and the pl- sound are not easy to distinguish. I notice that when I ask students to do dictation of the Hail Mary. Many students would write: “Holy Mother of God, play for us sinners” rather than “pray for us sinners.” I know Mr Mackenzie is very strict with blends. The PL sound and the PR sound should be distinguished well.
Every time at the end of each school prayer, the leader would say “St Francis” and everyone would respond by saying “Pray for us.” However, so far, I have never heard anyone mispronounce the word and say: “play for us” instead. Well, that makes sense, doesn’t it? You would not want to invite St Francis or St Joseph to play for you. If they play for you, that means you don’t get to play yourselves but they will play on your behalf. (So, don’t say “play for us.”) However, when we ask St Joseph or St Francis or any other saints to pray for us, it doesn’t mean we don’t pray to God ourselves. Instead, everyone, including all fellow Christians on earth and all the saints, should pray to God together.
Speaking about praying and playing, why don’t we sing the song on page 8, “Play before the Lord.” Please note that we will sing it without repeats. That means after the second last line, we will jump to where it is labelled “II” “telling of all His Ways.” [SONG]
Please note that the title of the song is NOT a misprint. It IS Play Before the Lord, not Pray Before the Lord. Why? Really, we do not exactly pray before the Lord. Instead, we pray to the Lord. But surely we can play before the Lord. So what do we play before the Lord? Does the author mean we play basketball or football before the Lord? Can you guess why does the author of this song say “play before the Lord”?
I will give you some clues: please take a look at the other lines. There is a keyword that appears several times. Now, I will give you all ten seconds to talk to your friends about what is being played before the Lord. [10 seconds] Aha – I can hear that someone over there in 7A has guessed the meaning correctly. Yes, the author is really talking about playing music or playing a musical instrument. Why? The clues are musical words like “singing” and “melody” which appear several times: I will sing to Him my melody. Let us sing before the Lord. Let us sing to Him. Sing, people of God. Often in examinations, you will find questions of this kind: asking things only hinted about. Upper form students know this very well and are well prepared for this, right?
I would also like you to take a look at the third line where it says: “Let us sing before the Lord” and the fifth line where it says: “Sing! People of God!” Do you know the differences between “Let us sing” and “Sing! People of God!” When I say: “Let us sing” – I am inviting you – the listener – to sing with me. That’s why I say let us sing. When I say: “Sing! People of God!” I am asking or ordering the People of God to sing.
The word “Sing” is a one-word sentence. The meaning is very clear even though there is no subject. It is like: your teacher may say to you: “Stand up!” “Keep quiet!” It is not at all like saying: “Would you mind standing up?” At first, she may say, “I would appreciate very much if you could keep you quiet.” When that doesn’t work, she may have to yell at you at the top of her lungs: “Keep quiet!” We call this kind of sentence structure imperative. We use imperative when we order or invite someone to do something directly. So, let us now sing the song through again. Sing! Students of St Joseph’s, sing! [Song]
Please turn to page 28. The Bible passage chosen for this morning expresses how St Paul lives for God. St Francis, who feels the same love of Christ, would have said the same thing too. [Bible reading]
Note that on the third line: St Paul said: “I might live for God.” Although St Paul was talking about himself, these concepts can be applied to St Francis too. St Francis used to be selfish. He lived for himself. But he changed and lived for God, rather than living for himself. Why he changed? He has discovered the goodness of God. We are going to say the prayer written by St Francis. You will find lots of descriptions of God. Please pay attention to the underlined words: you see the word “good” appears four times. St Francis thought that God is so good that he couldn’t think of other ways of saying “good” but repeating it.
There are some more underlined words towards the bottom of the page. Let’s go over them before we start the prayer. Please repeat after me: protector = someone who protects, haven (not heaven) = harbour, eternal = forever and ever, almighty = very powerful, merciful = kind, full of mercy, saviour = someone who saves.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
Good Morning! As Mr Mackenzie says, the pr- sound and the pl- sound are not easy to distinguish. I notice that when I ask students to do dictation of the Hail Mary. Many students would write: “Holy Mother of God, play for us sinners” rather than “pray for us sinners.” I know Mr Mackenzie is very strict with blends. The PL sound and the PR sound should be distinguished well.
Every time at the end of each school prayer, the leader would say “St Francis” and everyone would respond by saying “Pray for us.” However, so far, I have never heard anyone mispronounce the word and say: “play for us” instead. Well, that makes sense, doesn’t it? You would not want to invite St Francis or St Joseph to play for you. If they play for you, that means you don’t get to play yourselves but they will play on your behalf. (So, don’t say “play for us.”) However, when we ask St Joseph or St Francis or any other saints to pray for us, it doesn’t mean we don’t pray to God ourselves. Instead, everyone, including all fellow Christians on earth and all the saints, should pray to God together.
Speaking about praying and playing, why don’t we sing the song on page 8, “Play before the Lord.” Please note that we will sing it without repeats. That means after the second last line, we will jump to where it is labelled “II” “telling of all His Ways.” [SONG]
Please note that the title of the song is NOT a misprint. It IS Play Before the Lord, not Pray Before the Lord. Why? Really, we do not exactly pray before the Lord. Instead, we pray to the Lord. But surely we can play before the Lord. So what do we play before the Lord? Does the author mean we play basketball or football before the Lord? Can you guess why does the author of this song say “play before the Lord”?
I will give you some clues: please take a look at the other lines. There is a keyword that appears several times. Now, I will give you all ten seconds to talk to your friends about what is being played before the Lord. [10 seconds] Aha – I can hear that someone over there in 7A has guessed the meaning correctly. Yes, the author is really talking about playing music or playing a musical instrument. Why? The clues are musical words like “singing” and “melody” which appear several times: I will sing to Him my melody. Let us sing before the Lord. Let us sing to Him. Sing, people of God. Often in examinations, you will find questions of this kind: asking things only hinted about. Upper form students know this very well and are well prepared for this, right?
I would also like you to take a look at the third line where it says: “Let us sing before the Lord” and the fifth line where it says: “Sing! People of God!” Do you know the differences between “Let us sing” and “Sing! People of God!” When I say: “Let us sing” – I am inviting you – the listener – to sing with me. That’s why I say let us sing. When I say: “Sing! People of God!” I am asking or ordering the People of God to sing.
The word “Sing” is a one-word sentence. The meaning is very clear even though there is no subject. It is like: your teacher may say to you: “Stand up!” “Keep quiet!” It is not at all like saying: “Would you mind standing up?” At first, she may say, “I would appreciate very much if you could keep you quiet.” When that doesn’t work, she may have to yell at you at the top of her lungs: “Keep quiet!” We call this kind of sentence structure imperative. We use imperative when we order or invite someone to do something directly. So, let us now sing the song through again. Sing! Students of St Joseph’s, sing! [Song]
Please turn to page 28. The Bible passage chosen for this morning expresses how St Paul lives for God. St Francis, who feels the same love of Christ, would have said the same thing too. [Bible reading]
Note that on the third line: St Paul said: “I might live for God.” Although St Paul was talking about himself, these concepts can be applied to St Francis too. St Francis used to be selfish. He lived for himself. But he changed and lived for God, rather than living for himself. Why he changed? He has discovered the goodness of God. We are going to say the prayer written by St Francis. You will find lots of descriptions of God. Please pay attention to the underlined words: you see the word “good” appears four times. St Francis thought that God is so good that he couldn’t think of other ways of saying “good” but repeating it.
There are some more underlined words towards the bottom of the page. Let’s go over them before we start the prayer. Please repeat after me: protector = someone who protects, haven (not heaven) = harbour, eternal = forever and ever, almighty = very powerful, merciful = kind, full of mercy, saviour = someone who saves.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
Friday Morning Prayer for 22 September 2006
Playing before the Lord and praying to the Lord
Good Morning! As Mr Mackenzie says, the pr- sound and the pl- sound are not easy to distinguish. I notice that when I ask students to do dictation of the Hail Mary. Many students would write: “Holy Mother of God, play for us sinners” rather than “pray for us sinners.” I know Mr Mackenzie is very strict with blends. The PL sound and the PR sound should be distinguished well.
Every time at the end of each school prayer, the leader would say “St Francis” and everyone would respond by saying “Pray for us.” However, so far, I have never heard anyone mispronounce the word and say: “play for us” instead. Well, that makes sense, doesn’t it? You would not want to invite St Francis or St Joseph to play for you. If they play for you, that means you don’t get to play yourselves but they will play on your behalf. (So, don’t say “play for us.”) However, when we ask St Joseph or St Francis or any other saints to pray for us, it doesn’t mean we don’t pray to God ourselves. Instead, everyone, including all fellow Christians on earth and all the saints, should pray to God together.
Speaking about praying and playing, why don’t we sing the song on page 8, “Play before the Lord.” Please note that we will sing it without repeats. That means after the second last line, we will jump to where it is labelled “II” “telling of all His Ways.” [SONG]
Please note that the title of the song is NOT a misprint. It IS Play Before the Lord, not Pray Before the Lord. Why? Really, we do not exactly pray before the Lord. Instead, we pray to the Lord. But surely we can play before the Lord. So what do we play before the Lord? Does the author mean we play basketball or football before the Lord? Can you guess why does the author of this song say “play before the Lord”?
I will give you some clues: please take a look at the other lines. There is a keyword that appears several times. Now, I will give you all ten seconds to talk to your friends about what is being played before the Lord. [10 seconds] Aha – I can hear that someone over there in 7A has guessed the meaning correctly. Yes, the author is really talking about playing music or playing a musical instrument. Why? The clues are musical words like “singing” and “melody” which appear several times: I will sing to Him my melody. Let us sing before the Lord. Let us sing to Him. Sing, people of God. Often in examinations, you will find questions of this kind: asking things only hinted about. Upper form students know this very well and are well prepared for this, right?
I would also like you to take a look at the third line where it says: “Let us sing before the Lord” and the fifth line where it says: “Sing! People of God!” Do you know the differences between “Let us sing” and “Sing! People of God!” When I say: “Let us sing” – I am inviting you – the listener – to sing with me. That’s why I say let us sing. When I say: “Sing! People of God!” I am asking or ordering the People of God to sing.
The word “Sing” is a one-word sentence. The meaning is very clear even though there is no subject. It is like: your teacher may say to you: “Stand up!” “Keep quiet!” It is not at all like saying: “Would you mind standing up?” At first, she may say, “I would appreciate very much if you could keep you quiet.” When that doesn’t work, she may have to yell at you at the top of her lungs: “Keep quiet!” We call this kind of sentence structure imperative. We use imperative when we order or invite someone to do something directly. So, let us now sing the song through again. Sing! Students of St Joseph’s, sing! [Song]
Please turn to page 28. The Bible passage chosen for this morning expresses how St Paul lives for God. St Francis, who feels the same love of Christ, would have said the same thing too. [Bible reading]
Note that on the third line: St Paul said: “I might live for God.” Although St Paul was talking about himself, these concepts can be applied to St Francis too. St Francis used to be selfish. He lived for himself. But he changed and lived for God, rather than living for himself. Why he changed? He has discovered the goodness of God. We are going to say the prayer written by St Francis. You will find lots of descriptions of God. Please pay attention to the underlined words: you see the word “good” appears four times. St Francis thought that God is so good that he couldn’t think of other ways of saying “good” but repeating it.
There are some more underlined words towards the bottom of the page. Let’s go over them before we start the prayer. Please repeat after me: protector = someone who protects, haven (not heaven) = harbour, eternal = forever and ever, almighty = very powerful, merciful = kind, full of mercy, saviour = someone who saves.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
Wednesday 13 September 2006
Friday Morning Prayer for 15 September 2006
Good Morning! Last week, we celebrated the Birth of Our Lady. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Cross. The word FEAST means festival, just like the Mid-Autumn Festival, which we will celebrate very soon. Let’s start off today’s Morning Prayer with a Bible passage on page 24. [READING]
From this reading, we understand three things. First, Jesus is HUMBLE. We say someone is humble when someone is not proud; someone does not believe that he is important, and he always tries to lower himself. For example, Jane is a humble student. She has excellent results in her exams but she does not go around and tell everybody. She keeps a low profile. Despite her good results, she does not look down upon her classmates who do not do as well as she does. Jesus is such a person. He is the Son of God. Being the Son of God, Jesus could enjoy a lot of privileges, good things. But he gave up all he had, as the Bible says, and he became a human being – just like you and me.
The word humble is an adjective and we can use the word humble as a verb. In the prayer section, we say Christ humbled himself. We say that Christ humbled himself, meaning Christ made himself humble. So if you get 100 marks for your dictionary, your teacher may ask you not to laugh at other students who are not as smart as you are. So we can say: your teacher asks you to humble yourself. Your teacher asks you to be humble.
Second, the word obedient is an adjective, meaning doing what you have been told. We say someone is obedient when someone obeys rules and orders. Obedient – spelt with a “t” – you have an adjective. Obedience – spelt with “ce” – you have a noun. Both words come from obey. To obey means to listen to and follow rules and order. In the Bible passage, we say Christ walked the path of obedience, meaning Christ was very obedient.
Finally, we notice the word cross. I am sure you understand what the cross is. Christ died on the cross for us – even it was very painful for him. He did it because he loves us very much. That’s why we have the festival, the feast, of today: Feast of the Holy Cross. The actual date of the Feast of the Holy Cross is 14 September, yesterday. The origin of this feast is quite interesting. There was a Queen Helena who was the mother of the King, the Roman Emperor Constantine many years ago. Queen Helena loved Jesus very much because Jesus loves every one of us deeply. Christ loves us so much that he died on the cross. So, Queen Helena went to the Holy Land, that is today’s Israel, to look for the cross on which Jesus died. It was many years ago on this day that Queen Helena found that cross.
Think for a moment, Jesus died on the cross – and I can tell you it is not pleasant to die in that way. But Jesus was humble and obedient. He humbled himself and he obeyed God the Father. Well, we all have our crosses to bear: not a real cross, but hardships or difficulties that we have to face in life. Going to school everyday may be a cross to you. Having a naughty little brother or a noisy baby sister may be a cross for you. Do you know what my cross is? You can find that out if you log on to the Friday morning prayer blog at http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
I don't think I have only one cross but many crosses to bear... I will just name one. I have poor vision. My left eye is long-sighted and by right eye is near-sighted. As a result, I cannot see three-dimension well. That's why I am not good at ballgames. Even with glasses on, I cannot see clearly with my left eye only.
If you are reading this now, that means you have logged on to our friday-morning-prayer website! Congratulations! I am pleased that you are here. The first five students who come to see me would get a little gift. When you come to see me, please say: "I have visited the morning prayer website. Please give me the promised gift."
Let us now have some music. Please turn to page 9: All Flowers Will Sing. I am sure if all flowers will really sing, but I do hope all of you will sing. [Song] We will just sing the 3rd verse.
Notice in the third verse, we sing: “every cross that we encounter can become our golden wings.” In simple English, it means every cross that we face can make us fly. For Jesus, his cross is his “golden wings” because God raised him to the highest place. “Every time we embrace it, everlasting peace it brings.” Here the “it” refers to the cross. Christ embraced his cross because he was humble and obedient. My dear students, please do not be troubled by the cross that we have to take up. Christ has endured, has persevered, has taken up his own cross and with his help and following his example, our own crosses can become golden wings for us.
So let us pray – (The prayer is on page 24) – let us ask Lord Jesus to bring us to the glory of his kingdom. Please respond clearly and loudly.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
From this reading, we understand three things. First, Jesus is HUMBLE. We say someone is humble when someone is not proud; someone does not believe that he is important, and he always tries to lower himself. For example, Jane is a humble student. She has excellent results in her exams but she does not go around and tell everybody. She keeps a low profile. Despite her good results, she does not look down upon her classmates who do not do as well as she does. Jesus is such a person. He is the Son of God. Being the Son of God, Jesus could enjoy a lot of privileges, good things. But he gave up all he had, as the Bible says, and he became a human being – just like you and me.
The word humble is an adjective and we can use the word humble as a verb. In the prayer section, we say Christ humbled himself. We say that Christ humbled himself, meaning Christ made himself humble. So if you get 100 marks for your dictionary, your teacher may ask you not to laugh at other students who are not as smart as you are. So we can say: your teacher asks you to humble yourself. Your teacher asks you to be humble.
Second, the word obedient is an adjective, meaning doing what you have been told. We say someone is obedient when someone obeys rules and orders. Obedient – spelt with a “t” – you have an adjective. Obedience – spelt with “ce” – you have a noun. Both words come from obey. To obey means to listen to and follow rules and order. In the Bible passage, we say Christ walked the path of obedience, meaning Christ was very obedient.
Finally, we notice the word cross. I am sure you understand what the cross is. Christ died on the cross for us – even it was very painful for him. He did it because he loves us very much. That’s why we have the festival, the feast, of today: Feast of the Holy Cross. The actual date of the Feast of the Holy Cross is 14 September, yesterday. The origin of this feast is quite interesting. There was a Queen Helena who was the mother of the King, the Roman Emperor Constantine many years ago. Queen Helena loved Jesus very much because Jesus loves every one of us deeply. Christ loves us so much that he died on the cross. So, Queen Helena went to the Holy Land, that is today’s Israel, to look for the cross on which Jesus died. It was many years ago on this day that Queen Helena found that cross.
Think for a moment, Jesus died on the cross – and I can tell you it is not pleasant to die in that way. But Jesus was humble and obedient. He humbled himself and he obeyed God the Father. Well, we all have our crosses to bear: not a real cross, but hardships or difficulties that we have to face in life. Going to school everyday may be a cross to you. Having a naughty little brother or a noisy baby sister may be a cross for you. Do you know what my cross is? You can find that out if you log on to the Friday morning prayer blog at http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
I don't think I have only one cross but many crosses to bear... I will just name one. I have poor vision. My left eye is long-sighted and by right eye is near-sighted. As a result, I cannot see three-dimension well. That's why I am not good at ballgames. Even with glasses on, I cannot see clearly with my left eye only.
If you are reading this now, that means you have logged on to our friday-morning-prayer website! Congratulations! I am pleased that you are here. The first five students who come to see me would get a little gift. When you come to see me, please say: "I have visited the morning prayer website. Please give me the promised gift."
Let us now have some music. Please turn to page 9: All Flowers Will Sing. I am sure if all flowers will really sing, but I do hope all of you will sing. [Song] We will just sing the 3rd verse.
Notice in the third verse, we sing: “every cross that we encounter can become our golden wings.” In simple English, it means every cross that we face can make us fly. For Jesus, his cross is his “golden wings” because God raised him to the highest place. “Every time we embrace it, everlasting peace it brings.” Here the “it” refers to the cross. Christ embraced his cross because he was humble and obedient. My dear students, please do not be troubled by the cross that we have to take up. Christ has endured, has persevered, has taken up his own cross and with his help and following his example, our own crosses can become golden wings for us.
So let us pray – (The prayer is on page 24) – let us ask Lord Jesus to bring us to the glory of his kingdom. Please respond clearly and loudly.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
http://friday-morning-prayer.blogspot.com/
Friday Morning Prayer for 8 September 2006
Good morning. Welcome to the first English Day of this school year. What a wonderful coincidence that we have the first English Day on the Birthday of Our Lady! We remember the birth of Mary on this date not because it is really her birthday. Christians for many centuries pay a special tribute to Our Lady on this date. Just like Jesus was not really born on 25 December, we are quite sure Mary was not really born on 8 September. But because both Jesus and Mary are real historical persons, they must have been born at some point in history. The main thing is not when Jesus or Mary was born but the fact that they were born and were born for a purpose.
To celebrate this feast, let us sing Hail Queen of Heaven on page 7 of your HPB. This is a new song. We will sing just the first verse. Since most of you do not know this song, allow me to teach you this song line by line. [Song]
Now let us hear a story – printed on p.20 in your Hymn and Prayer Book. At the end of the reading, please respond “Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ.” [Story]
I would like you to notice three things about this story. First, the message that Gabriel said to Mary has become the prayer that is known as the Hail Mary. The first half of the Hail Mary is the greetings of the angel: “Hail! Mary full of grace the Lord is with you.” Each time we say the Hail Mary, we are repeating the greetings of the angel Gabriel. The word “Hail” is the same as saying Hello.
Second, as I have underlined the words for you, Mary was troubled and afraid when the angel Gabriel spoke to her. We usually use the word trouble as a noun. Your parents might have warned you before you leave the house: “Be good and don’t cause any trouble today!” If you do cause trouble, your teacher may arrange to meet your parents. If that is the case, you are in trouble. But here, the word trouble is used as a verb. We say Mary was troubled that means she was afraid and she wondered what was happening. When was your last time that an angel would visit you and speak to you? You may be as troubled and afraid as Mary, if an angel knocks at your door. At the beginning of the new school year, especially if you are new to this school, or if you are facing public examinations, you may be troubled by schoolwork or you may be afraid of the new school environment or new teachers. You may have many questions and there are many things you may not understand. In this story, Mary wondered about the message of the angel. That means she did not understand. When you have a question about why something happens. You can say: I wonder why. When you have a question about when something is going to happen. You can say: I wonder when. If you remember, just now at the beginning of morning prayer, I said, “What a wonderful coincidence that we have the first English Day on the Birthday of Our Lady!” You may know the word wonderful. Here wonderful doesn’t mean full of questions – it means something great and amazing.
Finally, please notice the last part of the message of the angel. Gabriel said, “For there is nothing that God cannot do.” There is nothing that God cannot do. This is a double-negative sentence. It is a good idea to avoid using double negatives because it may be confusing. If I say, don’t put up your hands, if you do not understand me. You have to think twice or listen twice to understand what I mean. However, we use double negative here to emphasize the fact that because God is God, there is nothing that He cannot do meaning God can do everything. Because God can do everything, we need not be afraid or troubled.
If you turn back to page 7, the song we just sang, we can say a few things using the words we have just learnt. Let’s concentrate just on the second line: Tossed on life’s sea, I claim thy care, (“thy care” means “your care”) save me from peril and from woe. Both of the words “peril” and “woe” are bad things. Peril is the same as danger and woe means unhappiness or sorrow. So facing life’s peril and woe, you will naturally be troubled and afraid. You may wonder when these peril, woe, danger, unhappiness and sorrow would end. You may wonder why such bad things are happening to you. Luckily, we remember that there is nothing God cannot do. So He will protect us and guide us through life, even if the sea of life is full of troubled waters. Mary, as our song suggests, is the Star of the Sea, she will pray for us.
Please say the response.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
To celebrate this feast, let us sing Hail Queen of Heaven on page 7 of your HPB. This is a new song. We will sing just the first verse. Since most of you do not know this song, allow me to teach you this song line by line. [Song]
Now let us hear a story – printed on p.20 in your Hymn and Prayer Book. At the end of the reading, please respond “Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ.” [Story]
I would like you to notice three things about this story. First, the message that Gabriel said to Mary has become the prayer that is known as the Hail Mary. The first half of the Hail Mary is the greetings of the angel: “Hail! Mary full of grace the Lord is with you.” Each time we say the Hail Mary, we are repeating the greetings of the angel Gabriel. The word “Hail” is the same as saying Hello.
Second, as I have underlined the words for you, Mary was troubled and afraid when the angel Gabriel spoke to her. We usually use the word trouble as a noun. Your parents might have warned you before you leave the house: “Be good and don’t cause any trouble today!” If you do cause trouble, your teacher may arrange to meet your parents. If that is the case, you are in trouble. But here, the word trouble is used as a verb. We say Mary was troubled that means she was afraid and she wondered what was happening. When was your last time that an angel would visit you and speak to you? You may be as troubled and afraid as Mary, if an angel knocks at your door. At the beginning of the new school year, especially if you are new to this school, or if you are facing public examinations, you may be troubled by schoolwork or you may be afraid of the new school environment or new teachers. You may have many questions and there are many things you may not understand. In this story, Mary wondered about the message of the angel. That means she did not understand. When you have a question about why something happens. You can say: I wonder why. When you have a question about when something is going to happen. You can say: I wonder when. If you remember, just now at the beginning of morning prayer, I said, “What a wonderful coincidence that we have the first English Day on the Birthday of Our Lady!” You may know the word wonderful. Here wonderful doesn’t mean full of questions – it means something great and amazing.
Finally, please notice the last part of the message of the angel. Gabriel said, “For there is nothing that God cannot do.” There is nothing that God cannot do. This is a double-negative sentence. It is a good idea to avoid using double negatives because it may be confusing. If I say, don’t put up your hands, if you do not understand me. You have to think twice or listen twice to understand what I mean. However, we use double negative here to emphasize the fact that because God is God, there is nothing that He cannot do meaning God can do everything. Because God can do everything, we need not be afraid or troubled.
If you turn back to page 7, the song we just sang, we can say a few things using the words we have just learnt. Let’s concentrate just on the second line: Tossed on life’s sea, I claim thy care, (“thy care” means “your care”) save me from peril and from woe. Both of the words “peril” and “woe” are bad things. Peril is the same as danger and woe means unhappiness or sorrow. So facing life’s peril and woe, you will naturally be troubled and afraid. You may wonder when these peril, woe, danger, unhappiness and sorrow would end. You may wonder why such bad things are happening to you. Luckily, we remember that there is nothing God cannot do. So He will protect us and guide us through life, even if the sea of life is full of troubled waters. Mary, as our song suggests, is the Star of the Sea, she will pray for us.
Please say the response.
Brother William Ng OFM
brotherwilliam@gmail.com
Friday 16 June 2006
Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-04-28
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Friday Morning Prayer for 28 April 2006
Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
Please look up – I would like to direct your attention to the Easter banner above me – no, no, no, not the Social Science Academic Week banner, but the one even further up. Can you see? It says: Christ is risen, alleluia. Please say it altogether. Christ is risen, alleluia.
Let’s hear just the Form One students say it. How about Form three students?
Your RE teacher may have told you – the Hebrew word Alleluia means May God be praised. Praise God! When we want to praise God, we may want to show a bit of cheerfulness, right? For example: You got a hundred marks for your dictation and your teacher would praise you for a job well done. If your teachers says Well done without smiling, you may wonder. So, when we praise someone, we may want to show a bit of happiness.
Now – why do we want to praise God? Because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Jesus died but lives again and even lives forever. We praise God because we are able to live with him forever and ever too!
Now let us pray. Please respond by saying the phrase: Christ is risen, Alleluia. When you hear me say: O God of life, we praise you. Then you all say: Christ is risen, Alleluia. OK?
+ God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us the same new life. We remember those who are sick and ill. O God of life, we praise you.
R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.
God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us strength to meet today’s challenges. We ask you to bless our fellow students who are sitting for their A-Level and HKCEE exams. O God of life, we praise you.
R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.
God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us joy. We remember our families and friends. We ask you to bless them. O God of life, we praise you.
R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.
God of mercy, you have raised Jesus from the dead. We ask you to give us wisdom. We remember our teachers and the rest of the school year. May we all learn the wisdom of life. O God of life, we praise you.
O God of life, we praise you.
R. Christ is risen, Alleluia.
We make this prayer and all our prayers through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
St Joseph…. St Francis…
Please make the sign of the Cross and say “In the Name” together.
Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-04-07
As you all know, this week and next week are our English Week. (Don’t ask me why – there are two weeks but we only say English Week. Never mind.) Next Friday, you are going to have your Easter holiday. Isn’t that wonderful? The week right before Easter is known as Holy Week. 聖周During Holy Week, we remember what has happened during the days before Jesus died on the cross.
This year Holy Week happens to be English Week as well. Let me compare these two important events.
First, last Monday, for English Week, we had English Olympics, It was very joyous, noisy and exciting, wasn’t it? For Holy Week, on Sunday – that is this coming Sunday – we remember the day that Jesus went to Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. People welcomed him by waving palm branches. It was also very joyous, noisy and exciting because the people (wrongly) thought that Jesus would help them to become independent from the Roman Empire. However, it was not fun at the end because these people became dissatisfied with Jesus and made him die on Good Friday.
Second, yesterday, as part of the English Week, we had English Tea. I wish I had been there to share nice company, wonderful conversation and good food. I surely hope there will be more English Teas in the future. Next Thursday, a week from today, it’s Holy Thursday. On Holy Thursday we remember the day when Jesus had his Last Supper with his friends, his disciples, his students. Similar to English Tea yesterday, Jesus shared nice company, wonderful conversation and good food with his friends. This was Jesus’ Last Supper before he died on the cross. So, Christians celebrate Mass彌撒or the Eucharist聖餐to remember Jesus’ death on the cross.
Finally, there was the Easter Egg Hunt on Tuesday. Did you participate in it and run around the school to look for Easter Eggs? Were you happy to find the eggs? Next Sunday, it will be Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday, we remember how people ran around Jerusalem to tell people that Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus came back to life three days after death on the cross. When people found out that Jesus is alive again, people were happy, just like finding the Easter Eggs.
So you see, English Week is similar to the Holy Week in some ways. I hope you would enjoy the rest of the English Week. And for Holy Week, I hope you will take the time to think about, to reflect on the love of Jesus for all of us. He loves us so much that he was willing to die on the cross. Take the time to think about the new life that Jesus gives us. Only he can give us new life because he was raised from the dead. He came back to life after dying on the cross. So let us pray and commend our lives to God.
~ Brother William OFM
Thursday 16 March 2006
Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-03-10
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Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
You may all know that we have already begun the season of Lent. LENT. Lent is the forty days before Easter. Every morning each class receives a donation box. We all make a donation of Lent.
Lent is a period in which Christians prepare themselves to celebrate Easter, which is at the end of these forty days. Lent is the past participle for the word TO LEND. But here, LENT has a different meaning. The original meaning of the word LENT comes from an old English word, Lente, meaning Spring. In Latin, Lent is simply “The Forty Days”, which is Quadregesima, quite a long word. In Chinese, we simply call it the Period of Four Ten-days（四旬期）.
So what do we do during Lent? Every morning, we pass around a donation box to collect money. Most Catholic schools would do the same thing. Some churches would even give each Catholic their own personal donation box. We give money to the needy as a way of being merciful. MERCY. Mercy means kindness so being merciful is being kind. When we help others, we are being merciful.
We do works of mercy and show kindness because we want to be like God who is merciful and kind. That’s why in the song on page 17, we call God – the God of mercy. The word mercy is very useful. If you have forgotten to bring your homework and when your teacher wants to punish you, you can ask for MERCY. That means you want the teacher to forgive you. Is your teacher going to forgive you for all your big and little mistakes? Well, I wish you luck on that one. However, God always forgives us because He is God of mercy.
So let us sing the song on page 17, we will first sing verse one and then, we will pray the Our Father together, asking God for His mercy. Let’s pray that all of us would become more and more merciful towards each other in this season of Lent.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God of mercy and compassion….
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
St Joseph, pray for us. St Francis, pray for us.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brother William OFM
Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-03-03
T
Please take out your Hymn and Prayer Book.
Good Morning Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
Today is the last day of school for our Form Seven students. They are leaving us to prepare for their Advanced Level Examination. The Advanced Level Examination is the last major public examination to sit for as a teenager. You see, this is quite an important examination. The result of this examination determines if you are going to further your studies or you have to start looking for a job. If you are going to further your studies, the result will determine what kind of courses you are going to follow and where you are going to study: either a university or an IVE. Well, this sounds very important. But believe it or not, taking examinations or even studying is not the most important thing in life. You may ask, why do we have to take examinations or why do we have to study at all?
Well, we study to learn about how to look, how to live, how to love. The knowledge that you have received, that is the things that you have learnt at school, by doing projects, writing reports, doing experiments and reciting passages by heart etc, should become wisdom: wisdom to help you to look at the world around us, wisdom to live a meaningful life and wisdom to love God and others. Indeed, wisdom is far more important than knowledge.
In any case, I hope all of you will remember that studying is not just to receive knowledge but also to learn the wisdom of life. One wise thing you should have learnt at St Joseph’s is to pray always.
So let us now pray for God’s protection for the Form Seven students as they leave St Joseph’s to prepare for their Advanced Level Examination. We pray that they would study hard and the exam results would truly reflect their ability and efforts. And, we pray that God would give us all wisdom, wisdom to look at the world around us, wisdom to live a meaningful life and wisdom to love God and others.
Let us say one Our Father together. I invite all the students, especially the Form Seven students to say the prayers loud and clear, since this is the last morning prayer for these F.7 students.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Now let us sing the song on page 5 of your prayer book. We will sing the first two verses.
St Joseph, pray for us. St Francis, pray for us.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brother William OFM
Please take out your Hymn and Prayer Book.
Good Morning Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
Today is the last day of school for our Form Seven students. They are leaving us to prepare for their Advanced Level Examination. The Advanced Level Examination is the last major public examination to sit for as a teenager. You see, this is quite an important examination. The result of this examination determines if you are going to further your studies or you have to start looking for a job. If you are going to further your studies, the result will determine what kind of courses you are going to follow and where you are going to study: either a university or an IVE. Well, this sounds very important. But believe it or not, taking examinations or even studying is not the most important thing in life. You may ask, why do we have to take examinations or why do we have to study at all?
Well, we study to learn about how to look, how to live, how to love. The knowledge that you have received, that is the things that you have learnt at school, by doing projects, writing reports, doing experiments and reciting passages by heart etc, should become wisdom: wisdom to help you to look at the world around us, wisdom to live a meaningful life and wisdom to love God and others. Indeed, wisdom is far more important than knowledge.
In any case, I hope all of you will remember that studying is not just to receive knowledge but also to learn the wisdom of life. One wise thing you should have learnt at St Joseph’s is to pray always.
So let us now pray for God’s protection for the Form Seven students as they leave St Joseph’s to prepare for their Advanced Level Examination. We pray that they would study hard and the exam results would truly reflect their ability and efforts. And, we pray that God would give us all wisdom, wisdom to look at the world around us, wisdom to live a meaningful life and wisdom to love God and others.
Let us say one Our Father together. I invite all the students, especially the Form Seven students to say the prayers loud and clear, since this is the last morning prayer for these F.7 students.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Now let us sing the song on page 5 of your prayer book. We will sing the first two verses.
St Joseph, pray for us. St Francis, pray for us.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brother William OFM
Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-02-24
Good morning Mr Kwok, teachers and students.
For those who are in form 4 or above, you may remember me. For those who are in form three or below, you may be wondering who I am. I am Brother William, a Franciscan brother who was teaching here three years ago. I used to teach English, Music and of course, RE (that's religious education, in case you don't remember).
I have been away for the past two years to do further studies. I am very glad and thankful to come back to the big happy family of SJSS, although I am not going to be a regular teacher. You know what, during the time that I was away, I really missed saying morning prayer with you, singing songs and sharing stories about God and life. Therefore I am very happy to be back in your midst. Many students have asked me what I am doing here. Well, to make a long story short, I am the same Brother William, although I am not doing the same work as before.
Two days ago, it was announced that the Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Joseph Zen, will become a Cardinal of the Church. As a cardinal, he will be allowed to vote for the Pope. He is the same Bishop Zen, although he may not be doing the same work as before.How about you? Are you the same as the one of yesterday? Would you tell your teachers that it is not the same you who has forgotten to bring certain homework or class work to class?
For those who are in form 4 or above, you may remember me. For those who are in form three or below, you may be wondering who I am. I am Brother William, a Franciscan brother who was teaching here three years ago. I used to teach English, Music and of course, RE (that's religious education, in case you don't remember).
I have been away for the past two years to do further studies. I am very glad and thankful to come back to the big happy family of SJSS, although I am not going to be a regular teacher. You know what, during the time that I was away, I really missed saying morning prayer with you, singing songs and sharing stories about God and life. Therefore I am very happy to be back in your midst. Many students have asked me what I am doing here. Well, to make a long story short, I am the same Brother William, although I am not doing the same work as before.
Two days ago, it was announced that the Bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Joseph Zen, will become a Cardinal of the Church. As a cardinal, he will be allowed to vote for the Pope. He is the same Bishop Zen, although he may not be doing the same work as before.How about you? Are you the same as the one of yesterday? Would you tell your teachers that it is not the same you who has forgotten to bring certain homework or class work to class?
Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-03-17
T
Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
I am sure you are looking forward to the holiday on Monday, right? I hope you remember why we are having a holiday. Yes, it is the FEAST OF ST JOSEPH. FEAST is another word for festival. Traditionally, March 19 is the actual date of the festival, the feast. Since March 19 is a Sunday this year, so we are going to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph on Monday.
In a few moments, Mr Mackenzie will tell you something about the Feast of St Patrick, which happens to be today. But as your Brother-in-Residence, let me remind you something about St Joseph.
Joseph is the husband of Mary and since Mary is the Mother of Jesus, so Joseph is the father of Jesus. But we all know that Jesus is really the Son of God. So, Joseph is not the real father. He is Jesus’ foster father. And Joseph has been a very good father for Jesus, looking after and taking care of both Jesus and Mary. I am sure Joseph has been very loving towards both Jesus and Mary.
St Joseph has a special place in our school because our school is called St Joseph’s School. Since our school is called St Joseph, it means St Joseph is our patron. A patron is someone a person chosen to be a supporter. If your name is Joseph or Josephine, then St Joseph is your patron saint too. To have a patron saint means that St Joseph prays for everyone whose name is either Joseph or Josephine or those who study at a school with the name of St Joseph. There are three schools in Hong Kong with the same name. They are St Joseph’s College on Hong Kong Island, St Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School in Kowloon and us here in Ma On Shan. All the students in these St Joseph’s schools ask St Joseph to pray to God on our behalf. Since Monday is the Feast of St Joseph, it is the Feast Day of these schools. That’s why students from these St Joseph’s schools, including you, are going to have a holiday on Monday!
Let us pause and think for a minute to think about why we have St Joseph as our patron saint. St Joseph is a popular saint because of his many excellent examples given to us. I will just tell you one. Although he is not the real father of Jesus, Joseph has taken very good care of Jesus and Mary. In this way, Jesus has a very good upbringing and is well prepared for his future work. Joseph is not the saviour but Jesus is. By taking good care of Jesus, Joseph is preparing Jesus in his great work as a saviour. Perhaps we can take very good care of those around us, because we may be helping others to do great work too. So let us pray to God, asking Him to give us the grace to be like St Joseph who can take good care and be loving to our family members. Let us say one Our Father altogether.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Brother William OFM
Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
I am sure you are looking forward to the holiday on Monday, right? I hope you remember why we are having a holiday. Yes, it is the FEAST OF ST JOSEPH. FEAST is another word for festival. Traditionally, March 19 is the actual date of the festival, the feast. Since March 19 is a Sunday this year, so we are going to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph on Monday.
In a few moments, Mr Mackenzie will tell you something about the Feast of St Patrick, which happens to be today. But as your Brother-in-Residence, let me remind you something about St Joseph.
Joseph is the husband of Mary and since Mary is the Mother of Jesus, so Joseph is the father of Jesus. But we all know that Jesus is really the Son of God. So, Joseph is not the real father. He is Jesus’ foster father. And Joseph has been a very good father for Jesus, looking after and taking care of both Jesus and Mary. I am sure Joseph has been very loving towards both Jesus and Mary.
St Joseph has a special place in our school because our school is called St Joseph’s School. Since our school is called St Joseph, it means St Joseph is our patron. A patron is someone a person chosen to be a supporter. If your name is Joseph or Josephine, then St Joseph is your patron saint too. To have a patron saint means that St Joseph prays for everyone whose name is either Joseph or Josephine or those who study at a school with the name of St Joseph. There are three schools in Hong Kong with the same name. They are St Joseph’s College on Hong Kong Island, St Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School in Kowloon and us here in Ma On Shan. All the students in these St Joseph’s schools ask St Joseph to pray to God on our behalf. Since Monday is the Feast of St Joseph, it is the Feast Day of these schools. That’s why students from these St Joseph’s schools, including you, are going to have a holiday on Monday!
Let us pause and think for a minute to think about why we have St Joseph as our patron saint. St Joseph is a popular saint because of his many excellent examples given to us. I will just tell you one. Although he is not the real father of Jesus, Joseph has taken very good care of Jesus and Mary. In this way, Jesus has a very good upbringing and is well prepared for his future work. Joseph is not the saviour but Jesus is. By taking good care of Jesus, Joseph is preparing Jesus in his great work as a saviour. Perhaps we can take very good care of those around us, because we may be helping others to do great work too. So let us pray to God, asking Him to give us the grace to be like St Joseph who can take good care and be loving to our family members. Let us say one Our Father altogether.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Brother William OFM
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