Dear C
So sorry to give you the wrong impression. No, K didn't die. Don't include him on the obituary list! He left the community, not the world. But then, when someone leaves the Order, the kind of heaviness is almost like what death can bring, if not even more unbearable.
With death, we celebrate the completion of life and the fulfilment of vows, even if someone dies young. Departure makes us ask questions that have no answers. We have not yet adopted the kind of attitude that would allow us to host farewell parties when someone in solemn vows leaves, as if agreeing to a feeling that it is time to "move on". The question that the General wrote in his Report to the General Chapter still rings clear in our head: ask not why a friar leaves but ask why the rest stay.
So why am I staying? That's a good question. Rather than telling you why am I NOT leaving, I must answer the question: why I am staying. Besides answering the loving call of the Lover, I desire to follow Him till the end.
W
Monday, 30 April 2007
Thursday, 12 April 2007
Departure from the Order
A month before I got here, I got a message that one of my classmates (same year of entering and solemn vows, etc) had decided to leave the order. He had been having very good prospect - had opportunities for further studies, got elected to important posts and got assigned to important offices, etc. Never mind about why he left but the fact that he left had made an impact on me. I accepted the decision of transferring me here because I knew I would be here with my friend. But he is no longer here. I felt betrayed, cheated, angry, sad, etc. (You know, very typical of me.) He moved out the day before I arrived.
Tonight, a bunch of us went out for dinner as a farewell thing, not a high profile farewell, but a time to say good bye. We men are so difficult to express emotions. At the end of the dinner, after lots of pretty words (or really just euphemism) about let's-remain-friends, we-are-still-brothers and come-to-my-wedding-will-you being said by others, I broke my own silence and said, "Look, I don't know about you all, but I am sad that he is leaving. I really loath to see him go. "捨不得 -Shebude, letting someone / something go." Everyone was kind of astounded by the stark expression - possibly I said what everyone was feeling too. He (the one leaving) admitted he would miss us too.
Well, as good Franciscans, we had a big feast despite everything and now I am too full to go to bed. Possibly indigestion...
Tonight, a bunch of us went out for dinner as a farewell thing, not a high profile farewell, but a time to say good bye. We men are so difficult to express emotions. At the end of the dinner, after lots of pretty words (or really just euphemism) about let's-remain-friends, we-are-still-brothers and come-to-my-wedding-will-you being said by others, I broke my own silence and said, "Look, I don't know about you all, but I am sad that he is leaving. I really loath to see him go. "捨不得 -Shebude, letting someone / something go." Everyone was kind of astounded by the stark expression - possibly I said what everyone was feeling too. He (the one leaving) admitted he would miss us too.
Well, as good Franciscans, we had a big feast despite everything and now I am too full to go to bed. Possibly indigestion...
Friday, 9 February 2007
Friday Morning Prayer For 2 February 2007: Candlemas
Tongue warmer: How many days ago was Christmas?
Good morning! That was a very interesting question. How many days ago was Christmas? It was exactly forty 40 days ago. In the church calendar, we name this day: Candlemas. Christmas is the Mass of Christ. Candlemas is naturally the Mass of Candles. Why? Today, if you go to church, there is a special ceremony with candles. (We have one candle here.) In northern Europe, young women and girls would even wear crowns of candles. Kind of difficult to balance I imagine.
Anyway, the origin of the feast is like this: According to the Bible, 40 days after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem. Imagine this: Jesus being the true light brightened up the dark Temple. So to remember that Jesus is the true light, we celebrate Candlemas with lots of candles. Some of you may not know the story so please listen to Fr Roberto / Mr Mckenzie. You can follow the story on page _ of your hymnal. Please pay attention to the words in BOLD letters.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St Luke.
The time came for Joseph and Mary to perform the ceremony of purification, as the Law of Moses commanded. So they took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. They also went to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, as required by the law.
At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him and had assured him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah.
When the parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required, Simeon took the child in his arms and gave thanks to God:
"Now, Lord, you have kept your promise, and you may let your servant go in peace. With my own eyes I have seen your salvation.”
The child's father and mother were amazed at the things Simeon said about him.
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "This child will be a sign from God which many people will speak against. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart."
The Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you. This story is the basis why we have the feast Candlemas today. Now, a little poem here. This poem is written by Eve Forti, and it is called The Offering. You are going to see that this poem is retelling the Candlemas story in a poetic way. Instead of telling a story, the poet tries to talk to one of the person in the story: Simeon, the old man who took Jesus in his arms. Please listen to it – and please take a special note to the underlined words.
Poem: The Offering by Eve Forti
Old Man, you've sown the years longing for the harvest, hoping for the green shoot to appear.
Fragrant with perfection, He is here: wanting to be purified, waiting to be crucified.
And His mother, offering her Lamb, gives Him to your open arms
so you can finally die in peace knowing that the Promised One is born.
In gratitude you will whisper that her heart will break.
I don’t think I need to explain each and every single word to you and you can still understand a lot about both the poem and the original Bible story. Now, I would like you to take some time to match the poem with the story. I think it is not difficult if you try to match the keywords together.
Let us take 20 seconds to do this. [PAUSE] Let’s check the answer now:
Paragraph 1 in the Bible story matches with Paragraph B of the poem. The keyword is purification. Purification comes from the word PURE, very clean. To make something pure is to purify. E.g. You cannot drink water from the river unless it is purified. That means purification would make the water safe to drink.
Paragraph 2 in the Bible story matches with paragraph A of the poem. The keyword is waiting – and in the poem, the poet uses the phrase “longing for”. To long for something means to wait for something. E.g. Almost all students long for summer holidays.
Paragraph 3 in the Bible story matches with paragraph C of the poem. The key phrase is “in his arms”. Compare these two sentences: (Bible) Simeon took the child in his arms. (Poem) Mary gives him to your open arms. Well, I think Mary gave Jesus to Simeon’s open arms so Simeon took him in his arms. To take something in your arms means to carry something with your arms. Naturally you have to open your arms first.
Paragraph 4 in the Bible story matches with paragraph D of the poem. The key phrase is “in peace”. In the Bible, Simeon said he could now go in peace and that means exactly dying in peace. The author in the Bible story uses the word “go” instead of “die.” Some people do not like to hear the words “to die’ or “death”. Can you think of one word that means “in peace”? Yes, peacefully. E.g. My grandfather died peacefully. He died in peace.
Finally, paragraph 5 in the Bible story matches with paragraph E of the poem. Besides the phrase about how a sword would break the heart of Mary – that is obvious. In paragraph 5 of the Bible story, Simeon said to Mary. In the poem, the poet said: you will whisper. WHISPER means to speak softly. E.g. In the library, you are not supposed to talk at all. If you really have to talk, please whisper; otherwise, the library will become noisy.
To end our prayer – let’s say a prayer. I will say the beginning and you have to join in at the end.
Let us pray: O Heavenly Father, today we celebrate Candlemas and we thank you for giving us Your Only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the true light. We long for His love we long for a world full of life and joy. Please teach us to live in peace with each other, especially those we find difficult. Please teach us to open our arms to welcome everyone. We end now our prayer with the prayer that Your Son has taught us: Our Father…
Good morning! That was a very interesting question. How many days ago was Christmas? It was exactly forty 40 days ago. In the church calendar, we name this day: Candlemas. Christmas is the Mass of Christ. Candlemas is naturally the Mass of Candles. Why? Today, if you go to church, there is a special ceremony with candles. (We have one candle here.) In northern Europe, young women and girls would even wear crowns of candles. Kind of difficult to balance I imagine.
Anyway, the origin of the feast is like this: According to the Bible, 40 days after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem. Imagine this: Jesus being the true light brightened up the dark Temple. So to remember that Jesus is the true light, we celebrate Candlemas with lots of candles. Some of you may not know the story so please listen to Fr Roberto / Mr Mckenzie. You can follow the story on page _ of your hymnal. Please pay attention to the words in BOLD letters.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St Luke.
The time came for Joseph and Mary to perform the ceremony of purification, as the Law of Moses commanded. So they took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. They also went to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, as required by the law.
At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him and had assured him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah.
When the parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required, Simeon took the child in his arms and gave thanks to God:
"Now, Lord, you have kept your promise, and you may let your servant go in peace. With my own eyes I have seen your salvation.”
The child's father and mother were amazed at the things Simeon said about him.
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "This child will be a sign from God which many people will speak against. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart."
The Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you. This story is the basis why we have the feast Candlemas today. Now, a little poem here. This poem is written by Eve Forti, and it is called The Offering. You are going to see that this poem is retelling the Candlemas story in a poetic way. Instead of telling a story, the poet tries to talk to one of the person in the story: Simeon, the old man who took Jesus in his arms. Please listen to it – and please take a special note to the underlined words.
Poem: The Offering by Eve Forti
Old Man, you've sown the years longing for the harvest, hoping for the green shoot to appear.
Fragrant with perfection, He is here: wanting to be purified, waiting to be crucified.
And His mother, offering her Lamb, gives Him to your open arms
so you can finally die in peace knowing that the Promised One is born.
In gratitude you will whisper that her heart will break.
I don’t think I need to explain each and every single word to you and you can still understand a lot about both the poem and the original Bible story. Now, I would like you to take some time to match the poem with the story. I think it is not difficult if you try to match the keywords together.
Let us take 20 seconds to do this. [PAUSE] Let’s check the answer now:
Paragraph 1 in the Bible story matches with Paragraph B of the poem. The keyword is purification. Purification comes from the word PURE, very clean. To make something pure is to purify. E.g. You cannot drink water from the river unless it is purified. That means purification would make the water safe to drink.
Paragraph 2 in the Bible story matches with paragraph A of the poem. The keyword is waiting – and in the poem, the poet uses the phrase “longing for”. To long for something means to wait for something. E.g. Almost all students long for summer holidays.
Paragraph 3 in the Bible story matches with paragraph C of the poem. The key phrase is “in his arms”. Compare these two sentences: (Bible) Simeon took the child in his arms. (Poem) Mary gives him to your open arms. Well, I think Mary gave Jesus to Simeon’s open arms so Simeon took him in his arms. To take something in your arms means to carry something with your arms. Naturally you have to open your arms first.
Paragraph 4 in the Bible story matches with paragraph D of the poem. The key phrase is “in peace”. In the Bible, Simeon said he could now go in peace and that means exactly dying in peace. The author in the Bible story uses the word “go” instead of “die.” Some people do not like to hear the words “to die’ or “death”. Can you think of one word that means “in peace”? Yes, peacefully. E.g. My grandfather died peacefully. He died in peace.
Finally, paragraph 5 in the Bible story matches with paragraph E of the poem. Besides the phrase about how a sword would break the heart of Mary – that is obvious. In paragraph 5 of the Bible story, Simeon said to Mary. In the poem, the poet said: you will whisper. WHISPER means to speak softly. E.g. In the library, you are not supposed to talk at all. If you really have to talk, please whisper; otherwise, the library will become noisy.
To end our prayer – let’s say a prayer. I will say the beginning and you have to join in at the end.
Let us pray: O Heavenly Father, today we celebrate Candlemas and we thank you for giving us Your Only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the true light. We long for His love we long for a world full of life and joy. Please teach us to live in peace with each other, especially those we find difficult. Please teach us to open our arms to welcome everyone. We end now our prayer with the prayer that Your Son has taught us: Our Father…
Friday Morning Prayer for 9 February 2007: St Valentine / The Love of Jesus
The theme for today’s Morning Prayer is about love. Well, the love of Jesus, to be precise. But it is the love of Jesus that forms the basis of all human loves. As you can see from the title at the top of the page, we want to talk about love today because next Tuesday is Valentine’s Day – or the Feast of St Valentine. There is a saint by that name and there are various stories about how St Valentine has become associated with boyfriends and girlfriends and falling in love. You may find out more about that on First Class, if you log on to the Student Learning Area, there is a new forum known as Friday Morning Prayer.
Today, I would like to introduce a poem to you. Please follow the reading as printed in your hymnal to be read by Mr Mckenzie
I See His Blood Upon the Rose by Joseph Mary Plunkett
I see his blood upon the rose // And in the stars the glory of His eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows, // His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower; // The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but His voice – and carven by His power // Rocks are His written words.
All pathways by His feet are worn, // His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn, // His cross is every tree.
Not too many difficult words here.
3rd line: Amid – has the same meaning as “among.” It must be lovely to live in the countryside: having your home amid trees and farm must be better than amid high-rises and skyscrapers.
3rd line: Gleam: When eyes gleam, they shine in a way that expresses a particular emotion. The line “His body gleams amid eternal snows” means “His body shines among the snow.
7th line: Carven = carved: made by cutting: E.g., He carved her name on a tree. Her name is carven with love on a tree. Another example: For Halloween, people put a candle in carven pumpkins.
10th line: Stir = to mix a liquid by moving something like a spoon in a circular pattern: You can stir some sugar into the coffee to make it sweet. Another example: My heart stirs when I see how the national flag is flown everywhere on October 1.
10th line: Beat = to make a regular movement or sound: e.g. My heart beats faster than normal when I am excited. I need to take a rest now because my heart is beating very fast. So: Ever-beating sea = the sea with waves making a regular sound
11th line: Twine = to wrap round an object several times E.g. The vine twines around the branch. You can see that in the picture provided. Don’t confuse this word with the word TWIN vs TWINE.
So you understand the words, do you understand the poem? Let’s examine the first sentence again: I see his blood upon the rose And in the stars the glory of his eyes... Why would the poet see blood on a rose? I can think of two possibilities: One: Someone was hurt by a rose; perhaps a thorn has pricked his finger and his blood stays on the rose. Two: The poet is talking about someone whom he loves very much. This person has died and seeing a rose would remind the poet of this person. Yes, that would be the reason. Can you guess who this person is? If you remember at the beginning of the talk, I have told you today’s morning prayer is about the love of Jesus. So, the poet is saying: When he sees a rose, he would see the blood of Jesus. That’s why all the “his” in the poem should have been “His”. Can you please change that if you have a pencil handy? The poet would make that connection because, I guess, Jesus’ blood is red, and each drop of blood is similar to a rose petal. And, most importantly, the love of Jesus is as beautiful as a rose.
We can use this same idea to understand the rest of the poem: The stars in the sky would remind Plunkett, the poet, of the eyes of Jesus. The gleaming snows would remind Joseph Mary, our poet, how the body of Jesus shines. When the poet says: “His body gleams amid eternal snows” is really saying “When I see how the snow in winter gleams, it is like seeing the body of Jesus gleams”. And so on with rain, thunder and birds’ singing.
The climax is the last line: His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn, // His cross is every tree. You may remember that before Jesus died, someone gave him a crown made of thorns to wear. Imagine that would be very painful; but because of his love for us, Jesus endured the crown. So thorns become a symbol of Jesus’ love and that’s the reason the poet would see how the crown of thorns of Jesus would twin / mix with thorn on a plant.
Indeed, when you love someone, you would always think about him / her. And because you carry his or her memory with you so much, it is very natural for you to be reminded of this person by just about anything. So, from this poem, we know Joseph Mary Plunkett loves Jesus very much. But the truth is that Jesus loves us first. He carries us in His Sacred Heart. All our love for Jesus is only a return of His love. In the Bible, St John write: “We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19).
My dear friends, when you love someone deeply deeply, you would naturally see his / her presence everywhere. Can you see Jesus? Hopefully, today, you would see, you would hear or even you would touch Jesus – perhaps in every rose, in every tree and in each smiling face that you meet.
Let’s listen to the poem one more time and then we would pray together. [POEM] Please look up at the screen and say the prayer together. I would invite the prefects to step forward and look at the screen.
O Lord Jesus, we thank you for Your love for us. Please make us see your blood upon the rose and in the stars the glory of Your eyes. O Lord Jesus, open our eyes so we could see Your body gleams amid eternal snows and Your tears fall from the skies. O Lord Jesus, please make us see your face in every flower. O Lord Jesus, please open our eyes so we could see Your crown of thorns twined with every thorn, and that Your cross is every tree. We ask you to bless this day as we begin a new day of learning. You live forever and You are King eternally. Amen.
Today, I would like to introduce a poem to you. Please follow the reading as printed in your hymnal to be read by Mr Mckenzie
I See His Blood Upon the Rose by Joseph Mary Plunkett
I see his blood upon the rose // And in the stars the glory of His eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows, // His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower; // The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but His voice – and carven by His power // Rocks are His written words.
All pathways by His feet are worn, // His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn, // His cross is every tree.
Not too many difficult words here.
3rd line: Amid – has the same meaning as “among.” It must be lovely to live in the countryside: having your home amid trees and farm must be better than amid high-rises and skyscrapers.
3rd line: Gleam: When eyes gleam, they shine in a way that expresses a particular emotion. The line “His body gleams amid eternal snows” means “His body shines among the snow.
7th line: Carven = carved: made by cutting: E.g., He carved her name on a tree. Her name is carven with love on a tree. Another example: For Halloween, people put a candle in carven pumpkins.
10th line: Stir = to mix a liquid by moving something like a spoon in a circular pattern: You can stir some sugar into the coffee to make it sweet. Another example: My heart stirs when I see how the national flag is flown everywhere on October 1.
10th line: Beat = to make a regular movement or sound: e.g. My heart beats faster than normal when I am excited. I need to take a rest now because my heart is beating very fast. So: Ever-beating sea = the sea with waves making a regular sound
11th line: Twine = to wrap round an object several times E.g. The vine twines around the branch. You can see that in the picture provided. Don’t confuse this word with the word TWIN vs TWINE.
So you understand the words, do you understand the poem? Let’s examine the first sentence again: I see his blood upon the rose And in the stars the glory of his eyes... Why would the poet see blood on a rose? I can think of two possibilities: One: Someone was hurt by a rose; perhaps a thorn has pricked his finger and his blood stays on the rose. Two: The poet is talking about someone whom he loves very much. This person has died and seeing a rose would remind the poet of this person. Yes, that would be the reason. Can you guess who this person is? If you remember at the beginning of the talk, I have told you today’s morning prayer is about the love of Jesus. So, the poet is saying: When he sees a rose, he would see the blood of Jesus. That’s why all the “his” in the poem should have been “His”. Can you please change that if you have a pencil handy? The poet would make that connection because, I guess, Jesus’ blood is red, and each drop of blood is similar to a rose petal. And, most importantly, the love of Jesus is as beautiful as a rose.
We can use this same idea to understand the rest of the poem: The stars in the sky would remind Plunkett, the poet, of the eyes of Jesus. The gleaming snows would remind Joseph Mary, our poet, how the body of Jesus shines. When the poet says: “His body gleams amid eternal snows” is really saying “When I see how the snow in winter gleams, it is like seeing the body of Jesus gleams”. And so on with rain, thunder and birds’ singing.
The climax is the last line: His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn, // His cross is every tree. You may remember that before Jesus died, someone gave him a crown made of thorns to wear. Imagine that would be very painful; but because of his love for us, Jesus endured the crown. So thorns become a symbol of Jesus’ love and that’s the reason the poet would see how the crown of thorns of Jesus would twin / mix with thorn on a plant.
Indeed, when you love someone, you would always think about him / her. And because you carry his or her memory with you so much, it is very natural for you to be reminded of this person by just about anything. So, from this poem, we know Joseph Mary Plunkett loves Jesus very much. But the truth is that Jesus loves us first. He carries us in His Sacred Heart. All our love for Jesus is only a return of His love. In the Bible, St John write: “We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19).
My dear friends, when you love someone deeply deeply, you would naturally see his / her presence everywhere. Can you see Jesus? Hopefully, today, you would see, you would hear or even you would touch Jesus – perhaps in every rose, in every tree and in each smiling face that you meet.
Let’s listen to the poem one more time and then we would pray together. [POEM] Please look up at the screen and say the prayer together. I would invite the prefects to step forward and look at the screen.
O Lord Jesus, we thank you for Your love for us. Please make us see your blood upon the rose and in the stars the glory of Your eyes. O Lord Jesus, open our eyes so we could see Your body gleams amid eternal snows and Your tears fall from the skies. O Lord Jesus, please make us see your face in every flower. O Lord Jesus, please open our eyes so we could see Your crown of thorns twined with every thorn, and that Your cross is every tree. We ask you to bless this day as we begin a new day of learning. You live forever and You are King eternally. Amen.
Friday Morning Prayer for 19 January 2007: St Anthony
Good Morning! If you come from 1A, 2A or any of the A classes, I am sure you know who the patron saint of your class is. Yes, it is St Anthony. Mr Tang has been sharing with you about St Anthony for the past few days. Why we talk so much about him this week? In 1946, 60 years ago, on 16 January, the Catholic Church made St Anthony into a “Doctor of the Church.” St Anthony is a doctor of the Church, that means he understood religious knowledge very well and his teaching is very valuable even for today.
As you can see on page 15 of your hymnal, St Anthony has once given a sermon and he talks about Jesus like this:
“The humanity of Christ is like the grape because it was crushed in the winepress of the Cross so that his blood flowed over the whole earth…. How great is his love!”
St Anthony talks about the humanity of Christ. HUMANITY is the human quality. We all know Jesus is God but he is human at the same time. God loves us so much that Jesus has become human to live among us. The interesting thing is that St Anthony says that Christ’s humanity is like the fruit, grapes. When you think of grapes, you may think of wine that is made from grapes. Now why would St Anthony use grapes as a way to describe Christ’s humanity? Being God, Christ would not have body or blood, unless he first becomes human. You see Christ died on the cross for us. When he died, his blood flowed from his body. Blood is a red liquid, very much like grape juice or red wine, which is made from grapes.
To make wine from grapes, one has to step on grapes to get the juice. We put grapes in the winepress first. You can see a little picture of a winepress on page 15 of your hymnal. That’s why St Anthony talks about the cross as a winepress. Grapes are crushed, squeezed in the winepress to make juice that makes wine; similarly it was on the cross that so his blood flowed.
Let’s learn a new song: The hymn we are going to sing today is Glory be to Jesus. There are several words, which I would like to go over with you:
Bitter: We say something is bitter when it has an unpleasantly sharp taste. We describe an experience to be bitter when it causes deep pain or anger. For example: Susan puts sugar into her coffee. Without sugar, black coffee is too bitter for her. // Calvin’s mother died recently and it was a bitter experience for him.
Pour: We pour a liquid when we make a liquid flow from or into a container. For example, Susan puts some sugar into her coffee first, then she pours milk as well. // We say: “Oh, it is pouring rain” when it rains so hard that it feels like water is being poured from the sky.
Sacred. We say something is sacred when we want to say it is holy. You may remember the phrase: The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Vein. A vein is a tube in the body that carries blood. For example, Last week, Veronica went to Red Cross to donate blood and the nurse put a needle in her vein to draw the blood out.
Let’s look at the first verse of the hymn Glory be to Jesus. Please repeat after Mr McKenzie.
1. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains / Poured for me the life-blood from His sacred veins!
Can you write down the word that rhymes with pains? (Veins)
Let’s turn to page 7 and learn this new song. Please now turn back to page 15 and say the prayer together.
(Everybody together) In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O Lord Jesus, in bitter pains You have poured out your Most Holy Blood to save all humanity. Your blood flowed over the whole earth as a result of your holy love for us.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
Please help us to remain united with Your love.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
We ask you to help those who have to face bitter pains since you have gone through bitter pains on the cross.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
Please help them to experience the sweetness of your love.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
We ask this for You are God and King for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
St Joseph
All: Pray for us.
St Francis
All: Pray for us.
Thank you. In the Student Learning Zone on your First Class, you will see a transcript – that is the text – of all the morning prayers in English. There are some extra activities for you to do. If you do those activities, I promise you a little souvenir.
As you can see on page 15 of your hymnal, St Anthony has once given a sermon and he talks about Jesus like this:
“The humanity of Christ is like the grape because it was crushed in the winepress of the Cross so that his blood flowed over the whole earth…. How great is his love!”
St Anthony talks about the humanity of Christ. HUMANITY is the human quality. We all know Jesus is God but he is human at the same time. God loves us so much that Jesus has become human to live among us. The interesting thing is that St Anthony says that Christ’s humanity is like the fruit, grapes. When you think of grapes, you may think of wine that is made from grapes. Now why would St Anthony use grapes as a way to describe Christ’s humanity? Being God, Christ would not have body or blood, unless he first becomes human. You see Christ died on the cross for us. When he died, his blood flowed from his body. Blood is a red liquid, very much like grape juice or red wine, which is made from grapes.
To make wine from grapes, one has to step on grapes to get the juice. We put grapes in the winepress first. You can see a little picture of a winepress on page 15 of your hymnal. That’s why St Anthony talks about the cross as a winepress. Grapes are crushed, squeezed in the winepress to make juice that makes wine; similarly it was on the cross that so his blood flowed.
Let’s learn a new song: The hymn we are going to sing today is Glory be to Jesus. There are several words, which I would like to go over with you:
Bitter: We say something is bitter when it has an unpleasantly sharp taste. We describe an experience to be bitter when it causes deep pain or anger. For example: Susan puts sugar into her coffee. Without sugar, black coffee is too bitter for her. // Calvin’s mother died recently and it was a bitter experience for him.
Pour: We pour a liquid when we make a liquid flow from or into a container. For example, Susan puts some sugar into her coffee first, then she pours milk as well. // We say: “Oh, it is pouring rain” when it rains so hard that it feels like water is being poured from the sky.
Sacred. We say something is sacred when we want to say it is holy. You may remember the phrase: The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Vein. A vein is a tube in the body that carries blood. For example, Last week, Veronica went to Red Cross to donate blood and the nurse put a needle in her vein to draw the blood out.
Let’s look at the first verse of the hymn Glory be to Jesus. Please repeat after Mr McKenzie.
1. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains / Poured for me the life-blood from His sacred veins!
Can you write down the word that rhymes with pains? (Veins)
Let’s turn to page 7 and learn this new song. Please now turn back to page 15 and say the prayer together.
(Everybody together) In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O Lord Jesus, in bitter pains You have poured out your Most Holy Blood to save all humanity. Your blood flowed over the whole earth as a result of your holy love for us.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
Please help us to remain united with Your love.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
We ask you to help those who have to face bitter pains since you have gone through bitter pains on the cross.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
Please help them to experience the sweetness of your love.
All: We thank you for your love that brings us new life.
We ask this for You are God and King for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
St Joseph
All: Pray for us.
St Francis
All: Pray for us.
Thank you. In the Student Learning Zone on your First Class, you will see a transcript – that is the text – of all the morning prayers in English. There are some extra activities for you to do. If you do those activities, I promise you a little souvenir.
Friday Morning Prayer for 26 January 2007: The Most Precious Blood of Jesus
Tongue warmer: Introducing Fr Roberto to everyone and guessing how tall Fr Roberto is and where he is from.
Good morning everyone! I am very pleased to introduce one of our Franciscan brothers to you. He is Fr Roberto and you may have guessed it correctly about his nationality. Fr Roberto is Italian, and the name Roberto is the Italian form of Robert. Just like Maria is another form of Mary. Fr Roberto will be with us from time to time, mostly on Fridays, our English Speaking Days and you can talk to him in English just about anything. So, on behalf of everyone here at St Joseph’s, a very a warm welcome to you, Fr Roberto.
You were guessing how tall he is. Let him tell you the answer.
[1.97m]
Thank you. That's pretty impressive.
Let’s start today’s morning prayer with a song that we sang last time. Please turn to page 7 of your hymnal. Let’s sing verse 1 altogether. [SING] Let’s learn the second verse. Please repeat after me. Please sing after me. [HYMN] Let’s turn back to page 19.
Please write down the word in verse two that rhymes with find. Five seconds. Yes, it’s kind. Look up and see on the screen are words that also rhyme with find: blind, hind, mind, rind. But how about this word? WIND. Does it rhyme with FIND? Well, it can rhyme! Because there are two ways to pronounce the word WIND. It is wind, which does not rhyme with the word FIND meaning the moving air, as a noun, but as a verb, it is wind, rhyming with the words such FIND and BLIND.. E.g. The river winds through the valley means There are many curves and bends in the river that runs through the valley.
Now back to our hymn. Please take a look at the line: Grace and life eternal in that blood I find. In poetry we sometimes mix the word order, we do not follow the normal word order so we can make words rhyme at the end. The meaning of the verse Grace and life eternal in that blood I find means I find grace and eternal life in that blood. That blood of course refers to the blood of Jesus. If you still remember, that’s what we talked about last Friday. In the Bible, there is a story about how Jesus’ blood came out from his body. Let’s have Mr Mckenzie read it for us.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St John.
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear…Can you tell what does the word his refer to? Yes, it refers to the side of Jesus, as you can tell from the pictures. The soldier and his spear [SPEAR] can be seen in the picture at the bottom. The picture above has an angel using a cup to collect the blood that came out from Jesus. Why would Jesus die on the cross? Because he loves us no matter how much people do not love him. People do not like him, even to the point of putting him to death. That’s why we say his compassion is infinitely kind. Having compassion is being kind. But now, the author of this song said it is not just kind compassion but infinitely kind compassion.
Can you try to match the new words for today with the words and phrases on the right hand side?
I will give you 15 seconds. Here are the answers:
Eternal = Lasting forever: E.g. Jesus gives us eternal life, a life that is everlasting.
Blest = Blessed: My grandfather said that he has been very blessed all his life: although he is not very rich, he always enjoys good health and a happy family.
Compassion = A strong feeling of sadness for the bad luck of others: My compassion goes to Jane because her mother dies recently.
Infinitely = Very much: African countries owe a lot of money, almost an infinite amount. There is no end. Faced with such an infinitely large amount of debt, African countries are very poor.
Pierce = To make a hole: Joseph went to Red Cross to donate blood and the nurse used a needle to pierce through his skin in order to draw blood from his vein.
Mercy = Kindness: Although Peter failed in his exam, his teacher was merciful to him and gave him another chance to retake the exam.
Finally, let’s say the prayer at the bottom of page 19 together. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Lord Jesus, when the soldier pierced Your side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. In Your Most Holy blood, we find grace and eternal life.
For Your infinitely kind compassion, we give You thanks. Please help us to be thankful always for Your love and teach us to be as loving as You are to us.
We ask this for You are God and King for ever and ever. Amen.
St Joseph, Pray for us. St Francis, Pray for us.
Good morning everyone! I am very pleased to introduce one of our Franciscan brothers to you. He is Fr Roberto and you may have guessed it correctly about his nationality. Fr Roberto is Italian, and the name Roberto is the Italian form of Robert. Just like Maria is another form of Mary. Fr Roberto will be with us from time to time, mostly on Fridays, our English Speaking Days and you can talk to him in English just about anything. So, on behalf of everyone here at St Joseph’s, a very a warm welcome to you, Fr Roberto.
You were guessing how tall he is. Let him tell you the answer.
[1.97m]
Thank you. That's pretty impressive.
Let’s start today’s morning prayer with a song that we sang last time. Please turn to page 7 of your hymnal. Let’s sing verse 1 altogether. [SING] Let’s learn the second verse. Please repeat after me. Please sing after me. [HYMN] Let’s turn back to page 19.
Please write down the word in verse two that rhymes with find. Five seconds. Yes, it’s kind. Look up and see on the screen are words that also rhyme with find: blind, hind, mind, rind. But how about this word? WIND. Does it rhyme with FIND? Well, it can rhyme! Because there are two ways to pronounce the word WIND. It is wind, which does not rhyme with the word FIND meaning the moving air, as a noun, but as a verb, it is wind, rhyming with the words such FIND and BLIND.. E.g. The river winds through the valley means There are many curves and bends in the river that runs through the valley.
Now back to our hymn. Please take a look at the line: Grace and life eternal in that blood I find. In poetry we sometimes mix the word order, we do not follow the normal word order so we can make words rhyme at the end. The meaning of the verse Grace and life eternal in that blood I find means I find grace and eternal life in that blood. That blood of course refers to the blood of Jesus. If you still remember, that’s what we talked about last Friday. In the Bible, there is a story about how Jesus’ blood came out from his body. Let’s have Mr Mckenzie read it for us.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St John.
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear…Can you tell what does the word his refer to? Yes, it refers to the side of Jesus, as you can tell from the pictures. The soldier and his spear [SPEAR] can be seen in the picture at the bottom. The picture above has an angel using a cup to collect the blood that came out from Jesus. Why would Jesus die on the cross? Because he loves us no matter how much people do not love him. People do not like him, even to the point of putting him to death. That’s why we say his compassion is infinitely kind. Having compassion is being kind. But now, the author of this song said it is not just kind compassion but infinitely kind compassion.
Can you try to match the new words for today with the words and phrases on the right hand side?
I will give you 15 seconds. Here are the answers:
Eternal = Lasting forever: E.g. Jesus gives us eternal life, a life that is everlasting.
Blest = Blessed: My grandfather said that he has been very blessed all his life: although he is not very rich, he always enjoys good health and a happy family.
Compassion = A strong feeling of sadness for the bad luck of others: My compassion goes to Jane because her mother dies recently.
Infinitely = Very much: African countries owe a lot of money, almost an infinite amount. There is no end. Faced with such an infinitely large amount of debt, African countries are very poor.
Pierce = To make a hole: Joseph went to Red Cross to donate blood and the nurse used a needle to pierce through his skin in order to draw blood from his vein.
Mercy = Kindness: Although Peter failed in his exam, his teacher was merciful to him and gave him another chance to retake the exam.
Finally, let’s say the prayer at the bottom of page 19 together. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Lord Jesus, when the soldier pierced Your side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. In Your Most Holy blood, we find grace and eternal life.
For Your infinitely kind compassion, we give You thanks. Please help us to be thankful always for Your love and teach us to be as loving as You are to us.
We ask this for You are God and King for ever and ever. Amen.
St Joseph, Pray for us. St Francis, Pray for us.
Friday Morning Prayer for 15 December 2006: 10 more days till Christmas
Good Morning! Welcome to another Friday Morning Prayer and today is the last Friday Morning Prayer of December. You may remember that we are now in the time of Advent (the four weeks before Christmas), and actually there are only 10 more days left till Christmas. First, I would like all of you to listen to a passage from the Bible. You can look at page _ of the hymnbook.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew: Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house. So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him. The Gospel of the Lord. [All: ]Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know who the Son of Man is? Jesus is the Son of God but he calls himself the Son of Man as a sign of being humble. There is a 19th Century saint in France by the name of St Therese and she has made a statement like this. It is printed on page _ of the hymnbook.
"It's said in the Gospel that God will come like a Thief. He will come to steal me away very gently. Oh, how I'd love to aid the Thief!... I'm not afraid of the Thief. I see him in the distance, and I take good care not to call out: 'Help! Thief!' On the contrary, I call to him, saying: 'Over here, over here!"'
Do you recognize this picture of St Therese? You may have seen it in the lobby just outside the entrance to the school hall, above the computers at the Ground Floor IT Gallery. In the Bible, Jesus asks us to be ready just like someone to take caution, to take care, not to let the thief break into the house. Advent is the time to prepare for Christmas. It is not just a time make preparations for Christmas parties but it is also a time to be ready for Jesus’ coming. Jesus came to humankind at the first Christmas 2000 years ago; Christmas is coming again in 10 days time; and one day, Jesus will come back to us.
Jesus says we have to be ready as if a thief would come at an unexpected time. We know Jesus is not a thief. But Jesus will come at a time that we do not know, very much like a thief. We call this kind of writing a metaphor. A metaphor is a word or a phrase, which describes something by referring to something else that has similar characteristics. For example: 'The city is a jungle' is a metaphor. We know the city is NOT a jungle, not a forest, without animals, but the city is like a jungle because the jungle is full of excitement just like the city is. So to say 'The city is a jungle' is a metaphor.
St Therese says: Jesus will come to steal me away. She is playing with the metaphor of the thief. Jesus says we have to make ourselves ready because we do not know when the thief would come. The original metaphor is using the idea that both Jesus and the thief would come at an unexpected time. But St Therese says Jesus is a thief because Jesus will come to steal me away. So the metaphor is using the idea that Jesus and the thief would come to steal things. The thief would steal valuables from our house just like Jesus would steal us because we are valuable in his eyes too.
So how shall we get ready? If we know a thief is coming, we would not sleep and stay awake. The words associated with waiting are being alert and watchful. [alert] [watchful] Being alert and watchful is being quick to see, understand and act. For example: I'm not feeling very alert today - not enough sleep last night! I didn’t see the teacher coming into the classroom. If a driver is not watchful, traffic accidents may happen. So by being alert and watchful would be a way to prepare for Christ’s coming. One way to be alert and watchful is to know what our goals in life are. Another way to be alert and watchful is to pray always.
Let’s pray now by using the prayer at the bottom of page _ of the hymnbook. Please say the parts in bold letters.
It is time for us to wake from our sleep: the day of our salvation is near.
All: Lord, may your kingdom come!
Prepare us for the coming of your Word by opening our hearts to receive him. R.
Throw down the walls of hatred between nations, clear the way for those who work for peace. R.
Lord, keep us ever alert and watchful as we await the coming of your Son, so that, faithful to his teaching, we may go to meet our Saviour. We make our prayer through our Lord. Amen.
To end our prayer, let’s sing O Come, Divine Messiah. Just to go over some words which you may know already: Divine (holy), triumph (victory), flee away (go away). And I would also ask you to pay attention to the rhyming of the words: waits the day and flee away.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew: Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house. So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him. The Gospel of the Lord. [All: ]Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know who the Son of Man is? Jesus is the Son of God but he calls himself the Son of Man as a sign of being humble. There is a 19th Century saint in France by the name of St Therese and she has made a statement like this. It is printed on page _ of the hymnbook.
"It's said in the Gospel that God will come like a Thief. He will come to steal me away very gently. Oh, how I'd love to aid the Thief!... I'm not afraid of the Thief. I see him in the distance, and I take good care not to call out: 'Help! Thief!' On the contrary, I call to him, saying: 'Over here, over here!"'
Do you recognize this picture of St Therese? You may have seen it in the lobby just outside the entrance to the school hall, above the computers at the Ground Floor IT Gallery. In the Bible, Jesus asks us to be ready just like someone to take caution, to take care, not to let the thief break into the house. Advent is the time to prepare for Christmas. It is not just a time make preparations for Christmas parties but it is also a time to be ready for Jesus’ coming. Jesus came to humankind at the first Christmas 2000 years ago; Christmas is coming again in 10 days time; and one day, Jesus will come back to us.
Jesus says we have to be ready as if a thief would come at an unexpected time. We know Jesus is not a thief. But Jesus will come at a time that we do not know, very much like a thief. We call this kind of writing a metaphor. A metaphor is a word or a phrase, which describes something by referring to something else that has similar characteristics. For example: 'The city is a jungle' is a metaphor. We know the city is NOT a jungle, not a forest, without animals, but the city is like a jungle because the jungle is full of excitement just like the city is. So to say 'The city is a jungle' is a metaphor.
St Therese says: Jesus will come to steal me away. She is playing with the metaphor of the thief. Jesus says we have to make ourselves ready because we do not know when the thief would come. The original metaphor is using the idea that both Jesus and the thief would come at an unexpected time. But St Therese says Jesus is a thief because Jesus will come to steal me away. So the metaphor is using the idea that Jesus and the thief would come to steal things. The thief would steal valuables from our house just like Jesus would steal us because we are valuable in his eyes too.
So how shall we get ready? If we know a thief is coming, we would not sleep and stay awake. The words associated with waiting are being alert and watchful. [alert] [watchful] Being alert and watchful is being quick to see, understand and act. For example: I'm not feeling very alert today - not enough sleep last night! I didn’t see the teacher coming into the classroom. If a driver is not watchful, traffic accidents may happen. So by being alert and watchful would be a way to prepare for Christ’s coming. One way to be alert and watchful is to know what our goals in life are. Another way to be alert and watchful is to pray always.
Let’s pray now by using the prayer at the bottom of page _ of the hymnbook. Please say the parts in bold letters.
It is time for us to wake from our sleep: the day of our salvation is near.
All: Lord, may your kingdom come!
Prepare us for the coming of your Word by opening our hearts to receive him. R.
Throw down the walls of hatred between nations, clear the way for those who work for peace. R.
Lord, keep us ever alert and watchful as we await the coming of your Son, so that, faithful to his teaching, we may go to meet our Saviour. We make our prayer through our Lord. Amen.
To end our prayer, let’s sing O Come, Divine Messiah. Just to go over some words which you may know already: Divine (holy), triumph (victory), flee away (go away). And I would also ask you to pay attention to the rhyming of the words: waits the day and flee away.
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