From a religious sister's point of view

Sr Rosa Dabhi
(with a joyful smile)

Today at the mass, I asked a sister from the Carmelite missionaries, Sr Rosa Dabhi, to share her reflection about the Gospel today. She didn’t approach the lectern but stayed where she sits, and began her sharing. She emphasized on the meaning of Jesus’ commanding the seventy-two disciples not to bring purse, sandals, etc., that it is not about not bringing things that Jesus wants to stress but  more than anything to bring with them Jesus’ missionary spirit, primarily to proclaim the kingdom of God. She also added that our lives as religious should always be a source of that missionary spirit of Jesus, bring the kingdom of God to all we encounter. Our vow of poverty is not so much of having more or less but it is our willingness to share what we have; the vow of chastity is not so much about getting married or staying single but it is more of our ability to accept others as our family. Sr Rosa teaches at the Dominican International School Taipei of the Religious Missionaries of St. Dominic, and her work both as  a missionary sister and as a teacher becomes a vessel to the witnessing of faith and life. 

選擇

因為…

有許多人還在問我為甚麼當神父. 不曉得他們是否懷疑我有沒有資格當神父或是他們只有為我有更美好的幸福. 當然我也有許多話答覆他們, 比如說因為我被天主召喚, 我要為別人服務等, 但我想重點就是因為我做一個決定: 我願意當神父!

生命中最大的挑戰是作出選擇. 這是不容易的, 但我們必須這樣做. 今天我們紀念聖金安德司鐸及同班殉道. 他們做出一個決定, 願意捨棄自己的性命來跟隨耶穌. 我覺得我們無論在做小事或大事,重點是在於我們做出一個抉擇, 是我要這樣作為主耶穌,為教會,為我的鄰人服務.

每天我們都在面對許多選擇, 卻我們不得不選. 當我們不知道選哪個是最美好,最安全時, 抉擇必須在信仰光照之下去做才會有充滿意義與價值.

(picture c/o www.ingramsonline.com)

Prayer of His Holiness Benedict XVI

Act of Entrustment and Consecration of Priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

Immaculate Mother, in this place of grace,

Called together by the love of your Son Jesus the Eternal High Priests,

we, sons in the Son and his priests,

consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart,

in order to carry out faithfully the Father’s Will.

 

We are mindful that, without Jesus,

we can do nothing good (cf. Jn 15:5)

and that only through him, with him and in him,

will we be instruments of salvation for the world.

Bride of the Holy Spirit,

obtain for us the inestimable gift of transformation in Christ.

Through the same power of the Spirit that overshadowed you,

making you the Mother of the Savior,

help us to bring Christ your Son to birth in ourselves too.

May the Church be thus renewed by priests who are holy,

priests transfigured by the grace of him who makes all things new.

 

Mother of Mercy,

it was your Son Jesus who called us to become like him:

light of the world and salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14)

 

Help us,

through your powerful intercession,

never to fall short of this sublime vocation, nor to give way to our selfishness,

to the allurements of the world and to the wiles of the Evil One.

 

Preserve us with your purity,

guards us with your humility and enfold us with your maternal love

that is reflected in so many souls consecrated to you,

who have become for us true spiritual mothers.

 

Mother of the Church,

we priests want to be pastors who do not feed themselves

but rather give themselves to God for their brethren,

finding their happiness in this.

Not only with words, but with our lives,

we want to repeat humbly, day after day,

Our “here I am”.

Guided by you,

we want to be Apostles of Divine Mercy,

glad to celebrate every day the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar

and to offer to those who request it

the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Advocate and Mediatrix of grace,

you who are fully immersed in the one universal mediation of Christ,

invoke upon us, from God, a heart completely renewed

that loves God with all its strength and serves mankind as you did.

 

Repeat to the Lord your efficacious word:

“They have no wine” (Jn 2:3),

so that the Father and the Son will send upon us a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Full of wonder and gratitude at your continuing presence in our midst,

in the name of all priests I too want to cry out:

“Why is this granted me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).

Our Mother for all time,

do not tire of “visiting us”, consoling us, sustaining us.

Come to our aid and deliver us from every danger that threatens us.

With this act of entrustment and consecration,

we wish to welcome you more deeply, more radically,

forever and totally into our human and priestly lives.

 

Let your presence cause new blossoms to burst forth

in the desert of our loneliness,

let it cause the sun to shine on our darkness,

let it restore calm after the tempest,

so that all mankind shall the see the salvation of the Lord,

who has the name and the face of Jesus,

who is reflected in our hearts, forever united to yours!

Amen!

(Church of the Most Holy Trinity – Fatima, Wednesday, 12 May 2010)