Archive for September, 2011
堅持走下去–Insist On Going Down
Friday, September 30th, 2011Chooka Parker…Wow!
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011Words From The Pastor – Rev. Paul Huang
Friday, September 23rd, 2011All things means everything, including the good and the bad, specially the suffering experienced by believers. “For the good” refers to things that are beneficial from God’s perspective. Many years ago, the codfish business had become a lucrative/prosperous trade in the northeastern part of the US. But there was a transport problem. After being frozen, the codfish would lose their freshness. So, the businessmen stored the codfish in giant aquariums filled with fresh seawater in an effort to maintain the codfish’s freshness. However they were terribly disappointed as the problem even worsened. Because the codfish were constrained in their movements inside the aquariums, they became soft and lethargic, losing their flavor just the same. One day, someone decided to store some catfish together with the codfish inside the aquariums. Now, the catfish and the codfish were mortal enemies. So, when they were being transported to the ports all over the US, the codfish had to remain alert and mobile in order to guard against the catfish. Surprisingly when the aquariums reached their destinations, the codfish were as fresh as when they were still in the Northeastern coast. Like the codfish, some of our difficulties may have been purposely placed in our lives. Perhaps they are there to challenge , strengthen and refine us to maintain our freshness and vigor in order to achieve continual growth. There are times , however, when we feel that what has been placed in our aquarium is a great white shark instead of a catfish. But, our difficulties may precisely be God’s tools in stimulating and molding us. Trials are the tests of our faith, character and endurance. Therefore, we should not treat them negatively by grumbling and complaining to God as to why He allowed these things to happen to us. On the other hand, we should stand firm by relying on the Lord, and fight the good fight of faith. Our hardship may be God’s way of forging and tempering our determination to enhance our growth. Without overcoming air resistance and drag, an eagle cannot soar through the skies. Without gravity, we cannot walk normally on the surface of the earth. Therefore, resistance and gravity can help us in attaining benefits.
The Story Behind The Picture Of The Praying Hands…
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011Many of you would have seen the picture of “The Praying Hands”, which is present in many Christian homes, but would almost certainly not have heard the moving story behind this popular picture. Here is the story….
The Story Behind The Picture Of The Praying Hands
Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children.Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.
Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the elder children, Albrecht and Albert, had a dream.
They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy.
After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact.
They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy.
Then, when that brother whowon the toss completed his studies, in four years,
he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.
They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.
Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation.
Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming.
After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition.
His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn.
Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”
All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No ..no …no ..no.”
Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg .
It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands!
The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush.
No, brother …for me it is too late.”
More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works.
More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.
One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward.
He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,“ but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”
The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look.
Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one – no one – – ever makes it alone!
Chicago’s Incredible Floating Rosary
Monday, September 19th, 2011Chicago’s Incredible Floating Rosary
Balloon Rosary Rises Above Chicago Skyline
by Tim Drake Monday, August 15, 2011 9:35 AM Comments (4)
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The 75-foot balloon Rosary rises skyward with the Trump Tower in the background
One has to be filled with joy when you see some of the inspiring public demonstrations of faith taking place in Chicago, largely due to youth and leaders at St. John Cantius parish.
On Friday, August 12, a giant 75-foot floating Rosary rose skyward above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue Bridge.
The Rosary was the craft of 20 imaginative elementary-school-aged girls and their counselors participating in a summer camp at a Chicago Catholic parish. The girls prayed the Rosary in front of a Washington Avenue abortion business. They then carried the Rosary, cross-first, through downtown Chicago’s peak traffic to the honks and cheers of onlookers.
A six-foot-gold cross hanging from the Rosary sparkled in the sunlight as it ascended between the Tribune tower and the Wrigley building. The Rosary of helium-filled yellow balloons bearing the word LIFE then floated down Michigan Avenue over the Hancock Tower.
“It was the prettiest rosary I have ever seen. I liked how it would float up and sit and then float up and sit. It looked pretty against the buildings and the sky,” said one participant.
The LIFE balloon Rosary was the latest in a series of public demonstrations, prayer vigils, and flash mobs utilizing the yellow balloons across the U.S.
Vatican Humour
Thursday, September 15th, 2011
‘Excuse me, Your Holiness,’ says the driver, ‘Would you please take your seat so we can leave?’
‘Well, to tell you the truth,’ says the Pope, ‘they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I’d really like to drive today.’
‘I’m sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I’d lose my job! What if something should happen?’ protests the driver, wishing he’d never gone to work that morning..
‘Who’s going to tell?’ says the Pope with a smile.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205 kms.. (Remember, the Pope is German..)
‘Please slow down, Your Holiness!’ pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
‘Oh, dear God, I’m going to lose my license — and my job!’ moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.
‘I need to talk to the Chief,’ he says to the dispatcher.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he’s stopped a limo going 155 kph.
‘So bust him,’ says the Chief.
‘I don’t think we want to do that, he’s really important,’ said the cop.
The Chief exclaimed,’ All the more reason!’
‘No, I mean really important,’ said the cop with a bit of persistence.
The Chief then asked, ‘Who do you have there, the mayor?’
Cop: ‘Bigger.’
Chief: ‘ A senator?’
Cop: ‘Bigger.’
Chief: ‘The Prime Minister?’
Cop: ‘Bigger.’
‘Well,’ said the Chief, ‘who is it?’
Cop: ‘I think it’s God!’
The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, ‘What makes you think it’s God?’
Cop: ‘His chauffeur is the Pope!’
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some humour out of life,
And pass it on to other folk.
Girl On Piano
Monday, September 12th, 2011對生活的逮議
Friday, September 9th, 2011真理是普世性和最打動人心的,唯一的真理都是出自聖言,所以聖經至今仍是位於世界最暢銷的書的首位!
峰之旅祈禱會
Thursday, September 8th, 2011飛需要翅膀不是雙臂
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011人生無難事,只要願意去嘗試,你有夢想嗎?你願意嗎?
Conversation between Pencil & Eraser
Saturday, September 3rd, 2011Eraser: For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.
Pencil: I’m sorry cos you get hurt bcos of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you’re always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.
Eraser: That’s true. But I don’t really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I’ll be gone and you’ll replace me with a new one, I’m actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad. 🙂
This is for all parents out there…..