You are so blessed

If you woke up this morning, with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of the battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplave, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, especially in Hong Kong.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are so blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed then over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.

Going Substack

I decided to create a Substack page for the purpose of sharing the news related to the sacred traditions of the Catholic Church with my own personal commentary.

This blog “Ceremoniere’s Journal” will be remain as my personal blog to share my daily life as a Catholic Liturgical Master of Ceremonies, as well as sharing some articles related to spiritual life.

Don’t forget to subscribe to stay updated for my articles on Substack!

Here’s my Substack page: https://chavezpoon.substack.com/

A Butterfly

A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. Something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shrivelled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are God`s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.

If God allowed us to go throughout our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

Not only that, we could never fly.

Mozart's Requiem in Dom zu Salzburg

Few days ago the Archdiocese of Salzburg offers the Solemn Requiem Mass in Dom zu Salzburg for their Auxiliary Bishop, Andreas Laun, who died recently, may his soul rest in peace.

There's something inside the Mass which is caught my attention, which is the Mozart's Requiem, is sung inside the Mass. Which is surprising, because nowadays the Mozart's Requiem is rarely sung inside a Requiem Mass, as I know the Church of St. John Cantius in Chicago USA still sung the Mozart's Requiem in their annual All Souls Day Solemn Requiem Mass.

I screenshot a section of the Requiem Mass, which is the "Dies Irae", here's the video:

年青人的「追星」文化

今時今日，有好多「後生仔」都有追星嘅習慣，而筆者亦不例外，因為筆者亦都有追星，筆者近期觀察到，係香港地，後生女仔大部份係追Mirror同Error，而後生男仔 (包括筆者本人) 係追近年爆紅的女團Collar。

2022年，筆者在旺角街道上接受網媒的街訪 (訪問片段)，佢哋有一條問題就係問以前和依家啲追星熱潮有乜嘢分別？其實筆者覺得以前嘅最細係的而且確比較上「癲」，打個例子，喺黃家駒出殯嗰一日，有好多Fans好似發晒癲咁衝去靈車嗰度為咗送別佢哋嘅偶像，雖然依家嘅追星熱潮就比較上「收斂咗」少少，只不過有少部份的瘋狂Fans尤其係Mirror嘅Fans會有時私追佢哋嘅偶像。

筆者曾經都聽過，有一位女仔為咗想見佢心目中嘅偶像，而走去跳樓危站，從而博取佢偶像嘅留意，筆者聽完之後心諗，為咗想見偶像，識唔識做埋呢啲咁戇居嘅嘢？

所以話，追星還追星，總之唔好追到「整壞咗你自己個腦」就得啦。

散步的啟示

天主給我一個任務，叫我牽一只蝸牛去散步。

我不能走得太快，蝸牛已經盡力爬，每次總是挪那麼一點點。

我催牠，我唬牠，我責備它，蝸牛用抱歉的眼光看著我，仿佛說：「人家已經盡了全力！」我拉它，我扯，我甚至想踢它，蝸牛受了傷，它流著汗，喘著氣，往前爬。

真奇怪，為什麼天主叫我牽一只蝸牛去散步？

「主啊！為什麼？」 天上一片安靜。

「唉！也許上主去了抓蝸牛！」好吧！鬆手吧！反正天主不管了，我還管什麼？任蝸牛往前爬，我在後面生悶氣。

咦？我聞到花香，原來這邊有個花園。我感到微風吹來，原來夜里的風這麼溫柔。

慢著！我聽到鳥聲，我聽到蟲嗚，我看到滿天的星斗多亮麗。

咦？以前怎麼沒有這些體會？我忽然想起來，莫非是我弄錯了！原來天主叫蝸牛牽我去散步。

你找到你的蝸牛了嗎？偶爾出去散散步吧！

變老與成長

開學第一天，教授自我介紹後，要每位同學主動去結交一位新朋友。當我站起來環視四週時，有人輕輕拍我的肩膀。我轉過頭，看見一位滿臉縐紋，個子矮小的老婦人對著我微笑，那笑容光亮璀燦。

她說：「嗨！帥哥，我叫蘿絲，今年87歲。我可以抱你一下嗎？」

我笑起來，熱切的答道：「當然可以」，她果真緊緊地將我抱個滿懷。

我開玩笑的問她：「你年紀這麼小，怎麼就來上大學了？」

她也調皮的回答道：「我準備來這釣個金龜婿，生幾個孩子，然後退休去雲遊四海。」

「此話當真？」我明知故問。 我很好奇，到底是何動機，促使她年屆古稀，還來上大學。

她告訴我說：「我一直夢想要受大學教育，如今終於得償宿願。」

下課後，我們散步到學生聯合大樓，兩人分享了巧克力奶昔。從此我們成了摯友。

往後三個月的每一天，我們總是一起離開教室，天南地北的聊個沒完。她像一部「時光機器」，將智慧和經驗與我分享，而我總是聽得津津有味。

一學年下來，蘿絲成了學校'鼎鼎大名的人物。 不論走到那裡，她總能輕易的結交到新朋友。 她經常打扮得漂漂亮亮的，陶醉在同學們對她的關注之中。

學期結束時，蘿絲應邀到我們為足球隊舉辦的晚宴中演講。 我永難忘懷當晚她賜予我們的珍貴禮物。

主持人介紹她給聽眾之後，她碎步走向講台，正當要開始演講時，她手中的講稿不慎掉落地上。 有幾秒鐘時間她顯得有點懊惱和靦腆，不過立刻就幽默的對著麥克風淡淡的說：「抱歉，我最近老喜歡掉東西，剛剛我本想喝杯啤酒壯膽，卻喝了威士忌，沒想到那玩意兒簡直要我的命。看來我是記不得事先準備的東西了，那我就講最熟悉的事情吧。」

在大家的笑聲中，她清了一下喉嚨，然後開始說：「 我們不是因為年老而停止玩樂，我們是因停止玩樂才會變老。只有一種秘訣能 使人青春永駐，快樂成功。就是你們必須經常笑口常開，幽默風趣；你們必須時時懷抱夢想。當你們失去夢想時，你們就形同死亡。我們的週圍有許多人像似行屍走肉，卻不自覺。」

「變老和長大之間有很大的差別。任何人都會變老，但不一定每個人都會長大。長大的意思是，你必須不斷在蛻變中找尋成長的機會而善加利用。要活得無怨無悔：上了年紀的人，通常不會因做過的事後悔；卻常只有心懷悔恨的人，會恐懼死亡。因在年輕時，未曾去做自己想做的事而遺憾。」

那年底，蘿絲終於完成她的大學學業。

畢業後一星期，她在睡夢中安祥去逝。

超過2千名同學參加她的葬禮。

我們聚在一起，向這位以身教教導我們的偉大女性致敬。

磨難生忍耐，忍耐生老練，

老練生望德，望德不叫人蒙羞，

因為天主的愛，藉著所賜與我們的聖神，已傾注在我們心中了。

-- 羅馬書 5:3-5

My Facebook friends, please protect me just as I protect you!

Someone just sends you a friend request on Facebook. Confirm? or Decline?

On Facebook. I often receive some friend requests from other people I do not immediately recall. For those who know me, I am not willing to confirm the request blindly. I worry that once I connect with a stranger, the stranger will use my connections to connect with my friends. If my friends are careless in accepting invitations, my blind confirmation will put my friend in jeopardy.

Therefore, if I do not recall the person immediately, I often look at their profile. If the profile brings some memory or tells some connection I have with the person in real life, a confirmation will be issued.

The problem is some people do not show much on their profile. A decline is almost immediate.

At other times, the profile tells something but is not enough for me to decide. In this case, I often message the person:

Good day, xxx. Received your Facebook friend invitation. Glad but will need some basic information before I can accept your invitation. Do you mind giving me a brief self-introduction?

If a self-introduction is not received in a week, the invitation is deleted.

My dear Facebook friends, I hope you will adopt a similar strategy to protect me just as I do for you. Safe Facebooking!

Martin Luther is in Hell

This is a true story of a Religious Nun and St. Pio of Pietrelcina (aka Padre Pio) who saw Martin Luther in Hell.

Sister Clotilde Micheli (1849-1911), also known as Sister Maria Serafina of the Sacred Heart, received a couple of visions during her life, one of them is on November 10th, 1883.

While in Germany, in a small village, she was looking for a Church to do her personal prayer, then she found one, and it so happened to be a Lutheran Protestant Church. Her Guardian Angel came to her and said:

Arise, for this is a Protestant Church. I want to make you see the place where Martin Luther was condemned and the pain he suffered as a punishment for his pride.

 At that moment, she saw Martin Luther in the deepest place in Hell. He was on his knees surrounded by a substantial number of devils with a hammer driving large iron nails into his skull. He was consigned to the fires of Hell for starting the Protestant rebellion.

Then Padre Pio also said that Martin Luther is in Hell and Christians today who follow him will meet the same end and those who do not submit themself to the Pope and the teachings of the Catholic Church are also going to Hell.

Padre Pio also said that Martin Luther was a great heretic, and his fate was horrific and terrifying.

The Trial

After living a "decent" life my time on Earth came to an end. The first thing I remembered is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a court house. The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table.

As I looked around I saw the "prosecutor," he was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me, he definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen. I sat down and looked to my left and there sat my lawyer, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed very familiar to me.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the judge in full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as he moved across the room and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. As he took his seat behind the bench he said "Let us begin."

The prosecutor rose and said "My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell." He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole and in the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other terrible perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke the further down in my seat I sank. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at my representative who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all. I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least equal out part of the harm I've done?

Satan finished with a fury and said "This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.

When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he might approach the bench. The judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned him to come forward. As he got up and started walking I was able to see him now in his full splendor and majesty.

Now I realized why he seemed so familiar, this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the bench and softly said to the judge "Hi Dad" and then he turned to address the court. "Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned, won't deny any of these allegations. And yes the wages of sins is death and this man deserves to be punished".

Jesus took a deep breath and turned to his Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed "However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and he has accepted me as his Savior, so he is mine."

My Lord continued with "His name is written in the book of life and no one can snatch him from me. Satan still does not understand yet, this man is not to be given justice but rather mercy." As Jesus sat down, he quietly paused, looked at his Father and replied "There is nothing else that needs to be done, I've done it all".

The Judge lifted his mighty hand and slammed the gavel down and the following words bellowed from his lips "This man is free, the penalty for him has already been paid in full, case dismissed."

As my Lord led me away I could hear Satan ranting and raving "I won't give up, I'll win the next one." I asked Jesus as he gave me my instructions where to go next, "Have you ever lost a case?" Christ lovingly smiled and said, "Everyone that has come to me and asked me to represent them has received the same verdict as you...Paid in Full."

In this world of terrible hurt, pain, suffering, and extreme self centered focus to the exclusion of everyone and everything else there are times when logic, thought, discussion, etc., do nothing. It is in these times I have learned that I have only one place to turn to ease the pain.

為什麼天主教徒必須反對同性婚姻？

近年，同性婚姻的議題開始在香港有發跡的跡象，例如在2021年 ViuTV 推出了他們自家製的 BL（Boys’ Love）劇集「大叔的愛」，當初筆者並不願意觀看這套劇集，因為內容涉及同性戀議題，但最後筆者當此劇集為搞笑劇集，所以先至會觀看一兩集。

筆者身為一位天主教徒，反對同性婚姻是對聖事的捍衛。

同性戀議題是一直存在，而且不能逃避。天主教在整個傳統教導裡一直有清晰的思路 – 同性戀性行為是大罪（見十誡第六誡 – 毋行邪淫），然而在世界各地卻不斷出現神職人員為同性伴侶主持結婚的現象，尤其在改革派當中。

天主教會一直堅守吾主耶穌親賜的七項權柄，當中便包括婚姻聖事。婚姻聖事的核心便是夫妻結合、繁衍後代，這也是天主教眼中婚姻的目的 – 透過可見的男女交合和繁衍，反映無形的天主的愛，也是象徵整個教會作為基督的新娘「許配」給作為新郎的基督。這是屬於一種奧蹟，也是聖事層面。既然是聖事，亦即婚姻與彌撒、告解等一樣，都是「必信必遵」，而且是天主施恩的媒介，不容更改。彌撒不能改由平信徒主持，告解不能改為由修女赦罪，同樣，婚姻不能改為容許同性的結合。而作為天主教徒，聖事是教會最尊崇的敬禮，是天主給整個教會的禮物，是透過可見的敬禮來走向天主，正如耶穌基督降生成人，取了人的肉驅，成為天主可見的血肉肖像。聖事也是這般道理。

故此，聖事和聖言一樣均是天主教徒應最珍重的，也必須在遭受指控和攻擊時，作出捍衛。一個天主教徒可以不熱心於個別的靈修方法，但不能不熱心於聖事，否則與新教徒無異。

同性婚姻為何不能被婚姻聖事所接納，此處不詳述之，請參閱天主教教理。但在牧民層面，則必須對同性戀者給予尊重和體諒，但也不能贊同「同性戀生活方式」。

「Gay」是指同性戀的生活方式，包括同性婚姻、同性性行為。「Homosexual」是指同性戀傾向，但不代表他一定會有行為。

然而同性戀傾向本身並非大罪，這是肯定的。世人因為原祖墮落而「失序」，罪惡進入世界，使人本質上出現罪惡的傾向，大罪的定義是在於服從誘惑而明知故犯，但不代表有傾向也是大罪。正如就算是同性戀也好、異性戀也好，也有其他的罪惡傾向。天主真正厭惡的是罪惡的生活，而非罪人本人。只要願意度天主喜悅的生活 – 貞潔，同性戀者也能透過克服自己的困難而走向天主。

一個人有同性戀傾向，很多時候並非因他明知故犯而為之，而是環境因素。對這些人而言他們並沒有自由地選擇自己的性取向。為此這就是他們的十字架 – 他們不能結婚，不能繁衍。的確，我們每個人都有自己的軟弱，都有自己的十字架。在這點上，同性戀和異性戀是平等的，兩者都必須遵守貞潔，兩者都不能濫交、兩者都不能手淫。故若一個同性戀傾向的人，但他不過著同性戀生活，願意貞潔，願意背起自己的十字架，是不應該排斥在教會外。同性戀者有願意貞潔的人，異性戀者也有濫交的人，重點不在傾向，而是生活方式。

故天主教徒不應歧視他們，正如基督不會歧視罪人一樣，應該保障他們不會因自己的性取向而遭受不公平的對待和眼光。但萬一到了聖事層面，就必須承認，婚姻只允許男女結合。

夫妻之間該互相保護，基督的新娘 – 教會，應該全力捍衛作為的新郎的基督 – 聖事的神聖性。

已故內地鳳翔教區的首牧李鏡峰主教曾經說過：「現在，我們的時代，信仰發生危機：無神思想、異端邪教、自由主義、享樂至上、道德淪滅、離婚再婚、同性婚姻、性解放等等，都是我們時代的現實，都是教會需要面對的挑戰，怎麼辦？那就只有聽從耶穌預許的『真理之神』來指引，走宗徒們走過的道路。」

回想2024年…

你問我，2024年有啲咩得着或者成就…

除咗做過想做嘅嘢、見過想見嘅人、去過想去嘅地方，玩過想玩嘅嘢…

最大嘅成就係我依然仲在生，居然冇死到…

講笑，最大嘅成就係可以識到一班新嘅朋友，包括喺教會、喺唔同嘅地方因緣際會、同埋喺LKF識到嘅新朋友。

當然，喺2024年總係會有做錯嘅嘢，我想趁呢個機會同我得罪過嘅人講返聲「對唔住」。

2024年對我做咗21年人嚟講，係最Blessed嘅一年，亦都係最Shit嘅一年。

唯有喺2025年，亦都係天主教會25年一度嘅禧年，希望自己可以更加點樣喺日常生活之中聖化自己，聖化其他人，從而成為真正嘅「希望的朝聖者」。