The Xishiku Church (North Cathedral) in Beijing becomes adorned with purple banners containing scripture and prayers each Lenten season. The hanging couplet above the altar quotes Psalm 94:14: "The Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage."
We have all heard the expression, “the only constant in life is change.” This is a key principle of the I Ching, considered to be the foundational work of Chinese wisdom. The natural cycles of the world keep everything in balance. Like a pendulum, once circumstances get to one extreme, they naturally swing back toward the middle. The Chinese say that “all is arranged to be perfect” 恰到好处. The commentaries on the I Ching bring this to life by describing the agrarian calendar as a dragon emerging from the ground into the heavens. In the first phase (December/January), the dragon is deep...
It's a really cold afternoon here at the Xuanwumen Church (South Cathedral) in Beijing. The koi pond beneath the Blessed Mother is completely frozen over! The inscription reads "Wan Fu," which means "Hail" (as in "Hail Mary"). Church members often pause to pray before this grotto before entering the church.
A Chinese fable tells us about a frog that lived at the bottom of a well. This small well was running dry, even though it happened to be right next to the ocean. The frog had never left, though, so he had no idea of the world beyond. The mouth of the well was his sky and the mud and puddles at the bottom were his world. One day a turtle was lumbering by and peered down into the well. He asked if the frog was happy down there. The frog laughed and proudly explained how much fun his...
Holy Redeemer Church in Philadelphia's Chinatown has been serving the local community for many decades. The inscription above the altar, Wan You Zhen Yuan， means "one true source." Many churches in China also have this inscription above their altars. Multicolored poinsettias adorn the altar this Christmas season. Their colors are still vivid this morning as we prepare to take part in the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God mass.
Sometimes we feel beneath others. We look up to others and see that they have more of what we want—or less of what we don’t. This mindset can bring us down, triggering jealousy, enmity, and self-despair. We reason that if we were just in that higher place where the others are, we’d be much better off. Yet sometimes being low can be a good place. Lao Tzu wrote that, “The river and sea can be kings of one hundred valleys, because they lie below them” 江海之所以能成为百川河流归往的地方，是因为他们安于处在低下的位置 (Dao De Jing 66). Even though rivers flow downward and the bottom...
The Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters at the Chapel of Divine Love in Philadelphia have long hosted perpetual Eucharistic adoration. They even present adoration via webcam on their web site. Having spent time with Our Lord many times via webcam, this month I decided to make a personal visit to the chapel. It is a real blessing to be in prayer with believers all over the world, loving God and loving each other.
Back in the early third century, when leading his troops on a long military campaign, warlord Cao Cao encountered a long stretch of the journey with no sources of water. With the heat bearing down and no rivers or wells to be found, his troops nearly died of thirst. To motivate the troops to carry on, Cao Cao said to them, “Not far ahead is a large grove of plum trees with many sweet, ripe plums. We can all eat until our hearts are content.” Upon hearing this news, each of the soldiers began to salivate, and they marched ahead...
What if? It’s a common question we ask ourselves when we try to make sense out of our circumstances. As we contend with anxiety or uncertainty, we often assume the worst will happen. If I catch a cold, what if it turns into the flu? If my employer announces budget cuts, what if I get laid off? If I get into an accident, what if my insurance is inadequate? Even though it is said that 95 percent of the things we worry about never happen, we intuitively swerve to a negative bias. The Chinese talk about “mountains beyond mountains, heavens beyond heavens”...
Fathers Zhao and Du lead a retreat for New York and Philadelphia area Chinese Catholics at the Maryknoll Society Center in Ossining, New York. Known as the "Marines of the Catholic Church," Maryknollers have traditionally gone into difficult and inhospitable places of the world to share the Gospel. Their first mission to China was in 1918. The seminary in New York is a blend of Eastern and Western architecture, bringing together the global theme of the Christ's mission. In today's retreat, the priests captured this Thanksgiving weekend's theme of gratitude and unity.