Category: Church

The Catholic Church in Cambodia.

Finishing Advent

After the 11:00 AM mass today, the parishioners got busy changing the theme of the sanctuary from Advent to Christmas.

Local shepherds were seen near the nativity scene by the sanctuary and were invited to take their places early.

I have a funeral at St. Boniface on Tuesday, but after that we can start setting out flowers and making other arrangements for the Christmas Eve 5:00 PM liturgy.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

The readings on the Fourth Sunday of Advent see God speaking to Ahaz, Joseph, and Mary, and giving them instructions. We see how they responded, either acting with faith or ignoring God’s call.

In what way is God calling us to serve those experiencing poverty, loneliness and illness this Advent? Let us bring the joy of Jesus into every interaction during these grace-filled days of Advent. May the Lord guide us toward ways to share His love and hope with the world.

A different venue…

Last night we had an inch of snow and single-digit temperatures that left snow and ice frozen on streets. That was no environment for riding my bicycle so I used Lyft to get to St. Boniface Church for 8:30 AM mass. The streets near Nazareth Home had a lot of snow and ice but downtown the streets were clear.

We anticipated that we would have fewer people attending the masses, and the 8:30 AM mass ordinarily only has 40-50 people so we proposed moving the mass from the main church to this chapel which was used by the Franciscan friars when they staffed the parish. We ended up with about thirty attendees, more than we expected, and we added some folding chairs to the monastic-style choir stalls in the room..
The small congregation, sitting next to each other rather than spread throughout a huge church, being able to see and hear each other, and being close also to the altar made such a difference! People commented how positive was the experience today with a real feeling of community and a sharing of something important and meaningful. That’s the way we should experience liturgy always!

AI training for priests

AI is much in the news and the consciousness of society today and the Archdiocese of Louisville this week offered a training on AI for the Louisville priests. The presenter identified many of the different AI providers and discussed how AI can assist a priest in his general ministry. Discussions covered what AI can do and cannot do, and also delved into the ethics of using AI for tasks like writing homilies.

Cambodia-Thailand Border War

Here is some information received from the bishop of Phnom Penh about the conflict on the border between Cambodia and Thailand. Caritas Cambodia, the church relief agency, is organizing tent cities, water, food, toilets, and other assistance. They are probably the main positive force in the renewal of this century-old dispute.

Advent

 The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.

From Creighton Online Ministries

Christmas Preparation

Yesterday the church crew started setting up a nativity scene at St. Boniface Church. Today I was back there for a mass for the Immaculate Conception and this is what I found. From what I understand, the St. Boniface tradition is to set up stable and manger and then the next week add the stable animals and then the last week before Christmas to add supporting people statues and then the Holy Family on Christmas Day, but it seems the animals were in a hurry to get there.