Category: Church

The Muslim community is a significant part of Cambodia’s population.  Their numbers are not large, less than 10%, but they have figured greatly in the history of the region through the centuries.  The Cambodian Cham ethnic group is predominantly Muslim and there is even a province named Kampong Cham.  The Muslims are not so noticeable politically but they do have a good number of mosques in certain provinces, including this one in Phnom Penh.

Every year Bishop Olivier has a gathering on the Sunday of Epiphany, inviting the lay missionaries, sisters, brothers, and priests, and the leaders of all the Catholic communities of the diocese.  This year the celebration was the final event of a three-day synod about Catholic families in the church.  Click here to see the activities for the Epiphany gathering.

The three wise men made it to our Epiphany mass at the World Vision auditorium this evening!  Liturgy at World Vision is a bit of a challenge because we just rent their hall every Saturday evening and have to set up everything, hang banners, etc.  It’s not like walking into your own church and flipping on the lights and you’re ready to go.  And then afterwards World Vision we have to take everything down and pack it up (for another year for the crib figures).  I took this picture because next year Fr. Bob (who does most of our creative environment work, like the crib) will be gone and I’ll need to remember where everything is and how we arranged it around the altar.

This Francis comic appears twice a week in the National Catholic Reporter.
It has some good insights.  If you’d like to follow it, click on: https://www.ncronline.org/feature-series/francis-the-comic-strip/stories

The Sisters of Providence have a residence and programs for children with disabilities near the Church of the Child Jesus in Boeung Tum Pun.  In the really heavy rains in November, their aquaponics project was severely damaged.  Aquaponics combines aquaculture (raising aquatic animals like prawns, snails, or fish in tanks) with hydroponics (raising plants in water) in a setting where both environments support each other.

The sisters teach the children a valuable form of organic farming while producing healthy food for their center.  The heavy rains caused the fish tanks and other structures to collapse so the sisters asked for help to rebuild, putting down a concrete pad that would support the heavy weight of tanks and troughs in future storms.

During Advent our English community had a Giving Tree from which we invited parishioners to take an empty envelope and insert a donation and then drop it in the collection.  In the four Sundays of Advent we collected $1,475.  Thank you very much!  The sisters and children thank you for getting them set up again and we thank you for your support for the work of the gospel.