Welcome to Cambodia, and….. – Page 258 – Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page

Preparing for Sunday

Some Catholic people comment “I don’t get anything out of mass.” First, it is important to remember that the eucharist is not entertainment so we need to temper our expectations about what we feel when we go to mass.

Secondly, because the mass is not entertainment and we don’t approach it passively expecting someone to make us feel good without our doing anything–like going to a funny movie which might cheer us up when we’re down, we might appreciate the experience of the eucharist better if we prepare for it.

I’d like to offer some resources to help us do that. These are websites or e-mail mailing lists that give some thoughts about the readings for the coming weekend. Since many Christian churches now use the same common lectionary (book of Sunday readings) as the Catholics, these resources could benefit Christians from a variety of denominations.

These resources present the readings so you can read them in advance and then they offer some insights about how the readings developed, why Jesus said what he did or the evangelist included it in his gospel, and then some comments to help us appreciate what we will hear on Sunday.

The first resource I’d like to suggest is First Impressions. It’s written by a group of Dominican priests based in Texas. They offer not only thoughts on the scripture readings but several other helpful items that might help you develop your spiritual life. Give it a try, bookmark it, and click on it each week!

Going down….

This is a scene that wasn’t possible when I first came to Cambodia. In 2000 there was one “tall” building and that was ten stories. Now we have this bank building and others that are 40+ stories tall and others are under construction to surpass that.

Priests Meeting

Today we had another of our bi-monthly priests meeting for all the clergy of the Phnom Penh vicariate (another name for a diocese in a mission country). We had a report on the trip to Myanmar by 126 people from the vicariate to see the pope there and then some time for prayer and then some business items. Then it was time for lunch together and Bishop Olivier (back to us) gave special recognition to the priests who have birthdays or ordination anniversaries this month.

Flavors of Saffron

This evening we had a blessing for the new Flavors of Saffron restaurant opened by a Pakistani refugee family who just recently arrived in Cambodia after fleeing religious persecution in their home country. I have worked with quite a few refugees in my years in Cambodia but have never seen a family work so hard and so fast to get themselves established and in control of their own lives.

Fishing in the Mekong River

The bishop’s house on the Mekong River, where we had our lay missioner meeting, offered a viewing point for fishing activity on the river. Click here for some photos of the people fishing and their boats.

Lay Missioner Gathering

Lay missioners in Cambodia from a variety of mission groups like Maryknoll and from a variety of countries meet regularly and today was the meeting for December. Click here for pictures of the Mekong River site and the activities.

Motorcycle Loads #239

“I never thought I’d say it, but rearview mirrors really can be useful!”

A Day’s Wages #2

A couple days ago we had a photo of a woman with a scale she carried around, weighing people for a few cents each. Not far above her on the economic scale is this woman with a stack of khramas (scarves) and other cloths that she is selling. She probably pays a deposit for the cloths in the morning (and maybe rents the bicycle along with them) and then walks all day to sell a few items. Will she make two, three, four dollars in day? How much of that can she keep?

Topics: Waiting at Work

People working in the home-shop houses or working in different parts of the informal economy spend a lot of time waiting for customers. Earlier we saw pictures of those just staring or sleeping to pass the time. Here is another way some shopkeepers wait.

A Day’s Wages

Cambodia is trying to get its economic ranking raised from low-income country to middle-income country, and by some standards, progress is being made. But then you see people like this woman. She rents a scale and then walks the streets all day hoping to weigh people who may give her 3¢ to 5¢ for the weighing. Here she is counting her money. Will she have enough to buy food at the end of the day?