Prayer of Salvation

Prayer to be Said Every Day to Obtain the Graces Necessary for Salvation, by St. Alphonsus

Eternal Father, Thy Son has promised that Thou wilt grant us all the graces which we ask Thee for in His name. In the name, therefore, and by the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask the following graces for myself and for all mankind:

And first, I pray Thee to give me a lively faith in all that the holy Roman Church teaches me. Enlighten me also, that I may know the vanity of the goods of this world, and the immensity of the Infinite Good that Thou art; make me also see the deformity of the sins I have committed, that I may humble myself and detest them as I ought; and, on the other hand, show me how worthy Thou art, by reason of Thy goodness, that I should love Thee with all my heart. Make me know also the love Thou has borne me, that from this day forward I may try to be grateful for so much goodness.

Secondly, give me a firm confidence in Thy mercy of receiving the pardon of my sins, holy perseverance, and, finally, the glory of paradise, through the merits of Jesus Christ and the intercession of Mary.

Thirdly, give me a great love toward Thee, which shall detach me from the love of this world and of myself, so that I may love none other but Thee, and that I may neither do nor desire anything else but what is for Thy glory.

Fourthly, I beg of Thee a perfect resignation to Thy will, in accepting with tranquility sorrows, infirmities, contempt, persecutions, aridity of spirit, loss of property, of esteem, of relations, and every other cross which shall come to me from Thy hands. I offer myself entirely to Thee, that thou mayest do with me, and all that belongs to me, what thou pleasest; do Thou only give me light and strength to do Thy will, and, especially at the hour of death, help me to sacrifice my life to Thee with all the affection I am capable of, in union with the sacrifice which Thy Son Jesus Christ made of His life on the cross of Calvary.

Fifthly, I beg of Thee a great sorrow for my sins, which may make me grieve over them as long as I live, and weep for the insults I have offered Thee, the Sovereign Good, who art worthy of infinite love, and who hast loved me so much.

Sixthly, I pray Thee to give me the spirit of true humility and meekness, that I may accept with peace, and even with joy, all the contempt, ingratitude and ill-treatment that I may receive. At the same time I also pray Thee to give me perfect charity, which shall make me wish well to those who have done evel to me, and to do what good I can, at least by praying, for those who have in any way injured me.

Seventhly, I beg of Thee to give me a love for the virtue of holy mortification, by which I may chastise my rebellious senses, and cross my self-love; at the same time I beg Thee to give me holy purity of body, and the grace to resist all bad temptations, by ever having recourse to Thee and Thy most Holy Mother.

Give me the grace faithfully to obey my spiritual father and all my superiors in all things. Give me an upright intention, that in all I desire and do I may seek only Thy glory, and to please Thee alone. Give me a great confidence in the Passion of Jesus Christ, and in the intercession of Mary Immaculate. Give me a great love toward the most Adorable Sacrament of the Altar, and a tender devotion and love to Thy Holy Mother. Give me, I pray Thee, above all, holy perseverance, and the grace always to pray for it, especially in time of temptation and at the hour of death.

Lastly, I recommend to Thee the holy souls in Purgatory, my relations and benefactors; and in an especial manner I recommend to Thee all those who hate me, or who have in any way offended me; I beg of Thee to render them good for the evil they have done, or may wish to do me. I also recommend to Thee all infidels, heretics, and all poor sinners; give them light and strength to deliver themselves from sin. O, most loving God, make Thyself known and loved by all, but especially by those who have been more ungrateful to Thee than others, so that by Thy goodness I may come one day to sing Thy mercies in paradise; for my hope is in the merits of Thy Blood, and in the patronage of Mary. O Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me! So I hope; so may it be!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
OTHER VERSION
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

祢光照我途 Light our way

Yes, this is the song I have composed with very talented people last year. I composed mostly the chorus and the Chinese Lyrics. Elaine made the verse. Michael composed the bridge and to arrange the whole song!!!! Elaine, Jance and Micky worked hardly on the English lyric as well!!!!!

祢光照我途 Light Our Way
(加拿大東岸天主教華人生活營2008年主題曲)

作曲：Elaine Chau, Billy Chan, Michael Wu
填詞：Elaine Chau, Billy Chan, Janice Wong, Michael Wu
編曲：Michael Wu

Set on different paths
We are called to Him
Called to something greater, infinite, far from sadness, hatred, sin

Fallen, lost, astray
We are weak and long’ng for what You teach
Show us how to be the light of the world,
shining in the glory of God

By Your cross, our lives are saved
Flame of hope, You came and gave
Weary heart, have no fear
God is with us forever near

Blessed with grace, amazing love
Guided by You from heav’n above
God ignites our hearts
Peace and joy for all our days
Oh Lord You light our way

想起那天 你點亮我
但我竟然不懂珍惜這光中的愛寵
主再燃點 提示我要以愛心照亮人
齊重拾十架 無懼怕 高舉這火
* 靠著你 照我途
感激終於可看到
叫世上蒙召的人
黑暗內我們齊發亮 *

照亮你 無限期
將這褔音交托你
光可見證並會宣揚主的救恩
昐世代傳下去

每天禱告這願堅持路途是個好開始
懷著信 努力傳遍 要叫這世界得享永生
重唱 *

Blessed with grace, amazing love
Guided by You from heav'n above
God ignites our hearts Peace and joy for all our days
Oh Lord You light our way

Earth Day Today - How to Be Green At Work?

Can you do the following?

Can God create a rock he cannot lift?

Can God create a rock he cannot lift?
(Chinese version after English) 神能否做出一塊祂搬不到的石?

We will need to use the Proof by Contradiction:

Definition of Proof by contradiction:
If there is a sentence named "P", if we need to prove P is false, then we can try to assume that P is true first, then logically write down what we know about P. If it ends up something contradict P, then P must be false.

P => Q => S => …….=> ~P　　　　(~P means not P)

Of course, "Q, S...." statements must be true.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Proof: God can create a rock he cannot lift.

First, people want to proof this because they want to proof that God is not almighty. Of course, we need to assume God is Almighty.

If God is almighty (P), then God can create any rock.(Q)
If God can create any rock, then God can create a rock he cannot lift. (S)
If there is a rock that God cannot lift (T), then God is not Almighty(~P)
If God cannot create this rock(Q), then God is not Almighty(~Q)

So P is wrong!!!!!!!! God is not almighty!!!!!!!!

***NNNN NO NO No no no oooo ***

There is something wrong in the proof. "S" is contradict "P". This is logically wrong and contradict to the hypothesis (God is Almighty). This is the same thing as when we ask somebody to create a "circular square" which is contradicting itself.

Therefore, please do not ask me anymore about if God can create a rock he cannot lift. Thank you.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
CHINESE VERSION
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

先要明白這推論所用的方法：

We will use the PROOF BY CONTRADICTION
假設有一個句子P。若要証明P是假的或錯的，只要能作以下一連串的邏輯推論：
P => Q => S => …….=> ~P　　　　(~P即not P)
若中間所有的步驟在邏輯上沒有錯誤，那麼即說明由P這假設開始，竟能推論出 ~P！

那麼問題一定在P本身！P一定是一句錯或假的句子了。這叫做「反証法」(proof by contradiction)。這方法的特色就是要從一個假設開始。

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

「神能否做一塊祂舉不起的石頭 ?」

本身就是想使用反証法來推翻「神是無所不能的」這假設的。
它背後的過程是：假設「神是全能的」(P)
=> 如果神是全能的 , 祂必定能造出任何石頭 (Q)
=> 但如果神能造出任何石頭, 祂必定能做一塊祂舉不起的石頭 (S)
=> 那麼就有一塊石頭是祂舉不起的(T)
=> 祂就並非全能(~P)；
=> 若果神不能造出一塊這樣的石頭(~Q)
=> 那麼祂也不是全能的(~P)。

以符號來表達，P => Q => ( S => T => ~P) or (~S => ~Q => ~P) => ~P∴ P本身不能成立。

因此，「神是無所不能的」這假設不成立。

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
不過，S本身已經和預先假設了的P有矛盾，因為S的意思是指有一塊神舉不起的石頭存在，這與最初的假設P有矛盾，在這情況下，邏輯上不能將S應用在申述之內。另外~S的意思是指有一塊石頭是神不能造出的，本身與P這假設有矛盾，也不能應用在申述之內。因此，在假設了神是全能的前題下，我們不能用「神能否造塊祂舉不起的石頭？」來否定這前設。總括來說，若假設了神全能是對的，這一句：「神能造塊祂舉不起的石頭　or 祂不能造塊祂舉不起的石頭」是一句內在矛盾的句子，就如「神能造個方形的圓　or 神不能造個方形的圓」矛盾一樣。(「方形的圓」的矛盾很容易看到，因為方和圓並不相容；而上述句子的矛盾是因「神是無所不能的」這前設下產生的．)

Thank you,

[P.S:

Note: One possible objection to this line of reasoning is "God is not bound by the rules of logic, as he created logic, therefore he can do the logically impossible as they are only logically impossible from our point of view". If this were the case, however, it would seem to be impossible for anyone to ever know anything about God at all, or attempt to understand him using reason and logic. It would make no sense for any theist to attempt to describe the character of their god as, for instance "good, merciful and loving" because there would be no reason to think that this could be true. You could not say, for example, that God is good because he has healed a person, as an illogical God could just as easily have done it for any reason at all other than goodness - by our standards it might appear to be "good", but that would be no reason to assume that it was good as far as God was concerned. ]

Ah B

My 1st Macintosh Computer

Recently, I got a new Mac computer. Yes, it is expensive. I of course have my reason to get it, but the reason is not important to put it here.

However, there is a good and close friend of mine keep saying that Apple inc. donates money to support same-sex marriage which has conflict with my Catholic religion catechism. Before, I think that she just wants to remind me and will stop saying this after 1 or 2 days. However, she keeps saying this. I somehow want to say "What do you want? I have my reason to get this laptop which you know it!!!! Stop criticizing my decision and my lovely Mac book!!!"

Of course, The reason I sound mad is somehow, I agree on her too. LOL... this idea keeps running in my brain days and days and days... (Yes, actually can't sleep Then, I opened my Bible and read the following scripture:

Tribute to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-22)

...then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.

"Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?"Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax." And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"

They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."

And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.

Of course, I understand that buying a computer from Mac is totally different from paying tax to government. One thing came to my mind is that should we still pay tax to Canada government although we know that they are using our money to support "abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, war...etc" which are also conflicting our faith. According to Jesus, I think, yes, we should still pay tax. Not paying tax will not help on these situations. As a catholic, we should try our best to influence the government to avoid these kind of things.

As a Mac user now, I will try to send a letter to Apple Inc. and tell them my point of view. Also, as a catholic, we should keep doing evangilisation, teach people the "truth". Last Saturday in the Mandarin Sunday School class, one of my students asked me a very interesting question, "Do you think if a person hurts another person because he does not have a chance to learn anything about love, God or Jesus, will that person still goes to hell after he died?" My answer is, "I don't know. However, Jesus may blame to some of us (Catholic), because we did not do our job well which is ... " The 12-year-old kid said immidiately, "EVANGILISATION!!!!"... haha

Of course, I still don't know if my decision on buying a Mac is right or wrong, but I am sure that God knows what I am doing, and believe me or not, he (God) will "contact" me very quickly if I have something wrong.

with love,
Ah B

Can "Love" be eternal? 愛是永恆？

-- Chinese Version at the end --

Yesterday somebody asked me, "Can love really be eternal"?

I answered, "Yes".

He continued, "How do you know?"

At that moment, I did not know how to answer him, but I believed that my answer is right.

In fact, what does "Eternal" mean? If we do not use a religion angle to look into it, there is no way we can define it. Then, he keeps asking, "You are major in Maths in university, can you use Mathematics way to explain it?"

Eternal means Infinity. Infinity means nothing can be bounded.

However, mathematicians still cannot explain exactly to locate infinity.

In reality, time is defined by mankind. Besides religion, there is nothing can guarantee "Eternal love". Even with law and human nature which can only response to be able to see or hear the truth to decide whether you should be loved , that is what we called by evidence. However after you died, the law cannot gurantee "love" anymore.

God created humans, humans defined time that means God control time. Therefore, only love from God can be eternal. Also it is because of my faith, I believed that love can be eternal.

---

昨天，有人問我愛真的是永恆嗎？

我答：「是」

他又問我怎麼知道。

我就想了一想，不知道為什麼！

其實什麼是永恆呢？如果我們不用宗教的角度去看，根本就是不可能解釋。他又問：「你主修數學，如果用數學的方法去解釋是怎樣的？」

「永恆=無限」

「就連數學家到現在都不能解釋無限是什麼！」

其實，時間是人定出來的，除了宗教外，沒有一樣東西可以保証愛是永恆，就萛是法律和人性也只能因應能夠看到或聽到的事實來定你是否應該被愛，但當你死了後法律就不能保証了！

天主(神)做人，人定時間，即天主(神)掌管時問，所以只有天主(神)的愛才是永恆。就是因為我的信德，所以我信「愛是永恆」。

What is Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ)?

Emotional Quotient first came out as early as in A.D. 1960. This is a psychological term. In 1995, Daniel Goleman, the Father of EQ, has reformed the emotional theories of more than the past 30 years in his volume: ‘Emotional Intelligence – Why It Matters More than IQ”. He declared that each person had the inborn emotional quotient. He believes that this kind of intelligence can be shown in four situations, including:

• Adaptation
• Feeling
• Organization
• Learning process

This is a kind of establishing good interpersonal relationship ability. However this inborn interpersonal ability would bring into full play or regress based on environment influence. For example, the influence during childhood and teenagers as well as coming from parents, teachers and friends.

In 1990, Peter Salovey and Jack Major have called this kind of EI effect level as Emotional Quotient (EQ). Many parents have asked if there is a standard to measure EQ’s level; the answer is yes. Many psychologists have done research on EQ tests, but every time the result does not seem to be the same. This is because everyone’s emotion will be adjusted in accordance to different environment. For example, in an extremely hot afternoon, your car’s air conditioner breaks down. In addition, there is a big traffic jam on the road; and suddenly you receive a call from your son, saying that he forgot the home keys so that he is not able to get in the house. What would your mood be? In this situation, if the traffic jam improves a lot all in a sudden, what would your mood be?

In summary, EQ is only a simple term to express the emotional level and its stability, especially in patience, calmness as well as get on along well with others.