Communication with Visitors Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us! January 2, 1999 (P.S. Jan. 6,8,13,15,19,22,28) Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Happy Happy New Year to you in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as in Our Heavenly Mother! It is nice to be communicating with our sisters and brothers again, however imperfect this communication is. During the last two weeks or so, we had to cut short our two-week holiday twice. The first time was to put some music on this website before Christmas Eve and this is the second time on the day after the feast of the Mother of God. As this title of Mary is unsurpassable among all hers, it is too important for us to miss this feast day altogether. Just as a mother and her child are by nature inseparable, we as a littlest child of Our Heavenly Mother simply cannot be separated from her, even for all eternity. In fact, the smaller the child is, the more impossible it is for him/her to be separated from his/her very mother. In this belated response, we would like to promote two Marian prayers to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, as Our Heavenly Mother is without doubt the most beloved Daughter of God the Father, the most beloved Mother of God the Son, and the most beloved Spouse of the Holy Spirit. It is our deep conviction that, as the Church teaches, her greatest desire is to bring us all ever closer to the Most Holy Trinity. Click here then for The Memorare; and here for our daily offering to Our Heavenly Mother. Both prayers have been traditionally used by Catholics. Having completed the fundamental part of this website, the focus of the editor this year is threefold as mentioned earlier. Firstly, he would like to complete a paper on energy as an emerging universal unifying paradigm and present it during the coming summer Ultimate Reality and Meaning Conference (see URAM in Other Sites). Secondly, he would like to complete vol.3 of A Handbook of Theology of Energy. Thirdly, he would like to resume afterward working on Divine Milieus (as found in the Ecumenical Approach to Grace on this website). Hence, he would like to limit to no more than two hours per week working on the website. Last year many times more than thirty to forty hours per week were spent for the website. He truly thanks the Divine Heavenly Family for the grace which he did not deserve. Regarding the papers of the 1998 St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gregory Palamas lectures, we will publish them as soon as they are sent to us by speakers who volunteer to put them together in written words. As we know, it does take time for the papers to be written. Thank you for understanding. May the whole Divine Heavenly Family, i.e., the Most Holy Trinity, Our Heavenly Mother and all the Holy Angels and Saints be with all of us always! Thank you. Yours very sincerely in the Divine Heavenly Family, The editor P.S. (Jan.6) However slowly, we are glad to present here three papers from the 1998 St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gregory Palamas Public Lectures. To read them, click here. We will publish more papers as soon as they are received. Thank you for your patience. P.S. (Jan.8) Although we stated above that we were going to limit our time to no more than two hours a week working on the present website, there are exceptions once in a while. For example, we have just spent more than that to put together a home page for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament is too important for us to overlook. In fact, our major blind spot ever since the beginning of this website, as blessedly reminded by someone during the Christmas holiday, has been "to promote Holy Communion without promoting Confession." We are very glad that it is now handled, however imperfectly. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your great patience with us! To view it, click here. Thank you. As you may have noticed, our counter (counting the number of visitors visiting our website) on the front home page did not function properly again. This occurrence is the second time in the last several weeks. Reason discovered: our home page is overloaded with graphics and data. If it happens again in the future, please ignore it. We prefer to have the present graphics and data rather than the number. After all, we should not be living and working for the number. Thank God for this occasion to purify our motivation! Alleluia! P.S. (Jan.13) Recently someone sent us a stirring prayer via an e-mail which by and large is shareable. To access it, click here. Thank you. P.S. (Jan.15) Time Magazine this week talks about a possible Y2K situation ahead. To know what some Christians think about it, click here. Today we also add to our front home page a little section concerning certain most sincere wishes of many. To view them, click here. At the same time we are aware that the browser of some of our dear visitors could not obtain the best view of our front home page. As each browser and monitor is different, we would just encourage them to try different adjustments. For example, if they are using Netscape Communicator, they can make some adjustments over the size of the words which appear on the screen, etc. Thank you. P.S. (Jan.19) Our website has been disconnected for about a day or so, presumably due to a weather situation somewhere in New Jersey, U.S., where our website provider is located. We truly apologize for that inconvenience. We too thank you for your concern. In retrospect, it has been a great blessing to have our website consecrated to God through Our Heavenly Mother. It no longer belongs to us but to Our Heavenly Mother who only wants it to belong more and more to God and to our Divine Heavenly Family. This consecration has substantially alleviated us from a lot of anxieties also. Let us wholeheartedly thank our whole Divine Heavenly Family and our website provider for all the blessings! P.S. (Jan.22) This is the first time since quite a few months ago that the editor has spent less than two hours working on the website. It should not surprise anyone, since in this third phase of the website (i.e., the maintenance stage) his duty is basically to maintain it. The first phase (i.e., the exploration stage) as well as the second phase (i.e., the construction stage) took about three years during which countless hours were volunteered. It is about time for the editor to continue with his lay apostolic work. He is not called to be a priest, although he has completed a M.Div. and M.Th. Having made his three private permanent vows of sacred virginity, poverty and obedience (in 1985), he is neither called to a married or wealthy state but only to a simple life of obedience to God (under the guidance of his spiritual director and the advice of others). In his apostolic mission, he is called above all to do pioneering works for Theology of Energy. Hence, he would like to continue spending at least 40 hours a week doing research and writing, something which he has been doing for many years. It is true that a Ph.D. is usually required for such work, but there are always exceptions in God's unfathomed mysteries. After all, our God is a God full of wonderful surprises for those who choose to obey and trust Him unconditionally. Alleluia! As we know, three elements are normally needed to become a committed writer for God: God's call, God's gift, and one's continuous unconditional response. Hence, as nothing humanly speaking seems to be happening in the Happening section (on our website) regarding Grace Institute of the Holy Eucharist, everything is happening insofar as God's call, God's gift and our continuous unconditional response are concerned. It is true that we can greatly expand Grace Institute and organize many activities, etc., but we do not want to repeat doing what many others have already been doing so well, locally and internationally. We just want to remain small and focused. Just before the evening is over, we have met a new volunteer who would like to do some occasional typing for us. This is really good news to share as we have still quite a lot of materials to put on our website. This unexpected encounter once again affirms that this website really belongs to God and our whole Divine Heavenly Family (in whom and through whom God is all in all). Our duty is to trust and obey God; and He will take care of the rest. Let us praise God unceasingly! Thank you. (P.S. Jan.28) Today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. In the January issue of Living with Christ, E. Dalgaard and L. Pambrun write: "Thomas was born near Aquino, Italty, about 1225 and educated at the Benedictine Monastery at Monte Cassino from the age of five. At 19 he joined the newly formed Dominicans and studied in Italy and France. With his teacher Albert the Great, he developed the theological 'Scholastic method,' which dominated Catholic teaching for centuries. He wrote many books; one of his most famous works in his Summa theologiae, perhaps the greatest exposition of theological thought ever composed. A man of towering intellect, Thomas was also a very humble mystic. He died in 1274, was canonized 1323, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1567. In 1880, he was proclaimed patron saint of universities and schools." (Ibid., p.148) Pope John Paul II in his encyclical letter Fides et Ratio (September 14, 1998) succinctly comments: "The Magisterium has repeated acclaimed the merits of Saint Thomas' thought and made him the guide and model for theological studies… The Magisterium's intention has always been to show how Saint Thomas is an authentic model for all who seek the truth. In his thinking, the demands of reason and the power of faith found the most elevated synthesis ever attained by human thought, for he could defend the radical newness introduced by Revelation without ever demeaning the venture proper to reason." (Ibid., no.78) For the full text of this awesome encyclical on faith and reason which the Pope himself spent more than 12 years and may, in the words of Cardinal Ratzinger, "represent the 'summa,' or maximum expression of his pontificate so far," click here. Than click John Paul II, click Encyclicals, and click Fides et Ratio. Although it may take a few minutes to download, this supreme masterpiece of the Pope demands no less than a few hours for us to slowly digest its awestruck profundity. Thank you.
January 2, 1999 (P.S. Jan. 6,8,13,15,19,22,28)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Happy Happy New Year to you in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as in Our Heavenly Mother! It is nice to be communicating with our sisters and brothers again, however imperfect this communication is.
During the last two weeks or so, we had to cut short our two-week holiday twice. The first time was to put some music on this website before Christmas Eve and this is the second time on the day after the feast of the Mother of God. As this title of Mary is unsurpassable among all hers, it is too important for us to miss this feast day altogether. Just as a mother and her child are by nature inseparable, we as a littlest child of Our Heavenly Mother simply cannot be separated from her, even for all eternity. In fact, the smaller the child is, the more impossible it is for him/her to be separated from his/her very mother.
In this belated response, we would like to promote two Marian prayers to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, as Our Heavenly Mother is without doubt the most beloved Daughter of God the Father, the most beloved Mother of God the Son, and the most beloved Spouse of the Holy Spirit. It is our deep conviction that, as the Church teaches, her greatest desire is to bring us all ever closer to the Most Holy Trinity. Click here then for The Memorare; and here for our daily offering to Our Heavenly Mother. Both prayers have been traditionally used by Catholics.
Having completed the fundamental part of this website, the focus of the editor this year is threefold as mentioned earlier. Firstly, he would like to complete a paper on energy as an emerging universal unifying paradigm and present it during the coming summer Ultimate Reality and Meaning Conference (see URAM in Other Sites). Secondly, he would like to complete vol.3 of A Handbook of Theology of Energy. Thirdly, he would like to resume afterward working on Divine Milieus (as found in the Ecumenical Approach to Grace on this website). Hence, he would like to limit to no more than two hours per week working on the website. Last year many times more than thirty to forty hours per week were spent for the website. He truly thanks the Divine Heavenly Family for the grace which he did not deserve.
Regarding the papers of the 1998 St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gregory Palamas lectures, we will publish them as soon as they are sent to us by speakers who volunteer to put them together in written words. As we know, it does take time for the papers to be written. Thank you for understanding.
May the whole Divine Heavenly Family, i.e., the Most Holy Trinity, Our Heavenly Mother and all the Holy Angels and Saints be with all of us always!
Thank you.
Yours very sincerely in the Divine Heavenly Family,
The editor
P.S. (Jan.6) However slowly, we are glad to present here three papers from the 1998 St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gregory Palamas Public Lectures. To read them, click here. We will publish more papers as soon as they are received. Thank you for your patience.
P.S. (Jan.8) Although we stated above that we were going to limit our time to no more than two hours a week working on the present website, there are exceptions once in a while. For example, we have just spent more than that to put together a home page for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This sacrament is too important for us to overlook. In fact, our major blind spot ever since the beginning of this website, as blessedly reminded by someone during the Christmas holiday, has been "to promote Holy Communion without promoting Confession." We are very glad that it is now handled, however imperfectly. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your great patience with us!
To view it, click here. Thank you.
As you may have noticed, our counter (counting the number of visitors visiting our website) on the front home page did not function properly again. This occurrence is the second time in the last several weeks. Reason discovered: our home page is overloaded with graphics and data. If it happens again in the future, please ignore it. We prefer to have the present graphics and data rather than the number. After all, we should not be living and working for the number.
Thank God for this occasion to purify our motivation! Alleluia!
P.S. (Jan.13) Recently someone sent us a stirring prayer via an e-mail which by and large is shareable. To access it, click here. Thank you.
P.S. (Jan.15) Time Magazine this week talks about a possible Y2K situation ahead. To know what some Christians think about it, click here. Today we also add to our front home page a little section concerning certain most sincere wishes of many. To view them, click here.
At the same time we are aware that the browser of some of our dear visitors could not obtain the best view of our front home page. As each browser and monitor is different, we would just encourage them to try different adjustments. For example, if they are using Netscape Communicator, they can make some adjustments over the size of the words which appear on the screen, etc.
P.S. (Jan.19) Our website has been disconnected for about a day or so, presumably due to a weather situation somewhere in New Jersey, U.S., where our website provider is located. We truly apologize for that inconvenience. We too thank you for your concern.
In retrospect, it has been a great blessing to have our website consecrated to God through Our Heavenly Mother. It no longer belongs to us but to Our Heavenly Mother who only wants it to belong more and more to God and to our Divine Heavenly Family. This consecration has substantially alleviated us from a lot of anxieties also. Let us wholeheartedly thank our whole Divine Heavenly Family and our website provider for all the blessings!
P.S. (Jan.22) This is the first time since quite a few months ago that the editor has spent less than two hours working on the website. It should not surprise anyone, since in this third phase of the website (i.e., the maintenance stage) his duty is basically to maintain it. The first phase (i.e., the exploration stage) as well as the second phase (i.e., the construction stage) took about three years during which countless hours were volunteered.
It is about time for the editor to continue with his lay apostolic work. He is not called to be a priest, although he has completed a M.Div. and M.Th. Having made his three private permanent vows of sacred virginity, poverty and obedience (in 1985), he is neither called to a married or wealthy state but only to a simple life of obedience to God (under the guidance of his spiritual director and the advice of others). In his apostolic mission, he is called above all to do pioneering works for Theology of Energy. Hence, he would like to continue spending at least 40 hours a week doing research and writing, something which he has been doing for many years. It is true that a Ph.D. is usually required for such work, but there are always exceptions in God's unfathomed mysteries. After all, our God is a God full of wonderful surprises for those who choose to obey and trust Him unconditionally. Alleluia!
As we know, three elements are normally needed to become a committed writer for God: God's call, God's gift, and one's continuous unconditional response.
Hence, as nothing humanly speaking seems to be happening in the Happening section (on our website) regarding Grace Institute of the Holy Eucharist, everything is happening insofar as God's call, God's gift and our continuous unconditional response are concerned.
It is true that we can greatly expand Grace Institute and organize many activities, etc., but we do not want to repeat doing what many others have already been doing so well, locally and internationally. We just want to remain small and focused.
Just before the evening is over, we have met a new volunteer who would like to do some occasional typing for us. This is really good news to share as we have still quite a lot of materials to put on our website. This unexpected encounter once again affirms that this website really belongs to God and our whole Divine Heavenly Family (in whom and through whom God is all in all). Our duty is to trust and obey God; and He will take care of the rest. Let us praise God unceasingly!
(P.S. Jan.28) Today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. In the January issue of Living with Christ, E. Dalgaard and L. Pambrun write: "Thomas was born near Aquino, Italty, about 1225 and educated at the Benedictine Monastery at Monte Cassino from the age of five. At 19 he joined the newly formed Dominicans and studied in Italy and France. With his teacher Albert the Great, he developed the theological 'Scholastic method,' which dominated Catholic teaching for centuries. He wrote many books; one of his most famous works in his Summa theologiae, perhaps the greatest exposition of theological thought ever composed. A man of towering intellect, Thomas was also a very humble mystic. He died in 1274, was canonized 1323, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1567. In 1880, he was proclaimed patron saint of universities and schools." (Ibid., p.148)
Pope John Paul II in his encyclical letter Fides et Ratio (September 14, 1998) succinctly comments: "The Magisterium has repeated acclaimed the merits of Saint Thomas' thought and made him the guide and model for theological studies… The Magisterium's intention has always been to show how Saint Thomas is an authentic model for all who seek the truth. In his thinking, the demands of reason and the power of faith found the most elevated synthesis ever attained by human thought, for he could defend the radical newness introduced by Revelation without ever demeaning the venture proper to reason." (Ibid., no.78)
For the full text of this awesome encyclical on faith and reason which the Pope himself spent more than 12 years and may, in the words of Cardinal Ratzinger, "represent the 'summa,' or maximum expression of his pontificate so far," click here. Than click John Paul II, click Encyclicals, and click Fides et Ratio. Although it may take a few minutes to download, this supreme masterpiece of the Pope demands no less than a few hours for us to slowly digest its awestruck profundity.