Happy Lunar New Year to all parishioners! May our Lord pour abundant grace for your family in this coming year. Here are some parish notices for the upcoming week.

1. Tuesday, January 28 - Church Closed: As it is a public holiday, the Church will be closed and there will be no Mass at 09:00, Adoration of Sacrament at 10:00 or Christian Meditation at 19:00.
2. St. Anne's New Whatsapp: Our church has a Whatsapp account with number 5589-0100. Please add this number to your contact list.
3. Coronavirus policy: Considering the new outbreak of the virus, the diocese of Hong Kong strongly suggest that parishioners do not take communion using the tongue. Please consider using the hand to take the communion.
4. Friday, January 31 (20:00-21:00) - Taizé Prayer: Brothers and sisters from both Chinese and English parishes are invited to come and pray together. Taizé (pronounced: tay-zay) is a prayerful form of music known for its simple, yet rich and meditative character. Taizé music often takes the structure of an ostinato (a simple melody that repeats over and over) and is meant to serve as a kind of musical centering prayer.
5. Regarding the Baptism Schedule 2020 for babies, the register form and guidance notes are posted on the Notice board.

Society is growing more and more casual. Most people put little thought into dressing for Mass - perhaps you have heard: "Come as you are! God doesn't care what clothes you wear. He just wants you!  Of course God loves you just as you are—that's the only "you" that exists!".

However, the more I reflect, the more sure I am that what you wear matters. This is the case in every other meaningful area of life. When you dress for a funeral you dress to show mourning. When you're going out on a date, you dress to impress someone.

In fact, it's hard to think of anything people will dress up for anymore. This bothers me because how we dress acts as a sign of how much respect we have for ourselves and for other people. If we don't dress up for anyone or anything, it's a sure sign that we don't respect anyone or anything.

Even if you don't think dressing sharp is worth it for every-day activities, there is one place you should never slum it: Holy Mass.

How you dress for mass matters. There are at least two reasons why. First, because of what it says to others. Dressing nicely communicates respect and honor. When you dress specially for Mass, you're telling God, "You are worth the effort; you deserve my best." It tells your fellow worshippers, "I take Mass seriously; it's not just one casual event among many for me."

Second, dressing respectfully changes your interior orientation. You've found that when you pull on a suit and tie, your thoughts, speech, and general approach to the world all change. You become more gentlemanly. You are more serious than silly. You are better able to focus, display reverence, and sink into prayer. That's why You are convinced dressing up is a spiritual discipline.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

Deacon William Li, who has served at St. Anne's Parish for many years, will be transferred to the Our Lady of Lourdes Church and begin his service there from February 2nd.

On behalf of all parishioners I wish all the best for his new assignment and ministry. Thank you for his great ministry in St. Anne's Church. May God always guide and bless him.

Fr. Paulus Waris Santoso, O.Carm 

​Today's readings teach us not only that we were born to serve and to shine, but that we were created for that purpose.

Isaiah in today's First Reading speaks of Israel's calling: to serve God for his glory as well as for their own. Israel is called to be the Lord's servant and to show God's glory. We were created to serve the Lord and he promises we'll be glorious in his sight and strengthened by him.

Paul in today's Second Reading underlines this lofty calling to serve and to shine. We serve and shine by seeking to do what the Lord asks of us and through striving to live a holy life. He reminds us as he reminds the Corinthians that they are "called to be holy."

John the Baptist in today's Gospel served the Lord as his prophet. He knew that part of his calling was to put the spotlight on Our Lord and his mission, not on himself: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".

If John the Baptist shines in the fulfillment of his mission, he shines in order to light the way to Christ, the reason for his mission. John is not just called to serve, but to shine. He does not just recognize in Our Lord the signs that the Spirit had promised him; he testifies to them so that others would also get the message.

We may not become a captain of industry or achieve the highest echelons of power in business or politics, but by living our calling, we give glory to God and ourselves. If something is missing and we feel we are caught up in the rat race, it's time in prayer to consider our calling: what does the Lord want we to do with our life?

The precepts of the Church are the requirements of the church that are deemed necessary for you to fulfill upon pain of mortal sin. Mass is one of those requirements, but there are a few situations where you may be excused from Mass.

If you have a debilitating illness, you may be excused from Mass, or if there is extremely bad weather that would make your attempt to getting to Church unsafe, you are excused from attending. The bishop from some dioceses will announce a dispensation from attending on Sunday if travel conditions are unsafe. In some cases, priests may cancel Mass in order to preemptively protect parishioners from harm.

If you are traveling and you cannot find a Catholic Church nearby or cannot make it for a good reason, then you may be excused from attending Mass. You should check with your priest to make sure that your reason was valid and that you did not commit a mortal sin. You are required to be in a state of grace when you attend your next Mass and to participate in Holy Communion.

If your reason was not acceptable by the Church, you will require absolution by your priest. 

John was the last prophet. His job was to announce that the long-awaited Messiah, the Saviour, had finally arrived. His job was also to encourage people to repent, to turn their lives around. John used the ceremony of baptism to help that process of repentance. But Jesus had no sins. Jesus was the Savior. Jesus had no need to repent, and therefore no need to be baptized. And yet, he shows up by the river and gets in line anyway.

Why? Because Jesus wants to make sure that we know that he loves us. And so, when he saved us from sin, he did so from close by. By getting baptized, Jesus expressed his desire to take our place, to take the punishment for our sins upon himself, so as to free us from them.

Later, on the cross, he actually did take them on himself. This was why he came. This was his mission. And this is still his mission. He still wants to save us by coming close to us, to make sure that we know that he loves us. 

The Catholic Church teaches that we have an obligation to go to Mass every Sunday. Mass is a celebration of the Eucharist. Many people do not understand why the Church requires Mass every Sunday. The answer is found within the Ten Commandments passed on to Moses several millennia ago.

The Ten Commandments, which were the believed to be the laws and moral code handed down by God, tells believers in the Third Commandment to "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day."For the Christians, the Sabbath was Sunday, which was the day of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. The Church says that you have an obligation to fulfill the Third Commandment by refraining from unnecessary work on Sunday and by participating in Mass, your chief form of worship as Christians.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor." The obligation is binding every Sunday. It is a holy day of obligation, a day for you to grow in your faith, and you are required to attend to the extent that you are able to do so.

Private Worship is Not Enough.  From the earliest days of the Church, Christians have understood that being a Christian is not a private matter. You are called to be Christians together. While you should engage in the private worship of God throughout the week, your primary form of worship is public and communal, which is why Sunday Mass is so important. 

Fr. David

Please note that the Parish Council Meeting will be held on Monday, January 13^th at 7:45 PM in the Parish Hall. 

All are welcome to attend.  

 There is one thing that every human heart is absolutely starving for: someone to trust. Someone who not only will promise to never let you down, never judge you, never abandon you, but someone with enough goodness and enough power to keep that promise. That someone is God.

The coming of the Wise Men to adore the baby Jesus is one of the Bible's most beautiful proofs of God's faithfulness. The Wise Men came from the non-Jewish world; they represent the nations. By coming to Christ, they enter into the light of salvation bringing gifts.

This shows us that God is good - because he kept his promise. It also shows us that God is all-powerful - the ups and downs of history are under his control. All of God's goodness and power are ours, because we belong to Christ, and Christ is the incarnation of God's faithfulness. 

What does Catholic mean?Catholic means universal.Catholic comes from the Greek word "katholikos," which means "according to the whole."To be Catholic means that we have the whole Bible and we go out to the whole world. To be Catholic means that we have the fullness God revealed in Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Christ Jesus, the fullness of God dwells in bodily form. In Jesus, God himself dwells in our body. In Jesus is established His Church, his community gathered to worship God.

Jesus gave us everything –when Jesus was on the cross, when Jesus gave the Eucharist at the last supper. He give you and me the fullness of truth, the fullness of revelation. He handed that down through the apostles, and through his apostles and the other disciples, he gave us the whole the sacred scripture. Not only that, but in Matthew 28: 19, Jesus said: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations."

Very, very early in the history of the church, a man named Ignatius of Antioch was captured by the Romans. He was in chains as a prisoner on the way to Rome, to be ground by the teeth of lions. To be killed for the faith. On his way he wrote letters to different churches or Christian communities. One of those letters was to the Christian community in Smyrna. He said: "Where Christ Jesus is there, there is the Catholic Church." People of Smyrna knew what he was talking about. So we know that the term Catholic Church was used for the church at least before 107 AD and led through the prayer of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, we can live in communion with Jesus.We want to not just take bits and pieces of the faith.We don't just want pick and choose the thing in the Bible that we like and throw out parts that we don't, but we want to be close to God.We know the whole thing, the genuine thing, and we want to go out to the whole world.

 On Monday 30 December, St Anne's was part of an international online meditation meeting with participants from the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).The meditation was led by Fr. Laurence Freeman is a Benedictine monk and Director of the World Community of Christian Meditation. He has been championing meditation for more than 40 years.

Meditators plugged into the meeting from Hong Kong, France, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, Brazil, and Portugal.It was estimated about 70 people took part, including our Fr. Paulus and Fr. David. The meeting was to pray for peace in Hong Kong and how to bring about peace through meditation.

Today the Church offers us the feast of the Holy Family. We celebrate and remember Mary and Joseph, who, with Jesus, give hope and inspiration to every family.

One element jumps out of today's gospel which is vital for every family. Listening.

Listening is an essential part of every happy family. There also three most important words in a family are "Please, Thank You, and I'm Sorry." All of these words imply listening.

And yet if people are going to truly listen to each other, there's a previous step. We have to listen to God. Today, Joseph offers an example of that.

God tells Joseph in a dream to take Jesus and Mary and go to Egypt. Joseph must have been used to listening to God, because it says that he arose and took them away by night. In other words, he didn't wait! He acted at once.

But God wasn't finished. Three times God changed Joseph's plans; three times Joseph listened and acted. He didn't argue with God. He didn't point out how inconvenient a trip to Egypt was at that moment. 

The pregnancy of Mary takes place before she went to live with Joseph, not because of a human deviation, but because of the divine will. God himself made fun of the law of legal purity in such a way as to make the Messiah be born among us!

If Joseph had acted according to the requirements of the law of that time, he would have had to denounce Mary and possibly she would have been stoned. Pregnancy before marriage is irregular and according to the law of legal purity, she should be punished with the death penalty (Deut 22:20).

But Joseph, because he is just, does not obey the requirements of the law of purity. His justice is greater. Instead of denouncing, he prefers to respect the mystery which he does not understand and decides to abandon Mary in secret. The greatest justice of Joseph saves both the life of Mary and that of Jesus.

Thus, Matthew sends an important message to the communities of Palestine and Syria. It is as if he said, "Behold, what would happen if the rigorous observance were followed, which certain Pharisees demand from you! They would put the Messiah to death!" Later Jesus will say, "If your justice is not greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mt 5:20). 

Due to the holiday season, many members of the Filipino Community Group's volunteers will be going home for Christmas.  For this reason, we need to cancel the 5th Sunday Tagalog Mass temporarily.  It will resume on March 29, 2020. 

John the Baptist had given everything to God. He had left his home and his family. He lived in total poverty. And even if you eat them with honey, locusts are still bugs.

John the Baptist had preached the Kingdom of God; he had given everything to prepare the way for Jesus. And what's his apparent reward? He's in prison. It seems that God is hidden from him. He hears about the miracles that Jesus is doing, and yet he remains in prison.

He sends his friends to ask the most important question; everything hinges on this question. He asks Jesus: "Who are you?" "Are you the meaning of my life? Are you the mercy of God made visible? I have given everything – even my freedom – for God. Are you his face among us?"

And the answer that Jesus gives to John's question can seem a bit cryptic. He doesn't say, "Obviously... Of course I'm the one who is to come. All your difficulties and sufferings are over!"

Jesus is telling John, "You don't have to understand everything. You're not God. All I ask is that you listen and look at what I've done and continue to do in your life and in the lives of others."

We all have our John the Baptist moments, when nothing seems clear, when Christmas may seem far away. And in those moments, Jesus is telling us, "Look, and listen." 

On the occasion of our beloved Pope Francis' 83rd birthday, the Holy See Study Mission, together with the Diocese of Hong Kong, is organizing the following events :

• A concert to be held on 15th December, Sunday evening, 8:00 PM at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 16 Caine Road.
• A mass to be presided by His Eminence Cardinal John Tong on the 21st December, Saturday afternoon, 5:00 PM at Christ the King Chapel, Causeway Bay.

You are all cordially invited to participate in these joyous events. For details, please refer to the relevant poster.

The Mass schedule for Christmas & New Year 2019-2020 can be found next to the Parish Bulletin at the back of the church. 

Fr. Paulus was one of the first Carmelites working in Hong Kong.  He moved to Hong Kong in October 2013 from Indonesia.  Fr. Paulus joins us from St. Teresa's Church in Kowloon, where he was the assistant parish priest from Apr 2016.  He might be a familiar face to some parishioners as he had stayed in St. Anne's in the past, and he would also occasionally celebrate Mass when Fr. John (McAuley) was away. 

Please note that confessions in both Chinese and English will be heard on Friday, Dec 20^th, at 7:30 PM.Two priests will be available.