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Third Sunday of Easter Luke 24:33,35-48And Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Tercer Domingo de Pascua San Lucas 24:33,35-48—Esto es lo que está escrito —les explicó—: que el Cristo pa-decerá y resucitará al tercer día, y en su nombre se predicarán el arrepentimiento y el perdón de pecados a todas las naciones, comenzando por Jerusalén. Ustedes son testigos de estas cosas.

Second Sunday of Easter John 20:19-31Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Fa-ther has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Segundo Domingo de Pascua San Juan 2-:19-31La paz sea con ustedes! —repitió Jesús—. Segundo Do-mingo de Pascua Juan 20:19-31Como el Padre me envió a mí, así yo los envío a ustedes. Acto seguido, sopló sobre ellos y les dijo: —Reciban el Espíritu Santo. A quienes les perdonen sus pecados, les serán perdonados; a quienes no se los perdonen, no les serán perdonados.

Easter Sunday John 20:1-9When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had cov-ered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

Domingo de Pascua San Juan 20:1-9Tras él llegó Simón Pedro, y entró en el sepulcro. Vio allí las vendas y el sudario que había cubierto la cabeza de Jesús, aunque el sudario no estaba con las vendas sino enrollado en un lugar aparte. En ese momento entró también el otro discípu-lo, el que había llegado primero al sepulcro; y vio y creyó.

Holy Thursday John 13:1-15Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.”  

Jueves Santo San Juan 13:1-15El que ya se ha bañado no necesita lavarse más que los pies —le contestó Jesús—; pues ya todo su cuerpo está limpio. Y ustedes ya están limpios, aunque no todos.

Fourth Sunday of Easter John 10:11-18So Jesus said again: "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep."

Cuarto Domingo de Pascua San Juan 10:11-18Yo soy el buen pastor; conozco a mis ovejas, y ellas me conocen a mí, así como el Padre me conoce a mí y yo lo conozco a él, y doy mi vida por las ovejas.

Volume 5 April 2015

St. Margaret Mary’s Church

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Fundamental questionsThe Shroud, the burial cloth of Jesus measuring 1.1m x 4.4m, bears a double

image of the front and back of Jesus’ body after the crucifixion, is one of the most studied objects in human history. Over the years, numerous scientists and scholars have accumulated a large amount of information. Fr. Andrew asked a fundamental question: “Does not this cloth make it hard NOT to believe in Jesus’s resurrection?”

Others may ask: Is the shroud authentic? How was the image created? Why exactly 30-36 hours after its initial contact with the Shroud did the blood suddenly stop soaking into the fiber? Why do the blood stains show no smearing? Fr. Andrew’s conclusion is that “the Shroud stands out in our empirical age for the unique way in which it substantiates the Gospel.”There are four types of marks on the Shroud: i) blood stains; ii) burnt marks on both sides of the cloth caused by the fire in 1532; iii) water stains; and iv) body marks of the dead body. The image on the Shroud corresponds to the Passion of Christ.

The image on the Shroud corresponds to the Passion of ChristAt the Pillar, Jesus was scourged with a cudgel for admitting that

He is the Messiah. The photo negative of the Shroud showed a total of 120 lashes from both sides of the body, streams of blood down both arms, swelling of the face from severe beatings and scores of linear wounds on the torso and legs. Each lash created a mark on the skin, equivalent to a third degree burn. Jesus was then crowned with thorns and mocked as “King of the Jews”; the Shroud bears small punctures around the forehead and scalp. The Shroud shows the nail marks on Jesus’ fists and large puncture wounds in the feet pierced by a single spike. After His death, a soldier pierced Jesus’ right chest with a spear; at once blood and water flew out. Ultra-violet florescence reveals a mark of double-edged blade piercing between the fifth and sixth ribs right into the heart.

A dead body normally decomposes after 40 hours. The fact that blood stopped soaking into the cloth between 30-36 hours and that there was no smearing show that Jesus must have come out of the cloth when his body was radiating miraculous energy to make this kind of resurrection. Fr. Andrew concluded that in the Shroud we see the image of God’s love. Jesus suffered and was crucified in order to fulfill God’s plan of salvation for mankind. We see in the Shroud powerful reasons for faith in the risen Lord.

The following excerpts show the Vatican position on the ShroudIn 1983 the Shroud was given to Pope John Paul II. However, the Roman Catholic Church made no pro-

nouncements on its authenticity. The matter has been left to the personal decision of the faithful, as long as the Church does not issue a future notification to the contrary. In the Church's view, whether the cloth is authentic or not has no bearing whatsoever on the validity of what Jesus taught or on the saving power of his death and resur-rection. The Pope said in his address at the Turin Cathedral on May 24, 1998: "The Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin [...] The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human capacity for causing pain and death to one's fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."

During his visit in Turin in 2010, Pope Benedict described the Shroud of Turin as an "extraordinary Icon", the "Icon of Holy Saturday [...] corresponding in every way to what the Gospels tell us of Jesus", "an Icon written in blood, the blood of a man who was scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and whose right side was pierced". The Pope said also that in the Turin Shroud "we see, as in a mirror, our suffering in the suffering of Christ".

On March 30, 2013, Pope Francis recorded a video message for the exposition of the Shroud in the Cathe-dral of Turin, in which he described the image on the shroud as "this Icon of a man", and stated that "the Man of the Shroud invites us to contemplate Jesus of Nazareth." Pope Francis urged the faithful to contemplate the shroud with awe, but "stopped firmly short of asserting its authenticity.” He also announced he would go on a pilgrimage to Turin on June 21, 2015, to pray before, venerate the Holy Shroud and honor St. John Bosco on the bicentenary of his birth.

Subsequent to the warm response to his talk on the Shroud of Turin last year, Fr. Andrew Dalton LC came from Rome and delivered a talk on the Shroud again this year at St. Margaret’s Church on Easter Sunday, 5th April.

The Shroud of Turin

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Hong Kong Japanese Catholic Community

Throughout the year, the Board members meet often with Fr. Adam in order to plan and organize various events. Some of our regularly scheduled events include an Easter Egg Hunt for the children, a family BBQ party, a Pot Luck Dinner and games held after our Christmas Eve Mass. We also invite a priest from Japan every year to hold our retreat which is filled with special homilies and Bible studies. We also have a retreat as well as Catechism classes with Fr. Adam. Often we receive special mission groups from Japanese churches. We have mass together and take time for a dim sum lunch to become better acquainted.

Regarding our existing members, they used to be mostly Japanese from Japan. Recently, however, about half of our members are international families with one spouse being a Japanese national. We are welcoming more and more Hong Kong Catholics who are studying Japanese language. We welcome all those who are interested in Japan, its language and culture into our Japanese Catholic community. For those who are interested in knowing more about the Japanese Catholic community, please feel free to contact us at hkjcatholic@googlegroups.com. Hong Kong Japanese Catholic Community

By Nishida, Akio Chairman, Japan Catholic Community

Here I share some pictures of the events held in January 2015.

Blessing of the Nakamura Family before departure for Japan

Blessing of husbands & wives on the Day of the Holy Family

The board members

青木書記山本会計係山崎副会長西田会長

Our Secretary, with support from the whole Board issues a monthly bulletin which is then emailed to all our members. This is not only for our members here in Hong Kong but also for our former members, many of whom have returned to Japan or other countries.

Looking at our Newsletter of six pages, you will see that on the first page we share schedule information and our latest news or events accompanied with pic-tures. Usually there is a Catechism explanation related to our events to help our members understand the meaning of the Church calendar and events.

We, the members of the Japanese Catholic Community, would like to express our appreciation to Fr. John Kwan and all members of St. Margaret’s Church for letting us use the chapel on the first floor of the parish building every Sunday for our mass at 11 a.m. Our Japanese Mass is celebrated by Fr. Adam B. Gudalefsky. Let me introduce the Hong Kong Japanese Catholic Community. The caretakers of our community, the Board members, are elected annually.

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Article Contributions Welcome

The newsletter is in many ways a ‘family letter’, facilitating the communication and sharing of ideas between different groups in our parish. Therefore you will be most welcome to share with us your spiritual life and insights, parish activities and pilgrimage experience, etc.

Text should be close to a full-A4 page length or half of it, with high resolution photos for print qual-ity where relevant. We also welcome a simpler photo journal format with titles for the photos and

may be a few lines to describe an event you have participated; it would be great to see different members of our family. Please send your contributions by email if possible; in case of handwritten manuscripts, please give it to the counter staff at the amenities building next to St. Margaret’s Church. Originals will not be returned so please make copies if necessary.

By post: St. Margaret’s Church (Newsletter) 2A Broadwood Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong.

Tel: 25762801 Fax: 25769764 Email: smc@catholic.org.hk

The Start of my Journey towards BaptismAfter mass on a crisp, sunny day in September 2013, I browsed as usual the selection of newsletters

and literatures available to be picked up at the back of St. Margaret Mary’s Church. A stack of tri-fold brochures tucked neatly into a vertical stand caught my eyes. It was inconspicuous, but that day I stayed a little longer despite the hurrying hush of my husband and started reading the brochure. “It is an application form for the baptism preparation class starting this fall,” I shared with my husband, feeling a slight tug and urge in my heart.

That was the start of my journey toward baptism.

I have been attending Sunday mass since 2003 and it might be a surprise as you read this to find out that I am just a ‘regular’ person going to church to listen to the teachings of the scriptures, but not yet an official Catholic. Although I can recite prayers and read scriptures like our fellow brothers and sisters during mass, there was that distance, or lack of closeness, which I wonder if God has felt with me too. “I want to join the class. I hope I can still get in. Would you join it with me? I asked my husband.

And since then for the past one and a half year, my husband and I went to class together again, just like more than twelve years ago when we were classmates in school. We look forward to the catechumen class every week, learning in detail about the teachings of Jesus and reflecting ourselves the way of life we should strive toward in living being a Catholic in today’s society. Jesus especially adored the sick and the poor – have we done our bit in helping those around us who might not be as fortunate as we are? Jesus forgives, even those who betrayed him and nailed him to the Cross – can we be a little kinder to those around us who might not know what they are doing and had inadvertently hurt us? Jesus said, “stop judging, that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7:1); “why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) – before we open our mouths and criticisms start flying toward those we see as not performing to our ‘standards’, usually the targets are those close to us, can we stop for a moment and remind ourselves that we are also not perfect, and give them a chance and appreciate that they have done many things right too?

There is still so much to learn! A year and a half is not too long a time nor is it short either. As the date of baptism approaches this April, I feel the sense of belonging becoming even stronger, a step at a time getting closer and closer to God.

Wishing all the readers here a year of happiness and good health in the glory of God this 2015. I hope to make your acquaintance one day as a new member in our big Catholic family!

Teresa Cheung

O n e Fa i t h O n e B o d y