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Sebastian Lai, son of Hong Kong Catholic democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, said this week his father is “still fighting for his beliefs” while he remains imprisoned in “inhumane” conditions and his national security trial drags on. 

Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and a human rights activist, has been on trial since December of 2023 for allegations of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law put in effect by the communist-controled Chinese government. 

He was originally arrested in 2020 and has been convicted on several other charges over the course of his detainment. 

The 77-year-old has been in solitary confinement in Hong Kong for more than four years, where “he doesn’t get to see anybody. He doesn’t get natural light, and he’s denied the Eucharist as well,” Sebastian Lai said at a press conference on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. 

Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller is among a group of Catholic leaders from around the world who in 2023 called upon the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to release Lai.

Noting the situation in Hong Kong “greatly concerns” Vancouver Catholics, especially in the Asian Catholic community, Archbishop Miller said there is an obligation to help those unjustly persecuted.

“Christian charity leads us to pray and do all we can from a practical perspective to help those who are facing persecution,” he said. 

“Mr. Lai is a person of faith who is being silenced and imprisoned for his pro-democracy convictions. Justice demands that we speak up for them and give them a voice.”

His son said the trial had just finished cross-examinations. In the courtroom, Lai was reported to be “skinnier,” but “still very sharp.”

The trial was supposed to last 18 days, Sebastian said, but has now run for well over 100. “He’s not going to get sentenced until either end of this year or the start of next year,” he said. 

The lead of Jimmy Lai’s international team, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, further explained the trial timeline and the anticipated outcome.

“We’re waiting for the closing submissions, and disgracefully, there’s a very, very long delay until early August before the closing submissions,” Gallagher said. “That’s a gap of almost five months in the middle of a trial when you’re dealing with an elderly man who’s diabetic, who’s already been in prison and in solitary confinement for over four years.”

“After that, there’ll be a pause, we don’t know how long before the judges give their verdict. But we think that’s only going one way,” she said. “We think it’s going to be a guilty finding, because he’s being tried under a law which essentially criminalizes dissent.”

“My God, my God why have you abandoned me?” Psalm 22:1 Are you praying everyday but still suffering? Are you doing all the right things but your heart is still broken?

Fr. Mike shares with us today that God doesn’t promise all our desires, but promises that He will be with us through our sufferings. He reminds us that we are never abandoned by Him.

You need to know yourself in order to find the best ways to live Lent. Take some time to consider who you are and what your relationships need.

It’s important to know yourself well when you decide how you will fast, pray, and give alms this Lent.

If you do, then maybe you can combine all three in ways that are tailor-made to improve the most important relationships of your life.

Let’s start with your relationship with God.

We all have a different problem here. 

Maybe you are overwhelmed. Are you exhausted by your many devotions? Maybe you do rosaries, chaplets, and novenas  — and rosary novenas and chaplet novenas —  along with daily Mass, feast day activities, daily podcasts, and parish events, and you’re drowning in it all.

Or maybe you are presumptuous. Maybe you do all of those things and you actually keep up with it all. Your inbox provides the novena for next week’s feast each morning, you are on the second half of a 54-day rosary novena, you get a chaplet in most afternoons at around 3, and you are going through Bible in a Year for the third time. Maybe you are pretty sure that even God is impressed with you.

Or maybe your spiritual life is on hold. Maybe you did many of these things for much of your life, but you are just really, really busy right now. You totally plan to pray again — when you have more time. Maybe in late spring?

Whether you are overwhelmed, presumptuous, or on hold —  you can do something about it this Lent. Give up worrying about anything but daily prayer, Sunday Mass, and regular confession — but put more into each of those. At your daily prayer, picture Jesus sitting across from you, lean forward, and say, “Can we just talk for a change?” He would love to hear from you.

Then comes your relationship with your spouse.

Again, let’s be clear where we are starting. 

Are you walking on eggshells with your spouse? Maybe you’re fine, totally fine, as long as you can steer the conversation away from two or three or, well, maybe 10, touchy topics that set you off. If you talk about any of those you get angry fights or silent funks. So you don’t talk about those. And you’re fine.

Are you being maternalistic or paternalistic with your spouse? Maybe your husband complains that you don’t let him do anything he likes and that you shut down every plan he tries to make — but of course you do because his priorities are all wrong. Or maybe your wife complains that you don’t listen to her — but you most certainly do listen, on the rare occasions she actually has something important to say.

John Paul II Pastoral Centre staff lined the balcony and crowded the ground floor to welcome Archbishop Richard Smith for his first official visit to Vancouver, his soon-to-be home and archdiocese.

After flying in from Edmonton and navigating Vancouver morning traffic, Archbishop Smith told pastoral workers he was deeply touched by their welcome.

As part of his visit, he sat down for an interview with Archbishop J. Michael Miller and Deacon Zak Santiago, a Vancouver actor and permanent deacon at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

During the 30-minute conversation, the two archbishops shared their thoughts on topics ranging from evangelization and parish renewal to truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

For his part, Archbishop Miller introduced the Archdiocese and its unique character, praising the Proclaim Movement as an engine for evangelical formation, reviewing the Sacred Covenant signed with the Tk̓emlúps First Nation, and describing some of the ways parishes are embracing renewal through innovative approaches to co-responsibility and parish leadership.

“What’s really important is to learn from the local people here and members of the local Church,” Archbishop Smith said. “What really are the dynamics at play here in Vancouver?”

It’s important, he said, “that we don’t rush forward with answers to questions that people aren’t asking,” adding he wants to get “a better sense, a deeper sense of what is going on here [in Vancouver].”

Archbishop Smith emphasized that truth and reconciliation should move the Church not only to listen to Indigenous peoples but to learn from them as well. He praised their focus on the Creator and their tradition of beginning gatherings with prayer.

Vancouver’s new shepherd is also eager to learn more about parish renewal initiatives in the Archdiocese.

“I want to keep to the fore the idea of co-responsibility,” he said. “We all have these God-given gifts that come to us through baptism. How do we work together, collaborate, and grasp the co-responsibility that we all have for the mission [of evangelization]?”

Archbishop Smith and Archbishop Miller both received their episcopal appointments in  2007, and they were asked about leaving their episcopal appointments.  

For Archbishop Smith, leaving his longtime home of Edmonton comes with some sadness, but he said he is ultimately excited about the opportunities the Church in Vancouver offers.

Archbishop Miller, on the other hand, said he has had time to process the emotions of the change.

Pope Francis had an uneventful night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and continues to rest, the Holy See Press Office said Thursday morning.

“The night passed quietly; the Pope is still resting,” the press office said.

On Wednesday evening, the press office released a statement providing the daily medical update on Pope Francis’ health.

“The Holy Father remained stable today as well, without any episodes of respiratory insufficiency,” said the statement.

“As planned, he utilized supplemental, high-flow oxygenation, and non-invasive mechanical ventilation will be resumed tonight.”

Pope Francis “increased his respiratory and active motor physiotherapy” and spent the day in his armchair.

“Given the complexity of the clinical situation, the prognosis remains guarded,” the statement continued.

On Ash Wednesday, in a private apartment on the 10th floor, “the Holy Father participated in the rite of the blessing of the Sacred Ashes, which were imposed on him by the celebrant. He then received the Eucharist.”

The Pope later “engaged in several work activities,” including making a call to Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Holy Family Church in Gaza.

“In the afternoon, he alternated between rest and work,” the press office said.

Pope Francis has been receiving treatment for bilateral pneumonia at Gemelli Hospital since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14.

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2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C
First Reading: Gn 15:5-12, 17-18
Second Reading: Phil 3:17–4:1
Gospel Reading: Lk 9:28b-36

In this Sunday’s readings, Jesus is transfigured, and St. Paul tells us that Christ will “transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.”

The Church confirms it in the Preface: God filled “with the greatest splendour” the bodily form Jesus shares with us, to show us how what first “shone forth” in the Church’s Head “is to be fulfilled” in his Mystical Body, the Church.

Almost universally, non-Christians oppose Christian faith in the resurrection of the body, St. Augustine noted. Many believe vaguely that the soul survives death, but Christians believe that at the end of the world, Christ will raise even our bodies.

To the Sadducees, who denied it, Jesus said unambiguously, “You are badly misled, because you fail to understand the Scriptures or the power of God.” To Martha, he said, “Your brother will rise again.” When she replied, “I know he will rise again, in the resurrection on the last day,” Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

When the risen Jesus first appeared to his apostles, “they thought they were seeing a ghost,” and they panicked, but Jesus showed them the holes left by the nails that had held him to the cross and said, “Look at my hands and feet: it is really I. Touch me, and see that a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I do.” Since the apostles were still incredulous for sheer joy and wonder, he asked, “Have you anything here to eat?” and they gave him a piece of fish, which he took and ate in front of them.

Clearly, therefore, Jesus’ risen body was recognizably his own. However, he did not return to his previous earthly life. For example, he was, occasionally, hard to recognize, and could appear and disappear, even through locked doors.

That is what we can “look forward” to. We say we believe it in the Creed every Sunday. However, we still wonder how the dead will be raised and what kind of body they will have.

St. Paul explains: “The seed you sow does not germinate unless it dies…. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown in the earth is subject to decay; what rises is incorruptible. What is sown is ignoble; what rises is glorious. Weakness is sown, strength rises up. A natural body is put down and a spiritual body comes up.”

If “spiritual body” suggests something more like a gas than a solid body of “flesh and bones,” read C.S.

Do your Lenten practices feel arbitrary? Do your penances seem ineffective? If you’re feeling this way, you might be wondering, “what do you want from me this Lent, God?” 

You might hear the answer as you receive cruciform ashes on your forehead this Ash Wednesday: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” 

Fr. Mark-Mary wants you to transform your Lent with one simple idea: repentance. There is a better way to do this, and it’s not complicated. We hope you have a blessed Lent this year!

©AscensionPresents

Lent is often a time when we are invited to pray the Stations of the Cross, a devotion that has multiple lessons we can learn about the spiritual life.

One of the most popular devotions during Lent is the Stations of the Cross. Parishes around the world will hold special times when the faithful can come to the Church and pray the Stations together.

It is a devotion that simply “makes sense” during Lent, as it is focused on the intense passion and death of Jesus Christ.

The Directory on popular piety and the liturgy explains that it is a “synthesis” of various Lenten devotions:

The Via Crucis is a synthesis of various devotions that have arisen since the high middle ages: the pilgrimage to the Holy Land during which the faithful devoutly visit the places associated with the Lord’s Passion; devotion to the three falls of Christ under the weight of the Cross; devotion to “the dolorous journey of Christ” which consisted in processing from one church to another in memory of Christ’s Passion; devotion to the stations of Christ, those places where Christ stopped on his journey to Calvary because obliged to do so by his executioners or exhausted by fatigue, or because moved by compassion to dialogue with those who were present at his Passion.

While it certainly is focused on Jesus’ passion, the Directory notes four additional lessons that we can learn from it.

1. Life as a Pilgrimage

The Directory explains that the Stations of the Cross can open us up to the idea of, “life being a journey or pilgrimage.”

When praying the Stations of the Cross, it is common to move from one station to the next. This physical movement is sometimes made even more dramatic when praying at outdoor stations that wind its way up and down a hill.

Our life is a journey, a pilgrimage, that will be difficult at times, but will lead us to our ultimate home.

2. Preparation for Heaven

Connected to the previous lesson, the Stations can remind us that our life is “a passage from earthly exile to our true home in Heaven.”

Life can be difficult and Jesus’ passion puts this suffering on full display. When praying the Stations we can reflect on our own lives and how the many sufferings we experience prepare us for our true home.

3. Uniting ourselves to Jesus’ Passion

The Stations have an obvious lesson of igniting within us “the deep desire to be conformed to the Passion of Christ.”

While we may not always feel a great inner desire to be united to Jesus’ Passion, the Stations are a reminder to us that Jesus invites us to be with us at the cross.

There’s something special about Mass on Ash Wednesday — Catholics everywhere scramble to find a church and a Mass time so they can fit it into their day.

If you’re Catholic and walking around with a clean forehead on Ash Wednesday, you kinda feel like you went to work without your pants. But at the same time, when you do have ashes on your head, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that you’re a walking billboard for religion.

It’s a confusing day to be Catholic. If we’re supposed to “pray in secret” as Jesus commands in the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading, is it really a good idea to paste something on our foreheads to tell the world that we’re practicing our faith? On the other hand, when you see someone at the deli counter wearing their own smudge of ashes, you can give them a silent nod with the knowledge that you’re in this thing together and that’s pretty cool.

Perhaps Ash Wednesday is an important day for Catholics of all types because those ashes signify our participation in a community that’s walking toward God together. Even for those who haven’t been to Mass in ages, receiving and wearing those ashes is an important outward sign of an inward reality: we’re all part of this family.

There’s more to Ash Wednesday Mass than just the ashes, though. If it were just about smudging foreheads, they’d have a drive-through lane next to the church! When you’re at Mass on Ash Wednesday, here are three things to notice beyond the ashes.

1. Standing in line

When we walk forward to receive ashes, we walk in a line, just like we do to receive Communion. This line is a great equalizer — rich and poor, young and old, Yankees fans and Red Sox fans — we all walk in the same line toward one destination. Many stand in front of us, many stand behind.

It’s not a bad image for why we turn to faith: we walk together toward the table where God meets us, and then we return to where we came from. We’re all poor and hungry in line for a meal. We come and we go, together.

We can think of Mass as a beating heart, drawing us in, sending us out. When we join this rhythm, we’re restored and renewed as we approach the altar, and then we are sent out to take that nourishment to others.

That doesn’t mean that every time we come to Mass, we have an earth-shattering epiphany, or even an emotional experience. It just means that we come to Mass to connect our lives to God’s life in ordinary ways.

On Sunday evening, the Holy See Press Office released an update on Pope Francis’ health:

“Today, too, the Holy Father’s clinical condition has remained stable. The Pope has not required non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but only supplemental high-flow oxygenation. He does not have a fever.

Given the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains guarded.

This morning, the Holy Father participated in Holy Mass, together with those who have been caring for him during these days of hospitalization. Afterward, he alternated rest with prayer.”

No direct consequences from last Friday’s isolated bronchospasm are evident. However, the risk of a deterioration in the Pope’s condition remains, the update said.

Pope Francis has been hospitalized with breathing difficulties since Feb. 14.

In an Angelus address prepared by Pope Francis while he continued his treatment in hospital and published by the Holy See Press Office, the Pope thanked the faithful for their closeness in his moment of “frailty” and urged them to continue praying for peace in the world, just as they prayed for him.

“From here, war appeared even more absurd,” he said, calling in particular for prayers for “tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and Kivu.”

The Pope also expressed his gratitude to the doctors and healthcare professionals “for the attention with which they are taking care of me” and reflected on the hidden grace within his illness. “It is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord; at the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people,” he said.

Finally, he expressed his deep appreciation for the prayers rising from the hearts of the faithful across the world. “I feel all your affection and closeness, and at this particular time, I feel as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people. Thank you all!”

Before turning to his reflection on the day’s Gospel, the Pope assured the faithful of his prayers for them as well. “I prayed for you too. And I prayed above all for peace,” he said.

He then invited them to meditate on that Sunday’s Gospel, which highlighted two of our five senses: sight and taste.

With regard to sight, the Pope explained that Jesus asked us “to train our eyes to observe the world well and to judge our neighbour with charity.” He emphasized that only a gaze of care, rather than condemnation, allowed fraternal correction to be a true virtue. “Because if it is not fraternal, it is not correction!” he added.

Turning then to taste, Pope Francis recalled Jesus’ teaching that every tree is known by its fruit.