Podcasts about Makassar

Delivered by Fiona from the Parish of Mary Queen of the Rosary in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Colossians 3: 12-17; Rs psalm 150: 1-2.3-4.5-6; Luke 6: 27-38.BE GENEROUS LIKE THE FATHER The title for our meditation today is:Be Generous Like the Father. A father and his son, an elementary school boy,entered the church to pray. The child then saw for some moments a large crossattached to the wall behind the altar and he wanted an explanation from hisfather. He said: "Who condemns Jesus to death on the cross likethat?" A few moments passed but his father had not responded because hewas still thinking the right argument in responding to the child. Then the answer came like this:"Those who condemn Jesus to a very cruel and humiliating death are Hisenemies." And the father went on to ask: "Who are Jesus'enemies?" The child remembered what has been tought in religion class aboutthe passion story of Jesus, and he immediately responded: “His enemies aresinners and more specifically those who killed Him during his moments of trialand severe punishment to death." This conversation of the father andhis child is extraordinary because it has important theological significance.Its importance is mainly related to the word of God of today, especially theGospel which is essentially about the the Lord's command for us to be kind asour good Father in heaven. The kindness and generosity of the Father, thealmighty God, are revealed among many people who deserve it, particularly inthe acceptance and forgiveness of those who are against and hostile to God. This generosity is demonstrated by thecrucified Jesus. Before dying on the cross, He forgave His enemies. Thisextraordinary act becomes a very basic teaching and example for us all asexpressed in the proclamation of the gospel of today. Our point is this, tothose who are hostile to us, those who behave badly or show hatred and revengeon us, our best Christian attitude is the attitude of Jesus Christ. We can put this teaching into acomprehensive pattern of attitude, which starts by reconciling to ourselvesthat we accept and want to go through the suffering caused by our enemies. Ifwe escape it, avoid it or fight back as a way to defend ourselves, that isanother matter. But in accepting it, we do make it as Jesus' gift to us. Uponreceiving it, we need to complement ourselves with gentleness and patience, asSaint Paul says in the first reading, his letter to the Colossians. In this attitude, as we are filledwith joy and strength from the Lord, the generosity then becomes a very nobleand great gift in us. From this generosity, comes our willingness and abilityto forgive. If one can forgive because he or she is generous as the Father inheaven, this forgiveness is truly genuine. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord, increase in us the grace to forgive those who are againstus. Our Father who art in heaven... In the name of the Father ...

Menteri Sosial Saifullah Yusuf menyalurkan santunan kepada keluarga korban tewas dan luka dalam kerusuhan unjuk rasa di Kota Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan. Santunan diberikan sebesar Rp15 juta untuk keluarga korban meninggal dan Rp5 juta bagi korban luka. Selain itu, pemerintah juga berkomitmen memberikan perlindungan, jaminan sosial, serta bantuan usaha bagi warga terdampak.

Delapan unit rumah warga termasuk rumah kos di pemukiman padat penduduk di Kota Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan, ludes terbakar pada Sabtu dini hari.Puluhan unit mobil pemadam kebakaran dikerahkan ke lokasi, namun akses gang sempit membuat proses pemadaman terhambat. Api diduga berasal dari korsleting listrik salah satu rumah warga dan merambat ke bangunan lain. Beruntung, tidak ada korban jiwa dalam kejadian ini.

Delivered by Svara Nirmala, Maxwell Gosal, Bryan Darwi dan Maria Delie from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Wisdom 9: 13-18; Rs psalm 90: 3-4.5-6.12-13.14.17; Filemon 1: 9b.12-17; Luke 14: 25-33.MORTAL GOODS DO NOT BURDEN THE SOUL The title for our meditation on this 23rdSunday in Ordinary Time is: Mortal Goods Do Not Burden the Soul. Human life inthe world is often burdened by the desire to have many things of the world.Material things are necessary for daily life, but when our hearts become tooattached to worldly personalities, possessions, positions, or pleasures, oursouls become bound and difficult to be directed to God.  Our souls and spirits are created to return to God,the Creator, not to be confined by what will vanish with time. Jesus reminds usthat where your treasures are, there your heart is. So we are called to put ourtreasures in heaven, not in mortality. Jesus himself showed a clear example. He lived simply,did not grasp wealth, and had no place to lay His head. In the Gospels, Jesusdemands that His followers leave everything and follow Him. It does not meanthat we should not have relatives or friends and things, but that all of themshould not dominate our hearts. Only with a free heart can man enter into unionwith Christ and experience true peace in the Kingdom of God. To help us be free from mortal things, we need totrain our hearts with a few simple tips. First, learn to be grateful for whatis there without always chasing more. Gratitude makes us satisfied, andsatisfaction keeps us away from greed. Second, get into the habit of sharingand being generous. By giving, we break free from the power of possession.Third, use enough things as needed, not based on desires alone. Living simplyopens up more space for our spirits to be directed to God. But the journey of following Christ is not easy. Theworld with all its offers often tries to pull us back. Therefore, there areconditions that we need to hold on to in order to persevere in our choice tofollow Jesus. First, strengthen faith through daily prayer. Prayer is thebreath of the spirit that binds us to Christ.  Second, diligently read and meditate on God's Word,because the Word is a lamp that guides our steps. Third, stay involved in thefaith community. The brotherhood and sisterhood of faith will strengthen uswhen the temptations of the world feel heavy. Let us remember that our souls and spirits aretemples, where the Lord dwells. Everything that is mortal is only a tool, notan end. Do not let the things of the world become a burden that shackles thesoul. Instead, direct our hearts to Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and theLife.  Let us pray. In the name of the Father ... O Almighty God,strengthen our faith in You so that we may always walk in Your path to truecommunion with You. Our Father who art in heaven... In the name of the Father...

Pekan lalu, kita menyaksikan kemarahan rakyat tereskalasi dalam hitungan hari bahkan jam, menjelma menjadi demonstrasi hingga amuk massa. Tak cuma di Jakarta, tetapi merembet cepat ke berbagai daerah. Itu semua adalah akumulasi kemarahan rakyat atas kebijakan yang tidak adil, sikap pejabat yang nirempati, dan aparat yang represif.Jatuh empat korban jiwa, ekses dari kerusuhan dan brutalitas aparat. Pengemudi ojek online, Affan Kurniawan, tewas dilindas kendaraan taktis (rantis) Brimob di Jakarta. Sedangkan, di Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan, tiga ASN tewas terjebak di dalam gedung DPRD yang dibakar massa.Kemarin, Presiden Prabowo mengumumkan pembatalan tunjangan anggota DPR dan moratorium kunjungan luar negeri DPR, usai bertemu 8 pimpinan parpol di Istana Kepresidenan, Jakarta.Prabowo juga memerintahkan pemeriksaan terhadap aparat polisi pengendara rantis yang melindas Affan dilakukan cepat dan transparan. Presiden memastikan negara menghormati kebebasan berpendapat dan terbuka mendengar aspirasi rakyat yang disampaikan secara damai.Beberapa parpol menonaktifkan kader-kader bermasalah karena pernyataan-pernyataannya yang blunder, seperti Uya Kuya dan Eko Patrio dari PAN, serta Ahmad Sahroni dan Nafa Urbach dari Nasdem.Apakah langkah-langkah ini cukup untuk meredam amarah publik? Bagaimana negara mesti bersikap terhadap brutalitas aparat yang terus berulang? Apakah ada potensi kerusuhan bakal meluas? Bagaimana mencegahnya?Di Ruang Publik KBR kita akan bahas bersama Ketua Komnas HAM Anis Hidayah, Plt. Direktur Eksekutif Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) Maidina Rahmawati, dan Antropolog Geger Rianto.

Delivered by Randy from the Parish of Christ the King in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17a; Rs psalm 96: 1.3.4-5.11-12.13; Luke 4: 16-30.DYING WITH AND IN CHRIST The title for our meditation today is: Dying With and InChrist. As Christians, we believe that our lives begin, are lived, and end inChrist. When we are called to die together and in Jesus Christ, it means thatwe no longer view death as a dreadful end, but rather as the entrance toeternal life.  Christ's death on the cross was not a failure, but atotal and perfect expression of God's love for man. Thus, to die in Christmeans to give our lives completely into His hands, convinced that His love isgreater than death. This meaning is very relevant to human life today. Themodern world often avoids talking about death, as if death is the greatestenemy to be kept as far away as possible. However, the Christian faith viewsdeath in Christ as a victory. Saint Paul affirms: "To me life is Christand death is gain" (Philippians 1:21). That is, as long as our lives aredirected to Christ, then death is not darkness, but the path to fullness ofunion with God. Death in Christ also teaches us to live a life ofmeaning and responsibility. If we realize that life is temporary, we will bemore careful to fill it with love, truth, and devotion. We are no longer tiedto temporal things that are temporary, but seek the eternal. Thus, theawareness of death in Christ frees us from vain fear and gives us the courageto live in the light of God's love. The task of Christians is to proclaim the truth ofdeath in Christ as a fundamental hope. The world is hungry for hope, especiallywhen faced with suffering, sickness, and death. Through the testimony of faith,we are called to reassure others that death is not the end, but the beginningof a new life with God. This is proclaimed not only through words, butespecially through the way we live: a life full of peace, patience, and love,even in the midst of difficulties. This message of hope must also be a strength inservices. Christians are called to be present for those who are experiencingsuffering and loss. The Thessalonian Christians accepted Saint Paul'sexhortation to comfort the grief of the death of a loved one, by welcoming eachperson's day of death with joy and hope. Let us pray. In the name of the Father ... O God, fill uswith a strong faith of the hope of eternal life with You in glory and happinessthat will never end. Hail Mary full of grace... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Pontianak and Yurike Gunawan from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Sirach 3: 17-18.20.28-29; Rs psalm 68: 4-5ac.6-7ab.10-11; Hebrews 12: 18-19.22-24a; Luke 14: 1.7-14. HUMILITY ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST The title for our meditation on this 22ndSunday in Ordinary Time is: Humility According to Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesusonce said: "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart and yoursoul will find rest." (Matthew 11:29). This simple sentence touches on theessence of the Christian life, which is humility.  In today's Gospel reading Jesus gives an examplethrough parables of humility in taking a seat in the banquet hall, and when someoneinvites those who come to the banquet, the choice sould be the little ones,disabled, crippled and blind. The book of Sirach in the first reading advisesus to live in humility so that God's gifts are bestowed upon us and all ourlife. Humility does not mean being insecure or feelingworthless. To be humble means to place oneself on the truth of our faith: thatwe are only creatures, and that all we have is the grace of God. A humbleperson does not close himself with pride, but opens his heart to receive God'slove and share that love with others. Jesus himself became the supreme example. He is God,but willingly born in a simple manger. He is the Teacher, but he wants to washthe feet of His disciples. He is a King, but died on the cross for thesalvation of man. This is the pinnacle of humility that brings life to theworld. So by following the footsteps of the humble MasterJesus Christ, we benefit greatly for ourselves and our lives as well. The firstbenefit is that humility makes us at peace, because we don't constantly pursuethe praise of our fellow human beings around us. The next benefit is thathumility makes us open persons, who are willing to learn, and not ashamed toadmit our own mistakes, weaknesses and failures. Another benefit is that humility allows us to be closeto others, regardless of status, position, or work. The benefit that Goddesires is that by humility we become close and united in the Lord God, for Heis pleased with the little ones, the simple and the afflicted, and not with theproud. In today's world, humility is increasingly rare. Manypeople race to show themselves on social media, seeking recognition, pursuingsuccess and prestige. But in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the humbleperson becomes an oasis: he brings simplicity, sincerity, and soothing silence.Pope Francis, with his simple spirit of life, is still fresh in the memory ofall of us, that humility is urgently needed in today's world. Let us pray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord, teach usalways the humility that we need so much in today's world. Our Father who artin heaven... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8; Rs psalm 139: 1-3.4-6; Matthew 23: 23-26.THE BALANCE OF OFFERING AND LOVE The title for our meditation today is: Balance ofOffering and Love. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they were verymeticulous in tithing everything, even the smallest things, but forgot the farmore important things, namely justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Their behaviorshows that outward worship can be empty if it is not accompanied by the rightattitude of heart.  They are more concerned with what appears to the humaneye than with what is pleasing to God. This rebuke of Jesus is also relevantfor us today, so that we do not get caught up in godliness that is only theouter skin. If a person prioritizes good name, honor, and praiseover justice and love for others, then the consequences can be fatal. First,the relationship with God becomes superficial because prayer and offerings areonly used as masks. Second, relationships with others are damaged becausecompassion is not present in real action.  Third, hypocrisy is born, where only pseudo-kindnessis shown, even though the heart is filled with selfishness. Finally, all ofthis gives birth to social injustice and indifference to the suffering ofothers. As Christians, we are called to live a balance betweenworship of God and concern for others. Offerings of prayer and thanksgiving areimportant expressions of faith, yet they should not separate us from the callto be merciful, just, and faithful in our daily actions. Without love andjustice, our prayers are just empty words. On the contrary, without prayer, ouracts of love can lose their direction and become mere human morality. That balance is realized when our prayers flow intotangible actions. When we pray, we are invited to realize God's unconditionallove, and then pass it on to others who are suffering. When we give thanks forGod's blessings, we are invited to share with those in need. Whenever wecelebrate faith, it should foster faithfulness to stand up for the weak, upholdjustice, and show compassion. Let us, then, as followers of Christ, not only bediligent in prayer and offering, but also be witnesses of love in our dailylives. True godliness is not only measured by how many prayers we offer orofferings, but by the extent to which the prayer becomes real concern. Thus, weare not trapped like the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked, but rather becomechildren of God who live in love, justice, and faithfulness. Let us pray. In the name of the Father ... O merciful God,strengthen us in faith with a balance between our prayers, praise, ourgratitude to You and our acts of love for others. Hail Mary full of grace... Inthe name of the Father...

Delivered by Bryan Darwi dan Lukitananda Putra Niora from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 1 Thessalonians 1: 2b-5.8b-10; Rs psalm 149: 1-2.3-4.5-6a.9b; Matthew 23: 13-22.USING THREE CROWNS  Our meditation today is entitled:Using Three Crowns. The crown of thorns is only one put on the head of Jesus,the royal crown is only one on the head of the king, and the crown of thewinner of world beauty contest is only one for the winner. But these threecrowns are particular gifts from Jesus Christ to each of His followers. In the first reading, we see that SaintPaul was very happy and grateful for the growth of faith of the Thessalonians.This Christians community had received baptism in the Holy Spirit andthrerefore, they received also the sanctifying grace with three crowns, namelythe gift of "your faith, your efforts of love and your perseverance ofhope before God and our Father". Faith, love and hope are the basic unityof graces we receive through baptism. Our journey in this world as truebelievers should be guided in the light of these three virtues. The way offaith makes us believe in the greatness and glory of God, who does everythingpossible, even to move mountains. Through faith we ensure that God is alwayswith us and leads our lives in every time and place. The path of love truly makes us anextension of God's good deeds in the world. This act of love can cover up thesins we have committed. Therefore love never fails in its role. Through hope,we are able to survive in facing various challenges, difficulties, sufferingand willingness to repent and then become new. Living with hope means we come meetperfection. The main sign and source for alwaysfulfilling and imbued with these three crowns is the Lord Jesus, our king andteacher. If the faith is not strong enough and tends to be shaken, it is toJesus that we ask for its reinforcement. If love is increasingly empty and hasno effect because of mere words and promises, we must ask for Jesus' empowerment.And if we are weak in hope, surrender and despair, we must ask Jesus forrenewal. Growing well in these three crowns, wecan avoid the hypocritical behavior and mentality of oppressors such as thePharisees and the scribes. We do not want to be scolded by Jesus with strongcriticism: woe to you! On the contrary by always reinforcing the three crowns,we will not stop looking for the fullness of this life until we arrive at Godhimself. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus Christ, in You we find how faith is strong, love isfully expressed and hope never fades. We ask for your blessings so that ourlives will always be a life of faith, love and toward true hope. Hail Mary fullof grace ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Maria Delie, Michaela Phie, Keithlyn Kusumah, and Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Isaiah 66: 18-21; Rs psalm 117: 1.2; Hebrews 12: 5-7.11-13; Luke 13: 22-30.THE NARROW GATE The title for our meditation on this21st Sunday in Ordinary Time is: The Narrow Gate. Today the LordJesus explains about the kingdom of heaven which has a narrow gate. There was ajunior high school student who after listening to his Priest's homily about thenarrow gate to enter heaven, expressed a strong reaction. "I do not agreethat to enter heaven there is only a narrow gate. In fact I want to go in withmy parents, brother and sister, also my friends. How could we all enter?" Perhaps many people have such theteenager's view about the narrow gate to heaven. But if we follow all of Jesus'teachings about discipleship, the real meaning of the narrow gate is not thephysical image of small and narrow doors. The real meaning is discipline thatmust be the life-style of every follower of Christ. Discipline is taken fromthe word "disciple" that refers to student or pupil. Discipline is the main requirement tobecome a true follower of Christ and eventually obtain salvation. The good newsthat Jesus preaches and the Church continues to this day is very promising andmotivating. People have high expectation especially on the eternal happiness.They are interested, listen diligently and want to be part of the promise. Thewhole world is fascinated by it. They all want to enter. The book of the prophet Isaiah in thefirst reading proclaims the arrival of all people from all nations andlanguages ​​to see the glory of God and find His mercy. Jesus himself alsoemphasizes that people come from all corners of the world to be able to sit andeat together in the kingdom of God. But discipline is what will determinewhether or not someone is worthy of being a part of it, to see and experiencethe glory of God. The inspiration from these threereadings of this Sunday at least gives us three aspects of discipline. First,those who want to enter through the narrow gate are those who must be free fromall forms of evil. Jesus warns that it would be useless to hear the word of Godand celebrate faith, but if they still commit evil and sin, they are not worthyfor the His Kingdom. Second, the mission to make othersdisciples of Jesus is something highly demanded on the part of every followerof Christ. They may not enjoy their faith themselves, but share with others andbecome diligent apostles. Third, the ability to endure in all suffering anddifficulties will make someone recognizes the cross as God's way of educatingand training himself, because behind it is eternal happiness. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus, make us your true disciples, being faithful to the wayof your cross. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Grace Larope from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Judges 11: 29-39a; Rs psalm 40: 5.7-8a.8b-9.10; Matthew 22: 1-14.NEW HEART AND A NEWSPIRIT Our meditation todayhas the theme: A New Heart And A New Spirit. Human heart has its spiritualdimension, from which the activities such as feeling, willing and choosingcome. Meanwhile, human spirit is the spiritual element of human person thatconnects himself or herself with God. When he or she is praying or meditating on the Word of God, his or her spiritual activity becomes dominant, wherein all his or her attention is in union with the divine. There are occasionswhen the condition of one's heart and spirit is considered old or out of date.This means that if his heart and spirit below the standard of the Lord, namelya old type of human profile enslaved by sin and evil. The Lord wills that thistype must be replaced with a new profile of man or woman, namely the one who isrenewed and redeemed in the spirit of God. In general, the scriptures give usthe truth that Jesus Christ had made new the face ofthe earth and particularly the people who take part in His being the Son of Godand in His mission, are truly made new. There was a boy whowas too naughty at home that has caused him a big setback in his study at thejunior high school near his home. Surely he became frustrated and his parentswere mostly anxious about their son's study situation. They responded to this bybringing the boy to the school dormitory at the beginning of the new schoolyear. Priests and religious brothers took care the boys who were members ofthis dormitory. On the first day at the dormitory, this teenager soonexperienced a situation of confict within himself. The condition of thedormitory, the rules, togetherness with his fellow students, and the assistancefrom priests and brothers; all these seemed to make him unable to follow hisown will as he used to be in the past, such as laziness, grumbling, protesting,insulting, stealing, fighting. This conflict did notdiscourage him. However, the life in the dormitory for him was a goodchallenge, especially since he remembered that in the beginning he was givenencouragment that he would obtain good achievement in his study. He just livedout this new life day by day and wanted that, that promise would come true.During the holidays after school year and while at home, his family noticed thefact that this boy has completely changed.His mother asked him: "What has made youchange, son?" He responded the mother by pointing out to the cross ofJesus hanging on the wall. This is an example ofa new heart and a new spirit. The prophetEzekiel explained that God would come and walk around to forgive His people whowere already so sinful. They would be released from their old life, and begiven a new life, with their hearts and spirits made new. When every time we acceptand fulfill God's will to do His work, we are made new again. Let's alwaysaccept His invitation to work in His Kingdom! Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O Lord Jesus, may we always fulfill Your word and invitation to follow andfulfill the Father's will. Our Fatherwho art in heaven ... In name of the Father ...

Delivered by Fiona from the Parish of Mary Queen of the Rosary in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Judges 6: 11-24a; Rs psalm 85: 9.11-12.13-14; Matthew 19: 23-30.WE ARE ALL BEGGARS Our meditation today is entitled: WeAre All Beggars. In one of his spiritual writings, Saint Bernard, a mystic andspiritual guide in the Catholic Church, once explained his thought of his faithin this way: In order for us to know the true love of God and to practice it,we must be able to recognize the poverty of each of us. By knowing that we areloved, we are touched by our own poverty. Thus Saint Bernard wants to say thatevery one of us in this world is poor. When one experiences love, namely tolove and to be loved, he or she should be seen as a poor person. In otherwords, we are all beggars of love. Both rich and poor, people who have moneyand those who don't have money, they all experience love in their lives. The act of love and the experience ofthe beauty of love cannot be measured by money and wealth. There is a studentfrom the richest family in his city. He has the same simple appearance as allhis friends in campus. A friend from the village and poor family once said tohim, "If I'm a rich person like you, I don't need to go to the universitylike this." The rich young man who looks verysimple, replied, "My family has a lot of wealth, but I need knowledge. Iam poor in knowledge.” This is an answer that fits the theme of thismeditation, we all in this world are beggars. We are all not rich and notperfect. In addition to the young man who was looking for knowledge, actuallywe are also equally looking for justice, joy, calmness, peace and love. Israel as a nation that had been inall difficulties as beggar, was blessed by God in the sending of a messenger asthe savior, namely Gideon. But as always happens, after one leader dies or anew problem arises, every one returns in the seeking out of God's intervention.They remain beggars of God's love and mercy. It is very clear that we are allbeggars before the almighty and merciful God. The Lord Jesus continually emphasizesin His teaching that money, goods, wealth, power cannot guarantee eternalhappiness and joy in the life of His kingdom. So we all really need God as theOne to fill our lives. We want that God fills up our loneliness, sadness,disappointment, our sickness, our fragile and sinful lives, and lost of hope. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus, fill us and our lives as we always long for your loveand mercy. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Andrew and Shendy Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Judges 2: 11-19; Rs psalm 106: 34-35.36-37.39-40.43ab.44; Matthew 19: 16-22.TO BECOME PERFECT The title for our meditation today is:To Become Perfect. The ideal or hope to be perfect is part of human nature.Each of us wants to have, to do and to produce the best that we can. In thisworld the desire to be perfect is so much and diverse from one to anotherand  it never stops. From these all, Godassures us that the perfect we all want in this world is not enough. All willdisappear along with our death. So God provides the "eternal life"that exists with Him in heaven as a total and final perfection for those whoare saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. To get there in heaven, the mostimportant condition is death. But this means that as long as we live in theworld we should long for it and prepare for its coming. One way to desire it isto make it the main hope when we pray and ask for. One way we prepare it is byliving in obedience and fidelity in the the way of Jesus Christ, our Teacher.We long and prepare it not only when we are in difficult or sad situations, butalso when we are successful and happy. The way to perfection is the way ofthe cross of Jesus Christ. It is not easy for us humans to immediately acceptit with all our sincere hearts. Usually we react to reject or avoid the way ofthe cross and suffering. It is not easy for us to supress our own desires orinterests. After Joshua's death, it turned out that the desire of the people ofIsrael was very strong to worship idols. There were no more great persons likeMoses and Joshua to stop them. They chose to worship other gods and not the Godof their fathers. The idols that are very much worshipedtoday are money or wealth. The choice of treasure in this world begins from thehearts of men. Where the human heart is, there is the treasure. This is theproblem of the young man in the gospel of today. His heart is attached to theworld's possessions such as money and goods. The Lord Jesus wants that he shouldfree himself from worldly possessions and follow the way of His cross. Godwants to substitute all those possessions with Himself. Because when onepossesses only the Lord, Jesus assures us, he or she already has everythingboth here on earth and the hereafter.  The advantages of having Jesus as ouronly treasure are the following: 1) we are not sad or regret for all that wegive up in this world; 2) the orientation or direction of our hearts is tofollow Jesus (hear His voice, see His simplicity and live His style) with thegoods of the world as supporting elements; 3) Staying with Jesus brings us anexperience of the perfection that we desire. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us to always make Yourself our onlytreasure, so that we experience that perfection in our lives. Glory to theFather and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Joshua 24: 1-13; Rs psalm 136: 1-3.16-18.21-22.24; Matthew 19: 3-12.HARDNESS OF HEART The title for our meditation today is:Hardness of Heart. Infidelity is the most frightening enemy of a husband andhis wife as the valid and sacred couple. A young man and woman who are in theirintimate relationship also view infidelity as a scary ghost who threatens theirbeautiful days together. They have an ideal desire, that even the slightestsign and a small act of infidelity must not exist. They are very resistant whenone or each of them has another choice. In broad sense, infidelity can be seenas a change of choice illegally or that does not respect the due process andgood manners. A priest or religious person is considered lying and unfaithfulbecause he lives in a style which not showing him as a priest or religious. Abusinessman secretly negotiates with certain investor without first discussingit with his business partners, he is certainly considered having an affairwhich is illegal. In friendship, the act of moving out or change to anothergroup wothout saying goodbyes or telling nicely, is also seen as having anaffair. Moses said in the scriptures that themain cause of infidelity is the hardness of the heart. Hardness is the same asdisobedience, disloyalty, stubbornness, indulgence, arrogant, and havingworldly spirit. This became part of Joshua's advice when he was about to die,that obedience and loyalty to God is absolute, so that people will be saved andlive peacefully with God. Whereas, if there is only hardness of heart, disasterwill be the answer. The hardness of the heart can befought and overcome with some helpful ways, as remarked in today's readings.The Book of Joshua speaks of the spirit to live with our good and noblememories. We have memoria of lifehistory that includes people who are our examples and who have sacrificed theirlives for us. There are past experiences that really educate and help us toprogress and develop. We should make them alive in order to prevent us frombeing inclined to hardness of heart and brings us into the sin of infidelity. We are also asked to hold firmly toour originality or authenticity which is as God's creation, with the mostessential gift to each one of us that is to determine our choices with freedom.With this freedom, a person must be respected for his life partner's choice,likewise if he does not choose a life partner based on a strong and acceptablereason. The freedom to make this choice is limited by the demands of obedienceand loyalty from the one who has already the choice. This is very important tobe fulfilled so that the infidelity can be prevented and eliminated. Let's pray. In the name of  the Father... Lord Jesus, strengthen ourchoice of heart in all of your teachings about faithfulness. Hail Mary ... Inthe name  of the Father...

The annual visits of cucumber fishermen from Makassar are believed to have begun in the 1600s and continued until 1907 resulting in intermarriage between the two nations. - Kunjungan tahunan para nelayan teripang dari Makassar diyakini telah dimulai pada tahun 1600-an dan berlanjut hingga tahun 1907 yang menghasilkan perkawinan baur antara kedua bangsa.

Delivered by Maria Dewi, Cathrine Kusuma, Lukita Ananda Putra dan Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Revelatioan 11: 19a; 12: 1-6a.10ab; Rs psalm 45: 10c-12.16; 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26; Luke 1: 39-56.SPIRITUS FACIT NOBILEM              The title for our meditation on thissolemnity of Assumption of Our Lady into heaven is: Spiritus Facit Nobilem.This Latin expression means: the Spirit makes it great. There are many eventsthat amaze and surprise us. For example a very poor boy from village started abusiness from the very humble beginning, and after 30 years of all his labours,he later became the richest person in his country. Another example is about a child whowas quiet, shy and had never been cared for by those around him. After about 30years passed, he became a bishop, and those who never had attention of himduring his childhood have to pay respect and kiss his sacred ring. So many suchevents indeed allow us to ask: what is the most important factor in thechanging of all this? For this solemnity of the Virgin Mary, we also ask thesame question: what reason that can make this humble woman was taken up toheaven? The main answer should be the Spiritof God who makes all things happen. The Holy Spirit makes things great. Thereare other reasons can be also valid such as good fortune, a tireless andpatient labour, or supports from other people. But if we believe that the powerof God in His Spirit is at work, even though it is hidden or unnoticed, weactually have a concept of faith that is truly valid. The song of joy or magnificat by the Virgin Mary when shewas with her sister Elisabeth, shows a very clear sign that she was made greatby God. God's will always takes place in following His almighty power andprovindence. And so Mary's presence in the world had been made special, whichwas she conceived without any stain of original sin. She then became the doorfor incarnation, the Mother of God, and finally gave birth to the Son of God,Jesus of Nazareth. All the stories about her are about the very special deedsof God to her, that really made her great and mostly respected among men. Untilthis moment, Our Lady is still special to us because the Holy Spirit makes hergreat, and this grace has never been taken out from her. In fact in the prayerof “Hail Mary”, we always praise her with this expression. If our Lady wants to give us one ortwo pieces of advice, especially when we celebrate her solemnity today, we canask her to teach us to be great before God, and according to what God wills.Mary can not be separated from the Lord Jesus, her Son, so she for sure advisesus to always obey our Lord Jesus Christ. Our obedience is to follow His way,namely the way of the cross, His truth, namely the truth of the cross, and Hislife, namely the cross of life.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus, teach us to always be united and with Your Mother Maryin the way of Your cross. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the HolySpirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Randy from the Parish of Christ the King in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Deuteronomy 10: 12-22; Rs psalm 147: 12-13.14-15.19-20; Matthew 17: 22-27.JESUS ​​TEACHES US TO PAY TAXES The title for our meditation today is:Jesus Teaches Us To Pay Taxes. There was a discussion in a group of mothersabout the obligation to pay taxes. They are in the same situation with thecurrent state governments in the world who are working hard to increase publictax revenues to strengthen the development of their countries. Those who betterunderstand tax explained it to those who have poor understanding about payingtaxes. The discussion became a littleprolonged when a mother asked about the teaching or command of the Lord Jesusabout tax obligations. Based on the command of the Lord, she believes that thetax obligations for the state will be more easily implemented. An elderlymother gave an answer, which was referring to Jesus' command to Peter to paytaxes, in which He and Peter were legal subjects for paying taxes that wasprotected by the state. Every country in the world depends ontaxes. The tax revenues are used to finance state administration, education andhealth care for the public and society. This was done by Moses when leading thepeople of Israel. He emphasized that all the goodness and mercy of God they hadobtained from time to time, they were required to give a sense of fairness totheir fellow poor people namely widows, orphans and strangers. There are at least two things to beour lessons from the proclamation of the gospel of today. First, the obligationto pay taxes is based on work that one does in the society, which bringsbenefits, and which is related to the involvement of other members of thesociety. Jesus and His apostles realized that this was very evident withregards to His public services, so His work was the object of taxation in thesociety. Jesus told Peter to take money and then paid taxes for both of them. Second, because of many publicservices, Jesus and His apostles were considered special and then becamepopular. People regarded them as teachers and public figures, thus, they had tobecome models in paying taxes. Jesus did this so as not to become a scandal formany people. The one who is important in the society and considered as publicfigure should be the example of doing good, that is paying taxes. So it's notwords, appeals or lots of advice to pay taxes, but the actual act of payingitself is a model for many people. May we grow in the awareness of all ourobligations to give to our nation and society. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... In your hands, Father, we want to put our life on this day, so thatwe may contribute to a peaceful and mutual relationship between us yourchildren. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In thename of the Father ...

Ribuan kader Partai NasDem memadati Kota Makassar untuk mengikuti Rakernas 2025.Dengan semangat kemandirian berpikir demi kemajuan bangsa, agenda tiga hari ini menjadi ajang konsolidasi dan penentu langkah Partai NasDem ke depan.Untuk mengetahui informasi selengkapnya, terhubung bersama jurnalis Bianca Sumendap dari Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan.

Delivered by Josephine Mercy Ho from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Numbers 20: 1-13; Rs psalm 95: 1-2.6-7.8-9; Matthew 16: 13-23.THE KEY OF HEAVEN Our meditation today is entitled: TheKey of Heaven. There is an outstanding lecturer known by his students as aperson with his firm attitude. His firmness is manifested in making decisionsthat cannot be revoked. For example he decides to give an exam to one studentafter another, he will be fairly and diligently to fulfill this duty until thevery last student. He firmly defends the student who is right, as he alsopunishes the wrong one. He is very well loved and proud ofbecause of his great attention to the students. He not only teaches them thenecessary knowledge but also educates them to become good human persons. Herepeatedly emphasizes to them the key to achieve independence and maturity. Tobe successful in study, the key is perseverance in every academic activity. Inorder to be respected among friends, the key is to respect them. To become an independent person, thekey is self-confidence and act within the limit of your abilities. To become anadult, the key is to practice to decide for yourself and carry it outresponsibly. The key to friendship and mutuality is patience, mutualunderstanding and trust in one another. The key to good health is to consumehealthy food, get enough rest and exercise. And many more keys that are veryhelpful. Today we have the divine light thatshows us the key to obtain a happy  lifethat is for ever, which we do not find in this world with various kinds of keysas mentioned above, but which we will find in heaven. Jesus gives His firstapostle Peter the key of heaven, after this apostle made his confession offaith. He made a personal confession of faith that Jesus is the One sent fromthe Father, the Son of God. Because of that confession of faith,all the other apostles and disciples were also involved in having the privilegeto come to heaven. All of us who follow Christ are also involved because wealways make our confession of faith, through the prayer "I Believe".The key to enter heaven in Peter's hands signifies that God is not selfish toown heaven, but He entrusts the heaven to us humans, who must be included inthe community of believers. A community should have a leader. Everyone should not push all the willto claim that he is more entitled to go to heaven, while others do not.Everyone has the same rights for heaven and Peter is given the authority to beour guide. He holds the key. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O  most loving Jesus, may wealways be faithful in our confession of faith and diligently carry it out toits completion. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Numbers 7: 9-10.13-14; Rs psalm 97: 1-2.5-6.9; 2 Peter 1: 16-19; Luke 9: 28b-36.EYES AND EARS ON GUARD Our meditation today is entitled: EyesAnd Ears On Guard. There is a young man for the third time dating with the girlhe so loves and he thinks that this time must give a positive result. Theprevious two occassions always ended in sadness because there were many problems.He evaluated himself and knew that his negative attitude had contributed to thefailure of those love relationships. Then he talked about it with his parents.His parents' adviced him in this way: our heart's decision to say and act forsomething is very dependent on our ability to see and hear. Our eyes and ears must always beactive to respond to the reality of other persons we love. When you see thatthe person next to you is busy with various jobs, or when the ears hear thatthe person's voice is rather soft and heavy, the decision of your heart willdetermine the action of your attention to him or her. The young man agrees tothat advice and is determined to make the opportunity of the third time dating tobe a good result. This can develop their love relationship up to the level ofmarriage. On the day of the feast Jesus revealsHis glory, transfiguration, the Word of God teaches us to experience the gloryand greatness of God through our capacity of seeing and listening. All threereadings describe the physical sight and hearing experienced by the prophetDaniel, the apostle Peter and his two colleagues. They saw the appearance ofGod and heard the sound that came directly from God. This is a direct faithexperience and for sure desired by many of us. When you happen to have suchexperience, you are like on the Mount Tabor where you can so marvel at theappearance of God's glory like the three apostoles. Today almost all of our faithexperiences are indirect happenings, but are considered and believed direct.Jesus says and manifests His glory through the action of the Holy Father,bishops or priest, or a brother who does good and loves us. Jesus is personallypresent but symbolized by the Eucharistic Bread which we always worship andeat. Jesus also stands at the pulpit and says directly but is represented by apreacher. Experiences like these are highly valued and continously help thegrowth of our faith. Our eyes and ears are very important intruments for thisgrowth. The problem is that if we do notlisten and see with good attention, we will lose the experience of the glory ofGod present in others, the environment, and the events of our lives. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O most loving Jesus, may we always desire to see and hear You inevery situation of our lives. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of theFather ...

Delivered by Kezia Nikita from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Numbers 12: 1-13; Rs psalm 51: 3-4.5-6a.6bc-7.12-13; Matthew 14: 22-36.THEBLIND DON'T GUIDE THE BLIND  Ourmeditation today is entitled: The Blind Don't Guide the Blind. The work ofguiding is of the same quality as leading, directing and teaching. Thispresupposes that the person who guides is a person more qualified than the onebeing guided. For example, teachers guide students and parents guide theirchildren or grandchildren. Godprovides our lives with a learning model to become something that is expected.The animals live naturally in this law, and how much more human beings who havecivilization, where reason and faith are the basic instruments used to guideand teach, must be something more extraordinary. God's chosen people such asprophets, apostles and priests are gifted with this ability. Thisspecial task can be seen as a privilege or honour. The elects are well aware ofthis special gift. Just like a bishop or priest or president with his specialduties, he is compelled to perform it responsibly and fairly. But on the otherhand, people who are jealous or don't like this privilege tend to see it assomething unfair, unnatural and untrue. Usually there is the influence of Satanwho fills them with ambition to power, then want that position or privilege. Thathappened with God's care and compassion for the Israelites who were inBabylonian captivity, but were illuminated by the prophet Jeremiah's prophecythat their deliverance really happened. This prophecy was opposed by people whodo not like God's will. They were like blind men leading the blind Israeliteson their way to their native land. Their behaviour is similar to that of thePharisees whom Jesus denounced. They were against the Lord Jesus Christ. Theevents described by today's Gospel reading are enough to explain to us that asmall or weak faith as shown by the apostle Peter, cannot be relied on to guideand teach others whose faith is not yet strong. What has happened is thaterroneous believers like the Pharisees thought they were capable of guidingothers. Yet it is the same as the blind leading the blind. It could be thatthey together fell into ruin. Or worse, it could be that they plunge peopleinto the valley of sin, while they know how to escape. To avoid this, one wisepiece of advice for us should be this one: the blind don't lead the blind. TheApostle Peter has now become a true model of our faith, because his faith isalready genuine. Let'spray. In the name of the Father... O Lord and our God, may in Your grace we canfill this whole day always with words and deeds that acknowledge Your greatnessand glorify Your name. Hail Mary full of grace... In the name of the Father...

Delivered by Lukita Ananda Putra dan Grace Larope from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar and Evelyn Lo and Christiana Lengkong from the Parish of Saint Therese in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 2: 21-23; Rs psalm 90: 3-4.5-6.12-13.14.17; Colossians 3: 1-5.9-11; Luke 12: 13-21.HOPE TO BECOME RICH The title for our meditation on this18th Sunday  in ordinary timeis: Hope To Become Rich. Naturally people in the world tend to make things,their fellow human beings, and non-material things to be their possessions. Itnormal for humans to have tendency to become rich. This is an element inherentin the human person and family or group of people. Hoping to be rich in thisworld becomes a basic desire. There is a family that has a habit ofpraying together, especially at night before or after meal. Every one reminds oneanother for that special opportunity so that all can participate. When one ortwo family members are rather late due to work outside, those in the house arewilling to wait. For the one who is out of town, he or she will pray alone, sothat it will be the same as those at home. In essence, every family membermakes this prayer together as a quality time, a very valuable opportunity theytreasure. Absent means a loss for the person concerned. By taking advantage of this specialopportunity, that family truly enjoys the real wealth or richness every memberand the entire family can have. What we mean by wealth, richness orpossession,  there are at least threeimportant elements we can reflect here. First is a sense of belonging to oneanother as a family. Here there is a family or home to be the first andfundamental element, therefore, people do not depend on the house, equipment,money and goods of this world. Every individual cares for each other and relateeach other so that they realize that none from them is excluded. Second, the sense of belonging issustained by the needs that unite every member to make a family. Notnecessarily people have a sense of belonging, create a strong binding amongthem and to be a very valuable home, if they do not strengthen their unity as afamily or community. The way to strengthen it is with regular meetings orencounters. Love and the need to complement each other will be stronger ifpeople regularly meet and interact. Third, a communion in and with God.Praying together, services and the priority for the glory of the kingdom of Godare the lifestyles of the followers of Christ. If Christians and followers ofChrist choose only the first two elements and are not complied with this third,they do not have the real wealth meant by God. We should hope for these richesto be our possessions: a sense of belonging as a neighbor, life in common aschildren of God, and the glory of God's kingdom. Don't make  your life useless just because these threethings are ignored. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O God, bless us that this Sunday celebration will be a renewedrichness for our journey of faith, and to make You our fundamental wealth inlife. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...

The documentary “Before 1770” uncovers the long-established trade and social ties between Makassar sailors and Aboriginal peoples in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory - long before the Europeans set foot in Australia. - Film dokumenter “Before 1770” mengungkap hubungan dagang dan sosial yang telah terjalin lama antara pelaut Makassar dan masyarakat Aborigin di Arnhem Land, Northern Territory - jauh sebelum bangsa Eropa menginjakkan kaki di Australia.

Delivered by Stella Wijaya and Svara Nirmala from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 34: 29-35; Rs psalm 99: 5.6.7.9; Matthew 13: 44-46.CIRCLE OF LIGHT  The title for our meditation today is:Circle of Light. Starting from Jesus, then the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, theapostles, and all saints, seeing at their images, there are always halos intheir heads. Sometimes rather than referring to the word “holy”, “immaculate”or “perfect”, people simply demonstrate a symbol of a circular gesture abovetheir heads to reveal the purpose. The circle of light above the headmeans the person concerned is holy or sacred. Why do these halos reserved onlyfor the saints? Because the fullness of God's grace is upon them. Because theyfulfill all the conditions to be in the fullness of grace as Jesus says alwaysthat one should become perfect like the Father is ever perfect. There is a haloabove the head of the saint, because he is intended to be the model ofperfection for others. In today's first reading, Moses isdescribed as having a halo and his face is shining brightly as he descends fromthe mountain where he met God. Every time He met and spoke with God, it wasseen by the people around him, the light came out from Moses' head and face.The question: is Moses' experience of holiness our experience too, because wealso always encounter God? We need to remember, that theplacement of halos on saints' heads that describes holiness, is somethinginfluenced by the culture of Christian faith in history of the Church. But theexperience of meeting God happens to anyone and at any time. This experiencedoes not depend on the presence or absence of halos. Every time we can meet Godfor example through personal prayer, celebration of sacraments, serving othersor being served and loved by our neighbors. We are more special, and Moses doesnot have it, because we are always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit tomeet and speak with the Lord. The Holy Spirit allows us to have ahalo not just above our heads to be seen by people, or the appearance of ashiny and bright face. Jesus Christ is always with us with His teaching so thatwe choose God's Kingdom as our only choice. It is God Himself, and by havingthat Kingdom of God we are even more radiant and shiny, because we are filledwith the light of God the almighty. Today, you will certainly be a brightperson, if from morning to night you truly become another Christ for ohersaround you. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord our God, bless us especially today, so that we can bringforth Your glory through our words and deeds by imitating Your Son our LordJesus, for all times. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Shendy and Andrew Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 32: 15-24.30-34; Rs psalm 106: 19-20.21-22.23; Matthew 13: 31-35.THE REAL WORLD, NOT A DREAM The title for our meditation today is:The Real World, Not a Dream. We have just heard the Gospel reading about themeaning of sowing seeds and the growth of weeds with them until the harvestseason. One element of the meaning of the parable, said Jesus, is the field orland interpreted as the world. The world meant here is the real world, whereyou and I are in here and now. The real world is filled with ourlives. God is so dear and caring for people in the world, so He sent His onlySon to come to the world to save them. Jesus Christ established His kingdom inthe world through the foundation of the Church to ensure that all God's peoplecould obtain salvation, and finally enter into the eternal kingdom of heaven. This world and the people who inhabitin it become the vineyard to which Jesus Christ came to serve and to lead toperfection. He was willing to die for their salvation. We acknowledge our beingsinners and we also face many difficulties because we are surrounded by allkinds of weeds. But Jesus never gives up or stops giving us His attention. Eventhough we always do good, there are still many around us who dissatisfy,disagree, dislike, slander, envy and bring us trouble. All of them are weedsthat never allow us to walk free. But Jesus Christ does not lose control ofourselves, and the Holy Spirit faithfully accompanies us. We cannot avoid the reality of thisworld. We can only arm ourselves with attitudes and abilities in accordancewith the truth and goodness of God. Like Moses and God's people who returnedfrom practicing idols and turned to God, we also make ourselves alwaysoptimistic and have good intentions while living in this real world. Thisattitude helps us to have feeling at home and to continue renewing ourselvesand the world in which we spend our life. People must be free from dreams andfantasies that can make them pessimistic and fear of the real world. The world's current situation can makepeople of today dream of being freed from it because they cannot bear its heavychallenges and burdens. This can be compared with a four-wheeled car that runson the road every day. The back wheels keep on dreaming or fantasizing: We wantto be in the front position so that we will arrive first, but when and how canwe... Many of us often fall into this kind dream, which means that they are notcomfortable, not optimistic and realistic about life in this world. We hope weare not of this type, but we are still realistic and optimistic about life hereand now. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O generous heavenly Father, You fill our real world today with allpossibilities that we can make it a happy dwelling place under the guidance ofYour Spirit. May we always be faithful in the way that Jesus Christ Your Sonalways commands us to do in this world. Glory to the Father and to the Son andto the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Chendani Budhi, Maria Delie, Josephine Mercy Ho, and Erica Tanzil from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 18: 20-33; Rs psalm 138: 1-2a.2bc-3.6-7ab.7c-8; Colossians 2: 12-14; Luke 11: 1-13.GOOD REQUEST The theme for our meditation on this17th Sunday in ordinary time is entitled: Good Request. Last Sunday,our meditation highlighted on our good acceptance for what is given. There wasa teenager after hearing the sermon of the Pastor wrote to his parish Priests aWhatsapp message in this way: "Father, for the sake of fairness, before wecan accept  with good manner, we shouldfirst ask with the same manner, right?" The comment and reflection of that boycan be an inspiration for our meditation today. We accept something or somebodywith or without request. When it is without request, what we receive is a freegift or reward. Whereas if we accept with request, it means we are expected toask well for it. In our readings today, we are enlightened to ask God in goodand proper manner. There are at least three things here about our good request. First, concerning urgency or promptingneeds, we ask God with strong faith and we can make calculations with Him. Eachof our urgent need is certainly related to the matters of life or death.Abraham did that with God as told in our first reading today. For the sake ofthe salvation of soul, when faced with the threat of deadly sin, we can ask alot and with complain like Abraham, to insist God to help and to save us. Second, we ask God based on theprinciple that we are always dependent on God's providence. This is very much concerningour lives as mortals and our humble situation of life. Indeed, we have manyneeds to be attended, but we should behave like children towards the Father,namely we surrender our lives while asking for the outpouring of His blessingsupon us. The answers will be given according to His will; its quantity many or few,its time right or not, we depend all to the Father. He has the power to makethings happen. The prayer of "Our Father" that we always say is theway we ask and surrender to the Father's will to happen. There is no urgencyhere. Third, in the matter of the quality ofour lives as believers, we should ask for something that is new, better,relevant, and future. We want to leave the old, the useless, and the bad ones.We also try not to request to have a lot, to be rich, to become full of thethings of the world, and to be attached to this world. So the good news for ustoday reminds us to ask God in good manners, namely the urgency of oursalvation, our submission to His will, and the importance of the quality oflife. Let's pray. In name of theFather ... Almighty and generous Father, may we always hope and dependourselves on your provicence and care. Glory to the Father and to the Son andto the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Kezia Nikita from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 19: 1-2.9-11.16-20b; Rs psalm Dan 3: 52.53.54.56; Matthew 13: 10-17.WAY TO UNDERSTAND HIM Our meditation todayis entitled: Way To Understand Him. There were three girls who fell in lovewith a young man who was of their age. Each girl always tried to win the heartof the young man with her best way of appearance. Sometimes they competed unfairlyin the manner that one tended to highlight the weaknesses of her other friends.Sometimes they competed in a healthy and positive way in order to show the realpersonality of each. The young man alsohad his own way to a appear nicely to each girl who was so fond of him. As timewent on, each of them became bored and tired. The three girls were confusedabout who really deserved to be the best and chosen, because it was not possiblefor all three of them to be chosen. The three of them agreed to discuss aboutthis. They finally concluded that the young man would definitely have his ownway to understand them and to choose only one whom he loved. This illustrationshows how love is expressed. A self-expression certainly has a peculiar qualityto make other people have their impressions on it. A good impression wouldnormally develop the feeling of attraction. A guitarist appears so talented,then those who have passion for music would be attracted to him. A person'sself-expression aims to make other people understand about him and theynormally support him. If this is a kind ofhuman attrativeness that deserves appreciation by all of us, it should be allthe more the attractiveness of God's love that always move our hearts to be inlove with Him and to love our fellow brothers and sisters as well. The Lord firstrevealed Himself to us humans. The quality and power of the expressions of Hislove are beyond the one of ours, simply because God incarnates in us. Throughincarnation He purifies, empowers and perfects our lives in the world. Hereveals Himself in order to sanctify the world and all of us. To the Israelites,God had revealed Himself as the Lord who was so kind and merciful to them fortheir obedience and faithfulness. But He also became the Lord who had punishedthis people because of their ungratefulness and sinfulness. Jesus also made Hislisteners to understand Him through His various ways of preaching or teaching.He uses parables, so that His listeners understand that He is so concernedabout those who are humble, suffering, alienated and persecuted. He also opensthe mind of those who are great, powerful, rich, proud, and smart but they arenot willing to accept and understand Him. So we have a duty tobe always ready to understand the Lord who reveals Himself through His wordsand deeds that help our faith grow. But we also have the same important task tomake our neighbors understand us for the witnesses of our faith. This is alsothe way we serve others. Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O Lord Jesus Christ, help us to always have good understanding about Youand our neighbors. Our Father who artin heaven ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Jonathan Axel, Jovinson Tansil and Grace Larope from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, and Everine Lo from the Parish of Saint Theresia in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Genesis 18: 1-10a; Rs psalm 15: 2-3ab.3cd-4ab.5; Colossians 1: 24-28; Luke 10: 38-42.GOD TEACHES US TO ACCEPT The title for our meditation today is:God Teaches Us To Accept. According to our faith, God is the first to act ordo. God creates, loves, chooses, sends, and helps; all these happen to us whenGod in the first time and place takes initiative and action. Then we can raisethis question: Why does God first initiate and act, and not we? The answer isbecause if we humans are the first to act, then God becomes inferior while the creationis superior to him.  As we deal with this theme: God is teachingus to accept, we want to pay attention especially to human actions. Someone whowelcomes or receives an invitation from God, he is actually showing a veryfundamental act of faith. The baptism that we have received to make usdisciples of Jesus, departed from the initiative of God who called or came tous. He then brought us to faith. This basic call or invitation becomes thepoint of departure of all kinds of God's calling and will to us, which alwaysask for our willingness to accept. We can mention a number of teachingsto accept, beginning from our fundamental vocation to become believers who havefaith in Jesus Christ. In this life, accepting responsibility, duty and missionis a calling that complements our fundamental calling as believers. In the bookof Genesis today, Abraham's family and especially wife Sarah, accepted a newresponsibility. She was blessed with the dignity of a mother, who wouldconceive and bear a child for Abraham and certainly for God also. Every one ofus is encouraged to accept responsibility, duty and mission with gratitude andmake it a challenge to be realized in accordance with God's will. In addition to responsibilities andassignments, we are also taught to accept the fruits of our works. A workoutcome can be satisfying, it can also be disappointing. The teaching for us asSaint Paul reveals in the second reading today is that no matter how the workis may be in suffering or the cross, we must continue to accept it openly andthankfully. We must dedicate to God our work and its result. The next teachingto accept is our ability to accept criticism, improvements, corrections, andmaybe even strong rebuke. A criticism like what Jesus gave to Martha is quite alesson for us about focusing on the growth of our faith and calling. When acriticism or rebuke made by comparing our bad or less qualified actions tothose of our neighbors, we must see it as something hard that pushes us tochange. We should to put into practice all these teachings to accept and not tounderestimate or resist them. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus, strengthen our faith to accept and put into practicethe Father's will for us. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of theFather...

Delivered by Randy from the Parish of Christ the King in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 3: 1-6.9-12; Rs psalm 103: 1-2.3-4.6-7; Matthew 11: 25-27.RECOGNIZING GOD The title for our meditation today is:Recognizing God. Joice, a child of grade one was just a month in the primaryschool. In religion class, the pupils were taught to pray "OurFather" and other common prayers. They were asked by the teacher to writethe formula of Our Father's prayer. But Joice only wrote the title of theprayer "Our Father", then underneath she drew the face of a man:rather thick and curly hair, mustache and thin beard. The teacher then questioned why Joicedrew that face. The pupil answered: “I memorize the prayer of “Our Father” andI can wirte it well, but I want something more. I want to see the face of Godthe Father. Because I don't know the face of God, I better put the face of myown father. He is such a good father like God the Father”. Joice represents us the believers whowant to recognize God in a real way. But just like her, we actually havedifficulty to detemine what exactly His face. No human can do this, but JesusChrist who is the Son of God does it for us. Jesus' face is so familiar to us.Recognizing Him, seeing His face and meeting Him, is the same as experiencingGod the Father. In particular way, today we meet theLord God himself who introduces Himself to us. Moses recognized God when thevoice came from above that was heard so convincingly: I am the God of yourancestors; God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob. Moses recognized thisGod when he needed God to protect him from the threat of the king of Egypt. Godthen proved His help as the liberator of the Israelites in Egypt. Jesus introduces God to us in Himself.Jesus himself knows God the Father and what God the Father is like. We can onlyfind it in Jesus Christ who is speaking and meeting us. In His prayers to theFather, Jesus asks that all kindness and mercies be given to the simple, smalland suffering ones. The arrogant, proud and selfish ones find it hard torecognize God. We normally learn to recognize Godvery seriously when any difficulty and threat come to our lives and wedesperately need God's help. We also recognize God when we desperately need Hispower to free us from all forms of oppression and persecution. We alsorecognize God in our situation of sickness, simplicity and humility when God isthere to strengthen us. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O God Almighty, strengthen us with Your blessings, so that we canrecognize You without obstacles in all our life situations. Our Father who art inheaven... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Diocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 1: 8-14.22; Rs psalm 124: 1-3.4-6.7-8; Matthew 10: 34 - 11: 1.SPIRITUAL SWORD The title for our meditation today is:Spiritual Sword. Why does the Lord Jesus describe the mission and coming of theKingdom of God in the forms of war, conflict and division? Jesus says to theapostles and all of us that He does not come to bring peace, but the sword. Thesword here is not in the physical sense that is used to cut off the head orinjure the body. But the sword or spiritual weapon that pierces into the depthsof the hearts and minds of men who are possessed by sin and in the power ofdarkness. The power of evil, sin and badintention cannot be defeated by human strength alone. What great, brave andsmart human person is, when he encounters the power of darkness, he will besubdued and perished. This power enters human beings with the aim of destroyingand afflicting those possessed either person or group of people. This powerdoes not have preference. It chooses anybody as its targets. It usually entersa person who is weak mentally and spiritually. One example for this should be theevil spirit happened to rule over the Egyptian king when Joseph the son ofIsrael had died. He was filled with the spirits of jealousy, discrimination,hatred, anger, greed and injustices. He decided to destroy the descendants ofIsrael by implementing forced labors and the killing of the newly born malebabies. The intention was to finally stop the increase number of thedescendants of Israel. The Egyptian King was fear that someday the Israelites wouldoutnumber his countrymen and eventually rule over them. This is a kind of war,like drawing a sword to cut off the spirit of human life and destroy thedescendants of the Israelites. The sword and war used in Egypt in thephysical sense had destroyed the human bodies, social and cultural life, andintegrity of life itself. The same sword and war but spiritually instead usedby Jesus to destroy the enemy namely sin and evil. The sword of Jesus is theWord of God with two equally sharp sides that protect and defend our spiritsand souls, considerations of the mind and the goals of the our hearts. So theWord of God is really the sword of the Spirit to destroy the spirit of darknessand any sinful act that destroy our dignity as sons and daughters of God. So Jesus says that He comes to bringdestruction and even division between brothers and sisters, because even in theclose relationship as a family there indeed exsists the power of darkness andevil that may continue to flourish. The Lord Jesus remains in his power to makeus sons and daughters of God to live righteously, peacefully and rejoice in theHoly Spirit. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Encourage and fulfill our lives today, O Father, that the fire ofYour Spirit may burn our spirit to be active and diligent in fighting all kindsof darkness that can destroy us in any moment of our lives. Glory to the Fatherand to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Pontianak and Yurike Gunawan from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Deuteronomy 30: 10-14; Rs psalm 69: 14.17.30-31.33-34.36ab.37; Colossians 1: 15-20; Luke 10: 25-37.THE ONE VERY CLOSE TO US The title for our meditation on this15th Sunday in ordinary  timeis: The One Very Close To Us. Who is very close to us? Who is very close toyou? We can find the basic answer to this question in the second reading oftoday, from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians, that says about Jesusas the firstfruit of all creation, He is the head of all of us as the Church.The relationship between the head and the body is so united and we mean thatunity as an inseparable communion. Based from this understanding, we canhave a framework for further understanding of our closeness with others aroundus. The aspect of closeness comes from God. If some religons or a particular beliefin the world today view God as a very distant Being or unreachable Lord, we asfollowers of Christ do not. God incarnates in this actual world and us whoinhabit it. Jesus Christ teaches us to address the Lord as our"FATHER" who is generous, merciful and full of love. The personification of God as  the "Father" is very well shown byEvan, a grade 3 boy who is student of the elementary school. When asked abouthis understanding of the benevolent and loving God the Father, Evan said likethis: "Even though I did not see God the Father directly, but my fatherand mother always hugg me when I am tired and sick, then I know that God ishere to help me." For Evan, and according to our readings today, the onevery close to us is God Himself. He chooses to be close and living with us. To know and realize the presence ofGod does not need to exhaust our energy, mind, and all efforts to go out fromour places and seek Him. The book of Deuteronomy in the first reading says thatthe Word of God is within us: stored in our hearts, conceptualized in ourminds, arranged in the mouths, and made ready to be used and carried on ourfeet and hands. In short, God himself animates and uses ourselves to live andwork in this world. Jesus Christ explains this closeness by teaching that Godhimself is also found in our neighbors. So the ones who are also very close tous are our neighbors. Before I was present in this world, there were others whohad been ahead of me such as our parents, brothers and sisters. When I enter aplace or area, there are others who have been there first. They are presentwith all their exsisting situations. Included in this are those who suffer, insickness and  the sinners. They have beenthere, ahead of my presence, and it is my duty to be part of their lives. Thereis something more, we have sacred duty to provide assistance or attention tothose who are most in need. You are never alone like an island in the middle ofthe ocean. Let's pray. In the name of theFather... O God the Father who is most generous, make us full of love and tolove our neighbors without counting any cost. Hail Mary full of grace ... Inthe name of the Father...

Delivered by Shendy and Andrew Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 46: 1-7.28-30; Rs psalm 37: 3-4.18-19.27-28.39-40; Matthew 10: 16-23.THE SPIRIT WHO SPEAKS The title for our meditation today is:The Spirit Who Speaks. A friend who is a priest has been a missionary for manyyears in a very remote and far away country. He even got a privilege to servethe Local Church and his religious congregation through various importantpositions. He said that, the secret he is very well accepted in the internalcircles of the Church, fellow members of his congregation and the people of thearea, is because he really enters into the hearts of people. He intended to explain that tounderstand what the locals' hearts and minds say, you must enter into theircircle and actively talk with them. Ironically, the culture of that societydoes not show that they like to talk openly and to freely express themselves.In general they seem silent and reserved. To other people or guests, someoneneeds to bow his head to show a proper way of speaking and communicating. According to the missionary, if youwant to be in their midst and understand their conversation, you need to bewith them when they talk and share about themselves and their lives. Whenexactly is that moment? He said, when they are drinking beer or alcoholicdrinks. The spirit or energy that makes them speak and express themselves isalcohol. Without that spirit and without being with them, a missionary or guestis still considered foreign to them, and is never considered belonging to them. For all people as we communicate aboutthe identity of our faith, Jesus Christ reminds us that we will be likestrangers in the midst of the world. We are like sheep in the middle of wolves.One simple example. I, who have faith and knowledge of God, I am in the midstof digital communication with its culture and ways of communication. I have totry my best to enter with my Christian spirit and values, which may fail or canbe carried away by the huge manifestations of the digital world interaction. Thereis a common choice to make is to do a compromise. In the midst of today's worldcomplexity, God teaches us to have the ability to hear and obey the Holy Spiritwho speaks. We do not choose the spirit of alcohol or the type of pleasure ofthe flesh or the world to make us speak. We need to provide appropriate spacein ourselves for the Holy Spirit so that He speaks to us, and sends us to speakto the world around us. That space is our heart and mind, which is in every personin good will and faith. That space can also be our families, groups andcommunities. Let us give the place and time for the Spirit to speak. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O most Holy Spirit, come to us and speak to us according to Yourwill. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the nameof the Father ...

Delivered by Josephine Mercy Ho from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 44: 18-21.23b-29; 45: 1-5; Rs psalm 105: 16-17.18-19.20-21; Matthew 10: 7-15.GRATIS Our meditation today is entitled:Gratis. A promotional board that stands in front of a restaurant states:"Welcome! Here you get gratis for some and not gratis for others." Agrandfather and his wife wanted to eat at the restaurant. The restaurant ownerwarmly welcomed them. They talked much about various topics before the food wasserved to them. Before eating, grandma told the waitress that they wanted toget a free offer of the restaurant. After eating, a payment note waspresented to that elderly couple. Of course it surprised them, because from thestart they had wanted the gratis offer of the restaurant. "Because it iswritten ‘Here you get gratis for some' and so we choose the free one".Then they got an explaination that said the food and drinks consumed must bepaid. While the free ones are moments of friendship, encounters, greetings,sharings, conversations and exchange of ideas that they had done. Despite theprotests, the rule is always clear: food and drinks must be paid. Free offering or gratis is a form ofgenerosity. A free attention or gift is done on the basis of freedom, joy, andlove, so that both the giver and the person given experience a pleasant andcomplementary relationship. Today, the word of God speaks about free gifts inthe form of grace and divine mercy from God to the apostles sent to proclaimthe good news of God's Kingdom. The Lord says that they receive these gifts forfree, so they also have to share them for free too. God does not give them money or foodthat has its prices. God complements everyone with His grace, mercy andblessings. All these we receive for free. For example in terms of hospitality,which is one type of gift that is naturally in us. We smile, greet friendly,invite and get acquainted, then give the impression that our interlocutors areat home while talking to us, all of which are part of our humanity and the giftof love from God. It often happens that when we share free spiritualgifts with others, the reward we receive indeed extraordianry. We will receiveattention and love from more people. In the name of God, all gifts like thisare priceless blessings. Loveis its basic and core, not properties or things, as Joseph did to his brotherswhen they came up to the moment of brotherly reconciliation among them asbrothers.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O generous and kind Lord Jesus, bless us always, that we may always begenerous as you are. Glory  to the Fatherand to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Lukitananda Putra, Svara Nirmala, and Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 12: 1-11; Rs psalm 34: 2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9; 2 Tomothy 4: 6-8.17-18; Matthew 16: 13-19.THEY ARE BOTH SPECIAL Our meditation today is entitled: TheyAre Both Special. The proof of the apostles Peter and Paul's faith in Christthat is in our hands is the New Testament of the holy Scripture. Each of themhas a very unique story that continues to inspire us. They inherit to us thewritings we know through their letters. This is the fact of narration, words,and stories. Other evidences about them can bereferred to the facts of the stages, locations, or places they were everencountered. Now the Church makes use of these evidences as holy places andmeans of devotion for Christians. At present, the truth is that the stage thattestifies to the world about these two apostles is the city of Rome in Italy.They were actually Jewish people in the Palestine. But at present there arehardly any traces of relics from both Saints Peter and Paul found on thePalestinian lands. When people made a pilgrimage toJerusalem and the area of ​​the Sea of ​​Galilee and its surroundings, thestage evidences of these two apostles are very limited. Only the city of Jesusin Capernaum can provide some solid facts, for example there are ruins inPeter's in-laws. But when people visit Rome in Italy they will get many stagefacts about these two great apostles. Among these many facts, what the visitorslike most are their tombs. Each of the tomb now stands on St. Peter's Basilicaand St. Paul's Basilica. Acts of the Apostoles tell a littledrama of their journey to Rome to face the trials ruled by the Roman authority.Historical records of the Christian Church provide other details about theprocess of severe punishment of Peter and Paul in Rome. Time and history thenprove that the stage of the city of Rome give the highest witnesses of JesusChrist, namely through the martyrdom of Peter and Paul. Their shedding of bloodis fruitful in the growing of the Christian faith that is increasinglyworldwide. At present, Rome and especially the Vatican are the central stage ofthe Catholic Church, especifically because of the apostles Peter and Paul whohad opened the way to it. In Jerusalem and Judea, the initialstages of the call of Peter and Paul were proved true, in Rome they both showedthat the choice of following Jesus Christ must be radical, in the scripturesthey continue to teach the truth about Jesus Christ, and in heaven they areboth our proud models, praiseworthy saints. In this solemnity of Peter and Paulwe should be grateful for our universal and apostolic Church. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord, may Your blessings make us fully devoted to Your Church likethe apostles Peter and Paul. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of theFather ...

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 15: 1-12.17-18; Rs psalm 105: 1-2.3-4.6-7.8-9; Matthew 7: 15-20.FRUITS AS EVIDENCES Our meditation today is entitled:Fruits as Evidences. At the dining table of a community of priests, in additionto normal lunch dishes as usual, there were also several types of fruit served.The fruits were picked from the garden by one of the employees. One of thepriests who was the eldest seemed so cheerful because he would enjoy hisfavorite fruits. He has more than 10 years not been involved in his favoritework, which was gardening, because he was by now old and his health hasdeclined. That elderly priest said the followingstory: "These bananas were imported from Bandung (West Jawa), one of thebest and planted about 8 years ago. These pineapple seeds came from Lampung(South Sumatera), a brother brought here when returning from holidays. Thismango I myself brought the seeds from Bangkok (Thailand)." He was soexcited to tell all those present about his perseverance in planting theseseeds and many other plants. He also diligently cared for them. And in propertime the trees provide fruits to be consumed by many people. From the illustrations of the treeswhich then produce the best fruits, we can draw a straight line to understandhow our mental and spiritual growth are like. Just imagine, the process ofpreparation for a big celebration in an organization that involves you. Theconcept and vision-mission of the activity is the subject of all affairs. Theconcept is then actualized to planning process by taking into account all thesupporting elements, the synergy of each element, and the ability to implementit. From a good, open, and measurable process, we believe that the results willbe as expected or even more than expected. Each of our mental and spiritualgrowth also give priority to the process so that we can achieve the results wehope for. Let's imagine this. Family or community is the main tree in our livesin the world. Every form of education or formation that occurs step by step,year after year, and from experience of errors or failures to truth andsuccess, this process is good and convincing. This process of course wants toarrive at the achievement of results, namely children or the new generation upto certain level of growth as expected by family, community, Church and nation. The Lord Jesus gives us good newstoday that says like this: the falsehood in life is brought by false prophets,whose purpose is to eliminate the process, or destroy the process. The resultwill surely be a life filled with falsehood and can ruin people's life. Abrahamis an example for us, because he only comes from God, and not from other falsegods. For us, our process and goal is Christ. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord, consecrate us always in Your Spirit so that we will grow infaithfulness and in sanctification to be the lights to this world. Hail Maryfull of grace ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Grace Larope, Erika Tansil, Kezia Nikita dan Chendani Budhi from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 14: 18-20; Rs psalm 110: 1.2.3.4; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; Luke 9: 11b-17.COMMANDMENT TOREMEMBER Our meditationon this Sunday, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is entitled: TheCommandment to Remember. When someone asks you to remember to his message oradvice, he means it something so important and meaningful. He wants the valueor wisdom of his message or advice to be remembered and put into practice. Theone who receives advice and messages has a moral and spiritual responsibilityto carry out those messages or advice. That will certainly bring happiness. There is astudent who has just graduated from a well-known university with a veryimpressive achievement. He said that in addition to his hard work in hisstudies, his loyalty and obedience to his parents' messages and advice havebeen a determining factor for his success in his studies. He always rememberedthe words of his father and mother, especially about focusing on the duty ofstudying and not wasting time. He heeded his parents' advice to always pray andwork hard in his studies. The commandto remember Him as the Lord and Savior is the command of the Lord Jesus to Hisdisciples, apostles and people of God, at the time of the Last Supper. The LordJesus instituted the Eucharist, which is symbolized by the bread and wine tosignify the sacrifice of His body and blood for the salvation of those Heredeemed. This act of self-offering is an expression of the greatest love, sothe symbols of bread and wine are the very special signs. The body and blood ofChrist being symbolized are the presence of the Lord Jesus Himself who speaksto His people and makes Himself a spiritual meal for all the faithful who takepart in the celebration of the Eucharist.  This act ofself-sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a perfect act of God in the plan of salvationof mankind and the world. So, Jesus Himself wants us to always remember Him andto feel His loving presence. Our remembrance of Him is performed in the Churchas one of the seven sacraments namely the Sacrament of the Eucharist. For everymember of the Church, faith in the Sacraments is an obligation that cannot beviolated or wasted. The commandment to remember the Lord Jesus in the celebrationof the Eucharist that is deliberately violated or abused will be a serious sin. Theremembrance of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist is generallycarried out in the Church through forms of expressions of faith celebrated byboth the clergy and the laity in general. The greatest and main celebrationsare the Holy Mass daily, on Sundays, Feasts and Solemnities. There is also acelebration of the reception of Holy Communion which is carried out in theworship of the word without an ordained priest and Holy Communion served to thesick, the elderly and those in danger of death. The host of the holy Eucharistis also celebrated through the devotion of the adoration of the BlessedSacrament. All of these are activities in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christwho has given us the perfect example of sacrifice of himself. Letus pray... In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus Christ, fill us with Yourpower so that we may be like the bread of the Eucharist that is willing to bebroken to offer ourselves sincerely to our neighbors. Our Father who art inheaven... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Randy from the Parish of Christ the King in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Rs psalm 34: 8-9.10-11.12-13; Matthew 6: 24-34.WORRINESS The title for our meditation today is:Worriness. Everyone has been worried and will have it tomorrow or the dayafter. A holy person like Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said that during herlife, she worried many times, whether all she did was pleasing to God or viceversa. Many saints are of the same situatio and of course we as ordinarypeople, experience worry as part of our lives in this world. A worried person usually feelsuncomfortable and is afraid of things that will happen to him or her. Worrinessis related to the future, and not today or yesterday. Tomorrow or the futureopens the door for us to think and hope to be what we want to be. We know wellthat tomorrow and future are unclear and uncertain, that is why we are thenhaunted by worriness. There was a couple of fianceepreparing themselves for the celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony whichwas only one week away. Time was decreasing from the 6th day to the designatedday, the more they worried. There were many things to worry about, such as ifthe weather was not good or not many people would attend, one or both of themwere unable to attend due to illness, chaos caused by outsiders and so on. There are many other examples thatillustrate how we often worry about bad events and negative experiences thatwill happen to us. The question is: what is the strategy to deal with thoseconcerns? There is one answer. Our realistic attitude must be a fundamentalthing to have. Life is about become happy and sad, there is when we fall andrise. If we understand this life like a spinning wheel and we live it asbelievers, worriness will not be a problem that is burdensome and obstructing. The thing that is more specific thanaccepting the reality of life, is to act positively towards existing weaknessesor shortcomings. The term used by Saint Paul in his second letter to the peopleat Corinth is "boasting about my weakness". Within us there areweaknesses that are correlated directly to the problems or difficulties outsideourselves. For example, the weather is so hot, it strikes the condition of yourskin that easily peels off, and this results in you a problem or challenge youshould face. It is precisely in this situation thatwe see ourselves as helpless, having burdens, or in spiritual expression, weare carrying the cross. In humility we accept calmly and patiently, thenwe  leave to God whom with His great loveand power lift us up. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O  benevolence and lovingLord, enable us to persevere and believe in You, even though we are alwaysworried in our lives. Glory to the Father ... In the name of the Father...

Delivered by Lukitananda Putra Niora and Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9; Rs psalm 146: 2.5-6.7.8-9a; Matthew 5: 43-48.OUR ENEMIES Our meditation today is entitled: OurEnemies. The first time I was slandered was through spreading a false storyabout me, but it was done at my back. I was so offended and angry. I tried tofind out who actually did the slander, but it didn't work. The second time, I was accused ofcorruption through an anonymous letter placed behind the door of my office.Once again this was a lie, because I certainly have never been engaged incorruption. I live only with my salary and my own business run by the family.The accusation was very shameful and made me so angry. I tried to find out thebrain of the accusation, but the results were just empty. The third time, my cellphone rang allday. Different numbers appeared on the mobile screen, but there were no names.I tried to answer once, hoping to ascertain what the caller wanted. But nosingle voice heard or at least some texts appeared after all those calls. Idecided to change my cellphone number. That was someone's story a few daysago about his very disturbing situation. He just wanted to share all hisfeelings to his friends. We often get similar trouble or other kinds of malicioussituation. It is clear that no human in this world is free from interference.We can categorize our troubles as ordinary and normal ones, such as friends whocame to the house when we were focused on the works, or children who asked manyquestions to their parents. The Lord Jesus today refers to thecategory of extraordinary bullies or attacks by those who have intention to hurt and destroy us. They arecalled the enemies. They are everywhere, which we can meet every day whether weknow them or not. Those whom we do not know and hide somewhere, have plans toattack and harm us. With the existence of social media that is widespread inits use, the unknown enemies will easily do evil as they want. Regarding the existence of enemies inthis manner, is God's word today about "Love your enemies" stillrelevant? Maybe there are people who do not believe that we can love ourenemies and see this teaching is irrelevant, but the Lord Jesus will answerhimself and say to us, that His word about loving enemies remains relevantthroughout time. The Word says that, loving anyone's enemy, is that by prayingfor him or her. That means we put the enemy before two judges, namely ourselvesand God as the main judge. So we are with God facing our enemies.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus, grant that with your merciful love we may be able toturn enemies into friends. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of theFather ...

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Pontianak and Yurika Gunawan from Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. THE TRIUNE GOD The title for our meditation today,the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity is: The Triune God. There was a discussionamong the faithful after their group gathered for the devotional prayer of theRosary. The focus of the discussion was about the meaning of the Holy Trinity.Everyone had an explanation and the argument to support it. When the discussionwas over, they did not find the true meaning of the Trinity. An 80-year-oldwoman who during the discussion was just silent and listening, finally saidsomething as the following: "We keep asking about the meaning of the HolyTrinity, the answer must not be obtained now, or maybe you don't need to knoweither. The important thing is we can call the Trinity by Their holy names andjust believe it." The common difficulty of believers isthat they do not know and understand well enough on how or what the Trinity islike. The name of “One God of Three Persons” is in our memory. We say His namein prayers and worship. We celebrate His solemnity and feast. We have believedin Him since His name was pronounced at the moment of Baptism and strengthenedby Him in Confirmation. But our knowledge is limited about Him. We have heardand studied here and there, still we are not satisfied. How or what the circumstances are,cooperation between the Three persons as the One God are the things that arenot fully known by any human being. There are no specific scriptures andtraditions account about them. We only know some details of each of the Three.That's because Jesus Himself says and teaches this in the gospel. He says thatit is a great mystery of our faith, that is, the unity of the Trinity whichcannot be separated. His job is to reveal the glory of God to us: God theFather, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and to unite all of us with God in acommunion of love. The communion of love in the world is the Church. Our final goal as believers is toenter the perfect unity in the eternal glory of the Holy Trinity. The missionof Jesus and the Holy Spirit is the same, because Jesus says to the disciplesand all of us that the Holy Spirit will teach us in all truth. This means thetruth about God, the great mystery of the holy Trinity. If we don't get acomplete answer now, only partially, maybe we don't even need it, it's okay.Later we will get it in time. The important thing is that we cannot lose ourfaith and loyalty to the holy Trinity that we love.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O most Holy Trinity, may God the Father protect and fulfill us withall mercy, may the Son of God unite and save us as a flock of Your belovedpeople, and may God the Holy Spirit continue to teach and illuminate us in alltruth about the greatness of your glory. Glory to the Father and to the Son andto the Holy Spirit  ... In the name ofthe Father…

Delivered by Andrew Jost and Shendy Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 2 Corinthians 3: 15 - 4: 1.3-6; Rs psalm 85: 9ab-10.11-12.13-14; Matius 5: 20-26.REMOVE THE BARRIER The title for ourmeditation today is: Remove the Barrier. In a Sunday celebration of theEucharist the church was full with people. There was a small commotion in theback during the moment of consecration. There was a boy crying and protesting.He could not see the Body of Christ being raised by the priest, because hismother could not bring him up on her shoulders, as his father usually did. Hisfather was unable to come on that particular Sunday because he had a work outsidethe city. The child tried his best to see Jesus but in vain because many adultswere just in front of him and prevented him from seeing the Lord. Any barrier orobstacle must be removed so that we can have freedom to see and experience thepresence of God. Saint Paul describes the veil thatcovered the hearts of the Israelites when they read the book of Moses. Thereason was that they had turned away from God. If they would return to God, theveil would be removed from them. For us Christians, sins and evil are the mainbarriers that prevent us to see and experience the presence of God. In principle we arethe ones who create barriers in our lives. Laziness and boredom are oftenconsidered the big walls that prevent us from communicating with God. Those whoare lazy and boring are caught asleep or making something else on the one sideof the wall and the Lord is waiting for them from the other side. They justneed to be invited and persuaded or given an understanding so that they willregain their spirit. There is no permanent laziness and boredom in life. Anger, hatred,revenge and a stony heart are considered so heavy as steel walls. All of theseare big barriers that prevent us from praying and connecting our hearts withGod. We are asked to make peace and resolve the problem first, then come againto continue our prayers. This is what the Word of God demands us to do. Peopleof this type are not enough invited or persuaded to change their way of lives.Instead they must be given a strong strike to the point as what Jesus did, thatis to make them know that they will have no place in the Kingdom of God. Anybody arround us is not at all a barrieror obstacle for us to look at God and to meet Him. A genuine and true believer shouldnot just blame on the outside threat. For example, you are forbidden to prayor attend Mass. Yet your heart, mind and will are still in contact with Godwithout being noticed by the barrier. You can stillfind your way to be in contact with the Lord. So the call to getrid of barriers is primarily for ourselves, every one of us. Let's pray. In the name of the Father... Lord Jesus Christ, make our hearts remain close to You and may we alwaysaccept our neighbors as Your gifts to us. Hail Mary full of grace ... Inthe name of the Father ...

Delivered by Meisye Laurencia from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 3: 9-15.20; Rs psalm 87: 1-2.3.5.6-7; John 19: 25-34A MOTHER'S GIFT The title for our meditation today is:A Mother's Gift. In principle we believe in one God, but in the realization ofHis will and the revealation of Himself, He presents a type of life intogetherness with other parties. One expression of this essential divine will isthe life in pairs between a man and a woman. In the divine power that expresseslife in pairs, we then recognize the existence of a mother or mom as a gift forour lives. A mother stands and exists on two solid foundations, namely as awoman and a person who binds herself in marriage. Human nature as a woman andwho marries her chosen man is the natural aspect that underlies a noble anddignified profile as a mother. God created that natural dimension,and He judged it as a good creation, because it follows His own image andlikeness, as the book of Genesis says. But love doesn't stop there. God revealshis glory more perfectly when that created woman becomes a mother, with thepurpose that the mother takes participation in witnessing the glory of God inthe world. Motherhood that displays the power and love of God is as meaningfulas it is expressed in fatherhood. In other words, a mother is fundamentally theface and action of God in the world for anyone who takes part in the life andwork of the mother. We are happy in this celebration ofOur Lady as the Mother of the Church, which is a celebration to honor andglorify the role of motherhood for the whole Church. In principle the Church iscalled the mother with the most obvious reason, because the Virgin Mary isentrusted by her own Son, Jesus Christ who is the head of the Church, as themother of the Church. Jesus stated that directly and personally when He wascrucified and about to die. He said to a disciple whom he loved: "This isyour mother!" The Church as a mother has the mostimportant responsibility to protect and direct each of her members to the pathof salvation. Mary certainly works with Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church,to make the Church and all its members live in strong faith, love and hope. Asa mother, Mary animates the entire Church along the way. Even though the threatof Satan and its companions never ceases to harm and destroy the Church, the Motherof the Church has the power to defend and fight for sake of the Church. Thisbattle never stops as long as the world is still in its journey towards itsend, as the first reading of today proclaims. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O God Almighty, may the Virgin Mary always be with us in all ourdifficulties, especially in times of trouble and death threathened by deadlyenemies. Hail Mary full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Andrew Jost and Shendy Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great and Jonathan Axel from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 2: 1-11; Rs psalm 104: 1ab.24ac.29c-30.31.34; 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7.12-13; John 20: 19-23.DIVINE BREATH  The title for our meditation today is:Divine Breath. People in the Arab world give great importance to the breathcoming from someone who speaks. As a sign of welcome and kindness towardsothers, he speaks so closely that his partner can enjoy the smell that comes fromhim. A stranger must feel strange with the culture like this one, but he mustbe able to accept and understand it. People from the south of Asia alsovalue the smell of their bodies and it's natural to share that smell to thoseclose to them. One needs to give the impression that his presence is marked bythe smell that he sends to the people around him. Many other cultures in theworld have also the same type of relation and communication to other people whocome to have contact with them. However, there is a breath or blowingof wind that overcomes all kinds of odors in all people of the world, namelythe breath of love. The smell of breath of tobacco or roasted meat, certainfruit or fried food does not matter; the most important is the breath of lovefrom each of us that we send to others around us. We can meet anyone who isdifferent from all types of backgrounds, and if our breath is a breath of love,then every one else becomes our neighbours. The Holy Spirit of God blows becauseGod has power to do so. The smell must be a smell from God and it must be thelove of God himself. Love gives life, movement, new spirit, renewal,fellowship, peace and friendship. At the time of the first creation, God formedman from clay, God blew His Spirit on that created being, there was a life thathad never existed before. The people of the early Church were still overwhelmedby confusion, fear and not understanding each other, but the blowing of theSpirit of God gave them new  life andability to speak in languages which were understood by many others. Every follower of Christ is unique andthe differences in each of them are special gifts of God that explain theircharacteristics and identity. Breath or smell of love or hatred, diligence orlaziness, courage or fear, smartness or ingnorance can differ from one personto another. But the breath of love of God is only one that blows from HolySpirit to unite and strenthen all. The blast of human hatred is overcomeby the blowing of God's love. The spread of the smell of laziness and loss ofhope is overcome by the breath of divine love which pour new energy andenthusiasm. And this continues as to this day. So the divine breath is the HolySpirit that blows to spread the love of God to all of us. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O loving and generous Lord, we are grateful for this PentecostSunday that makes us mature as your sons and daughters, the followers ofChrist. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In thename of the Father ...

Delivered by Ariel of the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 20: 28-38; Rs psalm 68: 29-30.33-35a.35b-35c; John 17: 11b-19.SHARING THE HOLY SPIRIT Our meditation today is entitled:Sharing The Holy Spirit. The expression of “sharing the Holy Spirit” here is akind of spiritual work to signify that after receiving the outpouring andempowerment of the Holy Spirit, the person who receives it assume the duty toshare the gift of the Holy Spirit to others. He or she shares the Holy Spirit in thescope of the mission entrusted. For example, the parents bring the Holy Spiritinto their family. Father and mother show their mutual and loving kindness oftheir marriage, and therefore, they give positive effect on the whole family.Everyone wants to contribute what is good and positive so that joy and peacegrow in the family. One is a God's gift to another.  We have an example from the tworeadings today. Jesus strengthened the apostles and disciples, that their liveswithout His physical presence were actually the lives under the guidance of theHoly Spirit. They must had experienced many challenges and difficulties,especially the threat of enemies from various directions. But the fullness ofthe Holy Spirit in Jesus is to be shared among them. Likewise, Saint Paul, whowas going to leave the Ephesian church he had cared for three years. Heguaranteed that the Holy Spirit fully strengthened and guided them. Why should we share the Holy Spirit?There are several importants reasons. First, because God has shared fromHimself. He who is pure and most holy in heaven, wants to share His life withhumans through the Son of God becoming Jesus of Nazareth; then Jesus Himselfsent His Spirit to us. God has shared Himself, then we must also share fromourselves. Second, the Holy Spirit moves andacts. He moved every person in the Early Church and then animated all theiractivities so that they did not stay silent or hid themselves from differentkinds of opposition. Each of them moved and committed in every corner of theworld to testify about Jesus Christ. We also have to do so, especially sharingtestimonies about Jesus Christ to others. Third, the Church is inclusive and sheobeys Jesus' command to make the whole nations His disciples. Thus, there is noother right way except to move every follower of Christ to share the gifts ofthe Holy Spirit, which are to convey all kindness, joy and truth to the wholeworld. Sharing with others in the unity of Jesus Christ is a law that never tobe neglected and not to be undermined. It is basically the responsibility ofevery follower of Chirst as member of the holy Church. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Jesus Christ, in the moments of waiting the coming of the HolySpirit, we put our faith in you with all our hearts, so that through thefullness of the Holy Spirit we share it with those around us. Our Father whoart in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Josephine Mercy Ho from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 19: 1-8; Rs psalm 68: 2-3.4-5ac.6-7b; John 16: 29-33.THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US TO CARRY THECROSS The title for our meditation today is:The Holy Spirit Helps Us Carry The Cross. In religion class, a student askedhis teacher: "The gospel is called the good news, but why are we taughtabout the cross and suffering? Where's the joy of the Gospel? " The lady teacher who has fullexperiences in teaching religion answered by using the analogy of a pregnantmother. In fact the pupil's mother was pregnant at that time with her secondchild. "You at home are happy looking forward to the birth of your sister,right? That is a good news. But your mother bears all the heavy burdens, shehas a lot of trouble every day, and even more so when she gives birth, howpainful she will be. All is about cross and suffering. But after giving birth,all of you in the family will be happier than now." The pupil fell silent and understood.He is like many of us who often regard the cross as a burden that will notescape from us. We often protest God, why the burden or suffering is very heavyand painful. If the holy martyrs in the Church could testify to us, theycertainly repeat what the Gospel proclaims today: But take courage andstrengthen your heart, because we are the true witnessess that Jesus hasovercome the world! Jesus defeated the world with theCross He carried with Him and upon it he was crucified. The Holy Spirit helpsus to see the cross as the power and the way we defeat the world. The cross isa victory and glory. Therefore, we cannot just consider it simply a futilesuffering, ignorance and scandal. Jesus had carried the cross to conquer theworld. So we don't have to worry or be ashamed of the cross. Jesus gives us the best gift, that isHis own Spirit and that means we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. We have allreceived it through the sacrament of baptism, or the same also received byApollos and his friends during the early Church evangelization. There is layingon of hands when the Holy Spirit fills us at the time of the sacrament ofConfirmation. Pentecost will be a reminder of our renewal in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit strengthens us withfaith, courage, perseverance and loyalty so that we are able to live tomorroweven though we will face many obstacles and difficulties. In carrying each ofour cross, the Holy Spirit is present with us. After passing through thesedifficulties and sufferings, the Holy Spirit also stays with us in all joy andpeace. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Almighty and everliving God, may we remain in longing and passion towelcome the Holy Spirit and remain in the path of salvation. Glory to theFather and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Akademia Makassar, siapa nih yang akhir-akhir ini ngerasa hidupnya kayak lagi di mode “auto stres”? Tugas numpuk, ekspektasi orang tua makin tinggi, media sosial bikin overthinking, terus pas curhat malah dibilang “cuma main HP doang”. Duhhh, relate banget nggak sih?Di episode Spotcast kali ini, Wiwi dan Ghiyas bakal bahas hal-hal yang sering bikin mental Gen Z goyah. Mulai dari tekanan kuliah, karier, sampe omongan generasi lain yang suka ngecap Gen Z tuh cengeng. Tapi tenang aja, kita nggak cuma curhat kok! Ada juga tips simpel dan realistis biar akademia Makassar bisa tetep waras di tengah dunia yang hectic ini Jadi, kalau kamu pernah ngerasa “we're fine (no, we're not)”, yuk dengerin episode ini sampai habis. Karena ngerasa nggak baik-baik aja tuh wajar, dan kamu nggak sendirian.

Delivered by Maria Delie, Chendani Budhi, Kezia Nikita, and Stella Wijaya from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 7: 55-60; Rs psalm 97: 1.2b.6.7c.9; Revelation 22: 12-14.16-17.20; John 17: 20-26.UNITY IS PERFECT The title for our meditation on this 7thSunday of Easter is: Unity Is Perfect. We all know that perfection belongs toGod. He and all of His powerful deeds are perfect. God is the only creator oflife, that means He is perfect and total in word and deed. Therefore we callhim "Almighty", which means there is no other power above Him. Our human attitude towards God who isone and perfect, generally manifested in two types. The first is to follow Himwhich means we give ourselves to live according to His will and to fulfill Hiscommandments. In the whole story of salvation, the history of God's people 'srelationship with God is very much colored by a crisis of giving of selfproperly and sincerely to God. Moses, David, Peter and Paul are some concreteexamples. They reflect the dynamic life of the real believers like everyone ofus. Second, towards the one and perfectGod, there is a type human attitude that refuses God, both openly and secretlynot to open up to accept His call. The history of salvation also proves thatthe enemies of God like the flood story in the days of Noah in the oldtestament and the Pharisees in the new testament, did not have blessings fromGod. A journey of life that does not know God and rejects Him, clearlydirects  that life to its end in the formof death. On this Sunday the word of God deeplytouches all of us who believe in Christ, that our unity and life in God are thebasic conditions for our salvation. This is our basic calling that begins withour respective baptisms, so that from that moment until the end of our lives,we are in that same unity. The virtue and value of unity are noble and holybecause it comes from God Himself. This should become a reminder for usboth individuals and people of God or members of society, that a union ofpeople who live together in community does not always end in a unity. The endof a process and journey turns out to be in division, separation, conflict, andeven persecution. If the calling of marriage andreligious life turn out to end in separation or division, it means that lifedoes not reach perfection. If someone's journey as a follower of Christ finallyleads to failure to enter heaven, then the journey of faith is far from thelight of perfection. Therefore, the good news of today is important for us,that is, stay united in God. That is perfection. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O God, bless us so that we are not tempted to abandon the unity oflife in your kingdom. Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of theFather ...

Delivered by Andrew and Shendy Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 1: 1-11; Rs psalm 47: 2-3.6-7.8-9; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 46-53.THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBER 40  The title for our meditation of thisAscension Day is: The Significance of Number 40. People often say: "lifebegins at 40". The new and meaningful life is obtained when someonereaches the age of 40. On this Lord's Ascension Day we want to reflect on thesignificance of the number 40, when God pleases to reveal His will and mystery. In our scriptures, 40 is a veryimportant number. It means completeness and gratefulness. Moses went to themountain to have meeting with God and he spent 40 days in prayer and fasting.The Israelites wandered for 40 years in their journey to enter the promisedland. For 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus appeared several times andtaught His apostles. In His apparitions, He assured them of His resurrectionand prepared them that eventually they went out to the world to proclaim theGospel. The key word here is completeness. Itis about fully-booked appointment by God, that our tickets for pilgrimage onthis earth as followers of Christ, give us an optimistic view about heaven.Jesus ascended into heaven really gives us the meaning that we are alreadybooked. In every ticket there is a list of menus of spiritual food that makesus confident and hopeful about our pilgrimage that is under way. The first menu writes the following:"The risen Lord is always with us now and for ever". He ascended intoheaven but he will always be present with us at all times in different forms.He is with us through His Holy Spirit. The second menu writes the following:"The risen Lord strengthens us to continue His works". We carry outour duties, services and professions with the energy of Jesus Christ, the styleof Jesus Christ, the mind of Jesus Christ and the character of Jesus Christ. The third menu writes the following:"You are My witnesses to all corners of the world". Through the workof preaching the gospel which is helped by the advancement of informationtechnology today, everyone immediately and personally is able to receive thegood news of the Lord. And the fourth menu writes the following: "Each ofus is the official messenger of Jesus Christ". Our "official"status is a distictive mark that makes us different from false messengers.  All the menus are complete. It's finaland we just enjoy them. It is hoped that with the tickets already fully bookedfor the final of our journey, we will be more joyful to welcome the outpouringof the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost Day, and be always open to be guided by Himin every moment of our lives.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Almighty God, we thank you for this Ascension Day of our Lord JesusChrist that gives us assurance about our journey to heaven, to be in glory withYou. May we always enjoy this journery and not lose our focus on it. Hail Maryfull of grace ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Randy from the Parish Kristus Raja Andalas in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Rs psalm 148: 1-2.11-12ab.12c-14a.14bcd; John 16: 12-15.QUANTITY IS IMPORTANT, BUT NOT THEONLY ONE The title for our meditation today is:Quantity Is Important, But Not The Only One. This sentence is similar to whatwe normally understand that we are not after quantity only but what alsoimportant we pursue in life is the quality. This can be applied in any context,including in the work of the Gospel announcement that the Apostle Paul and hiscompanions carried out in the Aeropagus arena in Athens.  People of that place who believed in godsrejected all the teachings of Paul about Jesus Christ. Only one or two believedand then professed their faith in Jesus Christ. It was the least achievementobtained in terms of numbers of those who came to believe in Jesus, compared toa big number in other places that he had visited. The fruits of missionary labor atAeropagus must be very disappointing for the target obtained was only very fewnumber of believers. But Paul and companions were aware that this is the workof God, everything must depend on God alone. Let His will be done. As a matterof facts, with only one or two being baptized the Early Church grew rapidly andovercame all the obstacles throughout history, until our time today we see thatthe holy Church exists for all of us. In God there is no rivalry andcalculation of profit and loss neither quantity nor quality. For the Lord,there are men and women believers who follow Him and practice their faith withquality. Our actual numbers today in the Church are the realization of Jesus'choice of us from this world. From this election, we should give our best togrow to be qualified as followers of Christ. Our qualification according toJesus is when the Holy Spirit teaches us all the truth from God. Two human tendencies that pursuequantity and quality often bring about problems in life. Those who pursue onlynumbers can be more oriented to material, physical, social or worldly gain.Those who pursue quality alone can be more inclined to be elite, exclusive,irrelevant and unrealistic. So the best way is balance, that is, to give qualityof the quantity that we have. For example, our presence in thecommunity or family is lacking in numbers, but the exsisting numbers are inhigh quality so as to give good influence on others. The fruits of our laborsare many, but their qualities are badly needed in providing well-being to allpeople concerned and some to be contributed to the needy ones. That man isthin, but he is healthy. That woman is fat and big, but she is always ready towork and do sacrifices. Her brain is very slow to grasp, but she is veryresponsible. Our common challenge  inthis sense is to have balance in quality and quantity. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O generous Lord, through the guidance of Your Spirit, may we becomewise persons in keeping balance in quantity and quality of our lives. May webecome your sons and daughters always pleasing to you. Glory to the Father andto the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Delivered by Jonathan Axel, Jovinson Tansil, Gregory Octaviano, dan Kezia Nikita from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 15: 1-2.22-29; Rs psalm 67: 2-3.5.6.8; Revelation 21: 10-14.22-23; John 14: 23-29.THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS CATHOLIC The title for our meditation on this 6thSunday of Easter is: The Holy Spirit Who is Catholic. We need to clarify theterm or name "Catholic" that we use here. The term"Catholic" here is not to put in comparation between theRoman-Catholic with the Pope as its head and other Christian denominations inthe Reformation movement. The term "Catholic" here refers to allChristians and believers who believe in Jesus Christ, the only Savior of theworld. If Christ is the principal reason forall of us to become "Catholics", then logically speaking, the HolySpirit is also Catholic, because Jesus Himself sends His Spirit to us. The eraof this world after Jesus Christ ascended into heaven is called the Age of theHoly Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is the continuation of the work ofJesus Christ, whose main task is to renew the whole face of the earth and makeevery creation belong to God. The question is: how can we understandthat the Holy Spirit makes everything belong to God, and that is why He istruly Catholic? To answer this question, we need to depart from the Gospelreading of today, which says that the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus has a role toremind us of everything Jesus has taught and said. The role to teach everythingis an essential element of universality, namely the Catholic. The Holy Spiritworks totally and reaches a complete result. The fullness of our lives becomesthe fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit. The early Church in Jerusalem and anumber of cities around it realized that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,the Church truly became Catholic. The universal character of the Church as theword “Catholic” refers to, became the very important message of the Council ofJerusalem, with the mandate that all nations regardless of culture andbackgrounds can become disciples of the Lord and enter into the Church.Catholicism includes all people from all cultures, tribes, languages, races,religions, places and regions. In a short time, thanks to the hard work of Pauland Barnabas and a number of elected Church leaders, the face of the CatholicChurch became evident in the world and in the hearts of all people. As the Spirit of the Divine or God'sown Spirit, the role of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify this world and all thatdwell in it. The Apostle John's vision in the Book of Revelation shows that thefullness of God's grace, or holiness for all, is like a holy city, Jerusalem,came down from heaven and established on this earth. We are Catholics, so weneed to always be in the light of the Holy Spirit and always radiate thatlight.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus Christ, may Your Spirit always be the light and powerto renew the whole face of the earth, and make it a holy city for all. OurFather who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...

Voetbal is emotie, strijd, en soms een ontsnapping die rechtstreeks uit een actiefilm lijkt te komen. Bali United beleefde een seizoen waarin ze harten wonnen, maar ook een angstaanjagende nacht doormaakten. In Makassar, met de titel op het spel, werd een strijd uitgevochten die niets minder was dan oorlog. Makassar stormde naar voren, gesteund door een uitzinnig publiek, terwijl Bali United met man en macht verdedigde. Overtredingen werden harder, de sfeer grimmiger. En dan, diep in blessuretijd, viel de winnende goal. Stefano Lilipaly, op aangeven van Sylvano Comvalius, schoot binnen. Juichen was nauwelijks mogelijk—de storm brak los.De spelers wisten: ze moesten weg. ME'ers en militairen probeerden de menigte tegen te houden, terwijl de spelers onder een regen van flessen en stoeltjes naar de kleedkamer renden. Daar barricadeerden ze zich, terwijl woedende supporters op de deur beukten. Anderhalf uur lang wachtten ze, beschermd door soldaten met mitrailleurs. Toen kwam het bevel: evacueren. In militaire tanks werden ze afgevoerd, alsof ze geen kampioenskandidaten waren, maar voortvluchtigen.Op Bali wachtten de echte supporters. Ze zongen, juichten, vierden de overwinning alsof de beker al binnen was. Maar de titel? Die werd hen ontnomen. Twee extra punten, toegekend aan Bhayangkara FC door een discutabele beslissing van de bond, deden hun droom verdampen.Toch bleef hun erfenis overeind. Bali United veranderde van outsider in fenomeen. Ze bewezen dat kampioenen niet altijd de beker omhoog hoeven te houden. Soms zijn ze gewoon degenen die blijven vechten—op het veld, en als het moet, zelfs in een tank.In de podcast verwijzen Bart en Mart naar:De samenvatting van de wedstrijd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9AdTRCgEWM&ab_channel=tvOneNewsDe sfeerbeelden van Rich Clarke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOVdTk54lh8&ab_channel=RichClarkeDe Instagram-video met gezongen lied: https://www.instagram.com/p/BbZlBbMHfUo/?utm_source=ig_embedZie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.