Tanzi, Taichung Catholic Church, Ugnayan Center Taiwan

10/07/2025

Calling all those who are talented with their musical instruments and who loves to sing, share your talent with us!

Message us or comment down below!

12/04/2025

April 13, 2025

12/04/2025

26/03/2025

One of the oldest churches in Manila has received a rare honor. Read more:

One of the oldest churches in Manila has received a rare honor.

23/03/2025

Working with the Word

Third Sunday of Lent C

March 23, 2025

Reading I: Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15

Responsorial Psalm:103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11

Reading II: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

Focusing the Gospel

Key words and phrases: sinners, repent, cut it down, I shall cultivate … and fertilize it, may bear fruit
To the point: The owner of the fig tree only cares about whether the tree bears fruit—he has no regard for the tree and its life. The gardener, on the other hand, cares about the fig tree, sees the life still there, and wants to give it every chance (“I shall cultivate … and fertilize it”) to produce. He understands that as long as there’s life, there’s potential to bear fruit. What wastes away life within us and prevents us from bearing fruit is sin. Repentance, then, means choosing to nurture new life and all the fullness it can bring.

Connecting the Gospel …

… to the First Reading: Paul, like Jesus, offers examples from Israel’s history as a “warning to us” (Second Reading) not to stray from God’s guidance. God offered every means for coming to new life to the people of Israel; so, too, Jesus offers us every means for coming to new and fruitful life (“I shall cultivate the ground ... and fertilize it”).

… to experience: Growing up takes hard work. Getting ahead in life takes hard work. Deepening our relationship with God and others takes hard work. It is no surprise, then, that repenting takes hard work. The discipline of Lent includes this kind of hard-work repentance which leads to the new life Easter promises.

From St Louis Liturgy

18/03/2025

March 19… Happy Feast of St Joseph…

23/02/2025

February 23, 2025

The way we imagine God is the way we experience God.

The way we project God is the way we experience God.

If we project God to be a judge, then we will experience God as judge.

The principle is this: God is kind. If we imitate a kind God, we grow into kindness, too. If we imitate a forgiving God, we grow into forgiveness, too.

Jesus sums it up by saying, “The measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

It is a natural, spiritual principle:
We get back what we give into the world.

God teaches us, through the Church, through each other, to give this world mercy and loving kindness.

09/02/2025

Mary shows us new depths of the spiritual life

By Father Jeffrey F. Kirby
Feb 9, 2025

Mary shows us new depths of the spiritual life
Madonna and Child (credit: Pixabay)

In the history of the spiritual life of the Church, devotion to Mary has always held a prominent and beloved place. As Christians have sought to draw close to the Lord Jesus, they have naturally turned to Mary and asked for her help and guidance.

As we turn to Jesus through Mary, various formal prayers have emerged. Such prayers have given encouragement and consolation to believers through the ages.

Within the universal nature of the Church, which is vast and covers countless cultures and expressions, there is a revered collection of diverse but complementary prayers to Mary.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes the observation: “Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary as a popular substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours. In the East, the litany called the Akathistos and the Paraclesis remained closer to the choral office in the Byzantine churches, while the Armenian, Coptic, and Syriac traditions preferred popular hymns and songs to the Mother of God.”

The various cultural and spiritual traditions of the Church have given believers different prayers to Mary, but they are all united in their love and devotion to her. The Catechism makes the point: “But in the Ave Maria, the theotokia, the hymns of St. Ephrem or St. Gregory of Narek, the tradition of prayer is basically the same.”

While there are differences in emphases, themes, and languages, the heart of the believer who wants to turn to Mary is always the same. The aspirations of the heart are the source of unity. It is the heart that gives a common thread to all the prayers and devotions found in the Church’s universal spiritual treasury.

By turning our hearts to Mary, we experience a whole new horizon of prayer. By her gentle guidance, Mary shows us new depths of the spiritual life. No one comes close to Mary in her prayerfulness and attentiveness to God. There are many lessons we can learn from her, if we turn to her with trust and allow her to teach us.

The Catechism teaches: “Mary is the perfect Orans (prayer), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men.”

Mary is the maternal figure of the Church. She is everything that we are called to be. In her, we see the fulfillment of our own spiritual destiny. When we walk with her and let her instruct us in the ways of God, we become better Christians and share more deeply in the mission of Jesus Christ.

The maternal role of Mary should never be dismissed or seen as insignificant. We all need a spiritual mother, especially those who think they don’t. And we can all benefit from Mary’s relationship with God and her intense spiritual life.

As fallen human beings who are doing our best, we need all the help we can get and Mary is the best of help. She shows us the way of the Lord Jesus and gives us the encouragement and guidance we need to persevere and follow the Lord’s way with faithfulness and devotion. There is no greater help to prayer than Mary, the very one who perfected prayer.

As Saint John was given Mary and welcome her into his home, so we are called to welcome Mary into the interior home of our hearts. There is no need for suspicion. She is no idol. She is no barrier. Mary is only the handmaid of the Lord who prays, loves, and gives all things to him. We can trust this docile handmaid.

The Catechism explains: “Like the beloved disciple, we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.”

While there is much to learn about prayer from Mary, we are also humbled by the realization that the very prayer of the Church is already united to her prayer and could not be sustained without it. As our mother, she carries the prayer of the whole Church. The life and the very destiny of the Church lies in her maternal praise of God.

Our hope for eternal life in Jesus Christ is united with Mary’s constant supplication before God. Our hope is matured and enriched by her prayers.

https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2025/02/mary-shows-us-new-depths-of-the-spiritual-life

14/12/2024

Missa de Gallo 2024

Tara na sa Tanzi!

04/11/2024

Home Front Page
Tue, Nov 05, 2024 page1

Rise in foreigner traffic incidents to be investigated

By Lin Che-yuan / Staff reporter





A Control Yuan member yesterday said he would initiate an investigation into why the number of foreign nationals injured or killed in traffic incidents has nearly doubled in the past few years, and whether government agencies’ mechanisms were ineffective in ensuring road safety.

Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said in a news release that Taiwan has been described as a “living hell for pedestrians” and traffic safety has become an important national security issue.

According to a National Audit Office report released last year, more than 780,000 foreign nationals were legally residing in Taiwan in 2019, which grew to more than 850,000 people last year, an 8.5 percent increase, she said.

The entrance to the Control Yuan in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo: Taipei Times
However, data compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) showed that while 6,213 foreign nationals were killed or injured in traffic incidents in 2019, the number grew significantly to 12,021 last year, an increase of 93.48 percent.

The rise in injuries or deaths from traffic incidents among foreign nationals in Taiwan is far greater than the increase in population, she said.

Most casualties are people from Vietnam, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations, and the majority of the traffic incidents occurred in urban areas where there are more migrant workers, such as Taoyuan and Taichung, she said.

It indicates possible deficiencies in the MOTC, the Ministry of Labor and local governments’ traffic safety promotion and incident prevention mechanisms, he added.

Data compiled by the National Police Agency showed that in the past few years, motorcyclist casualties accounted for more than 60 percent of all traffic incident casualties, she said.

The MOTC’s data also showed that the majority of traffic incidents involving foreign nationals last year involved motorcycles, she said.

Data compiled by the Highway Bureau in 2019 showed that people are more likely to commit a traffic violation within one year of receiving their driver’s license if they had never taken driving lessons, compared with those who had.

The statistics showed the importance of taking driving lessons, Yeh said, adding that the Highway Bureau in 2019 initiated a motorcycle driving lesson subsidy program to enhance road safety and support young people, including foreign nationals, in taking driving lessons.

However, only 7,146 foreign nationals took motorcycle driving lessons between 2019 and last year, while 105,570 foreign nationals took the motorcycle driver’s license test without lessons, she said.

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