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On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the USCCA invites you to visit the University of St. Michael's John M. Kelly Library for an exhibition on "The Golden Rule: Social Justice and the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society." The exhibition's opening talk, "Reflections to Shape the Future, 1918–2025: The Scarboro Mission Archives at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto," will be given at 6:00pm on January 21 by none other than USCCA Board Member Fr. Robert E. Carbonneau, CP, Ph.D. Please click here to download the full invitation as a PDF. ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

Tomorrow is MLK Day, and we are grateful for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy of friendship across social, economic, racial, and national boundaries. As civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs has reflected, He not only empowered those on the front lines, but in the process developed a strategy for transforming a struggle for rights into a struggle that advances the humanity of everyone in the society and thereby brings the beloved community closer to realization. ( Yes! Magazine ) In the latter years of his life, a friendship between Dr. King and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh influenced King's advocacy for peace in Vietnam: Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met for the first time in 1966; they met in person one other time before Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. They spent little time in each other’s company, and yet the energy of their meeting continues to ripple out into the world wherever people work for civil rights, peace, and community. ( Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation ) In the photo included above, a crowd of tourists gather around the Stone of Hope , a statue of Dr. King created by Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin. Cherry blossoms line the periphery, themselves a gift to the United States from Japan. Through programs like the Chinese and American Friendship Ministry (CAAFM) , the USCCA aims to cultivate a "beloved community" that welcomes the peoples of the United States and China alike. Through outreach to Chinese students studying in the United States, the CAAFM provides avenues for dialogue and friendship on the firm foundation of mutual respect and a desire to learn from each other. ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

Did you know that in 1941, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church became the first church in the Western Hemisphere built in order to serve as a place of worship for Chinese Catholics? At 2:00pm ET on this Sunday, January 19, we invite you to learn more about the history of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church from a lecture presented by Fr. Thomas Betz, OFM CAP. This lecture will be free to the public and live-streamed for virtual attendance! For more information on how to register, please see the website of the American Catholic Historical Society . ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

By Tom McGuire, M.Div, M.R.E., USCCA Director Emeritus Bishop John S. Cummins was laid to rest on December 21, 2024, at the Cathedral, Christ the Light, in Oakland, California. He is remembered as a friend and a caring pastor of the People of God. In his homily at the funeral mass, Fr Vassar captures my memory of Bishop Cummins. He said, When we leave this holy ground, this lakeside beach to which we have been called by him, whose body we lay to rest today, rejoice in being who you have become because you have known him: spirit-powered people empowered to do Jesus’ work incarnating God’s love. That would please Bishop John greatly. All of us who have known him over the years are grateful for who we are because we have known him. Bishop John Cummins Bishop John Cummins, an Episcopal Member of the Board since 2009, contributed his pastoral wisdom to the mission and vision of the U.S. China Catholic Association. Despite the historical difficulties, he was committed to building bridges of friendship and dialogue with the Church in China. In 1997, he wrote in an America Magazine article in light of the tension between the Vatican and Beijing, “Earlier we tended to take sides in assessing the faithfulness of church groups as they made difficult and sometimes ambiguous choices in the complex religious and political situation of the 1950s and 1960s,” he wrote of the church in China. “One bit of sound advice for us comes from the Hippocratic Oath. ‘First, do no harm.’ We should favor neither the open church group nor the underground group. Indeed, we need to speak out for human rights, but we should avoid strident language and confrontational politics.” For our friend, Bishop Cummins, we pray confidently: Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Tom McGuire, M.Div, M.R.E. is a Director Emeritus of the USCCA. Tom has served as a Maryknoll Missionary in Hong Kong and as Director of Campus Ministry at University of Detroit Mercy. He is now retired, living in Chicago with his family.

Have you heard about the USCCA's Book Circle Discussions ? Through Zoom meetings on select scheduled Saturdays, we learn together about history, Chinese culture, theology, philosophy, and the life of the Church in China. This semester, we will be reading  John C. H. Wu's  Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality . If you have not done so yet, we invite you to  order your copy from Angelico Books today . With discount code  wu15 , you are eligible for a 15% discount. Our first meeting of 2025 will be held via Zoom on January 18 at 9AM ET / 8AM CT / 7AM MT / 6AM CT / 10pm Chinese Standard Time.  Please read the following message from Book Circle facilitator Dr. Kathy Stout: Much as Catholic theologians of the twentieth century engaged in a ressourcement of traditional teachings to meet the challenge of the times, Wu and other Chinese scholars re-interpreted the Chinese sages to meet the intellectual demands of modernity. Through his "ressourcement" of the sages, Wu found a renewed appreciation for the foundations of Chinese culture. This appreciation, together with his Catholic faith, formed the basis of his long apostolate as ambassador between East and West. Our journey with Wu's book, Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality, will unfold in five segments organized by the following themes: 1) Confucius and Mencius; 2) Daoism and Zhuangzi; 3) Therese of Lisieux in a Chinese light; 4) the spirit of joy in Chinese culture; 5) the synthesis between Chinese culture and Christianity.  Our first reading for January will be pages i-38, focusing on Wu's presentation of Confucius and Mencius. As you read these chapters, we encourage you to reflect on the following questions:  1) How does this reading supplement your knowledge and understanding of Confucius?  2) What arguments and stories do you find most powerful in Mencius's philosophy of human nature and natural law?  The USCCA is grateful to Dr. Stout, Mary Sluka, and Fr. Hugh O'Donnell for their ongoing work as Book Circle organizers. Future Book Circle Discussions are planned for February 15, March 15, April 26, and May 24; please sign up for Book Circle updates to ensure that you receive the Zoom link! We hope to see you there.

Have you heard about the 2025 USCCA Book Circle discussions ? The Book Circle meets on select Saturdays at 6 am PT / 7 am MT / 8 am CT / 9 am ET. This year, we will discuss John C. H. Wu's Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality . With discount code wu15 , you can order this book from Angelico Books  today for a 15% discount! Please share this information with your friends, family, and church communities who have an interest in learning more about history, Chinese culture, theology, philosophy, and the life of the Church in China. Anyone interested in the USCCA Book Circle is invited to sign up for additional information via the Book Circle interest form . ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

We at the USCCA send you all our best wishes for a happy New Year in 2025.  For a peek at what is to come for the USCCA in 2025, we invite you to preview the 2025 Book Circle , which will focus on John C. H. Wu's Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality . By ordering this fine work from Angelico Books with discount code wu15 , USCCA supporters like you can benefit from a 15% discount! We also look forward to the continued growth and flourishing of the Chinese and American Friendship Ministry (CAAFM) , which will doubtless see values of dialogue and understanding—expressed so well in the work of John C. H. Wu—lived out on college campuses. Finally, we invite you to ensure that you have signed up for our email newsletter to receive the latest updates from the USCCA. Soon to come is an Annual Report documenting the progress that we have made over the last year with the help of supporters like you. ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

Over the last 35 years of the USCCA, many faithful servants have contributed to our mission before being laid to rest. In a new web page on the USCCA website, we chronicle the contributions of some of these past USCCA stakeholders, including links to further memories of their lives and their contributions. We invite you to visit the new page on our website . ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

Today, the USCCA cherishes the memory of Most Rev. John S. Cummins, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Oakland and Episcopal Emeritus Director of the USCCA. Bishop Cummins died on December 3, 2024; he was laid to rest at the Cathedral of Christ the Light on December 21, 2024. Throughout his distinguished career, Bishop Cummins worked for ecumenism and social justice in the spirit of Vatican II. For 22 years, he was fraternal delegate to the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), and that gave him the opportunity to visit to Hong Kong and mainland China. In his own diocese, he was a good friend to the Bay Area Chinese community. In 1998, he sponsored the first meeting of local Chinese American Catholics, inviting then-Father John Tong, who subsequently became Cardinal Archbishop of Hong Kong, as the keynote speaker. He also maintained a long and enduring friendship with the most admired Archbishop Dominic Tang Yee-Ming, SJ, the exiled bishop of Guangzhou. Under his leadership, four parishes scheduled Sunday Mass in Chinese, and the InterFriendship House for visiting scholars and students from mainland China was established in Berkeley. The USCCA is deeply grateful for Bishop Cummins's service. He began his involvement with our organization as FABC liaison and Episcopal Patron in 2009, served five terms as an Emeritus Director on the Board, and began service in August 2023 as Episcopal Emeritus Director of the USCCA, in which capacity Bishop Cummins served until his recent death. For more information about Bishop Cummins, we invite you to read about his legacy at the Diocese of Oakland's website .

From the bottom of our hearts, we at the USCCA wish you a very Merry Christmas. This year, we have been blessed by our supporters with words and images of Christmas joy to share with you here. Please take a moment to read the following "little thought of hope" shared by Chiaretto Kin Sheung Yan, accompanied by an image courtesy of Fr. John Li: Cold is the night, darkness around, we wait in silence with sacred fear. Out of darkness, a light was born, a beating heart was born, Love was born. The incarnated Word made flesh. Father and son, mother and daughter, parents and child, light and shadow, negative and positive, nothing and all, through love in the form of the Cross, generate one another dialectically into life, light and love. Peace will reign again over our lands. Peace in human hearts, from the sacred family to the world of fraternity and peace as a human family, living in harmony. It is not a dream, for the Word has entered human history, was incarnated, lived and died for us, and become one of us. This is the meaning of Christmas. He loved us ( Dilexit nos ). It seems that many have failed to realize this or have forgotten it. That the wounded world may regain its heart, Pope Francis prayed: “In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us. May he pour out the treasures of his light and love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socioeconomic disparities, and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important and necessary thing of all: its heart” (DN 9). The love of Christ speaks not only of divine charity but also of human affection. Jesus cried for Jerusalem, cried for the death of his friend Lazarus, and cried to the Father in desperation on the cross. The Gospel makes no secret of Jesus’ love for Jerusalem: “As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it.” He then voiced the deepest desire of his heart: “If you had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace.” Abandoned by all whom he loved, and even by God, Jesus’ inner turmoil finds its most powerful expression in his cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ( DN 45). Jesus felt abandoned by God. It is something beyond human understanding and can be defined as his greatest suffering and therefore the apex of his love. Jesus has a thirst for our love but, according to an apparition to St. Margaret Alacoque, He is sad because He receives nothing but indifference in return ( DN 165-166). How can we console the sacred heart of Jesus? The love of God who wills or permits everything for a higher purpose, which is for our own good. Sufferings could be united to the passion of Christ so as to generate fruits and to bring hope. The warmth of the Christmas spirit urges us to multiply joy and share the sufferings of those most in need of our love. Let’s recognize every suffering as a countenance of Jesus crucified and forsaken. Let’s love and share others’ burdens and sufferings as Jesus’ that can be transformed into joy and hope. In so doing, we can bring joy and hope to the world, and therefore consolation to the heart of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that Paul was heading towards the East from Troas. Yet, during the night he had a vision of Macedonia boy standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul understood that it was a sign from God; he and the apostles then left Troas and sailed West to Macedonia, where he met Lydia, whose heart was particularly opened to God and responded to Paul’s message. She welcomed them to her home and the entire family was attracted by Paul’s Gospel message and were baptized (Acts 16:9-15). She persuaded them to stay and from there, Paul's evangelical path to the West and to Rome was laid. Had Paul journeyed towards the East instead of going towards Europe, the West, the cultural scenario and history of the world would be totally different and beyond our wild imagination. At the Great Jubilee 25 years ago, Saint Pope John Paul II emphasized that the Cross was established in Europe in the first millennium, in the American and African lands in the second millennium, whereas in the third millennium, one should expect great fruit of faith to be reaped in such a vast and vibrant continent as Asia. We may not understand immediately the mysterious love and divine plan of God. Our responsibility is to welcome and respond to the wonderful plan of God. As we are approaching the first jubilee after the Great Jubilee of the third millennium, our gaze turns East with Hope in our hearts and my thoughts go to those saints and missionaries like Theresa of Baby Jesus, Francis Xavier, Matteo Ricci, and the common people who have contributed in bringing the Gospel message to China along the Silk Road in the early times, and with ups and downs throughout the centuries. My thoughts also go to those like Paolus Xu Guangqi and his family, who welcomed it. This year, the United Nations established the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations, as proposed by China, which will occur on June 10 every year. Let us do our part to be an active instrument of peace and dialogue, and of giving testimony of love of the Gospel. May the testament of Jesus that “All May be One” (Jn 17:21) someday come. ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we reflect on God's unfailing love for God's people around the world. As Pope Francis reminds us in Dilexit nos , We need the help of God’s love. Let us turn, then, to the heart of Christ, that core of his being, which is a blazing furnace of divine and human love and the most sublime fulfilment to which humanity can aspire. There, in that heart, we truly come at last to know ourselves and we learn how to love. "Chinese nativity scene from Singapore" (Photo by Thomas Quine , CC-BY-2.0) How do you see God's love working in the church this Christmas season? How has God's love affected your life? As Christmas approaches, we invite you to join us in contemplation of God's unfailing love for people around the world ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

December 16, 2024, by Peter Tan, Chair, USCCA Board of Directors I was shocked to learn that Fr. Larry Lewis, M.M., died on November 29, 2024. I met Fr. Larry over 20 years ago when he gave the homily on Mission Sunday at Ascension Chinese Church in Houston. It was a coincidence that I decided to attend Mass there because I had a lunch appointment in nearby Chinatown on Bellaire Blvd . He spoke about Maryknoll's Formators Project . We were able to chat after Mass. His words stayed in my heart and made me fall in love with the Church in China. Twelve years later, around 2015, with a few local Catholic friends inspired by Fr. Lewis, I started a similar, but much smaller, project in Houston. We felt that Houston could do our part to help the Church in China. The Holy Spirit Chinese Education Foundation (formerly the Spiritan China Education Foundation for Advanced Formation) raises money to support priests and religious sisters from China who want to study at the University of Houston or the University of St. Thomas. After graduating with a Master’s Degree, they return to China, better equipped with learned skills to perform their ministries. We will support two sisters and a priest in 2025. This love for the Church in China also led me to participate in the activities of the US-China Catholic Association (USCCA). In 2019, I was elected to the Board of Directors. In 2023, I was elected Chair of the Board. It is an understatement to say that my life completely changed after meeting and listening to Fr. Larry's sermon. Years later, I met him several times in New York. Once, I even tried to "very strongly encourage" him to come to Houston to be pastor at Ascension Chinese Church, which did not have a pastor at that time. I will always cherish the memories of this remarkable servant of God. Fr. Lewis, may you rest in the Peace of our merciful Lord. Peter Tan Chair, USCCA Board of Directors ======================== Recommended by USCCA. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of contemporary China, Larry Lewis’s autobiographical The Misfit tells a moving story of how God breaks through the aridity of human hearts and how healing occurs in the midst of the everyday. Father Lewis, a Maryknoll missioner, was estranged from himself, his church, and his Maryknoll colleagues when he accepted an assignment to teach English to Chinese students in the interior Chinese city of Wuhan. It was a year before the now-infamous massacre of Tiananmen Square. Larry Lewis , MM, with a doctorate in spirituality from Duquesne, is rector of seminarians at Maryknoll. He is in demand internationally as a speaker and spiritual director. Source: Orbis =================================== Also, recommended by USCAA By Larry Lewis, M.M. Sunday, November 20, 2022 Samuel 5:1-3; Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43 A Maryknoll Society member reflects on the unconventional kingship of Jesus and the readings for the Feast of Christ the King. "Light amidst darkness . . . strength manifested through weakness . . . blessed are the sorrowful . . . life through death . . . these truths are the cornerstones of our faith, so it should not come as a surprise that on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe the gospel presents Jesus Our Lord and King of the Universe nailed to a cross, writhing in pain, mocked, ridiculed, misunderstood, bloody and bruised, crowned with thorns and, save for his mother, his dear friend and a few women, abandoned by those he trusted with his love and hope. And still he was identified by the soldiers of that day and by a 2,000-year-old Church as king." Read the entire sermon here.