Showing 1 - 7 of 7
From the muck andback into the muck, with a different purpose
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 01/06/2020
» It began with a slaughterhouse alumna of our oldest slum kindergarten. She's a young mum now and a heroine in our war on Covid-19. But just a short time ago, she was in a spot of bother. In fact, several spots of bother.
When others turn away
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 06/04/2020
» Temple kitchens are always off to the side, unnoticed unless you are part of the kitchen staff -- those devoted ladies who cook and clean for every ceremonial meal. Auntie Grannie is one of the selfless. Not surprisingly, she is also someone who will always stand by your side when others turn away.
Christmas Letter 2019
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 25/12/2019
» Along with revered legends like the Archangel Gabriel, who appeared to the Virgin Mary to ask if she would be the Mother of Jesus, we hold dearly to the Star in the East.
Keeping the dream alive
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 22/04/2019
» When Granny ordered her daughter and her daughter's "live-in" to move out of their Klong Toey shack, there was no wiggle room for argument and debate. To emphasise this point, Granny had a long pistol, the trigger of which she had never in her life pulled, but a gun, nevertheless.
A Christmas story
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 25/12/2018
» A Klong Toey miss. Smartest in her senior class, captain of her Bangkok league-winning volleyball team. Beautiful long black hair coming down to her shoulders -- tall like her dad. Born to a devout Buddhist family on Christmas Day. But on her 18th birthday and Christmas, she is fighting back tears, as she vows to do this impossible thing for her dying mum.
From low to high
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 12/11/2018
» Seventeen years ago, Mum gave birth to a healthy son in a provincial prison hospital two hours outside of Bangkok. She named her son Ake. To avoid the nightmare of trying to remember who might have been the actual father of her child, she had blessed him with her own last name.
School of redemption
Life, Father Joe Maier, Published on 22/10/2018
» Long ago, on their way home from the slum slaughterhouse, a half-dozen Klong Toey lads stopped in at a new neighbourhood "beer hall" to enjoy a pint. It was three in the morning and they had just finished butchering their night's quota of pork.