Tag: Discernment

Sin, Sinned, Sinning, Sinner

Sin  1.  a) the breaking of religious law or a moral principal, especially through a willful act  b) a state of habitual violation of such principals  2. any offense, misdemeanor, or fault – sinned, sinning   1. to break a religious law or moral principal; commit a sin.  2. to commit an offense or fault of any kind: do wrong.

   I don’t remember if I had used these exact words in my weekly “released-time” class at the nearest Catholic church, but I certainly got the idea right and could communicate it very well. I had to!
   I was being prepared for first Holy Communion and that meant I had to learn about Sin and sins and be ready to accuse myself to the priest at my first Confession, which of course preceded first Communion!
   (I was then six going on seven years old!)
   Naturally I had been taught about Moses and the Ten Commandments
—and all the very many and diverse ways associated with not obeying them well enough: Sin!
   My most common sins had to do with acts of disobedience to my parents or, later, things like accidentally swallowing some water when brushing my teeth on Sunday before going to Communion (breaking the Eucharistic fast).
   The sixth commandment was hard to understand, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” but, as I got a little older, I learned that it was about bad thoughts, bad desires, and bad actions, alone or with others!
   It was a tricky business trying to discover and not forget to confess all my weekly sins.
   I still remember one Saturday afternoon when I couldn’t recall any sins to tell the priest in confession.
   So, I did what the Nuns had taught me, and told the priest that I couldn’t remember any new sins to tell, but that I was heartily sorry for all my past sins.

   “You get out of here, kneel down, and pray—and then come back here and confess,” the priest roared!
   (I was so scared that I never made a confession like that again—ever!)
   This is only a childhood memory, but it is a reminder of how things were in those days—and of the sort of obsession with sin that characterized them in some, if not many, parts of the world!
   The emphasis on sin, repentance, and confession had its merits and value amid all the problems of growing up and living a good adult life, but it dominated my early formation and the understanding of God and his commandments.
   It was a tough struggle in adult years, to come to terms with what the sixth commandment was really all about. It always had seemed that somehow it was the “sexth” commandment, in practice!
   One thing is for sure, I grew up with a keen consciousness of “sin” in dozens of small ways and relatively less awareness of the forgiveness and love of God, ever a cause for joy and rejoicing!
   Deo gratias! (Thanks be to God) is somehow more important or life-giving than Confiteor Deo omnipotenti… (I confess to almighty God…), though both have their distinct place and use.
   One of the things that people marveled at in the life of Jesus was how he fraternized with sinners. He didn’t behave like them, but he treated each and every one of them with compassion, forgiveness, and love.
   We know about the sins that we sinners are all capable of and worse. Don’t let that make you forget to rejoice with Jesus over your repentances and his pardons!




10 September 2023

Does Winning or Losing Deserve More Attention?

If you’ve ever visited a gambling casino, you know that whenever someone has a big win on one of the machines there are often flashing lights and a kind of music to celebrate it.
   Of course, there’s no celebrating a loss, big or little—it makes sense—you can hardly entice someone to keep playing and betting if you blast out the news of their losing to everybody within sight and earshot.
   It’s really odd, but when it comes to our religious practice and faith, we sort of do the opposite. We make a bigger fuss about failures than successes.
   What’s the first thing a child learns about, the first thing that gets a lot of attention? Why, it’s failure, reprimand, and perhaps punishment.
   From early childhood most of us were made aware, sometimes vividly, of our failures, of our sins! And we were taught how to go to church and confess our sins and seek forgiveness.
   There was rarely any special fussing about good things and successes—they didn’t send us to the priest to speak about that but to speak about the bad things, the sins!
   If you were being coached in preparation for the Olympics, the whole emphasis would have been on getting things right, not reminding you that you got them wrong.
   Why do we attach so much importance to defects and sinning? Why do we give so much more recognition to failure compared to the attention that success should get?
   A child almost learns inverted values, getting more recognition and attention through failing than through succeeding!
   Sure, God punishes, but, most important of all, he forgives! We seem to forget that and that we are celebrating his love and forgiveness in receiving communion.
   Were a special music playing and everyone applauding what we did, we might feel a lot better about our religious behavior!

   Much of the Bible dwells on failures and losing and their consequences—but also on heroism, good deeds, and successes.
   It’s sad if our childhood memories are mostly of our failures and weaknesses and not of successes and unexpected blessings.
   In our contemporary society, there’s a much greater tolerance for certain behaviors, for certain “sins,” than there used to be—and often it’s about something not to be unthinkingly dismissed.
   To be brutely honest, we have to admit that sometimes sin gets far more, and better, attention than goodness! And, sadly, there are children who get more attention and recognition over their misbehaviors than their virtues.
   Remember the story of the good thief and the bad at the crucifixion of Jesus. The focus wasn’t just on the track record of each but on the present and actual attitude and behavior of each. And, as we know so well, Jesus promised Paradise to one of them—the one, who, in spite of his past record, repented, sought, and received forgiveness and mercy from the dying Lord!
   It’s important to believe in the mercy of God, and it’s important to believe in the repentance of sinners—Godlike you might consider it!
   The mercy of God and the repentance of sinners can both be very surprising to us, and both should be welcomed for what they are—even though there’s no flashing lights and a kind of music to celebrate each of them!
   Stop giving more attention and recognition to losing than winning. After all, it’s God’s mercy and love that deserves drums and trumpets, not your failures!




27 August 2023

What Am I Supposed to Do?

You have been told, O mortal, what is good
   and what the Lord requires of you:
Only to do justice and to love goodness,
   and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)

This doesn’t sound right!
   I thought what God expects from me is to obey the Ten Commandments:
   1. – I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.
   2. – You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
   3. – Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.
   4. – Honor your father and your mother.
   5. – You shall not kill.
   6. – You shall not commit adultery.
   7. – You shall not steal.
   8. – You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
   9. – You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
   10. – You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
   This is not such a hard list to follow—most religious people more or less do!
   Besides the Ten Commandments, I thought what God expects from me is to obey the “Commandments of the Church”:
   1. – Keep Sundays and Holidays of Obligation holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile work.
   2. – Keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the Church.
   3. – Go to Confession at least once a year.
   4. – Receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year, and that about Easter time.
   5. – Contribute to the support of our pastors.
   6. – Not to marry within certain degrees of kindred, nor to solemnize marriage at the forbidden times.
  In practice, this can be a somewhat more specific and demanding list to follow—but most “practicing Catholics” more or less do!

   The danger of having religious laws, rules, and regulations to obey is that we may treat them like civil laws, rules, and regulations—that is to say, if we can “get away” with it, we may not observe and obey them as we should.

Trust in the Lord and do good.
   that you may dwell in the land and
   live secure.
Find your delight in the Lord
   who will give you your heart’s desire.
(Psalm 37:3-4)

This doesn’t sound right either!
   Do justice – love goodness – walk humbly with God – trust in the Lord – do good – find your delight in the Lord.
   This seems like a very easy business, a bit vague but easy enough to do.
   Ah, that’s the temptation—and misunderstanding—just because something sounds simple and easy doesn’t mean that it is!
   A long or short checklist of specific duties, regulations, or rules is much easier to observe and follow than a short list of complex and challenging ideals.
   When we were children, we learned how a good child should behave. When we were taught about going to confession before communion, we had a clear and easy checklist and self-accusations in mind.
   It’s not good enough for us to behave like a child all our lives. It’s not enough to “go to confession” like you were first taught as a child. “Goodness” and “trust in the Lord” are much more than something you breakdown into a sort of spiritual scorecard!
   Micah’s advice was right on—and still is easier said than done!




20 August 2023

You Can’t Get Off the Train Until It Stops!

When it comes to religion, we tend to try to blend the mentality of long, long ago with modern times; we pray with the words of long, long ago about modern things; and we even use the geography of long ago and far away when we think about and pray about the world of today and where and how we live in it.
   I guess you could say we’re behaving like “old-timers,” reluctant to shed all the customs, values, and attitudes of long ago and far away—even though they were mostly not places and events of our personal experience.
   We still read and meditate about old narrations and customs, and we try to adapt the worldview, values, and behavior of favorite characters in old stories and books.
   When we read and study the New Testament, in effect we’re learning about the life, faiths, customs, and politics of the Middle East and the Mediterranean world of about two thousand years ago!
   When we study the Old Testament, we’re dealing with local traditions and events older by far!
   Those long-ago years have come and gone, for better or for worse. We may be inspired by some aspects of this long ago past, perhaps many—but it’s not our time and place. We have to deal with our contemporary traditions and events. We have to live, love, and serve God in our days and in contemporary ways even though we treasure, esteem, and try to follow some ancient and long practiced ways of life.
   We may value every word saved and passed on to us about the people and practices of ancient times—but don’t forget that they were ancient times, not ours.
   Some things, some details, some challenges from ancient times are still with us—but many are not, and we barely understand some of them anymore even though we study hard.

   If we aspire to talk, behave, and generally act just like admirable people of ancient days did, we’re almost masquerading!
   One could say that our contemporary challenge is to distill the essence, the best of past belief and practices, and accommodate them to our contemporary culture, language, and way of thinking.
   For example, it’s wonderful to visit the Holy Land and to actually travel to some of the places we had long imagined—but the places aren’t like thousands of years ago. Out treasured historical memories are one thing, and present-day realities are another.
   Sometimes we’re bothered by too much change but living things (like you and I) live in a constant process of change, reassessment, and development.
   We have to use a lot of imagination for times past, since what was passed on to us from long ago days was only a small part and a particular remembrance of a world just as busy, and fumbling and bumbling, as ours!
   A good museum can be fascinating, interesting, stimulating, and helpful to our lives—but we shouldn’t necessarily live with or venerate every value and perspective of ancient times and peoples.
   Don’t be distracted and knocked off course by yearning for all of the past, for living means constantly changing to accommodate the past to the present. Today is different from yesterday, and today you’re no longer the person you were yesterday.
   What a good museum does is replicate some aspects of the past for present day students and learners—but it’s not about living today.
   It isn’t easy, always changing and growing, but that’s what life is about!


13 August 2023

Don’t Discount the Ways

A beautiful and well-known poem of Elizabeth Barrett Browning begins with, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
   This could be a good description of the so many varieties of religious experiences, allegiances, and practices that we seem to have now and to have had forever!
   For example, we speak of Judaism and Christianity, but each includes many and differing doctrines and practices, both now-a-days and centuries before!
   Actually, Christianity itself—in all its varieties—is rooted in Judaism. Although it seems hard to recognize now, early Christianity was a variant among other versions of ancient Judaism. Contemporary Judaism itself still has different varieties, both from centuries long ago and also relatively modern times!
   Today we may speak about Orthodox, Liberal, and Reformed Jews (to name a few major varieties) and Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians (to name a few major varieties).
   At the time of Jesus, the major varieties of Judaism were Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes (besides, of course, the Messianic Jews who were the followers of Jesus).
   Pharisees were the remote ancestors of the Rabbinic Judaism that we know today. The New Testament refers to them often, usually as critics of the teachings of Jesus—although many Pharisees became his followers (e.g., St. Paul the Apostle).
   The Pharisees were active from the middle of the second century BC until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. They were defenders of the laws and traditions of the Jewish people and had their backing.
   On the other hand, the Sadducees, during that same period, were associated more with the maintenance of the Temple, its priesthood, and its rituals. They were an elite group of priests.

   We know less about the Essenes than the Pharisees and the Sadducees. In modern times we’ve learned about them through archeological discoveries (e.g., Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls).
   The Essenes led a strict, communal life, similar to what we know about early Eastern Christian desert monasticism. Some suggest that John the Baptist may have been an Essene at first or have been influenced by them.
   In spite of the so many disagreements about what and how to believe and live that have characterized different religious sects and factions over the centuries, the important thing is to remember that there is only one and the same God.
   That means that in spite of internal divisions in and among, for example, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we are all believers in the one and the same God, although we have deeply rooted practices and beliefs—even rules and regulations—that differ about how best to serve him.
   It doesn’t mean that we should pretend that we don’t have differences or try to “homogenize” our customs, rules, regulations, rituals, prayers, and practices—actually we should celebrate them and profit by them as best we can.
   The great “No, no!” in all this is the “I’m right, you’re wrong” mentality. There is not a one and only way to live a good and holy life.
   When it comes to religion, to knowing, loving, and serving God, we could all profit by remembering and adopting what Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:
   “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”


 30 July 2023

Wishful Thinking

“Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs based on what might be pleasing to imagine, rather than on evidence, rationality, or reality. It is a product of resolving conflicts between belief and desire.” [cf. Wikipedia]
   It’s not an either-or thing, all one way or another. As a child we have may have believed in a lot of imagined things, but, as we grew older, we tended gradually to seek evidence and rationality for our beliefs.
   Sometimes that can even be disappointing as we realize that somethings just weren’t the way we always had fondly imagined them!
   This isn’t just about fairy tales and fictions, but even about family members and friends.
   Part of growing up and maturing involves sorting out facts from fictions and accepting that our fondest memories and dreams may never have been or are not entirely true!
   It’s not that we were lied to as children, just that we were once being entertained and, as we began to grow up, now being challenged to differentiate and sort out our beliefs from naive wishes and desires.
   All this applies to everything and everyone. Our challenge is not to overreact as we seek facts, evidence, rationality, or reality—nor to fear or deny it.
   You could say that part of growing up, of maturing is using a more scientific method of thinking. We may have been using an inadequate, uncritical, or unproven way of thinking—and we shouldn’t be afraid of reexamining and revising some of our fondest assumptions or beliefs.
   And, if it turns out that at first we got it wrong, then we “try, try again!”
   This applies to everything! Nothing is so sacred that we can’t think critically about it. Growing and maturing is not just about physical and common-place things; it’s about everything, everyone, everywhere.
  This is the way God made us and the way we need to be living our lives—and it applies to everyone, everywhere, always!

   There is nothing so important, so special, so sacrosanct that we should not examine the evidence for it, think critically about it, and even test it out as best we can.
   Does this apply to school? Sure! Does this apply to politics and law? Of course! Does this include religion and faith? Definitely!
   But we don’t know and can’t know everything, know every place, know every person!
   So, even if we think as critically as we can, examine new ideas in depth and with courage, and trust no one or nothing blindly and without careful examination, we reach our limitations.
   The solution?
   We need to trust others, we need assistance, we need to be constantly rethinking about and reexamining our thoughts, decisions, and choices.
   And, in the process, we need to share what we know, ask others to share their gifts with us, and not get tired of critical thinking, planning, testing, and deciding.
   Beware of wishful thinking, but never stop thinking, especially critically. (That doesn’t mean that you should be criticizing other people’s thoughts, words, or deeds—it mostly means that you should be very careful about yours!)
   A long, long time ago when I was a child, I knew all about Micky and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and all the familiar Disney characters. I could hardly wait for each issue of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories.
   Naturally I knew enough to know that they were make-believe. But, true confessions, I still enjoy visiting Disney World as often as I can—and continuing to think critically, too!


23 July 2023

WTHOGATAP

Will I ever stop screwing things up?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I so often start out well and then forget to stick to my plan?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why have I said such stupid things again?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I blow such a great relationship?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I forget to keep such an important appointment?
   WTHOGATAP!
   How could I lose my way, going down such a familiar path?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I drink so much again, even though I know better?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I stay out so late when I had such important things to do the next morning?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why did I boast about things I never accomplished?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I pretend to be someone different than who I really am?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Am I doomed to be so weak and lost forever?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I so often end up in the wrong place when I know the right way so well?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why am I on a road to Hell paved with good intentions?
   WTHOGATAP!
   Why do I do the opposite of what I know is right and good!
   WTHOGATAP!
   I’m tired of it all; sometimes I think I’d be better dead!
   WTHOGATAP!
   I want to change who I am and what I’m doing.
   WTHOGATAP!

   When I really look in the mirror—a real one that really shows the truth, one that doesn’t fake it by showing me what I want to see—it’s usually a downer!
   It seems I’m always letting myself down; I’m so often not getting things right; I keep making dumb choices! What’s wrong with me!
   You’re a creature, not the Creator!
   You’re limited, not all knowing!
   You’re weak, not all powerful!
   You’re right to be saddened, because you really know better.
   Don’t let yourself sink deeper into the swamp of self-reproach, regret, and sadness because of broken intentions and despair!
   You know you should know better. You’ve seen the warning signs. You know deep down inside yourself where your road is really going. You know you’ve failed before and will fail again.
   Okay, you are facing reality, you are trying to be very honest, brutally honest!
   It means you have to accept the fact that you’ve blown things before and are doing it again! You know very well—proven by long experience—that you’re not perfect and you’re not infallible!
   Let’s face it, your report card about your life may have some high scores, but it’s never going to be 100%.
   It’s not your laziness, indifference, failings, or stupidity—it’s just that you’re fundamentally imperfect, in the exact meaning of the word.
   Because you’re not the Creator, you’re always going to be limited unless he intervenes and helps you.
   That’s the great secret: With The Help Of God All Things Are Possible!



9 July 2023

Powerful Symbols

A symbol is a mark, sign, or word(s) that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing something entirely different—an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences. Symbols are needed for effective communication and are used to convey ideas and beliefs. [adopted from Wikipedia]
   Take, for example, the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
   The pledge, the commitment, is to the Republic—symbolized by the flag. That means that any lack of respect to the flag is construed as a lack of respect to the republic itself. Of course, the flag is just a colorful, cloth construct—but it is treated with the respect and reverence due to what it stands for and represents.
   The Jewish Passover ritual meal uses several symbols—for example, the bitter herbs that symbolized the bondage of the Jewish people in Egypt.
   The last supper of Jesus with his disciples the night before his death was a Passover meal to which he added some additional symbols and meanings—the wine and the broken bread symbolizing his crucifixion and death.
   His followers were challenged to remember and understand these symbols and to celebrate this ritual in the future—what we know as the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
   As the centuries passed, some of the great Christian thinkers and philosophers began to consider whether the words of consecration of the Mass could be and should be taken very literally.

   We still venerate and study the brilliant ideas and explanations of St. Thomas Aquinas, utilizing the Aristotelian concepts of substance and accident.
   However sometimes so much attention was given to his detailed reflections concerning the Eucharist and the real presence that its symbolic aspect, rooted in the Passover ritual was overlooked and forgotten.
   [In the reformation era, a scornful mockery of this aspect of Thomistic theology was called Hocus-Pocus, referring to the words of consecration in the Latin Mass: “Hoc est enim corpus meum” (This is my body)].
   It helps to remember the symbolisms of the Passover meal and the symbolisms that Jesus invoked at the Last Supper. They shouldn’t be overlooked because of our religious heritage or our esteem for Aquinas.
   The consecration of the Tridentine Mass is:
   “Who the day before He suffered took bread into His holy and venerable hands, and with His eyes lifted up heaven, unto Thee, God, His almighty Father, giving thanks to Thee, He blessed, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat ye all of this, for this is My Body.
   “In like manner, after He had supped, taking also this excellent chalice into His holy and venerable hands, and giving thanks to Thee, He blessed and gave it to His disciples, saying: Take and drink ye all of this, for this is the Chalice of My Blood, of the new and eternal testament: the mystery of faith: which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins.
   “As often as you do these things, ye shall do them in in remembrance of Me.”
   Remember! Respect and reverence!


11 June 2023

Accumulated Meanings

Languages are always changing—in the sense that the meaning of their words often is changing and evolving. That’s why, for instance, that occasionally, in a play of Shakespeare, we may have hardly any idea at all about what certain words or expressions mean (or meant when Shakespeare was alive).
   That’s also why it can be a really tricky business translating a very old document written in a foreign language. It helps a lot to know who the writer was and when and where and why was the document first written.
   Take, for example, a common, familiar word like person. It has evolved a lot.
   It can be traced back to ancient Greek, where it referred to the mask that an actor wore in a play and that identified the role he or she was playing.
   And, sometimes in plays, since there were often few professional actors, the same performer played more than one character, using different masks (and dressed and spoke in different ways) for each.
   That’s why the ancient Greek word for the actor’s mask gradual evolved into our common word person (which has come to mean something else entirely).
   A dictionary definition of person says that it is a noun, derived from Middle English persone, derived from Old French, derived from Latin persona: literally an actor’s face mask (hence a character, person) probably derived from ancient Greek.
   It now has many meanings, including: 1. A human being, especially as distinguished from a thing or lower animal; an individual man, woman, or child. 2. a) a living human body b) bodily form or appearance [to be neat about one’s person]. 3. Personality; self; being. 4. Law any individual or incorporated group having certain legal rights and responsibilities. 5. Theology the Trinity.

   Theology itself has changes and developments. In the very early days of Christianity, the common meaning of person still was that of an actor’s face mask—while in our day it’s much more that of an individual man, woman, or child.
   This reminds me of my Catechism lesson in preparation for First Communion (which reflected the ancient meaning of person):
   Q: “How many persons are there in God?”
   A: “In God there are three Divine persons, really distinct, and equal in all things—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
   Of course, as little kids we weren’t taught the etymology of the word, “person.” Even so, it wouldn’t have and couldn’t have adequately explained the mystery of the nature of God—but it could help a little.
   However, in light of the complex etymology of the word, “Three Divine persons” minimally suggests three different roles God plays and three different kinds of relationships God has to human beings and to all the rest of creation:
– God as the loving begetter, maker, creator, and source of all that exists (Father);
– God as the intervenor in human history who uniquely reveals himself and his love through the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus (Son);
– God as the sustainer, guide, and inspirer of our lives, the interior wellspring of our creativity, strength, and love (Holy Ghost).
   This is but one (and not the only) way of describing the one God. No matter what, all believers in the one God are talking about this one and same God whose total complexities are beyond and defy our separate traditions and our so many attempts at description!



4 June 2023

Inundation

Inundation can be defined as flooded or overwhelmed by a great volume of something.
   In our contemporary society we are increasingly inundated by the sheer volume of options and choices that are available to us and the sheer volume of information that we are challenged to digest and respond to.
   I remember, as a kid, that New York City radio station WINS used to tout, “Give us ten minutes and we’ll give you the world.” (referring, that is, to the latest news). They prided themselves on digesting all the significant daily news into a few minutes, which were repeated hourly all day long.
   Now, we have television stations that spend all day long giving us the daily news. WINS’s problem was digesting the news into ten minutes; the problem that modern television news station have is how to find enough news or how to spin out the news long enough to fill out the entire day!
   The more is definitely not the merrier!
   This is just one way that our contemporary society overwhelms us, overwhelms us by giving us too much information or by not allowing us to have time to digest and reflect upon the information we already have.
   Another common example: the shopping mall. In the old days, you simply went to the nearby store to quickly purchase something; now you go to a huge complex, often very beautiful, highlighting and selling almost anything imaginable. You never have enough money to buy all the things that inevitably capture your attention and attract you.
   How about eating? entertainment? movies? ballgames? fashionable styles?
   There are so many things overwhelming us, inundating us, every day of our modern lives—and, you know what it does? It’s like the indigestion that comes from eating too much and too fast.

   We become not only sated but satiated. We are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of our daily experiences—and as a result we’re learning less, profiting less, and fatigued and enervated.
   The same thing applies to the spiritual aspect of our lives: too many books that are recommended to us, too many sermons and advices that we hear, too many models and behaviors that we are urged to imitate or to condemn!
   Do you recall or did you ever hear the Latin expression, “Quid ad aeternitatem?” It more or less means, “What does it matter in the light of eternity?”
   We rarely, if ever, ask ourselves a question like that. We rarely, if ever, get off the endless merry-go-round of our lives. You know what happens after a while? We forget how to get off! As the merry-go-round ride is non-stop, the so many courses in the daily meal of our lives are killing us! We’re hearing and seeing so many things that we’re becoming deaf and blind!
   Is there any hope for the future? Of course!
   What to do, how to do it? It’s easy!
   Stop!
   Stop the rat race! Stop the merry-go-round! Stop trying to keep up with it all! Stop trying to digest it all!
   Don’t forget the great wisdom you probably learned once upon a time, a question and answer from the catechism:
   Q. “Why did God make you?”
   A. “He made to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and be happy with Him forever in the next.”
   Take it easy! No hurry! You have forever!




21 May 2023