Monday 31 March 2008

False hopes and expectations











it is possible to sustain our life with some flase expectations...,
Sometimes it works like a medicine..., a sedative.
Urging us to forge the reality.

Everybody has some false hopes.
sometimes serious.. sometimes not so serious...
But if it be possible, do dare to come out of all false-hopes.
It will empower us to tweak the life we have n in hands, for the best.
It can be really a hard job, but it is worth all the struggles...

The first step is to accept that i have some false-hopes.
always the first step is the hardest....


image courtesy: .Hessam

Mending Wall: exceed your boundaries















“Something there is that doesn't love a wall” Robert Frost

Everyone has their own specific boundaries...
it is a shield of thought or a pattern of life that protects us from extreme challenges.
It is an unconscious construct.
It designs , defines, and determines our comfort-zone..

Sometimes, it is a dare necessity to transcend them.
At least for a few times in our entire life, we have to evaluate and re-define them.
I just need not tell you how to do it.
It is All-By-Myself-Task.
All those irritating and disappointing persons and places can actually help me to do it.
Re-define your boundaries, lest we rot in monotony, slowly but definitively.


image courtesy: originalmulli (naomi)

Saturday 29 March 2008

Live as if everything you do will eventually be known











Just when I think I have learned the way to live,
life changes and I am left the same.
The more things change the more I am the same.
I am what I started with, and when it is all over I will be all that is left of me


Hugh Prather


Image courtesy: broadview

Home is a place...
















Home is the place where,
when you have to go there, they have to take you in
- Robert frost -

image courtesy: Terrapin Flyer

I always entertain great hopes...




















I'm not a teacher, but an awakener

Robert Frost

Image courtesy: addicted Eyes

Life goes on...



















In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life.
It goes on...


Robert Frost

image courtesy: Holly 13

feeling a thought
















words make you think a thought
music makes you feel a feeling
A song makes you feel a thought

E. Y. Harburg

image courtesy: abnerzarka

we are the dancers, we create the dreams













We dance for laughter, we dance for tears,

we dance for madness, we dance for fears,

we dance for hopes, we dance for screams,

we are the dancers, we create the dreams.



image courtesy: jason.s

necessary, possible, impossible














Start by doing what's necessary;
then do what's possible;
and suddenly you are doing the impossible.


St. Francis of Assisi



Image courtesy: Candy*

Curiosity











When you make the finding yourself -
even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light -
you'll never forget it.
Carl Sagan

image courtesy:
shburk

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: noise of words















Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls;
He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

The places we occupy











The value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy.

It depends upon the way we occupy that place.
St. Therese of Lisieux

Image courtesy:
Lumase

Thursday 27 March 2008

Be Earth......

















How should Spring bring forth a garden on hard stone?
Become earth, you may grow flowers of many colors.
For you have been a heart-breaking rock.
Once, for the sake of experiment,
Be earth!

Rumi

Image courtesy:
TomS-M

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Though lovers be lost love shall not...
















In the hope of reaching the moon
men fail to see the flowers
that blossom at their feet.

- Albert Schweitzer


Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

The "Solaris Poem" by Dylan Thomas

Image courtesy: youngdoo

Tuesday 25 March 2008

a prayer for Burma












there may be a thousand reasons for a war,
but for peace there is only one reason...
that humanity needs it like the oxygen...
Peace is a right and a prayer.


image courtesy: gardawind

Sunday 23 March 2008

On Being a Priest & Authentically Masculine

Priestly Identity: Crisis and Renewal (Part 1)
Interview With Father David Toups


By Annamarie Adkins

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A general crisis of authentic masculinity
in society has also affected the priesthood as only "real men" can adequately
fulfill the role of priest and pastor, says Father David Toups.

Father Toups, the associate director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and
Vocations of the U.S. episcopal conference, is the author of "Reclaiming Our
Priestly Character."

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Toups comments on the identity and character of the
priesthood, and the various challenges it faces today.

Q: Your book focuses on recovering what you call the "doctrine of the priestly
character." Can you describe this "doctrine" in a nutshell?

Father Toups: The "doctrine of the priestly character" is about the permanent
relationship the priest enters into with Christ the High Priest on the day of his
ordination.

The priest is always a priest; he is not a simple functionary who performs ritual
actions, but rather he is configured to Christ in the depths of his being by what is
called an ontological change.

Christ is working through him at the altar, "This is my Body," and in the
confessional, "I absolve you of your sins," but also in his daily actions
outside the sanctuary.

The character that the priest receives is a comfort to the faithful inasmuch as they
realize that their faith is not based in the personality of the priest, but rather the
Person of Christ working through the priest.

On the other hand, the priest is called, like all of the faithful, to a life of holiness.
The character received at ordination is actually a dynamism for priestly holiness. The
more he can assimilate his life to Christ and submit to the gift he received at
ordination, the more he will be a credible witness to the faithful and edify the Body of
Christ.

Q: Is it your view that the nature of the priesthood is unknown or misunderstood by many
priests? Is mandatory "continuing priestly education" the answer?

Father Toups: Studies show that there has been confusion regarding the exact nature of
the priesthood among priests themselves depending on the timing of their seminary
training.

Immediately following the Second Vatican Council, there was confusion among priests and
laity alike about the difference between the priesthood of the faithful and the
ministerial priesthood.

Vatican II's intention was not to suppress one in order to highlight the other, but
rather to recognize the universal call to holiness and the dignity of both.

The ministerial priesthood is a specific vocation within the Church in which a man is
called by Christ in the apostolic line to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Priests
are different by virtue of ordination, as confirmed by the council itself in paragraph 10
of "Lumen Gentium," which emphasized that the baptized and the ordained share
in the one and the same priesthood of Christ, but in a way that differs "in essence
and not only in degree."

This difference certainly does not mean better or even holier -- that would be a major
error -- but it does mean that there is a distinction.

Cardinal Avery Dulles points out that, if anything, the priesthood of the faithful is
more exalted because the ministerial priesthood is ordered to its service. Hence, a
recovery from the confusion lies in the need to understand the balance a priest is to
find; he is both a servant and one who has been set aside by Christ and the Church to
stand "in persona Christi" -- not as a personal honor, but as "one who has
come to serve and not be served."

The priest need not be embarrassed about this high calling, but should boldly live it out
in the midst of the world. Pope John Paul the Great regularly reminded priests: "Do
not be afraid to be who you are!"

This brings us to the second part of your question, namely, is mandatory "continuing
priestly education" the answer?

In the book, I use the term "formation," not education -- though learning is an
important, component part.

Ongoing formation is essential for every Christian vocation. In the midst of full
liturgical schedules, parish councils, leaking roofs and hospital visits, the priest must
continually open his heart and mind to Christ in prayer and study, annual retreats and
seminars, as well as times of recreation and vacation, if he is to thrive as an
individual and as a man of faith.

Ongoing formation is about deepening one's interiority and fostering a relationship with
Jesus Christ. It is about an ongoing conversion that reminds the priest who he is as a
minister of the Gospel and whose he is as a son of God.

So is ongoing formation the answer? It is certainly a part of the solution to a happier,
healthier presbyterate. Pope John Paul II wrote, "Ongoing formation helps the priest
to be and act as a priest in the spirit and style of Jesus the Good Shepherd"
("Pastores Dabo Vobis," 73).

Q: Some observers fear that encouraging young priests -- many of who are already
attempting to recover traditional liturgical and devotional practices -- to rediscover
their priestly character will only foster a new form of clericalism. Others believe
giving prominence to the ministerial priesthood will diminish the common priesthood of
the faithful -- a development that many see as one of the hallmarks of Vatican II. How
would you respond to critics of your proposal?

Father Toups: Highlighting both the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial
priesthood should actually strengthen both; they are not mutually exclusive or in any way
opposed to one another.

When our particular calls within the Church are not given their proper distinctions, the
Church suffers. St. Paul rightly reminds us of this with his beautiful analogy of how the
Body of Christ is made up of diverse members working together for the good of the whole.

The laity and the priest are not in competition but complement each other's particular
calling.

There is a danger of what John Paul II called the "clericalization of the laity and
the laicization of the clergy" when distinctions are not made in the life of the
Church -- again, different does not mean better. Clericalism is not what happens when one
has a clear identity of who they are, but rather when it is lived in such a way that is
not in the service of the faithful.

The priest should not be embarrassed to wear the roman collar and be called
"father," for this is not clericalism, but he is to do so in charity and
humility as a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

So in response to your remark about younger clergy -- especially those who, in their
youthful zeal, may come across too strong -- let us be patient with them as they mature
in the priesthood. It takes a while for the ontology to catch up with the psychology.

To young priests who may fall into this category, I would simply say, be men of prayer
with the love of Christ as your guiding light, and pray for your own deepening
conversion. One can have all of the right answers, but if they are presented
"without love, you are a noisy gong or a clanging symbol" as St. Paul reminds
us in 1 Corinthians 13.

Thus we do not deny the ministerial priesthood; we live it inside and out. If the priest
lives his calling with humility and service as the driving force, it is more a form of
asceticism than of clericalism. He is a visible sign of the radical commitment of the
priestly life.

Proper knowledge and integration of the sacramental character into the priestly life and
ministry are fundamental for priests to be the men the Church needs them to be.

Q: Is there a crisis of authentic masculinity in the priesthood? Could this be a source
of the vocation shortage, especially among Latinos?

Father Toups: Allow me to rephrase the first question to be more all embracing: Is there
a crisis of authentic masculinity in the world? I would say yes.

There is a crisis of commitment, fidelity and fatherhood all rooted in men not living up
to their call to be "real men" -- men who model their lives on Christ, who lay
down their lives out of love, and who learn what it is to be a father from our Father in
heaven.

So in the context of the priesthood, which flows out of society, there is a particular
challenge to help men grow in manly virtue. The priesthood is not for the faint of heart,
but for men who are up to the challenge of living as Christ in laying down their life on
a daily basis.

As the priest says the words of consecration, "This is my Body," Christ is not
only speaking through him, but the priest is offering his own life as well for the people
to whom he is called to serve.

If a seminarian does not have a deep desire to get married and have children, he might
need to rethink his vocation, for these are the natural and healthy manly desires of the
heart. He needs to recognize that; in actuality, the priest truly is a married man and a
father.

As the priest stands "in persona Christi," he is called to embrace the Bride of
Christ, the Church, as his own spouse. A great danger is for the priest to fall into a
"bachelor mentality," which can become a selfish, disembodied and
non-relational life.

Instead, if he sees himself in a permanent commitment to the people of God, his life of
sacrifice will have great meaning as he lives the nuptial imagery of Ephesians 5:25,
"Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and laid down his life for
her."

When the notions of love, sacrifice and relationship are taken out of the vocation, it
becomes sterile and unattractive to young men. For this reason the DVD "Fishers of
Men," developed by the USCCB office in which I work, has been so well received; it
shows the priestly vocation as heroic and manly in the best sense of the word. To
paraphrase the old Marine slogan: God is looking for a few good men!

Q: What role does the concept of "fatherhood" play in the priestly life? Is
there a fear of this term because of political correctness?

Father Toups: Spiritual fatherhood in the priesthood flows from the understanding of
being a chaste spouse of the Church.

Just as an earthly father feeds, comforts and nurtures his family, so too do our
spiritual fathers feed us in the Eucharist, comfort us in reconciliation and the
anointing of the sick, and nurture us throughout our lives of faith.

For me, spiritual fatherhood is one of the great joys of my vocation -- to be invited
into the hearts and homes of people is such a place of privilege and great
responsibility.

Think about your own life. Priests have -- hopefully -- played an important role in all
of the key moments of life: birth, death, triumphs, struggles, graduations and marriage.

By living out spiritual fatherhood, the priest experiences the great fruitfulness and
generative fecundity of his vocation. For the priest, this should be life-giving; just as
parents will make incredible sacrifices for their children, so too priests do radical
things -- renounce family and possessions -- to be available to their family of faith.

Where there is love, sacrifice is easy.

Benedict XVI, speaking of the kind of mature manhood needed to be a spiritual father,
said: "In reality, we grow in affective maturity when our hearts adhere to God.
Christ needs priests who are mature, virile, and capable of cultivating an authentic
spiritual paternity. For this to happen, priests need to be honest with themselves, open
with their spiritual director and trusting in divine mercy."

We need to move beyond the fear of being "politically incorrect" to being more
worried about embracing the truth of who we are; hence the title of my book focuses on
reclaiming our priestly character.

Saturday 22 March 2008

Priestly Identity: Crisis and Renewal

Two articles worth your attention:

1
An Atheist in the Pulpit
Public identity and private belief are never more at odds than when a preacher loses his faith.
By: Bruce Grierson

Psychology Today Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008
Last Reviewed 29 Jan 2008
Article ID: 4493

you can read it at : http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20071228-000003.xml

2

Priestly Identity: Crisis and Renewal (Part 1)

Interview With Father David Toups

By Annamarie Adkins

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A general crisis of authentic masculinity in society has also affected the priesthood as only "real men" can adequately fulfill the role of priest and pastor, says Father David Toups.

Father Toups, the associate director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the U.S. episcopal conference, is the author of "Reclaiming Our Priestly Character."

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Toups comments on the identity and character of the priesthood, and the various challenges it faces today.

Q: Your book focuses on recovering what you call the “doctrine of the priestly character.” Can you describe this “doctrine” in a nutshell?

Father Toups: The “doctrine of the priestly character” is about the permanent relationship the priest enters into with Christ the High Priest on the day of his ordination.

The priest is always a priest; he is not a simple functionary who performs ritual actions, but rather he is configured to Christ in the depths of his being by what is called an ontological change.

Christ is working through him at the altar, “This is my Body,” and in the confessional, “I absolve you of your sins,” but also in his daily actions outside the sanctuary.

The character that the priest receives is a comfort to the faithful inasmuch as they realize that their faith is not based in the personality of the priest, but rather the Person of Christ working through the priest.

On the other hand, the priest is called, like all of the faithful, to a life of holiness. The character received at ordination is actually a dynamism for priestly holiness. The more he can assimilate his life to Christ and submit to the gift he received at ordination, the more he will be a credible witness to the faithful and edify the Body of Christ.

Q: Is it your view that the nature of the priesthood is unknown or misunderstood by many priests? Is mandatory “continuing priestly education” the answer?

Father Toups: Studies show that there has been confusion regarding the exact nature of the priesthood among priests themselves depending on the timing of their seminary training.

Immediately following the Second Vatican Council, there was confusion among priests and laity alike about the difference between the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood.

Vatican II’s intention was not to suppress one in order to highlight the other, but rather to recognize the universal call to holiness and the dignity of both.

The ministerial priesthood is a specific vocation within the Church in which a man is called by Christ in the apostolic line to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Priests are different by virtue of ordination, as confirmed by the council itself in paragraph 10 of “Lumen Gentium,” which emphasized that the baptized and the ordained share in the one and the same priesthood of Christ, but in a way that differs “in essence and not only in degree.”

This difference certainly does not mean better or even holier -- that would be a major error -- but it does mean that there is a distinction.

Cardinal Avery Dulles points out that, if anything, the priesthood of the faithful is more exalted because the ministerial priesthood is ordered to its service. Hence, a recovery from the confusion lies in the need to understand the balance a priest is to find; he is both a servant and one who has been set aside by Christ and the Church to stand "in persona Christi" -- not as a personal honor, but as “one who has come to serve and not be served.”

The priest need not be embarrassed about this high calling, but should boldly live it out in the midst of the world. Pope John Paul the Great regularly reminded priests: “Do not be afraid to be who you are!”

This brings us to the second part of your question, namely, is mandatory “continuing priestly education” the answer?

In the book, I use the term “formation,” not education -- though learning is an important, component part.

Ongoing formation is essential for every Christian vocation. In the midst of full liturgical schedules, parish councils, leaking roofs and hospital visits, the priest must continually open his heart and mind to Christ in prayer and study, annual retreats and seminars, as well as times of recreation and vacation, if he is to thrive as an individual and as a man of faith.

Ongoing formation is about deepening one’s interiority and fostering a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is about an ongoing conversion that reminds the priest who he is as a minister of the Gospel and whose he is as a son of God.

So is ongoing formation the answer? It is certainly a part of the solution to a happier, healthier presbyterate. Pope John Paul II wrote, “Ongoing formation helps the priest to be and act as a priest in the spirit and style of Jesus the Good Shepherd” ("Pastores Dabo Vobis," 73).

Q: Some observers fear that encouraging young priests -- many of who are already attempting to recover traditional liturgical and devotional practices -- to rediscover their priestly character will only foster a new form of clericalism. Others believe giving prominence to the ministerial priesthood will diminish the common priesthood of the faithful -- a development that many see as one of the hallmarks of Vatican II. How would you respond to critics of your proposal?

Father Toups: Highlighting both the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood should actually strengthen both; they are not mutually exclusive or in any way opposed to one another.

When our particular calls within the Church are not given their proper distinctions, the Church suffers. St. Paul rightly reminds us of this with his beautiful analogy of how the Body of Christ is made up of diverse members working together for the good of the whole.

The laity and the priest are not in competition but complement each other’s particular calling.

There is a danger of what John Paul II called the “clericalization of the laity and the laicization of the clergy” when distinctions are not made in the life of the Church -- again, different does not mean better. Clericalism is not what happens when one has a clear identity of who they are, but rather when it is lived in such a way that is not in the service of the faithful.

The priest should not be embarrassed to wear the roman collar and be called “father,” for this is not clericalism, but he is to do so in charity and humility as a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

So in response to your remark about younger clergy -- especially those who, in their youthful zeal, may come across too strong -- let us be patient with them as they mature in the priesthood. It takes a while for the ontology to catch up with the psychology.

To young priests who may fall into this category, I would simply say, be men of prayer with the love of Christ as your guiding light, and pray for your own deepening conversion. One can have all of the right answers, but if they are presented “without love, you are a noisy gong or a clanging cymbol” as St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13.

Thus we do not deny the ministerial priesthood; we live it inside and out. If the priest lives his calling with humility and service as the driving force, it is more a form of asceticism than of clericalism. He is a visible sign of the radical commitment of the priestly life.

Proper knowledge and integration of the sacramental character into the priestly life and ministry are fundamental for priests to be the men the Church needs them to be.

Q: Is there a crisis of authentic masculinity in the priesthood? Could this be a source of the vocation shortage, especially among Latinos?

Father Toups: Allow me to rephrase the first question to be more all embracing: Is there a crisis of authentic masculinity in the world? I would say yes.

There is a crisis of commitment, fidelity and fatherhood all rooted in men not living up to their call to be “real men” -- men who model their lives on Christ, who lay down their lives out of love, and who learn what it is to be a father from our Father in heaven.

So in the context of the priesthood, which flows out of society, there is a particular challenge to help men grow in manly virtue. The priesthood is not for the faint of heart, but for men who are up to the challenge of living as Christ in laying down their life on a daily basis.

As the priest says the words of consecration, “This is my Body,” Christ is not only speaking through him, but the priest is offering his own life as well for the people to whom he is called to serve.

If a seminarian does not have a deep desire to get married and have children, he might need to rethink his vocation, for these are the natural and healthy manly desires of the heart. He needs to recognize that; in actuality, the priest truly is a married man and a father.

As the priest stands "in persona Christi," he is called to embrace the Bride of Christ, the Church, as his own spouse. A great danger is for the priest to fall into a “bachelor mentality,” which can become a selfish, disembodied and non-relational life.

Instead, if he sees himself in a permanent commitment to the people of God, his life of sacrifice will have great meaning as he lives the nuptial imagery of Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and laid down his life for her.”

When the notions of love, sacrifice and relationship are taken out of the vocation, it becomes sterile and unattractive to young men. For this reason the DVD "Fishers of Men," developed by the USCCB office in which I work, has been so well received; it shows the priestly vocation as heroic and manly in the best sense of the word. To paraphrase the old Marine slogan: God is looking for a few good men!

Q: What role does the concept of “fatherhood” play in the priestly life? Is there a fear of this term because of political correctness?

Father Toups: Spiritual fatherhood in the priesthood flows from the understanding of being a chaste spouse of the Church.

Just as an earthly father feeds, comforts and nurtures his family, so too do our spiritual fathers feed us in the Eucharist, comfort us in reconciliation and the anointing of the sick, and nurture us throughout our lives of faith.

For me, spiritual fatherhood is one of the great joys of my vocation -- to be invited into the hearts and homes of people is such a place of privilege and great responsibility.

Think about your own life. Priests have -- hopefully -- played an important role in all of the key moments of life: birth, death, triumphs, struggles, graduations and marriage.

By living out spiritual fatherhood, the priest experiences the great fruitfulness and generative fecundity of his vocation. For the priest, this should be life-giving; just as parents will make incredible sacrifices for their children, so too priests do radical things -- renounce family and possessions -- to be available to their family of faith.

Where there is love, sacrifice is easy.

Benedict XVI, speaking of the kind of mature manhood needed to be a spiritual father, said: “In reality, we grow in affective maturity when our hearts adhere to God. Christ needs priests who are mature, virile, and capable of cultivating an authentic spiritual paternity. For this to happen, priests need to be honest with themselves, open with their spiritual director and trusting in divine mercy.”

We need to move beyond the fear of being “politically incorrect” to being more worried about embracing the truth of who we are; hence the title of my book focuses on reclaiming our priestly character.

Friday 21 March 2008

Benedict XVI: Essence of Priesthood Is Service
















VATICAN CITY, MARCH 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The essence of priestly ministry is service,
Benedict XVI says, encouraging priests to renew their "yes" to the call of God.


The Pope spoke about the essence of the priesthood today at the Holy Thursday chrism Mass
held this morning at St. Peter's Basilica. The Mass brought together some 1,600 priests,
and cardinals and bishops to renew the promises they made on the day of their ordination.

According to the Old Testament, the Holy Father explained, there are two tasks that
define the essence of the priestly ministry: to be present before the Lord and to serve.

"To be present before the Lord should always be, in its depths, to take charge of
mankind before the Lord who, for his part, takes charge of all of us before the
Father," he said. In the second place, the Pontiff continued, the priest should
serve.

He said that this service is manifested in a concrete way in the Eucharistic celebration.
There, the Pope said, what the priest does "is serve, to complete a service to God
and a service to man. [] The homage that Christ offered to the Father consisted in giving
himself unto the end for man. The priest should unite himself with this homage, with this
service."

The word "serve," in its many dimensions, implies "the correct celebration
of the liturgy and the sacraments in general, carried out with interior
participation," the Pontiff affirmed.

Learning

Benedict XVI continued, saying that an attitude of service implies that the priest should
always be in a state of learning: learning to pray, "always anew and always in a
deeper way," and learning to know the Lord in his word so that his preaching becomes
effective.

"In this sense, 'to serve' means closeness, demands familiarity," the Pope
said.

But he cautioned that this familiarity also implies a danger: that the sacred, with which
priests come into constant contact, becomes a routine.

"In this way, holy fear is snuffed out," the Holy Father warned.
"Conditioned by all the habits, we don't perceive the fact that is most great, new,
surprising -- that he himself is present, speaks to us, gives himself to us. We should
fight unrelentingly against this habitualness in the extraordinary reality, against the
indifference of the heart, recognizing anew our insufficiency and the grace there is in
the fact that he surrenders himself in this way into our hands."

Obeying

To serve implies obedience, the Bishop of Rome affirmed: "The servant is at the
command of the Word. [] The temptation of humanity is always to want to be totally
autonomous, follow one's own will alone and to think that only in that way, will we be
free -- that only thanks to a limitless liberty will man be completely man. But in this
way we put ourselves on the side contrary to the truth."

We are only free, he cautioned, if "we share our liberty with the rest" and
"if we participate in the will of God. This fundamental obedience that forms part of
the essence of man is much more concrete in the priest.

"We do not proclaim ourselves, but rather him and his word, which we cannot dream up
on our own. Our obedience is to believe with the Church, think and speak with the Church,
serve with her," the Pope continued. This implies, he acknowledged, what Christ
predicted for Peter, "They will lead you where you do not want to go."

"This allowing ourselves to be led where we do not want is an essential dimension of
our service, and it is precisely in this way that we become free," Benedict XVI
asserted. "If we allow ourselves to be led, even though it could be against our
ideas and our projects, we experience again the richness of the love of God."

The Pope concluded with an allusion to the washing of the feet, with which Christ,
"the true High Priest of the world" wants "to be the servant of all. [ ]
With the gesture of love to the end, he washes our soiled feet; with the humility of his
service, he purifies us of the illness of our pride."

email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-22122?l=english

Macropixel's photography

Thursday 20 March 2008

Good Friday










My Lord,
your son has suffered so much, shed so much blood.
I was born with so many faults
and my nature is so full of weakness,
and yet your son Jesus has died on the cross.
For me.
I know your grace has the power
to cleanse me of my many sins
and to make me more like your Son.
Thank you for your goodness and love for me.
I ask you, Father, to watch over me - always.

( Good Friday: closing Prayer )
Image Courtsey: Mr. Kris

Road to happiness













Is there a short cut to happiness?
do i sound like an author, trying to push his book up?
(oh, no.... i am not yet that cruel to write torture-books)

well...

Today Jennifer was so elated, because she had the first sensations of her baby inside her.
David, was also happy because Patrick won gold medal, with his fingers on piano.
He was also happy about the first sensations Jenni had.
He says that every new baby is a message of hope, to this old world.
I too felt happy, as there was happiness around me.

I think, we can BE HAPPY, if we want to be.
the question is so short and direct... to be or not ?

everything else depends upon our answers.....yes, Everything....

image courtsey: R.i.c.a.r.d.o.

Wednesday 19 March 2008

Happy Easter













The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in." - Peter Marshall

Happy Easter !!!

gossamerpromise

Sunday 16 March 2008

blood be upon us....
















"When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. Look to it yourselves."
And the whole people said in reply, "His blood be upon us and upon our children." ( Mt.27.24-26)

sadly, the blood stills flows upon their children.....

should they have known what they were owning up?


image courtesy: hellopoe

palm sunday
















remembering a by-gone palm sunday

Friday 14 March 2008

winning silences.....












Some people win an arguement with forceful words,Others with pure reason.
Some others will gain it with emotions,
While others make it without even knowing it themselves.
But there are a few special people:
They win the arguements with silence, so forceful, reasonable,and emotional.
The interesting thing in such arguemts is that always the other party feels so elated,
that he could silence the other one!!!!

some silences are real victories.....

Wednesday 12 March 2008

Exceeding the Nature...
















««Time and tide wait for none»»
i wonder, why should they, when i am able to do so...
that`s what makes me more natural than the nature....
or in other words, thats the way humans exceed the nature.

image courtesy: Kalense Kid

walk with a child












When everything else fails to lead me home,
i slowly let the child with-in to walk.
he takes me back home, but slowly,
i need to walk at his pace, not vice-versa.
i need to learn to walk, at his pace....

image courtesy: Sameli

Everything is a miracle



"There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

-Albert Einstein-







image courtesy: lovestruck.

Thursday 6 March 2008

Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver


Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver
Originally uploaded by bencap1

My country is not a country, it’s winter.
My garden is no garden, it’s the plain.
My road is not a road, it’s the snow.
My country is not a country, it’s the winter.
-------------------------------------------------------
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My song is not a song, it’s my life.
It’s for you that I want to possess my winters.

Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver by Gilles Vigneault


Two ancient Franciscan Capuchin manuscripts restored















Two manuscripts, believed to date back to the mid-1700s which form part of the collection at the Franciscan Capuchin Friary’s Central Library in Floriana have been restored thanks to financial support by Bank of Valletta.

The first manuscript titled Gozo Antico-Moderno e Sacro-Profano’, is thought to have been the first draft of the manuscript by Giovanni Pietro Agius de Soldanis, bearing the same title and dating back to 1746.

The restoration involved dismantling the manuscript, followed by cleaning and leaf casting. Through this process, the restorer repaired the holes in the pages by filling them with paper pulp, which was then pressed and dried, so that the page became whole again.

The second manuscript entitled ‘Apparato Cronologico’ (dated 1751) was by P Luigi Bartolo. It is directly related to the setting up of the Capuchin Order in Malta. The manuscript also includes a catalogue of the first Maltese Capuchin friars,. The same restoration process was applied in this case, although this particular manuscript required a higher level of intervention since it had been neglected for a long period of .

The Bank’s sponsorship was presented by Michael Galea, Head at CEO’s Office of Bank of Valletta to Fr Martin Micallef OFM Cap, Provincial Archivist of the Franciscan Capuchin Friary in Malta. (picture)

(Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com
Two ancient manuscripts restored)

words punctured with silence



Unlike the common belief,
It is easy to be tolerant than to be accepting.
we tend to escape the surprises, with tolerance,
well-decked up with reasonableness and neutralization.

Being reasonable can be an Evasion- Mechanism .
( trying to be as evasive as the Holy spirit...)
However, i shall not cease from questioning myself.....about myself.

The hardest questions i have ever faced, never came from others.
It was all from within...
They were not on Cosmology or Epistemology,
but were all about my own Little Options.
Whenever i dared to ask myself: « why do you want it that way and not this way?»
Quite often, i touched silence.
That`s the reason, may be `J` wrote that my answers are «with words punctured with silences»
Now, i see clearly enough to accept that comment. Yes...i ACCEPT it

believe me, talking about Hegel`s Epistemology is far easier,
than answering about my own little preferences.
By avoiding surprises, i surprise myself...

Image courtesy: bushn

Wednesday 5 March 2008

experiencing the exigency















``The concern to keep the word of God distinct from every other word is such that,
sending his apostles out on mission, Jesus commands them not to greet anyone on the way. I experienced at my own expense that sometimes this commandment must be obeyed to the letter.``

Rainero Cantalamessa

Image courtesy:
SteveKasputis

Ice Skating Lessons















:::: The hardest part of skating is the ice ::::
Hope Steve do not read this...

image courtesy: Burçak pekin

Saturday 1 March 2008

The way of languages



Why some languages go from let to right, while others go other way?
I may need to have a little more to education on it.

But one thing is sure....
Jesus and his disciples wrote from from right to left, horizontal.
i love what they wrote
My mother writes left to right, horizontal.
i love what she write...
and, it seems, as if it is enough to know only that much....


Image courtsey: enigmachck1

Saying the right word....






Sometimes i think, the right words will make me feel great.
The skill to utter the right word, is all about your linguistic faculty and fluidity.
The way you use words depends to a great extent upon your inner personality.
But sadly, sometimes words limit themselves as words...
at such times i should be able to go deeper and further than the words....
yes, learning to go beyond the words is the best communication possible.
The depth beyond the words ......is LOVE.

Image courtesy: runew0lf