Spiritual adultery

Beautiful words from the people's Pope: 

We shepherds are not men with the psychology of princes – ambitious men, who espouse this Church while awaiting another, more beautiful and richer. But this is a scandal! Imagine that a man confesses, saying, 'I am married and I live with my wife, but I continually look at a woman who is more beautiful than her; is this a sin, Father?' The Gospel tells us that this is the sin of adultery. Is there such thing as 'spiritual adultery'? I don't know, think about it yourselves. Do not await another more beautiful, more important, richer Church. Do not fall into the trap of careerism! It is a form of cancer! (emphasis added)

This guy knows what he is talking because he lives that simple austere and straight life! Thanks for inspiring us, dear Francis.  

A story from Don Bosco's collection

Two loonies, wrapped up in cloaks and trembling from the cold, entered a certain inn and asked the innkeeper to light a fire to warm them up. The innkeeper went over and lit a huge fire, then went off. Meanwhile one of the men got so close to the fire that had he been made of straw he would immediately have been incinerated. The other stood at the entrance to the room, pulled his hands out of his cloak and held them out to the fire to warm himself.

Meanwhile the one who was standing right up close to the fire shouted: "Curse the fire! It’s burning me!" The one who was standing right back said: "Oh! I’m just as cold as I was before," and they called the innkeeper.

He came and asked both of them what kind of fire, what sort of wood it was if one said he was just about on fire while the other said he felt no warmth at all. And then, noticing that they weren’t quite right in the head, he said to them: 

The problem is not the fire, it’s you. If you back there would just take four steps further forward, you would be able to warm yourself, and if you here would just take two steps back you would not be so hot for sure. 

They did as he said, then after warming themselves for a while they left, praising the fire, the wood, and the innkeeper’s advice.

The two loonies are an image of people who don’t know how to use things properly, thinking they are bad while instead they are excellent, and complain about them. It doesn’t matter how good something is if you don’t know how to use it. Riches are good: but they are bad in the hands of someone who is either extravagant, squanders them in vice and gluttony, or is greedy and keeps them locked up in a steel box.

[For more stories from the collection made by Don Bosco himself for his boys, click here.]

Ka-ching - Shania Twain

Here's a nice song by Shania Twain, about riches and modern craze for hoarding. Nice melody too. The lyrics are the best...

All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before...

Avatar, human rights and ecology

Last night we watched Avatar ... it was worth watching. Though I do not appreciate sci-fi movies, this one didn't appear to be so. It is basically an alien vs human movie, but with a simple twist whereby, it is the humans who have overstepped the line of sense and sensibility. For me it came across as a movie which basically speaks of the small and voiceless in their struggle against the powerful and mighty. The three best moments of the movie that appealed to me most were the following:

1. The scene where the Na'vi's are shooting arrows at the gigantic space ships: that's exactly the equation of people in real life when they are up and against the powerful sections of society or bureaucracy.
2. The next was when Jake softly prays to the 'tree' to take his side and his partner, Neytiri states that the Eywa does not take sides but just sees to the balance of life. Now that's a very sensible stand. No bribing or emotional blackmailing!
3. The third is when the whole Na'vi tribe are in sync with the nature. This is the part I liked most of the movie - it shows a group of people who are totally in sync with nature. They do not exploit it but respect and co-exist. Even when they have to kill another creature, it is done with respect and regret.

A powerful message on human greed, need to respect nature and the dignity of life - but perhaps the presentation overshadows the message! All the same, the effort to convey a message is praiseworthy!