Pope: Don't Build on the Sand of Ideology, Power, Money

Says Christ Is the Foundation of Rock for One's Life

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Jesus Christ is the foundation of rock upon which to build one’s life, yet too many prefer to build their lives on the "sand of ideologies, power, success and money," says Benedict XVI. The Pope said this today in his weekly Angelus address, which he delivered today before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered in St. Peter's Square. He reflected on the Gospel of Sunday’s liturgy, in which Christ presented the parable of the two houses: "one built on rock and the other on sand."

"Jesus is the living Word of God," the Pope stated. "When he taught, the people recognized in his words divine authority itself, the felt the nearness of the Lord, his merciful love, and gave praise to God.

"In every age and in every place, those who have the grace to know Jesus -- especially through the reading of the holy Gospel -- are fascinated, recognizing in his preaching, in his gestures, in his Person, the One who reveals God's true face to us, and at the same time, he reveals us to ourselves; he makes us feel the joy of being the children of the Father in heaven, indicating to us the solid basis on which to build our life."
"But often," the Holy Father lamented, "man does not base his actions, his existence, on this identity, and prefers the sand of ideologies, power, success and money, thinking that in these he will find stability and the answer to the irrepressible question about happiness and fullness that he carries in his own soul."

Benedict XVI affirmed that "Christ is the rock of our life," and that only he "can really answer the restlessness of our heart."

"He is the eternal and definitive Word," he added, "who keeps us from fearing any adversity, difficulty, hardship."

"Dear brothers," the Pope concluded, "I exhort you to find space every day for the Word of God, to nourish yourselves from it, to meditate on it continually. It is a precious help for distancing yourself from a superficial activism too, which might satisfy our pride for a moment, but that, in the end, leaves one empty and unsatisfied."

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Full text: www.zenit.org/article-31933?l=english

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Love Unreturned

 There is a German poem about a China man who had a beautiful garden. He fell in love with the big water lilies on his fish pond, with one in particular, whom he named Catherine…

 But Catherine had eyes only for the gold fish named Wu… she loved to have him swim by and touch her leaves. But otherwise, the gold fish never returned Catherine’s love... because he was thrilled at the sight of a little chicken named Shooshoo.

But then, the little red chicken loved only one thing: the gardener named Ming.

And so it went: the gardener Ming loved the water lily Catherine; Catherine loved the gold fish Wu;

Wu liked the red chicken Shooshoo; and Shooshoo loved the gardener Ming… a complete circle of love except that no one loved in return.

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Blind conceit

A lion approached a rhinoceros and asked, “Who is the king of the jungle?”
“You are, O lion,” came the answer.
The lion went up to the hippopotamus and asked, “Who is the king of the jungle?” the hippo said, “You are, O lion.”
Where upon the lion went up to the elephant and asked the same question. The elephant seized the lion with his trunk, whiled him around, tossed him in the air, caught him on the way down, and slammed him into a tree.
Half-dazed, severely beaten, the lion shook himself and managed to mutter, “Just because you don’t know the right answer, you don’t have to get angry.”


No one can say that we are sure that we’ve not experienced like the lion. Many times in life we perceive the truth but we fail to accept as our personnel weakness, pride, foolishness. It’s just like we are deceiving ourselves. We are liars for ourselves.

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Drink

Drink

When Noah planted the vine, Satan notices it and with his usual curiosity approached him. “What are you planting “asked the prince of demons.
“A vine” answered Noah.
“What good will it be?” asked the tempter.
“The fruit of it,” said Noah, “it agreeable to the eye and delicious to the taste; and one gets from it a liquor that makes happy the heart of man.”
“In that case,” murmured Satan, “I will help you.”
So the devil procured a lamb, killed it, and poured its blood in the hole where the vine was planted. He did the same with a lion, a monkey and a pig. Thus did the vine receive the nourishment.
Since that time, whenever a man drinks a little wine, he becomes as sweet and pleasant as a lamb. If he increases the dose, he becomes as strong and rough as a lion. If he continues, he becomes as foolish as a monkey. And if, unfortunately, he does not stop, he ends up resembling a pig.

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Short story but it has meaning for us, especially for the young seminarians, as far as I observed. Many of us are too much attached to the alcoholic drinks. Mostly that leads to the disgraceful life of some seminarians. Some went out of seminary because the attachment to it; they couldn’t persevere in this challenging life. Christ said that we should be free because he’s freed us from the slavery of sins. Therefore I humbly ask of you your prayers for the seminarians, who will become the ministers of Christ. By your prayers they will be transformed and live a holy life, serving Jesus without reservation for himself.

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Faith in example

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Conversion is waiting for every one of us. Let’s take this opportunity to have transformation of our lives by this Holy Lenten Season.

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