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A call to be chaste..........

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The scandal involving the priesthood in the Catholic Church has been very much publicized of late and people are rightfully angry! It seems to have been going on for a while now and some people are debating on whether or not the religious vow of chastity should be relaxed by the church. Someone was even saying even St. Peter had a wife.


Jesus called the disciples from their normal lives to a higher vocation! Indeed, Peter had a wife and i think some of the others did as well but their lives are always transformed when they encounter Christ. There are so many examples of the call to chastity but i will mention a few. We shall start with Mary of Magdala. When she first encountered Jesus, she was a wealthy and very beautiful young woman who indulged in many affairs with men. She was considered by the society to be a loose and immoral woman. But when she encounters Christ, she is changed forever! She becomes a model of true virtue and chastity!

Let us also take the example of my patron sa…
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Power and scruples...........

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I am still in shock over the recent brutal murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Turkey! The crown prince of Saudi Arabia has even been accused of having a hand in his murder. (one of the suspects Maher Mutreb, was a direct aide of prince Muhammed bin Salman). My condolences to his family who are distraught over not being able to bury his body.


Reports of his murder suggest that he was probably strangled and then his body dismembered and cut up to be smuggled out of the saudi consulate in Istanbul! (sighhh) I dont want to jump to conclusions but it looks very likely that the top leadership in Saudi Arabia had something to do with his murder, either directly or indirectly. As Meryl Streep once said, "when the rich and powerful use their priveledge and position to bully others, everybody loses"


Power must always be tempered by great humility and responsibility! It is indeed seductive and deceitful in that, it can corrupt someone into thinking they can tak…
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Something greater than Solomon is here............

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Catholic Mass is the holiest event on earth! Masses are offered daily in the catholic church but do we often stop to reflect on this marvel or have we allowed ourselves to lose sight of the wonder that is God coming down to earth? St. Pio of pietricina used to tremble during mass and even become teary eyed at the Gospel reading. He was a true example of reverence before Jesus in the blessed sacrament and brought us to a higher reflection on mass.



Mass is truly the sacrifice of Jesus being crucified at the altar and coming down from heaven at the time of consecration so that the host becomes his body, blood, soul and divinity! Only Catholic priests have the power to consecrate a host! Oh if we only knew what a treasure we have in the Catholic Church! To have God come down to unite his magnificence to our nothingness! There are no words..................

The Pharisees and the scribes were blinded by their pride and could not see who Jesus really was so he said to them that at the judgem…
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Blessings are often disguised...........

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Many times what we truly desire is right before our eyes but often disguised in someone or something unexpected! The little mermaid is one of my favorite classic cartoons. (I can relate to it personally in a certain way) There is a scene where the mermaid saves the prince from drowning and sings to him, only to disappear as he recovers conciousness. The memory of her voice intrigues him and he vows to find her and marry her! To cut a long story short, she eventually gives up her voice for the chance to walk on land and when the prince finally finds her , she cannot tell him who she is because she is mute. In one of the scenes, the prince's butler tells him , "Far more than any dream girl is one of flesh and blood, and right before your eyes"


That has always stuck with me. Sometimes we are searching for a dream and reality is passing us by! As the priest in my local church said when reflecting on the reading about the good samaritan , "often times the person we least…
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I am Human first............

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Last week i was reading an article about how the Chinese current aid boom in Africa has ulterior motives and strings attached! Apparently, the Chinese government has the right (according to signed contracts) to seize national assets in case debts are not repayed by the agreed time! Hmmmm.......this is very troubling indeed and not very ethical!



However, it got me to thinking about the place of patriotism in our world today! During the colonial era, some countries like Britain, conquered large parts of Africa and the Americas for prestige and possibly industry! A country's conquered territories brought a sense of national pride for the reigning monarchs and leaders. For the conquered territories however, native populations were subdued and decimated and some had their cultures eroded in favour of the conqueror's foreign designs!


I will take the case of Africa, some of our traditions were deemed barbaric and backward, so we were forced to take on European influences and lifestyl…
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The Shepherd in white and the Catholic Church.....

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The world today is rife with news about the scandal affecting the Catholic Church involving abuse by some priests and the cover up by some Bishops. It is truly a very sad situation, heartbreaking and has threatened the unity of the Roman Church. Yesterday i was reading an article that said, if only the church had only followed her rules, we would NOT be in such a mess today!


One of the most important and strictest rule concerns chastity. A person seeking to enter the priesthood who shows weakness concerning chastity should never been confirmed into the priesthood! We cannot expect that the person will be somehow changed by his vocation to priesthood. The change MUST happen before he is confirmed into such an important vocation. The devil is particularly vehement in his attacks on the priesthood in temptations to deviant passions!

There is also the matter of the "Vigano" letter, calling for Pope Francis' resignation as he is accused of being involved in the cover up! This…
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The man behind the white collar.....

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The Catholic Church has been taking alot of heat from the recent expose' on abusive Priests. I can only imagine how devastating this is to the many devoted Catholics worldwide and how destructive this has been to the lives of the victims. I empathise with them and our prayers are with you always.


Last week i read an article about how priests these days are viewed with suspicion and thinly veiled anger! So much so that they are now afraid to wear the white collar and it has caused them shame. Yes, i am a proud catholic and this scandal has indeed caused me and no doubt some others great shame.

However we need to remember that all men are fallible. I cannot condone what the abusive priests did. What they did has caused so much pain to the innocent victims and has wounded the church severely not to mention the cover up by some bishops! It is truly abhorent! But the Catholic Church was started by Christ himself and she will endure everything!

Let us not fill our hearts with hatred and…
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