JB Lifestyle

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 ...

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...

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 ha...

In the old testament, we discover the amazing story of David, Israel's great King! David faced alot of hardships and opposition from Saul. His life was often in danger but he triumphed in the end becasue he was faithful to God and because he was God's CHOICE! When God chooses someone for a position in life, you cannot change it. You cannot go against the will of God! Yesterday i was reminded of that in a homily by a young priest in my local church. He also reminded us that envy and jealousy come from thinking that you deserve someone else's position, wealth, beauty, e.t.c. Always remember that no matter your weaknesses or your station in life, when God chooses you, he will ensure your success. We need not look at and compare our situations in life with others. Entrust your life to God and he will guide you to wherever you were meant to be and you will achieve your greatest potential in Life by trusting God! Lord, help me to accept your will in all things and surre...

"Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all the rest will fall in line" In yesterday's Gospel reading Jesus rebukes the scribes and pharisees yet again because they had lost sight of what it meant to be a true believer! They placed more importance on the "gifts" and Glory of the temple rather than who dwelt within it! We all have temporal needs and daily struggles in life but do we allow them to distract us from what is truly important in life. All things will end in time but how have we prepared for our life in the here after? Spiritual needs are more important than the physical and we need to focus more on that. How have we touched the lives of those we encounter? Did we leave them changed by the warmth of God's love? Have we remembered them in our prayers? God is and should be our everything. In him, we will find every consolation and the fulfilment of our every need. We can only be fulfilled and truly happy when we are living in him and for him. As ...

Below is a snippet of Meryl streep from her golden globes speech and i must say i was impressed by her wise words  : "It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. And this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life ‘cause it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose." Today, all over the world and in my own country, the powerful have been using their positions to trample on the masses and get their own way no matter the cost. They do not think twice about destroying people's lives so that they can achieve their despicable ends! I know it makes people really angry, (I know i am) but we have to take the high road. (sigh) As Meryl says "v...

In numbers there is a prayer for blessing as below : ‘“The Lord bless you      and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you      and be gracious to you;   the Lord turn his face toward you      and give you peace.”’ It is in the book of numbers and i remember my mother used to say that prayer over me when i was about to leave home for a long time. Yesterday the priest in my local church gave a homily about how we often times wonder why our lives are not right and yet we have ignored or abandoned our parents! God's blessings come to children through their parents and if we neglect them or abandon them, we cannot hope to live a happy life! How many people actually live close by their parents but have spent months or even years without checking on them? Distance should however not be an excuse because we have so many means of communication  today. Even making a phone call to check on them is too difficul...