JB Lifestyle

There is a difference between true joy and passing pleasure. The world today encourages as to seek fleeting moments of pleasure and waste our time chasing frivolous things that money can get us, deceiving us into thinking we can buy happiness. We soon realize however, that money cannot buy you everything least of all happiness. Tis the season to be jolly, indeed. Only God can bring you true joy and often times, those in great suffering are the ones who possess true joy. Jesus is coming again to bring you true joy anew! Open your hearts to him and do not let the passing fancy desires of the world distract you from seeking true joy! Rejoice, Emmanuel has come to thee oh Israel. May christ be born in every heart and may he bring you everlasting joy. Amen

Yesterday (decemeber 8th) , was the feast of the immaculate conception. A feast dedicated to the most beloved of all creation, the blessed virgin Mary. One can never be able to say enough about her. Even while i am writing  now, i feel joy and peace. Thats how i feel when i think about my mother Mary. That is the wonderful feeling she wants to give to all her children (the world). Mary is exalted above all of created beings ( even the princely seraphim). She is Queen of heaven and earth and the reason she was exalted by God is perfect humility and perfect love. Perfect obedience to God's will. Mary always said yes to God. People may not realise this, but Mary knew the amount of suffering she would endure as the mother of the redeemer! Even as she said yes to God at the meassage from Angel Gabriel, she pondered the scriptures from Isaiah about the suffering serrvant. She knew it would tear apart her heart and she said yes. If that is the will of God, then i accept it! I am...

We have apparently made alot of strides in our advancement in science. I say apparently because some of this scientific research inolves genetic manipulation of cells from aborted fetuses. (sigh) While i do realise that it is important to study genes , i do not approve of some of the methods used today and neither should you. It is very questionable and disheartening to me when i hear about babies, yes they ate little human beings no matter the debate about when life starts, bieng used in this way!  Sometimes i even think that abortion has become an industry and this research is partly responsible. We are not God and we never will be. Some things are best left well alone and gene manipulation is one of them. It is always a good thing when someone tries to help people but your methods must be right and your conscience clear. How will you live with the knowledge that you destroyed something in order to build something else? Those are innocents and i would rather die than get h...

We are always looking for something better and comparing our lives to others , but do we ever stop to think about how good we already have it? They say "you never miss a good thing till its gone" and i honestly believe thats true. We do not appreciate the good things in our lives until we do not have them anymore or untill we meet people who truly are at a disadvantage. Complaining about every little thing is what we get used to doing. If for some reason, something that doesn't even count as a problem comes our way, like maybe it was abit too sunny , it ends up ruining our mood and day. We need to get over ourselves. Trivial things should not make us lose our inner peace. Our lives will never be perfect here on earth but we have to do our best to keep our attitudes positive and we will be amazed at how many good things they are in this world that we take for granted! God bless you all!

I am still reeling from the shock of what happened in my city, kampala recently. Someone was shot becasuse he grazed someone else's car. He had even got out of his car to work it out with the other guy and the other guy gets out a gun and shoots him dead! When i heard about it, i was so disappointed and angry at his actions. Meanwhile this year in kenya, a chinese tourist killed someone by stabbing at a certain lodge becasue she had apparently refused to move away from his preferred seat. There are no words to describe what is going on in the world today but "crazy" comes to mind alot. I meam at the rate we are going, people are going to start killing each other for "looking at me the wrong way." (whatever thant means) Lets not let our broken world turn us into paranoid people. You do not have to always look at people with suspicion and become anxoius whenever you go out. We need to be more vigilant and cautious and we need to fight the beast within. G...

Gambling has turned into a big business today but still maintains its roots of exploitation and preying on the desperate. Even in my country today, there are so many sports betting businesses that have sprung up in the cities and so many young men spend so much of their time and money in such venues. How many people have gambled away all they had, spent years working for, on a bet? It seems so foolish to me but some people do have an addiction to it and they need help. My advice is to stay as far away from this habit as possible. Do not even do it just for fun because sooner or later, it could entrap you and it will not be worth all the heartache and misery.

Honestly, i find it hard to pray sometimes. The body seems to resist prayer and distractions keep assailing me. That being said, i try to persevere and i always feel a sense of peace after talking to God. There is no feeling like that anywhere in the world. I believe God gives me his peace. I read somewhere yesterday that emotions like anger, just are. They are neither right nor wrong. Sometimes we may feel anger towards God and we need to honestly express that to him. He can take it. Granted our emotions may not be justifiable before God , but he will not fault us for them.  Tell God exactly what you are feeling, good or bad or sad. Dont be afraid to tell him, he longs for you to open up. Lord, i want to always be open with you, to bare my soul to you. Increase my faith in you day by day. Amen.

As we enter the month of Novemeber which is traditionally dedicated to the ones who have gone before us, i am reninded of jim reeve's song, "this world is not my home". I know so many people especially in our times are so narrow minded, so to speak and are either embracing the new age philosophy of reincarnation, which to be honest, i find ridiculous or just living for the monent, after all, when you are dead, thats the end! (sighhh) Faith is a gift from God and these days we are encouraged to have proof, we need to see something to believe it.  I do not subscribe to that personally. I know its hard to have hope especially in our world today but take heart, you do have a home thats not this world. It exists in eternity, beyond time and space. A special place prepared for you by your creator (God) and no one and nohing can take that away from you except your own choice. God will always extend his mercy to you untill the last moment of your life. It is up to you t...

Yesterday's readings had a theme of conversion, especially the Gospel about the conversion of Zaccheus. Zaccheus was a tax collector in Israel and in his time, was considered one of the worst sinners and a social outcast. He was however singled out by Jesus when he climbed a tree to get a glimpse of him and told that he would be hosting him that night for dinner. We are all imperfect and we all make mistakes but we love to compare our lives to others and think to oursleves, "i am not as bad as that guy." Dont fool yourself into thinking you are good just because you havent made the same mistake as someone else. Instead of judging someone, respond with kindness and understanding. St. Theresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying "if you judge someone, then you have no time to love him." You cannot help someone change if you respond with haughty judgements and accusations. Let us all take the example of Jesus and forgive those who have erred and give them the c...

I think we have all heard about the famous song, "it is well with my soul". What was even more amazing to me about this song, is the story behind it. The composer, Horatio Spafford was a once very successful lawyer in chicago in the 1800's who literally lost everything. He first lost his youngest chid (a son), then his business, then his four daughters died in a shipwreck. It was one tragedy after the other and what does he do? He composes a song that brings hope to us even today. Today i was reading my psalm for the day which says God is always close to the broken hearted. I feel like this is an important message especially for our times. So many people are struggling with depression, dissappointments and broken hearts. So many people searching for hope. Your hope shoudl always be in the Lord God, he will never abandon you. He loves you even when you cannot love yourself! In the toughest storms of our life, let us ask God to help us to say it is well. Always let u...

I have lost count of the many times that there have been unfortunate deaths in the United states due to the unending gun violence unleashed on innocent people, including children. At some point i thought that after the shooting of children at a kindergarten, it would be the tipping point in ensuring more stingent control on access to firearms by the U.S Goverment but here we are again. I will not and cannot accept this. It is unacceptable. I am not a U.S citizen but as a concerned human being, i feel for the realatives of those whose lives were lost senselessly and in deaths that could have been prevented. My prayers and thoughts are with you. I keep asking myself, when will it be enough? How many peeople must die before we take this issue seriously? How many children must we lose?(sigh) We are living in dangerous times, and we need to be on our guard at all times. However lets not allow this to make us live in fear. There are still many peace loving people in this world and the...

Lately, there have been alot of attempted suicides in my city , kampala and around the world. Unforutnately in Uganda, suicide attempts are considered criminal acts and are pusnishable by prosecution. However we really need to ask ourselves, how does this help the person involved and the society? Is this really going to help to heal this deep rooted pain? Essentialy, i think that aatempted suicide is a cry for help and is on the rise in the world today. To be honest, life is really hard for many people , if not for all of us but some people can truly feel like they are alone in the world and that they have no way out of a bad situation or that they have no one who cares for them.  Granted,  that is not a right way of thinking, but some people can be cruel and out of touch with the people around them. We are the reason that some people are so screwed up. Half of the blame should fall on them and the other half on those aouund them. Do you even know your next door neighbo...

Here i am not referring to the American holiday of thanksgivng which is apparently a celebration  to remember  when the indians (native Americans) made peace with the settlers. ( " i assume?") Anyway i am referring to giving thanks to God especially and to others for the good things we receive. Today i woke up to a sunny day and i took it for granted. How many people actually long for a little bit of sunshine in the cold , harsh regions of the world. (like iceland)You are able to breathe without difficulty today. How many people are in hospitals, unable to breathe on their own? There are too many things we take for granted. Even a smile, just a smile to the person next to you ("dont care if its not reciprocated") is enough to lift someone's spirits. Let us learn to say thank you to God and to others. Even the trials and suffering we encounter have value and teach us something. So today and everyday, no matter how things are going, keep your chin up and...

You might think its a strange think to say, you are me. What i mean is that , even though human beings are unique in the way they were created, we are the same. You and i are the same, despite our titles, status, appearance and race. We are one and the same. Again i emphasize that we are the same! Sometimes we are born into certain circumstances like wealth or we acquire it through work, even illicitly or we are educated or good looking or talented...the list goes on. It is a wonderful thing yes to be priveleged or to work hard for good things in life. There is no fault in that. The problem comes when you think or feel that becuase of your so called accomplishments, or wealth, or title or beauty, others who lack the same or have less of them are perceived as being beneath you! That kind of atttiude is completely wrong. Do your accomplishments make you any less human? Are you better than me just because i do not have the same things you do in life? Is your blood blue or red ju...

On wednesday this week, we celebrated the feast of the exaltation of the cross. I write celebrate in a mxed way because through the cross we were saved and yet it was such a terrible suffering for the one who bought us our freedom. Whenever i meditate on the words of isaiah " he was crushed for our iniquities, by his stripes, we are healed", i shudder at the price that had to be paid. Yes, let it move our cold hearts! The price that was paid by our saviour was his blood. He was indeed crushed like the wine press crushes a grape. Stripes is a mild word for what a scourging is supposed to be. Scourgings were quite long and very painful. His body was practically torn into bits by the scourges , not to mention the humiliation. " I will set my face like flint and i know i shall not be shamed". Our savior humbled himself and accepted the most cruel death and endured the most cruel insults, all so he could save us! Can you imagine being God and letting the miser...

Art may be subjective and apparently some people do not have an "artist's" eye or do not appreciate art. However i draw the line at certain things which are considered art. For example certain things deisplayed in art galleries and museums today are simply ridiculous, such as large sponges and paintings which make you think, what is that supposed to be? What was the artist trying to portray? While i do think that art pieces should challenge us and make us think, i feel that some artists are not true artists in the sense of the word and are just cheating their audiences. Don't get me started on abstract art. I believe art should be beautiful and expressive of the artist's passion not grotesque and confusing. I am sorry but i am just not buying what some artist's are selling today. I am not an art critic but i am not an idiot either! Not everybody has the talent for it, sorry!

Yesterday, i had an interesting conversation with one of my friend's who is running her mother's restaurant while her mother convalesces from an accident. (sigh) She is still a young lady and it is hard work and she was abit down about it saying she had put so many things on hold and she still has to wait longer because it will take a while for her mother to get back on her feet. Today morning, my brother informed me that he was cut from his new job as a teacher. Granted he didnt train as a teacher but i think he was a bit down too. We have all been at that point in our lives where we wish we could see progress but we just cant. Yesterday the priest in my local church reminded us in his homily that as long as you have life, change is possible and you cannot give up just because things are tough right now. Honestly, its hard to keep your chin up when you feel like life has given you lemons. Sometimes we compare our lives to others and we say to ourselves, why not no...

Last sunday, one of our parishoners was giving a testimony in our local church about the power of prayer. It involves a rather sad story about how an accident changed the life of his daughter and his whole family in general. It is a truly otuching story and it gives hope to us all that God still works miracles among us and he lives in you and me. To make a long story short, his daughter was involved in a hit and run accident on her way back from school. Yes, his daughter who is still a child was hit by a local taxi (matatu) and dashed her head on the tarmac. The girl was left for dead by the taxi driver who drove a short distance away and disappeared.  Onlookers just looked at the girl curiously and would not help her. At that point of his testimony, i was so angry and disappointed at humanity in general. She is just a little girl for heaven's sake. How can we just look at her dying and do nothing about it? What happened to our consciences? When did we become beasts? Mercif...

Pontius Pilate once asked Jesus , "what is truth?" We all have our versions of truth and our own truths but we need to ponder deeper on this question. In my mind being truthful means trying your best to say things as they really are and not as we wish they were or in order to flatter or give false comfort to someone. However we must also be charitable in the way we speak the truth in order not to shame or dishonor them. Sometimes its best to say "i will not talk about this" especially in regard to another person's private affairs. It is best to be silent and not reveal to other people someone's misfortunes or intimate details about their lives. It is none of their business after all! Gossip will never be right even if there is truth behind it because it destroys reputations! Half truths are just as bad as lies so we need to learn to say the truth with charity. We also need to learn to say yes or no and learn to control our tongues as too much talki...

Yesterday's bible readings were themed on the virtue of humility. Yes, very difficult indeed to be humble especially in today's world where we are encouraged to parade our accomplishments before others. Sometimes we are given gifts that we have no control over such as a special talent or beauty or some we have worked hard for , like building a succesful buisness or attaining higher levels of education. It is a good thing to be accomplished indeed but an even greater thing when those accomplishments keep you from pride. Humiltiy can be deifned as thinking less of oneself and what one deserves or needs. We are by nature selfish and move towards pride. We love to be dsitinguished among our peers and flattered . We love to be esteemed by men! God says "those who humble themselves shall be exalted and those who exalt themselves, shall be humbled!". Do not seek favor in men's eyes but  rather seek God's favor, he will reward your humility. Mary is esteemd ...

On Monday, we celebrated the feast of the Queenship of Mary. It is traditionally celebrated a week after the feast of the Assumption. We, as the catholic church, believe that Mary after having been assumed into heaven, body and soul, was crowned Queen of Heaven and earth. By the fact of giving birth to Christ the king, she had already assumed the title of Queen mother which by jewish tradition, was the most important title in the kingdom. Some christian denominations may not understand why we venerate Mary above all created beings and think that we try to make her more important than Jesus. That is not true. Mary has always pointed us in the direction of the savior Jesus, even at the wedding in cana, she tells the servants, " Do whatever he tells you!" Mary is saying the same thing today that she did centuries ago, do what my son tells you! The humility of Mary is unmatched in all of creation and this attracted the favor of the most high. That is why even the angel ...

We are lving in an age which may or may not be the end of an era, that much i cannot deny. However we need to be very careful and seek the spirit of deiscernment when dealing with the so called prophets of our time. Yes, the gift of prophecy is one of the gifts of the spirit but we have to be careful so that we a re not misled by false prophets. There are  alot of messgaes and reports of so called visions about the end of times and the world coming to an end. Yes, indeed the world will come to an end but i recall the words that Jesus said whren he states that no one knows the hour or the day when the world will end except for the father. He also says that the end will come at a time when we least expect it. We are definitelty living in a historic time for the world and the chiurch but for those eagerly seeking the end of the world, are we truly ready? Have we fulfilled God's purpose for our lives here on earth? We nned to ask ourselves those questions and take a hard loo...

In my mind, marriage is a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman in who vow to love and support, trust and support each other always throughout their lives, facing life's challenges together. Note how i wrote commitment, it has to be renewed everyday. Feelings of love will not always be present so do not focus so much on the way you are feeling but rather focus on the commitment you made and honor your vow. In today's world, we keep searching for the "right" or perfect person for one another! If its not working, then why bother? According to stastistics, half of all marriages, (i think today its even more than half), end in divorce. Some couples cannot even make it through a year together or even a few months! (sigh) Our focus is on having lavish weddings but not on building lasting marriages. We are only fooling ourelves. There are no perfect people in this world, we are all flawed. There is no perfect marriage, everyday is a test of your commitment! Le...

Jesus in one of his famed parables, once likened the kindom of heaven to a most precious pearl, which once a merchant finds, sells everything he owns just to posess that pearl! Believe it or not, you and i were created to fulfill a destiny that holds a place for us in God's kingdom. We were created princes and heirs to God's wonderful kingdom! We all have things we treasure in our lives. To some people it is their children, to others it is their wealth and power and to others still pleasure and the love of a spouse or companion. If we could only learn that the world is fleeting and passing away. All things here on earth will eventually fade away not matter how beautiful or good they may seem to be. You have only one thing that will last forever and that is your immortal soul! Jesus has already paid the price for your salvation, he has bought the pearl for you so to speak. It is up  to you to guard it jealously and cherish it or lose it in your own negligence! We must ...

I assume we have all heard about the recent brutal murder of a catholic priest in France for which ISIS claimed responsibility.  I do not understand how someone can take pleasure in taking another human being's life and even gloat about it. Is there anything more despicable in life than the taste for violence, the desire for blood? Moreover inniocent blood. Not long ago , the same ISIS beheaded four children for refusing to rtenounce their faith in Jesus. What kind of barbarians are these? That innocent blood that they keep on spilling cries out to the Lord for vengeance and woe to those who have merited God's wrath, they will be anhilated! Paul was once asked by Jesus , when he was still saul, " why do you persecute me?" . It seems Jesus is asking the same question of ISIS today. They seem to be hell bent on destroying christianity but their efforts will come to nought. The Romans tried it but where are they now? The blood of the matryrs will always be the ...