JB Lifestyle

Yesterday i was reading an interesting article about the decisions or choices we make in life. We are often moved by fear and this makes us do terrible things often times. Reflect on it and you will realize that when you make a decision or act based on fear, you make the wrong decision. Life is getting harder and harder each year and honestly, there are many people out there who may be "out to get you", but living in fear is not really living at all. We build walls literally, (houses these days are not complete without high fences) not to protect ourselves but to "keep people out"! We have taken privacy and security to a whole new level. We do not even know who our next door neighbors are, let alone even our own family members! Can you imagine living in fear of your own family? Seriously? We need to start making smart choices or decisions motivated by love , and tempered by wisdom. Fear leads to anger and even violence and can consume you! Do not let fear ...

There has been so much controversy over planned parenthood in the recent past, i don't even know where to begin. From the shocking and utterly repulsive discovery of selling baby parts to improper disposal of the aborted fetuses , and the list goes on! I honestly don't know how some people wake up and go to work there with that heavily weighing on their conscience. I know in life we are sometimes faced with difficult choices. We have to earn a living for ourselves and our families. Working hard is important but you need to ask yourself whether it is worth it. Would you be setting the right example for your children? Does it feel right to earn a living no matter the cost or the consequences to others? Our choices in life define us. Mother Theresa once said  "It is wrong to end a life so that we can choose to live as we please", obviously in reference to abortion. Whatever your reasons are, there is no way to justify ending the life of an innocent child, even ...

I often meet people on the street struggling with mental illness and it makes me so sad for them. I have often asked doctors what causes people to become insane but sometimes there is no straight answer. There are sometimes things in life that we cannot explain. You grow up and realize that the hard way. Doctors sometimes try to explain its cause as being from an imbalance of chemicals in the body. I don't really understand why that would happen, but that's life! I think that we pay a lot more attention to the physical causes of illness and neglect the spiritual. We are made up of body and spirit and both are affected by circumstances in life. People with mental illness need to be spiritually healed first! We often forget about that! Whatever is causing the illness in body starts from the spirit and that is why we need to pray for God's healing even as we take medication prescribed by doctors. We also need to treat people with mental illness with dignity and respect....

Ponder those words people , for they carry great meaning. Those are the words of a local Spanish poet who was trying to put himself in God's mind! There have been a string of robberies and murders in a town in Spain (vilanova) recently. A few local priests have been the victims of burglaries with two murders and not just priests. An elderly lady was also murdered and robbed of all her savings. Today, i was in a taxi and the driver argued with one of the passengers over the fare and called him despicable names. Honestly if you look at the world today, you can get discouraged and even depressed. How many cruel , terrible things we do to people and how much we place money and things above human beings! I truly think the words of the Spanish poet are inspired. God must be absolutely furious over the state of our world today. Shame on us! I will not lose hope in humanity because that is what being a christian means, living with hope. There are and will always be people who wil...

We are defined by the choices we make in life. When it comes to choosing whom we serve, we cannot serve two masters. Yesterday's readings of the gospel were about how if you put new wine in old wine skins, it causes them to burst and both the skins and wine are lost. The priest interpreted it very well in his homily when he said, in our country (Uganda), he has experienced that we tend to practice syncretism. That is, we combine our traditional African beliefs with Christianity and the result is a mess! We have to choose, you cannot have your cake and eat it too! Either you will serve God or you will serve evil! You are only fooling yourself if you think you can pick out the things you like about both faiths and mash them together. Even in other aspects of life, you will have to choose between doing the right thing and doing what you think will please others or yourself. May God grant you the wisdom to always do what is right and the grace to persevere even when doing righ...

I have been dealing with an embarrassing and stressful condition in my life since December last year and it seems to be consuming my every thought and trying to ruin my life! Today i have decided to let it go, there are some things in life you cannot control and some things are just best left alone. Give them to God, surrender! This week one of our workers at home is leaving us and it makes me really sad. But hey, life is like that. As the french say "c'est la vie"! Life is full of challenges and things change when we least expect and we have to adjust. Change is never easy and we tend to resist it but there is no going back in life. Move forward and let go of your anxiety and worry, things will get better. Nothing stays the same. I leave you all with the words of "St. Theresa of Avila" Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; Go...

Last Sunday's readings were about how anyone of any tribe, race or nationality , gender can find favor with God equally. We are all called in a special way and we all have a special mission on earth to be fulfilled according to God's will, no one is here by accident. Human beings by nature, seek favor and bestow it upon those whom they deem worthy to receive it based on appearances and yes, wealth. In human eyes, wealth is equivalent to royalty and people are treated as such no matter their character. God sees and judges the hearts of men and causes the rain to fall on both the just and the wicked! We are all sinners and have fallen short of his glory. However we must strive to do good and we must pray that our actions will be in accordance with God's will and plan for us. Let us actively seek God's favor. Amen

Pope Francis has been under a lot of criticism including among Catholics worldwide who feel that he is not fighting for traditional roman catholic tenets. People are entitled to their own opinions and we all know you cannot please everyone. That being said, some of the talk about pope Francis is blatantly disrespectful toward our supreme pontiff! Do we really think that it is helpful to speak against the pope or priests in a disrespectful manner? We may not always agree with them and some of them are in error but out duty is to pray for them , not criticize and judge them! Jesus is not pleased when we speak out against his priests. The roman catholic priesthood is invested with Jesus's power and priests are supposed to be direct representatives of Christ and he acts directly through them. Let us Roman Catholics respect our priesthood which was instituted by Jesus himself and learn to hold our tongue's and pray for priests. Your prayers have the power to effect any and al...