JB Lifestyle

"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...

How interesting or captivating a story is, can be determined by how it is told or by the person telling it! In my opinion, journalists do tell stories but are they all true or is there an extra something added to make them famous or sell their publications? How far would they really go for a story? Sometimes the truth can be really captivating but could end up destroying people's lives! Journalists need to have some intergrity as well. Think hard before you publish something inflamatory, it could ruin someone. I know it is important to get the truth out there but how we do it matters! Its  a balancing act, i guess. Journalists need to know when to publish something and when to let it go! We are all human after all, our reputations are the best thing we own and its really hard to repair them once they are tarnished. May God grant us the grace to learn the wisdom of silence. There is an Arab proverb that says "only speak when the words you are to say are more beautiful th...

It is a spiritual work of mercy to console people who are in distress, whether they be strangers or people close to us! Sometime last month, i met someone who is suffering with a terminal illness. We talked for a while and i sympathised with her plight! We have met several times since then and she has left a mark on my life. Sometimes, we need to have perspective so that we can better appreciate God's gift of life. Yesterday i met her again and she wasn't doing so well. She is in so much pain and she has a child to look after. When we talked she was in tears and i didnt know how to console her. I told her that in life, some people seem to suffer more than others but we will not know the reason why untill we are called to eternity by our creator! I told her, it was God who brought us together and God Loving people still exist in this world. I tried to keep her hope alive! You do not have to look far to see someone in desperate need. There are so many lonely people, sea...

We have all heard the saying, "dont believe everything you hear". This is a good motto to live by because it seems that lies spread faster than the truth! A man's reputation is the best thing he owns and once it is tainted, its almost impossible to recover it! People love to talk and yes,"talk is cheap". We do not often realize, the effect our words can have on people's lives. Be careful what you say and guard your words, for they can even start a war! Many times we do not even try to verify what we hear, but pass it on carelessly untill it has been twisted. Making false statements about people is truly wrong and we need to learn how to mind our own business and be silent. Even if something you know or hear is true but quite damaging, for the sake of someone's reputation, its better to be silent! We need to discover the wisdom of silence. Sometimes its best not to say anything at all! Ps : James speaks about the power of the tongue in the ne...

Last sunday's gospel touched on the mission Christ was giving to his dsiciples. He sent them to preach, heal and drive out demons throughout the countryside. As Christians, we need to remember that we each have a unique mission. We seem to have forgotten that or chosen to abandon it! Look at the world today, take a good look and you will see how insensitive and apathetic we have become! Sometimes when something terrible like a murder or a senseless act of war takes place, we don't seem to be affected by it! I mean some people think to themselves, "too bad for them" and just shrug it off. Life goes on right? As Christians, our mission means speaking out against injustice as well as keeping our actions in line with Christ's. Sometimes you cannot speak out but let your actions reveal who you are. It's such a shame and truly heartbreaking that often times many evils in society today are perpertrated by so called Christians! (sigh) Let us all take up o...