Fatima 2010 - Un chemin pour réévangéliser
Nouveau : Les conférences de notre 44ème Congrès de la Fédération Internationale des Centres de Préparation au Mariage (FICPM) à Fatima (Portugal) sont en ligne sous ce lien : http://ficpm.eu/Fatima2010.pdf
I am losing my Faith
Father Ignatius was in the Sacristy tidying up after morning’s Mass when one of his parishioners came in and asked if he could have a quick chat. Being quite approachable, the priest glanced quickly at his watch and agreed to spend a few minutes with the young man, in his mid-twenties.
“Father … I’m losing my Faith …” was the abrupt introduction.
Father Ignatius said nothing, encouraging the young man to continue with a nod. “I’ve been a Christian all my life, but there are times when I’m totally confused. I ask myself whether God really exists … whether it’s all real … or just some invention. I wonder whether God … Jesus and the whole of Christianity have just been invented over the years by society … just to regulate itself … I sometimes find it a real struggle to believe that God exists … but the more I try to believe the more I doubt.”
“I don’t blame you,” replied the priest, and this had the desired effect of gaining the young man’s full attention.
“We’re living in difficult times,” continued Father Ignatius, “times of confusion, half-truths and miss-information. The world is in financial crisis and turmoil. People are losing their jobs and their livelihoods. They fear for the future. Nothing seems as it should be. It is no wonder people get confused and don’t know what to believe anymore. And in their confusion and daily worries they can’t keep their focus on God. They hear and read so many conflicting stories they don’t know what to think anymore … to the point where they even start doubting God’s very existence.
"You’re not the only one who came to me recently saying what you’ve just said. That you doubt God exists.”
“Oh …” said the man.
“When the Jews left Egypt, they were confused too …” the priest went on, “they had left the relative safety of slavery behind them, where they were fed and watered, and here they were, going round in circles in the desert following a man promising them jam tomorrow … or was it milk and honey?”
The young man smiled.
“So they rebelled against Moses. They didn’t want to believe in his God, leading them to safety. Despite what they had seen that God did for them … dividing the sea so they could cross safely, sending food from Heaven and so on … they still doubted and rebelled. They were more interested in placing their Faith in a statue made of solid gold. At least this was something they could see and touch and admire!
“Years later we read in the Bible about other people doubting and in confusion … just as you feel right now.
“Peter had been with Christ for at least three years and had seen His miracles and heard His sermons. He witnessed the healings, the raising from the dead, walking on water, feeding the thousands. He of all people had no reason to doubt. Yet when it came to the crunch he too doubted and denied knowing Christ … not once, but he denied knowing Him three times.
“How does that compare with you … hmmm?
“As for the disciple Thomas … well he just refused to believe period.
“So you’re in good company young man. You’re not alone in doubting about the very existence of God your Creator.”
At this the young man was totally confused and didn’t know what to ask next.
Perhaps he had expected some magic formula to restore his ailing Faith, a wave of a wand, or some soothing words from his priest … but alas no … the priest just confounded his thoughts by affirming that his doubts are neither unusual nor unexpected.
Father Ignatius smiled and said, “That didn’t help did it?”
“Well …” hesitated the young man.
“There once was a man whose son was very ill, and he came to Jesus for help” continued Father Ignatius, “ ‘Help us if you can,’ he asked Jesus. Jesus replied ‘Everything is possible if you have Faith,’ to which the man said ‘I do have Faith, but not enough, help me to have more.’
“Jesus healed this man’s son. He saw that the man was struggling with his Faith, as you’re doing right now. So He helped him.
“We don’t all have the same strength and vigour of Faith. Some, like you’ve admitted, are a little weak and waver from time to time. Just like Peter and Thomas did.
“But don’t tell me about it. Tell God, in your own words. Tell Him you’re struggling to believe; ask Him to help you.
“Say over and again I believe, Lord; help my unbelief.
“The good Lord will help you … but only if you are willing to believe … if you’re willing to fight your doubts, and your fears, and your confusion.
“God loves you, and He does not wish to see you go astray, away from Him. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your capabilities. He is not in the business of losing souls you know …”
Father Ignatius paused for a while and then continued in his gentle voice.
“There’s an old Cherokee Indian legend about a youth’s rite of passage, when he becomes a man so to speak.
“When the child is of a certain age his father takes him to the forest where he has to sit blindfolded overnight. He shouldn’t take off the blindfold but sit there, in the darkness, hearing all the noises of the night … animals howling, the rustling of the trees and so on, and conquer his fears.
“The next morning, at sunrise, he takes off his blindfold and looks around him only to find that his father had been sitting with him all night, protecting him from danger. He shouldn’t tell what happened to anyone else, so others may experience the love of their fathers too.
“You are now blindfolded and confused. But God your Father in Heaven is right beside you, protecting you at all times. Because He loves you, more than any earthly father can love his children.”
The young man smiled and wiped his eye with the back of his hand.
“OK … I think you’re already on the first steps towards recovery … I suggest you pray time and again … especially when you feel doubts coming on … recite the Rosary … have you got one?”
The man nodded.
“Our Lady will always protect you if you ask her. Don’t be afraid to tell her how you feel.”
As the man left the Sacristy much relieved than when he first came in Father Ignatius added, “and whilst you’re praying, don’t forget to say one for me!”
Einstein, Education and other important things you should know.
I’ve always considered education to be very important; especially scientific education. You know … physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and engineering. The kind of education that makes the world a better place.
Full of enthusiasm, I went to the library the other day and I started reading scientific books. I found one that particularly interested me entitled “Einstein’s Theories Explained Easily For Those People Who Knew He Was On To Something Good But Never Quite Understood What This Great Genius Was Trying To Teach The World!”
I must admit they could have done with a shorter title. The title was so long it carried on to the back cover.
Anyway … I started reading this book “Einstein’s Theories etc …” and noticed that sitting at the table next to mine was a man reading a book about World Statistics. It was a much shorter title although it had the same number of pages as my book. Every so often he muttered to himself “Oh dear …” “Dear oh dear …” and such like expressions spreading doom and despondency on my re-awakened enthusiasm for the wonders of science.
Eventually he lent over towards me and said “Do you know that every time I take a breath in and out someone somewhere in the world dies!”
I suggested he uses a better mouthwash.
But I digress. Back to my book. Which is much more interesting, I tell you.
Einstein was quite a clever person you know. It’s really amazing what that man knew. It’s so wonderful that every so often the world produces great geniuses like him who discover or invent new ways to improve our lives and makes us all better for it.
Folks like Einstein and Penicillin didn’t get to where they are by just kicking a ball in the park, you know. I bet they spent many an hour in the library reading books and doing their homework instead of watching TV.
Here are a few interesting facts I learnt from the book about Einstein.
The furthest away you are from the earth’s gravity the faster time goes. Say you’re on earth with nothing better to do than looking at your watch. And out there very far away in space there’s another person also looking at his watch. He’d be in a spaceship of course; otherwise he won’t be able to breathe in space. Anyway … according to Einstein the other fellow’s watch will go faster than yours.
To prove this, scientists have placed a very accurate clock, measuring the smallest nth of a second, at the top of a very tall skyscraper, and an exactly similar clock on the ground floor.
After a period of time the clock at the top of the building was a few minutes ahead of its counterpart at the bottom. It had gained time because at the top of the building time was faster than at the bottom. Because it was further away from the earth’s gravity.
Not convinced, I tried this experiment at home.
I put a clock upstairs in the bedroom and another one downstairs in the hall.
The following day the clock at the top was ONE HOUR ahead of the one downstairs.
The battery in the clock downstairs had run out.
Einstein also claimed that because time is faster in outer space, away from the earth’s gravity, then someone in outer space, say a twin, would age faster than his brother on earth.
The book therefore recommended that people should not live in high-rise apartment blocks because they’ll age faster than people living at ground floor level. Especially if the elevator is not working and they have to walk up and down all those stairs to their apartments.
Enlightened with this knowledge I have moved our bedroom downstairs and the kitchen, (where we don’t go that often thanks to fast-foods delivered to our door), has been moved where the bedroom was.
The bathroom moved downstairs by itself when I overfilled the bath with water and it came down through the roof.
Einstein also said that in outer space, at the very edge, space is curved. This is because, apparently, gravity (I don’t know whose gravity if gravity is in effect on earth); but stay with me for a while on this … in outer space the very edge of space is curved because gravity makes it so.
I could not understand how this related to bananas being bent; maybe they come from outer space. Or perhaps I was distracted by another book about fruits which someone else in the library was reading.
Einstein also taught about light. Did you know that nothing can go faster than light?
If you could arrange a race between say light, sound and someone in the fastest car ever made; light would always win. That’s because it has moved off the starting line before the sound of the starting pistol has reached your ears.
And if the fastest car was driving with its lights on, then its light would reach the finishing line at the same time as the other light running on foot. Because light travels at a constant speed regardless of its mode of transport.
The light from the sun reaches the earth at the speed of light. The distance it has to travel however is so long that by the time it reaches the earth it’s night time down here and we’ve all gone to sleep.
I’ve tried to measure the speed of light in my home experiments. I think I’ve actually proved that some of Einstein’s Theory about light may well be wrong.
If nothing goes faster than light then how come with these new energy efficient light-bulbs I can get downstairs faster than the light at the top illuminates the staircase?
But then these light-bulbs were not invented when Einstein was around. So we can’t blame him for getting this one wrong.
Finally, a word about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
This one is simple: The richer you are the more relatives will turn up at your funeral.
Dog Tunes
Just bought a CD for my dog. It's a special recording in ultrasonic sound. Only dogs can hear it. You put the CD in the player and you hear nothing, but the dog can enjoy music and songs.
The CD has songs such as "How much is that doggie in the window?", "Puppy love", "Shep", "You're nothing but a hound dog" and my dog's favorite "Who let the dogs out".
There's a cat version with "I thought I saw a pussy cat", "Top Cat", "What's new pussycat?" and all the songs from the musical Cats as well as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
The CDs make a great gift for your pets birthday. You can play them as loud as you want and the neighbors will never complain - but their pets might if you have not invited them to the party !!!
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