Evolution of Cricket & Evolution of Life by Fr Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

 

Evolution of Cricket is a good analogy to decode evolution of modern life. In the past test cricket signified having lot of time to play with loads of patience. As life changed gears into 5th lane cricket invented itself into 50-50. It meant now people have only 5 hours (50 overs) for cricket not 5 days. As life became instant sensation n instant success cricket too changed into automatic gear so came up 20-20. We have no patience. Speed is the mantra. Instant result is the expectation. 20-20 provided all that n also affected the mental game of 50-50 so today 50-50 with changed rules is now played like 20-20. I feel by 2030 cricket may evolve into 10-10. Life is going to be excruciatingly paced out. Everything fast has tremendous consequences on our life, on our relationships and on our health. When we get opportunities to slow down we need to grab them to really see and enjoy life as it was meant to be.  

First published on Facebook on 10 July 2019

Caring Parents a complicated issue in the ‘Flats culture’ by Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

 26th July

Feast of St. Joaquim and St. Anne

The feast of St. Joaquim and St. Anne, the so called grandparents of Jesus and the international day for grandparents (usually celebrated in September) rack up the issue of caring for the senior citizens.  Old age homes, Retirement homes, Home away from Homes whatever name you may give such institutions the reality is the same and they are mushrooming everywhere.  Visit to such homes and interaction with senior citizens in them leaves our hearts concerned.  The nagging issue that crops up in our minds is that “Why do children abandon their parents?” But the question is: are they really abandoned?  This is a debatable issue in modern times with nuclear families embracing the “Flats culture’. With both parents embracing “office culture” in order to make a quick buck and remain in this man created rat race of affluence and wealth the issue about the care of the aged parents especially in the flats becomes a complicated issue in the modern times. 

The debatable questions that make this issue knotty are:

• Who feels more abandoned: the aged parents in such homes or the parents at home who witness the brutal neglect of their basic needs right before their eyes?

• Who feels more pain the parents admitted in such homes or neglected in their very homes where sons living in the same house (owned by the parents) do not even talk to them?

• Are children revengeful when they admit their parents in old aged homes? If they are vindictive, why such a revenge? Is it because the children did not receive the necessary time and love from their parents when they were young? Is it because the parents abused them physically, psychologically or even sexually in their childhood?

• Are children forced to ‘abandon’ their parents due to job issues, migration issues, constant travel issues, siblings rivalry issues, partiality and favouritism issues on the part of the parents?

• Why does family life change the day children tie the knot?

• Why do sons make U-turns after marriage?

• Why do DIL and MIL can never have peaceful existence in the same house?

• They say old age is second childhood. Senior citizens once they cross three scores and ten (Biblical number -Ps 90:10- which is 60+10) begin to behave like kids. Does this create a problem to those who care for them?

• Are senior citizens governing their homes and properties with an iron hand?  Do they expect the youngsters to follow ‘My ship my order’ commands?

• Is there a clash between the old and the new generation? Especially the uneducated old and the highly educated new? Is the generation gap cause of neglect of senior citizens?

• Are old age homes a fall out for embracing ‘flats’ culture?

• Is unemployment the cause of neglect of parents?

• Is modern life style of “me & myself” the principle cause for division in the families?

How has the modern society got into such a scenario?  

From single (Adam) to double (Adam and Eve) from double to family (Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel), from family to joint family.  Now trend is reversing:  From joint family to nuclear family (Two are too many), from nuclear family to no family (live in relationship), from no family to single. For thousands of years families lived together (they had immediate help to care for the old about to depart and the new arrivals) but now in the last fifty years or so we have seen nuclear families mounting due to the real estate boom of flats and bungalows. Is there a solution in sight? Can we stop such a trend? Will the children suffer the same fate? The golden rule says “do not do to others what you don’t like done to yourself”. The Bible says: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Mt 7:12). Will it be pay time karma issue when children grow old? Remember the popular wooden bowl story? When the 4th commandment says respect and honour thy parents: How can children honour thy parents? What about those children who even physically abuse their parents (literally hit them)? What about those children who psychologically torture their parents (either with their abusive words or by their indefinite silence)? An old man went to the mobile shop to check if his mobile was working.  The shopkeeper said that the mobile was working fine. The old man replied “if my phone is ok why is my son not calling me?”

 

      As life progresses it becomes complicated.  World is geared for material development. Speed is the mantra. Slowness is a curse.  This takes up all our time.  World is no longer centered on God.  Governments and big corporates do not design their system based on what God wants.  The world system is geared on what man wants.  Therefore all of us are caught up in this race. Money not only talks it rules. We have no idea how to get out of this complex web. When we go after money we are caught up like an insect in the spider’s web. We dangle in the air with our hands and legs tied up with deadlines, targets and no leaves.   So in this state of affairs to give and make time for the elderly, the sick, the poor, the dying becomes agonizingly tricky. The Catholic Church (other organizations too) reading the signs of the times have always put its right foot forward. Wherever there is suffering the Catholic Church has always tried to reach out to the needy.  Therefore so many Homes for the aged were started to lessen the pain of the elderly, to give them a proper descent burial.  With no other solution in sight this could be everyone’s future. Airports will be places of farewell tears, Old age homes will be places of déjà vu, ancestral houses will be places of historical visits and flats will be our golden prisons. Every action has opposite and equal reaction said Newton. We embraced nuclear families and welcomed the ‘flats culture’ and kicked out our living together in traditional homes. So let’s put up with the inconceivable side effects. 

First published on Facebook on 18 July 2019

 

7 Things about the Holy Trinity by Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

   1. The Trinity is Christianity’s most unique, defining, awesome BUT incomprehensible mystery. You can keep on meditating on it and it will never cease to impress our little minds.  1+1+1 = 1 and not 3. You can meditate on it for eternity like the little angel on the sea shore who told St. Augustine. That you may not lose your hair thinking too much about it you can use the examples given by saints.

2. The doctrine of Three Persons in one God, co-equal and co-eternal in Divinity yet distinct in Person, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. The origin of the doctrine of the Trinity can be found in the Bible, although the word Trinity is not used in the Bible. We believe in this Mystery because Jesus, who is God, taught it clearly even though He did not use the word, Trinity. There are vague and hidden references to the Trinity in the Old Testament. But the New Testament gives clear teachings on the Holy Trinity or on the three divine persons. The Annunciation, the baptism of Jesus, the missionary command by Jesus to his disciples before Ascension speaks about the action of the Holy Trinity. John’s Gospel, chapters 15–18 speaks more on the role of each Person of the Holy Trinity: a) God the Father creates and provides for His creatures. b) God the Son redeems us and reconciles us with God. c) God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, strengthens us, teaches us, and guides us back to God.

3. From the very beginning of the church, Christians have understood the mystery of the Trinity, even before they began using the term, Trinity.

4. The Church father Tertullian (AD 160–225) was the first to apply the term Trinity to God. Tertullian uses the term to explain and defend the Trinity against the teaching of his contemporary Praxeus, who espoused the Monarchian heresy.

5. To counter all heresies (such as Monarchianism & Arianism -Arius (ca. 256–336)) and also the schisms the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it, and the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian Faith. For exact definition please refer (CCC #234, #253-256).

6. All prayers in the Catholic Church begin in the Name of the Holy Trinity and end glorifying the Trinity.  All Sacraments are administered in the name of the Holy Trinity. When Church bells ring thrice daily, they remind us to give glory to the Holy Trinity. We bless ourselves, and the priest blesses us, in the Name of the Holy Trinity when we make the sign of the cross.

7.  What does this feast mean to us? It means 3 things.

7.1 Let us respect everyone because everyone is the temple of the Holy Spirit where all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity abide.

7.2  Let us have the firm conviction that the Trinitarian God abides in us, that He is the Source of our hope, courage and strength, and that He is our final destination.

7.3  Let us practice the Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in our family relationships because by Baptism we become children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family.

PASTOR’S DAY 2022 by Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

 

The 10 ingredients that make a good Pastor as found in 

1 Tim 3:2-4

A young preacher wanted to preach in a robe so the tailor took measurements. The tailor asked this young preacher how long he’d been in the ministry. “What does that have to do with making my robe?” the young preacher snorted. “Everything, I’ve made a lot of robes, and if you’re young in the ministry you think you know it all and you walk around with your head held high and your chest stuck out…so I need to make it longer in front and shorter in back. But if you’ve been in the ministry for some time, you know you don’t know it all, you’re pretty level headed and level hearted! Finally, once you’ve been serving God a long time, you realize you don’t know anything, you spend most of your time with your head bowed in prayer asking for wisdom, or on your knees looking to the only One who can help! You need it shorter in front and longer in back!

“Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect” (1 Tim 3:2-4).

1. Above Reproach This first characteristic would be the foundation to the others.  He is a pastor who should not have any obvious flaws. It means he should be blameless, upright, clean, irreproachable. He should have no question marks. He should not have to be defended. This is someone who exemplifies Jesus Christ in his lifestyle. He’s someone who’s honest, who can be trusted, who radiates Christ, who keeps his word, who doesn’t let you down and who doesn’t take advantage of others. He is simply saintly and holy.

2. Temperate- It means a pastor should be self-controlled, disciplined, just & fair, honest & orderly. No self-indulgence and no over- reaction.  He has the right spiritual orientation. He remains stable and steadfast. His thinking is clear and he has the right attitude. A more modern way of saying this is he’s “Calm & cool & re-collected!”

3. Respectable- He is a gentleman physically, mentally & spiritually. He possesses inner moral excellence and outward orderly behaviour.  He is a man who lives in such a way that his life-style reflects the teachings of Christ. Whether it is his dress, speech, the appearance of his room or office or the way he deals with others, all are to be in proper relationship to Biblical principle and priestly formation. 

4. Hospitable-It means having an attitude of unselfishness; being kind to the strangers, ready to help the less fortunate. His fellowship is helpful and loving. He compliments his powerful sermons with loving pastoral activities. Someone exclaimed “a church that eats together, stays together”.

5. Able to Teach-When we think of teaching, we only imagine a classroom with students and a teacher. Here it can mean someone who has the ability to communicate with someone else, no matter where, in any setting- offline or online too.  It’s my experience that imparting biblical teachings in a friendly casual way at home on a visit or on phone is more effective than a sermon. A good pastor looks out for “teachable moments”. Most of these are not in class settings. A pastor must be a man of the Book who remains humble, sensitive and desires to know the will of God.

6. Not Given to Drunkenness & Not Violent—Bible always stresses avoiding extremes. A pastor who can’t control a vice or an area of his life, whether it is a substance or a bad habit is not to be a leader.  So also, a man who is quick to fight with words or fists is not to be a pastor. Alcohol and violence many times go hand in hand. Causing other Christians to stumble in faith because of pastor’s bad behaviour is not only a shame but also a big NO to be a leader.

7. Gentle or patient- Shepherding involves caring, tending, helping. It necessitates gentleness and understanding. It eliminates rudeness. A pastor is firm on Christian principles, values and rules but he is not harsh or rude in their implementation.

8. Not Quarrelsome or Overbearing -He has to learn to get along with others. There is such great wisdom in team-work. Scripture always refers the plurality of the pastorship. No one man runs the show, or has his way. It is not a corporation where there is a CEO or president. Pastors cannot afford to be self-willed, stubborn, self-pleasing or arrogant. The pastors learn to serve along-side each other but under their rightful elder (the bishop) working through even difficulties and disagreements.

9. Not a Lover of Money-This is the root of all evil. Love of money can lead to misappropriation of goods, drunkenness, immoral ways of doing things and corruption. The last commandment prohibits coveting. Money itself is not evil. No one can live without money but the love of money is dangerous. It is a matter of priorities. The natural tendency is that when earthly possessions multiply, God is forgotten. Pastors must lead their flock to build treasurers in heaven.  

10. Good Reputation with Community-He must have a favourable testimony from outsiders. Specifically, those outside his community or parish. His present conduct and past reputations which are impeccable are desirable. It has to do with honesty of character and moral principles.

How many pastors today will pass these criteria?

 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things”. (Philip 4: 8)

SRI LANKAN REVOLUTION by Fr. Nelson Lobo

 

Wondering Guru (111) 

Have you ever wondered why revolutions take place?

History has been repeating itself time and again. Sadly, humans never learn from their past mistakes. What happened in France in 1789 is now happening in Sri Lanka. I would term it Sri Lankan Revolution. Sadly, the Sri Lankan government never learned the political history of people’s power. Every revolution told us why revolutions take place. Revolutions happen because there is limit to people’s patience and tolerance. When people are taken for granted with repeated lies and false promises revolutions are bound to happen. When people are pushed to the wall their survival instinct comes up and they begin to show to the government the people's supreme power. No matter how powerful the politician is or how stable and strong the government looks like they must remember one political principle: Never under estimate people’s power.  When people want desperate change in guard revolutions happen. The government of the people, by the people and for the people was born after French Revolution.  What is happening in Sri Lanka can also be a warning sign for other countries including India. Of late such revolutions have taken place in Egypt, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka etc. Wake up India. Next may be your turn.