"I believe in God - not in a Catholic God; there is no Catholic God. There is God, and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being." Pope Francis.
“Body of Christ” says the priest with his suspicious eye staring at me, and I replied “Amen” after I took the communion. I was then 12 years old boy in Don Bosco boarding at Imphal, Manipur. To be honest, I’m born from a Baptist family, and I was not a Catholic boy who has been baptized right after birth and completed the communion class. But I always state myself as Christian. The question is, “How did the communion fracas happen with me?” It started with a bet with my friends who dare me to take the communion during the mass and, I was fool who wants to prove to them that I am also a Catholic and I can do it. What a rookie sin that I have committed?
Right after the mass, Fr. Scaria (our Rector) called me to his office and he started interrogating me if I am really from a Catholic family. Those memories in his office will remain intact with me forever and I will cherish it for the lessons I have learnt from it. Rightfully, Fr. Scaria canned me with his punishment stick on my buttock for my action deemed sinful, and I prayed if God has forgiven me for the rookie sin. Now whenever I think about those memories, it always make me questioned why are we so protective about the rules of our religion? In fact, God had never written those rules but mankind.
And here we are divided by congregations or denominations even though we, Christian, believe the same Jesus Christ as the savior of mankind. The most disappointing about these Catholic and Baptist rivalry I have experience in real life is that one congregation trying to convince another congregation that “My way of worshipping God is better and faithful than yours”. There is one thing we really should know as a Christian is that Jesus taught us how to pray to our Almighty father only in one way, i.e., Our Father who art in heaven……………..
Like I have mentioned in my earlier blog, I will not let myself define by my religion. It is easy to be critics rather than reform. Maybe it is because reformation starts from heart whereas criticism starts with mind full of perceived thoughts. Only if we realized my God and your God are same. Is it obvious not to understand the concept of one family prefers cheese whereas another family drinks milk? But it appears we are yet to realize both the source is from the same cow. There is no simpler way to convince ourselves believing the same God.
For those who are not Christians or an atheist, I hope I have not bore you with my blog for today. And I have never meant to bore you but just a reminder that no matter how different we are or the way we worship our own Gods or not believe in Gods; we come from the same human race and we shouldn't differentiate ourselves by our religions created by mankind or by our racial inclinations. Gravity is my witness, and in fact, it makes all mankind to stand by our own two feet rooted to our very own world.
I really admire Pope Francis. He is more of a reformer than a keeper. He have said, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge? We shouldn't marginalise people for this. They must be integrated into society.” He is truly the leader of the Church who preaches rationalization to all. For me, he is just not a Pope who preaches from Vatican City but also reforming society. He has spoken about the poverty, gay, media, etc. which clearly tells us that he is a reformer. About the gay, no other Pope has spoken like he has done so far. Here another excerpt of his answer on gay. “A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: 'Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?' We must always consider the person.”
For me, the approval of gay from the Church is another topic but Pope Francis approving of person being a gay is the positive aspect that has to be considered. I meant for centuries, Homosexuals has been condemned by the Church let alone speaking for it. A leader of Church preaching love is universal and people as same people; we should also try to learn from it. “Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport.” This is not by me but Pope Francis… :)
Thank you. Have a blessed Sunday!
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