Posted on 08/01/2014 7:01:41 AM PDT by Gamecock
Full Title: Pope Francis Reveals Top 10 Secrets to Happiness; Advises Taking Care of Nature, Honoring Sundays, Respecting Others' Beliefs
Pope Francis has shared his top 10 secrets to a happy life in an interview with an Argentinean newspaper, and advised people to slow down and enjoy a "healthy sense of leisure," to take care of nature, and to respect other people's beliefs, among others.
Catholic News Service posted Pope Francis' list on Tuesday, published in part in the Argentine weekly "Viva."
The list goes as follows:
1. "Live and let live." Everyone should be guided by this principle, he said, which has a similar expression in Rome with the saying, "Move forward and let others do the same." ADVERTISEMENT
2. "Be giving of yourself to others." People need to be open and generous toward others, he said, because "if you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid."
3. "Proceed calmly" in life. The pope, who used to teach high school literature, used an image from an Argentine novel by Ricardo Guiraldes, in which the protagonist – gaucho Don Segundo Sombra – looks back on how he lived his life.
"He says that in his youth he was a stream full of rocks that he carried with him; as an adult, a rushing river; and in old age, he was still moving, but slowly, like a pool" of water, the pope said. He said he likes this latter image of a pool of water – to have "the ability to move with kindness and humility, a calmness in life."
4. "A healthy sense of leisure." The pleasures of art, literature and playing together with children have been lost, he said.
"Consumerism has brought us anxiety" and stress, causing people to lose a "healthy culture of leisure." Their time is "swallowed up" so people can't share it with anyone.
Even though many parents work long hours, they must set aside time to play with their children; work schedules make it "complicated, but you must do it," he said.
Families must also turn off the TV when they sit down to eat because, even though television is useful for keeping up with the news, having it on during mealtime "doesn't let you communicate" with each other, the pope said.
5. Sundays should be holidays. Workers should have Sundays off because "Sunday is for family," he said.
6. Find innovative ways to create dignified jobs for young people. "We need to be creative with young people. If they have no opportunities they will get into drugs" and be more vulnerable to suicide, he said.
"It's not enough to give them food," he said. "Dignity is given to you when you can bring food home" from one's own labor.
7. Respect and take care of nature. Environmental degradation "is one of the biggest challenges we have," he said. "I think a question that we're not asking ourselves is: 'Isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?'"
8. Stop being negative. "Needing to talk badly about others indicates low self-esteem. That means, 'I feel so low that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others down,'" the pope said. "Letting go of negative things quickly is healthy."
9. Don't proselytize; respect others' beliefs. "We can inspire others through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyzes: 'I am talking with you in order to persuade you,' No. Each person dialogues, starting with his and her own identity. The church grows by attraction, not proselytizing," the pope said.
10. Work for peace. "We are living in a time of many wars," he said, and "the call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is always proactive" and dynamic.
The Roman Catholic Church leader has often preached about finding joy away from material possessions, and on the importance of protecting the environment.
Earlier this week, Francis became the first pope to make an official visit to a Pentecostal church. On Monday he spoke at the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation in the southern city of Caserta, Italy, and apologized for the persecution of Pentecostals that the Catholic Church was involved with in the past.
He added that people should not be surprised to see him visit evangelicals, and called them "his brothers."
And it continues with "...for most Catholics."
Hatred is not expressed.
It's the posters opinion.
From where I'm sitting the quoted post expresses hatred toward Catholics rather than Catholicism. At least that's the way it READS.Your opinion is duly noted, and as stated about the other quote, is within the bounds of the rules of the Religion Forum.
Hatred does not seem to be expressed either towards Catholics or Catholicism regarding the post in question.
It does not seem to be a "hateful expression," but an opinion.
... when the only group that is explicitly allowed is satanists.
Satanists are not allowed on Free Republic.
Sorry for not tying your statement together to see that you meant “...... when the only group that is explicitly allowed [to have hate expressed towards them] is satanists.”
*MOST* Catholics.
What I see is many Catholics who are so focused on Mary and the church, that there’s hardly a mention of Christ.
This article about the pope and his *10 Secrets to Happiness* don’t mention Christ ONCE. This is a perfect example of what I was referring to, from the very top.
Being in relation with Christ should have been FIRST in the list.
And second, and third,......
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You have the fruit of the Spirit in your life and you WILL have all that he’s advocating for, that he’s basically telling people to do in the flesh.
Christ is at the center of all of this. Get your life right with Him, and everything else will fall into place.
But here we have Joel Osteen-ist kind of positvie thinking stuff and no mention of Christ. He’s not even an afterthought in this case.
And that is the issue. What I find interesting is that those threads that are mostly a Catholic issue (especially those regarding Francis) turn into a free for all. What I notice that the original issue in the OP devolves into the usual Catholic vs Protestant posts and the real issue is ignored or left behind at the beginning of the thread.
The real issue is what Francis has said or done...or not said or done. Some Catholics are trying to make Catholic sense of that and the others prefer to ignore the main issue and not make sense of it. Rather, they would prefer to continue with the usual Catholic vs Protestant arguments.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3187706/posts?page=96#96
I corrected it.
Have a blessed Lord’s Day.
I saw that after I posted it. I can have the post removed.
I’ve done that too. It’s OK, you’re forgiven.
You know what... you're right.
MOST Catholics don't give a fig about Our Lord. MOST Catholics don't even attend Mass anymore and of those that do MOST don't believe what the Church teaches about much of anything.
It's very painful to see how everyone on the outside knows about it.
We have very little worth saying to Protestants with the mess we're in. We do need to get our own house in order.
Thanks.
And non-Catholics take the heat for pointing out the obvious and are labeled as haters for it. You guys are in a world of hurt with your church, and even aside from the question of whether or not what Catholicism teaches lining up with Scripture, I don’t see *most* Catholics, laity OR CLERGY, even adhering to what the CCC states. I remember a young priest once, who was very popular with the young people, during his homily during mass, question the virgin birth. You could hear an audible gasp from the people. Never saw him again. I was 13 at the time, but still remember the event very clearly, it shocked me so much.
FWIW, I also see attention being diverted from Christ in the Pentecostal movement.
Everything is about the Holy Spirit, the gifts, the healing, the manifestation, the falling down, .....
If you’re sick it’s a lack of faith, you have sin in your life, you have generational curses, whatever.
All of this gets our eyes off Christ while they’re focused on figuring out what’s wrong and how to fix it, like if they get the right works or formula, God will do what they demand (or claim *in faith*).
Praying in Christ’s name is a phrase tacked on to prayers as if that makes them acceptable to God, even when praying out of His will.
Apostasy isn’t limited to ANY denomination. I think it’s a sign of the times we’re living it. Jesus warned us about it. The problem is, you can’t tell people who have experienced something that they think is from God that it isn’t because it doesn’t line up with Scripture. They know what they know and what they experienced and that’s all they’re going to hear about it.
Exactly. How does one convert non-Catholics to the Catholic Faith when the so-called head of the Church states he has no interest in converting others to the Catholic Faith.
Craaaaaaazy.
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