In the same way he denounces gossip, Francis condemns prejudice.
He reminds “intolerant” Catholics, for one, to respect atheists. “If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good.”
Ping!
New Year’s resolutions: The Pope Francis list
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/46933-new-year-resolutions-pope-francis-quotes
1. Don’t gossip.
2. Finish your meals.
3. Make time for others.
4. Choose the ‘more humble’ purchase.
5. Meet the poor ‘in the flesh.’
6. Stop judging others.
7. Befriend those who disagree.
8. Make commitments, such as marriage.
9. Make it a habit to ‘ask the Lord.’
10. Be happy.
I enjoyed reading these; excellent list! Gossip really does destroy, and makes one feel all filthy. Ick!
1. Fire that Vatican Translator!
A religion as big as ours should be able to translate what I write accurately. (I need to think about this before publication of this list. It is a good fallback to say, "bad translation".)
2. Gay Mafia at Vatican. Get this resolved... Hmmmm.
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What about Christ?
I mean, he’s the Pope. Generalized expressions of Christian behavior are discussed by everyone and anyone. Shouldn’t he instead be focused on Christ specifically?
This could be a speech at the Elks Lodge.
What is hie doing?
Having Joel Osteen write his messages now?
Named after a 12th-century saint who lived in poverty, Francis slams a “culture of waste” that neglects the plight of the hungry. (READ: Pope: Wasting food is stealing from the poor)
Nearly 870 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition, says the Food and Agriculture Organization. (VISIT: #HungerProject)
The Pope says: “We should all remember… that throwing food away is like stealing from the tables of the poor, the hungry! I encourage everyone to reflect on the problem of thrown away and wasted food to identify ways and means that, by seriously addressing this issue, are a vehicle of solidarity and sharing with the needy.”
What the Pope actually said was:
…(snip)
But the "cultivating and guarding" doesn't include only the relationship between us and the environment, between man and the created, it also concerns human relationships. The Popes have spoken of human ecology, closely linked to environmental ecology. We are experiencing a moment of crisis; we see it in the environment, but mostly we see it in man. The human being is at stake: here is the urgency of human ecology! And the danger is serious because the cause of the problem is not superficial, but profound: it's not just a matter of economics, but of ethics and anthropology. The Church has stressed this several times; and many say: yes, that is right, it's true ... but the system continues as before, because what dominates are the dynamics of an economy and a lack of financial ethics. So men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: this is "scrap culture", the culture of the disposable. If you break a computer it is a tragedy, but the poverty, needs and dramas of so many people end up being seen as normal... If on a winter night, in nearby via Ottaviano, for example, a person dies, that is not news. If in many parts of the world there are children who do not have enough to eat, that's not news, it seems normal. It cannot be so! Yet these things become normal for us: that some homeless people die of cold in the street doesn't make news. Conversely, a ten-point drop in the stock market in some cities, is a tragedy. A person who dies is not a news story, but a ten point drop in the stock market is a tragedy! So people are discarded, as if they were trash.
This "scrap culture" is becoming a common mentality, infecting everyone. Human life, the person are no longer perceived as the primary value to respect and protect, especially if they are poor or disabled, if they are no longer needed – like the unborn child – or are no longer of use – like the elderly person. This scrap culture has also made us insensitive to waste, including food waste, which is even more reprehensible when in every part of the world, unfortunately, many people and families are suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Once our grandparents were very careful not to throw away any leftover food. Consumerism has led us to become accustomed to the superfluous and the daily waste of food, which we are sometimes no longer able to value correctly, as its value goes far beyond mere economic parameters. Note well, though, that the food we throw away is as if we had stolen it from the table of the poor or the hungry! I invite everyone to reflect on the problem of the loss and waste of food to identify ways and methods that, addressing this issue seriously, may be a vehicle for sharing and solidarity with the neediest.…
You will note that he actually places a higher emphasis on "throwing away" people than throwing away leftovers from the table, yet the left seems to have a hard time grasping that concept. Nevertheless, he does talk about food waste in the context of "throwing away" people. For example, he said the following in his message for World Food Day:
However, the waste of food is but one of the fruits of the “throw away culture” which often leads to sacrificing men and women to the idols of profit and consumption; a sad sign of the “globalization of indifference,” which makes us “accustomed” slowly to the suffering of others, as if it were something normal. The challenge of hunger and malnutrition does not just have an economic or scientific dimension, which refers to the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the food chain, but also and above all and ethical and anthropological dimension. To educate in solidarity means , therefore, to educate ourselves in humanity: to build a society that is truly human means to always put the person and his/her dignity at the center, and never sell him/her off cheaply to the logic of profit. The human being and his/her dignity are “pillars on which to build shared rules and structures that, overcoming pragmatism or the mere technical data are capable of eliminating divisions and of more than satisfying the existing differences” (cf. Address to the Participants in the 38th Session of FAO, June 20, 2013).
So his concern is a disregard of the poor in a climate of "consumerism" -- fine.
Back to the waste of food. On both a policy basis and a theoretical basis, I can appreciate what he's saying. However, on a practical basis, how well can that actually be accomplished?
For example, it would be great if a restaurant was to donate leftover food at the end of the night to a homeless shelter rather than throwing it in the dumpster. However, is such a thing even allowed anymore? Or have the regulations established by leftist politicians and bureaucrats made such a thing impossible?
I remember several months ago, our parish made a plea to help re-stock their food pantry. So we went through our house to find some canned food and staples that could be donated...we came up with a ton of stuff that had just been sitting there that we weren't going to use. So we boxed it up and took it to the church pantry. They wouldn't accept it. They said they only wanted food straight from the grocery store. Literally. (So we took the boxes of food to the church's dumpster and deposited it there). The funny part is that I remember when I was in basic training years ago, we all had to eat WWII era leftover c-rations (the stuff in the cans). Some of it looked pretty raunchy. But it was all edible and none of us were poisoned by it.
Same thing with grocery stores. Produce is trashed when it won't sell anymore (for example, green peppers that have a few wrinkles on the surface)...but that is far from being bad. While the stuff is not salable, it's hardly "bad": it can easily be used in cooking pasta sauce or the like. Over-ripe bananas can be used to make banana bread...and so on. But that is not even allowed either.
We have leftist-inspired policies mandating the use of engine-destroying ethanol in our fuel. Because of this policy, the price of corn has gone through the roof. So what do farmers do? They plant corn...so much that many of them don't ever rotate crops anymore...which destroys the ecosystem and requires them to use even more petroleum-based fertilizer and more petroleum-based insecticides than ever before. And it also cuts our ability to export inexpensive grains to places in the world where they are needed. Those inexpensive grains are the lifeblood for poor, hungry people. In essence, our politically-correct, crony-capitalist policies put in place due to the fraud of "global warming" end up destroying the agricultural ecosystem here and starving the poor everyplace.
But yet the takeaway from leftists is: "eat all the food on your plate"
But meanwhile, they are the ultimate consumerists: after all, they have no problem throwing away babies.
Yes, the Pope said don't waste food. But he was, in context, talking about wasting people. Pity the leftists are so blind they can't see this.