The Catholic Y

A few Thoughts for the month:

- Success depends on 1% inspiration; 99% perspiration.

- Failure is the result of putting wishbone where backbone should be!

- The Lord gave you two ends – one to sit on, the other to think with.

Your success depends on which you use most. Heads you win, tails you lose!

- You are not really successful until someone claims they sat next to you at school.

- Average pupils usually do just what is required of them; successful pupils do much more!

"R160 to go on a retreat to Bosco!" "R40 to go to attend special church program!" "R5 to give to charity or put on the collection plate at church!" "No ways. I can’t afford that!" How often have you heard that sort of reaction. And yet, the same objectors to investing some of their cash into anything churchy or in favour of a charitable activity, are often capable of financing personal cellphones, fashionable clothing - including shoes worth R550 or more, expensive cosmetics, extravagant parties, expensive shows and have no difficulty financing their chain-smoking habit. How come?… How come so many have no difficulty blowing R8,000 just to go watch the rugby semi-final, while investing R1,000 in a child’s education is considered impossible. Why is it possible to find money for non-essentials, while it becomes impossible to find the equivalent for important matters. Even in the business sector: it’s amazing how easy millions of rands are available to build casinos, while old folks homes and hospitals struggle to keep going. Why oh why?

Perhaps its because of two mental viruses which are at least as harmful as HIV, if not more, because they kill the spirit, the soul, are spreading even quicker than the dreaded HIV. These two viruses have been identified as materialism and individualism. At least 95% of our population are reckoned to have been infected by them. Unless a radical antidote is found soon, our society is headed for a catastrophe! The only cure proposed so far are heavy doses of Faith, Hope and Love! These are impossible to find on our shop-shelves unfortunately and cannot be imported at any price. They have to be carefully cultivated in the garden of the heart from the seeds found in the Gospel. See ye who have eyes to see. Hear ye who have ears to hear. Act ye who have hearts to serve. []

We presume many of you are keeping this on the agendas for discussion. Who are the most dedicated and self-sacrificing youthful contributors to the life of your parish especially in respect of youth activities. Those are the ones who merit being nominated. Nominations signed by the Parish priest and/or the PPC chairperson will obviously carry more weight than applications which are not! February the 29^th will be the deadline for nominations to be submitted. So do not wait too long!

In one of our Jozi townships, a girl claims, that after having cut a tomato in two, the inner veins lined up in a message that read: "No other but God!"

Remember! God said: "if you, my people, do not praise me, I will command the trees and the rocks to do so and they will obey."

Rules: 1.) Everyone provides their own chair. 2.) Each participant must rock for at least 3 hours in succession. 3.) Time breaks only allowed for trips to the bathroom. 4.) The chair must be moving at all times. Hold the event in a large room and provide movies/TV, tape recorders for music, Coke, cookies, juice, etc. Have supporters to help keep people awake and moving. Keep track of times and money raised and announce it to kids as they go along to help motivate them.

Submit to God's sovereignty.	This must be the starting point for all your planning. Making plans without submitting them for His review, correction, and approval is an act of arrogance on your part that God will not let go unchallenged.
Acknowledge that you are dependent.	Everything you do depends on someone else. For example, if you make plans to fly to a certain city on a certain day and take care of some business, those plans depend on the airlines, the weather, the business climate, and a lot of other things you can't control. You are also dependent on God.
Rely on God's infinite knowledge.	After all, he knows the end from the beginning. God knows what you don't know. He sees every factor, takes into consideration all possibilities, and gives you the best option. God will show you the best route. You may see many possible courses of action, but from His perspective God sees the best path for you to travel through life.
Defer to God's will as you plan.	You need to say, Lord, these are my plans, but I subject them to your will because You are infinitely greater than I am. Since God's will for you is the expression of His infinitely perfect plan, you won't go wrong submitting your plans to Him. But if you leave God out, you may miss out on some blessing He wanted to send your way. You may also miss out on His protection from some danger if you are fixated on what you want.
God wants you to know His will.	He wants you to test and prove His will. If you have a growing, intimate relationship with God, He is going to let you in on what He's doing with your life. He may bring you into situations that you never dreamed possible.
Honor God's holiness as you plan.	The way you plan you life is a matter not just of intelligence or convenience, but a matter of holiness. To plan apart from God is sin. But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin (James 4:16-17). God is clear: Godless planning is not just bad planning - it is sinful, unholy planning.