The Bible:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDJAmjFqng
"The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" 1 Peter 4:7-11
Father Darby:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJLZhdQee9
Today I visited the slum area in my parish. Poverty has become a problem in my area. We used to be the richest country in the world and yet there are more and more poor people. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This is so sad to experience. The politicians seem to not have any solutions or they stopped caring. The poor people have a challenge to survive every day. It is worse for the old people and the children. When you do not have proper meals and you live in cold and wet conditions, it makes you would think that life is a misery. Despite this, I see so much Christian love and compassion in the slums. The people do their best to help each other. As a priest, I do my best to bring hope to these people. There are food banks where shops donate food and we distribute this food to the needy. There is also a church club for the children where they can do some fun activities. We had some activities for the old people but had to close this because of lack of funds. Throughout history, there have always been poor people. As humans, we have never learned how to share.
Andrew:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXnjUNI5k0
It's sad when you no longer can go shopping in peace. A woman and her young child were outside the shop begging for money. I heard that these beggars can get so much alms in an hour that I can make in a day! When she asked me for some money, I got mad at her. I told her that it was shameful she used her daughter to help beg. The girl should be in school! The woman herself could stop being lazy and get a job. I imagined that she used her day begging to get money for her drugs and alcohol. It's these people that make this country an embarrassment. They expect hard-working people like me to pay high taxes so they can get welfare benefits. Even with the welfare benefits, these people tried to squeeze more money out of hard-working people. Needless to say, I arrested the woman and her child is now in the custody of child services. She begged the wrong person.
Chloe:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0W1yqNVMH
Love is a strange thing. When I got married to my husband, I was deeply in love. This lasted 6 years and then I started to see his true colours. My parents tell me that marriage is for life and it means that I should work at making the marriage work. Why should I do this? You either love a person or you do not. You either have feelings or not. I could have tried marriage counselling or tried to change him. The thing is that marriage is such an old-fashioned concept. Life-long marriage has been forced upon us since the beginning of time. Often the women had no say in a marriage. There are even forced marriages in today's world. In some countries, young girls get married! I am not letting traditions or the Church force me to keep loving a man. I no longer love him. I will not waste my time rekindling a love that is dead when there could be a man out there who will suit me for the next stage of my life.
Bishop O’Keeffe:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGOMvx1KLo
I am a sinner and weak in many ways. Why do I say this? Today I was with a young priest that I have known for a few years. We have been having a gay relationship. The church thinks that homosexuality is a sin. This can be true. I am a bishop and a leader within the church. It is my responsibility to show an example to people. I am only just a human. A human being is a sexual feeling. We have sexual needs. We can suppress these and promise to be celibate, but suppressing these life needs cannot be good. It has to affect people's mental state. I will be so controversial as to say that Jesus must have had sexual desires. Many people believe he had a relationship with Mary Magdalene. This theory shocks and disgusts many believers. I say who cares? It shows that he was human. The problem is that the Catholic Church tells its priests not to marry or be in love with anyone. Is this not an impossible promise, Maybe if I had more faith it would help me. The fact is that have very little faith. Most of the time, I doubt there is a God. The strange thing is that I was informed that I would be a cardinal. Why would God want someone who doubted so much in this position?
VTT Global News:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡae0xW1RM6P
The US government has accused the Russian government of giving arms to Islamic terror organizations. This comes as a new Islamic terror group called “Allah's warriors” has declared a jihad on the Western world. They are tired of the attacks against their prophet and their religion. A spokesperson for Allah's Warriors explained, “In some countries such as Denmark and Sweden, our holy Koran is being burned. In other countries, the media says bad things about our holy religion. Muslims are discriminated against and forced to live in ghettos. The West will suffer for not respecting the one true religion and the insults they give us.”. The Secretary of Defence admitted that they are following the situation but citizens should not be alarmed.
Andrew:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfed4v4FreQ
I visited my parents today. They did not seem to have time for me, as my brother was visiting soon and my mother was busy baking and cleaning the house. He is a bishop! It's not as if royalty is visiting. They were also worried about the latest threats from the Muslims. I tried to tell her that we should not worry. The Muslims threaten to kill us every time someone dares to say they have a screwed-up religion. My parents wanted to say a prayer for peace. I passed on this. How could any religion have something called a jihad where it was good to kill anyone who disagreed with them? The Christian Church cannot boast they are better. How many wars in history have been done in God's name? I bet you that God was up there laughing as he watched humans fight over which religion was right. He probably gets a kick out of it when we go to war in his name. I suppose you have guessed that even though I somehow believe there is a God, that he is no friend of mine.
VTT Global News:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueekgY45El
The government has announced that public health care as we know it is now a thing of the past. Our social welfare has been part of our country's identity for decades. Children could get a free education, the old people could get a pension and there was free health care. However, our population must get used to the fact that we can no longer afford all these things. Our national debt is now so high that some economists think that it's nearly impossible to pay back. This is a problem all over the world, where governments are spending more money than they get. In countries that do not have welfare like we do, the costs are so high and many people cannot afford insurance. The opposition in parliament has accused the government of “giving up”. The health unions have told us that the health system was in trouble for years, and now it is broken. This will cause unnecessary deaths.
Bishop O’Keeffe:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8CTczaUej
I admire my parents and their faith. There has been so much bad news in the media. We hear about war and unrest as well as threats of terror. Now we hear that the welfare system is falling apart. This means that they could not afford to be sick and their old age pensions were in trouble. Yet they asked me to pray for the people who needed it more than they did. My parents were worried more about the single mothers or the families that had no job. They were worried about the children and what sort of society they would inherit. There were so many crises in the world. The failing economy, war and the climate changes. Still, my mother told me that I should pray for those that need it. “I know you do not pray a lot,” she said, “but many people do not know Jesus. When someone does not know Jesus, they do not have hope. Jesus gives me the smiles and hope that I need. We need his light in the darkness. It will be hard for you to tell people the Good News when you have so many doubts yourself. Pray my son and return to Jesus”
Chloe:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBpHqIWzsr
There is one thing that I love. This is of course shopping. I have so many designer clothes and accessories that I could open my shop. I even have things that I may have only used once. The thing is that I love materialistic things. I have a good wage, so why not can I spoil myself? After all, if I do not spoil myself, then who will? I know some consider this as an addiction and some think I should donate the money to the poor. I cannot support every poor person in the world. I used to give money to charity organizations but stopped when I found out that a huge proportion goes to administration and wages. This makes my donations a waste of time. I honestly think it is the government that should help the poor. My husband told me that I could give them a dress that I never use, but what would a poor person do with a designer dress?
VTT Global News:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyv6xamuJR
The Pope held a speech today at the Vatican urging people to turn back to God. He stressed that the world was becoming a very dark place to live in. People were becoming more selfish and no longer wanted to help others. People no longer took families or marriages seriously. People no longer trusted each other and enemies were being made every day. The results were the breakdown of families and a rise in hatred between groups. Crime and violence were skyrocketing. The gap between the rich and the poor was becoming worse. The Pope said that more and more people were becoming desperate. More people were becoming hardened or losing hope. The only solution was to give our hearts back to Jesus. We needed to find him and become his friend. The world needed love and compassion. When the Prime Minister was asked to comment on the Pope's latest statement, she asked “Who listens to what the Pope says anymore?”
Father Darby:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wkRvuFu39
A Muslim woman visited me today. She had a problem. She helped Muslim women who were in controlling and bad marriages. It was hard for a Muslim woman to get out of the marriage. Even though civil laws allow divorce, a Muslim woman needed permission from the local Muslim leadership. In a way, the Muslims thought their religious laws were higher than our country's ones. This woman needed a place to meet. She knew that this was a Catholic Church and it was her last choice. I welcomed her and let her know that I thought that she was very courageous. I am sure some of my parishioners would be against that we help the Muslims. I would deal with that when they complained.
VTT Global News:165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCj1Pct4lo
There was chaos at the EU leader summit today. The leaders could not agree on anything. They disagreed on sending aid to Ukraine thinking that the EU had done its duty and now Ukraine had to find peace while some believe we must fight to the end. The leaders also disagreed on how we could help the climate. The worst disagreement was about how we stop refugees from Africa trying to come to Europe. Some countries, including ours, refuse to accept refugees, leaving the responsibility to the southern countries in Europe. Our political analyst says it is a dark day for the EU and the situation is expected to get worse. Our prime minister said, “The EU needs a strong leader. I do not care if we get another Hitler. We need someone to lead us.”
