Superman!.... Is he a catholic?

Superman!.... Is he a catholic?

Is superman created in the image of Christ just to deny the existence of God? Is superman the new Christ?

These are a few interesting facts which show us a common thread that we can see passing in Jesus and superman

·         Man of steel not of this earth

·         Was raised by human foster parents

·         Slowly came into his full powers

·         Started his good works in young adulthood

·         Championed the good

·         Had both “truth” and the “way” in his most famous motto

·         People did not realize who he truly was

·         He relentlessly fought against evil

·         Novel (death and life of superman) he spends time in a tomb, people later find it empty, he is seen again on earth

In our culture, superheroes often serve as models. This is especially through of boys. Superman, Batman, Spider-man, etc. and also inculturated forms like Saktiman, Karma, Krish etc. As we grow older we realize that there is no superman or other such hero’s in reality. Our sturdy or other things may influence us very much and we become so sophisticated that we even deny God. Quite interestingly some highly influential philosophers, take for example Nietzsche; said God is Dead. We need a superman. We can see that he merely replaced God by placing superman in his place. We see that some atheistic philosophers and scientists who say that it’s the ignorant who believe in God actually themselves retain a belief in a superman.

‘The conception of “superman”, an idea put forth by some as an alternative to Christian belief, can actually help lead us to Christ’  - Kevin Vost 

Vocation…. Priest? No ways!

Vocation…. Priest? No ways!

The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare which means “to call”. No sooner we hear the word vocation we associate it to priesthood. It’s true that it is God who calls us, but he has a different plan for each one of us. Imagine a word in which all are priests and nuns. This is not possible. The one common thing we share with all humanity is, our first calling, our basic vocation is to love. We carry out this calling in different ways some are called to be farmers, some teachers and some others doctors. Priesthood is one among many other vocations. Most likely the reason to narrow down the term vocation to just priesthood or religious life is because it’s God who calls. We interpret this calling as the calling to serve God and the best way according to many is by becoming priest or religious. All these vocations are equal, there is no superior and inferior. There is a difference between vocation and career. Vacation is living life for others where as career focuses on self. Vocation involves Gods intervention, career is totally human. Career is money oriented where as vocation is not. There are certain life choices that can be looked upon either as a career or as a vocation. What makes the difference is the attitude of the individual. How do we now whether we are following are vocation. Are you happy? A wise man would ask. Yes! If you are happy, that means you are on the right path but you may not be happy always. Apart from you being happy ask whether god and those I am serving are happy. You may always not get a positive response immediately it’s a process. Vocation is associated with passion. All this things about being happy on not is a complicated process or task. Now psychologist too offers us some solutions. We can go for various tests and find out our personality type which can in turn help us to follow our call. It’s true that something’s we are passionate amount my not help us to have a royal lifestyle but it can give us what nothing on earth can give that is happiness.

Nothing can be predetermined based on background or cast or class. Let us challenge our own limits and pursue our vocation.

It’s a correct insight!

How do we know whether an insight is correct or not? An insight is correct if there are no further relevant questions. No.. no.. it’s not simple to say that there are no further relevant questions that occur to me.

To pass a judgment hastily would be rash. But on the other hand if we do not decide or are very slow to make decisions, this itself may take away the possibility of further question. So how do we strike a balance?

·        Give further questions a chance to arise. We got be alert, spend time over the issue and if possible test it in action.

·        See that the problem is set correctly. To set a problem correctly we have to be familiar with it. And to be familiar we have to already know many things about it. This is a vicious circle.

·        The process of learning. The vicious circle is broken by the process of learning. Here we do not judge, we suspended our own judgments, but we take the judgments from others. The process of learning is a self-correcting process.

·        Temperament. Rashness and indecision are based in temperament. We need to be aware of our temperament and make efforts to overcome our tendencies.

Even after following all these points we cannot be certain. This is not a formula to get a correct insight or to make a good judgment, it’s just an outline. These are just some factors to be kept in mind.

What is Success?????

True success is measured by the feeling of knowing we have done a job well and have achieved our objective. Success is measured by our position in life but by the obstacles we overcame to get there. Success in life is not determined by how we are doing compared with other, but by how we are doing compared with what we are capable of doing. Successful people compete against themselves. They better their own record and keep improving constantly. Success is not measured by how high we go up in life. But rather by how many times we bounce back when we fall down. It is this bounce back ability that determines success.

Most people give up just when they are about to achieve success. They give up at the last minute of the game. Successful people do not do great things, they only do small things in a great way. Success and happiness go hand in hand. Success is getting what you want and happiness is wanting what you get.

This whole essay may sound very obvious but the thing is, do we really reflect on this? We know it as theory; do we put it in practice? We learn the value of success when we taste failure. So let us enjoy when we are successful and try our best to get back and learn when we face defeat.  

Hi God!. Are You there.

God is a name

We use to identify You

As if to describe somebody set apart

Your essence is to exist

Absolute purity in all Your parts.

The ancient Greeks tried to know You

Some said You are the divine craftsman

Others said You are the pure act,

The unmoved mover or the first substance

Then came the dark ages

With some really bright people and proofs

You are the divine Being

Bang! Came Thomas Aquinas with his 5 proofs

When things were falling in place

Another blow! An opposition, question, etc.

God is not a proposition or principle to be proved,

But a person to be experienced

So now … how can I know You?

Are You just a projection of my thoughts?

Have You created me or is it I who have created You?

Are You merely the supremely intelligent

Or unique substance or the supreme monad

If just these then You must be kidding me

So I need the wager just to be on the safer side

Just to make sure that I won’t suffer

Is it like a business deal to believe You

If You exist, profit! If not there is no lose

Oh! Some say it’s a better “bet” to believe You

No! No! I believe You because I love You

I can feel Your love Your presence

You sacrificed Your son for me

I am because You are

And so I fall before Your brilliance

In adoration of Your being.

And call You humbly from within me what You are in truth

My truly loving god.

Fully animal knowing

Do animals have intellect? I don’t know or not really sure but I am of the opinion that animals do have intelligence: the dog recognizes his master, the elephant remembers his family. A dolphin likes to be around humans they are playful, a seal knows to spin a ball on his nose.

A cat robs food because he is hungry, a man too robs, the cat is punished the man is put behind bars. Cat does not rob again or is careful while robbing. The man too shows a similar behaviour. The man uses his reason what does the cat use? Is it instinct? Is It not that we human beings too learn or use our instinct. We may again defend this age old arguments saying that we have reason we are superior to animals. I am not saying that we and animals are at the same level. I would like to think that they too are intelligent but we are unable to understand them. We are unable to understand them because we think about animals the way we human beings think and not the way animals think about animals.

Is it only instinct that the animals use or is it something more ???????

Is arguing; His existence needed

Does God exist? Yes. Do we need to prove his existence? No. there are proofs given by Thomas Aquinas. Are these proofs useless, no. proofs are good it helps us increase faith. We scratch our heads so much to prove that God exists that God no longer seems to be supreme, he becomes just like any other object. We reason so much that there is no place for faith. We have heard that faith and reason are the two wings of Christianity. If we run after reason all the time then there is no faith or very little faith. A bird cannot fly just with one wing. So to really have a good relationship with God we need to give space also for the faith element. To allow faith to grow, according to me we need to give a break to our quest of proving the existence of God. A simple man who has not done a research on Gods existence according to me seems to be more closer to God than all the great scholars who try to prove Gods existence. Live a simple life and simply believe in God. I exist because he is.