Pope and 11th Commandment..

This year, the Catholic World Youth Day was held in Sydney, Australia. Those who attended it got a chance to listen to Pope Benedict XVI. So what? Yes, it has nothing to do with me, nothing at all. But when somebody says something good, I don’t mind listening to it. What Pope said was true.

“In so many of our societies, side by side, with material prosperity, a spiritual dessert is spreading, an interior emptiness, an un named fear, a quiet sense of despair”

(Well, that’s not in India. That’s what a recent survey (happiness among youth) shows. We are not facing any spiritual dessert.)

He also asked the youth to avoid:

“..the shallowness, apathy and self absorption which deaden our souls and poison our relationships”

He did not forget to say he is deeply sorry for the evil act of sexually abusing the children by clergymen.

Finally, he asked the Christians (yes, I think he asked the Christians and not just Catholics) to become the messengers of love to counter a world that that is increasingly becoming spiritually barren.

I liked that coz of two different reasons. One, if every Christian becomes the messengers of love, (forget it, that is next to impossible thing , don’t forget Bush is alive), if at least a big majority live up to it, they can change the world for sure coz they are there in almost every country.

Secondly, living like the messengers of love and merely spreading just religion and washing the hands is different. Pope is very much aware of the (forced) evangelism cum conversion around the world. He has the statistics. But he did not hide the fact that a spiritual dryness also is growing. He stressed on being spiritual rather than religious. That’s a good sign…

Is there any 11th commandment? I don’t know. Anyway, Jesus said:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I loved you” – John 15:12