In latest interview, Pope Francis reveals top 10 secrets to happiness

[shelby_sun]

[QUOTEto=FirstFiveSat;12227232]God’s chastisments generaly gave the people what they wanted, to their detriment. look at the chastisments visited on the isralites in the desert for 40 years.
if what your saying were true then why would the church need to excomunicate a pope as they did to pope horanus.

we know the truth, the truth is what the church teaches, anyone who contradicts the church is simply wrong. the church teaches that only God can make you happy.
anyone who thinks that your life is about being happy in this world has missed the
whole message of the gospels

To be clear I did mention how to be happy. How could anyone think the Pope would not put God in everything he listed. People really need to have some common sense. Those who find fault with what he said are just looking very hard it find fault.

 

[shelby_sun]

Who to ever dislikes what Pope Francis has to say or how he states it better calm themselves down because he is leading the church you claim to truly follow no matter who leads it. If you don’t like go somewhere else. He isn’t going to change who he is for you and if you don’t like what he is saying you are questioning the leaders of your church, God and the Holy Spirit you claim are guiding the church. Shame on you???

 

[FollowChrist34]

… but the problem I’m seeing is not only that people are not feeling any call to conversion, but rather an affirmation of not converting.

Excellent point, often overlooked. I worry about that too. All this huffing and puffing about evangelization and/or the Francis effect and what of it? Do you see anything different? Are newcomers beating down your parish door?

And the more I think about it, the more I think the fact that Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope could be a big part of the confusion about his style and message. (bigger than the Argentine cultural thing) Jesuits ARE a little different. And they don’t necessarily go in for evangelization. They definitely walk their own path.

Lastly, we should point out he’s a lot better educated than the Oprah, new age set. He wants people to go back to intelligent and responsible simple living (i.e. serious religious commitment, don’t sin / don’t judge, commitment to family, engage in community, responsible social policies, care for the environment, life of the mind). I don’t think he is superficial… or really too far from Jesus for that matter.

 

[Teelynn]

Excellent point, often overlooked. I worry about that too. All this huffing and puffing about evangelization and/or the Francis effect and what of it? Do you see anything different? Are newcomers beating down your parish door?

And the more I think about it, the more I think the fact that Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope could be a big part of the confusion about his style and message. (bigger than the Argentine cultural thing) Jesuits ARE a little different. And they don’t necessarily go in for evangelization. They definitely walk their own path.

Lastly, we should point out he’s a lot better educated than the Oprah, new age set. He wants people to go back to intelligent and responsible simple living (i.e. serious religious commitment, don’t sin / don’t judge, commitment to family, engage in community, responsible social policies, care for the environment, life of the mind). I don’t think he is superficial… or really too far from Jesus for that matter.

Exactly. This point can NOT be overlooked. Yes, we see the controversial statements from him, but he is right on the money with how we should live. He needs to hammer down on the Bishops in this country that live in ‘palaces’ worth over 1 million. Think what the Church in this country could do with that. I understand that some of them use it for other activities and community gatherings, but none of them should be ‘renovating’ these places to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They should be scaling WAY DOWN, especially in THIS ECONOMY.

 

[JohnPaul]

Who to ever dislikes what Pope Francis has to say or how he states it better calm themselves down because he is leading the church you claim to truly follow no matter who leads it. If you don’t like go somewhere else. He isn’t going to change who he is for you and if you don’t like what he is saying you are questioning the leaders of your church, God and the Holy Spirit you claim are guiding the church. Shame on you???

Go somewhere else? Perhaps you need to listen more to Pope Francis: “live and let live”.

 

[ringil]

I will say flat-out that I do not like Pope Francis.

He simply refuses to take on the major moral issues of the day. ‘Live and let live’? Seriously? Is that all we get from the Vicar of Christ? I could read that in People magazine.

‘Dignified jobs for young people’? What is the special expertise of the church in coping with teenage unemployment?

I can be happy if I respect and take care of nature?

And the worst thing we can do is proselytize. Wrong Pope Francis. The worst thing we can do is be neutral in the culture war.

We would never get this kind of wishy-washy nonsense from St. Pope John Paul II. He became great by defending the truths of the church and his refusal to change moral truth to accommodate an immoral age.

Predictably, the world loves Pope Francis. Didn’t Jesus say the world will hate us though?

I find your post unfortunate. We have the Pope we need and that God has given us.

As the shepherd of the Church every Pope has words of wisdom for the Church and it is our job to listen humbly how the words can work in our lives.

All of the Popes for the last 100 years at least have been good and holy men who brought the Church exactly what was needed at the time.

I don’t like to read folks criticize the Holy Father- it’s not our place.

 

[JohnPaul]

I don’t like to read folks criticize the Holy Father- it’s not our place.

The Catholic Church has had plenty of bad popes … how do you know he’s not one of them when he fails to mention God as a key to happiness?

 

[ringil]

The Catholic Church has had plenty of bad popes … how do you know he’s not one of them when he fails to mention God as a key to happiness?

He is my Pope. I trust God and it is not my place to question, second guess, or criticize the Vicar of Christ.

I am a Catholic and I follow Christ and His rock.

 

[shelby_sun]

Go somewhere else? Perhaps you need to listen more to Pope Francis: “live and let live”.

It is God’s place to judge. If you know more about how our Pope should act you should have become a priest and worked your way up. Yes, I let people live their own lives and worry about their own salvation because as a sinner I have no place to judge others.

 

[JohnPaul]

It is God’s place to judge. If you know more about how our Pope should act you should have become a priest and worked your way up. Yes, I let people live their own lives and worry about their own salvation because as a sinner I have no place to judge others.

So we are supposed to turn our brains off and not question the Pope’s approach simply because he is the Pope? There are plenty of warning signs about Pope Francis … it would only take blind loyalty not to see them.

Btw, your direction to leave the Church simply because I don’t care for Pope Francis’ style was not very Catholic of you.

 

[JohnPaul]

He is my Pope. I trust God and it is not my place to question, second guess, or criticize the Vicar of Christ.

Check out Buchanan’s article ‘Papal Neutrality in the Culture War’.

Should Pat have not written this thoughtful article because it’s “not his place”? He’s a lifelong, faithful Catholic, steeped in the history of the Church … and he should keep his opinions to himself?

 

[gilliam]

Check out Buchanan’s article ‘Papal Neutrality in the Culture War’.

Should Pat have not written this thoughtful article because it’s “not his place”? He’s a lifelong, faithful Catholic, steeped in the history of the Church … and he should keep his opinions to himself?

I won’t say if it was his place or not, but he puts up a red herring that the Holy Father never said and then argues against it. Pat says we shouldn’t be neutral in the culture war for the soul of the West… OK, that is a point to discuss (not really on this thread since it is off topic to this thread), Why? Because it was never a proposition the Holy Father made.

 

[FirstFiveSat]

it is the duty of every catholic to oppose anybody even if its the pope
if they contrdict the church. Indeed st francis said the last pope will not
be a true pastor but a destroyer. given the logic of a lot of posters here, if this were to be
the case then if/when he comes he shold not be oppossed.
As i said before there has been bad popes in the past.
the biggest travesty is people losing their souls, this is the message of the Jesus and the gospels, anyone who thinks its youth unemployment being happy in this world is confused at best.

God gave us 10 commandments to live by, pope francis gives us 10 ways to live to make you happy. How many of them corespond.
Blind loyality led to a disaster within the church over the last century.

 

[shelby_sun]

So we are supposed to turn our brains off and not question the Pope’s approach simply because he is the Pope? There are plenty of warning signs about Pope Francis … it would only take blind loyalty not to see them.

Btw, your direction to leave the Church simply because I don’t care for Pope Francis’ style was not very Catholic of you.

About as Catholic as you are sounding. I really wasn’t thrilled with Pope Benedict but people that knew far better than I thought he should be our Pope. Not every Pope will be liked or approved of by everyone. Now it is simply your turn to wait until the next one is elected like many of us have already done.

Are you one of those who believes the choice is guided by the Holy Spirit and that God has a hand in it, like a “good Catholic” or is that just when you like the Pope that was selected.

 

[JohnPaul]

I really wasn’t thrilled with Pope Benedict but people that knew far better than I thought he should be our Pope. Not every Pope will be liked or approved of by everyone. Now it is simply your turn to wait until the next one is elected like many of us have already done.

You directed me to leave the Church because I don’t care for Pope Francis yet you admit that you didn’t care for Pope Benedict. Why didn’t you take your own advice?

 

[sallybutler]

Could we stop with the who is more Catholic than who? (Sorry if my grammar is incorrect. I’m never sure when to use whom versus who).

 

[shelby_sun]

You directed me to leave the Church because I don’t care for Pope Francis yet you admit that you didn’t care for Pope Benedict. Why didn’t you take your own advice?

Because like I said better men than me with far more understanding an insight picked him to be our Pope. You seem to think you know more than they do. Plus, I wasn’t anywhere close to being as worked up as you seem to be.

 

[Tommy999]

I’m not Catholic but I deeply respect Catholicism and Pope Francis. It appears to me that he has brought a simple and genuine approach to the faith without a lot of bells and whistles.

I presume that his Top 10 Secrets to Happiness list was meant for a wider audience than just Catholics since he doesn’t touch much on God or the Catholic faith and he emphasizes to not proselytize.

A possible secondary motive may have been to plant a seed of evangelization in the hearts and minds of those with little or no faith who have a secular mindset.

Perhaps he thought that if they listened to him on the topic of happiness, they might listen to other things that he has to say in the future when it comes to faith and morals.

Perhaps – If he had used a lot of religious language – it may not have been as effective.

In short, I think he was reaching out in evangelization to the secular community and used his words accordingly so they could relate to him. If I were a Catholic, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[shelby_sun]

I’m not Catholic but I deeply respect Catholicism and Pope Francis. It appears to me that he has brought a simple and genuine approach to the faith without a lot of bells and whistles.

I presume that his Top 10 Secrets to Happiness list was meant for a wider audience than just Catholics since he doesn’t touch much on God or the Catholic faith and he emphasizes to not proselytize.

A possible secondary motive may have been to plant a seed of evangelization in the hearts and minds of those with little or no faith who have a secular mindset.

Perhaps he thought that if they listened to him on the topic of happiness, they might listen to other things that he has to say in the future when it comes to faith and morals.

Perhaps – If he had used a lot of religious language – it may not have been as effective.

In short, I think he was reaching out in evangelization to the secular community and used his words accordingly so they could relate to him. If I were a Catholic, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

Well put and insightful. Thank you,

 

[RosslynV]

We should be wary when protestants (like posters here) are finding our Pope agreeable to them.

Just before this Pope was elected, lightening hit Vatican. Ponder that .