Note: I found this in my digital file. Let me share with you.
Email dated 11 Mar 2012,
In response to an email sent by Milwida Sevilla-Reyes, friend and high school classmate
dear mil,
this is ok, something good for refurbishing the image of the catholic church and its clergy. i have no doubt these accomplishments cited here will be good for publicity. the catholic church having more schools and colleges than other religions; its clergy having less cases of pedophilia than others; and so on. all these concern the public lives of clergy and the public image of the church. as with other churches, catholic or not, they will do something to clean up their image for obvious reason: they need to survive as an institution; they must continue to raise resources from the people and donors who support them, and so on.
what i am more concerned about is how our faith is helping us to be a kinder and more charitable and humane person towards each other, including those who do not share our religious beliefs; how we exercise tolerance in an increasingly divisive world; how we truly care for those who are most in need; how our faith translates itself into actual deeds that reduce cruelty and selfishness and moral hypocrisy,
in a social group, for instance, or in a family, why is it so difficult sometimes to achieve
cohesion or harmony? why is our faith not strong enough to hold us long enough for a truly loving and caring relationship? in such a setting, we can probably deduce the irrelevance of what we believe in to how we behave towards each other? how can we extend such caring to those who are outside our group and desperately need our care?
i think this is the dilemma faced not only by catholics but by other faiths as well. the percentage of people who list their religion as None is steadily increasing in recent years. In fact, they are now called the Nones in some publications. How do we explain this trend?
mil, i do not have the answer. the others, i think, pretend they do but i am not so sure.
just a reflection.
Nes
this is ok, something good for refurbishing the image of the catholic church and its clergy. i have no doubt these accomplishments cited here will be good for publicity. the catholic church having more schools and colleges than other religions; its clergy having less cases of pedophilia than others; and so on. all these concern the public lives of clergy and the public image of the church. as with other churches, catholic or not, they will do something to clean up their image for obvious reason: they need to survive as an institution; they must continue to raise resources from the people and donors who support them, and so on.
what i am more concerned about is how our faith is helping us to be a kinder and more charitable and humane person towards each other, including those who do not share our religious beliefs; how we exercise tolerance in an increasingly divisive world; how we truly care for those who are most in need; how our faith translates itself into actual deeds that reduce cruelty and selfishness and moral hypocrisy,
in a social group, for instance, or in a family, why is it so difficult sometimes to achieve
cohesion or harmony? why is our faith not strong enough to hold us long enough for a truly loving and caring relationship? in such a setting, we can probably deduce the irrelevance of what we believe in to how we behave towards each other? how can we extend such caring to those who are outside our group and desperately need our care?
i think this is the dilemma faced not only by catholics but by other faiths as well. the percentage of people who list their religion as None is steadily increasing in recent years. In fact, they are now called the Nones in some publications. How do we explain this trend?
mil, i do not have the answer. the others, i think, pretend they do but i am not so sure.
just a reflection.
Nes
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