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When Pets Eclipse Human Dignity

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The rising trend of prioritizing love for Pets over human relationships, reflects a complex mix of social, cultural, and philosophical changes. Some argue that these shifts signal a deeper issue — a movement away from seeing human life as uniquely dignified and intrinsically valuable. This trend has sparked conversations on the concept of "trans-speciesism" and the potential devaluation of human life, where animals and humans are often treated as ethically and morally equivalent. Individualism and the Appeal of Pets Pets, unlike human relationships, require relatively little compromise or emotional vulnerability. They provide affection without placing demands on one’s time, moral responsibility, or deeper personal growth in the same way relationships with people do. This fits well within an individualistic framework that emphasizes self-fulfillment and personal comfort. Relationships with pets are less likely to involve the complexities or sacrifices that human relationships

The joy of Lent

The words we generally associate with Lent are the unpleasant ones like, desert, heat, dryness, wilderness, fear, beasts, hunger, thirst, loneliness etc. We may think, for Jesus, the forty days he spent in the wilderness was an unpleasant experience. But on the contrary, it may well be the best forty days in his life, spent in deep relationship with the father. Jesus' victory over the crafty schemes of the devil at the end of his fast, is the proof of the immense strength one receives in prayer (dwelling in the presence of God). Lent begins with a very powerful scripture passage where Jesus, soon after his baptism is lead by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Jesus, with extreme clarity, conviction and determination destroys every one of the temptations and commands the devil to get away and at once he does. The devil presents before Jesus, practical sounding, too good to be true worldly promises, suggestions and challenges, while attempting to tempt him. Complying to devi

Not without a fight

God promised the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt, Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. This land was not as we might think an unoccupied single piece of land, full of trees and cows and honey combs waiting to welcome God's people but a land occupied by corrupt, immoral people who were hardly good to mingle with let alone to live with. Taking procession of the promised land was not a cake walk. God's people had to wage a series of wars to wipe the opposition out. Yes, God was with the Israelites yet the victory was not without a fight. Jesus redeemed us from sin and promised the Kingdom of God for all those who believe in him yet it is not without a fight. The signs God did for the Israelites were merely foreshadows the greater works Christ would do during his time. Like the Israelites, people of the new Jerusalem - the Church would also have to fight battles to enter the promised kingdom. Jesus taught us to believe in Him and trust him. He promised to never leav

Why do you refuse to eat?

Are you refusing to eat the lavish meal your father has prepared and served just for me because the rule insists you must not eat unless you are washed clean. Water flows in abundance. What stops you? A weak will? Lack of strong desire? Underlying affinity to the unclean? or is it just ignorance?

The new 'normal'

We exist in relationship with God whether we know it or not. In our relationship with God, we are either embracing Him or denying Him. Sometimes we hear people opine, "I don't over do my spirituality". They are careful not to be seen as religious extremists or fanatics. They are concerned a spiritual stand might offend a few. The question arises "what is normal? Active involvement is spiritual matters or moderate or little involvement? Are those who seem to be talking only about God, heaven, hell, eternal life and spirituality religious extremists? Some think that God exits to distribute goodies to those who please him and punish those who displease him. Some conclude if God has given them intelligence, knowledge, talents and other capacities to achieve their life’s ambitions they should not disturb God. It is enough that they pray that God blesses their fabulous plans and not thwart their dearly plans. God is not human nor does he think or act like one of u

Do I really love Jesus?

Do I really love Jesus?. What would be an indicator that can show me how much I love him? My love for Jesus is not measured in the success of my ministry or the extraordinary God experiences I may have. Those are nothing but the direct result of God's immeasurable love and mercy for us. God gives himself to us in a measure that we are completely unworthy of. Gods love is not a reciprocation of what we do to him. We are incapable of doing any Good work except when he does it in us and through us. How then will I know how much I love Jesus? In our spiritual life, we do many things as part of a routine. If not as a routine, we could be doing them for the love of self and justification of self. As we know one Holy Mass is powerful enough to transform a person into the likeness of Christ. One confession is enough to make us as pure as I ought to be. But we walk out of every Mass pretty much the same way. Sometimes some thoughts or feelings may linger for a while but they soon fade

Inextinguishable Happiness

Our happiness here on earth is an indicator of how happy we will be in eternity. Eternity in heaven is unquenchable happiness and it begins right here. Happiness is not the absence of pain and anguish, but the Inextinguishable joy we receive in Jesus Christ. This is the joy of having 'found ourselves' in Christ. This very joy is what Jesus displays on the cross. Happiness is to be found in Christ crucified. Jesus on the cross is not a sad person. Jesus is happy because he is detached to wealth, power, pleasure and honor, the very things in which we seek our happiness. Jesus has nothing to lose but only gains, immeasurable gains. What Jesus does on the cross is growing out of himself, surrendering himself totally to the will of the Father, and embracing what it takes to set his children free, for them to be eternally happy. To be happy, we must despise what Jesus despised on the cross and love what Jesus loved on the cross. Jesus said if you want to be my disciple, tak

I'm a sinner

When we sin and lose the sanctifying grace, there seem to be a futile attempt from our part to ascribe false holiness and false righteousness upon us and pretend to look alright. Eventually we end up having to manufacture fake goodness because pride prevents us from accepting the failure and return to the mercy of God. When we lose the state of grace we are in a state of fear and rejection. God becomes a merciless judge and we stay away from His sight. We begin to doubt the goodness of God. We assume God is angry. So we stop praying, we cave in and start doing useless things, we act weird, our daily duties are postponed, daily prayer is rescheduled, happiness is lost, people around us seem unkind, we find excuses for not doing things we ought to do, And these excuses begin to look serious and original - the church will be noisy, traffic is bad, I have a headache, I must catch some sleep and the list is endless. The best word to describe the post sin drama is 'procrastination'