YES YES YES PAPA FRANCESCO!!!
Do you know what he wants us to give up for Lent this year?
Do you know what he wants us to give up for Lent this year?
Indifference.
That's right. Forget all your self-focussed little weight loss challenges, your devotional promise to give up alcohol. Serve God by serving other human beings.
This is what I have been saying! SMILE.
Smile to each other. Take the time.
Hold the door.
Telephone someone.
E-mail a compliment.
Smile to each other. Take the time.
Hold the door.
Telephone someone.
E-mail a compliment.
The Pope understands that he is asking something that is far harder than giving up a certain food group, or even fasting. But that's what he wants.
And it's what I beg of you too.
And it's what I beg of you too.
And we don't mean bleeding-heart share something on Facebook. What we mean is, USE your Hands and your Heart to actually serve the people around you. Direct, personal interaction. It might be your co-workers. It might be your friends. It might be the people who live in your house with you. But you're going to serve them.
Here's an example, randomly shared on Facebook by someone:
Below I offer a little to-do listto make your 40 days and nights of Giving Up Indifference easier.
It seems like such simple advice, but on the other hand, so many people do not seem to do it, that I thought I would offer a few simple steps.
1. Turn off the "news." It's just a carefully chosen selection of The Most Horrible things going on in the world today, and it is keeping you hardenedto the true, wonderful reality around you. Turn it off and this challenge will be easier.
2. Force your mouth into a smile as you pass other people. You might not be feeling it. That doesn't matter. Do it anyway.
*This one will actually physiologically change your mood -- if you get into the habit of forcing yourself to smile, your body will actually have more happiness chemicals coursing through it, and will heal and maintain itself better.
*This one will actually physiologically change your mood -- if you get into the habit of forcing yourself to smile, your body will actually have more happiness chemicals coursing through it, and will heal and maintain itself better.
3. Write ONE E-MAIL PER DAY telling someone how much they have meant to you.
4. When you see someone doing a job, help.
5. Stop when you get to a door. Open it. Look behind you each time. If someone else is coming, wait those few seconds, and hold the door for them.
References:
Here is the whole Papal Message for 2015:
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