Pope Francis Homily

"You can have flaws, be anxious, and ever angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments.To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness.It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures.It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity. Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny's author. It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul. It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life. Being happy is not beig afraid of your own feelings. It's to be able to talk about you. It is having the courage to hear a "no". It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified. It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us. To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It is to have maturity to be able to say: "I made mistakes". It is to have the courage to say "I am sorry". It is to have the sensitivity to say, "I need you". It is to have the ability to say "I love you". May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness ... That in spring may it be a lover of joy. In winter a lover of wisdom. And when you make a mistake, start all over again. For only then will you be in love with life. You will find that to be happy is not to have a perfect life. But use the tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your losses to train patience. Use your mistakes to sculpter serenity. Use pain to plaster pleasure. Use obstacles to open windows of intelligence. Never give up .... Never give up on people who love you. Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show. "
(Pope Francisco).

In God There's No Division

I am a Roman Catholic today because of my late father who was one of the earliest converts to Roman Catholicism in my community. Two of my late Uncles, Pa Momodu and Alhaji Yesuff were among the earliest converts to Islamism in my community. Today, some of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are Christians while others are Muslims. We all remain members of the same big and united family irrespective of our different religious backgrounds.

When I was growing up, we all lived in the same compounded. We celebrated both Christmas and Eid Al-Fitr festivals together as one big happy family. We ate Christmas rice together in fellowship. We shared Eid Al-Fitr meat together. At Christmas, both Christians and Muslim children sang and danced together on the streets in joyful moods. The elders, both Christians and Muslims, in appreciation of our childhood, gave us money which we all shared equally irrespective of our individual family religious differences.

My father had no problem with me going to the Mosque every Friday holding the Holy Qur’an of my great uncle Yesuff. In turn, he was happy to see me going to the Church with my father every Sunday. I never saw any contradiction in the message that I was getting from both the Church and the Mosque.  Both preached the message of God’s love, kindness and compassion for mankind. Both preached the message of God’s desire for mankind to live in peace and harmony with one another.  Both preached the message of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Children from both religions grew up with clear images of the differences between good and bad. Children grew up to know and understand that relationship based on love for one another builds. They also learned to know and understand that relationship based on hatred for one another destroys. As far as children were concerned, one of their daily mantras was, “What is good is good” and “what is bad is bad.” No room for relativism. A good child shared what he or she had with other children. A bad child keeps everything to self. A good child felt the pains, hardship and sufferings of other children. A bad child had no feeling for other children.

Why can’t we all return to the basics. Why can’t we start to teach our children those simple messages as preached by religions scholars of old – the essence of God in our lives. We should be preaching messages of love instead of hatred, of unity instead of division, of peace instead of war, of forgiveness instead of revenge. Yes, as individuals, we are uniquely different but we are the same, sharing common humanity all in search of happiness and striving to avoid pain and suffering. We are all the same.  Love keeps us together. Hatred keeps us divided.