For a Lighter Side of Life

Life of Man
God created the mule, and told him, "You will be a mule, working constantly from dusk to An Initiative of Jesus Youth
dawn, carrying heavy loads on your back. You will eat grass and lack intelligence. You will live A Missionary Movement at the Service of the Church
for 50 years."
The mule answered, "To live like this for 50 years is too much. Please give me no more than Don Bosco Utume October 11, Sunday: Issue 99
30." And it was so.
Then God created the dog, and told him, "You will hold vigilance over the dwellings of Man, to • Jambo You(th) is a weekly news letter aimed at helping the Youth in moulding their daily
whom you will be his greatest companion. You will eat his table scraps and live for 25 years." lives in Christ.
The dog responded, "Lord, to live 25 years as a dog like that is too much. Please, no more
than 10 years." And it was so. • Our vision is expressed in just two phrases: GOOD CHRISTIANS and
God then created the monkey, and told him, "You are a monkey. You shall swing from tree to RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS.
tree, acting like an idiot. You will be funny and you shall live for 20 years."
And the monkey responded, "Lord, to live for 20 years as a clown of the world is too much. Pep-up : Stories for Reflection
Please, Lord, give me no more than 10 years." And it was so. To the Young : For Christ and for His Kingdom

Finally, God created Man and told him, "You are Man, the only rational being that walks the
earth. You will use your intelligence to have mastery over the creatures of the world. You will
dominate the earth and live for 20 years."
And the man responded, "Lord, to be Man for only 20 years is too little. Please, Lord give me
the 20 years the mule refused, the 15 years the dog refused, and the 10 years the monkey
rejected." And it was so.
And so God made Man to live 20 years as a man, then marry and live 20 years like a mule
working and carrying heavy loads on his back. Then, he is to have children and live 15 years
as a dog, guarding his house and eating the leftovers after they empty the pantry; then, in his
old age, to live 10 years as a monkey, acting like an idiot to amuse his grandchildren. And it is
so.
Last Drop
Love
There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer;
no disease that enough love will not heal;
no door that enough love will not open;
no gulf that enough love will not bridge;
no wall that enough love will not throw down;
no sin that enough love will not redeem...
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble;
how hopeless the outlook; how muddled the tangle; how great the mistake.
A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all.
If only you could love enough you would be
the happiest and most powerful being in the world...
Emmet Fox
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Features
Points to Ponder : As your Friend..
Saint of the Week : St. Gall
Jokes : For a Lighter side of Life
Last Drop : Love
You Did it to Me!
I walked down Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. There was a filthy tramp, covered with soot from
head to toe. He had a huge beard. I'll never forget the beard. It was a gigantic beard with rotten
food stuck in it. He held a cup of McDonald's coffee and mumbled as he walked along the street.
He spotted me and said, "Hey, Mister. You want some of my coffee?"
I knew I should take some to be nice, and I did. I gave it back to him and said, "You're being
pretty generous giving away your coffee this morning. What's gotten into you that you're giving
away your coffee all of a sudden?"
He said, "Well, the coffee was especially delicious this morning, and I figured if God gives
you something good you ought to share it with people."
I figured, This is the perfect setup. I said, "Is there anything I can give you in return?" I'm
sure he's going to hit me for five dollars.
He said, "Yeah, you can give me a hug."
I was hoping for the five dollars.
He put his arms around me. I put my arms around him. And I realized something. He wasn't
going to let me go. He was holding on to me. Here I am an establishment guy, and this tramp is
hanging on me. He's hugging me. He's not going to let me go. People are passing on the street.
They're staring at me. I'm embarrassed. But little by little my embarrassment turned to awe.
I heard a voice echoing down the corridors of time saying, I was hungry. Did you feed me? I
was naked. Did you clothe me? I was sick. Did you care for me? I was the beggar (tramp) you
met on Chestnut Street. Did you hug me? For if you did it unto the least of these, my brothers
and sisters, you did it to me. And if you failed to do it unto the least of these, my brothers and
sisters, you failed to do it unto me. Tony Campolo

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Editors: Shyjan SDB , Edwin Tangie SDB
 For Christ and His Kingdom
The week before September 11, 2001, America's "Tuesday of Terror," 32-year-old Todd Beamer
and his wife, Lisa, had spent a romantic getaway in Italy. The couple, both 1991 graduates of
Wheaton College, returned home Monday rested and relieved to be reunited with their boys
David, 3, and Andrew, 1.
But extended family time would have to wait. The next morning Todd, an executive with Oracle,
had to be at a sales reps meeting in Northern California. He kissed Lisa, who was five months
pregnant with their third child, good-bye and headed to the Newark, New Jersey, airport, where
he boarded United Flight 93 for San Francisco.
About 90 minutes into the westbound flight, the Boeing 757 was approaching Cleveland when
three hijackers onboard identified themselves to the 34 passengers and 7 crew and proceeded to
take control of the cockpit and cabin. The plane, now piloted by the would-be terrorists, made a
sharp turn to the south.
Todd reached for the GTE Airfone in the back of one of the seats and was connected to a GTE
supervisor on the ground. He explained to her what was happening and indicated that he and the
other passengers would not likely survive. He presumed the pilot and copilot were already seri-
ously injured or dead.
The GTE employee explained to Todd what had already happened at the World Trade Center
and Pentagon. Upon hearing this news, Todd must have realized that the hijackers were intent
on crashing the plane into another prominent building near Washington D.C. (the direction they
were now headed). Even though the hijacker nearest Todd had a bomb belted around his middle,
the former Wheaton College baseball player told the GTE representative that he and a few oth-
ers were determined to do whatever they could to disrupt the terrorists' plan.
He then asked the person on the other end of the phone to call his wife and report their entire
conversation to her (including how much he loved her). Before hanging up, this committed Chris-
tian and devoted family man, who taught Sunday school each week, asked the GTE employee to
pray the Lord's Prayer with him. With the sound of passengers screaming in the background, she
complied. When they concluded the prayer, Todd calmly said, "Help me, God. Help me, Jesus."
The GTE employee then heard Todd say, apparently to the other three businessmen he'd al-
luded to earlier: "Are you ready, guys? Let's roll!" With that the phone went dead.
Within a few minutes, Flight 93 was nose-diving into a rural field 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh,
where it left a crater 40 feet deep as it disintegrated upon impact. Because Todd Beamer was
committed to Jesus Christ and his kingdom, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to put
the needs of others above his own fear of danger and imminent death. Thanks to him and the
three other businessmen who joined with him, the intended target in the nation's capital was not
reached, and who knows how many lives were saved because of that. No one on the ground was
killed.
According to Todd's wife, Lisa, "His example of courage has given me, my boys (and my unborn
baby) a reason to live."
That's what can happen when we, like Jesus Christ, put the needs of others ahead of our own.
Greg Asimakoupoulos
A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears. Woodrow
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As your friend…
I can’t always give you great advice,
But I can listen to you, and together we will search for an answer.
I can't change your past with all its heartache and pain,
or the future with its untold stories.
But I can be there when you need me to care.
I can't keep your feet from stumbling.
I can only offer my hand that you may grasp it and not fall.
our joys, triumphs, successes, and happiness are not mine.
Yet, I can share in your laughter.
our decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge.
I can only support you, encourage you, and help you when you ask.
I can't prevent you from falling away from friendship, from your values, from me.
I can only pray for you, talk to you and wait for you.
I can't give you boundaries, which I have determined for you.
But I can give you the room to change, room to grow, room to be yourself.
I can't keep your heart from breaking or hurting.
But I can cry with you and help you pick up the pieces
and put them back in place.
I can't tell you who you are.
I can only love you and be your friend.
SAINT for the WEEK
October 16 St. Gall
St. Gall was an Irishman from Leinster, born in the latter part of the 6th. century. He was a
monk of the Abbey of Bangor, near Belfast, founded in his lifetime by St. Comgall. One of
Comgall’s disciples was the famous abbot-missionary St. Columbanus; Gall accompanied
Columbanus and a small band on the journey of evangelisation to mainland Europe; their first
foundation was at Luxeuil, in the foothills of the Vosges mountains in Eastern France. From
there they proceeded into Switzerland and established a base at Bregenz. Gall seems to
have been a missionary of distinction; he was offered a Swiss bishopric and the abbacy of
Luxeuil when a vacancy arose, but refused both offices, remaining what he had been: part-
hermit, part-travelling preacher. At some stage Gall and Columbanus seem to have had a
disagreement (Columbanus was a notably determined individual), and Columbanus went on
into Italy without him. Later the monks of Columbanus’ foundation at Bobbio were to send
Gall their founder’s pastoral staff as a sign of reconciliation. Gall was a pioneer of Swiss
Christianity; he did not, however, found the abbey which bears his name, which arose on the
site of his hermitage about a century later – the abbey was dissolved in 1805, but the church
remains as a cathedral. The abbey had a particularly important library, including many manu-
scripts essential for the study of the development of Gregorian Chant. Gall died in 630, and
the cult of his sainthood began to spread in the 8th. century.
In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities. Janos Arany
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