Sharing Time - WYD

I got this message from one of my mailing lists...
I like it and that's why I want to share it with you guys...

So this sharing message came after WYD08 ended few weeks ago...
I'm sure we all can still feel the warmth and merriment of the event even until now :)

I don't want to copy and paste the whole message, I'll just copy some of his message that I like..
He said:
I enjoy and am proud to the fact that the Catholic faith embraces other faiths - as our leader shown in his attempt to unify religions and other Christian denominations. I can't quote him directly, but he said along the lines that "All religions have the power to be one. If they choose to do so."

Doesn't the world become a wonderful Utopia if all faiths are united in one? I experienced a very small part of Buddhism when I was in India, and also from my own family who some are still buddhist. I must say that the moral values taught and the dedication to their deity is very similar or fundamentally "equal" to our own Catholic faith. Obviously I only barely scratched the surface of an equally diverse and culturally rich religion (there are also many denominations in Buddhism) - and some Catholic and Buddhist theologians would probably have a contrasting opinion, but why are we always focusing on those differences between faiths instead of focusing on creating a society where there is mutual respect between faiths? From my somewhat limited experience of other religions, I always see a doctrine that perpetuates love, respect, kindness and abhors violence and evil acts. Why then, must we squabble over petty differences? As we move towards a society that respects different cultures, surely we can respect other faiths and their uniqueness?

I really agree with this person. From what I understand, many religions teach us the same or at least similar good deeds so yeah WHY do we have to focus on our differences? Why do we have to fight with each other? We're all human...why don't we respect each other? Just like a marriage...in order for a marriage to work (not that I've experienced this :p) a couple should strive to understand and respect each other... if two people need that respect and compromise to bring warmth into the family...a world of millions of people OBVIOUSLY need MORE respect and compromise to make this whole world a peaceful world for people to live right?

Another good message:

A God who severely punishes those who are born into a loving and devout family who believe in other non-Christian religions surely cannot be a loving and just God that we love so much?

Agree on this too. One of the seminar that I attended taught me that there are still salvations outside Catholic... so yeah I do believe that our God is a loving God that will always treasure good people :)

This post is not written to show how good my belief is... I just want to share my thoughts and feelings :)

Let's respect each other...I believe everyone in this world has good morale...let's treat each other with respect and caring so that we can walk hand in hand to make this world a better place :)