For A Lighter Side of Life

An Initiative of Jesus Youth

Jesus showed up! A Missionary Movement at the Service of the Church
It was Palm Sunday and, because of a sore throat, five-year-old Johnny stayed home
from church with a sitter.
Don Bosco Utume March 29, Sunday: Issue 88
When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm branches.
The boy asked what they were for. • Jambo You(th) is a weekly news letter aimed at helping the Youth in moulding their daily
“People held them over Jesus’ head as he walked by,” his older brother explained. lives in Christ.
“Wouldn’t you know it,” the boy fumed. “The one Sunday I don’t go, He showed up!”
• Our vision is expressed in just two phrases: GOOD CHRISTIANS and
Something to Merit Heaven
RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS.
A cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the pearly gates.
"Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter asked. Pep-up : Stories for Reflection
"Well, I can think of one thing," the cowboy offered. "Once, on a trip to the Black Hills To the Young : A Lenten Poem

Features
of South Dakota, I came upon a gang of bikers, who were threatening a young Lenten Special : Questions About Lent
woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached Saint of the Week : St. Richard of Chichester
the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him in his face, kicked his Jokes : For A Lighter Side of Life
bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I then yelled, 'Now, Last Drop : Just For Today Lord
back off, or I'll kick the carp out of all of you!'"
St. Peter was impressed. He leafed through the great book he held. "When did this Humility and Greatness
happen?" A small aero plane carrying a few tourists was flying
"Just a couple of minutes ago. . . ." through the mountain ranges of the Himalayas in Indo-
China.
Last Drop After a while, the pilot announced through the micro-
Just For Today Lord phone, " That's it!.
I will live through the next 12 hours and not try to tackle all of life's problems at once. Mount Everest, highest mountain on Earth is on your
I will improve my mind. I will learn something useful. I will learn something that requires right". And the tourists gazed at that mountain.
effort, thought, and concentration. Then the pilot received a small note from one of the pas-
I will be agreeable. I will look my best, speak in a well modulated voice, be courteous and sengers written that, " Sir, you are mistaken. That is not
considerate. Everest".
I will not find fault with friend, relative or colleague. I will not try to change or improve any- The angry pilot said through the microphone, " I am not flying in this route for the first time.
one but myself. Who are you to question me?"
I will have a program. I might not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from The pilot again received a note from the passenger through the airhostess written, "Just
two enemies-- hurry and indecision. because I have climbed Everest."
I will do a good turn and keep it a secret. If anyone finds out it won't count. The passenger was none other than Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the top of
I will do two things I don't want to do, just for the exercise. Everest with Tenzing Norgay.
I will believe in myself. I will give my best to the world and feel confident that the world will Sir Hillary could have told among fellow passengers that the Pilot was wrong and He who
give it's best to me. climbed it was right.
But unlike the pilot who humiliated him through the microphone, Sir Hillary was humble
NB: Send your questions, comments or feedback to jamboyouth@yahoo.co.uk For further informa- enough to convey the truth with the Pilot using written notes in a very pleasing language.
tion and back issues of Jambo You(th) please check on our website: www.jamboyouth.multiply.com
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Editor: Shyjan Sdb
 A Lenten Poem Questions About Lent
Where is this Lent in the Bible?
My Lenten Prayer It's not there. The practice didn't start until a few centuries later. Fasting and abstinence
I pray to you Lord Jesus. are very old spiritual disciplines, but they aren't really doctrines (teachings). We use them
because they seem to help. Of course, the prophets said that they are only useful after
And thank you with my heart.
everything else is in its proper place: sacrifice without obedience is useless. So, it's a
You died for me Lord Jesus. practice in some religions, including many Christian denominations, but it isn't the same
From this world you did depart. as the Ten Commandments or the Beatitudes. Theoretically, it could be dropped at any
time. I should mention that abstaining from meat on Fridays is just one form of penance.
To me, you're still alive Lord Jesus. For American Catholics, we only abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent (and Ash Wednes-
Though you're not in sight. day), but we are all supposed to remember the sacrifice of Jesus in a special way on the
other Fridays, too, in whatever way is most meaningful to us (helps us pray, etc...).
You live on in my heart Lord Jesus. What do Catholics abstain from? What scriptures support this?
And protect me through the night. This has changed over the centuries: in the past, people abstained from foods prepared
with fat, or they fasted in a more strict way throughout Lent. Some people still observe
You were so brave Lord Jesus.
Lent in this way. Meat is (or at least was) the food of the wealthy, and to give it up was to
When they made you carry the cross of wood. eat the food of the poor, and so to remember one's poverty before God. It is a devotional
They knew not what they did Lord Jesus. practice of ancient (Jewish) origin, and not really based in Scripture, except for the ideas
in Isaiah 22:13, Daniel 10, etc... Abstaining from meat was a sign of penance or sorrow
They never quite understood. for sin, but eating it a sign of merriment. The current practices regarding meat in Lent (or
They hung you on a cross Lord Jesus. any time of year) could change (and they have), because they are not a part of Christian
doctrine, but only practices that help us in our faith.
And left you there to die.
They buried your body Lord Jesus.
So now I sit and ask why? SAINT for the WEEK
April 3 St. Richard of Chichester
You could have lived Lord Jesus. Richard de Wych was born in 1197 at Droitwich, near Worcester, and studied at the lead-
But you didn't want it that way. ing universities of Europe (Oxford, Bologna and Paris) before attracting the attention of
our own diocesan patron, St. Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was to
You died like you were supposed to Lord Jesus.
accompany Edmund to exile at Pontigny in France, where Edmund died, in 1240. Rich-
And rose up on the third day. ard then studied for the priesthood and after ordination served at Charing in Kent and at
You forgave them of their sins Lord Jesus. Deal. In 1244 Richard was chosen as Bishop of Chichester, not without controversy; he
could not take possession of the see until the following year. Richard was a model of the
When you were never forced to. bishop's ministry, as confessor, preacher, visitor, administrator and man of charity. He
There's one thing I want to tell you Lord Jesus. was particularly concerned with encouraging the Crusades to the Holy Land, though as a
spiritual pilgrimage more than a military expedition. He would have deplored the 'smash-
And it's that I LOVE YOU! and-grab-raid' air of some of the Crusades. He died at Dover on this day in 1253, was
by Jessica Metzger canonised in 1262 and enshrined in Chichester Cathedral in 1276. The shrine was de-
stroyed at the Reformation.

Never mistake activity for achievement Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
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