Jambo Youth Issue 99

For a Lighter Side of Life Life of Man

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 NB: Send your questions, comments or feedback to [email protected] For further information and back issues of Jambo You(th) please check on our website: www.jamboyouth.multiply.com For Jambo You(th) in PDF log on to www.esnips.com/web/JamboYouth

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Jambo You(th) 2009

An Initiative of Jesus Youth A Missionary Movement at the Service of the Church

October 11, Sunday: Issue 99

Don Bosco Utume

Jambo You(th) is a weekly news letter aimed at helping the Youth in moulding their daily lives in Christ. Our vision is expressed in just two phrases: GOOD CHRISTIANS and

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RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS.

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God created the mule, and told him, "You will be a mule, working constantly from dusk to dawn, carrying heavy loads on your back. You will eat grass and lack intelligence. You will live for 50 years." The mule answered, "To live like this for 50 years is too much. Please give me no more than 30." And it was so. Then God created the dog, and told him, "You will hold vigilance over the dwellings of Man, to whom you will be his greatest companion. You will eat his table scraps and live for 25 years." 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. God then created the monkey, and told him, "You are a monkey. You shall swing from tree to 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. Please, Lord, give me no more than 10 years." And it was so. 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.

Pep-up To the Young Points to Ponder Saint of the Week Jokes Last Drop

: Stories for Reflection : For Christ and for His Kingdom : As your Friend.. : St. Gall : For a Lighter side of Life : 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

www.jesusyouth.org Editors: Shyjan SDB , Edwin Tangie SDB

Jambo You(th) 2009

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 seriously 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 others 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 Christian 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 alluded 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 www.jamboyouth.multiply.com

Jambo You(th) 2009

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: parthermit, 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 manuscripts 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 www.esnips.com/web/JamboYouth

Jambo You(th) 2009