Halloween party ideas 2015
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

Sunday, March 15, 2015
gambar dari footballsoccerschool.com
Bar bagi orang Italia adalah tempat untuk berbicara banyak hal. Dari topik politik, sosial, budaya, ekonomi, bisnis, mafia, sepak bola, perjalanan, kerja, dan sebagainya. Itulah sebabnya bar menjadi tempat yang selalu dikunjungi. Pagi, siang, sore, dan malam, bar selalu ramai oleh pengunjung.

Bar bukan saja bagi kalangan berduit. Semua orang bisa datang ke bar. Duduk dan menikmati minuman dan makanan di sana. Bar tidak mematok harga tinggi. Harganya bervariasi. Dari yang paling murah, 1 atau 2 euro sampai yang mahal misalnya 10 atau 12 euro. Itulah sebabnya di bar, tidak ada pengotakan menurut harga. Yang membeli dengan harga mahal dari golongan kaya dan yang membeli dengan harga murah dari golongan kurang kaya. Tidak ada! Di bar, semua orang punya tempat. Yang mau minum kopi saja ada. Yang mau makan pizza ada. Yang Cuma ambil segelas bir ada. Banyak tawaran. Itulah sebabnya bar menjadi tempat bagi semua orang.

Selain bar, orang Italia juga pada umumnya suka menonton sepak bola. Maklum, Italia adalah negeri sepak bola. Italia menjadi negeri yang selalu difavoritkan menjadi pemenang piala dunia. Dunia sepak bola Italia memang sudah terkenal di seluruh dunia. Meski kenyatannya tidak selalu menang bahkan tahun lalu sama sekali tidak menunjukkan kehebatannya. Lama-lama dunia sepak bola Italia kalah pamor dengan liga lainnya misalnya liga Spanyol, Inggris, Prancis, dan Jerman.

Dan kini dunia sepak bola Italia memang sudah sampai pada puncak kerapuhannya. Di balik ketenarannya, tersimpan sejuta keburukannya. Di luar tampak bagus, tapi dalamnya rapuh. Dunia sepak bola Italia saat ini ibaratnya bis metro mini di Jakarta yang di luarnya dipoles cat baru nan mengkilat, tapi di dalamnya keropos. Bahkan, sesekali bisa saja terbakar di tengah jalan. Dunia sepak bola Italia bukanlah bis metro mini tetapi memang dunia sepak bola Italia sedang keropos seperti mesin bis metro mini di Jakarta.

Keburukannya ini makin nyata dengan bagkrutnya beberapa klub seperti Parma. Beberapa klub lain sudah pindah peringkat dari A ke B. Parma pun tampaknya sudah sebagian kakinya di seri B. Parma hanyalah contoh klub yang gagal. Gagal dalam hal manajemen. Beberapa pengamat menunjukkan hal ini misalnya tertundanya pembayaran gaji pemain, pembayaran stadion, pembayaran pajak klub pada penyelenggara liga nasional, dan sebagainya. Bahkan, beberapa pengamat terang-terangan mengatakan Parma sedang dirasuki mafia akut. Pratik mafia memang bukan main ruginya bagi Italia. Bukan saja di dunia sepak bola. Dunia lain pun kena. Politik, keamanan, ekonomi, dan sebagainya. Rapuhnya manajemen sepak bola Italia saat ini hanyalah salah satu akibat dari kuatnya jaringan mafia di Italia saat ini.

Mafia juga masuk kota Parma. Tentu dengan berbagai modus. Modus yang kadang sulit dilihat tetapi akibatnya tampak. Mafia bekerja seperti angin. Angin tidak bisa dilihat tetapi bisa dirasakan tiupannya, bisa dilihat akibat gerakannya lewat daun yang bergoyang. Mafia di kota Parma juga demikian. Teman saya yang penggemar klub Parma mengatakan, “Baru kali ini Parma mengalami keadaan sulit seperti ini.” Ini berarti betapa sulitnya keadaan Parma saat ini. Teman-teman lain berkomentar, “Mafia sudah masuk dan merusak manajemen klub Parma.”

Boleh jadi ada benarnya komentar teman-teman ini. Ada beberapa bangunan di luar kota Parma yang diduga sebagai milik para mafia. Bangunan ini dibiarkan kosong begitu saja. Letak bangunannya juga aneh. Gedung itu dibangun jauh dari perumahan penduduk. Tidak ada rumah penduduk di sekitar. Bangunan itu berdiri sendiri. Bagi orang baru, akan muncul pertanyaan, ini bangunan apa, untuk apa dibangun di sini. Dan beberapa jawaban spekulasi pun muncul. Bangunan ini dibangun oleh mafia untuk mengelabuhi anggaran uangnya. Boleh jadi demikian. Hanya saja kadang sulit menunjukkan buktinya. Wong mafia bekerja seperti angin.

Bicara tenang mafia juga kadang-kadang terang-terangan berlangsung di bar. Sambil minum bir, perencanaan pun dimulai. Memang kata mafia haram disebut di tempat umum. Penulis pernah bertanya tentang hal ini kepada orang Italia sendiri. Dan, langsung dijawab, lebih baik kita bicarakan nanti. Tidak boleh menyebut kata itu di tempat umum. Boleh jadi antara sesama anggota jaringan mafia, bisa saja. Itulah sebabnya, di bar, sambil minum bir, lebih baik menyaksikan pertandingan sepak bola saja. Tidak dilarang dan bahkan banyak yang suka.

Menonton sepak bola di bar tentu benda sensasinya ketika menonton langsung di stadion. Orang Italia sendiri gemar datang ke stadion. Ini salah satu pemasukan besar bagi klub sepak bola. Sayang, dengan adanya krisis, banyak orang Italia yang menanggalkan atau mengurangi kebiasaan ini. Hanya mereka yang penggemar berat yang datang ke stadion. Meski krisis, orang Italia tidak kehilangan minat untuk menyaksikan sepak bola. Dunia sepak bola yang mendarah-daging ini memang sulit dihilangkan. Dengan berbagi cara, mereka mencoba mencari jalan keluarnya.

Salah satu jalan keluarnya adalah menyaksikan di TV. Bisa nonton di rumah masing-masing. Sayang, cara ini pun tidak gampang. Tidak semua pertandingan ditayang di stasiun TV. Kalau mau menyaksikan semua pertandingan, harus berlangganan stasiun khusus misalnya SKY SPORT atau MEDIA SET PREMIER. Harganya pun tidak murah. Untuk SKY SPORT misalnya, dipatok harga dengan kisaran 600 euro ke atas dalam setahun. Kalau dirupiahkan kira-kira Rp. 9.000.000. Mahal bukan? Daripada buang-buang biaya sebesar itu setiap tahun, ada cara yang lebih mudah.

Cara ini memang betul-betul murah dan sesuai dengan gaya hidup orang Italia. Caranya adalah menonton di bar. Dengan biaya 4 euro pun, satu pertandingan bisa ditonton. Tak perlu menunggu jadi bos untuk menyaksikan pertandingan sepak bola seperti ini. Cukup dengan 4 euro dapat 1 botol bir dan dapat bonus tonton sepak bola. Cara ini jauh lebih murah ketimbang datang sendiri ke stadion yang harga tiketnya berkisar dari 30-an euro ke atas. Jauh lebih murah juga ketimbang berlangganan MEDIA SET PREMIER. Di sini sensasinya juga lumayan. Lebih ramai kalau di dalam bar ada dua kelompok pendukung. Adu teriak pun tak terhindarkan. Tetapi semua tetap menjaga kenyamanan di bar. Tidak seperti di stadion yang bisa berteriak sekuat tenaga.

Bar, bir, dan sepak bola. Tiga dunia yang berbeda namun bisa diselaraskan. Minum bir di bar sambil menyaksikan pertandingan sepak bola. Bahkan, kalau mau bukan saja dunia sepak bola. Dunia lain seperti politik, perencanaan perjalanan, dan bisnis pun jadi. Menonton di bar sambil minum bir tidak akan membahayakan sesama pendukung. Tentu tidak seperti menonton sepak bola di Gelora Bung Karno Jakarta atau di Stadion Mandala Krida, Yogyakarta. Tapi, sasaranya sama, menyaksikan pertandingan sepak bola.

Salam sepak bola.

PRM, 8/3/2015

Gordi


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

Sunday, March 08, 2015
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 4 March 2015

The family - 6. The elderly (I)
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning,

Today’s catechesis and next Wednesday’s will be dedicated to the elderly, who in the family are the grandparents, aunts and uncles. Today we will reflect on the current problematic condition of the elderly, and next time, that is, next Wednesday, on a more positive note, on the vocation pertaining to this stage of life.

Thanks to the progress of medicine life-spans have increased: but society has not “expanded” to life! The number of elderly has multiplied, but our societies are not organized well enough to make room for them, with proper respect and practical consideration for their frailty and their dignity. While we are young, we are led to ignore old age, as if it were a disease to keep away from; then when we become old, especially if we are poor, if we are sick and alone, we experience the shortcomings of a society programmed for efficiency, which consequently ignores its elderly. And the elderly are a wealth not to be ignored.

Benedict XVI, visiting a home for the elderly, used clear and prophetic words, saying in this way: “The quality of a society, I mean of a civilization, is also judged by how it treats elderly people and by the place it gives them in community life” (12 November 2012). It’s true, attention to the elderly makes the difference in a civilization. Is there attention to the elderly in a civilization? Is there room for the elderly? This civilization will move forward if it knows how to respect wisdom, the wisdom of the elderly. In a civilization in which there is no room for the elderly or where they are thrown away because they create problems, this society carries with it the virus of death.

In the West, scientists present the current century as the aging century: children are diminishing, the elderly are increasing. This imbalance challenges us, indeed, it is a great challenge for contemporary society. Yet a culture of profit insists on casting off the old like a “weight”. Not only do they not produce — this culture thinks — but they are a burden: in short, what is the outcome of thinking like this? They are thrown away. It’s brutal to see how the elderly are thrown away, it is a brutal thing, it is a sin! No one dares to say it openly, but it’s done! There is something vile in this adherence to the throw-away culture. But we are accustomed to throwing people away. We want to remove our growing fear of weakness and vulnerability; but by doing so we increase in the elderly the anxiety of being poorly tolerated and neglected.

During my ministry in Buenos Aires I was in direct contact with this reality and its problems: “The elderly are abandoned, and not only in material instability. They are abandoned out of a selfish incapacity to accept their limitations that reflect our own limitations, because of the numerous difficulties that must be overcome in order to survive in a society that does not allow them to participate, to have their say, or be referents in the consumer model of ‘only the young can be useful and enjoy’. These elderly persons throughout society ought to be a reservoir of wisdom for our people. The elderly are the reservoir of wisdom for our people! How easily the conscience falls dormant when there is no love!” (Solo l’amore ci può salvare, Vatican City, 2013, p. 83).

And it happens like that. I remember, when I was visiting a retirement home, I spoke with each person and I frequently heard this: “How are you? And your children? Well, well. How many do you have? Many. And do they come to visit you?. Oh sure, yes, always, yes, they come. When was the last time they came?” I remember an elderly woman who said to me: “Mmm, for Christmas”. It was August! Eight months without being visited by her children, abandoned for eight months! This is called mortal sin, understand? Once as a child, a grandmother told us the story of an old grandfather who got dirty while eating because he couldn't easily bring the spoonful of soup to his mouth. And his son, that is, the father of the family, had decided to move him from the dinner table and set up a little table in the kitchen to eat alone, so he couldn’t be seen. In this way he wouldn’t make a bad impression when friends came over to lunch or dinner. A few days later, he came home and found his youngest child playing with some wood and a hammer and nails, he was making something there, he said: “What are you making? — I’m making a table, papa. — A table, why? — To have one for when you grow old, so that you can eat there”. Children are more aware than we are!

In the tradition of the Church there is a wealth of wisdom that has always supported a culture of closeness to the elderly, a disposition of warm and supportive companionship in this final phase of life. This tradition is rooted in Sacred Scripture, as these passages from the Book of Sirach attest: “Do not disregard the discourse of the aged, for they themselves learned from their fathers; because from them you will gain understanding and learn how to give an answer in time of need” (Sir 8:9).

The Church cannot and does not want to conform to a mentality of impatience, and much less of indifference and contempt, towards old age. We must reawaken the collective sense of gratitude, of appreciation, of hospitality, which makes the elder feel like a living part of his community.

Our elders are men and women, fathers and mothers, who came before us on our own road, in our own house, in our daily battle for a worthy life. They are men and women from whom we have received so much. The elder is not an alien. We are that elder: in the near or far future, but inevitably, even if we don’t think it. And if we don’t learn how to treat the elder better, that is how we will be treated.

We old people are all a little fragile. Some, however, are particularly weak, many are alone, and stricken by illness. Some depend on the indispensable care and attention of others. Are we going to take a step back? Abandon them to their fate? A society without proximity, where gratuity and affection without compensation— between strangers as well — is disappearing, is a perverse society. The Church, faithful to the Word of God, cannot tolerate such degeneration. A Christian community in which proximity and gratuity are no longer considered indispensable is a society which would lose her soul. Where there is no honour for elders, there is no future for the young.

Before: The family - 5. Siblings

Special Greetings
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from Great Britain, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Korea and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!

Dear friends, may our time, marked by many shadows, be ever illuminated by the sun of hope, which is Christ. He promised to always be with us and manifests his presence in many ways. It is our task to proclaim and witness to his love which accompanies us in every situation. Hence, never tire of entrusting yourselves to Christ and spreading his Gospel in every environment.

I greet young people, the sick and newlyweds. Dear young people, may this Lenten journey be an occasion for authentic conversion so that your faith in Christ might fully mature. Dear sick people, by participating lovingly in the very suffering of the Son of God incarnate, may you henceforth share in the joy of his Resurrection. And may you, dear newlyweds, find in the covenant that Christ, at the cost of his blood, made with his Church, find the foundation of your marital bond.

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

Sunday, March 08, 2015
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 18 February 2015

The family - 5. Siblings
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning,

In our continuing catechesis on the family, after having considered the roles of the mother, the father, the children, today we shall reflect on siblings. “Brother” and “sister” are words that Christianity really loves. And, thanks to the family experience, they are words that all cultures and all times comprehend. 

The fraternal bond holds a special place in the history of the People of God, who received his revelation at the core of the human experience. The Psalmist sings of the beauty of the fraternal bond: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps 133[132]:1). And this is true, brotherhood is beautiful! Jesus Christ also brought to its fullness this human experience of being brothers and sisters, embracing it in Trinitarian love and thereby empowering it to go well beyond the ties of kinship and enabling it to surmount every barrier of extraneousness.

We know that when the fraternal relationship is destroyed, when the relationship between siblings is destroyed, the road is open to painful experiences of conflict, of betrayal, of hate. The biblical account of Cain and Abel is an example of this negative outcome. After the killing of Abel, God asks Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” (Gen 4:9a). It is a question that the Lord continues to repeat to every generation. And unfortunately, in every generation, Cain’s dramatic answer never fails to be repeated: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (ibid., 4:9b). The rupture of the bond between siblings is a nasty, bad thing for humanity. In the family too, how many siblings quarrel over little things, or over an inheritance, and then they no longer speak to each other, they no longer greet one another. This is terrible! Brotherhood is a great thing, when we consider that all our brothers and sisters lived in the womb of the same mother for nine months, came from the mother’s flesh! Brotherhood cannot be broken. Let us consider: we all know families that have divided siblings, who have quarrelled; let us ask the Lord — perhaps in our family there are a few cases — to help these families to reunite their siblings, to rebuild the family. Brotherhood must not be broken and when it breaks, what happened to Cain and Abel occurs. When the Lord asks Cain where his brother is, he replies: “I do not know, my brother does not matter to me”. This is terrible, it is a very, very painful thing to hear. In our prayers let us always pray for siblings who are at odds.

Should the bond of fraternity which forms in the family between children arise in an educational atmosphere of openness to others, it is the great school of freedom and peace. In the family, among siblings, human coexistence is learned, how one must live in society. Perhaps we are not always aware of it, but the family itself introduces fraternity into the world! Beginning with this first experience of fraternity, nourished by affection and education at home, the style of fraternity radiates like a promise upon the whole of society and on its relations among peoples.

The blessing that God, in Jesus Christ, pours out on this bond of fraternity, expands in an unimaginable way. He renders it capable of overcoming all differences of nationality, language, culture and even religion.

Consider what becomes of the bond between men and women, even when completely different from each other, when they are able to say of another: “He is truly like a brother, she is just like a sister to me!”. This is beautiful! History has shown well enough, after all, that even freedom and equality, without brotherhood, can be full of individualism and conformism, and even personal interests.

Familial fraternity shines in a special way when we see the care, the patience, the affection that envelop the weakest little brother or sister, sick or physically challenged. There are countless brothers and sisters who do this, throughout the world, and perhaps we do not appreciate their generosity enough. And when there are many siblings in a family — today, I greeted a family that has nine children? — the eldest boy or girl helps the dad, the mom, to take care of the younger children. This work of helping among siblings is beautiful.

Having a brother, a sister, who loves you is a deep, precious, irreplaceable experience. Christian fraternity happens in the same way. The smallest, the weakest, the poorest soften us: they have the “right” to take our heart and soul. Yes, they are our brothers and sisters and as such we must love and care for them. When this happens, when the poor are like family members, our own Christian fraternity comes to life again. Christians, in fact, go to meet the poor and the weak not to obey an ideological programme, but because the word and the example of the Lord tell us that we are all brothers and sisters. This is the principle of God’s love and of all justice among men. I should like to suggest something: before concluding, just a few words, in silence each of us, let us think of our brothers, our sisters, and from our heart let us pray in silence for them. A moment of silence.

Here then, with this prayer we have brought all, brothers and sisters, with our thoughts, with our hearts, here to the Square to receive the blessing.

Today more than ever it is necessary to place fraternity back at the centre of our technocratic and bureaucratic society: then even freedom and equality will find the correct balance. Therefore, let us not thoughtlessly deprive our families, out of criticism or fear, of the beauty of a bountiful fraternal experience of sons and daughters. And let us not lose our trust in the broad horizon faith is able to draw from this experience, enlightened by God’s blessing.

Before: The family - 4. The children

Special Greetings
I would like once again to invite you to pray for our Egyptian brothers who three days ago were killed in Libya for the sole fact of being Christians. May the Lord welcome them to his house and give comfort to their families and their communities.

Let us also pray for peace in the Middle East and in North Africa, remembering all the victims, the wounded and the refugees. May the international community find peaceful solutions to the difficult situation in Libya.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!

I cordially greet the Bishops of Ukraine — Praise be to Jesus Christ! —, who have come on their “ad limina” visit, as well as the pilgrims from the dioceses who have accompanied them. Brothers and sisters, I know that among the many other intentions that you bring to the Tombs of the Apostles, there is the request for peace in Ukraine. I bear the same wish in my heart and I join in your prayer, that a lasting peace may come to your homeland as soon as possible. God bless you!

I address a warm welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. I greet in particular the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart with the “Zambia for Life” Association and the “Villa Maria” rehabilitation home in Monticello Conte Otto. My thoughts go to the young people of International Catholic Charismatic Renewal who, in various parts of the world today, are gathering in prayer for an hour of Eucharistic adoration. I spiritually join them in expressing appreciation for this initiative and I hope the new generations may increasingly meet Christ.

I greet the young people, the sick and newlyweds. Lent is a favourable time to intensify your spiritual life: may the practice of fasting be of help to you, dear young people, to acquire mastery over yourselves; may prayer be for you, dear sick people, the means to entrust your suffering to God and to feel in it his loving presence; lastly, may works of mercy help you, dear newlyweds, to live your marital life by opening it to the needs of your brothers and sisters.

Happy Lent to all!

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Read more »
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL © 2010. All Rights Reserved. "FROM INDONESIA TO THE WORLD, ADESSO SONO IN THAILANDIA"
Powered by Blogger
Powered by Blogger.