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2008 International Goan Convention
Toronto, Canada
Early Bird Discount Registration closes March 31, 2008
http://2008goanconvention.com/registration.html
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Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:23:55 +0530
From: "floriano goasuraj" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
1. IMHO the catholic community as such is dead. It only shows its head at
church services and related functions and festivities, weddings
get-to-gathers and ofcourse 'funerals'.
>
Mario responds:
>
Floriano,
>
Whether you intended to or not, what you have said in the second sentence above
seems to contradict what you have said in the first sentence.
>
Floriano wrote:
>
3. I believe Christianity to be a way of life and cannot be pinned down to
the rituals of a religion.
>
Mario responds:
>
As Ana Maria rightly said, there is an ocean between Christ and Catholics.
What those who call themselves Catholics - the original Christians - need to do
in my never humble opinion, is to get back over that ocean and move as close as
humanly possible towards Christ's teachings and attitude of inclusiveness -
shifting the priority to substance over form and mind-numbing repetitive
ritual. That would make it a way of life as you have opined.
>
However, being a community, I believe there is nothing wrong with attending
"....church services and related functions and festivities, weddings
get-to-gathers and ofcourse 'funerals'" to foster fellowship, reflect on what
the community should stand for, and to get a better understanding of what it is
all about - as long as these communal events do not distract from or overshadow
the substance of Christ's teachings, summarized so eloquently in the Golden
Rule and the Sermon on the Mount.
>
