Queens Bus Driver Works Tirelessly to Feed Homeless

An inspirational story of one ordinary guy with an extraordinary heart.

We believe that a small group of person or even a single individual can make a difference. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead.

Watch this video and be inspired to make a difference as well!

Pope Offers Test to See If God Is Within

Reflects on Experience of Symeon the New Theologian

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- There is a way to find out if God is dwelling and working within us, says Benedict XVI: We can ask if we respond to offenses by forgiving and to hatred with love.

The Pope offered this discernment criterion today when he dedicated the general audience in Paul VI Hall to a reflection on Symeon the New Theologian.

The Holy Father said that the 11th-century monk "calls us all to attention to the spiritual life, to the hidden presence of God in us, to honesty of conscience and purification, to conversion of heart, so that the Holy Spirit will be present in us and guide us."

The Pope proposed that attention to our interior growth is "even more important" than the "just" preoccupation with our physical growth.

And interior growth, he explained, consists in "knowledge of God, in true knowledge, not only taken from books, but interior, and in communion with God, to experience his help at all times and in every circumstance."

Confirming Christ

Benedict XVI pointed to something Symeon experienced that confirmed for the monk that God was within him.

He recounted: "[Symeon] began to feel like 'a poor man who loves his brothers.' [...] He saw around him many enemies that wanted to set snares for him and harm him but despite this he felt in himself an intense movement of love for them. How to explain this?

"Obviously, such love could not come from himself, but must spring from another source. Symeon understood that it came from Christ present in him and all was clarified for him: He had the sure proof that the source of love in him was the presence of Christ and that to have in oneself a love that goes beyond one's personal intentions indicates that the source of love is within."

The Pope affirmed that Symeon's experience is important for us today, "to find the criteria that will indicate to us if we are really close to God, if God exists and lives in us."

"God's love grows in us if we are really united to him in prayer and in listening to his word, with openness of heart," the Holy Father explained. "Only divine love makes us open our hearts to others and makes us sensitive to their needs, making us regard everyone as brothers and sisters and inviting us to respond with love to hatred, and with forgiveness to offense."

Being Christian Is No Easy Task, Admits Pope

Says Christ's Teachings Still Cause Scandal

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 23, 2009 (Zenit.org).- It's not easy being a Christian today, just as it wasn't in Christ's time, since the Lord asks believers to swim against the current in following his teachings, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today in an address to crowds gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo for the praying of the midday Angelus.

The Holy Father was reflecting on the Gospel reading from St. John for today's Mass, which describes how many of Christ's followers abandoned him because of his affirmation, "If you do not eat of the flesh of the Son of man or drink of his blood, you shall not have life within you."

"Jesus, however, does not soften his statements," the Pontiff noted. "[I]ndeed, he turns to the Twelve directly and asks: 'Do you also wish to leave?'"

Benedict XVI contended that this "provocative question" is not just for the Apostles, but also for the believers "of every age."

"Today too," he said, "not a few are scandalized by the paradox of the Christian faith. Jesus' teaching seems 'hard,' too difficult to put into practice. There are thus those who reject it and abandon Christ; there are those who try to 'adapt' the word to the fashions of the times, distorting its meaning and value.

"'Do you also wish to leave?' This disturbing provocation resounds in our hearts and awaits a personal response from each person."

Following Peter

The Holy Father went on to say that Jesus is "not satisfied with a superficial and formal following," but rather calls believers to participate "'in his thinking and in his willing' all of our lives."

This following "fills the heart with joy and gives complete meaning to our existence," the Pope added. But, he also said, "it brings difficulties and renunciations because very often we must go against the current."

Pointing to Peter, who as the first Pope, reiterated his adhesion to Christ in the name of the Apostles, Benedict XVI said that "we too can repeat Peter's answer, aware of course of our human fragility, but confident in the power of the Holy Spirit, who expresses himself and manifests himself in communion with Jesus."

"Faith is a gift of God to man and it is, at the same time, man's free and total entrusting of himself to God," he added. "Faith is the docile listening to the word of the Lord, that is the 'lamp' for our steps and the 'light' on our way.

"If we open our hearts to Christ with confidence, if we let ourselves be conquered by him, we too can experience, together with the Cur� d'Ars, 'that our only happiness on this earth is to love God and to know that he loves us.'"

"Let us ask the Virgin Mary," the Pope concluded, "always to keep alive in us this faith impregnated by love, which made her, the humble girl of Nazareth, Mother of God and model for all believers."

Pope Urges Selflessness Faced to Economic Crisis

Challenges Youth to Find Right Road to Life

ROMANO CANAVESE, Italy, JULY 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that even in the midst of economic difficulty, strength comes from living Gospel values such as respect for human life and the family.

The Pope stated this today while addressing the crowd gathered to pray the midday Angelus in the Ruggia plaza of Romano Canavese, close to Les Combes in the Aosta Valley, northern Italy, where he is spending some vacation days.

He acknowledged the region's Christian roots, a land that "was bathed in the blood of martyrs at an early date."

Among them was St. Solutore, the Pontiff noted, admitting that "until now I did not know his name but I am always grateful to discover new saint intercessors."

Despite the town's "long history of faith" and hardworking inhabitants, the Holy Father recognized that "many families are experiencing a difficult economic situation because of the scarcity of jobs."

He affirmed that he tried to address this widespread problem in his latest encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," which was released to the public July 7.

"I hope that it will be able to mobilize forces to renew the world!" Benedict XVI added.

Building the future

He continued: "Dear friends, do not be discouraged!

"Providence always helps those who do good and dedicate themselves to justice; it helps those who do not think only of themselves but of those who are worse off."

The Pope reminded his listeners of how their ancestors once had to emigrate to find work, but then the tables turned and economic development brought jobs back to the region.

He explained, "The fundamental values of the family and respect for human life, sensibility for social justice, the capacity to endure toil and sacrifice, the strong link to Christian faith through parish life and especially through participation at Holy Mass, have been your strength over the centuries."

"These same values," the Pontiff said, "will permit today's generations to build their future with hope, giving life to a true solidarity and a fraternal society, in which all the various spheres, institutions and economy are permeated by an evangelical spirit."

He challenged the young people in a particular way, to analyze "what sort of culture is emerging around you."

The Holy Father encouraged them to look at the proposed examples and models around them, and "determine whether they are such as to encourage you to follow the ways of the Gospel and authentic freedom."

He continued, "Youth is full of resources, but it must be helped to overcome the temptation of easy and illusory ways, to find the road of true and abundant life."

--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: http://zenit.org/article-26496?l=english

Benedict XVI Says Love Defines Man's Journey

Affirms Christ's Cross Is Key to Success and Peace


VATICAN CITY, APRIL 5, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that love, a true gift of self as exemplified in the Cross of Jesus, gives meaning to life, and that its absence brings emptiness and boredom.

The Pope said this in a homily this morning at the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square. He blessed palm and olive branches and presided over the liturgical celebration.

The Pontiff explained that Jesus, the King who entered Jerusalem in a triumphal procession, comes to introduce a new type of kingdom.

This kingdom, he said, "passes through the cross." He added, "Because Jesus gives himself totally, he can as the Risen One belong to everyone and make himself present to all."

The Holy Father noted that Christ's kingdom is also "universal" and "knows no more borders."

This is possible, he said, "because it is not a political kingdom, but is based solely on the free adhesion of love -- a love that, for its part, answers to the love of Jesus Christ that has given itself for all."

He continued: "Universality includes the mystery of the cross -- the overcoming of ourselves, obedience toward the universal word of Jesus Christ in the universal Church.

"Universality is always an overcoming of ourselves, a renunciation of something that is ours. Universality and the cross go together. Only in this way can peace be created."

Selflessness

Benedict XVI affirmed: "He who wants to have his life for himself, live only for himself, squeeze out everything for himself and exploit all the possibilities -- he is the one who loses his life.

"It becomes boring and empty. Only in abandoning ourselves, only in the disinterested gift of the 'I' in favor of the 'Thou,' only in the 'Yes' to the greater life, precisely the life of God, our life too becomes full and more spacious."

He added: "Love, in fact, means leaving yourself behind, giving yourself, not wanting to hold on to yourself, but becoming free from yourself: not getting preoccupied with yourself -- what will become of me -- but looking ahead, toward the other -- toward God and the people whom he sends to me.

"It is this principle of love that defines man's journey, it is once again identical with the mystery of the cross, with the mystery of death and resurrection that we encounter in Christ."

The Pope emphasized that this "Yes" to the Lord must be repeated every day, especially when "we just want to hang on to that 'I.'" He added, "There is no successful life without sacrifice."

Real prayer

Though it is difficult, he affirmed, we can pray like Jesus, who "felt driven to ask that he be spared the terror of the passion."

The Pontiff continued: "Before God we must not take refuge in pious phrases, in a world of make-believe. Praying also means struggling with God."

"In the end," he said, "God's glory, his lordship, his will is always more important and more true than my thoughts and my will."

The Holy Father added: "And this is what is essential in our prayer and in our life: understanding this right order of reality, accepting it interiorly; trusting in God and believing that he is doing the right thing; understanding that his will is the truth and is love; understanding that my life will be a good life if I can learn how to conform to this order.

"The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are the guarantee that we can truly entrust ourselves to God. It is in this way that his kingdom is realized."

--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of homily: http://zenit.org/article-25577?l=english

Do you desire to be confident?

Are you one of the many people who want to have self-confidence?

I have noticed that there are a lot of book about gaining self-confidence. There are also a lot of articles and talks on how to boost your confidence. If there are so many books, articles and talks on this topic, it means that there is a big market wanting such information. It also means that there are a lot of people who want to gain self-confidence.

Our society is plague with insecurity, which I personally blame advertising and the media for such thing, that self-confidence has become a precious commodity.

Self-confidence is a good thing. It helps one person to be positive and accomplish more. But I believe it also has its limits.

Self-confidence is based on your “self.” It is based on what you have or what you can do. If you are honest with yourself, you know you have limits. You know that your self-confidence can only go so far. To go further is an illusion which many pop-psychologists preach.

There is something better than self-confidence. Jesus-confidence!

Jesus-confidence is the best because our confidence is based on Jesus who is God. We all have limits but Jesus does not. When we put our trust on Jesus we can move mountains. What is impossible for man is possible for God.

Having Jesus confidence also makes you more courageous. You know that you are being supported by someone bigger than you. You know that God’s grace can accomplish anything, so you are not easily disheartened when you encounter a mountain on your way. You know Jesus can move the mountain or lift you up to fly cross it. It also makes you more courageous because you know that Jesus will catch you if you fall or made a mistake.

Having Jesus-confidence is better because He does NOT change and we humans do. Self-confidence is based on your state or what you can do, but that is dependent on a lot of factors, like your health for one. If those factors are taken away from you, could still be self-confident?

It is hard to put your confidence in shifting sands. We are such fragile beings. Our self-confidence may shatter with one disease or accident. Or even just plain old age. But Jesus is eternal. He is unchangeable. He is the Rock we can build our confidence on. Jesus can still make us great even if we are stripped of all our strengths. It will be His strength that will lift us up.

I leave you with a beautiful passage from St Paul.

“I CAN DO EVERYTHING through Christ who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13

Now THAT is confidence!

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

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Are you unsure of your purpose in life?

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If God is Good Why Do I Suffer?

Suffering sucks!

Most of us hate to suffer. And it is understandable since we are not masochist.

But sometimes the very suffering we hate is God’s blessing to us.

Let me share with you a story I heard from Sister Briege McKenna. Sister Briege was given the gift of healing by God.

So here is the story.

A man came to sister Briege to ask to be prayed on for the healing of his cancer. So sister Briege did so. After many months sister saw the man again. The man thanked sister for her prayers. Sister asked if he got healed. The man said no. But he was grateful to God for receiving a better miracle. So sister was a little bit confused so she asked why.

The man told her that before he came to sister Briege, he and his wife was distant to each other. His kids were distant to him as well. Sometime after being prayed on by sister, he was rushed to the hospital. It was there that miracle happened. While he was in the hospital, he and his family got closer again. It was his hospitalization that healed his family. It was at that painful moment where they became a real family again.

For the man, to see his family united in love was more important than his health. For him, to feel loved is far more important than to be physically healed.

God used his cancer to unite his family.

So the man thanks God for the miracle he did in his life. He was not healed of cancer but his heart and his family was healed.

Sometimes God PERMITS suffering for the greater good. God does not cause evil, he permits it. God do make straight with crooked lines. We can only look at Jesus on the Cross. The worst thing man did in all of history, he killed God. Yet, it was that very evil that brought our salvation.

Sometimes God blessings can take form of suffering. It is like a child, who has cavities, being taken to the dentist by his father. He trusted his father only to end up in the dentist chair in pain. But the pain is necessary to take the away the cavities. The father does not enjoy seeing his son in pain, but it is a process that his son needs to take. At that moment the child feels betrayed by his father because he does not understand what is going on.

So are we. When suffering hits us we feel abandoned or betrayed by God. But like little children we do not see the whole picture, the whole movie of our lives. We see that painful moment at the whole of life itself. God looks out not only for our present but for our future as well.

Painful as it is for God to see us suffer, but if it is the only way to save us, He will endure it.

At the end of our life, when we are facing almighty God, we will see that all our sufferings made sense. And we will be even thankful for those sufferings because it brought us to where we are.

Heaven.

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

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Q. How do you know if a guy loves you or wants to use you?Q. How do you know if a guy loves you or wants to use you?

A. Step one is to only commit to a guy if you've had a long friendship with him, your family likes him, and you can see yourself marrying him. Also, practice the principles of courtship, here.

Secondly, do NOT pay attention to his words. His actions are what matters. I've seen relationships where the guy cheated on the girl, and as soon as he got caught, his first words were, "Baby, it's not what you think. I love you." Thankfully, the girl wasn't convinced, and she dumped him.

I think that girls easily get swept away by a guy's flattering words because the media tends to make women feel constantly imperfect. Therefore, the "I love you baby, you're so beautiful, you're the only one for me," language really sweeps away some girls.

But this is where a girl must have wisdom. No matter what he says, don't give him sexual stuff. If a guy pressures you to give him your body, then he doesn't love you. Period.

Although this will weed out a lot of immature guys, only time will reveal a man's intentions. One man said, "If I sensed there was a moral dilemma in her mind, I would play any role necessary to reach the point where sex became inevitable."(1) There are many good guys out there but there are also plenty of predators who will tell a girl whatever she wants to hear. Therefore, a girl needs to proceed slowly, develop the skill of listening to her heart, and have the courage to follow it. Otherwise, a young woman may be left feeling as this fifteen-year-old did: "I felt strange, and in a sense, used. It was like we were both caring for the same person--him. I felt left out of it."(2)
______________________________________
1. McDowell, Why Wait?, 110.
2. Joyce L. Vedral, Boyfriends: Getting Them, Keeping Them, Living Without Them (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990). As quoted by www.lovematters.com/teenstalk.htm

from pureloveclub.com

What Do You Do When You Hit the Wall?

Have you ever been stuck in a rut? That after all your efforts, you end up staring at a wall. And after looking at it for to long, you start to pound your head at it.

Most of us have hit the wall once or too many times in our lives. Others have gave up and turned back in defeat. They have walked away from their hopes and dreams because they cannot go beyond the wall.

Life is full of walls sad to say. But these walls are not supposed to hinder or stop us from getting to where we want to be.

The walls are there so we can grow bigger than them.

“Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” -Michael Jordan

The walls are there to expand us.

Michael Jordan became the icon that he is because of the walls he encountered. It was those walls that made him great. If it was not for those walls he would have not pushed himself to be the basketball player ever.

So how do the walls we encounter in life helps us?

It forces us to go beyond ourselves. It forces us to think beyond our normal way of thinking. It pushes us to be creative and resourceful. And it teaches 2 important virtues all great men and women had: determination and perseverance.

So let us look on what we can learn when we end up facing a wall. So the first thing we will think about is how to climb it. Can we climb it with our bear hands or do we need a ladder? If it to high, can we go through it? Can we blast a hole through it using explosives? Or maybe we can work our way around it by looking at the wall’s sides. Maybe there is a crack on the wall that we can slip it.

Just at that exercise of thinking how to get on the other side, you got 3 new ideas how to get over a wall that you have never had before. You learned something new. And if you put your ideas into action, you will learn more.

Even if you fail to get over that wall, you are wiser walking away from it. And when the next wall comes, you are more equipped to bust your way through. You may have more muscles to climb it. You may have a better knowledge what kind of explosives to use. Or you may know how to find cracks in the wall you can use to break through.

You can view the walls that you encounter in life as an opportunity for personal growth. Remember you are the one who is alive and not the wall!

And sooner or later you will learn how to get over those walls. And then nothing can stop you from reaching your hopes and dreams.

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

In this time of Global Crisis, where do we put our hopes in?

In these uncertain and trying times we need something firm to hold on to.

So what is the source of your courage? What makes you move forward?

Answer the Poll at www.inspirationalblogs.com


Daxx Bondoc
www.inspirationalblogs.com

If an Ass Can Do It, So Can You!

Is a donkey better than you?

What is your excuse for not being a great man or woman of God? You are imperfect? You are sinful? You lack the talents?

If God wants to raise you up to be His witness, He can. With all of your weakness, God still can work miracles through you. God can speak through an ass if He wants to. And He did. That is how he spoke to Balaam the prophet at the book of Numbers (Num. 22:28-30).

And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said: What have I done to thee? Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time? Balaam answered: Because thou hast deserved it, and hast served me ill: I would I had a sword that I might kill thee. The ass said: Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been always accustomed to ride until this present day? tell me if I ever did the like thing to thee.

And that is encouraging!

My friend once said, “God does not call the equipped, but equips the called.” You don’t have to be a genius or to be super holy to do God’s work. The only thing God needs from you is a willing heart. From there God will give you the grace and the talents that you will need to do His work.

God is the God of the impossible. God is not limited by your limitations.

In every one of us lies the seed of greatness, waiting to spring up. He is only waiting for you to say “Yes Lord, I am here to do your will."

Your greatness lies before you.

If an ass can do it, so can you!

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Dating is About Dumping

Like it or not, the potential for rejection is part of the package.

by Mary Beth Bonachi

I’m on a new “kick” in my talks to singles.

It started because of a trend I was seeing. In talk after talk very nice, well-intentioned single people were coming up to me with the same problem. “I know my relationship isn’t working out. But I’m having a hard time breaking it off. I know that if I end it, she (or he) will be really hurt. And hurting someone like that just doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.”

What’s a nice Catholic to do?

It seems like quite the dilemma. We’re always supposed to want what’s best for the other person. We care about their feelings. And yet, here we are in a situation where we’re literally supposed to hurt their feelings and make them miserable.

Yup. Like I keep telling you, dating isn’t all fun and games.

Here’s where the problem comes in. Dating is supposed to be about figuring out if you want to get married, and if so, to whom. That’s all. The whole idea is to spend time with someone, figuring out if this person has the kind of traits you’re looking for in a spouse. If they do, you keep spending time together. If they don’t, you move on. That’s what you’re supposed to do. It’s like interviewing for a job, really -- the job of spouse.

But a lot of people lose sight of that goal. They begin to believe that dating is a way for them to achieve status, or alleviate loneliness, or fill a need for love in their lives. They think “If only I had a boyfriend (or girlfriend). Then I’d always have someone around who would love me and care for me and be there for me to wipe away my tears when I’m sad.”

Bad plan. Love is a need. It’s extremely important that we have people in our lives who care about us, who want what’s best for us, and who are committed to being there for us no matter what. Everyone needs someone like that. But who do you want that person to be? Do you want it to be someone who has an obligation to drop you if you don’t turn out to be the best candidate for the job of lifetime partner? I’d say that’s a case of putting all of your eggs in a very unstable basket. You’re setting yourself up for a pretty serious fall.

Yeah, it’s important to care about the people that you date. It’s important to want what is best for them. It’s important to always look out for their feelings, and not to cause them unnecessary pain. But implant this firmly on your brain: DATING IS ABOUT REJECTION. It’s a part of the package. It goes with the territory. No matter how nice or wonderful someone may be -- if that person isn’t right for you, then your obligation is to let that person go. That’s what’s best for him or her. Anything else would be a lie -- making this person believe that you could have a future together when in fact you know you don’t.

The best indication of whether you care about someone you’re dating isn’t whether or not you break up -- it’s how you break up. If you do it as soon as you’re certain, if you do it kindly and clearly (instead of just disappearing from sight), you really are looking out for what is best for the other person. You’re freeing him or her to find Mr. or Ms. Right instead of being bound to you when it’s not going to work.

Yeah, rejection hurts. Dating hurts sometimes -- that’s the way it is.

It’s not a game for the weak or the queasy. It’s grown-up stuff. And if someone isn’t strong enough or mature enough to handle rejection, that person isn’t strong enough or mature enough to date. Period.

Yes, you need real love in your life. But if you’re single, don’t fool yourself into believing that you can rely on a boyfriend or a girlfriend to give you that kind of unconditional love. Find that love by cultivating loving relationships with your family and with your good friends. They’re the ones who are going to be around for the long run.

Inventory of normality

by Paolo Coelho

I decided to conduct a survey among my friends about what society considers to be normal behavior. What follows is a list I have made of some of the absurd situations we face in day-to-day life, just because society sees them as normal:

1] Anything that makes us forget our true identity and our dreams and makes us only work to produce and reproduce.

2] Making rules for a war (the Geneva Convention).

3] Spending years at university and then not being able to find a job.

4] Working from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon at something that does not give us the least pleasure, so that we can retire after 30 years.

5] Retiring only to discover that we have no more energy to enjoy life, and then dying of boredom after a few years.

6] Using Botox.

7] Trying to be financially successful instead of seeking happiness.

8] Ridiculing those who seek happiness instead of money by calling them “people with no ambition”.

9] Comparing objects like cars, houses and clothes, and defining life according to these comparisons instead of really trying to find out the true reason for being alive.

10] Not talking to strangers. Saying nasty things about our neighbors.

11] Thinking that parents are always right.

12] Getting married, having children and staying together even though the love has gone, claiming that it’s for the sake of the children (who do not seem to be listening to the constant arguments).

12ª] Criticizing everybody who tries to be different.

14] Waking up with a hysterical alarm-clock at the bedside.

15] Believing absolutely everything that is printed.

16] Wearing a piece of colored cloth wrapped around the neck for no apparent reason and known by the pompous name “necktie”.

17] Never asking direct questions, even though the other person understands what you want to know.

18] Keeping a smile on your face when you really want to cry. And feeling sorry for those who show their own feelings.

19] Thinking that art is worth a fortune, or else that it is worth absolutely nothing.

20] Always despising what was easily gained, because the “necessary sacrifice” – and therefore also the required qualities – are missing.

21] Following fashion, even though it all looks ridiculous and uncomfortable.

22] Being convinced that all the famous people have tons of money saved up.

23] Investing a lot in exterior beauty and paying little attention to interior beauty.

24] Using all possible means to show that even though you are a normal person, you are infinitely superior to other human beings.

25] In any kind of public transport, never looking straight into the eyes of the other passengers, as this may be taken for attempting to seduce them.

26] When you enter an elevator, looking straight at the door and pretending you are the only person inside, however crowded it may be.

27] Never laughing out loud in a restaurant, no matter how funny the story is.

28] In the Northern hemisphere, always wearing the clothes that match the season of the year: short sleeves in springtime (however cold it may be) and a woolen jacket in the fall (no matter how warm it is).

29] In the Southern hemisphere, decorating the Christmas tree with cotton wool, even though winter has nothing to do with the birth of Christ.

30] As you grow older, thinking you are the wisest man in the world, even though not always do you have enough life experience to know what is wrong.

31] Going to a charity event and thinking that in this way you have collaborated enough to put an end to all the social inequalities in the world.

32] Eating three times a day, even if you’re not hungry.

33] Believing that the others are always better at everything: they are better-looking, more resourceful, richer and more intelligent. Since it’s very risky to venture beyond your own limits, it’s better to do nothing.

34] Using the car as a way to feel powerful and in control of the world.

35] Using foul language in traffic.

36] Thinking that everything your child does wrong is the fault of the company he or she is keeping.

37] Marrying the first person who offers you a position in society. Love can wait.

38] Always saying “I tried”, even though you haven’t tried at all.

39] Putting off doing the most interesting things in life until you no longer have the strength to do them.

40] Avoiding depression with massive daily doses of television programs.

41] Believing that it is possible to be sure of everything you have won.

42] Thinking that women don’t like football and that men don’t like interior decoration.

43] Blaming the government for everything bad that happens.

44] Being convinced that being a good, decent and respectful person means that the others will find you weak, vulnerable and easy to manipulate.

45] Being convinced that aggressiveness and discourtesy in treating others are signs of a powerful personality.

46] Being afraid of fibroscopy (men) and childbirth (women).

47] And finally, thinking that your religion is the sole proprietor of the absolute truth, the most important, the best, and that the other human beings in this immense planet who believe in any other manifestation of God are condemned to the fires of hell.

From http://www.warriorofthelight.com

Pope Underlines Need for Reflection on God's Love

Encourages Lenten Prayer Time, Retreat for Spiritual Growth

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 8, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is emphasizing the need for prayer as a means of spiritual growth, to unite one's will with God and immerse oneself in his love.

The Pope affirmed this today in an address to those gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus.

He spoke about his retreat last week, noting that "it was a week of silence and prayer: the mind and heart were able to dedicate themselves entirely to God, to listening to his Word, to meditation on the mysteries of Christ."

The Pontiff likened his retreat experience to that of the apostles who saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain. He explained, "Jesus wanted his disciples, especially those who would have the responsibility of leading the newborn Church, to directly experience his divine glory, to be able to face the scandal of the cross."

They needed this prayer to help them in the difficult moments, he said, like in Gethsemane when they realized that they needed "the grace of Christ" to "sustain them and help them to believe in the resurrection."

The Holy Father emphasized, "Jesus' transfiguration was essentially an experience of prayer."

Union with God

He continued: "Prayer, in fact, reaches its culmination -- and thus becomes the source of interior light -- when the spirit of man adheres to that of God and their wills join almost to form a single will.

"When Jesus ascends the mountain he immerses himself in the contemplation of the Father's plan of love, who sent him into the world to save humanity."

Benedict XVI affirmed that in the moment "Jesus sees the cross outlined before him, the extreme sacrifice necessary to liberate us from the reign of sin and death, [...] in his heart he once again repeats his 'Amen.'"

"He says yes, here I am, let your will of love be done, Father," the Pope noted.

He said, "Together with fasting and works of mercy, prayer forms the essential structure of our spiritual life."

The Pontiff exhorted his listeners to "find in this time of Lent moments of prolonged silence, perhaps a retreat, to reflect again on your life in the light of heavenly Father's plan of love."

He continued: "Let the Virgin Mary, teacher and model of prayer, be your guide in this more intense listening to God."

--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of address: http://www.zenit.org/article-25301?l=english

Pope Gives Pastoral Tips Faced to Economic Crisis

Encourages Priests to Teach Justice and Charity

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging priests to face the economic crisis by speaking out against avarice on a large scale, and forming justice in the hearts of all people.

The Pope affirmed this in a meeting Feb. 26 with parish priests of the Diocese of Rome, a Lenten tradition, in which he answered their questions and concerns.

He addressed a pastor's question about how to help people deal with the present economic crisis. On the level of macroeconomics, he said, it "is a duty of the Church" to "denounce" the "underlying errors."

"We must do so with courage," he asserted, "but also by being specific." He explained that "great morality is not helpful if it is not based on knowledge of the reality, which also helps to understand what can be done concretely to change the situation gradually."

The Pontiff noted the central point of the existence of original sin. "If it did not exist," he said, "we could appeal to lucid reason, with arguments that are irrefutable and accessible to all, and to the good will that is in everyone."

However, he said, reason is "confused by false premises" and thus "one goes forward with great intelligence and makes great strides on an erroneous path."

As well, the Holy Father said, the will is marked by original sin and thus "it does not simply try to do good, but above all seeks itself or seeks the good of its own group."

Faith and reason

He continued, "Without the light of faith, which penetrates the darkness of original sin, reason cannot go forward."

Faith "then runs into the resistance of our will," he said. "It does not want to see the way, which would be a path of self-denial and of correction of one's own will in favor of the other, not of oneself," he added.

Benedict XVI stated that the "Church always has the duty to remain vigilant," to enter the reasoning of the economic world, "and to illumine this reasoning with the faith that frees us from the egoism of original sin."

He added, "It is a task of the Church, to enter into this discernment, into this reasoning, to make itself heard, including at the various national and international levels, to help and to correct."

While there is original sin, he said, there will never be total perfection, but "we must do everything possible to implement corrections that are at least provisional, sufficient to enable humanity to live and to put obstacles to the dominance of egoism, which presents itself under pretexts of science and of national and international economy."

Personal conversion

The Pope affirmed that this work must be complemented by efforts for the "conversion of hearts." He added, "If there are no just men, there is no justice either."

He continued: "Justice cannot be created in the world only with good economic models, even if these are necessary.

"Justice is only brought about if there are just men. And there are no just men without the humble, daily endeavor of converting hearts, and of creating justice in hearts. Only in this way is corrective justice extended.

"That is why the work of the parish priest is so essential, not only for the parish, but for humanity."

The Pontiff concluded, "To open hearts to justice and charity is to educate in the faith, to lead to God."

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of question and answer: http://www.zenit.org/article-25283?l=english

Wondering How to Deepen Your Life?

Most of us like to live in our lives in shallow waters, where it is safe and easy. You ain't gonna drown on shallow waters right? For the most of us, our days become a daily routine of monotonous activities. So we live our life with certain boredom and even some kind of jadedness.

Yet, there are those who live life in deep waters. They are not contented with mediocrity. They long to live life to the full. They desire to live a life that is meaningful and significant.

When Jesus first saw Peter, he was cleaning his boat on the shore. Jesus just suddenly jumped on Peter’s boat and asked him to go to deep waters.
Peter obliges.

When they reached deep waters Jesus asked Peter to throw the nets.

Peter replied, “Master we have worked all night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets”

Suddenly their nets caught great numbers of fish that it was almost tearing!
Like Peter, many of us have labored and labored but “have caught nothing.” It seems like are hard work are going nowhere.

But when we let Jesus invade our lives, He lifts up our actions, our lives, our being. We suddenly find ourselves in a higher pitch of life. We become suddenly more productive than we ever had when Jesus is in our boats.

But before we experience this lifting up of our lives and being we must first follow what Peter did.

He obeyed Jesus.

Peter let Jesus take him to deep waters and to a deeper way of life. It is in the deep with Jesus that Peter found something more than he expected.

So are you still living in the shallow waters?

Let Jesus in your boat and take you to the deep. And there you will find your greatness.

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Do You Have the Courage to Live Life?

Who do you think has more courage facing an enemy with a machine gun, Superman or a normal soldier? Superman doesn’t need courage to defeat the enemy because he is immune to bullets. He knows he won’t get hurt. On the other hand, a normal soldier needs a lot of courage to take the enemy down. He knows he can lose his life going against this enemy. Courage is when the soldier decides to fight the enemy even if he is shaking in his boots. You don’t need courage in front of a tree. You need courage in front of a bully. Courage can only be practiced under fire. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is overcoming your fear in front of danger. It is also taking a risk for the sake of the good. You can never pursue your dreams without courage. Only courage can silence our fears. A lot of people have been crippled because of their fear of failure and getting hurt. Fear continually robs them of their dreams. Fear has made them mediocre, helpless and worst, hopeless. Only courageous people can go against the river, cowards are swept away. Courage can make the difference between your mediocrity and greatness. You can never be great sitting on your butt waiting for the perfectly safe moment or opportunity before you act. It will never happen. You need to have the courage to take risks if you want to go anywhere in life. “If you don’t take risks for God, you won’t give anything worthwhile.” - St Louis de Montfort Mountain climbers risk their own safety to see the beautiful view at the peak. It is the same for us. If we want to go beyond mediocrity and experience the peak of life, we must be courageous. We must risk. Will you have the courage to live life to the full?

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

7 REASONS NOT TO MARRY

by Susan Stith
Family Life Director – Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown

The decision to marry is the biggest decision that most people make in a lifetime. Following is a list of danger signs. If any of these are present in your relationship now, it is best to postpone the marriage until the issue is resolved. Marriage itself will not make these problems disappear. In fact, these problems almost always get worse after marriage.

1. Marrying to get out of the house.
This is simply trading one set of problems for another. Other options exist to get away from a troubled home. A counselor

How Can You Bloom in the Desert?

Why did the monks and hermits went to the desert? To run away from the world? Or did they go there to find something deeper in life and in themselves. The desert can be a powerful experience. It can strip us down. It can also be a place where we confront our inner demons that haunts us. The desert can purify us and bring out the greatness that lies in us. In the desert one is forced to live on the basics. You are stripped down to all excessive luxuries. You learn to live simply and be more grateful with what you have. The silence of the desert takes away all the noise and distractions you fill yourself. There you are able to listen to yourself. In the desert you will find who you are and who you are not. It brings the best and worst in you. It is a place where you will find your weakness but also your strengths. Because the desert is a barren place, you cannot escape from the inner demons that you run away from. There you have the opportunity to confront them and defeat them. The Desert is Place of Preparation. John the Baptist lived in the desert before he preached. Jesus also lead by the Spirit went to the desert for 40 days before He started his ministry. Now many of us cannot afford to the desert. But we can enter into a desert experience where we are. Trials are desert experience. Trial makes us feel so barren, so alone. Our sufferings in life can make us feel we are living in the desert. The Blooming Desert It’s amazing, the difference a drop of rain can make. Almost overnight, it seems, the desert springs to life. The seeds that lie dormant suddenly are triggered to action. Flowers of different colors and kind suddenly bloom out of no where. Even a couple of days' rain is enough to transform the landscape. It can also be true for us. We need to enter the silence and barrenness of the desert to trigger our talents and gifts. Sometimes we need trials for us to bloom. So let your desert experiences produce blooming in you.

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

What Can You Learn from the Trials You Experience?

Have you experience trials in your life? If not, then you must be dead!
No one escape trials in this life. Only those on the cemetery are free from it. Only those buried six feet underground are resting in peace.

Many of us try to escape our trials in life, only to catch up with us in the end. Unfortunately when it catches up and gets us, it is bigger and meaner. Running away from our trials does not solve anything.

Imagine you are a lazy person. The only thing you do all day long is eat in front of the TV. Your dad noticing that you are becoming unhealthy with the kind of lifestyle you are living. So he decides to get you on a diet and exercise.

If you are a lazy person, your first initial reaction to the diet and exercise is dread and rejection. The diet and exercise to you is a sign of labor and pain. It would also mean lessening your time being a couch potato. So you try to escape it.

But the diet and the exercise are something you need. They are something that can help your body to be healthy again. And the more you are healthy the more you can enjoy life.

I believe God sends us trials for our own sake. We have become obsessed to the least important things in life and have abandoned those things that truly meaningful. We have run after a life of success than of fulfillment and happiness. We have greatly invested on our physical beauty and forgotten to develop our character and inner beauty.

Sometimes God uses trials to get us back in track. Most of us have chosen an unhealthy and worldly lifestyle that is self-destructive. Most of the times trials can knock us back to our senses. It can give us a reality check. All is not well. And most importantly you are not well.

We can view our trials as a health program for the soul. Taken well, it can eliminate those fats in our soul, like laziness, irresponsibility, indifference to the plight of others etc. It can also help us build our character. Trials can strengthen the soul. It can also be a source of wisdom. You are able to see the “real world” and not what is on TV. It can give you a deeper understanding of life, of others and yourself.

Michael Jordan did not become great because he was playing with monkeys. He became great because he was tried and challenged by the best of the best. And he overcame them. MJ won’t be a legend if he defeated monkeys in basketball!

Trials are opportunity for your personal growth and greatness. Do not run away from it.

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

Pope Says Freedom Is Realized in Service

Delivers "Lectio Divina" on Paul's Letter to Galatians

ROME, FEB. 23, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Human beings are truly free when we live in the truth of our dependency on God's love, count on him to provide all things, and serve others, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this Friday in a visit to Rome's major seminary, in which he delivered a "lectio divina" on the text of St. Paul to the Galatians: "You were called to freedom."

"At all times," he noted, "freedom has been humanity's great dream, since the beginning, but particularly in modern times."

The Pontiff posed these questions to the seminarians: "What is freedom? How can we be free?"

Referring to St. Paul's exhortation to not use freedom as an opportunity for the "flesh," the Holy Father noted that this "flesh" refers to "the absolutizing of the I, of the I that wants to be all and have everything for itself."

He explained: "In short, the absolute I, which does not depend on anything or anyone, seems really to possess freedom. I am free if I do not depend on anyone, if I can do everything I wish."

However, he pointed out, this is not freedom but rather the "degradation of man."

True freedom

Benedict XVI asserted that "we are free if we become one another's servants."

He added: "To reduce oneself to the flesh, apparently raising oneself to the rank of divinity -- 'I, man alone' -- introduces a lie […].

"This goes against the truth of our being. Our truth is, above all, that we are creatures, creatures of God and we live in relationship with the Creator.

"We are rational beings, and only by accepting this relationship do we enter into truth, otherwise we fall into falsehood and, in the end, are destroyed by it."

The Pope underlined the dependency that we as creatures have on God, who loves us. Thus, he said, "our dependence implies being in the realm of his love, in this case, in fact, dependency is freedom."

He added: "And because of this to see God, to orient oneself to God, to know God, to know the will of God, to insert oneself in his will, that is, in the love of God is to enter increasingly into the realm of truth."

Serve others

The Pontiff turned his focus to the relationship each person has with each other. He said, "In other words, human freedom is, on one hand, to be in the joy and great realm of the love of God, but it also implies being only one thing with the other and for the other."

"Only a shared freedom is human freedom," he affirmed, and "in being together we can enter the symphony of freedom."

The Holy Father stated: "To serve one another becomes an instrument of freedom, and here we can include a whole philosophy of politics according to the social doctrine of the Church, which helps us to find this common order that gives each one his place in the common life of humanity.

"The first reality that must be respected, therefore, is truth: Freedom against truth is not freedom. To serve one another creates the common realm of freedom."

"By participation in the sacraments," he pointed out, "by listening to the Word of God, the Divine Will, the divine law really enters our will, our will identifies with his, they become only one will and thus we are really free, we can really do what we will, because we love with Christ, we love in truth and with truth."

Q. Don't you have to learn from your own mistakes to become who you are?

Q. Don't you have to learn from your own mistakes to become who you are? That way, if you experience it for yourself, you can decide if it’s right or wrong for you. I’d imagine you made some mistakes, and in the end, I think it makes you a more stable person. I know what is considered "right" and "wrong", but shouldn’t there be a time when we don’t conform and make up our own minds on certain issues?

A. Imagine if you went to the DMV to take the test to receive your driver’s license. When asked certain questions during your drive test, you said to the instructor, “Instead of following all your little laws and signs, I think I need to learn from my mistakes as a driver. In the end, it will make me a well-rounded person. Why should I conform to what side of the road you want me on when I can make up my own mind?”

Needless to say, you’d be taking the bus home from the DMV.

Just as we are not able to create our own laws on the highway, we are not able to make up our own private system of moral values. God has created the moral law, and he has done it for our sakes, just as the builders of highways erect guardrails in front of cliffs. Trust his plan for you, instead of assuming that you need to disobey him in order to find your identity or experience real freedom.

As David said to God in the book of Psalms, “Better is one day in your court, that thousands elsewhere.” One moment living in the will of God is greater than all of the experiences you could gain by living for years in opposition to God’s plans for you.

Every minute of every day, you and I have the chance to make different mistakes, and God does not take that ability away from us. But we should not rely on our mistakes to gain understanding. For example, I could cheat on my wife, and learn from that. I could get addicted to cocaine, and learn from that. I could refuse to potty train my dog, and learn from that. Just because you can learn from something does not mean that you should do it.

A wise person can examine the possible outcomes of a behavior, and use that information to make the best decision. For example, I received a letter from girl who was a great volleyball athlete at her school. She started sleeping with her boyfriend and became pregnant. She told her parents and they were furious. Her mom wanted her to have an abortion, so she ran away with her boyfriend, and they lived on the streets and slept in a cemetery. She was able to shower once a week, and barely had any food to eat. Eventually, she gave up and went home to her mom, who forced her to have an abortion. Then, her boyfriend left her and she realized she never really loved him.

Did she learn a lot from these trials? You bet. But does she wish it all never happened? She’d pay a million dollars for that. She has first hand knowledge of the consequences of her actions. But you can foresee the effects of your actions without having to do them. This is the difference between wisdom and foolishness. A reliable person tells two people that the stove is hot. The wise person trusts the information. The fool ends up with blisters on his hands.

Sin will offer you plenty of experiences, but so does refusing to sin. In fact, I think I’ve learned the most from not committing certain sins. I learned that God is trustworthy, and that he honors those who honor him. Who I am today is shaped by a million things. But when I die, the one thing that I want to have shaped me the most is God’s will. Therefore, if you desire wisdom, go to God. If you want to know yourself, come to him. He knows you better than you know yourself.

So trust me, if I am a stable person, it’s not because of my sins. It is because I stopped them, never went back to them, or never started them. Take, for example, Mother Teresa. To me, she was stable and saw life in with great perspective. This was because she knew that life was not worth living unless it was lived for others. She did not learn this from turning from God, but by turning to him, and looking at all of reality in His light.

Who you are is shaped by your choices, and who you become shapes the choices you make. Therefore, choose wisely.

Q. What's HPV?

A. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common STD in the world, infecting more than 440 million people.[1] There are over one hundred different types of HPV, and about thirty to forty of them cause genital infections.[2] While most people who contract HPV will not suffer serious consequences from the virus, it does cause 99.7 percent of cervical cancer, and this kills approximately 288,000 women annually.[3]

In the United States the annual death toll from cervical cancer is fewer than four thousand. The reason for the relatively low figure is that HPV is often treated before it leads to cervical cancer. Unfortunately, women in developing nations often lack adequate health care and routine Pap testing. Therefore they are much more likely to suffer the full consequences of the virus.
HPV can also cause genital skin cancer, which has killed more than thirty thousand people in the United States.[4]. Finally, HPV can cause genital warts, but only 1 percent of sexually active people experience this symptom.[5].

Unfortunately, the virus can impact the health of children born to infected mothers. For example, I know of parents who took their infant to the doctor because she had a sore throat. The doctor examined her and told the parents that the child had genital warts growing on her larynx. This condition, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), is uncommon but still infects over two thousand children each year.[6] Since there is no cure for HPV, children with RRP often require laser surgeries to remove the warts. Sadly, the average child with RRP needs surgery every three months for several years; such a child will have more than twenty surgeries over the course of his or her lifetime.[7]

Because the virus usually does not show symptoms, most people who have HPV are unaware of their infection. Also, HPV can remain latent in a person’s body for a considerable amount of time. For example, some women have contracted the virus as teens and not suffered health effects from the infection until their thirties or forties. Also, when a woman gets checked for signs of HPV, the doctor’s colposcope may fail to detect genital wart infestations. Doctors may also give a woman a Pap test to see if there is any abnormal cell growth in her cervix caused by HPV. However, this is not technically an “HPV test.” In fact, one study of more than three hundred sexually active teen girls discovered that 62 percent of the girls were infected with HPV, despite the fact that most of them had normal Pap test results![8]

Because the Pap test can sometimes fail to detect HPV, many doctors recommend a yearly test for any woman who has been sexually active, even if she is now abstinent. HPV DNA tests are now available as well. Through an HPV DNA test, a woman who has HPV can know which type (or types) of the virus she is infected with. Doctors can then tell her if she is in a high or low risk category and can follow up with her accordingly.

Recently scientists have developed a vaccine against HPV for women. Although it only prevents a few types of HPV, which infect only 3 percent of women,[9] those few types are responsible for causing most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts.

Men can be infected with HPV as well, but they are less likely to develop cancer from it, so they are often considered “vectors” for the virus. For example, when a husband is infected with HPV, his wife is five times as likely to get cervical cancer.[10] Unfortunately, most men with HPV who get tested for STDs will not learn of their infection unless they have visible genital warts. HPV DNA testing does exist for men, but it is expensive and usually only used for research purposes.

How common is the virus among males? One way to know is to consider how quickly women are infected. According to the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 46 percent of teenage girls acquire HPV from their first sexual relationship.[11] Such high rates of infection are widely reported, and scientists estimate that over 50 percent of sexually active men and women have been infected with one or more types of genital HPV.[12] Such high numbers seem almost unbelievable. But one must remember that most people with HPV will not show symptoms or suffer as a result of it.

Although HPV is incurable, this does not mean that it is permanent, like herpes. In fact, HPV will usually go away within a few years.[13] So despite the fact that most women have been infected with HPV,[14] only 27 percent currently test positive for the virus.[15]

Young women are most at risk for HPV infection. For example, 40 percent of sexually active girls between the ages of fourteen and nineteen are currently infected with HPV. The numbers are even higher for women aged twenty to twenty-four (49 percent)![16] Among all women this age bracket has the highest rate of HPV.

The prevalence of HPV also varies according to marital status. For example, only 17 percent of married women are currently infected. However, nearly half of all women who are living with their boyfriends are infected with the virus.[17]

One reason why the virus is so common is that HPV can spread by any genital contact (genital, oral, or by means of the hands).[18] The virus can also be present, without symptoms, on a person’s abdomen or thighs.[19] Therefore condoms are not very effective in preventing its transmission.

This is perhaps one reason why we don’t hear more about HPV. It is the Achilles’ heel of the “safe sex” campaign. For example, researchers followed hundreds of college girls without HPV and discovered that 60 percent of them contracted the virus by the end of the study. According to the researchers, “always using male condoms with a new partner was not protective [of HPV].”[20] One has to wonder if these women would have made different choices if they knew the limitations of the condom.

In order to educate the public about HPV, Congress passed Public Law 106-554. Among other things, this law required government health agencies to make sure that educational materials are “medically accurate regarding the overall effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV.”[21] Condom labels were to be reexamined for medical accuracy, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were directed to create a report that outlined the best strategies to avoid HPV.

The CDC finally published their report three years later, admitting, “The available scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend condoms as a primary prevention strategy for the prevention of genital HPV infection.”[22] While condom use may reduce the risk of HPV-related diseases, the CDC explained earlier that “studies which have attempted to assess male condom benefit for women have generally found no evidence of protection against [HPV] infection.”[23]

As soon as the CDC released its report, Congressman Mark Souder wrote a letter to the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration:

A meta-analysis reviewing “the best available data describing the relationship between condoms and HPV-related conditions” from the past two decades published in the November 29, 2002 edition of the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases found, “There was no consistent evidence of a protective effect of condom use on HPV DNA detection, and in some studies, condom use was associated with a slightly increased risk for these lesions.” Three years after Public Law 106-554 was signed by President Clinton, condom labels still do not warn consumers about the lack of protection against HPV infection. The Subcommittee urges FDA to act on the release of CDC’s HPV prevention report and immediately relabel condoms to alert consumers that condoms do not provide effective protection against HPV infection.[24]

Because of the inadequacy of the condom in preventing HPV, many people contract the virus while engaging in what they mistakenly believe to be “safe sex.” Senator Tom Coburn, who has been working for years to encourage the FDA to correct condom labels, testified, “It is a cruel distortion of the word ‘prevention’ to tell women and young girls that the tremendous physical, emotional and financial costs of treatment for HPV infection are a cost worth bearing as a consequence of federal health agencies’ intentional distortion and cover-up of scientific data related to HPV.”[25] The financial impact he mentioned is the fact that Americans spend up to six billion dollars each year treating HPV.

While some government officials have urged the FDA to update condom labels, other politicians want it left alone. Congressman Henry Waxman, a long-time opponent of abstinence education, argued, “We want to be sure that we do not end up with an unintended effect of confusing people about the situations where condoms do work. . . . [Condom labels] that include information on HPV can result in so much information on such a small package that it reduces the effectiveness of any information.”[26] Therefore he believes that undermining the public’s confidence in the condom will have “serious public health consequences.” He added, “Are condoms perfect? Of course not. But reality requires us not to make a public health strategy against protection, but rather to ask a key question: compared to what?”[27]

Unfortunately, since Waxman thinks purity is unrealistic, his only option to stop STDs is to exaggerate condom effectiveness in hopes that more people will use them. Some health “experts” concur, saying they we don’t want to “create an epidemic of panic, fear, and anxiety in adolescents and young adults who are embarking on their sexual careers.”[28] One leader in the sex ed movement tried to put an optimistic spin on the issue by saying, “I don’t think we, in any way, want to do anything that will frighten people from using condoms. . . . The bottom-line message always needs to be that most STDs are treatable.”[29]

In the midst of the debate, the FDA has not done a great deal. It said that it is “certainly committed to looking at this and making the requisite changes.”[30] It added that it is “preparing new guidance on condom labeling,” “exploring new opportunities to best inform condom users about important limitations of the device,” and “proposing to amend the classification regulations for condoms.”[31] In other words, not much has changed.

The lack of clarity from government agencies has contributed to confusion within the contraceptive industry. For example, the makers of LifeStyles Condoms issued a press release “encouraging people to have a love affair with condoms.”[32] In it the manufacturers claimed that safe sex reduces the risk of HPV transmission. When asked for the scientific proof to back up their claim, they admitted that their public relations firm “mistakenly included HPV among the diseases for which latex condoms provide protection.”[33]

In 2005 the FDA took a step in the right direction and drafted a document with proposed language for a new condom label. As a result of this document, the commissioner of the FDA said the agency “received roughly 400 comments on the proposed rule. Almost all comments suggested the proposed labeling language was confusing and difficult for consumers to understand. As a result, the Agency intends to undertake additional labeling comprehension studies to help insure that the final labeling recommendations issued by the Agency are understandable to users.”[34]

While the FDA is undertaking its condom “labeling comprehension studies,” millions of people are being infected with HPV while overestimating the effectiveness of so-called “safe sex.”
_____________________________
[1]. F. Martinon-Torres, et al., “[Human Papillomavirus Vaccines: A New Challenge for Pediatricians],” Anales de Pediatría 65:5 (November 2006): 461–469; Helen Trottier and Eduardo L. Franco, “The Epidemiology of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection,” Vaccine 24:S1 (30 March 2006): S4; Division of STD Prevention “Prevention of Genital HPV Infection and Sequelae: Report of an External Consultants’ Meeting,” Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (December 1999): 1; Janet Torpy, “Human Papillomavirus Infection,” The Journal of the American Medical Association 297:8 (28 February 2007): 912.
[2]. M. A. Van Ranst et al., “Taxonomy of the Human Papillomaviruses,” Papillomavirus Report 3 (1993): 61–65. As reported by NIH, “Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention,” 23.
[3]. World Health Organization, “Cervical Cancer,” International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2005 (www.iarc.fr).
[4]. “Genital Skin Cancer More Deadly for Women,” HealthDay News (5 February 2007).
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[11]. S. Collins, et al., “High Incidence of Cervical Human Papillomavirus Infection in Women During Their First Sexual Relationship,” BJOG : An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 109:1 (January 2002): 96–98.
[12]. L.E. Manhart and L.A. Koutsky, “Do Condoms Prevent Genital HPV Infection, External Genital Warts, or Cervical Neoplasia?: A Meta-Analysis,” Sexually Transmitted Diseases 29:11 (November 2002): 725–735; Division of STD Prevention “Prevention of Genital HPV Infection and Sequelae: Report of an External Consultants’ Meeting,” DHHS, (CDC), 7.
[13]. A.B. Moscicki, et al., “The Natural History of Human Papillomavirus Infection as Measured by Repeated DNA Testing in Adolescent and Young Women,” The Journal of Pediatrics 132:2 (February 1998): 277–284; E.L. Franco, et al., “Epidemiology of Acquisition and Clearance of Cervical Human Papillomavirus Infection in Women from a High-Risk Area for Cervical Cancer,” The Journal of Infectious Diseases 180:5 (November 1999): 1415–1423.
[14]. L. Koutsky, “Epidemiology of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection,” The American Journal of Medicine 102:5A (5 May 1997): 3–8, as cited in Centers for Disease Control, “Tracking the Hidden Epidemics, Trends in STDs in the United States 2000,” (6 April 2001), 18.
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[16]. Dunne, et al., 816.
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[19]. NIH, “Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention,” 26; House of Representatives, “Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 1999” (22 November 1999), 10.
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[21]. Public Law 106-554, 106th Congress, 114 Stat. 2763 (21 December 2000).
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[24]. “Rep. Souder Asks FDA for Action on Condom & HPV Information Law,” abstinence.net (12 February 2004), emphasis mine; Manhart and Koutsky, 725–735.
[25]. Tom Coburn, “Cervical Cancer and Human Papillomavirus,” Hearing before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, U.S. House of Representatives(11 March 2004), 4.
[26]. Ilka Couto and Cynthia Dailard, “Wanted: A Balanced Policy and Program Response to HPV and Cervical Cancer,” The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy 2:6 (December 1999).
[27]. Lara Jakes Jordan, “Condom Warning Labels Mulled,” cbsnews.com The Associated Press, Washington (12 March 2004).
[28]. Audio Transcript, “Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness and STD Prevention,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (12–13 June 2000).
[29]. Tamara Kerinin, as quoted by Cheryl Wetzstein, “Agencies Rapped for Shirking HPV Law,” The Washington Times (23 December 2003).
[30]. Sylvia Smith “Condom Labels Called Inadequate,” The Journal Gazette (12 March 2004) 5-A.
[31]. Statement of Daniel G. Schultz, M.D. Before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources Committee on Government Reform United States House of Representatives March 11, 2004.
[32]. LifeStyles Condoms, Press Release, Ansell Healthcare, Inc. (31 July 2000).
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[34]. “Latest News: Andrew C. Von Eschenbach, M.D. Confirmation, Questions for the Record,” Abstinence Clearinghouse E-mail Update (9 September 2006), Reply to Question 14.