Well, I'm certainly glad he cleared that up.

[quesarah]

Pope Says Sundays for God, Not Sports

Fri Mar 26, 8:37 AM ET

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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul (news - web sites) on Friday said Sunday should be a day for God, not for secular diversions like entertainment and sports.

"When Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes subordinate to a secular concept of 'weekend' dominated by such things as entertainment and sport, people stay locked within a horizon so narrow that they can no longer see the heavens," the pontiff said in a speech to Australian bishops.

John Paul criticized the "culture of the 'here and now,'" urging Church leaders to "lead men and women from the shadows of moral confusion and ambiguous thinking."

The 83-year-old pope also encouraged Christians, especially young people, to remain faithful to Sunday Mass, saying the secular culture was undermining family life.

Comments

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

Oh come now. I'm sure a lot of the footballers pray before the game, at least.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

And I'm certain the coaches are calling out to Jesus at some point during the game.

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

As are all the people who bet their meager life savings on 2 point spreads.

God is a part of everything, Mr. Pope. Let us worship in our own way. You have wine and wafers? We have beer and nachos. S'all good.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Brilliant. I must quote you on that.

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

Sure thing. Perhaps it's something we should add to the LJ Elite itinerary. And we'll hold it on Sunday at 11:45pm, so that by the time the Pope gets around to bitching at us about our sacrilege, it'll already be Monday and we can just laugh at him. Then, since he's old and sick, he'd probably be really tired, and we'd invite him to relax for a bit with us. And then slowly turn him to our side.

Hm. That sounds like a mission, to me. Can we get an acronym?

[woe2you.livejournal.com]

How about "Papal Invitation and Slow Subordination to Happy Ecumenical Alcohol Drinking"?

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

I don't think biogeekgrrl will appreciate you moving in on her newly aquired position within the elite. Stick to your own tasks please. Oh and BTW, can you please go check on the office full of horny alien chicks.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

We won't hear from him for weeks. Heh.

[woe2you.livejournal.com]

Good to know you'll miss me. Actually, it appears kitsune76 has got to the key first (damn her) so I'm just going to have to do what I always do when the women run out on me - drink. And since there's 12 of them this time I'll have to drink with the Pope cos, y'know, I think "all of them" is worse than "12 of them", and I like good, dedicated drinking companions.

[sionnain.livejournal.com]

Hey, I filled out the LJ Elite poll.

*looks around excitedly*

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Are you willing to take drinking, and generally debauch the Pope?

[sionnain.livejournal.com]

Always! *Swears with hand up*

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

Welcome aboard!

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

woe2you's acronym is spiffy, but as the FLICA for the LJ Elite, I propose the following:

Secret Ecumenical Mission to Influence Agents of ReligiositY. Or, SEMINARY.

[woe2you.livejournal.com]

Your Holiness,

We appreciate that you are more or less condemned to fill a largely ornamental role for a very morbid and depressing religion, but really dude, lighten up. Sunday has not lost its fundamental meaning; it's still arguably the first/last day of the week, depending if you're following the traditional or modern calendar. The traditional calendar, by the way, based the order of the week on a Saturday sabbath; which your church changed in order to underline its difference from Judaism. Also, the word "Sunday" (in English, at least) is derived from the OE sunnan daeg, or "day of the sun" - possibly linked to the worship of Lugh.

Also, this is an increasingly secular world, in which fewer people are interested in the mumbo-jumbo of your religion - which, let's face it, originated as an organised way of pleading with thunderstorms, same as any other - we simply don't want to do the voodoo that you do, and that's our choice and our call. We make our own decisions these days, which is if anything more morally responsible than hiding behind "because God says so" especially when he says so in a book compiled from many sources, each with their own agenda and edited and (mis)translated by many more.

Thank you for your concern though. Don't call us; we'll call you.

Yours Ecumenically,

Chris

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Well said, Mr. W2Y.

[joebanks.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised he didn't go after shopping. That is what everyone does on Sunday. Sports are probably more family oriented then hitting the mall.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

True! At least you can watch the game with your kids and talk about sportsmanship, as opposed to going to the mall and teaching them about material possessions.

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

Yeah but what if we're out buying bibles, huh? Huh? What can he say then?

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Nothing! Not a thing! Stick that in your funny hat, Mr. Pope!

At Bibles-Are-Us

[joebanks.livejournal.com]

The bible store is always the most crowded place at the mall on Sunday. But we have to ask, should the Bible store be open on Sunday?

Re: At Bibles-Are-Us

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Where Would Mel Gibson's Tortured Jesus Shop?

Re: At Bibles-Are-Us

[joebanks.livejournal.com]

He would shop on Sunday. Because he was Jewish; I'm trying not to be ignorant here, wouldn't Saturday be his day off?

Re: At Bibles-Are-Us

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

Yup. Some people do the Saturday thing, while others do Friday. The Pope is being a little bit close minded here.