Solitary Soul

COURAGE Mario D’Couto As a young man, Charles Dickens nursed a great ambition to become a writer. But the odds were against him: poverty and very little schooling. He mailed his first manuscript in the dead of the night so that nobody would laugh at him. However, stories after stories were rejected. Thus finally dawned that great day, when one was accepted. Today in terms of fame and recognition, Charles Dickens is second only to William Shakespeare.              Courage is not the absence of fear but going ahead knowing that you will face it. It could be defined as the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables you to face danger or fear, or the vicissitudes of life with self – possession, confidence and resolution. It is that which helps us to face the daunting challenges both anticipated and unexpected, which will occur on our journey. It is only by going through failures that we emerge courageous. Failure bui...

PEER PRESSURE AND TEAMWORK Mario D’Couto             I could probably have written pretty extensively on either ‘peer pressure’ or ‘teamwork’ separately, as there is a lot that can be said about each of them but I decided to combine the two topics and merge them into one as both the topics share one common theme – the need to belong. Yes, it’s true! No man is an island and yet because of this need to feel accepted, we are ready to compromise. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that we should do away with it or treat it like as though it did not matter but while the need to associate, build friendships and develop relationships are important, we should not lose sight of who we are, what is our purpose and where we are going.             Sometimes we could fall into the temptation of living up to other people’s expectations. Expectations are nothing but other’s i...

ARE YOU A ‘PETER’ OR A ‘JUDAS’? Mario D’Couto             It is quite interesting to note the personalities of Peter and Judas in reference to the way God and the enemy (Satan) deal with us. To some extent, in some way, we fall under either of the two categories. Let’s take a look.             Peter and Judas were similar in many ways, including the fact that they both rejected Jesus in the crucial last days of His life. And yet, the two men had a fundamental difference. Judas never longed to know Jesus in the manner Peter did. Judas was not founded or rooted in Our Blessed Lord. While at prima facie, it appeared that he (Judas) loved Jesus since he had left all to follow Him, travelled in His constant companionship, stayed under the heat of persecution, cast out devils, healed the sick and preached the Gospel (remember Jesus sent out the 12 to preach, heal and de...

SALT OF THE EARTH – A REFLECTION Mario D’Couto             When it comes to food, salt is like the universal ingredient that is present in almost every dish that you can think of and what’s interesting is that it is present in practically all types of cuisines around the world. We may just say that it is like the King or the Queen of all spices. It’s hard to imagine a dish without salt and yet when the salt loses its saltiness, it’s of no use.             Salt is that which adds flavour to the food that we eat. To an extent, it also holds medicinal value because our bodies need salt besides, salt is also a good preservative. Our Blessed Lord said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savour, wherewith shall it be shall it be salted? It is good for nothing anymore but to be cast out and to be trodden on by men” (Matthew 5:13). It is said that ...