Why Au, Nonoy, Moj and everybody else will never find happiness

Amid the trash, after Pope Francis, I mean. After he said, "We need to see, with the eyes of faith, the beauty of God's saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person." We don't remember. The trash makes us forget.

21 January 2015, Wednesday, I'm reading on Facebook that Au, Edna, Nonoy, Moj and everybody else are complaining about the garbage that EcoWaste has complained about, left by people at Rizal Park after the Papal Mass last Sunday, 18 January 2015, that according to the MMDA report was equivalent to 138 tons of garbage (Mike Frialde, 19 January 2015, philstar.com). 23 truckloads.

Actually, that's not correct. Garbage means kitchen refuse; what they are talking about is trash, that is, worthless, rubbish. Look at what they call garbage: plastic wrappers, bags, raincoats, styro food containers, barbecue sticks, fruit peelings, cardboard, food leftovers, candy wrappers, plastic bottles, tarpaulin. Trash. They are not worthless -- they are worth recycling. As a matter of fact, even garbage is not worthless -- it's worth turning into organic fertilizer.

Au said by way of comment:

Edna Sasing Lao ~THIS IS THE BIGGEST INSULT OF ALL! - a slap in the Papal face made right at the very moment he was preaching about environmental cleanliness.

"He created the world as a beautiful garden and asked us to care for it.” Pope Francis' homily at the concluding mass in Luneta

138 tons of garbage (GMA News post 1/19 as of 7:33 pm) equivalent to 276,000 Lbs !!! If there were 6,000,000 people in Luneta that day, each would have contributed approx 22 lbs or 10 kgs of garbage!

This is the first acid test of our people's true adulation....and we have miserably failed!! It leaves to question: were we truly inspired by the Pope? Or were we just carried away by the hype and bandwagon mood of the day without even truly understanding the significance of it all...

So what happened? Nobody listened to his talk? All that crying and shouting energy surely could have carried 10 kg of load, and it could have been the first passing mark to indicate that we have fully sucked up the Pope's messages. As a matter of fact, the Pope told us to be silent. Listen. It wasn't the man we were rooting for, but Jesus whom he represented and most especially the messages that Jesus wanted to convey through him.

Disappointing it maybe but this should be a wake up call to all of us. If we cannot even clean up our physical garbage, how can we clean our spiritual trash? "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

They love Pope Francis but not the environment, not the community. If they had containers for the food they brought, they could bring them back until they found a trash bin.

I said, "We Filipinos have everything except discipline, which we first (don't) learn at home."

Moj said, "I would also like to think that our faith is superficial -- we do not generally practice mercy and compassion, makasarili, hindi makatao, pakitang-tao lang ang pagsisimba o kaya ay usyoso."

Any other complaints?

"'Pag wala na si Pope Francis, puro basura na sa kalye'" -- anonymous (interaksyon.com).

Pia Ranada wrote (19 January 2015, rappler.com):

Environmentalists mourned the unholy sight of a garbage-choked Rizal Park and its environs after Pope Francis' public Mass held in Quirino Grandstand on Sunday, January 18. The park, Manila's green lung and the country's premier park, was wrapped in trash incompatible with a holy celebration that left eco-volunteers and government workers busy cleaning up the mess," said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator of the green group EcoWaste Coalition.

All that complaint tells me we'll always find Pope Francis in the news but we'll never find happiness. That means so soon we all have already forgotten Pope Francis' Ten Tips to Happiness:

(1) Live and let live.
(2) Give yourself to others.
(3) Move quietly in the world.
(4) Enjoy leisure.
(5) Sunday is for families.
(6) Find jobs for young people.
(7) Respect nature.
(8) Let go of negative things quickly.
(9) Don't preach your religion too forcefully.
(10) Work for peace.

We'll never be happy if we keep looking at the miserable things. So, what did Pope Francis recommend to keep us happy? If your religion is to respect nature: "Don't preach your religion too forcefully." Don’t insult. "Let go of negative things quickly." Do something positive about it. "Work for peace." Find peace with those who leave trash anywhere and everywhere and work out a solution, except shaming. It's the same thing as loving your enemies.

Cory Martinez & Meinie Jimena wrote (journal.com.ph) that the EcoWaste group "suggested that the massive trashing of Luneta for the second time this year should encourage the bishops, the priests and the faithful to do a serious rethinking of how Pope Francis' call for the 'protection of the environment' is translated in faith-oriented activities." That's the spirit!

And the Ten New Year's Resolutions recommended by Pope Francis are:

(1) Don't gossip.
(2) Finish your meals.
(3) Make time for others.
(4) Choose the "more humble" purchase.
(5) Meet the poor "in the flesh."
(6) Stop judging others.
(7) Befriend those who disagree.
(8) Make commitments, such as marriage.
(9) Make it a habit to "ask the Lord."
(10) Be happy.

"Don't gossip," Pope Francis recommends. If you keep complaining about other people, that's gossiping. Wazzup said, "One of the failings of our society is basically keeping our surroundings clean and orderly" and "The environment is most vulnerable to pressures of poverty and is exacerbated by corruption that tribes in a political system that allows dirty politics" (wazzuppilipinas.com). Nice try – should be "thrives in …" "Stop judging others." I disagree with your negative talk, so you have to befriend me. Or, befriend those who are not friends of the environment! If all you can see is the good person in front of the mirror, you'll miss out a rule for happiness. Make it a habit to "ask the Lord" to forgive the sinners. If you're not one of them, feel blessed anyway. As Pope Francis puts it, "Be happy." Anyway.