Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli, a 72-year-old priest who gave a respirator (that his parishioners had purchased for him), to a younger patient (whom he did not know), has died from #coronavirus.
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) March 24, 2020
"Greater love has no person..." (Jn 15:13) https://t.co/qXQ6knoE6n via @Araberara pic.twitter.com/uKxRNghire
Article at BBC, here.
The Bible verse is "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
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62 comments:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
That fine sentiment is canceled out by the definition of "friend" which follows:
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."
The speaker doesn't seem to know the difference between "friends" with "slaves".
Fernandistein doesn't seem to know much about Jesus.
Walk with God Fr.Berardelli.The only opinion that matters.The Big guys not ours.
We should ask Nancy Pelosi's kid about that Bible quote.
This is a sobering, and uplifting, story.
Very inspiring.
Bet the parishioners are pissed.
According to Fernandistein there's no difference between this man and Muhammad Atta.
RIP Father.
Hopefully we're not on track for a St. Meade
This provides some perspective on how trivial a sacrifice our sheltering in place really is. Rest in peace...
Now that’s a Catholic. Nancy Pelosi, not so much.
Fernandistein again proves he is a Richard Dawkins wanna-be but with the depth and erudition of Jerry Lewis.
Good for him. That's what Christians are supposed to do. A positive example for the rest of us.
It wasn't his friend. That's the real point.
Yet the dems persist...
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/03/pelosis-extortion-is-a-spark-that-may-start-a-national-fire/
Social media serves as a useful tool for encouraging precautions that will help "flatten the curve." But these sorts of colorful anecdotes are heightening alarm and fear. And panic. Do you remember the AIDs hysteria and what a bunch of bullsh*t it was? From Salon.com, consider the experience of one child in New York in the mid 1980s:
There are 946,000 children attending New York City schools, and only one of them -- an unidentified second-grader enrolled at an undisclosed school -- is known to suffer from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the dread disease known as AIDS. But the parents of children at P.S. 63 in Queens, one of the city's 622 elementary schools, were not taking any chances last week. As the school opened its doors for the fall term, 944 of its 1,100 students stayed home.
Imagine being the parent of this child. What if this happened today? The worthless and brutal jackasses on Twitter would never shut up...
This story reminded me of the Four Chaplains https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Chaplains.
Blogger John Lynch said...
It wasn't his friend. That's the real point
BINGO.
Fernandistein the village atheist.
Ken B, I understand your point but I think you are somewhat unfair to Dawkins. He certainly is a great biologist. ("The Selfish Gene" is highly recommended.) But like many experts he makes the error of thinking his expertise extends farther than it actually does.
I remember my favorite Physics professor in school. Dr. Mazur used to ride the bus into school when he was lecturing. He told us once that he enjoyed talking to the people on the bus much more than talking to other members of the Physics Department. "They don't know anything" he'd say, "their opinions aren't any better than anyone else's."
Good to remember, and easy to forget.
Phidippus aka Philippians
I am, in science, a huge admirer of Dawkins. Few have influenced my thinking more. And I have been an atheist longer I expect than Fernandistein has been alive. I agree precisely with you and Dr Mazur. But you are right, comparing even Jerry Lewis to Fernandistein is harsh, much Dr Dawkins.
And what were Jesus' commandments? Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else falls out of those two.
Greater love hath no man than this, that he build a medical system in which no one needs to lay down their life for their friend.
Confirmed cases in Italy in the 60K range. Deaths attributed to Wuhan: in the 6K range (an overestimate, since half of early cases involved three underlying conditions in old people with limited life expectancy)--let's say 10%. New estimate by Italian trackers that true infection rate is on the order of 600K. If true, fatality rate is on the order of 1%, of which most still in the familiar risk groups.
The story isn't as characterized in the twitter post (I don't see a BBC article...?):
"Don Giuseppe was archpriest of Casnigo for almost fourteen years and would have concluded his mission in Casnigo. He ended it earlier, in a hospital in Lovere, hit by the coronavirus. Already last year he had had health problems."
...and as far as I can tell from the translation he gave the respirator away because he couldn't take it to the hospital.
Anyone talk good Italian?
According to Fernandistein there's no difference between this man and Muhammad Atta.
Some of you Jesus freaks sure do get defensive about your superstitions. Making silly insults probably helps, eh?
Comments section atheists are incredibly boring people with an overinflated sense of their own intellects.
“I don't see a BBC article...“
They hid the BBC article by putting it on the BBC site. Althouse linked it, which might be what is confusing you.
Love it. Better to do that than be willing, like the lieutenant governor of Texas, be willing to sacrifice yourself for the "economy".
Vicki from Pasadena
Ken B, I understand your point
Well, yeah, he and some others here are just mild-mannered versions of muslims calling for the deaths of apostates. It's simple minded and childish, not subtle, so there's not much to understand.
He certainly is a great biologist. ("The Selfish Gene" is highly recommended.)
That's the only book of his that I've read.
A lot of superstitious people like Ken B seem to think that there's some work involved in not believing their superstitions, as though one has to fight against "the truth" or some such, but not believing Christian superstitions really is the same as not believing in Ganesha, Zeus, astrology, lucky numbers or Muhammad (PBUH) riding a magic carpet.
Althouse linked it, which might be what is confusing you.
No, she didn't link to it.
AA wrote: "Article at BBC, here." and 'here' doesn't link to the BBC, it links to: https://twitter.com/JamesMartinSJ/status/1242249120489897986
Jeezus....
Phidippus
See what I mean?
I found it!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52015969
That was a struggle!
I found it!
So you admit you were lying, once again, when you falsely claimed that AA had linked to it?
“So you admit you were lying, once again, when you falsely claimed that AA had linked to it?”
Nope. I admit Ann had the wrong link. My error. But I already had seen it ... on the BBC, where you couldn’t find it.
I apologize for thinking you were too stupid not to click Ann's link, rather than too stupid to look for it yourself.
That’s what men are supposed to do.
I usually react better to stories like this and yesterday's story of the girl with the heart condition better. Being cooped up and bored and having to worry about health and money gives me a lot of spitefulness and a desire to burst people's bubbles. But yes, this is an inspiring story, and I hope the kid from yesterday gets better.
I am trying to comprehend why someone would have a respirator at home. Unless he was much less healthy than the photo appears - like incapacitated because of a stroke or injury that left him unable to breathe on his own.
BBC, where you couldn’t find it.
You seem to be rather proud of your trivial accomplishment.
But you're lying again: I didn't look for it, except at AA's link, and didn't say that I looked for it: you just took it on faith that I looked for it, just like you took it on faith the AA had posted a link.
I guess your faith is pretty unreliable LOL.
Positive often works for me, a reminder of my shortcomings.
There's some evidence that the religious faith of some people causes them to behave better than the common run of humanity. There's some evidence that the religious faith of some people causes them to disapprove of gay marriage. There's some evidence people like to edit the data to support their views on either the harmful or benign effects of religious faith.
What an act of sainthood looks like, which few are capable of.
The priest did a great good and selfless thing. That he did it for a stranger is commendable, but I don’t see how it’s better than doing it for a friend. Would a friend in need think better of you if you helped a far-away stranger instead of him? No, Father Bererdelli didn’t one-up Jesus.
"Well, yeah, he and some others here are just mild-mannered versions of muslims calling for the deaths of apostates."
Who is calling for the death of apostates? I wish you no harm, Fernandistein, and enjoy many of your comments. I just think you don't know every much about Christianity and have a huge blind spot when it comes to religion.
It amuses me to be called a "Jesus freak." I am not a very good Catholic. But I know many who are devout Catholics and Christians and their faith inspires them to do good and selfless things. I fully recognize that religious belief can also inspire people to do cruel and evil things. So do many secular faiths and psuedo-religions.
“ What an act of sainthood looks like, which few are capable of.”
The most astonishing thing about WWII, or possibly history, is how many people were willing to sacrifice. Or 9/11. There are brave a good people everywhere.
And those who sneer at them too.
Reading other tweets on that thread about the priest... what a bunch of shitty people these NeverTrump pundits are.
We are all "capable" of such acts. Free will is real.
There was a Brooklyn guy who won the Medal of Honor for giving up his life for another. An SF guy, John Kedenburg was on recon for SOG when they were discovered by the NVA and had to fight there way to a landing zone for exfil. The choppers used these long knotted ropes called McGuire rigs which the men would attach slings to grab hold of grab hold of the rope and be swept up into the helo. After he was already on the rope a missing South Vietnamese soldier showed up and Kedenburg gave up his slot on the rig to him and waved off the helo.
I always use this example when arguing against the idea of altruism, which obviously I think
does not exist. Put as simply as possible, I believe people make these split second decisions because it does serve that individual. Kedenburg knew, in those few seconds that he could not live with himself if he left the laggard behind. Ultimately it was he that was served by a seemingly selfless act.
I am not attempting to minimize his act of valor but instead actually recognize the depth of his humanity. Kedenburg's decision was really the last of innumerable choices formed and made over his tragically short lifetime.
For whatever it's worth, there you have it.
History shows that people are willing to make great sacrifices, and endure horrible things, with profound courage . . . often for really shitty reasons and causes.
Narr
That's one reason that historical knowledge is important
"Greater stupidity hath no man than this, that a man donate organs to the benefit of docs and hospitals instead of selling them to benefit his own family."
God obviously doesn't know my friends.
Fernandistein said...
Some of you Jesus freaks sure do get defensive about your superstitions. Making silly insults probably helps, eh?
Clearly, "Jesus freak" isn't a silly insult, because reasons.
Speaking of silly insults, the very same Fernandistein said...
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
That fine sentiment is canceled out by the definition of "friend" which follows:
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."
The speaker doesn't seem to know the difference between "friends" with "slaves".
Fernandistein @10:34 AM-- You seem to really have a weed up your ass about this issue, which is a shame, because most of the time you are funny and I enjoy reading your stuff.
I an a religious nonbeliever, like many here, but my philosophy is live and let live. I'm not here to convert or change anyone's mind. I am utterly indifferent for some reason to religious issues and concerns, always have been. They simply make no sense to me, the way some people are said to be "tone deaf" and unable to enjoy or understand music.
I have no enemies and hate no one except Marxists and all their fellow travelers, because they wish to enslave us and will stop at nothing to do so. Religious people? Many are kind souls who do good work, like some atheists.
We're all bozos on this bus, man. Live and let live.
Thanks Valentine Smith for the forgotten story of John Kedenburg.
"I didn't look for it, except at AA's link, and didn't say that I looked for it"
You didn't look. You didn't even say you looked. I'm guessing you didn't even think about looking. You didn't even peek, closed one-eye and glanced, you didn't stare, gaze, eyeball, gander, view, look-see. You are a truly noble atheist and are righteous in your rational atheist protest against the Jesus freak, spaghetti moister believing, superstitions people who say you looked.
Keep up the good fight.
Kedenburg gave up his slot on the rig to him and waved off the helo.
Bless him. I suppose there was good reason he didn't just grab the ARVN in a bear hug and save both of them - weight of the help maybe?
Sorry if someone else has already pointed this out, but I haven't had time to read all the comments. The Kingdom New Testament, translated from the Greek by N.T.Wright, has this passage as: "No one has a love greater than this, to lay down your life for your friends."
There's no "correct" translation of this or any other passage.
He gave his life for another. Kind of what the whole deal is about.
Exiled 12:41 - Amen.
Thanks, Valentine Smith. I had not heard that story. I read a story in Boy's Life Magazine as a child about a Vietnam era USAF A1 Spad pilot who landed his aircraft on the battlefield and got a shot down pilot into the cockpit and headed home. This was the first award of the USAF wing and lightning bolt MOH.
If everyone gave their lives for someone else, we would be in trouble. Thus we don't draft girls.
I didn't read this post on the day (because the BBC is as reliable on Catholic Church issues as I am on mathematics-beyond-algebra and because Jesuit Fr Martin GLBxyz needs to be retired from public life by his superiors); reading it today I can't say I regret the decision, particularly since the veracity of the respirator donation turns out to be questionable.
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