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Pope Francis in Molfetta

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Pope Francis in Molfetta

Faith, devotion and joy have animated an incredible day. Molfetta, a pleasant and welcoming city of Puglia, in the province of Bari, welcomed the beloved Pope Francis on April 20.

The occasion of his presence here was the dies natalis of Don Tonino Bello, our beloved bishop, an extraordinary example of faith, generosity and love for the others who has left us a message of devotion and gratuitousness that is always current and strongly felt.

Pope Francis arrived in Molfetta after being first in Alessano in the province of Lecce to pray at the tomb of our bishop who disappeared just 25 years ago.

The helicopter carrying Pope Francis should have landed near the Cathedral around ten o’clock but it was late. So the Pope first celebrated the holy mass surrounded by bishops, priests and seminarians and then with the Papamobile he skirted the sea arriving at the port authority, the cathedral and the municipal park.

People also came from the neighboring cities with cars, trains, bicycles or even on foot, regardless of the weather, their age and their tiredness, has crossed the streets of a Molfetta armored since the early hours of dawn.

The affection and love of 40000 people were perceived in the air. Children, men and women have followed with attention and devotion the words of the pope focused on the concepts of service and sharing with others.

“The other is a face to be discovered and caressed … We are called to love every face […] to be builders of peace,” said the Pope who added “We must avoid suffering life. said Don Tonino! Always get up! “. The call for activism clearly appears, although this may involve risks.

“It is an uncontrollable emotion – commented the bishop of Molfetta, Monsignor Domenico Cornacchia – because it is a joy of a territory, of a hard-working region and of faith […] we hope it will be the beginning of a renewal of the territory, of consciences, of believers and not “. (From http://bari.repubblica.it/cronaca/2018/04/18/news/il_papa_in_puglia_molfetta_si_blinda_niente_aerei_e_barche_previste_misure_contro_attacchi_chimici-194214279/)

Here are some images of this extraordinary and incredible day and the message of the bishop of our diocese.

rosa

I Molfettesi sono particolarmente devoti alla Madonna dei martiri e nelle sue mani verrà posta questa rosa d’oro proprio dal nostro papa. fonte: http://www.quindici-molfetta.it/ecco-la-rosa-d-oro-che-domani-papa-francesco-porra-fra-le-mani-della-statua-della-madonna-dei-martiri-a_42246.aspx

The image above shows the rose given, like a gift of our Pope, to the beloved Madonna dei Martiri.

Links:

https://freewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/molfetta-papa-francesco-ricorda-don-tonino-bello/http://www.quindici-molfetta.it/ecco-la-rosa-d-oro-che-domani-papa-francesco-porra-fra-le-mani-della-statua-della-madonna-dei-martiri-a_42246.aspx

http://www.giovinazzolive.it/news/attualita/712767/cresce-lattesa-per-il-papa-da-giovinazzo-partiranno-in-1500-sveglia-allalba-e-tanta-emozione

http://bari.repubblica.it/cronaca/2018/04/18/news/il_papa_in_puglia_molfetta_si_blinda_niente_aerei_e_barche_previste_misure_contro_attacchi_chimici-194214279/

Maria Domenica Depalo

The fantasy

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The fantasy

Here we are again with our questions about ourselves and what surrounds us. Let’s start begining with a famous sentence pronounced by the French philosopher Descartes, one of the fathers of mathematics and modern philosophy: Cogito ergo sum, I think therefore I am. This statement links our existence to the thought: our ability to conjecture and to doubt is the proof of our existence.

We think and therefore we exist. However, this thinking doesn’t coincide only with the ability to formulate thoughts and to structure logical and rational reasoning. Thought is also linked above all to imagination and fantasy.

Hence our question that should be considered as a starting point for a journey whose destination is fantasy. But I don’t want to anticipate anything.

Meanwhile, if you like, answer this question and look at the picture:

How important is fantasy for you?

La storia infinita

fonte: Di Johnny Freak – fotogramma, Copyrighted, https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4947608

Maria Domenica Depalo

Destiny and Israel

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Destiny and Israel

At the French border, in the attempt to escape hunger and desperation but above all illness, a young pregnant Nigerian woman has asked for help for herself but especially for her child. However, her request was not heard and she wasn’t accepted because she was a clandestine immigrant.

A cancer patient and pregnant, Destiny was rejected on the French border. She was not even brought to the hospital by the gendarmes. The hope and the possibility of a dream were denied.

She and her husband just wanted to get to France to start a new life with their baby but that wasn’t possible. The French authorities didn’t make it possible and therefore she remained in Italy where, taken to the hospital, she was operated to save the baby.

Israel was born but his mother who fought to the end died dreaming of a future that was denied.

Can the strict application of laws and rules supplant that humanity that should characterize and distinguish us as a species but above all as people?

Maria Domenica Depalo

 

Do you remember?

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Do you remember?

“Everyone of us remembers, in a different and personal way, with no possibility of escaping from the memories and their consequences. Memories influence everyday life inexorably […] since the past that they represent isn’t only a present that was but it is a living and engaging presence, so much to determine and influence every man in every moment and instant of life”.

Why have I reported this long introduction taken from my thesis? Simply because I became aware of the existence of an Italian memory league and I was fascinated by it.

People of different nationalities able to develop and apply memorization techniques have taken part in the sixth edition of this championship held in Milan and just concluded. What have these Mental Athletes challenged on? Names, faces, words and numbers have been the object of this contest. In a quarter of an hour they were stored and then remembered. It seemed an impossible task: it seemed but it was not for them.

There are people born with a natural excellent memory. However there are techniques that can help EVERYONE to remember better and longer. Let’s discover some of them. Ready?

The first is the repetition. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist and philosopher of the late nineteenth century, an expert in memory, “managed to prove that more time is dedicated to repeat something and more repetitions are carried out, greater is the possibility that such things remain in memory”. Try it! Start with a list containing a few words to memorize in a few minutes: read them carefully several times and fix them in your mind, repeating them. Then cover this list and write the words you remember.

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Hymn to the woman

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Hymn to the woman

Against the screams of those who get excited for a male striptease believing that this is women emancipation, against those who believe that femininity consists in dominating me, here are the words of a great observer, Alda Merini, that gently but also with decision shows the beauty of being a woman.

A woman is a queen of the creatures, holder of dreams, fortune, forgiveness and grace. A woman is a creature but also a creator, a life and a sap that nourishes and gives often without receiving anything in return. A woman is a storm but also the calm on the horizon.

A woman is.

Hymn to the woman

Wonderful
immaculate luck
for you all creatures
of the kingdom
are open
and you became the queen
of our shadows
for you men
took
countless flights
created the beehive of the
thought
for you woman has arisen
the murmur of the water
only grace
and tremble for yours
incantations
that are in your hands
and you have a dream
for every summer
a child for every cry
a suspicion of love
for each hair
now you are a woman
all a forgiveness
and as you live in it
the divine thought
it will flourish in secret
surrounded
from your grace.

Alda Merini

You surround me completely

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You surround me completely

Dear philosophers, today we talk about love and we do it through its myth in the “Symposium” written by Plato and the latest film directed by Guillermo del Toro, “the shape of water”.

Extraordinarily beautiful, romantic and visionary, this film is the delicate narration of a love that goes beyond limits, differences and obstacles. It is the story of two solitudes that are saved by their first meeting but actually it is a return of two souls in an ancient place, their unique heart.

The Greek myth states that at the beginning of time there were no men and women but perfect creatures bound together by their shoulders: men and women together, united forever in body and soul. Zeus, fearing their growing power, separated these beings that, since that day, continue to seek each other trying to come together to form their lost unity.

“Then, as I said, we were one person, but now, for our fault, the god has separated us into two persons […] That’s why we must always exhort men to respect the gods: not just to escape this ‘last evil, but also to get the joys of love that Eros, our guide and leader, promises us. No one resists him – because whoever resists love is unpopular to the gods. If we become friends with this god, if we will be in peace with him, then we will be able to meet and discover our half soul, which now happens to very few “. cit. di Plato, The Symposium (complete text in http://www.ilgiardinodeipensieri.eu/testi/simposio.html)

The deep difference between Elsa and the creature reminds me this myth.

Set in the America of the cold but threatening conflict with Russia, the film tells the  intense story of a simple and lonely woman and a mysterious creature.

Destined to certain death, the “monster” awakens Elisa, bringing her to face unimaginable dangers and obstacles so distant from her anonymous life.

The gloomy scenario becomes alive with a representation full of details and colours, showing us the strenght of a love that goes beyond everything.

Dream and reality, magic and concreteness blend harmoniously giving life to a show that nourishes the soul of the observer. The two solitudes seem to reconstitute that ancient lost, so rare and precious unity.

I suggest the vision of this film, inviting you to reflect on the power of love that makes strong what is fragile, a unity what is divided.

“Unable to perceive your form, I find you all around me. Your presence fills me with the eyes of your love, my heart becomes small because you are everywhere”. (from the film)

Do you believe in love? Do you also believe that it can change destiny?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFYWazblaUA

Maria Domenica Depalo

Identity and singolarity

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Identity and singolarity

I am me and you are you. Apparently it is a simple statement. In reality it is not  because that “I” could become a “you” and that “you” could become an “I”. It seems a linguistic game. We are talking instead about genetics and the possible ethical and moral implications of one of the most extraordinary and incredible discoveries of these recent years: cloning. But let’s try to understand something.

Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua were born some weeks ago. We are talking about two nice and funny monkeys. However, they are not twins but clones obtained in a Chinese laboratory through methods that provide for the “duplication of the genetic heritage of a single cell or an entire organism” (see below).

liberescelte-it

Ecco le scimmiette Zhong Zhong e Hua Hua intente a giocare allegramente. fonte dell’immagine: liberescelte.it

The scientists assert that cloning non-human primates could actively contribute to the research of numerous neurodegenerative diseases and therefore also to the discovery of ad hoc therapies.

The advantages therefore would be numerous but we have to consider the risk of the loss of the individual identity, of what distinguishes and characterizes us.

Each of us is different, our singularity is our personal mark. But what could happen if somebody decided that someone’s uniqueness is worth more than someone else’s? What about human diversity and variety? What would happen to what “does not fit”? It seems like a distant scenario but the risk subsists and we shouldn’t underestimated it.

Personally I think that every discovery for the wellness and health of everyone is a blessing. However, we must think about  the possible implications and possible dangers.

What do you think about cloning and the risk to lose the personal identity? Share, if you want, your thoughts with me and the other readers and philosophers.

Thank you so much and enjoy reading!

On freewords you will find an interesting article about this argument written by my colleague and friend Enza Bronzuoli.

Other links:

http://www.filosofico.net/bioeticaclonaz.htm

https://freewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/clonate-due-scimmie/ 

Maria Domenica Depalo

 

Chocolate Ode

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Chocolate Ode

Perfumed, delicate but also strong in its flavour, unique in the variety of colours and shapes, chocolate is the essence of pleasure to be enjoyed slowly.

Smooth on the surface, without imperfections or ripples but with the scent of cocoa, it should not be bitten greedily but slowly dissolved in the mouth in order to catch its fragrances, flavours and aromas. Every aspect of chocolate must be captured in its entirety.

The chocolate ritual must be consummated according to times and methods that are personal and particular. Once a day or two or three: it doesn’t matter. What matters is to know how to lose oneself in a dimension that takes us far from our reality, even if for a few moments, but which seems infinite.

Therefore we entrust our passion to the words of the extraordinary poet Alda Merini who highlights its link with love, friendship and deeper emotions.

“The sweetness of the heart
comes from sweet drinks
black as night,
white like paradise.
On these chocolate baste verses or speak light.
This is the friendship born at the table
when you smile at me like chocolate “.

~ Alda Merini

Link:

https://festedelcioccolato.it/

https://freewordsmagazine.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/cioccolato-mon-amour/

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Maria Domenica Depalo