Ben

ThOuGh_Im_BeN'...well 🤷🏾‍♂️

[Ben @benanieze]

@FabrizioRomano and ONE ring to rule them all

[Pharaoh👳🏾‍♂️👑 @MrMekzy_]

You’re not wrong. But it’s just an endless cycle.

You meet a babe, you start talking, hang out, spend money, have sex. Then misunderstandings start creeping in, and before you know it, you’re strangers again.

Then it’s back to square one, repeating the same process. It’s just a waste of time, energy, money, and emotion.

[Ben @benanieze]

@ThaarealesttJ @jacksonugonnaya @issablkceo @jthr999 @csdabratsworld You have got to be fucking kidding me! Optional?

[Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch @FrUgochukwu]

It's refreshing to see an Anglican say the Catholic Church is her favorite because of the solemnity of the Mass.

Ironically, some Catholics complain that the Mass is "too quiet" or doesn't give them enough room to 'shout and vibe'.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to appreciate what insiders too easily take for granted.

[Dr Joe Abah, OON @DrJoeAbah]

I’ve been to different parts of Italy but, funnily enough, never to “the eternal city.” So, I decided that it was a good destination to go and baby boy for a few days and visit the residence of il Papa.

I’ve been to various countries with rich historical legacies, but visiting a city that has been continuously inhabited for some 2,700 years was quite something.

The best thing about Rome, for me, is how the old has been seamlessly integrated with the new. You could be on a bog-standard street and the tour guide will just say “Beneath our feet is where Julius Caesar was stabbed 44 years BEFORE Christ.” And then you drive past the Colosseum to get to a restaurant and they casually tell you that it has stood there for nearly 2,000 years!

Our driver whinged about how much it cost to build the Supreme Court. He said he is sure that the Mafia has inflated the price by some 500%.

I told him that I didn’t realise that the Mafia were still active. He looked at me as if to say “Are you daft?” He then said “The Mafia controls EVERYTHING!”

He complained about how dirty Rome is and asked whether where I had come from was as dirty as Rome. I said it’s cleaner than Abuja but not as clean as London. He pointed to some men and women sweeping the streets and said “The Mafia make more money from street cleaning than they make from drugs, gambling and prostitution.” I felt like I was in a Mario Puzo novel about the 1920s.

Then I started to rationalise that serious corruption in Nigeria is actually like a Mafia set-up. I remembered what one senior Nigerian politician once said to me: “Don’t be confused by the alignments and realignments, the political family in Nigeria is one family.”

Anyway, on to the Vatican to go and baby boy with the Pope. I asked after him but they said traveled. I told them to let him know that Ezemmuo came.😂

Entering the Vatican, the Italians make great play of letting you know that you have left Italy and are now in a different country, with a different Head of State, its own army (the Swiss Guards), and its own Euro coins. No need to spoil the fun by asking why we didn’t need a Vatican visa or how many wars the 135-man Vatican army can fight.😂

The Vatican Museum was quite something. Artefacts from Egypt, Greece and different parts of Italy before Italy was unified. The tour guide said something interesting: “The Romans were geniuses at several things, including architecture and engineering, but not in religion or art. Everything beautiful in Rome came from elsewhere.”

Then, as we were about to enter the Sistine Chapel, they reminded us that it is a church. Men take off hats and caps. Women can keep them on but don’t have to cover their hair. No pictures or videos allowed. No taking! Shuuush! 🤫

Then, I was fortunate in this my lifetime to behold the genius of Michelangelo of Florence. It took him four years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and another 5 years to paint “The Last Judgment” on the wall behind the altar of the chapel. He used the opportunity to sub all of his critics by depicting them as devils or other unsavoury characters. 😀

The Sistine Chapel brought a tear to my eyes sha. I wondered how God could give some people so much talent, and how they were able to use it in the praise and worship of His name.

The work took a physical toll
on Michelangelo. He is alleged to have said that he would prefer death to having to do it again.

Then, on to St Peter’s Basilica. It just makes you feel so small. You realise that some things are just bigger than you. You realise how tiny the Pope’s living quarters are, compared to the whole square. You are informed that you are one of 60,000 people who visit EVERYDAY!

You realise that, just like you, the Pope will die and be replaced by another. But also that the Holy Catholic Church, the bones of St Peter (the rock upon which God’s church was built) resting under the Vatican, and the Gospel of Christ will remain forever.

Peace be with you!

[Fr. Joseph Krupp @Joeinblack]

I remember when I was growing up, we had a Priest who was a peace activist.
He got arrested numerous times for protesting at military bases. He often preached on pacifism.
I am not being ironic or exaggerating when I tell you, he was one of the angriest people I met as a kid.
Listen to this man concerned about hate; he is a vicious and cruel person yelling at a woman quietly defending the most vulnerable people in our country.
His stand against hate, is not a stand against hate. It’s a feral need for the entire world to bend to what he wants to be true.
He can disguise it as social consciousness, but the moment he opens his mouth, you learn the truth.
There’s a flaw in the human character that cannot be healed by political or social activism, but only by God.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

We cannot consider #AI to be morally neutral. In reality, every technical tool embodies choices and priorities through what it measures, ignores, and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations. Ethical discernment cannot be limited to asking whether we are using a system for good or bad purposes. It must also examine how that system is designed and what vision of the human person and society is embedded in the data and models that guide it. #MagnificaHumanitas

[Dr Joe Abah, OON @DrJoeAbah]

The first and only time I ever bet on football was in 1990, when I bet that Cameroon would beat Argentina in the World Cup. The odds were 20-1. I bet £1 (that was all I could afford then) and won £20! Madam and I were living in one room in Seven Sisters, London, then. We were finally able to order egg fried rice and beef in oyster sauce from the local Chinese restaurant. Before then, it was just egg fried rice with chilli sauce and no protein.

I don’t suffer before for this my life o. And this woman suffered with me. Some days, we could only afford one meal and she would lie that she had eaten and give me the meal to eat when I came back from work. I grew up with many relatives living with us. So, by upbringing, I was raised not to finish everything on my plate. It was by watching how she wolfed down everything left on my plate that I finally realised that this woman had not eaten and had sacrificed herself to make sure I ate.

So, now, when anybody says “She’s the one eating all his money, I ask: “Before nko? Were you there when we were eating egg fried rice with no protein from Red Square Chinese Restaurant in 1990?” 😂

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

Yesterday, I had an interesting conversation with a very successful friend who runs her own fund. She is a gorgeous Nigerian in her early 40s, and she told me that she had given up on marriage because she sees it as an oppressive institution. I decided to probe further to learn.

[Sir Dickson @Wizarab10]

It was definitely her idea not to entertain family for more than a week. If it was his own parent that died and his siblings needed a home to stay, the rule may not be revoked.

Rules like this is a blatant red flag. Only evil people make those rules. The silent part of the rule is usually "your family."

[@𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 @OneJoblessBoy]

❝Wait a minute. We must go further... Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that are bad about me.❞

Peter Obi on pre-action letter addressed to Kenneth Okonkwo.

[Mr Sergio @samson_samsen]

You know the truth?

This is not a problem of who started the girlfriend allowance thing; it is a you problem. You're either attracted to whores, or you lack the frame within which women, whore or not, would act correctly. Atleast for the first weeks of the courtship.

There are women who would never send this kind of message to a romantic prospect - you didn't find them. And there are men to whom women, no matter how degenerate, would never send this kind of message - you're not one of them.

Either way, this is a you problem. Look within.

[Favour Y. @FavourYusuf1]

Exhibit 12795739 of how "online gist" is ruinung your real life.

The average young person does not think about the information they filter into their mind.

For instance, if we ask how many specific instances of men running away on dates that she has seen with ner eyes, or heard from someone that she personally knows offline, and the answer is likely to be much closer to zero.

Thus, a scenario that has likely not happened to anyone in her circle and statistically will not happen had her reacting in a certain manner.

And this is not even her fault or make her a bad person.

It's simply the effect of being too online.

You don't know it, but you are being drawn into battles you have no business fighting, and then take it home to your partner or family and start misbehaving.

Here's an example, how many times have you thought of your partner coming to your place and doing chores in the last 48 hours?

Why didn't you think of it last week?

You see my point now.

If you are not careful, nonsense talk on social media will ruin your life.

Take heed what you listen to.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

The human heart is not filled by accumulating experiences, possibilities, or temporary guarantees; it is filled when it discovers a call, when it understands that life reaches fullness only if it is given. Following Christ does not impoverish existence, but expands it. #ApostolicJourney

[Lukas Not Podolski @OtitoNosike]

One time, my mum was narrating what happened at work and she started by telling me that the security man greeted her with unusual warmth. I immediately assumed this detail would become important later, so I paid attention. Instead, she pivoted to a colleague who disliked her and had apparently looked at her with “anya ojoo,” as she put it. From that point onward, I was simply nodding, smiling and “yes-maaaing” my way through the conversation.

The point is that, for many men, details are only valuable insofar as they advance the story. We are constantly searching for the thing, the revelation, the conflict, the punchline, the reason the story is being told in the first place. Once we suspect there isn’t one, there is every possibility that we’d mentally check out of the conversation.

[Dee Macé @frmarcellinus]

Thank you for this lovely question.

1. When the Bible says Jesus is the "one mediator between God and mankind" (in 1 Timothy 2:5), it means Jesus is the only one who could die on the cross to bridge the gap between us and God. No saint, angel, or pastor can save your soul or forgive your sins. Only Jesus did the heavy lifting to open the doors of heaven. He is absolutely the only bridge.

2. In the exact same chapter of the Bible (just four verses earlier in 1 Timothy 2:1), Paul tells Christians that we must make "intercessions for all men." If Jesus being the only intercessor meant we can never ask anyone else to pray for us, then you could never ask your pastor to pray for you. You could never ask your mom to pray for you when you’re sick. You could never tell a friend, "my guy, keep me in your prayers." But we do that all the time! Why? Because asking someone else to pray for you doesn't mean you are ignoring Jesus. It means you are asking a brother or sister in Christ to go to Jesus with you.

3. When you ask a saint in heaven to pray for you, they aren't answering your prayer using their own power. They are just taking your request and saying, "Master Jesus, look at our younger brother/sister on earth, they are going through a tough time, please help them out."

[Dee Macé @frmarcellinus]

Lemme answer this in 8 points. But let me begin from you. I want you all to tag him to this so that he can see this.

1. You composed a criticism of an important article of the Creed of the Catholic church. I really wish you didn't, but you, as a Christian decided to write that. Has the Catholic intercession of the saints ever stopped you from achieving your life's goal, or you decided to join the bandwagon of those who criticize the Catholic church for clicks?

2. The idea that the saints are dead or that asking for their prayers is a white man's invention fundamentally misunderstands both Scripture and ancient Christian history.

3. Jesus explicitly stated in the Gospels that God "is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him" (Luke 20:38). Because Christ defeated death, those who die in faith are more alive today in heaven than we are on earth.

4. The Church is just one big family. If you can ask your friend on earth to pray for you, you can definitely ask your older siblings in heaven to do the same. Plus, African saints like St. Augustine were doing this centuries before European colonization even started.

5. Saying this is a white man's idea makes no sense because African Traditional Religion (ATR) does the exact same thing. In ATR, people respect and talk to their Ancestors (the living-dead), asking them to intercede with God for protection. Catholicism and African tradition actually agree here: the people who lived good lives before us still look out for us.

6. In real life, if you want a job, a visa, or a favor, you look for a connection, someone with influence who can put in a good word for you. That’s all intercession is. It’s not worship. It is just utilizing your network in high places. Just as you used your connection to arrest that unfortunate guy who insulted your wife.

7. The idea that you either pray or fight is a false choice. Praying doesn't mean you sit back and do nothing. Some of the biggest fighters in history, like St. Joan of Arc or St. Oscar Romero, were deeply spiritual. Prayer isn't an excuse to quit. It is the fuel that gives you the strength to stand up and fight your battles.

8. At the end of the day, everyone has their own way of connecting with God and finding strength. Mocking how someone else worships doesn't make anyone stronger. Respecting people's faith is just basic human decency.

[Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch @FrUgochukwu]

@CatholicArena A state wanting priests to break the seal of confession is a threat to religious freedom and the sacred trust between God and the faithful.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Deep inner suffering inevitably arises when the human person is reduced to performance, consumption, or a statistical datum. Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations to perform, immersed in an exasperated competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not measuring up, and disorientation.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships, and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate or even simulate, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational, and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom. #MagnificaHumanitas