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Team USA stunned the experts who were expecting a quick exit from their Death Draw in the first round of the Brazil World Cup by losing their final match against Germany yet winning a spot in the next Knockout Round of 16 along with Germany and host Brazil among others.
By Futbol standards it was a great game with the final score 1-0 Germany after 94 minutes of play. So if there are 10 players on each team I guess that means it took 1880 minutes of accumulated play to get one goal. (That is in man-minutes).
In the end, it didn't matter that the USA lost because Portugal won and therefore the USA goes to the next round appropriately called the Knockout round. It is called the Knockout Round because if you lose this time you really do go home. Of course home might be nice for a team like the USA who had to travel to Brazil for the tournament and then travel over 9,000 miles in Brazil to play just three games.
For some odd reason the four stadiums were each built in different time zones or countries or something so the 600,000 fans from outside the country would not be partying in the same town every night. The host city is the capitol called Brasilia which was just built in 1960 because it was either in the center of the country or far away from the rowdy towns like Rio de Janeiro. Still the biggest crowds are in Rio.
Over 150,000 Americans traveled to the World Cup and adopted the nickname "Outlaws" perhaps to fit in with the local syndicates. For the most part the rest of the world is mad that Brazil got the World Cup, the next Olympics, and Rio just hosted the 2011 Military World Games and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Party on as they say and no one can party like the lovely people of Brazil.
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Showing posts with label Brazil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brazil. Show all posts
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Brazil World Cup - Starts Today - Go USA
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Let the fun begin as the World Cup opens Today - Thursday.
Team USA is a mystery of sorts while Brazil is the favorite to win.
Check out Shakira and her contribution to the festivities. Double click the image to go full screen.
Let the fun begin as the World Cup opens Today - Thursday.
Team USA is a mystery of sorts while Brazil is the favorite to win.
Check out Shakira and her contribution to the festivities. Double click the image to go full screen.
Brazil will always win when it comes to beauty.
Here is the official 2014 World Cup theme We are One. Double click the image to go full screen.
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Monday, July 29, 2013
Rio de Janeiro Welcomes Papa Francesco & 3 million Youth to Copacabana Beach Mass
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Under the ever watchful eye of the Christ the Redeemer statue looking down from the mountains surroundingRio de Janeiro Papa Francesco, Pope
Francis, ended World Youth Day with over 3 million of the faithful on the Copacabana Beach .
"At times we lose people because they don't understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and import an intellectualism foreign to our people," he said. "For ordinary people the mystery enters through the heart."
The pope also warned the bishops against assimilating fashionable values of secular culture.
"People today are attracted by things that are faster and faster: rapid Internet connections, speedy cars and planes, instant relationships," he asked. "Is the church herself caught up in the frantic pursuit of efficiency? Dear brothers, let us recover the calm to be able to walk at the same pace as our pilgrims, keeping alongside them, remaining close to them, enabling them to speak of the disappointments present in their hearts and to let us address them."
Among the pope's specific recommendations for the church inBrazil were
deeper engagement by bishops in national debates on such "pressing
concerns" as "education, health and social harmony"; and more
attention to collegiality within the episcopate, downplaying "central
bureaucracy" in favor of "local and regional elements."
He gave special attention to the needs of the Amazon basin, in terms of both ecological protection and the training of indigenous clergy to serve indigenous peoples there.
"'Pastoral care' is nothing other than the exercise of the church's motherhood," the pope said. "She gives birth, suckles, gives growth, corrects, nourishes and leads by the hand.
"So we need a church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of mercy," he said. "Without mercy we have little chance nowadays of becoming part of a world of 'wounded' persons in need of understanding, forgiveness and love."
Under the ever watchful eye of the Christ the Redeemer statue looking down from the mountains surrounding
As far as the eye could
see there was a mass of humanity, many who camped out on the beach overnight to
share this moment with Papa.
Finally even the western
media in the US
had to cover the story, I mean three million peaceful people in one place is
quite a story in this day and age. The
fact the vast majority were youth makes it a better story.
Here in America we get a daily dosage of money, murder,
drugs and demons it seems but during his stay in Brazil the past few days the Pope actually defined the false gods of
today and told the youth they must work to stop edifying such idols of evil.
Pope Francis led his first
large mass on Wednesday since returning to his native Latin America,
decrying "ephemeral idols" like money and power at Brazil 's most revered shrine.
"It is true that
nowadays, to some extent, everyone, including our young people, feels attracted
by the many idols which take the place of God and appear to offer hope: money,
success, power, pleasure," he said at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida
basilica.
"Often a growing
sense of loneliness and emptiness in the hearts of many people leads them to
seek satisfaction in these ephemeral idols," he said.
In a meeting with bishops
and cardinals from South America he talked about the loss of Catholics in Brazil .
"At times we lose people because they don't understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and import an intellectualism foreign to our people," he said. "For ordinary people the mystery enters through the heart."
The pope also warned the bishops against assimilating fashionable values of secular culture.
"People today are attracted by things that are faster and faster: rapid Internet connections, speedy cars and planes, instant relationships," he asked. "Is the church herself caught up in the frantic pursuit of efficiency? Dear brothers, let us recover the calm to be able to walk at the same pace as our pilgrims, keeping alongside them, remaining close to them, enabling them to speak of the disappointments present in their hearts and to let us address them."
Among the pope's specific recommendations for the church in
He gave special attention to the needs of the Amazon basin, in terms of both ecological protection and the training of indigenous clergy to serve indigenous peoples there.
"'Pastoral care' is nothing other than the exercise of the church's motherhood," the pope said. "She gives birth, suckles, gives growth, corrects, nourishes and leads by the hand.
"So we need a church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of mercy," he said. "Without mercy we have little chance nowadays of becoming part of a world of 'wounded' persons in need of understanding, forgiveness and love."
Pope Francis told leading
Latin American bishops that all Catholics must renew the Church with a
“missionary spirit,” acknowledging that he and other bishops are “lagging
somewhat” in spiritual renewal.
“Bishops must be pastors,
close to people, fathers and brothers, and gentle, patient and merciful. Men
who love poverty,” the Pope said.
He praised bishops with
“simplicity and austerity of life,” urging them not to act like “princes” or to
be “ambitious” in seeking to lead another diocese.
Rather, bishops should be
“pointing the way” for their people, preventing them from “being scattered”
while “ensuring that no one is left behind.” They should be men capable of
guarding and protecting their congregation while also instilling hope “so that
light will shine in people’s hearts,” the Pope said July 28.
The Pope criticized
pastoral plans that “clearly lack nearness, tenderness, a warm touch” and are
incapable of sparking “an encounter with Jesus Christ” and with other people.
“Christ’s followers are
not individuals caught up in a privatized spirituality, but persons in
community, devoting themselves to others,” the Pope said.
Pope Francis focused on
two challenges to missionary discipleship: the “inner renewal” of the Church
and dialogue with the world. He noted the Second Vatican Council’s guidance in
engaging modern life.
“Responding to the
existential issues of people today, especially the young, listening to the
language they speak, can lead to a fruitful change, which must take place with the
help of the Gospel, the magisterium, and the Church’s social doctrine,” the
Pope said.
He noted the need to
engage the many subcultures of the modern city on their own terms.
“If we remain within the
parameters of our ‘traditional culture,’ which was essentially rural, we will
end up nullifying the power of the Holy Spirit,” he warned. “God is everywhere:
we have to know how to find him in order to be able to proclaim him in the
language of each and every culture; every reality, every language, has its own
rhythm.”
Pope Francis praised the
spread of Bible groups, ecclesial base communities and pastoral councils. He
said these advance the responsibility of the laity and help overcome
“clericalism.” He particularly praised expressions of popular piety as a
“healthy thing” that shows greater lay autonomy.
He also warned against
several temptations that are false visions of the missionary spirit.
He said clericalism, an
excessive lay dependence on or privileging of priests, is “a temptation very
present in Latin America .”
“The phenomenon of
clericalism explains, in great part, the lack of maturity and Christian freedom
in a good part of the Latin American laity,” he said.
Both laity and priests
take refuge in clericalism “because it is easier,” he lamented. This causes
some Catholics to fail to grow in Christian life or to take refuge in ideology.
The Pope warned against
turning the message of the Gospel into an “ideology,” whether it is “market
liberalism” or Marxism.
He said the
psychology-focused tendencies of some spirituality courses and spiritual
retreats reduce the encounter with Jesus Christ to “self-awareness,” a
“self-centered approach” that “has nothing to do with the missionary spirit.”
He mentioned the new age practice of the Enneagram as one example.
He criticized the “gnostic
solution” of elite groups of “enlightened Catholics” who offer a “higher
spirituality.” He said some advocates of ordaining nuns to the priesthood or of
giving communion to the divorced and remarried fall into this error.
He also warned against the
“Pelagian solution” that seeks a “purely disciplinary solution” through “the
restoration of outdated manners and forms which, even on the cultural level,
are no longer meaningful.”
Repeating his previous
criticisms, he warned against reducing the Church to “the structure of an NGO”
focused on quantifiable results, statistics, and a business-like organization.
He said some bishops’ conferences open more and more departments that do not
help the mission of Church.
Concerning the inner
renewal of the Church, Pope Francis stressed the need for “pastoral conversion”
focused on “Jesus Christ as the bearer of God’s Kingdom” and trust in the
guidance of the Holy Spirit.
He posed many questions to
the bishops for their own self-examination.
He said bishops should ask
whether they and their priests are working to ensure that their work is “more
pastoral than administrative” and whether they serve “the People of God as a
whole” rather than “the Church as an organization.”
He asked the bishops to
examine whether they “manipulate” or “infantilize” the laity.
“In practice, do we make
the lay faithful sharers in the mission?” he asked.
He said bishops should not
simply react to complex problems, but should promote opportunities to “manifest
God’s mercy.”
The Pope concluded with an
exhortation: “I beg that we take seriously our calling as servants of the holy
and faithful people of God, for this is where authority is exercised and
demonstrated: in the ability to serve.”
Pope Francis addressed the
bishops hours after celebrating Sunday Mass for millions of World Youth Day
pilgrims gathered on Rio’s Copacabana
Beach .
In spite of security
concerns Papa Francesco has safely returned to Rome .
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Friday, July 26, 2013
Pope Francis reaches Rock Star status in Historic Brazilian Gig
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1.5 million youth ignore heavy rains to rock with Pope at Copacabana beach Mass - The Man they call Papa!
1.5 million youth ignore heavy rains to rock with Pope at Copacabana beach Mass - The Man they call Papa!
The American media seems
adverse to covering "feel good" stories but at least the rest of the
world can learn with amazement the incredible journey Pope Francis is making to
Brazil
where millions of faithful are showing him how much they love his compassionate
approach to leading the world to the light.
Check out the video from The Telegraph in the UK. At least the rest of the world see the news value.
Barely a word was
mentioned about the Pope's first international trip on network or cable news
and that is a sad testament to the nature of stories that reach the
people. Oh our news media showed the
Pope in the ghettos of Rio and tried to say
the story was all about the failure of the rich to help the poor.
But the message had
nothing to do with failure and everything to do with faith, and a Catholic
Pope's plea to have faith in God and Jesus Christ is the last thing you will
hear from a liberal media in America
still intent on driving God from everything in our nation.
How sad but how
typical. The Pope is in South America
pleading the cause for ALL poor and rich people, the need for faith in a higher
cause, from a loving God, while in America
our politicians are holding a Conference on Violent Crime in Chicago , where 226 deaths have rocked the
local landscape already this year.
Pope Francis focuses
attention on prayer and faith for all while American politicians focus
attention on gangs and murder on the streets of our cities. In Brazil
1.5 million youth, yes the same age as those in gangs and committing murder in America , joined
the Pope on that rain driven beach in his journey to bring us closer to God.
How strange for the media
to not notice such a massive movement in our Southern Hemisphere. How odd to not cover a story that affects
over 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, the largest single religious
denomination in the world and in America .
When it comes to media
coverage the Pope is truly a voice in the wilderness because the networks have
not figured out how to make God or faith into a reality show so they can make
money.
People of all faiths have
a right to know there is one world leader walking the walk and talking the talk
when it comes to laying his life on the line for his love of all people and
belief in the power of prayer and faith.
There are rare times in
the history of mankind when one solitary voice can make a difference. Pope Francis may very well be one of those
people whose genuine love, compassion and empathy for giving transcend ego,
power and greed for taking.
Politicians and people
from Wall Street to Main Street
could benefit from his example and may very well find salvation in his gentler
and kinder message.
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