Steve Jobs, an edifying life!

The book of Ecclesiastes, early in his preface says: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity - vanitatum vanitas, vanitas ommia. What profit hath a man of all work and which he taketh under the sun? "Lent makes us think about death and the transience of life. Francis of Assisi looked very seriously at the reality of death as something sacred and divine. As we praise God, he called her (death) of her sister. Let us keep the sacred words of the Apostle Paul: "We have no continuing city here, but we wanted the city to come" (Heb. 13, 14); "We know in fact that if our earthly dwelling, this tent , is destroyed, we will have in heaven a building, the work of God, eternal home, not made by human hands " (2 Corinthians 5, 1).

The reality of death as a mystery, leads us to reflect on our condition as human creature. We are not accustomed, and even suffering from a stroke of deep pain. In the United States occurred on October 5, 2011 the untimely death of Steve Jobs, at the age of 56 years (2/24/1955), a victim of pancreatic cancer, diagnosed in 2004. He even expressed a thought, to discover when he was 17: "If you live every day of your life as if it were your last, there will come a day that will be right." Impressed, he wondered through this thought: "If this was the last day of my life, I will do just what I'm about to do today?"

The genius of this great and rare human figure has been so for our time, which made it more enjoyable, more beautiful and edifying life on earth. In fact, we are grateful to the good Lord for Apple, its high and higher creation. The Mac, iPod, iPhone, some are, many other inventions enter the world of technology, computing and communications. Think of the extraordinary legacy of Steve Jobs, to make ready the iPad 3 and your TV at its highest setting, now released by Apple!

How can we look at this genius, that probably will put the story as one of the most important men of humanity in the twenty-first century? In the words of Paulo Barros, another great genius, creative, innovative and tough carnival, which revolutionized the world with their extraordinary discoveries, causing us profound insights about the secret of fame and success, both in life as in life staff, considering the mysterious and transcendent values of life as a wonderful gift from God.

In his condition of a patient, knowing that death was to come, said: "I can now say something that seemed less clear when the death was an intellectual concept: No one wants to die, even people who want to go to heaven do not want to die to get there. Still, death is the end of which we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is how things should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of life. She takes out what is old and makes room for what's new. "

Steve Jobs has much to teach us, as patrimony of humanity, in its originality and genius, "You have to figure out what we love and the only way to make a beautiful and great work is to love what we do." Fixing the mind and heart that we must take care of the gifts, talents and our own life, according to the will of God, our reason for being and existence.

Father Geovane Saraiva, parish priest of the St. Alphonsus Parish in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.

Trad. Rhubens Levy