Keep
your eyes open!...
May 31,
2018
(Luk 18:7-8) And
will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night? And will
he have patience in their regard? I say to you that he will quickly
revenge them. But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find,
think you, faith on earth?
SHORT VIDEO: Bishop Athanasius Schneider on the Irish Referendum on Abortion
IRISH TIMES: Church leaders dismayed at vote to lift restrictions on abortion
NEWSWEEKLY: So, is this not pro-life?
EXCERPT CRISIS MAGAZINE: Ireland Elects to Annihilate Its Future
In 1916, hopelessly outnumbered, the Irish rebels hoisted a new flag as
they proclaimed the Irish Republic. They also read out a proclamation,
one that is framed on walls of Irish homes up and down the land. It
says the following:
IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN:
In the name of God …We hereby proclaim the Irish Republic …
The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and
equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to
pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its
parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally…
The recent vote for the death of untold numbers of Irish children, who
should be “cherished” not annihilated, was not only an attack upon
Ireland’s Catholic past but also upon the Republican ideals that
founded the modern Irish state.
Having negated her past, both religious and civic, now Ireland enters
into the “brave new world” she seems to so ardently desire.
And so, in the distance, coming to meet her from a desert waste is a
Spiritus Mundi. “This rough beast,” with its gaze as blank and pitiless
as the sun, slouches towards Ireland to be born, with its hour come at
last.
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA David J Sheehan Crowley: We are the Irish. We will not quit.
We are the Irish. We will not quit. An eon ago, a young man climbed a
hill and reached into the tabernacle of his heart and pulled forth a
flame. The flame was the Holy Fire of God and it lit up the mount of
Slane, awaking the rising Christ from His tomb.
The Fire leapt into the hearts of all Irishmen and Irishwomen and kept
their hearth burning in times of war, famine and persecution.
Invaders came and went. Some stayed and joined us. Ireland absorbed
them and ingrained them with a will never to quit, never to surrender.
Adversity has been our friend and toughened us. Christ pulled our cross
with us. His Mother cried for us and wiped our tears, and we have never
surrendered to the enemy of Christ.
The evil one could not conquer us. He sent his armies to destroy us, to starve us out, to slaughter us. He failed.
Now, he has sent our last foe before the coming of Christ; the godless nothing that masquerades as progress.
Into the dark pit of hell, this nothing calls us. It wants us. Its
sirens chant for us. Their songs would have them joined to us.
Their rhymes would have us slaughter our unborn; to keep them from
seeing the light of day; to destroy Irishmen and Irishwomen before they
could draw their first breath.
Our ship has now been caught into the dark, turbulent windstorm of this
nothing, and indeed, only the hand of God reaching down can save us now.
We are the Irish. We will not quit.
We will row with our minds, our hearts, our souls, and our prayers,
calling out to Christ to come to our aid, to walk the sea again and
silence this nothing.
Lord, save us; save Ireland! Amen.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean, blasphemous
thought"
17. Do not be self-confident until you hear the
final sentence passed upon yourself, bearing in mind the guest who got
as far as joining the marriage feast, and then was bound hand and foot
and cast out into the outer darkness (Matt 22:13).
May 28,
2018
(1Co 11:23-27) For
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread,
And giving thanks, broke and said: Take ye and eat: This is my body,
which shall be delivered for you. This do for the commemoration of me.
In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This
chalice is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you
shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat
this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord,
until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the
chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the
blood of the Lord.
FIRST THINGS: WHAT HAPPENS IN GERMANY by Charles J. Chaput
CATHOLIC HERALD: Cardinal Arinze: we cannot share Communion with non-Catholics like beer or cake
FROM THE PULPIT: Why everyone can’t receive Holy Communion
“There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the
Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly
perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
— Venerable Archbishop Fulton John Sheen
One perception of the Catholic Church is this misunderstanding that the
church is exclusive or does not welcome a visitor. Anyone is welcome to
come and visit and pray with the church. As Catholics we welcome those
who are questioning the faith, those who are interested in the church
and even those who simply find the Catholic Church to be something of a
mystery.
I have a friend who is a Lutheran pastor and a very good man.
Personally, I enjoy praying with him and serving the Lord together.
Now, being good friends with this pastor, I do desire what is best for
him and firmly believe he desires what is best for me. This is why in
our respective churches we do not receive each other’s Communion. Many
people have seen the news lately where some have questioned the
church’s “exclusive” stance on Holy Communion. Pope Francis has kicked
this back to the theologians. This kicking it back, or not providing
the simple yes or no answer, is actually an age-old tradition. Pope
Francis is hoping that these folks, who questioned the teaching, will
in their research and prayer come to a full realization of the truth
via reason.
The Catholic Church does not allow non-Catholics or Catholics in the
state of mortal sin to receive Communion because she loves them. Yes,
she loves them. We don’t want to be exclusive; we want to protect life
in all forms. 1 Corinthians 11:27 teaches that whoever eats the flesh
of Jesus unworthily incurs grave sin. Out of love I would not want my
friend to say “Amen” to a system of beliefs he does not believe in.
Saying “Amen” to Holy Communion confirms one’s belief in all the
Catholic Church hands from Jesus — the most important being that the
bread and wine has changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Catholics
know that the substance, or the very nature, of bread and wine changes
into the body and blood of Jesus; however, the accidents, or
appearances of bread and wine, remain in this humble sacrifice.
Saying “Amen” confirms this change and affirms one’s belief in the
entire Catholic Church. I know my friend does not believe in all the
church teaches; even if he were to accept transubstantiation, he would
not accept all the other teachings. If he had, he would have converted.
Same in reverse order for me. I do believe Jesus is in the Eucharist
and it is not just some memorial service (John 6); I do believe in all
the Catholic Church holds true. So out of love for me, my friend would
not offer me Communion in his Church.
Even though we have “exclusive” Holy Communion for Catholics in the
state of grace, we welcome all people. I still enjoy praying with my
friend. I would never reject him or not help him. It is out of love and
respect that we do not share Communion; it is out of love that we pray
for one another and for the world.
The Rev. Matthew Nash St. Patrick Catholic Church North Platte
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean, blasphemous
thought"
14. A most learned elder spiritually admonished
a proud brother, but he in his blindness said: 'Forgive me, father, I am
not proud.' The wise elder said to him: 'What clearer proof of this
passion could you have given us, son, than to say, "I am not proud"?'.
May 24,
2018
(Heb 12:1-2) And
therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head,
laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by
patience to the fight proposed to us: Looking on Jesus, the author and
finisher of faith, who, having joy set before him, endured the cross,
despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of
God.
COMMUNION OF SAINTS
Czech cardinal imprisoned by Nazis and communists is now on the way to beatification
Pope confirms heroic virtues of 12 Servants of God
Bl. Franz Jägerstätter: Martyr-Dad
MORE VIA VATICAN WEBSITE: Bl. Franz Jägerstätter (1907-1943) Layman and martyr (May 21)
Franz Jägerstätter was born on 20 May 1907 in St Radegund, Upper
Austria, to his unmarried mother, Rosalia Huber, and to Franz
Bachmeier, who was killed during World War I. After the death of his
natural father, Rosalia married Heinrich Jägerstätter, who adopted
Franz and gave the boy his surname of Jägerstätter in 1917.
Franz received a basic education in his village's one-room schoolhouse.
His step-grandfather helped with his education and the boy became an
avid reader.
It seems Franz was unruly in his younger years; he was, in fact, the
first in his village to own a motorcycle. However, he is better known
as an ordinary and humble Catholic who did not draw attention to
himself.
After his marriage to Franziska in 1936 and their honeymoon in Rome, Franz grew in his faith but was not extreme in his piety.
Besides his farm work Franz became the local sexton in 1936 and began
receiving the Eucharist daily. He was known to refuse the customary
offering for his services at funerals, preferring the spiritual and
corporal works of mercy over any remuneration.
In the mid to late 1930s, while much of Austria was beginning to follow
the tide of Nazism, Franz became ever more rooted in his Catholic faith
and placed his complete trust in God.
While carrying out his duties as husband and bread-winner for his wife
and three daughters, this ordinary man began thinking deeply about
obedience to legitimate authority and obedience to God, about mortal
life and eternal life and about Jesus' suffering and Passion.
Franz was neither a revolutionary nor part of any resistance movement,
but in 1938 he was the only local citizen to vote against the
"Anschluss" (annexation of Austria by Germany), because his conscience
prevailed over the path of least resistance.
Franz Jägerstätter was called up for military service and sworn in on
17 June 1940. Shortly thereafter, thanks to the intervention of his
mayor, he was allowed to return to the farm. Later, he was in active
service from October 1940 to April 1941, until the mayor's further
intervention permitted his return home.
He became convinced that participation in the war was a serious sin and
decided that any future call-up had to be met with his refusal to fight.
"It is very sad", he wrote, "to hear again and again from Catholics
that this war waged by Germany is perhaps not so unjust because it will
wipe out Bolshevism.... But now a question: what are they fighting in
this Country - Bolshevism or the Russian People?
"When our Catholic missionaries went to a pagan country to make them
Christians, did they advance with machine guns and bombs in order to
convert and improve them?... If adversaries wage war on another nation,
they have usually invaded the country not to improve people or even
perhaps to give them something, but usually to get something for
themselves.... If we were merely fighting Bolshevism, these other
things - minerals, oil wells or good farmland - would not be a factor".
Jägerstätter was at peace with himself despite the alarm he could have
experienced witnessing the masses' capitulation to Hitler. Mesmerized
by the National Socialist propaganda machine, many people knelt when
Hitler made his entrance into Vienna. Catholic Churches were forced to
fly the swastika flag and subjected to other abusive laws.
In February 1943 Franz was called up again for military service. He
presented himself at the induction centre on 1 March 1943 and announced
his refusal to fight, offering to carry out non-violent services: this
was denied him.
He was held in custody at Linz in March and April, transferred to
Berlin-Tegel in May and subject to trial on 6 July 1943 when he was
condemned to death for sedition. The prison chaplain was struck by the
man's tranquil character. On being offered the New Testament, he
replied: "I am completely bound in inner union with the Lord, and any
reading would only interrupt my communication with my God".
On 9 August, before being executed, Franz wrote: "If I must write...
with my hands in chains, I find that much better than if my will were
in chains. Neither prison nor chains nor sentence of death can rob a
man of the Faith and his free will. God gives so much strength that it
is possible to bear any suffering.... People worry about the
obligations of conscience as they concern my wife and children.
But I cannot believe that, just because one has a wife and children, a man is free to offend God".
Franz Jägerstätter, who would not bow his head to Hitler, bowed his
head to God, and the guillotine took care of the rest. He was obviously
called up to serve a higher order.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean, blasphemous
thought"
12. An angel fell from Heaven without any other
passion except pride, and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend
to Heaven by humility alone, without any other of the virtues.
May 21,
2018
(Joh 14:6) Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.
VATICAN NEWS: Vatican’s message for Ramadan: “Move from competition to collaboration”
THE CATHOLIC THING: Our Responsibility to Criticize Islam
ONE NEWS NOW: 'Intense hatred' toward Christians
Watchdog groups are reacting to Sunday's deadly bombing of three churches in Indonesia that killed at least ten people.
The leader of Open Doors USA says his heart goes out to the Christians
who were affected by the attacks in Surabya. David Curry says it's hard
to imagine a mother and father persuading their children to commit
murder and suicide, but that's what happened in Indonesia's
second-largest city.
"It shows really the intense hatred that exists within extremist groups
toward Christians," he tells OneNewNow. "This was an ISIS-identified
attack, this family had been radicalized in Syria, and ISIS has stated
they want to eliminate Christians. They want to set up caliphates in
places like Indonesia."
Curry argues his case that people within the Muslim faith need to
address this strain of radical extremism because "to say it has no
connection to Islam is wrong."
"It clearly has some connection to theology," he continues, "because
they're using theology as a weapon to radicalize people – so it needs
to be addressed within Islam. It's not just a political issue; it's not
just a terrorist issue. It's an issue for theologians and for people
within Islam to stand up and let their voice be heard on this and to
condemn these attacks and to do what they can to protect these churches
in Surabaya and Jakarta and elsewhere."
Curry says churches need to be places of refuge where people can come in and worship freely without fear of violence.
Injustice in Philippines
Two Catholic priests have been killed in the Philippines in a
four-month span, and a spokesperson for International Christian Concern
is calling on authorities there to apprehend the killers and bring them
to justice.
A 37-year-old Catholic priest, Father Mark Anthony Ventura, was laid to
rest earlier this month after being fatally shot (on the morning of
April 29) in the northern Philippines shortly after the conclusion of
Mass. The suspects have yet to be captured. Another case remains
unsolved from December when a 72-year-old retired Catholic Priest was
fatally shot.
"The intensity of this type of killing is very alarming because it
shows that [the lives of] even religious clergy can be taken [lightly]
and the government seems to be not really doing its best to capture the
suspects," says Gina Goh, regional manager for International Christian
Concern.
It's essential for the government to bring the suspects to justice, she
argues. "Because if you let this type of killing with impunity continue
to go on, then I think ... the suspects ... will just think the
government doesn't care – [they'll think] We can continue and go on and
just kill whoever stands in our way. And so there's no justice."
Goh admits she has her doubts about how committed the Philippine
government will be in seeking justice due to its past human rights
record.
REVIEW SITE: Is Islam really a Religion of Peace? What makes Islam so different?
MORE: In Iran, Christian converts face 10 year prison sentences
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean, blasphemous
thought"
11. He who refuses reproof shows his passion [pride],
but he who accepts it is free of this fetter.
May 18,
2018
(Act 2:17-18) And
it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord), I will pour
out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy: and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed and upon my handmaids will I
pour out in those days of my spirit: and they shall prophesy.
CATHOLIC STAND: Pentecost and Eternal Perspective
ARCHEPARCHY OF PITTSBURGH: Byzantine Catholics and the Feast Of Pentecost
ALETEIA: Come, Holy Spirit! Pentecost pictured in icons
VIA UNIVERSALIS: A treatise "Against the Heresies" by St Irenaeus The sending of the Holy Spirit
When the Lord told his disciples to go and teach all nations and
baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, he conferred on them the power of giving men new life in God.
He had promised through the prophets that in these last days he would
pour out his Spirit on his servants and handmaids, and that they would
prophesy. So when the Son of God became the Son of Man, the Spirit also
descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with
the human race, to living in men and to inhabiting God’s creation. The
Spirit accomplished the Father’s will in men who had grown old in sin,
and gave them new life in Christ.
Luke says that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost,
after the Lord’s ascension, with power to open the gates of life to all
nations and to make known to them the new covenant. So it was that men
of every language joined in singing one song of praise to God, and
scattered tribes, restored to unity by the Spirit, were offered to the
Father as the first-fruits of all the nations.
This was why the Lord had promised to send the Advocate: he was to
prepare us as an offering to God. Like dry flour, which cannot become
one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many
could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down
from heaven. And like parched ground, which yields no harvest unless it
receives moisture, we who were once like a waterless tree could never
have lived and borne fruit without this abundant rainfall from above.
Through the baptism that liberates us from change and decay we have
become one in body; through the Spirit we have become one in soul.
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and
strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of God came down upon
the Lord, and the Lord in turn gave this Spirit to his Church, sending
the Advocate from heaven into all the world into which, according to
his own words, the devil too had been cast down like lightning.
If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the dew of
God. Since we have our accuser, we need an advocate as well. And so the
Lord in his pity for man, who had fallen into the hands of brigands,
having himself bound up his wounds and left for his care two coins
bearing the royal image, entrusted him to the Holy Spirit. Now, through
the Spirit, the image and inscription of the Father and the Son have
been given to us, and it is our duty to use the coin committed to our
charge and make it yield a rich profit for the Lord.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean, blasphemous
thought"
10. Chastisement for the proud is a fall, a thorn
(2Cor. 12:7) is a devil; and abandonment by God is madness. In the first
two cases, people have often been healed by men; but the last is humanly
incurable.
May 16,
2018
(Deu 30:19) I
call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you
life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both
thou and thy seed may live:
VICTIMS OF ABORTION: Broken Branches Issue 124 June/July 2018
HLI: A Hinge Moment – Which Way Will Ireland Go?
IRISH TIMES: Bishops warn against ‘abortion on demand’
ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: The Importance of Amendment 8
Amendment 8 to Article 40 of the Irish Constitution reads as follows:
The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due
regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws
to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and
vindicate that right.
Approved by more than two-thirds of Irish voters in a September 1983
referendum, it precludes abortion except in cases where the mother’s
life is at risk. It was, and remains, a unique repudiation of
“progressive” social policy as defined by leaders of the European Union.
From the start, Amendment 8 has been targeted by abortion-rights
activists both in Ireland and abroad because it explicitly recognizes
the humanity of the unborn child. In other words, to legitimize
abortion, the law must first dehumanize the child developing in the
womb. The only way to sell this kind of legalized homicide to the Irish
public has been to control and deform the language of the debate.
Thus pro-life organizations have faced an uphill battle for years in
defending Amendment 8 in a misleading and heavily biased media
environment.
On May 25, a national referendum will be held determining whether to
repeal Amendment 8. Irish pro-life groups have been going door to door
in Ireland for months urging citizens to choose life by voting “no” on
the repeal effort. An interview
with Irish pro-life spokesperson Cora Sherlock by Fordham theologian
Charles Camosy last November gives a basic outline of the Amendment 8
political struggle. Additional information can be found at the Prolife Campaign Ireland and Love Both Project sites.
But why should any of this matter to an American audience? The answer
to that question comes in an email I received from a married couple
with children earlier this week. I’ve removed their names to respect
their privacy, but the message is unchanged:
Dear Archbishop Chaput,
Please accept this note as an appeal for prayer against the impending vote to legalize abortion in Ireland.
Forty million Americans claim Irish ancestry. Ireland spread the faith
widely in America with Catholic immigrants. For generations, Irish
missionary priests and nuns cultivated the Catholic faith in the United
States. How are we repaying Ireland? Today, America is backing the
repeal of Ireland’s Amendment 8 through the support of U.S. abortion
groups and wealthy donors. See
https://repeal.blog/.
The date is looming: Ireland will vote on May 25. For 1500 years, since
St. Patrick brought the faith to Ireland, her people have defended the
sanctity of human life. Ireland is the only major European country that
still prohibits abortion.
Bishop Kevin Doran of [the Diocese of Elphin] Ireland stated that, “I
am convinced that if we concede any ground on abortion, the very same
arguments which are now being used to justify abortion will be used to
justify ending the lives of elderly people and people with
disabilities. This is the final frontier. If we cross it, there will be
no easy way back.” Lifehouse Ireland reported, “This could be Ireland’s
Roe vs. Wade. Where is the outrage in the Irish and American media?
Nowhere to be found.”
St. Patrick, St. Brigid, and all Irish saints, protect Ireland from the culture of death.
Sincerely,
[Names withheld]
In his great 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio (“The Development of
Peoples”), Blessed Paul VI reminded us that no genuine progress can
take place without respecting the spiritual dimension and God-given
dignity of the human person. In killing an unborn child, abortion
violates human dignity in a uniquely obscene and intimate way.
Ireland has always had the wisdom to reject the kind of social
“progress” that depends on the shedding of innocent blood and the
destruction of new life. Now that nation’s conscience hangs in the
balance. Today, pro-life efforts in Ireland urgently need our support.
This week and throughout the coming days, I ask our clergy and
laypeople across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia — many of them
descendants of our city’s Irish immigrants — to pray for Ireland and
especially for the defense of Amendment 8.
REPORT: Facebook, Google to block ads leading up to the Ireland abortion referendum
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean, blasphemous
thought"
9. God resisteth the proud (James 4:6). Who then
can have mercy on them? Every proud-hearted man is unclean before God (Prov.
16:5). Who then can cleanse such a person?
May 14,
2018
(Zec 12:2-3) Behold
I will make Jerusalem a lintel of surfeiting to all the people round
about: and Juda also shall be in the siege against Jerusalem. And it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome
stone to all people: all that shall lift it up shall be rent and torn,
and all the kingdoms of the earth shall be gathered together against
her.
REVIEW: The State of Israel & the Universal Church
OVERVIEW: Welcome to Jerusalem Week
BREAKING: Police boot Jews from Temple Mount for raising Israel flag on volatile day
EXCERPT NEWS REPORT: Middle East divide: Jerusalem is the epicenter
With its historic churches, mosques and temples, Jerusalem is a city
accustomed to tension, capable of igniting a region that has known
centuries of conflict. Sacred ground is sensitive ground, and Jerusalem
is most sacred of all.
Normally, the discord originates around the holy sites of the Old City,
one densely packed square-kilometer surrounded by 700-year-old walls.
This time it's an unassuming building, tucked into a hill about a mile
south of the white limestone of the Old City, at the epicenter of an
ongoing political and diplomatic earthquake.
The building sits in an otherwise unremarkable neighborhood, surrounded
by a small scraggly field, homes, and the Diplomat Hotel, long ago
converted to an elderly care home for Russian immigrants.
For eight years, the building in the neighborhood of Arnona has been
the United States consulate in Jerusalem, where visitors would come to
apply for visas and renew passports. On Monday, in a ceremony that will
be surrounded with fanfare and celebrations, the building will
officially become the U.S. embassy in Israel in a move President Donald
Trump promised during his campaign.
The timing of the opening seems geared to please Israelis and anger Palestinians.
One day before the opening of the embassy, Israel celebrates Jerusalem
Day, marking what Israelis consider the reunification of the city. The
day of the embassy opening is the 70th anniversary of the founding of
the State of Israel (though not according to the Jewish calendar by
which it is normally marked in Israel -- that was last month).
On May 15 -- the day after the embassy opens -- Palestinians mark what
they call the "Nakba" or Catastrophe, in memory of the more than
700,000 Palestinians who were either driven from, or fled, their homes
during the Arab-Israeli war that accompanied the creation of the State
of Israel in 1948.
The day often brings widespread demonstrations and is considered a day
of mourning. One day later is the first day of Ramadan, a holy month
for Muslims that often sees a spike in tensions between Israelis and
Palestinians.
The city of Bethlehem is roughly five miles from the site of the new
embassy, but it feels much farther away than that, sitting behind the
concrete wall that separates Israel and the West Bank.
Khader Yousef, who drives taxis and sells fruit in the city, said "no Palestinian should accept the fact of moving the embassy."
"The U.S. is saying that we have nothing more in Jerusalem. They are
telling us that we have no hope in a Palestinian state with Jerusalem
as the capital," the 53-year-old said.
"Without a war there will never be peace, and what was taken with power can't be returned without power."
Trump has promised to seal "the ultimate deal" to bring lasting peace
between Israelis and Palestinians, but peace seems farther away than
ever.
ISRAELI VIEWPOINT: Israel at 70: Time to Retire the False Palestinian Narrative
CHRISTIAN PALESTINIAN VIEWPOINT: Holy Land Christians feel abandoned by U.S. evangelicals
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean,
blasphemous
thought"
8. An arrogant man
yearns after authority; for
otherwise, as it were, he cannot, or rather, does not wish to perish
utterly.
May 10, 2018
(Mat 5:9) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
BREAKING: Israel Shelling Syrian positions in response to Iranian missile Strike
HEADLINE: Death toll from Syria strike rises to 15, including 8 Iranians
VATICAN NEWS: Pope Francis appeals for peace in Syria, world
Pope Francis has urged for prayers for peace in Syria and in the world.
His call came during his weekly general audience of Wednesday, where he
greeted Arab-speaking pilgrims.
“I invite you to cultivate the devotion to the Mother of God with the
daily recitation of the Rosary, praying in a special way for peace in
Syria and in the entire world,” the Pope said in Italian.
The situation in Syria is growing more complex and difficult with new developments.
Repeated airstrikes attributed to Israel have killed Iranian fighters
and prompted threats of reprisal from Tehran. Syrian state-run media
has claimed that Israel struck a military outpost near the capital,
Damascus, on Tuesday. The Observatory for Human Rights group based in
the UK said the missiles targeted depots and rocket launchers that
likely belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard in Kisweh, killing
nine people.
Also on Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would
withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, a move that has
triggered uncertainty and threatened to spark more unrest in the Middle
East.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow on
Wednesday to discuss military coordination with President Vladimir
Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia also
considers Iran a strategic ally.
ACN: Syrian Bishop Appeals for Peace
Melkite Archbishop Jean Abdou Arbach of Homs, Hama and Yabroud told
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that after seven years of
war – and the latest bombing raids on the country – Syrians are tired
of the conflict.
“We want and we need peace” Archbishop Arbach said: “People cannot take any more.
“They simply want to live an ordinary life, to sleep peacefully in
their beds and wake and go to work, and not to the sound of falling
bombs.
“It is enough – it is too much.” The prelate called for everyone around
the world to pray for the Syrian people and for lasting peace.
He said: “We want and we need peace – please pray for us.
“We need prayers, prayers and more prayers. It is the only thing that
can bring us unity in this country.” He added that Pope Francis had
also asked for prayers for the situation in Syria.
On Sunday (15th April), Pope Francis said: “I am deeply disturbed by
the present world situation, in which notwithstanding the instruments
at the disposition of the international community, it struggles to
agree on a common action in favour of peace in Syria and in other
regions of the world.” He added: “I pray incessantly for peace, and I
invite all people of good will to continue to do the same.
“I appeal anew to all responsible political leaders, so that justice
and peace may prevail.” “Everything has been destroyed… work for peace
and not for war” Archbishop Arbach added: “What was the point of this
war?
“Everything has been destroyed, there are millions of refugees… If only
the politicians of the world would work for peace and not for war.” ACN
is helping with projects in ??Homs including scholarships for 4,000
students and the provision of essential foodstuffs and medicines.
The charity is also supporting repair of homes and Church buildings.
Archbishop Arbach said that up to 80 percent of churches and catechetical centres in his archdiocese have already been rebuilt.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean,
blasphemous
thought"
7. The cypress does
not bend to walk on earth;
nor does a lofty-hearted monk bend to acquire obedience.
May 9, 2018
(Luk 6:32-36) And
if you love them that love you, what thanks are to you? For sinners
also love those that love them. And if you do good to them who do good
to you, what thanks are to you? For sinners also do this. And if you
lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thanks are to you? For
sinners also lend to sinners, for to receive as much. But love ye your
enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward
shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For he is
kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as
your Father also is merciful.
Pope prays for people of Central African Republic:
“May the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, help
everyone to say ‘no’ to violence, in order to build peace together".
CATHOLIC HERALD: Don’t seek revenge for church massacre, urges Cardinal
ACN NEWS: Attack on church in Central African Republic kills 24
A priest has described seeing at least 24 Christians being killed when
gunmen “rained down bullets” on more than 2,000 people gathered for
Mass in the Central African Republic. Some 170 people were injured.
Father Moses Otii, parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church
in the country’s capital of Bangui, reported that 120 parishioners were
injured during the violence, which included grenade attacks. The
assault took place May 1, 2018.
Father Otii said that the attackers “outnumbered the police and the
police retreated, then the attackers started shooting at the church and
throwing hand grenades at the people.” He added: “With my own eyes I
saw three hand grenades thrown in front of the church, but thank God in
an area without people, and a grenade thrown in among many people
gathered in the open air within the church’s compound.
“The grenade was thrown from behind the parish walls into the crowd of people at Mass. It exploded.
“Normally our Masses are celebrated in the open air since our church
cannot contain more than 2,000 people. And we had more than 2,000
people for the Mass.” He continued: “So many people were injured. They
started running in all directions. We had people almost everywhere –
our rooms, refectory, parish halls, our kitchen, and even in the
toilets.
“Others could not run. For example, a lady had both legs cut off by the
grenade, she couldn’t move. It was a commotion with people running and
people crying.” Father Otii was on the altar with 15 concelebrating
priests, when he saw the gunmen outside the Church targeting the
Christians.
He said: “I saw the attackers waving their arms in what I interpreted
as ‘calm down’ gesture just before they started raining bullets at the
people gathered at Mass. I heard gunshots during the prayer of the
faithful, just before the offertory.” The priest added: “Immediately
when things calmed down, we got some young people from the parish to
help transport the injured to the hospital.” Father Otii also said:
“There are now bullet holes in the walls of the church and parish halls
from this attack.” He added: “Until now no one has claimed
responsibility. People saw the attackers come from the direction of PK5
[neighborhood], which is just close to the parish – the majority of PK5
residents are Muslim.” According to reports, PK5 is home to a number of
former Séléka rebels. A mosque was also burnt down following the Church
attack. Two men were killed.
Among those killed in Our Lady of Fatima Church was Father Albert Baba, who served in a nearby parish.
Father Otii said: “I knew him well. He was a calm speaker, he was in
his 70’s. He was someone joyful. He was lively despite his age. During
Eucharistic celebrations, he liked dancing. He had his own style of
animating the Eucharistic celebrations.
“Father Albert worked as Justice and Peace co-ordinator in the
Archdiocese of Bangui. Where there was injustice he went and spoke to
people from all walks of life to help them. He would surely want a
prayer of peace to be heard after these attacks in our country.
Protesters carried the priest’s body through the street of Bangui
towards the presidential palace. President Faustin Archange Touadera
called for three days of nation-wide mourning after the attacks.
FIDES.ORG: To win the challenge of peace in Africa: a possible dream with dialogue, not with weapons
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean,
blasphemous
thought"
6.
A haughty monk contradicts violently, but a
humble one cannot even look another in the face.
May 7, 2018
(Luk 1:46-49) And
Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his
handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and
holy is his name.
AUDIO SERMON: Our Lady of Fatima: Queen of the Rosary and Queen of
Families
VIA MANILA: The
powerful prayer that can protect our nation
ALETEIA: Why is May “Mary’s Month”?
Among
Catholics, May is most well-known as “Mary’s Month,” a specific month
of the year when special devotions are performed in honor of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
Why is that? How did May become associated with the Blessed Mother?
There are many different factors that contributed to this association.
First of all, in ancient Greece and Rome the month of May was dedicated
to pagan goddesses connected to fertility and springtime (Artemis and
Flora, respectively). This, combined with other European rituals
commemorating the new season of spring, led many Western cultures to
view May as a month of life and motherhood. This was long before
“Mother’s Day” was ever conceived, though the modern celebration is
closely related to this innate desire to honor maternity during the
spring months.
In the early Church there is evidence of a major feast of the Blessed
Virgin Mary celebrated on the 15th of May each year, but it wasn’t
until the 18th century that May received a particular association with
the Virgin Mary. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “The May
devotion in its present form originated at Rome where Father Latomia of
the Roman College of the Society of Jesus, to counteract infidelity and
immorality among the students, made a vow at the end of the eighteenth
century to devote the month of May to Mary. From Rome the practice
spread to the other Jesuit colleges and thence to nearly every Catholic
church of the Latin rite.” Dedicating an entire month to Mary wasn’t a
new tradition, as there existed a prior tradition of devoting 30 days
to Mary called Tricesimum, which was also known as “Lady Month.”
Various private devotions to Mary quickly became widespread during the
month of May, as it is recorded in the Raccolta, a publication of
prayers published in the mid-19th century.
It is a well-known devotion, to consecrate to most holy Mary the month
of May, as the most beautiful and florescent month of the whole year.
This devotion has long prevailed throughout Christendom; and it is
common here in Rome, not only in private families, but as a public
devotion in very many churches. Pope Pius VII, in order to animate all
Christian people to the practice of a devotion so tender and agreeable
to the most blessed Virgin, and calculated to be of such great
spiritual benefit to themselves, granted, by a Rescript of the
Segretaria of the Memorials, March 21, 1815 (kept in the Segretaria of
his Eminence the Cardinal-Vicar), to all the faithful of the Catholic
world, who either in public or in private should honour the Blessed
Virgin with some special homage or devout prayers, or other virtuous
practices.
In 1945, Pope Pius XII solidified May as a Marian month after
establishing the feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31st. After the
Second Vatican Council, this feast was moved to August 22, while May
31st became the feast of the Visitation of Mary.
The month of May is one rich in tradition and a beautiful time of the
year to honor our heavenly mother.
VATICAN NEWS: Pope Adds Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, to
Liturgical Calendar
VIA BHLA2 LIST: A
List of the Feasts of Our Lady for the month of May
Our
Lady, Queen of the May-----May 1
Our
Lady of Oviedo ----- 2 [Spain]
Our
Lady of Jasna Gora ----- 3 [Poland]
Our
Lady of the Helper ----- 4 [Normandy, France]
Our
Lady, Queen of the Apostles ----- 5
Our
Lady of Miracles in the Church of Our Lady of Peace ----- 6 [Rome]
Our
Lady of Haut The Seven Joys of Our Lady ----- 7
Our
Lady of Pompeii ----- 8
Our
Lady of Loreto ----- 9 [Ancona, Italy]
Dedication
of Constantinople to Our Lady
and
Our Lady of Saussaie ----- 10 [Paris, France]
Our
Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil
and
Apparition of Our Lady to St. Philip Neri ----- 11
Our
Lady of Power ----- 12 [Aubervillers, France]
Our
Lady of Fatima-----May 13
and
Dedication Our Lady of Martyrs, Rome
Our
Lady of Bavaria ----- 14
Our
Lady of France ----- 15
Apparition
of Our Lady to St. Catherine of Alexandria -----16
Our
Lady of Tears ----- 17 [Spoleto, Italy]
Dedication
of Our Lady of Bonport Abbey ----- 18 [Diocese of Evreux]
Our
Lady of Flines ----- 19 [Douay]
Dedication
of the Church of La Ferte in Honor of Our Lady ----- 20
[Burgandy,
France]
Our
Lady of Vladimir, Russia and Our Lady of Sweat, Salerno, Italy ----- 21
Our
Lady of Monte Vergine ----- 22 [Naples, Italy]
Our
Lady of Miracles of Brescia ----- 23 [Italy]
Our
Lady Help of Christians-----May 24
Our
Lady of the Way-----May 24
Our
Lady the New ----- 25 [Jerusalem]
Our
Lady Queen of Caravaggio -----May 26
Our
Lady of Naples ----- 27 [Italy]
Feast
of the Relics of Our Lady ----- 28 [Venice, Italy: Portions of her
veil,
etc.]
Our
Lady of Ardents ----- 29 [Arras, France]
Our
Lady of the Sacred Heart, Mexico ----- 30
Queenship
of Mary and Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces-----May 31
RELATED: In images: the most beautiful representations of the
Virgin Mary
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean,
blasphemous
thought"
5.
A venerable man said to me: 'Suppose that there
are twelve shameful passions. If we deliberately love one of
them
(I mean, pride), it will fill the place of the remaining eleven'.
May 4, 2018
(Joh 20:6-7) Then
cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre: and saw
the linen cloths lying, And the napkin that had been about his head,
not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place.
VIDEO: Holy Face of Jesus message to the World!
CNA: An encounter with the Manoppello Image of the Face of
Christ
EXCERPT LIFESITE:
The little-known but incredible story of the Holy Face
of Manoppello
Cumulative Facts:
From
early on, art history shows the Face of Our Lord depicted on a silken
cloth, often held up by St. Michael the Archangel himself; on that
cloth as depicted by art, Our Lord has His eyes open;
Already
in the 11th century,
there are songs to be found which explicitly mention not only the
shroud (of Turin), but also the sudarium (Sudarium
et Vestes);
Just
like the Shroud of Turin, the image on the Volto Santo is a miraculous image,
inasmuch as no paint traces are to be found on it, and inasmuch as the
silken-like material stems from the “hair” (Haftfäden in
German) of sea mussels upon which one cannot paint. Whereas the Shroud
of Turin shows Christ in His death on linen, the Volto Santo shows us
a glimpse of the Risen Christ on silk;
Moreover,
as Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer – a Trappist nun who has lived
since 2003 in Manoppello as a hermit, researcher, and promoter of the Volto Santo – is able to show, the
size of the face of Our Lord on the Shroud of Turin is identical (and
congruent) with the size of the Holy Face of Manoppello;
The Volto Santo is identical with the Holy
Image that has been revered in Rome for centuries, but under the name
Veronica. Only in 2011, the Director of the Vatican Museum admitted
publicly that the antique relic of the Volto
Santo“had been lost during the Sacco di Roma in 1527”; this
admission was later removed from the Vatican's website, since the
Vatican still shows, once a year, and from high aloft in St. Peter's
Basilica, an image of Jesus described as Veronica, but which now turns
out to be a sort of a copy of the original;
Old
Christian texts from the 2nd and
3rd centuries
seem to speak about this Volto Santo,
as Klaus Berger, a theologian, has recently discovered. In one of these
texts, there is talk about a heavenly cloth in which the son of a king
recognizes himself as in a mirror; this same image has also been
referred to and used by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy when speaking in the 33rd Canto
about the image of God “painted in its own color with our own likeness”;
That
same theologian – Klaus Berger – also discovered an old Missal from the
year 620 in which St. Mary Magdalene covers her tears with the Sudariumwhich “had been left behind by Jesus in the tomb
so that it may give witness to His Resurrection.” Professor Berger also
found instructions for conducting the Latin Liturgy, according to
Amalarius of Metz (775 -850), in which he describes that the altar
cloths for Roman Masses are corresponding to the Passion and
Resurection of Jesus Christ, using the same names: sindon (linen cloth) and sudarium (veil; face cloth). Since
that time, the altar cloths had to be linen (until 1969), and the
corporal had to be folded in a special way, according to the
description presented by St. John in his Gospel;
Paul
Badde points out that, because of this analogy to the tomb and
Resurrection of Christ, until 1969 the altar always had to be made
similar to the stone bench upon which Jesus Christ was laid; mere
tables were thus rejected;
Emperor
Charlemagne had a painting made by an artist who, after visiting Rome
(and probably the Volto Santo)
depicted Christ in a manner similar to the Volto Santo: with His open eyes (the white shining under
the pupil), open mouth and a curl on top of His forehead;
In
1208, Pope Innocent III, for the first time, presented the Holy Face to
the public, on Omnis Terra Sunday
when he himself carried it from St. Peter's Basilica over to the Church
of Santo Spirito in Sassia. An historical depiction of that procession
clearly shows once more that it was the Volto
Santo that was depicted here;
On
16 January 2016, again on Omnis Terra Sunday,
Archbishop Georg Gänswein (the personal secretary of Pope emeritus
Benedict XVI), for the first time in centuries, celebrated a Solemn
Mass in Santo Spirito in Sassia after a procession in which there had
been carried again the Volto Santo (in
the form of a copy) from St. Peter's Basilica to that old church.
In his own homily, Archbishop Gänswein publicly spoke about the Volto Santo which “Pope
Innocent III had first shown to
pilgrims what has been preserved in
a hidden way, for
more than 400 hundred years, in the Abbruzzi mountains near the
Adriatic Sea,” [emphasis added] and which now is on the way to
return to Rome, to “that place where the public cult of its public
veneration had first originated”;
During
the period of 13th until
the 16th centuries
(when the Holy Veil disappeared in Rome) – that is to say, the time
after the first public display of the Volto
Santo in Rome – many depictions of the Volto
Santo are to be found in Church art, showing the Face of Our Lord on a
silken cloth, depicting Himself with open eyes, with white under His
pupils, and a curl on His forehead;
It
was Pope Benedict XVI who, on 1 September 2006 – for the first time
since the loss of the Volto Santo in
the 16th century
– visited, as pope, the holy relic in Manoppello. He himself thus
silently started the process of giving back this holy image to the
whole Christian world, first doing it on his knees and with his
manifest prayers;
In
2017, when a new – third – feast was established for the procession
with the Volto Santo in
Manoppello, it was fixed on Omnis Terra Sunday
of each year, every second Sunday after Epiphany. The main celebrant of
this year's liturgical celebration was a former judge of the Roman
Rota, Monsignor Americo Ciani – who was a canon of St. Peter's Basilica
and who, as such, had often shown to the faithful the copy of the Volto Santo on high and above from the
Loggia in St. Peter's. In his own homily, it was Monsignor Ciani who
publicly said that this relic is the Holy Veil which had been carried
through Rome by Pope Innocent III in the year 1208, and which later had
got lost in the year 1527 (during the Sack of Rome). Additionally,
this clergyman also declared
that this Volto Santo is the very same sudarium that had been found by
St. John himself in the empty tomb on Easter Sunday –
who then himself wrote: “He saw and believed.”
Both
Cardinal Robert Sarah and Cardinal Joachim Meisner, two great prelates
of the Catholic Church, visited the Holy Face of Manoppello and were
deeply touched by it. Cardinal Sarah said in Manoppello: “Here in
Manoppello we face the face of God face to face.”
MORE: Face to face with the Holy Face
Saint Thérèse's sister Celine wrote about her:
"Devotion to the Holy Face was, for Therese, the crown and complement
of her love for the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord. The Blessed Face was
the mirror wherein she beheld the Heart and Soul of her Well-Beloved.
Just as the picture of a loved one serves to bring the whole person
before us, so in the Holy Face of Christ Therese beheld the entire
Humanity of Jesus. We can say unequivocally that this devotion was the
burning inspiration of the Saint's life. ...Her devotion to the Holy
Face transcended, or more accurately, embraced, all the other
attractions of her spiritual life."
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean,
blasphemous
thought"
3.
Let all of us who wish to avoid this pit listen:
this passion often finds food in gratitude, for at first it does not
shamelessly
advise us to deny God. I have seen people who thank God with
their
mouth, but mentally magnify themselves. And this is confirmed
by
that Pharisee who said ironically: O God, I thank Thee.
May 2, 2018
(Joh
15:4-5) Abide in me: and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you
abide in me. I am the vine: you the branches. He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do
nothing.
VICTIMS OF ABORTION: Broken Branches Issue 122 April/May 2018
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Waste Land: Britain’s Culture of Death
ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: The shape of things to come
I’ve been a lifelong fan of science fiction stories. Two of my
favorites are classic novels by H.G. Wells (d. 1946), The War of the
Worlds and The Time Machine. Both were twice produced as movies. Both
make great reading even today. Not everything he wrote had such lasting
success, though. Another Wells-inspired movie, Things to Come starring
Raymond Massey in 1936, is far more obscure today. Yet I’ve always
found it just as intriguing as his other work, for reasons that have
nothing to do with Martians or underground monsters.
The film Things to Come is based on Wells’ 1933 novel – he called it a
“future history” – entitled The Shape of Things to Come. The film
version is mildly interesting. The original novel is massive, turgid,
rambling, and in the end, mind-numbing. Both works imagine a future
world-war that drags on catastrophically for decades, decimates the
population, unleashes a terrifying plague, and results in the collapse
of civilization and the rise of petty warlords. In the nick of time,
amid the chaos, a community of advanced scientists emerges from a
secret enclave to impose a benevolent dictatorship and lead humanity to
an era of recovery, progress, unity, peace, and plenty, guided by
science and technology.
The most interesting thing about the two works is a plot element
missing from the film but quite central to the novel. To secure their
utopia, the scientists in The Shape of Things to Come find it necessary
to exterminate all religious leaders and stamp out organized religion,
with the Catholic Church their last and most tenacious opponent. Only
then in the novel, thanks to this regrettable mass murder, can mankind
reach its full maturity and march into the sunlight of knowledge and
freedom.
It’s a familiar kind of “ends justify the means” reasoning – in this
case, on steroids.
Today, 85 years after the Wells novel first appeared, the world is both
very different from, and uncomfortably similar to, the content of his
imagination. In many places around the globe, religious faith is not
just alive but growing rapidly. The great ideological dictator states
are dead. Science and technology have brought about great improvements
in the material quality of life and the reduction of disease and
poverty.
But in the so-called developed nations, science and technology have
also, too often, fostered an approach to life based on utility and
efficiency, and a disdain for religious faith and believers. The
calculations of a culture ruled by the computer leave little room for
the heart – which is why the philosopher Augusto Del Noce saw
technological civilization as dogged by a chronic temptation to
totalitarianism. The math of microchips has no tolerance for error or
imperfection, and that intolerance can easily transfer to a culture and
spread like a virus.
That’s bad news for human beings, who are frequently neither useful nor
efficient nor perfect, but rather weak, suffering, flawed and
dependent. For Christians, this “weakness” subtracts nothing from their
humanity. Such persons are brothers, not failures, and every needy
person is a child of God worthy of love and support.
That includes infants struggling to survive a life-threatening illness
like Alfie Evans. As we see every day now in the news from Britain
about baby Alfie Evans and the efforts by his parents to get him
medical help outside the country, “civilized” courts of law can be
utterly callous, stubborn, driven by utility, resistant to humanitarian
appeals, and brutish in interfering with a child’s right to life and
his parents’ right to fight for that life.
And before we applaud ourselves for how much better things are here in
the United States, we may want to read David French’s April 23 coverage
of the growing anti-religious nature of recent California proposed
legislation (see it here).
As French argues, elements of the California bill amount to a “dramatic
infringement on First Amendment rights, rendered even more pernicious
by [the bill’s] functional declaration of certain kinds of religious
speech and argument as the equivalent of consumer fraud.” Whether the
California bill is as drastic in its implications as some critics claim
is open to debate. But no one disputes that it’s just one more example
of efforts to interfere with Christian belief, teaching and practice
now being pursued around the country. There are many others.
The point of my column this week is simply this. The real “shape of
things to come” is never completely in human hands. The future will be
shaped by many different facts and forces, many of which we do not and
cannot control, not least the will of God. But neither are we helpless.
Quite the opposite: History is filled with the reality of one person or
groups of persons fighting for what they believe, and thereby changing
and channeling the course of events.
Our lives make a difference. We’re here for a purpose. That purpose
includes defending the weak and the suffering, and also defending the
freedom of the Church to preach, teach and speak the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. This is a privilege, not a burden, and we need to treasure it
for the sake of our own humanity and the humanity of those we love.
MEDITATION: Thoughts
by St Theophan (1815-1894)
[Acts 10:21–33; John 7:1–13]
The world cannot hate you; but me
it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil
(John 7:7). The Lord did not say this to His disciples; to His
disciples He foretold later that the world would hate and persecute
them also, because He has taken them out of the world. So, note what
the world hates, and you will learn of Christ's lot. The world rebels
most strongly against what is of Christ, what is closest to Him, and
more like unto His spirit. This is an external indicator, but for those
who live externally this is enough.
The world does not act on its own,
but is kindled in its works by its prince — satan, the works of whom
the Lord destroyed, and continues to destroy in believers and with
believers. He cannot do anything to the Lord directly; this is why he
directs his anger upon those who believe in Him, so that in frustrating
them he will frustrate the Lord. He does not act directly in this, but
through his agencies, which make up the world. This does not mean that
he is strong; do not fear him, but rather be bold, for the Lord
overcame the world and the prince thereof. Satan is not in a condition
to do anything to one who does not yield on his own.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 23- "On mad pride and unclean,
blasphemous
thought"
2.
The consummation of vainglory is the beginning
of pride; the middle is the humiliation of our neighbour, the shameless
parade of our labours, self-praise in the heart, hatred of exposure;
and
the end is denial of God's help, the extolling of one's own exertions,
fiendish character.
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