The Apostle John

If Judas represents betrayers, Peter, preachers and Thomas, doubters, then John, surrenderers.  I call Jesus' disciple, John, a surrenderer because he surrendered fully to the love of Christ without question or reservation.  I do not think there are too many surrenderers like John.  I actually do not know of another. [1] The remote possibility could exist that other surrenderers had lived over the centuries but I am skeptical. [2]

All the love John had in him was given to Jesus for the first time when Jesus called him to be His disciple.  From what I have read, John was young when he was called but no one knows exactly his age.  It has ranged from late teens to late twenties.  If I were to guess, I would say that he was 14, going on 15.   At this age, a boy who was living in a lawful society would presumably not have lost his innocence and I believe John was that boy, completely innocent and highly impressionable.  I believe that he was a quiet boy who did not say much, did not know much and was afraid to say anything because he was young [3], and that he was humble and was always in awe of goodness.

The general consensus is that John was the "disciple whom Jesus loved." [4]  Certainly John was loved by Jesus. [5]  He loved him so much he even gave John His Mother, the Virgin Mary, when He was on His cross. [6]

I think that Jesus loved John because he possessed the purity of youthful innocence, and that John's innocence of youth never left him.  John's mentor was, after all, Christ Himself, pure and innocent of all evil.

I believe John, the disciple, represented love, love for Jesus and love for the Virgin Mary, and no one has since loved Jesus and the Virgin Mary as perfectly as John had.

John was the only apostle who died a natural death. [7]




[1] San Francesco d'Assisi was more like Peter than he is like John.
[2] I do not believe that a surrrenderer is among us.  Even if he is, a surrenderer to the love of Christ is an unknown.  He is an unknown precisely because he has surrendered to the love of Christ humbly and completely and his surrender is neither an occasion of shame or of pride and therefore unnoteworthy and unnoticeable in today's media.  A surrenderer gives to God all the love he has, a love that is expressed with deep meaning, happily with action but scarcely with words.  You are definitely not going to see a surrenderer on Facebook or Twitter.
[3] I assume that as John matured, and grew old with wisdom and knowledge, he spoke more.  Some even think that he wrote the Gospel of John.  See http://jkinak04.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/why-did-the-apostle-john-refer-to-himself-as-the-disciple-whom-jesus-loved/
[4] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+21:7
[5] http://jkinak04.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/why-did-the-apostle-john-refer-to-himself-as-the-disciple-whom-jesus-loved/
[6] According to what I have read, Jesus preached for three to three and a half years before His crucifixion. Based on my guess that John was 14, going on 15 when Jesus called him to be His disciple, John would have been 17, going on 18 when he was given the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, by Jesus on the cross to be his mother, to take care of him and for him to take care of Her.  And see http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19%3A26-29&version=NIV:

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

[7] See page 5 of 9 at https://www.reclaimingthemind.org/content/Parchmentandpen/DeathoftheApostles.pdf

The Apostle Thomas

Well-known by his skepticism of the risen Christ, Thomas, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, is often known as "doubting Thomas."  Of course Thomas no longer doubted after Jesus appeared to him. [1], [2]

The apostle Thomas was the lawyer who wanted to see evidence of the nail marks in Jesus' hands, he was the doctor and the scientist who wanted proof of the wounds and actually touch them and he was every ordinary man who is naturally suspicious of anything extraordinary.

Thomas represented all of us.  Christ appeared to him specifically to resolve his doubt and by doing so ought to have resolved ours.  That is not the case, however.  We still doubt.  We cannot let go.  We need to be in control of our lives.  We will not let go and put our lives in the hands of God.

We doubt that God would take care of us, wherever we are asked to go, but go true believers do, sometimes kicking and screaming, and rewarded they are, with an inner peace, the peace that Christ referred to when He said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." [3]

Non-believers, hypocrites and minions of Satan do not go the way of Christ.  Some walk off and are burdened with the true weight of their crosses. [4]  Others turn the corner, creating the impression that they are still on the path of Christ.  They bear a heavy and unshakeable weight upon their conscience, perhaps not immediately, but at some point they will.  Still others walk against the path of Christ.  Aligned with the interests of Satan, these malignant ones will know their place when Satan shows its true contempt for them, when Satan will shed not even a tear when their souls are suffering in eternity.

Believe in the resurrection through Thomas, the apostle, and follow Christ and the Virgin Mary to Heaven.


[1] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20:24-29:

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

[2] Not until today did I realize that Thomas the disciple of Jesus went as far as Malabar, India, according to some accounts.  See http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/syro-malabar-church.php and http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115623/Christians-of-Saint-Thomas
[3] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14:27
[4] Those who love God are willing and happy to carry that burden.  They are accustomed to it and miraculously it becomes unnoticeable.

The Apostle Peter

Peter is the disciple of Jesus I most admire. [1]  He wore his heart on his sleeve [2] and never deceived.  He was incapable of that.  Even though he was not perfect (he denied Jesus three times) [3], he was a self-made man who lived a life without relying on others. [4]  He was confident of his abilities and was proud of his occupation even though he was not a rich man.  As tough as he was, he was child-like deep down: when he saw Jesus walking on water he wanted to try it right away [5], just like a boy seeing his father doing something new and wanting to copy exactly what he is doing.

Jesus' first disciple, Peter [6],  is "the Rock" on which Jesus chose to build his Church: tough, forceful, transparent, direct yet retains all the purity of innocence of a child.

Those who succeeded Peter had not measured up, not the current pope or even the erudite Benedict XVI.  San Francesco d'Assisi is the only other one after Saint Peter who was chosen to rebuild the Church.  After his death in 1226, the Church is one again in disrepair.  Who is the next chosen one capable to rebuild the Church?  I do not see him (Him) yet.



[1] When I was young, Peter was the apostle I most feared.  I had the image of him as rough man, unrefined, perhaps even a brute.  As a fisherman, he would have hands with tough callouses from handling fishing nets year in and year out, and his face would be weathered and look rubbery.  In so many ways, he was in my mind too crude for my liking.  I also was scared that he would slice off my ear when I disobeyed just as he had cut off the ear of the servant who was with a group of soldiers to arrest Jesus.  See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18%3A1-10&version=NIV  But that has changed, when I do not know, but I have come to like Peter and I am liking him more and more.
[2] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOHN+21%3A20-23&version=NIV:

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)  When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

[3] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+14%3A66-72&version=NIV:

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by.  When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.
When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

[4] I could not picture Peter ever begging for necessities or relying on others (or the government ) for handouts.
[5] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A25-31&version=NIV:

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

 [6] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+5%3A1-11&version=NIV:

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.  He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,  and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

The Apostle Judas

Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve original disciples who betrayed Jesus with a kiss [1] but he was not the only betrayer.  Anytime anyone who is "unfaithful in guarding, maintaining or fulfilling" [2] the teachings of Christ has betrayed Jesus, and that includes the religious.

The purpose of this entry is not to name names and show evidence of betrayal, that could take a millennium or longer to complete, but to encourage the listener or reader to be constantly vigilant, even if the status of the speaker or author is revered, to weigh carefully the words heard or read against the Truth of Christ's teachings [3], to detect all hidden deceits or hypocrisies, so that he or she would not be misled.




[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A47-49&version=NIV:

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.  Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.”  Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

[2] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/betray?s=t
[3] I believe that the Truth of Christ's teachings is rooted in untainted, unselfish, unmeasured, unreserved, unconditional, true and complete love so that every thought, every word and every act flows directly and transparently from it.

What Wearing Red Means For A Cardinal

"When a cardinal dons his red robes for the first time and is given his red hat, he usually is reminded that the color of the vestments is a call to devote himself completely to Christ and his church, even to the point of shedding his blood if necessary." [1]  Nowadays, shedding a few kilos (pounds) would be a sacrifice, especially the obese ones, whether they are voting cardinals, non-voting cardinals or potential cardinals. [2] 

[1] http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20140204.htm
[2] All Catholic priests and bishops are potential cardinals.  "Can. 351 §1. Those to be promoted Cardinals are men freely selected by the Roman Pontiff, who are at least in the order of the priesthood and are truly outstanding for doctrine, virtue, piety and prudence in practical matters; those who are not already Bishops must receive episcopal consecration."  See http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/cardinali_documentazione/cardinali_documentazione_generale_en.html

Believing Is Not Enough

Believing is not enough; praying is not enough -- you have to  love the Lord with all your heart, with all your might. [1]  This cannot be truer.  You will know, if you do.

The answers are always clear, and strength will emerge from weakness.  Walk forward with fortitude, away from the fog of evil into the transparency of goodness, for the Darkness of Satan always leaves one vanquished but the Divinity of Christ lifts one to eternal victory.


[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2022:30-37:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

A Glimpse Of Heaven

So, what is Heaven?  It is not so much real property as it is real in every sense of the word, yet it is not easily or frequently visualized, unlike that other depraved place where almost every imaginable form of wickedness can be created, visualized and made into a movie, as the movie industry has so successfully done.

After so many words telling what Heaven is not, the question of what is Heaven has yet to be answered.  What it is, is difficult to visualize because man naturally gravitates toward Sin and is not accustomed to what could be possible which is pure joy and fulfillment.  It is ironic that man strives constantly to attain what fulfills him and makes him happy but battles each other constantly to achieve his ends.  He does this because he is unable to visualize Heaven in all its splendor on the one hand and unwilling to accept the splendor that Heaven has on the other.  While that may sound contradictory, it is not because the latter feeds the former. [1]

Not accepting Heaven is to reject it, and rejecting it means rejecting God.  Rejecting God means not living the life of Christ, a life of forgiveness and love.  Without forgiveness, there is resentment, and resentment sows the seeds of vengeance.  Vengeance will only beget vengeance.  The spiral of vengeance spins like a vortex that unlike a tornado that spins on the surface of the earth spins in the spiritual world toward Hell.

With forgiveness [2], there is love, and love cleanses Sin.  The lighter the burden of Sin the more weightless the soul.  The completely weightless souls ascends [3] toward Heaven.

Heaven, therefore, is love, a love that sprouts from the unconditional forgiving of all wrongs, and the unconditional welcoming of the wrongdoers into a realm of love fill with joy that is eternal and expansive and continually expanding. [4]


[1] Adam and Eve was discontent with life's splendors in the Garden of Eden and refused to accept it as Heaven on earth because they were unable to visualize what Heaven is.  They thought that Heaven was about having all the knowledge and power that God has.  They could not be more wrong, but that was exactly what Satan was able to have them believe.
[2] The forgiveness has to be complete, unconditional and with love.
[3] I do not know of a word that is the opposite of vortex.  Maybe one does not exist.  Maybe that could explain why man has never found a need to devise what lifts him up to Heaven but works diligently on discovering and inventing everything that buries him in Hell.  Not satisfied with the lack of a word, I will supply an image (see below) I found online, showing a row of fountains that represents (very weakly) what the mind cannot fully grasp or imagine, a bright, peaceful and brilliant energy that can be placed by God anywhere to lift a soul from the pits of Sin up to Heaven.  This energy, unlike water, is not subject to gravity and never because of the pull of Sin returns to Sin.

[4] That is Heaven from the perspective of the one who forgives and loves unconditionally.  That is the same Heaven from the perspective of Christ who died on the cross with forgiveness and love. 

The Pain & Joy Of Being The Subject of Disdain

Whatever the reason may be, one that is mystifying and may never be known fully, a person is treated with contempt by another.  It can be painful, but the pain is not one that had not been felt with all its intensity by One Who was sinless: Jesus.  He was rejected by the people who favored freeing a murderer instead. [1]  He was scourged [2], mocked with a crown of thorns, spat on [3], kicked [4] and insulted by another by a prisoner who was crucified with Him. [5]

If you have ever been disdained, you know the pain, then think of it as a gift from Christ, Who was willing to share with you to a small degree of the pain He felt when He was being scorned.  How wonderful is that, to have the chance to share a bit of Christ's pains, even if the pain is much less intense?

Then imagine the moment when the one who scorned you realizes his haughtiness, regrets and seeks forgiveness, in person or in spirit, and you are there to forgive him fully and embrace him as your friend.  I would think that moment when you can forgive and accept with love the one who had done to you harm is a moment filled with joy that is heavenly and indescribable, a joy that is only exceeded by the joy of God when a sinner repents forever his sins and returns to God.

Therefore, when you are treated with contempt and hated, remember this and take heart: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." [6]  And remember to forgive.


[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27%3A15-24&version=NIV
[2] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2019:1
[3] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027:28-30
[4] Fact presumed.
[5] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2023:39-41
[6] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A18&version=NIV

Joel Osteen's "Today Is Your Day" Sermon

"A lot of times, we have faith for the future. We believe that one day we’ll get a good break, one day we’ll feel better, one day we’ll see the problem turn around. If we’re not careful, we’re always putting our faith off, believing that in the future something good is going to happen.  But true faith is always in the present....God wants to be good to you, but He’s waiting for you to start expecting His favor and begin looking for His goodness. Today is your day to live with expectancy—where you can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your life." [1]

The sermon was on television Sunday, February 9.  The gist of Joel Osteen's message is to believe that our prayers for divine intervention are answered in the present, even though the result may not be immediately apparent.  He asked us not to pray for something we would like to be given to us some day but to be given now.  He cited two examples from the Gospels.

The first was healing of the centurion's servant at the very moment the centurion expressed his faith in Jesus. [2]  The second was a woman who was suffering from bleeding for twelve years and was healed when she touched Jesus' cloak. [3]

In these two instances, the results were immediate but also in these two instances, Jesus was there.  Jesus had resurrected but He is still answering prayers.  Depending on the urgency, some prayers, I believe, are answered presently.  Others, however, are answered in time.  I believe the prayers that are not immediately answered are not appropriate for us to receive because God sees that we are not ready to receive them or that they are not appropriate for us to receive and that there is something else that suits us better, or because that we, deep down, truly do not want them answered because we are afraid or are not prepared to have them answered, or because we do not have enough faith in God and are skeptical that God answers prayers.

Of the forgoing reasons that prayers are not answered presently, the most compelling is that we truly do not want them answered, despite our denials. However, if we insist, our prayers could be answered, even though we might not be ready for them, or that they may not be good for us.  As the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for." [4]


[1] February 09, 2014, #605, "Today Is Your Day!" See  http://www.joelosteen.com/Pages/ThisWeeksMessage.aspx , accessed February 11, 2014.
[2] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%208:5-13 Quoted, in part, below:

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”  Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed....Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

 [3] See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+9:20-22 Quoted below:

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

 [4] For example, parents who wish to have a million dollars so that they can quit working and have a nice home in an upscale neighborhood and send their children to good schools.  What will they do with all that time, face each other all day long?  Will they fit in with their new neighbors?  Will their new neighbors enjoy having them?  Will they miss their children when they are far away in college?  Will their educated children be ashamed of their less educated parents?  Will they be truly happy?  Mr. Bieber is truly rich.  Did he wish to be rich at one time?  He has security guards.  He flies around in private jets.  He drives fancy Italian sports cars.  He had millions of fans and can date them all.  He was recently arrested for driving under the influence, and resisting arrest.  See http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/23/showbiz/justin-bieber-arrest/ Is he happy?   Mr. Seymore Hoffman was a talented actor.  He won acting awards.  Did he wish to be a famous actor?  He recently died from a drug overdose.  See http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/philip-seymour-hoffman-70-bags-heroin-police/story?id=22342702  Was Philip Seymore Hoffman happy?

The Misguided Francis Papacy

This pope talks often of the need for social justice and an end to economic inequality when he should instead be inspiring people at all economic levels to pray for the salvation of souls, their own and his.  He certainly needs to be saved by prayers for he is exhorting the Catholic leaders around the world to behave like social service workers and turn every church into a social service center that has nothing to do with strengthening one's faith in God and living one's life like Christ but has everything to do with demanding money for the poor as if having money will heal and save a poor person soul.  While charity is a virtue every Christian ought to practice, it is not for the pope to demand it in the same way a secular socialist leader would.  This pope especially should himself embrace poverty, just like his namesake saint, San Francesco d'Assisi, had embraced poverty and not be a hypocrite, so that he can inspire others to give away their belongings and follow Christ.  Sadly, this he could not do or he would have done so long ago.  This pope is not a saint, and he certainly is nothing like San Francesco d'Assisi.  He is not humble like Saint Francis of Assisi but seems to enjoy, perhaps even crave, popularity, attention, fame and power.  Sure he has his supporters but he also faces opposition within the ranks.  I think the papacy will disintegrate under him and that he could very well be, as St. Malachy had predicted, the last pope.

The Loss Of Innocence

We were all born with innocence and vulnerability and we were all beloved for such qualities.  At some point, we became less vulnerable but we also became less innocent.  Perhaps it is the other way around, that we have become less innocent so that we can be less vulnerable.

I do not think living a life of suspicion and vigilance on earth is living a life as it is in Heaven.  In Heaven, there is no need to be watchful or fearful for there is no evil lurking in dark places or deceit hidden in broad daylight.  There, the soul could regain its innocence and fear nothing.

Is earth not possible to be like Heaven so that man to return to innocence and not have to worry about being attacked, so that defense spending and all kinds of security forces and protection would be unnecessary?  I believe that at one time, long ago, before Cain killed Abel, people were able to live innocent lives.  I also like to imagine that some small communities at a later periods were able to do so as well even though I do not think it was likely because I am accustomed to suspicion, suspecting therefore the prevalence of jealousy and infidelity among people.

We are what we are, sinners, and the world is what it is, a cauldron of unsettled scores and impossible justices, where the strong seeks continually to exploit and ruin the weak and Mother Nature in a environment of conflicts and disagreements.  Thus I have no hope that innocence can reign on earth anytime soon, certainly not before the Final Day of Judgment.

Embrace The Poverties Of Christ And Be At Peace

Jesus was poor in national pride.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea.  How could Jesus be proud of Judea when King Herod of Judea wanted to kill Him?  Why would Jesus have any kind of national pride?  He did not belong to the world even though the world belonged to Him.  He loved the world, one that is without borders and without nations, one that knows no national or ethnic pride, one that does not distinguish one man from another.  He treated Jews and Gentiles alike.  He loved humanity with all its imperfections and died for it to perfect it, from north to south, and east to west.

Jesus was poor in personal pride.  Jesus was humble.  He was forgiving.  He turned the other cheek.  He forgave His persecutors.  He died willingly and without sin.  He never demanded justice.  He accepted the life God gave Him, the life of a refugee, the life one who was despised, criticized and rejected, the life of one who was persecuted, the life one who was betrayed, the life one who was unjustly accused, the life of one who was unjustly punished, tortured and crucified.

Jesus was poor in material possessions.  He was born in a stable.  He owned no home, no luxury goods or unnecessary possessions.  He did not care to have riches.  His detachment from all material possessions was complete.  He did not demand comfort.  He did not demand to be served but served instead.  He did not envy those who were well-off or powerful.  He did not care about equality.  He did not feel entitled to what He did not have.  He lived His life giving of Himself even when He had nothing tangible to give besides His life, for the forgiveness of Sin.

I believe that if we are poor in national and ethnic pride, then there is no reason to protect a certain national interest or preserve a certain ethnic group or culture by spying on or going to war with one another.  I believe that if we have humility, conflicts based on selfishness or religious differences will not arise and cooperation toward sustaining the earth that nurtures all life will take place.  I believe that if we are detached from material possessions, charity, not greed, will be the motivator.  Without greed, national, ethnic and personal pride, I believe that the world will be at peace and we can have inner peace, the peace that Christ gives.
 

January 21, 2014, Homily At The Vatican

In his homily, the pope said:

“[God] always speaks personally, with names. And he personally chooses,” the Pope explained, adding that the story of creation shows us this because “it is the same Lord that with his hands made man and gave him a name: 'You are called Adam.'” [1]

The pope craftily omitted quite an important part of the story.  He omitted to say that Satan also speaks personally to each individual.  After the Lord created Adam and Eve, Satan spoke and convinced them to eat the forbidden apple.  They did, and Hell opened up to receive those who reject God but follow Satan.

I am not sure if this pope is hearing the words of God and acting on them or taunting God with his deceit and doublespeak [2], fulfilling the wishes of Satan.  I very much want this pope to be God's messenger and not Satan's minion.  The fact that he may actually be the latter would not surprise me one bit but I would be overjoyed if he is speaking God's words.  So far, I remain unconvinced that he is God's choice. 


[1] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/god-always-chooses-the-little-ones-pope-francis-reflects/
[2] Doublespeak example:  "During one of his Wednesday audiences, Pope Francis evoked a cheer from the people, who proceeded to repeatedly shout his name. In response, the Holy Father diverted from his text and earnestly admonished the crowd, “non Francesco, non Francesco! – Cristo! Cristo! Cristo!” Whereupon they proceeded to cheer even louder. "  See http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=21&id=62113 At first one would think that the pope is humble because he wanted the crowd to cheer for Christ ("Cristo!") rather than for him ("Francesco!").  The effect of doublespeak comes in deftly and insidiously when the sinister side is revealed: This pope wanted to hear the crowd below him cheer "Cristo! Cristo! Cristo!" as if he were Cristo and not Francesco.  Satan desperately wants the same.  It wants you to see It as Christ, to think of It as Christ, albeit It is the anti-Christ.

During one of his Wednesday audiences, Pope Francis evoked a cheer from the people, who proceeded to repeatedly shout his name. In response, the Holy Father diverted from his text and earnestly admonished the crowd, “non Francesco, non Francesco! – Cristo! Cristo! Cristo!” Whereupon they proceeded to cheer even louder. - See more at: http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=21&id=62113#sthash.r62VVd4m.dpuf

During one of his Wednesday audiences, Pope Francis evoked a cheer from the people, who proceeded to repeatedly shout his name. In response, the Holy Father diverted from his text and earnestly admonished the crowd, “non Francesco, non Francesco! – Cristo! Cristo! Cristo!” Whereupon they proceeded to cheer even louder. - See more at: http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=21&id=62113#sthash.r62VVd4m.dpuf

During one of his Wednesday audiences, Pope Francis evoked a cheer from the people, who proceeded to repeatedly shout his name. In response, the Holy Father diverted from his text and earnestly admonished the crowd, “non Francesco, non Francesco! – Cristo! Cristo! Cristo!” Whereupon they proceeded to cheer even louder. - See more at: http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=21&id=62113#sthash.r62VVd4m.dpuf

During one of his Wednesday audiences, Pope Francis evoked a cheer from the people, who proceeded to repeatedly shout his name. In response, the Holy Father diverted from his text and earnestly admonished the crowd, “non Francesco, non Francesco! – Cristo! Cristo! Cristo!” Whereupon they proceeded to cheer even louder. - See more at: http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=21&id=62113#sthash.r62VVd4m.dpuf

Disunity In The Catholic Church And The Last Pope

After reading a Reuters article [1], I am more convinced now than before that this pope is going to be the last pope as predicted by St. Malachy because of the deep divisions within the Church on a number of fronts.  As a result, I believe this will cause the next pope to be elected with a significant number of voting Cardinals absent in protest.  He or she would therefore not be a "real" pope which will effectively fulfill St. Malachy's prophecy that Pope Frank I, Peter the Roman [2], will effectively be the last pope.  According to bibleprobe.com, San Francesco d'Assisi also foresaw "an uncanonically elected pope." [3]

 [1] The article at http://news.yahoo.com/top-pope-ally-urges-vatican-doctrine-chief-loosen-205104535--sector.html is quote below in its entirety:

PARIS (Reuters) - An influential aide to Pope Francis criticized the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog on Monday and urged the conservative prelate to be more flexible about reforms being discussed in the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the head of a "kitchen cabinet" the pope created to draw up reform proposals, said that Archbishop Gerhard Mueller - who has opposed any loosening of Church rules on divorce - was a classic German theology professor who thought too much in rigid black-and-white terms.

"The world isn't like that, my brother," Rodriguez said in a German newspaper interview, rhetorically addressing Mueller in a rare public criticism among senior Church figures.

"You should be a bit flexible when you hear other voices, so you don't just listen and say, 'here is the wall'," Rodriguez said in an interview with the daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger.

Rodriguez, archbishop of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, did not cite any possible reforms in particular but said the pope's critics, such as those upset by his attacks on capitalism, were "people who don't understand reality."

Former Pope Benedict picked Mueller in 2012 to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the successor office to the Inquisition. Benedict ran that office as a powerful and feared guardian of Church orthodoxy for 24 years as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, until he was elected pope in 2005.

But its influence has waned under Francis, who soon after his March 2013 election was reported as telling visiting South American priests and nuns not to worry if the CDF wrote to them criticizing what they were doing.

NO TO CHANGING DIVORCE RULE

In an article in the Vatican daily last October, Mueller firmly rejected growing demands for divorced and remarried Catholics to be reinstated as full members of the Church.

Catholics who divorce and remarry in a civil ceremony are excluded from communion because the Church teaches that Jesus declared marriage an indissoluble bond.

With divorce on the rise, more Catholics are asking Rome to show mercy for them. German bishops have been in the forefront of reform thinking and one archdiocese even published guidelines on how to readmit them, which prompted Mueller's article.

The Vatican is due to consider reforming its rules on divorce at a worldwide synod of bishops next October.

Mueller has also strongly defended Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who reaped stiff criticism from German Catholics and the title "luxury bishop" in the media after it was revealed he spent at least 30 million euros ($40.69 million) on a new residence complex.

Tebartz-van Elst's grand plans were so far from the modest approach favoured by the Argentine-born pontiff that Rome sent an envoy to inspect his diocese and later sent him off to a monastery for a leave of absence pending a final decision.

Rodriguez did not think Tebartz-van Elst would return to Limburg and said Latin Americans like himself and the pope found it hard to understand spending so much money for opulent features such as a 15,000-euro free-standing bath tub.

"For most people, a shower and a toilet are enough," he said. "They're enough for the pope in his three-room apartment too." ($1 = 0.7373 euros)

[2] "Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ was an Argentine cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the current Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving since 1998. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001. Pope Francis the 1st took his name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, an Italian Catholic friar and preacher (and Catholic Saint) who worked with the poor and who founded both the Franciscan order for men, and the Order of St. Clare for women. Something that may play into this, which has also been overlooked by many is the fact that Francis of Assisi was born in Italy. He was a roman priest/friar whose real name was 'Giovanni di Pietro (Peter) di Bernardone', but nicknamed Francesco. Some think this translates literally to 'Peter the Roman.'"  See http://www.bibleprobe.com/last10popes.htm
[3] Scroll down to find the subtitle "Saint Francis of Assissi (1226 A.D.)" at http://www.bibleprobe.com/last10popes.htm.  Below is quoted the entire paragraph::

Prophecy of St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226): "There will be an uncanonically elected Pope who will cause a great schism, there will be diverse thoughts preached which will cause many, even those in the different orders to doubt, yea, even agree with those heretics which will cause my Order to divide, then will there be such universal dissensions and persecutions that if those days were not shortened even the elect would be lost" (Rev. Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist, Tan Books, 1974, p. 130.).  Some believe this prophecy referred to the controversy surrounding the election of Pope John XXIII and Cardinal Siri.  But it could refer to the next and last pope (Peter the Roman).  The last pope may just cut Catholics loose from unity and the papacy, causing total disruption and confusion.  (Emphasis original.)

To God With Gratitude

In the split second that you wake up, before your mind is fully functional, do you know where you are?  You don't.  Do you know you are truly alive?  You don't; you only think you are. 

In the next split second, you see your familiar surroundings and your faculties are now fully intact.  You realize you are in the flesh.  Only in that moment can you be certain you are not only a soul with intellect but a soul with intellect and flesh.  You know are alive.  You are alive in the flesh!

At that moment, you have to be grateful for what God has given you.  Can you imagine waking up and finding out that you are only a field of intellectual energy without the flesh?  How devastated will you be?  Whatever the degree of devastation, your degree of gratitude ought to be a thousand fold - that is not enough - an infinite million fold is more like it.

In the flesh, we can do so much good collectively, and be so thankful for the earth that nurture our existence.  What we do, we must humbly and thankfully do, for one another and for the earth that gives us life, whatever it maybe.  Whatever that is done with love and kindness is unquantifiable; the scale of grandness or the degree of attention received is irrelevant.  Any kind and loving gesture, even if it is seemingly insignificant, is expansive in the heart of person delivering it and in the person receiving it.  It is  the flame of the living God in all its splendor that is inexpressible, just like Heaven is un-illustratable.

To be able deliver in the flesh to another an act of humility, kindness and love is a privilege, one that we must treasure, that we must thank God for because without being alive, we are incapable of such expression.

At the end of everybody's life is the time that one is no longer capable to forgive and to love, to be kind and humble.  Not having to regret for an eternity to deny another forgiveness, kindness and love because of arrogance or pride or some other reason and instead performing humbly beautiful acts of forgiveness, kindness and love when one has ample of opportunity to do so is a step toward Heaven, and a step toward one's union with God when lasting fulfillment is at last attained.