No one's life is any more important than any other's in God's eyes but those who think they have led influential lives find leaving behind a legacy to be a necessity.
Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Peace Prize. Many have received this prize, but is there peace in the world?
Less noble people suffer no lesser degree of megalomania than Mr. Nobel. For example, libraries had been built to commemorate the accomplishments politicians. I have never made a trip to any of such libraries, nor do I ever expect to have time for it. I would rather go pray in churches around the world.
Not ever planning to visit a politician's library does not mean I cannot fantasize what some of them might be like. My imaginary ones may have a touch of irony. A sensitive reader may find them to be objectionable, so this is the time when the browser window needs to be closed.
Fantasy library no. 1: The Library Of Forgetfulness. The visitor walks in, absorbs all the information the library has to offer and walks out remembering nothing, not even who he is or what he had done his entire life, not even creating the world's first trillion-dollar deficit.
Fantasy library no. 2: The Library Of Deceit And Destruction. The visitor walks in and supposedly hears the voice of God in surround sound telling him to invade a country and depose a supposedly wicked dictator for allegedly having weapons of mass destruction. As he walks toward the grand foyer, he sees a wax figure looking presidential with a red button controlling the world's second largest nuclear arsenal in front of a wall of mirrors with a banner across the top that reads: Weapon of Destruction, and on the floor, he sees a letter supposedly from a pope telling the wax figure not to invade the dictator's country. Upon exiting the library, the visitor finds himself stepping on dead bodies and weaving through countless refugees. At one point, he lifts his head and sees a larger-than-life hologram of the suffering Christ on the cross with blood dripping from His five Holy Wounds.
Fantasy library no. 3: The Anti-Library. This is not a library for the Anti-Christ but it is similar in one respect: it looks empty. Instead of providing information to the visitor, it gathers information on the visitor, stores it in memory, performs a detailed ancestry and record search, then puts everything through a super computer so that by the time the visitor leaves the premises, the Anti-Library knows more about him than he knows about himself. The violated and mystified visitor sees at a distance a hologram of two familiar figures, one above the other. On top is an image of Edward Snowden, and under him an image of the megalomaniac for whom the library was built.
Fantasy library no. 4: The English Lesson Library. The visitor who visits this library will be given a lesson in word usage. The only lesson the library teaches is what "is" is. He is blown away by the infinite number of ways to parse "is" and walks away stained by shame.
Fantasy library no. 5: The Feminist Library. The visitor learns that the only way for a woman to be powerful is to act and dominate like a man, the consequence of whose actions ultimately subjugates women to men. [1]
[1] One ought to recall that it is both Mary's obedience to God and Christ obeying His Mother that lifted the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Queen of Heaven and Mother of all.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
A Politician's Hell
Irrelevance, not criticism or hatred, is a politician's hell.
True Hell awaits many. They are too wrapped up in their self-righteousness to realize that they are candidates.
True Hell awaits many. They are too wrapped up in their self-righteousness to realize that they are candidates.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Poverty Has A New Definition And Hypocrisy Is At New Heights
After reading the Catholic church's perennial teaching of love for the poor and a report on the Vatican and Holy See having a surplus in 2013 of 10 million euros below, I conclude that poverty has an entirely new meaning and hypocrisy has reached new stratospheric heights in house of God. Anyone who is Catholic ought to be ashamed. I certainly am but the fight for the spirit of the Catholic church must go on until Satan and the betrayers of Christ are defeated. Defeating Satan and Its minions requires speaking out against hypocrisy and betrayal. Even the powerless ones whose voices are but soft, inaudible whispers on the outer fringes of cyberspace (including this blogger's) need to continue doing their part. Whispers that are not heard by man are heard loud and clear by Satan. With every such whisper, Satan becomes infinitesimally weaker.
The following is quoted from The Catechism of the Catholic Church [1]:
The following is quoted from Zenit [2]:
[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P8F.HTM
[2] http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/combined-vatican-and-holy-see-finances-ended-2013-with-10m-euro-surplus
The following is quoted from The Catechism of the Catholic Church [1]:
VI. Love For the Poor
2443 God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them: "Give to him who begs from you, do not refuse him who would borrow from you"; "you received without pay, give without pay."231 It is by what they have done for the poor that Jesus Christ will recognize his chosen ones.232 When "the poor have the good news preached to them," it is the sign of Christ's presence.233
2444 "The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor.234 Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need."235 It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty.236
The following is quoted from Zenit [2]:
Combined Vatican and Holy See Finances Ended 2013 With 10m Euro Surplus
In an unannounced briefing in the Vatican Press Office this afternoon [of July 8, 2013], the director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, spoke to journalists about the results of the Vatican’s 2013 financial statements, and distributed an explanatory communiqué.
The spokesman reiterated that during the meeting of the Council of the Economy Saturday July 5, the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, as is customary at this time of year, presented a report of the two main budgets for 2013: the consolidated financial statement of the Holy See and the financial statement of the Governorate of Vatican City State.
“The results of the two financial statements, taken as a whole, is a surplus of about 10 million euros," Father Lombardi said.
Turning to the bottom line, he explained the consolidated financial statement for the Holy See for the year 2013 closes with a deficit of 24,470,549 euros, “due principally to negative fluctuations deriving from the valuation of gold, to the value of around 14 million euros.”
To comply with accounting principles based on the criterion of prudence contained in the “Regulations for the Preparation of the Financial Statements of the Holy See,” evaluative elements, and therefore not actualized, were recorded among the negative components in the overview of financial management.
Related to expenditures, he stated the most significant spending category was personnel costs. For 2,886 persons at year end, a net sum of around 125 million euros was spent.
Turning to taxes, he said something “noteworthy” was the Holy See’s payment of more than 15 million euros in taxes, chiefly real estate.
The communiqué reiterated that the administration of the Governorate is “autonomous, and independent of contributions from the Holy See. Through its various offices, it supervises requirements related to the administration of the State.”
It added: “The 2013 budget closes with a profit of 33,040,583 euros, an increase of around 10 million euros compared to last year. As of 31 December 2013, the Governorate employed a total of 1,936 persons.”
Fr. Lombardi noted that the contributions made pursuant to canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law – i.e. the economic support offered by ecclesiastical circumscriptions throughout the world to maintain the service the Roman Curia offers to the universal Church – were "substantially stable." They passed from 22,347,426 euros in 2012 to 22,435,359 euros in 2013.
The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), as it does each year, offered the Holy Father a significant sum in support of his apostolic and charitable ministry, he reminded the press present. For 2013, Fr. Lombardi noted this sum was 50 million euros.
“Considering the overall combined results of the two financial statements, as is usual, 2013 closes with a profit of around 10 million euros,” the data shows.
After hearing the results, the Council for the Economy made the following declaration: “The Council has been informed by the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the budgets relating to 2013, and has taken note of the declaration by the External Auditor, according to whom ‘in all the most important aspects, the financial position of Vatican City State as of 31 December 2013 and the results of transactions relating to the year 2013 comply with the current accounting principles of the regulations of Vatican City State."
On this basis, it continued, "the Council has approved the 2013 Budget and invites the Secretariat for the Economy to work towards further alignment of Vatican accounting principles with international standards."
Father Lombardi also pointed out the communiqué’s note on the IOR contribution of 54 million euros and where it was "destined."
The note reads: "Since the Annual Report of the IOR published this morning makes reference to a contribution of 54 million euros, it is to be noted that, like last year, 50 million euros were destined for the Holy See budget, and the other 4 million euros for other works (in 2012 these included, for example, donations to the Fund for the support of cloistered monasteries, the Amazon Fund, the Fund to support the Churches of the former Soviet Union)."
[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P8F.HTM
[2] http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/combined-vatican-and-holy-see-finances-ended-2013-with-10m-euro-surplus
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Three Questions
Paul Gauguin left France for Tahiti and painted "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" [1]
I would like to live the life of Gauguin and have his talents [2], move to Tahiti and ask profound questions, but I am not Paul Gauguin, I do not have his talents or his courage to live life passionately. Ergo, I am left to ask three self-centered questions:
1. Why am I afraid to live the life I want?
2. How am I enriched by my attachment to earthly possessions?
3. What will I have to show for on Judgment Day?
I do not have a painting to entitle, but life is a canvas. Hopefully, mine still has enough time left for it to be filled with meaning.
Do not abandon me, Lord. May the Blessed Virgin Mary continue to intercede on my behalf so that I may walk along Your Lighted Path. Should I stray from it, forgive me, hold my hand and guide me, so that I would continue to grow in Your image, Lord, and in Your image, Mother Mary. Amen.
[1] http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/where-do-we-come-from-what-are-we-where-are-we-going-32558
[2] Although I would like to live Paul Gauguin's life, I do not wish to live it in its entirety, just the artistic part, and the part when he was in Tahiti for I love to be able to paint and I love Tahiti. In truth, my true love has always been reserved for Vincent Van Gogh. Somehow I have a natural attachment to his soul and his art, but I dare not live his life: he had a cross heavier than I could carry. Van Gogh's Pietà (after Eugène Delacroix's Pietà) is my favorite painting. Zoom in and take a close look at the facial expression of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the crucified Jesus. For someone who does not watch many movies, Vincent &Theo is one I like a lot.
I would like to live the life of Gauguin and have his talents [2], move to Tahiti and ask profound questions, but I am not Paul Gauguin, I do not have his talents or his courage to live life passionately. Ergo, I am left to ask three self-centered questions:
1. Why am I afraid to live the life I want?
2. How am I enriched by my attachment to earthly possessions?
3. What will I have to show for on Judgment Day?
I do not have a painting to entitle, but life is a canvas. Hopefully, mine still has enough time left for it to be filled with meaning.
Do not abandon me, Lord. May the Blessed Virgin Mary continue to intercede on my behalf so that I may walk along Your Lighted Path. Should I stray from it, forgive me, hold my hand and guide me, so that I would continue to grow in Your image, Lord, and in Your image, Mother Mary. Amen.
[1] http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/where-do-we-come-from-what-are-we-where-are-we-going-32558
[2] Although I would like to live Paul Gauguin's life, I do not wish to live it in its entirety, just the artistic part, and the part when he was in Tahiti for I love to be able to paint and I love Tahiti. In truth, my true love has always been reserved for Vincent Van Gogh. Somehow I have a natural attachment to his soul and his art, but I dare not live his life: he had a cross heavier than I could carry. Van Gogh's Pietà (after Eugène Delacroix's Pietà) is my favorite painting. Zoom in and take a close look at the facial expression of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the crucified Jesus. For someone who does not watch many movies, Vincent &Theo is one I like a lot.
Friday, July 4, 2014
A Thought On The Fourth Of July
The 4th of July is Independence Day in America. It commemorates her independence from Great Britain in 1776. Today, 238 years after the declaration of independence, the United States' closest ally across the Atlantic is the United Kingdom.
I do not know which was the day our first parents desired independence from their Creator by biting into the Forbidden Apple. It was a long time ago and nobody cares to commemorate that singular momentous life-changing event.
Finding a parallel between Independence Day in America and Adam and Eve's Original Sin requires stretching the imagination. When it is stretched, one can see to a degree the on-going relationship between the US and the UK is similar to the one between God and man in that the connection between them respectively has never severed, and can never be severed for man came from God and the US came from the UK.
I do not know which was the day our first parents desired independence from their Creator by biting into the Forbidden Apple. It was a long time ago and nobody cares to commemorate that singular momentous life-changing event.
Finding a parallel between Independence Day in America and Adam and Eve's Original Sin requires stretching the imagination. When it is stretched, one can see to a degree the on-going relationship between the US and the UK is similar to the one between God and man in that the connection between them respectively has never severed, and can never be severed for man came from God and the US came from the UK.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Pope's Financial Woes
This pope ought to reflect on his own papacy in light of the following:
1. I chose the name Francesco after Francesco d'Assisi. San Francesco d'Assisi was asked by God to rebuild the Church. What would San Francesco d'Assisi do with a corrupt bank that was part of the Church he was asked to rebuild? Would he have kept it or would he have given it away like the clothes he had on his back and his right to inherit his wealthy father's fortune?
2. Was I thinking how generous I could be with the money in the Vatican bank when I said: "When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them—some food, a place in our homes, our time—not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched" [2] by buying food for the poor, building shelters for the homeless and spending time with those socially and financially disenfranchised instead of managing the Vatican bank and all kinds of corruption?
3. Was I thinking about all the money and the scandals brewing in the Vatican bank when I said: "Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons..." [3], and about how I am able to set an example by first cleaning up my own house before I ask others to clean up theirs?
4. Am I a hypocrite? Quoted below is from Matthew 23:1-12:
6. Do I believe in God? Do I believe in God enough to pray for help? Is it possible that God is fed up with the Church being more and more indistinguishable from any large and powerful secular entity that is constantly screaming for social justice rather than being a simple church that quietly advocates a prayerful life lived in humility?
7. If God answers, am I willing to comply?
[1] http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pope-meets-top-cardinals-amid-bank-shakeup-rumors
[2] http://www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/our-faith-global-poverty/church-teachings/quotes-poverty-pope-francis/
[3] Ibid.
The embattled Vatican bank is heading into a new round of turmoil, with the resignations of its president and board expected soon as Pope Francis mulls how to reform the institution blamed for some of the Vatican's biggest financial scandals...
The bank's current president, Ernst Von Freyberg, was appointed in February 2013 in one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts in office. He has never been received in audience by Francis, who was elected on a mandate of financial and bureaucratic reform.
Italian newsweekly L'Espresso reported last week that Von Freyberg would soon resign, citing a clash with Francis' personal liaison to the bank over access to information. [1]Questions for the pope to ponder:
1. I chose the name Francesco after Francesco d'Assisi. San Francesco d'Assisi was asked by God to rebuild the Church. What would San Francesco d'Assisi do with a corrupt bank that was part of the Church he was asked to rebuild? Would he have kept it or would he have given it away like the clothes he had on his back and his right to inherit his wealthy father's fortune?
2. Was I thinking how generous I could be with the money in the Vatican bank when I said: "When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them—some food, a place in our homes, our time—not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched" [2] by buying food for the poor, building shelters for the homeless and spending time with those socially and financially disenfranchised instead of managing the Vatican bank and all kinds of corruption?
3. Was I thinking about all the money and the scandals brewing in the Vatican bank when I said: "Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons..." [3], and about how I am able to set an example by first cleaning up my own house before I ask others to clean up theirs?
4. Am I a hypocrite? Quoted below is from Matthew 23:1-12:
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.5. Should I renounce my hypocrisy, resign and repent, then rebuild the Church as San Francesco d'Assisi had before me? Do I have the guts to do what is holy or am I too spoiled by popularity and comfort to consider stepping down from the throne of Peter?
6. Do I believe in God? Do I believe in God enough to pray for help? Is it possible that God is fed up with the Church being more and more indistinguishable from any large and powerful secular entity that is constantly screaming for social justice rather than being a simple church that quietly advocates a prayerful life lived in humility?
7. If God answers, am I willing to comply?
[1] http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pope-meets-top-cardinals-amid-bank-shakeup-rumors
[2] http://www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/our-faith-global-poverty/church-teachings/quotes-poverty-pope-francis/
[3] Ibid.
Opus Satanas
Violence has returned to eastern Ukraine after the 10-day cease-fire that expired on Tuesday [1]. The killing of brother by brother is the signature work of Satan ("Opus Satanas"). Satan wants nothing more than for man to ultimately destroy himself: man, God's beloved creation and the cause of Lucifer's ire that landed him in Hell where Lucifer was transformed into Satan. Whoever lit the fuse that started the separatists' movement are Satan's surrogates.
Lucifer who clearly and correctly identified man's inferiority relative to his angelic intellect and beauty wanted to right God's "wrong" for having created man. Powerful men and women who are minions of Satan also want to make "right" the things they deem to be "wrong." They are of the same mind as Satan but do not share the same goal as Satan. Satan wants to destroy man by using man to destroy himself; man wants to destroy one another to crown himself king.
Power is the drug of Satan to which man is addicted. The effect of this addiction is the denial that the world does not belong to man, that man can never dominate and own the world and that man's tenancy on earth will end by man destroying his own tenement and himself.
Opus Satanas is a work-in-progress, an unfinished symphony being composed by Satan and etched in the mind of man with fires from Hell that boil man's passion, heightening his desire for superiority to control what little that can be controlled and everything else that cannot. Opus Satanas will be a masterpiece. Like some symphonic masterpieces of the classical genre, Opus Satanas will end with a bang except that the next sound will be the absence of sounds because no one will be left to cough, yell "bravo" and applause.
One can only hope that it will not come to this silent end, that man with all his shortcomings will find enough humility to shake off his addiction to power and give up his entire being to God so that he can be made whole. Upon seeing man's wholeness that is the work of God, or Opus Dei, Satan would lose Its grip on man and would be left with nothing but defeat and dejection while Its Opus Satanas disintegrates and falls flat. On that day, peace will prevail in Ukraine, the Mideast and everywhere else on earth.
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukraine-forces-press-assault-hours-after-ceasefires-suspension/2014/07/01/f0f313e0-0104-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html
Lucifer who clearly and correctly identified man's inferiority relative to his angelic intellect and beauty wanted to right God's "wrong" for having created man. Powerful men and women who are minions of Satan also want to make "right" the things they deem to be "wrong." They are of the same mind as Satan but do not share the same goal as Satan. Satan wants to destroy man by using man to destroy himself; man wants to destroy one another to crown himself king.
Power is the drug of Satan to which man is addicted. The effect of this addiction is the denial that the world does not belong to man, that man can never dominate and own the world and that man's tenancy on earth will end by man destroying his own tenement and himself.
Opus Satanas is a work-in-progress, an unfinished symphony being composed by Satan and etched in the mind of man with fires from Hell that boil man's passion, heightening his desire for superiority to control what little that can be controlled and everything else that cannot. Opus Satanas will be a masterpiece. Like some symphonic masterpieces of the classical genre, Opus Satanas will end with a bang except that the next sound will be the absence of sounds because no one will be left to cough, yell "bravo" and applause.
One can only hope that it will not come to this silent end, that man with all his shortcomings will find enough humility to shake off his addiction to power and give up his entire being to God so that he can be made whole. Upon seeing man's wholeness that is the work of God, or Opus Dei, Satan would lose Its grip on man and would be left with nothing but defeat and dejection while Its Opus Satanas disintegrates and falls flat. On that day, peace will prevail in Ukraine, the Mideast and everywhere else on earth.
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukraine-forces-press-assault-hours-after-ceasefires-suspension/2014/07/01/f0f313e0-0104-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html
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