I just love seeing all the fireworks around the world celebrating the new year. Why humans loves the midnight of December 31 I do not know for sure. I do know that it make me so very happy because a whole year of newness is upon us: it is fresh, it is clean, it is full of hope!
When Christ was born, we not only have a brand new year -- we have a brand new era in Anno Domini ("A.D."), defined literally as "'in the year of the Lord.'" [1] We all are actually living each moment in A.D., in the era of the Lord. Think about it. How lucky we are! How wonderful it is! We are in an era full of newness and full of hope! The newness of this era is a lasting newness with a brand new and eternal covenant between God and man which when distilled to its core is simply this: Love as Christ loves. [2], [3]
Love All! And Be Loved!
To My Dear and Beloved Readers: Happy New Year!
[1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/Anno-Domini
[2] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13%3A34
[3] It would be incorrect to say Love as Christ loved because Christ is a living Christ. He resurrected. And He still loves!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
A New Year's Resolution
My new year's resolution is a hope to meet others who relate to the Virgin Mary as their real mother and to the Lord as their real father. This resolution is extension of a resolution I made during the year many, many years ago when I adopted the Virgin Mary as my mother and the Lord as my father. From that point on, they became my real parents while my biological parents became my designated father and mother on earth.
My real parents are the ones I go to first and always. Wherever I am, whatever circumstance I am in and whatever time it maybe they are there to guide, support and help me. I speak with them through prayers and they reply. [1]
My biological parents are elders whom I respect and love to the best of my ability. I am there for them as they have been there for me when I was young and incapable of taking care of myself. They have raised me up on earth and it is my hope that I can help raise them up toward Heaven.
[1] They are always replying. Only when I am fully aware of everything that is taking place at any moment do I know what the replies are. A reply could be an eventual feeling of peace even though the hopes that I sometimes attach to prayers are not fulfilled. Since my new year's resolution this year is a hope, it may go unanswered. If answered, it may not be any time soon, or it may be answered in some unexpected way. Deep down, I think I will have an answer but it will probably not be quick and easy.
My real parents are the ones I go to first and always. Wherever I am, whatever circumstance I am in and whatever time it maybe they are there to guide, support and help me. I speak with them through prayers and they reply. [1]
My biological parents are elders whom I respect and love to the best of my ability. I am there for them as they have been there for me when I was young and incapable of taking care of myself. They have raised me up on earth and it is my hope that I can help raise them up toward Heaven.
[1] They are always replying. Only when I am fully aware of everything that is taking place at any moment do I know what the replies are. A reply could be an eventual feeling of peace even though the hopes that I sometimes attach to prayers are not fulfilled. Since my new year's resolution this year is a hope, it may go unanswered. If answered, it may not be any time soon, or it may be answered in some unexpected way. Deep down, I think I will have an answer but it will probably not be quick and easy.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Comunità Cenacolo
The Light of Christ still shines brightly in select parts of the world and in the hearts of believers despite the increasing ground-gaining momentum of secularism and relativism [1] worldwide. Comunitá Cenacolo is part of this Light and this year, 2013, Comunitá Cenacolo is celebrating its 30th year.
Each one of us should be encouraged by the saintly Sister Elvira to do our part, however small, however humble it may be, to save those who are drowning in the meaninglessness of life, to lift up them from the suffocating depths of silent desperation and reignite their hope in Christ, their joy in the knowledge of salvation and return to them the inner peace that comes with prayers and faith in God.
[1] Secularism and relativism are two evil twins of modern society that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI often urged us to become aware of so that we do not fall into Satan's trap and remove Christ from our daily existence. See http://www.sces.uk.com/theme-2.html Incidentally, the concept of tolerance that Pope Benedict XVI's successor uses is synonymous to relativism in many ways, so beware of the creature's subtle means that could lead one to eternal ruin.
[2] Cenacle is defined as the upper room where the Last Supper was held. See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cenacle
[3] http://www.comunitacenacolo.org/
Comunità Cenacolo America is part of the international Comunità Cenacolo, Community of the Cenacle [2] , founded in Italy in 1983 by a dynamic, vibrant, and faith-filled religious sister named Elvira Petrozzi. Mother Elvira felt certain that God was calling her to serve the poor of the modern world: disillusioned young men and women who live in desperation and hopelessness, convinced that life has no meaning or value. Unable to find peace or joy in their lives, they seek to fill the emptiness with the illusory pleasures of the world, only to find themselves steeped in an intense interior isolation. [3]As I see increasing clouds of evil darkening the world over, battles against Satan and its minions are still being waged. These battles do not require a regiment. They require only a single warrior. Sister Elvira Petrozzi is one and she is at the front line.
Each one of us should be encouraged by the saintly Sister Elvira to do our part, however small, however humble it may be, to save those who are drowning in the meaninglessness of life, to lift up them from the suffocating depths of silent desperation and reignite their hope in Christ, their joy in the knowledge of salvation and return to them the inner peace that comes with prayers and faith in God.
[1] Secularism and relativism are two evil twins of modern society that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI often urged us to become aware of so that we do not fall into Satan's trap and remove Christ from our daily existence. See http://www.sces.uk.com/theme-2.html Incidentally, the concept of tolerance that Pope Benedict XVI's successor uses is synonymous to relativism in many ways, so beware of the creature's subtle means that could lead one to eternal ruin.
[2] Cenacle is defined as the upper room where the Last Supper was held. See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cenacle
[3] http://www.comunitacenacolo.org/
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
What Christmas Means
Christmas is about gatherings and gifts, parties and presents but Christmas is more than just that. Christmas is the day the Son of God became incarnate. As a man, Jesus was one of us, one Whom we understand, in all His humanity, One Who understands us, in all our excellence and all our frailties. Jesus become one of us to encourage us to maximize our excellence and to show us how to endure our trials. With the birth of Christ, everything is possible, even the seemingly impossible.
We are renewed every year at Christmas our faith in Christ that we will be safe, that we will no longer have to worry, no longer have stress, no longer fear and that we will always have peace. [1]
[1] How wonderful is that? Who, besides Christ, Who was born among us and lived among us can give us these gifts? Nobody, not the not those who govern, not those who preach, not our parents or our children, not even the saints.
We are renewed every year at Christmas our faith in Christ that we will be safe, that we will no longer have to worry, no longer have stress, no longer fear and that we will always have peace. [1]
[1] How wonderful is that? Who, besides Christ, Who was born among us and lived among us can give us these gifts? Nobody, not the not those who govern, not those who preach, not our parents or our children, not even the saints.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Is There Room At The Inn For The Prince Of Peace In A War Economy?
This entry is my reaction to an exceptional article written by Tony Magliano entitled "2 bishops dialog with Catholic peace activists" on page 20 in Catholic San Francisco. "On the evening of Nov. 12, several blocks away from the Waterfront Marriott Hotel [in Baltimore, Maryland USA], where the [United States Catholic bishops] were meeting, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop John Michael Botean head of the Romanian Catholic eparchy (diocese) of St. George in Canton, Ohio, sat down with us to dialogue about war making, peacemaking, poverty and military chaplains in light of the teachings of the compassionate nonviolent Jesus." [1]
The quoted introductory words set the stage for this comment by Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day:
Tony Mogliano continued to write that "Hennessy added that Dorothy Day would not have approved of the earlier bishops' dinner hosted by the Archdiocese for the Military Services -- with military recruiters lobbying the bishops to send more chaplains." and that "[s]he thought her grandmother would have said the bishops are being complicit with the permanent war economy." [3]
Hennessy's words cannot be refuted.
Tony Mogliano then quoted Bishop Botean who during the Iraq war wrote "that the war was 'objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin,'" and who said that "unfortunately the culture has more of an influence on the church than the Gospel." [4]
In the end, when Archbishop Tobin and Bishop Botean were asked "why the bishops during their annual meetings were not praying and dialoguing about how faithful or unfaithful of a witness they were giving - in light of our highly militaristic and unjust economy [5] - to the nonviolent Jesus who always sided with the poor and oppressed." [6]
They did not have an answer. They will never have an answer because the bishops want the freedom of religion which the "highly militaristic and unjust economy" gives them lest they are willing to die as martyrs under a different regime where religious are frequently persecuted. I doubt anyone of them is willing to give up their well-fed, well-housed, well-clothed lifestyle that is well-served by the laborers they hire and be martyred.
I suppose that the Prince of Peace whose birthday Christians celebrate in the USA in about two days would have no room at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel (inn) in Baltimore, Maryland.
[1] http://www.catholic-sf.org/files/digital_paper_201312105925.pdf
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] A militaristic economy and an unjust economy are both sides of the same coin. Imagine if all the money that is being spent annually by all the countries in the world on developing weapons, maintaining a military and engaging in wars of greed and ideology around the globe is used to aid the oppressed and bring comfort, joy and peace of mind to each and every family, then the Prince of Peace will have a place in every home. He would have no need to go to an inn.
[6] http://www.catholic-sf.org/files/digital_paper_201312105925.pdf
The quoted introductory words set the stage for this comment by Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day:
"Based on my understanding of my grandmother's life, I would conclude that priests should not serve in the military, as one cannot serve Christ and the chain of command at the same time. Part of a chaplain's job is to make soldiers feel OK about doing their job, which is to kill, which Christ said we can't do." [2]Martha Hennessy's comment two-sentence comment packed so much power that it became a knockout punch for me. When I done reading it I was in a daze, and wordless. And wordless I remain.
Tony Mogliano continued to write that "Hennessy added that Dorothy Day would not have approved of the earlier bishops' dinner hosted by the Archdiocese for the Military Services -- with military recruiters lobbying the bishops to send more chaplains." and that "[s]he thought her grandmother would have said the bishops are being complicit with the permanent war economy." [3]
Hennessy's words cannot be refuted.
Tony Mogliano then quoted Bishop Botean who during the Iraq war wrote "that the war was 'objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin,'" and who said that "unfortunately the culture has more of an influence on the church than the Gospel." [4]
In the end, when Archbishop Tobin and Bishop Botean were asked "why the bishops during their annual meetings were not praying and dialoguing about how faithful or unfaithful of a witness they were giving - in light of our highly militaristic and unjust economy [5] - to the nonviolent Jesus who always sided with the poor and oppressed." [6]
They did not have an answer. They will never have an answer because the bishops want the freedom of religion which the "highly militaristic and unjust economy" gives them lest they are willing to die as martyrs under a different regime where religious are frequently persecuted. I doubt anyone of them is willing to give up their well-fed, well-housed, well-clothed lifestyle that is well-served by the laborers they hire and be martyred.
I suppose that the Prince of Peace whose birthday Christians celebrate in the USA in about two days would have no room at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel (inn) in Baltimore, Maryland.
[1] http://www.catholic-sf.org/files/digital_paper_201312105925.pdf
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] A militaristic economy and an unjust economy are both sides of the same coin. Imagine if all the money that is being spent annually by all the countries in the world on developing weapons, maintaining a military and engaging in wars of greed and ideology around the globe is used to aid the oppressed and bring comfort, joy and peace of mind to each and every family, then the Prince of Peace will have a place in every home. He would have no need to go to an inn.
[6] http://www.catholic-sf.org/files/digital_paper_201312105925.pdf
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Atheists On Judgment Day
My last two posts alluded to the gradual rise of evil on a grand scale orchestrated by the Prince of Darkness. This impending doom has been the talk for centuries but no evidence seems to suggest the irreversibility of its advancement or its tenacious grip on the world. Atheists would look at history and point out all those times when humanity had suffered greatly but nonetheless was able to recover and a new era of relative peace and prosperity would reign for some time. Based on this seemingly irrefutable pattern, they would extrapolate that the cycles of war and peace, of nature's destruction and man's reconstruction, of plagues and plagues' panacea would continue without end.
Some may agree with such an inference but I do not because humans are not living in equilibrium with their living host that is earth. The earth's natural resources are continuously being exploited for profit and excess comfort without regard to consequences, forever weakening its life-sustaining capabilities with toxicity. I can certainly be blamed in part for destroying the very world that is sustaining my life, and probably so can every other sinner who ever lived. As the world population increases with more and more people who are becoming wealthier and wealthier and indulging in all kinds of excess consumption, then human life as we know it would necessarily end in extinction in a Godless world.
Since man is a creation of God and has a soul, his extinction [1] is not part of nature's evolution like certain other organisms. Given this Truth and the greedy rate of consumption continuously exceeding the natural rate of replenishment and regeneration, man will have nowhere to run but to face his Creator, if not in the flesh then definitely as a soul, when Mother Nature can no longer sustain human life. This encounter will take place on Judgment Day.
Judgment Day is not an ordinary 24-hour day but rather a day like no other when the whole world will be at war, when neighbor will be against neighbor and brother will be against brother because everyone wants the last morsel of resource that will sustain life a while longer in the hope that something might be discovered or invented in time to save his own. Such a hope is futile because all hopes are taken away on that day when man reconciles himself in the Light of Truth, when he has nowhere to hide and his only chance to be reunited with his Creator is to have God's forgiveness.
For perhaps the first time, some atheists would kneel before the God they did not believe in and before the wounded Christ they eliminated from Christmas and the carols believers sing to rejoice in the birth of Jesus. Whether they will join the Prince of Peace or the Prince of Darkness for an eternity I do not know but I imagine that if they continue to think that life on earth would return to normal eventually as it had so many times in the past, then Satan would laugh derisively at their ignorance for it maintains that they have always been losers and are undeserving of God. [2]
[1] Extinction for the purpose of this post is defined as the total disappearance of the species, flesh and soul combined.
[2] Satan was Lucifer the angel that revolted because of its hatred toward humans.
Some may agree with such an inference but I do not because humans are not living in equilibrium with their living host that is earth. The earth's natural resources are continuously being exploited for profit and excess comfort without regard to consequences, forever weakening its life-sustaining capabilities with toxicity. I can certainly be blamed in part for destroying the very world that is sustaining my life, and probably so can every other sinner who ever lived. As the world population increases with more and more people who are becoming wealthier and wealthier and indulging in all kinds of excess consumption, then human life as we know it would necessarily end in extinction in a Godless world.
Since man is a creation of God and has a soul, his extinction [1] is not part of nature's evolution like certain other organisms. Given this Truth and the greedy rate of consumption continuously exceeding the natural rate of replenishment and regeneration, man will have nowhere to run but to face his Creator, if not in the flesh then definitely as a soul, when Mother Nature can no longer sustain human life. This encounter will take place on Judgment Day.
Judgment Day is not an ordinary 24-hour day but rather a day like no other when the whole world will be at war, when neighbor will be against neighbor and brother will be against brother because everyone wants the last morsel of resource that will sustain life a while longer in the hope that something might be discovered or invented in time to save his own. Such a hope is futile because all hopes are taken away on that day when man reconciles himself in the Light of Truth, when he has nowhere to hide and his only chance to be reunited with his Creator is to have God's forgiveness.
For perhaps the first time, some atheists would kneel before the God they did not believe in and before the wounded Christ they eliminated from Christmas and the carols believers sing to rejoice in the birth of Jesus. Whether they will join the Prince of Peace or the Prince of Darkness for an eternity I do not know but I imagine that if they continue to think that life on earth would return to normal eventually as it had so many times in the past, then Satan would laugh derisively at their ignorance for it maintains that they have always been losers and are undeserving of God. [2]
[1] Extinction for the purpose of this post is defined as the total disappearance of the species, flesh and soul combined.
[2] Satan was Lucifer the angel that revolted because of its hatred toward humans.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
The Unrepentant Sinner And The Antichrist
This is all speculation because I do not know the Antichrist, and one way I am able to introduce it is to contrast it with the unrepentant sinner.
The unrepentant sinner rejects God time and time again by his actions in life, and when given again and again the chance to repent, he does not, not even at that one final moment, when he is given his last chance to will freely to gather up all his negative energy at one time within his being, the concentration of which would undoubtedly be extremely painful and difficult to bear, and offer it up to God with supplication in exchange for forgiveness and grace so that Hell would not be his eternal destination.
The Antichrist, I think, is different. It is Satan incarnate and as such, it is content being in Hell and has no need to repent. It acknowledges God, not as its Savior but as its enemy. Thus it has no reason to reject God but every reason to defeat God.
In order for the Antichrist to be seen, it has to be in the flesh. Since Satan is unable to create life, it has to hijack it. Therefore anyone of us who is weak, who does not ask for God's help to battle Satan, can be the Antichrist or a servant of the Antichrist.
The true Antichrist is not going to arise out of powerlessness. It is not going to duplicate the path of Jesus Christ. It will do the opposite. It will emerge in the seat of power. It needs to be in the seat of power, not just any power within the borders of a country or even a continent, but power that reaches every corner of this earth because it knows how difficult it is to direct every soul toward Hell. In the seat of power, it would be able to brainwash the weak to lead a Godless life, to sustain their negative energy by feeding them the emptiness of desire and the hatefulness of envy by rejecting the truth that the gift life is precious and that it comes from God.
Which seat has enough plenary power today to attract the Antichrist I do not know. I do not know how much power the pope, or any government or private sector leader has. I do know that a combination of several of them will have enough power the Antichrist would want. If the Antichrist is not just one person but an unholy trinity, then I conjecture that they would be comprised of one who controls ideology, a second who rules over the medium of exchange and a third who is both judge and executioner, and they all would have the same mind as Satan.
The unrepentant sinner rejects God time and time again by his actions in life, and when given again and again the chance to repent, he does not, not even at that one final moment, when he is given his last chance to will freely to gather up all his negative energy at one time within his being, the concentration of which would undoubtedly be extremely painful and difficult to bear, and offer it up to God with supplication in exchange for forgiveness and grace so that Hell would not be his eternal destination.
The Antichrist, I think, is different. It is Satan incarnate and as such, it is content being in Hell and has no need to repent. It acknowledges God, not as its Savior but as its enemy. Thus it has no reason to reject God but every reason to defeat God.
In order for the Antichrist to be seen, it has to be in the flesh. Since Satan is unable to create life, it has to hijack it. Therefore anyone of us who is weak, who does not ask for God's help to battle Satan, can be the Antichrist or a servant of the Antichrist.
The true Antichrist is not going to arise out of powerlessness. It is not going to duplicate the path of Jesus Christ. It will do the opposite. It will emerge in the seat of power. It needs to be in the seat of power, not just any power within the borders of a country or even a continent, but power that reaches every corner of this earth because it knows how difficult it is to direct every soul toward Hell. In the seat of power, it would be able to brainwash the weak to lead a Godless life, to sustain their negative energy by feeding them the emptiness of desire and the hatefulness of envy by rejecting the truth that the gift life is precious and that it comes from God.
Which seat has enough plenary power today to attract the Antichrist I do not know. I do not know how much power the pope, or any government or private sector leader has. I do know that a combination of several of them will have enough power the Antichrist would want. If the Antichrist is not just one person but an unholy trinity, then I conjecture that they would be comprised of one who controls ideology, a second who rules over the medium of exchange and a third who is both judge and executioner, and they all would have the same mind as Satan.
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