I thank God for the way he blessed me and extended my life through the work of giant physicians since May 1986 (over 32 years ago). I thank God for my wife and children who generously care for me as well as my brothers, sisters-in-law and their children and those who call me almost daily to ask about my health (If interested see the post in October 2018 here and this one ten years earlier in July 2008 here). I would like to mention my devoted students at Jesus the King Melkite Catholic parish whom I taught "Christian Questions Today" for 7 years.
Yesterday December 30, 2018 was the memorial of the Holy Family. At Holy Rosary parish in Toronto, Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, PhD. gave a homily on marriage in Canada and the West in general where same-sex marriage is legal. He compared it to the sacramental marriage in the Church between a man and a woman that is permanent and open to procreation while love between husband and wife constitutes the way children are raised at home before they are in school. The reader may wish to read it here. Fr. Callam holds a doctorate in theology from Oxford University. Quite active, he often lectures at St. Thomas University in Houston, Texas. A few days ago I found the conversion story of R.R. Reno (who is now the Editor of First Things) to the Catholic Church (here). The Pastor, Msgr. Robert Nusca - a renowned Biblical scholar, who earned his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and is quite active, commented on it that it was a good story for the faithful to hold on to the faith.
Yesterday too Jesus the King Council of the Knights of Columbus released its December newsletter - I contributed an article titled "The Gospel of Life" based on the teachings of Pope Saint John Paul II and so did the Grand Knight, the Ontario State Deputy and the Chaplain (attached).
On Christmas Day I wrote a post commenting on the homily at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration by Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO and showing the beauty of the renowned Homsy choir, the Eastern Byzantine Church and its tradition - It shows also how an Eastern Christian Saint John of Damascus has influenced Christianity in the West in Medieval times - He spoke Arabic and learned Greek and wrote "The Fount of Wisdom" which is a collection of the Fathers and Church teachings - John of Damascus fought with his pen the Iconoclast heresy started by the Byzantine emperor Leo the Isorian as the emperor forbade Christians to venerate the icons of Christ and the saints (see it here).
My beloved mentor and Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad continues his active missionary work in Egypt, Europe (particularly in France and Hungary) and in Canada where he gave a retreat in Montreal in October. His latest homilies include this one on Sunday December 23 ("Marie, qui prépare la venue de Jésus ..." here). In his words, Fr. Boulad said that the Holy Spirit drove Mary (already pregnant in Jesus) out of herself as she was able to travel 200 kms on foot to go help her aged cousin Elizabeth.
It is important to recall and relive Christianity based on a good understanding of its history (a slightly long post written here in March 2018).
The Lord' Prayer is an integral prayer that Christians know by heart. It is important to note that "Give us this day our daily bread" is an invitation of Christ to be in us through the reception of his body and blood in the Mystery of the Eucharist (see this essay written in August 2018 here).
Building human civilization in a world that keeps changing with technology is not an easy task, but still an important one.
If we go back to January 2018, we find "The Axis of History" here based on works by Fr. Henri Boulad, Bishop Robert Barron, and Sir John Polkinghorne.
With regard to cosmic physics see also my post in June 2018 on Black Holes here.
Recent scientific findings in CERN were announced a few days ago where it published an article titled "The future of particle physics in Europe is taking shape" here. This does not mean that America, Russia, or China is behind in any way. On December 28, 2018, The Washington Post published an article claiming that Russia's military intelligence using advanced computer technology is active in Europe and other parts of the world. Read it here. China's XiPing too is working to assimilate the power of the United States and Russia. MIT Technology Review published recently an article claiming that the U.S. attempt to keep Artificial Intelligence out of China could actually help China (read it here).
As the business corporate leaders rethink implementations of digital technology, TechRepublic wrote that technologies are driving business in 2019: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, 5G and edge computing. I had written on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data as well as other information here and here.
I am reading two books that I received a couple of days ago.
1) The 500-pages "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by Professor David Griffiths (He earned his PhD. from Harvard and taught modern physics at 5 universities including University of Massachusetts and Stanford University). It is a text book taught to university students
2) "Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology" by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI). In this voluminous book, Ratzinger show the anthropology and development of philosophical thought including the 20th century "Philosophy of History". His theological insight is decidedly "deep in the water", a reference to Christology.
We have great hopes that in God's merciful love the new year will be a blessing to all of humanity.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, PhD. : The Feast of the Holy Family
Holy
Family 30 xii 2018 Holy Rosary
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I
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t has always been difficult for the homilist to preach on
the feast of the Holy Family. In the old days, the priest would deliver a
string of platitudes about loving mothers, provident fathers and so on. There’s
a joke people used to tell about such sermons. After Mass Mrs. Smith said to
Mrs. Jones, “I wish I knew as little about marriage as he does.” It’s still
difficult to preach on the feast, but for a totally different reason; for how
in heaven’s name do you define a family today? There are single-parent families
or families with two male, or two female parents. Polygamy—one man with several
or even multiple wives—is practised in Canada, and not only by the Mormons in
Bountiful B.C. A woman told me that one of her co-workers announced that she
was going to be married “in the Moslem way.” When asked what that meant, she
replied that she would be the second wife of her husband, not legally, of
course, but in accord with the Koran that allows a man to have up to four
wives. And then there’s polyandry, a word that you may not know. It refers to
one woman with several husbands, in what I might call “the Canadian way,” that
is, with only one being legal. The Globe
and Mail had a laudatory article on one such “family” a couple of weeks
ago, with a photograph of the woman, her two partners and their smiling offspring. Besides these, there are other
arrangements that I would not dare to describe or even mention for the pulpit. Concomitant
with these developments is the growing discomfort with the terms “husband” and
“wife”—now simply “partners,”—with “mother” and “father”—now “parents”—and with
“son” and “daughter”—now “offspring” or “sibling.”
What
in the world is the poor preacher to say on the feast of the Holy Family? . . .
now that we have been educated to be so tolerant that we can no longer tolerate
anyone who would question the legitimacy of these new arrangements. It’s not
only a difficulty for the preacher, for you like me are members of a Church
that views Tradition as valid a vehicle of revelation as Scripture itself.
Simply call to mind the language of the creed that we shall shortly recite: we
believe in God the Father and God the Son. Are we now to abandon those hallowed
titles and in baptizing, instead of using the time-honoured phrase “in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” say something like this: “I
baptize you in the name of the Source, the Effect and the Union”? Furthermore,
in the Bible Jesus is described as the bridegroom of his bride, the Church.
Mary, too, we address with the title “Mother of God” and also as our mother.
And so on. I fear that if I were merely to enunciate our traditional teaching
about marriage some of you would walk out and the rest would bombard me with
their hymnals. And it is shocking to
modern Canadian ears as you find it in, e.g., the Catechism. Its starting point is what Saint Augustine identified as
“the three goods of marriage.”[1]
The first is “fidelity,” which points to the mutual love and support of one
spouse for the other. Then, “children,” referring to the obligation to provide,
and provide for, the next generation. And finally, he speaks of the
“sacrament,” i.e., the permanence of Christian marriage in that it is a
sacramental sign of Christ’s love for the Church. As he will not abandon his
bride, the Church, nor she him, so husband and wife are permanently joined
until death separates them.
The
most offensive statement in this traditional description of marriage is: “the
primary purpose of marriage is the procreation of children.” A word of caution
may be in order before your indignation becomes violent. The word “primary”
here is used in the sense that we find it in, e.g., primary school—i.e., the
foundation upon which higher learning will be built. Thus, learning one’s ABCs
is not superior to reading Shakespeare, but is an essential first step. For, if
you cannot read, the great works of literature will remain for you literally a
closed book. So too with procreation. It is the biological fact upon which can
be raised the edifice of mutual support, a loving relationship and a mature
spirituality.
The
implications of Saint Augustine’s approach to marriage are wide-ranging, in
that the noble titles of husband and wife, mother and father, are paradigmatic
for all of society, including those of us who are unmarried. For each one of
us, what ever his condition, is called upon to imitate the generous and self-sacrificing
service that marriage requires from the spouses in their relationship to one
another and to their children. In general, then, we can say that all the
machinery of the modern state—industry, government, education, entertainment—is
in place to serve the family, i.e., to encourage, to facilitate the union of
man and woman in the establishment of a home. Teachers, e.g., act to supplement
the education of the young that begins and continues in the home. Commerce, too,
exists primarily to provide household goods that it would be too difficult or
too time consuming for a family to make on its own. Similarly, government
should act to safeguard the public good in passing laws and providing
assistance to preserve the well-being of all its members, especially in such
things as affordable housing and family assistance. In short, family life, at
best, reminds us that the essential purpose of the paraphernalia of society is
service rather than profit or self-aggrandizement. You can see, I am sure, that
this traditional doctrine constitutes a radical critique of Canada today. But
what is one to do? I may not be able directly to alter what is going on in city
hall or Queen’s Park or Ottawa; I may not be able to monitor the media; I may
not be able to influence the stock market; but I can reflect on my own
situation and act so as to conform my behaviour to what is required of a
faithful follower of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.a
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
The Amazing Christmas Night Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration
I wish to share my joy as we participated in the Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in the mid-night or rather the very early hours of Tuesday December 25, 2018. At the Dome of the Cathedral's Byzantine architecture, the faithful look up Mary Mother of God and her son our Lord Jesus Christ in her lap overlooking the entire creation. The mosaic is called "Our Lady of the Wide Universe" سيدة الرحاب. In the Eastern churches the Virgin Mary is never alone in images as she is always dependent on her son the God-Man. Furthermore, the Eastern churches do not have sculptures of Jesus or saints as in the Roman Catholic churches. The Universal Church built on Christ never tires from building up a civilization of love even if sometimes it is troubled by a few lost sheep. See here a quick overview of the history of Christianity.
The entire Mass was served by the Pastor Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO; assisted by his Assistant Pastor Fr. Michel Chalhoub, and, for serving the Holy Eucharist, Fr. Youhanna Hanna, MP helped the \above-mentioned priests. In Eastern Churches, parishioners are expected to stand most of the time because when Christ rose from the dead, he raised us with Him. People genuflect but they do not kneel. See this majestic video from a church in Moscow here. Confessionals are not part of the tradition - Generally a person confesses his sins and receives absolution from the parish pastor or another priest associated with the parish (his spiritual advisor).
The renowned Homsy Choir sang the hymns for Christmas including some very beautiful ones: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, Have put on Christ". With incense going up to the Dome as a sign of praise to the Triune-God, the Choir sings "Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin more glorious than the heavenly powers. Behold a strange and wonderful mystery: the cave is heaven, the Virgin a Cherubic throne, the manger a noble place where reposes Christ the Uncontainable God. Let us praise and magnify him!" In the second kathisma, the Choir continues thus "Mary why are you rapt in wonder? Why are you astounded in your inner self? And she answers: 'Behold: because I have given birth in time to a Son who is not bound by time. I do not even understand how I conceived: how is this possible when I knew not a man? Who ever saw a birth without human seed?' But where God wills, the laws of nature are upset. It was written: 'Christ shall be born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Juda'. (for more on the Homsy Choir hymns in the Divine Liturgy, see their hymns in the first Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 here).
After the readings from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 4: 4-7), and the Gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 2: 1-12), Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad said an impressive homily which he based on five dimensions for us to learn:
1. In Jesus birth, heaven was brought to earth; the cave contained God so abundantly loving of every person. It is the entire humanity for which Christ was born.
2. The Virgin Mary and Joseph could not find a place in the inn for Jesus to be born. He was born in a manger - It tells us how God is so humble. We learn not to be arrogant and show-off our talents - What each of us has is a gift from God...We should also forgive those who despise us as Christ forgives us.
3. Like the Wise Men (Magi), let us follow the real wisdom of God - Jesus Christ is the "Fount of Wisdom" (See St. John Damascene "Fount of Wisdom" and his great influence on the Western Church that he was called the first scholastic - Written here in the Catholic Encyclopedia). The Choir sings "Your nativity, O Christ our God, has shed the light of knowledge upon the world. Through it, those who had been star-worshipers learned through a star to worship You, O Sun of justice, and recognize in You the One who rises from on high. O Lord, Glory to You!"
St. Athanasius of Alexandria wrote that Christ took on our human nature so that we can put on His Divine Nature" (De Incarnatione Verbi Dei) - "Theosis" is the basis of the call of humanity to God through Christ which was made a reality in the incarnation of the Word of God according to the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad.
3. Bethlehem is a small town. Yet God chose the small and the little to be born in them. Let us not despise the poor and associate our selves with only the rich people on this earth. Let us welcome the poor in our homes and visit the sick and needy. Let us visit the imprisoned and help the unwanted. The Knights of Columbus at Jesus the King is a good starting point for helping others more in need. (This is important when we consider the crime of abortion which is never justified and the crime of helping to end someone's life in assisted-suicide of the distressed and highly-sick people. God is the author of life from conception in the womb to natural death. Health-care professionals and patients should be aware of the demands of conscience trained in God's laws.)
4. Let us help our children grow in a Church environment and in a morally-abiding family. Why our youths are not getting married? Rather than spending time watching games let us pray together as much as we can. The birth of Christ ushered the new civilization of love - Build your family on His love.
On some of the above notes see my lectures : Is abortion justified in case of rape? here and Why Our Youths Are Not Getting Married Today here.
Probably the best homily I have ever heard about Christmas comes from the mouth of the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad here:
"The scandal of the Incarnation, which means that we cannot believe that God could debase himself , becomes the key and the supreme proof that this is the truth"
"But a God in heaven well served who looks to me and says 'You suffer. Have courage. Perhaps one day you will be with me in my heaven' is not God. A God who says 'Patience. I am fine here but you over there can suffer' is not God. This is the false God that we, often, figure that he sends us prophets from time to time to console us' . NO, NO. NO. This God who looks to me with a telescope is not my God. I do not want him."
"If there is a phenomenon of atheism today in the West as well as in Egypt, it is precisely because men say we are in fact better than God. The walk that I walk to help when I see a hungry person or a thirsty one or a person without faith, can't God do it? Has he no choice regarding his honor?"
"No. He did it. This is the supreme proof of the Christian Mystery. Do not look somewhere else. 'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' He descended. No more seventh heaven..."
"The only God I can believe, love and worship is the God Jesus Christ because he descended to me."
"'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' "
And the great preacher and Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad finished here his homily.
At Christmas, the surprise disclosed by heaven continues - See "Surprised!" here
It is on this occasion that I thank God for all the care that He has given me through great physicians, my parents, my spouse and her parents , my brothers and their families, and many caring relatives and friends. I wrote a little post here last April about God's love for me that extended my life.
In closing let us listen to a Christmas hymn received from a very close brother - Here it is.
The entire Mass was served by the Pastor Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO; assisted by his Assistant Pastor Fr. Michel Chalhoub, and, for serving the Holy Eucharist, Fr. Youhanna Hanna, MP helped the \above-mentioned priests. In Eastern Churches, parishioners are expected to stand most of the time because when Christ rose from the dead, he raised us with Him. People genuflect but they do not kneel. See this majestic video from a church in Moscow here. Confessionals are not part of the tradition - Generally a person confesses his sins and receives absolution from the parish pastor or another priest associated with the parish (his spiritual advisor).
The renowned Homsy Choir sang the hymns for Christmas including some very beautiful ones: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, Have put on Christ". With incense going up to the Dome as a sign of praise to the Triune-God, the Choir sings "Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin more glorious than the heavenly powers. Behold a strange and wonderful mystery: the cave is heaven, the Virgin a Cherubic throne, the manger a noble place where reposes Christ the Uncontainable God. Let us praise and magnify him!" In the second kathisma, the Choir continues thus "Mary why are you rapt in wonder? Why are you astounded in your inner self? And she answers: 'Behold: because I have given birth in time to a Son who is not bound by time. I do not even understand how I conceived: how is this possible when I knew not a man? Who ever saw a birth without human seed?' But where God wills, the laws of nature are upset. It was written: 'Christ shall be born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Juda'. (for more on the Homsy Choir hymns in the Divine Liturgy, see their hymns in the first Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 here).
After the readings from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 4: 4-7), and the Gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 2: 1-12), Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad said an impressive homily which he based on five dimensions for us to learn:
1. In Jesus birth, heaven was brought to earth; the cave contained God so abundantly loving of every person. It is the entire humanity for which Christ was born.
2. The Virgin Mary and Joseph could not find a place in the inn for Jesus to be born. He was born in a manger - It tells us how God is so humble. We learn not to be arrogant and show-off our talents - What each of us has is a gift from God...We should also forgive those who despise us as Christ forgives us.
3. Like the Wise Men (Magi), let us follow the real wisdom of God - Jesus Christ is the "Fount of Wisdom" (See St. John Damascene "Fount of Wisdom" and his great influence on the Western Church that he was called the first scholastic - Written here in the Catholic Encyclopedia). The Choir sings "Your nativity, O Christ our God, has shed the light of knowledge upon the world. Through it, those who had been star-worshipers learned through a star to worship You, O Sun of justice, and recognize in You the One who rises from on high. O Lord, Glory to You!"
St. Athanasius of Alexandria wrote that Christ took on our human nature so that we can put on His Divine Nature" (De Incarnatione Verbi Dei) - "Theosis" is the basis of the call of humanity to God through Christ which was made a reality in the incarnation of the Word of God according to the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad.
3. Bethlehem is a small town. Yet God chose the small and the little to be born in them. Let us not despise the poor and associate our selves with only the rich people on this earth. Let us welcome the poor in our homes and visit the sick and needy. Let us visit the imprisoned and help the unwanted. The Knights of Columbus at Jesus the King is a good starting point for helping others more in need. (This is important when we consider the crime of abortion which is never justified and the crime of helping to end someone's life in assisted-suicide of the distressed and highly-sick people. God is the author of life from conception in the womb to natural death. Health-care professionals and patients should be aware of the demands of conscience trained in God's laws.)
4. Let us help our children grow in a Church environment and in a morally-abiding family. Why our youths are not getting married? Rather than spending time watching games let us pray together as much as we can. The birth of Christ ushered the new civilization of love - Build your family on His love.
On some of the above notes see my lectures : Is abortion justified in case of rape? here and Why Our Youths Are Not Getting Married Today here.
Probably the best homily I have ever heard about Christmas comes from the mouth of the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad here:
"The scandal of the Incarnation, which means that we cannot believe that God could debase himself , becomes the key and the supreme proof that this is the truth"
"But a God in heaven well served who looks to me and says 'You suffer. Have courage. Perhaps one day you will be with me in my heaven' is not God. A God who says 'Patience. I am fine here but you over there can suffer' is not God. This is the false God that we, often, figure that he sends us prophets from time to time to console us' . NO, NO. NO. This God who looks to me with a telescope is not my God. I do not want him."
"If there is a phenomenon of atheism today in the West as well as in Egypt, it is precisely because men say we are in fact better than God. The walk that I walk to help when I see a hungry person or a thirsty one or a person without faith, can't God do it? Has he no choice regarding his honor?"
"No. He did it. This is the supreme proof of the Christian Mystery. Do not look somewhere else. 'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' He descended. No more seventh heaven..."
"The only God I can believe, love and worship is the God Jesus Christ because he descended to me."
"'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' "
And the great preacher and Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad finished here his homily.
At Christmas, the surprise disclosed by heaven continues - See "Surprised!" here
It is on this occasion that I thank God for all the care that He has given me through great physicians, my parents, my spouse and her parents , my brothers and their families, and many caring relatives and friends. I wrote a little post here last April about God's love for me that extended my life.
In closing let us listen to a Christmas hymn received from a very close brother - Here it is.
Monday, December 24, 2018
The Coming of Christ
In his homily yesterday Sunday December 23, 2018, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad said how the Virgin Mary was driven by the power of the Holy Spirit to travel 200 km on foot in order to help her aged cousin Elizabeth in her pregnancy (homily here in French: Marie, qui prépare la venue de Jésus )...In his words, Fr. Boulad recalls that Mary is that unique person called to testify to God in her womb and lead the way of the coming of Christ into the world - She is also venerated as the most pure woman in Islam's Qur'an. She is, therefore, truly mother of many who venerate her above all God's creation. When the Spirit of God fills a person, the person no longer remains himself or herself but goes out of the self (ecstase)! The child looks up in amazement to his mother going out of the womb - This is what the Messiah did - Jesus went out of himself to call everyone to his Father's womb...It reminded me by what Fr. Georges Farah explained how Plato's cave represented darkness where everyone inside cannot see until one of them goes out to the light. Is it not possible that the first homo sapiens lived in the darkness of Africa before going out to places where there is more water and plants namely the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea? The reader may wish to read my post "What sets humans apart from others" (here). Or better yet read my lecture "The Development of the Idea of God" (here). In this lecture I showed the gradual development of the idea of God from tens of thousand of years of pantheism in ancient civilizations to the Abrahamic monotheism that sprang in Ur and made its way in the Revelation of God to Abraham into Palestine, later known as Judea and Sameria, which the early Christians, inspired by the Spirit of God, devotedly preached first in Jerusalem then transmitted it to the entire known world. They went out of themselves, preached Christ's life and words, and paid the ultimate sacrifice for their testimony. Was it not God who appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb (taken from Exodus 3)? ["And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.]Yesterday too Bishop Robert Barron commented on the Gospel reading (Luke 1: 39-45). He made an eloquent comparison between Mary the Mother of Christ and the "Woman" in chapter 11 in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 11) - Mary is the true Ark of Covenant in which the remnant of the Ten Commandments were kept - She bore in her womb the Word made flesh and the very presence of God - When
Tonight the Melkite Catholic Church in Toronto will celebrate Christmas Eve Mass (called: Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Tradition) at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration starting at 11 pm. The celebrants, appreciated by all, are Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO; Fr. Michel Chalhoub; and Fr. Youhanna Hanna, MR. We plan to attend the Divine Liturgy and share in the hymns sung by the renowned Homsy Choir (listen to some hymns at the first Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 here).
I recorded, to the best of my knowledge, two particularly very precious homilies about the unique role of the Virgin Mary: One by Fr. Georges Farah, PhD on the Blessed Virgin Mary with commentary by the well-known Biblical scholar Msgr. Robert Nusca, PhD here and the other is by Thomas Cardinal Collins the Archbishop of Toronto here.
But I wish to continue the reflection on the Book of Revelation.
Can we read the beginning of the end in today's events? We know that, according to modern Biblical scholarship, the book of Revelation was written in the late 90s, as Apocalyptic literature to warn Christians and give them hope in the persecutions of the 1st century. Having said that, let's look afresh at Revelation and see whether there can be any interpretation for our world today as well. Sometimes the same text can reflect a myth and a literal event too. Can this be the case here? The New American Bible Revised Edition (approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) in the introduction to the Book of Revelation says "The Book of Revelation had its origin in a time of crisis, but it remains valid and meaningful for Christians of all time. In the face of apparently insuperable evil, either from within or from without, all Christians are called to trust in Jesus' promise, 'Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20)"
Revelation is a complex book, so I intend only to show similarities from the Book to what we are seeing today. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there are 5 important symbolic figures: The Lamb, the woman, and her seed; and opposed to them, the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the land.
Scholars dig deep into the Old Testament: The main idea is taken from Genesis 3:15. "I will put enmities between you (the serpent) and the woman, and your seed and her seed". The woman is arrayed in heavenly splendour; a crown of twelve stars on her head and the sun and the moon under her feet (cf. Genesis 37:9-10). She is in travail. Her first-born is destined to rule all the nation (Psalms 2:8, 9). She herself, and her other seed, are persecuted for three and a half years by the great dragon who tries to kill them. The great dragon is Satan (Genesis 3:1). He is cast out of heaven. With his tail he drags after him one-third of the stars. Taken from Daniel 8:10. The fallen stars are the fallen angels. The beast from the sea is in great part taken from Daniel's description of the four beasts (Daniel 7). It arises from the sea; has seven heads marked all over with blasphemies (probably a reference to Rome - City of the Seven Hills, called also Babylon or the Harlot in the New Testament since at the time it was the center of evil and idolatry for Christians). It had also ten horns, like the fourth beast of Daniel; it resembled a leopard, the third beast of Daniel, it had feet like a bear, the second beast of Daniel; and teeth like a lion, the first beast of Daniel. The great dragon gives full power to the beast, where all the world will worship it. The followers of the beast have its mark on their head and hand. The beast from the land has two horns like a ram. Its power lies in its art of deceiving by means of tokens and miracles. Throughout the remainder of the book it is called the false prophet. Its office is to assist the beast from the sea, and to induce people to adore its image.
The first act of the drama concludes with a promise of victory over the beast by the Lamb of God. We can safely see in the woman Mary immaculate whose seed is Jesus the Lamb of God. Other interpretations think of it as a symbol of the Church in her suffering and ultimate glory. The drama completes when the "New Jerusalem" is founded. She will need no light because the Father and the Lamb will be her light - the light of the Holy Spirit. A great number of people; thousands over thousands will be in the triumphant city. Meanwhile let's attempt to follow the visionary.
We can see in the Dragon the Devil. But who are the Beast and the False Prophet? The New Jerome Biblical Commentary in 1990 gives a contemporary interpretation pointing out that the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth have both mythic and historical references. Sea in the Old Testament is an opponent of God (Cf. Ps. 74:13). In Revelation, the beast from the sea is a mythical symbol of chaos and rebellion. The beast from the earth (13:11-18) is also a counter image to the Lamb. The beast from the earth is described as a false prophet, probably an agent of the Roman empire who promoted the cult of the emperor and the goddess Roma.
The following is my own interpretation based on my readings, but mostly based on what we are seeing today. I think, and I stand to be corrected, that the False Prophet is Radical Islam and the Beast is the materialist postmodern world of the West. We can consult the "Clash of Civilizations" that Samuel Huntington wrote in the 1990s, although this is not necessary.
The False Prophet: From a historic perspective, I do note that the human race was warned in 1917 by Our Lady at Fatima and that the "Third Secret of Fatima" was officially interpreted as the assassination attempt on the life of Saint Pope John Paul the Great. But may be that attempt was only the first of calamities that humanity will have to suffer as the sons and daughters of Abraham, Jews and Muslims, fight to death. Recall also that for 60 years now, Israel is back as one Jewish nation, and since 1967 it has reoccupied Jerusalem thus fulfilling the prophecy of the end of time attributed to Christ "and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21: 24). Furthermore, we can go back to the early 1930s and find the established "Muslim Brotherhood" which claims support from Muslims worldwide. But two centuries earlier Mohammed Ibn Abdel-Wahhab had preached a puritan form of Islam that forbids devotional customs such as shrines for saints and visitation of tombs. He and his followers made a pact with Mohammed bin Saud whose successors prevailed in Arabia and were given the land by the British after World War I. Today Saudi Arabia, a rich Arab Sunni Muslim country, exports the Wahabbi/Salafist thought (with oil from its oil reserves) to other countries in the world and has its own agenda as a regional power. In addition since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been tirelessly exporting its strict Shiite doctrine to the entire Islamic world. In 1972, President Sadat released Muslim extremists from jail and was subsequently assassinated by one of their groups in 1981. By 1982, the motto "Islam is the Solution" had appeared in Egypt. It is no accident that the revival of fundamentalist Islam has spread in all the Arab world and the Muslim nations in spite of persecution by governments loyal to the West. From Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Recent migrations from North African Islamists contributed to an increase in Radical Islam in Western Europe. Billions of dollars are spent by Saudi Arabia's Royal family and Qatar's Emirate to finance Islamic education in the West.
This is only a general picture. Now, I would like to give some details: Although many people are driven to think that this is a Western propaganda and political conflict, I believe that the Vatican would not have protested repeatedly in recent years against persecution and killing of Christians in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt unless there was ground for such violation of human freedom and dignity. Fundamentalist Islam today, spreading in Europe at a huge rate of 230%, is one of the major forces that Western Europe had to deal with since 9/11 and is still unable to contain. The late Libyan leader Qaddafi was quoted to have said in 2007 that by 2050 Europe will be completely Muslim. Huge money is spent on building mosques and Islamic schools and supporting Muslim organizations in the entire world. Financing is coming from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar and Libya. Add to this the violent character of such organizations as Hamas, governing Gaza in Palestine and until now refusing to recognize the right of Israel to exist, and Hizbullah which has a majority support in Lebanon since its victory over Israel in 2006. Iran, another regional power hopeful and opposed to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, is attempting to build its nuclear power and its leaders have vowed to extinguish Israel. Is this enough for describing a false prophet?
The Beast: This is the great desolation of Western civilization. If I have to explain it in detail it will take me a full week. Just briefly: It started with the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther thought that every individual Christian is free to interpret Scriptures according to what he feels the Holy Spirit is telling him. This idea created "individualism." Individualism is rampant today, thanks to other modern philosophers such as the existentialist Sartre. Only me counts. "The other is my hell." It is interesting to note how this has been applied successfully in contemporary thought and technology too. Nothing is done in a vacuum. One thing you must understand is that we are all related in this cosmos. Following Luther in interpreting St.Paul, Calvin thought that God predestined people as he willed to heaven or hell so if they were destined to heaven they will also be blessed here on earth. John Courtney Murray, S.J. who was the main contributor to Vatican II's "Declaration on Freedom of Religion" wrote how Calvinism re-emerged in North-America. Calvinism was brought by the early Europeans to America. Soon enough the idea of individualism combined with the idea of blessedness on earth and produced the idea of Capitalism long before Adam Smith thought of it in economic terms. In simple terms, if I am blessed here as a Christian, I would rather use all the resources available to me to realize this blessing on earth as much and as wide as possible. This is greed in the form of Capitalism. Sure I will help the needy but I will also help myself much more from what they have. The earth is mine and I will explore its richness to the end! Today, Capitalism rules the earth. Free market enslaves people. Recall the political and economic pressure by the IMF on the underdeveloped countries to free their economy in the 1980s and 1990s. What is the global crisis but the result of that greed globally? Why is the globe in economic recession today but because of the powerful wanting more power and meanwhile robbing the nations of Africa and Asia from their resources? It is part of the nationalist movements' claims in the underdeveloped world. The entire U.N. charter is only ink on paper...Along with Capitalism a twin ideology was born: materialism.
Since the Enlightenment in the 19th century West, philosophers and scientists have been asking whether there is indeed any reality beyond matter. Some great materialist/atheist philosophers include Hume, Voltaire, Marx, Carnap, Wittgenstein, Derrida, Michel Foucault and many others. The "New Atheists" of today such as Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss are scientists who devote much time attacking religion because they constrain their research to what is observable in the cosmos. In schools today, our children learn mostly what constitutes physics but very little, if any, about metaphysics (i.e. beyond physics).
Today we see how our consumerist society has invested in this ideology. Businesses flourish based on selling products to consumers. The more we consume the more business flourishes. This is the child of materialism married to capitalism. With globalization in the 1980s-1990s and beyond, large businesses and huge investors were able to reach the entire globe. Europe and the Far East imitated America and did the same. Who paid the price? Small business, and ordinary people like you and me. Materialism also bore the ideology of Communism which was carried out in Russia and persecuted religion from 1917 to 1989 in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Today Communism still lives in political pockets in Europe and is widely known under a more moderate name as socialism. Communism robbed people of their rights to private property. People became enslaved to the government of their land. It engulfed a whole generation of thinkers, even within the Church particularly in Latin America where people remain quite poor. Capitalist America supported dictatorial regimes in Latin America in order to suppress these movements.
Another twist of the moral order took place in the two World Wars. Because many men were sent to the battlefield women were forced to work in order to support their families. The radical feminist ideology was born in the early 1920s and grew quickly in the 1940s and 1950s. Women started building their own career like men. Equality with men, not in dignity as known in traditional Christianity, but in all aspects of roles in business as well as at home was furiously demanded. This started the collapse of the family as we know it. Today we know many men and women who are, contrary to the moral Law, legally divorced. The feminist movement also produced legalization of abortion as the right of woman according to the land's law has a priority over the existence of the fetus in her womb. The Western civilization lost millions of unborn babies in this genocide. By the 1960s the sexual revolution was in the making, this time freeing people from the sex complex as defined by Freud. Soon afterwards, it became common that young people practice their intimate sexual "love" in the public with no shame. Today we know of couples who live together a life of sexual promiscuity and adultery without marriage or within marriage by prior agreement.
The last evil came under the influence of the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (died 1900). The ideology is known as Moral Relativism: Nietzsche sees the slave-morality as a social illness that has overtaken Europe — a derivative and resentful value which can only work by condemning others as evil. In Nietzsche's eyes, Christianity exists in a hypocritical state wherein people preach love and kindness but find their joy in condemning and punishing others for pursuing those ends which the slave-morality does not allow them to act upon publicly. Nietzsche calls for the strong in the world to break their self-imposed chains and assert their own power, health, and vitality upon the world. In Relativism (called also Postmodernism), everyone is right. There is no absolute right and absolute wrong. This helps political correctness in the pluralistic world of today.
In my humble opinion, we need to pay attention to the present, learn lessons from the past, and pray for the future. We seem to have lost our way between the False Prophet (Radical Islam) and the Beast (Western Civilization).
There is a tremendous thirst in the young generations for spiritual nourishment that gives meaning to their lives. Let us focus on those ones for their deprivation of spiritual nourishment leads them to emptiness and depression which in turn cause suicide or worse they could join the extremist Jihadists (as we already see in Europe and North America) and we end up having a crazy army of terrorists killing themselves and us in the name of God as prophesied "children will rise against parents and ave them put to death"(Matthew 10:21). Churches are "not museums" according to Pope Saint John XXIII. They must be the light for nourishment of Christians, notably the young and (almost) lost generations, in everything that they need to learn to live spiritually and survive materially i.e. to develop their knowledge and love of God and of others.Virtual websites for Church activities and online social networking need to be developed for those who are far.
The world needs a lot of prayer and intelligent collaboration in good faith to avoid a clash of civilizations and a third World War, something that Pope Francis warned about. Christians need to respect and love their fellow Muslims who worship the same God - The crimes of extremists cannot be counted against the vast majority of Muslims. We hope that the warnings of Fatima will be avoided. Mary is the mother of both Christians and Muslims, and as Bishop Fulton sheen said, Mary will bring them all to her Son.
But more prayers are needed to save the civilization of the West from destroying itself internally. This is the harder one. We believe in what the Saviour said 'Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20).
In closing you may wish to see this clip of a Christmas hymn received from a close brother:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnk04X6ZR1w&feature=youtu.be
Revelation is a complex book, so I intend only to show similarities from the Book to what we are seeing today. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there are 5 important symbolic figures: The Lamb, the woman, and her seed; and opposed to them, the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the land.
Scholars dig deep into the Old Testament: The main idea is taken from Genesis 3:15. "I will put enmities between you (the serpent) and the woman, and your seed and her seed". The woman is arrayed in heavenly splendour; a crown of twelve stars on her head and the sun and the moon under her feet (cf. Genesis 37:9-10). She is in travail. Her first-born is destined to rule all the nation (Psalms 2:8, 9). She herself, and her other seed, are persecuted for three and a half years by the great dragon who tries to kill them. The great dragon is Satan (Genesis 3:1). He is cast out of heaven. With his tail he drags after him one-third of the stars. Taken from Daniel 8:10. The fallen stars are the fallen angels. The beast from the sea is in great part taken from Daniel's description of the four beasts (Daniel 7). It arises from the sea; has seven heads marked all over with blasphemies (probably a reference to Rome - City of the Seven Hills, called also Babylon or the Harlot in the New Testament since at the time it was the center of evil and idolatry for Christians). It had also ten horns, like the fourth beast of Daniel; it resembled a leopard, the third beast of Daniel, it had feet like a bear, the second beast of Daniel; and teeth like a lion, the first beast of Daniel. The great dragon gives full power to the beast, where all the world will worship it. The followers of the beast have its mark on their head and hand. The beast from the land has two horns like a ram. Its power lies in its art of deceiving by means of tokens and miracles. Throughout the remainder of the book it is called the false prophet. Its office is to assist the beast from the sea, and to induce people to adore its image.
The first act of the drama concludes with a promise of victory over the beast by the Lamb of God. We can safely see in the woman Mary immaculate whose seed is Jesus the Lamb of God. Other interpretations think of it as a symbol of the Church in her suffering and ultimate glory. The drama completes when the "New Jerusalem" is founded. She will need no light because the Father and the Lamb will be her light - the light of the Holy Spirit. A great number of people; thousands over thousands will be in the triumphant city. Meanwhile let's attempt to follow the visionary.
We can see in the Dragon the Devil. But who are the Beast and the False Prophet? The New Jerome Biblical Commentary in 1990 gives a contemporary interpretation pointing out that the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth have both mythic and historical references. Sea in the Old Testament is an opponent of God (Cf. Ps. 74:13). In Revelation, the beast from the sea is a mythical symbol of chaos and rebellion. The beast from the earth (13:11-18) is also a counter image to the Lamb. The beast from the earth is described as a false prophet, probably an agent of the Roman empire who promoted the cult of the emperor and the goddess Roma.
The following is my own interpretation based on my readings, but mostly based on what we are seeing today. I think, and I stand to be corrected, that the False Prophet is Radical Islam and the Beast is the materialist postmodern world of the West. We can consult the "Clash of Civilizations" that Samuel Huntington wrote in the 1990s, although this is not necessary.
The False Prophet: From a historic perspective, I do note that the human race was warned in 1917 by Our Lady at Fatima and that the "Third Secret of Fatima" was officially interpreted as the assassination attempt on the life of Saint Pope John Paul the Great. But may be that attempt was only the first of calamities that humanity will have to suffer as the sons and daughters of Abraham, Jews and Muslims, fight to death. Recall also that for 60 years now, Israel is back as one Jewish nation, and since 1967 it has reoccupied Jerusalem thus fulfilling the prophecy of the end of time attributed to Christ "and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21: 24). Furthermore, we can go back to the early 1930s and find the established "Muslim Brotherhood" which claims support from Muslims worldwide. But two centuries earlier Mohammed Ibn Abdel-Wahhab had preached a puritan form of Islam that forbids devotional customs such as shrines for saints and visitation of tombs. He and his followers made a pact with Mohammed bin Saud whose successors prevailed in Arabia and were given the land by the British after World War I. Today Saudi Arabia, a rich Arab Sunni Muslim country, exports the Wahabbi/Salafist thought (with oil from its oil reserves) to other countries in the world and has its own agenda as a regional power. In addition since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been tirelessly exporting its strict Shiite doctrine to the entire Islamic world. In 1972, President Sadat released Muslim extremists from jail and was subsequently assassinated by one of their groups in 1981. By 1982, the motto "Islam is the Solution" had appeared in Egypt. It is no accident that the revival of fundamentalist Islam has spread in all the Arab world and the Muslim nations in spite of persecution by governments loyal to the West. From Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Recent migrations from North African Islamists contributed to an increase in Radical Islam in Western Europe. Billions of dollars are spent by Saudi Arabia's Royal family and Qatar's Emirate to finance Islamic education in the West.
This is only a general picture. Now, I would like to give some details: Although many people are driven to think that this is a Western propaganda and political conflict, I believe that the Vatican would not have protested repeatedly in recent years against persecution and killing of Christians in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt unless there was ground for such violation of human freedom and dignity. Fundamentalist Islam today, spreading in Europe at a huge rate of 230%, is one of the major forces that Western Europe had to deal with since 9/11 and is still unable to contain. The late Libyan leader Qaddafi was quoted to have said in 2007 that by 2050 Europe will be completely Muslim. Huge money is spent on building mosques and Islamic schools and supporting Muslim organizations in the entire world. Financing is coming from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar and Libya. Add to this the violent character of such organizations as Hamas, governing Gaza in Palestine and until now refusing to recognize the right of Israel to exist, and Hizbullah which has a majority support in Lebanon since its victory over Israel in 2006. Iran, another regional power hopeful and opposed to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, is attempting to build its nuclear power and its leaders have vowed to extinguish Israel. Is this enough for describing a false prophet?
The Beast: This is the great desolation of Western civilization. If I have to explain it in detail it will take me a full week. Just briefly: It started with the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther thought that every individual Christian is free to interpret Scriptures according to what he feels the Holy Spirit is telling him. This idea created "individualism." Individualism is rampant today, thanks to other modern philosophers such as the existentialist Sartre. Only me counts. "The other is my hell." It is interesting to note how this has been applied successfully in contemporary thought and technology too. Nothing is done in a vacuum. One thing you must understand is that we are all related in this cosmos. Following Luther in interpreting St.Paul, Calvin thought that God predestined people as he willed to heaven or hell so if they were destined to heaven they will also be blessed here on earth. John Courtney Murray, S.J. who was the main contributor to Vatican II's "Declaration on Freedom of Religion" wrote how Calvinism re-emerged in North-America. Calvinism was brought by the early Europeans to America. Soon enough the idea of individualism combined with the idea of blessedness on earth and produced the idea of Capitalism long before Adam Smith thought of it in economic terms. In simple terms, if I am blessed here as a Christian, I would rather use all the resources available to me to realize this blessing on earth as much and as wide as possible. This is greed in the form of Capitalism. Sure I will help the needy but I will also help myself much more from what they have. The earth is mine and I will explore its richness to the end! Today, Capitalism rules the earth. Free market enslaves people. Recall the political and economic pressure by the IMF on the underdeveloped countries to free their economy in the 1980s and 1990s. What is the global crisis but the result of that greed globally? Why is the globe in economic recession today but because of the powerful wanting more power and meanwhile robbing the nations of Africa and Asia from their resources? It is part of the nationalist movements' claims in the underdeveloped world. The entire U.N. charter is only ink on paper...Along with Capitalism a twin ideology was born: materialism.
Since the Enlightenment in the 19th century West, philosophers and scientists have been asking whether there is indeed any reality beyond matter. Some great materialist/atheist philosophers include Hume, Voltaire, Marx, Carnap, Wittgenstein, Derrida, Michel Foucault and many others. The "New Atheists" of today such as Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss are scientists who devote much time attacking religion because they constrain their research to what is observable in the cosmos. In schools today, our children learn mostly what constitutes physics but very little, if any, about metaphysics (i.e. beyond physics).
Today we see how our consumerist society has invested in this ideology. Businesses flourish based on selling products to consumers. The more we consume the more business flourishes. This is the child of materialism married to capitalism. With globalization in the 1980s-1990s and beyond, large businesses and huge investors were able to reach the entire globe. Europe and the Far East imitated America and did the same. Who paid the price? Small business, and ordinary people like you and me. Materialism also bore the ideology of Communism which was carried out in Russia and persecuted religion from 1917 to 1989 in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Today Communism still lives in political pockets in Europe and is widely known under a more moderate name as socialism. Communism robbed people of their rights to private property. People became enslaved to the government of their land. It engulfed a whole generation of thinkers, even within the Church particularly in Latin America where people remain quite poor. Capitalist America supported dictatorial regimes in Latin America in order to suppress these movements.
Another twist of the moral order took place in the two World Wars. Because many men were sent to the battlefield women were forced to work in order to support their families. The radical feminist ideology was born in the early 1920s and grew quickly in the 1940s and 1950s. Women started building their own career like men. Equality with men, not in dignity as known in traditional Christianity, but in all aspects of roles in business as well as at home was furiously demanded. This started the collapse of the family as we know it. Today we know many men and women who are, contrary to the moral Law, legally divorced. The feminist movement also produced legalization of abortion as the right of woman according to the land's law has a priority over the existence of the fetus in her womb. The Western civilization lost millions of unborn babies in this genocide. By the 1960s the sexual revolution was in the making, this time freeing people from the sex complex as defined by Freud. Soon afterwards, it became common that young people practice their intimate sexual "love" in the public with no shame. Today we know of couples who live together a life of sexual promiscuity and adultery without marriage or within marriage by prior agreement.
The last evil came under the influence of the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (died 1900). The ideology is known as Moral Relativism: Nietzsche sees the slave-morality as a social illness that has overtaken Europe — a derivative and resentful value which can only work by condemning others as evil. In Nietzsche's eyes, Christianity exists in a hypocritical state wherein people preach love and kindness but find their joy in condemning and punishing others for pursuing those ends which the slave-morality does not allow them to act upon publicly. Nietzsche calls for the strong in the world to break their self-imposed chains and assert their own power, health, and vitality upon the world. In Relativism (called also Postmodernism), everyone is right. There is no absolute right and absolute wrong. This helps political correctness in the pluralistic world of today.
In my humble opinion, we need to pay attention to the present, learn lessons from the past, and pray for the future. We seem to have lost our way between the False Prophet (Radical Islam) and the Beast (Western Civilization).
There is a tremendous thirst in the young generations for spiritual nourishment that gives meaning to their lives. Let us focus on those ones for their deprivation of spiritual nourishment leads them to emptiness and depression which in turn cause suicide or worse they could join the extremist Jihadists (as we already see in Europe and North America) and we end up having a crazy army of terrorists killing themselves and us in the name of God as prophesied "children will rise against parents and ave them put to death"(Matthew 10:21). Churches are "not museums" according to Pope Saint John XXIII. They must be the light for nourishment of Christians, notably the young and (almost) lost generations, in everything that they need to learn to live spiritually and survive materially i.e. to develop their knowledge and love of God and of others.Virtual websites for Church activities and online social networking need to be developed for those who are far.
The world needs a lot of prayer and intelligent collaboration in good faith to avoid a clash of civilizations and a third World War, something that Pope Francis warned about. Christians need to respect and love their fellow Muslims who worship the same God - The crimes of extremists cannot be counted against the vast majority of Muslims. We hope that the warnings of Fatima will be avoided. Mary is the mother of both Christians and Muslims, and as Bishop Fulton sheen said, Mary will bring them all to her Son.
But more prayers are needed to save the civilization of the West from destroying itself internally. This is the harder one. We believe in what the Saviour said 'Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20).
In closing you may wish to see this clip of a Christmas hymn received from a close brother:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnk04X6ZR1w&feature=youtu.be
Sunday, December 16, 2018
The Joy of Living in the Lord
In his Epistle to the Colossians, St. Paul exhorts Christians to put off their old way of life..."Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3: 5). Instead "there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth'ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3: 11), Furthermore "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3: 12-17). The above was in the Epistle's reading today Sunday December 16, 2018 at Jesus the King Melkite Catholic parish celebrated in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Toronto. The Gospel reading was from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which our Lord gives the parable of a master who invites his friends to a great banquet but they decline. Here it is "A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, `Come; for all is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.'
and another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, `Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' And the servant said, `Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the servant, `Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'" It is followed by Christ's words "Many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22: 14). The long history of Christianity is nothing but Christ who renews the world (see this essay written in March this year here). In fact, complex projects today show that the human mind created by God is unique among biological animals (see this post that I wrote as a response to one of the questions in my Master's studies in information systems here). In his impressive homily on the above, the pastor, Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad; bso said that Christ does not require Christians to be highly successful in this world. He only desires that we come to him like the poor, the blind, and the lame who pray because they need the joy of Christ which he brought when he was incarnate from the immaculate Virgin Mary, always-virgin, by the power of the Spirit of God. St. Paul exhorts Christians to be kind and forgiving of people they know and above all put on love - This is how we attain the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and our relations. God himself is a relatedness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (On Relatedness, see this post here). It is not enough to enjoy Christmas but Christians need to show how Christ revolutionized the way of relating to everyone around them and of realizing that God loves all. Before receiving the Eucharist in the state of grace, the choir sings with the congregation the Lord's Prayer - It is important to note that "Give us this day our daily bread" is an invitation of Christ to be in us through the reception of his body and blood in the Mystery of the Eucharist (see this essay written in August 2018 here). The renowned Homsy choir has always sung beautiful hymns in the Masses celebrated. A recording of the hymns in the first Greek Melkite Catholic Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 can be found here. In the end of the Divine Liturgy according to St. John Chrysostom, the priest, on behalf of himself and the congregation, asks the Triune God to grant peace to the world, the Churches, priests, rulers, and "all thy people; for every good grace and every perfect gift come down from you Father of lights". His mother is the woman persecuted by the Devil in the Book of Revelation (see this reflection on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by the Biblical scholar Thomas Cardinal Collins here). Joy to the World - Christ the Saviour is here!
and another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, `Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' And the servant said, `Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the servant, `Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'" It is followed by Christ's words "Many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22: 14). The long history of Christianity is nothing but Christ who renews the world (see this essay written in March this year here). In fact, complex projects today show that the human mind created by God is unique among biological animals (see this post that I wrote as a response to one of the questions in my Master's studies in information systems here). In his impressive homily on the above, the pastor, Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad; bso said that Christ does not require Christians to be highly successful in this world. He only desires that we come to him like the poor, the blind, and the lame who pray because they need the joy of Christ which he brought when he was incarnate from the immaculate Virgin Mary, always-virgin, by the power of the Spirit of God. St. Paul exhorts Christians to be kind and forgiving of people they know and above all put on love - This is how we attain the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and our relations. God himself is a relatedness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (On Relatedness, see this post here). It is not enough to enjoy Christmas but Christians need to show how Christ revolutionized the way of relating to everyone around them and of realizing that God loves all. Before receiving the Eucharist in the state of grace, the choir sings with the congregation the Lord's Prayer - It is important to note that "Give us this day our daily bread" is an invitation of Christ to be in us through the reception of his body and blood in the Mystery of the Eucharist (see this essay written in August 2018 here). The renowned Homsy choir has always sung beautiful hymns in the Masses celebrated. A recording of the hymns in the first Greek Melkite Catholic Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 can be found here. In the end of the Divine Liturgy according to St. John Chrysostom, the priest, on behalf of himself and the congregation, asks the Triune God to grant peace to the world, the Churches, priests, rulers, and "all thy people; for every good grace and every perfect gift come down from you Father of lights". His mother is the woman persecuted by the Devil in the Book of Revelation (see this reflection on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by the Biblical scholar Thomas Cardinal Collins here). Joy to the World - Christ the Saviour is here!
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Surprised...
Surprised...This is how the shepherds felt when the angels announced to them the birth of Christ the Saviour of Mankind. It is written in the Gospel according to St. Luke how the angel announced it ["Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"] (Luke 2: 10-14).Christ the Lord was born in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem away from the big cities of the Roman empire. The Holy Family had to escape the cruelty and assault of Herod the tyrant king as he became jealous that a new king was born. The Holy Family escaped to Egypt where they stayed for a few years until the tyrant was dead. Throughout his life, Jesus sided with the weak and sinners. He performed miracles for the simple and showed the real face of a loving God. He surprised the priests that he went in the house of Zacchae'us the chief tax collector after he promised to give half of his money to the poor and if he defrauded anyone, he would restore it fourfold. And Jesus said "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19: 2-10). This is the message of Christ who loves all human beings "For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost." The priests, pharisees and scribes who went by the Law of Moses were surprised that he claimed to forgive those whom he healed. When the leaders of the Jews questioned him how he dared to claim that he came from God while they were the sons of Abraham, Jesus answered them "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad." The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." (John 8: 56-58). When arrested by the Jewish authorities for claiming that he was the Son of God, Ca'iaphas the high priest questioned him - But he was silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus said, "I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." And the high priest tore his garments, and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy." (Matthew 26: 57-65). Jesus was mocked by the Roman governor Pilate and his soldiers. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. Under the cross his mother the most pure Virgin Mary stood crying and John the Apostle was asked by Jesus to take her into his care. When Christ rose from the dead, he first appeared to the women whose testimony was not considered equal to that of men...Naming the Virgin Mary "Batoul" was explained by Fr. Georges Farah here. In his scholarly work he expresses the ancient tradition that the virgin Mary is called "The Temple of God". In fact, most of the Apostles paid the ultimate sacrifice for their faith in Christ. The early Church grew among peasants and workers before it reached kings and eventually Constantine. In the first 300 years Decius, Valerian and Diocletian persecuted Christians. In March this year, I wrote an essay on the development of Christianity here. This can be a useful reference for Christians seeking clarification to the long history from the Apostles to early witnesses, medieval saints and scholastics, Counter-Reformation movements, The Enlightenment and scholarly Christian responses to doubts. Against doubts today, there is much evidence to support the Resurrection of Christ. The reader may wish to read Professor Peter Kreeft here, the excerpt on the Truth of the Resurrection in the scholarly work of Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) here and the work of the Jesuit scholar Fr. Gerald O'Collins here. After his Resurrection, Christ sent his disciples to the nations. [And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."] (Matthew 28: 18-20). In his Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul also encourages Christians with these words "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 5-11).
Today Christians face difficulties and persecution in most countries of the world. They include populations in Canada, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In a recent homily dated Sunday August 12, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad mentioned the long and difficult way to "the mountain of the Lord" that the great Prophet Elijah had to go through, and compared it to the way Christians in Egypt face difficulties in harassment and persecution in addition to their daily lives. He gave the example of a mother who takes multiple transportation routes in order to arrive home and cook dinner for her hungry children. With inflation, the daily life of Egypt's undernourished class is hard enough to discourage and depress families. Egyptian Christians have faced persecution for a long time that their resolve was strengthened by faith. How long would it remain? (homily in French subtitled in English can be found here). In Canada, the liberal government of Justin Trudeau has put new rules to stop immigration to Canada by priests and nuns citing that they are not productive to Canada's economy. Radical Islam continues to rock populations in Europe (see report of an Islamist attack on December 11 in Strasbourg France updated by BBC here).
But there has been much development in medical and physical sciences especially with advanced technology. We need to be informed of the natural world that St. Thomas Aquinas opened up since the 13th century with his philosophical and theological inquiries (see Thomism here). Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, continues to teach on the Sacraments, Baptism and other important spiritual realities at the University of St. Thomas in Houston (see his lecture on Baptism published on YouTube here).
This year I wrote a post titled: The Cosmos, Quantum Uncertainty, Artificial Intelligence, and Faith which can be read here. In September, Quanta Magazine published an article on new studies of machine learning here. To the surprise of scientists, on December 11 this year, CERN published an article on a brand-new beam screen to cope with high luminosity in the search of sub-particles in the universe (see it here).
In spite of disturbing news, Christians remain confident that Christ will be triumphant in the end (read me here).
This is the hope found in the Book of Revelation. Msgr. Robert Nusca, a renowned Biblical scholar and Pastor at Holy Rosary in Toronto wrote an impressive book in which he compares Apocalyptic signs to today's permissive culture - The book is titled "The Christ of the Apocalypse: Contemplating The Face of Jesus in the Book of Revelation"....Christ Shall be Victorious!
Today Christians face difficulties and persecution in most countries of the world. They include populations in Canada, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In a recent homily dated Sunday August 12, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad mentioned the long and difficult way to "the mountain of the Lord" that the great Prophet Elijah had to go through, and compared it to the way Christians in Egypt face difficulties in harassment and persecution in addition to their daily lives. He gave the example of a mother who takes multiple transportation routes in order to arrive home and cook dinner for her hungry children. With inflation, the daily life of Egypt's undernourished class is hard enough to discourage and depress families. Egyptian Christians have faced persecution for a long time that their resolve was strengthened by faith. How long would it remain? (homily in French subtitled in English can be found here). In Canada, the liberal government of Justin Trudeau has put new rules to stop immigration to Canada by priests and nuns citing that they are not productive to Canada's economy. Radical Islam continues to rock populations in Europe (see report of an Islamist attack on December 11 in Strasbourg France updated by BBC here).
But there has been much development in medical and physical sciences especially with advanced technology. We need to be informed of the natural world that St. Thomas Aquinas opened up since the 13th century with his philosophical and theological inquiries (see Thomism here). Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, continues to teach on the Sacraments, Baptism and other important spiritual realities at the University of St. Thomas in Houston (see his lecture on Baptism published on YouTube here).
This year I wrote a post titled: The Cosmos, Quantum Uncertainty, Artificial Intelligence, and Faith which can be read here. In September, Quanta Magazine published an article on new studies of machine learning here. To the surprise of scientists, on December 11 this year, CERN published an article on a brand-new beam screen to cope with high luminosity in the search of sub-particles in the universe (see it here).
In spite of disturbing news, Christians remain confident that Christ will be triumphant in the end (read me here).
This is the hope found in the Book of Revelation. Msgr. Robert Nusca, a renowned Biblical scholar and Pastor at Holy Rosary in Toronto wrote an impressive book in which he compares Apocalyptic signs to today's permissive culture - The book is titled "The Christ of the Apocalypse: Contemplating The Face of Jesus in the Book of Revelation"....Christ Shall be Victorious!
Saturday, December 8, 2018
The Immaculate Conception of Mary Mother of Christ
On December 8, that is today, the Catholic world celebrates the Solemnity of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception as she was conceived in her mother's womb St. Anne without the stain of Original Sin. The doctrine goes back to St. Luke's description of the annunciation of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. The angel said to Mary "Hail, full of grace! the Lord is with you." to which she was greatly troubled. The angel continued "Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end". Mary said to the angel "How can this be since I know no man?" which means that she did not have sexual relations with any man..."And the angel said to her in reply, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.' Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her." (Luke 1: 26-38).
for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end". Mary said to the angel "How can this be since I know no man?" which means that she did not have sexual relations with any man..."And the angel said to her in reply, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.' Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her." (Luke 1: 26-38).
In the 2nd century, the early Church Father, St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, followed St. Polycarp who was a disciple of St. John the Apostle and called the Virgin Mary "The New Eve" based on Eve's disobedience of God through an angel which Mary full of grace conquered through her obedience of God through an angel (see Genesis 3: 6). (see here for more). Since the word "Eve" means "mother of the living", Mary becomes "mother of the new living". Mary was proclaimed "Mother of God" in the Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus in 431 AD which was championed by the Bishops of Alexandria reaffirming the incarnation of Christ the Lord from Mary who, against the Nestorian heresy, is, therefore, worthy to be called "Mother of God". St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. Epiphanius of Salamis affirmed the interpretation of St. Irenaeus. A feast of the "Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God" was celebrated in Syria on December 8 perhaps as early as the 5th century.To St. Ephraem, the Virgin Mary was as innocent as Eve before her fall, most estranged from every stain of sin ("Carmina Nisibena"). Mary's complete sinlessness and concomitant exemption from any taint of sin from the first moment of her existence found expression in Byzantine theologians mostly St. Gregory Nazianzen as well as St. Sophronius of Jerusalem and St. John of Damascus (d. 750). St. Ambrose wrote that Mary is incorrupt , a virgin immune through grace from every stain of sin ("Sermo xxii in Ps cxviii"). The well-known words of St. Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) may be cited "As regard the mother of God, I will not allow any question whatever of sin." The Franciscan Blessed John Duns Scotus (c 1266-1308) taught at Oxford and later at the famed University of Paris. He wrote that through the redemption of Christ her son, Mary was preserved from the stain of sin (Original or personal) which meant the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is considered, with St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the great Middle Ages scholastic theologians. In 1439 the Council of Basel stated that belief in the immaculate conception of Mary was in accord with Catholic faith. In 1477, Pope Sixtus IV introduced a feast of the "Conception of Immaculate Mary ever Virgin". In the Ecumenical Council of Trent (1545-1563) opposition to a declaration of the immaculate conception of the Mother of God caused no further discussion. However, in 1830, Our Lord appeared to Sister Catherine Labouré telling her that he desired to be with everyone. This was followed by an apparition of the Blessed Mother to St. Catherine Labouré and instructed her to make a medal that showed on one side a cross and the letter M (for Mary) with the sacred heart of Jesus together with the immaculate heart of Mary beneath it surrounded by stars and on the other side the Virgin Mary with rays emanating from her hands and an inscription "O Mary conceived without Sin, pray for us who have recourse to you." Catherine informed her spiritual director of the request. In 2 years, the Bishop had ordered the printing and distribution of the medal with official approval by the Holy See...(see picture).
In 1854, Pope Blessed Pius IX as teacher of the Church in matters of dogmas and morals made the infallible declaration that the Virgin Mary was conceived without stain of sin.
In its Dogmatic Constitution, the Ecumenical Second Vatican Council reiterated the dogma that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin and that she lived a pure person all her life.
It is fitting therefore that we ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for all before the Lord and God her son.
In 1854, Pope Blessed Pius IX as teacher of the Church in matters of dogmas and morals made the infallible declaration that the Virgin Mary was conceived without stain of sin.
In its Dogmatic Constitution, the Ecumenical Second Vatican Council reiterated the dogma that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin and that she lived a pure person all her life.
It is fitting therefore that we ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for all before the Lord and God her son.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
How Amazing is the Life of this Man? Francis Xavier
This post is taken verbatim from the Catholic Encyclopedia here.
Born in the Castle of Xavier near Sanguesa, in Navarre, 7 April 1506; died on the Island of Sancian near the coast of China, 2 December 1552. In 1525, having completed a preliminary course of studies in his own country, Francis Xavier went to Paris, where he entered the collège de Sainte-Barbe. Here he met the Savoyard, Pierre Favre, and a warm personal friendship sprang up between them. It was at this same college that Saint Ignatius Loyola, who was already planning the foundation of the Society of Jesus, resided for a time as a guest in 1529. He soon won the confidence of the two young men; first Favre and later Xavier offered themselves with him in the formation of the Society. Four others, Lainez, Salmerón, Rodríguez, and Bobadilla, having joined them, the seven made the famous vow of Montmartre, 15 August 1534.
Born in the Castle of Xavier near Sanguesa, in Navarre, 7 April 1506; died on the Island of Sancian near the coast of China, 2 December 1552. In 1525, having completed a preliminary course of studies in his own country, Francis Xavier went to Paris, where he entered the collège de Sainte-Barbe. Here he met the Savoyard, Pierre Favre, and a warm personal friendship sprang up between them. It was at this same college that Saint Ignatius Loyola, who was already planning the foundation of the Society of Jesus, resided for a time as a guest in 1529. He soon won the confidence of the two young men; first Favre and later Xavier offered themselves with him in the formation of the Society. Four others, Lainez, Salmerón, Rodríguez, and Bobadilla, having joined them, the seven made the famous vow of Montmartre, 15 August 1534.
After completing his studies in Paris and filling the post of teacher there for some time, Xavier left the city with his companions 15 November, 1536, and turned his steps to Venice, where he displayed zeal and charity in attending the sick in the hospitals. On 24 June, 1537, he received Holy orders with Saint Ignatius. The following year he went to Rome, and after doing apostolic work there for some months, during the spring of 1539 he took part in the conferences which Saint Ignatius held with his companions to prepare for the definitive foundation of the Society of Jesus. The order was approved verbally 3 September, and before the written approbation was secured, which was not until a year later, Xavier was appointed, at the earnest solicitation of the John III, King of Portugal, to evangelize the people of the East Indies. He left Rome 16 March, 1540, and reached Lisbon about June. Here he remained nine months, giving many admirable examples of apostolic zeal.
On 7 April 1541 he embarked in a sailing vessel for India, and after a tedious and dangerous voyage landed at Goa, 6 May, 1542. The first five months he spent in preaching and ministering to the sick in the hospitals. He would go through the streets ringing a little bell and inviting the children to hear the word of God. When he had gathered a number, he would take them to a certain church and would there explain the catechism to them. About October, 1542, he started for the pearl fisheries of the extreme southern coast of the peninsula, desirous of restoringChristanity which, although introduced years before, had almost disappeared on account of the lack of priests. He devoted almost three years to the work of preaching to the people of Western India, converting many, and reaching in his journeys even the Island of Ceylon. Many were the difficulties and hardships which Xavier had to encounter at this time, sometimes on account of the cruelpersecutions which some of the petty kings of the country carried on against the neophytes, and again because the Portuguese soldiers, far from seconding the work of the saint, retarded it by their bad example and vicious habits.
In the spring of 1545 Xavier started for Malacca. He laboured there for the last months of that year, and although he reaped an abundant spiritual harvest, he was not able to root out certain abuses, and was conscious that many sinners had resisted his efforts to bring them back to God. About January, 1546, Xavier left Malacca and went to Molucca Islands, where the Portuguese had some settlements, and for a year and a half he preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of Amboyna, Ternate, Baranura, and other lesser islands which it has been difficult to identify. It is claimed by some that during this expedition he landed on the island of Mindanao, and for this reasonSt. Francis Xavier has been called the first Apostle of the Philippines. But although this statement is made by some writers of the seventeenth century, and in the Bull of canonization issued in 1623, it is said that he preached the Gospel in Mindanao, up to the present time it has not been proved absolutely that Saint Francis Xavier ever landed in the Philippines.
By July, 1547, he was again in Malacca. Here he met a Japanese called Anger (Han-Sir), from whom he obtained much information about Japan. His zeal was at once aroused by the idea of introducing Christanity into Japan, but for the time being the affairs of the Society demanded his presence at Goa, whither he went, taking Anger with him. During the six years that Xavier had been working among the infidels, other Jesuit missionaries had arrived at Goa, sent from Europe by Saint Ignatius; moreover some who had been born in the country had been received into the Society. In 1548 Xavier sent these missionaries to the principal centres of India, where he had established missions, so that the work might be preserved and continued. He also established a novitiate and house of studies, and having received into the Society Father Cosme de Torres, a spanish priest whom he had met in the Maluccas, he started with him and Brother Juan Fernández for Japan towards the end of June, 1549. The Japanese Anger, who had been baptized at Goa and given the name of Pablo de Santa Fe, accompanied them.
They landed at the city of Kagoshima in Japan, 15 August 1549. The entire first year was devoted to learning the Japanese language and translating into Japanese, with the help of Pablo de Santa Fe, the principal articles of faith and short treatises which were to be employed in preaching and catechizing. When he was able to express himself, Xavier began preaching and made some converts, but these aroused the ill will of the bonzes, who had him banished from the city. Leaving Kagoshima about August, 1550, he penetrated to the centre of Japan, and preached the Gospel in some of the cities of southern Japan. Towards the end of that year he reached Meaco, then the principal city of Japan, but he was unable to make any headway here because of the dissensions the rending the country. He retraced his steps to the centre of Japan, and during 1551 preached in some important cities, forming the nucleus of several Christian communities, which in time increased with extraordinary rapidity.
After working about two years and a half in Japan he left this mission in charge of Father Cosme de Torres and Brother Juan Fernández, and returned to Goa, arriving there at the beginning of 1552. Here domestic troubles awaited him. Certain disagreements between the superior who had been left in charge of the missions, and the rector of the college, had to be adjusted. This, however, being arranged, Xavier turned his thoughts to China, and began to plan an expedition there. During his stay in Japan he had heard much of the Celestial Empire, and though he probably had not formed a proper estimate of his extent and greatness, he nevertheless understood how wide a field it afforded for the spread of the light of theGospel. With the help of friends he arranged a commission or embassy the Sovereign of China, obtained from the Viceroy of India the appointment of ambassador, and in April, 1552, he left Goa. At Malacca the party encountered difficulties because the influential Portuguese disapproved of the expedition, but Xavier knew how to overcome this opposition, and in the autumn he arrived in a Portuguese vessel at the small island of Sancian near the coast of China. While planning the best means for reaching the mainland, he was taken ill, and as the movement of the vessel seemed to aggravate hiscondition , he was removed to the land, where a rude hut had been built to shelter him. In these wretched surroundings he breathed his last.
It is truly a matter of wonder that one man in the short space of ten years (6 May 1542 – 2 December 1552) could have visited so many countries, traversed so many seas, preached the Gospel to so many nations, and converted so many infidels. The incomparable apostolic zeal which animated him, and the stupendous miracles which God wrought through him, explain this marvel, which has no equal elsewhere. The list of the principal miracles may be found in the Bull of canonization. Saint Francis Xavier is considered the greatest missionary since the time of the Apostles, and the zeal he displayed, the wonderful miracles he performed, and the great number of souls he brought to the light of true Faith, entitle him to this distinction. He was canonized with Saint Ignatius in 1622, although on account of the death of Gregory XV, the Bull of canonization was not published until the following year.
The body of the saint is still enshrined at Goa in the church which formerly belonged to the Society. In 1614 by order of Claudius Acquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, the right arm was severed at the elbow and conveyed to Rome, where the present altar was erected to receive it in the church of the Gesu.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Come, Follow Me
In the Roman Catholic Church Gospel's reading on November 30, the Lord says to St. Peter and St. Andrew "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4: 19). They both followed him, and testified to their faith in him which cost them their lives on crosses by order of the Roman authorities: St. Peter was crucified upside down in Rome by Emperor Nero ca 64 while St. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras (cf. Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae, 4th century). I do mention the above to only thank God that, in his providential care, he helped me be baptized and brought up Christian by devout parents. I thank God for the many graces that he abundantly continues to give me through my wife, children, brothers and sisters-in-law as well as great physicians and many friends including their charitable work and prayers for me and others.
I am grateful to God for having known many spiritual directors and scholars from whom I learned much (including the great followers of Christ who departed to God such as Monseigneur Paul Antaki the Great who was Melkite Catholic Patriarchal Vicar on the See of Alexandria; and the Lebanese Catholic scholar Fr. Ignatius Sarkis Naggar who was pastor of St. Cyril's Melkite Catholic parish in Heliopolis, Cairo).
I continue to learn from Christ's disciples and other knowledgeable scientists and scholars.
Recently, I browsed some of the lectures given by the Nobel-Prize Laureate Professor Richard Feynman on quantum physics and the universe. The interested reader may wish to read them on the website of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) here and compare them to the quite impressive 2015 TEDx-Talk by Professor Leo Kouwenhoven on quantum technology here and to the equally impressive 2017 lecture by Professor David Tong on quantum fields as the building blocks of the universe given at Cambridge University here or the recent commentaries on quantum mechanics by associates of Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. on his Magis Center website here and here. You may also wish to read my post on "The Quantum Universe" written in October 2017 here.
The most recent words I received include an on-line link from Msgr. Robert Nusca that opens up a treasure of Catholic teachings in several fields of today's life and helps leaders in discussions included in the RCIA programs.
I also received beautiful commentaries by Fr. Henri Boulad, S.J. on my post "Complex Projects versus Complex Mind" written in 2009 here as well as my recent response to a fellow friend re a documentary on individual and societal threat by pornography published by CNA here - My response was summarized in two lectures that I gave years ago - They partially respond to today's permissive society which Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) described in terms of "moral relativism" here - "Why Our Youths Are Not Getting Married Today" here and "Is Abortion Justified in Case of Rape ?" here. I wish to thank Msgr. Nusca and Fr. Boulad for their prayers and support.
But we cannot rest assured of where the world is going especially when huge amounts of money are spent on spreading "Radical Islam" by fundamentalists and by political governments. In this regard, the reader may wish to listen to Fr. Boulad in October 2017 during his visit to France (here in French).
To the above we should add the tragedy of Christ and his followers as Christmas becomes closer.
Christmas is not only a great social event where we meet beloved people but also a reminder to me of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who was incarnate by the power of the holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary for our salvation as we recite in the Creed. The "Lamb of God" had to face much rejection since his birth in Bethlehem. Kings and Governors could not tolerate his presence nor can they or their allies today. King Herod the Great was furious when he knew of Christ's birth "The King of the Jews" that the Prophets spoke about and the village where he would be born. Pilate too questioned him and sarcastically asked him "Are you King?" He also sarcastically asked him "What is Truth?" as if the world should always be enslaved to the power of emperors!
On September 14, 2008 at the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross, Fr. Georges Farah gave a very eloquent homily about Jesus the King and the way Pilate treated him. The reader may wish to read it here. In December 2014, I wrote a post here about the joy that Fr. Farah made us feel as Christmas becomes close. On Sunday September 7, 2014, the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was celebrated at Jesus the King Melkite Catholic parish in Toronto where Fr. Farah spoke about the meaning of her title "Batoul" here.
In December 2014, Fr. Henri Boulad spoke about the birth of Christ - Here:
"Jesus is a revelation. Jesus is a revolution" says the Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad. But what kind of revolution? "Jesus empties heaven and moves the [Divine presence] to be among us: Emmanuel." and continues "Is it possible that God makes such a radical move? I have a response here to our Muslim brothers who think it is impossible. For them God cannot descend from heaven without losing his honor and dignity."
Now listen carefully because here Henri Boulad summarizes the Christian Mystery in as simple language as possible "If Jesus Christ is an illusion...If Christianity is a sheer mystification...If God did not come to us and did not descend from his heaven...If he did not take the radical and seemingly impossible leap of the incarnation, then he ceases being credible - he ceases being love - he ceases being God."
Let us reflect. Here is the message:
"The scandal of the Incarnation, which means that we cannot believe that God could debase himself , becomes the key and the supreme proof that this is the truth"
"But a God in heaven well served who looks to me and says 'You suffer. Have courage. Perhaps one day you will be with me in my heaven' is not God. A God who says 'Patience. I am fine here but you over there can suffer' is not God. This is the false God that we, often, figure that he sends us prophets from time to time to console us' . NO, NO. NO. This God who looks to me with a telescope is not my God. I do not want him."
"If there is a phenomenon of atheism today in the West as well as in Egypt, it is precisely because men say we are in fact better than God. The walk that I walk to help when I see a hungry person or a thirsty one or a person without faith, can't God do it? Has he no choice regarding his honor?"
"No. He did it. This is the supreme proof of the Christian Mystery. Do not look somewhere else. 'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' He descended. No more seventh heaven..."
"The only God I can believe, love and worship is the God Jesus Christ because he descended to me."
"'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' "
And the great preacher and Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad finished here his homily.
"Come, Follow Me" Jesus continues to say to everyone who has ears to listen...
NOTES:
1) Msgr. Robert Nusca, Pastor of Holy Rosary Catholic parish in Toronto, is a renowned Biblical scholar, Senior Fellow at St. Paul's Center. He holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and is Professor of Biblical Studies at St. Augustine's Seminary; a member College of the Toronto School of Theology affiliated with the University of Toronto.
2) Fr. Henri Boulad, S.J. is a Jesuit scholar whose homilies in French are uploaded weekly on YouTube. Fluent in French, English and Arabic, he is a missionary who went to The Sudan in the 1980s, and tours Europe and Canada every year where he gives homilies and retreats as he does also in Egypt where he is resident. He taught theology at the High Institute of Theology in Cairo and visited Lebanon where he gave retreats.
3) Fluent in Arabic, French, and English, Fr. Georges Farah is a Lebanese Melkite Catholic scholar whose credentials include a doctorate in philosophy and another in theology from the renowned Sorbonne University in Paris.
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