The Influence of God

It is not a secret that we influence each other. By only watching TV, you can guess from the ads who moves opinions to make decisions. The political drama today is based on relativism, a post-modern phenomenon that claims there is no absolute truth. You make your own truth and I make mine. The more you have money and can invest it in influencing others, the more followers you have.
The influence of God manifested certain commandments or rules in ancient nations notably in Judaism. The influence of God has been growing since the death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ who spoke to his Apostles, and they, in turn, preached the good news of eternal joy from Jerusalem to Antioch, Rome, and Alexandria. They and their followers continue to confess the divinity of the risen man Jesus and his power with which he loved and loves everyone. He will come again a the end of the world to restore fallen humanity to his beloved Father (Revelation 21, 22).

The above should remind everyone that tomorrow Tuesday November 8 the presidential elections in the United States will take place. Although many deny that they do not influence anyone else nor care about what happens in the United Stated, everyone knows that the policy of the United States influences the world more than any other country as it is the hub of technology, military power, and economic influence. A prayer for the right person to be chosen will make a difference I believe. Between the extremely liberal Hillary Clinton with years of mismanagement of foreign policy after President Obama, and the conservative Donald Trump who promised to appoint 3 pro-life judges to the Supreme Court with a Conservative Congress that backs him up but who is also an extremely divisive person who wants to build walls to isolate/"protect" Americans from their neighboring countries among other things, it is hard to choose. None of us has an insight into the real intentions of the candidate. In meeting with George Weigel, I asked whether it was possible to replace Trump with his more balanced vice president Mike Pence, but he said this is not possible at this point. I hope the right person will be chosen to lead America.

I have been personally influenced by the late Archbishop Paul Antaki the Great (see http://todayquestions.blogspot.ca/2011/12/paul-antaki-great.html), the late Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church (see http://todayquestions.blogspot.ca/2012/03/man-of-faith.html), Melkite Catholic Archbishop Joseph Jules Zerey in Jerusalem,
and Thomas Cardinal Collins Archbishop of Toronto who is a moderate prelate that may become the next Pope.

Among preachers, quite a few scholars have influenced me such as Fr. Henri Boulad, S.J., Fr. Ignatius Sarkis Najjar, Prof. Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, Prof. Msgr. Robert Nusca, Prof. Fr. Georges Farah, and Prof. Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J. There are more working hard to serve their churches and communities. . Among them I have been influenced by the young Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad and his assistant priests at Jesus the King
Melkite Catholic parish. Service is not limited to priests. I have been influenced by quite a few women and men who humbly serve in different roles in church and community as well as in their own families. Parents can be examples for children. A number of organizations that impress us in their services include "Doctors without frontiers" whose  members are willing to take risk in order to treat the injured, or St. Vincent de Paul whose members visit the elderly and lonely and help them in many tasks. One such organization made up mainly of lay people that serve communities, needy, and persecuted people is the Knights of Columbus whose members influence millions in their services.

It is important that we work and pray for the right people to lead us in every country and everywhere. God is the Father who influences us as his Spirit helps us to do good and avoid evil. This is the Spirit of Christ in the world!

My Joy with the Beloved

On Sunday October 23, I had the joy of participating with my beloved wife in two special events organized by Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad and his team at Jesus the King Melkite Catholic parish.
First: In the noon Mass, Fr. Ibrahim prayed for the past parish council of which I was a member. We prayed with the parishioners for our beloved families and friends everywhere and received the Sacrament of penance or reconciliation followed by the great Sacrament of the Eucharistic body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Homsy choir performed some of the most majestic hymns in English, Greek, and Arabic and, for me, the choir leader who knew my preferred hymns made sure the choir sang the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) in the way that his dad of blessed memory devised it. At the end of the Mass too, the Great Kyrie-Eleison was performed with such triumphant tone that you would think that the angels in heaven were also singing with us.
Following the Mass, my wife and I were invited, along with other past parish council members and their spouses to Mazza restaurant where we were greeted by the elegant owner, who is also a member of the Melkite Catholic Church and an active member on the Board of Jesus the King Knights of Columbus Council. There we were joined by a group of choir members including the choir leader and his highly-active wife who participated in the preparation of the event and served everyone. Many other parishioners joined us as we enjoyed together this get-together day. Although most attendees of the dinner party had to register and pay, they did it with joy and generosity which, I believe, is characteristic of the people who lived in, or are originally from, the Middle East. In spite of loud speakers, I enjoyed  the folkloric dance "Dabke" in which many people, young and old including Fr. Ibrahim, participated. The fellow who performed musical tones along the recorded ones left a good impact on his listeners.
It was an early well-prepared dinner, that started with a prayer to God by the mouth of the parish pastor Fr. Ibrahim and continued with a voice message from Most Reverend Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim who is in charge of all Melkite Catholics in Canada. In his message, Bishop Ibrahim encouraged us and everyone in the community to continue the really-good work done over the past 20 years or so with Fr. Georges Farah principally who oversaw the purchase of the church and made significant contributions to our understanding of the meaning of life, and since the beginning of 2015 with Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, Fr. Michel Chalhoub, and Fr. Youhanna Hanna.
And I remembered the annual festival started by Fr. Georges Farah, the Catholicism Series which continue to be presented by Fr. Youhanna Hanna in addition to Fr. Youhanna's prayerful assistance to the sick which continues uninterrupted, and other talks by Fr. Michel Chalhoub, the weekly lectures in the hard questions of theology and philosophy that Fr. Georges Farah gave us, and the weekly lectures that I gave to the young adults and since 2008 to older generations too.
Following the voice message by Bishop Ibrahim, Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad spoke of the good work and collaboration that he received from the past parish council members which continues today with his support. Fr. Ibrahim has also engaged teams of young adults to help the priests in teaching the children of the parish according to a program prepared by the Church authorities and, as far as I know, approved by Bishop Ibrahim. It is quite important that every bishop and priest provide the communication means to preserve our young adults and kids in the faith received from the Apostles.
Congratulations to the parish, the team who worked hard and the parish head for whom we thank God.
It was a day of joy with many of the beloved ones.

A Mother

“Humility is the mother of all virtues - purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed, you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.”

- Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa is a saint because of her courage to take the adventure of following Christ. She was born in Skopje, now capital of the Republic of Macedonia, and raised within Kosovo Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire. We see in her story the effect of upbringing in a simple one family and of daring to go on pilgrimage to the shrine of the Black Madonna where she often prayed as a young woman. At the age of 18, Agnes who would become Mother Teresa made a more daring step - we could say she stepped out of Plato's cave - to the "New World" of England as she left her mother and sister. Her father had already passed away. As she landed in Rathfarnham in Ireland to join Loreto Abbey, the words of Peter to Christ rang "Lord, To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6: 68). She wanted to learn English, but the Lord destined her to use all her gifts for the destitute and   marginalized in India. From Macedonia all the way to India did not end there for she must tour the world to offer the services of love to the little ones and create homes for the unwanted. In 1937, she took her solemn vows and served as a teacher at the Loreto convent school near Calcutta until in 1946 Teresa experienced what she called "the call within the call" and in 1948 she began her missionary organization which Rome approved in 1950 calling it "the Missionaries of Charity". But where is her humility? She trusted God like a child as she continued to pray before the Blessed Sacrament although for 50 years she never felt his presence."Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18: 3). The most important message she gave was probably her acceptance speech of the Nobel Prize in 1979: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I36Nistc9wE If you listen to the entire speech you will notice how this woman and mother defends the unborn children. For more on her life see http://todayquestions.blogspot.ca/2008/11/third-teresa-woman-for-all-seasons.html

Today I received a call from a beloved cousin in Lebanon. After expressing my joy for the great Mass we had yesterday at Jesus the King Church followed by the social party organized by Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad and his team as well as the encouraging messages by Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim and Fr. Ibrahim (later on this), she told me about the miracle that she had in begetting her only boy through the intercession of another woman and mother, Saint Rita of Cascia, who was also the beloved saint of my beloved mother. Rita loved her husband even though he was unfaithful and loved her children praying for their salvation. On Saint Rita see: https://st-rita.org/the-story-of-st-rita-of-cascia/ and http://www.saintritashrine.org/life-of-saint-rita/ 

Who is a woman? She is not simply the external beauty that men see, but the internal beauty that expresses her love to the beloved with tears. St. Paul expresses the mystical union of the Church to Christ as the relationship of the body to the head (1 Cor. 12: 27). The committed woman attracts her lover to possess her. Yet she receives his seed in order to beget his child.  A woman is the foundation of home because of the bond that bonds her to her children. A woman strives to beautify everything around her as they reflect the inner beauty that comes from God. She enjoys the family and celebrates the success of everyone of them putting herself at the service of others. Her tears flow when in joy or in pain as well as when she loses a beloved member of her family and friends. It is proven physiologically that oxytocin, a hormone released in sexual mating, works for bonding man and woman and more so for bonding the woman to her children. See http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275795.php

Fr. Henri Boulad, S.J. wrote that woman is the perfection of Man based on a proper reading of Genesis 2 in view of the development of life. Dr. Scott Hahn, founder of St. Paul Centre of Biblical Theology, portrays the first covenant of self-giving in the story of  Adam and Eve. And who else can tell us about the woman who is mother of all? Listen to Archbishop Fulton Sheen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG5-RSevDBI

It is a responsibility for Christians to open their ears to God's words for he always "knocks on the door" (Revelation 3: 20).

It is a message to Americans who are voting for the nominee for the presidential elections:

Who of the 2 candidates supports planned parenthood, abortion, and same-sex marriage?
Abortion, divorce, and same-sex marriage contribute to a childless society which means that there will hardly be any new generations that will grow, work, and pay taxes to support the infrastructure projects needed by society to survive.

Pray for America and the world!

Why Heterosexual Marriage is Important Or Why Trump Matters !

As the distinguished preacher Fr. Busch spoke at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica in Toronto, I felt the air of sacredness which we lost in the world. It was the Mass on Sunday October 16. The Gospel reading was about the Parable of the unjust judge who did not respect God nor cared to be just with the seekers who wanted their rights restored (Luke 18: 1-8). Jesus explains the parable that God will render his merciful justice to those seekers as he "will see to it that justice is done for them speedily." However, Jesus warns his followers "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

This is a deep point in the context of the development of history, and precisely in the civilization of the West where doubts about nearly everything lead to other doubts. Many people, especially young adults, question the faith and want everything given to them on a platter of silver. This past Friday on October 14, 2016, a lecture based on "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis was presented at Jesus the King Church in Toronto. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeBU5yck2ss But some concepts were rather complex or academic for the ordinary persons who attended.The question that must be asked to most of us is "why do we want to limit ourselves to entertainment". People usually answer that they are highly stressed at work, and some do not work in their specialization, so they prefer to relax in the week-end. In the absence of a proper school system, our children who ask us about faith will have no answer. Faith is more than the Bible. It is more than what we know. It is a gift from God that needs to be cultivated in order to be fruitful. This is the meaning of the development of doctrine in the Church. Bishop Robert Barron explains it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MYMMcSI4MY - Most people have no time to think much. Too busy at work and many take up more than one job if available. However, this does not solve the problem of excessive doubt.  If we agree that we influence each other, we can trace the influence of the current scientific ideologies that are widely spread by the media to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment had its good values such as literary criticism which entailed the historical criticism that emphasizes the context in which a Biblical book was written in history, and text criticism that researched the genre of text whether historic, poetic, or prophetic.   The Enlightenment had also negative currents whose scholars turned the Biblical Old Testament to nearly a collection of myths. 
From the Enlightenment, came the philosophical ideas of modernism and post-modernism (relativism). Two World Wars killed millions of people and destroyed countries but also created revolutions that seek vengeance. Radical feminism was born when women had to work in order to support their families after men died in the wars. This is the liberal movement that grew with the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Promiscuity and adultery found their ways into families, destroyed them by instituting divorce in most Western countries. Once legalized, so was abortion too. The liberal governments support the individualism of today. Today sexual education, to kids in schools of Ontario, Canada, teaches them that homosexual union is as natural as bisexual, transsexual and heterosexual marriage. Educators in Toronto are encouraged to get the male and female children in school to discover their own sexual organs by showing them to each other before they are in their high teens when they become sexually active...
Heterosexual marriage remains the only acceptable marriage in the eyes of the Church. It is one of the Church sacraments in which Man and Woman are sanctified in their love and are fruitful in begetting kids.
With the recent mutual insults and attacks on each other's personal life, the American Republican nominee and Democratic nominee have used every mean to destroy the other. Although many Americans especially those on the Democratic side claim that they do not like Donald Trump, they will have to face the truth before the presidential election only on this matter:
Who of the 2 candidates supports planned parenthood, abortion, and same-sex marriage?
Abortion, divorce, and same-sex marriage contribute to a childless society which means that there will hardly be any new generations that will grow, work, and pay taxes to support the infrastructure projects needed by society to keep its standard of living. Lack of workers means too that products   other than automated ones will not be enough to sustain the economy in a global competitive market. It also affects the pension of the elderly of society which would become a burden on the government and in turn would encourage assisted suicide and euthanasia. In brief it will kill society unless new comers or migrants are allowed to increase and eventually impose their own values and cultural stamp on the country - Which means a change from the Christian values on which Western nations were built to other non-Christian values and other laws such as Islamic Sharia the way it is interpreted by violent jihadists which once in place the country becomes a dictatorship managed by minds that will ensure a return to ancient times when women were treated as objects. The country, therefore, loses its democratic charter and citizens lose their liberty.

Of course, a better choice is another better candidate, but it is too late. America cannot lead the world the way it is now. Childless Europe has necessitated accepting immigrants. Generations of children are needed. Civilization requires a correction. If America must stay democratic and become a great nation, Americans need to elect a non-liberal candidate!
Again Jesus asks "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

A New World ?

Today Monday October 10, Canadians celebrate "Thanksgiving" to manifest their gratitude to God for the kind of life they have attained in such a beautiful and immensely resourceful country. Thanks also to the many who, across many generations, labored to improve the conditions of life and care for the human person and creation.
This does not mean that Canada is a paradise to enjoy. In this world, nothing is perfect. Canadians, like many other populations, have a long way to go in order to reach a society based on peace and justice for everyone.

Make no mistake, Christ is still, in a way, crucified. The temptation of the Devil continues to lure the human race; for everyone must worship. If Man does not worship God, he will find a god to worship: desire; power; money or any source that helps or threatens his life. The ancients feared rain so they considered it a god. They needed the Sun so they made it a god. Today Man fears unemployment so he attempts to make money even if by enslaving himself to long hours of work at the employer's need or whim. Slavery is not over. It has only taken another form. It is above all manifested in new products that glorify me such as "Selfie"...The manufacturer sells them to the consumers through distributors or marketing companies. In the end the self is materially enriched at the expense of his spiritual enrichment. This is happening in the developed countries as well as the underdeveloped countries which are going through much disturbance.

The above does not help me achieve my ultimate goal of real satisfaction, but on the contrary it suffocates me and alienates me from the innate desire for my highest good which we must discover. According to St.Thomas Aquinas we observe ourselves and the world and find that we are impelled forward to our highest good “God”. This humanist approach of St.Thomas Aquinas gives us the opportunity to find God in all things and particularly in the people that we know, because everyone of us has a vocation. If Christ himself was not thanked for healing 10 lepers who begged him except a Samaritan; an outsider of his society, how do we expect thanksgiving today? (Luke 17:11-19). Thanksgiving starts with recognizing God's beautiful creation: the other person with whom I deal daily. This humanist approach is carried forward in the writings and acts of St. Thomas More in his judgment as Chancellor of England on the primacy of conscience; in St. Ignatius Loyola founder of the Society of Jesus in his Spiritual Exercises on weighing the presence of God in the choices man makes; and St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney in his heroic acts of helping some 20,000 annual pilgrims from France and other countries to repent where he instructed his visitors against evil and patiently spent close to 18 hours daily in the confessional advising the penitents on avoiding evil while he cried with them in the town of Ars, France.

In today's world, the elite and top politicians continue their competition with mutual accusations and personal insults too...In the United States, as the presidential elections come closer, the intensity of aggressive behaviour, reflecting fear of loss, increases. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have shown signs of intolerance towards each other and went as far as attacking each other's personal life. The American President Barack Obama, likewise, accused the Russian President Vladimir Putin of betrayal over their commitments to end the Syrian War since the latter continues to bomb the Islamists in Aleppo thus giving advantage to the Syrian army over the armed opposition. Obama is also embattled in his support for Clinton with Trump's accusation that the American administration founded and finances the Islamic State terrorist global organization. In Jerusalem for the funeral of Shimon Peres, Obama did not lose a chance to "diplomatically" slap the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by addressing President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority among the distinguished dignitaries and reminding Netanyahu of the two-state solution endorsed by the American administration - It is the same Abbas who has attempted to bring the terrorist Islamic Hamas group with him to the negotiating table for peace in order to guarantee his re-election as the Palestinian leader in his increasingly weak position.  But Obama's diplomatic slap to Netanyahu was particularly a personal tit-for-tat since the Israeli Prime Minister dared to address the American Congress without care for Obama's approval or presence either.

On the other hand, Putin has made political and economic gains in his Machiavellian moves into Iran and Turkey, both arch-rivals in their attempts to dominate the entire Middle East and beyond into Europe but surely both are traditional enemies of Russia. For Putin, it paves his way to China of the "Silk Road". While Moscow ships arms to the Kurds in Northern Syria (considered terrorists by Turkey), it could not bypass a chance to have Turkey's Islamist Erdogan beg Putin for an alliance as both see the Western powers especially America and Germany becoming a common enemy who betrayed them. Erdogan's visit to Moscow in Summer only paved a new front to penetrate Europe and disseminate NATO - Trump praised Putin, and therefore was accused by America's Clinton's supporters of being Putin's agent to destroy what America still has of economic power. On Trump's side, Newt Gingrich has accused Obama and Clinton of finalizing a trade deal with China who, according to Gingrich, has stolen $360 Million of America's intellectual property. In Europe, news indicate an increase of intolerance. In Germany, whose Chancellor defended the reception of refugees from the Middle East, a Syrian refugee was hunted and arrested by police after finding very volatile explosives in his apartment near Leipzig. With the type of material found and his moves, German police found out that he was affiliated with the IS terrorist organization (see BBC here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37604247). Following the British Exit from the European Union, Germany found itself unable to lead the rest. Borders north of Germany had to be closed since cheap labour coming from countries surrounding it could influence jobs available for Germans. In France, while continuing to fear internal problems on wearing the "Bourkini" by Muslim women in a secular state, the Socialist President Francois Hollande indicated he might not receive the Russian President when the latter visits Paris on October 19 to inaugurate a new Russian Orthodox church because France has condemned Russia's role in the Syrian war. In the Arab world, Saudi Arabia is reluctant to lend Egypt new money especially that the Egyptian president seems more moderate than Islamists/Salafists would accept. Yet he is criticized by some of his own media gurus to have no vision for modernizing Egypt especially that he accepted the IMF conditions for borrowing money without sufficient consultation with experts.

Meanwhile, fear overshadows the ordinary citizens of the world. How will America be great again if Americans are in fear? How will the world be secure again if terrorism roams its capitals and cities?
The disasters caused by rivalry among human tribes can be understood, but how about the natural disasters such as the tornadoes in Haiti and Florida? Even if one day, humans were able to control and eliminate natural disasters, it will not stop them from wanting to be eternal. The only answer to our quest for happiness is in eternity.

The above reminds me of two recent saints that give us a foretaste of the eternal life: Thérèse of Lisieux; and Teresa of Calcutta...The first was a Carmelite sister cloistered in Lisieux who died in 1897. The second founded the Sisters of Charity and trodded the world in her missionary work and died in 1997. Bishop Robert Barron spoke about the life of St.Thérèse of Lisieux, The Little Flower. Listen here to her rich spiritual life of only 24 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9MLtO8jAe0 ​Based on the doubts about the existence of God that St. Thérèse experienced near the end of her life, I have asked myself this question: If the greatest saint in modern history experienced such doubts near the end of her life and possibly until the end of her life and yet she still persisted in her love for Jesus in humility, how can any one still condemn anyone else to hell ? St. Teresa of Calcutta too had the same experience. She mentioned that for 50 years she suffered the absence of the beloved God in her daily prayers before the Blessed Sacrament. Yet she persevered in her vocation and made the love of Jesus known to multitudes especially in her care for the poorest of the poor left to die in the streets of Calcutta in India. For this reason she trodded the globe. Much about her work can be learned in this video published in September 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xryZKcwHwUU or by reading this post: http://todayquestions.blogspot.ca/2008/11/third-teresa-woman-for-all-seasons.html

By only looking to heaven, imitating their selfless love and asking for their intercession, we have the possibility of contributing to a better society that thanks God and reflects on the wonders of his creation as civilization moves on. It is the possibility offered by Christ for a life everlasting with God.