#all we know is he was baptized on the 26th.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

26th August >> Mass Readings (USA)

Friday, Twenty First Week in Ordinary Time.

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

1 Corinthians 1:17-25

We proclaim Christ crucified, foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, the wisdom of God.

Brothers and sisters: Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

   The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,    and the learning of the learned I will set aside.

Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 10-11

R/ The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;    praise from the upright is fitting. Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;    with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.

R/ The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

For upright is the word of the LORD,    and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right;    of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

R/ The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;    he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the LORD stands forever;    the design of his heart, through all generations.

R/ The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Luke 21:36

Alleluia, alleluia. Be vigilant at all times and pray, that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 25:1-13

Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[rainsmediaradio]

Rhapsody Of Realities 26th December 2023 By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome (Christ Embassy) – Jesus-God’s Word Manifest in Flesh

The Topic of Rhapsody of Realities for Tuesday 25th December 2023 is “Jesus-God’s Word Manifest in Flesh”. Today’s  Scripture: John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY TUESDAY 25TH DECEMBER 2023.

John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh…” (NKJV), manifest in the flesh, and that’s Jesus! Where was Jesus before He was born in Bethlehem? He was in God as God’s Word. For example, your words right now are in you until you speak them forth. Words are thoughts clothed with vocabulary. When you speak, you speak your thoughts. Your thoughts are clothed with language so someone else can understand. So, your thoughts reside within you until you express them in words. When you’re thinking about something, nobody else can discern your thoughts; they remain concealed within your heart. However, when you speak, your words become tangible and can be captured in time. This is why we can record your voice and replay it later. Five years down the line, someone can hear what you said, but it was hidden in your heart until you uttered it. Imagine if your words, once captured in time, could step out of a computer or a recorder and materialize as the very things you said. This is precisely what God did through Jesus Christ. Jesus became the embodiment of God’s will, a revelation of His divine purpose and the manifestation of His boundless love. If you wanted to understand what God is like, you only needed to look at Jesus. He declared, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). And He consistently performed the works and spoke the words that emanated from the Father. In essence, Jesus was the living expression of God’s Word. It’s quite common for people to be puzzled by certain aspects of Jesus’ life, such as when God spoke from heaven during His baptism. So, they say, “If Jesus was the manifestation of God, how come, when He was being baptized, God spoke from heaven?” God’s nature and capabilities are far beyond our understanding. We can draw a parallel from modern technology: when I preach from a particular location, anywhere in the world, my voice is heard in every known country and territory on earth and in multiple languages. If that is possible in this world, then think about what God can do! His ability to speak from heaven while Jesus was on earth transcends human limitations. PRAYER Lord Jesus, you’re the God of heaven and earth; you pre- existed creation, and by you, all things exist and consist. I honour you, for you’re the embodiment of wisdom, grace and truth; the only true God! Thank you for giving me a life of victory, success, prosperity and divine health. I love you forever. FURTHER STUDY: John 1:1-4 NKJV; 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:10-14 NKJV 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word Becomes Flesh 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Revelation 18 & Zechariah 4-6 2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Acts 4:1-12 & Ezra 5 Read the full article

#PastorChrisOyakhilome

[shammah8]

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES

📅 TUES. 26TH DECEMBER 2023

JESUS-GOD'S WORD MANIFEST IN FLESH

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not (John 1:10).

Pastor Chris Says

━━━━━━━━━━

John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh..." (NKJV). In essence, the Word changed form and became manifest in the flesh, and that's Jesus! Where was Jesus before He was born in Bethlehem? He was in God as God's Word. For example, your words right now are in you until you speak them forth.

Words are thoughts clothed with vocabulary. When you speak, you speak your thoughts. Your thoughts are clothed with language so someone else can understand. So, your thoughts reside within you until you express them in words.

When you're thinking about something, nobody else can discern your thoughts; they remain concealed within your heart. However, when you speak, your words become tangible and can be captured in time. This is why we can record your voice and replay it later. Five years down the line, someone can hear what you said, but it was hidden in your heart until you uttered it.

Imagine if your words, once captured in time, could step out of a computer or a recorder and materialize as the very things you said. This is precisely what God did through Jesus Christ. Jesus became the embodiment of God's will, a revelation of His divine purpose and the manifestation of His boundless love.

If you wanted to understand what God is like, you only needed to look at Jesus. He declared, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). And He consistently performed the works and spoke the words that emanated from the Father. In essence, Jesus was the living expression of God's Word.

It's quite common for people to be puzzled by certain aspects of Jesus' life, such as when God spoke from heaven during His baptism. So, they say, "If Jesus was the manifestation of God, how come, when He was being baptized, God spoke from heaven?"

God's nature and capabilities are far beyond our understanding. We can draw a parallel from modern technology: when I preach from a particular location, anywhere in the world, my voice is heard in every known country and territory on earth and in multiple languages. If that is possible in this world, then think about what God can do! His ability to speak from heaven while Jesus was on earth transcends human limitations.

              🙏 P R A Y E R

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Lord Jesus, you're the God of heaven and earth; you pre- existed creation, and by you, all things exist and consist. I honour you, for you're the embodiment of wisdom, grace and truth; the only true God! Thank you for giving me a life of victory, success, prosperity and divine health. I love you forever.

      📖 FURTHER STUDY:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

John 1:1-4 NKJV;   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[2] He was in the beginning with God.

[3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

[4] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 

John 1:10-14 NKJV;   He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

[11] He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

[12] But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

[13] who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

[the-hem]

“Born and Now Risen.” From the Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 24.

Why am I discussing Easter when it’s not even Christmas yet? Because we know the whole story and why it is told. It’s fun to pretend every 26th of December Jesus is going to grow up all over again, but the reality is, He is Omnipresent in the Gospels and behind all that lives as the Supreme Spirit. 

To pretend He is undergoing all these lifecycle changes every year, and we can be baptized in and out of life with Him is to create senseless, needless, and useless spiritual gymnastics we can do without. 

In the Quran, Muhammad writes God created a Christ out of Himself to set the record about all this crap straight: 

But one man spoke with God’s Voice to His Disciples. He was Mary’s Child, he was not Saul of Tarsus, He was not a pope, an archbishop, a television fatback, he was not a president of a country or a shitty little petty Nazi firm, He was the Christ. 

During His 30th year, He was crucified for enforcing the Law of Moses which said blood cannot be shed in the temple, and ironically, He was executed for it. We have treated His act of Godliness other than how it was meant. 

In this parsha from the Gospel of Saint Luke we learn the truth about this: 

 The crucifixion of Jesus was little more than a minor upset in the realization of the nature of the Embodied Supreme Being and God’s purposes for creating a Record. The angels reminded the disciples of this after they went in search of Christ’s body after His execution on the cross. 

Read now how “they remembered His Words”: 

Jesus Has Risen

24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee [the Region]: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene [to love strength], Joanna, [God is gracious] Mary the mother of James [who closely follows], and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter [testimony], however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

“Recalling the Testimony [they rolled back the stone], they contemplated and followed the teachings of God: be strong with Grace, follow love, and live without fear of death. This is why the Son of Man was delivered to the sinners.” 

Why did this take three days? Let’s see what God did during the Three Days and get a clue for His plan for the Fourth, the real day Jesus rose again:  

The Beginning

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 

17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

So on the Fourth Day, Jesus re-entered the world and this is also the day the Vault, the Ark was made new. 

So if we fully decrypt Luke’s parsha, what we find is, upon Realizing the Christ, we are to continue to separate light from darkness, good from evil, etc. and rid the world of corruption and filth as Christ did before the cross and is still doing now: so we can live without fear of the end. 

 Just like my slick new mantra says. 

Otherwise, to stand in front of an altar or a cross and oblate God for a chance to be immortal through human sacrifice, to wield the jurisprudence of and be like a god is idolatry, and God wants this practice to stop. 

[britneyshakespeare]

Happy birthday William you sexy bitch

#shakespeare #text post #if you consider it to be today. some say it's the 23rd. could also be tomorrow #all we know is he was baptized on the 26th. #tomorrow is my birthday so id like to assume we shared something #:^) #i don't usually purchase whole ass books *about* shakespeare or his works or history but #if someone wants to buy me emma smith's new 'this is shakespeare' (2021) for my 22nd birthday... that would be... acceptable #i dont wanna buy it myseld #fffff* #i havent read any shakespeare plays since december i miss him. ive been very busy w school and [INSERT MAGAZINE I AM NOW STAFF ON] #almost casually dropped the whole ass legitimate name of the magazine like an idiot. like you couldn't look me up w that lmao fuck me. #it's doxx yourself saturday!

[christianstevefinnell]

A DIFFERENT LOOK AT THE INQUISITION --GEORGE L. FAULL, REL. D.

IN ZURICH SWITZERLAND, ON JANUARY 18TH, 1525 AN ORDER WAS GIVEN BY THE ZURICH COUNCIL THAT ALL INFANTS MUST BE BAPTIZED WITHIN 8 DAYS OF BIRTH. THOSE NOT COMPLIANT TO THIS RULING WOULD BE BANISHED FROM ZURICH. ON JANUARY 21ST, ALL OPPONENTS OF THIS DECREE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO MEET OR SPEAK IN PUBLIC.

THIS LED TO MARTYRDOM AND MANY OF THOSE WHO WERE MARTYRED WERE ANABAPTIST. AN ANABAPTIST IS NOT SPEAKING OF THOSE CALLED BAPTISTS TODAY. THEY WERE A PEOPLE WHO WERE NICKNAMED “ANABAPTIST”. THIS COMES FROM THE GREEK WHICH MEANS “OVER AGAIN” AND “BAPTISM”. SO AN ANABAPTIST IS “ONE WHO BAPTIZES AGAIN!” THEY DID NOT CONSIDER INFANT BAPTISM OR SPRINKLING A RECOGNIZED BAPTISM, SO THEY DID NOT CONSIDER BELIEVER-BAPTISM A REBAPTISM SO THEY REJECTED THE NICKNAME.

IN MARCH OF 1525, THIS ORDER WAS GIVEN: “YOU KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT, AND HAVE HEARD FROM MANY THAT FOR A LONG TIME, SOME PECULIAR MEN, WHO IMAGINE THAT THEY ARE LEARNED, HAVE COME FORWARD ASTONISHINGLY, AND WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, GIVEN AS A PRETEXT BY SIMPLE AND PIOUS MEN, HAVE PREACHED, AND WITHOUT THE PERMISSION AND CONSENT OF THE CHURCH, HAVE PROCLAIMED THAT INFANT BAPTISM DID NOT PROCEED FROM GOD, BUT FROM THE DEVIL, AND, THEREFORE, OUGHT NOT TO BE PRACTICED… WE, THEREFORE, ORDAIN AND REQUIRE THAT HEREAFTER ALL MEN, WOMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS FORSAKE REBAPTISM, AND SHALL NOT MAKE USE OF IT HEREAFTER, AND SHALL LET INFANTS BE BAPTIZED; WHOEVER SHALL ACT CONTRARY TO THIS PUBLIC EDICT SHALL BE FINED FOR EVERY OFFENSE, ONE MARK; AND IF ANY BE DISOBEDIENT AND STUBBORN THEY SHALL BE TREATED WITH SEVERITY; FOR, THE OBEDIENT WE WILL PROTECT; THE DISOBEDIENT WE WILL PUNISH ACCORDING TO HIS DESERTS, WITHOUT FAIL; BY THIS ALL ARE TO CONDUCT THEMSELVES. ALL THIS WE CONFIRM BY THIS PUBLIC DOCUMENT, STAMPED WITH THE SEAL OF OUR CITY, AND GIVEN ON ST. ANDREW’S DAY, A. D., 1525.”

RESULTS: FELIX MANZ, HENRY REIMAN, JACOB FALK WERE DROWNED. DECEMBER 1527 THEY WERE TOLD, “HE WHO IMMERSED SHALL BE IMMERSED”. A TOWNSMAN SAID, “THEY LIKE IMMERSION, SO LET US IMMERSE THEM”.

BALTHASAR HOBMAIER SAID, “THE COMMAND IS TO BAPTIZE THOSE WHO BELIEVE, TO BAPTIZE THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE, THEREFORE IS FORBIDDEN. HE WAS IMPRISONED AND LATER WHEN HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RECANT INSTEAD HE SHOUTED, “INFANT BAPTISM IS NOT OF GOD AND MEN MUST BE BAPTIZED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. I HAVE NEVER TAUGHT ANABAPTISM…BUT THE RIGHT BAPTISM OF CHRIST, WHICH IS PRECEDED BY TEACHING AND ORAL CONFESSION OF FAITH, I TEACH, AND SAY THAT INFANT BAPTISM IS A ROBBERY OF THE RIGHT BAPTISM OF CHRIST.” ON MARCH 10TH, 1528 IN VIENNA, HE WAS BURNED AT THE STAKE AND 8 DAYS LATER, HIS WIFE WAS DROWNED.

NOT ONLY IN ZURICH AND VIENNA WAS THIS PERSECUTION AGAINST THOSE WHO WERE FOR IMMERSION AND AGAINST INFANT BAPTISM PRACTICED BUT AT ST. GALL, SWITZERLAND THEY ISSUED THIS DECREE – SEPTEMBER 9TH, 1527: “IN ORDER THAT THE DANGEROUS, WICKED, TURBULENT AND SEDITIOUS SECT OF THE BAPTISTS MAY BE ERADICATED, WE HAVE THUS DECREED: IF ANYONE IS SUSPECTED OF REBAPTISM, HE IS TO BE WARNED BY THE MAGISTRACY TO LEAVE THE TERRITORY UNDER PENALTY OF THE DESIGNATED PUNISHMENT [TO BE DROWNED]. EVERY PERSON IS OBLIGED TO REPORT THOSE FAVORABLE TO REBAPTISM. WHOEVER SHALL NOT COMPLY WITH THIS ORDINANCE IS LIABLE TO PUNISHMENT ACCORDING TO THE SENTENCE OF THE MAGISTRACY. TEACHERS OF REBAPTISM, BAPTIZING PREACHERS, AND LEADERS OF HEDGE MEETINGS ARE TO BE DROWNED. THOSE PREVIOUSLY RELEASED FROM PRISON WHO HAVE SWORN TO DESIST FROM SUCH THINGS, SHALL INCUR THE SAME PENALTY. FOREIGN BAPTISTS ARE TO BE DRIVEN OUT; IF THEY RETURN THEY SHALL BE DROWNED. NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SECEDE FROM THE [ZWINGLIAN] CHURCH AND TO ABSENT HIMSELF FROM THE HOLY SUPPER.”

THE DECREE ON MARCH 26TH , 1530, WAS EVEN MORE SEVERE: “ALL WHO ADHERE TO OR FAVOR THE FALSE SECT OF THE BAPTISTS, AND WHO ATTEND HEDGE-MEETINGS, SHALL SUFFER THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENTS. BAPTIST LEADERS, THEIR FOLLOWERS, AND PROTECTORS SHALL BE DROWNED WITHOUT MERCY. THOSE, HOWEVER, WHO "FROM THE COWARDICE THAT SHRINKS FROM NEW TRUTH, FROM THE LAZINESS THAT IS CONTENT WITH HALFTRUTHS, FROM THE ARROGANCE THAT THINKS IT KNOWS ALL TRUTH, O, GOD OF TRUTH, DELIVER US." ULRICH ZWINGLI 2 THE GOSPEL UNASHAMED JULY 2015 ASSIST THEM, OR FAIL TO REPORT OR TO ARREST THEM SHALL BE PUNISHED OTHERWISE ON BODY AND GOODS AS INJURIOUS AND FAITHLESS SUBJECTS.”

LIKEWISE, THE GENEVA’S SWITZERLAND COUNCIL IN 1632, HUNG AND BURNED MEN FOR DENYING THE TRINITY. THE SAME PERSECUTION WAS IN DASIL AND BERNE.

IN GERMANY, LUTHER TAUGHT IMMERSION EVEN TRANSLATING “BAPTIZE” AS “DIP”. HE WROTE THESE WORDS IN 1518: “THE SIGNIFICATION OF BAPTISM DEMANDS, FOR IT SIGNIFIES THAT THE OLD MAN AND SINFUL BIRTH FROM THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHALL BE COMPLETELY DROWNED THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD.

THEREFORE, A MAN SHOULD SUFFICIENTLY PERFORM THE SIGNIFICATION AND A RIGHT PERFECT SIGN. THE SIGN RESTS, IN THIS, THAT A MAN PLUNGE A PERSON IN WATER IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, ETC., BUT DOES NOT LEAVE HIM THEREIN BUT LIFTS HIM OUT AGAIN; THEREFORE IT IS CALLED BEING LIFTED OUT OF THE FONT OR DEPTHS. AND SO MUST ALL OF BOTH OF THESE THINGS BE THE SIGN; THE DIPPING AND THE LIFTING OUT. THIRDLY, THE SIGNIFICATION IS A SAVING DEATH OF THE SINS AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE GRACE OF GOD. THE BAPTISM IS A BATH OF THE NEW BIRTH. ALSO A DROWNING OF THE SINS IN THE BAPTISM” (LUTHER, OPERA LUTHERI, I. 319. FOLIO EDITION).

HE ALSO WROTE: “THE TERM BAPTISM IS A GREEK WORD; IT MAY BE RENDERED INTO LATIN BY “MERSIO”: WHEN WE IMMERSE ANYTHING IN WATER, THAT IT MAY BE ENTIRELY COVERED WITH WATER. AND THOUGH THAT CUSTOM BE QUITE ABOLISHED AMONG THE GENERALITY, (FOR NEITHER DO THEY ENTIRELY DIP CHILDREN, BUT ONLY SPRINKLE THEM WITH A LITTLE WATER,) NEVERTHELESS THEY OUGHT TO BE WHOLLY IMMERSED, AND IMMEDIATELY TO BE DRAWN OUT AGAIN, FOR THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SEEMS TO REQUIRE IT. THE GERMANS CALL BAPTISM “TAUF”, FROM DEPTH, WHICH THEY CALL “TIEF” IN THEIR LANGUAGE; AS IF IT WERE PROPER THOSE SHOULD BE DEEPLY IMMERSED, WHO ARE BAPTIZED. AND TRULY, IF YOU CONSIDER WHAT BAPTISM SIGNIFIES THAT THE OLD MAN AND OUR NATIVE CHARACTER THAT IS FULL OF SIN, ENTIRELY OF FLESH AND BLOOD AS IT IS, MAY BE OVERWHELMED BY DIVINE GRACE. THE MANNER OF BAPTISM, THEREFORE OUGHT TO ANSWER TO THE SIGNIFICATION OF BAPTISM, SO THAT IT MAY SHOW FORTH A SIGN THAT IS CERTAIN AND FULL.” – OPERA

“WHEN THE WASHING AWAY OF SIN IS ATTRIBUTED TO BAPTISM, IT IS RIGHTLY SO ATTRIBUTED; BUT THE MEANING OF THE PHRASE IS TOO SLIGHT AND WEAK TO FULLY EXPRESS BAPTISM, WHICH IS RATHER A SYMBOL OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION. FOR THIS REASON I COULD WISH THAT THE BAPTIZED SHOULD BE TOTALLY IMMERSED, ACCORDING TO THE MEANING OF THE WORD AND SIGNIFICATION OF THE MYSTERY; NOT THAT I THINK IT NECESSARY TO DO SO, BUT THAT IT WOULD BE WELL THAT SO COMPLETE AND PERFECT THING AS BAPTISM SHOULD HAVE ITS SIGN ALSO IN COMPLETENESS AND PERFECTION, EVEN AS IT WAS DOUBTLESS INSTITUTED BY CHRIST.” – PRIMARY WORKS, P. 192.

LATER, LUTHER BEGAN TO OPPOSE IMMERSION AND THOSE WHO OPPOSED INFANT BAPTISM. THOUGH HE WAS OPPOSED TO EXECUTING THEM HE WISHED THEM ALL TO BE BANISHED FOR DISAGREEING WITH HIS DOCTRINES. AGAIN, HE CHANGED HIS MIND AND ENCOURAGED THE DESTRUCTION OF PEASANTS WHO REVOLTED FROM THE LORDS SEEKING THEIR FREEDOM.

HE WROTE: “THE PEASANTS WOULD NOT LISTEN; THEY WOULD NOT LET ANYONE TELL THEM ANYTHING; THEIR EARS MUST BE UNBUTTONED WITH BULLETS, TILL THEIR HEADS JUMP OFF THEIR SHOULDERS. ... ON THE OBSTINATE, HARDENED, BLINDED PEASANTS, LET NO ONE HAVE MERCY, BUT LET EVERYONE, AS HE IS ABLE, HEW, STAB, SLAY, LAY ABOUT HIM AS THOUGH AMONG MAD DOGS, . . . . SO THAT PEACE AND SAFETY MAY BE MAINTAINED...” [MARTIN LUTHER, WERKE, ERLANGEN EDITION, VOL. 24, P. 294; VOL.15, P. 276]

(OVER 100,000 PEASANTS DIED. DO I ACCUSE FALSELY? - GLF)

HE WROTE: “IT WAS I, MARTIN LUTHER, WHO SLEW ALL THE PEASANTS IN THE INSURRECTION, FOR I COMMANDED THEM TO BE SLAUGHTERED. ALL THEIR BLOOD IS UPON MY SHOULDERS. BUT I CAST IT ON OUR LORD GOD WHO COMMANDED ME TO SPEAK IN THIS WAY.” [MARTIN LUTHER, WERKE, ERLANGEN EDITION, VOL. 59, P. 284]

SO LUTHER SOUGHT THE DEATH OF THOSE OPPOSING INFANT BAPTISM AND FAVORED BELIEVERS’ IMMERSION. IN 1529, THE DIET OF SPEIRS ALL ANABAPTISTS WERE CONDEMNED TO DEATH. MR. HALLEY POINTS OUT 400 SPECIAL POLICE WERE HIRED TO HUNT DOWN THOSE BELIEVERS AND EXECUTE THEM ON THE SPOT. THOUSANDS WERE BURNED ACROSS EUROPE FOR THEIR FAITH. SO THE LUTHERANS KILLED MANY OF THE IMMERSED BELIEVERS.

URBANUS RHEGIUS WAS A LUTHERAN WHO WROTE A BOOK IN 1528 SHOWING A RIVER RUNNING INTO THE OCEAN OF WATER THAT WAS ON FIRE. THIS WAS THE VIEW OF SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY THAT IMMERSION LED TO HELL.

BANISHMENT, DEATH, BURNINGS, HANGINGS, TORTURING, BRANDING, AND IMPRISONMENT WAS THEIR FATE.

LIKEWISE, CALVIN WAS A PERSECUTOR AND A MURDERER. “SO ENTIRELY WAS HE IN FAVOUR OF PERSECUTING MEASURES, THAT HE WROTE A TREATISE IN DEFENCE OF THEM, MAINTAINING THE LAWFULNESS OF PUTTING HERETICS TO DEATH; AND HE REDUCED THESE RIGID THEORIES TO PRACTICE, IN HIS CONDUCT TOWARDS CASTELLIO, JEROM BOLSEE, AND SERVETUS, WHOSE FATES ARE TOO GENERALLY KNOWN TO REQUIRE BEING HERE REPEATED. AT THE COUNCIL OF GENEVA, 1632, NICHOLAS ANTHOINE WAS CONDEMNED TO BE FIRST HANGED AND THEN BURNED FOR OPPOSING THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY...” (J.J. STOCKDALE, THE HISTORY OF THE INQUISITIONS, 1810, P. XXVIII). MARTIN LUTHER JOHN CALVIN JULY 2015 THE GOSPEL UNASHAMED 3 IN THE DAYS OF KING EDWARD VI OF ENGLAND, CALVIN WROTE A LETTER TO LORD PROTECTOR SOMERSET AND URGED HIM TO PUT ANABAPTISTS TO DEATH: “THESE ALTOGETHER DESERVE TO BE WELL PUNISHED BY THE SWORD, SEEING THAT THEY DO CONSPIRE AGAINST GOD, WHO HAD SET HIM IN HIS ROYAL SEAT” (JOHN CHRISTIAN, A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS, VOL. 1, CHAP. 15).

HISTORIAN JOHN CHRISTIAN OBSERVES THAT CALVIN “WAS RESPONSIBLE IN A LARGE MEASURE FOR THE DEMON OF HATE AND FIERCE HOSTILITY WHICH THE BAPTISTS OF ENGLAND HAD TO ENCOUNTER.”

IN OCTOBER 1563, CALVIN HAD SERVETUS KILLED, BURNED AT THE STAKE FOR DISAGREEING ON THE TRINITY. IT WAS APPROVED BY BOTH MELANCHTHON OF GERMANY AND BULLINGER OF GENEVA AND OTHER LEADING REFORMERS. SOME OF THE WORST PERSECUTIONS WERE DONE BY THE CALVINISTS AGAINST THE ARMINIANS.

SOME WERE BEHEADED, IMPRISONED, OR BANISHED. LIKEWISE, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND UNDER KING HENRY VIII, AS WELL AS KING EDWARD VI AND KING JAMES, PERSECUTED IMMERSIONISTS. THEY ORGANIZED BURNINGS. THESE INCLUDED BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. MANY OF THEIR NAMES ARE RECORDED IN HISTORY BUT ALL IN GOD’S BOOK OF MARTYRS. HANGINGS WERE COMMON AS WELL PERSECUTIONS AND IMPRISONMENTS WHICH CONTINUED OVER SEVERAL CENTURIES.

WHY DO I PRINT THIS? IT SHOWS THAT IT IS NOT ONLY THE MUSLIMS AND CATHOLICS THAT KILL THEIR OPPONENTS. THE REFORMERS ALSO PERSECUTED THOSE WHO INSISTED ON IMMERSION AND OTHER BIBLE TRUTHS. THE VERY FOUNDERS OF PROTESTANTISM WERE ALSO BUTCHERS FILLED WITH MURDEROUS PRACTICES ON THOSE WHO DISAGREED WITH THEIR DOCTRINES.

THE LEGACY OF ZWINGLI TODAY - HE WAS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR CALLING BAPTISM A WORK AND ESTABLISH THE “FAITH ONLY” DOCTRINE WE CONTEND WITH TO THIS DAY.

AS FOR JOHN CALVIN, THE FOUNDER OF CALVINISM, PREDESTINATION IS STILL TAUGHT IN MANY MAINLINE CHURCHES AND WAS THE CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF MANY BELIEVERS IN CHRIST. YET HE DID NOT PREDESTINATE THE MURDERS.

MARTIN LUTHER BY HIS OWN MOUTH CAUSED THE DEATHS OF MANY IN GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. HIS HATRED AND PERSECUTION OF JEWS IS ALSO RENOWNED. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND LIKEWISE TOOK THEIR TOLL ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

IRONICALLY, THESE MEN HAD BEEN GREATLY PERSECUTED BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. HOWEVER, WHERE THEY ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES ELSEWHERE IN SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, ENGLAND, ETC., THEY MOTIVATED OTHER COUNTRIES TO PROSECUTE AND PERSECUTE. THE PERSECUTED BECAME THE PERSECUTORS. ROMANS 11:16 SAYS, “IF THE ROOT IS HOLY, SO ARE THE BRANCHES.” IS NOT THE OPPOSITE TRUE? “IF THE ROOT IS UNHOLY, CAN THE BRANCHES BE HOLY?”

ISN’T IT STRANGE AND IRONIC THAT THE ADHERENTS TO THESE MEN’S HERITAGE NOW ARE SAYING THAT THE MODE, PURPOSE, AND CANDIDATES FOR BAPTISM IS SIMPLY IMMATERIAL? THE ROTTING CORPSES OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WHOM THEIR ANCESTORS TORTURED AND SLEW OVER THESE QUESTIONS GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR BELIEVERS’ IMMERSION. CHRIST NEVER INTENDED HIS KINGDOM TO BE SPREAD BY FORCE. THOSE WHO DO SO PROVE THEY ARE NONE OF HIS. IT WAS AT THE PRICE OF THE MARTYRS’ BLOOD THAT WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TODAY TO PREACH BELIEVERS BAPTISM. TRULY MANY OF OUR OWN BRETHREN LACK THE COURAGE IN THIS FREE SOCIETY TO PREACH THE NECESSITY OF BELIEVER’S BAPTISM.

TODAY, IF WE TEACH WHAT THE RESTORATION FATHERS TAUGHT IN REJECTING THE REFORMER’S TEACHINGS, BOTH WOULD BE COUNTED WORTHY OF MARTYRDOM BY THE FOUNDING REFORMERS. THE TOLERANCE MANY BROTHERS SHOW TOWARD THE DOCTRINE OF THE FOUNDING REFORMERS TO ME IS ASTOUNDING. TO TEACH THE FAITH-ONLY DOCTRINE OF ZWINGLI, THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION OF CALVIN, AND THE NON-NECESSITY OF IMMERSION OF LUTHER AS PRACTICED NOW BY MANY IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, DENIES NOT ONLY THE TEACHING OF JESUS CHRIST BUT IS A REJECTION OF OUR HERITAGE. IT CHEAPENS AND TRAMPLES THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AND THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS. IT MAKES THE MARTYRS RADICAL LEGALISTS WHO SIMPLY DIED ON THE WRONG HILL.

(This article was collected from many sources. We especially are thankful for the writings of David Cloud.)

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Happy Shakespeare Day!

We don’t actually know when William Shakespeare was born -- We know, thanks to Church records that he was Baptized on the 26th of April (when he was a few days old, probably), and that he died on the 23rd of April. And our fondness for everything turning out even prompts us to celebrate his Birthday on this day, too.

So have some of my favorite Shakespeare things:

Ben Crystal’s TEDx Talk at Bergen, Norway (2017) Auto-generated captions:

Sonnet 44 (Text on screen):

The “Kill Claudio” scene from Much Ado about Nothing (auto-generated captions):

This is the scene that is the turning point of the play, when Benedick, who’s been scornful of romantic love, and even flippant and nonchalant with platonic friendship, finally commits his loyalty to someone.

Full lines from Shakespeare’s script (Act 4, scene 1: lines 269-350) below the cut (a few lines were cut from the filmed scene):

BENEDICK Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while? BEATRICE Yea, and I will weep a while longer.

BENEDICK I will not desire that.

BEATRICE You have no reason. I do it freely.

BENEDICK Surely I do believe your fair cousin is wronged.

BEATRICE Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!

BENEDICK Is there any way to show such friendship?

BEATRICE A very even way, but no such friend.

BENEDICK May a man do it?

BEATRICE It is a man’s office, but not yours.

BENEDICK I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?

BEATRICE As strange as the thing I know not. It were as possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not; I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. I am sorry for my cousin.

BENEDICK By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me!

BEATRICE Do not swear and eat it.

BENEDICK I will swear by it that you love me, and I will make him eat it that says I love not you.

BEATRICE Will you not eat your word?

BENEDICK With no sauce that can be devised to it. I protest I love thee.

BEATRICE Why then, God forgive me.

BENEDICK What offense, sweet Beatrice?

BEATRICE You have stayed me in a happy hour. I was about to protest I loved you.

BENEDICK And do it with all thy heart.

BEATRICE I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.

BENEDICK Come, bid me do anything for thee.

BEATRICE Kill Claudio.

BENEDICK Ha! Not for the wide world.

BEATRICE You kill me to deny it. Farewell. [She begins to exit.]

BENEDICK Tarry, sweet Beatrice.

BEATRICE I am gone, though I am here. There is no love in you. Nay, I pray you let me go.

BENEDICK Beatrice—

BEATRICE In faith, I will go.

BENEDICK We’ll be friends first.

BEATRICE You dare easier be friends with me than fight with mine enemy.

BENEDICK Is Claudio thine enemy?

BEATRICE Is he not approved in the height a villain that hath slandered, scorned, dishonored my kinswoman? O, that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands, and then, with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancor—O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace.

BENEDICK Hear me, Beatrice—

BEATRICE Talk with a man out at a window! A proper saying.

BENEDICK Nay, but Beatrice—

BEATRICE Sweet Hero, she is wronged, she is slandered, she is undone.

BENEDICK Beat—

BEATRICE Princes and counties! Surely a princely testimony, a goodly count, Count Comfect, a sweet gallant, surely! O, that I were a man for his sake! Or that I had any friend would be a man for my sake! But manhood is melted into curtsies, valor into compliment, and men are only turned into tongue, and trim ones, too. He is now as valiant as Hercules that only tells a lie and swears it. I cannot be a man with wishing; therefore I will die a woman with grieving.

BENEDICK Tarry, good Beatrice. By this hand, I love thee.

BEATRICE Use it for my love some other way than swearing by it.

BENEDICK Think you in your soul the Count Claudio hath wronged Hero?

BEATRICE Yea, as sure as I have a thought or a soul.

BENEDICK Enough, I am engaged. I will challenge him. I will kiss your hand, and so I leave you. By this hand, Claudio shall render me a dear account. As you hear of me, so think of me. Go comfort your cousin. I must say she is dead, and so farewell.

#Shakespeare Day 2020 #videos #original practice #Sonnet 44 #much ado about nothing

[romancatholicreflections]

26th January >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on

Luke 10:1-9 for the Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops  

and

Mark 3:20-21 for Saturday, Second Week in Ordinary Time.

Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops  

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 10:1-9

Your peace will rest on that man

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 10:1-9

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his pay. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

Reflections (5)

(i) Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus

Timothy and Titus were two of Paul’s closest co-workers. Paul was arguably the most influential member of the early church. He was hugely influential in his own time, and his letters have shaped the life of the church down the centuries. Yet, for all his significance, he was keenly aware of himself as dependent on the gifts of others. He had many co-workers, men and women, on whom he depended. They were as significant for him as he was for them. He didn’t simply have a working relationship with people like Timothy and Titus; he had a sense of real communion with them. That comes across with regard to Timothy in today’s first reading. Paul writes to him, ‘always I remember you in my prayers’. His communion with Timothy found expression in prayerful remembrance. As he remembered his associates in prayer, they must have remembered Paul in prayer. We have an image here in microcosm of what the church is called to be. As members of the church, we are in communion with each other, a communion which is the fruit of the Spirit. One of the ways in which we give expression to this communion is by praying for each other. Like Paul, we are aware of our dependence on others within the church. Within this communion of faith and love, we each have something to give to each other and much to receive from each other. We are members of one body, the body of Christ, and, like the physical members of a human body, we are mutually interdependent. In the gospel reading, Jesus did not send out the seventy two, one at a time, although that might have been the best way to cover the widest possible area. He sent the seventy two out two by two, in thirty six groups of two. Jesus wanted no one to work alone; he knew that each would be dependent on the other. He also encouraged each pair to become dependent on those to whom they preached the gospel. They were not to bring a haversack of food because they were to rely for hospitality on those to whom they preached. Today’s feast of Timothy and Titus reminds us that the Lord can work most powerfully through the many, rather than the one, provided the many are in a communion of faith and love.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus

In the first reading this morning for the feast of Saints Timothy and Titus, Paul begins by telling Timothy that he always remembers him in his prayers. Paul was very convinced of the value of intercessory prayer. He frequently told people that he remembered them in his prayers. We all appreciate being remembered in other people’s prayers, and other people appreciate it when we let them know that we are praying for them. This is one of the ways we give expression to what the church calls the communion of saints, the deep bond between all the baptized, including the bond between those of us on our pilgrim way and those who have come to the end of their earthly pilgrimage. It is because of that aspect of the communion of saints that we pray not only for the living but also for the dead. In praying for each other, we are being reminded and reminding each other that we need each other on our journey towards God. We need each other’s prayers; we also need each other’s witness. In our first reading Paul praises Timothy’s sincere faith but he reminds him that his faith has its roots in the faith of his mother and of his grandmother. We need the faith of other if our own faith is to endure. Our efforts to live the faith and to witness to the Lord make it easier for everyone else to do so as well.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus

Yesterday was the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul. Today is the feast of two of Paul’s closest associates and co-workers, Timothy and Titus. Paul needed associates to do his work. Jesus too needed associates to do his work. That is why we find him in today’s gospel reading appointing seventy two and sending them out ahead of him; it wasn’t enough just to appoint the twelve. Indeed, as he sends out the 72, he asks them to pray to the Lord of the harvest for even more workers for the Lord’s harvest. Indeed, the Lord needs us all; we are all called to be his co-workers, proclaiming by our lives that, in the words of Jesus this morning, ‘the kingdom of God is very near to you’. If the Lord needs us to share in his work, we, in turn, need each other’s support if we are to respond to that call of the Lord. In the first reading, Paul refers to the faith of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Without their faith, Timothy would not have been the man of faith he was. We can all point to parents, grandparents and various other companions on the pilgrimage of life, without whom we would not have come to faith in the Lord. As Paul needed Timothy and Titus, and Jesus needed many workers, we need each other’s witness if the gift that God gave us in baptism is to be fanned into a living flame, in the words of today’s first reading. We ask the Lord to increase our faith so that we can be a support to one another in the living out of our baptismal calling.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus

Today we celebrate the feast of two of Paul’s most important co-workers. Paul was the great apostle to the Gentiles, but he was very aware of how dependant he was on the support of people like Timothy and Titus. Paul never saw himself as a type of ‘lone ranger’. It was Paul who gave us that image of the church as the body of Christ with a great diversity of members, each with their own gift of the Spirit, each member with a vital contribution to make to the life of the church and at the same time dependent upon the contribution of everyone else in the church. This is how Paul saw his ministry. He was aware of his own gifts that the Lord was asking him to share with others and he was equally aware of his dependence upon the gifts of others. Paul’s vision of church was anticipated in Jesus’ own practice. Jesus did not work alone. Shortly after he began his public ministry, he called people to be with him, to share in his work, to become his presence to others. This morning’s gospel reading reveals Jesus’ awareness that the rich harvest of the Lord needed many labourers, all of them working together. When he sent out people in his name, he did not send them out alone, but, as the gospel reading tells us, he sent them out two by two. Jesus and Paul laboured with others; we too are asked to do the same. We serve the Lord of the harvest in communion with each other, ready to share our gifts that the Spirit has given us, and open to the gifts of others that the Spirit has given them. We follow the Lord and work in his name together, ready to give the Lord to each other and to receive the Lord from each other. At the beginning of the first reading, Paul reminds Timothy that he has received the gift faith from others, from his mother, Eunice, and, before her, from his grandmother, Lois. Paul then calls upon him to give to others the gift of faith that he has received from those before him, not in a spirit of timidity but in a spirit of courageous witness. This is a message we all need to hear today.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus

Today we celebrate the memorial of two of Saint Paul’s closest associates, Timothy and Titus. In today’s first reading, Paul addresses Timothy as a third-generation believer. He refers to the faith that came first to live in his grandmother Lois, and then in his mother Eunice, and then in Timothy himself. It seems that Timothy caught the faith in his home. The same is true for many of us. Our own faith owes a great deal to the faith of our parents and grandparents. The same could not be said of Paul. His parents and grandparents were Jewish. It was his life changing encounter with the risen Lord that brought him to faith in Jesus, probably leaving him at odds with his parents and grandparents. Both Timothy’s and Paul’s experience reminds us that the Lord can touch the lives of people through the faith of family members, but he can also touch their lives in other, less conventional, ways. The Lord is always reaching out to us in one way or another. In the gospel reading, he reached out to the people of his time by sending out a very large group of seventy two disciples with the message, ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’. Jesus’ words to the seventy-two suggest that he was aware that this attempt on his part to touch the lives of a bigger number would not always be successful, ‘I am sending you out like lambs among wolves’. Yet, the Lord was never put off by people’s resistance. Whether people accepted or rejected him, it remained the case that ‘the kingdom of God is very near to you’. The Lord is always near to us, and never tires of seeking us out and calling out to us to come to him. He can do this in a whole variety of ways.

-------------------

Saturday, Second Week in Ordinary Time  

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Mark 3:20-21

Jesus' relatives were convinced he was out of his mind

Jesus went home, and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.

Gospel (USA)

Mark 3:20-21

They said, "He is out of his mind.”

Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Reflections (3)

(i) Saturday, Second Week in Ordinary Time

Mark suggests strongly in the course of his gospel that a lot of people did not really understand Jesus during his public ministry. One of the questions that keeps coming up in one form or another is, ‘Who then is this?’ In this morning’s very short gospel reading, it is clear that even Jesus’ relatives do not understand who Jesus is or what he is about. When Jesus’ workload prevents him from eating properly, Mark tells us that his relatives set out to take charge of him, because many were saying that he was out of his mind. They would go on to learn on that occasion that Jesus was not open to being taken charge of by his relatives. The only one who was in charge of Jesus was God. Jesus was doing God’s work, and part of that work was to form a new family, a family of disciples, of brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters of God. Jesus’ own natural family, his relatives, would have to come to terms with that. We are all part of that new family; we are all the fruit of Jesus’ work, a work that people struggled hard to understand at the time. For us who are part of this new family, the question, ‘Who then is this?’ remains a relevant question. We are always struggling to know more fully the Son of God whose brothers and sisters we have become.

And/Or

(ii) Saturday, Second Week in Ordinary Time

This morning’s gospel reading from Mark must be one of the shortest gospel readings in the liturgical year. Yet it is very thought provoking. It declares that Jesus’ relatives set out to take charge of Jesus and bring him back to Nazareth because they were convinced that he was out of his mind. By this time in Mark’s gospel Jesus had incurred the hostility of the religious authorities by his teaching and his behaviour, by his eating with tax collectors and sinners, by declaring himself to be the Son of Man who has authority to forgive sins, by working on the Sabbath to heal the sick, and so on. Perhaps Jesus’ family felt that he was not being very wise, that he was behaving in ways that were foolhardy and risky, and they wanted to preserve and protect him. Indeed, Jesus’ teaching and behaviour would eventually put him on a Roman cross. Yet, Jesus remained faithful to his calling to proclaim God’s kingdom in word and deed, regardless of the personal consequences for himself. He would not be deflected from that, not even by well meaning relatives. He placed God’s purpose for the well-being of others, both material and spiritual, before all else. This is what is referred to in the beatitudes as purity of heart, that purity of intention which seeks God’s will and God’s kingdom before all else. He calls on us to follow him in putting the purpose of God and the well being of others before our own comfort and preservation. That does not come easy to us; our instincts can be more like those of Jesus’ relatives than of Jesus himself. We need the help of the Spirit if we are to be as pure in heart as Jesus was.

And/Or

(iii) Saturday, Second Week in Ordinary Time

This very short gospel reading from Mark gives us a little glimpse of how Jesus was misunderstood within his own family. Jesus is busily engaged in his ministry and his family come down from Nazareth to Capernaum to take charge of him because they believe he is out of his mind. A few chapters later in Mark’s gospel Jesus is rejected in his home town of Nazareth and in response to that experience Jesus says, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house’. Jesus was taking a path in life that his family did not approve of. Tension within families is something we have all experienced at some time or other. This was a dimension of human living that Jesus also experienced. He entered fully into the human condition, knowing from within its struggles, its tensions, its misunderstandings and the resulting pain for all concerned. He can walk compassionately with us through those experiences because he has been there himself. Jesus did not always go where his family wanted him to go because he was subject to a greater authority in his life, and that was God’s authority. God’s purpose drove him and he was faithful to that purpose even when it brought him into conflict with those for whom he had the strongest feelings of natural affection. We, his followers, are called to remain true to the Lord’s direction, his guidance, his vision and values, even if that means for us what it meant for him, finding ourselves at odds with those who are nearest and dearest to us.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: [email protected] or  [email protected]

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[latristereina]

Isabella of Castile, the Catholic, was born on April 22nd in 1451, on Maundy Thursday, at the so-called royal palace of the village of Madrigal, called de las Altas Torres. At the moment the most important source about the birth is the letter sent by John II to the city of Segovia, on April 26th, 1451, informing them of such happy event: 

’I let you know that, by the grace of our Lord, past Thursday the Queen doña Isabel, my very dear and very beloved wife, gave birth to an infanta, which I let you know so you would give many thanks to God for the liberation of the said Queen, my wife, and for the birth of the said infanta, because of which I ordered Johan de Busto to go to you, who carries the present.’ 

That <<past Thursday>> coincided with Maundy Thursday hence could not be more important in religious Christian life, and she took responsibility to celebrate it during her whole life with her family and with her court. The chronicler Doctor Toledo will specify that she was born in Madrigal, on Thursday, on April 22nd, at 4:30 pm. Thanks to both sources, we have established the day and hour of birth. 

The same can be said about the birthplace, the cradle of the future Queen. It was at the royal palace of Madrigal, not a monumental building which was not for these places of residence, but a temporal residence in the itinerant life of the king and the court. Thus, its simplicity is understandable and its austere mudejár style can be recorded. It seems that house captivated the Portuguese (Isabella’s mother). The palace and the entire village were hers. She would go there to take refuge during decades, when her psychosis intensified, and there she would pass away. 

The newborn was not fed by her mother; it’s certain that Isabella’s wet-nurse was María López, wife of Juan de Molina, whom the queen will recall on March 3, 1495, granting her 10.000 maravedíes <<because the said María López gave her Highness her milk>>. This fact appears in las Cuentas (household accounts) and is indubitable.

- “Isabel la Católica: vida y reinado”, Tarsicio de Azcona

Isabel was born far inland, behind the lofty walls of Madrigal de las Altas Torres—Madrigal of the High Towers—in the heart of the meseta, the flat tableland at the heart of Castile. The forty-eight altas torres rising along the forty-foot-high walls ringing the town spoke of safety in a world geared to war, particularly war between Christian inhabitants and Muslim raiders. But those walls also spoke of paradox: made of brick and rubble, materials typical to mudéjar construction, they revealed an origin or an inspiration unequivocably Arabic. Madrigal, like other places on Spain’s central plateau, had been alternately occupied by Christians and Muslims until well into the eleventh century, and it was home to some inhabitants of Muslim culture afterward. In Madrigal too, in the great house abutting those walls called the royal palace, Isabel toddled under intricately worked wooden ceilings, artesonados, carved by mudéjares, Muslim subjects of Castile’s king. And tradition has it that she was baptized in Madrigal’s church of San Nicolás, in its baptismal font thickly encrusted with gold from Muslim Africa.

Only an occasional reference sheds light on Isabel’s childhood. At seventeen, she wrote to her half-brother, the king Enrique IV, accusing him of having treated her badly, representing herself as a semi-orphan raised in obscurity and kept in want by him. Her court chronicler, Hernando del Pulgar, was to state that her early years were spent ‘in extreme lack of necessary things,’ and that she was without a father and ‘we can even say a mother.’ Isabel was three when her father, Juan II of Castile, died. He had doted on her mother, Isabel of Portugal, his young second wife, and, rumor had it, come to resent the control exerted over him by his longtime mentor, Alvaro de Luna, who sought to regulate the king’s conjugal visits to his queen. What is indisputable is that shortly after Isabel’s birth, Luna was beheaded at Juan’s order. Within a year, Juan, whether through regret or because Luna’s restraining hand was gone, grew immoderate, it was said, in the pleasures of love and table, fell ill of quartanary fevers, and although believing prophecies that he would live to be ninety, died on July 21,1454, and the crown passed to his elder son, Enrique. Juan was forty-nine years old, the longest-lived king of his dynasty in five generations. Enrique IV was then thirty. He had had no children with his first wife, Blanca of Navarre, and his second, Juana of Portugal, would have none until Isabel was ten; until then Isabel grew up seeing her younger brother, Alfonso—born in November 1453 when she was two—as heir apparent to Castile’s crown and herself as second in line, as her father’s last will had stipulated. To the childless Enrique, the two children represented family and dynastic continuity, but also a potential threat. As for Isabel, after the death of her father, her circumstances were none too secure on several other counts she did not mention in that letter.

Her mother, the young dowager queen, Isabel of Portugal, who was twenty-seven years old at her husband’s death, then took the two children to live in Arévalo, a royal town consigned to her in Juan’s will. Shortly thereafter, according to the chronicler Alonso de Palencia, Enrique called on her accompanied by a favorite of his, Pedro Girón, the master of the military order of Calatrava; Girón immediately ‘made some indecent suggestions’ that shocked the recent widow. Palencia, who is generally vitriolic about both Enrique and Girón, went on to assert that the importuning by this overhasty, unwelcome (and, patently, not sufficiently noble) suitor threw Isabel of Portugal into a profound sadness and horror of the outside world, that she then ‘closed herself into a dark room, self-condemned to silence, and dominated by such depression that it degenerated into a form of madness.’

Another chronicler, who was more in touch with events at the time, confirms the reclusiveness of Isabel’s mother but dates it earlier, from her daughter’s birth. Whatever the cause or date, young Isabel grew up with a deeply disturbed mother. The child may well have dreaded becoming like her, and suffered tension between affection and fear. Surely too she was aware that her own birth was among the causes mentioned for her mother’s madness. It is tempting to conjecture that qualities that Isabel displayed as an adult—love of order and the striving for it; a no-nonsense, highly rational stance; and a sharply defined personality, were honed in reaction to her mother’s condition, and even to think that her desire for light in all its forms, and especially in its religious associations—her abhorrence of the forces of darkness, her determination to cleanse the body politic of impurities—was not unrelated to the circumstances of her childhood. Isabel grew up, then, in several sorts of obscurity, her childhood a sort of purgatory and a test of moral fiber she passed magnificently. Such was long the accepted version of her early years; it was her own version. It is neither strictly accurate nor complete.

Arévalo, fifteen miles from Madrigal and like it a market town, is remembered as the best fortified of royal towns. There, her mother’s condition notwithstanding, Isabel spent her early years in great stability and familial warmth. For when she was two and her mother again pregnant, her widowed grandmother, Isabel de Barcelos, arrived from Portugal. Tellingly, when first mentioned in the chronicles Isabel de Barcelos is in her forties and sitting, at King Juan’s request, in his privy council. Contemporaries, among them the chronicler Diego de Valera, recognized in her ‘a notable woman of great counsel.’ Valera affirmed that after the death of the king, Isabel de Barcelos ‘was of great help and consolation to the widowed queen, her daughter’; and he commented that her death, in 1466, ‘was very harmful.’ Pulgar adds that Isabel missed her grandmother sorely. Surely Isabel de Barcelos ran her daughter’s household. And she it doubtlessly was whom the child Isabel took as model. It is revealing that later, as queen, Isabel of Castile enjoyed keeping about her elderly women of good repute and good family.

From all accounts, Isabel de Barcelos was a formidable lady of formidable lineage. She came of royal Portuguese stock with a history of going for the throne and of doing it with claims far weaker than would be those of her Castilian grandchild. Daughter of the first duke of Braganza, Portugal’s most powerful noble and an illegitimate son of the king, Joāo I, she had married her uncle, Prince Joāo, one of five sons Joāo I had with Philippa, his queen consort. Philippa too came of redoubtable stock. Her father was John of Gaunt, the English king-making duke of Lancaster, and her mother, Costanza, was a Castilian infanta. This lineage meant that young Isabel carried in her veins the royal blood of Castile, Portugal, and England. Doubtlessly too, she took dynastic pride in her own name, Isabel, repeated through seven generations of royal women and originating in her ancestor Saint Isabel, the thirteenth-century Portuguese queen canonized for her good works and miracles. Isabel’s aya, or nurse-governess, in Arévalo was also Portuguese. She was Clara Alvarnáez, married to Gonzalo Chacón, to whom Juan II had consigned his children’s education. Chacón was also the dowager queen’s camerero, the administrator of her household. Oddly enough, Chacón had earlier filled the same post for Álvaro de Luna, Juan II’s former favorite. Even so, Chacón and Clara Alvarnáez remained close to Isabel throughout their lifetimes.

- „Isabel the Queen: Life and Times”, Peggy K. Liss

#perioddramaedit #historyedit #isabella i of castile #on this day in history

[eldermillarmissionblog]

The Weekly Mesa Report

Goooooood afternoon!!!

How are y'all doing? This week has been great! It has definitely felt long with all the changes and adjustments, but we are making it work!

I got my new companion on Tuesday and we are getting along well. His name is Elder Hatch and he is from Queen Creek, AZ. He has been out for a little over a year and we are the Zone Leaders together. I'm excited to learn from him and press the work forward here in this area.

Here are some updates from this week:

Our friends Emmanuel, Consuelo, and their daughter Valentina are all set for their baptisms in a few weeks. The plan is that Emmanuel will be baptized on February 19th, confirmed the next day, as well as receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He will then baptize his wife and daughter on the 26th. We are super excited for them and they are sooo prepared. The Lord is merciful and prepares those who are humble and meek of heart. 

We had an awesome lesson with a little family in our ward. They haven't been to church in a few years and we just went over and had a nice lesson with them. We discussed why they were baptized, what blessings that have seen from their baptisms, and they bore powerful testimonies. They are excited to begin coming back to church and bringing their kids and grandkids.

We had a lesson the other day with one of our friends named Emily and it was super cool. It is a mission rule for us elders that if there is no other male in the house, we need to bring a man with us. We were having some difficulty figuring out who we could get to the lesson, but then felt prompted to invite our friend, Oscar! Oscar isn't a member of our church either, but we have been teaching him for a while and he has great faith. It was really cool because he and Emily related really well and he talked about all the blessings he has received since beginning to learn about the Restored Gospel, read the scriptures, and go to church. It was a very special and powerful lesson.

Spiritual thought:

I was studying two days ago about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and gained some wonderful insights. When I teach the Restoration, I often just mention that through the power of God, Joseph Smith was able to restore the same church and teachings that Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth. As I studied, I recognized that there is much more to it. It wasn't just a church that was restored. Through the prophet Joseph Smith, under the direction of Jesus Christ, all the necessary truths, ordinances, and authority needed for our salvation were restored. Even today through the current prophet, Russell M. Nelson, the Restoration continues to take place, aiding us in bringing about the salvation of all souls both here on earth and those that have already passed on by means of proxy ordinances in the temple. 

I know that this is Christ's Restored Church here upon the earth. But most importantly, I know that within this gospel is contained everything we need to return and live with our Father in Heaven, with our families, for time and all eternity. 

If you do not have a testimony of the Restored Gospel, or if you have questions or doubts, please reach out to me or your local missionaries. We would love to help you on your path to finding truth and peace through Christ's Restored Gospel :)

I leave that with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Love y'all! 

Elder Millar

Pics:  Some missionaries from our Zone/saying goodbye to some good friends.

[mr-mormons-adventures]

Week 38!

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the delay in the weekly email! It's the final week of transfers and that means this email and the next will be on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Sorry to make you all wait a little longer, but it just makes it all the better to read my amazing emails after all that waiting! Tuesday: Tuesday we had exchanges with the Poplar Bluff elders. I was down in the Bluff itself, running around to the various appointments. We got to go into some project housing to have an appointment with a returning less-active member, and had dinner with a recent convert who made some AMAZING lemonade. It was some pomegranate lemonade and it was so good, you all have no idea. I had several cups. Then we drove home and ended the exchanges by dropping me back off with Elder Cardiff. Wednesday: We did service on Wednesday instead of Thursday because of some rescheduling around president interviews. Our service was assisting a member in the ward with some help around her farm. She bought a plot of land quite a few years ago that was just abandoned for a long time, so she's working to restore it. We helped her to clear away a bunch of the weeds. After that was running around looking for potentials, then we had dinner with our investigator Abbi for the first time in a while! She's been hard to set up an appointment with because of work and such, but we had a dinner appointment we were able to make it to! We had a good time and were able to set a schedule to continue teaching her. Thursday: Thursday was president interviews in Cape Girardeau. We had to be there an hour early so that Elder Cardiff could be in time for his exit interview, where he talked with President Bateman for the last time. The district meeting we had was good, then afterward in our area we had an interesting exchange with the AP's.  One of them went with me and Elder Cardiff, and the other went with the Fredericktown Elders. We went and taught Leslie with him, then had dinner with a member after. Friday: Friday was good! We had to get up early to help the AP pack his stuff since he had to be in St. Louis by 8am. But after that we went to the church to do some weekly planning. After that was just potential hunting again, and we had dinner with our investigator Travis. Not much happened on Friday honestly. Saturday: Saturday morning was booked with appointments over each other, so we split with the Fredericktown elders. Elder Cardiff and Elder Finch went to go do service and Elder Valentine and I went to teach a guy in a mental hospital. After that we did some planning for the baptism we have in a week and I wrote some stuff down for my talk I was giving on Sunday. Sunday: Sunday was a good day! I gave a good talk (at least I thought it was good), then I got the chance to teach the Gospel Principles class again! We talked about charity and how it can positively affect our lives. We also talked about ways to become more charitable. We taught Mia, our investigator getting baptized on the 28th, after church and it went super well! We have one more appointment with her to teach her on the 26th, and that should just be a bunch of getting things finalized for her! Monday: Monday wasn't P-day, so we started the morning doing Elder Cardiff's final bit of "My Plan", the Church's plan to help missionaries return home and stay active in life and in the church.  Then we split with the Poplar Bluff elders because of more overbook appointments and I went with Elder Rice to go teach someone who lives way out in the middle of nowhere. As a side note, there are a lot of those out here. It was a good appointment, then we had another dinner appointment with Abbi and her family. They had a family friend from Germany there who we got to teach a little about the gospel, which was awesome. That's been my week! Next week's email will be on Tuesday again, so expect it then! You'll also get to hear if I'm getting transferred, if I'm staying, but I'm afraid you won't know who my new companion is until the week after. This Sunday I'll be saying goodbye to Elder Cardiff for good, as he returns to his home in Arizona. Until next week! Love,

Elder Brown

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

26th May >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Mark 10:32-45 for Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink?’.

Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Mark 10:32-45

The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many.

The disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem; Jesus was walking on ahead of them; they were in a daze, and those who followed were apprehensive. Once more taking the Twelve aside he began to tell them what was going to happen to him: ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the pagans, who will mock him and spit at him and scourge him and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.’

   James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him. ‘Master,’ they said to him ‘we want you to do us a favour.’ He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.’

   When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

Gospel (USA)

Mark 10:32-45

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over.

The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.” Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, ‘What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, ‘We can.” Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Reflections (6)

(i) Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes when someone speaks to us about a matter we find difficult to deal with, we can be tempted to move the conversation onto an easier topic. Today’s gospel reading seems to reflect that situation. Jesus was letting his disciples know that in the city of Jerusalem towards which they were journeying he would be condemned and put to death. It had already been said by the evangelist that the disciples were apprehensive as they travelled with Jesus to Jerusalem. What Jesus said could only have made them more apprehensive. Two of the disciples, James and John, immediately strike a very different note to the one Jesus had just struck. They ask him for places of honour when Jesus enters his glory. Jesus had spoken of the cross and shame, and they immediately speak of glory and greatness. He has to bring them back to the painful reality of what lies ahead with the question, ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I must be baptized?’ Jesus will drink the cup of suffering, not because he is in love with suffering, but because suffering will be the inevitable outcome of his life of loving service of all. As he says of himself at the end of the gospel reading, he is the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all. His loving service of us all was a service unto death. Jesus goes on to teach his disciples that within the circle of his followers glory and greatness consist in self-emptying service of others. The Lord wants to continue his mission of loving service of others through each one of us. Whenever we give of ourselves in some way in the service of others, we are making present in the world the Lord’s self-emptying love and we will be considered great in the eyes of the Lord.

And/Or

(ii) Wednesday, Eighth week in Ordinary Time

Jesus asks many questions in the course of the four gospels, and one of the most significant is to be found in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ Jesus addresses this question to James and John, the sons of Zebedee. In the very next passage of Mark’s gospel, he addresses the same question to the blind man, Bartimaeus, in Jericho. It is a question that invites us to express what it is we most want. It is a question that draws out of us what our values are, what our priorities are. What James and John wanted was the most prominent positions in God’s kingdom; they were seeking after status and honour. Jesus could not grant their request because the values expressed by their request were not the values of Jesus. Their prayer of petition was not in the spirit of Jesus and so, it could not be responded to. We need to pray, to petition, in the spirit of Jesus. Our prayers of petition need to be in tune with the prayers of the Holy Spirit deep within us. We need to pray in Jesus’ name. Only then can our prayers be heard.

 And/Or

(iii) Wednesday, Eighth week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, we find one of several clashes between Jesus and his disciples in Mark’s gospel, as they make their way to Jerusalem, the city where Jesus will be crucified. Jesus and his disciples are clearly on different wavelengths. The difference between them finds expression in the very different questions they ask of each other. The question the two disciples, James and John, ask Jesus focuses on glory, honour, status. The question that Jesus asks James and John focuses on the experience of rejection and suffering that he has to face into, ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I must be baptized?’ Jesus was referring to the cup of suffering and the baptism of fire. The question of James and John showed their interest in self-promotion. The question of Jesus showed his interest in self-giving. At the heart of being his disciple is self-giving love, becoming the servant of others, and this will often mean taking the way of the cross, as Jesus knew from his own experience. James and John, and all of us, are being called to follow the one who did not come to be served but to serve, whose purpose in life was not to promote himself but to empty himself for others. It is only in following this way that we will receive that share in Jesus’ glory that was the focus of James and John’s request.

 And/Or

(iv) Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

In yesterday’s gospel reading, Peter asked Jesus a question. In this morning’s gospel reading, two of Peter’s companions, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, make a request of Jesus, ‘allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left hand in your glory’. They were after the best seats in the kingdom of heaven; nothing less would do. You would have to say that there was a fair degree of self-interest in their request. As a result, it was a request that Jesus could not answer. Our prayers can only be answered to the extent that they are in keeping with God’s purpose for our lives and in harmony with the values of God’s kingdom. To be genuine our prayer has to be a prayer that Jesus himself could identify with. The question that Jesus asked James and John points in the direction of the prayer that they should have made, ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I must be baptized?’ Jesus was really asking them, ‘Can you follow me even if it means the cross for you?’ The Lord asks that question of all of us, and the prayer which that question inspires in us is the prayer which asks God to keep us faithful to his Son, even when it costs us a great deal. It is the final two petitions of the Lord’s prayer.

 And/Or

(v) Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

People make requests of Jesus in the gospels. If the request is for healing of some kind, he always responds. However, if the request is tainted with self-interest he doesn’t respond. In the gospel reading this morning two of the disciples make a request of Jesus to which he does not respond. There was certainly an element of self-interest in the request of James and John; they wanted the best seats in Jesus’ kingdom. Our own requests of the Lord have to be purified of self-interest if he is to respond to them. If we ask something of the Lord for ourselves it needs always to be with a view to others. Our asking has to be in the service of the Lord’s work in the world. Towards the end of the gospel reading Jesus defines greatest in God’s kingdom in terms of service of others, ‘Anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant’. Jesus points to himself as the model servant, declaring that he came not to be served, which is what James and John wanted, but to serve. His service of others involved a painful self-emptying, as all service in his name will often involve. That is why in response to the self-serving question of James and John Jesus asks them a question which points in the direction of self-emptying service, ‘Can you drink the cup I must drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I must be baptized?’ There is an implicit reference to both Eucharist and baptism in Jesus’ question. Every time we drink the cup of the Lord at the Eucharist we are saying ‘yes’ to our baptismal calling to share in the Lord’s work of giving of ourselves in the service of others.

 And/Or

(vi) Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

There are times in the gospels when Jesus seems aware that he is calling his disciples to a way of life that is out of sync with the culture around them. Today’s gospel reading is a good example of this awareness of Jesus. He looks out at the pagan world of his day and he sees how the rulers and those in authority govern. He says that they lord it over their subjects and make their authority felt. He then very pointedly says to his disciples, ‘this is not to happen among you’. He had noticed that his disciples were speaking and behaving in ways that reflected the world’s understanding of authority as conferring status and power. James and John had just been looking for the places of honour in Jesus’ kingdom; the other disciples became indignant with James and John, thinking perhaps that they had stolen a march on them. Jesus did not want his community of disciples to learn the ways of the world when it came to exercising authority. ‘This is not to happen among you’. Unfortunately, this strong admonition of Jesus has not always been heeded by the church in the course of its history. Jesus understands authority purely in terms of service, ‘anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant’. This was Jesus’ teaching, but, even more so, this was Jesus’ way of life, ‘the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life’. Jesus embodied the authority of self-emptying service of others, especially of the most vulnerable. He declares in today’s gospel reading that this is the only exercise of authority that is valid for his followers.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[fr-martin-gospel-reflections]

26th May - ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink?’ Reflection on today’s gospel reading (Mark 10:32-45)

Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes when someone speaks to us about a matter we find difficult to deal with, we can be tempted to move the conversation onto an easier topic. Today’s gospel reading seems to reflect that situation. Jesus was letting his disciples know that in the city of Jerusalem towards which they were journeying he would be condemned and put to death. It had already been said by the evangelist that the disciples were apprehensive as they travelled with Jesus to Jerusalem. What Jesus said could only have made them more apprehensive. Two of the disciples, James and John, immediately strike a very different note to the one Jesus had just struck. They ask him for places of honour when Jesus enters his glory. Jesus had spoken of the cross and shame, and they immediately speak of glory and greatness. He has to bring them back to the painful reality of what lies ahead with the question, ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I must be baptized?’ Jesus will drink the cup of suffering, not because he is in love with suffering, but because suffering will be the inevitable outcome of his life of loving service of all. As he says of himself at the end of the gospel reading, he is the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all. His loving service of us all was a service unto death. Jesus goes on to teach his disciples that within the circle of his followers glory and greatness consist in self-emptying service of others. The Lord wants to continue his mission of loving service of others through each one of us. Whenever we give of ourselves in some way in the service of others, we are making present in the world the Lord’s self-emptying love and we will be considered great in the eyes of the Lord.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarf RC

Facebook: @SJtBClontarf

Tumbler: St-John-the-baptist-Clontarf-Rd

[yhwhrulz]

[marieabanga]

photo taken 17.05.18

Hmm, that picture was taken on the day my ego and body conceded defeat at exactly 3am. I looked at the time when the thought crossed my mind that ‘this is it for your ego and body’.

I was recently on a spiritual journey of some length, and indeed pressure was not only coming from the outside to give up you know. My ego and body were spearheading the naysayers. Let’s start with fella ego shall we?

Are you sure you can do this?

Nobody asked me the above question out rightly except fella ego. I quickly ignored him and set about with my preparations, mainly emotional and spiritual, then telling my entourage (especially the boys you know). But you know fella e, he lies in wait and pops again even in your sleep. Anyway, it’s all come to pass and I did it…big time and all the way…

What will people say?

Both fella e and the fella Es of a few ‘concerned’, asked me the above a few times. What if they say you are sick, be it physical or mental you know. What if they shun your services and you can’t survive like that anyway, what if, what if!!! I decided to write an official I need no one to believe in me post here on my blog to take care of that once and for all…

You are losing far too much weight and your health too you know

I should be weighing 70/71kgs which is 4kgs below my ideal although my ideal for BMI is 73kg. So what is the alarm? Yes I had some mild health challenges with an inflamed eye which all but shut down and some equally mild RA flares lasting 3 days each, but I mean spiritual journey or not, that could happen. So no all fella Es, the spiritual journey wasn’t going to be stopped. I took several different meds and products for the eye thanks to misdiagnosis, but thank God none was to be taken during the day nor mandatory with food – sorry this approach too didn’t work. I even told my GA when that eye started that it was but a distraction

Give them a piece of your mind like the real you would back in the days

At the start of stage 4, I faced what I will call the most emotional challenge I had ever faced since starting the journey. Fella E nagged at me to give it a piece of my mind and abandon the spiritual journey if it’ll cool tempers and let ‘peace reign’. Well, prima, I listened to my spirit and waited 7 days before giving a piece of my serene mind, and then when the challenge continued I shut down emotionally and said I felt that was the best option for this stage (turned out to be one of Grace – and that was the best decision I made from every indication). You see fella E, you don’t know any real me and you can’t lure me with any of your trapings. I wouldn’t even bother to give you any piece of my mind – let me address your sister body now

A nagging swollen eye

The worst of a distraction

It started like a joke on the 26th of February. I quickly felt in my spirit that was going to accompany me through out the spiritual journey and although it will be a distraction so no ‘unwanted’ questions are asked about the spiritual journey itself, it turned out to attract a lot of attention. I decided from the very beginning to deflate my ego by baptizing the eye “our healing eye”. I told God it was “our eye” and He knew how much we needed that eye. I however told Him what my spirit told me which I know He was aware of, the swelling or inflammation was a distraction and I treated it as such, stopping barely to sleep at night.

04.18

05.05.18

04.18

nursing healing eye with soothing aloe vera steeped cotton pads, then cucumbers etc (30.03.18)

In court with another dynamic colleague and her son

I went about my activities and took up riding the bicycle the more inflamed it got. I read An American Marriage the weekend the eye got to its worst (48hrs to finish that epic novel because I got it from a sister who brought same from the US and was yet to even read the cover)… the eye got its final dose of healing on the 13th of May 2018 and that was another exciting chapter closed in that thrilling journey.

Tiredness and Sour Mouth

The last ditch from my body to get me to stop this just ended awesome spiritual journey was to threaten to breakdown. The last week in particular was spectacular. My sleep was literally messed up. Sleep 8.30 pm – 2.27 am and then toss around with some REM sleep for maybe 30-45mins and then give up – and then embarrassingly nod off occasionally during the day on the spur. Three days after it started, while meditating, I got the aha, that is the last attempt. Even the sour mouth which I thought was due to meds was rather intensifying although no longer on meds. Well, I slept much better today and the sour mouth is getting better.

And so dear all, that in a nutshell is how my Ego and Body disturbed and and got a big bashful beating. The spirit was so willing to the point that no weak flesh could deter it.

Be inspired and motivated someone, hope you are enjoying the weekend like I am doing lol

And my ego and body took a big bashful beating hurray… Hmm, that picture was taken on the day my ego and body conceded defeat at exactly 3am.

#Ego #inspiration #Keeping Faith #Motivation #Perseverance #Persistence #Resilience

[christianstevefinnell]

A DIFFERENT LOOK AT THE INQUISITION --GEORGE L. FAULL, REL. D.

IN ZURICH SWITZERLAND, ON JANUARY 18TH, 1525 AN ORDER WAS GIVEN BY THE ZURICH COUNCIL THAT ALL INFANTS MUST BE BAPTIZED WITHIN 8 DAYS OF BIRTH. THOSE NOT COMPLIANT TO THIS RULING WOULD BE BANISHED FROM ZURICH. ON JANUARY 21ST, ALL OPPONENTS OF THIS DECREE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO MEET OR SPEAK IN PUBLIC.

THIS LED TO MARTYRDOM AND MANY OF THOSE WHO WERE MARTYRED WERE ANABAPTIST. AN ANABAPTIST IS NOT SPEAKING OF THOSE CALLED BAPTISTS TODAY. THEY WERE A PEOPLE WHO WERE NICKNAMED “ANABAPTIST”. THIS COMES FROM THE GREEK WHICH MEANS “OVER AGAIN” AND “BAPTISM”. SO AN ANABAPTIST IS “ONE WHO BAPTIZES AGAIN!” THEY DID NOT CONSIDER INFANT BAPTISM OR SPRINKLING A RECOGNIZED BAPTISM, SO THEY DID NOT CONSIDER BELIEVER-BAPTISM A REBAPTISM SO THEY REJECTED THE NICKNAME.

IN MARCH OF 1525, THIS ORDER WAS GIVEN: “YOU KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT, AND HAVE HEARD FROM MANY THAT FOR A LONG TIME, SOME PECULIAR MEN, WHO IMAGINE THAT THEY ARE LEARNED, HAVE COME FORWARD ASTONISHINGLY, AND WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, GIVEN AS A PRETEXT BY SIMPLE AND PIOUS MEN, HAVE PREACHED, AND WITHOUT THE PERMISSION AND CONSENT OF THE CHURCH, HAVE PROCLAIMED THAT INFANT BAPTISM DID NOT PROCEED FROM GOD, BUT FROM THE DEVIL, AND, THEREFORE, OUGHT NOT TO BE PRACTICED… WE, THEREFORE, ORDAIN AND REQUIRE THAT HEREAFTER ALL MEN, WOMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS FORSAKE REBAPTISM, AND SHALL NOT MAKE USE OF IT HEREAFTER, AND SHALL LET INFANTS BE BAPTIZED; WHOEVER SHALL ACT CONTRARY TO THIS PUBLIC EDICT SHALL BE FINED FOR EVERY OFFENSE, ONE MARK; AND IF ANY BE DISOBEDIENT AND STUBBORN THEY SHALL BE TREATED WITH SEVERITY; FOR, THE OBEDIENT WE WILL PROTECT; THE DISOBEDIENT WE WILL PUNISH ACCORDING TO HIS DESERTS, WITHOUT FAIL; BY THIS ALL ARE TO CONDUCT THEMSELVES. ALL THIS WE CONFIRM BY THIS PUBLIC DOCUMENT, STAMPED WITH THE SEAL OF OUR CITY, AND GIVEN ON ST. ANDREW’S DAY, A. D., 1525.”

RESULTS: FELIX MANZ, HENRY REIMAN, JACOB FALK WERE DROWNED. DECEMBER 1527 THEY WERE TOLD, “HE WHO IMMERSED SHALL BE IMMERSED”. A TOWNSMAN SAID, “THEY LIKE IMMERSION, SO LET US IMMERSE THEM”.

BALTHASAR HOBMAIER SAID, “THE COMMAND IS TO BAPTIZE THOSE WHO BELIEVE, TO BAPTIZE THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE, THEREFORE IS FORBIDDEN. HE WAS IMPRISONED AND LATER WHEN HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RECANT INSTEAD HE SHOUTED, “INFANT BAPTISM IS NOT OF GOD AND MEN MUST BE BAPTIZED BY FAITH IN CHRIST. I HAVE NEVER TAUGHT ANABAPTISM…BUT THE RIGHT BAPTISM OF CHRIST, WHICH IS PRECEDED BY TEACHING AND ORAL CONFESSION OF FAITH, I TEACH, AND SAY THAT INFANT BAPTISM IS A ROBBERY OF THE RIGHT BAPTISM OF CHRIST.” ON MARCH 10TH, 1528 IN VIENNA, HE WAS BURNED AT THE STAKE AND 8 DAYS LATER, HIS WIFE WAS DROWNED.

NOT ONLY IN ZURICH AND VIENNA WAS THIS PERSECUTION AGAINST THOSE WHO WERE FOR IMMERSION AND AGAINST INFANT BAPTISM PRACTICED BUT AT ST. GALL, SWITZERLAND THEY ISSUED THIS DECREE – SEPTEMBER 9TH, 1527: “IN ORDER THAT THE DANGEROUS, WICKED, TURBULENT AND SEDITIOUS SECT OF THE BAPTISTS MAY BE ERADICATED, WE HAVE THUS DECREED: IF ANYONE IS SUSPECTED OF REBAPTISM, HE IS TO BE WARNED BY THE MAGISTRACY TO LEAVE THE TERRITORY UNDER PENALTY OF THE DESIGNATED PUNISHMENT [TO BE DROWNED]. EVERY PERSON IS OBLIGED TO REPORT THOSE FAVORABLE TO REBAPTISM. WHOEVER SHALL NOT COMPLY WITH THIS ORDINANCE IS LIABLE TO PUNISHMENT ACCORDING TO THE SENTENCE OF THE MAGISTRACY. TEACHERS OF REBAPTISM, BAPTIZING PREACHERS, AND LEADERS OF HEDGE MEETINGS ARE TO BE DROWNED. THOSE PREVIOUSLY RELEASED FROM PRISON WHO HAVE SWORN TO DESIST FROM SUCH THINGS, SHALL INCUR THE SAME PENALTY. FOREIGN BAPTISTS ARE TO BE DRIVEN OUT; IF THEY RETURN THEY SHALL BE DROWNED. NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SECEDE FROM THE [ZWINGLIAN] CHURCH AND TO ABSENT HIMSELF FROM THE HOLY SUPPER.”

THE DECREE ON MARCH 26TH , 1530, WAS EVEN MORE SEVERE: “ALL WHO ADHERE TO OR FAVOR THE FALSE SECT OF THE BAPTISTS, AND WHO ATTEND HEDGE-MEETINGS, SHALL SUFFER THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENTS. BAPTIST LEADERS, THEIR FOLLOWERS, AND PROTECTORS SHALL BE DROWNED WITHOUT MERCY. THOSE, HOWEVER, WHO "FROM THE COWARDICE THAT SHRINKS FROM NEW TRUTH, FROM THE LAZINESS THAT IS CONTENT WITH HALFTRUTHS, FROM THE ARROGANCE THAT THINKS IT KNOWS ALL TRUTH, O, GOD OF TRUTH, DELIVER US." ULRICH ZWINGLI 2 THE GOSPEL UNASHAMED JULY 2015 ASSIST THEM, OR FAIL TO REPORT OR TO ARREST THEM SHALL BE PUNISHED OTHERWISE ON BODY AND GOODS AS INJURIOUS AND FAITHLESS SUBJECTS.”

LIKEWISE, THE GENEVA’S SWITZERLAND COUNCIL IN 1632, HUNG AND BURNED MEN FOR DENYING THE TRINITY. THE SAME PERSECUTION WAS IN DASIL AND BERNE.

IN GERMANY, LUTHER TAUGHT IMMERSION EVEN TRANSLATING “BAPTIZE” AS “DIP”. HE WROTE THESE WORDS IN 1518: “THE SIGNIFICATION OF BAPTISM DEMANDS, FOR IT SIGNIFIES THAT THE OLD MAN AND SINFUL BIRTH FROM THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHALL BE COMPLETELY DROWNED THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD.

THEREFORE, A MAN SHOULD SUFFICIENTLY PERFORM THE SIGNIFICATION AND A RIGHT PERFECT SIGN. THE SIGN RESTS, IN THIS, THAT A MAN PLUNGE A PERSON IN WATER IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, ETC., BUT DOES NOT LEAVE HIM THEREIN BUT LIFTS HIM OUT AGAIN; THEREFORE IT IS CALLED BEING LIFTED OUT OF THE FONT OR DEPTHS. AND SO MUST ALL OF BOTH OF THESE THINGS BE THE SIGN; THE DIPPING AND THE LIFTING OUT. THIRDLY, THE SIGNIFICATION IS A SAVING DEATH OF THE SINS AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE GRACE OF GOD. THE BAPTISM IS A BATH OF THE NEW BIRTH. ALSO A DROWNING OF THE SINS IN THE BAPTISM” (LUTHER, OPERA LUTHERI, I. 319. FOLIO EDITION).

HE ALSO WROTE: “THE TERM BAPTISM IS A GREEK WORD; IT MAY BE RENDERED INTO LATIN BY “MERSIO”: WHEN WE IMMERSE ANYTHING IN WATER, THAT IT MAY BE ENTIRELY COVERED WITH WATER. AND THOUGH THAT CUSTOM BE QUITE ABOLISHED AMONG THE GENERALITY, (FOR NEITHER DO THEY ENTIRELY DIP CHILDREN, BUT ONLY SPRINKLE THEM WITH A LITTLE WATER,) NEVERTHELESS THEY OUGHT TO BE WHOLLY IMMERSED, AND IMMEDIATELY TO BE DRAWN OUT AGAIN, FOR THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SEEMS TO REQUIRE IT. THE GERMANS CALL BAPTISM “TAUF”, FROM DEPTH, WHICH THEY CALL “TIEF” IN THEIR LANGUAGE; AS IF IT WERE PROPER THOSE SHOULD BE DEEPLY IMMERSED, WHO ARE BAPTIZED. AND TRULY, IF YOU CONSIDER WHAT BAPTISM SIGNIFIES THAT THE OLD MAN AND OUR NATIVE CHARACTER THAT IS FULL OF SIN, ENTIRELY OF FLESH AND BLOOD AS IT IS, MAY BE OVERWHELMED BY DIVINE GRACE. THE MANNER OF BAPTISM, THEREFORE OUGHT TO ANSWER TO THE SIGNIFICATION OF BAPTISM, SO THAT IT MAY SHOW FORTH A SIGN THAT IS CERTAIN AND FULL.” – OPERA

“WHEN THE WASHING AWAY OF SIN IS ATTRIBUTED TO BAPTISM, IT IS RIGHTLY SO ATTRIBUTED; BUT THE MEANING OF THE PHRASE IS TOO SLIGHT AND WEAK TO FULLY EXPRESS BAPTISM, WHICH IS RATHER A SYMBOL OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION. FOR THIS REASON I COULD WISH THAT THE BAPTIZED SHOULD BE TOTALLY IMMERSED, ACCORDING TO THE MEANING OF THE WORD AND SIGNIFICATION OF THE MYSTERY; NOT THAT I THINK IT NECESSARY TO DO SO, BUT THAT IT WOULD BE WELL THAT SO COMPLETE AND PERFECT THING AS BAPTISM SHOULD HAVE ITS SIGN ALSO IN COMPLETENESS AND PERFECTION, EVEN AS IT WAS DOUBTLESS INSTITUTED BY CHRIST.” – PRIMARY WORKS, P. 192.

LATER, LUTHER BEGAN TO OPPOSE IMMERSION AND THOSE WHO OPPOSED INFANT BAPTISM. THOUGH HE WAS OPPOSED TO EXECUTING THEM HE WISHED THEM ALL TO BE BANISHED FOR DISAGREEING WITH HIS DOCTRINES. AGAIN, HE CHANGED HIS MIND AND ENCOURAGED THE DESTRUCTION OF PEASANTS WHO REVOLTED FROM THE LORDS SEEKING THEIR FREEDOM.

HE WROTE: “THE PEASANTS WOULD NOT LISTEN; THEY WOULD NOT LET ANYONE TELL THEM ANYTHING; THEIR EARS MUST BE UNBUTTONED WITH BULLETS, TILL THEIR HEADS JUMP OFF THEIR SHOULDERS. ... ON THE OBSTINATE, HARDENED, BLINDED PEASANTS, LET NO ONE HAVE MERCY, BUT LET EVERYONE, AS HE IS ABLE, HEW, STAB, SLAY, LAY ABOUT HIM AS THOUGH AMONG MAD DOGS, . . . . SO THAT PEACE AND SAFETY MAY BE MAINTAINED...” [MARTIN LUTHER, WERKE, ERLANGEN EDITION, VOL. 24, P. 294; VOL.15, P. 276]

(OVER 100,000 PEASANTS DIED. DO I ACCUSE FALSELY? - GLF)

HE WROTE: “IT WAS I, MARTIN LUTHER, WHO SLEW ALL THE PEASANTS IN THE INSURRECTION, FOR I COMMANDED THEM TO BE SLAUGHTERED. ALL THEIR BLOOD IS UPON MY SHOULDERS. BUT I CAST IT ON OUR LORD GOD WHO COMMANDED ME TO SPEAK IN THIS WAY.” [MARTIN LUTHER, WERKE, ERLANGEN EDITION, VOL. 59, P. 284]

SO LUTHER SOUGHT THE DEATH OF THOSE OPPOSING INFANT BAPTISM AND FAVORED BELIEVERS’ IMMERSION. IN 1529, THE DIET OF SPEIRS ALL ANABAPTISTS WERE CONDEMNED TO DEATH. MR. HALLEY POINTS OUT 400 SPECIAL POLICE WERE HIRED TO HUNT DOWN THOSE BELIEVERS AND EXECUTE THEM ON THE SPOT. THOUSANDS WERE BURNED ACROSS EUROPE FOR THEIR FAITH. SO THE LUTHERANS KILLED MANY OF THE IMMERSED BELIEVERS.

URBANUS RHEGIUS WAS A LUTHERAN WHO WROTE A BOOK IN 1528 SHOWING A RIVER RUNNING INTO THE OCEAN OF WATER THAT WAS ON FIRE. THIS WAS THE VIEW OF SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY THAT IMMERSION LED TO HELL.

BANISHMENT, DEATH, BURNINGS, HANGINGS, TORTURING, BRANDING, AND IMPRISONMENT WAS THEIR FATE.

LIKEWISE, CALVIN WAS A PERSECUTOR AND A MURDERER. “SO ENTIRELY WAS HE IN FAVOUR OF PERSECUTING MEASURES, THAT HE WROTE A TREATISE IN DEFENCE OF THEM, MAINTAINING THE LAWFULNESS OF PUTTING HERETICS TO DEATH; AND HE REDUCED THESE RIGID THEORIES TO PRACTICE, IN HIS CONDUCT TOWARDS CASTELLIO, JEROM BOLSEE, AND SERVETUS, WHOSE FATES ARE TOO GENERALLY KNOWN TO REQUIRE BEING HERE REPEATED. AT THE COUNCIL OF GENEVA, 1632, NICHOLAS ANTHOINE WAS CONDEMNED TO BE FIRST HANGED AND THEN BURNED FOR OPPOSING THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY...” (J.J. STOCKDALE, THE HISTORY OF THE INQUISITIONS, 1810, P. XXVIII). MARTIN LUTHER JOHN CALVIN JULY 2015 THE GOSPEL UNASHAMED 3 IN THE DAYS OF KING EDWARD VI OF ENGLAND, CALVIN WROTE A LETTER TO LORD PROTECTOR SOMERSET AND URGED HIM TO PUT ANABAPTISTS TO DEATH: “THESE ALTOGETHER DESERVE TO BE WELL PUNISHED BY THE SWORD, SEEING THAT THEY DO CONSPIRE AGAINST GOD, WHO HAD SET HIM IN HIS ROYAL SEAT” (JOHN CHRISTIAN, A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS, VOL. 1, CHAP. 15).

HISTORIAN JOHN CHRISTIAN OBSERVES THAT CALVIN “WAS RESPONSIBLE IN A LARGE MEASURE FOR THE DEMON OF HATE AND FIERCE HOSTILITY WHICH THE BAPTISTS OF ENGLAND HAD TO ENCOUNTER.”

IN OCTOBER 1563, CALVIN HAD SERVETUS KILLED, BURNED AT THE STAKE FOR DISAGREEING ON THE TRINITY. IT WAS APPROVED BY BOTH MELANCHTHON OF GERMANY AND BULLINGER OF GENEVA AND OTHER LEADING REFORMERS. SOME OF THE WORST PERSECUTIONS WERE DONE BY THE CALVINISTS AGAINST THE ARMINIANS.

SOME WERE BEHEADED, IMPRISONED, OR BANISHED. LIKEWISE, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND UNDER KING HENRY VIII, AS WELL AS KING EDWARD VI AND KING JAMES, PERSECUTED IMMERSIONISTS. THEY ORGANIZED BURNINGS. THESE INCLUDED BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. MANY OF THEIR NAMES ARE RECORDED IN HISTORY BUT ALL IN GOD’S BOOK OF MARTYRS. HANGINGS WERE COMMON AS WELL PERSECUTIONS AND IMPRISONMENTS WHICH CONTINUED OVER SEVERAL CENTURIES.

WHY DO I PRINT THIS? IT SHOWS THAT IT IS NOT ONLY THE MUSLIMS AND CATHOLICS THAT KILL THEIR OPPONENTS. THE REFORMERS ALSO PERSECUTED THOSE WHO INSISTED ON IMMERSION AND OTHER BIBLE TRUTHS. THE VERY FOUNDERS OF PROTESTANTISM WERE ALSO BUTCHERS FILLED WITH MURDEROUS PRACTICES ON THOSE WHO DISAGREED WITH THEIR DOCTRINES.

THE LEGACY OF ZWINGLI TODAY - HE WAS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR CALLING BAPTISM A WORK AND ESTABLISH THE “FAITH ONLY” DOCTRINE WE CONTEND WITH TO THIS DAY.

AS FOR JOHN CALVIN, THE FOUNDER OF CALVINISM, PREDESTINATION IS STILL TAUGHT IN MANY MAINLINE CHURCHES AND WAS THE CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF MANY BELIEVERS IN CHRIST. YET HE DID NOT PREDESTINATE THE MURDERS.

MARTIN LUTHER BY HIS OWN MOUTH CAUSED THE DEATHS OF MANY IN GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. HIS HATRED AND PERSECUTION OF JEWS IS ALSO RENOWNED. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND LIKEWISE TOOK THEIR TOLL ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

IRONICALLY, THESE MEN HAD BEEN GREATLY PERSECUTED BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. HOWEVER, WHERE THEY ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES ELSEWHERE IN SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, ENGLAND, ETC., THEY MOTIVATED OTHER COUNTRIES TO PROSECUTE AND PERSECUTE. THE PERSECUTED BECAME THE PERSECUTORS. ROMANS 11:16 SAYS, “IF THE ROOT IS HOLY, SO ARE THE BRANCHES.” IS NOT THE OPPOSITE TRUE? “IF THE ROOT IS UNHOLY, CAN THE BRANCHES BE HOLY?”

ISN’T IT STRANGE AND IRONIC THAT THE ADHERENTS TO THESE MEN’S HERITAGE NOW ARE SAYING THAT THE MODE, PURPOSE, AND CANDIDATES FOR BAPTISM IS SIMPLY IMMATERIAL? THE ROTTING CORPSES OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WHOM THEIR ANCESTORS TORTURED AND SLEW OVER THESE QUESTIONS GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR BELIEVERS’ IMMERSION. CHRIST NEVER INTENDED HIS KINGDOM TO BE SPREAD BY FORCE. THOSE WHO DO SO PROVE THEY ARE NONE OF HIS. IT WAS AT THE PRICE OF THE MARTYRS’ BLOOD THAT WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TODAY TO PREACH BELIEVERS BAPTISM. TRULY MANY OF OUR OWN BRETHREN LACK THE COURAGE IN THIS FREE SOCIETY TO PREACH THE NECESSITY OF BELIEVER’S BAPTISM.

TODAY, IF WE TEACH WHAT THE RESTORATION FATHERS TAUGHT IN REJECTING THE REFORMER’S TEACHINGS, BOTH WOULD BE COUNTED WORTHY OF MARTYRDOM BY THE FOUNDING REFORMERS. THE TOLERANCE MANY BROTHERS SHOW TOWARD THE DOCTRINE OF THE FOUNDING REFORMERS TO ME IS ASTOUNDING. TO TEACH THE FAITH-ONLY DOCTRINE OF ZWINGLI, THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION OF CALVIN, AND THE NON-NECESSITY OF IMMERSION OF LUTHER AS PRACTICED NOW BY MANY IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, DENIES NOT ONLY THE TEACHING OF JESUS CHRIST BUT IS A REJECTION OF OUR HERITAGE. IT CHEAPENS AND TRAMPLES THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AND THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS. IT MAKES THE MARTYRS RADICAL LEGALISTS WHO SIMPLY DIED ON THE WRONG HILL.

(This article was collected from many sources. We especially are thankful for the writings of David Cloud.)