Jesus wasn't a protester. I have no memory of Him fighting against politics or war. Same for Blessed Mother and St Joseph. Did they protest against herod who put babies to death? No they left to go to Egypt so that Jesus could be born for us. We have no control of these situations by our leaders....we are told to sacrifice and pray. I don't remember Our Lady of Fatima or Our Lady of Akita telling us to get out on the streets and protest...pray the Rosary ...fast... You are putting blame on us that we don't deserve.....we don't have power except with God.[/QUOTE]
A thought came to my mind after hearing todays first reading at Mass. I am sure its a familiar one... Abraham bargaining with God to save Sodom from destruction first with 50 righteous people and finally to only 10. To me it shows God demands justice but also provides His mercy. God does not demand perfection but wants righteousness- our willingness to seek His will and strive toward holiness even as we fall short because if our human faults and sin. My thoughts on this reading... i cant really control or have much influence on the landscape around me. But I can control my own actions and strive to be holy. Like the fish and loaves, Jesus can take my meagerness and multiply it to His glory. Perhaps like in Sodom God only wants "10" righteous people. Maybe we are at "9" and my response makes that difference? Perhaps this is all we can do?
This totally ties into God's design. We are both physical and spiritual. Even saying that is too intellectual for me because it is all really one thing. Operating in life according to how God designed/created us would be following His Will. Now of course we will go through the crucible from time to time. Or be like Carlos and get an early departure flight. But in general prayer and following God's will is soooo good for us physically. Prayer and reading scripture has so much proof now about how they contribute to well being. Yet people still howl about how they are a victim of religion. I recently saw a study recently about how the rosary helps people with their physical and mental health. Fasting is now mainstream for both mental and physical health. I am really hoping that the world will start living according to God's Will at a decent level. It's like Our Lady when she had all these graces extending from the rings on her hands, but we weren't getting them. Mankind is not living up to its potential. I was watching a video on the bloodline of Cain, I posted the video in signs, and the guest speaker Gary Wayne spoke about how all the anti-christs in history always double down until they are destroyed or destroy themselves. His hypothesis for the reason they do it is because they are testing to see if the restrainer has been lifted. I think it is a good theory. These anti-christs all have one thing in common. They all rebel against God's design. The fact that people actually have to debate over what a woman is such an indicator of this rebellion. The same with releasing criminals and persecuting honest people. It is pervasive in everything today, I can likely list 100 things in ten minutes on a bad day. And what do we see, everyone/everything is sick or makes us sick.
I remember one time looking at a young couple in the Park and thinking how really beautiful they were. It made me think of the Scripture: Psalm 8:5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. But then the Lord reminded me that I was judging by outward appearances, not as God Judges: 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I think that is what puts we Catholics apart. We look to the Spiritual as the most important. Of course to be healthy and good looking are wonderful things. But is we are spiritually full of rotting worms, what use is it? But still wouldn't it be wonderful to meet someone who not only was a saint , but young, healthy and very good looking? I suspect St Joan of Arc may have been like that.
Very true, the final destination is the most important. I have a love for God and His creation and seeing things thrive. It brings me so much joy. I have had this passion since I was born. Even a good thunderstorm on a hot summers day is a lot of fun for me. I am fond of healthy aquariums and can watch them for hours, the same with going into nature. It's such a joy to watch creation happening when it is healthy. When it is sickly, both spiritual and physical, not so much. I don't know if this joy exists with everyone. By everyone I mean those who keep pushing for the destruction of humanity at all levels. Which for me is always surprising, if I had a lot wealth I would be making things better. I would feel so guilty for making peoples lives worse. I recently had a colony of honey bees growing in the drainage hole of one of my raised beds. It was fun to watch them coming and going. But they have since moved on, I think they swarmed because there wasn't enough room for them anymore.
There's a hive of bees in one of the old trees right in front of my land. I love to go out there and stand on the road to watch them! The gentle roar of their buzzing is so neat. I too get very moved by the beauty of nature, music, and people. I love to observe. But what I most love is to observe the potential locked away inside people that they rarely develop and let out. Many people are wasting away because no one truly sees them besides God...and God needs our assistance to draw out and encourage the real beauty in others.
I remember reading one time someone who wrote that the only souls that ever wind up in hell are the ones who do not ask for God's Mercy. Although to ask for Mercy presupposes a certain amount of humility. There are no proud souls in heaven or humble souls in hell.
Spot-on! Why I dread the homilies of our local priest. He harps on about the wars and I think he would do better to help us apply the beatitudes to our daily living.
The post conciliar church is all about corporate sin. Not individual sin. Somehow they missed the meme that explains how individual sin converges into corporate sin as a society grows more and more evil.
This is an interesting subject. My understanding is that we have all have personal sin and the aggregate of this is collective/corporate sin. However some sins are greater than others, like with King David taking a census, which then everyone had to pay for.
I am just going to put this out there regardless of the flack. There seems to be a lot of chatter and indications which point to September of this year being something big. I recently listened to a couple people's personal experiences with Jesus. One of which pointed to Jesus return' somehow in 2025/2026. Another which pointed to the feast of Trumpets on September 23/24 of this year. There is also the vision of Blessed Carlos' Mother where St. Francis said all prophecy would be fulfilled once he is canonized, which is September 7th. It could be nothing, it could be confirmation bias on my part, it could be a psy-op, but I think it is worth noting as things ramp up.
Here's my take for what its worth. 2025 is an important crossover year being a jubilee year. 2026-2027 begins the man made tribulations & its going to feel like the end of the world. 2033 era of Peace begins being two thousand year anniversary of the death of our Blessed Lord So in the period 2028-2032 is the period of the warning, the miracle and chastisement from heaven (possibly the 3 days of darkness). The timeline is speculative and guaranteed to be wrong.
Many assumptions online, one I found is from a Jewish rabbi who calculates the timeline according to king Solomon's prediction below.
[/QUOTE] By that standard, the pro-life marches had no effect on overturning Roe-v-Wade? Pope St. John Paul was wrong to issue this Doctrinal Note on the Participation of Catholics in Public Life: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/...s/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20021124_politica_en.html Are pre-born American babies murdered in abortion clinics more human than born Palestinians? The Zionists in Israel believe that. Evidently, so do many American Christians, including Catholics. The Church recognises the difference between ancient imperialist Rome and modern representative democracies. Caesar didn't wage war in the name of God. Christian Zionists in our time support, arm and fund genocide in the name of Jesus. And you pay for it. How is failure to speak out against what's being done on your behalf and in the name of the one true God doing unto others as you would have them do unto you? John the Baptist spoke truth to power. He lost his head for it but gained eternal life. Jesus had high praise for John. Evil triumphs when the good do nothing. We're seeing that happen before our eyes.
