Today at the Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost, our pastor gave a very powerful homily on the Holy Spirit. He used the writings of Pope Francis to show that the Holy Spirit is indeed the great consoler spoken of in the Sequence: "Thou, of comforters the best; Thou, the soul's most welcome guest; Sweet refreshment here below..." But our pastor also used Pope Benedict's words to make a profound point: the Holy Spirit is also fire and one should not approach Him unless one is willing to have the former self burned away: "A Father of the Church, Origen, in one of his Homilies on Jeremiah, cites a saying attributed to Jesus, not contained in the sacred Scriptures but perhaps authentic, which reads: "Whoever is near to me, is near to the fire" (Homily on Jeremiah, L. I [III]). In Christ, in fact, there is the fullness of God, who in the Bible is compared to fire. We just observed that the flame of the Holy Spirit blazes but does not burn. And nevertheless it enacts a transformation, and thus must also consume something in man, the waste that corrupts him and hinders his relations with God and neighbour. This effect of the divine fire, however, frightens us; we are afraid of being "scorched" and prefer to stay just as we are. This is because our life is often based on the logic of having, of possessing and not the logic of self-gift. Many people believe in God and admire the person of Jesus Christ, but when they are asked to lose something of themselves, then they retreat; they are afraid of the demands of faith. There is the fear of giving up something pleasant to which we are attached; the fear that following Christ deprives us of freedom, of certain experiences, of a part of ourselves. On the one hand, we want to be with Jesus, follow him closely, and, on the other, we are afraid of the consequences entailed. Dear brothers and sisters, we are always in need of hearing the Lord Jesus tell us what he often repeated to his friends: "Be not afraid". Like Simon Peter and the others we must allow his presence and his grace to transform our heart, which is always subject to human weakness. We must know how to recognize that losing something indeed, losing ourselves for the true God, the God of love and of life is actually gaining ourselves, finding ourselves more fully. Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus already experiences in this life the peace and joy of heart that the world cannot give, and that it cannot even take away once God has given it to us. So it is worthwhile to let ourselves be touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit! The suffering that it causes us is necessary for our transformation. It is the reality of the Cross. It is not without reason that in the language of Jesus "fire" is above all a representation of the mystery of the Cross, without which Christianity does not exist. Thus enlightened and comforted by these words of life, let us lift up our invocation: Come, Holy Spirit! Enkindle in us the fire of your love! We know that this is a bold prayer, with which we ask to be touched by God's flame; but above all we know that this flame and it alone has the power to save us. We do not want, in defending our life, to lose eternal life that God wants to give us. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit, because only Love redeems. Amen." http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedi...ments/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100523_pentecoste.html
The word, 'Lava', in Latin means ,' cleanse' or 'wash.' Hence is the derivative of the word, 'Lavatory'. From the sequence of today's mass of Pentecost. Lava quod est sordidum Riga quod est aridum Sana quod est saucium Cleanse what is base bedew what is parched heal what is wounded.
Padraig, what a great connection! lol, whenever I read 'lava quod est sordidum' from now on I'm probably going to read 'lava, a thing which is dirty'
All of this surveillance may be proposed by the Antichrist in the future to help create a more peaceful world.
It just so happens that I ran across an analysis of the film "Serenity" (one of my favorites). SPOILER ALERT! The Alliance (a totalitarian state) experimented on their populace by releasing a drug called "Pax" into the air systems of a colony world. Pax was designed to remove aggressions and make the populations easy to control. It worked too well, in that the people simply laid down and died where they were. Not through poisoning but because the drug removed all desire to take care of yourself. Here is that analysis. Enjoy. If you haven't seen the film it is highly recommended.
The PC Left Liberals = the return of Communism? I think so. Socialism and liberalism are kindred ideologies.
Could very well be All the Luciferian tentacles to the Illuminati and the Bohemian Grove incorporated into their beliefs As well as Saul Alinsky
So Gina Haspel was the Russia hand we needed all along... Much as they howled about Russian collusion with Hillary Clinton's electoral loss as a narrative, they couldn't bear to bring up that Haspel was a Russia person and would have the actual knowledge to keep America safe as the Russkis … American Thinker By Monica Showalter May 20, 2018 Putin approves new government without major changes Veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu both retained their posts in the government. World Bulletin / News Desk May 20, 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday approved a new government with key posts largely unchanged for his fourth Kremlin term. Putin met Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss the candidates in a brief televised meeting. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov also held onto his post and was promoted to the position of first deputy prime minister, the second most important position in government. That was the most significant change in the lineup for Putin's fourth Kremlin term, Medvedev told Putin in the meeting. Putin told Medvedev he agreed to the appointments. "They are all well known with good experience and have done well in their areas of work," he said. Internationally respected since his appointment as foreign minister in 2004, Sergei Lavrov has appeared tired in recent years, a particularly turbulent time for Russia's ties with the West. A tough negotiator, the 68-year-old continues to defend Moscow's position around the world, speaking almost daily on the Ukrainian and Syrian crises. Defence minister since 2012, Shoigu has been behind the modernisation of the Russian army -- most recently associated with the Russian military campaign in Syria. Others who kept their posts include Economy Minster Maxim Oreshkin, who was appointed in 2016 after his predecessor was arrested and later convicted of taking a bribe. Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who has taken part in crucial negotiations with OPEC over cuts to oil production, also retained his post. Controversial culture minister Vladimir Medinsky, who has made no secret of his conservative views and publicly criticised top arts figures, also stayed on. Vitaly Mutko, who is at the heart of the institutional doping allegations against Russian athletes, stayed on as a deputy prime minister but lost his sports remit in the new government, where he will be in charge of construction. Mutko served as sports minister from 2008 until 2016 and then as deputy first minister with responsibility for sports. He was named in an international report into doping practices that saw Russian athletes banned from participating at the Winter Olympics this year under their national flag. Among those to be demoted were Dmitry Rogozin, a nationalist politician who lost his post as deputy prime minister for space affairs. Putin was reelected on March 18 and inaugurated as president on May 7. He reappointed Medvedev, his close ally, to carry on as prime minister. Who Is Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's Permanent Prime Minister? Vladimir Putin, sworn in on Monday for another six years as Russian president, has nominated Dmitry Medvedev again to be his prime ... prime minister in 1999, appointed Medvedev to a senior position in Moscow. When an ailing Boris … The Moscow Times May 7, 2018 Russia prepares for World Cup drone attack May 22, 2018 Listen https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/319621-russia-prepares-for-world-cup-drone-attack MOSCOW: Russia will reportedly deploy jamming devices used in Syria and the war in Ukraine to defend World Cup stadiums against a drone attack. The threat of terror has been a prime concern for organisers of the June 14 to July 15 football showpiece. Russia has been hit by a string of suicide bombings since winning the right to host the world's most watched event in 2010. Some have been blamed on militants from the north Caucasus with ties to the Islamic State group in Syria. Russia's military bases in the war-ravaged Middle East nation have also been targeted by deadly drone attacks this year. The possibility of someone using the increasingly ubiquitous devices to drop a bomb on a stadium is one Russia's defence ministry is not taking lightly. Moscow's RBK news site said army chief Valery Gerasimov issued orders in February to set up jamming stations outside the 12 stadiums that would make remotely operating a drone impossible. A source in the Russian defence ministry told RBK that some of the units are still classified as top secret and only available to the FSB security service. Others have reportedly been set up in Syria and spotted in east Ukraine by European monitors of the four-year conflict between Kiev forces and Russian-backed separatists. "Drones are an effective way to deliver two or three kilogrammes (one or two pounds) of TNT, land them on a target and detonate them," former anti-terror officer Alexei Filatov told RBK. Russia has set up dozens of no-flight zones and other air space restrictions for the coming months. These cover not only the stadiums and 11 host cities but also training grounds and hotels that will be used by the 32 participating national teams. The transportation ministry has identified 41 locations around which all types of flights -- from drones to planes -- are prohibited. These stretch from anywhere between 500 metres (500 yards) and 10 kilometres (six miles). But operating a drone will be illegal within around 100 kilometres of any of the 11 host cities. Drone flights over Moscow are permanently banned. Russian state media have been issuing regular reporters in recent months of state security services conducting raids that led to the capture of alleged terror masterminds. President Vladimir Putin also took the unusual step in December of personally thanking US counterpart Donald Trump for providing intelligence that helped avert the bombing of a major cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
Someone wrote a book about how money equals power in Putin's Russia. Do you know of any country where money doesn't equal power? I don't. The World Bulletin is new to me. Do you know where it's based? I notice that in the above report the only minister given the "controversial" label is the Culture minister "who has made no secret of his conservative views and publicly criticised top arts figures". More signs of the times, I suppose.
Dolours, I suppose that I am a little intrigued with Gina Haspel and I found that article from American Thinker to be very interesting because I did not know that she is considered to be an expert on Russia. In addition, I just watched the swearing in of Gina Haspel yesterday morning as the first woman Director of the CIA in which she pledged to boost foreign language proficiency. For the last 20 years or so, my country has been very focused on China and many public schools began offering classes for children to learn Chinese even in grade schools, the usual foreign languages offered in the past were Spanish, French and occasionally Latin. Now, I am wondering if we should also be readily offering classes in the Russian language. I had read a story about the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, being sworn in a couple of weeks ago and it mentioned something about the other Russian ministers being chosen shortly. The American Thinker article reminded me of this and I looked for an article which discussed the new Russian ministers, that World Bulletin article was the only article that I could find with such information. I believe that World Bulletin is located in Istanbul and I have seen it come up a few times recently in searches. I have posted another article from them recently. I was also glad to read that a change was made to the Russian sports minister due to the doping allegations against Russian athletes recently. I think that the Olympics should be about nationalism and I was sad to see that the Russian athletes who were able to participate in this Winter Olympics were not able to do so under their national flag. I also found the article about the deployment of jamming devices to deal with possible drone attacks during the upcoming World Cup event in Russia to be very interesting. This is something that is a threat to all nations and all people and imo we give it little thought. In addition, I like that this article mentioned that the USA recently provided intelligence to Russia that helped avert the bombing of a major cathedral in Saint Petersburg because we hear too much about the discord between the USA and Russia in the news and usually not news like this.
Padraig, Thank you for posting that, it's interesting to listen to the experts. There are real concerns that Kilauea's lava flow could reach a nearby geothermal plant so thousands of gallons of highly flammable liquid are being relocated. In addition, more evacuations are being suggested.
This great up turnings of nature remind us how fragile life is. I have a young friend in work who is so organized. He talks so much about his pension and retiring at 50 and I say to him, 'What makes you think you will have a pension? What makes you think you will still be alive then?'. .and he looks at me as if I were from another planet. But when we go to sleep at night we don't necessarily have to wake up...
