#how when the angel says do not lay a hand on your son how abraham must still have felt himself damned

[100percentdirtball]

maybe it’s because i’m a faggy little writer and not a woman of faith, but i really really thought the point of the story about isaac and abraham was just to make you really live inside a man who spent three days walking with his son knowing that at the end he would die, and waking up every morning for the rest of his life and looking his son in the eyes and knowing that he was willing to kill him. how is this not a horror story.

[slxthserenade]

My youth teachers have often spoken of Abraham. A great figure, a servant worthy of being immortalised down in the lines of the Holy Word. Thursday church, I listened and lowered my head once prayer time had come.

My grandmother often recounted to me the tale of Abraham. Admirable, valiant, God-loving Abraham. Curled up closer into the thin sheets of my grandparents’ bed, I listened and sang along with her the hymns of prayer.

My mother has always loved the story of Abraham. How enduring and faithful of a man he was, never once relenting in his trust in the Lord. The Lord’s closest friend. Morning gathering of our family, she smiled at the open page of Genesis. Seated beside her, curled up into the hard cushions of our living room, I lowered my eyes onto the Word and continued to read.

My father has always preached the life of Abraham. The man tested by God, with a faith so unshakable that he was was willing to give all he had to the Almighty if He were to ask. All he had. All he had, even his own progeny. Sunday church in a small village, Abraham stood upon a low pulpit and announced the time for prayer into a faulty microphone. Between my uncle and my mother, seated in the middle of a rusty wooden bench, I lowered my face in prayer. Had their eyes not been closed in devotion, they would’ve seen the tremble in my hands.

Saturday nights. My father lays awake, writing verses down into a white sheet, preparing to preach on the pulpit tomorrow morning. He only ever needed the verses, never notes or anything of the like. His words have always flown as smoothly as a running river— not a wink of hesitation for those who are filled with the Holy Spirit, for they are the spokesmen of God himself.

‘Abraham chained Isaac to a sacrificial altar, raised the knife against his son without a shadow of hesitance. For his God. For his God’s test. Would you do the same ?’ My voice didn’t sound like my own.

Not a word had flown from his lips. Only a breath. “God knows. God knows exactly how to test His servants. God wouldn’t give them a test too difficult. He knows best what’s in our hearts. God is merciful. Only God knows my devotion to Him.” An uncharacteristic, broken litany, a shaky, unfamiliar stream of words is all I received from my father.

Indeed, a broken, whispered litany is all the lamb-eyed Isaac received when climbing the mountain alongside his father. A broken, tearful litany is all that his father had uttered when the knife grazed Isaac’s chest. A broken litany muttered with closed, fear-stricken eyes, a prayer from a servant to his God, never between father and so-called beloved son, a broken litany to the Sun above. Salvation, salvation and mercy, he begs. Heaven has granted you salvation, father. But your sickly progeny lays yet still, impaled to the earth through a single, festering butcher’s knife. After all, who ever wonders how the unknowing lamb ached, when the blade plunged into its angel-stained wool ? Salvation, my Lord, he yells again. And not a single prayer for my pains, not a single apology, not a single ‘I love you’, not a single—

‘What do you say to joining me tomorrow on the pulpit ? Remember your verses ?’

Of course I recall, I had them memorised by heart, Genesis 22:2. Tomorrow I would join him on Mount Moriah. Had Abraham’s eyes not returned to the open book of Genesis and to his white sheet of paper, he would’ve seen the tremble of my chest.

[chaos-has-theories]

The OG Lyctors vs the Binding of Isaac

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” (Genesis 22 New Revised Standard Version, idk how to quote bible)

Read on for ridiculously many quotes in an attempt to puzzle together why John kept the secret of Perfect Lyctorhood.

I was innocently brushing my teeth and rotating the Locked Tomb books in my head as one does, when a couple of things just fell into place for me. Specifically:

- This post about the Tridentarii as Cain and Abel and Coronabeth’s willingness to die for Lyctorhood as a sacrifice that was rejected by God;

- This post about why John didn’t tell anyone about perfect Lyctorhood, and Alfred and Cristabel’s suicide pact;

- this scene:

[God] said, “It wasn’t meant to happen like this. I intended for the new Lyctors to become Lyctors after thinking and contemplating and genuinely understanding their sacrifice - an act of bravery, not an act of fear and desperation. Nobody was meant to lose their lives unwillingly at Canaan House.” (GtN, Epilogue)

- and, of course, the bible.

Why did John keep perfect Lyctorhood from his Saints? I’ve seen a bunch of theories on that, ranging from “he didn’t want to share the power” or “he likes his lyctors a little traumatized” all the way to “he didn’t mean to, but Alfred and Cristabel jumped the gun”.

That last one is the one I linked above, by @mayasaura​, and it always felt pretty reasonable to me. But it still doesn’t answer the question completely.

Mercy and Augustine are the first and second Saints. John probably knew their theories, he must have known they almost had it and he decided not to give them the answer. Maybe he was being selfish and didn’t want to share what he had with Alecto with anyone else. Maybe he was being paternalistic and thought they should have to figure it out for themselves. Maybe he really just didn’t want to share power and would have rather kept them close as his deciples forever, never straying and never ascending in any way.

Whatever his reasons, he refused to help.

I think - I think John really wasn’t lying when he said he’d never wanted any harm to come to Cristabel. I think he was going to tell them, but was just a little bit too late. I think it was all supposed to be a test.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.  10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill[a] his son.  11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” (Genesis 22, New Revised Standard Version)

Would you die for your God? Would you kill for him? 

John wanted them to be willing. He just didn’t want them to do it.

Bonus:

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,  16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,  17 I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,  18 and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”(Still Genesis 22)

Just... founders of the nine houses kinda vibes?

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Wrestling With God

by Islay Burns (1817–1872)

"And he [Jacob] arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, 'Let Me go, for the day breaks.' But he said, 'I will not let You go unless You bless me!'" - Genesis 32:22-26

The glorious Being who here appears is manifestly the Angel of the LORD [Yahweh]. Jacob not only sees the mysterious form, but he embraces and grapples with Him in conflict, as one strong man wrestles with another. How all this was accomplished, in a scene where everything was miraculous and supernatural, it is of course needless to inquire. A more important and interesting question concerns the essential nature and meaning of the contest itself. Perhaps we do not greatly err in conceiving of it somewhat as follows.

While pleading alone upon his knees for the safety of his little flock and the divine aid for the trying scenes of the morrow, Jacob becomes conscious of another presence near. He beholds a glorious form of more than earthly majesty approaching. He recognizes, or thinks he does, the mysterious stranger as none other than the Angel of the Divine presence, the same who appeared to Adam in the cool of the day and to Abraham at the tent door of Mamre. Jacob welcomes the sign as a token for good and concludes that his prayer is heard.

Hoping for some assurance, he hastens to throw himself at the Divine stranger's feet. "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, that You would assure me that You are indeed with me, that You will never leave me, that You will stand by my side in the great hour of trial that is near at hand!" The Angel hears but does not answer, and moves as if about to depart. In agony, Jacob prays yet more earnestly, but still there is no response. The Angel stands silent and motionless, as if in deep thought. Finally He seems to come to some decision and hastily turns to leave. In his extremity Jacob lays hold upon Him. But the Angel firmly resists, and so they wrestle together until the dawning of the day. At last the Angel, as if to end the strife, exclaims, "Let me go, for the day breaks." Jacob replies, in those words which have lived in the hearts of all true wrestlers ever since, "I will not let You go except You bless me."

The Lord's design is now fulfilled. Jacob's faith is fully tried. Humility, patience, persevering earnestness, trust in God, hope against hope--all stimulated to the highest point in the trial--have had their perfect work. Jacob has now gained the blessing, not by languid wishes or drowsy prayers but by a real victory of faith fairly and nobly won on the battlefield: "And He blessed him there."

How fully that blessing was fulfilled we need not take time to tell. The melting scene on the morrow speaks too well for itself. The brothers meet, not to grapple in enmity but to embrace in love. Warm tears of relenting tenderness seal their reconciliation and drown in forgetfulness all that was past. What blessed tears! Blessed for Jacob as a token of his brother's forgiveness and of God's mercy. More blessed still for Esau, because he then learned how unutterably sweeter it is to forgive than to take revenge.

Let us learn the following from this history. First, how near we are, at all times, to the world unseen. Though not revealed to our earthly eyes, the unseen hosts of God are ever around the saints. Heaven, if we are the children of God, lies all about us every moment: "He gives His angels charge over you, to keep you," "the angel of the LORD [Yahweh] encamps round about them that fear Him."

Second, it is in the hours of darkness when we are nearest that unseen world. It was so with Jacob. When there was night both within and around him, then heaven was opened and the angels of God met him. It is in the dark night of sorrow that the soul has its keenest intuitions of eternal things. It is in the night alone that we see the stars. Were it not for the night, Orion and the Pleiades and all the rest of the glorious host on high would have been forever unknown. So too in the spiritual world. When the dark pall of sorrow is cast over all the bright objects of earth, then the glories of heaven come forth to view. Then the waking spirit beholds what eye has not seen nor ear heard. How many will then say, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes." In their hour of need they have found the blessed Bible another more glorious firmament, which only requires the setting of the world's sun to unveil its hidden glories.

Third, let us continue in prayer and refuse to be denied until the blessing comes. Let us not be discouraged by delay. Let not even an apparent denial make us cease our pleading. Remember Daniel, remember the Syro-Phoenician woman, remember the importunate widow, remember the disciples at Emmaus, and thus learn that it is always God's way to stir up the grace of prayer before He answers it, to fan the holy flame to its utmost ardor, to draw forth from the deep heart the most piercing cries of impassioned supplication, and then to crown it with victory and blessing.

Therefore, persevere and do not faint. Not only ask the blessing but plead for it and wait, clinging to the footstool until it comes. You will prevail at last.

[9pandas]

I recently ran into a post on here where there was some disagreement about the importance of blood sacrifice in the christian religion. As a studious and dedicated former christian it was very disturbing to me to see that there were people out there who did not seem to understand some of the core tenets of their own christian religion. It is incredibly important that people understand the full beliefs of any religion that they are a part of so they can make educated decisions about how to handle their personal spiritual journey.

Therefore I have written a long (8 page???) essay on basic white evangelical christianity and its relationship with blood sacrifices. 

I will explain in full under the cut if anyones interested as this is incredibly long.

Christianity’s central core tenant is undeniably our complete reliance on blood sacrifice for salvation.

I will be speaking about the beliefs of your generic american evangelical church as I don’t know much about other sects of christianities beliefs. And will be referred to these beliefs are christian beliefs because I'm lazy and don't wanna type that much.

I will be relying on memories from my twenty sum years in multiple churches as well as the numerous bible studies I was in; including but not limited to several by Beth Moore and Kay Arthur including her Covenant and Jeremiah studies. 

I will be using the New American Standard Bible (NSAB)for all bible passages unless indicated otherwise.

This will include some beliefs that are really fucking anti-Semitic. These are the beliefs of the groups discussed and not my own.

I do not believe any of the things I will be discussing. I did for many years, but I have learned, grown, and changed and no longer do.

We’ll start with the covenants and original sin and then a small communion rant..

We’re gonna go through the bible in the order of the books in the NASB and the whole fucking blood sacrifice thing is wrapped up in the idea of these covenants (fancy christian word for promise or deal that's super old timey/biblical or a serious religious commitment like a marriage covenant or your relationship with god) god made with different people and groups of people. I’ll only be going through the big covenants and as some of them don’t really apply, I’ll just give a quick summary of those ones.

One of the crucial things you'll have to understand is the concept of original sin also known as sin nature.

Pretty much christians believe that when Adam and Eve fucked up in Genesis 3 by eating the fruit that all their descendants (all the people) got “infected” with sin. Like everyone has badness inside of them (Sin Nature = the ability to fuck up sometimes) and that god cannot be around that infection, that badness because he is the opposite of that badness and they cannot coexist because he gets like a migraine or rage episode or something IDK, so he had to do all this stuff so some of us wouldn’t be separated from him forever (sent to hell). 

Side note: most christians believe you won’t get automatically sent to hell due to having a sin nature. They believe that your brain must be developed enough to “understand” right from wrong and must have the ability to sin or misbehave on purpose to be sent to hell for your sins. There is no biblical passage I can cite for this its just what many chrisitans have decided to be canon. Some christians believe you gain responsibility for your actions around age 3, some around age 13, and some believe it just depends on your personal brain development and that there is no real way for us to tell.

Anyway what god did to “save” us from hell as a punishment for being people who can sin (fuck up sometimes) is all about the blood and the covenants:

NOAHIC (Genesis 9:8-17)

The first, like, BIG covenant is called the Noahic Covenant where god promises not to kill everyone again with a flood. It's not really important to my point but here ya go. 

This covenant involves the deaths of pretty much everyone in a rage killing by god because he thought they were wicked (Genesis 6:5-7).

ABRAHAMIC (Genesis 12,15)

The next important one is the Abrahamic Covenant. In Genesis 12:1-9 god just like tells Abraham to leave his life and wander off with his wife and that god will make a great nation from him and make his name famous in a good way and punish everyone who's a dick to abraham. And then after he leaves and gets to a good area god tells Abraham that god’s gonna give him this particular land.

And then like some stuff happens and later in Genesis 15 things get really weird and taken probably wildly out of context by christians.

Verse 1-7 Abraham is like god you said I’d have descendants but I don't have any kids so what the fucks up with that. And gods like, I'm badass, don't doubt me dude. And god has Abraham grab some animals (ram, birds) and cut them in half (not all the birds). And some vulture type birds come and eat the carcasses and Abraham drives them away and then falls asleep. Then god tells Abraham to trust him again and night comes. Then a smoking oven thing and a torch appear and like float back and forth between that animal parts and god promises again everything he’s promised before.

Now the fuck do we care?

 It's because this is the first covenant god makes to Abraham that leads to Jesus. And christians believe they are the spiritual descendants of Abraham replacing all biological descendants in the eyes of god and therefore any promises made to Abraham about his descendants are applicable to christians and not to Jews, Muslims, or any other groups. 

This covenant also involves the blood of animals. Christians believe that this is one of the proofs that all covenants must be “sealed” in blood. This makes the promise more like a business contract and makes it extra hard to get out of. Like a pinky promise verses a regular promise because you killed something or someone.

Next is the MOSAIC COVENANT

Ok, so if you don't know at this point Abraham had some kids and they had some kids and they all moved to Egypt where they are all slaves and there are tons of them now and they’re called Israelites and pretty much it the Prince of Egypt happening now. So the one Israelite kid Moses gets adopted/raised by like Pharaohs daughter or wife (some English versions say different things) and then kills some dude and runs to the dessert for like years and then Moses sees this bush that's on literal fire (but not being damaged by the fire) and god or an angel (it depends on what version you are looking at) speaks through this bush and tell Moses to go rescue the Israelites from slavery and he goes and talks to Pharaoh (who he like knows) and Pharaoh is like hell no; and then god punishes Egypt until Pharaoh sends the Israelites off into the dessert and some stuff happens and then they all camp out by this mountain Sinai and god tells Moses in (Exodus 19) that if the people hold to his covenant with them they’ll be his special awesome chosen people.

Again this according to christian beliefs. I understand that other religions believe differently about this passage. Christians believe they have replaced these people in god’s eyes and that this covenant ended with the death of Jesus and was replaced with a new one; we will get there.

And then in Exodus 24 they all make the covenant official and have a little ceremony.  

Exodus 24:5 And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it [c]as the people listened; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has [d]made with you [e]in accordance with all these words.”

Again, this covenant was cemented/sealed with the the spilling of blood. And christians believe all the sacrificial laws in the OT are part of this covenant so I will go into christian belief about one of these sacrifices and what role they believe this sacrifice plays in this covenant..

Ok so we’re going to be using Leviticus chapter 1

The sacrifice is the burnt offering.

Christians believe this was offered in atonement of sin. This is a hugely important one to remember to understand the beliefs I will be laying out when I tie this all together later.

Leviticus 1:4-5

4 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5 Then he shall [a]slaughter the [b]bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting

So christian believe that you would magically transfer your sins onto this animal and the animal would then be killed to assuage god's anger at your sin. 

They call this the principle of substitution. The animals blood supposedly “covered” the sin of the person so god’s “sin-dar” wouldn’t go off and so he wouldn’t “have to” send that person to hell.

This is an example of a blood sacrifice to avoid punishment for your sin.

DAVIDIC COVENANT (2 Samuel 9)

This one just said that David’s kids would be kings forever and is used by christians as proof that Jesus was the chosen, special one who is the true king and totally the best ever. Because again they believe they have replaced the Jews as god's favs and that Jesus is their legit prophesied god/king. They believe that this covenant is still in effect as Jesus rose from the dead and is still alive and will return to establish a perfect kingdom on earth later after the rapture and shit (no I won’t go into end time stuff right now)

AND NOW THE NEW COVENANT

It's called the New Covenant or the Everlasting Covenant.

It is the deal christians believe they have with god right now. It's the covenant they believe they are under. The believe this covenant is what protects them from eternal damnation.

Christians legit believe that the only way to be cleaned enough from the sin nature/”ability to fuck up” you inherited from Adam and Eve is to either die and suffer in hell or sacrifice someone/something else.  Because as Romans 6:23 lays out “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is believed to be saying that the deserved punishment for sin is death. (And in this context death is believed to mean death as it would be without divine intervention. Death and eternal punishment in hell. Because remember, christians believe god is saving them from hell by cleansing them of the sin that he cannot tolerate to be around due to his divine nature that he cannot change.) and that by utilizing the death of Jesus we can be saved from that punishment. 

What does that mean?

They believe that in the OT people used animals but that it was a placeholder until Jesus made it down to us and died as the last sacrifice needed. He's special enough to count for everyone as a sacrifice because he was human but had never sinned because he was god as well but still todally human. 

And to be saved from punishment, for the sacrifice to “count” for you, you must be spiritually cleaned in his blood. That's why they say shit like “I plead the blood” and “let your blood make me white as snow” and all that fuckign wierd ass shit. They believe that by “accepting Jesus into your heart as your lord and savior” he actually, like, bonds with your soul and cleans it with the power of his sacrifice.

Like you magically put your sin onto Jesus, he died, and not that sin doesn’t “cling” to your soul because his blood cleaned you.

Here's their evidence:

Back to the Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:31-34

31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

Christians believe that this is the first mention of the New Covenant. They believe they have fully replaced “the house of Israel and the house of Judah” and are now living under the terms of this new deal with god promised in this passage.��

A couple days before he dies at dinner with hid buddies Jesus said:

Luke 22:14-20

14 When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.” 

Verse 16: I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Verse 18: for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.

It's believed that Jesus is saying he won't eat/drink until he dies and his death fulfills the sacrificial need that must be met for christians to “be saved”. The kingdom of god will come when Jesus dies and the need (christians believe they have) to be cleaned in blood is met because once people can be cleaned in blood then the kingdom will be fulfilled and will have come. Does that make sense???? Jesus dies, people can be cleaned of badness, and that is the kingdom of god aka life under the new covenant (and some end time stuff that I will NOT do into right now).

Verse 20: And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.” 

Christians believe that Jesus is saying here that the new covenant (that christians believe protects them from hell right now) was made using the blood of Jesus to save them.

SUMMARY

Christians believe that when Jesus died on the cross he took on all the sin of 2 groups of people:

The first group is: All the people who would have believed he is the legit son of god, also god (I am not going in to the trinity right now guys), if they had heard prior to his birth

The second group is: All the people who believed he is the legit son of god and god after his birth

And with his death cleaned all their sin off of them so they could be with god in heaven because they had no more sin for gods “sin-dar” to detect.

If we didn’t need Jesus to sacrifice himself to clean us from our sin then why did we need him at all? Without the need for Jesus blood there is no need for christianity. Christianity is all about the blood, all about the blood, all about the blood of Jesus. Because what can make me whole again? What can cleanse me white as snow? No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

And all chrisitians should know this because this is literally what communion is about. This is literally every good Friday service.

What is Communion and what does that have to do with all this?

For those of you who don’t know communion is a thing christians do usually do during the singing part at the beginning of a church service. It's a ritual to remember how Jesus died to save them from the punishment of their sins. Essentially it's a re-enactment of the scene from the verses I put in earlier Luke 22:14-20. 

So everyone gets a little cup of grape juice or sometimes real wine for the adults and a little piece of bread and everyone eats it and drinks it and thinks about how lucky they are that Jesus saved them from the punishment they believe they deserve.

Communion is literally remembering and spiritually partaking in and acknowledging this blood sacrifice that Jesus made.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

And if you “do” communion with the wrong attitude can and sometimes does punish you. There's a story in the bible about a church that all got brain tumors from god because they had communion with the wrong attitude but a quick google search isn’t giving me the reference for that so if anyone knows that one please share it with me!

But here's more from Corinthians about Communion and appropriate gratefulness:

1 Corinthians 11:27-32

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the [p]body. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number [q]are asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

It says that if you do “not properly recognize the [p]body” during communion you are bringing punishment on yourself. This means that if you do not show appropriate gratitude for Jesus' blood sacrifice for you, you can be punished by god; but “ we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” If you show appropriate gratitude for Jesus' blood sacrifice THEN you will be cleansed and allowed into heaven. 

IN CONCLUSION

The blood of Jesus, the blood sacrifice Jesus made, is part of every aspect of christianity. It is the core of christian beliefs. You cannot deny that the need for a blood sacrifice is the literal core of christianity. Without the need for blood, there is no need for Jesus.

[startledstars]

Theology 101: Dispensationalism

A Matter of Salvation

(What are biblical ‘dispensations’ and why are they important for salvation? What are the requirements for the current dispensation? What does the Bible say about the future?)

God saves people in different ways during different periods of time. These four examples in Genesis are archetypes that align with salvation in Exodus, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Revelation.

1) Enoch: Faith and Grace 

Enoch was a prophet in Genesis. He was called up directly by God, and did not leave a body behind.

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

“Pleasing” God is not an action that Enoch was instructed to take. It was a natural outcome of his faith.

2) Noah: Grace, faith and works

Noah preached for almost a century about the coming flood and was ridiculed and ignored. He built the famous ark.

 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

If Noah did not follow God’s precise instructions in building the ark and what types of animals to take, he and his family would’ve been destroyed along with the rest of the antediluvian world.

3) Lot: Grace and faith

Lot and his family escaped Sodom, a city so corrupt, it was destroyed along with all its inhabitants.

At dawn the next morning, the angels begged Lot to hurry. They said, “Go! Take your wife and your two daughters with you so you will not be destroyed when the city is punished.”

 But Lot delayed. So the two men took the hands of Lot, his wife, and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city. So the Lord was merciful to Lot and his family.

Note that even though Lot was slow to follow God’s instructions, verging on disobedience, God’s mercy still saved him.

4) Abraham: Grace, faith and works

God promised Abraham to bless all nations through his descendants. Specifically through Abraham’s son, Issac. God made this promise before commanding the infamous sacrifice.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Along with faith in God’s promise, Abraham had to follow God’s instructions. There was some testing and proving required.

Summary

Enoch and Lot were saved because they pleased God by their faith. They were not asked to preach for a hundred years, then build an ark following God’s exact instructions, as Noah was. They did not have to prepare an altar for their own sons, as Abraham was commanded to. They only had to find the truth and believe.

The Old Testament: Grace, Faith and Works

From Exodus to Jesus’ death on the cross, God gave specific instructions to His People. If they failed to follow those instructions, they were punished for a time. Despite their experience with God and the great signs He provided, Israelites in the Old Testament turned to evil practices, such as sacrificing their own children to Pagan gods. 

(Child sacrifice is the worst thing any parent, or society, and partake in; in such a society, incest, child abuse, bestiality, and other atrocities may also be normalized. Imagine the level of corruption in such a population. The Canaanites, the pre-flood population, and Sodom were steeped in sins too dark to even consider, and had no desire to repent. That’s why they had to be destroyed. Even today, with the disclosure of Jeffry Epstein and his connections, we see hints of the same secret, deep-rooted corruption plaguing our society. There’s also an epidemic of pornography, much of which fetishizes incest, minors, and sometimes even animals or animalistic behaviors being consumed in secret on a massive scale. The corruption of humanity exposed over and over by the Bible, is evidence that this book is Truth. The corruption we see today shows that the words here remain relevant, despite the passage of millennia.)

Then, imagine God’s mercy in the face of such corruption. 

If Israel kept God’s instructions and had faith in his forgiveness, they were saved. Still, they had to work very hard to fight the corruption within, and the corruption that surrounded them on all sides.

The New Testament: Grace and Faith

From Jesus’ death on the cross until just before the first seal in Revelation is opened, God saves people by His grace, and through their faith. 

This is why, after the events of the book of Acts, we see very few great signs and wonders. There is no great cloud of smoke, no parting the Red Sea, no fire raining from heaven or flaming chariots visible in the sky or even miraculous, instantaneous healing. It’s impossible not to believe when you see the supernatural out in the open. In the absence of such signs, faith becomes a choice; a matter of free will.

Right now, the only prerequisite to salvation is a love of the truth that surpasses any love you might have for the world. Inevitably, this love leads to the Cross, to realizing your own fallen, sinful condition (how many times have you let your loved ones down? how many times have you let yourself down? why do you keep doing things that are bad for you? why is it so hard to change? why do you feel like you’re wasting your life?) and then, asking God (through faith that He exists, despite never having seen His face) to save you.

And God does all the rest. Even if you try to delay like Lot, He will carry you out of the city before its destruction.

That’s why this is the greatest time to be alive, the best dispensation, but it will end soon. Like Enoch and Lot, believers of the present dispensation will escape the time to come.

This dispensation will end with the rapture of the Church (a matter for a different study) and the revelation of the anti-Christ:

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

In the next few years, the “great falling away” of professing Christians leaving the faith will continue. It’s getting harder and harder to be a believer (and we are commanded not to hide our faith, or be ashamed of Jesus. If you keep your faith a secret, it calls your salvation into doubt). You already see how Christians are villainized, stereotyped, and scapegoated in pop culture, movies, and media. 

Once the falling away is complete and the last true believer comes to faith, the body of Christ will be removed, and the anti-Christ will reveal himself.

Watch for him if you’re not a believer, and please heed the next part carefully.

Revelation: The Mark of the Beast (Grace, Faith, and Works again)

In the coming dispensation, God will once again save people by his grace, but also requires their ‘works,’ just as in the Old Testament. 

There is a ‘mark’ coming. You will be compelled to take it, or be violently persecuted and unable to participate in society. 

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The King James translation from 1611 says “in” while other translations say “on.” This word would not have made sense in context 400 years ago, but considering the jab and RFID/microchip technology, “in” is key evidence that this prophecy is meant for those alive today.

God requires those in the coming dispensation to NOT take the mark, no matter what. That, along with faith, is the only requirement for the coming dispensation.

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Those who take the mark will, without exception, be tormented even in this life.

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

This ‘rona jab is a test run for the upcoming mark. If you’ve taken the second dose and thought those symptoms were bad, the mark of the beast will be unimaginably worse. 

So, if you don’t believe me now; if you’re not willing to accept the gifts of this dispensation, at the very least, please remember this warning about what’s coming next. If you see the signs come to pass, you’ll know that this is true, and you’ll know what to do.

[lifeofresulullah]

The Life of The Prophet Muhammad(pbuh): Before His Birth, His Birth and His Childhood

Death of Hazrat Amina

After spending a month in Medina with her son, the Master of the Universe (PBUH), Hazrat Amina decided to return to Mecca. They said their goodbyes to their relatives and left the city.

There were three travelers in this desert:  Hazrat Amina, her glorious son, and Umm Ayman. They were all considered exceptional in the spiritual realm. The breeze of longing and separation was blowing close by.

Hazrat Amina’s eyes resembled a stream of overflowing water when she thought about her husband who passed away at a very young age during the first months of their marriage. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) could not bear seeing his saintly mother’s teardrops; thus he began to cry ardently as well. His garment was soaked by his teardrops that fell like the rain.

Instantly, Hazrat Amina became ill while they were halfway through the road. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Umm Ayman were alarmed. What could they do in the face of an illness that was only getting worse in its intensity of pain?

They had no solution other than to encamp underneath a tree’s shade that was 23 miles to the south of Medina. Strength and stamina had withdrawn from Hazrat Amina’s knees as she collapsed onto the ground without being able to contain herself. They covered her. Hazrat Amina was sweating due to the severity of her illness. Our Beloved Prophet’s (PBUH) teardrops fell out of fear of losing her and remaining motherless. It was as if everything came to a halt. There was no sound, and stillness dominated the sky.

Hazrat Amina lay on the ground in a weak state.

At one point, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) was able to collect himself and he asked his mother, “How are you, dear mother?”

The mother, whose heart was a trove of compassion, did not want her only child to be upset. In order not to rouse to her dear son the fact that she quivered with intense pain, she answered, "I am fine, my dear, nothing is wrong”.

She lost consciousness after speaking those few words. This illness had now wrested her energy to speak. At one point, she was heard to have said “water”. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) brought water to his beloved mother at the speed of an arrow being sprung from its bow.

Hazrat Amina drank the water. She held the container of water and her beloved child’s very soft hands. She opened her eyes. She looked at our Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) face that radiated noor (light) to her heart’s content, and caressed his hands with her motherly compassion.

At one point, the Master of the Universe (PBUH) slightly straightened out his mother’s position and put her head on his lap. The holy tears that dripped from his eyes were falling on his mother’s shoulders like April rain.

In addition to the anguish of losing her husband, was she now going to have to bid farewell to her son? This was an intolerable agony and an unbearable heartache. She was tormented more by this separation than the illness that she had been afflicted with. Yet, what could she do? This was an unchangeable decree of the Divine fate.

Hazrat Amina now understood that she could not be saved from this illness. In her final moment, with a feeling of deep longing, she looked at her radiant child’s face that shone like the sun, and as she smelled his hands to her heart’s content, the following words spilled from her tongue:

“You are the son of the man who was saved from the terrible arrow of death with Allah’s help and beneficence and in exchange for a hundred camels. May Allah render you glorious and relentless. If what I have seen in my dreams is true, then you will be sent as a Prophet by Allah to inform the sons of Adam of what is lawful and unlawful, and upon this, you will possess majesty and many gifts. You will be sent to complete the submission and religion of our forefather, Ibrahim. Allah is going to protect and withhold you and nations from idol worshipping and idols. Every living being will die and everything new will wear out. Everyone who becomes old will disappear. Everything is ephemeral, everything will leave. Yes, I am going to die as well. However, my name will remain forever because I have given birth to an immaculate child and am leaving a memorable and auspicious person behind me”. 

After speaking these painful and foretelling words, Hazrat Amina’s eyes lapsed and she surrendered her soul to Allah.

Place: The Abwa Village, which is located in between Medina and Mecca.

Date: 576 AD.

Hazrat Amina’s Burial

Our Beloved Prophet (PBUH) and Umm Ayman were frozen. In fact, their tongues were stiff. It was only our Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) tears that spoke.

At one point, Umm Ayman was able to collect herself and she wiped the saintly child’s tears. Afterwards, she nestled and tried to comfort him. She said, “Do not be sad, and do not cry, my precious, Muhammad. We must surrender to Divine fate. Both life and possessions belong to Him. Everything has been entrusted to us; He takes back a trust just as He has given it”.

Our Beloved Prophet (PBUH) took a deep breath and said, “I know. I will always submit to His authority. However, a mother’s face is unforgettable. I am sad that I will never be able to see her face again”. Afterwards, he immediately gathered himself, wiped his tears, and said to Ummi Ayman “Alright, she surrendered that trust to its owner. We should submit her corpse to the soil so that she can be in peace”.

They submitted the corpse of the world’s most fortunate mother, Hazrat Amina, to the bosom of the earth. Considering the fact that she gave birth to the Master of the Universe (PBUH), who knows how and at what heights her soul rejoiced with the angels.

After the Burial

The duty of taking this precious orphan to Mecca had fallen on his nanny, Umm Ayman.

With all her effort, Umm Ayman was doing everything she could throughout the entire journey to not have him feel that he had been left motherless. She nestled him as if he was her own child and tried to comfort him. In fact, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) accepted her as a mother and began to refer to her with that title. Much later, he would pay her the compliment of being “the mother who came after my mother” each time he saw her. 

Both Motherless and Fatherless!

The radiant-faced Master of the Universe (PBUH) was now an orphan without a father and mother. However, he had a true guardian and patron. That Guard kept our Holy Prophet (PBUH) under His impeccable custody and complete supervision and protected him from all kinds of danger and trouble throughout the his entire life.

We are reminded of this particular incident in the verse, “Did your Lord not find you an orphan and give you shelter and care?” 

Years later, during the Hudaybiya Umrah, in the sixth year of the Hijra, the Master of the Universe (PBUH) passed through Abwa once more. With Allah’s permission, he visited his mother’s grave and tidied it up with his hands. Afterwards, he cried out of deep emotion.

The Sahaba (his companions) also cried after seeing his tears of longing and asked, “Oh Messenger of Allah, why are you crying?”

Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) responded, “I remembered the compassion and mercy that my mother showed me and that is why I cried”.

The wisdom behind their early death

This question may come to mind here:

“Why did God Almighty not let his venerable mother and father see his prophethood and why they were not able to be Muslim?”

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi answers this question in his book “The Letters,” in The Risale-i Nur Collection:

“Through His munificence, in order to gratify the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace's sentiments), Almighty God did not put His Noble Beloved’s parents under any obligation to him. His mercy required that to make them happy and to please His Noble Beloved, He did not take them from the rank of parenthood and put them in that of spiritual offspring; He did not place his parents and grandfather among his community. However, He bestowed on them the merit, virtues, and happiness of his community. Indeed, if an exalted field marshal's father, who has the rank of captain, entered his presence, he would be overwhelmed by two opposing emotions. So, compassionately, the king does not post the father to the retinue of his elevated lieutenant, the field marshal.”

THE ISSUE OF THE BELIEF OF THE PARENTS OF THE PROPHET

Islamic scholars agree that:

"None of the noble individuals of the chain coming from Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them) was indifferent to the true religion and none of them blemished their heart with shirk (idol-worship, to associate anyone or anything with Allah) and kufr (disbelief, blasphemy)" 

Many Islamic scholars put forward with clear evidence that Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) parents will be among the people of salvation in the afterlife, through similar explanations. We can list those explanations as follows:

1) His parents, Hazrat Abdullah and Hazrat Amina, passed away long before their son undertook the task of the prophethood. So, they lived in the period of (fatrat) interregnum and they are regarded as people of interregnum. There is no torment of Hell for those who died during the period of interregnum. 

One day someone asked a well-known scholar Sharaf al-Din al-Munawi, "Are our prophet’s parents in Hell?"

Al-Munawi replied, "They passed away during the interregnum. There is no torment before sending down a Prophet" 

It is well defined in the Quran and hadith (saying or tradition of the Prophet Muhammad) that no one who did not hear an invitation of a Prophet will have torment in the afterlife. It is also known that no previous Prophet’s invitation reached Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) parents. So, we can say that they will have no torment in the afterlife and they are among the people of salvation.

2) There is no information that the Prophet’s parents were in shirk and kufr. On the contrary, they were among the “Hanif” people who were practicing the beliefs and traditions coming from their grandfather Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh), like Zayd Ibn Amr Ibn Nufayl, Waraqa Ibn Nawfal and others.

3) Another piece of evidence that they were not in shirk is a hadith of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), "I come from a continuous line of clean fathers and always mothers" 

In the Quran, people of shirk is defined as “unclean people”. Since cleanness and uncleanness, faith and shirk, believers and unbelievers are opposites, and when we consider the above hadith, we must accept that no one from the ancestors of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was in shirk. 

In short, “While Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is said to be a mercy to the universe by Allah, it would not be logical and harmonious with good manners to think that his parents, who carried him in their bodies before the sun of prophethood was born would be deprived of the prosperity and light of their sun. The parents of the Messenger of Allah lived in the Period of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah). They did not live during the time of the prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).”

Then, a believer should know and accept the following:

“The parents of Allah’s Messenger are surely from the people of salvation, people of Paradise and people of belief. Surely Allah Almighty will not hurt His dear messenger’s tender and compassionate heart.” 

The following stanza expresses that truth in a nice way:

While the sun of the two worlds were in the sign of bliss

How would Allah not give his parents honor?

Oh my heart! Look at the diver with equitable eyes

Would he take the pearl and throw away the mother-of pearl?

Its Meaning:

Is it possible that God Almighty will not honor the Prophet’s mother and father while Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), who is the sun of the both worlds, is in the sign of happiness?

O my heart! Look mercifully at the diver! Is it possible that he will take the pearl and throw away the mother-of-pearl?

[pamphletstoinspire]

Christmas Day, The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ - December 25, 2020

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Music: O Magnum Mysterium

O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger!

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia!

by Fr. Raphael Frassinetti, 1900

Gospel. Luke ii. 1-14. At that time: There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus the governor of Syria: And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night-watches over their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them: Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people; for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest: and on earth peace to men of good will.

Who does not rejoice with a holy joy on this great feast, when we celebrate with the Church the appearance of the Son of the eternal Father, our most amiable Redeemer! Behold the expectation of ages has at last made His appearance among us! Come then, all ye Christian nations, to see the new-born Messias, and prostrate yourselves in adoration before Him. Adore Him with Mary, His Virgin Mother; with St. Joseph, His foster-father; with the angels who surround the manger, and sing “Glory to God in the highest.” O mystery of divine love, that a God should descend from heaven and become man for us! St. Francis of Assisi, while giving a discourse on this very subject, was so moved that he could not utter another word, and he and his audience wept floods of tears. My dear young people, I also feel moved on this subject, and would rather give a sermon in tears than in words, when I think that God so loves the world that His eternal Son became a mere infant for us. O what can I do to set your hearts on fire for Him? I confess I am not equal to the task; but with the aid of the Child Jesus, I will relate in a few words the history of His birth, and make some humble and loving comments on it. Who knows but that you will be touched by the great condescension of our good Lord, and may offer Him a few tears of gratitude!

Let us go, my dear young friends, to Bethlehem, and ask the shepherds who were so privileged as to hear the first news of the birth of Christ from the angels, what they saw and heard. “Oh joy and gladness!” they will say. “We have seen the new-born King, we have seen the Child, the most beautiful of the world, wrapped in swaddling-clothes; we have heard His childish cries, and falling down in adoration we have kissed His sacred feet with the greatest veneration. O if you could see how beautiful He is! His rosy cheeks, His golden hair, the pearls of tears in His eyes: all more beautiful than an angel of paradise. Above the Child hover angels, His servants, praising Him, singing hymns of glory and announcing peace to men of good will. We have seen Him born and the choirs of angels praising God.” And where is that divine Infant to be found, in a house or in a palace? Oh, He is to be found in a poor stable; He is laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling-clothes and exposed to the cold air! Two animals, an ox and an ass, keep Him warm with their breath and seem to recognize their Creator. A man with a radiant face, weeping tears of joy, and full of wonder, adores Him. A young mother, in ecstasy, is busied about the little Child’s necessities; she covers Him with what she has about her, to keep away the cold, she kisses His little feet as a recognition that He is her God, and then His face to show that He is her Son. The little Infant holds out His hands toward His Mother, and looks at her with a joyous smile.

Happy shepherds, what were the gifts that you brought to this divine Infant? In our poverty we had but little that we could give; we brought Him fruit, milk, cheese and a young white lamb. If you could have seen that dear Child, with a smile and a grateful look, receive these poor gifts; He appeared to thank us with His cries and to ask us to give Him our hearts with our other gifts. We could hardly tear ourselves away from that dear Child. This is what these poor, simple people would say. But you, my dear young people, what are your thoughts about that holy Child? This poor Child, who is only a few hours old, is the Son of the Most High. Before there was a heaven or an earth, He existed; the home of that Infant is heaven. Though you see Him wrapped in swaddling-clothes, His vesture is a mantle of purest light; though you see Him between two animals, His usual companions are the angels of heaven. This beautiful Child is God; these small members are the strong arms of a God. But if He be God, why is He in such poverty? He is born poor because He wants it so, and to gain our love and confidence. He might have come into the world in a palace, surrounded by servants; but He preferred a manger for His cradle and a little straw for His bed. He wished to begin His infancy in tears. “Oh, truly happy tears,” cries out St. Thomas of Villanova, ” which obtain for us the pardon of our sins; when we were all lost to God, this Child comes to save us.”

But what does this Child of infinite love ask of us in return? He asks gratitude, acknowledgment and love. The shepherds adored Him indeed, but the rest of mankind did not recognize Him. All the inhabitants of Bethlehem turned Him from their doors; “the foxes have holes and the birds of the air nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” The prophet says, “The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel hath not known Me.” Even in our time many Christians do not give Him the honor which is His due; they heap insults on Him, blaspheme His sacred name, and live in enmity with Him, or do not believe in Him.

Yes, my dear good children, you understand now that the Child Jesus, in return for the great love He showed us, should have gained all hearts on this earth. How many sinners are there in the world and how many sins are committed by them still! Does this look as if Christ had conquered our hearts? Perhaps more sins than usual are committed on Christmas day. The feasts of the Church seem to give occasion for sin, such as going to places of amusement that are dangerous to morals. But let me beg of you, my dear young people, no longer to be ungrateful to the Child Jesus. See, this little Child God has already begun to suffer for you; He is doing the penance which you refused to do, and which you should not omit. Do you hear the cry of the Child? He is already making reparation for those wicked conversations in which you sometimes indulge. Go now to the manger in which Our Lord is placed, and take a good look at Him. See in what poverty He is placed all for you, and then give yourself up to God. Will you not give your heart, your affection to Him?

Love this little Jesus with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul; no longer give yourself to the devil; be sorry for the past, throw yourself at the feet of Jesus, and make an entire offering of yourself to Him, saying, “Here we are, dear Infant Jesus, at your feet, with our gifts in our hands, the gift of our hearts; but such miserable hearts, that the gift is unworthy of Thee. But, dear Infant, Thou art omnipotent; Thou canst, if we co-operate with Thy grace, make them pure, holy, and acceptable in Thy sight. Thou canst fill them with virtues and then they will be fit gifts for a God that is in search of souls. We volunteer to give our own souls first, and then we will go forth and gather many others. We now leave our hearts at Thy feet; do not despise them. Thou didst not despise the poor gifts of the shepherds; then take also this gift of our hearts, keep them and make their entrance into heaven sure.” 

(by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876)

“When shall I come and appear before the face of God?”–Psalms xli, 3.

Five thousand one hundred and ninety nine years after the creation; 2957 years after the flood; 2015 years after the birth of Abraham; 1510 years after the departure of Moses and the children of Israel from Egypt; 1032 years after the anointing of King David; in the 65th week, according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the 194th Olympiad; 752 years after the building of Rome; in the 42d year of the reign of the Emperor Augustus, when peace prevailed over the whole earth, and in the 6th age of the world, “Jesus Christ, Eternal God, the Son of the Eternal Father,” to bless the world by His coming, was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and nine months later, was born at Bethlehem, of the Virgin Mary. Hence, today is the human birth of our Lord and Saviour.

In these words the holy Church announces, in the Roman Martyrology, today’s great and glorious festival, the birth of our Saviour. The entire account of this festival cannot be given better than it is related in the Gospel of St. Luke, wherein we read as follows: Octavius Augustus, the Roman Emperor, had given peace to the whole empire by conquering his enemies. Nowhere was war heard of, and peace reigned over all the world. The emperor, desiring to know the strength of his empire, and the number of his subjects, profited by this calm, and gave command to his officers to register the names of all the inhabitants of his dominions. Cyrinus was charged with the census of Syria and Judea. In order that this registering might be correctly made, the command was issued that everyone should be enrolled in the city from which his family came. Mary, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Joseph resided at Nazareth, a small town in Galilee; but as both were descended from King David, who came from Bethlehem, a small hamlet or town in the tribe of Judah, five miles from Jerusalem, they went thither. There they found all the houses so filled with strangers, who had come for the same purpose, that although St. Joseph took all pains to find a lodging for his holy spouse, he could not succeed. As the night approached, nothing was left for them but to repair to a cave in a rock, outside of Bethlehem. Both submitted to divine Providence, humbly worshipping the judgment of heaven, as they recognized that the only begotten Son of God, who became flesh to teach us humility and poverty, had Himself chosen this lowly and miserable stable as His birthplace.

Mary, the Virgin Mother, knew the hour of His birth, and remained deeply absorbed in contemplation of the great mystery which was soon to be fulfilled. At midnight she brought forth, without pain and without detriment to her virginity, Him whom she had conceived of the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father, the Saviour of the world. Seeing the Divine Child, she was filled with heavenly joy, and, sinking on her knees, she worshipped Him with deep humility and reverence, while her heart burned with motherly love. To God alone is known the greatness of the devotion and love which the Virgin Mother felt at that most holy moment. She took the Child into her arms, kissed it, and pressed it to her happy heart, wrapped it in poor swaddling-clothes, and, as no better place could be found, laid it in a manger. At that time, an ox and an ass were in the stable, and with their breath warmed the Divine Child trembling with cold. Mary and Joseph, prostrating themselves before the new-born Saviour, worshipped Him most devoutly. The Angels united their adoration with that of Joseph and Mary. They had already adored Him at the first moment of His Incarnation; but St. Paul assures us that they were commanded by the Almighty to adore him again at the time of His birth.

While Mary and Joseph were kneeling before the Child, their souls enraptured with love and awe, the Heavenly Father announced the long-desired birth of the Redeemer of mankind to the heathens and the Jews; to the former, by a star; to the latter, by an Angel. During that night shepherds were watching their flocks in the field, when suddenly an angel, surrounded with wonderful brightness, appeared to them. The men, seized with fear at this apparition, knew not what to say or think. The Angel addressing them, said: “Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of exceeding great joy, that shall be to all people. For this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign to you: you shall find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.” Hardly had the Angel said this, when a multitude of heavenly Spirits appeared, praising God and saying: “Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will.” The pious shepherds heard with astonishment the singing of the Angels, and, after they had seen them return to heaven, they said to one another: “Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.”

They went hastily to Bethlehem, and found, in the stable, all that the Angel had told them: a lovely new-born Child, wrapped in poor swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger, and the Virgin Mother and St. Joseph kneeling beside it. Knowing from the words of the Angel and still more from a divine light, that this beautiful Child in the manger was the long-desired Saviour of mankind, it is not to be doubted that they worshipped Him with great reverence, and giving due thanks for the grace done to them, offered some gifts according to their station. After this they returned to their flocks, and praising the Lord, they related to others what they had heard and seen. So much is known to us from the Gospel of St. Luke concerning the Nativity of Our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

The further considerations, to which we are led by this birth, are so manifold and so great that whole books filled with them, would not suffice to contain them all. Above all, we should consider the fact, that the only begotten Son of God saw the light of the world in so lowly a place, in the depth of winter and in the silence of the night. No doubt He could have celebrated His visible arrival in this world with grandeur and magnificence in the most noble palace in Jerusalem. But He did not, and why? St. Bernard writes: “Can we then believe that it was by chance that He was born in darkness and in the cold of winter, He who is Lord over winter and summer, day and night? Other children cannot choose the time of their birth, as they have neither reason nor liberty; but Christ, though man, was, as the Son of God, in the beginning with God, and was then the same wise and mighty God He is now. He, as the only begotten Son of God, who could choose for His birth whatever time He preferred, chose what was most painful and hard for a little child, especially the child of a poor mother, who hardly possessed a few swaddling-clothes to wrap it in.” He chose in everything what was most trying to human nature. And for what reason did He do this? The Holy Fathers give the following answers:

First, to show, in the most exquisite manner, His infinite love for us, and to move us to love Him in return. Had Christ been born at another time, in a palace, surrounded by luxuries, He would still have shown great love for us; but it could not have been compared with the love He manifested when born in such a night, in such abject poverty and in so lowly a place. Had He been born rich, we should have great cause to love Him; but how much more reason have we now to love Him, when we consider the manner, so full of love to us, in which He deigned to come into the world. Yes, our beloved Saviour, in the poverty of His birth, evinced His great love, and wishes to gain our entire heart. “He who desired to be beloved by us,” says St. Peter Chrysologus, “would be born in this and in no other manner.”

Secondly, Christ, our Lord, wished to show us, at His birth, the path that leads to heaven, and to teach by his example what later He would teach by words. “He announces in works, what He afterwards teaches with words,” says St. Bernard. Yes, not only He, but the stable, the manger, the swaddling-clothes speak to us, and point to the way we must walk, if we wish to derive benefit from the birth, the passion and death of our Saviour. The immoderate desire of the riches, honors and pleasures of this world, or, as St. John says, “the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life,” are the principal sources of all vice, and the principal causes why so many men forfeit heaven and are cast into the depth of hell. The new-born Saviour teaches us, by his abject poverty, the deepest humility, and by voluntarily bearing so many discomforts of place and time, how we may overcome the three concupiscences, destroy the source of three most hurtful vices, and if we are solicitous about our salvation, to despise all that is temporal, or at least not to fasten our heart on it, but to live in due humility, and, by constant mortification, preserve our purity according to our station. The Saviour teaches all this by His example. Hence, the Holy Fathers called the manger, the pulpit of the Divine Child. We are all obliged to listen to this Teacher, who came down from heaven, and to live according to His precepts. The Heavenly Father says the same words now to us, which He proclaimed from heaven when our Saviour was baptized: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him!”

From these reasons why Christ was born in a stable, at so rough a time of the year, and in such humility, follows a twofold lesson for us, which I will add in the words of St. Bernard. The first is: “Let us love the Child in the manger,” because the new-born Saviour has so loved us, and desires that we should love Him in return. Let us love Him, but with our whole heart, and in works, not only with the tongue and in words, as He has loved us, not only in words, but in deeds. The second is: “Let us endeavor to resemble this Child in poverty, in humility and in despising temporal pleasures.” For here we see the truth of the words which, later in life, Christ spoke to His disciples, when He placed a little child in the midst of them: “If you do not become as this little child, you cannot enter heaven.” It is this we should especially consider, in regard to the nativity of Christ, on to-day’s festival. Besides, it should be remembered, that this is one of the oldest and most sacred feasts in the whole year, and was instituted by the Apostles themselves. The manger in which the Saviour was laid, and the stable in which He was born, have always been kept in great honor. The wickedness of the heathens erected, on the spot, a temple dedicated to Adonis, that the Christians might be prevented from visiting the holy place; but in the course of time, a magnificent Christian church was built in its stead. Many convents were established at Bethlehem, in one of which St. Jerome spent many years.

Later, the manger, sanctified by Christ, was taken to Rome into the Church of St. Mary Major, where it is still honored at this day. In the holy Chapel, at Paris, are preserved the swaddling-clothes in which the Divine Child was wrapped, and which St. Louis received as a gift from the Emperor Baldwin II. (9)

Adapted from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger

History of the Forty Days of Christmas

We apply the name of Christmas to the 40 days which begin with the Nativity of Our Lord, December 25, and end with the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, February 2. It is a period which forms a distinct portion of the Liturgical Year; as distinct, by its own special spirit, from every other, as are Advent, Lent, Easter or Pentecost. One same Mystery is celebrated and kept in view the whole 40 days. Neither the Feasts of the Saints, which so abound during this Season; nor the time of Septuagesima, with its mournful Purple, which often begins before Christmastide is over, seem able to distract our Holy Mother the Church from the immense joy of which She received the glad tidings from the Angels (Luke 2:10) on that glorious Night for which the world had been longing 4000 years. The custom of celebrating the Solemnity of Our Savior’s Nativity by a Feast or commemoration of 40 days’ duration is founded on the Holy Gospel itself; for it tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after spending 40 days in the contemplation of the Divine Fruit of Her glorious Maternity, went to the Temple, there to fulfill, in most perfect humility, the ceremonies which the Law demanded of the daughters of Israel, when they became mothers.

The Feast of Mary’s Purification is, therefore, part of that of Jesus’ Birth; and the custom of keeping this holy and glorious period of 40 days as one continued Festival has every appearance of being a very ancient one, at least in the Roman Church. And firstly, with regard to Our Savior’s Birth on December 25, we have St. John Chrysostom telling us, in his Homily for this Feast, that the Western Churches had, from the very commencement of Christianity, kept it on this day. He is not satisfied with merely mentioning the tradition; he undertakes to show that it is well founded, inasmuch as the Church of Rome had every means of knowing the true day of Our Savior’s Birth; since the acts of the Enrollment, taken in Judea by command of Augustus, were kept in the public archives of Rome. The holy Doctor adduces a second argument, which he founds on the Gospel of St. Luke, and he reasons thus: we know from the sacred Scriptures that it must have been in the fast of the seventh month (Lev. 23, 24 et seq.) that the Priest Zachary had the vision in the Temple; after which Elizabeth, his wife, conceived St. John the Baptist (the ‘seventh month’ corresponded to the end of our September and beginning of our October). Hence it follows that the Blessed Virgin Mary having, as the Evangelist St. Luke relates, received the Archangel Gabriel’s visit, and conceived the Savior of the world in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, that is to say, in March, the Birth of Jesus must have taken place in the month of December.

But it was not till the fourth century that the Churches of the East began to keep the Feast of Our Savior’s Birth in the month of December. Up to that period they had kept it at one time on the 6th of January, thus uniting it, under the generic term of Epiphany, with the Manifestation of Our Savior to the Magi, and in them to the Gentiles; at another time, as Clement of Alexandria tells us, they kept it on the 25th of the month Pachon (May 15), or on the 25th of the month Pharmuth (April 20). St. John Chrysostom, in the Homily we have just cited, which he gave in 386, tells us that the Roman custom of celebrating the Birth of Our Savior on December 25 had then only been observed ten years in the Church of Antioch. It is probable that this change had been introduced in obedience to the wishes of the Apostolic See, wishes which received additional weight by the edict of the Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian, which appeared towards the close of the fourth century, and decreed that the Nativity and Epiphany of Our Lord should be made two distinct Festivals. The only Church that has maintained the custom of celebrating the two mysteries on January 6 is that of Armenia; owing, no doubt, to the circumstance of that country not being under the authority of the Emperors; as also because it was withdrawn at an early period from the influence of Rome by schism and heresy.

The Feast of Our Lady’s Purification, with which the 40 days of Christmas close, is in the Latin Church of very great antiquity; so ancient, indeed, as to preclude the possibility of our fixing the date of its institution. According to the unanimous opinion of Liturgists, it is the most ancient of all the Feasts of the Holy Mother of God; and as Her Purification is related in the Gospel itself, they rightly infer that its anniversary was solemnized at the very commencement of Christianity. Of course, this is only to be understood of the Roman Church; for as regards the Oriental Church, we find that this Feast was not definitely fixed to February 2 until the reign of the Emperor Justinian, in the sixth century. It is true that the Eastern Churches had previously to that time a sort of commemoration of this Mystery, but it was far from being a universal custom, and it was kept a few days after the Feast of Our Lord’s Nativity, and not on the day itself of Mary’s going up to the Temple.

But what is the characteristic of Christmas in the Latin Liturgy? It is twofold: it is joy, which the whole Church feels at the coming of the divine Word in the Flesh; and it is admiration of that glorious Virgin, Who was made the True Mother of God. There is scarcely a prayer, or a rite, in the Liturgy of this glad Season, which does not imply these two grand Mysteries: an Infant-God, and a Virgin-Mother. For example, the magnificent Anthem, Alma Redemptoris, composed by the Monk Herman Contractus, continues up to the very day of the Purification to be the termination of the Divine Office. It is by such manifestations of Her love and veneration that the Church, honoring the Son in the Mother, testifies Her holy joy during this season of the Liturgical Year, which we call Christmas.

We are aware that, when Easter Sunday falls at its latest—that is, in April—the Ecclesiastical Calendar counts as many as six Sundays after the Epiphany. Christmastide (that is, the 40 days between Christmas day and the Purification) includes sometimes four out of these six Sundays; frequently only two; and sometimes only one, as in the case when Easter comes so early as to necessitate keeping Septuagesima, and even Sexagesima Sunday, in January. Still, nothing is changed, as we have already said, in the ritual observance of this joyous season, excepting only that on those two Sundays, the fore-runners of Lent, the vestments are violet, and the Gloria is omitted.

Although our Holy Mother the Church honors with special devotion the Mystery of the Divine Infancy during the whole season of Christmas; yet She is obliged to introduce into the Liturgy of this same season passages from the holy Gospels which seem premature, inasmuch as they relate to the active life of Jesus. This is owing to there being less than six months allotted by the Calendar for the celebration of the entire work of our Redemption: in other words, Christmas and Easter are so near each other, even when Easter is as late as it can be, that Mysteries must of necessity be crowded into the interval; and this entails anticipation. And yet the Liturgy never loses sight of the Divine Babe and His incomparable Mother, and never tires in Their praises, during the whole period from the Nativity to the day when Mary comes to the Temple to present Her Jesus.

The Greek Church too makes frequent commemorations of the Maternity of Mary in the Offices of this Season: but they have a special veneration for the twelve days between Christmas Day and the Epiphany, which in their Liturgy are called Dodecameron. During this time they observe no days of abstinence from meat; and the Emperors of the East had, out of respect for the great Mystery, decreed that no servile work should be done, and that the courts of law should be closed, until after January 6. 

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

27th November >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Friday, Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time 

    or 

Saint Fergal, Bishop and Missionary.

Friday, Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

Apocalypse 20:1-4,11-21:2

The book of life was opened, and the dead were judged

I, John, saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the Abyss in his hand and an enormous chain. He overpowered the dragon, that primeval serpent which is the devil and Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and shut the entrance and sealed it over him, to make sure he would not deceive the nations again until the thousand years had passed. At the end of that time he must be released, but only for a short while.    Then I saw some thrones, and I saw those who are given the power to be judges take their seats on them. I saw the souls of all who had been beheaded for having witnessed for Jesus and for having preached God’s word, and those who refused to worship the beast or his statue and would not have the brand-mark on their foreheads or hands; they came to life, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was sitting on it. In his presence, earth and sky vanished, leaving no trace. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of his throne, while the book of life was opened, and other books opened which were the record of what they had done in their lives, by which the dead were judged.    The sea gave up all the dead who were in it; Death and Hades were emptied of the dead that were in them; and every one was judged according to the way in which he had lived. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the burning lake. This burning lake is the second death; and anybody whose name could not be found written in the book of life was thrown into the burning lake.    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 83(84):3-6,8

R/ Here God lives among men.

My soul is longing and yearning,    is yearning for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my soul ring out their joy    to God, the living God.

R/ Here God lives among men.

The sparrow herself finds a home    and the swallow a nest for her brood; she lays her young by your altars,    Lord of hosts, my king and my God.

R/ Here God lives among men.

They are happy, who dwell in your house,    for ever singing your praise. They are happy, whose strength is in you:    they walk with ever-growing strength.

R/ Here God lives among men.

Gospel Acclamation

Luke 21:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand. Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 21:29-33

My words will never pass away

Jesus told his disciples a parable: ‘Think of the fig tree and indeed every tree. As soon as you see them bud, you know that summer is now near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Saint Fergal, Bishop and Missionary

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

Either: --------

First Reading

Exodus 32:7-14

Moses pleads with the Lord his God to spare Israel

The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’    But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Why let the Egyptians say, “Ah, it was in treachery that he brought them out, to do them to death in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth”? Leave your burning wrath; relent and do not bring this disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.’    So the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

OR: --------

First reading Deuteronomy 10:8-9 The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to do him service

Moses said to the people: ‘The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand in the presence of the Lord, to do him service and in his name to pronounce blessing as they still do today. Levi therefore has no share or inheritance with his brothers: the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God told him.’

OR: --------

First reading 1 Samuel 16:1,6-13 David is anointed by Samuel

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’    Samuel purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one stands there before him’, but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse then called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either.’ Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on.

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8 'Here I am: send me'

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord of Hosts seated on a high throne; his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings.    And they cried out to one another in this way,

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. His glory fills the whole earth.’

The foundations of the threshold shook with the voice of the one who cried out, and the Temple was filled with smoke. I said:

‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said:

‘See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged.’

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:

‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’

I answered, ‘Here I am, send me.’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 52:7-10 Rejoice, for the Lord is consoling his people

How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God is king!’

Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices, they shout for joy together, for they see the Lord face to face, as he returns to Zion.

Break into shouts of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord is consoling his people, redeeming Jerusalem.

The Lord bares his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 61:1-3 He has sent me to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken;

to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord, a day of vengeance for our God,

to comfort all those who mourn and to give them for ashes a garland; for mourning robe the oil of gladness, for despondency, praise.

OR: --------

First reading Jeremiah 1:4-9 Go and say whatever I command you and do not fear

The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’

I said, ‘Ah, Lord; look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’

But the Lord replied, ‘Do not say, “I am a child.” Go now to those to whom I send you and, say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you – it is the Lord who speaks!’

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:

‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.’

OR: --------

First reading Ezekiel 3:17-21 Warn the wicked man, and you will live

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from me, warn them in my Name. If I say to a wicked man, “You are to die,” and you do not warn him; if you do not speak and warn him to renounce his evil ways and so live, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man and he does not renounce his wickedness and his evil ways, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life. When the upright man renounces his integrity to do evil and I set a trap for him, he too shall die; since you failed to warn him, he shall die for his sin and the integrity he practised will no longer be remembered; but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you warn the upright man not to sin and he abstains from sinning, he shall live, thanks to your warning, and you too will have saved your life.’

OR: --------

First reading Ezekiel 34:11-16 I will look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view

The Lord God says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I shall bring them out of the countries where they are; I shall gather them together from foreign countries and bring them back to their own land. I shall pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in every inhabited place in the land. I shall feed them in good pasturage; the high mountains of Israel will be their grazing ground. There they will rest in good grazing ground; they will browse in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.

-------- ________

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 88(89):2-5,21-22,25,27

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;    through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth. Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,    that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one;    I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish your dynasty for ever    and set up your throne through all ages.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

‘I have found David my servant    and with my holy oil anointed him. My hand shall always be with him    and my arm shall make him strong.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

‘My truth and my love shall be with him;    by my name his might shall be exalted. He will say to me: “You are my father,    my God, the rock who saves me.”’

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation Mt23:9,10

Alleluia, alleluia! You have only one Father, and he is in heaven; you have only one Teacher, the Christ. Alleluia!

Or: Mt28:19,20

Alleluia, alleluia! Go, make disciples of all the nations. I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. Alleluia!

Or: Mk1:17

Alleluia, alleluia! Follow me, says the Lord, and I will make you into fishers of men. Alleluia!

Or: Lk4:18

Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives. Alleluia!

Or: Jn10:14

Alleluia, alleluia! I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my own sheep and my own know me. Alleluia!

Or: Jn15:5

Alleluia, alleluia! I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty, says the Lord. Alleluia!

Or: 2Co5:19

Alleluia, alleluia! God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. Alleluia!

________

EITHER: --------

Gospel Matthew 9:35-37 The harvest is rich but the labourers are few

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.    And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 16:13-19 You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 23:8-12 The greatest among you must be your servant

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will exalted.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 28:16-20 Go and make disciples of all nations

The eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

OR: --------

Gospel Mark 1:14-20 I will make you into fishers of men

After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’    As he was walking along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the lake – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him.    Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending their nets. He called them at once and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.

OR: --------

Gospel Mark 16:15-20 Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News

Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them:    ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’    And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 5:1-11 They left everything and followed him

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.    When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.    When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

OR: --------

Gospel 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.”’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 22:24-30 I confer a kingdom on you, just as the Father conferred one on me

A dispute arose between the disciples about which should be reckoned the greatest, but Jesus said to them:    ‘Among pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here am I among you as one who serves!    ‘You are the men who have stood by me faithfully in my trials; and now I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father conferred one on me: you will eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.’

OR: --------

Gospel John 10:11-16 The good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep

Jesus said:

‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep.

‘I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd.’

OR: --------

Gospel John 15:9-17 You are my friends if you do what I command you

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another.’

OR: --------

Gospel John 21:15-17 Feed my lambs, feed my sheep

Jesus showed himself to his disciples, and after they had eaten he said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ He answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep.’ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’

[wesleyhill]

Dry Bones and New Life

A homily on Ezekiel 37:1-14 preached at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Pittsburgh, on the Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020

As the rate of infection and death from the coronavirus continues to rise, harrowing stories are emerging. We’re hearing about shortages of medical supplies, overcrowded hospitals, and empty grocery store shelves. We’re hearing about people having to suffer life-threatening conditions at home because the hospitals are already overflowing. We’re hearing about more depression from the isolation we’re all having to endure. We’re hearing about rising rates of domestic abuse, as we all are staying indoors and, in many cases, in very close quarters.

And we’re hearing about death. About dead bodies. Corpses.

Over a week ago — which seems like months and months ago now — I read in The Guardian about how funeral homes are not able to keep up with the number of dead bodies they’re being asked to deal with: “Coffins awaiting burial are lining up in churches and the corpses of those who died at home are being kept in sealed-off rooms for days as funeral services struggle to cope in Bergamo, the Italian province hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.” Between the 1st of March and the 19th the province’s largest funeral company handled more than 600 burials or cremations. Normally, they would handle around 120. Their director said this: “A generation has died in just over two weeks. We’ve never seen anything like this and it just makes you cry.”

I am haunted by that image of coffins lined up in churches. I’m haunted by the image of corpses being kept in houses, waiting until someone can come get them ready for burial. I’m haunted by the graves and the urns.

“The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.”

So wrote the prophet Ezekiel in our Old Testament lesson for this morning. The remains of the dead are scattered like so many dehydrated branches across the surface of the valley.

Ezekiel had his vision of the valley of dry bones at a time when God’s people were at the full height of their rebellion against God. The Jewish scholar Jon Levenson refers to “the most hideous disobedience and the most obscene idolatry” of God’s people. And God warned that this idolatry would mean death. And that is just what happened, figuratively speaking. The powerful armies of Babylonia eventually conquered the holy city of Jerusalem and carried the Israelites off into exile. The great temple that King Solomon had built was destroyed — a symbol of death and tragedy if there ever was one. The dream of Abraham — that his descendants would dwell forever in the land that God had promised them — was over. Destruction and death held sway.

Ezekiel’s valley was full of bones. The spirit of the Lord “led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.”

“He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel is told to speak the word of the Lord to these decayed corpses, amid the rubble of death that God’s people have been reduced to. And that word will bring life to those dry bones. And then, in one of the most stirring passages in all the Bible, Ezekiel says:

“So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.”

I would love to see a movie director like Steven Spielberg or J. J. Abrams try to depict this vision. It would be the eerie and triumphant opposite of that terrifying scene at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the Nazi villain’s skin and muscles rot away and his bare skeleton finally explodes into dry powder. Ezekiel sees the reversal of that scene: The desiccated, brittle bones that Ezekiel sees around him suddenly begin to rattle, then reassemble themselves into skeletons. Soon glistening pink musculature appears on them and then, finally, skin and hair. And at the last moment, at the Lord’s command, their lungs fill with air and they open their eyes. They are alive once more.

The Lord tells Ezekiel that this is a symbolic picture of how God will bring God’s exiled people back into the promised land:

“Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act,’ says the LORD.”

But is it only a symbol? Or is there some hope here for actual dead bodies, actual corpses?

Jon Levenson, who is one of the greatest Hebrew Bible scholars of our time, reminds us that Jews didn’t come to believe in the resurrection of actual human bodies until after the time of Ezekiel. But, he says, even if Ezekiel didn’t have a clear picture in his mind yet of resurrection, he must have believed that God could raise corpses to new life. “[E]ven as a figure [of speech], [Ezekiel’s] vision of resurrection must have carried considerable credibility,” Levenson says. For that reason, he adds, “Ezekiel’s vision anticipates the later [Jewish] expectation of resurrection… [For Jews to think that God] could reassemble his deadened people and bring them back to life was hardly outrageous.” To put it simply, this symbolic prophecy of resurrection led God’s people to realize that God would one day do this literally. He would literally take dead bodies and make them come to life again.

Friends, we must remember and hold onto this conviction in this time of the coronavirus. We must hear Ezekiel’s prophecy, and we must cling to it. It is not the teaching of Scripture that once people die, God stops caring about their bodies. It is not the teaching of the Christian faith that God is only interested in our souls or our “spiritual lives,” and not in our lungs, our tracheas, our throats. No, as we will say together in just a moment, we believe in the resurrection of the dead — the bodily resurrection of the dead.

And we believe this because what Ezekiel prophesied is exactly what took place on Easter Sunday morning — the day we are commemorating again today, as we do every Sunday. God raised His Son Jesus Christ, who was truly dead and buried, to new bodily life. And because of that, we believe that He will do the same for us.

Which means that we can never make peace with the coronavirus. We can never say, “Oh, well, the people who are dying would probably have died soon anyway. And besides, death is going to come for us all eventually, so we’d better just get used to it.” No! Death is our enemy. Death is judgment, and death is curse. We are right to mourn it, to be shocked by it, to be horrified by it. When we read stories about row after row of coffins, we should feel it like a slap in the face. And we should support the effort to defeat this virus in whatever large or small ways we can.

Friends, God’s promise this morning to all who truly turn to Him in faith is that the coronavirus will not have the last word. The bodies that are being cremated or buried will be raised from the dead. You and I, though the virus may take us, will be raised from the dead. We will not be raised merely as souls or spirits or ethereal, angelic beings. We will be raised in and as our bodies. And in that great day, no virus or sickness of any kind will be able to destroy our joy because we will be fully united with the risen, indestructible, unconquerable Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Because He died and rose again for us, we will rise too. We will rise and we will never die again.

Amen.

[wisdomrays]

WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION AND THE AFTERLIFE?

After belief in God, this is the main way to secure a peaceful social order. If I don't believe in personal accountability, why should I be honest and upright? The Qur'an declares: In whatever affair you may be, and whichever part of the Qur'an you recite, and whatever deed you do, We are witness over you when you are deeply engrossed therein. Not an atom's weight in the Earth and in the heaven escapes your Lord, nor is there anything smaller or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book (10:61).

Angels record our actions, and God knows our thoughts and deeds. Those who live accordingly find true peace and happiness in both worlds. This belief prevents young people from wasting their lives, gives hope to the elderly, and helps children endure the death of loved ones. It is as necessary as air, water, and bread.

As this belief leads to a life of peace, intellectuals seeking public peace and security should emphasize it. Those who are convinced of: Whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it (99:7-8) live responsible lives. A community composed of such people finds true peace and happiness, and its people serve their nation and humanity.

Children are easily affected by events. Their world becomes dark when they see death or are orphaned, and they become depressed. When one of my sisters died during my childhood, I frequently went to her grave and prayed sincerely: O God, please bring her back to life and let me see her beautiful face once more, or let me die so as to be reunited with her. What other than this belief and reunion with loved ones can compensate us for such losses?

How can you compensate the elderly for what they have lost? How can you remove their fear of death and the grave or make them forget death? More and newer worldly pleasures cannot console them. Only convincing them that the grave is a door or a waiting room to a much better world can accomplish this.

The Qur'an voices such feelings through Prophet Zachariah: This is a mention of your Lord's mercy unto His servant Zachariah; when he invoked Him with a secret, sincere call, saying: My Lord, my very bones have become rotten and my head is shining with gray hair. My Lord! I have never been disappointed in my prayer to You (19:2-5).

Fearing that his surviving kinsmen would not be loyal to his mission, Zachariah asked his Lord for a son to continue it. This is the cry of all elderly people. Belief in God and the Resurrection tells them: Death is only a change of worlds, a discharge from this life's distressing duties, a passport to an eternal world where all kinds of beauty and blessing wait for you Only this console them and allows them to face death without fear.

What about our free will?

Our free will, which directs our life and makes us unique, is the manifestation of Divine Mercy. If used properly, it will cause us to be rewarded with the fruits of Mercy. Belief in the Resurrection is a most important and compelling factor urging us to use our free will properly.

Sahl ibn Sa'd narrates that God's Messenger was told of a young man who stayed at home for days. The Messenger went to visit him. When the young man saw him appear before him unexpectedly, he threw himself into the Messenger's arms and died instantly. The Messenger said: Lay out your friend's corpse. Fear of Hell frightened him deeply. I swear by Him in Whose hand my life is that God will protect him from Hell. The Qur'an declares: Those who fear to stand before their Lord and curb the desires of the carnal self, Paradise will be their dwelling place (79:40-1).

In a hadith qudsi, God says: I will not unite two securities or two fears. Thus, those who fear His punishment here will be protected from it in the other world, while those who do not fear it here will not be saved from it there.

What impact did this belief have upon early Muslims?

Upon seeing a young man bravely protest and resist a wrong, Umar said: Any people deprived of its young are doomed to extinction. If young people waste their transforming energy, your nation's future is undermined. Belief in the Resurrection directs them to lead a disciplined, useful, and virtuous life.

This belief consoles the sick. Secure in this knowledge, all beloved servants of God, Prophets and saints, welcome death with a smile. During his final minutes of life, Prophet Muhammad said: O God, I desire the eternal company in the eternal world. When Umar ruled over a vast area, he prostrated before God and sighed: I can no longer fulfill my responsibility. Let me die and take me to Your Presence.

Such a strong desire for the world of eternal beauty and being blessed with the vision of the Eternally Beautiful One caused the Prophet, Umar, and many others to prefer death to this world.

Does it matter if I believe in the Resurrection?

The world is a mixture of opposites. Many instances of wrong (seem) go unnoticed, and many wronged people cannot recover their rights. Only belief in being resurrected in another world of absolute justice dissuades them from revenge. Similarly, the sick and unfortunate are consoled, for they believe that their suffering purifies them and that their loss will be restored in the Hereafter as a blessing, just as if they had been given as alms.

This belief changes a house into a garden of Paradise. A family without religion contains young people pursuing pleasure, children ignorant of religious sentiment and practices, and parents striving for the good life. Grandparents live in an old-folks or nursing home and console themselves with pets Life is a burden. Belief in the Resurrection reminds people of familial responsibilities. By undertaking their duties, an atmosphere of mutual love, affection, and respect begins to pervade the house.

Spouses deepen their mutual love and respect. Physical love is temporary, of little value, and usually disappears quickly. But if spouses believe that their marriage will continue in a world where they will be eternally young and beautiful, their mutual love will remain...

Such a belief-based family life makes its members feel that they are living in Paradise. If a country orders itself accordingly, its inhabitants would enjoy a life far better than that imagined by Plato in his Republic or by al-Farabi in his The Virtuous City. It would be like Madina under the Prophet, or the Muslim lands under Umar.

How did the Prophet establish the ideal society in Madina?

To better understand this, we provide several of his sayings on the Resurrection and the afterlife:

O people! You will be resurrected barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised. Listen to me! The one who will be first clothed is Abraham. Heed what I say: That day some from my Umma will be seized on the left side and brought to me. I will say: O Lord! These are my Companions. I will be told: You do not know what disagreeable things they did after you. I will say as the righteous servant [Jesus] said: I was a witness over them while I continued to stay among them. When You took me, You became the watcher over them. You are Witness over all things. If You punish them, they are Your slaves; if You forgive them, surely You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

The most terrible event is death. However, death is easier than what will follow it. People will be so terrified that sweat will cover their bodies until it becomes like a bridle around their chins, until it grows into something like a sea on which, if desired, vessels could be sailed.

People will be resurrected in three groups: those who combined fear of God with expectation [fearing God's punishment and hoping for His mercy and forgiveness], those who [frequently sinned and so] will try to go to Paradise mounted on a mule in twos, threes, fours ... or tens. The rest will be resurrected into Fire [since they indulged in deeds deserving Hellfire]. If they sleep in the forenoon, Hell sleeps with them; when they reach night, Hell reaches night with them; when they reach morning, Hell reaches morning with them; and when they reach evening, Hell reaches evening with them.

God's Messenger made sure his Companions understood exactly what Hell was, and roused in them a great desire for Paradise by conveying its good tidings. Thus they lived in great consciousness of Divine reward and punishment, as well as religious obligations and people's rights.

[fear-god-shun-evil]

What Approach Should Christians Take to God’s Trials?

As Christians, none of us are strangers to trials. The Bible says, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, Jehovah is my God” (Zechariah 13:9). It also says in the Bible, “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2). From this, we can see that God wants to give refinement and trials to His chosen people and, through this, to perfect our faith and our love for God, to resolve our corrupt dispositions or the taints in our belief, to remedy our wrong views and to enable us to be purified. We can therefore encounter all kinds of environments that are at odds with our own notions. Examples of these environments may include sometimes encountering the refinement of illness, and sometimes our families may encounter misfortune, such as the suffering of a relative or our homes being burgled; sometimes we may encounter difficulties in our jobs or things in our lives that are not as we would wish; another example is what we decide to do when the interests of our flesh clash with the interests of the church. All these examples are, without a doubt, trials to us. So what approach should we take to the trials God sets for us? And when trials befall us, what is God’s will?

Over my recent contemplations on the Bible, I have been inspired by the experiences of Job and Abraham when trials befell them, and I’d like to share this with everyone.

The Trials of Job

First, we have to mention a person in the Bible who goes by the name of Job. Job feared God and shunned evil all his life and he often made offerings to God, and so God blessed him with hills covered in cattle and sheep, and great wealth. From what is recorded in the Bible, we are able to see the extent to which Job was blessed: “And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:2-3). But trials later befell Job, and all his cattle and sheep and camels were stolen and burned by robbers, his servants were killed and his children were crushed in the collapse of his house. This succession of what we would call calamities befell Job. And what approach did Job take to it all? At that time, Job still praised the holy name of God, and he said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). He was then afflicted all over his body with painful boils, and he sat amongst the ashes, scraping at his boils with a bit of broken pottery. The richest man in the East had become like a beggar, and these trials that befell Job would be very hard for us to bear! Yet he never blamed God, but instead remained full of faith in God and he praised God, and Satan was thoroughly put to shame and fled.

Job bore a strong and resounding witness for God, and he passed smoothly through God’s trials. What followed these trials were increased blessings from God: Job’s wealth and cattle were increased twofold, each one of his children were outstandingly beautiful, and God allowed Job to live for another 140 years, and so he lived until he was 210. After he had undergone God’s trials, Job came to have a greater understanding of the will of God as He tried people, just as Job said, “But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). Job stood firm in his testimony throughout these trials, and the witness he bore put Satan to shame and earned great praise from other people. Thereafter, Satan never dared to tempt Job again, and Job truly became a free man and he earned God’s praise.

Moreover, an even greater blessing which Job received after he had undergone these trials was that God appeared to him within a whirlwind, and God spoke with him, thus giving Job a profound understanding of God’s omnipotence and sovereignty. Job said, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5). To be a created being that was able to see the appearance of God was such a great blessing!

We can see from Job’s experiences that his ability to earn God’s praise was inseparable from his actions when trials befell him. Throughout these trials that were so at odds with his own notions, he possessed a rationality that we ordinary people do not. First of all, he did not blame God, and he did not employ any human means to take back his wealth from the robbers. Instead, he was able to quieten himself before God and he believed that we human beings receive our blessings from God. But in just the same way, we also suffer calamity, so no matter how at odds with his notions a situation was that befell him, he continued to praise the name of God.

The Trial of Abraham

Here, I’d like to talk about a second person from the Bible, being Abraham, the father of faith. Brothers and sisters all know that, when Abraham was 100 years old, God gave him a son, and Abraham loved Isaac dearly. But one day, God’s trial befell Abraham, and God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of” (Genesis 22:2). Think about it: This kind of trial would be hard for anyone to endure, so much so that some people would fight against God and be filled with misconceptions. Yet what approach did Abraham take? Although he felt great distress and pain, he obeyed God, and he did not try to argue with Him or lay down any conditions. Just when he had taken Isaac to the mountain alone and had raised the knife ready to kill him, God sent an angel to stay Abraham’s hand, and the trial was thus ended. Furthermore, God swore an oath and bestowed great blessings on Abraham. God said, “That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18).

I also read the passage in another book, “To man, God does much that is incomprehensible and even incredible. When God wishes to orchestrate someone, this orchestration is often at odds with man’s conceptions, and incomprehensible to him, yet it is precisely this dissonance and incomprehensibility that are God’s trial and test of man. Abraham, meanwhile, was able to demonstrate the obedience to God within himself, which was the most fundamental condition of his being able to satisfy God’s requirement. Only then, when Abraham was able to obey God’s requirement, when he offered Isaac, did God truly feel reassurance and approval toward mankind—toward Abraham, whom He had chosen. Only then was God sure that this person whom He had chosen was an indispensable leader who could undertake His promise and His subsequent management plan” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II”).

From this passage, we can see that God arranges environments in order to try us. From the outside, it may appear as though these trials are at odds with our notions and are hard for us to understand, so much so that we feel pain and torment in these environments, yet these trials brim with the painstaking efforts of God. Just like when Abraham stood firm in his testimony during his trial, God saw Abraham’s sincerity, and not only did God not take his son, but He also blessed Abraham so that his descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach or the stars in the sky. Behind this, the will of God reached a deeper level, for God chose Abraham to become the leading figure of His work of management for mankind. God purposed to perform His work of management for mankind through the descendants of Abraham, and He would manifest through these people His deeds, His wisdom, His authority and His power. It is not hard for us to see in the Old Testament that God’s work in the Age of Law was primarily done in Israel—proclaiming the laws and leading people in their lives on earth. Israel was the testing ground and the birthland for God’s work of salvation on earth. God’s first incarnation also performed His work in Israel. God adopted the image of a Jew and He redeemed mankind, and this resulted in the Lord Jesus’ gospel of redeeming mankind to spread from Judea throughout the entire world in the Age of Grace.

From this, we can see the greatness of the blessings which Abraham received. We can say that his ability to become the father of many nations, as well as his descendants being blessed by God, are related to God’s trial that befell him in those early days.

The Inspiration Gained from These Experiences

It is not hard for us to see from the trials which befell Abraham and Job that every trial we encounter contains God’s good will; not only can they enable us to gain God’s blessings but, even more importantly, they allow our spiritual lives to grow in leaps and bounds, we gain more knowledge of God, and we can follow the path of belief in God more sturdily and with more stability. Although the trials which befell Abraham and Job are not ones that we ordinary people would experience, as we do not have their stature and neither are we qualified to endure such trials, yet we can still encounter all kinds of different trials in our lives, both big and small. I have seen a sister suffer the torment of illness and her life hung in the balance, and yet she remained full of faith in God and wished to place her life and death in God’s hands. Regardless of whether her illness got better or not, she was still willing to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. In the end, she witnessed God’s deeds and her illness miraculously got better. During this process, the sister’s faith in God increased, and she came to have a more practical appreciation for God’s almightiness and sovereignty. When everything is going smoothly in the careers of some brothers and sisters, they thank God for His blessings. But when their businesses go through a rocky patch and money gets short in their families, the complaints in their hearts come forth, and they blame God for not blessing them. But afterward, through the revelations of God’s words, they realize that their belief in God is just making deals with God, and that they regard God as a cornucopia. They come to understand the wrong motives behind their belief in God, and so they correct their wrong views on belief, and they take their correct place as created beings. When people experience with the correct motive, not only do their lives progress, but their businesses also pick up again. … When brothers and sisters encounter these trials, their flesh suffers much to differing degrees, but from these trials they obtain something even more precious: They understand more and more about God’s will to save man, their knowledge of God becomes more real and they gain more truths. Therefore, it may be said that trials are another kind of blessing from God for us Christians, and they are the path that must be traversed in order for our lives to grow and for us to obtain God’s praise.

Since trials are so beneficial to each and every Christian, what reason do we have to complain when trials and tribulations befall us? Don’t you agree, my friends?

[weissfai-blog1]

The Prince & his Knight ~ Chapter 1

Thebes, City of the Living. Crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti I. Home of Imhotep, Pharaoh's high priest, keeper of the dead; birthplace of Ammon-The-Golden-Flower, Pharaoh's lover. No other man or woman was allowed to touch him. Ammon-The-Golden-Flower was said to have been born from his Egyptian mother and The Exalted Ra, the deity of the Sun. Ammon was born with beautiful blue eyes and golden hair. When Pharaoh Seti I saw him, he knew that he will have him. Since the day Ammon was born he was groom to be the Pharaoh's lover. He was given everything and was pampered. No one is allowed to touch him, even the Pharaoh's legal wife dare not to touch Ammon for fear of her husband and the Gods. For Ammon was the living God his beauty and form is of divinity. But his heart… Ammon's heart for all eternity belongs to his secret lover… Imhotep. Imhotep who takes care of Ammon's injury whenever the Pharaoh exceeds his lovemaking. Imhotep heals all Ammon's injury, bruises and pains… It was Imhotep that taught Ammon the gentleness of a touch, the beauty of a smile and the sweet embrace of a lover. And with their simple and short encounter - they formed a beautiful yet forbidden love. But for the love - they were willing to risk life itself. Ammon killed himself to show defiance and to prove that Pharaoh Seti I may have his body but never his heart and soul. To resurrect Ammon, Imhotep and his priests broke into his crypt and stole his body. They raced deep into the desert, taking Ammon's corpse to Hammunaptra, City of the Dead, ancient burial site for the sons of pharaohs, and resting place for the wealth of Egypt. For his love, Imhotep dared the gods' anger by going deep into the city, where he took the Black Book of the Dead from its holy resting place. Ammon's soul had been sent to the dark Underworld, his vital organs removed and placed in five sacred canopic jars. Ammon's soul had come back from the dead. But Pharaoh's bodyguards had followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual could be completed. Imhotep's priests were condemned to be mummified alive. As for Imhotep, he was condemned to endure the Hom Dai, the worst of all ancient curses. One so horrible it had never before been bestowed. He was to remain sealed inside his sarcophagus, the undead for all eternity. The Medjai would never allow him to be released. For he would arise a walking disease, a plague upon mankind, an unholy flesh-eater with the strength of the ages, power over the sands, and the glory of invincibility. For 3,000 years men and armies fought over this city not knowing what evil lay beneath it; and for 3,000 years we, the Medjai, the descendants of Pharaoh's sacred bodyguards, kept watch. . . . . . . Pete closes the book he was reading and looks at Tin. Tin raises his eyebrow, ‘So?' ‘So?! I mean isn't this amazing?' Tin rolled his eyes and flip the pages of his own book ignoring his best friends dreamy look. ‘Amazing? That what? Even the great Pharaoh can get gay? Well, any man can get hard if the description of Ammon is accurate.' ‘No dummy! Imhotep and Ammon's love story!' ‘It's a cursed love. And that story is full of loopholes.' ‘What loopholes?' Tin close the book he was reading and look at Pete, ‘For someone smart and a genius like you when it comes to love story even from the crypt you lack braincells.' ‘Tin! Thank you for insulting me and complimenting me. You're the only handsome bastard who can do that at the same time. So now spill – what're the loopholes?' Tin rolled his eyes once again, ‘One. If I were the Medjai, why the bloody hell will I condemned or perform the Hom Dai to Imhotep? What if the curse was true and some moronic asshole dig up his bones and what – he will have the power of the ages? No way. I'll bury him alive alright.' ‘Tin! We don't know exactly what's the Hom Dai aside from being the worst of all ancient curses-‘ ‘Yeah, so if I were the leader of the Medjai, I'll just remove some of his vital organs and let him feel it while being removed and then bury him alive.' ‘You're cruel.' ‘He messes with the Pharaoh's lover. And what the hell is the Book of the Dead? That's Ancient Egypt – there's no way there's a book.' ‘You know for someone with brains and so-called intellect you're a dummy yourself.' ‘How so?' ‘This is Ancient Egypt. If they can build the bloody pyramids then they can create a book as well. The Book of the Dead was said to contain all Ancient Spells, Speech, Incantation and the secret of the pyramids.' ‘And its made of gold.' ‘White gold.' ‘Yeah anyway, why are you bringing up Imhotep's love gay story? Wait, don't tell me that's the reason you're studying Egyptology? Cause if it is – let me smack your head with the book.' ‘Tin~~~' ‘What?! Tell me the reason before I hit you with this book.' Pete smiles and takes out the locket necklace he was wearing, ��This is the reason.' Tin smiles and ruffles Pete's hair. ‘Tin!' ‘You know you're still in love with your parent's love story.' ‘Tin… my father left mom, but every day since he left us, the love in my mother's eyes is still the same. As if dad's departure was predestined.' Tin put his hand on his chin and look at his best friend, ‘Pete. Your dad was a douchebag who left your mom. Don't romanticize it with delusional crap.' ‘It's not delusional Tin. Mom's eyes still sparkle when I talked about Dad.' Tin shook his head and continued reading his book. Pete pouts and when he saw that Tin wouldn't talk to him anymore, continued to read the book he was reading. Tin looks at Pete. Pete Pitchaya El Sayed. The Prince of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The only son of the Famous Family in the Hotel Business and the heir to their empire. Pete is the living Prince Charming as he is the most beautiful man he had ever met. Tin can be described as handsome and muscular while his best friend Pete can be described as a beautiful angelic man. Pete is beautiful for a man, he is not muscular but petite and tall. Pete has milky white skin, not white skin like him, but of milky smooth white skin that feels so soft to the touch. It's like touching milk and butter. Pete was gifted with a beautiful cupid bow's lips that is red. Pete can rival any girl's lips for he doesn't need any red gloss or rouge, Pete's lips are naturally red. He has soft – very soft silky brown hair that perfectly crowns his head. Pete's style of hair is different from the British and American with a clean cut or sports a suave hair gelled at the back – Pete's naturally soft hair just crown his head so beautifully. Pete told him once that he tried putting his hair like the others but the gel made his head itchy. But what everyone's focus was his eyes. Unlike them with blue, green and grey eyes, Pete's light brown eyes are like of a doe. It's sweet, gentle as if your very soul will be pulled in. Surrounded by long lashes that made Pete looks so divine and beautiful. Tin knew that not only the girls are after Pete, but so many guys in the different department. The only thing that stops them is him. He is after all the so-called son of a Gangster/ Mafia. Well, he doesn't deny it nor admit it – he just doesn't care. People in this society will leech you and use you, the only person who ever look at him as a person was Pete. Pete who has no mean bone in his body. Hell, if angels are real – Pete is the fucking reincarnation of said angels. Pete is not just beautiful outside but inside as well – he has the purest of heart and kindness to everyone. Thus he met so many bad people who take advantage of him when he was young, and thus he was always there to protect Pete – making him the bad guy but still its cool for him. As long as he can protect this Little Prince its worth it. Pete is the only one who ever looks at him and talks to him as Tin. Pete will talk to him and even jokes with him, hell Pete even befriend all his bodyguards that if anyone dares to hurt even a strand on Pete's hair – his whole bodyguards will rain blood on that bastard. Even his father who was known to the world as the biggest deadliest Mafia Lord can smile and laugh whenever Pete brings him flowers of baked cookies which Pete burnt most of the time. ‘Tin…' ‘Hmm?' ‘I wanna go there.' ‘Where?' ‘Egypt.' ‘Well you have to, you're studying archeology of Egypt right?' ‘No! I mean, yes, but I wanna live there.' ‘I beg your pardon?' ‘I just don't want to go there to dig. I wanna live there for let's say a couple of years to know the culture, the people, the history. I want to be there to learn the ancient civilization and not just vandalize and dig.' ‘Pete, you're graduating soon, where do you wish to work there? You don't even know if they'll hire someone as-‘ ‘I'm hired.' ‘What?' ‘Uhm… I send my application weeks ago and I received it an answer this morning. I'm hired as the Archivist per curator.' ‘Where?' ‘The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.' ‘Bloody hell. How the hell where you able to be accepted? I mean, sure you're a smart and a genius but to be able to be accepted there – you got to have merits and background. You're just a fresh grad if ever.' ‘Actually… I was getting more subjects and I talked to Professor Abraham last time and they release my grades earlier so that I can send the letter. And Professor Kashim and Professor Khalifa and Professor Wellington gave me their letter of recommendation.' ‘Wait… those – you mean to tell me aside from the major subject you took more?' ‘Uhm… see here.' Pete then slowly with his dainty fingers push the papers to Tin. ‘Egyptian Language, Sumerian Language, Egyptian Archaeology, Egyptian religion, Egyptian Language, a perfect score in Hieroglyphs, Cultural memory, Anthropology, and the hell - you pass Lexicography and Demotic… Tell me Pete are you planning to invade Egypt or be the next Herodotus?' ‘Tin~' ‘What? I'm just saying, the reason you always stayed up all night, the reason that you're always at school even on vacation - you were taking these lessons and here I was thinking  that Management Studies and Mathematics is already a drag.' ‘But Tin, you're also taking Natural Science and some Akkadian subjects.' ‘Yeah because I like to be challenged, unlike you – you do it cause you wanted it and you work hard.' There was silence. Tin looked again at the grades of Pete and he was impressed, really really impressed. And the professor who gave these letters of recommendation is not an ordinary professor. They are the backbone of the university and to even give a recommendation is like asking the president to sign an autograph while inside the white house when there's a world war meeting. That's how hard it is to get those signatures. But Pete did all that. The grades are given not because of surname or family names and reputation – the professors in Cambridge are hardcore I will whoop the word ABC in your brains for good and will never be swayed. To get those grades, one must work hard – harder than anyone. Harder than the professors themselves. ‘Congratulations Pete. I'm really really proud of you. When are you planning to leave?' ‘Five months from now. After graduation, I will arrange everything first at home and then have my books and other stuff packed and send to Egypt.'.

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Pete looks at the note once again. Meet me. 3rd section. Library. ~Tin. His brows furrow as this is the first time Tin sent him a note. Occasionally Tin will just find him and doesn't send any note. Or one of his bodyguards will just pop out. Pete grew worried about Tin he hurriedly went to the library. Only Tin knew about him going to school on Sunday. The professor gave him access to the other research rooms for his studies and he was allowed to go inside the school even on a holiday. Pete went inside the library. It was 5 in the afternoon and the sun is about to set. And there were only three main lights inside the library. He switched on the first one and called out, ‘Tin?' Pete went inside and close the door. The librarian is out of course as it is a holiday or no school for the students. He was walking the third row of books when someone grabs him. ‘Got you!' Slap! Pete fell down with the hard slap from his attacker. ‘T-Trump?' ‘You bitch! You think you're so high and mighty! Who the hell are you to reject me?!' Trump grabs Pete's hair and holds his face. Pete's angry eyes glare back at him with so much hate. ‘I told you I don't like you!' ‘Bitch! You like men! I know you do! You kept so close to that bastard mafia son! I'm a decent man! I'm even willing to oppose my parents arrange marriage for you!' ‘And I told you I don't like you! I politely rejected you! I told you to marry anyone and don't bother me! I have never done anything to make you think otherwise!' ‘Then why are you so kind to me!' ‘I am kind to everyone!' Trump's eyes glare and slap and punch him, ‘You slut! I bet you use your ass to that gangster and his bodyguards! Then why not me! I have been lusting after you and while here I was going crazy, you spread your legs to them!' ‘Damn you! Don't ever think about my friends like that!' Pete tried to push him but Trump was strong and overpowering him. Trump rips Pete's clothes and was about to bite his chest when someone throws him off and landed a punch that made Trump doubled in the floor. ‘Bastard!' Trump get up and was about to throw a punch when he was kicked hard in the chest and was punched in the face. Blood ooze from his face and when he tried to get up once again, a hard solid punch knocked him out. Pete cannot see clearly, the slap and punch had him in pain and his eyes are blurry. He wanted to open his eyes and stay conscious to fight anyone who will touch him. Someone then knelt beside him and touch his naked body, he shouted, ‘DON'T TOUCH ME!' ‘Shhh… shhh angel. I won't harm you. No one will harm you now…' Pete then felt warm clothes wrap his naked upper body and he was held tight while a cold cloth gently caresses his face. ‘Hmmm!' It pains him. It stings. ‘Shhh… I know it hurts, but I need to put this on your face so you can heal much faster. Sorry I arrived late.' ‘W-Who?' Pete was not able to finish his sentence, he felt so much in pain and his consciousness is losing He heard a deep yet gentle tone, ‘Me? Hmmm… let's just say your Knight little Prince. I thought a damsel was being assaulted, surprised to see a boy. What are you doing here hanging out with that asshole?' His knight was wiping the blood from his mouth, 'Angel, do you want me to kill the bastard? He really did not hold back.' ‘Hmmm…' The Knight chuckles and carried him out of the library. Pete heard noises and shouting but everything was losing… he cannot hear anything anymore… all he knew… the gentle warm arms that carry him and the broad chest that made him feel safe. And the heartbeat of the Knight. Calm. Powerful. Steady. 'W-who...?' He tried so hard to let the question out. He has no idea if he was heard, but a whisper in his ear reaches him... warm soft yet firm. 'Ae.' . . . TBC Author’s Note: First intro ~ The Story of the Lovers ~ was from the movie The Mummy ~ though I have change some things. :) Enjoy reading.

Please be advised/ reminded that ENGLISH is not my natural language but I do try to deliver the story… Please forgive any grammatical error, typo error or any ERROR at all. If you find any error – then feel free to change it in your mind. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of LOVE BY CHANCE. All rights belong solely to the author MAME and the Director New Siwaj And neither do I make any money from this story. Any resemblance to any real people (living, dead, or stolen by fairies), or to any real animals, gods, witches, countries, and events (magical or otherwise) is just blind luck, or so I hope.

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: What if Abraham Refused to Sacrifice Isaac?

I’ve been watching Xena: Warrior Princess with my boyfriend, and enjoying it a lot. Xena and Gabrielle’s adventures mostly focus on Greek mythology, taking new spins on the stories of Hercules, King Sisyphus, and Helen of Troy. However, on a few occasions, I’ve seen my own people’s mythos played with.

In one episode, it’s ultimately revealed that the mysterious chest Xena’s been chasing contains within it a stone tablet with the phrases “thou shalt not steal” and “thou shalt not covet” on it – though the people Xena returns the chest to are never said to be Jewish, that is the natural conclusion.

And in a later episode, titled “Altared States,” Xena comes across a family facing a conundrum. A father has been ordered by his god, “the one true god,” to sacrifice his son.

Now, the son’s name is Icus, not Isaac. And he has a nasty older brother who gives the story a heaping spoonful of Cain-and-Abel/Jacob-and-Esau vibes. And there’s a lot of ambiguity about which of this god’s commands are actually divine, or are a human pretending to be a god.

But the basic structure remains: an ostensibly benevolent god tells his devoted follower, a patriarch, to sacrifice the son he loves. The climax even takes place on top of a mountain, on a stone altar. And – spoiler alert – at the last minute, the god relents and the son is spared.

This episode got me thinking about a question I saw posed in an online discussion of Torah a couple years ago, but hadn’t thought much on since:

What if Abraham had refused to sacrifice Isaac? If he had defied G-d, how might that change both this specific story and the way we think about religion?

In case you aren’t familiar with the story of the almost-sacrifice of Isaac, here is a very short version (based on the Torah translation found here): 

G-d tells Abraham, “Take your son, whom you love, and offer him to me as a burnt offering.” And Abraham goes to do so.

Along the way up the mountain, Isaac notices the lack of a lamb for the sacrifice. He asks his father about it, and Abraham replies, “G-d will provide a lamb.”

Abraham and Isaac set up the altar for the sacrifice. Abraham ties Isaac up and reaches for the knife.

Suddenly, an angel calls out for Abraham to stop: “Do not harm the boy, for now I know that you fear G-d… and G-d has sworn that because you did not withhold your son from me, He will bless you and your descendants.”

And then a ram shows up and Abraham sacrifices the ram instead of his son.

Every story in the Torah serves as an allegory, from which we derive lessons for how to live our life today. The moral of this particular story, at least as it was presented to me in Sunday School, is that we should put faith first. I was taught that G-d was testing Abraham, and that Abraham passed the test by being willing to do whatever G-d said, even kill his only son. We should therefore put faith above all else, even when it’s hard.

That’s the stance that Icus’s father takes in “Altared States.” Even though he is clearly torn apart inside by the decision, and both Icus’s mother and Xena are telling him not to go through with it, he is determined to show his son that “faith is [not] just for those times when it’s convenient to believe.”

But what if that wasn’t the moral? What if Abraham said no?

It wouldn’t be out of character for Abraham to disagree with G-d. In an earlier story, Abraham outright haggles with G-d about the fate of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Torah translation here). Abraham gets G-d to agree that if there are just ten righteous people living in the city, then He will spare them all. “Far be it from You to do such a thing,” says Abraham, “to kill the righteous with the wicked.”

In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham doesn’t just go along with what G-d says should happen. He tells G-d, “This is not who you are; this is what you should do instead.”

Arguing with G-d is practically a Jewish tradition. The name Israel literally refers to one who “wrestles with G-d” – it was given to Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, for fighting with an angel.

One of my favorite jokes is about three rabbis arguing about a law, one on one side and two on the other. Then G-d Himself comes down from heaven to declare that the one rabbi is correct – and the two rabbis reply, “Alright, so now it’s two against two.”

We respect G-d, of course. But we hold Him to the same standards as we hold ourselves: to be open to debate, to strive to improve, to be a good person.

The sacrifice of a child sounds more like the kind of thing a terrible warlike god would ask for, not the monotheistic G-d, who is generally portrayed as loving. At one point, in a moment of reluctance, Icus’s father cries out, “Our god is a benevolent master!” But he does not follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion: “So he wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, ask me to do this.”

In the Torah, Abraham doesn’t follow this train of thought, either. He doesn’t show any sign of thinking much about G-d’s demand at all. But he could have.

What if Abraham had responded to G-d’s order regarding Isaac in the same way as he responded to the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah? What if he had said, “Far be it from you to demand the life of an innocent child, the child you promised me!”? What if he had said, “I will sacrifice myself before I lay a hand on my own son!”? What if Abraham, lying on the altar himself with the knife poised towards his own neck, was then told by the angel to stop – because the real test was whether Abraham would do not the obedient thing, but the right thing?

It would change the moral. It would not be a story of thoughtless faith, but of morality, of sticking to one’s principles even when those who are supposed to guide you falter.

It would bring this story in line with the standard Jewish practice of questioning authority, of asking why, of finding a better way to live.

It also would line this story up with the rest of the Torah. Yes, it’s full of laws, especially in the last few books. But the first book, Genesis, the book where we find Abraham and Isaac, is full of people going against what is demanded or expected of them, by G-d or tradition.

G-d says that Abraham will have a son by Sarah; Sarah doesn’t believe that this will happen, so she encourages Abraham to have a son with her servant Hagar instead. Cain kills his brother and lies about it to G-d. Jacob deceives his father and steals the blessing intended for his brother Esau. Tamar disguises herself and sleeps with her father-in-law to create an heir for her dead husband. And right at the beginning is perhaps the most famous instance of disobedience of all time: Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree forbidden to them by G-d.

Sometimes the disobedience ends poorly. Adam and Eve are kicked out of Eden, for instance, and Cain is branded a murderer.

Other times, the Torah indicates that the disobedience is approved of by G-d. Jacob is decisively rewarded for sneaking away with Esau’s birthright, going on to literally father a nation. Tamar gives birth to twin sons, a big double-thumbs-up from G-d. Hagar learns that her son Ishmael will father a great nation of his own.

My point is that if Abraham had said no to G-d, and refused to kill Isaac, then he would be in excellent company. It would make Abraham’s behavior more like what we see in the rest of Genesis, and more like the rest of us Jews, too. We don’t always do what G-d says. And G-d seems to be more or less okay with that, as long as what we do results in a more just, peaceful, and prosperous world.

Which makes me wonder – do we actually have the “sacrifice of Isaac” all wrong?

What if G-d didn’t want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

Note that it is not G-d Himself who stops Abraham from killing Isaac, but an angel, who relays G-d’s message. At other times, even at the very beginning of this chapter, G-d is perfectly willing to show up and speak directly to Abraham. But in this instance, He has someone else go instead. Why is G-d, in this moment where he ostensibly approves so much of Abraham’s behavior, suddenly distancing Himself from Abraham?

Perhaps we have the test all wrong. Perhaps, by going along with what G-d commanded, Abraham failed the test – and now G-d is off hanging his head in shame.

Perhaps G-d was actually trying to see whether Abraham would continue to question G-d, as he did for Sodom and Gamorrah. Would Abraham stand up against G-d not only for strangers, but also for his own family?

Turns out, he wouldn’t.

And so G-d realized that Abraham was not yet ready to hear a message that perhaps we are now ready to understand: that sometimes disobedience is the right thing to do. Perhaps G-d wants us to protect each other first, and obey second.

[loveofyhwh]

January 11: Genesis 22–23; Matthew 6:25–34; Psalm 11; Proverbs 3:19–20

New Post has been published on https://loveofyhwh.com/january-11-genesis-22-23-matthew-625-34-psalm-11-proverbs-319-20/

January 11: Genesis 22–23; Matthew 6:25–34; Psalm 11; Proverbs 3:19–20

Old Testament:

Genesis 22–23

Genesis 22–23 (Listen)

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boyOr young man; also verse 12‘>1 will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”;Or will see‘>2 as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”Or he will be seen‘>3

15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of hisOr their‘>4 enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

20 Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 (Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,Hebrew sons of Heth; also verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20‘>5 4 “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of GodOr a mighty prince‘>6 among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekelsA shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams‘>7 of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

Footnotes

[1] 22:5 Or young man; also verse 12 [2] 22:14 Or will see [3] 22:14 Or he will be seen [4] 22:17 Or their [5] 23:3 Hebrew sons of Heth; also verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20 [6] 23:6 Or a mighty prince [7] 23:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

(ESV)

New Testament:

Matthew 6:25–34

Matthew 6:25–34 (Listen)

Do Not Be Anxious

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters‘>1 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Footnotes

[1] 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

(ESV)

Psalm:

Psalm 11

Psalm 11 (Listen)

The Lord Is in His Holy Temple

To the choirmaster. Of David.

11   In the LORD I take refuge;   how can you say to my soul,     “Flee like a bird to your mountain, 2   for behold, the wicked bend the bow;     they have fitted their arrow to the string     to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3   if the foundations are destroyed,     what can the righteous do?”Or for the foundations will be destroyed; what has the righteous done?‘>1 4   The LORD is in his holy temple;     the LORD’s throne is in heaven;     his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. 5   The LORD tests the righteous,     but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. 6   Let him rain coals on the wicked;     fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7   For the LORD is righteous;   he loves righteous deeds;     the upright shall behold his face.

Footnotes

[1] 11:3 Or for the foundations will be destroyed; what has the righteous done?

(ESV)

Proverb:

Proverbs 3:19–20

Proverbs 3:19–20 (Listen)

19   The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;     by understanding he established the heavens; 20   by his knowledge the deeps broke open,     and the clouds drop down the dew.

(ESV)

[love-god-forever]

Required Reading for Christians: Trials—Another Kind of Blessing From God

As Christians, none of us are strangers to trials. The Bible says, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, Jehovah is my God” (Zechariah 13:9).

It also says in the Bible, “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2). From this, we can see that God wants to give refinement and trials to His chosen people and, through this, to perfect our faith and our love for God, to resolve our corrupt dispositions or the taints in our belief, to remedy our wrong views and to enable us to be purified. We can therefore encounter all kinds of environments that are at odds with our own notions. Examples of these environments may include sometimes encountering the refinement of illness, and sometimes our families may encounter misfortune, such as the suffering of a relative or our homes being burgled; sometimes we may encounter difficulties in our jobs or things in our lives that are not as we would wish; another example is what we decide to do when the interests of our flesh clash with the interests of the church. All these examples are, without a doubt, trials to us. So what approach should we take to the trials God sets for us? And when trials befall us, what is God’s will?

Over my recent contemplations on the Bible, I have been inspired by the experiences of Job and Abraham when trials befell them, and I’d like to share this with everyone.

The Trials of Job

First, we have to mention a person in the Bible who goes by the name of Job. Job feared God and shunned evil all his life and he often made offerings to God, and so God blessed him with hills covered in cattle and sheep, and great wealth. From what is recorded in the Bible, we are able to see the extent to which Job was blessed: “And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:2-3). But trials later befell Job, and all his cattle and sheep and camels were stolen and burned by robbers, his servants were killed and his children were crushed in the collapse of his house. This succession of what we would call calamities befell Job. And what approach did Job take to it all? At that time, Job still praised the holy name of God, and he said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). He was then afflicted all over his body with painful boils, and he sat amongst the ashes, scraping at his boils with a bit of broken pottery. The richest man in the East had become like a beggar, and these trials that befell Job would be very hard for us to bear! Yet he never blamed God, but instead remained full of faith in God and he praised God, and Satan was thoroughly put to shame and fled.

Job bore a strong and resounding witness for God, and he passed smoothly through God’s trials. What followed these trials were increased blessings from God: Job’s wealth and cattle were increased twofold, each one of his children were outstandingly beautiful, and God allowed Job to live for another 140 years, and so he lived until he was 210. After he had undergone God’s trials, Job came to have a greater understanding of the will of God as He tried people, just as Job said, “But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). Job stood firm in his testimony throughout these trials, and the witness he bore put Satan to shame and earned great praise from other people. Thereafter, Satan never dared to tempt Job again, and Job truly became a free man and he earned God’s praise.

Moreover, an even greater blessing which Job received after he had undergone these trials was that God appeared to him within a whirlwind, and God spoke with him, thus giving Job a profound understanding of God’s omnipotence and sovereignty. Job said, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5). To be a created being that was able to see the appearance of God was such a great blessing!

We can see from Job’s experiences that his ability to earn God’s praise was inseparable from his actions when trials befell him. Throughout these trials that were so at odds with his own notions, he possessed a rationality that we ordinary people do not. First of all, he did not blame God, and he did not employ any human means to take back his wealth from the robbers. Instead, he was able to quieten himself before God and he believed that we human beings receive our blessings from God. But in just the same way, we also suffer calamity, so no matter how at odds with his notions a situation was that befell him, he continued to praise the name of God.

The Trial of Abraham

Here, I’d like to talk about a second person from the Bible, being Abraham, the father of faith. Brothers and sisters all know that, when Abraham was 100 years old, God gave him a son, and Abraham loved Isaac dearly. But one day, God’s trial befell Abraham, and God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of” (Genesis 22:2). Think about it: This kind of trial would be hard for anyone to endure, so much so that some people would fight against God and be filled with misconceptions. Yet what approach did Abraham take? Although he felt great distress and pain, he obeyed God, and he did not try to argue with Him or lay down any conditions. Just when he had taken Isaac to the mountain alone and had raised the knife ready to kill him, God sent an angel to stay Abraham’s hand, and the trial was thus ended. Furthermore, God swore an oath and bestowed great blessings on Abraham. God said, “That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18).

I also read the passage in another book, “To man, God does much that is incomprehensible and even incredible. When God wishes to orchestrate someone, this orchestration is often at odds with man’s conceptions, and incomprehensible to him, yet it is precisely this dissonance and incomprehensibility that are God’s trial and test of man. Abraham, meanwhile, was able to demonstrate the obedience to God within himself, which was the most fundamental condition of his being able to satisfy God’s requirement. Only then, when Abraham was able to obey God’s requirement, when he offered Isaac, did God truly feel reassurance and approval toward mankind—toward Abraham, whom He had chosen. Only then was God sure that this person whom He had chosen was an indispensable leader who could undertake His promise and His subsequent management plan” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II”).

From this passage, we can see that God arranges environments in order to try us. From the outside, it may appear as though these trials are at odds with our notions and are hard for us to understand, so much so that we feel pain and torment in these environments, yet these trials brim with the painstaking efforts of God. Just like when Abraham stood firm in his testimony during his trial, God saw Abraham’s sincerity, and not only did God not take his son, but He also blessed Abraham so that his descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach or the stars in the sky. Behind this, the will of God reached a deeper level, for God chose Abraham to become the leading figure of His work of management for mankind. God purposed to perform His work of management for mankind through the descendants of Abraham, and He would manifest through these people His deeds, His wisdom, His authority and His power. It is not hard for us to see in the Old Testament that God’s work in the Age of Law was primarily done in Israel—proclaiming the laws and leading people in their lives on earth. Israel was the testing ground and the birthland for God’s work of salvation on earth. God’s first incarnation also performed His work in Israel. God adopted the image of a Jew and He redeemed mankind, and this resulted in the Lord Jesus’ gospel of redeeming mankind to spread from Judea throughout the entire world in the Age of Grace.

From this, we can see the greatness of the blessings which Abraham received. We can say that his ability to become the father of many nations, as well as his descendants being blessed by God, are related to God’s trial that befell him in those early days.

The Inspiration Gained from These Experiences

It is not hard for us to see from the trials which befell Abraham and Job that every trial we encounter contains God’s good will; not only can they enable us to gain God’s blessings but, even more importantly, they allow our spiritual lives to grow in leaps and bounds, we gain more knowledge of God, and we can follow the path of belief in God more sturdily and with more stability. Although the trials which befell Abraham and Job are not ones that we ordinary people would experience, as we do not have their stature and neither are we qualified to endure such trials, yet we can still encounter all kinds of different trials in our lives, both big and small. I have seen a sister suffer the torment of illness and her life hung in the balance, and yet she remained full of faith in God and wished to place her life and death in God’s hands. Regardless of whether her illness got better or not, she was still willing to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. In the end, she witnessed God’s deeds and her illness miraculously got better. During this process, the sister’s faith in God increased, and she came to have a more practical appreciation for God’s almightiness and sovereignty. When everything is going smoothly in the careers of some brothers and sisters, they thank God for His blessings. But when their businesses go through a rocky patch and money gets short in their families, the complaints in their hearts come forth, and they blame God for not blessing them. But afterward, through the revelations of God’s words, they realize that their belief in God is just making deals with God, and that they regard God as a cornucopia. They come to understand the wrong motives behind their belief in God, and so they correct their wrong views on belief, and they take their correct place as created beings. When people experience with the correct motive, not only do their lives progress, but their businesses also pick up again. … When brothers and sisters encounter these trials, their flesh suffers much to differing degrees, but from these trials they obtain something even more precious: They understand more and more about God’s will to save man, their knowledge of God becomes more real and they gain more truths. Therefore, it may be said that trials are another kind of blessing from God for us Christians, and they are the path that must be traversed in order for our lives to grow and for us to obtain God’s praise.

Since trials are so beneficial to each and every Christian, what reason do we have to complain when trials and tribulations befall us? Don’t you agree, my friends?