Letter read
by Fr. David Hewko in Veneta June 29, 2014.
by Fr. David Hewko in Veneta June 29, 2014.
Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, ora pro nobis!
Boko Haram Members ‘Being Killed by Mystical Bees and Mysterious Snakes Possessed by Ghosts’
Strange days Boko Haram members dying from possessed bees and snakes?!?!
Members of terror group Boko Haram have allegedly been arrested in Nigeria after fleeing a forest to escape deadly bites from “mystical bees” and “mysterious snakes”.
According to Nigerian newspaper Vanguard, the captured insurgents claimed the creatures — possessed by ghosts — had killed many Boko Haram members.
“We were told that the aggrieved people who had suffered from our deadly mission — including the ghosts of some of those we killed — are the ones turning into the snake and bees,” one militant told Vanguard. “Our leaders fled, too.”
“We were told that the aggrieved people who had suffered from our deadly mission — including the ghosts of some of those we killed — are the ones turning into the snake and bees,” one militant told Vanguard. “Our leaders fled, too.”
Boko Haram made headlines worldwide for the kidnappings of 220 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, last April.
The girls are being allegedly smuggled to Cameroon and Chad and sold as brides to militants for 2,000 naira (£7). Others are being forced to marry their abductors.
The girls are being allegedly smuggled to Cameroon and Chad and sold as brides to militants for 2,000 naira (£7). Others are being forced to marry their abductors.
Some Boko Haram members believe the insects and reptiles are hunting the insurgents to punish them for the mass abduction.
“We decided to flee when almost all our comrades are leaving the Sambisa [Forest] because of constant attacks by snakes and bees, which we were told was as a result of Chibok abducted schoolgirls,” one insurgent said.
“We decided to flee when almost all our comrades are leaving the Sambisa [Forest] because of constant attacks by snakes and bees, which we were told was as a result of Chibok abducted schoolgirls,” one insurgent said.
Boko Haram, which fights against the Westernisation of Nigeria and wants to establish an Islamic state, abducted 60 more women and girls and 31 boys in Kummabza village, Borno State, in June.
Toddlers are believed to be among the latest kidnap victims.
Toddlers are believed to be among the latest kidnap victims.
The militants, currently led by Abubakar Shekau, carry out deadly attacks in public places including schools, churches and police stations.
Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.
Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.
NGO: ISIS CRUCIFIES 9 MEN IN SYRIA’S ALEPPO
A jihadist group in Syria has publicly executed and crucified nine men, eight of them rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the jihadists, a monitor said on Sunday.
The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is spearheading a major offensive in Iraq, and rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“ISIL executed eight men in Deir Hafer in the east of Aleppo province” on Saturday because they belonged to rebel groups that had fought against the jihadists as well as Assad’s forces, it said.
ISIL then “crucified them in the main square of the village, where their bodies will remain for three days”, the Britain-based monitor said.
Also in Aleppo province, a ninth man was executed and crucified in Al-Bab town near the border with Turkey.
ISIL first emerged in Syria’s war in late spring last year and was initially welcomed by some Syrian rebels who believed its combat experience would help topple Assad.
But subsequent jihadist abuses quickly turned the Syrian opposition, including Islamists, against ISIL.
Rebels launched a major anti-ISIL offensive in January 2014, and have pushed them out of large swathes of Aleppo province and all of Idlib in the northwest.
However, ISIL remains firmly rooted in Raqa, its northern Syrian headquarters, and wields significant power in Deir Ezzor in the east near the border with Iraq.
Activists say the group’s Iraq offensive and capture of heavy weapons — some of them US-made — appears to have boosted its confidence in Syria.
East of Damascus, “fierce clashes broke out early Sunday between rebels from the Army of Islam and ISIL near the town of Hammuriyeh”, the Observatory said.
The Army of Islam is a major component of the Islamic Front, Syria’s largest rebel coalition which has been fighting ISIL for months, but such fighting in Damascus province is unprecedented.
Regime soldiers and warplanes backed by Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah also pounded rebel positions near the capital with rockets and surface-to-surface missiles, said the Local Coordination Committees activist network.
Syria’s war began as a peaceful protest movement in March 2011 demanding political change, but became an armed insurgency when Assad’s regime unleashed a brutal crackdown.
Many months into the fighting, jihadists began to flock to Syria where upwards of 162,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in more than three years of conflict.
The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is spearheading a major offensive in Iraq, and rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“ISIL executed eight men in Deir Hafer in the east of Aleppo province” on Saturday because they belonged to rebel groups that had fought against the jihadists as well as Assad’s forces, it said.
ISIL then “crucified them in the main square of the village, where their bodies will remain for three days”, the Britain-based monitor said.
Also in Aleppo province, a ninth man was executed and crucified in Al-Bab town near the border with Turkey.
ISIL first emerged in Syria’s war in late spring last year and was initially welcomed by some Syrian rebels who believed its combat experience would help topple Assad.
But subsequent jihadist abuses quickly turned the Syrian opposition, including Islamists, against ISIL.
Rebels launched a major anti-ISIL offensive in January 2014, and have pushed them out of large swathes of Aleppo province and all of Idlib in the northwest.
However, ISIL remains firmly rooted in Raqa, its northern Syrian headquarters, and wields significant power in Deir Ezzor in the east near the border with Iraq.
Activists say the group’s Iraq offensive and capture of heavy weapons — some of them US-made — appears to have boosted its confidence in Syria.
East of Damascus, “fierce clashes broke out early Sunday between rebels from the Army of Islam and ISIL near the town of Hammuriyeh”, the Observatory said.
The Army of Islam is a major component of the Islamic Front, Syria’s largest rebel coalition which has been fighting ISIL for months, but such fighting in Damascus province is unprecedented.
Regime soldiers and warplanes backed by Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah also pounded rebel positions near the capital with rockets and surface-to-surface missiles, said the Local Coordination Committees activist network.
Syria’s war began as a peaceful protest movement in March 2011 demanding political change, but became an armed insurgency when Assad’s regime unleashed a brutal crackdown.
Many months into the fighting, jihadists began to flock to Syria where upwards of 162,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in more than three years of conflict.
Sarajevo, 100 years later...
The city of Sarajevo recalls attack the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, a hundred years ago, and that makes also confront their recent past: the war in Bosnia.
In that attack was assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his wife, Sofia Chotek, and the fact is considered key in the outbreak of the 1st World War."I hope not to have to mourn when singing in
Vijećnica" says Zelika Katavic, choir singer Bosnian National Theater,
referring to the former National Library of Sarajevo, which will be presented
on the evening of June 28 with the Philharmonic Vienna, during the
commemoration of 100 years of the Bombing of Sarajevo.
Sarajevo was destroyed during the Bosnian war.
The Vijećnica also part of another story: a beginning of the Bosnian War in 1992, the Serbs shelled the building occupants, who at that time was the National Library of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Books and writings of all religions and cultures that had survived for centuries were destroyed. This works in the Ottoman Empire and written in Latin and Serbian, ie multicultural priceless treasure lost. In August 1992, neighbors and librarians tried to save what could be risking his own life. It was an attack on a symbol of the peaceful and multiethnic coexistence in the country in which Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs lived.
For a hero; other murderer
The couple heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, shortly before the bombings of Sarajevo.
The Bombing of Sarajevo remembered in that city as the crime of a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip young. The political class in the Serb region of Bosnia, however, Princip celebrated as a hero who fought against the Austro-Hungarian oppression. That's why, one hundred years of the attack met, organized a counter-demonstration in Visegrad region of Bosnia Serb majority. There Andricgrad village, designed by Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica reflecting their ideal of a mini-Serbia will open. In the east of Sarajevo, Mayor Liubisa Cosic, ordered to build a monument of Gavrilo Princip three meters high. "It is important to maintain a link with our history," Cosic said.
"A Nelson Mandela"
Emir Kusturica, Serbian filmmaker.
Nationalist sentiment in Serbia also pokes.The historian Dusan Batakovic, Academy of Sciences, argues that Gavrilo Princip is a symbol of freedom. "It's appalling terrorist qualify someone who fought against colonial rule. I say Gavrilo Princip was a Nelson Mandela perhaps used the wrong means, but that was legitimate in the early twentieth century. " Batakovic goes even further: concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in Sarajevo, Austria intended to distract from the fact that it is responsible for WW1 he says.
Catholic Priest Creates Arabic App to Support Persecuted Christians
A self-described Italian "technologic" priest has
launched an Arab language version of his
Catholic app that he hopes will support
Christians in heavily persecuted Middle
Eastern countries where printed breviaries are
banned.
(PHOTO: IBREVIARY PROTERRASANCTA FACEBOOK)
Paolo Padrini is the creator of the iBreviary app, which allows Catholics to access to prayers and readings on their mobile devices.
Father Paolo Padrini, 41, who is at times known by his nickname iPriest, unveiled the newest version of his app on Saturday which he said will open "the door for religious freedom."
"The app has become a must-have for priests and cardinals and has been really appreciated with the Catholic Church," Father Padrini told The Telegraph. "Now, with the launch of the Arabic version, the app can be used in those Muslim countries where the breviary is banned from sale and where, in some countries, you cannot legally even possess one."
Currently, users can download an iPhone version of the app and by the summer time, iPad and Android versions will be available.
"The Catholic who prays in Arabic is a symbol of religious coexistence and peace," he said. "I hope that the app is seen as a peaceful and not as a hostile gesture. And I hope it is not censored."
In a 2009 interview with Boing Boing, Padini said there were two primary motivations behind why he originally developed the app.
"First of all, I believe firmly that today man needs to socialize, he needs moments of listening, and also moments of silence, of prayer and meditation. Today man has the need for God, even if he doesn't realize it; today man needs spaces to talk with God and to reflect on life and death and so on," he said.
"Second thing: the new media are demonstrating more and more great possibilities, together with a lot of risks, but the possibilities are a lot indeed. The media can become places of reflection, also of silence…. and surely they can contribute to a new socialization," he continued. "'iBreviary' is not only a text that can be read on the web, but – and it's this the great innovation – an 'action' that involves man and God: the prayer."
Padrini is not the only tech-savvy Catholic. The 77 year-old Pope Francis has 3.91 million followers on his English-language Twitter account.
Religion Clause: White House Sends Greetings As Ramadan Begins
Religion Clause: White House Sends Greetings As Ramadan Begins: Ramadan begins tonight. The White House released a statement ( full text ) from the President extending greetings from the American people ...
THE MERCY OF GOD TOWARDS SINNERS
 |
| There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. |
SERMON XXXII. THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
ON THE MERCY OF GOD TOWARDS SINNERS
" There shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than ninety -nine just, who need not penance." LUKE xv. 7
In this day’s gospel it is related that the Pharisees murmured against Jesus Christ, because he received sinners and eat with them. ”This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them" (v. 2). In answer to their murmurings our Lord said: If any of you had a hundred sheep, and lost one of them, would he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go in search of the lost sheep? would he not continue his search until he found it? and having found it, would he not carry it on his shoulders, and, rejoicing, say to his friends and neighbours: ”Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost ?" (v. 6.) In conclusion, the Son of God said: ”I say to you, there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than, upon ninety-nine just, that need not penance." There is more joy in heaven upon one sinner who returns to God, than upon many just who preserve the grace of God. Let us, then, speak Today on the mercy which God shows to sinners, first, in calling them to repentance; secondly, in receiving them when they return.
First Point, Mercy of God in calling sinners to repentance.
1. After having sinned hy eating the forbidden apple, Adam fled from the face of the Lord through shame of the sin he had committed. What must have been the astonishment of the angels when they saw God seeking after him, and calling him as it were with tears, saying: ”Adam, where art thou ?" (Gen. iii. 9.) My beloved Adam, where art thou? These words, says Father Pereyra, in his commentary on this passage, ”are the words of a father in search of his lost son." Towards you, brethren, the Lord acts in a similar manner. You fled from him and he has so often invited you to repentance by means of confessors and preachers. Who was it that spoke to you when they exhorted you to penance? It was the Lord. Preachers are, as St. Paul says, his ambassadors. ”For Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors; God, as it were, exhorting by us." (2 Cor. v. 20.) Hence he writes to the sinners of Corinth: ”For Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God." (Ibid.) In explaining these words St. Chrysostom says: ”Ipse Chris tus vos obsecrat: quid autem obsecrat? Reconciliamini Deo." Then, says the holy doctor, Jesus Christ himself entreats you, sinners: and what does he entreat you to do? To make peace with God. The saint adds: ”Non enim ipse inimicus gerit, sed vos." It is not God that acts like an enemy, but you; that is, God does not refuse to make peace with sinners, but they are unwilling to be reconciled with him."
2. But notwithstanding the refusal of sinners to return to God, he does not cease to continue to call them by so many interior inspirations, remorses of conscience, and terrors of chastisements. Thus, beloved Christians, God has spoken to you, and, seeing that you disregarded his words, he has had recourse to scourges; he has called you to repentance by such a persecution, by temporal losses, by the death of a relative, by sickness which has brought you to the brink of the grave. He has, according to holy David, placed before your eyes the bow of your damnation, not that you might be condemned to eternal misery, but that you might be delivered from hell, which you deserved. "Thou hast given a warning to them that fear thee, that they may flee from before the bow, that thy beloved may be delivered." (Ps. lix. 6). You regarded certain afflictions as misfortunes; but they were mercies from God; they were the voices of God calling on you to renounce sin, that you might escape perdition. ”My jaws are become hoarse." (Ps. lxviii. 4.) My son, says the Lord, I have almost lost my voice in calling you to repentance. ”I am weary of entreating thee." ( Jer. xv. (5.) I have become weary in imploring you to offend me no more.
3. By your ingratitude you deserved that he should call you no more; but he has continued to invite you to return to him. And who is it that has called you? It is a God of infinite majesty, who is to be one day your judge, and on whom your eternal happiness or misery depends. And what are you but miserable worms deserving hell? Why has he called you? To restore to you the life of grace which you have lost. "Return ye and live." (Ezec. xviii. 32.) To acquire the grace of God, it would be but little to spend a hundred years in a desert in fasting and penitential austerities. But God offered it to you for a single act of sorrow; you refused that act, and after your refusal he has not abandoned you, but has sought after you, saying: "And why will you die, house of Israel?" (Ez. xviii. 31.) Like a father weeping and following his son, who has voluntarily thrown himself into the sea, God has sought after you, saying, through compassion to each of you: My son, why dost thou bring thyself to eternal misery?”Why will you die, house of Israel ?"
4. As a pigeon that seeks to take shelter in a tower, seeing the entrance closed on every side, continues to fly round till she finds an opening through which she enters, so, says St. Augustine, did the divine mercy act towards me when I was in enmity with God. Circuibat super me fidelis a longe misericordia tua." The Lord treated you, brethren, in a similar manner. As often as you sinned you banished him from your souls. The wicked have said to God: "Depart from us." (Job xxi. 14.) And, instead of abandoning you, what has the Lord done? He has placed himself at the door of your ungrateful hearts, and, by his knocking, has made you feel that he was outside, and seeking for admission. ”Behold I stand at the gate and knock." (Apoc. iii. 20.) He, as it were, entreated you to have compassion on him, and to allow him to enter. "Open to me, my sister." (Cant. v. 2.) Open to me; I will deliver you from perdition; I will forget all the insults you have offered to me if you give up sin. Perhaps you are unwilling to open to me through fear of becoming poor by restoring ill-gotten goods, or by separating from a person who provided for you? Am not I, says the Lord, able to provide for you? Perhaps you think that, if you renounce a certain friendship which separates you from me, you shall lead a life of misery? Am I not able to content your soul and to make your life happy? Ask those who love me with their whole hearts, and they will tell you that my grace makes them content, and that they would not exchange their condition, though poor and humble, for all the delights and riches of the monarchs of the earth.
Second Point. Mercy of God in waiting for sinners to return to him.
5. We have considered the divine mercy in calling sinners to repentance: let us now consider his patience in waiting for their return. That great servant of God, D. Sancia Carillo, a penitent of Father John D’Avila, used to say, that the consideration of God‟s patience with sinners made her desire to build a church, and entitle it”The Patience of God." Ah, sinners! who could ever bear with what God has borne from you? If the offences which you have committed against God had been offered to your best friends, or even to your parents, they surely would have sought revenge. When you insulted the Lord he was able to chastise you; you repeated the insult, and he did not punish your guilt, but preserved your life, and provided you with sustenance. lie, as it were, pretended not to see the injuries you offered to him, that you might enter into yourselves, and cease to offend him. "Thou overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance." (Wis. xi. 24.) But how, Lord, does it happen, that thou canst not behold a single sin, and that thou dost bear in silence with so many? "Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and boldest thy peace ?" (Hab. i. 13.) Thou seest the vindictive prefer their own before thy honour; thou beholdest the unjust, instead of restoring what they have stolen, continuing to commit theft; the unchaste, instead of being ashamed of their impurities, boasting of them before others; the scandalous, not content with the sins which they themselves commit, but seeking to draw others into rebellion against thee; thou seest all this, and holdest thy peace, and dost not inflict vengeance.
6. “Omnis creatura," says St. Thomas, "tibi factor! deserviens excandescit adversus injustos." All creatures the earth, fire, air, water because they all obey God, would, by a natural instinct, wish to punish the sinner, and to avenge the injuries which he does to the Creator; but God, through his mercy, restrains them. But, Lord, thou waitest for the wicked that they may enter into themselves; and dost thou not see that they abuse thy mercy to offer new insults to thy majesty? "Thou hast been favorable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favorable to the nation: art thou glorified ?" (Isa. xxvi. 15.) Thou hast waited so long for sinners; thou hast abstained from inflicting punishment; but what glory have you reaped from thy forbearance? They have become more wicked. Why so much patience with such ungrateful souls? Why dost thou continue to wait for their repentance? Why dost thou not chastise their wickedness? The same Prophet answers: "The Lord waiteth that he may have mercy on you." (Isa. xxx. 18.) God waits for sinners that they may one day repent, and that after their repentance, he may pardon and save them. "As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezech. xxxiii. 11.) St. Augustine goes so far as to say that the Lord, if he were not God, should he unjust on account of his excessive patience towards sinners. ”Deus, Deus incus, pace tua dicam, nisi quia Deus esses, injustus esses." By waiting for those who abuse his patience to multiply their sins, God appears to do an injustice to the divine honour. ”We," continues the saint, "sin; we adhere to sin (some of us become familiar and intimate with sin, and sleep for months and years in this miserable state); we rejoice at sin (some of us go so far as to boast of our wickedness); and thou art appeased! "We provoke thce to anger thou dost invite us to mercy." We and God appear to be, as it were, engaged in a contest, in which we labour to provoke him to chastise our guilt, and he invites us to pardon.
7. Lord, exclaimed holy Job, what is man, that thou dost entertain so great an esteem for him? Why dost thou love him so tenderly?”What is man that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him ?" (Job. vii. ] 7.) St. Denis the Areopagite says, that God seeks after sinners like a despised lover, entreating them not to destroy themselves. ”Deus etiam a se aversos amatorie sequitur, et deprecatur ne pereant." Why, ungrateful souls, do you fly from me? I love you and desire nothing but your welfare. Ah, sinners! says St. Teresa, remember that he who now calls and seeks after you, is that God who shall one day be your judge. If you are lost, the great mercies which he now shows you, shall be the greatest torments which, you shall suffer in hell.
Third Point. Mercy of God in receiving penitent sinners.
8. Should a subject who has rebelled against an earthly monarch go into the presence of his sovereign to ask pardon, the prince instantly banishes the rebel from his sight, and does not condescend even to look at him. But God does not treat us in this manner, when we go with humility before him to implore mercy and forgiveness. "The Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away his face from you if you return to him." (2 Par. xxx. 9.) God cannot turn away his face from those who cast themselves at his feet with an humble and contrite heart. Jesus himself has protested that he will not reject any one who returns to him. "And him that cometh to me, I will not cast out." (John vi. 37.) But how can he reject those whom he himself invites to return, and promises to embrace?”Return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee." (Jer. iii. 1.) In another place he says: Sinners, I ought to turn my back on you, because you first turned your back on me; but be converted to me, and I will be converted to you. "Turn to me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, saith the Lord of hosts." (Zach. i. 3.)
9. Oh! with what tenderness does God embrace a sinner that returns to him! This tenderness Jesus Christ wished to declare to us when he said that he is the good pastor, who, as soon as he finds the lost sheep, embraces it and places it on his own shoulders. ”And when he hath found it, doth he not lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing?" (Luke xv. 5.) This tenderness also appears in the parable of the prodigal son, in which Jesus Christ tells us that he is the good father, who, when his lost son returns, goes to meet him, embraces and kisses him, and, as it were, swoons away through joy in receiving him. ”And running to him, he fell upon his neck and kissed him." (Luke xv. 20.)
10. God protests that when sinners repent of their iniquities, he will forget all their sins, as if they had never offended him. "But, if the wicked do penance for all the sins which he hath committed... living, he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done." (Ezech. xviii. 21,22.) By the Prophet Isaias, the Lord goes so far as to say: "Come and accuse me, saith the Lord. If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow." (Isa. i. 18.) Mark the words, Come and accuse me. As if the Lord said: Sinners, come to me, and if I do not pardon and embrace you, reprove me, upbraid me with violating my promise. But no! God cannot despise an humble and contrite heart. "A contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Ps. l. 19.)
11. To show mercy and grant pardon to sinners, God regards as redounding to his own glory. "And therefore shall he be exalted sparing you." (Isa. xxx. 18.) The holy Church says, that God displays his omnipotence in granting pardon and mercy to sinners. ”O God, who manifested thy omnipotence in sparing and showing mercy." Do not imagine, dearly beloved sinners, that God requires of you to labour for a long time before he grants you pardon: as soon as you wish for forgiveness, he is ready to give it. Behold what the Scripture says: ”Weeping, thou shalt not weep, he will surely have pity on thee." (Isa. xxx. 19.) You shall not have to weep for a long time: as soon as you shall have shed the tirst tear through sorrow for your sins, God will have mercy on you. ”At the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee." (Ibid.) The moment he shall hear you say: Forgive me, my God, forgive me, he will instantly answer and grant your pardon.
_____________________________________________________
To Abuse God’s Mercy Is Worse than Despair
St. Alphonsus of Ligouri
The Devil tries to fool man in two ways to lead him to ruin. Before the sin, the Devil encourages the sinner to trust in Divine Mercy; after the sin, he impels man to despair, representing to him the rigor of Divine Justice.
The first means of seduction is much more pernicious than the second. “God is merciful,” such is the answer of the obstinate sinner when one speaks to him about the need for conversion. Yes, God is merciful, but in the way Wisdom expresses itself in the Canticle of the Canticles: “His mercy is for those who fear Him.” Our Lord exercises mercy toward those who fear offending Him, but not toward those who use His mercy as a pretext to insult Him. …
God is merciful, there is no doubt about that, but He is also just. The sinner would like God to be merciful without being just, but this is impossible. Indeed, if God were to always forgive and never punish, He would error in His justice. In this regard, the observation of the Father Master of Avila is pertinent: “If God would allow a person to take advantage of His mercy in order to more easily offend Him, such a patience would not be goodness, but a lack of justice.” God has to punish the ungrateful. He tolerates them up to a certain point, and then punishes them. …
“Be not deceived: God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). Actually, intending to continue to offend God and still hope to be with Him in Paradise would be to mock God. “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Gal 6:8). Whoever sows good works, will reap rewards; whoever sows sins, will reap chastisements. In Job is written: “Their hope is the abomination of the soul” (Job 11:20). Yes, the hope of those who sin thinking that God forgives them is abominable before God. This very hope causes a chastisement to fall over their heads sooner, like the boldness of a slave who lacks respect for his lord, abusing his goodness.
(St. Alfonso de Ligouri, O Caminho da Salvação e Perfeição,
Porto: Tipografia Fonseca, 1948, p. 26)
Porto: Tipografia Fonseca, 1948, p. 26)
First time in 1600 years no Mass said in Mosul, Iraq, says Chaldean Archbishop
The Chaldean Catholic Church’s Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in Kurdish-governed Northern Iraq, is reported as saying that for the first time in 1600 years there was no Mass said in Mosul on Sunday June 15th. This is the city taken over days before by ISIS forces.
Reports say the estimated 3,000 or so Christians still there (from about 35,000 in 2003) all fled ahead of the militias’ takeover of control, although some families were reported to have returned. They cited lack of job prospects and shelter once they’d become internally displaced, or refugees in Kurdish Iraq.
Amongst those fleeing Mosul, World Watch Monitor met families sheltering in a Christian-dominated district of Erbil, Ankawa.
The largely Christian town of Qaraqosh is, 32 miles southeast of Mosul. Its official Arabic name is Baghdeda; there were about 70,000 Christians living in the area.
On Wednesday 25th June, Kurdish Peshmerga forces engaged with the ISIS – also called Daash – militias who were trying to move into Qaraqosh. WWM has seen direct messages confirming that there was bombing of Qaraqosh, during which two Christian families were reported killed by mortars.
Locals believe that it was ISIS which carried out the bombing.
However today (Thursday) Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has confirmed that Syrian government jets have bombed ISIS in other parts of northern Iraq.
Reports today (Thursday) from locals say that the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, fighting with local Christian residents, were able to repel ISIS from Qaraqosh, especially after 1000 Peshmerga troop reinforcements arrived. Locals say after that, from about 10pm, the situation in the town became quieter, while some news agencies say Qaraqosh is now completely abandoned.
Meanwhile a member of Iraq’s High Commission on Human Rights Dr. Sallama Al Khafaji has told an Arabic news website, Al Sumaria, that last Saturday, June 21 ISIS began to demand a poll tax (jizya) from Christians in Mosul. In a custom rooted in medieval times, under strict Islamic law, Christians were required to have to pay protection money and are not allowed to publicly express their faith.
Dr Al Khafaji is reported to have said that in one case, ISIS members entered the home of an Assyrian family to demand it. She reports that when the Assyrian family said they did not have the money, three ISIS members raped the mother and daughter in front of the husband and father. The husband and father was so traumatized that he committed suicide, she reported.
“The Christians have told me that they cannot pay this tax,” said Dr. Al-Khafaji, “and they say ‘what am I to do, shall I kill myself?’”
Meanwhile, Iraqi church leaders, including those from the capital Baghdad – hundreds of miles to the south, have met in Erbil to discuss a ‘rescue plan’, amid growing fears that the ISIS Islamist attacks have put Christianity at increased risk of being extinguished from the country.
Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop of Baghad Saad Sirop, who’d risked travel to the north to Erbil for the meeting, said the crisis could only be solved by reconciliation between the Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. He repeated calls for the international community to press for negotiation between the various Islamic leaders. He added that military action would be counter-productive. “Military intervention did not resolve anything in Syria, nor here in Iraq, so we should not think this will work this time.”
Bishop Saad added: “We ask God to give us the wisdom to face these problems with courage. There is no doubt that we are passing through some difficult days.”
Eleison Comments - NUMBER CCCLXIII (363)
CARDINAL PIE – I
Cardinal Pie (1815–1880)
was a great churchman of 19th century France, one of the great defenders of the
Faith against that liberalism which was eating up the world from the French
Revolution (1789) onwards. Pope Pius X kept his works by his bedside and read
them constantly. No doubt the Cardinal’s profound grasp of the key ideas
driving the modern world played a major part in enabling Pius X to obtain a
50-year reprieve, say from 1907 to 1958, for the doomed Catholic Church.
Doomed? But the Catholic
Church cannot be doomed! True, by God’s protection it will last to the end of
the world (Mt. XXVIII, 20), but at the same time by God’s Word we know that by
then the Faith will scarcely be found on earth (Lk. XVIII, 8), and that it will
have been given to the forces of evil to defeat the Saints (Apoc. XIII, 7).
These are two important quotes to bear in mind in 2014, because everything
around us today tells us that the followers of Christ must be prepared for one
seeming defeat after another, e.g. the fall of the Society of St Pius X. Here
is what Cardinal Pie had to say on the matter, some 150 years ago:—
“Let us fight, hoping
against hope itself, which is what I wish to tell faint-hearted Christians,
slaves to popularity, worshipers of success and shaken by the least advance of
evil. Given how they feel, please God they will be spared the agonies of the
world’s final trial. Is that trial close or is it still far off? Nobody knows,
and I will not dare to make a guess. But one thing is certain, namely that the
closer we come to the end of the world, the more and more it is wicked and
deceitful men who will gain the upper hand. The Faith will hardly be found on
earth, meaning that it will almost have disappeared from earthly institutions.
Believers themselves will hardly dare to profess their belief in public, or in
society.
“The splitting, separating
and divorcing of States from God which was for St Paul a sign foretelling the
end, will advance day by day. The Church, while remaining always a visible
society, will be reduced more and more to dimensions of the individual and the
home. When she started out she said she was being shut in, and she called for
more room to breathe, but as she approaches her end on earth, so she will have
to fight a rearguard action every inch of the way, being surrounded and hemmed
in on all sides. The more widely she spread out in previous ages, the greater
the effort will now be made to cut her down to size. Finally the Church will
undergo what looks like a veritable defeat, and the Beast will be given to make
war on the Saints and to overwhelm them. The insolence of evil will be at its
peak.”
These are prophetic words,
coming truer by the day, not at all pleasant to admit, but anchored in
Scripture. A wise Anglican Bishop (Butler) said in the 18th century, “Things
are what they are. Their consequences will be what they will be. Why then
should we seek to deceive ourselves?” Notice especially how the Cardinal
foresees the impossibility of defending the Faith on any larger scale than just
the home. Not everybody agrees that we have already reached that point in 2014.
I might wish they were right, but I have yet to be persuaded that with
disintegrated people one can make an integrated society. Contrast with us
democratic citizens of today the Roman centurion in the Gospel who understood a
chain of command and recognized naturally the authority of Our Lord (Mt. VIII,
5–18) – how Our Lord praised him!
Patience. See next week how
the Cardinal himself reacted to what he foresaw. He was no defeatist!
Kyrie eleison.
Pope Francis Meets Evangelical Delegation!!!!
Two prominent Fort Worth-based Christian ministers led a delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders to Rome to meet privately with Pope Francis.
James and Betty Robison, co-hosts of the Life Today television program, and Kenneth Copeland, co-host of Believer’s Voice of Victory, met the Roman Pontiff at the Vatican on Tuesday. The meeting lasted almost three hours and included a private luncheon with Pope Francis.
Mr. Robison told the Fort Worth Star Telegram, “This meeting was a miracle…. This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
Mr. Robison said he was impressed by Pope Francis’ humility and courtesy to the visiting delegation of Evangelical Protestant Christian leaders.
In a written statement, Mr. Robison said he believes “the prayers of earnest Christians helped lead to the choice of Pope Francis.” He described Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine Archbishop chosen as Pope, as “a humble man…filled with such love for the poor, downtrodden…”
In addition to Mrs. Betty Robison, the high-profile Protestant delegation included Kenneth Copeland, co-founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, TX; Reverend Geoff Tunnicliff, CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance; Rev. Brian Stiller and Rev. Thomas Schirrmacher, also from the World Evangelical Alliance; and Rev. John Arnott and his wife, Carol, co-founders of Partners for Harvest ministries in Toronto, Canada. Gloria Copeland did not travel to Rome because of a previously scheduled commitment.
The ecumenical meeting in Rome was organized by Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer. Rev. Palmer is an ordained bishop in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a break-away alliance of charismatic Anglican-Episcopal churches. Bishop Palmer is also the Director of The Ark Community, an international interdenominational Convergent Church online community, and is a member of the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Delegation for Christian Unity and Reconciliation.
Bishop Palmer developed a friendship with Pope Francis when the future Roman Pontiff was a Catholic official in Argentina. Prior to becoming a CEEC bishop, Rev. Palmer was the director of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ office in South Africa. He is married to an Italian Roman Catholic woman. He later moved to Italy and began working to reconcile Roman Catholics and Protestants. Kenneth Copeland Ministries was one of Mr. Palmer’s first financial contributors over 10 years ago in support of his ecumenical work in Italy.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis called Bishop Palmer to invite him to his residence in Vatican City. During the meeting, Bishop Palmer suggested that the Pope record a personal greeting on Mr. Palmer’s iPhone to be delivered to Kenneth Copeland. Mr. Copeland showed the Papal video greeting to a conference of Protestant ministers who were meeting at Mr. Copeland’s Eagle Mountain International Church near Fort Worth, TX. In the video, Pope Francis expressed his desire for Christian unity with Protestants.
Later, James Robison telecasted the video on his daily TV program, Life Today. “The pope, in the video, expressed a desire for Protestants and Catholics to become what Jesus prayed for — that Christians would become family and not be divided,” Mr. Robison said the response to the video was very positive, and that Pope Francis asked Bishop Palmer whether a meeting could be arranged with Evangelical Protestants seeking Christian unity in the world.
In his written statement released after the Papal meeting, Mr. Robison said he was “blessed to be part of perhaps an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope.” He described the Protestant delegation’s private meeting with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church as “an intimate circle of prayerful discussion and lunch to discuss not only seeing Jesus’ prayer answered, but that every believer would become a bold, joy-filled witnesses for Christ.
In describing the ecumenical gathering as a miracle, Mr. Robison said, “This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
During the luncheon on Tuesday, Mr. Robison got a high-five from Pope Francis after the Pope and Protestant guests talked about the need for all people to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. According to the Life Today host, the Roman Pontiff did not know what a high-five was until Bishop Palmer explained it to him in Italian. Mr. Robison said, “The Pope made it very clear that he wanted every believer to become Spirit-filled, joy-filled witnesses.”
- Photo Courtesy of Life Outreach
Mr. Robison said Pope Francis had written recently, “Too many Catholics look like they’ve been to Lent with no Easter. It’s a mistake for them to look like they’ve been to a funeral” as he challenged Catholics to witness and never try to control the Holy Spirit, but yield to Him.
Mystery on the health of Pope Francis: yet another appointment postponed
June 27, 2014
Yet another appointment postponed. Francis Pope cancels at the last minute for a 'indisposition' meeting with the faithful at the Gemelli Hospital. There is concern about the Pope because he recently had to skip several appointments for health reasons.
At first, reporters were informed that the Pope's arrival would have been delayed for at least half an hour. But nothing made him think of a cancellation. In the morning, the Pope had the usual morning Mass celebrated in the Domus Santa Marta in the Vatican and in the course of the day had complied with the schedule of hearings. Disappointed the many faithful who had come to the hospital to see the Capitoline Pontiff. Since I was 21 years old, the Holy Father lives with only one lung. Part of what the right was removed after a severe pneumonia.Since becoming pope his life is full of tasks and commitments and for this reason can have moments of fatigue.
http://www.retenews24.it/rtn24/societa/mistero-salute-papa-francesco-ennesimo-appuntamento-rinviato/
!!!! Iraqi Christian Man Commits Suicide After Muslims Rape Wife And Daughter In Front Of Him Because He Couldn’t Pay Sharia Tax…
Requiescat in pace.
RELIGION OF PEACE™
Via Christian Post:
A Christian father who watched his wife and daughter get brutally raped by members of the militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) because he couldn’t pay them a poll tax in Mosul, Iraq, killed himself under the weight of the trauma this past weekend.A report from the Assyrian International News Agency said ISIS began enforcing Islamic laws in the northern Iraq city which they overran on June 10.Dr. Sallama Al-Khafaji of the Iraq High Commission for Human Rights said the incident happened on Saturday after ISIS began asking Christians in Mosul for a poll tax.“In one instance, ISIS members entered the home of an Assyrian family in Mosul and demanded the poll tax (jizya). When the Assyrian family said they did not have the money, three ISIS members raped the mother and daughter in front of the husband and father. The husband and father was so traumatized that he committed suicide,” said the report.“The Christians have told me that they cannot pay this tax,” Dr. Al-Khafaji told AINA, “and they say ‘what am I to do, shall I kill myself?’”Four Christian women were also reportedly shot dead by ISIS members because they were not wearing veils.
http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/iraqi-christian-man-commits-suicide-after-muslims-rape-wife-and-daughter-in-front-of-him-because-he-couldnt-pay-sharia-tax
HORROR!! ISIS Dumping Victims In What Seems To Be The BOTTOMLESS PIT
WATCH The ISIS Dumping Victims In What Seems To Be The BOTTOMLESS PIT
By Theodore Shoebat (Shoebate Exclusive)
An amazing leaked video surfaced from Middle Eastern media showing where the ISIS is sending victims to their final resting place in what seems to be the bottomless pit.
And it was all caught on video
Here’s the story.
When most of the ISIS fighters in Deir al-Zour moved to Raqqa, which is now a black province in every sense of the word, countless executions take place continually and families never get to collect the bodies of their loved ones. In one incident, the ISIS taped an execution of three men, and when the film was leaked, it was a heart-wrenching experience to the families of the victims.
The people finally found out where the countless bodies were sent. Thirteen kilometers south of Raqqa is an empty wilderness called Ghota (Canyon-pit). There one finds terrorists dumping the lifeless bodies of their victims in this deep gorge which funneled the bodies into what seems to be a huge endless pit.
Civilians and fighters alike are having a change of mind about the so-called revolution share how grim life has turned out to be. Al-Hayat, a Middle East news secretly met a number of civilians in Raqqa and reported that many of the Raqqa city features have been painted black, to match the color of the ISIS banner of the Caliphate. Women, like the Ka’ba shrine, wear black from head to toe, and you can’t ignore how many foreign fighters there are. They are called the muhajirin [immigrants] and come mostly from Chechnya. They are in Raqqa with their families and can be recognized because they are taller than the locals and look different.
The immigrant fighters have a long story. The civilians each told their stories, or what they witnessed, with the immigrants. They all said that the population won’t remain silent for long. The pressure on the civilians will lead to an explosion, according to “Mohammad,” 24. He and his family fled Deir al-Zour. He said, “[The following story] summarizes what the immigrants think about the people of the city and the region. One day, when I was at an internet cafe filled with Tunisian fighters, [I overheard one fighter say] to his friend via Skype to come do jihad in Syria, especially in Raqqa, where food is abundant and where there are many empty homes, and where the women are pretty, and ‘the men are cowards.’”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)