The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants." (Deut. 30:19).
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:11-12).
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow -this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." (Eph. 4:13-14).
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that this government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but happy is he that keeps the law." (Prov. 2:18).
The lives of those who have gone before us in the struggle and labor pains of bringing forth this nation conceived in liberty shall not have been in vain if we choose life in this upcoming election. The lives of all the aborted and euthanised shall not have been in vain if we realize that we "confirm our souls in self control and our liberty in law."
I have set before you this election day life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you and your descendants may live.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Humility: the ability to become small.
Jesus said at different occasions things like, "You must become as a little child to enter the Kingdom," or "Seek to enter by the narrow gate," and yet again, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." He is speaking about humility: the ability to become small.
This type of smallness is ironically something which we "shrink from" and find difficult. The smallness required is a humility that can receive a Love so great as the Eternal Father's love for the Son. In eternity the Son is so humble in receiving everything the Father bestows upon him that he seeks to grasp at none of it but rather "he empties Himself taking the form of a slave" although He is every bit the Heir, the Eternally Begotten Son. The Son completely, continuously, and dynamically empties Himself back to the Father. He reciprocates all Love to the Father through the Person of the Holy Spirit who is the Love so strong between the Father and the Son as to be another Person of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit descended upon a young Woman who was very small and humble of heart.
The Eternal Word took on flesh in her by "emptying Himself and taking the form of a slave" in her womb becoming "like us in every way except sin". He became a tiny conceived human being that he might be born among us and save us from our sins.
We too must become small that we can receive so great a Truth as the Father wants to bestow upon us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God must be conceived in us and be born of us that we might be conceived in Eternal Beggetting of Son by the Divine Father and be born into Eternal life.
May God's Holy Spirit help us to be small and humble to receive so great a Mystery. Amen.
This type of smallness is ironically something which we "shrink from" and find difficult. The smallness required is a humility that can receive a Love so great as the Eternal Father's love for the Son. In eternity the Son is so humble in receiving everything the Father bestows upon him that he seeks to grasp at none of it but rather "he empties Himself taking the form of a slave" although He is every bit the Heir, the Eternally Begotten Son. The Son completely, continuously, and dynamically empties Himself back to the Father. He reciprocates all Love to the Father through the Person of the Holy Spirit who is the Love so strong between the Father and the Son as to be another Person of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit descended upon a young Woman who was very small and humble of heart.
The Eternal Word took on flesh in her by "emptying Himself and taking the form of a slave" in her womb becoming "like us in every way except sin". He became a tiny conceived human being that he might be born among us and save us from our sins.
We too must become small that we can receive so great a Truth as the Father wants to bestow upon us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God must be conceived in us and be born of us that we might be conceived in Eternal Beggetting of Son by the Divine Father and be born into Eternal life.
May God's Holy Spirit help us to be small and humble to receive so great a Mystery. Amen.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Hail Jesus
I have my entire life prayed Hail Mary's in a formal rosary or as prayers ushering forth in times of need or even woken up at night to find myself praying to the Blessed Mother for her intercession. Several months ago I started formulating in my head what a "Hail Jesus" prayer might look like set in parallel to the phrasing of the Hail Mary. I am posting it below and I'm not sure if I would say it in the same format of Credo, Paters and Gloria Patris' as the regular rosary uses.
"Hail Jesus, Fullness of Grace, You are the Lord, First-born are You among all creation, and blessed is the fruit of Your Cross, Salvation.
Holy Jesus, Son of God, intercede for us sinners at the right hand of the Father, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
I welcome any comments regarding constructing an over all format for praying this to Our Lord, ie. following the layout of the current rosary and meditating on the same mysteries of Our Lord's and our Lady's lives.
"Hail Jesus, Fullness of Grace, You are the Lord, First-born are You among all creation, and blessed is the fruit of Your Cross, Salvation.
Holy Jesus, Son of God, intercede for us sinners at the right hand of the Father, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
I welcome any comments regarding constructing an over all format for praying this to Our Lord, ie. following the layout of the current rosary and meditating on the same mysteries of Our Lord's and our Lady's lives.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
What about Cain? or Cain Redeemed.
Jesus is the New Adam because by this one man's obedience all are redeemed (Rom. 5:17). By His sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus is the New Abel offering to God the first fruits of all creation, Himself. Mary is seen as the New Eve because in her fiat she said yes to God through the angel Gabriel, while Eve said no to God and yes to the ancient serpent, Satan.
What about Cain? Who is a type of Cain in the New Testament? Our minds may immediately jump to Judas. Judas was the holder of the purse and the Gospel of John tells us that he was stealing from it (Jn. 12:6). He gave up Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy because God was not pleased with Cain's sacrifice. Judas was not pleased with Christ's sacrifice of giving up worldly power and proclaiming a Kingdom that was "not of this world." Cain was filled with self pity but had no remorse for his actions. Judas was filled with despair over what he had done and committed suicide apparently without seeking forgiveness from God. But is that where it ends? Is there no redemption for Cain planned for from the foundations of the world (Eph. 1:4)?
Looking more closely we might see the chief Apostle Peter and his denial of Christ as being similar to Cain's denial of any knowledge of his brother's whereabouts. Cain asked God "Am I my brother's keeper (Gen 4:9)?
God told Cain, "And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand" (Gen. 4:11). Peter "began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the Man' (Mt 26:75). The cock crowed convicting Peter of his treachery and he went out and wept bitterly. Both are accursed by what they have done, but Peter did not despair and deny Christ again by believing his sins could not be forgiven. The Gospel of John tells that Christ asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus more than the other apostles. Three times Peter confessed his love for the Lord, and three times Jesus responded to him "feed my lambs" or "feed my sheep(Jn 21:15-17)". Here is Cain redeemed.
Where else is Cain Redeemed in the New Testament? There are several other examples. I will only look at two others.
The pharisee Saul was killing followers of the Way. He was the instigator in Stephen's martyrdom and was feared by the Christians. We know the story of how Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus and how he was struck down blind. He heard the voice of Jesus say, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?" He was given his sight back and a new name Paul. With his new name he had a new mission, Apostle to the Gentiles. His writings give us the majority of the text of the New Testament. Saul was Cain to Stephen's Abel. He confessed Christ crucified all the way to the court of the emperor of Rome where he received his crown of martyrdom. Cain is redeemed.
Finally, there is one other who ran away. Perhaps the same young man who ran away naked in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mk. 14:51). The disciple whom Jesus loved even ran away from him. Somewhere Cain was found by Eve and brought to the ground where the blood of Abel cried out to God for justice. Somewhere John the Evangelist was found by Mary the Mother of the Redeemer and brought to the foot of the Cross to seek his redemption. The blood of Jesus gave the earth a once for all response to the unholy taste for blood it received from Abel's murder (Gen. 4:10-11). The blood of Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant which "speaks more eloquently than that of Abel", now redeems all of creation (Heb 12:24).
What about Cain? Who is a type of Cain in the New Testament? Our minds may immediately jump to Judas. Judas was the holder of the purse and the Gospel of John tells us that he was stealing from it (Jn. 12:6). He gave up Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy because God was not pleased with Cain's sacrifice. Judas was not pleased with Christ's sacrifice of giving up worldly power and proclaiming a Kingdom that was "not of this world." Cain was filled with self pity but had no remorse for his actions. Judas was filled with despair over what he had done and committed suicide apparently without seeking forgiveness from God. But is that where it ends? Is there no redemption for Cain planned for from the foundations of the world (Eph. 1:4)?
Looking more closely we might see the chief Apostle Peter and his denial of Christ as being similar to Cain's denial of any knowledge of his brother's whereabouts. Cain asked God "Am I my brother's keeper (Gen 4:9)?
God told Cain, "And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand" (Gen. 4:11). Peter "began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the Man' (Mt 26:75). The cock crowed convicting Peter of his treachery and he went out and wept bitterly. Both are accursed by what they have done, but Peter did not despair and deny Christ again by believing his sins could not be forgiven. The Gospel of John tells that Christ asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus more than the other apostles. Three times Peter confessed his love for the Lord, and three times Jesus responded to him "feed my lambs" or "feed my sheep(Jn 21:15-17)". Here is Cain redeemed.
Where else is Cain Redeemed in the New Testament? There are several other examples. I will only look at two others.
The pharisee Saul was killing followers of the Way. He was the instigator in Stephen's martyrdom and was feared by the Christians. We know the story of how Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus and how he was struck down blind. He heard the voice of Jesus say, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?" He was given his sight back and a new name Paul. With his new name he had a new mission, Apostle to the Gentiles. His writings give us the majority of the text of the New Testament. Saul was Cain to Stephen's Abel. He confessed Christ crucified all the way to the court of the emperor of Rome where he received his crown of martyrdom. Cain is redeemed.
Finally, there is one other who ran away. Perhaps the same young man who ran away naked in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mk. 14:51). The disciple whom Jesus loved even ran away from him. Somewhere Cain was found by Eve and brought to the ground where the blood of Abel cried out to God for justice. Somewhere John the Evangelist was found by Mary the Mother of the Redeemer and brought to the foot of the Cross to seek his redemption. The blood of Jesus gave the earth a once for all response to the unholy taste for blood it received from Abel's murder (Gen. 4:10-11). The blood of Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant which "speaks more eloquently than that of Abel", now redeems all of creation (Heb 12:24).
From the mercy seat of the cross, God Incarnate says to His Mother, "Woman, behold your son", and to John he says, "Behold your Mother" (Jn. 19:26-27). Eve is given back her first born son Cain. The first child to be conceived in sin is now , in type, redeemed. Our abortion from Eden is now undone in Mary's adoption of John as her own son. John is the New Cain who represents all of us as the Church with Mary as our spiritual mother in the order of grace. Through His Cross and Resurrection and by the power of the Holy Spirit we become God's children. From the throne of grace, the King of kings addresses God as His Father and commands us to take Mary as our mother. Let us follow his example and command.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Birth of the Prophets and Martyrs
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him. But he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it violently. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one dot of the law to become void. Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery"(Luke 16:13-18).
This passage from Luke comes after the parable of the worldly steward and before the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. At first appearance it looks like the author was stringing together some unrelated quotes from Jesus. What does love of money, entering the kingdom of God violently, the law not passing away, and divorce have to do with one another?
The Pharisees preferred the appearance of being holy to actually being holy. The temple taxes imposed and the cheating of the people by the money changers who took the money for the cost of the animal of sacrifice were found "abominable" by Jesus. The writing of a bill of divorce by a man to his wife leaving his wife and children in poverty, while the man would go off and attempt marriage with another was abominable in the sight of God. The killing of the Prophets who witnessed to God's Law was an abomination. Love of Mammon (power, money, social status, convenience, infidelity, etc ...)is the opposite of Love of God (humility, gratitude, fidelity, service, justice, mercy, etc...).
Blessed Jose Escriva quoted in the Navarre Bible Commentary says that the entering of the kingdom of God through violence has to do with violence against the things of world, the flesh, and the devil within us. "It is a violence used to fight your own infidelities, a boldness to own up to the faith even when the environment is hostile...This is the attitude of those who fight their passions and do themselves violence, thereby attaining the Kingdom of heaven and becoming one with Christ" (The Navarre Bible: Matthew, p 114). (The commentary for Luke refers one over to the Matthean commentary.)
Jesus also said, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mk 8:34). To be a disciple is to be able to be crucified with Christ and live so that "now not I but Christ lives within me" (Gal. 2:20). To live with Christ is to die to greed, lust, pride, infidelity, uncharitableness, etc... Jesus calls us to death to selfishness so we may have life in His and thus our selflessness.
It is not likely that we will be put to death for witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We will go through the martyrdom of self denial if we are going to be part of God's kingdom. Sin must be aborted from our lives if we are to have rebirth in the Spirit, the Blood and the Water. "For whatever overcomes the world is born of God" (1 Jn. 5:4a).
This passage from Luke comes after the parable of the worldly steward and before the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. At first appearance it looks like the author was stringing together some unrelated quotes from Jesus. What does love of money, entering the kingdom of God violently, the law not passing away, and divorce have to do with one another?
The Pharisees preferred the appearance of being holy to actually being holy. The temple taxes imposed and the cheating of the people by the money changers who took the money for the cost of the animal of sacrifice were found "abominable" by Jesus. The writing of a bill of divorce by a man to his wife leaving his wife and children in poverty, while the man would go off and attempt marriage with another was abominable in the sight of God. The killing of the Prophets who witnessed to God's Law was an abomination. Love of Mammon (power, money, social status, convenience, infidelity, etc ...)is the opposite of Love of God (humility, gratitude, fidelity, service, justice, mercy, etc...).
Blessed Jose Escriva quoted in the Navarre Bible Commentary says that the entering of the kingdom of God through violence has to do with violence against the things of world, the flesh, and the devil within us. "It is a violence used to fight your own infidelities, a boldness to own up to the faith even when the environment is hostile...This is the attitude of those who fight their passions and do themselves violence, thereby attaining the Kingdom of heaven and becoming one with Christ" (The Navarre Bible: Matthew, p 114). (The commentary for Luke refers one over to the Matthean commentary.)
Jesus also said, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mk 8:34). To be a disciple is to be able to be crucified with Christ and live so that "now not I but Christ lives within me" (Gal. 2:20). To live with Christ is to die to greed, lust, pride, infidelity, uncharitableness, etc... Jesus calls us to death to selfishness so we may have life in His and thus our selflessness.
It is not likely that we will be put to death for witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We will go through the martyrdom of self denial if we are going to be part of God's kingdom. Sin must be aborted from our lives if we are to have rebirth in the Spirit, the Blood and the Water. "For whatever overcomes the world is born of God" (1 Jn. 5:4a).
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Divorce as the source of abortion
"Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mt 19:4-6).
The fruit of a covenantal relationship with God is Jesus Christ and thus our salvation through being born again of the Spirit and water. The fruit of a covenantal relationship with our spouse is children when God chooses to bless us with them.
In the divorce of Adam and Eve from God's way and the resulting abortion from Eden, spiritual death brought about the natural consequence of physical death--the divorce of the soul and the body. The abortion of Cain's soul took place in his conception in sin and the consequence of his being ripped from the womb of original justice and innocence was the murder of his brother Abel. God still walked among men even after the fall and Cain still had a choice to do good as Abel did, but Cain's pride and jealously were the seeds of his and his brother's destruction.
When a man and a woman divorce from each other, the third person formed in their communion of love, the child, is effected in a very real and horrible way. The incarnation of the parents' love is ripped apart inside. The one flesh of their parents is put asunder and so is their heart. The children are spiritually and emotionally aborted by the very selfish act of divorce. Their lives are literally ripped apart on many levels.
It also follows that when sexual intercourse is divorced from marriage for only recreational use, physical abortions of unwanted preborn human beings take place. When the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage are divorced in the sexual act, the salvific purpose is aborted. Artificial contraception enters into many marriages because of ignorance on one level and a deep mistrust of God's providence on another. People who are in uncommitted, fornicative relationships are more likely to abort their children.
Women don't want children or men don't want children; one does and the other doesn't. The women don't feel like they have any "choice" except abortion because there is no support from the man or there is pressure from the man to kill the offspring unintended by their selfish use of each other. The reasons go on and on why people kill their own children, but the main reason is sin. Sin defined as a divorce of a human being's will from the Divine Will is the cause of all abortion: analogical, spiritual, and physical.
Despite our sinfulness, there is a loving God who will even now take us back to himself as Hosea kept taking back Gomer. Also in the book of Joel God declares his love for us. Even now if you return to God will all your heart and rend your hearts and not your garments...God will save us and take us back. He will heal our abortiveness and forgive all our iniquities.
The fruit of a covenantal relationship with God is Jesus Christ and thus our salvation through being born again of the Spirit and water. The fruit of a covenantal relationship with our spouse is children when God chooses to bless us with them.
In the divorce of Adam and Eve from God's way and the resulting abortion from Eden, spiritual death brought about the natural consequence of physical death--the divorce of the soul and the body. The abortion of Cain's soul took place in his conception in sin and the consequence of his being ripped from the womb of original justice and innocence was the murder of his brother Abel. God still walked among men even after the fall and Cain still had a choice to do good as Abel did, but Cain's pride and jealously were the seeds of his and his brother's destruction.
When a man and a woman divorce from each other, the third person formed in their communion of love, the child, is effected in a very real and horrible way. The incarnation of the parents' love is ripped apart inside. The one flesh of their parents is put asunder and so is their heart. The children are spiritually and emotionally aborted by the very selfish act of divorce. Their lives are literally ripped apart on many levels.
It also follows that when sexual intercourse is divorced from marriage for only recreational use, physical abortions of unwanted preborn human beings take place. When the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage are divorced in the sexual act, the salvific purpose is aborted. Artificial contraception enters into many marriages because of ignorance on one level and a deep mistrust of God's providence on another. People who are in uncommitted, fornicative relationships are more likely to abort their children.
Women don't want children or men don't want children; one does and the other doesn't. The women don't feel like they have any "choice" except abortion because there is no support from the man or there is pressure from the man to kill the offspring unintended by their selfish use of each other. The reasons go on and on why people kill their own children, but the main reason is sin. Sin defined as a divorce of a human being's will from the Divine Will is the cause of all abortion: analogical, spiritual, and physical.
Despite our sinfulness, there is a loving God who will even now take us back to himself as Hosea kept taking back Gomer. Also in the book of Joel God declares his love for us. Even now if you return to God will all your heart and rend your hearts and not your garments...God will save us and take us back. He will heal our abortiveness and forgive all our iniquities.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Assumption Day
The Assumption is not only Mary's being taken into heaven body and soul by her Son Jesus. It is her resurrection. Since Mary had no stain of original sin and she never committed personal sin there was no reason for her to die. She probably would have suffered death only to perfectly imitate her Son.
The psalm says, "You will not let your beloved know decay." This I interpret to mean both Jesus'Resurrection and the resurrection of Mary. In the case of Mary it points to her beginning, her Immaculate Conception in the womb of St. Anne. It also points to her falling asleep incorruptible and being awakened by her Son to be taken to heaven body and soul, dwelling in everlasting glory. There are numerous saints who have been granted an incorruptible body after their soul has departed. These signal graces point to the bodily resurrection of the dead.
After so much death in the twentieth century by 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed as dogma that Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul at the end of her earthly life. I heard someone say once that he did this to offer hope to a beleaguered and despairing world. A world that has seen so much death and destruction of innocent people needs to believe in world without end.
Mary our hope,
ora pro nobis!
The psalm says, "You will not let your beloved know decay." This I interpret to mean both Jesus'Resurrection and the resurrection of Mary. In the case of Mary it points to her beginning, her Immaculate Conception in the womb of St. Anne. It also points to her falling asleep incorruptible and being awakened by her Son to be taken to heaven body and soul, dwelling in everlasting glory. There are numerous saints who have been granted an incorruptible body after their soul has departed. These signal graces point to the bodily resurrection of the dead.
After so much death in the twentieth century by 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed as dogma that Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul at the end of her earthly life. I heard someone say once that he did this to offer hope to a beleaguered and despairing world. A world that has seen so much death and destruction of innocent people needs to believe in world without end.
Mary our hope,
ora pro nobis!
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