Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
As predicted in the Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, by Steven Paul, the old Roman Empire would one day be reconstituted. By the Lisbon Treaty, agreed to now by the last holdout, that day has come. Already the warning signs of the coming Christian persecution are there. As Europe has abandoned its Christian roots and the Church has become weak, believers are now a minority with no rights under the new constitution. They will soon find themselves victims of hate crimes laws, speech restrictions and even mob rule.
All that is lacking from the prophecy is a head for the beast. Stay tuned...
Czech Republic Leader Signs Lisbon - No More Barriers to New European Superstate By Hilary White PRAGUE, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, signed the Lisbon Treaty at 3 p.m. Central European Time today, the last leader of the European Union's 27 members states to do so. This removes the last barrier to the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the document that is said to be effectively identical to the European Constitution that was defeated by public votes in France and the Netherlands in 2005. Klaus, the eurosceptic leader of the former Soviet bloc country, has warned repeatedly against Lisbon's encroachments on national sovereignty and democracy, calling the project of a "united Europe" a return to a leftist tyranny. Since the start of the battle over Lisbon, Klaus has warned that ratification of the Treaty would signal the end of his and all European countries as independent sovereign states.
After the Yes vote in last month's Irish referendum, Klaus' opposition to Lisbon was the last barrier to the full implementation of the agreement that pro-life advocates have warned will likely result in the loss of the right of countries to pass laws protecting the unborn and elderly from abortion and euthanasia. Pro-life leaders in Ireland warned that under the Treaty the laws of member states will be interpreted not through that state's courts, but by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that is under no legal obligation to consider any other law besides EU law. Today the anti-Christian, secularist leanings of the EU's institutions were illustrated when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that crucifixes must be removed from Italian state schools. In response to a complaint from an Italian woman in Padua, the Strasburg court ruled, "The presence of the crucifix ... could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion."
The court ruled that the Italian state is to "refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it." Campaigners have warned that this type of ruling under Lisbon's terms would become binding on all member states, ushering in the effective repression in all of Europe of public expressions of Christianity or any other belief that opposes the prevailing official European secularism.
In a 2005 speech, Klaus wondered if the former communist countries were not risking falling into "another blind alley of regulated society, of unproductive welfare state, of brave new world of European social democratism and of empty and artificial Europeanism." Klaus's capitulation was anticipated at last week's EU summit, when French President Nicholas Sarkozy said, "The Lisbon Treaty will enter into force doubtless as early as December 1."
'SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST' IS BEST DEFINED NOT AS SECULAR SPIRIT BUT ONE FULL OF HATRED
From SpiritDaily.com
We are out of balance when we focus too much on evil, at the same time that we are in peril when we ignore it.
There is but one recourse: the Holy Spirit.
At Christmastime, we think (or should think) of Christ; in our time we are also forced to ponder the opposite spirit (for the spirit of anti-christ is rising).
Just what is the "spirit of anti-christ"? How, in our special times, is it manifesting? How do we detect it?
More than anything, the spirit of anti-christ is in those who show direct vitriol toward religion and specifically Catholicism and Christianity. Simply put, it is truculence aimed directly at Jesus.
Day after day, this time of year -- as a new "tradition" -- there are stories about the Infant kidnapped from a Nativity here, or a Nativity disallowed there, or a statue of Jesus found hanging. There are the anti-Catholic jokes. There is the bias. There are universities where they won't even allow Santa! The spirit of anti-christ is the spirit of militant secular humanism, and finds its extreme in satanism.
Anti-christ is most manifest in atheism but is not confined to non-believers. Those of religious faith who bristle at the mention of Christ are obviously of this spirit -- or at least influenced by it. Direct animosity toward Christians (as seen currently and urgently in India) is what would balloon into a challenge unlike any seen since the early-century martyrs.
It is one thing to see the rise of homosexual rights; it is another to watch gay demonstrators with signs that display stark anti-Christian hatred.
That spirit extends across sexual, economic, and cultural boundaries.
In Mexico, Playboy magazine came out with a cover depicting a nude model but for a Virgin-like veil (on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which of course is centered in Mexico). That is the spirit of anti-christ because it went beyond the prurient and into the realm of the blasphemous, which spells hatred. Anti-christ is the spirit of lust where Christianity is the spirit of love. Catholics are disdained by certain writers in magazines like Time while a hard-core pornographer is exalted as a nice old man when he dies. The spirit of anti-christ reverses everything, so that good is evil and evil is good. It spells the word "live" backwards.
"Want proof that hate is driving this assault?" asks a group that fights Catholic bigotry. "The head of the ACLU in New Hampshire, Claire Ebel, advises that if crèches are allowed in parks, it is permissible 'for a display of satanic ritual.' And this hatred of Christmas is not exclusive to the U.S. In England, Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary called Christmas 'evil' in a recent sermon. No wonder they are banning words like 'bishop,' 'chapel,' 'monk' and 'nun' from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. And all of this is being endorsed, if not promoted, by self-hating Christians."
Scientists in America and politicians in the new, unified Europe, especially, are hankering for the day when they will be able to exert a coordinated purge of Jesus. They are refashioning nature. They are redefining spirit. The confessional has been replaced by the couch of the psychiatrist. At the same time, there is an unprecedented eruption of those claiming to see peculiar images of Jesus.
Is Heaven countering the attempt to purge Him? Is it hinting at a coming large manifestation? "An unusual phenomenon occurred at my kitchen sink," wrote Antoinette Santangelo of Cedar Knoll, New Jersey. "On this day, before I left my house at one o'clock in the afternoon, I filled my one-year-old grandson's bottle with milk at the sink. I rushed out without noticing that I had dropped a 'clump of milk' on the ledge of the front of the sink, discovering it only upon my return four hours later. Since I had left a pot in the sink, I set out to wash it; however, before I could do so, I felt a strong force pushing me back from the sink. I wondered why this was so strong. After the strong force subsided, I attempted to wash the pot.
"It was then that I noticed the small drop of milk on the front of the sink. Upon closer examination, I was filled with emotion to see the suffering Face of Jesus on this drop of milk. [The next morning] after Mass I showed my father the picture and he immediately saw the image of Jesus' Face clearly and asked if he could follow me home so he could see the sink and picture in the drop of milk. He found it incredible and believed when he saw was truly the face of Jesus."
It is difficult to discern: are these reports -- so numerous -- pareidolia (the imagining of images into natural, coincidental formations), some other type of deception, or signs from Heaven to offset the attempts at stripping Christian supernaturality from the public square? Why does it happen so often -- with the same frequency as statue beheadings, Nativity controversies, and satanic graffiti?
It is a question this hour -- this late hour, at this late time of the year. "Earlier today, a bus taking members of a heavy-metal band, the Red Shore, veered off the Pacific Highway north of Sydney," wrote a viewer at this time precisely a year ago. "The bus rolled several times and slammed into a tree, killing the lead vocalist and one of the road crew. They were on their way to a performance at Sydney University in a double-header with a U.S. 'death-metal' outfit call 'All Shall Perish.' They had called their tour, 'Christmas Carnage.'
"Sadly, this title has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Coincidence speaks to us. It heralds. It tries to warn. In the quiet of night, in the silence, we take it to the Infant.
Note: If true, this is indeed an ominous sign. What "hateful" language has a Roman Catholic Priest ever used against homosexuality? By hateful is the article referring to the teaching of the Holy Roman Catholic Church? And what exactly are these English bishops up to? Have they succumbed to the neo-pagan culture around them or are they so far gone they are referring to themselves? The Church in the U.K. is in worse shape than most elsewhere from recent accounts. It's about time for Rome to step in. We are not a Church of political correcttness. The Bride of Christ speaks the truth at all times. She is not homophobic or in fear of anything. And she will not be bullied by modernist fads like homosexuality.
Be careful not to offend gay worshippers, Catholic priests warned
Roman Catholic priests have been banned from using 'heterosexist' language in their churches in case they offend gay worshippers.
They have been told by their bishops not to assume that every churchgoer is a heterosexual and to reflect this 'in language and conversation'.
'Remember that homophobic jokes and asides can be cruel and hurtful - a careless word can mean another experience of rejection and pain,' say the bishops in a leaflet advising priests and worshippers how to be more welcoming to gay people.
Activists say any moves by the Catholic Church to be more tolerant of homosexuality are undermined by Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to gay marriage
Priests are also encouraged to put up posters advertising 'support services' for homosexuals, a move bound to infuriate many Catholics who believe gay sexual activity to be sinful.
The advice was welcomed by gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell as a 'positive initiative which will bring great comfort to gay Catholics and their families'.
He said: 'Its sympathetic, understanding message is a big improvement on the past homophobia of some Catholic pronouncements on homosexuality.'
However, he said the 'laudable change of tone' was undermined by the 'homophobic content of the Catholic Catechism' and by Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to gay marriage.
The advice was criticised by Lynette Burrows, a Catholic commentator, as 'pitiful'.
She said it was ridiculous that Church leaders appeared to be ' grovelling' to a secular agenda. 'It is things like this that are enfeebling the Church at the moment - the concentration on things that don't matter and missing the things that do,' she said.
'What is pitiful as well as demeaning is that the Church is running after homosexual opinion but nothing is going to make homosexuals like the Catholic Church.
'This is because the Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is a disorder
From Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of The Book of Revelation
In 9:13-16, John begins informing the reader that the objective of the second major phase is indeed the whole world. Then, there can be only one reason why the faithful of the religious orders tell unanimously and universally the "sixth angel" to loose the "four angels" bound at the Euphrates: not that the Church is making very slow progress; not that the Church is temporarily making no progress at all, either merely in a particular region or in the entire world; but that the Church is losing ground everywhere, that evil has grown so great as to have become alarmingly advanced, even in the Church, in its highest ranks.
The faithful of the religious orders will not meet and vote on the matter, obviously; rather, they will desire in their hearts and think in their minds, that God should begin the painful process of removing the many evils on earth and in "heaven," the Church. Even the faithful among the laity will sincerely pray: "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." When the salt is no longer preserving, when corruption is consuming so many, then, it will be time.
God knows all, and He has marked the exact hour and day and month and year for the "four angels" bound at the Euphrates to be loosed upon mankind. No one is more exact than God is. No one. Watch the religious orders: they will be the signal. Already their ranks are thin. So amazed at the number of "cavalry" was John, that he did not put the connective "kai" after it, but only a comma. To make it clear to the reader that the number is to be understood as literal [but approximate, of course], John added: "I heard the number of them."
In John's day, the population of the entire Roman Empire was about 125 million; and one out of every ten could be trained and maintained in the military. The 200 Million Horsemen, therefore, according to the ancient ratio, which has changed little in modern times, suggest a population of TWO BILLION.
John, by human sagacity alone, would have known that the vision was about an event very far in the future. Those who confine the Apocalypse to the Roman Empire are quite in egregious error.
Note: While there is truth in what the Cardinal says, asking the laity to lead seems a reversal of responsibility in the hierarchical Church. But he means lead in daily worldly affairs, not ecclesial ones. The problem is that the grossly inadequate and ineffective teaching of the faithful for the past 40 years has left a laity that is illiterate in what the Church stands for. A serious reform of the type St. Francis initiated, or more starkly St. Vincent Ferrer warned of is needed.
Vatican Cardinal: "A New World Order is Gaining Ground"
By John-Henry Westen
ROME, November 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Speaking at the opening of the 23rd plenary assembly for the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the president of the Council, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, warned, "The idea of creating a 'new man' completely detached from the Judeo-Christian tradition, a new 'world order,' a new 'global ethic,' is gaining ground."
According to the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the cardinal denounced the "dictatorship of relativism," rampant in Western societies, in which there is a growing "anti-Christian attitude" that makes "attacks on Christians, and particular on Catholics, pass off as politically correct."
Speaking of Christians today he said, "Our true problem is not being a minority, but rather having voluntarily become marginal, irrelevant, because of our lack of courage, so that we will be left alone, because of our mediocrity." "For Christians," Cardinal Rylko added, "the moment has arrived to free themselves from a false inferiority complex ... to be valiant witnesses of Christ."
This is, he said, the "hour of the laity," to take on their "responsibility in the diverse fields of public life, from politics to the promotion of life and family, from work to the economy, from education to the formation of youth."
He warned, however, that such faithfulness would come at a personal cost. "Whoever wants to live and act according to the Gospel of Christ has to pay a price, even in the highly liberal societies of the West," he said.
After the event of the 200 million horsemen and just preceding the second woe we have this verse in the Book of Revelation:
"And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornications nor of their thefts." Apoc. 9:21
Pharmakeia is a Greek word found in the New Testament that means medication, pharmacy, magic, sorcery and witchcraft. The verse seems to point to an increase of the use of drugs (as well as astrology and witchcraft perhaps) in the time leading up to the second woe.
Fornications can mean sexual licentiousness but can also refer to apostasy from the true faith. When the Bible speaks of adultery and fornication it often refers to a communal act of falling away from God's law.
In the article above, Mexico City, one of the largest Roman Catholic cities in the world, even in world history, has decided to give pharmaceuticals, Viagra, to older men to "make them feel better". In schools throughout the western world, the percentage of children on psychological medications is exploding. Pills are prescribed for depression, fat reduction, sexual deficiencies, and every real or imagined malady one can come up with. And of course there is "the pill" for preventing procreation, one of the greatest insults to one's Creator that man could devise.
As for murder, the slaughter of the unborn across the globe is unprecedented in human history. Not only does man not repent of this murderous plague, they exalt it as a right and as health care and force it even upon the faithful. The recent election of Barack Obama is a case in point as a key part of his platform is the abolition of any restriction on abortion on demand and the sexualization of public school children.
Lastly, it says men did not repent of their thefts. What is the greatest theft in history if not the recent transfer of trillions of dollars of retirees and working people's savings and investments to international bankers? Is there any repentance for the mismanagement of loans that led to this thievery? By all appearances, the announcement of the financial "crisis" was timed to elect Obama to the presidency, once his platform of ending the Iraq war fell flat due to recent successes in reducing the violence there undercut him.
All this evidence has to lead one to the conclusion that the time mentioned in the Apocalypse verse above has come. We are about to be plunged into the greatest crisis of faith in human history and how it comes out has already been written.
**Warning** If you watch the video linked to the title of this entry, you will be shocked. it contains graphic images of what goes on hundreds of times across this country. It also shows what a majority of Americans voted to expand in this last election.
You Missed the Warning
It was reported shortly after the election in the U.S. that the biggest issue that caused voters to vote the way they did was economic issues. Though some economic issues deal with feeding and sheltering a family, the trend in the western world is towards a rampant consumerism devoid of family, morals or spirituality. The materialism that has gripped modern man means that even the so-called poor have cell phones, x-Box and a laptop computer hooked to an Internet service. In the rush to acquire goods, no one better stand in the way, especially the children. They have been sacrificed to the altar of greed. There is even a movement to tax families over a certain size.
God has warned us but most missed the warning. I wrote about it before. The tallest building in the western world was the World Trade Center. Anyone approaching New York City by air, water or road saw it long before the rest of the skyline was visible. It was a monument to money. It's very name announced its purpose. Man marveled at it. Yet objectively speaking it was a ghastly thing. Two rectangles sticking far above the rest of the surrounding area.
In the Christian era, prior to current modernism, zoning laws forbid any structure to surpass the church in height. But that was long ago set aside as money needed an even larger temple. Symbols to it are everywhere from the large insurance company buildings to the giant calf outside the New York Stock Exchange. Money has become man's god and nothing will stand in the way as he seeks to acquire more.
In the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, the twin towers came crashing down at the hands of a hand full of thugs with box cutters. On top of the pile was a cross fashioned from broken beams, a fitting grave marker for the greed the building represented. It was a sign that God is in control. People streamed into churches to pray about what had happened. But few got the message.
Both presidential candidates promised to help people increase their wealth. Neither spoke about the spiritual well-being of the citizens or what was good for the soul. Neither spoke loudly about the daily holocaust of the unborn, the ripping to shreds of tiny babies in their first homes, their mothers own wombs.
One promised to remove what few impediments there are to abortion on demand through all phases of pregnancy. After all he pronounced, "no one should be punished with a baby." And you elected him. Maybe you didn't vote for him but by your actions, you look the other way while this massacre continues. I feel I didn't do enough. No one could until this is ended.
But God is surely in control and the chastisement He is placing upon us all will be severe. We'll all have to answer for the images in the video that is linked above.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. [Apoc. 12:4]
It is explained in The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter by Steven Paul that this scene depicts the apostasy of one third of the college of cardinals. They are drawn to the False Prophet by his irresistible force. He has a charism that they are unable to resist and are willing to turn their backs on the Holy Pontiff, The Pope, in order to follow him.
In our own times, we see how easily the faithful are willing to cast aside the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ in order to follow their own desires. In the linked article, it says there is a new way of looking at the abortion issue in light of the overall Catholic teaching that allows Catholics to vote for a candidate who is "pro-choice".
This story is false on many levels, not the least of which is that the theory is not new at all. The idea of the "seamless garment" was used by Catholics 30 years ago for the same reason - they wanted to vote pro-abortion because the pro-abortion candidate reflected their ideals more closely.
The second big lie in this article is the idea that the pro-abortion candidate's policies would actually reduce the number of abortions. Can he defy gravity as well? In fact, his policies include support for the Freedom of Choice Act, which rescinds all restrictions on abortion-on-demand including parental notification, late term abortion, born alive act, and interstate restrictions.
The third big lie is that all pro-life Catholics want to is outlaw abortion but won't help young women with prevention of unwanted pregnancies or with prenatal and post natal care. In fact traditional, church-going Catholics have been feeding the poor, placing children for adoption, opening crisis pregnancy centers like Spring House, Visitation House and Birthright for years. While primary political emphasis is placed on voting pro-life, it is wholly consistent with everything the Church teaches that to care for the poor and to work against violence and social justice starts with the right to life.
Catholic teaching and pronouncements from the leadership also condemn the death penalty and war so long as there is a just alternative. No political party perfectly embodies Catholic moral teaching but certainly there is open hostility to the unborn, traditional marriage, abstinence programs, adoption with traditional families, and conscience protection for Catholic physicians and businesses in one party.
Catholics are free to vote for whomever they choose. But to claim that the pro-abortion candidate better fits Catholic moral teaching is just plain false. Since the people making this claim seem sincere, there is a possible reason for this. They have been pulled away from the Church by an irresistible force, a charism so strong they could not do otherwise. They were too weak to overcome it. This charism comes from a fresh, well spoken politician who has learned the power of his trade. Some have even asked if he is the Antichrist himself. That is not likely, but the ease with which he has swept Catholics away from their Church should be a dire warning.
The question has come up regarding the appearance of THE Antichrist as it relates to the current financial chaos and the presidential election in the US. This is probably more a reflection of insecurity and panic than theological discourse but can be addressed nonetheless.
First of all, I'll address the idea that Antichrist, the person, could be a US president. Many practical and political reasons point to this being extremely unlikely. US presidents do not make laws. They are one of three co-equal branches of government and are mostly responsible for law enforcement and national defense as well as running the social service bureaucracy. Antichrist will almost certainly rule by decree. The other branches of government present a restraint on US presidents though at times it seems they quickly abdicate that responsibility. Still, many other countries do not present such obstacles and are better candidates for a swift ascension to power.
Secondly, the Apocalypse gives clues as to the national and geographical origin of the "beast". He comes from an area outside the nominally Catholic area of the former Roman Empire (the 'sea') but within the empire's outermost reach at its height. The US does not qualify. Regions that are dominated by Orthodox Christianity and Islam are the most likely places.
More curious is the analysis done by Steven Paul that the US will have a special role in the ultimate defeat of the beast and his empire. The US with its powerful armed forces and its Christian character will be the world's last hope. Despite her flaws, the "Great Eagle" is the most Christ-like nation in her works of charity, her rule of law, and her spirituality.
Throughout history, there have been many types of the Antichrist who have come close to world domination and extermination of God's people, the Church. Islam was barely defeated at Tours. Napoleon's empire stretched across the European continent and Nazi Germany similarly made its futile attempt. Charismatic leaders rise with great passion and the people are seemingly mesmerized by their smooth-talking even as their freedom is taken away.
Today we see little dictatorships in Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and some African nations. As well, China, with its Godless communism seems to rise in power before our eyes. In the US, a slick-talking unknown has the electorate transfixed. Yet none of these comes close to the cunning and skill described in the Apocalypse. They are just precursors or impostors.
Antichrist will capitalize on the kind of financial chaos and misery we have only seen a glimpse of recently. Such will be the malaise that people will gladly hand power over to him. The times we are in are precursor to but not the actuality of the kingdom of the beast. Current events are types or warnings of what is to come. One must keep their eyes on Rome and the Church to know the signs of the times. It is a spiritual war that is to come and the best preparation for it is the sacraments.
The recent "crisis" in the US financial markets, created by a state solution to home ownership for low or no income people, has led to the biggest transfer of wealth in history from private citizens to the state.
The average citizen only knew there was a crisis at all by watching television or reading the paper as the media trumpeted the government's warnings and extolled their remedy. It's been said before that in a crisis people will glady hand over civil liberties and wealth but never get it back when the crisis passes. Some have warned that such crises, created artificailly by large investment bankers, are designed to get the masses to conform to their designs.
But what exactly is afoot? It's hard to tell who's pulling the strings these days as one of the more inept presidencies in history has combined with the most corrupt Congress ever to transfer a trillion dollars to investment banks and insurance comapnies, using fear and bribes (known as pork barrel spending) to get their way.
In the meantime, for almost a year, stock prices have been in dramatic decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at over 14,000 in November of 2007. Yet despite it's steady 4,000+ point drop since that time, a comparably modest fall of 777 points was used to scare the politicians and the masses into accepting this theft of the treasury. Simultaneously, private property values have also fallen by >20% in many markets. Low income homeowners who saw their variable interest rate loans increase in cost while their property value was falling simply walked away from their mortgages back to their relatively stable expense rentals.
For those whose wealth is a combination of IRA's, 401K's, stocks and their residence, their net worth has fallen precipitously. And now with the national debt approaching 10 trillion dollars, inflation, unemployment and higher taxes are almost a sure bet.
It has been said that wealth never disappears. It is simply transferred. In the current case, the wealth is being transferred from the people to the treasury and then to investment banks. If the trend continues, there will be a depression. Amid such financial chaos, government will be able to convince people of almost any radical solution. More pressure will be put on forming larger trading blocks, economic unions of regional countries as with the EU. Civil liberties will need to be curtailed as the masses act out frustration with their diminishing resources. Pressure to limit family size through sterilization of the weak, forced contraception and abortion, and for euthanasia will increase. Gun registration and confiscation will be required.
To what end is this all going? Economic despair always paves the way for strong totalitarian leaders to emerge. They need not take power. People will gladly give it to them in exchange for better nliving standards now in the rearview mirror of memory.
Antichrist is described as the most cunning of all humans. His charisma will likewise be unsurpassed. His handler is already at work, preparing the battlefield. Look for religious and political upheavals to result from the current "crisis", ones that will amaze and cause great wonder.
Once in a while, there are signs that God wants you to pay attention to secular affairs. I don't pretend to know the Divine Mind. But after reading The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation, I pay attention to numbers and symbols.
The terror attacks of 9/11/01 was one of those times. I saw it as an attack on financial and military superpower, a humbling of a great nation that has lost its way morally. When the towers came down, all that was left was a cross on top of the pile, much like a grave marker. But in the shadows of the rubble stood the little chapel of Saints Peter and Paul with nary a cracked window.I saw this as a sign that god is in control, not the terrorists and certainly not the government.
During the Middle Ages, it was customary that the tallest structure in a town was a church. As a sort of divine zoning plan, no other structure was permitted (or desired) to be taller. On 9/11/01, the tallest building in NYC was a financial building. Money had replaced God in order of importance. But God has a way of using secondary agents to accomplish His will in secular affairs. And 19 terrorists with box cutters brought the financial and military hyper-power to its knees.
But as it says in the Apocalypse, "they did not repent of the works of their hands". And so like ants, we rebuilt not the physical towers but the financial ones. We created towers of fraudulent paper built on the dreams of poor people yearning to own homes. The greedy power brokers saw a way to inflate balance sheets and investment portfolios. Corrupt politicians saw it as a way to appear beneficent while lining their own pockets with campaign contributions from massive financial institutions. Any attempt at reform was rebuffed with cries of 'discrimination".
But the Great Equalizer once again has brought the towers crashing down. His sign this time is a number and the number is 777, the number of points the stock index fell in one day. 7 is the biblical number for perfection and completion. Certainly the stock market drop was neither complete nor perfect. But God's plan for us is perfect and complete though only known to Him. Once again, we will fail to "repent of the works of our hands" and we will again build towers on the backs of the poor.
But do not despair. As always, God is truly in control. And that is the message of the number.
It seems a day doesn't go by that either someone sends me an article or I read on a Catholic site about a war, impending war, natural disaster, economic collapse or other man made calamity that the author claims foretells the end times.
To put stock in such things is to ignore the obvious and to ignore prophetic writings. In the Bible, the actions of God's people, in the Old Testament Israel, and in the Book of Revelation, the Church, indicate when events of significant change will occur.
In our time we have seen the influence of the Church in the western world slide precipitously towards irrelevance as a secular humanist wave has swept over mankind. Why? Look closely INSIDE the Church. We have witnessed the greatest apostasy in history as priests and religious threw of the bonds of authority after Vatican II, engaged in the most disgusting sexual abuse of their charges, enabled and covered up by their bishops.
To make it worse, the bishops continue to this day to deflect attention away from themselves and towards their own priests and the victims they were supposed to be dispensing the sacraments to. They were supposed to help us get to heaven!
No earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, stock market crash, apparition or war compares to the complete devastation wrought by faithless members of the episcopate on the Church. Indeed, all those other natural and unnatural disasters usually have the effect of driving the faithful to SEEK God, to return to piety. These bishops have driven the largest exodus out of the Church in history!
But when the teaching members of the Church say one thing and do another, proclaim justice but avoid blame, cover up and divert attention, condemn abortion but fail to enforce canon law against those who enable it, claim homosexuality is gravely immoral and disordered but refuse to remove homosexuals from their midst, proclaim the True Presence but give communion to public and obstinate sinners, who is left to believe?
Remember ExcordeEcclesae, the bishops statement on Catholic colleges and universities? The idea was that these institutions should reflect and teach the Catholic faith, a novel idea. Instead they have foisted the most anti-Catholic doctrines imaginable on young people. One such college, Holy Cross in Worcester, MA actually sponsored a family planning conference featuring Planned Parenthood! The bishop first warned the college president and then went back to his hole when he was ignored. Is this what Jesus meant by his admonition not to "separate the wheat from the weeds" or is this just institutional cowardice and accommodation?
1 Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Jer. 23
We have seen a priesthood devastated first by the sexual revolution that saw family sizes shrink and materialism grow and then by homosexuality that has gripped the seminaries and discouraged authentic vocations. Bishops have been compromised and blackmailed by their own failings, moving molesters from parish to parish to continue their reign of terror.
Now, as a political system veers out of control codifying sin as privilege, the bishops are too self-absorbed and lacking in credibility to speak out effectively and rally the faithful who are less educated in the faith and more confused than ever due to the infiltration of pagans and secularist authors in religious education programs.
At times like these, God has always acted. But He also promised that one day there would be a final battle, and that in that battle, the devastation of souls would be unprecedented. God's mercy is that He will spare some of the faithful. But His justice is that the day will come.
Don't look to the sky for signs, or to geopolitical events or Wall Street. One need look no further than the local parish, if it hasn't been sold off, to figure out that something cataclysmic is about to happen. The Church has become "like a scroll rolled up." The "sun is darkened and the moon will not give its light."
Time Magazine: "Want to wreck the environment? Have a baby." - Prince Philip Concurs
LONDON, May 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A feature in the current issue of Time Magazine asks a rhetorical question, "What's an an environmentally conscious parent to do?" Time's Pamela Paul gives the response most frequently pushed by radical environmentalists, saying the answer is 'don't have children'. In a television interview this week, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, concurs, saying the recent increase in global food prices is due to too many children. At the same time, the Italian Prime Minister is seeking ways to turn around his country's disastrously low birth rate that currently stands at well below replacement level.
"Want to wreck the environment?" the Time feature starts, "Have a baby."
"Each bundle of joy gobbles up more of the planet's food, clogs garbage dumps with diapers, churns through plastic toys and winds up a gas-guzzling, resource-consuming grown-up like the rest of us. Still, babies are awfully cute. Given that most people still intend to procreate, what's an environmentally conscious parent to do?"
The Duke of Edinburgh followed the same environmentalist playlist when he said this week that the only way to save the planet is for people to stop having babies. Prince Philip told a television interviewer this week that the solution to the burgeoning global food crisis is simply to have fewer mouths to feed. The prince, who has four children, said, "Food prices are going up. Everyone thinks it's to do with not enough food, but it's really that demand is too great - too many people."
In recent months, food prices have risen dramatically around the world and economists are struggling to identify the reason. Most have said it is the result of rising oil prices which have affected the cost fertilizers, food transport, and industrial agriculture. The prince admitted that implementation of a massive population control movement might be a problem for governments. "Basically, it's a little embarrassing for everybody. No one quite knows how to handle it. Nobody wants their family life to be interfered with by the government."
Indeed, the only governments to try a systematic programme of population control are known to be among the world's most oppressive regimes. The communist government of China has had its One Child policy in place since 1979 when it was put in place ostensibly to alleviate social and environmental problems. The result has been social unrest, arrests of pregnant women and forced abortions and state-sponsored infanticide. It has also caused a massive and likely incurable imbalance in the population's sex ratio in favour of boys and resulted in a dramatic aging of the population. The Chinese government, while maintaining the One Child policy, is now struggling to find answers to the problem of millions of elderly with few children grown to adulthood to care for them.
Ironically, Prince Philip's wish has already come true. Currently the British birth rate stands at approximately 1.66 births per woman, well below the 2.1 level at which a population is sustained naturally.
Meanwhile, the recently elected Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, is casting about for ways to stop the plummeting of the Italian birth rate. He told journalists today that he would try to remove "material reasons" that push women to seek abortions. In his inaugural speech before parliament, Berlusconi promised "new and important expenditures for demographic development". Italy is facing a demographic crisis. The country once noted for its fervent Catholicism and dedication to large families, is aging as the birth rate drops. Italy is now the "greyest" country in the European Union, with the highest "ageing index," according to the Italian National Statistics Institute (Istat). Istat estimates that the birth rate has climbed slightly from 1995 to 2005, from 1.19 births per woman to 1.32, but the government agency said this was almost entirely the result of immigration.
Government interference with family life has long been a major goal of the environmental movement's population control goals through enforced abortion, contraception and sterilization.
It is axiomatic among environmentalists that the human population would outstrip the world's food supply. Last year, Paul Watson, founder and president of the radical Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, denounced the "human virus" said that a "radical and invasive approach" was required. Watson who has called human beings the "AIDS of the Earth" said, "Curing a body of cancer requires radical and invasive therapy, and therefore, curing the biosphere of the human virus will also require a radical and invasive approach."
In 2007, the UK's leading population control lobbyist group, the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), issued a warning of environmental disaster if British couples do not restrict themselves to a two-child maximum.
Note: When the EU Constitution was drafted and circulated, it contained no mention of the Christian heritage of Europe, its contributions to western civilization or any positive effect at all. Pope John Paul II and the Vatican made a request that it be amended to do so and were rejected. The article below however shows the warm relationship between Freemasonry and the EU leadership. So it's no surprise that the Church was repudiated.
Masonic Influence in the EU By The Brussels Journal Created 2008-04-17 11:11
The French Federation of Le Droit Humain represented by its president, Michel Payen, met on April 8, 2008 with the president of the European Commission, Jose-Manuel Barroso, [...] This meeting constitutes a major event regarding the place of Freemasonry in the construction of Europe; this place was underscored not only by the interest and attentiveness that President Barroso showed to the delegation and the time he accorded them, but also by the commitments he made to the values espoused by liberal and adogmatic Freemasonry, its positions and its opinions on subjects of concern. It was the first time that Freemasonry, as such, was able to express itself to such a high level European institution.
The delegation received assurances from President Barroso of his attachment to the spirit of "lacite" and to the principle of separation of religion from the State. The delegation stressed the importance of the Enlightenment in the history of Europe, a dimension to be taken into account at least equally with its religious roots, and certainly more closely tied to the roots of antiquity.
Finally, a principle of communication between the liberal and adogmatic Masonic Orders and the services of the European Commission, to be used whenever needed, was decided upon. Thus the French Federation of Le Droit Humain will propose, in the near future, a recommendation concerning the principle of emancipation that ought to form the basis of all European education systems, in direct relation to a recognition of the contribution of the Enlightenment to the common culture of the peoples that compose Europe, and in accordance with the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Note: The book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation", by Steven Paul essentially makes the same claim as this wacko from Hamas, that Rome will eventually be overrun by the kingdom of Antichrist and the Church will have to flee for safety. Isn't it ironic that this member of the Palestinian Parliament, an sort of oxymoron, sends this message while the pope is in the US?
Hamas Cleric Predicts 'Rome Will Be Conquered by Islam' Monday , April 14, 2008
A sermon last Friday by a prominent Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament openly declared that "the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital," would soon be conquered by Islam.
The fiery sermon, delivered by Yunis al-Astal and aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, predicted that Rome would become "an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe."
"Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion," al-Astal preached, "so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world. "Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad," he added.
Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview.
"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties," he said, calling Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death."
Friday's rant repeated that theme: "Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.
"I believe that our children, or our grandchildren, will inherit our jihad and our sacrifices, and, Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them.
"Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls – and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire at whose brink they stand."
It's beginning to add up now. There is going to be a war with Iran and I predict it will be this summer. Numerous seemingly separate events are converging all at once, mostly having to do with the US and the economy.
The summer months often provoke a spike on gasoline costs. Gasoline is already at an all-time high. Consumer unrest is boiling over as truckers have begun protests and blockades in Washington DC and around the country. A war with Iran would simultaneously focus attention away from unrest and have a direct bearing on oil prices.
Recent disclosures about Iran's meddling in Iraq are also pointing towards military action. This week Gen. David Patraeus testified that Iran's government is responsible for training and supplying elements that are killing US and Iraqi soldiers and civilians at an increasing rate.
The news today is coming fast and furious. One report is that Iran has secretly been testing long range missiles capable of hitting Europe. Satellite photos were released of the bases where this activity is centered.And on top of that is another flashpoint incident of Iranian speedboats harassing Navy ships and being fired on. They just can't be this stupid, can they?
All these stories when lumped together reveal an increase of fear generation not seen since the run up to the Iraq War. It is a propaganda assault.
While the US and President Bush were accused of a "rush to war," the fact is that the military buildup for Iraq took many months, was done in the open, and was in parallel with ultimatums and threats against Saddam Hussein's regime made at the UN. No such buildup for an Iranian attack is needed. Iran is already surrounded by US and allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. A simple repositioning is all that would be needed and if Iran is really fueling the insurgencies in both places, there is little risk of increased violence in those places by pointing the weapons at Iran.
Removing the Iranian regime would add the missing piece in the Persian Gulf oil puzzle. It would be done in a way that appears defensive leaving adversaries such as Russia and China little room to object. Both would be privately irate and concerned as the west led by the US gains control of a huge percentage of the world's oil reserves.
The problem with the logic involved is with the vocal objection to the invasion of Iraq. The protesters shouted "No blood for oil!" But five years after the invasion, the price of oil has skyrocketed. Why? Because the price of oil is pegged to the dollar and the dollar has been greatly devalued by the debt run up to fight the war. It is a banker's paradox that to get the resource takes twice as much money as the resource is worth, not technically but because of the political means, war.
Should the Iranian people resist military operations with any degree of strength, the west would once again be faced with a long and expensive operation. But the bankers make out either way so you can expect it to happen.
And rather than wait for the uncertainty of a new president in the US, it is likely to happen this summer. The drumbeat has begun and Iran best look back at recent history if there is to be any stopping it.
Having said all that, it is my view that it will fail. I base that on the prophesy in the book, Apocalypse - Letter by Letter. I believe Iran will thwart an invasion or attack and instead rally the Muslim world through coercion in some cases, economic bribery in others. If the west is not careful, this could be a turning point towards uniting the new caliphate and causing the simultaneous removals of the west-leaning despots in control of most of those countries.
Note: I couldn't even bring myself to post the real title in my post. The words "erotic" and "Jesus" do not belong in the same article. that a Cardinal can't find anything wrong with this situation speaks volumes about how far gone Europe and the highest reaches of the Church have become. It absolutely disgusts me that supposed Catholic officials can't see how wrong this is. There are many non-Catholics and atheists who would respect our faith more than these people including the Cardinal. This is a sign of grave apostasy and if something isn't done soon, bloody persecution is sure to follow. While the world recoils in horror over the film made by a non-Muslim depicting Islam as having violent tendencies, our own Bishop defends this blasphemy as being artistic expression!
Erotic Jesus sparks art debate in Austria Mon Apr 7, 2008 3:21am EDT By Sylvia Westall
VIENNA (Reuters) - They knew it would be risky to exhibit a homoerotic version of Christ's Last Supper, but curators at museum of Vienna's Roman Catholic Cathedral weren't ready for a barrage of angry messages and calls to be shut down.
The source of the dispute, which Austrian media has dubbed Vienna's version of the Mohammad caricature row, is a retrospective honoring Austria's cherished artist Alfred Hrdlicka, who turned 80 earlier this year.
But not everyone has been wishing Hrdlicka a Happy Birthday. And the Cathedral Museum's director and Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna, have both come under fire from some museum visitors and Catholic websites.
The Church hastily removed the main picture, "a homosexual orgy" of the Apostles as Hrdlicka describes it.
But the protest has continued, much to the surprise of the small Cathedral Museum which is nestled down a narrow street in Vienna's historic Gothic quarter.
The museum's director defends both Hrdlicka's work and his decision to host the artist's controversial versions of biblical imagery in a museum tied to the Catholic Church.
Click on the post link to read the rest if you have the stomach for it.
Note: Wait till you see what gets printed in the mainstream media during the Pope's visit. The blasphemy will know no bounds. And yet, saying anything negative about Islam, like the fact that it has an inherently violent element that even Muslims are afraid to denounce, will never be said there. Look at the photo. Seem like a fine group of young chaps out for a stroll?
Over 25,000 Pakistanis Rally Against Anti-Koran Film, Prophet Cartoons Sunday , April 06, 2008 KARACHI, Pakistan - More than 25,000 people rallied Sunday in the largest protest in Pakistan so far against an anti-Koran film made by a Dutch lawmaker, urging their government to expel the Netherlands ambassador.
"They call this freedom of expression, but it's freedom of aggression," keynote speaker Munawwar Hasan, a leader of the main Islamic party Jamat-e-Islami, told the crowd as it chanted "God is great."
The 15-minute film by Geert Wilders, which sets verses from the Muslim holy book against a background of violent images from terror attacks, was released in March. It has sparked weekly protests in Pakistan, usually drawing hundreds of people after prayers on Friday, the Muslim holy day.
But police officer Syed Suleman estimated Sunday's crowd at 25,000, while organizers claimed more than 100,000 people turned out.
Wearing head bands inscribed "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the sanctity of the prophet," they marched for two kilometers (more than a mile), then gathered on Karachi's main street to listen to speeches.
They also burned an effigy of Wilders as speakers said their government should sever diplomatic ties with Western countries supporting the publishers of cartoons defaming the Prophet Muhammad.
"The Muslim world is on one side, but Muslim rulers like (President Pervez) Musharraf are toeing the Western agenda under the garb of secularism," Hasan said, referring to Musharraf's role in Washington's war on terrorism.
Hasan said this rally, named "The glory of the prophet march," was not against the West in general, but was aimed at creating awareness among Muslims that they need to unite against a war against Islam.
Here are a few key excerpts from this article. I encourage readers to check out Dr. Kreeft's website and buy his books and recordings at http://www.peterkreeft.com/home.htm
Dr. Peter Kreeft: "We are living in a spiritual Hiroshima"
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
By Notes By Joe Wemhoff - The Annual Parish Respect Life Coordinator Conference, Archdiocese of Chicago
How to Win the Culture War
Dr. Peter Kreeft (pronounced "kreft") is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. He is an orthodox Roman Catholic, who has written over 45 books, and who contributes regularly to various Christian publications. Dr. Kreeft is one of the most eloquent voices for the Faith in America. This summary of Dr. Kreeft's remarks was prepared on March 9, 2008, by Joseph A. Wemhoff, from memory and from extensive notes taken during the talk. Dr. Kreeft has his own website at www.peterkreeft.com.
In the 1960s, the term "culture war" meant the conflict between the Establishment and the Counter Culture. Later, it came to mean the conflict between Science and the Humanities. The term became formalized with the publication of the book Culture Wars by James Hunter in the 1990s.
Pope John Paul II fueled the idea by drawing the distinction between the "Culture of Life" and the "Culture of Death." The term "Culture War" is simply a euphemism for the conflict between Christ and the Antichrist, with the stakes being the fate of the universe.
Sadly, today, the Antichrist controls all of the formal and informal means of education and information in America, including the media, news reporting, publishing, music, movies (Hollywood), etc. Today, pornography generates more revenue in America than any other industry except gambling.
This is not a new struggle-it has been going on since the Middle Ages. The Christian religion is now in decline, and the Antichrist is now winning, because he has convinced most people to bypass that simple word: reason. Most people today "feel;" they no longer "think."
We are living in a "spiritual Hiroshima." The Catholic Church is full of psychobabble. Our bishops have all the courage and behavior of rabbits. Since Vatican II, three-quarters of our nuns are gone. Sunday Mass attendance has declined from 75% to 25%. Belief in the Real Presence has dropped from nearly 100% to about 30%. The Catholic Church has lost the power to arrest the decline of our culture.
Properly said, ours is not a "Culture of Death," but a "Culture of Murder." There is the murder of marriage (divorce). There is the murder of the unborn (abortion). There is the murder of reason by militant feminists and by militant homosexuals. The cloning of humans promises to turn the "I am" of God into the "it is" of humanism. Science is promising eternal life by working to eliminate from humankind the "age and die" gene, which supposedly is not found in non-sexual species and in cancer cells.
Our words cannot defeat the Culture of Death, but God's words can.
Eucharistic adoration can conquer the Culture of Death.
Pope John Paul II spoke of a New Evangelization, which means not the preaching of new words, but the preaching God's timeless words to new generations of people. It's easy to be busy; it's far more difficult to be holy. We need to start by being holy. We need to join God's jihad.
There is a tendency today to substitute "spirituality" for "religion." In the Bible, the Tower of Babel represents "spirituality," while Noah's ark-with all its sights and smells and inconveniences-represents "religion." It is not easy being a Catholic.
Consider that only God, angels, and human beings are persons. God did not become angelic to redeem them, but He became man to redeem humankind.
Human life is sacred for three reasons:
1. Men and women are created in the image and likeness of God Himself. 2. Human life is linked to God's life. 3. Human beings are destined to share in eternal life with God.
As portrayed in the book Christ and the University, the Humanities are ground zero in the current Culture War, in the battle between Christ and the Antichrist. This is because college professors now have the power over young minds that priests and saints and kings once had.
The dark, black spot at the center of intellectual thought these past decades is a deconstructionism which says that truth is nothing more than "the hypocritical mask on the face of power." We are lead to believe that there is no objective truth, and that all is relative. It used to be that Science was the source of deconstructionist ideas, but, scientists must deal in facts, and facts tend to be real. Now the Humanities are the major source of deconstructionism.
The only two moments of peace in history are in Genesis (before history) and in the Apocalypse (after history). All of human history in between is full of war and of spirits thirsty for the blood of children.
Pro-choice people will not-indeed, cannot-listen to reason. Pro-choice people are insane and will not convert to reason-they will attempt to convert reason. Dr. Kreeft cited several cases. In one of his books-which, he bemoaned, are read only by pro-lifers-he made an airtight, logical argument that tolerating abortion is tantamount to tolerating infanticide. Confronted with this logic, pro-choicers said, yes, Dr. Kreeft, you just showed us how infanticide is now OK.
During World War II, I.G. Farben GmbH of Germany made Zyklon B, the gas used to kill so many in the gas chambers. Today, a French successor company to I.G. Farben makes the abortifacient RU-486. Either the face of evil has changed little, or the devil has a limited range of business contacts.
There are five aspects of the Culture War to be considered.
History of the Jihad
Since the Middle Ages, humanity has been on a slow, ever-ascending upward slope of becoming smarter, healthier, and more technologically advanced, while, at the same time, being on a slow, ever-descending slope of becoming weaker morally.
God's grace will save us, but on two conditions:
1. We ask for it, which means that we must value wisdom and holiness more than cleverness and worldly riches. 2. We believe that God will deliver (not to believe is to call God a liar).
These past centuries, mankind has fluctuated between the sins of despair and presumption. Despair is represented by Camus and other Existentialists. Presumption is exemplified by Rousseau, the Enlightenment, and by New Age ideas and practices.
We are entering an apocalyptic age, which might be described as Brave New World or as The Abolition of Man-each of which, ironically, is also the title of a book by Aldous Huxley and by C. S. Lewis, respectively. We should recall that the Bible predicts that the Great Tribulation of the end times will be so bad that no flesh would survive if God did not shorten the days.
In the First Millenium after Christ, the Church won the world. But then, she became fat and weak. The Second Millenium has belonged to the Antichrist. We are now in the Third Millenium, and the outcome these next thousand years is anything but clear.
We need to remember that this world is not our home; heaven is.
Came across this video and hoped it was an Anglican but unfortunately this is a Roman Catholic Priest. I may be a bit old fashioned but I was led to believe that my own presence at a protestant "church" was considered scandalous and to be discouraged. So I don't go even when the wedding there is a close relative.
This is ecumenism run amok, an extreme example of the false teaching directly resulting from the "reforms' of Vatican II that distorted the meaning of brotherly love to include realtivism. The priest calls Rev. Wright a "prophet". Really, I thought we were taught that the line of prpohets ended with John the Baptist. Since Christ is the revelation of God, there is no need for more prophecy.
I think you have to read and reflect on the posting I made before about the Sixth Trumpet and the first of the three woes to appreciate how many have been deceived and who is doing the deceiving.
Does this Priest have a Bishop? I'd like to hear from the Archbishop of Chicago concerning this man. What seminary produces this?
It would be easy and a bit cliche to listen to this speech and fall into the trap of limiting the warning to the current administration and the restriction of civil liberties due to the so-called war on terror. Rather, we must broaden the idea to encompass the complete corruption of both political parties, government institutions and public corporations. We are in perilous times. JFK saw it coming. Very it likely, it led to his demise.
Proverbs 30 27 The locust hath no king, yet they all go out by their bands.
Apocalypse 9 3 And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts upon the earth. And power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle: and on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold: and their faces were as the faces of men.8 And they had hair as the hair of women; and their teeth were as lions: 9 And they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots and many horses running to battle. 10 And they had tails like to scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had over them 11 A king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon; in Latin Exterminans,
My brother-in-law, Steven Paul, explained that the first woe was the falling star, a holy bishop who apostatized from the faith. Indeed he identified him as Martin Luther and the woe as protestantism in general.
So the "locusts" relate to that time and that event. Steven did not go into much depth about them. He mentioned a couple of their characteristics - that breastplates of iron signified "a will hardened against all natural reason."
In the passages above, I am pointing out that in Proverbs, a characteristic of locusts is that they "have no king". They do not follow a single leader but rather they swarm together.
A major objection of protestantism is the primacy of the pope. They rejected central authority. As a result, they are untethered from the traditions and teachings of any body or person, the Church and Her pope specifically. So they are "free" to change traditional teachings at their whim or to satisfy current trends and fads, like women priests, gay marriage, gay bishops, etc.
But in Chapter 9 of the Apocalypse, they now have a king, the king of the abyss, Satan. Up until the time of the second woe, they are perfectly comfortable rejecting Christ's Vicar on earth. Instead, they opt for a more powerful and charismatic leader, an angel.
In his book, The Book of Destiny, Rev. Herman Bernard Kramer writes:
"These locusts obey him and do his work. He aims at the destruction of the Church, of the faith of his poor victims and of heir souls forever in hell. The promoters of heresy, error and immorality, are the subjects of Satan and bring irremediable and final ruin to all his followers."
Kramer goes on to give the history of opinions regarding when and whom these locusts are. My update is that we are seeing them in the persons like the current Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, folks like Eugene Robinson, and many evangelical "Christians" who rail against the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
There are also locusts inside the Church because they have not yet been cast out. We are indeed in the days of the end of the first woe and right before the second. Consider these passages carefully and don't be deceived.
I post this excerpt because it is most pertinent to the times we are in - the time of the 200 million "horsemen". In this piece, Steven Paul reveals some of the symbolism used in the Apocalypse and how to discern what it means.
From Chapter 5 of The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation, by Steven Paul
In most instances, the word "earthquake" is a prophetic term signifying "social upheaval or revolution": the "great earthquake" in Apocalypse 6:12, for example. But, that is not the meaning here, because Jesus already included the idea of "social upheaval or revolution" by mentioning "lawlessness" and "wars." Rather, Jesus meant physical earthquakes.
Since "birth pangs" increase in their frequency and intensity, and since Christ included "earthquakes" in that term, it follows that the second and third woes will be a period of spiritual and physical violence ever increasing in frequency and intensity - including earthquakes.
St. Paul hinted at this,
"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revelation of the children of God...We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now..." [Rom. 8:19, 22]
The Apostle wrote "until now" because he thought, as did many others, that "the day of the Lord" was imminent; he did not know that it would be many centuries in coming.
So, in historical comparison, seismic activity during the second and third woes will be extraordinary; indeed, this activity will culminate at the very last event of this present evil age:
There came...a great earthquake, such as has not come since man has come on the earth, the violent earthquake was so great. The great city [Jerusalem] was split into three parts and the cities of the nations fell down. [Apoc. 16:17-19]
The meaning of "nations" in that passage is made perfectly clear by the context: "all the nations," even the Great Eagle mentioned in Chapter 12.
It cannot be deduced from Christ's words, however, that the beginning of the second woe and the escalation of seismic activity to the extraordinary will be synchronous; this notwithstanding, it is a safe assumption that said activity will escalate soon after the second woe has commenced, perhaps, within a year or two: for Christ intended that His faithful be informed; and so, lest the information about earthquakes become otiose, Christ's words will be fulfilled soon after the four evil angels are loosed from the Euphrates. In that way, the faithful, especially, the Four Living Beings, will not mistake other phenomena, such as World War I or World War II, for the second woe.
By no means should the reader exclude from mind the possibility that seismic escalation might begin just before the second woe, even as the rumble of thunder warns of the approaching storm.
Those strong in faith will not despair as the 200 Million Horsemen slaughter both good and bad alike; the informed faithful will understand that the event is a divine judgment and a part of God's mysterious plan; and, too, the brethren will not deceive themselves about the eventual decrease in the violence, the decrease implied in Apocalypse 9:20, which reads,
"And the rest of the men, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they will not be worshipping the demons and the idols the gold [ones] and the silver [ones] and the bronze [ones] and the stone [ones] and the wooden [ones], which cannot see or hear or walk."
Dead men cannot repent; therefore, the general violence will decrease much, but not entirely, so that the men will have a chance to repent. Yet, Apocalypse 9:21 patently states that some forms of lawlessness will continue:
"And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornications nor of their thefts."
Verse 20 points mainly at nations in Asia, such as China and India; verse 21 points mainly at industrial and technological nations, such as those in Europe and North America.
