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.
The Apocalypse describes a "war in the heaven" between Michael and his angels and the Dragon and his. - Apoc. Chapter 12.
In this scene, the Dragon is "cast out" and Michael and his angels "go down" to the earth to continue the battle. In a spiritual sense, this means the Church is cleansed from within and now the battle becomes those outside the Church vs. those inside, at least in the spiritual sense.
We may just have seen a preview of this worldwide battle in the conflict at Notre Dame this past weekend. The liberals inside the Church have cast aside the teaching of the bishops and the pope, that life is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death, that marriage is the lifelong bond between one man and one woman, and embraced a charismatic leader who stands for all the Church opposes.
Those who dared to speak out against the honor bestowed on President Obama were marginalized and even arrested leading to the ironic headline "...Catholics Arrested for Being Catholic at Catholic University."
Vision America President Pastor Rick Scarborough said he was sickened by what he saw when those protesting Obama's speech at Notre Dame were arrested on the campus.
"I wept when I saw my friends arrested and taken to jail," Scarborough disclosed. "They almost broke the arm of a priest who appeared to be in his 80s, by dragging him on the ground."
Is this just a precursor of what we can expect in the near future? Has Satan become so strong as to control the Colleges and Universities inside the Church? Reading the articles at Cardinal Newman Society and IvoryTowerHeretics, one must wonder if the heads of these institutions have gone mad.
Even more disconcerting is the response from the shepherds, from the pope down to the bishops. While 70 American bishops and a few from the Vatican did speak out, there are over 300 bishops in America and most remained silent as did the pope himself. This passivity in the face of evil green-lighted Notre Dame President Father Jenkins and his supporters to do as they please. But this was all foretold long ago. That SATAN IS INSIDE THE CHURCH is obvious and serves as a temporal guidepost as to the exact time we are in.
In chapter 12, Satan is cast out. So up to that time, he is inside and gaining strength until the pope and the college of cardinals finally and decisively act. In the meantime, the faithful, those who truly believe the Gospel of Christ and work in the trenches to serve only Him, will have to suffer. It is necessary for justice. Just as the martyrs were a sign for their time so must the pro-lifers, and the defenders of natural marriage be a sign of Christ for these times.
Those who arrest, beat and otherwise persecute them do so at great peril to their own souls. The new martyrs must not lose heart, must not be discouraged. Their time will come as promised. But they must wait a little longer and persevere. The Apocalypse provides great encouragement for those who suffer with patient endurance.
'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: So few are willing to speak the truth as this man. He may well get his chance to die for his Lord the way things are going. Sadly, if the bishops simply had put their words into action a long time ago and taught the true faith and enforced their own canons, there would be no abortion in America.
Bishop Hermann explains his willingness to die to end abortion
"Behind Planned Parenthood, behind the abortion issue, is the evil one..."
St. Louis, Nov 25, 2008 / 04:16 am (CNA).- At the recent fall assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Robert J. Hermann, the administrator for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, declared that for any bishop it would be a "privilege to die tomorrow to bring about an end to abortion." He has further explained that Catholics' response to abortion in our country should be proportionate to the scale of the tragedy.
At the bishops' meeting in Baltimore, Bishop Hermann had said:
"We have lost 50 times as many children in the last 35 years as we have lost soldiers in all the wars since the Revolution. "I think any bishop here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow to bring about an end to abortion." "If we are willing to die tomorrow, then we should be willing to, until the end of our lives, to take all kinds of criticism for opposing this horrible infanticide."
Speaking with the archdiocesan newspaper the St. Louis Review, the bishop commented:
"I think that the way abortion has been presented over the past 35 years so often is that this is something that's horrible, and we need to stop it. But it seems to me that people do not realize that it is 50 million children that we have killed. We have campaigned to save the baby whales, and yet we vote in pro-abortion politicians -- which doesn't make any sense whatsoever."
Bishop Hermann also described how bishops can look to the example of soldiers.
"If American youth are willing to go to war and lay their life down to defend our freedoms, then every bishop should be willing to give up his life, if it meant putting an end to abortion. And if we're willing to do that, then we should be totally fearless of promoting this cause without being concerned about political correctness, without trying to build coalitions with pro-choice people," the bishop said in an apparent reference to those Catholics who have recently begun to give up the fight to outlaw abortion.
He proposed an "awareness- raising campaign" to help people realize "the destruction that we've brought about" and "the atrocities that we're committing."
"There should be 50 more million Americans in our midst, and anyone under 35 can look around and say, 'Where are they?' And, 'I'm very lucky to be alive.'"
Bishop Hermann reported that after he made his comments one or two bishops started clapping, but the meeting then moved on to other business. Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, along with other bishops, personally thanked him afterwards.
He reported that about 95 percent of the popular responses to his remarks have been positive, with some people consulting him about how they ought to deal with past voting habits. Bishop Hermann said many people have been conditioned to act as if God does not exist.
"I have great empathy and great compassion for people who are influenced by society and are taken in by the big lie that God does not exist. My job is to raise their awareness to, yes He does (exist), and it does make a difference what you believe. It makes a big difference in what you do. "We also have to be aware that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers and the spirits of this world of darkness, as Paul tells us in Ephesians."
"Therefore, behind Planned Parenthood, behind the abortion issue, is the evil one," Bishop Hermann stated. "I often see human beings caught up in this as victims of the evil one who need my prayers and who need my compassion and who need my love. We don't only want to save our children from destruction; we also want to save our adult brothers and sisters from eternal destruction."
The bishop expressed concern about President-elect Barack Obama's support for Planned Parenthood, which he claimed targets blacks with abortion information and facilities in their neighborhoods.
Turning to possible problems under a pro-abortion rights Obama presidency, he called the proposed Freedom of Choice Act "dangerous" because "it would be undermining all the efforts for the past 35 years of trying to limit the destructive effects of abortion." He also noted the possibility Obama could appoint two more Supreme Court justices, which he claimed could secure the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision "for many, many years."
Responding to a common criticism that bishops and priests place such importance on abortion, he noted that other rights and political issues "mean nothing if the fundamental right to life is not guaranteed."
"When someone is denied life, then all the other rights don't mean anything. That's the reason the Church places such a high priority on that. "For an individual to have a proportionate reason to vote for a candidate who supports abortion would be very hard to come by. The only way I could see that happening is if we had one candidate who supports abortion and another one who may mandate abortion... as they do in China."
Bishop Hermann closed his interview with the St. Louis Review by encouraging Catholics to study Church documents such as Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium Vitae and Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, "so they can clearly understand the nature of man and woman and the sacredness of God's calling for man and woman."
"The more they study that and begin to live those teachings, the more they're going to come into freedom to promote the Gospel of Life," he concluded.
Note: Steven Paul's sister, Nancy had written to him lamenting a "wasted life" that now culminated in her being severely disabled and living alone in a mobile home park. His reply to her is below. This letter gives a little more insight into the mind and heart of Steven Paul.
Friday March 29, 2000
Hi Nancy,
I am responding to express my gratitude to your letter dated 3/24/00, in the first reason to express my gratitude for your thoughtfulness, and in second reason to clarify some matters to you. The latter reason makes the most part of this letter.
You wrote: "At 50, it's sad, I still don't know what my purpose in life is - I just keep asking God to show me BUT with neon signs! [Our sister] says the same thing!"
You silly sister of mine, must I point out to you (and our sister) what you already know? Begin with the question of what is the purpose most fundamental to any individual, and the answer is obvious: to change from a soul doing its own will [selfish love] to one that does the will of God [unselfish love]. St. John clearly and plainly stated that "God is love." Intellectually, reason makes us the likeness of the Creator. Volitionally, love makes us the likeness of Him. God, who is omniscient, is much more interested in the works of your heart than of your head. Remember what St. Paul said about the way greater than all others: "Thee abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love." [Corinthians, Ch. 13] Christ on the cross is not a sign of intellectual work, but the sign of the greatest act of love, a volitional work of obedience.
Stop such silliness of questioning right now! And [sister] too! Your "purpose" is presented to you every day in many times and places. Don't judge merely by external things, but by the response of the heart or will. Works of love move around the world immediately, for love is spiritual and in the mystical body of Christ. Do you know who the patron saint of missionaries is? St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, who never left her convent. Though you live in a small mobile home, Nancy, your spirit can affect someone in India or right next door. Distance is irrelevant, for nothing travels faster than spirit. Your purpose in life is to perform acts of love. Some people work and earn a paycheck, then give money to help others. Some sit in their wheelchair and say the Rosary and pray for the souls in purgatory. Some write books for the instruction of others, as did the philosopher - theologian St. Thomas Aquinas. Some are mothers and fathers. I think you get the point.
The way of the cross, i.e., the way of suffering, is the hardest of all. God chooses the way of suffering more for some souls than for others. Physical and mental agony test and prove beyond what words can describe. I am not talking about hardships, such as a man's working two jobs to support his family. No, no, no, I am talking about suffering, suffering which seemingly reduces a rational human to I do not know what. Even Christ prayed: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. But not my will, but thine, be done."
Suffering is a horror, and only great grace from God enables the individual to endure it without turning away from God. We are very, very fragile and weak creatures, Nance, and very few of us can endure more than a little suffering. Ask yourself: can one work 80 hours a week, having good health, and be joyful? Yes. Can one lie in agony on a hospital bed, in great pain, and also be joyful? Only by God's greatest graces. Aye, I understand your fear that you won't be able to take care of yourself, and [our brother-in-law]'s fear of spending years in a nursing home. If something is external to you and beyond your control, then so be it. The thing is that you never know what life will bring to you. God got you out of one mess; perhaps He will do so again. Sufficient for today is the evil thereof. You might remain in your mobile home till age 60, then die in your sleep. Who knows?
Forget your past stupidity: those days are gone. Enjoy what you have been given since then. Pray [your brothers] change too. There is good in them, and prayer may reap good fruit long after the prayer. Do you know they admire you for your cheerfulness in spite of many hardships? We don't care whether you are Einstein, for we know you would give your last dollar to help us. You are the lesson that heart is worth infinitely more than head. Study that for a while.
Well, you expect in feline felicity x4, go easy.
Steve
Note: Nancy took Steve's advice and proceeded to minister to other's in the mobile home park. Across the street lived twins, Joan and Joyce. They had never separated or married and were in their 60's. Both were alcoholic. When Joan died of cancer, Joyce was left alone like a child. Nancy told her God loved her and brought her to church for the first time since she was a child. There the priest put his hands on Joyce's head and she felt she was saved. She received the sacraments and when she became terminally ill from years of drinking, she died in peace and grace. Nancy would die a couple of years later after a long painful life of suffering from Rheumatoid arthritis. But she helped many people find a closer relationship to Christ through His mother and the sacraments.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord (holy and true) dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given to every one of them one; and it was said to them, that they should rest for a little time, till their fellow servants, and their brethren, who are to be slain, even as they, should be filled up.Apoc. 6:9-11
Chaldean Catholic Faith and Resolve: 'They Will Not Scatter the Chaldean Flock'
3/14/2008 Chaldean.Org
"May Bishop Raho rest in the arms of our Lord and may God show mercy on those that continue to hate."
MOSUL, IRAQ (Chaldean.org) - The Chaldean community around the world stand numb and in disbelief as news of Archbishop Bishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul is dead. Outcry from world leaders swayed no influence as fanatical terrorists proved once more that no women, children, medical providers, and now spiritual leaders are safe from their killing spree.
"These are innocent people that want to help bring peace. They kill them, because they are filled with hate. These barbarians have no faith in anything, but their own rise to power," said Omar Touma, a recent refugee and Chaldean parishioner of the Good Shepherd Chaldean Church in Canada.
Text of the news, mournful cries, and prayer messages quickly traveled via e-mail and phone messaging reporting the sorrowful news. Our Bishop is dead, decried one message as images of weeping families huddled together comforting one another.
The kidnappers had been demanding a heavy ransom, Church officials say. When requests were made to speak to the Archbishop the kidnappers replied that the archbishop was dead and gave gave instructions on how Church officials could recover the archbishop's body.
The Chaldean archbishop of Mosul had been dead for at least five days before his body was found this morning by some members of the Church, following information provided by the kidnappers themselves. This timeline is provided by the autopsy conducted on the body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, found in an abandoned area outside of the city, which is in part used as a trash dump.
Archbishop Rahho was seized outside the Holy Spirit cathedral in Mosul after conducting a Stations of the Cross service on Friday, February 29. Three parishioners were killed by the gunmen who abducted the archbishop.
In the days since the kidnapping, Church leaders had pleaded in vain for some clear evidence that Archbishop Rahho was alive and well. The archbishop, who was 69, suffered from a serious heart condition and needed daily medication.
The identity of the kidnappers remains unknown. Although Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki had ordered an all-out effort to locate the archbishop and secure his release, troops were unsuccessful in their search around Mosul-- a city dominated by insurgents and terrorists.
While the kidnappers did ask for a large money ransom, they were evidently not motivated solely by the desire for financial gain. Church spokesmen said that their demands included political conditions-- an indication that the archbishop's abduction was arranged by a terrorist group rather than simply a criminal gang.
Mosul confirms its place as the most dangerous city for the Christian community, the presence of which has dropped by over 75% since 2003. Christians remain the soft target for insurgents terrorists and criminal gangs to raise money and fund their ongoing operations.
After the Iraqi government and coalition forces systematically began turning off funding sources for these militant and criminal groups, their focus turned towards Christians. Iraqi Christians tend to be educated professionals and considered wealthy. They also offer less of a risk in way of having a pro-Islamic police force aggressively peruse the crimes since the victims are Christians and maintain a dhimmi status under Islamic law.
The attacks have created a brain-drain in Iraq as the professionals flee the country in large numbers. Professors, doctors, scientists, and engineers have fled into neighboring regions or across the ocean seeking safe harbor.
After Fr Ragheed Gani was slaughtered on June 3 information revealed that the terrorists were politically motivated to drive Christians out of Iraq. Many consider the indigenous Iraqis that were able to maintain their Christian identity and keep from being converted or conquered by Muslim raiders in the early centuries a moderate balance to the region. The belief is held strongly by fanatical Muslims who are systematicaly driving out the church in hopes of creating a more fundamental Islamic Iraq.
The latest wave of violence against the church came from January 6-17, 2008, when a series of explosions struck the Chaldean Church of Mary Immaculate, the Chaldean Church of St Paul, which was almost destroyed, the entryway to the orphanage run by the Chaldean sisters in al Nour, a Nestorian church, and the convent of the Dominican sisters of Mosul Jadida.
"Our faith is in Jesus who died for the sins of humanity. He will find favor in our Chaldean Martyr who offered nothing but peace, hope, and love," says Touma. "May bishop Raho rest in the arms of our Lord and may God show mercy on those that continue to hate. They will not scatter the Chaldean flock because they have killed our shepherd. Our faith will now grow even stronger."
