Published on February 1st, 2008 [First Friday (1)]

Do you ever wonder... why Mary had to go to the temple for the post birth purification ritual [Feast of Candlemas on February 2nd] if She was indeed Immaculate (which of course, She was!)?

Do you ever wonder.... why Jesus, the Word of God Incarnate, had to be presented to God at the Temple, a ritual which is also part of the Feast of Candlemas?

For the same reason Jesus had John the Baptist baptize Him.

By example God was: (a) Upholding the Old Law [Purification and Presentation] into which He was born; and (b) Introducing the key element of the New Law - Baptism or, as a "techie" would say: "Formatting" the soul of the infant so that it may be able to "install" the Holy Spirit of God.

As a matter of interest - the Church of the East (2), composed of the Orthodox Churches, still practice the ritual of Presentation for ever child born to a family. It is quite a moving experience.

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(1)  First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart
(2) The Orthodox Church


Published on January 26th, 2008

Did you ever wonder.... why Jesus was so insistent that the general public not be informed of His true identity? For example when He stated:


He answered that when speaking at Solomon's Porch in the Temple:

In "matters of Heaven" God demands character's anonymity so that the message can only be understood, and thus, believed by God's sheep.  Everyone else, will turn away.  It really is that simple.

A mechanism that we are very grateful for.


Published on January 21st, 2008

Do you ever wonder Monarchies have seldom - if ever - worked for the benefit of mankind? Much less Monarchies-Church Alliances? (1) Because God said they would not! To wit - all from 1 Samuel 8:


Then Samuel, in the Name of God warned them of the consequences. In spite of that:


So God told Samuel:

Samuel slept well that day and so does miguel de Portugal (2), for the world has also been warned (3) of what is to come (4).

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(1) The fallacy of Church-State alliances
(2) Is miguel de Portugal being a pessimist? Think again!
(3) The world has been amply warned
(4) The Apocalypse - One Step at a Time


Published on January 18th, 2008

Do you ever wonder exactly what John, the Evangelist, meant when he wrote the following in 1 John 3:


If we take the above at face value no one, except Mary, is of God: 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  and 9 Whosoever is born of God, committeth not sin: for his seed abideth in him, and he can not sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.

Not only a "casual read" of the above will subconsciously store the message that the Sacred Scriptures are full of errors, but also undoubtedly gave rise to the heresy of Catharism (1), i.e.  That is God creates the good people and satan creates the bad people - thus raising satan to a "creator level".

As it turns out, John is speaking of a particular sin. In better translations of this Epistle that can be clearly understood.  Indeed, not utilizing the traditional Catholic Mortal and Venial sins, there are some sins that could only be committed by someone who is possessed by the spirit of satan - they are so hideous that even the worse sinner, who may, nonetheless, be of God and is scheduled for Heaven, could not commit.

Once again - the Holy Scriptures are proven correct and any error can be traced back to copyists or translators.
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(1)  About Catharism


Published on January 12th, 2008

Do you ever wonder if  it is only the Roman Catholic Church Adminsitration that tramples on the Word of God and Civil Law?  Wonder no more as you review the following news report from the Anchorage Daily News....

01/10/2008

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX: Criticism unwarranted in view of crime's circumstances, chancellor says.

A registered sex offender who served more than a year in prison for sexually abusing minors is wearing robes that signal he has taken a first step toward priesthood in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Terenty Dushkin, 26, was installed as a lay reader of the liturgy last month by Bishop Nikolai, the church's highest-ranking official in Alaska. Church officials say they did so knowingly.

"This is not a scandal in any way," said Chancellor Archimandrite Isidore, the church's No. 2 official here.

"The church believes everyone is redeemable. We don't think people are necessarily damaged goods that have to be locked away."

But Dushkin's investiture appears to violate the Orthodox Church in America's policy on such matters, which states that "no layperson shall commit, attempt to commit, or engage in any act of sexual misconduct."

Alaska church officials knew about Dushkin's past when they "tonsured" him as a reader for St. Innocent Cathedral at a ceremony in early December.

In 2004 -- the year he was charged with 11 sex crimes -- Dushkin was a student at St. Herman's Theological Seminary in Kodiak, which prepares students for Orthodox priesthood.

Dushkin could not be reached for comment.

As a reader, he wears robes that identify him as an official celebrant at church services. That's troublesome, said a California woman who runs a Web site that tracks sex abuse in Orthodox churches.

"He's not going to be hearing confessions or blessing houses, but he is going to be wearing a robe during the services, and that gives him an aura of authority," said Melanie Sakoda, who started www.pokrov.org several years ago in response to allegations of abuse within the church.

"He can come to church, he can go to communion," Sakoda said. "But he doesn't need to be a reader. He doesn't need to go even that far on the path toward clergy."

A reader "is regarded as one of the first steps toward priesthood, the first rank or order of priesthood," said Andrew Jarmus, director of communication for the Orthodox Church in America in Syosset, N.Y.

Jarmus wouldn't comment on Nikolai's choice to tonsure a convicted sex offender.

But Isidore, who said he doesn't think Dushkin has ambitions to become a priest, said readers are like altar boys. They aren't clerics, he said, and they function only under the direction and supervision of a priest.

If anything, Dushkin is under greater supervision as a reader than as a regular member of the church, Isidore said. "It keeps him at the altar."

The tonsuring of a convicted sex offender wrapped up a difficult year for Alaska's Russian Orthodox Church.

Last summer, national church leaders investigated Isidore on charges of inappropriate sexual conduct with a former missionary. The allegations were dismissed.

"I don't see this as a continuation of the regrettable events of this summer," he said of the church's choice to tonsure Dushkin.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Dushkin was convicted on two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of exploitation of a minor, a charge that came from a sex tape featuring him and two females, one of them 17 years old. It was filmed with Dushkin's camera and discovered by police at Dushkin's home in Unalaska, according to court documents.

The rest of the original 11 charges were dismissed.

The convictions involve Dushkin having sex on several occasions, from 2002 to 2004, with girls who were 13 and 14 years when the sex started.

"(W)hat may have been a youthful indiscretion on Mr. Dushkin's part has long since been repented," Isidore said in a written statement.

In an interview, Isidore claimed Dushkin's crimes weren't predatory in nature. "From my understanding, it was a situation that could be termed statutory rape -- which albeit is wrong, but very much different than molesting a child, for example."

Isidore said church officials consulted an attorney before tonsuring Dushkin.

He said church officials weren't deterred by the sex scandals that have plagued the Roman Catholic Church recently, some of which unfolded in Alaska, where scores of youths were abused by priests and other church officials.

"The church doesn't operate based on public opinion," Isidore said.

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Note: The original article dated January 10th appeared at this link: http://www.adn.com/161/story/260366.html    The story was also picked up by http://orthodoxreform.org/news/church-gives-sex-offender-a-role-in-step-toward-the-priesthood/ where additional cases of sexual abuse within the Orthodox Church are reported.


Published on January 9th, 2008

Do you ever wonder what.... triggers persecution of religious institutions?


Why God allows it?  Quite simple! (4)

You want proof?  The best proof is the reverse: When persecution of the institution is rampant but one segment of it functions, and flourishes, essentially untouched. (5)

Why can man learn this simple concept? Because man, without (the spirit of) God, is incomplete - and an incomplete man is basically stupid and repeats the same mistakes over and over again. Proof? Read six-thousand years worth of history in the Holy Scriptures.

NOTE                                        

(1) For example....
(2) Constantine's "Elmer's Glue"
(3) How it has bee practiced for centuries
(4) The only effective way most men will learn
(5) Ratazzi: "I will show you a way around my anticlerical laws."


Published on January 6th, 2008 - [Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord]

Do you ever wonder who were "The Three Wise Men" or "Three Kings" that, "following a star", searched for the Messiah?

We read in Matthew 2 that: For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him.

These men were Astrologers - not Astronomers but Astrologers - those about whom your parish priest tells you to stay away from.

Well, we also tell you to stay away from them.... after all, the last lesson they gave to mankind was to Adore the Savior of Mankind.  Adore the One Who later said:   If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. [John 15:7]

It logically follows that, if the wisest Astrologers of that time deferred to and adored the one who said to us "...ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you."

Then, we ask one and all - Why should man be chasing Astrologers of today and being ruled by horoscopes when we have a direct connection to the Ruler of the Universe who has made us such promise?

As a full fledged scientist - and recognizing the influence the celestial bodies may have on living organisms - I still say: I place my full trust in God and what He has taught (and continues to teach) us by Word and Deed. If the wisest Astrologers of the time sought Him - He is the One I want to seek and not the astrologers.


Published on January 2nd, 2008

Do you still wonder what went wrong with Christianity (1) - or for that matter - do you question if anything at all (2) did go wrong with Christianity?

If so..... What "part of that question" is so hard to understand and/or face?

The New Year dawns with the following news headline: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signaled on Tuesday Israel might have no choice but to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians in a peace deal, citing international pressure for compromise over the holy city. (3)

Would the world be the same today if Christendom had not "set up shop" at the Imperial capital - Rome - and instead had claimed the city soaked with our Savior's Blood, Jerusalem, for its capital? And then... living the teachings of the One Whose Holy Name is liberally used by many institutions to claim undeserving affiliation with Him.... invite our elder brothers, Jews, and younger brothers, Muslims, to share it with us?

Oh, but the tinkling of Constantine's coins (4) was just too much to resist.... and it seems that it still is. (5)

NOTES                                  

(1) What Went Wrong?  Part I  -  Part II  -  Part III
(2) Yeah! Let's go back to the "good ol' days"!
(3) News Report
(4) "Pope" Constantine
(5) Oh, how sweet it is!....Serving Mammon to serve God.... and other Fables.


Published on December 31st, 2007 [Silvester I, Pope [1st Pope after the deliverance of Catholic Church to Emperor Constantine]]

(a) Do you ever wonder why God continues to allow the misery man brings upon man - apparently without care?


(b) Do you ever wonder what will take for Him to stop it?

Such truly momentous questions have quite simple and coherent answers - as all that is of God.

First we will deal with (a).

We read in Genesis 1:26 : And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

Now, God has placed the creation under the management of man.

God also made clear that man had a free will - after all, man was created in His Image. This attribute was demonstrated when God forbade man to eat the fruit of certain trees. If man would not have had a free will, all God had to do is block man from eating from certain trees and not allowing him the freedom of obeying Him or not.

Since then, as we read throughout the entire Old Testament, God has tried to guide mankind to the right path; the right way. Through prophets He communicated the "Why?" of the catastrophes which fell upon mankind as well as the "Why?" of the Blessings He bestowed upon mankind from time to time. All, to no avail.

Since mankind was getting worse - and not better - He sent His Son - Jesus Christ.  The Word of God made Flesh; that is, the Living Way.  To try to get across mankind - face to face - what He tried before through the Prophets: How to live with justice, thus harmony and peace.

The Word made Flesh was killed; a group sprung from said Word with the intent of, by example and word, taking up where the Master left off and continue to demonstrate the true Way - the Way of God.

Man, exercising His free and inviolable Will, continued to pillage and plunder Creation - Earth, animals and humans. This time, using the Holy Name of Jesus and that of the Prophet Mohammed, as a justification. The offenses to God were then multiplied.

In a last ditch effort - and we are speaking literally - God starts sending Mary (1) to remind one and all to get back to the pre Constantine Gospel (2) . As we recently wrote (3) - through Fatima She warned:


This brings us to the answer to question (b)....

Now that we have "...invented weapons with which half of humanity can be destroyed in just a few minutes..." we are capable of annihilating not only half of humanity but all of humanity plus render the planet uninhabitable.

This is where God "drew the line". The only way He has left to deal with humanity - without violating our free will - is to allow so much destruction and pain (4) upon it that, at least a small group will be left. This group (5) will now "toe God's line" - so much was the suffering they had to endure.

Welcome to the first part of the Apocalypse! (6) or The Good News - Part II

The New Year celebration's "real fireworks" are just around the corner.

NOTES                                  

(1) Key Marian Instructions
(2) Constatine - thus, the world powers - assume the leadership of Jesus' Church
(3) Countering the Fatima Disinformation Campaign
(4)  The Divine Hearing Aid
(5)  Who are The Elect and how does God choose them?
(6)  The Sequence of Events That Will Lead to the End of These Times