In the New Testament, according to the Gospel of Matthew, an earthquake occurred at the crucifixion of Jesus, another earthquake occurred at the resurrection of Jesus. A great earthquake occurred in Macedonia when apostle Paul and apostle Silas were in jail at Philippi, "Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations.

From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?' that is 'My God, my God, why have you deserted me?' When some of those who stood there heard this, they said, 'This man is calling on Elijah', and one of them quickly ran to get a sponge which he dipped in vinegar and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. 'Wait!' said the rest of them 'and see if Elijah come to save him'. But Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.

At that, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked; the rocks were split; the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy men rose from the dead, and these, after his resurrection, came out of the tombs, entered the Holy City and appeared to a number of people. Meanwhile the centurion with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the earthquake and all that was taking place and they were terrified and said, "In truth this was a son of God".
And many women were there, watching from a distance,... - Matt. 27:45-56 -

After the Sabbath and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulchre. And all at once there was a violent earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. - Matt. 28:1-2 -

Late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God's praises, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shock the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners. - Acts 16:25-26 -

The Lord Jesus Christ said that "famines, pestilences, and earthquake in various places...are the beginning of sorrows". All these events, Jesus indicated, are 'only the beginning' that will end in the catastrophic disasters of the last days. The Book of Revelation uses earthquakes as a symbol of the apocalyptic terrors of the end times - the upheavals in the religious and political realms which will precede and accompany the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Jesus answered them, 'Take care that no one deceives you; because many will come using my name and saying, "I am the Christ" and they will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars; do not be alarmed, for this is something that must happen but the end will not be yet. For nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the birth pangs. - Matt. 24:4-8 -

In my vision, when he broke the sixth seal, there was a violent earthquake and the sun went as black as coarse sackcloth; the moon turned red as blood all over and the stars of the sky fell on the earth like figs dropping from a fig tree when a high wind shakes it; the sky disappeared like a scroll rolling up and all the mountains and islands were shaken from their places. Then all the earthly rulers, the governors and the commanders, the rich people and the men of influence, the whole population, slaves and citizens, took to the mountains to hide in caves and among the rocks. They said to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us away from the One who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb. For the Great Day of his anger has come and who can survive it?' - Rev. 6:12-17 -

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible uses earthquakes as symbols of God's power, presence, revelation and judgments. Earthquakes may cause a trembling, convulsion of the earth or fissures in the earth, avalanches, loud rumbling noises and destructive fires.

Dathan and Abram had come out and were standing at their tent doors with their wives and their sons and their young children. Moses said, 'By this you will know that Yahweh himself has sent me to perform all these tasks and that this is not my doing. If these people die a natural death such as men commonly die, then, Yahweh has not sent me. But if Yahweh does something utterly new if the earth should open its mouth and swallow them, themselves and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive to Sheol, then, you will know that these men have rejected Yahweh'.
The moment he finished saying all these words, the ground split open under their feet, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their family too, and all Korah's men and all their belongings.
They went down alive to Sheol, they and all their possessions. The earth closed over them and they disappeared from the midst of the assembly. At their cries all the Israelites around them ran away. For they said, 'The earth must not swallow us!'
A fire came down from Yahweh and consumed the two hundred and fifty men carrying incense. - Num. 16:28-35 -

David addressed the words of this song to Yahweh when Yahweh had delivered him from all his enemies and from the hands of Saul. He said:
In my distress I called to Yahweh
and to my God I cried;
from his Temple he heard my voice,
my cry came to his ears.
Then the earth quivered and quake,
the foundations of the heavens trembled
(they quivered because he was angry);
from his nostrils a smoke ascended,
and from his mouth a fire that consumed
(live embers were kindled at it). - 2Sam. 22:1, 7-9 -

God, when you set out at the head of your people,
and marched across the desert, the earth rocked,
the heavens deluged at God's coming,
at the coming of God, the God of Israel. - Psalms 68:7-8 -

Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then, Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke because Yahweh had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up and the whole mountain shook violently. Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. Yahweh came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain; and Moses went up. - Exodus 19:16-20 -

The Lord says this: It was of you that I spoke in the past through my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied and foretold your invasion. On the day Gog attacks the land of Israel-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks-I shall grow angry. In my anger, my jealousy and the heat of my fury I say it: I swear that on that day there will be a fearful quaking in the land of Israel. At my presence the fish in the sea and the birds of heaven, the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl along the ground, and all men on earth, will quake. Mountains will fall, cliffs crumble, walls collapse, and I will confront him with every sort of terror-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks. His men will turn their swords on each other. I will punish him with plague and bloodshed and send torrential rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone against him and his hordes and against the many nations with him. I mean to display my greatness and holiness and to compel the many nations to acknowledge me; this is how they will learn that I am Yahweh. - Ezek. 38:17-23 -

In the Old Testament, a notable earthquake occurred during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah (792-740 B.C.) and Jeroboam II, king of Israel (793-753 B.C.) Prophet Amos dates his prophecy "two years before the earthquake" - Amos 1:1 - and Zechariah writes of "the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah" - Zech. 14:5 -

In the New Testament, according to the Gospel of Matthew, an earthquake...

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The real presence of the Most Holy Trinity in our souls is something that cannot be perceived by any natural or supernatural efforts of our own. Therefore, any straining of the mind or worse still of the imagination in the hope of establishing contact with the Divine Guest within us is not only useless but harmful. Though we should often think on the fact of God's presence, we cannot have any experience or awareness of it, unless He himself takes the initiative and reveals his presence to us.

God does not manifest his presence by a vision or by direct contact the mind; that is reserved for Heaven. Because of God's infinite brightness he cannot be seen by the natural power of the mind. "His dwelling is in unapproachable light; no human eye has seen or can see him". - 1Tim. 6:16 - Not even a supernaturally infused idea can reveal him to us because no created idea is capable of representing him whose being is infinite. He can be seen only when he directly unites himself to the mind without any intermediary idea as he does in heaven. Short of the beatific vision in heaven, no man can see God. "The soul", writes Saint Teresa, "in a way which has nothing to do with the outward senses, realizes that it is very close to God...That is not because it sees him either with its bodily eyes or with its spiritual eyes. The soul does not see the good Master teaching it although it knows that he is at its side".

God makes known his presence by touching the will with his love. "The love of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us". - Rom. 5:5 - Through this touch on the will the mind, under the influence of the gift of wisdom, has a certain experience of God's immediate and loving presence without seeing him. This experience gives the soul a profound peace. The gift of Wisdom is the highest of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are possessed by all those in sanctifying grace though in very many their activity is obstructed or obscured by habitual venial sins and worldly preoccupations.

"All tradition", writes Rev. Fr. Garrigou-Largrange, "associates with the inspirations of the gift of wisdom that loving knowledge of God which is quite different from speculative knowledge...Wisdom makes us judge all things by the taste, by the affective and sweet knowledge of God...Although in this life wisdom remains in the obscurity of faith without seeing God as he is, nevertheless it contemplates him in his intimate life in the measure in which we have an experimental knowledge of him as the soul of our soul, the life of our life...by the action he exercises in us and by the spiritual joy and peace we experience therefrom".

In thinking of God's presence within us, we can quite lawfully regard our heart as in a special sense the sanctuary of this presence. Saint Paul insists that we are to regard our very bodies as the temples of God: "Surely you know that your bodies are the shrines of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you...Glorify God by making your bodies the shrines of his presence". - 1Cor. 6:18-20 - But nearly always when speaking of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit within us, it is with the heart he associates them because they are the presence and activity of Love. "God has put his seal on us and given us a fore-state of his Spirit in our hearts". - 2Cor. 1:22; Rom. 5:5; Eph. 5:18-19 -

There are many other texts of a similar type. If then our bodies are the temples of God, our hearts are as it were the inner tabernacle of his real presence. Of course, we are thinking of the heart permeated and animated by the soul which is, itself quickened with supernatural life by the Holy Spirit who is like the very soul of the soul; we are thinking of the heart taken as the symbol of love and the seat of love in the sense that it is the organ that primarily registers the movement of love that take place in the will. The special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so warmly approved by the Church is directed, as theologians explain, to the real physical Heart of the Lord, considered as the human symbol and as it were the organ of his love for us.

The Sacred Heart is invoked too as "the holy Temple of God", and "the Tabernacle of the Most High", not only because it is united to the divine Person of the Word but because of the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Again devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is directed to her real physical heart as the symbol and organ of her love for us and next to the heart of Jesus, the supreme shrine of the Holy Spirit. We need have no qualms, therefore, in making the divine presence within us more concrete by associating it particularly with the heart.

The indwelling God, therefore, approaches us through the heart rather than directly through the mind. Consequently our approach to him will also be chiefly through the heart. As we have seen, God reveals himself to us by touching the will and not by directly touching the intelligence so that his presence is to be thought of as primarily a presence in the heart. Our contact with God will be in the heart then, and what is required for this is not mental concentration or difficult introspection but a loving and simple conversation of the heart comparable to and taking the place of the intimate conversation we tend to carry on with ourselves when alone.

This conversation with ourselves is the expression to ourselves of the inmost loves, longings, hopes, disappointments and joys of our heart. It goes on spontaneously and almost unconsciously without any straining of the mind to "see" ourselves or become conscious of ourselves. Now the interior life proper to a Christian consists in transforming this intimate communing with self into an interior intimate communing with that Other who alone can enter substantially into our hearts and make his home there. It requires no great mental effort but a frequent quiet pondering on the simple fact of his presence and the habit of directing our inner conversation to him as to a friend who is with us in the dark. The effect will be the gradual substitution of God for our own ego as the goal and centre of our thoughts and aspirations.

BY REV. FR. ANSELM MOYNIHAN O.P.

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Adam and Eve were created by God in a state of sinless perfection so they could glorify God, reflecting His righteousness on the earth and enjoy fellowship and union with Him. Their calling was to exercise dominion or control over God's creation through their own labours and those of their offspring in faithful response to the word of God.

As a specific test of this loyalty. God commanded them not to eat of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". - Gen. 2:17 - Adam and Eve were to demonstrate their willingness to live "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord". - Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4 - God warned them clearly that their disobedience would result in death. This event plunged them and all mankind into a state of sin and corruption. The account of the Fall is found in Genesis Chapter 3. The disobedience and sin of Adam and Eve that caused them to lose the state of innocence in which they had been created.

The fall from their original state of innocence occurred when Satan approached Eve through the serpent who tempted her to eat of the forbidden fruit. Satan called into question the truthfulness of what God had spoken about the tree and its significance. He urged Eve to discover through trail and error whether it was in her best interest to do what God had forbidden. Eve's sin did not only consist of being tempted but in believing and acting on Satan's lie. Her rejection of God's command occurred when she ate of the forbidden fruit and persuaded her husband to do the same thing. The term Fall should not be interpreted to suggest that their sin was accidental. The temptation was purposeful and their submission to it involved their willing consent.

The immediate consequence of the Fall was death, symbolized by their loss of fellowship with God. For the first time, Adam and Eve experienced fear in the presence of the Lord God; and they hid when God approached. - Gen. 3:8-10 - Because of their unbelief and rebellion, they were driven from the garden that God had provided as their home. From that time on, man would experience pain and encounter resistance as he worked at the task of earning his daily bread. Physical death with the decay of the body is not a natural process. It entered the human experience as God's curse upon sin.

Adam and Eve did not sin simply as private persons but as representatives of all members of the human race. Their sin is the sin of all; and all persons receive from them a corrupt nature. It is this nature that stands behind all personal violations of the Lord's commandments. For this reason, the fall of Adam is the fall of the human race. The apostle Paul confirmed of Christ as the second Adam who would rebuild the old, sinful Adam through His redemption and salvation.

But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet. - 1Cor. 15:20-26 -

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

In the New Testament, both Jews and Gentiles find access to God, not on the basis of human achievement but because of God's free grace bestowed on those who have hope and accept it in faith and in love.

Apostle Paul emphasizes that everyone stands in need of God's grace. This was apparent in the case of the Gentiles who instead worshiping the Creator, worshiped the things created. But the Jews, in spite of their belief that they were superior to Gentiles, were also worshiped the things created.

The more they called themselves philosophers, the more stupid they grew until they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a worthless imitation, for the image of mortal man, of birds, of quadrupeds and reptiles. That is why God left them to their filthy enjoyments and the practices with which they dishonour their own bodies since they have given up divine truth for a lie and have worshipped and served creatures instead of the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen! - Rom. 1:22-25 -

The Jews knew the revealed will of God and they judged others by it; but they failed to see they were condemned by the very law under which they passed judgments. Thus, there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Rom. 2:1, 3:5-8 - But good news is that God's love is so great that it reaches humankind even in their sin. The form it took was the death of the beloved Son of God on the cross. The righteous one, Jesus, died on behalf of the unrighteous. Therefore, God pronounces persons justified, not when they have attained a certain level of goodness but in the midst of their sin and rebellion. Such grace can be received by grateful and trusting surrender, which is Faith, Hope, Love. - Rom. 5:1-11 -

Saint Paul urged us not to return to our old human nature which always stands under condemnation of the law. Rather, he called on us to live free from sin and death through the power of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Though your body may be dead it is because of sin but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then, he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.

So then, my brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live. - Rom. 8:10-12 -

                                                                       Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Helper is a word used by Jesus to describe the HOLY SPIRIT. The Greek word has been translated into English by various versions of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible as Advocate, Paraclete as well as Helper. Paraclete is a transliteration of the Greek word 'parakletos' which means 'one who speaks in favour of' as an intercessor or an advocate This Greek word is so filled with meaning that it is difficult to translate it with one English word. However, the basic meaning is "HELPER".

I shall ask my Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you forever,
that Spirit of truth - John 14:16 -

I have said these things to you
while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you. - John 14:25-26 -

When the Advocate comes,
whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father,
he will be my witness. - John 15:26 -

Still, I must tell you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I go,
I will send him to you.
And when he comes,
he will show the the world how wrong it was,
about sin,
and about who was in the right,
and about judgement:
about sin:
proved by their refusal to believe in me. - John 16:7-9 -

The Holy Spirit is the one called to our side by Jesus to help us to stand by us, to strengthen us and give assistance when needed. The Holy Spirit is now our Helper. Just as Jesus was the Great Helper while on earth.

The Greek translated as advocate here is found in the Gospel of John, all referring to the Holy Spirit. Christians need an Advocate because of the Adversary, the devil or Satan who accuses of before God. If Satan is the prosecuting attorney, Christ and the Holy Spirit are the legal advocate who help, defend, counsel and comfort us; they plead the Christian's case before God day and night providing a continuing remedy for sin. If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

I am writing this, my children,
to stop you sinning;
but if anyone should sin,
we have our advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ who is just;
he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away,
and not only ours,
but the whole world's. - 1John 2:1 -

                                                                     Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Shepherd refers to one who tend sheep. Abel was the first shepherd mentioned in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Later Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) became shepherds. - Gen. 13:7; 26:20; 30:36 - When Israel went into Egypt, the Egyptian rulers isolated them because they considered shepherds unclean. - Gen. 46:34 -

Ancient shepherds went before their flocks. A flock knew its shepherd's voice and would follow only him. Often for protection flocks were lodged together at night and separated in the morning when the shepherds called their flocks by name. They provided their flocks with water and food. They knew each sheep and lamb. When one was lost, they went out to find it. Small lambs and sheep unable to keep up with the flock, were often carried next to a shepherd's breast inside the fold of his outer garment. The shepherd also protected his flock, risking his life if necessary. - Ps. 23:2; Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:12; Luke 15:4-5; Is. 40:11; Amos 3:12; John 10:12 -

In the Old Testament God is often called a shepherd. Leaders of God's people called shepherds too. Poor and wicked leaders, rebellious against God are called irresponsible shepherds who desert, mislead and misfeed God's flock. - Num. 27:17; 1Kin. 22:17; Jer. 23:1-4 -

God is often called a shepherd. King David used this beautiful metaphor for God in Psalm 23. The prophet Isaiah used the same image, probably with Psalm 23 in mind, comparing God's care of Israel to a shepherd feeding his flock and bearing lambs in 'his bosoms'. According to prophet Jeremiah, God the shepherd protected His flock. while the prophet Ezekiel spoke of the divine shepherd who seeks out His flock.

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ declared that He is the good shepherd who cares for, protects and redeems His flock - the people of God. Jesus is a good shepherd who suffers for the sheep, lambs and divides His own from the goats at the 'Day of Judgment'.

After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives. Then, Jesus said to them, 'You will all lose faith in me this night, for the scripture says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee'. At this, Peter said, 'Though all lose faith in you, I will never lose faith'. Jesus answered him, 'I tell you solemnly, this very night before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times'. - Matt. 26:30-34 -

'I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but gets in some other way is a thief and brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers'.

Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them.
So Jesus spoke to them again:
I tell you most solemnly,
I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All others who have come
are thieves and brigands;
but the sheep took no notice of them.
I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me will be safe:
he will go freely in and out
and be sure of finding pasture.
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
so that they may have life
and have it to the full.

I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.
The hired man since he is not the shepherd
and the sheep do not belong to him,
abandons the sheep and runs away
as soon as he sees a wolf coming,
and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep;
this is because he is only a hired man
and has no concern for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd;
I know my own
and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.
And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and these I have to lead as well.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be only one flock,
and one shepherd. - John 10:1-16 -

                                                                       Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

A person's path may lead him to a life of Spirit or Death. A second common usage of the word spirit is in reference to good and evil spirits, meaning the beings other than God and humans. The word spirit also refers to the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the Spirit occasionally came upon to give them power to do God's will or to enable them to serve God in a special way. For example, the Spirit of the Lord enabled Samson to kill a young lion with his bare hands. - Judg. 14:5-6 - The Spirit of the Lord also enabled the judges to lead Israel to military victory and the true prophets to prophesy. - Judg. 3:10; 11:29; Num. 24:2; Ezek. 11:5 -

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit was an even more active presence among the people of God. The Holy Spirit was the agent of fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and He continued to inspire Christians in order to do His work on earth. - Acts 1:16; 2:4, 16-21; 3:18; 19:6; 28:25-27 -

This Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. A person can relate to Jesus only by means of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, even today, whenever Moses is read, the veil is over their minds. It will not be removed until they turn to the Lord. Now this Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit. - 2Cor. 3:15-18 -

People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interest, however, are not in the unspiritual but in the spiritual since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. - Rom. 8:8-9 -

The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, 'Abba, Father' and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave anymore; and if God has made you son, then, he has made you heir. - Gal. 4:6-7 -

                                                                       Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The appearance of Jesus, God's Son, in human body is a literal revelation of God in the form of man. Jesus was in the form of God but He took "the form of a servant", the "likeness" and "appearance" of a man to save us and reveal the depth of God's love. Therefore, with respect to Jesus, we can literally speak of God in human form.

His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross. - Phil. 2:6-8 -

'Have I been with you all this time, Philip', said Jesus to him 'and you still do not know me?
'To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, "Let us see the Father"? - John 14:9 -

Anthropomorphism refers to the practice of describing God in human terms, as He has feet - Ex.24:9-11 - hands - John 10:29 - a face - Matt. 18;10 - a heart - Hos. 11:8 - and so forth. Although the Old Testament and New Testament deny any literal similarity of form between God and His creatures, the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible uses such human language to affirm that God is personal and active in His creation. - Job. 9:32 - John 4:24 -

Since Jesus birth in Bethlehem by the miracle of the Incarnation, Christ had lived physically on earth. But 40 days after the resurrection, His earthly ministry ceased with His ascension into heaven. Jesus' departure into heaven was a bodily ascension in His resurrection body. Saint Stephen and Saint Paul both reported seeing Jesus in bodily form after His resurrection. Acts 7:56; 9:27; 1Cor. 15:8 -

The ascension set in motion the coming of the Holy Spirit with His gifts for believers. God determined that the presence of Jesus would be replaced by the presence of the Holy Spirit who could be everywhere at the same time. Jesus' followers now enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit and the operation of the Holy Spirit's gifts [Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety and the fear of the Lord] through them. - John 14:16-18,26; 16:7-15; Acts 2:23; Eph. 4:11-12 -

The same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. - Acts 1:11 - The Lord Jesus will return to earth in bodily from just as He ascended into heaven. Therefore, the exegesis and in accordance to Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible,(Written Tradition) Oral Tradition, The Magisterium, it is clearly understood that Jesus[Son of God] is indeed "Fully Human and Fully Divine".

                                                                       Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

John the Baptist publicly identified Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Elsewhere in the New Testament Jesus is called a lamb.

The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. - John 1:29-30 -

'Look there is the lamb of God'. Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. - John 1:36 -

Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:
Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house,
like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers,
like these he never opens his mouth. - Acts 8:32 - 1Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:6-7 -

John's reference to Jesus as the lamb of God calls to mind the Old Testament sacrificial system. In the sacrifice God accepted the blood of animals as the means of atonement for sin. It is likely that John had many themes from the Old Testament in mind when he called Jesus the Lamb of God. These themes probably included the sin offering, - Lev. 4 - the trespass offering, - Lev. 5 - the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement - Lev. 16 - and the Passover sacrifice. - Ex. 12 -

But the strongest image from the Old Testament is the suffering servant who "was led as a lamb to the slaughter" and who "bore the sins of many". Thus, this vivid description of Jesus was a pointed announcement of the 'Atonement'. He would bring about on man's behalf.

Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly,
he never opened his mouth,
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house,
like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers
never opening its mouth.

By force and by law he was taken;
would anyone plead his cause?
Yes, he was torn away from the land of the living;
for our faults struck down in death.
They gave him a grave with the wicked,
a tomb with the rich,
though he had done no wrong
and there had been no perjury in his mouth.

Yahweh has been pleased to crush him with suffering.
if he offers his life in atonement,
he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life
and through him what Yahweh wishes will be done.

His soul's anguish over
he shall see the light and be content.
By his sufferings shall my servant justify many,
taking their faults on himself.

Hence I will grant whole hordes for his tribute,
he shall divide the spoil with the mighty,
for surrendering himself to death
and letting himself be taken for a sinner,
while he was bearing the faults of many
and praying all the time for sinners. - Isaiah 53:7-12 -

                                                                        Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The difference between forgiveness and reparation is indicated in Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. When Moses sinned by doubting, God forgave him - but God still imposed a penance on Moses. 'You shall not pass this Jordan' - Deut. 3:27 - King David repented for his adultery and Nathan, the prophet absolved him: 'The Lord has taken away your sin: you shall not die' - 2Kings 12:13 - But God demanded satisfaction, 'The child that is born to you, shall surely die' - 2Kings 12:14 - It is the same today: God's pardon in the Sacrament restores us to His Friendship but the debt to Divine Justice remains either in time or in eternity.

The temporal expiation for many sins is necessarily considerable and it requires considerable self-discipline on the part of the penitent. Faith in Christ's merits alone is not adequate for the remission of sins; as a matter of fact, faith without penance and reconciliation is always insufficient.

Christ's infinite merits and satisfactions are enough and yet not enough because God will not treat us as robots or automatons. There are those who often accuse us of attributing magical effects to the Sacraments. We retort that they are the culprits who attribute magic to Redemption, whereas we assert that there is magic neither in the Sacraments nor in Redemption. God respects our free-will and without the cooperation of our free-will, will do nothing. His operation is dependent on our cooperation, just as the electric current is dependent on the lamp for the production of light. Confession has the innate power to remove all traces of sin but before it can do so, there must be perfect cooperation, i.e. perfect rectification of the will. Free-will is the core of the difficulty.

An illustration may help to clarify the issue. Suppose two men had a quarrel and one of them got into an uncontrollable rage and struck his companion so hard that he damaged his own hand and wrist. Afterwards, the aggressor apologised and his apology was accepted. Would you call that the end of this incident? "No", you would say, "what about the hand?" Acceptance of the apology would not heal the hand.

So it is with us. By sin we damage our will; and the pardon is not necessarily repaired by God's decree of pardon. Sometimes when we sin we turn to the creature with great intensity. Completely to rectify our will, we must turn back to God with equal intensity; that we frequently fail to do, with the result that our will remains scarred and out-of-the-straight. The will must be rectified before we can be fit for heaven.

If we turn back to God with an intensity equal to or greater than our intensity in sin. Confession takes away both the guilt of sin and the temporal punishment due to sin.

If we turn to God with less, though with sufficient intensity, the will still remains damaged and other good works will be required to complete its rectification.

Here we have the explanation of the heavy penances imposed in the early Church. The early Christians did not doubt the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation but the adequacy of their own repentance. This is the explanation, too, of Christ's own insistence on penance and reconciliation.

                                                                       Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF SACRIFICE

The Eucharistic sacrifice belongs to the symbolic order to the realm of signs and symbols which, however, signify and point to deep realities. The inner core of the sacrifice consists in its sign value. In its intrinsic reality the sacrificial victim is nothing but the carrier of the offerer's self-commitment to God, for in offering the victim to God the offerer is in reality offering himself to him. Deep down the victim is nothing but a transparent symbol of the offerer's self-surrender to God.

Hence, in the offering of sacrifice man reaches the maximum self-devotedness since man cannot offer to God anything better than himself. At the Last Supper Jesus gave the Church even his body as a sign of his radical self-gift to her. Similarly now, in the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the worshiping Church offers to God even her body as the supreme manifestation of her self-sacrificing love.

Rightly, "The external sacrifice represents the true, internal sacrifice according to which the human spirit offers itself up to God". - Saint Thomas - "It is you that God seeks, more than your own gift". - Saint Augustine -

This act of man's self-surrender into the hands of God, this radical giving of self is essentially marked by a profound Christological stamp. Christ's historical sacrifice on Calvary was but the consummation of his entire life. For, in him there is no visible dichotomy between life and worship, his whole being imbued with a deep sacrificial spirit. Christ's absolute self-gift to the Father marks his entire life, from Bethlehem to Golgotha, from birth to death. The epistle to the Hebrews presents Christ in this radical attitude of self-surrender to his Father from the very beginning of his earthly existence: - Heb. 10:5-9 - On the other hand, the entire span of his life is briefly summarized by his own word: - John 8:29 - And at the end his supreme act of willful surrender: - Luke 23:43 -

His whole life was but a self-gift to the two persons he so deeply loved: his Father and his Church. Probably the deepest aspects of Jesus' religious personality are his love and his self-gift or rather his self-gift out of love. The Father and the Church are the recipients of this twofold commitment of Jesus, of his profound sacrificial spirit. He gives himself totally out of love: he is simultaneously the perfect offerer and the perfect victim, his sacrifice is perfect because in him offerer and victim are fused into one, they are simply identified. His life led him, by an internal and necessary dynamism. towards the supreme sacrifice of his death and resurrection which was but the climax of an entire life steeped in the sacrificial spirit of self-gift. His Father and his Church, his two loves: "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God".

Similarly, with this Christological model before his eyes, the Christian too has God as his centre, he tends to him, he turns to him or rather, he returns to him. The perfection of man's Christian sacrifice is reached when he, like Christ, becomes simultaneously offerer and victim when he offers to God, an external, immolated victim that is but the bearer, the vehicle of his own self-gift to God. It is the identification of the two roles of offerer and victim that determines the perfection of the sacrifice, whose real worth depends on the subjective sacrificial spirit of the offerer rather than on the intrinsic value of the victim offered. For "it is not the sacrifice that sanctifies man but rather man's conscience that sanctifies the sacrifice". - Saint Irenaeus -

Yet in the present state of sinful humanity, with the reality of sin clinging so fiercely to man and man given man's inner inclination to yield to the allurement of sin. It becomes next to impossible for man to surrender himself to God in a sacrificial act of self-commitment unless he first cuts himself loose from the surrounding entanglements of sin. The victim has first to be rendered free in order to be able to fly unimpeded to God. Sacrificial oblation or self-gift necessarily presupposes a certain amount of self-immolation as an indispensable, preparatory step.

Saint John of the Cross compares the Christian soul to a dove that would like to fly to God but cannot, for it is tied down by a thread to the leg of the table. As long as the thread-thick or thin, it does not matter-remains uncut, the dove will not fly. Similarly man is fettered, kept from flying to God by innumerable fetters that are to be cut before he can start his sacrificial, ascensional movement to God. And this cutting operation, this immolate process is always painful, at times exceedingly so. This is a preparatory but indispensable stage to be gone through before the flight to God can take place. This is the Christian meaning of sacrificial immolation.

The sacrifice does not end with an upward movement towards God, for this ascensional thrust of man is in itself but a preparation for the final goal of every sacrifice which is to create, strengthen or re-establish union with God. Sacrifice emerges therefore as a highly spiritual reality that tends directly to God and rests only in him. The sacrificial victim, on the hand, retains its value as the bearer of man's self-commitment, as an adequate symbol of his self-surrender and consequently when God accepts the victim (since without acceptance the sacrifice would be mutilated or crippled) he is in reality accepting the person of the offerer represented and carried over to the divine domain by the fragile victim. The offerer himself by means of the victim, ascends to God and becomes a "holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God". - Rom. 12:1 -

The sacrificial oblation has truly become a bridge of union between God and man, a veritable link of sacrificial communion. Hence, Christian sacrifice, though in itself an act of cultic adoration, yet dynamically considered, is rather an impetus towards God, a longing for personal communion. The Church's liturgy expresses this in beautifully simple language: "Through the offering of this host, make of ourselves an eternal gift to you". (Prayer over the gifts on the feast of the Trinity)

One final remark. At times it is said that the relation implied in every sacrifice is that between Creator and creature. This is obviously correct but also unsatisfactory, for this merely natural relation has now been raised to a higher level. It is not a distant, majestic Creator that is reached by means of man's sacrificial self-offering but rather a loving Father, who, in accepting the victim of the sacrifice, accepts his own son. Like the fictitious father of the prodigal son, so also the real Father, when he sees his son approaching him in a genuine act of sacrificial surrender, "run, embraces and kisses him" - Luke 15:20 - in a warm act of acceptance: the sacrifice of the son has accomplished its end which was to be united with his Father in an attitude of total personal surrender and intimate communion.

The centre of a man is not in himself but outside himself. For man self-surrender is a means of self-realization. Man, therefore, reaches his perfection in another - that is, in Another - rather than in himself: this is the profound meaning of Christian sacrifice and Christian theocentrism.

BY REV. FR. LUIS M. BERMEJO S.J.

                                                                       Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -