Faith . Hope . Love: April 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The body of a person after its resurrection and glorification, no longer subject to sin, disease and death refers to "spiritual body". The material or physical part of man whether alive or dead is called "body". Some religions consider the body evil or inferior to the soul but the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible teaches that the body is God's good gift to man. - Gen. 2:7 - It is a necessary ingredient for a fully human existence.

In the Old Testament, the word body sometimes means "corpse" - Num. 6:6 - Occasionally the reference is to the body as that part of man that is involved in reproduction. - Deut. 28:4 -

In the New Testament these Old Testament meanings are carried forward but new insights appear. Saint Paul teaches that the body is often the instrument of sin and that sin dishonour a person's body.

Keep away from fornication. All the other sins are committed outside the body; but to fornicate is to sin against your own body. Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God. - 1Cor. 6:18-20 -

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 quardrupeds 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 for ever. Amen! - Rom. 1:22-25 -

On the other hand, believers in Christ may "put to death the deeds of the body" and present their bodies as holy sacrifices which please God.

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. 8:12-13 -

Think of God's mercy, my brothers and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do. - Rom. 12:1-2 -

Since human life requires a body sometimes the term body symbolizes the whole person. The Lord Jesus Christ and Saint Paul used the word in this way. - Matt. 6:22-23 - My one hope and trust is that I shall never have to admit defeat but that now as always I shall have the courage for Christ to be glorified in my body whether by my life or by my death. - Phil. 1:20 -

After His resurrection, Jesus was not a ghost; he was able to eat a piece of grilled fish and some honeycomb. And yet Jesus' body already had certain spiritual qualities. Even before His ascension He was able to enter a room where His disciples were assembled, although the doors were shut.

Have you anything here to eat? And they offered him a piece of grilled fish which he took and ate before their eyes. - Luke 24:42 -

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you' and showed them his hands and his side. - John 20:19-20 -

The apostle Paul specifically mentions the "spiritual body" in his first epistle to the Corinthians. Complete salvation and full humanity begin not at death but at the return of Christ. Only then, do believers receive their eternal resurrection bodies. - 1Cor. 15:35-49 - Saint Paul made it clear that the spiritual body is not subject to sin or death and encouraged believers to hold fast to their faith in Christ who will give them their spiritual body in the life to come.

The sun has its brightness, the moon a different brightness, and the stars a different brightness, and the stars differ from each other in brightness. It is the same with the resurrection of the dead: the thing that is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable; the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.
If the soul has its own embodiment, so does the spirit have its own embodiment. - 1Cor. 15:41-44 -

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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 -

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The experience of God in His Transcendence is supposed to be complemented with the experience of God in His Immanence. The former understands God as "completely Beyond human reach"; the latter understands God as the "intimate all pervasive Being". The first is prone to objectify the experience in clear and distinct ideas about our relationship to God; the second prefers to describe similar experience. The former experiences God as cold and distant; the latter finds God an intimate all encompassing Force.

Stern objective legalism in religion which comes from the experience of the Transcendence, can be tempered with subjective personal flexibility which flows from the experience of the Immanent. The rigidity of community demands can be softened with a respect for the legitimate rights of the individual person.

Christians find the harmonious tension of the Transcendence and the Immanence in Jesus Christ. He reveals to us the "Completely Other", God the Father, not as an inexorable Force who punishes and rewards accordingly but a loving Father. He reveals also the Holy Spirit, the "intimate" Counsellor, Consoler and Guide who dwells in us. However, the Holy Spirit only reveals what He has heard from the Father and the Son.

But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembering all that I have said to you. - John 14:26 -

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. - John 16:13-15 -

So the experience of the Immanent cannot be subjective in the bad sense of the word. What the Spirit of God reveals conforms with the basic truths of objective revelation. A Christian, therefore, must discern whether what he/she receives is from God or from the Evil. Saint John tells Christians,

Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. - 1John 4:1-3 -

On the other hand, God the Father is not worshipped in ritualism nor obeyed legalistically for Christians "must worship Him in spirit and truth" - John 4:23-24 - We obey God the Father or the Transcendence because we love Him. If, out of love, we obey His laws which flow from His love for us, we will be perfected.

The subjective is tested by the objective; the objective is personalized by the subjective.

In a similar way, Jesus Christ holds together the demands of the community and the legitimate rights of the individual. The key to unlock this seeming contradiction is love. Love takes care of the needs of the individual in such a way as to build up the community. The community, on the hand, exists so that individuals can blossom to be full mature persons. Jesus said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" - John 10:10 -

The most comforting result of the experience of Jesus Christ, God with a "human face" is the knowledge and experience of being loved and understood by God as we are: human beings with all our strong and weak points, with all our joys and sorrows, etc. God, having shared our human existence, tells us strongly in a way we humans can understand that He cares for us in all our joys and sorrows. Having experienced this, we are then able to communicate it to others: we try to love as God loves us. This experience is unique to Christians.

BY HIS GRACE BISHOP PAUL TAN CHEE ING, S.J.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

New Jerusalem [City of God] is the holy city described by Saint John in the Book of Revelation chapter 21 & 22; God's perfect and eternal order of the future. This New Jerusalem [City of God] is not built by human hands; it is a heavenly city- one built and provided by God Himself.

The New Jerusalem [City of God] and the new Garden of Eden (symbols of righteousness, peace, love, joy and prosperity) are the dwelling place of God, Christ, and the Church. Saint John saw no temple in New Jerusalem [City of God] "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple".

In the Book of Revelation Saint John draws a graphic contrast between the harlot city called 'Babylon the Great', the earthly and temporal city of man, and the "New Jerusalem", the heavenly and eternal city of God. Saint John also identifies "the great city which he calls "the bride, the Lamb's wife".

Then I saw another angel, flying high overhead, sent to announce the Good News of eternity to all who live on the earth, every nation, race, language and tribe. He was calling, 'Fear God and praise him because the time has come for him to sit in judgement; worship the maker of heaven and earth and sea and every water-spring'.
A second angel followed him, 'Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, Babylon which gave the whole world the wine of God's anger to drink. - Rev. 14:6-8 -

The Great City was split into three parts and the cities of the world collapsed; Babylon the Great was not forgotten: God made her drink the full wine cup of his anger. - Rev. 16: 19 -

One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to speak to me, and said, Come here and I will show you the punishment given to the famous prostitute who rules enthroned beside abundant waters, the one with whom all kings of the earth have committed fornication and who has made all population of the world drunk with the wine of her adultery. - Rev. 7:1-2 -

'Now heaven, celebrate her downfall and all you saints, apostles and prophets: God has given judgement for you against her'.
Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again.
Never again in you, Babylon,
will be heard the song of harpists and minstrels,
the music of flute and trumpet;
never again will craftsmen of every skill be found
or the sound of the mill be heard;
never again will shine the light of the lamp,
never again will be heard
the voices of bridegroom and bride.
Your traders were the princes of the earth,
all the nations were under your spell.
In her you will find the blood of prophets and saints and all the blood that was ever shed on earth. - Rev. 18: 20-24 -

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, 'You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; they will be no more death and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.

Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: 'Now I am making the whole of creation new' he said, 'Write this: that what I am saying is sure and will come true'. And then he said, 'It is already done, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty; it is the rightful inheritance of the one who proves victorious; and I will be his God and he a son to me. But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their words, or worship obscenities, for murderers and fornicators, and for fortune tellers, idolaters or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur'............ Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false but only those who are listed in the Lamb's book of life. - Rev. chapter 21 -

Then the angel show me.......The angel said to me, 'All that you have written is sure and will come true: the Lord God who gives the spirit to the prophets has sent his angel to reveal to his servants what is soon to take place. Very soon now, I shall be with you again'. Happy are those who treasure the prophetic message of this book.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them all, I knelt at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me, to worship him; but he said, 'Don't do that: I am a servant just like you and like your brothers the prophets and like those who treasure what you have written in this book. It is God that you must worship'.......Happy are those who will have washed their robes clean so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. These others must stay outside: dogs, fortune-tellers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life............The one who guarantees these revelations repeats his promise: I shall indeed be with you soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus. If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse on him. 'Maranatha'. - 1Cor. 16:22 - May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen. - Rev. chapter 22 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Monday, April 25, 2011

Many of the other appearances of the Risen Savior were sudden and startlingly unexpected; but there was one made by appointment before He entered into His agony. Jesus told the Apostles that He would go before them into Galilee. After the resurrection, first the angel and then the Lord Himself made the same appointment which set it off as one extraordinary importance. The exact place of Galilee was not recorded nor is it of importance whether it was on the Mount of the Beatitudes or on the Mount of Thabor. Neither is it known how many present besides the Apostles but it is distinctly stated that the eleven were there, indicating the loss of one from the apostolic college that would not filled up until Pentecost.

In the Old Testament, God had made appointments on mountains. Mount Moria was the place of appointment with Abraham; Mount Horeb, the place of the appointment with Moses. When the Apostles kept this appointment on the mountain where the Risen Savior had bidden them meet Him: They fell prostrate before him. He said to them: Full authority in heaven and on earth has been committed to me. Matt. 28:17-18 -

When He said that all power was given to Him in heaven and on earth, He did not mean it as the Son of God, for that belonged already to Him by nature. Rather it was a power that He had merited by His Passion and His death and which was foretold by prophet Daniel who saw in a prophetic vision the Son of Man having everlasting dominion and glory.

The power that was given to Him was foretold in Genesis, namely, that He Who was the seed of a woman would bruise the serpent's head. The kingdoms of the earth which Satan promised Him if He would be a political savior were now declared to be His own. His authority extended over the earth, all souls having been bought by His Blood. This authority as the Son of Man extended not only on earth but also in heaven. His Words combined the Resurrection and the Ascension; as the Resurrection gave Him power upon earth conquering both its sin and its death, so the Ascension gives Him power in heaven to act as mediator between God and man.

Christ's next utterance was a corollary of the first. If all authority was given to Him in heaven and on earth, then He had the right to delegate that authority to whomsoever He pleased. It was important that the authority He delegated be given to those who were contemporaneous with Him in order that He might pass it on to them. An electric wire that is fifteen hundred or two thousand miles away from a dynamo cannot communicate current. Any authority to act in Christ's name must needs be given by Christ Himself and then passed on through the centuries by those who immediately received it.

While on earth He exercised the triple office of Priest, Prophet or Teacher and King. Now as He prepared to leave them for heaven whence He came, He deputed that triple office to His Apostles: the priestly offive in bidding them renew the Memorial of His death and by conferring on them the power to forgive sins; the prophetic or teaching office by promising to send them the Spirit of Truth Who would recall to their minds all things He had taught them and would keep them one in faith; and the kingly office by giving them a Kingdom (as His Father had given Him a Kingdom) over which they had the powers of binding and loosing. Leaving no doubt that the purpose of His coming was to prolong His Priesthood, His Truth and His Kingship, He consigned His Apostles to the world:

Go forth therefore and make all nations my disciples; baptize men everywhere in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.And be assured, I am with you always, to the end of time. - Matt. 28:19-20 -

If this commission were given solely for the time span of the Apostles, it is evident that they could not possibly go to all nations. The dynamism or current that was passed into the Apostles under the headship of Peter was to continue until Christ's Second Coming. No doubt was left concerning the authority and the work of the Church when the Master would leave the earth. That day the Propagation of the Faith came into being. No longer were the Apostles and their successors to consider themselves solely as masters in Israel; from now on the whole world was theirs. Nor were they merely to teach; for He Who gave the commission was not just a teacher. They were to make disciples in every nation; and discipleship implied surrender of heart and will to the Divine Master. The power of His redemptive Cross would be in vain unless His servants used it to incorporate other human natures unto Himself. As Mary gave Him the human nature which was now glorified in His Person, so men were to give their human natures to Him, dying as He died, in order that they might enter into glory.

This incorporation to Himself was to be initiated by baptism, as He told Nicodemus. Unless a man be born of water and the Holy Spirit he could not enter into the Kingdom of God. As being born of the flesh made a man flesh, so being born of the Spirit would make him a participant of His Divine nature. The baptism was to be administered not in "the names" of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity since it would imply three gods, rather, it was to be given in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit because the Three Persons are one, having the nature of God. A most imperfect analogy is that our living, our knowing, and our loving are all rooted in human nature; so too the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, and the Love of the Holy Spirit are all One in the nature of God. As the three angels of a triangle do not make three triangles but one; as ice, water, and steam are different manifestations of the one nature , H2O, so infinitely beyond all finite comparison the Power, Wisdom and Love are but one God.

This authority which He gave them and which was to be extended throughout the entire earth might still have left in the minds of the Apostles a doubt concerning His Presence with them. This doubt was straightway cleared up when He assured His Church: Be assured, I am with you always, to the end of time. - Matt. 28:20 -

The promise was without limit; it would endure until the end of the world. God had told Abraham that He would be with him; Moses and Aaron were told that He would be in their mouths; Joshua and Moses were promised that God would be with them; and Solomon was assured that God would be with him in the building of His house. Jeremiah, when he pleaded ignorance, was assured that God would put words into his mouth. But in these cases, the Divine Presence lasted only during the lifetime of the persons to whom it was given. No such limitation of Divine Protection and Presence was mentioned in the case of the Apostles. "The Gates of Hell will not prevail against My Church" He told Peter once. Confirmation of that promise was given again in the words: "I am with you through the days that are coming until the consummation of the world".

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J.SHEEN (1895 to 1979)

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Old Testament viewed God Himself as the Saviour.

Speak up, present your case,
consult with each other.
Who foretold this
and revealed it in the past?
Am I not Yahweh?
There is no other god besides me,
a God of integrity and a saviour;
there is none apart from me. - Is. 45:21 -

Because God is the source of salvation, He sent human deliverers to rescue His people, Israel. This word was also used to describe the judges of Israel, those "saviours" or "deliverers" who rescued God's people from oppression by their enemies. - Judg. 3:9,15 -

Yahweh, remember me,
for the love you bear your people,
come to me as a saviour, - Ps. 106:4 -

For I am Yahweh, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your saviour.
I, I am Yahweh,
there is no other saviour but me. - Is. 43:3,11 -

In the New Testament the word for saviour describes both God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. The apostles rejoiced that in Christ, God had become the "Saviour of all men". Jesus was the Saviour of Gentiles as well as Jews. As Christians, we are exhorted to 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ'.

By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and saviour to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. - Acts 5:31 -

For us, our homeland is in heaven and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe. - Phil. 3:20-21 -

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales. Train yourself spiritually. 'Physical exercises are useful enough but the usefulness of spirituality is unlimited since it holds out the reward of life here and now and the future life as well'; that is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt it. I mean that the point of all our toiling and battling is that we have put our trust in the living God and he is the saviour of the whole human race but particularly of all believers. That is what you are to enforce in your teaching. - 1Tim. 4:7-11 -

You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory, in time and in eternity. Amen. - 2Peter 3:17-18 -

Following our Saviour's example, all believers are bond-slaves of God. We are to perform "good deeds" to all men with a responsibility especially to fellow Christians. Our unselfish service should especially be rendered through our spiritual gifts which are given by God to the saints in order that they might improve one another. This consist of both spiritual and practical gifts.

Let us keep firm in the hope we profess because the one who made the promise is faithful. Let us be concerned for each other to stir a response in love and good works. - Heb. 10:23-24 - 1Pet. 4:7-11 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The practice of meditation, reflection and contemplation is a lost art for many Christians but the practice needs to be cultivated again. The word meditation, reflection and contemplation is found in the Old and New Testament. The Hebrew words behind this concept mean 'to murmur, a murmuring', 'sighing' or 'moaning'. This concept is reflected in the Book of Psalm where the "blessed person" meditates, reflects and contemplates on God's law day and night. It is with the hope and prayed that the meditation of his heart would be acceptable in God's sight. Joshua was instructed to meditate on the Book of the Law for the purpose of obeying all that was written in it.

Have the book of this Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it. Then you will prosper in your dealings then you will have success. Have I not told you: Be strong and stand firm? Be fearless then, be confident, for go where you will, Yahweh your God is with you. - Joshua 1:8-9 -

In the New Testament, Jesus instructed His disciples not to 'meditate beforehand' in answering their adversaries when the end of the age comes. The word may be understood in this passage as the idea of preparing a defense for a court appearance. Saint Paul urged apostle Timothy to meditate or take pains with the instructions he gives.

Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. - Luke 21:14-15 -

You have in you a spiritual gift which was given to you when the prophets spoke and the body of elders laid their hands on you; do not let it lie unused. Think hard about all this, and put it into practice, and everyone will be able to see how you are advancing. Take great care about what you do and what you teach; always do this, and in this way you will save both yourself and those who listen to you. - 1Tim. 4:14-16 -

Thus, Meditation refers to the practice of reflection or contemplation. The idea of meditation, reflection and contemplation is also found in:
There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise. Keep doing all the things that you learnt from me and have been taught by me and have or seen that I do. Then the God of peace will be with you. - Phil. 4:6-9 -

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed - and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. - Col. 3:1-4 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

In the living tradition of prayer, each Church proposes to its faithful, according to its historic, social and cultural context, a language for prayer: words, melodies, gestures, iconography. The Magisterium of the Church has the task of discerning the fidelity of these ways of praying to the tradition of apostolic faith; it is for pastors and catechists to explain their meaning, always in relation to Jesus Christ. - CCC 2663 -

There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray "in the name" of Jesus. The sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father. - CCC 2664 -

The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus. Even though her prayer is addressed above all to the Father, it includes in all liturgical traditions forms of prayer addressed to Christ. Certain psalms, given their use in the Prayer of the Church, and the New Testament place on our lips and engrave in our hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord Savior, Lamb of God, King, Beloved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind... - CCC 2665 -

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but assuming our humanity The Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it "Jesus", "YHWH saves". The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. - CCC 2666 - Ex. 3:14, 33:19-23; Matt. 1:21; Rom. 10:13; Acts 2:21, 3:15-16; Gal. 2:20 -

This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners". It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11 with the cry pf the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior's mercy. - CCC 2667 - Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:13 -

The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases, but holds fast to the word and "brings forth fruit with patience". This prayer is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus. - CCC 2668 - Matt. 6:7; Luke 8:15 -

The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most hoily name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps. The stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the way of Jesus who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world. - CCC 2669 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Monday, April 18, 2011

The Lord Jesus Christ resurrection is clearly linked with the overcoming of the powers of evil and death. The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus unleashed the kingdom of God in full power. Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom of God was accompanied by works of mercy and power, including the healing of the sick, particularly those who were demon-possessed. These works also proclaimed the arrival of the kingdom of God. Through proclamation of the kingdom, liberation and blessing were brought to many more than could be touched by Jesus' brief ministry in Galilee and Judea.

The ethical teaching of Jesus was part of His proclamation of the kingdom of God. Only by His passion, death and resurrection could the divine rule be established. But even while the kingdom of God was in the process of inauguration during His ministry, its principles could be translated into action in the lives of His followers. The most familiar presentation of these principles is found in the SERMON ON THE MOUNT. - Matt. 5:1-12 - These principles showed how those who were already children of the kingdom ought to live.

The people whom Jesus taught already had a large body of ethical teaching in the Old Testament law. But a further body of oral interpretation and application had grown up around the Law of Moses over the centuries. Jesus declared that He had come to fulfill the scriptures/law, not to destroy it.

Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matt. 5:17-19 -

Jesus emphasized its ethical quality by summarizing it in terms of what He called the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, heart, mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself". He said, 'on these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also'. - Matt. 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-28; John 13:34-35; Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18 -

Jesus actually injected new life into the ethical principles of the Law of Moses. But He did not impose a new set of laws that could be enforced by external sanctions; Jesus prescribed a way of life for His followers. The Lord Jesus Christ insisted that more is expected of His followers than the ordinary morality of decent people. Their ethical behaviour should exceed 'righteousness of the scribes and Pharises' - Matt. 5:20 - "If you love [only] those who love you" He asked, "what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them" - Luke 6:32 -

The higher standard of the kingdom of God called for acts of love to enemies and words of blessing and goodwill to persecutors. The children of the kingdom should not insist on their legal rights but cheerfully give them up in response to the supreme law of Love.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Old Testament has many Hebrew words for mourning. These words range in meaning from anger and indignation to the more common idea of grief over a calamity or death. Mourning is also the experience or expression of grief, as a time of death or national disaster. In biblical times, the customs of most cultures encouraged a vivid expression of grief. The people of that time would be puzzled by our more sedate forms of mourning. In addition to wailing and weeping, outward forms of mourning included tearing the clothes and wearing Sackcloth - Gen. 37:34 - Fasting - Ps. 35:13 - and throwing dust upon the head. - Lam. 2:10 -

The period of mourning varied. Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days - Gen. 50:30 - most likely out of respect for him. Israel mourned for Aaron 30 days - Num. 20:29 - and the same time for Moses - Deut. 34:8 - Jacob (Israel) mourned for Joseph 'many days' - Gen 37:34 - Mourning began at the moment a person died. The family would begin its wailing and neighbours would rush to the bereaved household and join in the wailing. If the family could afford them, hired mourners were employed to add their chants, lamentations and shrieks. Such hired mourners were probably among those who scorned Jesus when He said that Jairus' daughter was 'not dead but sleeping' - Matt. 9:24 - Dirge-songs were also played on flutes. - Matt. 9:23-24 - Amid such pandemonium, it is understandable that Jesus put the crowd outside the house before raising Jairus' daughter.

In the New Testament, there are no mourning, for Christ's work removed the dread and pain of death. Christians are not to "sorrow as others [unbelievers] who have no hope". - Matt. 9:15, 11:17, 24:30 -

When this perishable nature has put on imperishability and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then, the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Never give in then, my dear brothers, never admit defeat; keep on working at the Lord's work always, knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be labouring in vain. - 1Cor. 15:54-58 -

We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord's own teaching that any of us who are left alive until the Lord's coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven ; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord forever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another. - 1Thess. 4: 13-18 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

CROSS refers to an upright wooden stake or post on which Jesus was executed. Before the manner of Jesus' death caused the cross to symbolize the very heart of the Christian faith. The Greek word for cross referred primarily to a pointed stake used in rows to form the walls of a defensive stockade. It was common in the biblical period for the bodies of executed persons to be publicly displayed by hanging them from the stakes of the stockade wall. This was done to discourage civil disobedience and to mock defeated military foes. - Gen. 40:18-19; 1Sam. 31:8-13 -

This gruesome practice may explain how the stake eventually came to be used as an instrument of civil and military punishment. Such stakes came to be used later with cross-beams as instruments of humiliation, torture and execution for persons convicted as enemies of the state (foreign soldiers, rebels and spies or civil criminals, such as robbers) During the Old Testament period there is no evidence that the Jews fastened people to a stake or a cross as a means of execution. The Law directed death by stoning. But the Law did permit the public display (hanging) of a lawbreaker's body 'on a tree' strictly commanding that the body shall not remain overnight on the tree but you shall surely bury him that day. - Lev. 20:2; Deut. 21:22-23, 22:24 -

Crucifixion on a stake or cross was practiced by the Greeks, notably Alexander the Great who hung 2,000 people on crosses when the city of Tyre was destroyed. During the period between Greek and Roman control of Palestine, the Jewish ruler Alexander Jannaeus crucified 800 Pharisees who opposed him at Bethome. These executions were condemned as detestable and abnormal by decent-minded people of Jannaeus's day as well as by the latter Jewish historian, Josephus.

From the early days of the Roman Republic, death on the cross was used for rebellious slaves and bandits although Roman citizens were rarely subjected to this method of execution. The practice continued well beyond the New Testament period as one of the supreme punishments for military and political crimes such as desertion, spying, revealing secrets, rebellion and sedition. Following the conversion of the emperor Constantine to Christianity, the cross became sacramental, and it is use by Romans as a means of torture and death was abolished.

The Gospels tell us that the Lord Jesus spoke of the cross before His death. - Matt. 10:38; Mark 10:21; Luke 14:27 - But the major significance of the cross after Jesus' 'Passion, Death and Resurrection' is its use of Jesus' willingness to suffer for our sins so that we might be reconciled to God and know His peace.

With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us especially the sin that clings so easily and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God's throne. - Heb. 12:1-2 -

It is all God's work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men faults against them and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. - 2Cor. 5:18-19 -

And all things to be reconciled through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross. - Col. 1:20 -

This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through Him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father. - Eph. 2:15-18 -

Thus the cross is the glory of the Christian gospel; the fact that through this offensive means of death, the debt of sin against us was 'nailed to the cross' and we, having 'been crucified with Christ' have been freed from sin and death and made alive to God. The cross, then, is of Jesus' love, God's power to save and the thankful believer's unreserved commitment to Christian discipleship. To those who know the salvation which Christ gained for us through His death, it is a "Wondrous Cross" indeed.

If in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection. We must realise that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin. When a man dies, of course, he has finished with sin.
But we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him: Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again. Death has no power over him anymore. When he died, he died, once for all, to sin, so his life now is life with God; and in that way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus. - Rom. 6:5-11 -

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By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
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Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The word authority as used in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible usually means a person's right to do certain things because of the position or office he holds. The word emphasizes the legality and right, more than the physical strength, needed to do something.

The two basic forms of authority are intrinsic authority (belonging to one's essential nature) and derived authority (given to one from another source) Since 'there is no authority except from God' every kind of authority other than that of God Himself is derived and therefore secondary to God's power.

So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul's hands that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick, and they were cured of their illnesses, and the evil spirits came out of them. - Acts 19:11 -

God's authority is absolute and unconditional - Ps. 29:10; Is. 40 - He has authority over nature - Job 38 - and history. He has power to send people to heaven and hell. Jesus Christ has the same intrinsic authority as the Father although this authority is said to be given to Christ from His Father just as the authority of the Holy Spirit is given to Him from the Father and the Son. Christ has the authority to forgive sins, to lay down His life and take it up again and to give eternal life.

Now having met together, they asked him, 'Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?' He replied, 'it is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.' - Acts 1:6-8 - Acts 17:24-31 -

I tell you most solemnly,
the hour will come - in fact it is here already -
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and all who hear it will live.
For the Father, who is the source of life,
has made the Son the source of life;
and because he is the Son of Man,
has appointed him supreme judge. - John 5:25-27 -

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 tell 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 16:13-15 -

Father, the hour has come:
glorify your Son
so that your Son may glorify you;
and through the power over all mankind that you have given him,
let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him.
And eternal life is this:
to know you,
the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. - John 17:1-3 - John 10:17-18, 25-30, 14:26, 15:26 -

In addition to the intrinsic authority of God, the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible speaks of many kinds of derived power. The people were astonished at this authority which Jesus revealed when He taught and performed miracles. - Matt. 7:28-29, 8:27; Luke 4:36 - Christians are often given certain authority to exercise. This includes the authority of a parent or a church leader. The most noble use of authority is for serving others. 'Let...he who governs' Jesus said, be 'as he who serves... I am among you as the One who serves. - Luke 22:26-27 - The Christian who seeks to follow Christ's example will learn to use authority with others more than over others. The wise Christian remembers that all derived authority will one day be returned to the God who gave it. But the rewards of faithful service will endure throughout eternity.

Ater 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 put under his feet. Though when it is said that everything is subjected, this clearly cannot include the One who subjected everything to him. And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. - 1Cor. 15:24-28 -

You must not love this passing world
or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world,
because nothing the world has to offer
-the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in possessions-
could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for,
is coming to an end;
but anyone who does the will of God
remains forever. - 1John 2:15-17 -

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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

Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.

If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

Love does not come to an end.

In short, there are three things that last; FAITH. HOPE. LOVE. and the greatest of these is LOVE. - 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-7, 13:13 -

Glory to God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Alex Chan Kok Wah. Email : kwchanalex@yahoo.com - kwchankim@hotmail.com