A tremendous event has taken place in your life. It happened on the day of your baptism. Christ entered into you as king into His kingdom. His divine life, His very spirit, signified by the baptismal water, was, through the action of baptizing, planted in your soul, "poured" into it. It is God's Word that tells us so. "As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba Father!" "It is no longer I who live then, but Christ who lives in me." - Gal. 3:27, 4:6, 2:20 -

This life of Jesus in your soul is called by many names. It is called 'Christian' life because it is Christ's life in the soul; it is called 'spiritual' life because it is the life of Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity; it is the life shared in common by the three Divine Persons; it is also called 'supernatural' life because it is not natural, not born of flesh and blood; and 'divine' life because it is the life of God; it is called 'interior' life too, so as to distinguish it from life lived on natural impulses. It is finally, called the New Life as opposed to the 'old life' of sinfulness originating in the sin of our first parents.

How is this life nourished? This divine or Christian life in us is nourished by the Sacraments, - that is why it is called 'sacramental life' - chiefly by the Sacrament of the Sacred Eucharist Meal: it is resurrected, when killed or healed, when wounded, by the Sacrament of Reconciliation. What kills this mysterious Christ-life and what wounds it, how the Sacraments and the Word of God nourish it, how it is mediated to all through the living Body of the Church, how through the mutual mediation and sharing of this Christ-life the whole Family of Man is gradually 'becoming Christ' how the hidden activities of this life come to surface, as it were, and are perceived by that delicate radar of the soul; the Voice of Conscience - all these are amazing facts of the ever on-going history of God's saving action in his world. Here your immediate concern is to LEARN CHRIST, to taste and to experience and to love and to live the NEW SPIRIT which Christ brought into our world at His Incarnation and gifted to us in our baptism.

But Christ entered into your soul at baptism just as He entered the world at His Incarnation, like a king into enemy territory. He brings His new spirit into a body and soul where another spirit already reigns. That other spirit is totally different from and hostile to the spirit of Christ. We might very appropriately call it the "anti-Christ" in us. It has many names. The spirit of Selfishness is one. Sinfulness is another. It is also called inordinate self-love, self-center, corrupt nature, the Old Man, the Old Adam, the Flesh, Covetousness, Concupiscence, the Power of Darkness, Worldliness. It manifests itself in different forms like pride, vainglory, anger, sensuality, gluttony, avarice, sloth, according to the differing objects it covets.

It is plain to see that from the moment of our baptism we are committed to a war, within us and around us, between the spirit of Christ (the  New Man as it is called) and the spirit of the "anti-Christ" (or the Old Man) which the world and every man coming into it has inherited from Adam. The implication is obvious. I am, my very body and soul is, a theater of war. I must expel - or starve out, 'disaffiliate myself from' or more simply, renounce or mortify - the spirit that is opposed to Christ's and allow Christ, through my generous and willing cooperation, to insert His divine spirit into every part of me, to baptize me with the New spirit in the whole of my being, to penetrate me with it completely just as fire penetrates a piece of iron and makes it red hot through and through.

How does one expel, (renounce, or 'disaffiliate oneself from') the anti-Christian spirit in one's self? How does one put on the spirit of Christ or Become Christ? There are two ways. One way is to 'pursue the enemy' to fight against it directly, to keep saying 'no' to pride in me and sensuality in me and anger in me and so on. The attention is focused on self. This is a negative way; it is useful, even necessary now and again, in times of stress or of violent temptation when a particular foe becomes insolent and strong. But continued too long, it becomes discouraging and oppressive.

There is a better way, one that is more positive and appealing. It is the Christ-centered way. It consists in looking at Christ, in exposing one's self to His humility, to the bracing, inspiring, heavenly spirit that shows through His words and actions. Expose yourself to Christ in the Gospels, to Christ in His saints, to Christ in His Body, the Church, to Christ in your community, to Christ in every happening within you and around you. These are all sacraments; they mediate Christ to you. So doing, you will, by and by, imperceptibly, "become" Christ in your way of thinking and of acting. You will have learnt Christ. You will by a kind of divine sense (faith, we call it) discern the spirit of Christ inspiring you from within and you will unresistingly allow it to draw you by its attraction: you will in the same process instinctively turn your back upon and firmly renounce the prompting of the evil spirit, the "anti-Christ" in you.

Such is the positive way of "becoming" (or learning) Christ; it is both pleasurable and appealing, attractive and simple. One advances towards the light and in doing so recedes from the darkness; one acquires taste for virtue and thereby loses the taste for vice. The constant companionship and contemplation of Christ imperceptibly imbues the soul with Christ's noble thoughts and desires and these make one lose interest in those sprouting from concupiscence.

After tasting the beautiful loving spirit of Christ one forsakes the ugly violent spirit of concupiscence. This positive or Christo-centric way takes away undue preoccupation with one's self, with one's progress in virtue, with one's faults and imperfections and keeps far away the discouragement and spiritual weariness that this kind of fault-finding with one's self can generate. It needs to be emphasized, however, that the positive and the negative ways are both necessary for the Christian life in us to develop well. In fact, they are not two different ways, but one with two facets like a chisel with two edges. It is more wholesome, however, and more rewarding to use its positive edge one.


BY  REV.  FR.  J.  B. FERNANDES.  S. J.
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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 Transfiguration calls to mind both God's redemption through the Exodus and the future return [Second Coming] and glory of Christ Jesus, God's only begotten Son. It is indeed, complex and hard to imagine what Jesus looked like when He was transfigured, or changed in form. The Gospel told us that: "There in their presence He was transfigured: His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light." Thus, the Transfiguration is an action, and a display of God's glory in the person of Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son.

In the Old Testament, the Transfiguration concludes with God's voice speaking from the cloud, which marked God's presence. That is, God takes possession of the sanctuary. "The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because of the cloud that rested on it and because of the glory of Yahweh that filled the tabernacle." - Ex. 40:34-35 -

Let me proclaim Yahweh's decree;
he has told me, 'You are my son,
today I have become your father. - Ps. 2:7 -

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations. - Is. 42:1 -

With that in mind, the Transfiguration clearly point to the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible that all focuses are on the person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Transfiguration is primarily for Peter, James, and John. This is clear from the Voice, which is directed to them.

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus, 'Lord' he said 'it is wonderful for us to be here, if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.' When they heard this, the disciples fell on their faces, overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched them. 'Stand up' he said 'do not be afraid.' And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus. - Matt. 17:1-8 - Mark 9:2-8 - Luke 9:28-36 -

The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth. - John 1:14 -

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. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water.' John also declared, 'I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit." Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.' - John 1:29-34 -

In the Transfiguration God showed clearly that Jesus is the only begotten Son of the living God, superior to the two great Old Testament figures, Moses and Elijah, and all others. Jesus' transfiguration has been understood that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. The transfiguration of Jesus transcended all humans phenomenon. The pre-existent glory of Jesus, the Son of the living God and the glory resulting from His resurrection, exaltation and at the same time, the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ are also present in the Transfiguration account.

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.

But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. - Phil. 2:6-11 -

It was not any cleverly invented myths that we were repeating when we brought you the knowledge of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; we had seen his majesty for ourselves. He was honoured and glorified by God the Father, when the Sublime Glory itself spoke to him and said, This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. We heard this ourselves, spoken from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain. - 2 Peter 1:16-18 -

                                                                          Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 -

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread refers to the sacrifice of a lamb in Egypt when the people of Israel were slaves. The Hebrews/Jews smeared the blood of the lamb on their doorposts as a signal to God that He should "pass over" their house when He destroyed all the first-born of Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let His people go. In other words, it is a religious festival commemorating God's deliverance of the Hebrews/Jews from bondage.

This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in Yahweh's honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever. - Ex. 12:14 -

Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast in my honour. You must celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread: you must eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. And no one must come before me empty-handed. - Ex. 23:14-15 - 34:18-20, 25 - Lev. 23:4-14 - Num. 28:16-25 - Deut. 16:1-8 - Jos. 5:10-12 - 2 Chr. 30:1-27 -

In the Old Testament, Passover was observed on the 14th day of the first month, Abib, with the celebration beginning in the evening. It was on the evening of this day that Israel left Egypt. Passover commemorated this departure from Egypt in haste. Unleavened Bread was used in the celebration because this showed that the people had no time to put leaven in their bread as they ate their final meal as slaves in Egypt. Passover was to be observed in the place which God will choose. This implied 'the Sanctuary of the Tabernacle.'

The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn, that same day. From that time, from their first eating of the produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna no longer, the Israelites fed from that year onward on what the land of Canaan yielded. - Jos. 5:10-12 -

In the New Testament times, Passover became a pilgrim festival. Large numbers gathered in Jerusalem to observe this annual celebration. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem during one of these Passover celebrations. The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples ate a Passover meal together on the eve of His death. Precisely, like the blood of the lamb which saved the Hebrew/Israel people from destruction in Egypt, the Lord Jesus Christ blood, as the ultimate Passover sacrifice, redeems all of us [human beings] from the power of sin and death.

It is because of the traditions of God's love and of His saving acts, thus in the New Testament, the Christians, through the Lord Jesus Christ, promulgated the celebration. The Christian, drawing on the 'Passover' as the central celebration and observance of the Jewish faith, explicitly explained how deeply rooted Christianity is in the historic life of God's chosen people, that is, the people of Israel.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, 'Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?' 'Go to so-and-so in the city' (Jerusalem) he replied 'and say to him, "The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples."' The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover. - Matt. 26:17-19 - Mark 14:12-16 - Luke 22:7-13 - John 13:1, 19:14 -

Now as they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. 'Take it and eat;' he said 'this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. 'Drink all of you from this,' he said 'for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.' - Matt. 26:26-19 - Mark 14:22-25 - Luke 22:19-20 - John 6:51-58 -

For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.' In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as memorial of me.' Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, and so anyone who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be behaving unworthily towards the body and blood of the Lord.

Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. - 1 Cor. 11:23-29 -

The blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in the one loaf. - 1 Cor. 10:15-17 -

In 1 Corinthian 10:16, the apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their involvement with idolatry. Saint Paul referred to the cup as 'the Communion of the Blood of Christ' and the bread as 'the Communion of the Body of Christ.' The Greek word for 'communion' has the meaning of 'participating, sharing, and fellowship.' From the context, apostle Paul is saying that when Christians partake of the cup and the bread, they are participating in the benefits of the Lord Jesus Christ's death [referred to as His blood] and resurrection life [His glorified body]. Thus, these are the Lord Jesus Christ assurance of sins forgiven, that is, through His blood, and the assurance of His presence and power, that is, through His body. Amen!

The 'One Body' or 'Single Body' [the Universal Church] in 1 Cor. 10:17 connects with the 'body of Christ', and in verse 16 in the sense that the entire Church of Christ is organically related to the living, glorified human body of Christ now in heaven. The 'One Loaf'' or 'One Bread' representing Christ Jesus the "bread of life" - John 6:35 - is eaten by all believers and faithful at the Supper, explicitly explained their unity and common participation in the 'one body of Christ.'

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: 'How can this man give us flesh to eat?' they said, Jesus replied:

'I tell you most solemnly,
if you dot eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.' - John 6:52-58 -

                                                                            Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 -

Shall we expect another Christ? (Messiah?) That is the question asked in the midst of disappointments and loneliness. No person at all times lives up to his or her highest level. Saints often fail in that very grace which was their most striking characteristic. In the Old Testament, for example, Moses in his meekness, smashed the tablets of the Law; Elijah, failed in his courage, when he ran from Jezebel. In the New Testament, Peter in his intense love, when he denied the Lord Jesus Christ; John the Baptist had heard in prison the works of Christ Jesus, but he also heard how the Lord Jesus Christ ate with publicans and sinners.

Moses made his way back down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, tablets inscribed on both sides, inscribed on the front and of the back. These tablets were the work of God, and the writing on them was God's writing engraved on the tablets. Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. 'There is the sound of battle in the camp', he told Moses. Moses answered him:

'No song of victory is the sound,
no wailing for defeat this sound;
it is the sound of chanting that I hear.'

As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the groups dancing, Moses' anger blazed. He threw down the tablets he was holding and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He seized the calf they had made and burned it, grinding it into powder which he scattered on the water; and he made the sons of Israel drink it. - Ex. 32:15-20 -

When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, 'May the gods do this to me and more, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the life of one of them!' Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He came to Beersheba, a town of Judah, where he left his servant. Elijah himself went on into the wilderness, a day's journey, and sitting under a furze bush wished he were dead. 'Yahweh' he said 'I have had enough. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.' Then Elijah lay down and went to sleep. - 1 Kin. 19:1-4 -

Simon Peter said, 'Lord, where are you going?' Jesus replied, 'Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later.' Peter said to Jesus, 'Why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.' 'Lay down your life for me?' answered Jesus. 'I tell you most solemnly, before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times. - John 13:36-38 -

Simon Peter, with another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest's palace, but Peter stayed outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who was keeping the door and brought Peter in. The maid on duty at the door said to Peter. 'Aren't you another of that man's disciples?' Peter answered, 'I am not.' Now it was cold, and the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others. - John 18:15-18 -

As Simon Peter stood there warming himself, someone said to him, 'Aren't you another of his disciples?' Peter denied it saying, 'I am not.' One of the high priest's servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, 'Didn't I see you in the garden with him?' Again Peter denied it; at once a cock crew. - John 18:25-27 -

Likewise, ordained priests, (included Bishops, Cardinals, Pope) laity and those whom God loves, frustrated in what they believed to be their mission to identify the Lord Jesus Christ, ask for 'another Christ.' The same true of His Mystical Body: "Are you the Church founded on the Rock, or shall we look for another?" Shall we accept what has endured, or shall we look for "another."

Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ knew as God what John the Baptist's design and thought was, and Christ Jesus put it into his hearts to send the messengers when He was working miracles. The Lord Jesus Christ true answer to John the Baptist's questions.

Then Jesus gave the messengers their answer, 'Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me. - Luke 7:22-23 -

And happy is the man who does not lose faith in me. - Luke 7:23 - Paraphrase: "And happy is the man who does not find me a stumbling block." This sound easier to comprehend. It was evident that John the Baptist was thinking the Kingdom of God "comes with observation" instead of through a slow, quiet stage of leaf and bud and full grown fruit. To paraphrase the Lord Jesus Christ answer:

It is because God, I do not follow your method, way, and thought that I am He. Your method, way, thought was drastic, uncompromising, prejudice and judicial. You are expecting God to act now the way I will act at the end of time, when I will sent down fire from heaven and consume them, and thrown them alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.

When I come into the threshing floor I see not only wheat but human chaff that can be salvaged and saved. Bring to Me sinners and those who want to be save, and I will make them think of My Passion rather than their passions; lead to Me those who believed God is dead, and I will show them how dead they were by bringing them to life. I shall not break prison bars, but shall teach prisoners to be resigned to My will, for I, too, shall be in prison. I shall not shorten the life of 'old fogey' - people who bore everyone - but I shall teach them how I have been bored with them, yet love them just the same.

The seeming heedlessness of My divine power is never loveless, never an unwise delay. The faith and love I require is not when there is money in the bank, but when there is bankruptcy. The evidence that I am He is not so much in what meets the eye, but when people in their hearts feel the need of God.

"Happy the one who does not find me a stumbling block." - Luke 7:23 -
"Happy the one  who does not lose faith in me." - Luke 7:23 -

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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 -

Isaiah - a famous Old Testament prophet; [ God's messenger ] the author of the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, noted for its description of the coming Messiah. Isaiah was probably born in Jerusalem of a family that was related to the royal house of Judah. He spent his early years as an official of king Uzziah [Azariah] of Judah. - 2Chr. 26:22 - When Uzzariah died [740 B.C.] Isaiah received his prophetic calling from God in a stirring vision of God in the Temple. - Isaiah chapter 6 -

Prophet Isaiah was married to a woman described as 'the prophetess'. - Is. 8:3 - They had two sons whom they named Shear-Jashub [ A Remnant Shall Return ] and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz [ Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty ] These strange names portray the two basic themes of the Book of Isaiah: God is about to bring judgment upon His people, hence Maher- Shalal-Hash-Baz; but after that there will be an outpouring of God's mercy and grace to the remnant of people who will remain faithful to God, hence Shear-Jashub.

After God called Isaiah to proclaim His message, He told Isaiah that most of his work would be a ministry of judgment. Even though the prophet would speak the truth, the people would reject his words. - Is. 6:10 - In the New Testament, Jesus found in these words of Isaiah's call a prediction of the rejection of his message by many of the people.

The reason Jesus talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:

You will listen and listen again, but not understand,
see and see again, but not perceive.
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,
their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,
for fear they should see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and be converted
and be healed by me. -Matt. 13:13-15 -

Isaiah's response to this revelation from God was a lament: "Until when, Lord?" - Is. 6:11 -

The Lord answered that Isaiah's ministry would prepare the people for judgment but one day God's promises would be realized. Judah was to experience utter devastation, to be fulfilled with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587/586 B.C. This destruction would be followed by the deportation of the people to Babylon. Although the tree of the house of king David would be cut down, there would still be life in the stump. Out of the lineage of David would come a Messiah who would establish His eternal rule among His people. - Is. 6:11-13 -

The Book of Isaiah is a major prophetic book of the Old Testament, noted for its description of the coming Messiah as God's Suffering Servant. The book is sometimes called 'the fifth gospel' because of its lofty portrayal of God and His purpose of salvation. Accordingly, the great prophet Isaiah, whose name means "God is salvation."

Prophet Isaiah's message was that after their period of judgment has passed, God's Covenant People will be restored to their place of responsibility in God's plan for the salvation of the world. the great suffering through which they were passing was their period of captivity as exiles of the pagan nation of Babylon. This theme of suffering on the part of God's people is demonstrated dramatically by prophet Isaiah famous description of the Suffering Servant. The nation of Israel was God's suffering servant who would serve as God's instrument of blessing for the rest of the world after their release from captivity and restoration as His Chosen People. - Is. 42:1-9 -

But Isaiah's prophecy also points beyond the immediate future to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah several centuries later. The heart of this stunning prophecy occurs in chapter 53, as Isaiah develops the description of God's Servant to its highest point. The Servant's suffering and death and the redemptive nature of His mission are clearly foretold. Although mankind deserved God's judgment because 'we have turned, everyone, to his own way' God sent His Servant to take away our sins. According to Isaiah, it is through Jesus suffering that we are made right with God, since 'the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.' - Is. 53:6 -

Isaiah delivered his prophecies during a time of great moral and political upheaval. In the early part of his ministry, about 722 B.C. Judah's sister nation, the northern kingdom of Israel, fell to the invading Assyrians. For a while, it looked as if Judah would suffer the same fate. But Isaiah advised the rulers of Judah not to enter alliances with foreign nations against the Assyrians threat. Instead, he called the people to put their trust in God, who alone could bring real salvation and offer lasting protection for the perilous times.

God was first of all a holy God. His holiness was the first thing that impressed the prophet when he saw Him in all His glory in the Temple. But God's holiness also reminded Isaiah of his own weakness. "Woe to me" he cried, "for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." After his confession, Isaiah's lips were cleansed by a live coal from the altar, and he agreed to proclaim God's message of repentance and judgment to a wayward people. - Is. 6:1-8 -

Prophet Isaiah tells us about a God who is interested in the salvation of His people. Even the prophet's name, "God is salvation" emphasizes this truth. The word of salvation was used more than 20 times in the Book of Isaiah, while all the other Old Testament prophets combined mentioned this word only about 10 times. In Isaiah's thought, salvation comes from God only, not from man. Indeed, God is the sovereign ruler of history and the only one who has the power to save.

Isaiah reveals that God's ultimate purpose of salvation will be realized through the coming Messiah, our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ. No other book of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible contains as many references to the coming Messiah as the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah points us to a loving Lord, Savior who came to save His people from their sins. When Jesus began His public ministry in His hometown of Nazareth. Jesus quoted from one of these beautiful messianic messages from Isaiah to show that this prophecy was being fulfilled in His life and ministry. His purpose was "to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

The spirit of the Lord Yahweh has been given to me,
for Yahweh has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up hearts that are broken;
to proclaim liberty to captives,
freedom to those in prison;
to proclaim a year of favor from Yahweh,
a day of vengeance for our God - Isaiah 61:1-2 -

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord's year of favour. - Luke 4:16-18 -

The prophet Isaiah describes God's judgment as His unusual act - Is. 28:21 - If judgment is God unusual act, does this not imply that salvation is the work more typical of Him as a loving God? It is an interesting question to think about as we express thanks to God.

Isaiah ministry extended from about 740 B.C. until at least 701 B.C. - Is. chapter 37 to 39 - His 40 years of preaching doom and promise did not turn the nation of Judah from its headlong rush toward destruction. But he faithfully preached the message God gave him until the very end.

According to popular Jewish tradition, Isaiah met his death by being sawn in half during the reign of the evil king Manasseh of Judah. This tradition seems to be supported by Saint Paul letter to the Hebrews. Certainly Isaiah is one of the heroes of the faith 'of whom the world was not worthy.'

These were men who through faith conquered kingdoms, did what is right and earned the promises. They could keep a lion's mouth shut, put out blazing fires and emerge unscathed from battle. They were weak people who were given strength, to be brave in war and drive back foreign invaders. Some came back to their wives from the dead, by resurrection; and others submitted to torture, refusing release so that they would rise again to a better life. Some had to bear being pilloried and flogged, or even chained up in prison. They were stoned, or sawn in half, or beheaded; they were homeless, and dressed in the skins of sheep and goats; they were penniless and were given ill-treatment. They were too good for the world and they went out to live in deserts and mountains and in caves and ravines. These are all heroes of faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us. - Heb. 11:33-40 -

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. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death. - Heb. 12:1-4 -


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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 second distinguishing fact is that once He appeared, He struck history with such impact that He split it in two, dividing it into two periods: one before His coming, the other after it. Buddha did not do this, nor any of the great Indian philosophers. Even those who deny God must date their attacks upon Him, A.D. so and so, or so many years after His coming.

A third fact separating Him from all others is this: every other person ever came into this world came into it to live. He came into it to die. Death was a stumbling block to Socrates - it interrupted his teaching. But to Christ, death was the goal and fulfillment of His life, the gold He was seeking. Few of His words or actions are intelligible without reference to His Cross. He presented Himself as a Savior rather than merely as a Teacher. It meant nothing to teach men to be good unless He also gave them the power to be good, after rescuing them from the frustration of guilt.

The story of every human life begins with birth and end with death. In the Person of Christ, however, it was His death that was first and His life that was last. The Scripture describes Him as "the Lamb slain as it were, from the beginning of the world." He was slain in intention by the first sin and rebellion against God. It was not so much that His birth cast a shadow on His Life and thus led to His death; it was rather that the Cross was first, and cast its shadow back to His birth. He has been the only life in the world that was ever lived backward. As the flower in the crannied wall tells the poet of nature, and as the atom is the miniature of the solar system, so too, His birth tells the mystery of the gibbet. He went from the known to the known, from the reason of His coming manifested by His name "Jesus" or Savior" to the fulfillment of His coming, namely, His death on the Cross.

John gives us His eternal prehistory; Matthew, His temporal prehistory, by the way of His genealogy. It is significant how much His temporal ancestry was connected with sinners and foreigners! These blots on the escutcheon of His human lineage suggest a pity for the sinful and for the strangers to the Covenant. Both these aspects of His compassion would later on be hurled against Him as accusations: "He is a friend of sinners"; "He is a Samaritan." But the shadow of a stained past foretells His future love for the stained. Born of a woman. He was a man and could be one with all humanity; born of a Virgin, who was overshadowed by the Spirit and "full of grace," He would also be outside that current of sin which infected all men.

A fourth distinguishing fact is that He does not fit, as the other world teachers do, into the established category of a good man. Good man do not lie. But if Christ was not all that He said He was namely, the Son of the living God, the Word of God in the flesh, then He was not "just a good man"; then He was knave, a liar, a charlatan and the greatest deceiver who ever lived. If He was not what He said He was, Christ, the Son of God, He was the anti-Christ! If He was only a man, then He was not even a "good" man.

But He was not only a man. He would have us either worship Him or despise Him - despise Him as a mere man, or worship Him as true God and true man. That is the alternative He presents. It may very well be that the Communists, who are so anti-Christ, are closer to Him that those who see Him as a sentimentalist and a vague moral reformer. The Communists have at least decided that if He wins, they lose; the others are afraid to consider Him either as winning or losing because they are not prepared to meet the moral demands which this victory would make on their souls.

If He is what He claimed to be, a Savior, a Redeemer, then we have a virile Christ and a leader worth following in these terrible times; One Who will step into the breach of death, crushing sin, gloom and despair; a leader to Whom we can make totalitarian sacrifice without losing, but gaining freedom and Whom we can love even unto death. We need a Christ today Who will make cords and drive the buyers and sellers from our new temples; Who will blast the unfruitful fig tree; Who will talk of crosses and sacrifices and Whose voice will be like the voice of the ragging sea. But He will not allow us to pick and choose among His words, discarding the hard ones and accepting the ones that please our fancy. We need a Christ Who will restore moral indignation, Who will make us hate evil with a passionate intensity, and love goodness to a point where we can drink death like water.

BY  ARCHBISHOP  FULTON  J.  SHEEN  (1895-1979)

                                                                   Page 1
 Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 -

Christianity is unique among all the religions of the world.

Most of them or if not all non-Christian emphasize the life of the founder, but Christianity is based on or about the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only is the death of Christ absolutely essential to Christianity. So is His resurrection and ascension.

It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians'. - Acts 11:26 - In each instance, the word Christian assumes that the person called by the name was an adherent or a follower of Christ.

The designation of the early followers of Christ as Christians was initiated by the non-Christian population of Antioch. Originally it may have been a term of derision. Eventually, however, Christians used it of themselves as a name of honour, not of shame. Prior to their adoption of the name, the Christians called themselves believers.

No one else ever dared to join them, but the people were loud in their praise and the numbers of men and women who came to believe in the Lord increased steadily. - Acts 5:13-14 - brothers or saints, - Acts 6:3, 9:13 - names which also continued to be used.

In modern times the name Christian has been somewhat emptied of its true meaning as a follower of Christ. To some today, Christian means little or nothing, however, its original meaning is a noble one.

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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 -

HOLY  WEEK  REFLECTIONS  FOR  EASTER.

The Last Supper  -  Since our Divine Lord came to die, it was fitting that there be a Memorial of his death. Since he was God, as well as man, and since he never spoke of his death without speaking of his Resurrection, should he not himself institute the precise memorial of his own death? And that is exactly what he did the night of the Last Supper... His Memorial was instituted, not because he would die and be buried, but because he would live again after the Resurrection. His Memorial would be the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets; it would be one in which there would be a Lamb sacrificed to commemorate spiritual freedom; above all, it would be a Memorial of a New Covenant...a Testament between God and man.

When the hour came, [Jesus] took...a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to [his apostles] saying, "This my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." - Luke 22:14-20 -

The Inner Cross  -  Every unhappy soul in the world has a cross embedded on it. The cross was never meant to be on the inside, but only on the outside. When the Israelites were bitten by the serpents, and the poison seeped within, Moses planted a brazen serpent on a stick and all who looked on it were healed...So the Son of Man came in the likeness of man, but was without sin, and all who look upon him on his cross are saved. In like manner, the inner cross disappears when one catches a vision of the great outer Cross on Calvary.

[Jesus] came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not come into the time of trail." Then he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. - Luke 22:39-44 -

The Scourging And The Crowning  -  Our Lord described himself as having a baptism wherewith he was to be baptized. John gave him the baptism of water, but the Roman soldiers gave him his baptism of blood. After opening his sacred flesh with violent stripes, they now put on him a purple robe which adhered to his bleeding body. Then they plaited a crown of thorns which they placed on his head. They mocked him and put a rod in his hand after beating him on the head. Then they knelt down before him in feigned adoration.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed. - Isaiah 53:4-5 -

The Cross  -  Many a cross we bear is of our own manufacture; we made it by our sins. But the cross which the Savior carried was not his, but ours. One beam in contradiction to his own. To the women who met him on the roadway, he said: "Weep not for me." To shed tears for the dying Savior is to lament the remedy; it were wiser to lament the sin that caused it. If Innocence itself took a Cross, then how shall we, who are guilty, complain against it?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me...?
I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people...
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joints;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
I can count all my bones. - Psalm 22:1,6,14-17 -

The Fire Of Sin  -  The green tree was Christ himself; the dry tree the world. He was the green tree of life transplanted from Eden; the dry tree was Jerusalem first, and then the unconverted world. If the Romans so treated him who was innocent, how would they treat the Truth that is in his Church; in an uneasy conscience perhaps he beckoned you to his confessional; in a passing prayer he called you to greater prayerfulness...You accepted the truth, you confessed your sins, you perfected your spiritual life, and lo! in those moments when you thought you were losing everything, you found everything; when you thought you were going into your grave, you were walking in the newness of life...The antiphon of the Empty Tomb was striking on the chords of your heart. It was not you who died; it was sin. It was not Christ who died; it was death.

Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. - 1Corinthians 5:6-8 -

Our Mother Of Mercy  -  Through the centuries the Church Fathers have said that Our Lord keeps for himself half his regency, which is the kingdom of justice, but the other half he gives away to his Mother, and this the kingdom of mercy. At the marriage feast of Cana, Our Lord said that the hour of his Passion was not yet at hand - the hour when justice would be fulfilled. But his Blessed Mother begged him not to wait, but to be merciful to those who were in need, and to supply their wants by changing water into wine. Three years later, when not the water was changed into wine, but the wine into blood, he fulfilled all justice, but surrendered half his kingdom by giving to us that which no one else could give, namely, his Mother: "Behold thy Mother." Whatever mothers do for sons, that his Mother would do for us, and more.

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. - Luke 23:50-56 -

The New Dynamics Of Easter  -  Finally the Easter lesson comes to our own lives. It has been suggested...that it is better to go down to defeat in the love of the Cross than to win the passing victory of a world that crucified. And now it is suggested in conclusion that it is better to go down to defeat in the eyes of the world by giving to God that which is wholly and totally ours. If we give God our energy, we give him back his own gift; if we give him our talents, our joys, and our possessions, we return to him that which he placed in our hands not as owners but as mere trustees.

Whatever gains I [Paul] had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ...For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes  through faith in Christ... I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. - Philippians 3:7-10 -

The executioners expected Jesus to cry, for everyone pinned to the gibbet of the cross had done it before him. Seneca wrote that those who were crucified cursed the day of their birth, the executioners, their mothers, and even spat on those who looked upon them. Cicero recorded that at times it was necessary to cut out the tongues of those who were crucified to stop their terrible blasphemies. Hence, the executioners expected a word, but not the kind of word that they heard...Like some fragrant trees which bathe in perfume the very axe that gashes them, the great Heart on the Tree of Love poured out from its depths something less a cry than a prayer - the soft, sweet, low prayer of pardon and forgiveness.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

                                                                  Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 Narrative Tradition - Let us now move on - having considered the most important element of the confessional tradition. Whereas the former authoritatively condenses the shared faith of Christianity in fixed formula and insists on their binding character, down to the letter, for the whole believing community, the narrative accounts of the Resurrection appearances reflect different traditions. They are linked to various bearers of tradition, and they can be divided geographically between Jerusalem and Galilee. They are not binding in every detail in the same way as the confessions; but by the virtue of being taken up into the Gospels, they are clearly to be regarded as valid testimony, giving content and shape to the faith. The confessions presuppose the narratives and grew out of them. They express in concentrated form the nucleus of the narrative content, and at the same time they point back toward the narratives.

Every reader will be struck immediately by the differences between the Resurrection accounts of the four Gospels. Matthew, apart from the risen Lord's appearance to the women at the empty tomb, gives only one other appearance - in Galilee to the Eleven. Luke gives only Jerusalem traditions. John tells of  appearances in both Jerusalem and Galilee. None of the evangelists recounts Jesus' Resurrection itself. It is an event taking place within the mystery of God between Jesus and the Father, which for us defies description: by its very nature it lies outside human experience.

The ending of Mark poses a particular problem. According to authoritative manuscripts, the Gospel comes to a close with 16:8 - "and they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." The authentic text of the Gospel as it has come to us ends with the fear and trembling of the women. Previously the text had spoken of the discovery of the empty tomb by the women who came to anoint the body and of the appearance of angels who announced Jesus' Resurrection to them and urged them to tell the disciples, "and Peter, that Jesus would go before them to Galilee as he had promised.

It is impossible that the Gospel would have ended with the words that follow concerning the women silence: it takes for granted that the news of their encounter was passed on. And it must obviously have known of the appearance to Peter and the Twelve, described in the essentially older account of the First Letter to the Corinthians. For what reason our text breaks off at this point, we do not know. In the second century, a concluding summary was added, bringing together the most important Resurrection traditions and the mission of the disciples to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world. - Mark 16:9-20 - Whatever the facts of the case, even the short ending of Mark presupposes the discovery of the empty tomb by the women, the message of the Resurrection, and knowledge of the appearances to Peter and to the Twelve. Its enigmatic interruption we must leave unexplained.

The narrative tradition tells of encounters with the risen Lord and the words spoken by him on those occasions; the confessional tradition merely establishes the key facts that serve to confirm the faith: this is another way of describing the essential difference between the two types of tradition. Specific differences ensue from this.

One initial difference is that in the confessional tradition only men are named as witnesses, whereas in the narrative tradition women play a key role, indeed they take precedence over the men. This may be linked to the fact that in the Jewish tradition only men could be admitted as witnesses in court - the testimony of women was considered unreliable. So the "official" tradition, which is, so to speak, addressing the court of Israel and the court of the world, has to observe this norm if it is to prevail in what we might describe as Jesus' ongoing trail.

The narratives, on the other hand, do not feel bound by this juridical structure, but they communicate the whole breadth of the Resurrection experience. Just as there were only women standing by the Cross -  apart from the beloved disciple - so too the first encounter with the risen Lord was destined to be for them. The Church's juridical structure is founded on Peter and the Eleven, but in the day to day life of the Church it is the women who are constantly opening the door to the Lord and accompanying him to the Cross, and so it is they who come to experience the Risen One.

Jesus' Appearances To Paul - A second important difference, by which the narrative tradition completes the creedal formula, lies in the fact that the risen Lord's appearances are not only confessed but described in a certain amount of detail. How are we to picture to ourselves the appearances of the Risen One, who had not returned to normal human life, but had passed over into a new manner of human existence?

To begin with, there is a marked difference between on the one hand, the appearance of the risen Jesus to Paul, described in the Acts of the Apostles, and, on the other hand, the Gospels narratives concerning the encounters of the Apostles and the women with the living Lord.

According to all three accounts of Saint Paul's conversion in the Acts of the Apostles, there were two elements to his encounter with the risen Christ: a light that shone "brighter than the sun" - 26:13 - together with a voice that spoke to Saul "in the Hebrew language." - 26:14 - Whereas the first account says that the people accompanying Saul could hear the voice but "[saw] no one" - 9:7 - the second account says, conversely, that they "saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me." 22:9 - The third account says of the people accompanying Saul only that they all fell to the ground with him. - 26:14 -

This much is clear: there was a difference between what was perceived by the people accompanying Saul and what Saul himself perceived. Only he was the direct recipient of a message involving a mission, but the people with him were also in some sense witnesses of an extraordinary event.

For the one who actually received the message, Saul/Paul, the two elements belong together: first, the blinding light that recalls the Tabor story - the Risen One is simply light, and second, the words by which Jesus identifies himself with the persecuted Church and entrusts Paul with a mission. While in the first and second accounts Paul is sent to Damascus, where he will receive more precise instructions for his mission in the third account a detailed and quite specific mission statement is communicated directly: "Rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles - to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." - acts 26:16-18 -

Despite all the differences between the three accounts, it is still clear that the apparition (light) and the word belong together. The risen Lord, whose essence is light, speaks as a man with Paul in Paul's own language. His words serve, on the one hand, as self-identification, and this includes his identification with the persecuted Church, and, on the other hand, they serve to communicate a mission, whose content will be further explained in what follows.

The Appearances Of Jesus In The Gospels - The appearances that we read of in the Gospels are manifestly different. On the one hand, the Lord appears as a man like other men: he walks alongside the Emmaus disciples; he invited Thomas to touch his wounds, and in Luke's account he even asks for a piece of fish to eat, in order to prove his real bodily presence. And yet these narratives do not present him simply as a man who has come back from death in the same condition as before.

One thing that strikes us straightaway is that the disciples do not recognize him as first. This is true not only of the two in the Emmaus story, but also of Mary Magdalene and then again at the Lake of Gennesaret: "Just  as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus." - John 21:4 - Only after the Lord has instructed them to set out once again does the beloved disciple recognized him: "That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'" - 21:7 - It is, as it were, an inward recognition, which nevertheless remains shrouded in mystery. For after the catch of fish, when Jesus invites them to eat, there is still a strange quality about him. "None of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord." - 21:12 - They knew from within, not from observing the Lord's outward appearance.

This dialectic of recognition and non-recognition corresponds to the manner of the apparitions. Jesus comes through closed doors: he suddenly stands in their midst. And in the same way he suddenly withdraws again, as at the end of the Emmaus encounter. His presence is entirely physical, yet he is not bound by physical laws, by the laws of space and time. In this remarkable dialectic of identity and otherness, of real physically and freedom from the constraints of the body, we see the special mysterious nature of the risen Lord's new existence. Both elements apply here: he is the same embodied man, and he is the new man, having entered upon a different manner of existence.

The dialectic, which pertains to the nature of the Risen One, is presented quite clumsily in the narratives, and it is this that manifests their veracity. Had it been necessary to invent the Resurrection, then all the emphasis would have been placed on full physicality, on immediate recognizability, and perhaps, too, some special power would have been thought up as a distinguishing feature of the risen Lord. But in the internal contradictions characteristic of all the accounts of what the disciples experienced, in the mysterious combination of otherness and identity, we see reflected a new form of encounter, one that from an apologetic standpoint may seem rather awkward but that is all the more credible as a record of the experience.

A help toward understanding the mysterious appearances of the risen Jesus can, I think, be provided by the theophanies of the Old Testament. I would like to mention briefly just three types of such theophanies.

First there is God's appearance to Abraham at the oak of Mamre. - Gen. 18:1-33 - Three men present themselves at Abraham's home. And yet Abraham knows at once, from deep within, that it is "the Lord" who wishes to be his guest. In the Book of Joshua, we are told that, lifting up his eyes, Joshua suddenly sees standing before him a man with a drawn sword in his hand. Not recognizing him, Joshua asks: "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" He receives this reply: "No, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come... Put off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy." - Josh. 5:13-15 - The stories of Gideon and Samson are also significant. - Judg 6:11-24, Judg 13 - In each case the "angel of the Lord" appearing in human form is recognized only at the moment of his mysterious withdrawal. Both times a flame consumes the food-offering as the "angel of the Lord" disappears. The mythological language expresses, on the one hand, the Lord's closeness, as he reveals himself in human form, and, on the other hand, his otherness, as he stands outside the laws of material existence.

Admittedly these are only analogies. What is radically new about the "theophany" of the risen Lord is that Jesus is truly man: he suffered and died as man and now lives anew in the dimension of the living God. He appears now a true man and yet as coming from God - as being God himself.

So two qualifications are important. On the one hand, Jesus has not returned to the empirical existence that is subject to the law of death, but he lives anew in fellowship with God, permanently beyond the reach of death. On the other hand, it is important that the encounter with the risen Lord are not just interior events or mystical experiences - they are real encounters with the living one who is now embodied in a new way and remains embodied. Luke emphasizes this very strongly: Jesus is not, as the disciples initially feared, a "ghost" or a "spirit": he has "flesh and bones." - Luke 24:36-43 -

What a ghost is, what is meant by the apparition of a "spirit" as opposed to the apparition of the risen Lord, can best be seen in the biblical account of the medium at Endor, who at Saul's behest conjures up the spirit of Samuel from the underworld. - 1Sam. 28:7-19 - The "spirit" that she calls forth is a dead man dwelling among the shadows in the underworld, who from time to time can be summoned forth, only to return to the realm of the dead.

Jesus, however, does not come from the realm of the dead, which he has definitely left behind: on the contrary, he comes from the realm of pure life, from God; he comes as the one who is truly alive, who is himself the source of life. Luke underlines quite dramatically how different the risen Lord is from a mere "spirit" by recounting that Jesus asked the still fearful disciples for something to eat and then ate a piece of grilled fish before their eyes.

Most exegetes take the view that Luke is exaggerating here in his apologetic zeal, that a statement of this kind seems to draw Jesus back into the empirical physicality that had been transcended by the Resurrection. Thus Luke ends up contradicting his own narrative, in which Jesus appears suddenly in the midst of the disciples in a physicality that is no longer subject to the laws of space and time.

I think it is helpful here to consider the other three passages in which the risen Jesus is presented participating in a meal.

Immediately before the text just mentioned is the Emmaus story. It ends with Jesus sitting down to table with the disciples, taking the bread, giving thanks and praise, breaking the bread, and giving it to the two of them. At this moment their eyes are opened, "and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight." - Luke 24:31 - The Lord sits at table with his disciples as before, with thanks and praise and breaking of bread. Then he vanishes from their outward view, and through this vanishing their inner vision is opened up: they recognize him. It is real table fellowship, and yet it is new. In the breaking of the bread he manifests himself, yet only in vanishing does he become truly recognizable.

In terms of their inner structure, these two meal narratives are quite similar to the one in John 21:1-14 - the disciples have spent a fruitless night, and not a single fish has been caught in their nets. In the morning, Jesus is standing on the shore, but they do not recognize him. He asks them: "Children, have you any fish?" When they respond in the negative, he instructs them to set out once again, and this time they come back with an abundant catch. Yet Jesus, who already has fish cooking on a charcoal fire, himself invites them: "Come and have breakfast." And now "they knew" that it was Jesus.

Particularly important and helpful for an understanding of the risen Jesus' participation in meals is the last account, found in the Acts of the Apostles. In most translations, admittedly, the singular significance of this text is not brought out. The Jerusalem Bible corresponds to the conventional type of translation when it says" "For forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem." - Acts 1:3-4 - Through the period after the word "God" which the sentence construction requires, an inner connection is concealed. Luke speaks of three elements that characterized the time spent by the risen Jesus in the company of his disciples: he appeared to them, he spoke to them, he sat at table with them. Appearing, speaking, and sharing meals: these three self-manifestations of the risen Lord belong together; they were his ways of proving that he was alive.

For a correct understanding of the third element, which like the first two extends over the "forty days" the word used by Luke - synalizomenos - is of great significance. Literally translated, it means "eating salt with them." Luke must have chosen this word quite deliberately. Yet what is it supposed to mean? In the Old Testament the shared enjoyment of bread and salt, or of salt alone, served to establish lasting covenants. - Num. 18:19; 2Chron. 13:5; Hauck, TDNTI, p.228 - Salt is regarded as a guarantee of durability. It is a remedy against putrefaction, against the corruption that pertains to the nature of death. To eat is always to hold death at bay - it is a way of preserving life. The "eating of salt" by Jesus after the Resurrection, which we therefore encounter as a sign of new and everlasting life, points to the risen Lord's new banquet with his followers. It is a covenant event, and in this sense it has an inner association with the Last Supper, when the Lord established the New Covenant. So the mysterious cipher of eating salt expresses an inner bond between the meal on the eve of Jesus' Passion and the risen Lord's new table fellowship: he gives himself to his followers as food and thus makes them sharers in his life, in life itself.

Finally, it is helpful to recall here a saying of Jesus from Saint Mark's Gospel: "For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:49-50 - Some manuscripts add, with reference to Leviticus 2:13: "and every sacrifice will be salted with salt." The salting of sacrifices was similarly intended to add spice to the offering and preserve it from putrefaction. So different meaning comes together here: covenant renewal, the gift of life, and purification of one's own being for self-offering to God.

When Luke summarizes the post-Resurrection events at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles and makes reference to the risen Lord's table fellowship with his followers by means of the expression "eating salt with them" - 1:4 - on the one hand, the mystery of this new table fellowship remains. On the other hand, though, its essential meaning is made clear: the Lord is drawing the disciples into a new covenant-fellowship with him and with the living God; he is giving them a share in real life, making them truly alive and salting their lives through participation in his Passion, in the purifying power of his suffering.

What this table fellowship with the disciples actually looked like is beyond our powers of imagination. But we can recognize its inner nature, and we can see that in the worshipping community, in the celebration of the Eucharist, this table fellowship with the risen Lord continues, albeit in a different form.

3. Summary: The Nature Of Jesus' Resurrection and Its Historical Significance...

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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 -