In the Old Testament, Isaac is the only son of Abraham by his wife Sarah; father of Jacob [Israel]. God promised to make Abraham's descendants a great nation that would become God's Chosen People. But the promised son was a long time in coming. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah [Sarai] was 90 years old. - Gen. 17:17, 21:5 - Both Abraham and Sarah laughed when they heard they would have a son in their old age. - Gen. 17:17-19, 18:9-15 - This explains why they named their son Isaac, which means "to laugh."
After eighth day after Isaac birth, Isaac was circumcised. - Gen. 21:4 - As he grew, his presence as Abraham's rightful heir brought Isaac into conflict with Ishmael, Abraham's son, Ishmael by Sarah's handmaid [maid servant] Hagar. The strained relationship caused Sarah to send away Hagar and Ishmael.
The child, Isaac, grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah watched the son, Ismael, that Hagar the Egyptian has borne to Abraham, playing with her son, Isaac. 'Drive away the slave-girl [Hagar] and her son [Ishmael]' Sarah said to Abraham; 'this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac.' This greatly distressed Abraham because of his son, Ishmael, but God said to Abraham, 'Do not distress yourself on account of the boy, Ishmael and slave-girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on.
But the slave-girl's [Hagar] son [Ishmael] I will also make into a nation, for he is your child too.' Rising early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water and, giving them to Hagar, he put the child on her shoulder and sent her away.
Hagar wandered off into the wilderness of Beersheba. When the skin of water was finished she abandoned the child under a bush. Then she went and sat down at a distance, about a bow-shot away, saying to herself, 'I cannot see the child die.' So she sat at a distance; and the child wailed and wept.
But God heard the boy wailing, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. 'What is wrong, Hagar?' he asked. 'Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy's cry where he lies. Come, pick up the boy and hold him safe, for I will make him into a great nation.' Then God opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well, so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy. He grew up and his home in the wilderness, and he became a bowman. He made his home in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother chose him a wife from the land of Egypt. - Gen. 21:8-21 -
The first son, Ishmael of Abraham, by his wife's Egyptian maid servant, Hagar. Although God had promised Abraham an heir, - Gen. 15:4 - Abraham's wife Sarah, had been unable to bear a child. When Abraham was 85 years old, Sarah offered her maid to him in order to help fulfill God's promise. - Gen. 16:1-2 -
After Hagar learned that she was pregnant, she grew proud and began to despise Sarah. Sarah complained to Abraham, who allowed Sarah to disciplined Hagar. Sarah's harsh treatment of Hagar caused her to flee into the wilderness. There she met the angel of God, who told her to return to Sarah and submit to Sarah authority. As an encouragement, the angel promised Hagar that her son, who would be named Ishmael, would have uncounted descendants. Hagar then returned to Abraham and Sarah and bore her son. - Gen. 16:4-15 -
When Ishmael was 13 years old, God appeared to Abraham to tell him that Ishmael was not the promised heir. God made a covenant with Abraham that was to be passed down to the descendants of Isaac - a son who would be conceived by Sarah the following year. Because Abraham loved Ishmael, God promised to bless Ishmael and make him a great nation. - Gen. 17:19-20 -
At the customary feast to celebrate Isaac's weaning, Sarah saw 16 years old Ishmael making fun of Isaac. She was furious and demanded that Abraham disown Ishmael and his mother, Hagar. - Gen. 21:8-13 -
Isaac's birthright was an important part of his life. The blessings which God gave to Abraham were also given to his descendants. Therefore, to inherit this covenant with God was of far greater value than to inherit property or material goods.
Isaac's life gave evidence of God's favor. Isaac circumcision was a sign of the covenant with God. God favor toward Isaac was also evident in Ishmael's disinheritance. The dismissal of the sons of Abraham's concubines to the "country of the east" is associated with the statement that Isaac inherited all that Abraham had, including God's blessing. Isaac was in a unique position historically because Isaac would carry on the covenant.
When Isaac was.......
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 -
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
As a literary device, an allegory may consist of only a few lines or it may be sustained through an entire book. Thus, an allegory refers to a symbolic representation of a truth about human conduct and experience. In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, it translates the Greek verb allegoreo which means to say something different from what the words normally imply.
According to traditional Jewish and Christian interpretations, the entire book of the Song of Songs or Song of Solomon is an allegory: of God and his wife, Israel (Jewish) or of Christ and his bride, the Church (Christian). In fact, there are many examples in the Old Testament and New Testament. Some examples of allegory in the Old Testament are Psalm 80:8-19, Ecclesiastes 12:3-7, the Book of Job.
In the New Testament, Jesus' parable of the darnel (wheat and the tares) is a good example of allegory: Jesus put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner's servants went to him and said, "Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?" "Some enemy has done this" he answered. And the servants said, "Do you want us to go and weed it out?" But he said, "No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn." - Matt. 13:24-30 -
Then, leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, 'Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.' He said in reply, 'The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears! - Matt. 13:36-43 -
The apostle Paul also used allegories when writing. In 1 Corinthians, saint Paul gives an allegory which compares the experience of Moses and the Israelites to Christian baptism and the Lord's Supper. And in Ephesians, apostle Paul urges his readers to 'put on the whole armor of God' and then gives the symbolic spiritual designation for each article worn by the Christian soldier.
I want to remind you, brothers, how our fathers were all guided by a cloud above them and how they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in this cloud and in the sea; all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the spiritual rock that followed them as they went, and that rock was Christ. - 1 Cor. 10:1-4 -
Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with strength of his power. Put God's armour on so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics. For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the heavens. That is why you must rely on God's armour, or you will not be able to put up any resistance when the worst happens, or have enough resources to hold your ground.
So stand your ground, with truth buckled round your waist, and integrity for a breastplate, wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace and always carrying the shield of faith so that you can use it to put out the burning arrows of the evil one. And then you must accept salvation from God to be your helmet and receive the word of God from the Spirit to use as a sword. - Eph. 6:10-17 -
Perhaps the most memorable of apostle Paul's allegories, however, is found in Galatians 4:21-31 - Hagar and Sarah, Ismael and Isaac.
Ismael was born to the bondwoman, Hagar, and by the doing of Abraham and Sarah. In other words, without God interference and promises. (Hagar was Abraham's and Sarah's slave) Hagar and Ismael are symbolic of the Old Covenant: the law from Mount Sinai that brings all flesh into bondage.
Isaac was born to a free woman, Sarah, and by the doing of God. In other words, with God promises and interference. (Sarah's was the wife of Abraham's) Sarah and Isaac are symbolic of the New Covenant: the 'Gospel of Grace' from Mount Calvary that gives spiritual freedom.
When Saint Paul's concluded by saying, "When the Lord Jesus Christ freed us, He meant us to remain free. "Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit to the yoke of slavery." - Gal. 5:1 -
So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free woman. Thus, we must reject the bondage of legalism, that is, salvation for keeping the law only. Explicitly, we should attain our salvation to live by faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ and by keeping God's law. Amen!
You want to be subject to the Law? Then listen to what the Law says, It says, if you remember that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise. This can be regarded as allegory: the women stand for the two covenants.
The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar - since Sinai is in Arabia - and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem that is a slave like her children. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife. Now you, my brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise, and as at that time the child born in the ordinary way persecuted the child born in the Spirit's way, so also now. Does not scripture say: Drive away the slave-girl and her son; this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with the son of the free woman? So, my brothers and sisters. we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife. - Gal. 4:21-31 -
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 -
According to traditional Jewish and Christian interpretations, the entire book of the Song of Songs or Song of Solomon is an allegory: of God and his wife, Israel (Jewish) or of Christ and his bride, the Church (Christian). In fact, there are many examples in the Old Testament and New Testament. Some examples of allegory in the Old Testament are Psalm 80:8-19, Ecclesiastes 12:3-7, the Book of Job.
In the New Testament, Jesus' parable of the darnel (wheat and the tares) is a good example of allegory: Jesus put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner's servants went to him and said, "Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?" "Some enemy has done this" he answered. And the servants said, "Do you want us to go and weed it out?" But he said, "No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn." - Matt. 13:24-30 -
Then, leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, 'Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.' He said in reply, 'The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears! - Matt. 13:36-43 -
The apostle Paul also used allegories when writing. In 1 Corinthians, saint Paul gives an allegory which compares the experience of Moses and the Israelites to Christian baptism and the Lord's Supper. And in Ephesians, apostle Paul urges his readers to 'put on the whole armor of God' and then gives the symbolic spiritual designation for each article worn by the Christian soldier.
I want to remind you, brothers, how our fathers were all guided by a cloud above them and how they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in this cloud and in the sea; all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the spiritual rock that followed them as they went, and that rock was Christ. - 1 Cor. 10:1-4 -
Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with strength of his power. Put God's armour on so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics. For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the heavens. That is why you must rely on God's armour, or you will not be able to put up any resistance when the worst happens, or have enough resources to hold your ground.
So stand your ground, with truth buckled round your waist, and integrity for a breastplate, wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace and always carrying the shield of faith so that you can use it to put out the burning arrows of the evil one. And then you must accept salvation from God to be your helmet and receive the word of God from the Spirit to use as a sword. - Eph. 6:10-17 -
Perhaps the most memorable of apostle Paul's allegories, however, is found in Galatians 4:21-31 - Hagar and Sarah, Ismael and Isaac.
Ismael was born to the bondwoman, Hagar, and by the doing of Abraham and Sarah. In other words, without God interference and promises. (Hagar was Abraham's and Sarah's slave) Hagar and Ismael are symbolic of the Old Covenant: the law from Mount Sinai that brings all flesh into bondage.
Isaac was born to a free woman, Sarah, and by the doing of God. In other words, with God promises and interference. (Sarah's was the wife of Abraham's) Sarah and Isaac are symbolic of the New Covenant: the 'Gospel of Grace' from Mount Calvary that gives spiritual freedom.
When Saint Paul's concluded by saying, "When the Lord Jesus Christ freed us, He meant us to remain free. "Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit to the yoke of slavery." - Gal. 5:1 -
So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free woman. Thus, we must reject the bondage of legalism, that is, salvation for keeping the law only. Explicitly, we should attain our salvation to live by faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ and by keeping God's law. Amen!
You want to be subject to the Law? Then listen to what the Law says, It says, if you remember that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise. This can be regarded as allegory: the women stand for the two covenants.
The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar - since Sinai is in Arabia - and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem that is a slave like her children. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife. Now you, my brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise, and as at that time the child born in the ordinary way persecuted the child born in the Spirit's way, so also now. Does not scripture say: Drive away the slave-girl and her son; this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with the son of the free woman? So, my brothers and sisters. we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife. - Gal. 4:21-31 -
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 -
Thursday, October 13, 2016
The sinner will willingly do penance: He/she knows that all sins cost the God-man something-His Cross-and so must cost us something; moreover, he/she does not want to be "let off" but rather to "make up" for his/her sins. In the Christian ages, people who died continued their repentance, even after death, by leaving money to or endowing hospitals, churches, and schools in the Lord Jesus Christ name.
Penance is a recognition that we have a "past." It is not morbid to recognize this fact; rather, to pretend that it does not exist is morbid. The past will affect our future. We are not only what we eat; we are also what our sins have made us. If we do not make amends for our past, we are postponing and increasing our eternal punishment; the only reason that time is given to us is in order that we may do penance.
The true lover of God, conscious of having wounded Love, will voluntarily renounce his/her privileges and conduct himself/herself in such a way as to be identified with the Christ Who bears five hideous scars on hands and feet and side.
In this world most of us mind pain more than we do sin; in fact, we often believe pain to be the greater evil. Penance helps us to set these disorders in their right perspective; when a man finds joy in penance, he/she realizes that no other evil can affect him/her more than sin. Unless there is love, sacrifice and penance will be felt as an evil, but not when love is there. We understand, when we accept penance, that the very selfishness that caused our sin makes some such sacrifice necessary as a condition of taming the errant impulses that caused the trouble.
And when the full light of the Lord Jesus Christ Love shines in a soul, it begins to incorporate, not only penances imposed by the Church, but all the trails of life into the great work of redemption. Instead of breaking into bitter complaint about the reverses of fortune and the trails, it receives them in a spirit of resignation as the just wages of sin; through this patient acceptance, atonement is made for many sins.
There are three general ways of doing penances: prayers, alms and fasting. In prayer, we beg God's mercy on our souls. By alms, we give back to God some of the gifts He gave to us, that we may justify our possessions. "redeem you your sins with alms." - Dan. 4:24 - By fasting, we mortify the root of all cravings of a sensual character. The increasing comforts of modern life afford many occasions for mortification. If a person cannot himself/herself in respect to food, other pleasures within his/her reach - artistic, conventional, mechanical, and social - will supply many an occasion for actual fasting.
But penances are not done by ourselves alone; the penitent is helped by others who are in the Body of Christ. This could not be if we were isolated individuals, but it can come about if we belong to one Mystical Body where all are one because governed by one Head, vivified by one Soul, and professing the same Faith. Just as it is possible to graft skin from one part of the part to the other, and just as it is possible to transfuse blood from one member of society to another, so, in the spiritual organism of the Church, it is possible to graft prayer and to transfuse sacrifices.
This Christians truth in its fullness is known as the Communion of Saints. Just as we are all bound up in the guilt of one another's faults, so we can be bound up in one another's reparation. Such a miracle takes place in the reversibility of merits and the interchange of advantages. That is why we ask our friends to pray for us, why we pray in the context of "Our Father." We have spiritual need of one another. "And the eye cannot say to the hand: I need not thy help; nor again the head to the feet: I have no nee of you. Yea, much more those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body, are more necessary." - 1 Cor. 12:21-22 -
Few consolations are greater than the knowledge that we are bound up in great corporation of prayers and sacrifices. The Communion of Saints is the great discovery of those who, as adults, find the fullness of faith. They discover that for years there have been dozens, in some instances hundreds, of souls praying especially for them-storming heaven with the plea that a little act of humility by the convert might open a crack in his armor to let in God's grace and truth.
Every soul in the world has a price tag on it, and since many cannot or will not pay the price themselves, others must do it for them. There is probably no other way to account for the conversion of some souls than the fact that in this world, as in the next, their parents, relatives or friends interceded to God and won for them the prize of everlasting life.
Why are there monasteries and convents? Why do so many young souls leave the lights and glamour of the world for the shades and shadows of the Cross where saints are made? The modern world so little understands their mission that, as soon as a newspaper man hears of a handsome young woman entering a cloister, he telephones the parents to ask, "Was she disappointed in love?" The answer, of course, is "Yes, with the love of the world. She has fallen in love with God." These hidden dynamos of prayer, the cloistered men and women, are doing more for our country than all its politicians, its labor leaders, its army and navy put together; they are atoning for sins of us all.
They are averting the just wrath of God, repairing the broken fences of those who sin and pray not, rebel and atone not. As ten just men would have saved Sodom and Gomorrah, so ten just saints can save a nation now. But so long as a citizenry is more impressed by what its cabinet does than by its chosen souls who are doing penance, the rebirth of the nation has not yet begun. The cloistered are the purest of patriots. They have not become less interested in the world since leaving it; indeed, they have become more interested in the world than ever before. But they are not concerned with whether it will buy and sell more; they care - and desperately care - whether it will be more virtuous and love God more.
With such noble men and women helping here and now, there and formerly, the rest do little enough penance for our individual sins. But, even so, many of the frustrated modern men and women look around wistfully for some easier way - for a religion which will give the emotional lift without the penitential drag, for some cult that is elevating but not too demanding. Having many passions to be mortified, many bad habits to correct, many egotism to surrender, they want a streamlined cross. They seek a religion to give them a glow - but no blow. Some repudiate all religion, saying, "What can the Church give me?" At that stage of pride, the Church can give nothing, but it can take something away - one's sins. And that is gift enough, as a start.
Page 4
BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN (1895 to 1979)
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.
Penance is a recognition that we have a "past." It is not morbid to recognize this fact; rather, to pretend that it does not exist is morbid. The past will affect our future. We are not only what we eat; we are also what our sins have made us. If we do not make amends for our past, we are postponing and increasing our eternal punishment; the only reason that time is given to us is in order that we may do penance.
The true lover of God, conscious of having wounded Love, will voluntarily renounce his/her privileges and conduct himself/herself in such a way as to be identified with the Christ Who bears five hideous scars on hands and feet and side.
In this world most of us mind pain more than we do sin; in fact, we often believe pain to be the greater evil. Penance helps us to set these disorders in their right perspective; when a man finds joy in penance, he/she realizes that no other evil can affect him/her more than sin. Unless there is love, sacrifice and penance will be felt as an evil, but not when love is there. We understand, when we accept penance, that the very selfishness that caused our sin makes some such sacrifice necessary as a condition of taming the errant impulses that caused the trouble.
And when the full light of the Lord Jesus Christ Love shines in a soul, it begins to incorporate, not only penances imposed by the Church, but all the trails of life into the great work of redemption. Instead of breaking into bitter complaint about the reverses of fortune and the trails, it receives them in a spirit of resignation as the just wages of sin; through this patient acceptance, atonement is made for many sins.
There are three general ways of doing penances: prayers, alms and fasting. In prayer, we beg God's mercy on our souls. By alms, we give back to God some of the gifts He gave to us, that we may justify our possessions. "redeem you your sins with alms." - Dan. 4:24 - By fasting, we mortify the root of all cravings of a sensual character. The increasing comforts of modern life afford many occasions for mortification. If a person cannot himself/herself in respect to food, other pleasures within his/her reach - artistic, conventional, mechanical, and social - will supply many an occasion for actual fasting.
But penances are not done by ourselves alone; the penitent is helped by others who are in the Body of Christ. This could not be if we were isolated individuals, but it can come about if we belong to one Mystical Body where all are one because governed by one Head, vivified by one Soul, and professing the same Faith. Just as it is possible to graft skin from one part of the part to the other, and just as it is possible to transfuse blood from one member of society to another, so, in the spiritual organism of the Church, it is possible to graft prayer and to transfuse sacrifices.
This Christians truth in its fullness is known as the Communion of Saints. Just as we are all bound up in the guilt of one another's faults, so we can be bound up in one another's reparation. Such a miracle takes place in the reversibility of merits and the interchange of advantages. That is why we ask our friends to pray for us, why we pray in the context of "Our Father." We have spiritual need of one another. "And the eye cannot say to the hand: I need not thy help; nor again the head to the feet: I have no nee of you. Yea, much more those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body, are more necessary." - 1 Cor. 12:21-22 -
Few consolations are greater than the knowledge that we are bound up in great corporation of prayers and sacrifices. The Communion of Saints is the great discovery of those who, as adults, find the fullness of faith. They discover that for years there have been dozens, in some instances hundreds, of souls praying especially for them-storming heaven with the plea that a little act of humility by the convert might open a crack in his armor to let in God's grace and truth.
Every soul in the world has a price tag on it, and since many cannot or will not pay the price themselves, others must do it for them. There is probably no other way to account for the conversion of some souls than the fact that in this world, as in the next, their parents, relatives or friends interceded to God and won for them the prize of everlasting life.
Why are there monasteries and convents? Why do so many young souls leave the lights and glamour of the world for the shades and shadows of the Cross where saints are made? The modern world so little understands their mission that, as soon as a newspaper man hears of a handsome young woman entering a cloister, he telephones the parents to ask, "Was she disappointed in love?" The answer, of course, is "Yes, with the love of the world. She has fallen in love with God." These hidden dynamos of prayer, the cloistered men and women, are doing more for our country than all its politicians, its labor leaders, its army and navy put together; they are atoning for sins of us all.
They are averting the just wrath of God, repairing the broken fences of those who sin and pray not, rebel and atone not. As ten just men would have saved Sodom and Gomorrah, so ten just saints can save a nation now. But so long as a citizenry is more impressed by what its cabinet does than by its chosen souls who are doing penance, the rebirth of the nation has not yet begun. The cloistered are the purest of patriots. They have not become less interested in the world since leaving it; indeed, they have become more interested in the world than ever before. But they are not concerned with whether it will buy and sell more; they care - and desperately care - whether it will be more virtuous and love God more.
With such noble men and women helping here and now, there and formerly, the rest do little enough penance for our individual sins. But, even so, many of the frustrated modern men and women look around wistfully for some easier way - for a religion which will give the emotional lift without the penitential drag, for some cult that is elevating but not too demanding. Having many passions to be mortified, many bad habits to correct, many egotism to surrender, they want a streamlined cross. They seek a religion to give them a glow - but no blow. Some repudiate all religion, saying, "What can the Church give me?" At that stage of pride, the Church can give nothing, but it can take something away - one's sins. And that is gift enough, as a start.
Page 4
BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN (1895 to 1979)
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 -
Friday, October 7, 2016
It is very difficult for the world to understand such sorrow as hers, but that is only because it does not have such love. The more one loves, the more one shrinks from hurting the beloved, and the more one grieves at having done so. But this grief should not make us dour and self-centered like those who say, "I can never forgive myself for that." That is hell - when the soul refuses to accept forgiveness for having wounded Love Divine.
The difference in standards between the pagans, old or new, and the believer, which results in remorse in one instance and sorrow in the other, is evidenced by the Lord Jesus Christ six precepts statements beginning with, "For I tell you (But I say/tell this to you) These contradict six precepts of worldly wisdom, each beginning, "You have heard/learnt."
- Matt. 5:21-22 - The Christian Standard. - The Pagan Standard - Do not let him/her get away with it. Stir up class enmity in order to seize power.
- Matt. 5:28-29 - The Christian Standard. - The Pagan Standard - Be self-expressive. Repression of sex instincts causes frustration. Liberty means the right to do whatever you please in the realm of the flesh.
- Matt. 5:32 - The Christian Standard. - The Pagan Standard - Get a divorce! Marry again.
- Matt. 5:34-37 - The Christian Standard - The Pagan Standard - Take matters into own hands. Say: I will be damned if I will do it.
- Matt. 5:39-42 - The Christian Standard - The Pagan Standard - Hit him/her back. Get even with him/her. Forgiveness is weakness.
- Matt. 5:44-48 - The Christian Standard - The Pagan Standard - Hate him/her if he hates you. Sue him! Kill him!
Since the Christian is trying to do something very difficult in aspiring to follow the Lord Jesus Christ precepts, he/she sometimes fails. His /her sorrow does not come because one has violated a law, but only if one knows one has broken off the relationship with Divine Love. But there is yet another element required for regeneration, the element of repentance and reparation. Repentance is rather dry-eyed affair; tears flow in sorrow, but sweat pours out in repentance. It is enough to tell God we are sorry and then forget all about it. If we broke a neighbor's window, we would not only apologize but also would go to the trouble of putting in a new pane. Since all sin disturbs the equilibrium and balance of justice and love, there must be a restoration involving toil and effort.
To see why this must be, suppose that every time a person did wrong, he/she has told to drive a nail into the wall of his/her living room, and that every time he was forgiven, he/she was told to pull it out. The holes would still remain after the forgiveness. Thus every sin (whether actual or original) after being forgiven leaves "holes" or "wounds" in our human nature, and the filling up of these holes is done by penance; a thief who steals a watch can be forgiven for the theft, but only if he /she returns the watch.
The difference between forgiveness and reparation is indicated in Sacred Scripture. When Moses sinned by doubting, God forgave him - but God still imposed a penance on Moses. "You shall not pass this Jordan." - Deut. 3:27 - David repented for his adultery, and Nathan the prophet absolved him: "The Lord has taken away your sin: you shall not die" - 2 Kin. 12:13 - But God demanded satisfaction, "The child that is born to you, shall surely die" - 2 Kin. 12:14 - It is the same today: God's pardon in the Sacrament restores us to His Friendship, but the debt to Divine Justice remains, either in time or in eternity.
The temporal expiation for many sins is necessarily considerable, and it requires considerable self-discipline on the part of the penitent. Faith in Christ's merits alone is not adequate for the remission of sins; as a matter of fact, faith without penance is always insufficient.
Christ's infinite merits and satisfactions are enough and yet not enough because God will not treat us as robots or automatons. There are those who often accuse us of attributing magical effects to the Sacraments. We retort that they are the culprits who attribute magic to Redemption, whereas we assert that there is magic neither in the Sacraments nor in Redemption.
God respects our free-will and without the cooperation of our free-will will do nothing. His operation is dependent on our cooperation, just as the electric current is dependent on the lamp for the production of light. Confession has the innate power to remove all traces of sin, but, before it can do so, there must be perfect cooperation, that is, perfect rectification of the will. Free-will is the core of the difficulty.
An illustration may help to clarify the issue. Suppose two person had a quarrel, and one of them got into an uncontrollable rage and struck his/her companion so hard that he/she damaged his/her own hand and wrist. Afterwards, the aggressor apologized and his apology was accepted. Would you call that the end of the incident? "No" you would say, "what about the hand?" Acceptance of the apology would not heal the hand.
So it is with us. By sin we damage our will; and the damage is not necessarily repainted by God's decree of pardon. Sometimes when we sin we turn to the creature with great intensity. Completely to rectify our will, we must turn back to God with equal intensity; that we frequently fail to do, with the result that our will remains scarred and out-of-the-straight. The will must be rectified before we can be fit for heaven.
If we turn back to God with an intensity equal to or greater than our intensity in sin, Confession takes away both the guilt of sin and the temporal punishment due to sin.
If we turn to God with less, though with sufficient intensity, the will still remains damaged, and other good works will be required to complete its rectification.
Here we have the explanation of the heavy penances imposed in the early Church. The early Christians did not doubt the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation, but the adequacy of their own repentance. This is the explanation, too, of Christ's own insistence on penance.
Or consider sin as a journey away from God. Imagine that A is a minor son, bound to respect his father's wishes. He is in Chicago. His father, B, tells him to go to the left on the map - to San Francisco. But instead A goes to the right, to New York. When A gets to New York, he telephones B and says, "Forgive me, will you, please? I am sorry for having offended you, who are deserving of my love." B forgives A; but look where A is! He is about nine hundred miles from his starting point, Chicago. In order to do B's will, A has to go back to Chicago before he can go to San Francisco; or you could say that the nine hundred miles A traveled in sin must be traveled back in penance. A cannot begin to be good until he has retracted his evil ways.
But, like all examples, this one limps. For the fact is that A need not walk back those 900 hundred miles; when A start, he can call upon the Church to assist him with an airplane full of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Mother, and the Saints. The plane flies him back the rest of the way. Such a remission in whole or in part of the punishment due to A's sins is effected through indulgences. Through them, the Church gives her penitents a fresh start. And the Church has a tremendous spiritual capital, gained through centuries of penance, persecution, and martyrdom; many of her children prayed, suffered, and merited more than they needed for the own individual salvation.
The Church took these super abundance merits and put them into the spiritual treasury, out of which repentant sinners can draw in times of spiritual depression. Or this spiritual capital may be likened to a blood bank; whenever any of her members are suffering from spiritual anemia or the deep wounds of sin, the Church gives them a blood transfusion. She can never do it for us if we are spiritually dead in sin; a transfusion will not avail a corpse. So to obtain the indulgences or remission of the penalties of sin, the recipient must be in a state of grace, must have the intention of gaining the indulgences, and must perform the prescribed works.
The sinner will willingly do.........
Page 3
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 difference in standards between the pagans, old or new, and the believer, which results in remorse in one instance and sorrow in the other, is evidenced by the Lord Jesus Christ six precepts statements beginning with, "For I tell you (But I say/tell this to you) These contradict six precepts of worldly wisdom, each beginning, "You have heard/learnt."
- Matt. 5:21-22 - The Christian Standard. - The Pagan Standard - Do not let him/her get away with it. Stir up class enmity in order to seize power.
- Matt. 5:28-29 - The Christian Standard. - The Pagan Standard - Be self-expressive. Repression of sex instincts causes frustration. Liberty means the right to do whatever you please in the realm of the flesh.
- Matt. 5:32 - The Christian Standard. - The Pagan Standard - Get a divorce! Marry again.
- Matt. 5:34-37 - The Christian Standard - The Pagan Standard - Take matters into own hands. Say: I will be damned if I will do it.
- Matt. 5:39-42 - The Christian Standard - The Pagan Standard - Hit him/her back. Get even with him/her. Forgiveness is weakness.
- Matt. 5:44-48 - The Christian Standard - The Pagan Standard - Hate him/her if he hates you. Sue him! Kill him!
Since the Christian is trying to do something very difficult in aspiring to follow the Lord Jesus Christ precepts, he/she sometimes fails. His /her sorrow does not come because one has violated a law, but only if one knows one has broken off the relationship with Divine Love. But there is yet another element required for regeneration, the element of repentance and reparation. Repentance is rather dry-eyed affair; tears flow in sorrow, but sweat pours out in repentance. It is enough to tell God we are sorry and then forget all about it. If we broke a neighbor's window, we would not only apologize but also would go to the trouble of putting in a new pane. Since all sin disturbs the equilibrium and balance of justice and love, there must be a restoration involving toil and effort.
To see why this must be, suppose that every time a person did wrong, he/she has told to drive a nail into the wall of his/her living room, and that every time he was forgiven, he/she was told to pull it out. The holes would still remain after the forgiveness. Thus every sin (whether actual or original) after being forgiven leaves "holes" or "wounds" in our human nature, and the filling up of these holes is done by penance; a thief who steals a watch can be forgiven for the theft, but only if he /she returns the watch.
The difference between forgiveness and reparation is indicated in Sacred Scripture. When Moses sinned by doubting, God forgave him - but God still imposed a penance on Moses. "You shall not pass this Jordan." - Deut. 3:27 - David repented for his adultery, and Nathan the prophet absolved him: "The Lord has taken away your sin: you shall not die" - 2 Kin. 12:13 - But God demanded satisfaction, "The child that is born to you, shall surely die" - 2 Kin. 12:14 - It is the same today: God's pardon in the Sacrament restores us to His Friendship, but the debt to Divine Justice remains, either in time or in eternity.
The temporal expiation for many sins is necessarily considerable, and it requires considerable self-discipline on the part of the penitent. Faith in Christ's merits alone is not adequate for the remission of sins; as a matter of fact, faith without penance is always insufficient.
Christ's infinite merits and satisfactions are enough and yet not enough because God will not treat us as robots or automatons. There are those who often accuse us of attributing magical effects to the Sacraments. We retort that they are the culprits who attribute magic to Redemption, whereas we assert that there is magic neither in the Sacraments nor in Redemption.
God respects our free-will and without the cooperation of our free-will will do nothing. His operation is dependent on our cooperation, just as the electric current is dependent on the lamp for the production of light. Confession has the innate power to remove all traces of sin, but, before it can do so, there must be perfect cooperation, that is, perfect rectification of the will. Free-will is the core of the difficulty.
An illustration may help to clarify the issue. Suppose two person had a quarrel, and one of them got into an uncontrollable rage and struck his/her companion so hard that he/she damaged his/her own hand and wrist. Afterwards, the aggressor apologized and his apology was accepted. Would you call that the end of the incident? "No" you would say, "what about the hand?" Acceptance of the apology would not heal the hand.
So it is with us. By sin we damage our will; and the damage is not necessarily repainted by God's decree of pardon. Sometimes when we sin we turn to the creature with great intensity. Completely to rectify our will, we must turn back to God with equal intensity; that we frequently fail to do, with the result that our will remains scarred and out-of-the-straight. The will must be rectified before we can be fit for heaven.
If we turn back to God with an intensity equal to or greater than our intensity in sin, Confession takes away both the guilt of sin and the temporal punishment due to sin.
If we turn to God with less, though with sufficient intensity, the will still remains damaged, and other good works will be required to complete its rectification.
Here we have the explanation of the heavy penances imposed in the early Church. The early Christians did not doubt the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation, but the adequacy of their own repentance. This is the explanation, too, of Christ's own insistence on penance.
Or consider sin as a journey away from God. Imagine that A is a minor son, bound to respect his father's wishes. He is in Chicago. His father, B, tells him to go to the left on the map - to San Francisco. But instead A goes to the right, to New York. When A gets to New York, he telephones B and says, "Forgive me, will you, please? I am sorry for having offended you, who are deserving of my love." B forgives A; but look where A is! He is about nine hundred miles from his starting point, Chicago. In order to do B's will, A has to go back to Chicago before he can go to San Francisco; or you could say that the nine hundred miles A traveled in sin must be traveled back in penance. A cannot begin to be good until he has retracted his evil ways.
But, like all examples, this one limps. For the fact is that A need not walk back those 900 hundred miles; when A start, he can call upon the Church to assist him with an airplane full of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Mother, and the Saints. The plane flies him back the rest of the way. Such a remission in whole or in part of the punishment due to A's sins is effected through indulgences. Through them, the Church gives her penitents a fresh start. And the Church has a tremendous spiritual capital, gained through centuries of penance, persecution, and martyrdom; many of her children prayed, suffered, and merited more than they needed for the own individual salvation.
The Church took these super abundance merits and put them into the spiritual treasury, out of which repentant sinners can draw in times of spiritual depression. Or this spiritual capital may be likened to a blood bank; whenever any of her members are suffering from spiritual anemia or the deep wounds of sin, the Church gives them a blood transfusion. She can never do it for us if we are spiritually dead in sin; a transfusion will not avail a corpse. So to obtain the indulgences or remission of the penalties of sin, the recipient must be in a state of grace, must have the intention of gaining the indulgences, and must perform the prescribed works.
The sinner will willingly do.........
Page 3
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 -
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)