Nazareth is a town located of lower Galilee where Jesus spent His boyhood years. For centuries Nazareth has been a beautifully secluded town nestled in the southernmost hills of the Lebanon Mountain range. Situated in the territory belonging to Zebulun, the city must have been of late origin or of minor importance. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament.

Nazareth lay close to the important trade routes of Palestine. It overlooked the Plain of Esdraelon through which caravans passed as they traveled from Gilead to the south and west. North of the city was the main road from Ptolemais to the Decapolis, a road over which the Roman legions frequently traveled. This fact may account for the possible source of the name Nazareth in the Aramaic word meaning 'watchtower.' However, Nazareth itself was situated in something of a basin, high valley about 366 meters above sea level overlooking the Esdraelon valley. To the north and east were steep hills, while on the west the hills rose to an impressive 488 meters. Nazareth, therefore, was somewhat secluded and isolated from nearby traffic.

This apparent isolation of Nazareth as a frontier town on the southern border of Zebulun contributed to the reputation that Nazareth was not an important part of the national and religious life of Israel. This, coupled with a rather bad reputation in morals and religion and a certain crudeness in the Galilean dialect, prompted Nathanael, when he first learned of Jesus of Nazareth, to ask, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.' 'From Nazareth?' said Nathanael 'Can anything good come from that place?' - John 1:45-46 -

Although it was not an important town before the New Testament era, Nazareth became immortal as the home town of Jesus the Messiah. It was here that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and informed her of the forthcoming birth of Christ. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But after the sojourn in Egypt to escape the ruthless murders of Herod the Great, Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus to Nazareth where they had lived. Here Jesus was brought up as a boy and spent the greater part of His life. - Matt. 2:13-23; Mark 1:9; Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-52,  4:16 -

Apparently, Jesus was well received as a young man in Nazareth. But this changed after Jesus began His ministry, His own town peoples twice rejected Him. 'Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual.......Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies.' - Luke 2:41-47 -

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He 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.......When they heard this everyone was enraged. They sprang their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.' - Luke 4:14-30 -

 Going from that district, he went to his hometown [Nazareth] and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him...And Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house'; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. - Mark 6:1-6 -

Because of Jesus close association with this city, Christ became known as "Jesus of Nazareth" - Luke 18:37, 24:19; John 1:45 - There is prophetic significance as well to His being known as a "Nazarene." The Gospel of Matthew records that Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth during the reign of Herod Archelaus.

After Herod's death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead. So Joseph got up and taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus  had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: "He will be called a Nazarene." - Matt. 2:19-23 -

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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 -

Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission. - Luke 1:31 - Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins" - Matt. 1:21 - In Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men. - CCC 430 -

In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage" by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offense against God, only he can forgive it. - Ps.5:4,12 - For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God. - Ps. 79:9 - CCC 431 -

The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - John 3:18; Acts 2:21, 4:12, 5:41, 9:14; Rom. 10:6-13; James 2:7 - CCC 432 -

The name of the Savior God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy seat in the Holy of Holy with the sacrificial blood. The mercy seat was the place of God's presence. When Saint Paul speaks of Jesus whom "God put forward as an expiation by his blood" he means that in Christ's humanity "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." - Ex. 25:22; Lev. 16:2,15-16; Num. 7:89; Sir. 50:20; Heb. 9:5,7; Rom. 3:25; 2Cor. 5:19  - CCC 433 -

Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Savior God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the "name which is above all name." The evil spirits fear his name; in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all they ask in his name. - Phil.2:9-10; John 12:28; Acts 16:16-18, 19:13-16; Mark 16:17; John 15:16 - CCC 434 -

The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ." The 'Hail Mary' reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." The Eastern prayer of the heart, the 'Jesus prayer' says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as Saint Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips. - CCC 435 -

The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew 'Messiah' which means "anointed." It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets. - Ex. 29:7; Levi. 8:12; 1Sam. 9:16, 10:1, 16:1,12-13; 1Kings 1:39, 19:16 -

This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. - Ps. 2:2; Acts 4:26-27 - It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. - Is. 11:2, 61:1; Zech. 4:14, 6:13; Luke 4:16-21 - Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king. - CCC 436 -

To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." - Luke 2:11 - from the beginning he was "the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world" conceived as "holy" in Mary's virginal womb. - John 10:36; Luke 1:35 - God called Joseph to "take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is the Holy Spirit" so that Jesus, "who is called Christ" should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David. - Matt. 1:16,20; Rom. 1:1; 2Tim. 2:8; Rev. 22:16 - CCC 437 -

Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, "for the name 'Christ' implies 'he who anointed', 'he who was anointed' and 'the very anointing with which he was anointed.' The one who anointed is the Father, the one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the anointing." His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John, when "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power", "that he might be revealed to Israel" as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as "the Holy One of God." - Acts 3:14, 10:38; John 1:31; Mark 1:24; John 6:69 - CCC 438 -

Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David" promised by God to Israel. Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah, though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political. - Matt. 2:2, 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30, 21:9,15, 22:41-46; John 4:25-26, 6:15, 11:27; Luke 24:21 - CCC 439 -

Jesus accepted Peter's profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man. - Matt. 16:16-23 - He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man "who came down from heaven" and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Matt. 20:28; John 3:13, 6:62; Dan. 7:13; Is. 53:10-12 -

Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the cross. - John 19:19; Luke 23:39-43 - Only after his Resurrection will Peter be able to proclaim Jesus' messianic kingship to the People of God: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. - Acts 2:36 - CCC 440 -

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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 -

Name refers to a label or designation that sets one person apart from another. But in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible a name is much more than an identifier as it tends to be in our culture. Personal names (and even place names) were formed from words that had their own meaning. Thus, the people of the Sacred Scripture/ Holy Bible were very conscious of the meaning of names. They believed there was a vital connection between the name and the person it identified. A name somehow represented the nature of the person.

This means that the naming of a baby was very important in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. In choosing a name, the parents could reflect the circumstances of the child's birth, their own feelings, their gratitude to God, their hopes and prayers for the child, and their commitment of the child to God. For instance, the name Isaac reflected the 'laughter' of his mother at his birth. - Gen. 21:6 - Esau was named 'hairy' because of his appearance. Jacob was named 'supplanter'  because he grasped his brother Esau's heel. - Gen. 25:25-26 - Moses received his name because he was 'drawn out' of the water. - Ex. 2:10 -

A popular custom of ancient times was to compose names by using the shortened forms of the divine name El or (Je) as the beginning or ending syllable. Examples of this practice are Elisha, which means "God is salvation" Daniel "God is my judge" Jehoiakim "The Lord has established" and Isaiah "The Lord is salvation."

Sometimes very specialized names, directly related to circumstances of the parents, were given to children. The prophet Isaiah was directed to name one of the children Maher-shalal-hash-baz, meaning "speed the spoil, hasten the prey." This name was an allusion to the certain Assyrian invasion of the nation of Judah - Is. 8:3-4 - God directed Hosea, the prophet to go and get marry. He told him to name his first son 'Jezreel' and name the second, a daughter 'Unloved' and the third, a son 'No-People-of-Mine'. All these names referred to God's displeasure with His people. - Hos. 1:2-9 -

The change of name can also be of great importance. Abram's name was changed to Abraham in connection with his new calling to be "a father of many nations' - Gen. 17:5 - God gave Jacob the new name 'Israel' (God strives) because "he struggled with God and with men, and prevailed" - Gen. 32:28, 35:10 - In giving or taking of new names, often a crucial turning point in the person's life has been reached. Apostle Simon was given the name 'Peter' (the Rock) by the Lord Jesus Christ, and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. - Matt. 16:16-19 - Apostle Saul was renamed Paul, a Greek name that was appropriate for one who was destined to become the great apostle to the Gentiles.

The connection between a name and the reality it signified is nowhere more important than in the names referring to God. The personal name of God revealed to Moses in the burning bush - "I AM who I AM" - conveyed something of His character. - Ex. 3:14 - According to Exodus 34: 5-6, when the Lord "proclaimed the name of the Lord" He added words that described His character. The name of the Lord was virtually synonymous with His presence: "For your wondrous works declare that your name is near" - Ps. 75:1 - To know the name of God is thus to know God Himself - Ps. 91:14 - For this reason, to "take the name of the Lord your God in vain" is an act in anyway that is inconsistent with the profession that He is the Lord God.

The New Testament also emphasized the importance of names and the close relationship between names and what they mean. A striking illustration of this is in the Book of Acts 4:12. In this instance the name is again practically interchangeable with the reality which it represents. Jesus taught His disciples to pray: "Hallowed be Thy name" - Matt. 6:9, Luke 11:2 - Christians were described by the apostle Paul: "The Lord knows those who are his own" and "All who call on the name of the Lord must avoid sin." - 2 Tim. 2:19 -

A true understanding of the exalted Jesus is often connected with a statement about His name. Thus, Jesus has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than the angels. So he is now as far as above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name. - Heb. 1:4 - According to apostle Paul, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.

But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all others 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. 2:9-11 -

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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 -

Those who live by what Our Lord calls the "spirit of the world" are radically incapable of understanding anything done by others out of the spirit of Christ, Who said, "I have taken you out of the world, therefore the world will hate you" - John 15:19 - When the world hears of a young girl entering the covenant, it asks: "Was she disappointed in love?"

The best answer to that inanity is: "Yes! But it was not a man's love that disappointed her, but the world's love". Actually, a young girl enters the convent because she has fallen in love: she is in love with Love Itself, which is God. The world can understand why one should love the Flame. It is comprehensible that one should love the flesh that fades and dies, but incomprehensible that one should love with "passionless passion and wild tranquillity" the Love which is Eternal.

Anyone who knows the real philosophy of love should not be confused at such a noble loving. There are three stages of love, and few there are who ever arrive at the third stage. The first love is digestive love, the second is democratic love, and the third is sacrificial love. Digestive love centres in the person whom one loves. It assimilates persons, as the stomach assimilates food, using them as means to either its own pleasure or utility. Mere physical or sex love is digestive; it flatters the other person for his possession, as the farmer fattens livestock for the market. Its proffered gifts are only "baits" used as Trojan horses to win the other person over at the moment of its devouring. Those marriages which last only a few years, and end in divorce and remarriage, are found on a love which is purely organic and glandular. Such love is a Moloch which devours its victims. If the partners survive digestion, it is only the carcass which is dismissed with the melancholy words: "We are no longer in love, but we are still good friends."

Above digestive love is democratic love, in which there is a reciprocal devotion founded on natural honour, justice, common likes, and sense of decency. Here the other person is treated with becoming respect and dignity. This stage deserves the name of love which the first does not.

Over and above this is what might be called sacral or sacrificial love, in which the lover sacrifices himself for the beloved, counts himself most free when he is a "slave" to the object of his love, and desires even to immolate self than the other might be glorified. Gustave Thibon beautifully describes these three loves. He calls them Indifference, Attachment, Detachment.

Indifference - As far as I am concerned, you do not exist.

Attachment - You exist, but this existence is based on our reciprocal relations. You exist in the measure that I possess you, and the moment I dispossess you, you no longer exist.

Detachment - You exist for me absolutely, quite independent of my personal relations with you, and beyond anything you could do for me. I adore you as a reflection of the Divinity which can never be taken from me. And I have no need to possess in order that you have existence for me.

Consecrated virginity is the highest form of sacral or sacrificial love; it seeks nothing for itself, but only the will of the beloved. Pagans reverenced virginity, but they regarded it as almost the exclusive power of woman, for purity was seen only in mechanical and physical effects. Christianity, on the contrary, looks upon virginity as a surrender of sex and of human love for God.

The world makes a mistake of assuming that virginity is opposed to love, as poverty is opposed to wealth. Rather, virginity is related to love, as a university education is related to a grammar-school education. Virginity is the mountain peak of love, as marriage is its hill. Simply because virginity is often associated with asceticism and penance, it is thought to mean only the 'giving up' of something. The true picture is that asceticism is only the fence around the garden of virginity. A guard must always be stationed around the Crown of Jewels of England, not because England loves soldiers, but because it needs them to protect the jewels. So, the more precious the love, the greater the precautions to guard it. Since no love is more precious than that of the soul in love with God, the soul must ever be on the watch against lions who would overrun its green pastures. The grating in a Carmelite monastery is not to keep the sisters in, but to keep the world out.

Married love, too, has its moments of renouncement, whether they be dictated by nature or by the absence of the beloved. If nature imposes sacrifices and asceticism on married love by force, why should not grace freely suggest a virgin love? What one does out of the exigencies of time, the other does out of the exigencies of eternity. Every act of love is an engagement for the future, but the virgin's vow centres more on eternity than on time.

A virginity is not the opposite of love, neither is it the opposite of generation. The Christian blessing on virginity did not abrogate the order of Genesis to "increase and multiply" for virginity, also, has its generation. Mary's consecration of virginity was unique in that it resulted in a physical generation - the Word made flesh. But it also set the pattern of spiritual generation, for she begot the Christ-like. In like manner, virgin love must not be barren but, like Saint Paul, must say: "I have begotten you as most dear children in Christ." When the woman in the crowd praised the Mother of Our Lord, He turned the praise to spiritual motherhood, and said that she who did the will of His Father in heaven was His mother. Relationship was here lifted from the level of the flesh to the spirit. To beget a body is blessed; to save a soul is more blessed, for such is the Father's Will. An idea thus can transform a vital function, not by condemning it to sterility, but by elevating it to a new fecundity of the spirit.

There would, therefore, seem to be implied in all virginity the necessity of apostleship and the begetting of souls for Christ. God, Who hated the man who buried his talent in the ground, will certainly despise those who pledge themselves to be in love with Him, and yet show no new life - converts or souls saved through contemplation. Birth-control, whether undertaken by husband and wife or by a virgin dedicated to Christ, is reprehensible. On Judgment Day, God will ask all the married and all virgins the same question: "Where are the fruits of your love, the torches that should be kindled by the fires of your passion?" Virginity is meant for generation as much as married love is; otherwise the Model-Virgin would not have been the Mother of Christ, giving an example to others to be the mothers and fathers of Christians. It is only love that can gain victory over love; only the soul in love with God can overcome the body-soul in love with another body-soul.

There is an intrinsic relation between virginity and intelligence. There is no doubt that as Saint Paul says, "The flesh militates against the spirit." The sex-mad individual is always under psychological necessity to "rationalize" his conduct which is so obviously contrary to the dictates of conscience. But this psychic tendency to "justify oneself" by making a creed to suit one's immoral behaviour necessarily destroys reason. Furthermore, passion harms reason, even when it does not quote Freud to justify adultery.

By its very nature, the concentration of vital energies in the centrality of the flesh necessarily implies a diminution of those energies in the higher realms of the spirit. In a more positive way, we may say that the purer the love, the less the disturbances of the mind. But since there can be no greater love than that of the soul in union with the Infinite, it follows that the mind free from anxieties and fear should have the greatest clearness of intellectual insights. The concentration on 'spiritual' fecundity should by its very nature produce a high degree of intellectual fecundity. Here one speaks not of knowledge 'about things' for that depends on effort, but of judgment, counsel, decision which are the marks of a keen intelligence. One finds a suggestion of this in Mary, whose virginity is associated with wisdom in the highest degree, not only because she owned it in her new right, but also because she begot Intelligence Itself in her flesh.

If God in His Wisdom chose, in one woman, to unite Virginity and Motherhood, it must be that one is destined to illumine the other. Virginity illumines the homes of the married, as marriage pays back its debt with the oblation of virgins. Again, if marriage is ever to realize its dreams, it must proceed from the impulsion of instinct to those lofty ideals of love which virginity maintains. Married love that begins with the flesh guiding the spirit, under the inspiration of virginity, is elevated to a point at which the spirit guides the body. Carnal love, which by its nature implies no inner purification, would never mount above exhaustion and disgust, were there not that sacrificial oblation which virgins keep fresh in the world. And even when people do not live up to such ideals, they love to know that there are some who do. Though married people tear up the photographs of what married love should be, it is a consolation to know that the sacrificial virgins are keeping the blueprints.

As sex-love centres in the ego, there is hope for happiness as long as virgins still centre their love in God. While fools love what is only an image of their own desire, the redeemers of humanity are loving Him, of Whom all love ought to be an image. When the sated hits bottom, and believes there is nothing more in the world worth loving, it is encouraging to know that Madonna-love can point to them and say: "You have hit only the bottom of your egotism, but not the bottom of real love."

The Virgin-love of Christianity teaches the disillusioned lovers that, instead of trying to make the infinite out of a succession of finite loves, they should take the one finite love they have and, by selflessness and charity, capture the Infinite already hidden within it. Promiscuity may be regarded as a misguided search for the Infinite, which is God. As the avaricious soul wants "more and more" hoping that by adding zeroes he can make the Infinite, so the carnal man wants another wife or another husband, vainly believing that what one lacks the other will supply. In vain does one change violins to prove the melody; in vain does one think that the infinity of desire with which all love begins is anything but God, with Whose love the virgin started and ended.

No human being can live without dreams. He who dreams only of the human and the carnal must one day be prepared either to see his dream die, or else he must die to the dream. Nothing is more pitiable than to see the thrice-divorced read romances, hoping to discover on a printed page what they know they never found in life itself. The virgin dies to all dreams but one and as time goes on her dream comes more and more true, until finally she wakes up to find herself in the arms of the Beloved. It has been said of Mary that she dreamed of Christ before she conceived Him in her body.

When Christianity called Him the"Word made flesh" it meant that He was the Dream come true, Love becoming the Beloved. In a noble married love, one must love the other as the messenger of a transcendent love, that is, as a dream and an ideal. The child that is born of that love is looked upon as the messenger from another world. But all this is a reflection of that virgin-love, modeled in Mary, which surrenders all earthly loves, until the Messenger is One sent by the Father, Whose name is Christ. This is not barrenness but fecundity - not the absence of love, but its very ecstasy - not disappointment in love, but is sweet ecstasy. And from that hour, when a Virgin held Love Itself in her arms, all lovers will instinctively peer through stable doors to catch a glance of what all virgins envy most: falling in love with a First Love that is the Alpha and the Omega - Christ, the Son of the Living God.

As breathing requires atmosphere, so love requires a Christosphere and Mariasphere. That ideal love we see beyond all creature love, and to which we instinctively turn when flesh-love fails, is the same ideal that God had in His Heart from all eternity - the Lady Whom He would call our Blessed "Mother." She is the every man loves when he loves a woman - whether he knows it or not. She is what every woman wants to be, when she looks at herself. She is the woman every man marries in his ideal; she is hidden as an ideal in the discontent of every woman with the carnal aggressiveness of man; she is the secret desire every woman has to be honoured and fostered. To know a woman in the hour of possession, a man must first have loved her in the exquisite hour of a dream. To be loved by man in the hour of possession, a woman must find want to be loved, fostered, and honoured as an ideal. Beyond all human love is another love; that "other" is the image of the possible. It is that "possible" that every man and woman loves when they love one another. That "possible" becomes real in the blueprint Love of Him God loved before the world was made, and in that other love which we all love because she brings Christ to us and brings us to Christ: Mary, the Immaculate Virgin, the Mother of God.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )

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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 -

Although romance before marriage was not unknown in Old Testament times, it played a minor role in the life of teenagers of that era. They did not marry the person they loved; they loved the mate they married. Love began at marriage. When Isaac married Rebekah, the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible records that 'she became his wife, and he loved her' - Gen. 24:67 -

In biblical times, a betrothal for marriage was a binding agreement that set the young woman apart for the young man. The agreement was voided only by death; one could not get out of the betrothal in any other way. The length of the engagement varied. Sometimes the couple was married the same day they were engaged. Usually, however, a period of time elapsed between the betrothal and the marriage ceremony. During this time the young man prepared a place in his father's house for his bride, while the bride prepared herself for married life.

When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant, he did not make a 'public example' of her; instead, he decided to divorce her secretly. However, he did not carry out the divorce because the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfill the words spoken by the Lord through the prophets:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call him Immanuel,
a name which means 'God-is-with-us.' When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus. - Matt. 1:18-25 -

The New Testament does not contradict the teachings about marriage in the Old Testament. Most marriage teaching in the New Testament comes from Jesus and Saint Paul. Jesus' first miracle occurred in Cana in Galilee when He and His disciples were attending a wedding. The Lord Jesus Christ gave His blessing and sanction to the institution of marriage. - John 2:1-11 -

On another occasion, when Jesus was asked about marriage and divorce. He quoted two passages from Genesis. "Have you not read that God who made them at the beginning 'made than male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body/flesh' So then, what God has joined together, let no man separate." - Gen. 1:27, 2:24, 5:2; Matt: 19:4-6 - Jesus taught that marriage was the joining together two people [male and female] so they become "one body" / "one flesh." Not only did God acknowledge the marriage; He also joined the couple [male and female].

In the New Testament times, there are struggled over a number of issues, including the proper view of marriage. In response to their questions, apostle Paul gave an answer about marriage. From his answer, he seems that two faulty ideas about marriage were prominent among some believers in the Church. The first was that marriage was absolutely necessary in order to be a Christian; another was that celibacy was superior to marriage. Paul's stated that celibacy is an acceptable lifestyle for a Christian; not all people need to marry. In fact, Paul declared that he himself preferred not to marry. However, the single life can be lived for God's glory only if God has given the gift of celibacy. If one does not have that gift, he should marry and he expected most people to marry. - 1Cor. 7:1-40 -

Saint Paul also spoke to the problem faced by a Christian believer whose spouse does not believe. He reasoned that if the unbelieving partner is willing to live with the Christian, then the Christian should not dissolve the marriage. Remaining with the unbelieving partner could result in his or her salvation. - 1Cor. 7:14-16 -

The role that the husband plays is outlined by Jesus Christ, who loved His bride, the Church, so much that He died for her. 'Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed Himself  for her, to make her holy. - Eph. 5:25 -

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

The relationship between the heavenly Lord Jesus Christ and His earthly body, the Church. Christ now reigns 'far above all principality and power and might and dominion and has put all things under His feet'. Exalted though He is, Jesus has not drifted off into the heavens and forgotten His peoples. Rather, so fully does He identify with the Church that the Lord Jesus is the head and His body, which He fills with His presence.

This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ...He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation. - Eph. 1:20-23, 3:16-21, 4:10 -

The marriage relationship between husband and wife is a beautiful analogy for expressing Christ's love, sacrifice and lordship over the Church. The enthroned Christ has reinvested Himself in the hearts of believers through faith so they can marvel at His love. Absolutely, nothing exists beyond His redeeming reach.

Since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife: as the submits to Christ, so should wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy.......A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and look after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church because it is his body - and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church. - Eph. 5:23-32 -

Christ's bond with His Church is also portrayed in the oneness of believers. Those who were once 'far off' and separated from God, have been made near by the blood of Christ. In fact, believers are now raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places. - Eph. 2:4-6 - Since believers are with Him, they are accordingly to be like Jesus - endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of love and peace. Christ Himself is our love and peace, says apostle Paul, the Lord Jesus removes the walls and barriers that formerly divided Jews and Gentiles and draws them together in one Spirit to the Father.

Having spoken of these marvelous spiritual blessings, Paul then appeals to believers to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. - I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you therefore to lead a life worthy of your vocation. - Eph. 4:1 - This appeal is a helpful insight on Christian ethics. Rather than setting laws and regulations, apostle Paul says, in effect, Let your life be a credit to the One called you. The Christian is set free by Christ; yet he is responsible to Him. Christ has raised believers to the heavenly places with the assurance that the One in whom we hope is more powerful, real and eternal than the forces of chaos and destruction which threaten our world.

Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with the 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. This 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.
Pray all the time, asking for what you need, praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying awake to pray for all the saints; and pray for me to be given an opportunity to open my mouth and speak without fear and give out the mystery of the gospel of which I am an ambassador in chains; pray that in proclaiming it I may speak as boldly as I ought to. - Eph. 6:10-20 -

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

The Rosary relates the Christian life to that of Mary. The three great mysteries of the Rosary - the Joyful, the Sorrowful and the Glorious - are the brief description of earthly life contained in the Creed: birth, struggle and victory. Joyful: "Born of the Virgin Mary". Sorrowful: "Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried". Glorious: "The third day He arose again from the dead, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty". The Christian life is inseparable from the joys of birth and youth, the struggles of maturity against the passion and evil, and finally, the hope of glory in Heaven.

THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES

The Annunciation
In human love man desires, woman gives. God asks Mary to give Him a human nature with which He may start a new humanity. Mary agrees. A woman's role is to be the medium by which God comes to man. A woman is frustrated who does not bring forth a new man, either physically, by birth or spiritually, by conversion. And every man is frustrated who knows not both his earthly and his heavenly mother, Mary.

The Visitation
Love that refuses to share kills its own power to love. Mary not only wants others to share her love, but also her Beloved. She brings Christ to souls before Christ's is born. The Gospel tells us that on seeing Mary, Elizabeth was "filled: with the Holy Spirit". When we have Christ within, we cannot be happy until we have imparted our joy. The soul that does not magnify itself alone can truly magnify the Lord. Out of the humility of Mary sprang the song of the 'Magnificat' in which she made nothing of herself and everything of Him. By reducing ourselves to zero, we most quickly find the Infinite.

The Nativity
As the Virgin conceived Our Lord without the lusts of the flesh, so now she brings Him forth in joy without the labors of the flesh. As bees draw honey from the flower without offending it, as Eve was taken out of the side of Adam, without any grief to him, so now in remaking the human race, the new Adam is taken from the new Eve without any grief to her. It is only her other children of the spirit, which she will bring forth at Calvary, who will cause her pain. And the sign by which men would know He is God was that He would be wrapped in swaddling clothes. The sun would be in eclipse, Eternity in time, Omnipotence in bonds, God in the shrouds of human flesh. Only by becoming little likewise, do we ever become great.

The Presentation
Many submits to the general law of Purification, from which she was really free, lest she should scandalize by the premature discovery of the secret entrusted to her keeping. Simeon tells her that her Son is to be contradicted - the sign of contradiction is the Cross - and a Sword her own heart shall pierce. And yet all this is considered a joyful Mystery: for, as the Father sent His Son to be a victim for the sins of the world, so would Mary joyfully guard Him until the hour of sacrifice. The highest use any of us can make of the gifts of God is to give them back to God again.

Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
It is easy to lose Christ; He can even be lost by a little heedlessness; a little want of watchfulness and the Divine Presence slips away. But sometimes a reconciliation is sweeter than an unbroken friendship. There are two ways of knowing how good God is: one is never to lose Him, the other is to lose Him and find Him again. Sin is the loss of Jesus, and since Mary felt the sitting of His absence she could understand the gnawing heart of every sinner and be to it, in the truest sense of the word: "Refuge of Sinners".

THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

The Agony in the Garden
Our fellow creatures can help us only when our needs are human. But in an hour of our greatest need, some of them betray and others sleep.In the really deep agony, we must cry to God. "Being in agony, He prayed". What up to that point seemed a tragedy, now becomes an abandonment to the Father's Will.

The Scourging at the Pillar
Over seven hundred years before, Isaiah prophesied the laceration of Our Lord's Sacred Body. "Here is one despised, left out of all human reckoning, bowed with misery, and no stranger to weakness; how should we recognize that face? Great souls are like great mountains; they always attract the storms. Upon their bodies break the thunders and lightnings of evil men to whom purity and goodness is a reproach. In reparation for all the sins of the flesh, and in anticipated encouragement to the martyrs. He delivers His Sacred Body to the last until "His bones could be numbered" and His flesh hung from Him like purple rags.

The Crowning with Thorns
The Saviour of the world is made a puppet for those who play the fool: the King of Kings is mocked by those who will have "no King but Caesar". Thorns were part of the original curse upon the earth. Even nature, through sinful men, rebels against God. If Christ wears a crown of thorns, shall we covet a crown of laurel?

The Carrying of the Cross
Many a cross we bear is of our own manufacture; we made it by our sins. But the Cross which the Saviour carried was not His, but ours. One beam in contradiction to another beam was the symbol of our will in contradiction to His own. To the pious women who met Him on the roadway, He said, "Weep not for Me". To shed tears for the dying Saviour 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?

The Crucifixion
Once nailed to the Cross and "lifted up to draw all men to Himself", He is taunted: "Others He saved, Himself He cannot save". Of course not! This is not weakness, but obedience to the law of sacrifice. A mother cannot save herself, if she would raise her child; the rain cannot save itself, if it would bud the greenery; a soldier cannot save himself, if he would save his country; and neither will Christ save Himself, Since He came to save us. What heart can conceive the misery of humankind, if the Son of God had saved Himself from suffering and left a fallen world to the wrath of God?

THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES

The Resurrection
Easter Sunday was not within three days of the Transfiguration, but within three days of Good Friday. Love is not to be measured by the joys and pleasures which it gives, but by the ability to draw joy out of sorrow, a resurrection out of a crucifixion, and life out of death. Unless there is a Cross in our life, there will never be the halo of light: "O, Death, where is thy victory? O, grave where is thy sting?"

The Ascension
In Heaven there is now a human nature like our own, the promise of what ours will one day be if we follow His Way. Thanks to this human nature, He will always have a deep sympathy for us, even "making intercession for us". We can ascend to Him now, only in our minds and hearts; our bodies will follow after the Last Judgment. Until then we approach His Throne with confidence, knowing that "pierced Hands distribute the richest blessings".

The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
As the Son of God, in the Incarnation took upon Himself a human body from the womb of the Blessed Mother overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, so now on Pentecost He takes from the womb of humanity a Mystical Body, as the Holy Spirit overshadowed the twelve Apostles with "Mary in the midst of them abiding in prayer". The Mystical Body is the Church; He is the Invisible Head; Peter and his successors, the Visible Head; we, the members and the Holy Spirit its soul. As He once taught, governed and sanctified through other human natures compacted into His Mystical Body, the Church. We can never thank God enough for making us members of His One Fold and one Shepherd.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven
Mary was not a rose in which Divinity reposed for a time; she was the canal through which God came to us. Mary could no longer live without the Dream she brought forth, nor could the Dream live without her, body and soul. Her love of God bore her upward; His love of His Mother lifted her upward. Our Lord could not forget the cradle in which He lay. In the Annunciation, the angel said,: "The Lord is with Thee". In the Assumption: "Mary is with the Lord". Her Assumption is the guarantee that one's prayer to her will be answered. The Son is on the right Hand of the Father; she is on the right Hand of the Son.

The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin
As Queen of Heaven, Our Lord comes back to us again through Mary, passing His Life and His blessings through her hands as the Mediatrix of all graces. He came through her in Bethlehem; through her, we go back to Him - and through her He comes back again to us.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )

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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 -