#Did Jews crucify Jesus

[thinkingonscripture]

Who Crucified Jesus?

The question is sometimes raised as to who crucified Jesus? According to Chafer, “Closely related to the contrast between the divine and human sides of Christ’s death, is the question: Who put Christ to death? As already indicated, the Scriptures assign both a human and a divine responsibility for Christ’s death.”[1] According to the testimony of Scripture, Jesus’ death on the cross was the…

[papirouge]

@alwida10 wild to say that when someone called Herod actually tried to kill Jesus while he was barely born and it didn't happen because Joseph and Mary were able to flee to Egypt which they wouldn't be able to do so today because of Israel occupation 🙃

[useless-catalanfacts]

Idioms in Catalan with a religious origin

There's quite a lot of idioms that we say in everyday life, outside of the context of religion, but that come from religious stories or events.

Most of them come from Christianity, and many of them are shared with other Romance languages or other languages from historically Christian countries. To keep this list accessible to everyone regardless of cultural background, I will include the literal translation to English and also an explanation all of them.

Let's see how many of these you can understand before seeing the explanation. Let us know in the tags!

1. Fer Pasqua abans de Rams = "to do Easter before Palm Sunday", meaning to get pregnant, have a baby, or to have sex before getting married. Nowadays it's used in a more general sense to mean to do something before it's time (like English "put the cart before the horse"). Palm Sunday is a holiday celebrated the week before Easter.

2. Per a més inri = "for more INRI", used to add a bad thing on top of something else, making a situation even worse or more humiliating. It's a reference to the sign that said "INRI" (stands for the initials of "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" in Latin) that Roman soldiers hanged on Christ's crucifix to make fun of him.

3. A la babalà = "in the babalà way", meaning to do something without having thought much about it. But what does "babalà" mean? This word doesn't exist in the Catalan language outside of this expression. It comes from the Arabic Alà bâb Allâh which means "in God's hands".

4. On Crist va perdre l'espardenya = "where Christ lost his sandal", or on Crist va perdre el barret = "where Christ lost his hat", meaning somewhere very far away and usually in the middle of nothing. I don't know of any story that has Christ lose his sandal or hat.

5. Perdut de la mà de Déu = "lost by God's hand", meaning a place in the middle of nowhere.

6. Ser un calvari ="to be a calvary", meaning that something is a cause of suffering. You can also hear quin calvari! = "what a calvary!". This is a reference to Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified.

7. Endavant les atxes = "ahead with the candles!", meaning "keep going!", used to encourage to keep going in a negative situation with difficulties or a situation that you would have preferred to avoid. An atxa is a kind of big candle that the first people in a religious procession carry. This was the shout that would start a procession.

(Note: in recent years, Spanish media has used this idiom as supposed proof that Catalan independentists who said it are calling for violence, using a fake translation that assumed that "atxa" must mean the same as Spanish "hacha", meaning "axe" 🪓, because the pronunciation is almost identical. This is false, when people were saying "endavant les atxes" they did not intend any meaning related to "bring the axes". This was used to justify violence against Catalan activists, but has no ground in reality. "Axe"🪓 in Catalan would be "destral".)

8. Net com una patena = "as clean as a paten", meaning very clean. A paten is a kind of small dish used in Catholic mass, where the blessed sacramental bread in placed on.

9. Acabar com el rosari de l'aurora = "to end up like the dawn rosary", meaning to end very, very badly, usually in violence. The dawn rosary used to be a procession that was done in the early morning of certain holidays while praying the rosary. The idiom (which also exists in Spanish) comes from the year 1868. Around those years, there were many anticlerical riots, while the Catholic church kept doing the dawn rosary on the streets and often assigning it political meaning. In Barcelona and other cities, anticlerical protestors tried to stop the dawn rosary from happening, and it ended in violence and blood.

10. Plorar com una Magdalena = "to cry like a Magdalene", meaning to cry a lot and very desperately. This is a reference to Mary Magdalene, a character from the Bible's New Testament who cried when she met Christ.

11. Déu-n'hi-do! = "God gives!". This expression is difficult to translate because I don't think English has an equivalent (the closest I can think of are "wow!" or even "holy shit!"), but Catalan people use it a lot. It's an exclamation used to show surprise, awe or to mean a big quantity.

12. Ser més vell que Matusalem = "to be older than Methuselah", meaning that someone is very very old. Methuselah is a character from the Bible's Old Testament who is said to have lived for 969 years. This comparison is used for comedic value.

13. Rentar-se'n les mans = "to wash one's hands", meaning to say you're not responsible for what happens. This is a quote from the Bible's New Testament: when Christ is being judged by Pontius Pilate, the crowd is asking him to sentence him to crucifixion. He asks Christ to defend himself, but he doesn't. Pilate doesn't want to sentence him to death, but he sees he has no other option. Then, he sees his hands are stained with Christ's blood, and washes his hands as he decides that this situation will not be his responsibility.

14. Arribar a misses dites = "to arrive to mass [already] said", meaning to arrive late when something has already happened.

15. Ser com les palmes d’Elx, que vingueren el matí de Pasqua = "to be like the Elx palms, that arrived on Easter morning", this is used in the Valencian Country to mean to be late. Elx is a city with the biggest palm groove in Europe ever since the Middle Ages, and many of these palm tree leafs are used for making the palms used for Palm Sunday, the celebration that happens a week before Easter.

16. Va a missa = "goes to mass", meaning whatever is said is exactly what will happen, without complaining or second thoughts.

17. Endiumenjar-se = "to Sunday yourself" or "to Sunday up", meaning to dress up in your best clothes (same as "to wear your Sunday best" in English). Traditionally, people used to wear their best clothes for Sunday mass.

18. Alt com un sant Pau = "as tall as a saint Paul", someone who is very tall. Saint Paul was not tall, in his texts he describes himself as a "little man". The origin of this sentence is in Catalonia centuries ago. People used to celebrate the holiday of Saint Paul's Conversion (January 25th). In the Sant Pau del Camp church area in Barcelona, the tradition for this day had a man yield a huge sword. For this reason, the man had to be tall and strong.

19. Alegre/content com unes pasqües = "as cheerful/happy as Easters", meaning to be very happy and cheerful.

20. Discutir sobre el sexe dels àngels or parlar del sexe dels àngels = "to argue about angels' sex", meaning to endlessly argue heatedly about something insignificant where neither side will ever convince the other to change their minds. Also called una discussió bizantina="a Byzantine argument". This comes from the historical fact that Biblical scholars spent centuries arguing on whether angels can be male or female or not. Legends say that, when the Ottomans were laying siege on Constantinople in 1453 and getting ready to invade it, the Byzantine theologists were arguing about whether angels have sexes instead of doing anything useful.

21. Pagant, sant Pere canta = "if you pay, saint Peter sings". The person who hears it, might answer i sant Joan fa esclops = "and Saint John makes clogs". This means that money will get you anything, even the things that seemed impossible. It might be a reference to the Bible story where saint Peter was asked if he knew Christ after he was taken to crucify, and Peter lied three times and said he didn't know him. "To sing" in Catalan can also mean "to confess". Maybe, if they had paid him he would have confessed.

22. Perdre l'oremus = "to lose the oremus", meaning to lose control of yourself, or to get disoriented or lose memory. "Oremus" (which means "let's pray" in Latin) is the sentence that Catholic priests say during mass to lead a prayer. It's believed that this idiom comes from some incidents where a priest would start the sentence "oremus..." but then couldn't find the prayer he wanted to lead, which he might have misplaced somewhere else in his book. So he would say "oremus... uh... oremus..." while flipping the pages looking for the right one.

23. A bon sant t'encomanes! = "You entrust yourself to a good saint!", said with irony. It's said when you ask for help or rely on someone who is not competent.

24. Ser més papista que el Papa = "To be more Popeist than the Pope", meaning someone who is too dogmatic, too strict or extremist in following the rules, or who believes in or defends something in a more extreme way than the people most affected by it.

25. Qui no coneix Déu, a qualsevol sant li resa = "He who doesn't know God, prays to any saint", used to compare something very good to something worse that someone else likes, usually something worse but that is very popular.

And there's probably others that I forgot.

How many of these are shared with your language?

[fdelopera]

ok that's it. tomorrow i'm gonna publish my longer piece on why the modern day Arab Palestinians are NOT the same as the Ancient Greek Philistines (who all died out around 604 BCE when the Babylonians sieged Jerusalem).

Edit: Click here to read the longer version, with links!

but the tl;dr version is this:

we know that the Philistines are Ancient Greeks based on DNA-testing that's been done on their skeletons, and based on their pottery and artifacts, which are Ancient Mycenaean Greek. (the Torah is consistent with this -- it records them as being from Crete, which at that time was under Mycenaean Greek control)

also, being Greeks, the Philistines were not indigenous to the Levant. they were interlopers. the native Israelites fought with the Philistines over and over. the story of David and Goliath is likely a cultural memory of this conflict.

in Hebrew, the Philistines are called Peleshet, and they are likely the same as the Peleset tribe -- one of the tribes of "Sea Peoples" who tried (and failed) to conquer Egypt at the end of the Bronze Age.

and like, duh. obviously the Arab Palestinians and the Greek Philistines are not the same people.

but there are some really bad actors (both in the conspiracy sense, and in the literal "drama" sense) on Tiktok who are trying to erase Jewish history by spreading conspiracy theories that somehow Philistines and Palestinians are "the same". (omg the people who believe this shit are so dumb!!)

they're doing it so they can claim that "Jesus was a Palestinian".

ugh, it gives me a headache even to write something as stupid as that.

no, ya dumb-dumbs. Jesus was a Judaean Jew. he was from Bethlehem. in Judaea.

you know, Judaea. the place where the Jews are from.

deep sigh.

and like, clearly these people have not read a Bible ... ever ... because being associated with the Philistines was NOT a good thing!! they were literally the worst!

the Philistines were Ancient Mycenaean Greeks from Crete.

and the Palestinians are modern day Arabs.

and there is zero connection between them.

the only "connection" is that after the Romans tried to murder all the Jews in the Levant, following the Jewish Bar Kochba revolt in 135 AD, the Romans renamed Judaea, and gave it the name "Syria-Palaestina". they did this to try to wipe the cultural memory of Jews "off the map". they literally went through the Torah, found the name of one of the Judaeans' historical enemies (the Philistines), and renamed the region using that name.

so by claiming that "Jesus was a Palestinian", not only are you calling him a Philistine (ew), you're also giving him the name that the ROMANS WHO CRUCIFIED HIM renamed Judaea after trying to murder LOTS OF OTHER JEWS.

G-d these people are so dumb!!!

[dammit-tazmuir]

John Chapter Verses

Didn't realize until I saw this post that the titles for John's chapters in Nona the Ninth carried extra meaning with the associated Bible verses. (I did wonder why those numbers but hadn't looked into it yet.)

So mostly for my own reference (1599 Geneva translation because it's shortened "GNV" and my brain is saying "Gideon Nav" so it's as good a reason as any to pick one), and with mini notes for what's in each chapter.

John 20:8 (Initial setup, the cryo project gets shut down.)

Then went in also the other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw it, and believed.

John 5:20 (John is "having six breakthroughs a day" and discovers the bodies he'd touched won't decay.)

For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things, whatsoever he himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these, that ye should marvel.

John 15:23 (P— helps buy time. John first makes the bodies move.)

Whoever hates me hates my Father also.

John 5:18 ("We all thought of you right away, what it could mean for you." They're afraid of getting hushed up, of getting disappeared. So they turn to the internet.)

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him: not only because he had broken the Sabbath: but said also that God was his Father, and made himself equal with God.

John 8:1 (John's being called the Antichrist, among other things. M—'s nun joins the group and tells him, hey jackass, regulate this more or they're gonna do to you what they did to Jesus. Also cows.)

And Jesus went unto the mount of Olives,

John 19:18 (In the dream, the water keeps rising and they head to the top of a hill. FTL is announced and John is pissed.)

Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

John 5:1 (P— insists they need to be scarier to be taken seriously. John, now with Ulysses and Titania as constant bodyguards, goes to the meeting where he's asked to puppet a world leader. A— and M— and John play Bad Cop, Worse Cop, and Sorry Cop until they walk away with a couple billion and a nuke.)

After that, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went to Jerusalem.

John 3:20 (John is told to pick a priority, exposing FTL or saving earth. They learn just how bullshit the FTL plans were. John commits to being a cult leader and a necromancer.)

For every man that evil doeth, hateth the light, neither cometh to light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

John 9:22 (The nun keeps insisting the soul is the missing piece. "Guys as careful as me don't make mistakes.")

These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had ordained already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be excommunicated out of the Synagogue.

John 1:20 (All the shit hits all the fans. Alecto is formed.)

And he confessed and denied not, and said plainly, "I am not that Christ."

John 5:4 (Harrow addresses John. She sets off at the end to the tower in the distance, walking through the water.)

For an Angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first, after the stirring of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

[jessicalprice]

all hail her excellent braids

Christians: omg first century Judaism was soooo misogynistic but Jesus was like the first feminist because he treated women like people

Jews: what

Christians: like, Jewish men would cross to the other side of the street to avoid having to be too close to women

Jews: hang on do you think there were, like, sidewalks in first-century Jerusalem?

Christians: and Jewish women weren't supposed to be seen in public

Jews: that's not how--

Christians: and men weren't even supposed to talk to women, but Jesus had female followers <3

Jews: first-century Jewish women owned their own businesses and represented themselves in court and, like, how are you imagining business got done if they weren't allowed to talk?

President Jimmy fucking Carter: first century Jews were basically the Taliban

A bazillion seminary textbooks: yup, the Pharisees were obsessed with ritual purity and viewed women as inherently unclean and Jesus upended all that Pharisaic hatred of women and that's why they wanted him dead

Shlomtzion, aka Salome Alexandra, has entered the chat.

Ahem, let me tell you about the Pharisee Queen.

So back in the day, the Pharisees were a tiny, persecuted movement because the King of Judah, Alexander Jannaeus hated them. He straight-up massacred 6,000 of them when they pelted him with fruit after he mocked them by performing a Sukkot ritual incorrectly, which kicked off a whole civil war. He won the war, and slaughtered the wives and children of 800 of the surviving Pharisees as entertainment at his victory feast before crucifying the men. The remaining Pharisees went into hiding.

Just a charming dude.

Alexander Jannaeus was married to Salome Alexandra (Shlomtzion, in Hebrew).

Her brother was Shimon ben Shetach, the leader of the Pharisees. (If you're getting Esther vibes here, that's probably not accidental.

She doesn't seem to have had much power while Alexander Jannaeus was alive, but she managed to help hide and protect the surviving Pharisees.

This doesn't seem to have negatively impacted her relationship with her husband, because he named her--rather than any of his sons--his heir while he was on his deathbed.

He was in the middle of conducting a siege of Ragaba when he died, so like the incredible badass she was, became queen--and would be both only the second queen regnant of Judah and the last sovereign Jewish monarch--on the battlefield, in the midst of hostilities.

She had to conceal her husband's death until she'd won the day.

As soon as she made his death public, she reached out to the Pharisees to make peace between them and the throne, avoiding a popular uprising at his funeral. The funeral went off smoothly, and she immediately began settling other political disputes and enmities.

She also hung out and studied with the Pharisees. We know this because Josephus, an ardent misogynist, absolutely hated that she did this, just like he absolutely hated that she had ruled Judah, and wrote about it.

Josephus had been a Sadducee (main opposing party to the Pharisees), but switched to the Pharisees later in life for political expediency. He never seemed to actually like them, though.

He tells on himself so much.

"Oh, people love the Pharisees because they are humane and flexible interpreters of the law and practice what they preach and this is a BAD THING!"

Literally, on Shlomtzion: "Woman though she was, she established her authority by her reputation for piety."

Like, everyone respected her and did what she said because she actually gave a shit about ethics and somehow this is a BAD thing.

She averted war with Egypt by buddying up to Cleopatra (I am so headcanoning them as pen pals, writing each other to vent about all the men they have to deal with) and somehow this is a BAD thing.

So she takes the throne and manages to keep things running pretty smoothly in a precarious time because she's good at organizing AND military strategy AND diplomacy and here's Josephus on her relationship with the Pharisees:

"She paid too great heed to them, and they, availing themselves more and more of the simplicity of the woman, ended by becoming the effective rulers of the state... "

Ah yes, FlavJo, she sounds very "simple," what with the incredible military and diplomatic skills.

While she wasn't averse to fighting when she needed to, she mostly averted possible battles by fortifying and provisioning cities so well that neighboring monarchs opted not to attack them, so she was also just slaying at project management. She ended a bunch of the foreign wars her asshole husband started, and scrupulously kept to the terms of any treaties Judah was party to.

Her reign was possibly the most prosperous and peaceful period in Judah's history.

She gave the Sadducees (her husband's party) their own fortified cities so they'd stop feuding with the Pharisees, and took the Pharisees from a small, persecuted populist movement in hiding to one of the major political parties.

She set up a system of universal public education, putting the responsibility for educating the kids on the government, not families, to make sure it wasn't just rich kids getting a solid education. She re-established the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court, basically) and made sure every town under her rule had access to judges.

And then one of her asshole sons, who apparently took after his asshole dad, decided HE would be a better ruler than she was, and DECLARED WAR ON HIS OWN MOM. She died, apparently of an illness, in her 70s.

She died as the last free Jewish ruler.

So then that asshole son went after the other asshole son, and they turned to the Romans for help.

(You want to get occupied? This is how you get occupied.)

Yes, that's right, they committed one of the classic blunders: inviting the Romans in.

THE ROMANS ARE LIKE VAMPIRES. DO NOT INVITE THEM IN.

Anyway, we all know how THAT turned out.

In rabbinic literature, she's almost a fertility goddess figure, or a personification the land itself, or a monarch beloved by G-d possibly moreso than any other, since the rest of them all screwed up and the Jews got punished with war or exile or famine or disease: legend claims that during her reign, rain only fell on Shabbat, so people didn't have to work in the rain. Grains of wheat grew to the size of kidneys, and lentils were the size of gold denarii. The people knew joy like we've never known since and were healthy and prosperous and at peace.

She was praised by contemporaries such as Josephus as having greater intelligence, political skill, and military acumen than the men around her (although Josephus, an ardent misogynist, later decided that it was inappropriate for her to rule), and the stories of Esther, Judith, and Susanna may have been written (or in the case of Esther, edited and codified) in her honor. 

​Anyway, the Pharisees' teachings remained especially popular among women, and the person who saved them (and thus, by extension, Judaism, when they were the ones to preserve it in exile) and brought them to power and was their beloved patron was a woman, and maaaaaaybe Christians don't know the first thing about women in first-century Judaea or the Pharisees and women and should shut up, idk.

All hail Shlomtzion and her most excellent braids.

[talonabraxas]

St. George with the Swastika Gustav Adolf Closs (1937)

The Swastika – A Pure Spiritual Symbol

As rightly said by H. P. Blavatsky, the swastika or svastika is “the most sacred and mystic symbol in India.” It is a pure spiritual symbol which can be found on the historical remains and records of almost every nation, originating initially in India, the ancient Mother of our modern civilisation. It was also an important and much cherished symbol of the early Christians, who called it the “crux dissimulata” and often accompanied it with the inscription “Vitalis Vitalia” – “Life of Life.” They used the swastika for centuries, long before the crucifix form of the Cross was ever invented.

The symbol of the cross with the crucified Jesus on it did not exist until 700 A.D. or later, just as the doctrine of vicarious atonement and salvation through the blood of Jesus did not exist in its present form until the beginning of the Middle Ages.

It must be repeatedly emphasised that the swastika was never thought of in any way by anyone as being an evil or “dark” symbol until Hitler misappropriated it as the symbol of Nazism. Tragically the image of the swastika continues to strike fear and horror into the hearts of many, due to their not knowing its true spiritual origins and meaning. Despite its modern negative connotations, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists all over the world retain their right to the use of the swastika as a spiritual symbol.

It’s true and unspeakably tragic that millions of Jews were “slaughtered under the sign of the swastika,” as a visitor to the site unnecessarily reminded us, but why should millions of Indians and followers of Indian religions be denied the right to use the symbol which is theirs by right? Should Hitler still be allowed to triumph over the minds of men, even in death?

He also misappropriated and misrepresented the word “Aryan” – using it to mean a so-called “perfect race” of blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned people – whereas in its actual and historical sense, which is the sense in which the term is used in Theosophy, the word “Aryan” means “Indian.” Ancient India was called Aryavarta and the Aryans were the inhabitants of this land. The swastika symbolises and represents:

(1) Auspiciousness, since the true and literal meaning of the Sanskrit word “Swastika” is “All is well.”

(2) The continual motion and revolution of the invisible forces of the universe and the cycles of time, represented by the four arms of the cross being bent at right angles to signify motion and rotation.

(3) The Seal of the Heart or Heart’s Seal of Buddhism. It can be seen engraved on the chest of Buddha in many statues of him around the world.

(4) Fohat, cosmic electricity.

“Applied to the Microcosm, Man, it shows him to be a link between heaven and Earth: the right hand being raised at the end of a horizontal arm, the left pointing to the Earth. . . . It is at one and the same time an Alchemical, Cosmogonical, Anthropological, and Magical sign, with seven keys to its inner meaning. It is not too much to say that the compound symbolism of this universal and most suggestive of signs contains the key to the seven great mysteries of Kosmos. . . . It is the Alpha and the Omega of universal creative Force, evolving from pure Spirit and ending in gross Matter. It is also the key to the cycle of Science, divine and human; and he who comprehends its full meaning is for ever liberated from the toils of Mahamaya, the great Illusion and Deceiver. . . . So ancient is the symbol and so sacred, that there is hardly an excavation made on the sites of old cities without its being found.” – H. P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 2

There is a need for articles such as this, in order to let people know the true origins and nature of things. The swastika is undoubtedly still very taboo in the Western world but spiritually educated people can help to bring about something of a reclaiming of what is originally, initially, and inherently a pure spiritual symbol and what is still such for followers of Eastern religion.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Jesus Rises!

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.

12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

14 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.

15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. — Matthew 28 | King James Version (KJV) The King James Version Bible is in the public domain Cross References: Proverbs 8:15; Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 26:2; Daniel 7:9; Daniel 10:6; Matthew 9:31; Matthew 12:14; Matthew 12:40; Matthew 14:27; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 23:7; Matthew 26:32; Matthew 27:2; Matthew 27:8; Matthew 27:56 Matthew 27:60-61; Matthew 27:65-66; Mark 1:45; Mark 14:28; Mark 15:41; Mark 16:4; Mark 16:7; Mark 16:11; Luke 24:47; John 20:14; John 20:17; Acts 1:2-3; Acts 1:8; Acts 18:10; Revelation 1:17

Matthew 28 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise)

Key Passages in Matthew 28

1. Christ's resurrection is declared by an angel to the women. 9. He himself appears unto them. 11. The chief priests pay the soldiers to say that he was stolen out of his tomb. 16. Christ appears to his disciples, 18. and sends them to baptize and teach all nations.

[myremnantarmy]

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Jn 19:31-37

Since it was preparation day,

in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,

for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,

the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken

and they be taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first

and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs,

but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,

and immediately blood and water flowed out.

An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;

he knows that he is speaking the truth,

so that you also may come to believe.

For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:

Not a bone of it will be broken.

And again another passage says:

They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

[hiswordsarekisses]

“No one in his right mind would fabricate this religion; many would (and do) look at us as fools. But when the Spirit fills this strange framework with inward life and fullness, it becomes rich and beautiful — a magnificent story of divine love for humanity, a glorious rescue mission with a stunningly personal touch.

To the one whose eyes have been opened by the Spirit, this story — and the Person at the center of it — becomes life itself and the only way to make sense of it.

What once appeared shallow is now deep. What once looked senseless now seems to be the only plausible truth. The faith that struck you as foolish now fills your heart with meaning. What was once overwhelming is now empowering. What’s the difference?

The Spirit and the vision he gives us.

Without the living, breathing presence of the Spirit, Christianity appears to be an impotent, absurd belief system, a poor framework for understanding the world and beyond.

That’s why, to Spiritless eyes, we’re subject to so much mockery. (Granted, some mockery is deserved. Much of it is not.) But it’s also why we have to insist on seeing everything — life, other people, ourselves — through the lens of the Spirit.”

~ Chris Tiegreen

“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.””

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭31‬

[orthodoxadventure]

HOLY PASCHA: The Resurrection of Our Lord

Commemorated on May 5

Pascha (Easter)

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. (Sermon of Saint John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. Saint Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain (I Cor. 15:14). Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut (John 20: 19). Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4): “. . . for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . the holy city, new Jerusalem. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. . . He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:1-4).

In His death and resurrection, Christ defeats the last enemy, death, and thereby fulfills the mandate of His Father to subject all things under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-26).

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Rev. 5: 12)

THE FEAST OF FEASTS

The Christian faith is celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. True celebration is always a living participation. It is not a mere attendance at services. It is communion in the power of the event being celebrated. It is God’s free gift of joy given to spiritual men as a reward for their self-denial. It is the fulfillment of spiritual and physical effort and preparation. The resurrection of Christ, being the center of the Christian faith, is the basis of the Church’s liturgical life and the true model for all celebration. This is the chosen and holy day, first of sabbaths, king and lord of days, the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days. On this day we bless Christ forevermore (Irmos 8, Paschal Canon).

PREPARATION

Twelve weeks of preparation precede the “feast of feasts.” A long journey which includes five prelenten Sundays, six weeks of Great Lent and finally Holy Week is made. The journey moves from the self-willed exile of the prodigal son to the grace-filled entrance into the new Jerusalem, coming down as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2) Repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and study are the means by which this long journey is made.

Focusing on the veneration of the Cross at its midpoint, the lenten voyage itself reveals that the joy of the resurrection is achieved only through the Cross. “Through the cross joy has come into all the world,” we sing in one paschal hymn. And in the paschal troparion, we repeat again and again that Christ has trampled down death—by death! Saint Paul writes that the name of Jesus is exalted above every name because He first emptied Himself, taking on the lowly form of a servant and being obedient even to death on the Cross (Phil. 2:5-11). The road to the celebration of the resurrection is the self-emptying crucifixion of Lent. Pascha is the passover from death to life.

Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ. Today I arise with Thee in Thy resurrection. Yesterday I was crucified with Thee: Glorify me with Thee, O Savior, in Thy kingdom (Ode 3, Paschal Canon).

THE PROCESSION

The divine services of the night of Pascha commence near midnight of Holy Saturday. At the Ninth Ode of the Canon of Nocturn, the priest, already vested in his brightest robes, removes the Holy Shroud from the tomb and carries it to the altar table, where it remains until the leave-taking of Pascha. The faithful stand in darkness. Then, one by one, they light their candles from the candle held by the priest and form a great procession out of the church. Choir, servers, priest and people, led by the bearers of the cross, banners, icons and Gospel book, circle the church. The bells are rung incessantly and the angelic hymn of the resurrection is chanted.

The procession comes to a stop before the principal doors of the church. Before the closed doors the priest and the people sing the troparion of Pascha, “Christ is risen from the dead...”, many times. Even before entenng the church the priest and people exchange the paschal greeting: “Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!” This segment of the paschal services is extremely important. It preserves in the expenence of the Church the primitive accounts of the resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Gospels. The angel rolled away the stone from the tomb not to let a biologically revived but physically entrapped Christ walk out, but to reveal that “He is not here; for He has risen, as He said” (Matt. 28:6).

In the paschal canon we sing:

Thou didst arise, O Christ, and yet the tomb remained sealed, as at Thy birth the Virgin’s womb remained unharmed; and Thou has opened for us the gates of paradise (Ode 6).

Finally, the procession of light and song in the darkness of night, and the thunderous proclamation that, indeed, Christ is risen, fulfill the words of the Evangelist John: “The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

The doors are opened and the faithful re-enter. The church is bathed in light and adorned with flowers. It is the heavenly bride and the symbol of the empty tomb:

Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise Brighter than any royal chamber, Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain or our resurrection (Paschal Hours).

MATINS

Matins commences immediately. The risen Christ is glorified in the singing of the beautiful canon of Saint John of Damascus. The paschal greeting is repeatedly exchanged. Near the end of Matins the paschal verses are sung. They relate the entire narrative of the Lord’s resurrection. They conclude with the words calling us to actualize among each other the forgiveness freely given to all by God:

This is the day of resurrection. Let us be illumined by the feast. Let us embrace each other. Let us call “brothers” even those who hate us, And forgive all by the resurrection. . .

The sermon of Saint John Chrysostom is then read by the celebrant. The sermon was originally composed as a baptismal instruction. It is retained by the Church in the paschal services because everything about the night of Pascha recalls the Sacrament of Baptism: the language and general terminology of the liturgical texts, the specific hymns, the vestment color, the use of candles and the great procession itself. Now the sermon invites us to a great reaffirmation of our baptism: to union with Christ in the receiving of Holy Communion.

If any man is devout and loves God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. . . the table is fully laden; feast you all sumptuously. . . the calf is fatted, let no one go hungry away. . .

THE DIVINE LITURGY

The sermon announces the imminent beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The altar table is fully laden with the divine food: the Body and Blood of the risen and glorified Christ. No one is to go away hungry. The service books are very specific in saying that only he who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ eats the true Pascha. The Divine Liturgy, therefore, normally follows immediately after paschal Matins. Foods from which the faithful have been asked to abstain during the lenten journey are blessed and eaten only after the Divine Liturgy.

THE DAY WITHOUT EVENING

Pascha is the inauguration of a new age. It reveals the mystery of the eighth day. It is our taste, in this age, of the new and unending day of the Kingdom of God. Something of this new and unending day is conveyed to us in the length of the paschal services, in the repetition of the paschal order for all the services of Bright Week, and in the special paschal features retained in the services for the forty days until Ascension. Forty days are, as it were, treated as one day. Together they comprise the symbol of the new time in which the Church lives and toward which she ever draws the faithful, from one degree of glory to another.

O Christ, great and most holy Pascha. O Wisdom, Word and Power of God, grant that we may more perfectly partake of Thee in the never-ending day of Thy kingdom (Ninth Ode, Paschal Canon).

The V. Rev. Paul Lazor New York, 1977

[useless-catalanfacts]

If you visit the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona (Catalonia), you might be intrigued by these squares with numbers. Like every detail in the building, it has a symbolic meaning.

These are a very particular kind of magic squares. A "magic square" is a series of numbers on a square grid, placed so that any row, column, or diagonal line always adds up to the same number. Well, to be fair, there is one more rule for the normal magic squares which this one doesn't follow: the squares cannot repeat numbers and must use all numbers from 1 to the number of squares possible (for example, a square of 3x3 would have numbers from 1 to 9, a square of 4x4 would have them from 1 to 16, etc). When this rule is followed, the number that results from the addition will always be the same (in a square of 3x3, the sum of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9 = 45, and each row, column and diagonal line sums 45/3 = 15; in a 4 x 4 magic square, where the sum of all the numbers from 1 to 16 is 136, the magic constant is 136/4 = 34). For mathematical reasons, the resulting number cannot be chosen, it will always be the same one if we follow those rules.

And here is why this one doesn't follow that rule, and it's on purpose. It doesn’t have all the numbers from 1 to 16 (it is missing the 12 and 16) and some numbers are repeated. And why did they do that? Here's the important bit: the result of the sum isn’t 34 (as would always be in a 4x4 magic square), but 33.

The sculptor who created the Sagrada Família's Passion façade (the artist Josep Maria Subirachs, following architect Antoni Gaudí's vision) took a different spin for these squares. Magic squares have been used as talismans in many cultures for millennia, since ancient cultures including 3rd millennium BC China, Ancient India, Ancient Egypt, Arab, and Greek cultures, among others. For the Sagrada Família (a Christian temple), Subirachs used to hide a number of great significance in Christian symbolism.

Painting Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer (1514) and a detail from it.

Subirachs adapted a magic square from this engraving by Dürer and changed it so that it would add up to 33: the age that Jesus Christ is traditionally believed to have been when he was executed. A number based on the repetition of another of the most important numbers in Christianity: 3, symbolizing the holy trinity.

The square in the Sagrada Família manages to add 33 by repeating some numbers and skipping others. But it also goes further than adding up 33 in every row, column, and diagonal line. The same number can also be obtained with many other combinations. Here are some of them:

Plus, in the magic square at the Sagrada Família, there is also a sort of hidden subliminal signature: adding up the numbers that repeat and looking at their correspondence in the Roman alphabet, we get the initials INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum = "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" in Latin), which was written on the sign at the top of the cross where Jesus was crucified.

This way, mathematics, art history and religious symbolism all come together in this little symbol.

Photos from Alamy, Martin Leicht, Sagrada Família blog. Text adapted from Sagrada Família blog. All the graphs with the numbers are from that same article.

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Daily Devotionals for October 15, 2024 

Proverbs: God's Wisdom for Daily Living

Devotional Scripture:

Proverbs 26:12 (KJV): 12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 26:12 (AMP): 12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes and conceit? There is more hope for a (self-confident) fool than for him.

Thought for the Day

We all are prone to trust our own understanding rather than the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." A fool rejects good counsel and stubbornly trusts his own inclinations. He is wise in his own estimation. Intelligent people consider themselves to be wise, and usually are - but with mere worldly wisdom. Godless, intellectual people are knowledgeable about many things, but knowledge "puffs up." 1 Corinthians 8:1 says, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Pride makes it difficult for people to turn to God and learn true wisdom. Many intellectuals see no need to believe in God or for a nation to follow His laws. They measure everything by their own understanding, reflecting Lucifer's pride. The arrogant person who trusts his intellect and rejects the Bible as untrue is a greater fool. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1a). This is because he simply relies on his own opinions and instincts and neglects God's Word. Man's wisdom alone, without God, will eventually fail him.

Pride is a deadly sin. David cried out to be delivered from the sins in his life which were hidden from his personal knowledge. "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression" (Psalm 19:12-13). He especially asked to be held back from sins of presumption that would lead to the sin of the "great transgression." I believe that great transgression is pride. Exalting oneself in one's own thinking is the opposite of God's character. It is especially wicked if it leads one to exalt oneself above God. As we saw, Satan, originally named Lucifer, committed this great transgression. Though he was the anointed cherub, his heart was lifted up because of his beauty. He corrupted his wisdom for the sake of his splendor. In his pride, he desired God's throne and set his will against God's (Ezekiel 28:12-19). Because he chose to rebel, he lost his position in heaven and will be banished to hell (Isaiah 14:12-15).

"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:20-25).

Prayer Devotional for the Day

Dear Heavenly Father, we want to pray as David did, for deliverance from the great transgression of pride. Lord, show us any sin in our lives that we are blinded to seeing, so that we may repent. Set us free from those things that would keep us from becoming like You. Lord, I desire to have a humble heart before You and before others. Help me not to be condescending to others, but to prefer others and esteem them. May we all give honor to whom honor is due, and especially may we not only honor You but also bring honor to You. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Good Morning USA From: Steven P. Miller, @ParkermillerQ,gatekeeperwatchman.org  TM ‎Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups.

[schizononagesimus]

as a jew ive always been really confused by easter but ive never been more confused than when I joined the tlt fandom. Wtf are the stations of the cross. Why would harrowhark like them. Why is friday good. What are those ash forehead things for. Is today leaves day? I know about the rock tomb thing connection that's about it. And obviously gid's resurrection is jesus. I get that. She has the wounds to prove it and the lil crown yeah I know. Also she was crucified. I get that! But the crucifixion. ... is that an easter thing? Do yall have a sad day? Like i dunno like. Depression tuesday? When did this man die? Is it the same day every year? If tlt is the bible if the bible snorted homestuck wtf happens next?

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

2nd November >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Commemoration of all the faithful departed (Inc. Mark 15:33-39; 16:1-6): ‘He has risen’.

Commemoration of all the faithful departed

Gospel (Except USA) John 5:24-29 The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.

Jesus said to the Jews:

I tell you most solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement he has passed from death to life. I tell you most solemnly, the hour will come – in fact it is here already – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live. For the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the source of life; and, because he is the Son of Man, has appointed him supreme judge. Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will rise again to life; and those who did evil, to condemnation.

Gospel (USA) John 5:24-29 The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.

Jesus said to the Jews:

I tell you most solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement he has passed from death to life. I tell you most solemnly, the hour will come – in fact it is here already – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live. For the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the source of life; and, because he is the Son of Man, has appointed him supreme judge. Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will rise again to life; and those who did evil, to condemnation.

Reflections (8)

(i) Commemoration of all the faithful departed.

The opening prayer of today’s Mass sets the tone for this commemoration, ‘God… may all your people who have gone before us in faith share Christ’s victory and enjoy the vision of your glory for ever’. The Prayer after Communion likewise prays for ‘our brothers and sisters who have died’, asking, ‘Bring the new life given to them in baptism to the fullness of eternal joy’. Enjoying the vision of God’s glory forever and attaining the fullness of eternal joy is what we are praying for as we remember our deceased loved ones on this day. The suggested gospel reading for this year of Mark is a combination of the account of the crucifixion of Jesus and the finding of the empty tomb. It is said of Jesus in the gospel reading that he ‘gave a loud cry and breathed his last’. Many of us will have been present when a loved one breathed their last breath. No matter how much we have been expecting it, that moment remains a traumatic one. There is a sense of finality about it which no amount of anticipation can fully prepare us for. The dark sadness of death engulfs us, just as it must have engulfed the disciples of Jesus, including the women who stood at a distance watching Jesus die, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. On the third day, these women went to the tomb of Jesus to dignify his body with aromatic oils. Yet, to their amazement, where death was to be expected, life reigned, ‘You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here’. It is as if the young man was saying to the women, ‘if you want to meet Jesus, don’t come to his tomb’. God had brought Jesus through death into a new and more powerful life over which death has no power. The risen Jesus would meet his disciples in Galilee, where he first called them, and, thereafter, ‘the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it’ (Mk 16:20). The life that Jesus now enjoys is the ultimate destiny of all who believe in him. Earlier in Mark’s gospel, Jesus declared that those who follow him ‘will receive a hundredfold now in this age… and in the age to come eternal life’ (Mk 10:30). This is the hope that the gospel gives us and, as Saint Paul says in our second reading, ‘Hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us’. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance of God’s love, a love that, in the words of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, ‘never ends’, a love that remains faithful to us beyond death. Although ‘now we see in a mirror dimly… then we will see face to face’ (1 Cor 13:8, 12).

And/Or

(ii) Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Today we remember all our ‘faithful departed’. Most of us will be remembering people we have known and loved, such as family members and good friends. Indeed, the whole month of November is a time when we remember our dead in a special way. In most parish churches this month, there will be a special Mass for all those in the parish community who have lost loved ones over the year. As Christians, our remembering of those who have died is always a prayerful remembering. We remember them before the Lord. Remembering our departed loved ones before the Lord, praying for them, is one of the ways that we give expression to our continuing communion with them in the Lord. We believe that our loved ones who have died are with the Lord, who is with us in this life until the end of time. As one of the saints expressed it, our loved ones who have died have gone no further than the Lord and the Lord is always near to us. It is that shared relationship with the Lord which keeps us in communion with our loved ones who have died. In praying for our loved ones today, we are asking the Lord to bring them to the fullness of his risen life, as he brought the widow’s son to life in today’s gospel reading. As well as praying in petition, we also pray in thanksgiving for them, thanking God for the gift of their lives and for all the ways the Lord blessed us through them. Today, we entrust our loved ones who have died to God. In today’s’ first reading, Saint Paul tells us that ‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us’. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God’s love, is the first fruit of eternal life. We pray that our loved ones would experience that life-giving love of God to the full.

And/Or

(iii) Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

The feast of all souls is a day when we remember all our loved ones who have died. We all have people we want to remember and pray for today. Our praying for the dead is one of the ways that we give expression to our continuing communion with our loved ones who have died. We believe in the communion of saints, that deep spiritual bond between those who have reached the end of their earthly pilgrimage and those, like ourselves, who are still on that pilgrimage. The group of women who had followed Jesus in Galilee and had come up to Jerusalem from Galilee with him, were in communion with Jesus as he was dying. They were looking on from a distance as he was dying. Once he died, they must have thought that their communion with him was broken forever. Yet, when they went to the tomb to anoint his body on that first Easter morning, they heard the wonderful news that Jesus who had been crucified was now risen and that he would soon meet his followers again in Galilee. Their communion with Jesus and his with them had not been broken by death after all. He would continue to relate to them, and they could continue to relate to him, even if in a new and different way. Beyond death, our loved ones continue to relate to us and we to them, in a new and different way. Every year, the church gives us this day, the 2nd of November, to express our relationship with those we were close to in this life who have died. We pause this day to give thanks for their lives, to pray for them, and to ask them to pray for us.

And/Or

(iv) Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Today is a day when we remember all our loved ones who have died. We all have people we want to remember and pray for today. Our praying for the dead is one of the ways that we give expression to our communion with our loved ones who have died. We believe in the communion of saints, that deep spiritual bond between those who have reached the end of their earthly pilgrimage and ourselves who are still on that pilgrimage. In the gospel reading this morning, a group of women who had followed Jesus in Galilee and had come up to Jerusalem from Galilee with him, were in communion with Jesus as he was dying. They were looking on from a distance as he hung from the cross. Once he died, they must have thought that their communion with him was broken forever. Yet, when they went to the tomb to anoint his body on that first Easter morning, they heard the wonderful news that Jesus who had been crucified was now risen. Their communion with Jesus and his with them had not been broken by death after all. He would continue to relate to them, and they could continue to relate to him, in a new and different way. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we believe that beyond death, our loved ones are being drawn into the risen life of Jesus; for them, life has changed not ended, and our relationship with them has changed not ended. Because of our communion with the Lord in this life, and their new communion with the Lord in the next life, we and they remain in communion, in an even deeper communion, even though it is not visible. Every year, the church gives us this day, the 2nd of November, to express in a prayerful way our communion with those we were close to in this life who have died. We pause this day to give thanks for their lives, to pray for them, and to ask them to pray for us.

And/Or

(v) Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Today is the day when we give expression to what we refer to in the creed as ‘the communion of saints’. We believe that there is a deep, spiritual, communion between those of us who are still on our pilgrim way and those who have come to the end of their earthly pilgrimage. As the funeral liturgy of the church states, ‘all the ties of love and affection that knit us together in this life do not unravel with death’. Saint Paul puts it more simply in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘love never ends’. In the gospel reading, when Jesus raised the young man to new life he gave him to his mother. Jesus renewed the communion between mother and son. Similarly, in bringing people to new life beyond this earthly life, the risen Lord renews their communion with their loved ones who continue their earthly pilgrimage. One of the ways we express our communion with our loved ones in this life is by praying for them. If we are people of faith, we will pray for those who are significant for us. Just as our love for our loved ones does not cease when they die, neither does our praying for them cease. Our prayer is one expression of our enduring love for them. Today is a special day of prayerful remembrance for our loved ones who have died. A traditional prayer we often pray for those who have died is ‘eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them’. We can sometimes think of rest as somewhat passive, the absence of activity. However, we could also think of rest in a way suggested by that lovely psalm that is often prayed at a funeral, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. Towards the end of the psalm we read, ‘near restful waters he leads me to revive my drooping spirits’. Rest is associated there with a revival of our spirits. We believe that eternal rest is an eternal revival of our deepest self, a full flowering of our true self. One of the early saints of the church, Saint Ephrem, wrote, ‘in the kingdom our departed ones achieve their full stature’. When we are praying that God would give our departed loved ones eternal rest, we are praying that they would reach their full stature.

And/Or

(vi) Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

I always find November a somewhat sombre and difficult month. The golden colours of Autumn are quickly giving way to the barrenness of winter. As the month progresses, the days will get gradually shorter and darkness increasingly makes its presence felt. We lose the colours of nature and the life-giving quality of our light. It is a month I associate with loss. It is perhaps fitting then that November is the month when we reflect upon more personal experiences of loss, the loss of significant people in our lives, people who have journeyed with us, who gave us love and whom we loved in return. The Commemoration of All Souls is a day when we do that in a special way.

On this day, we feel a sense of communion with our faithful departed. As followers of a risen Lord, we believe that our faithful have not just departed from us but have also returned to God, from whom they came. We understand death as a door through which we pass back to the source of our being, the Creator of all life. We also believe that our loved ones, in passing over into God, do not break their communion with us. Even though they have departed from us, they remain in communion with us and we remain in communion with them. A vital stream of life continues to flow between our deceased loved ones and ourselves. The faith and love that bound us together in this life still binds us to them when they pass over into the next life. In the gospel reading, Jesus gives her son back to the grieving widow. One of the ways we expressed our love for our loved ones in this life was by praying for them. Our loved ones who have died can still be touched by the love that finds its voice in prayer. Prayerful remembrance is one of the ways we continue to give expression to our loving communion with them. Such prayer helps them and can also help us. None of us will have had a perfect relationship even with those we have loved the most. When someone close to us dies, there is always some unfinished business. Praying for our loved ones can help to heal whatever may need healing in our relationship with them. As a result, our communion with them can deepen after their death until it comes to fullness at the moment when we too pass over from this life and are united with them in God’s love at that great banquet of life portrayed in today’s first reading.

Although nothing is more painful than the loss of a loved one in death, our faith gives us this hope-filled vision in the face of death. In today’s second reading, Paul says that ‘hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us’. Our hope is grounded in God’s love for us now, a very personal love that is poured into the hearts of each one of us through the Holy Spirit. God’s love, revealed in Jesus and poured into our hearts through the Spirit, continues to hold onto us when we pass through the door of death. As all authentic human love is always life-giving for the one loved, God’s love is supremely life-giving for us even in the face of our bodily death. What God’s love has already done for us through his Son and the Spirit in this life is the assurance of what God’s love will do for us in eternity. As Paul says in that our second reading, ‘Now that we have been reconciled (to God), surely we may count on being saved by the life of his Son’.

And/Or

(vii) Commemoration of all the faithful departed            

Today is the day when we give expression to what we refer to in the creed as ‘the communion of saints’. We believe that there is a deep, spiritual, communion between those of us who are still on our pilgrim way and those who have come to the end of their pilgrim journey. As the funeral liturgy of the church states, ‘all the ties of love and affection that knit us together in this life do not unravel with death’. Saint Paul puts it more simply in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘love never ends’. One of the ways we expressed our communion with our loved ones before they died was by praying for them. If we are people of faith, we will always pray for those who are significant for us; we might light a candle for them. Just as our love for our loved ones does not cease when they die, neither does our praying for them cease, because it is one expression of our enduring love for them. Today is a special day of prayerful remembrance for our loved ones who have died. A traditional prayer we often pray for those who have died is ‘eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them’. We can often think of rest as something passive, the absence of activity. In the Scriptures, ‘rest’ has a much more vibrant meaning, as is suggested by that lovely psalm that is often prayed at a funeral, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. Towards the end of that psalm we read, ‘near restful waters he leads me to revive my drooping spirits’. Restful waters or rest is associated with a revival of our spirits. Eternal rest is an eternal revival of our deepest spirit, our deepest self. One of the early saints of the church, Saint Ephrem, wrote, ‘in the kingdom our departed ones achieve their full stature’. When we are praying that God would give our departed loved ones eternal rest, we are praying that their best self would be fully revived, that they would attain their full stature as people made in God’s image. The invitation of Jesus, ‘Come to me’, and his promise, ‘I will give you rest’, suggests that already in this earthly life we can begin to enter into this rest, this revival of our drooping spirit. We are in need of the Lord’s gift of rest in these days when our spirits can easily droop. We have the Lord’s assurance there in the gospel reading that if we come to him, if we turn to him, we will indeed experience a foretaste of that eternal rest or revival that awaits us beyond death.

And/Or

(viii) Commemoration of all the faithful departed

Today we remember that the love we have for one another in this life is stronger than death. One of the ways we express our love for our loved ones in this life is by praying for them. We pray for our loved ones, we light candles for them, we get Masses offered for them. Such prayer of intercession is central to our faith. When our loved ones die, we continue our prayer of intercession for them. At every Mass, during the Eucharistic Prayer, we pray for our loved ones who have died. The tradition of having Mass said for those who have died on the anniversary of their death is still very strong in many parts of the world, including here in Ireland. We somehow sense that just as our loved ones can benefit from our prayers while living in this life, they can continue to benefit from our prayers when they have moved on from this earthly life to the next life. We may not be able to articulate clearly how our loved ones who have died can benefit from our prayers. When it comes to the afterlife, so much remains in the realm of mystery. Yet, we believe in what the Creed calls the communion of saints, that deep spiritual bond between those of us who are still on our earthly pilgrimage and those who have come to the end of that pilgrimage and are now with the Lord. One of the ways we give expression to that bond is through prayer. We pray for our loved ones who have died and, we believe, they can pray for us. In Mark’s gospel, from which we have just been reading, a group of women followed Jesus in Galilee and then from Galilee to Jerusalem. They were present when Jesus was dying on the cross, although at a distance. They saw where he was buried. On the first day of the week they came to anoint his body with spices. They wanted to preserve their communion with him in some way, even after his death. To their amazement, they discovered that he would remain in communion with them in a way they could never have imagined. Having been raised from the dead, he would meet them in Galilee, and would be present to them for the rest of their lives. Death did not break the Lord’s communion with his followers, and death does not break the communion between our loved ones and us. Today we give special expression to that communion with our loved ones by our prayerful remembrance of them.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

continuing on the topic of jesus and early christianity. i said that he was executed for insurrection.

the narrative is something like this: second temple judaism is very theologically diverse. lots of revolutionary fervor. lots of messiah claimants and new cults/sects abounding. comparable to america's "great awakenings". jesus was one of these new preachers. he had unique and compelling ideas about the jewish religion and society.

he probably genuinely believed himself to be the messiah, the destined king of the jews who will gather the jews and restore israel as a fully sovereign kingdom before ushering in the kingdom of god. this idea is obviously insurrectionary, considering israel was currently under roman control.

and i think it was bart ehrman who i first saw point out that jesus never really publicly proclaims that he is the messiah. up until his trial, he only ever seems to mention that he's the messiah in private to his disciples. which obviously makes sense because, again, claiming to be the messiah would have been insurrectionary. he probably wanted to keep this shit on the down-low.

and i think this is why judas betrayed him. i think judas got spooked. i think he recognized how heavy this kind of talk is. i remember there is a verse where jesus tells his disciples (including judas btw) that after the son of man (jesus) sits on his throne they would sit on their own thrones to rule over the tribes of israel.

so imagine if you're judas. just some guy. following this preacher around. you guys got a little gang going. you roam around preaching together. then he reveals to you that he's not just an ordinary preacher; he's actually the messiah. but not only that. he tells you that once he has his kingdom he will essentially make you a prince.

that's a lot to take in. that's heavy stuff. judas' thought process was probably something like "whoa. is this guy delusional? is he really saying this shit? the romans crucify people for talking like this all the time! holy shit he's going to get us all killed. i need to get out of here fast. maybe i can be spared if i turn him in." and that's what he did.

the real historical judas probably did really betray the historical jesus. but the narrative was probably a bit different from how it's presented in the story. i mean, come on. the very first think pilate asks jesus when he's brought to him is "are you the king of the jews?" it's obviously that /someone/ informed him that jesus was going around claiming to be the messiah in private. he didn't come out and say "come on jesus. are you committing blasphemy against jewish law? you are? well i guess i'll kill you because i care so much about jewish blasphemy for some reason." no, pontius pilate gave two shits about that. but he gave a lot of shit about killing insurrectionists considering rome has had a lot of problems with judaean insurrections since they've taken over.

and of course jesus has been going around telling all of his followers that he was the messiah. and now they're all watching him, at the feet of roman power, being challenged over this claim. he couldn't really deny it because then he'd look like a coward or a liar in the eyes of his followers. so of course he owns it. and they kill him for it. and i don't think jesus really planned on it.