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scurvyoaks · 3 years

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James Gibbs, Benedict XVI, and Russell Kirk's Battered Gargoyle

Russell Kirk has famously written: ”I did not love cold harmony and perfect regularity of organization; what I sought was variety, mystery, tradition, the venerable, the awful. I despised sophisters and calculators; I was groping for faith, honor, and prescriptive loyalties. I would have given any number of neo-classical pediments for one poor battered gargoyle.”

As regular readers can guess, I don’t share this sentiment.

I would like to offer an Anglican riposte to Kirk on the subject of medieval architecture vs. neoclassical architecture, particularly in the context of church architecture. These thoughts occurred to me first while reading George Weigel’s The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God a number of years ago. Weigel seemed to have drawn, if not a false dichotomy, a rather forced one between the butt-ugly modernist cube (La Grande Arche de la Défense, in Paris)

and Notre Dame de Paris:

A major reason for this approach is that Weigel is a dedicated Roman Catholic, to the point of partisanship. Reading Weigel reminds me of reading Chesterton: lots of great stuff there, so it’s best to ignore the parts where he’s shamelessly rooting for the home team.

My theme is a very rough distinction between French/medieval-Catholic absolutism and the English/Anglican spirit of compromise, which I believe is not only historically more resilient, but ultimately more consistent with the providential, Hellenistic inculturation of Christianity.

Insisting on the Cathedral earned France the Cube. In the 1680s and 1690s, England and France flipped trajectories on religious freedom. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes; Parliament passed the Act of Toleration. In the context of the tight embrace between the Bourbons and the Church, it’s no accident of history that it was Diderot, and not an Englishman, who wrote that “Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” Fast forward to the resulting laicite. We anglophones use the French word because the concept is historically French, and foreign to the anglosphere. We may well now be on the path to laicite in the UK and US as well, but it’s coming much later than in France.

So what does this have to do with architecture? My third building, to challenge Weigel’s dichotomy, is St. Martin in the Fields, London:

The current church building was designed by James Gibbs and completed in 1726. It was groundbreaking for combining a classical portico with a steeple. The steeple derived from the fleche of gothic architecture. This form now looks incredibly familiar, because it’s had a tremendous influence on church design, especially in the US, ever since it was built. There are plenty of large, high-style US churches based pretty directly on St. Martin’s – e.g., St. Philip’s in Charleston. Park Cities Baptist in Dallas and (with a twist) St. Paul’s Chapel, NYC. But simplifying the St. Martin’s formula to portico plus steeple, there must be hundreds (maybe thousands) of churches in the US that are downstream from St. Martin’s, many of them small protestant churches in small towns.

The symbolic genius of the St. Martin’s approach is to combine the Catholic fleche with the Greek or Roman portico. Like the best Anglican compromises, it’s a theoretical mess that works. The mixed character of its creation is mirrored in Gibbs’ biography. A Scot, he was accurately suspected of secret recusancy. But he had no problem designing Anglican churches, and Whig-dominated vestries were perfectly happy to hire him as their architect. Don’t ask, don’t tell, 18th-century style.

To tie the argument to theology, I’ll call on my favorite pope. In his lecture at Regensburg (notorious for the most stupid of readings), Benedict XVI gave a paean to the role of reason in Christian faith and the important, indeed providential, nature of the Hellenistic inculturation of Christianity:

“The decisive statement in [the] argument [made by the Byzantine emperor to his Muslim interlocutor] against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazm went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practise idolatry.

At this point, as far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we are faced with an unavoidable dilemma. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true? I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, the first verse of the whole Bible, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: "In the beginning was the λόγος". This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts, σὺν λόγω, with logos. Logos means both reason and word - a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the Biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance. The vision of Saint Paul, who saw the roads to Asia barred and in a dream saw a Macedonian man plead with him: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" (cf. Acts 16:6-10) - this vision can be interpreted as a "distillation" of the intrinsic necessity of a rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek inquiry.

In point of fact, this rapprochement had been going on for some time. The mysterious name of God, revealed from the burning bush, a name which separates this God from all other divinities with their many names and simply asserts being, "I am", already presents a challenge to the notion of myth, to which Socrates' attempt to vanquish and transcend myth stands in close analogy. Within the Old Testament, the process which started at the burning bush came to new maturity at the time of the Exile, when the God of Israel, an Israel now deprived of its land and worship, was proclaimed as the God of heaven and earth and described in a simple formula which echoes the words uttered at the burning bush: "I am". This new understanding of God is accompanied by a kind of enlightenment, which finds stark expression in the mockery of gods who are merely the work of human hands (cf. Ps 115). Thus, despite the bitter conflict with those Hellenistic rulers who sought to accommodate it forcibly to the customs and idolatrous cult of the Greeks, biblical faith, in the Hellenistic period, encountered the best of Greek thought at a deep level, resulting in a mutual enrichment evident especially in the later wisdom literature. Today we know that the Greek translation of the Old Testament produced at Alexandria - the Septuagint - is more than a simple (and in that sense really less than satisfactory) translation of the Hebrew text: it is an independent textual witness and a distinct and important step in the history of revelation, one which brought about this encounter in a way that was decisive for the birth and spread of Christianity. A profound encounter of faith and reason is taking place here, an encounter between genuine enlightenment and religion. From the very heart of Christian faith and, at the same time, the heart of Greek thought now joined to faith, Manuel II was able to say: Not to act "with logos" is contrary to God's nature.

In all honesty, one must observe that in the late Middle Ages we find trends in theology which would sunder this synthesis between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit. In contrast with the so-called intellectualism of Augustine and Thomas, there arose with Duns Scotus a voluntarism which, in its later developments, led to the claim that we can only know God's voluntas ordinata. Beyond this is the realm of God's freedom, in virtue of which he could have done the opposite of everything he has actually done. This gives rise to positions which clearly approach those of Ibn Hazm and might even lead to the image of a capricious God, who is not even bound to truth and goodness. God's transcendence and otherness are so exalted that our reason, our sense of the true and good, are no longer an authentic mirror of God, whose deepest possibilities remain eternally unattainable and hidden behind his actual decisions. As opposed to this, the faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy, in which - as the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 stated - unlikeness remains infinitely greater than likeness, yet not to the point of abolishing analogy and its language. God does not become more divine when we push him away from us in a sheer, impenetrable voluntarism; rather, the truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf. Certainly, love, as Saint Paul says, "transcends" knowledge and is thereby capable of perceiving more than thought alone (cf. Eph 3:19); nonetheless it continues to be love of the God who is Logos. Consequently, Christian worship is, again to quote Paul - "λογικη λατρεία", worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason (cf. Rom 12:1).

This inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of the history of religions, but also from that of world history - it is an event which concerns us even today. Given this convergence, it is not surprising that Christianity, despite its origins and some significant developments in the East, finally took on its historically decisive character in Europe. We can also express this the other way around: this convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe. “

http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html

I imagine Duns Scotus, while at L’Universite de Paris in 1304 to give lectures, studying Notre Dame, whose major construction had been finished just a half-century earlier. When I look at a gargoyle – often an imaginary creature, something God could have created but didn’t – I see at least a hint of voluntarism. Kirk’s delight in variety and the awful leaves me cold. Back to St. Martin’s: when I look at the portico, I see the λόγος; when I look at its pediment, I see the Trinity; when I look at the steeple, I see the heavenward aspiration of faith, through the long continuity of the church.

I suspect that Benedict XVI -- who loves the Mozart masses, written in the decades after the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, when neoclassicism was ascendant in architecture and design across Europe – might prefer the classical pediment to the battered gargoyle.

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buggie-hagen · 4 years

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Sermon for Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (8/16/20)

Primary Text | Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

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Dear People of God,

What we learn from the prophet Isaiah is the wonderfully inclusive love of the gospel. Without regard for where you come from, what circumstances you grew up in, what language you speak, what color your skin is, or even your political leanings—the gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s love expressly for you. In the time that Isaiah wrote this passage the Israelites have returned from their exile. It has been long awaited and they endured much suffering to get back to the place they call home. Though they have returned to some semblance of normal, life wasn’t going easy as they had hoped. Things weren’t the same as before. And so, the Israelites had become insular in thinking and their hearts turned brittle to peoples other than themselves. I can say that when we do get around to worshiping in-person again we will come to some semblance of normal. But, it won’t be as we left it in March. You may very well have the same temptations as the Israelites. In this time of trial we can and must rely on God’s faithfulness to hold us through to the end.

No matter how unpopular it was, the prophet Isaiah had to remind the Israelites of their divine calling, as he said, “Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed” (Isa. 56:1). He did this of course by speaking both Law and Gospel to his people. With the Law Isaiah implored them to, “Maintain justice, do what is right.” The people of God in every age are called to do what is right. Even and especially when what is right is not what is easy, or what is convenient. To maintain justice is of course to do our part to make sure people near and far (for they are all our neighbors) live in dignity. Are workers treated fairly? Is their enough food on our neighbor’s table? Does our neighbor have access to proper healthcare? Even the smallest thing, like driving someone to their appointments, can be so important. Of course, this justice we do is without regard to how grateful we perceive the recipients of our kindness to be. We don’t love others because we see the fruit of our labor or because get any thanks from it. We love others simply because God loved us first (1 John 4:19); God has asked us to love others likewise. After speaking the Law to the Israelites the prophet Isaiah then speaks to them the Gospel—“for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.” With these words God gives us hope. Things may not be easy right now. But we can rely on God and his salvation. Life will not always be this difficult. There is light at the end of the tunnel. God will certainly deliver us from evil. God will bring healing, release, and comfort to his people.

Isaiah says, “these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer” (Isa. 56:7). And this is the work of God even now. As I said, the gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ is wonderfully inclusive. This promise is not just to a singular group of people but for all. When the gospel comes about it is a truly joyful thing, for God says, “I will make them joyful.” In this time of worldwide instability if there’s something we need right now it is joy. The source of our joy is the gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ our Lord. To understand this I will speak to you an analogy. In a spiritual sense, we are all on our deathbed. Your strength is gone, you are dried up, but God faithfully sits right next to you. There he leans over you, feeding you with the spoon of his Word. Daily he nourishes you back to health in the hospital known as his holy catholic church, he nourishes you with the communion of saints, he nourishes you with the forgiveness of sins, he nourishes you with the resurrection of the body, and he nourishes you with the life everlasting. As God “gathers the outcasts of Israel” he declares, “I will gather others to them besides those already gathered” (Isa. 56:8). God deals with us on the basis of grace, and not of merit. In Christ, God embraces people regardless of who they are. One need look no further than Christ crucified to know how much God loves them and forgives them.

#keypreaching

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militant-holy-knight · 5 years

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That talk on Churches fighting each other has me thinking...was it justified? In the Old Testament God seemingly sends wars as punishment for sins (Canaanites, Moabites, Babylon) and self defense of Israel. And...if one church hurt another church, and that church fought back...would that really be against God? Then again of course Christ said turn the other cheek... And forced conversions are definitely bad regardless...

No, anon. It’s not justified under any circumstance. All who honor Christ as the Lord should not be waging war on themselves. If you refer to my post regarding the Ethiopian Church rebelling against Catholicism, that wasn’t a case of one church fighting each other.

The Catholic Church never officially sanctioned any violence against the Ethiopian Orthodox, those were the actions of a tyrant (yes, even though I am a Catholic, I will admit Susenyos was a tyrant) individually taken to impose Catholicism down his people.

And also that Old Testament analogy is so incorrect - the Canaanites, Moabites and Babylonians were pagans and idolaters, so it wasn’t a case where the Hebrews fought themselves. In fact, infighting almost always led to the Hebrews losing God’s favor and being punished for their actions.

And yes, forced conversions are unquestionably bad. If a Christian wishes to change denomination they are free to do it as they will and only God should judge them.

#Christianity

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romancatholicreflections · 6 years

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11th September >> “Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain”” ~ Daily Reflection on Today’s Gospel Reading for Roman Catholics on Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time.

The familiar “Sermon on the Mount” that we know from Matthew 5-7 becomes in Luke’s hand the Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6:12-49) from which our Gospel readings will come over the next few days.

Luke introduces the Sermon with the appointment of the apostles. The number twelve reminds us of the twelve tribes of Israel. So the appointment of the twelve was a symbolic action pointing to the restoration of Israel. Then Jesus offers his blueprint for the faith and ideals to be lived in the renewed people of God.

Here are some thoughts about Sermon on the Plain (excerpts from Luke Wayne on the Carmelite website)

The content and the context of Luke’s sermon are strikingly similar to the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew chapters 5-7. Many commentators see these passages as reporting the same event, though others note how Jesus could preach similar material on more than one occasion, so that they could well be two similar sermons spoken at different times. But the fact that both Gospels place the discourse right before the healing of the centurion seems to give much greater weight to the view that they are originally the same sermon.

The different naming comes from the fact that Matthew 5:1 describes the setting by saying, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain,” (“Sermon on the mount”). Luke 6:17 locates the scene as, “Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place,” (thus “Sermon on the plain”). But Luke 6:12 has already said that they had been on a mountain, and thus Jesus coming down to a level place implies a hilly setting.

The Sermon on the Plain begins with a series of Beatitudes or statements of blessing. These blessings are all upon the sort of people one would tend to think least to be blessed, such as the hungry, the grieving, and those who are hated and treated ill (Luke 6:20-22). Such are told to be glad, indeed to “leap for joy,” not because the suffering itself is good, but because their reward will be great in heaven, with the encouraging reminder that the prophets themselves suffered these same things.

Luke reports these blessings more directly than Matthew does in the Sermon on the Mount (simply “you poor” rather than “the poor in spirit” and “you who hunger” rather than “those who hunger and thirst for justice,” for example). Luke also includes a contrasting list of woes on those who are well fed, laughing now, and spoken well of (Luke 6:24-26) which Matthew did not have. The overall thrust of the passage is the same. God’s blessing for those who follow Him will often mean suffering now, but glory and comfort in the Kingdom to come. Those who seek their comfort and pleasure in this life here and now may appear to be blessed, but in fact, they are to be pitied because in the age to come they will find nothing but weeping, suffering, and want.

Luke does not report Jesus’ interpretation of the law, as Matthew does in 5:17-37. He reports the Lord’s model prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) elsewhere in His gospel (Luke 11:1-4) rather than in this sermon. He does the same with Jesus’ teachings on money (Matthew 6:19-24; Luke 12:22-34) the example of asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:9-13) and several other such sections. Likewise, Luke reports Jesus using the example of the blind guiding the blind here (Luke 6:39), where Matthew does not, though Matthew’s gospel contains a similar teaching elsewhere (Matthew 15:14).

The Sermon on the Plain, like that on the Mount, proceeds from the Beatitudes to:

Jesus’ teaching on love and generous mercy toward enemies (Matthew 5:33-48; Luke 6:27-36).

His instructions on proper judgment (Matthew 7:1-2; Luke 6:37-38).

The example of the speck in your neighbor’s eye and the log in your own, (Matthew 7:3-5; Luke 6:41-42).

The analogy of the tree and the fruit (Matthew 7:15-20, Luke 6:43-45).

The warning about saying “Lord, Lord” and not doing what Jesus says (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46).

The closing illustration of the two foundations (Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:47-49).

Historically, the “Sermon on the Plain” has received less attention by commentators and theologians than the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew. But Luke’s version of this sermon brings powerful insights that Matthew’s does not, and is just as striking a presentation of Christian ideals. It has tremendous value on its own right, and in conjunction with the material in Matthew, helps us draw out a deeper and fuller understanding of Jesus’ words, which is certainly why the Spirit of God inspired the writing of both of these parallel passages.

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gospelmusic · 4 years

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Catholic Daily Mass Reading + Reflection: 21 October 2020

Wednesday 21 October 2020

Weekday (29) Vestment: Green Today’s Rosary: The Glorious Mystery

FIRST READING

The mystery of Christ has now been revealed, how the Gentiles are fellow heirs of the promise. A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:2- 12) (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Brethren: I assume that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ; which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that is, how the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realised in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. The word of the Lord. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Isaiah 12:2-3.4bcde.5-6 (R. see 3)

R/. With joy you will draw water from the wells of the Saviour. “Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. R. “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the nations, proclaim that his name is exalted.” R. “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitants of Sion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” R. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

ALLELUIA Matthew 24 :42a.44

Alleluia. Watch, therefore, and be ready; the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Alleluia.

Gospel

“Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required.” A reading from the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 12:39-48) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have been awake and would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly I tell you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating. But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.” The Gospel of the Lord. atOptions = { 'key' : 'a7d957da62155c266685b350c95abc35', 'format' : 'iframe', 'height' : 250, 'width' : 300, 'params' : {} }; document.write('');

Today’s Reflection

The eschatological discourse continues to build, telling us about the need for our preparedness for the coming of God’s kingdom. We have here the stylistic Lukan analogy of master and servant relationship and punishment to paint a picture of judgement, heaven and hell. When the master will come is judgement day, and the banquet with the master is heaven, and condemnation is hell. If we knew when judgement will befall us, we shall be prepared in waiting, but unfortunately this knowledge is far from us. There will be total condemnation for those who heard the urgency of this coming, yet are unprepared. Those who have the will but no action to implement the master’s command will be punished, and those who are ignorant, will be given a lighter punishment. What category do you belong to? The master’s house, the kingdom of heaven, should be our priority. Don’t forget: to whom much is given, much more is expected.

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pkstudiosindia · 4 years

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Covid-19 Global News: Live Tracker – The New York Times

Here’s what it is advisable to know:

Police on responsibility at a protest this week within the Borough Park neighborhood in Brooklyn over new restrictions.Credit…Mark Abramson for The New York Times

A federal decide on Friday allowed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to maneuver ahead with new restrictions on gatherings at synagogues and different homes of worships, discovering that the principles didn’t violate the free train of faith for Orthodox Jews.

The ruling in federal court docket in Brooklyn got here after Agudath Israel of America, a nationwide Orthodox Jewish group, sued Mr. Cuomo this week over his newest government order detailing an array of recent restrictions to deal with rising coronavirus circumstances in neighborhoods with massive populations of Orthodox Jews.

After an emergency listening to on Friday, the decide declined to quickly block Mr. Cuomo’s government order forward of three Jewish holidays over the weekend. She mentioned she sympathized with the order’s affect on the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, however rejected the argument that Mr. Cuomo had unconstitutionally focused a spiritual minority.

“How can we ignore the compelling state interest in protecting the health and life of all New Yorkers?” mentioned Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of Federal District Court in Brooklyn.

When saying the manager order, Mr. Cuomo set new capability limits for homes of worship. In zones with the best an infection charges, homes of worship could be restricted to 25 % capability or a most of 10 folks, whereas these in a much less extreme sizzling spot might have 50 % capability.

Lawyers for Agudath Israel, an umbrella group with affiliated synagogues across the nation, had argued that the brand new guidelines had been unconstitutional as a result of they prevented Orthodox Jews from exercising their faith. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn additionally filed an analogous lawsuit towards Mr. Cuomo on Thursday.

The decide’s resolution implies that Mr. Cuomo can impose the brand new restrictions because the lawsuit progresses.

The authorized actions underscored the problem going through New York officers as they attempt to battle off a second wave of virus infections and navigate a disaster on the intersection of public well being, faith and politics. Some areas in New York City had an infection charges of round 8 %, officers mentioned, far larger than the 1 % fee for the remainder of town.

The restrictions had been meant to curb worrisome outbreaks of the coronavirus in Brooklyn, Queens and New York City’s northern suburbs, together with a number of areas with massive Orthodox populations. Orthodox synagogues have in current months change into scenes of huge gatherings of worshipers clustered collectively, many not carrying face coverings.

President Trump is claimed to plan to make an look from one of many White House balconies on Saturday for a reside crowd on the South Lawn.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times

President Trump is planning to host tons of of individuals on the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday, three folks acquainted with the plans mentioned on Friday. It could be his first in-particular person occasion since he introduced he had examined optimistic for the coronavirus and could be occurring earlier than some well being consultants have mentioned he ought to emerge from isolation.

Mr. Trump is predicted to talk from one of many White House balconies on the occasion, which has prompted consternation for some Trump advisers who concern it can intensify criticism of the administration’s dealing with of the virus.

Health consultants had beforehand bristled on the notion that Mr. Trump, who entered the hospital per week in the past after exhibiting Covid-19 signs and returned to the White House on Monday, could be wholesome sufficient to return to the marketing campaign path this weekend. They argued that, out of an abundance of warning, he ought to keep in isolation for as much as 20 days. Such a suggestion, meant to guard each the president and those that could be in shut contact with him, might maintain Mr. Trump out of the general public sphere for no less than one other week.

The disclosure of Mr. Trump’s plans got here after the president made a marathon look on the conservative host Rush Limbaugh’s radio present, throughout which Mr. Trump touched on his well being.

During the extensive-ranging, two-hour radio interview, the president revealed that his medical doctors had at one level advised him that he was coming into a “very bad phase.” It was not instantly clear the time interval to which Mr. Trump was referring.

As of earlier within the day, the president had not anticipated to return to the marketing campaign path till subsequent week, Monday on the earliest, in response to an aide with information of the state of affairs. On Thursday, Mr. Trump had mentioned that he had hoped to attend a rally in Florida on Saturday, which might be simply 9 days after he examined optimistic for the coronavirus, however as of Friday morning, aides had efficiently argued towards Mr. Trump doing occasions outdoors the White House this weekend.

The guidelines on the White House have been that solely these individuals who might be in direct contact with the president are examined for any out of doors occasions, and Vice President Mike Pence admitted as a lot on the controversy stage Tuesday evening, when he mentioned that many individuals had been examined at an occasion for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court nominee who introduced her household to a Rose Garden celebration on the White House on Sept. 26, an occasion that has been linked to the White House outbreak.

Mr. Trump is trailing former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in polls simply weeks earlier than the election and has been desirous to get again to campaigning. When the Commission on Presidential Debates introduced on Thursday that subsequent week’s debate between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden could be held remotely due to well being considerations, the president secured a be aware from his doctor, Dr. Sean Conley, saying that he could be wholesome sufficient to “return to public engagements.”

Dr. Conley’s assertion cited Saturday as “day 10 since Thursday’s diagnosis,” although earlier this week he mentioned Mr. Trump could be in danger via Saturday and Sunday. “We’re looking to this weekend,” he mentioned at a information convention on Monday. “If we can get through to Monday, with him remaining the same — or improving, better yet — then we will all take that final deep sigh of relief.”

Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that folks with delicate to reasonable circumstances of Covid-19 most probably “remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset.”

But regardless of his optimistic check on Oct. 1, the beginning date of Mr. Trump’s signs stays murky. And it stays unclear how severe Mr. Trump’s sickness is, although he has mentioned repeatedly that he feels “great.”

Shortly after his prognosis final week, Mr. Trump acquired supplemental oxygen, in addition to some therapies — together with the antiviral remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone — which can be often reserved for sufferers with extreme circumstances. People with extreme illness could must double their isolation interval to twenty days, in response to the C.D.C.

Experts mentioned that resuming public duties would possibly worsen the president’s situation, which might nonetheless take a fast downturn within the subsequent a number of days. Covid-19 is unpredictable illness, and sufferers’ situations can abruptly and unexpectedly deteriorate throughout the second week of sickness.

The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, mentioned Dr. Conley “assured” her that he and his staff had “medical tests underway that will ensure that when the president’s back out there, he will not be able to transmit the virus,” Ms. McEnany mentioned Friday throughout an interview on Fox News.

“Rest assured we will make sure that he’s in a good spot before he’s out there,” mentioned Ms. McEnany, who has additionally examined optimistic for the virus however says she has not skilled signs.

However, a definitive check for infectiousness “to my knowledge, doesn’t exist,” mentioned Dr. Taison Bell, a vital care doctor on the University of Virginia. “I wish I could learn from Dr. Conley what they’re doing.”

The president has dismissed the severity of the virus, saying, “when you catch it, you get better,” ignoring the greater than 212,000 folks within the United States who didn’t get higher and died from it, and lots of hundreds extra who’ve suffered weeks, if not months, of lingering and debilitating signs.

The president has not made any public appearances in particular person since coming back from the Walter Reed navy medical complicated to the White House on Monday, however he sought to reassert himself on the general public stage with a pair of phone interviews with Fox News and Fox Business in addition to two movies and a sequence of Twitter messages.

Mr. Trump is scheduled for his first on-digicam interview on Friday night on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” when a Fox News contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel, “will conduct a medical evaluation and interview,” in response to the community. In the early days of the pandemic, Dr. Siegel likened the virus to the flu, an incorrect and deceptive comparability that has been repeatedly debunked by consultants, however that Mr. Trump nonetheless promotes.

Protesting new restrictions on faculties and synagogues in an Orthodox Jewish enclave in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The orders have prompted confusion and frustration. Credit…Mark Abramson for The New York Times

Some areas around the globe that had been devastated by the coronavirus within the spring — and are actually tightening guidelines to go off a second wave — are going through resistance from residents who’re exhausted, confused and pissed off.

In each Western Europe and the northeastern United States, governments had been in a position to dramatically cut back circumstances with broad measures that had been efficient however economically bruising. Now, as circumstances surge, officers are looking for extra focused closures, making an attempt to string a narrowing course between holding the virus in examine and what their publics and economies will bear.

“It is going to be a lot more difficult this time,” mentioned Professor Cornelia Betsch, Heisenberg-Professor of Health Communication at Erfurt University, in Germany, citing “pandemic fatigue.”

France has positioned cities on “maximum alert” and ordered a lot of them to shut all bars, gyms and sports activities facilities on Saturday. Italy and Poland have expanded their masks carrying guidelines. The Czech Republic has declared a state of emergency, and German officers concern new outbreaks might quickly develop past the management of their vaunted testing and tracing talents.

Similar dynamics are afoot throughout the Atlantic. In Boston, plans to convey youngsters again to high school have been halted as circumstances climb precariously. New virus clusters are rising in Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. In New York City, the variety of new circumstances every day now averages greater than 500 for the primary time since June, and rising charges of optimistic assessments have alarmed well being consultants. Strict guidelines have been put in place in some neighborhoods in addition to within the metropolis’s northern suburbs.

But the focused guidelines in New York City have spurred mass confusion. Competing sizzling-spot maps launched on Thursday by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo overlapped and contradicted one another. Two lawsuits had been filed on Thursday, one by an Orthodox Jewish group and the opposite by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, to cease the state from imposing the governor’s restrictions on homes of worship.

Video

Spain’s authorities used its emergency powers Friday to lock down Madrid to attempt to cease a second wave of Covid-19.CreditCredit…Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

A focused lockdown in Spain can be being challenged within the courts. After Madrid’s highest regional court docket dominated {that a} new lockdown violated the basic liberty of individuals to maneuver freely, the federal government on Friday decreed a state of emergency, overruling Madrid’s regional politicians. Within hours, the nation’s predominant opposition chief known as on the prime minister to look in Parliament to justify his actions.

The feuding is reflective of a broader political resistance confronting leaders worldwide, a problem compounded by public skepticism that has been fueled in lots of international locations by the failure of governments to meet grand guarantees on measures like contact tracing, testing and different measures.

United States › On Oct. 8 14-day change Trend

New circumstances 56,137 +12%

New deaths 928 –4%

Where circumstances are highest per capita

European governments are additionally going through stress from enterprise leaders because the uptick in circumstances dims hopes for a fast financial restoration. Earlier this week France, Europe’s second-largest financial system, downgraded its forecast tempo of enlargement for the final three months of the 12 months from an already minimal 1 % to zero.

And after all, persons are additionally merely weary after months of limitations on their each day lives.

“We’re all kind of exhausted with it,” mentioned Danielle Ompad, an infectious-illness epidemiologist at New York University. “We have to acknowledge that this is not easy.”

Four White House residence workers members have examined optimistic for the coronavirus.Credit…Oliver Contreras for The New York Times

Two extra White House residence workers members examined optimistic for the coronavirus in an outbreak first reported there almost three weeks in the past, two folks with information of the occasions mentioned.

That brings the overall quantity in that outbreak to 4 folks, together with three members of the housekeeping workers who work on the third flooring of the residence, in addition to an assistant to the chief usher, Timothy Harleth, the 2 folks mentioned.

None of these workers members sometimes are available direct contact with President Trump and the primary woman, Melania Trump, however Mr. Harleth advised a bunch of residence workers members roughly three weeks in the past concerning the outbreak, urged them to “use discretion” and mentioned that he had knowledgeable Mrs. Trump and Mr. Trump concerning the developments.

In one other outbreak on the White House, a number of individuals who attended a White House occasion on Sept. 26 have since examined optimistic for the coronavirus, together with the president and the primary woman.

Residence workers members, who fall underneath the purview of the East Wing, which first woman Melania Trump oversees, have been carrying masks for months, as have aides to the primary woman. They have additionally been examined each day, officers have mentioned. The workers are amongst communities that may least afford to fall sick. They are predominantly folks of colour who earn modest wages.

But the president has been dismissive of masks-carrying amongst his workers, a few of whom have mentioned privately that they felt what amounted to see stress to keep away from carrying them, as a result of their presence bothered the president.

A spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump declined to remark, however has beforehand mentioned the East Wing takes defending the residence workers significantly. It is unclear whether or not Mr. Trump advised his personal advisers concerning the outbreak within the residence.

Sam Kass, an assistant chef and meals coverage adviser in President Barack Obama’s White House, mentioned it could be uncommon for such a factor to occur and the primary couple to not be advised.

“I have no direct knowledge whether the chief usher notified the president and first lady that there was a Covid-19 outbreak in the residence,” he mentioned, “but I have zero doubt that he did, there is absolutely no way as the head of the house you don’t tell the first family of something as serious as that.”

Villagers in South Sudan collected meals dropped from a aircraft by the World Food Program in February. Measures to include the virus have exacerbated starvation around the globe. Credit…Tony Karumba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The World Food Program, a United Nations company, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the committee recognizing its efforts to fight a surge in starvation because the coronavirus pandemic has swept around the globe with devastating affect.

So-called meals shortage was an issue earlier than the pandemic, however it has been exacerbated, not by the sickness itself, however by the measures taken to manage it. With economies shut down, there isn’t a work for individuals who had been already struggling to maintain meals on the desk. With faculties closed, many youngsters in growing international locations are being compelled to go to work to attempt to assist pay for requirements like groceries.

In April, the World Food Program mentioned that the variety of folks confronting probably life-threatening ranges of so-known as meals insecurity within the growing world was anticipated to almost double this 12 months, to 265 million.

Around the world, the variety of youngsters youthful than 5 caught in a state of so-known as losing — their weight to date beneath regular that they face an elevated danger of dying, together with lengthy-time period well being issues — is more likely to develop by almost seven million this 12 months, or 14 %, in response to a paper printed within the medial journal The Lancet.

“We hear our children screaming in hunger, but there is nothing that we can do,” Halima Bibi, who lives in Afghanistan, advised The New York Times earlier this 12 months from a hospital within the capital metropolis of Kabul, the place her 6-12 months-outdated daughter was being handled for extreme malnutrition. “That is not just our situation, but the reality for most of the families where we live.”

Many of essentially the most weak communities are locations like South Asia and Africa, the place there are navy conflicts and excessive poverty. But even within the richest nations, the place meals is available, it might be out of attain for individuals who have been put out of labor by the pandemic.

In the United States, “the pandemic has exposed the fragile nature of success for millions of Americans: material markers of outward stability, if not prosperity, but next to nothing to fall back on when times get tough,” The Times reporter Tim Arango wrote final month.

The World Food Program, which was established in 1961 after a proposal by President Dwight Eisenhower however doesn’t function within the United States, supplied help to almost 100 million folks in 88 international locations final 12 months. And that was earlier than the pandemic.

A scene from Havana final month. Cuba, which has been very aggressive in its dealing with of the virus, introduced that it’ll reopen some areas to worldwide vacationers. Credit…Yamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz of Cuba mentioned on Thursday that the island will reopen its borders to worldwide vacationers for the primary time in six months, however the capital and different areas with larger numbers of virus circumstances will stay off-limits.

Starting subsequent week, planes carrying vacationers might be allowed to land in 13 of the island’s 16 provinces. The capital, Havana, in addition to the central provinces of Ciego de Ávila and Sancti Spíritus, will stay closed.

With the exception of humanitarian flights and repatriations, the Cuban border has been shut since March to scale back virus transmission. But the nation has slowly been getting ready to restart worldwide tourism. In July, flights started servicing small vacation resorts within the northern keys.

Cuba, which has the best physician-to-affected person ratio on the planet, has thrown all the pieces however the kitchen sink on the illness. When circumstances are found, whole blocks are quarantined. Everyone who has examined optimistic has been hospitalized. The island has reported 5,917 circumstances whole — which works out to 52 circumstances per 100,000 folks — and 123 deaths, in response to a Times database.

The United States has reported greater than seven million circumstances — or 2,302 circumstances per 100,000 folks — and greater than 212,000 deaths.

But Cuba’s spectacular well being outcomes have come at a excessive financial value. Since the pandemic started, 115,000 suspected circumstances and contacts of confirmed circumstances have been quarantined in isolation facilities. The state foots the invoice.

The lack of tourism, one of many island’s high laborious-forex earners, has devastated a fragile financial system that was already on the ropes due to crippling sanctions from the Trump administration and turmoil in Venezuela, which sends low-cost petroleum to Cuba.

Shortages are endemic. Black market costs of on a regular basis gadgets resembling toothpaste and low have greater than doubled. Rice is strictly rationed and unlawful to purchase on the open market.

Mr. Marrero signaled {that a} new stability might be struck between the imperatives of saving lives and reactivating the financial system. Cubans might be allowed to isolate at dwelling because the island modifications the way in which it confronts the virus and transitions to a “new normality,” he mentioned.

President Trump and Melania Trump with Judge Barrett and her household contained in the Oval Office on Sept. 26.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

A college attended by among the youngsters of Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court nominee who introduced her household to a Rose Garden celebration on the White House on Sept. 26, notified dad and mom on Thursday that one trainer and two highschool college students had examined optimistic for the coronavirus.

The outbreak at Trinity School, a small, non-public faculty in South Bend, Ind., is more likely to intensify scrutiny of the White House occasion that some well being consultants concern led to the virus spreading amongst administration officers, friends and others who subsequently got here involved with them.

John A. Lee, the varsity’s head, knowledgeable dad and mom Thursday afternoon {that a} highschool trainer had examined optimistic for the illness, in response to paperwork obtained by The New York Times. Less than 5 hours later, he notified dad and mom of two extra circumstances: a lady in her junior 12 months and a boy in his senior 12 months. The trainer was recognized by identify however the college students weren’t.

Of the Barretts’ seven youngsters, two are of highschool age.

Parents expressed concern that the outbreak may need been tied to the Rose Garden occasion. One guardian, who requested to not be recognized, mentioned no less than one of many Barrett youngsters attended lessons in particular person the next week, despite the fact that the varsity gives an internet studying possibility. Mr. Lee referred questions concerning the outbreak to Jon Balsbaugh, the president of Trinity Schools, Inc. In an electronic mail response to questions, Mr. Balsbaugh didn’t deal with the Covid-19 circumstances however mentioned the varsity has taken a sequence of precautions to guard college students, their households, academics and workers. The South Bend campus is one in all three run by Trinity Schools.

More than 200 folks attended the Rose Garden occasion, at which Mr. Trump formally introduced Ms. Barrett’s nomination. Few wore masks or stayed six ft aside. Mr. Trump and the primary woman, Melania Trump, later examined optimistic for the virus. More than 20 individuals who had been involved with the president or attended White House or marketing campaign occasions lately have examined optimistic.

Despite a stream of disclosures of recent coronavirus infections linked to the White House, the administration has made little effort to analyze the scope and supply of the outbreak. At his debate with Kamala Harris on Wednesday evening, Vice President Mike Pence defended the Rose Garden occasion, saying that attendees had been examined forward of time and the ceremony was outside. It was preceded by an indoor reception the place lots of the attendees, together with Judge Barrett and a few of her youngsters, mingled with out carrying masks.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi mentioned of talks with Republicans, “We want to continue the conversation.”Credit…Pete Marovich for The New York Times

The White House, looking for to revive stimulus talks that President Trump known as off simply days in the past, deliberate on Friday to place ahead its largest supply for financial reduction but, as some Republicans apprehensive about being blamed by voters for failing to ship wanted assist forward of the election.

The new proposal, for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to current to congressional Democrats, would improve the White House’s plan for coronavirus stimulus to $1.8 trillion.

The president “would like to do a deal,” Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, mentioned on the Fox Business Network on Friday, within the newest head-snapping flip within the on-once more-off-once more negotiations. The total price ticket of the supply was confirmed by two folks acquainted with the discussions, who spoke on situation of anonymity to reveal particulars of the talks.

Fanning the sense of optimism, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter: “Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!”

The prospects of a compromise remained distant, nevertheless, given the opposition of many Republicans to a different massive infusion of federal virus assist. Speaking to reporters in Kentucky, Senator Mitch McConnell, the bulk chief, forged doubt on the probabilities of a deal, saying political divisions remained too deep lower than a month earlier than Election Day.

“The situation is kind of murky and I think the murkiness is a result of the proximity to the election and everybody kind of trying to elbow for political advantage,” Mr. McConnell mentioned. “I’d like to see us rise above that like we did back in March and April, but I think that’s unlikely in the next three weeks.”

Yet the White House was working to resuscitate negotiations that Mr. Trump himself lower off in a sequence of indignant tweets on Tuesday, amid deep concern amongst some weak Republicans that his abrupt abandonment of the talks would damage them politically.

Mr. Kudlow mentioned that the president met with Mr. Mnuchin and Mark Meadows, White House chief of workers, on Friday and that the Treasury secretary would converse with Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California later Friday afternoon.

Without an settlement, the collateral harm throughout the nation has continued to mount within the absence of federal funding, with greater than 800,000 Americans submitting new purposes for state advantages, earlier than adjusting for differences due to the season.

Even if Ms. Pelosi had been to simply accept the administration’s newest proposal, which is decrease than the $2.2 trillion bundle she pushed via the House this month, Senate Republicans stay divided over the scope of one other coronavirus reduction bundle.

Most of them opposed the unique $1 trillion supply Mr. McConnell offered in July, after days of haggling with the White House, partly as a result of they had been involved about including to the nationwide debt. Mr. McConnell has since scaled again the supply significantly, proposing a $350 billion “skinny” plan that Democrats blocked, calling it insufficient.

A White House official mentioned that Mr. Trump was calling Republican senators on Friday to drum up enthusiasm for a final-minute deal. Mr. Mnuchin’s supply is predicted to incorporate measures that Republicans have beforehand rejected, the official mentioned, suggesting a rise in state in native funding is more likely to be included within the proposal.

U.S. Roundup

A New York Times survey of greater than 1,700 American faculties and universities — together with each 4-12 months public establishment and each non-public faculty that competes in N.C.A.A. sports activities — has revealed greater than 178,000 circumstances and no less than 70 deaths for the reason that pandemic started.

Most of the circumstances have been introduced since college students returned to campus for the autumn time period. Most of the deaths had been reported within the spring and concerned faculty workers, not college students. But no less than two college students — Jamain Stephens, a soccer participant at California University of Pennsylvania, and Chad Dorrill, a sophomore at Appalachian State — have died in current weeks after contracting the virus.

At Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, the place a number of college students dwelling off campus examined optimistic, officers moved most lessons on-line and put in impact a broader testing routine. At a number of faculties, together with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kent State University, some residents of fraternities, sororities or dorms have been requested to quarantine after outbreaks. And at SUNY Cortland, directors introduced a two-week “study-in-place” interval as case numbers spiked.

“I will not try to sugarcoat it: The next two weeks will be challenging,” the varsity’s president, Erik J. Bitterbaum, wrote in a letter to college students and workers. “But it’s what we need to do in order to continue functioning as a campus and a concerned member of the Cortland community.”

In different information from across the nation:

The Supreme Court on Friday introduced that it could proceed to listen to arguments by telephone for the remainder of the 12 months due to pandemic-pushed well being considerations. In an announcement, the court docket mentioned it could resolve how circumstances might be heard subsequent 12 months primarily based on well being steering. The court docket began to carry hearings by way of convention name in May and allowed the general public to hear in for the primary time.

The United States reported greater than 56,000 new circumstances on Thursday, after weeks of seeing round 40,000 new circumstances a day since late August, in response to a Times database. Public well being consultants have mentioned they anticipate to see an increase in new circumstances as folks spend extra time indoors throughout the winter months.

Experts apprehensive that Walt Disney World’s reopening in July was a “terrible idea” that was “inviting disaster.” But public well being officers and Disney World’s unions say that, to date, Disney’s extensive-ranging security measures look like working — there have been no coronavirus outbreaks amongst employees or friends.

Global Roundup

Medical employees on the SinoVac vaccine manufacturing facility in Beijing, China.Credit…Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

China mentioned on Friday that it could be a part of a multilateral effort to fabricate and distribute a coronavirus vaccine, portraying itself as a accountable international citizen devoted to bettering public well being around the globe.

The resolution to hitch was “an important step China has taken to uphold the concept of a shared community of health for all and to honor its commitment to turn Covid-19 vaccines into a global public good,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the nation’s Foreign Ministry, mentioned in an announcement.

The resolution highlights how Beijing is positioning itself as an influential participant in worldwide diplomacy at a time when the United States has pulled again from its function as a worldwide chief. Such strikes might probably assist China push again towards accusations that its ruling Communist Party ought to be held chargeable for its preliminary missteps when the virus first emerged final 12 months.

More than 160 international locations have joined the worldwide settlement referred to as Covax, which intention to make sure each wealthy and poor international locations obtain new coronavirus vaccines concurrently.

The Trump administration mentioned final month that it could not be a part of Covax as a result of it “will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.”

For weeks, China, which has 4 vaccine candidates in late-stage scientific trials, had been reticent about whether or not it could take part within the group.

Ms. Hua mentioned on Friday that the nation had determined to hitch the vaccine settlement “even when China is leading the world with several vaccines in advanced stages of R&D and with ample production capacity.”

“We are taking this concrete step to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, especially to developing countries, and hope more capable countries will also join and support Covax,” she added.

In different information around the globe:

Saeb Erekat, 65, the veteran Palestinian negotiator, introduced on Twitter that he had examined optimistic for the coronavirus. Mr. Erekat had a lung transplant in 2017 that he mentioned had compromised his immune system. He wrote that he was experiencing “difficult symptoms” however that “things are under control, thank God.”

The well being authorities in Sri Lanka ordered the closure of bars, eating places, casinos, nightclubs and spas as they labored to include a rising cluster of recent virus infections, The Associated Press reported. The nation reported its first domestically transmitted case in additional than two months final weekend, which led to the invention of a cluster centered in a garment manufacturing facility in densely populated Western Province, dwelling to the capital, Colombo. By Friday the variety of circumstances linked to the cluster had climbed to 1,053, with greater than 2,000 extra folks requested to quarantine at dwelling. Sri Lanka has reported 4,488 circumstances of the virus, and 13 deaths.

Oman will reintroduce a nighttime ban on motion and implement the in a single day closure of retailers and public locations beginning Sunday for 2 weeks to assist include the virus, Reuters reported. The nation’s seashores may even be closed till additional discover, state media mentioned, reporting a call from the supreme council accountable for coronavirus coverage. Oman has recorded 104,129 virus and 1,009 deaths.

The Minskoff Theatre in Manhattan final month.Credit…Daniel Arnold for The New York Times

Broadway goes to stay closed no less than via subsequent May 30, which is 444 days in any case 41 theaters went darkish in as a part of New York’s effort to gradual the unfold of the coronavirus.

On Friday, the Broadway League, a commerce group representing producers and theater homeowners, introduced that it was suspending all ticket gross sales via that date.

All Broadway theaters closed on March 12 as a part of an effort to gradual the unfold of the coronavirus by limiting massive gatherings.

The continued shutdown means a delay for “The Music Man,” a lavish revival starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, which was initially scheduled to open subsequent week, then selected a gap of subsequent May 20, and can now must attempt once more, in addition to for “MJ,” a Michael Jackson biomusical that had deliberate to open this summer time, after which subsequent spring, and now should reschedule.

When will Broadway really reopen?

“That’s the question of the hour and the day and the month and the year, because we truly don’t know,” Charlotte St. Martin, the League’s president, mentioned in an interview on Friday. “Certainly a lot of shows are making their plans, and some think we will open in the summer, and I hope they are right. But I think people’s bets are the fall of next year.”

A League assertion steered that producers think about a staggered reopening, quite than all theaters opening without delay. “Dates for each returning and new Broadway show will be announced as individual productions determine the performance schedules for their respective shows,” the assertion defined.

Sports Roundup

The coronavirus has modified the French Open for all gamers, together with its 12-time champion Rafael Nadal. Credit…Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The 124th version of the French Open was postponed 4 months by the pandemic and can finish this weekend towards the identical backdrop, as an infection charges rise rapidly in France.

The managed setting constructed by match officers to maintain the contributors secure is holding — however barely.

On Wednesday, the host nation reported 18,746 new circumstances. That identical day, the boys’s No. 11 seed, David Goffin, who misplaced within the first spherical to Jannik Sinner, introduced on Instagram that he had change into the most recent of a handful of contributors to check optimistic for the virus.

The spike in infections in and round Paris led native authorities officers to position town on most alert beginning Tuesday, resulting in the closure of all bars and gymnasiums within the metropolis. Restaurants have been allowed to remain open however with stricter well being protocols, together with social distancing, contact tracing and a closing time no later than 10 p.m.

“It’s hard to see these things unfold again after six months,” the boys’s world No. 1 singles participant, Novak Djokovic, mentioned, alluding to the primary lockdown, which lasted eight weeks in most of France. “It’s hard to believe that we’re going to go through that again.”

In different sports activities information:

For the second consecutive week, the N.F.L. has shuffled its schedule to accommodate groups which have had gamers and workers members who’ve examined optimistic for the coronavirus. The rescheduled video games embrace one involving the Tennessee Titans, who’ve had the league’s worst outbreak, with almost two dozen gamers, coaches and workers members testing optimistic.

Fans throughout an ice hockey match in Lausanne, Switzerland, final week.Credit…Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Switzerland is experiencing a spike in new coronavirus circumstances, however as an alternative of tightening controls, it’s enjoyable them.

Soccer fans celebrated a call final weekend to permit mass gatherings of as much as 1,000 folks, the most recent stage within the rest of a stringent lockdown imposed to halt the primary wave of the pandemic.

Days later, even earlier than the results of mass gatherings might register, infections surged, with new circumstances pushing previous 1,000 for the primary time since March. Numbers have since continued to climb, stoking some alarm.

Still, well being authorities in Geneva, which has the nation’s highest caseload, mentioned they see no motive to alter course. The uptick “was totally predictable” after the relief of controls over the summer time, mentioned Professor Didier Pittet, the director of an infection management at Geneva’s University Hospital, who can be serving to assessment France’s response to the pandemic.

He mentioned that hospital admissions and the variety of folks admitted to intensive care remained modest. Switzerland has recorded 60,368 circumstances and 1,794 deaths for the reason that begin of the pandemic, in response to a Times database, however its variety of deaths per hundred thousand folks remains to be decrease than a lot of its European neighbors.

“In two weeks or so, if the clusters we investigate reveal that we have a problem with this kind of mass activity then we will have to act,” Dr. Pittet mentioned. “We are not in a rush, but we are extremely vigilant.”

For some consultants, which may be too late. The Swiss National Science Task Force advising federal authorities on its response to the pandemic opposed the return to mass gatherings.

Nicola Low, a professor of epidemiology and public well being at Bern University, mentioned that knowledge on hospital admissions and deaths had nurtured a false sense of safety.

“By the time we get higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths, we’ve already lost control,” Professor Low mentioned. “We’ve already missed the boat for being able to control the virus.”

Dr. Pittet mentioned that he remained assured that well being authorities had been getting the info they want for focused interventions to maintain the virus in examine. Over the summer time, Geneva linked 60 % of recent infections to town’s discos and authorities shut them down, he famous. A month later, the info confirmed Geneva revelers had migrated to close by discos within the neighboring canton of Vaud, so authorities shut them as effectively.

In Zurich, he famous, the authorities final week tracked a cluster of infections to salsa dance lessons and promptly ordered them to cease.

“You can still go to tango classes,” he mentioned, “but not salsa.”

Police officers inspecting vacationers alongside Hungary’s border with Slovakia final month.Credit…Gergely Besenyei/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

European Union international locations are anticipated to undertake pointers subsequent week aimed toward coordinating their various coronavirus journey measures, in response to E.U. officers and diplomats concerned within the talks. But the trouble will cease effectively in need of a harmonization of guidelines, as international locations attempt to maintain management over how they deal with a resurgence of the illness.

The pointers are meant to make journey restrictions, resembling quarantine and testing guidelines, smoother and extra predictable throughout the bloc. It could be a primary step at restoring one of many union’s predominant tenets: the free motion of individuals inside its territory.

Travel all through the bloc, the world’s most built-in group of nations, has change into more and more troublesome and complex amid the pandemic. Each nation has its personal evaluation of the state of affairs in different states, its personal guidelines on journey measures, and ever-altering testing and quarantine calls for.

Representatives from the European Union’s 27 member states, along with officers from the European Commission, the bloc’s government arm, have mentioned for weeks how you can use shared standards in judging regional responses to the coronavirus.

Central to that might be the adoption of a single map utilizing colours to indicate the size of outbreaks across the bloc: inexperienced on the low finish of danger, orange within the center and pink on the excessive finish.

Under the rules anticipated to be authorised Tuesday by E.U. ministers, members will undertake a regional map drafted by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, quite than produce 27 particular person ones.

Effectively, that can matter solely on the subject of inexperienced zones, or areas inside E.U. international locations that pose low danger to vacationers, officers mentioned. They added that nationwide authorities will nonetheless to be free to make their very own determinations on orange and pink zones, primarily based on recommendation from their very own consultants.

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The God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead

Two years ago, just prior to Trinity Sunday, Entertainment Weekly ran an article with author George R.R. Martin. Martin's book series A Song of Fire and Ice Saga have been used as the basis for the HBO smash-hit TV series Game of Thrones. In the fantasy world of Game of Thrones, an evil religion, the Faith Militant, "violently punishes any perceived sin and is led by a mysterious and manipulative man called the "High Sparrow." Martin told EW that The Sparrows were based on the medieval Roman Catholic church. The Sparrows worship a God called "The Seven", which Martin says is "one God with seven aspects." He went on to say: "In Catholicism, you have three aspects [to one God]: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. I remember as a kid, I was always confused by that. 'So there are three gods?' No, one god, but with three aspects. I was still confused: 'So he's his own father and his own son?'"

George Martin is confused about what the Catholic Church, and all Christian churches, teach about the Trinity. He's not alone. It's a little mind-blowing, actually, that there is so much confusion about the Trinity in the church, seeing that Trinity is the name we give to the God we worship. You would think that if people were clear on anything it would be the nature of the God we worship Sunday by Sunday. But in my experience with mainline Protestants, especially in our beloved Episcopal Church, this is far from the case. This is ironic because so many people are used to thinking of the Episcopal Church as the thinking person's church, the church where you don't have to check your brain at the door as you come in. And yet, my experience is that many people in our church have little patience for complex theological topics like the Trinity, especially if it's not apparent that those topics, like the Trinity, have any immediate practical application. What that means is that we don't teach or think about the Trinity enough, and it also means that we do not worship the Trinity enough.

There is a persistent myth about the doctrine of the Trinity that I've heard in every place I've served. The myth is this: "Christians can't ever understand the doctrine of the Trinity. That is a myth: the doctrine of the Trinity -- what the church says about God -- is actually pretty simple. We can understand the doctrine just fine with a little patience and some good teaching. But we can't ever understand the God the doctrine points to in any kind of full sense. We know that the God of the Bible is the creator of the world, is best revealed to humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, and is made present to believers today in the work of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us of the character and mission of this God. That's quite a lot, but it doesn't come close to even scratching the surface of what God is like, because God is so unlike us. We do know some about God, because the Triune God is a God who wants to be known by people, and so God reveals his nature to us in Jesus. We can know him truly, but we can never know him fully. But it's the beauty of God, the beauty of the divine reality, that is beyond understanding, not the doctrine of the Trinity. So what do Christians mean when we say that we are Trinitarian? Do we mean, like George Martin thought, that our God is one God with three aspects? When Jesus tells his disciples in today's reading to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you, does he mean that we are worshiping one God with three aspects.

To George Martin, the answer is a simple no. We don't worship one God with three aspects. That's an ancient mistake called modalism that the Church has called heresy since the third century. But then, what's the whole point about the Trinity? Why are we Trinitarian?

The first thing that Christians mean when they worship the Trinity is that the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same God who had previously led the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt (R. Jenson). The God who raised Jesus from the dead is the same God who chose the people of Israel. When Jesus goes to the mountain in Galilee to give his disciples their final instructions, he mirrors the God who gave Israel the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Just as the God of Israel gave the law to Moses, now Jesus goes up onto a mountain in Galilee to give his followers their final instructions. It's not Mount Sinai, it's a mountain in Galilee; but the image is clearly there. The disciples are to do what they are being commanded to do, just as Israel was to have followed the Law that Moses had given on Sinai.

But before Jesus gave them instructions, his disciples saw him on the mountain. They saw him and they worshiped him, and this gives us the second thing that Christians mean when we say that we are Trinitarian: Jesus Christ is worthy of worship in the same way that the God of Israel is worthy of worship. For the Jews of the New Testament, there was a name for giving worship to a created human being, and that name was idolatry. Another name was blasphemy. To ascribe honor and loyalty and allegiance to another person in the same way that Israel ascribed honor and loyalty and allegiance to God was worthy of death. And yet, here in Matthew's gospel, written just one generation after the death of Jesus, we see the story of Jesus' Jewish disciples worshiping Jesus on a mountainside. They clearly don't think that they are committing idolatry or demeaning the name of God. No, instead, they have come to believe that Jesus is God in the same way that the God of Israel is God. In other words, when Jesus begins his instructions to them in our gospel today by saying, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me," no one laughs. None of the disciples thinks that Jesus is giving them alternative facts. They have come to believe that even though Jesus is a human being, he is not a created human being like they are. The opening of the Gospel of John puts this most clearly, where it calls Jesus the "Word" and says, "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not even one thing came into being." In the beginning was Jesus. Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. All things were created through Jesus, and without Jesus not even one thing came into being. So when the disciples worshiped him, they weren't committing idolatry, because Jesus was God in the same way that the God of Israel was God.

Once Jesus had finished giving them his instructions, he promised the disciples that he would be with them always, to the very end of the age. This leads us to the third thing that Christians mean when we say that we worship the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is God in the same way that the God of Israel and Jesus Christ are God. As we've heard over the last few Sundays, just after Jesus gave his disciples these instructions, he ascended into heaven. In other words, he went away. And yet here he is promising that he will be with his disciples that he will be with them always, to the end of the age. This seems like fake news. Jesus is clearly gone; he's not with his disciples always. But on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes to the disciples to give them power to be Jesus' witnesses. The Holy Spirit is what Jesus is promising his disciples, and the presence of the Holy Spirit means that Jesus is with us always, and the Holy Spirit is worthy of worship in the same way that the God of Israel and Jesus Christ are worthy of worship.

This brings us to the fourth thing we mean when we say that we worship the Trinity. It's impossible to make an analogy to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. This is not for lack of trying. There are analogies about eggs, about steam, water and ice, St. Patrick's analogy about three-leaf clovers. You sometimes even see illustrations of the Trinity - interlocking triangles [see if there are any in the sanctuary]. But here's the thing: the best thing we could do with any of these analogies is to forget them. All of them assume that the trouble with the Trinity is that it's a mathematical problem: how can God be one and three at the same time? But the Trinity is not a math problem: the difficulty with the Trinity is not how God can be one and three at the same time. The difficulty with the Trinity is that the God to which it points is utterly mysterious, is utterly incomprehensible.

Finally, the fifth thing that the church means when it says that it is Trinitarian is that we know God only because God has come to meet with us. We worship the Trinity because the Church has found it to be the only way to worship God based on the way God has shown himself to us. God is utterly mysterious, utterly incomprehensible, and yet in his mercy God shows himself to his disciples in Jesus, and gives himself to all who worship him to this very day in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Even though God is beyond our comprehension, what we do know about God is because God gives himself to us to be known. He is a God who wants us to truly know him, even if we cannot fully know him. This is a God who wants us to know him.

So when we say that we worship a Trinitarian God, we don't mean that we don't know the difference between one and three. We don't mean that there is one God with different parts. We mean that the God who lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt is the God who raised Jesus from the dead, is the God we meet in Jesus Christ, is the God we experience in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and that God is all of those at the same time. We mean that each of those persons is worthy of our worship. We mean that the Trinity is present with us, active in this world, to bring Jesus to us. We mean that God is still at work to show himself to us and to our world.

And when we say that the Triune God is still at work to show himself to people in our world, we don't mean only the nice, kind, Godly people that have their lives together with their beautiful house and their beautiful wife and their 2.5 children and their white picket fence. This God is a God who comes to show himself to the disreputable. Disreputable like those first disciples. Jesus originally chose 12 disciples because there had been 12 tribes in the people of Israel in the Old Testament, and like Moses on Mount Sinai, Jesus was making a statement that his chosen people would be a new Israel, a new chosen people of God. It was a perfect image, a reference back to the Old Testament. But by the time Jesus gives his disciples these instructions, there are only 11 disciples. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and killed himself, and so when Jesus calls these 11 to go and make disciples of all nations, to baptize people in the Triune name, he's not calling the perfect, pristine number of disciples. These 11 are incomplete; they are fragile. Suicide and betrayal have taken their toll. This is how Jesus always calls his disciples. He doesn't call the perfect. He doesn't call just church leaders, or just pastors like me, or people who have everything together. He calls fragile people. He calls people who remember loved ones who have killed themselves and whose lives are marked ever after by the absence of that person. He calls people who have been betrayed, who have had relationships broken that they thought would last forever. He calls people who are the betrayers, the people who let down everyone they loved. He even calls the doubters, even the doubters who saw that he had risen from the dead. Those 11 worshiped him on the mountain, our passage said, but some doubted. These are the kinds of people that Jesus commissions to make disciples: fragile, incomplete people, preoccupied with our own worries, carrying our own wounds, who live someplace between worship and doubt. People who deeply want to believe that the Trinity really is at work in our world to make it new, but who see terrorists running people over on London Bridge and can't help but doubt.

For those people, and for all of us who worship here on Trinity Sunday, the Triune God calls us, not to do more outreach or undertake more causes or even to care better for each other, but simply to worship. To give this God who comes to meet with us the honor and loyalty and allegiance that he is due in this Mass, and to be sent forth into the world to make all of lives a worshipful act for the name of this Triune God. As we do so, may these words of Jesus always echo in our ear:

All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Amen.

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colascriptura · 7 years

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A tale of 2 churches

Today I was at my 3rd Tridentine Mass. The sermon though was more hardcore than normal (and these things are usually pretty hardcore).

Summary:

"Hell! Fire! Brimstone! Amoris Laetitia? Fuck the Pope! Long live the Pope!"

To wit:

Father ____ launched into a direct attack on communion for the adulterous. He said that the true mercy was to withhold communion in such cases; for if a person longs for communion with God, how much more pained will they be in Hell, where they are denied it forever. Give them, then, a taste of exile from God and let them repent while they can; this is the true mercy.

More than this, he suggested that -- on current trends -- the Church would itself end up being sacrificed, becoming a sort of wasteland; he drew an analogy to the historic destruction of Israel millenia ago. He obliquely suggested that the very highest of our priests (you know the guy) was deeply involved in making this sacrifice. Our duty as faithful Catholics is to offer neither hatred nor disobedience. The patience of the faithful during such trials is pleasing to God.

Suffice to say it was the most TradCat thing ever. And awesome, of course. You don't get this at Novus Ordo.

Regardless, I increasingly see Christianity as a tree of many branches, which bear various types of fruit, most of it good. I think we need both the fire-and-brimstone stuff and the love-your-neighbour stuff (which I've not had yet from TradCat sermons).

So (after lunch) I ended the afternoon at an Anglican evensong; actually it was more Catholic than I expected, with a Confiteor and everything. And no Qur'an readings nor Freemasonry in evidence. Perhaps Anglicanism still has its soul.

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dailyofficereadings · 4 years

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Daily Office Readings June 30, 2020

Psalm 120-127

Psalm 120

Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers

A Song of Ascents.

1 In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me: 2 “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.”

3 What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? 4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!

5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar. 6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 121

Assurance of God’s Protection

A Song of Ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

Psalm 122

Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!�� 2 Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together. 4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. 7 Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.” 8 For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

Psalm 123

Supplication for Mercy

A Song of Ascents.

1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.

3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. 4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 124

Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side —let Israel now say— 2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters.

6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 125

The Security of God’s People

A Song of Ascents.

1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time on and forevermore. 3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous might not stretch out their hands to do wrong. 4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts. 5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers. Peace be upon Israel!

Psalm 126

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,[a] we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb. 5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

Psalm 127

God’s Blessings in the Home

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.[b]

3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Footnotes:

Psalm 126:1 Or brought back those who returned to Zion

Psalm 127:2 Or for he provides for his beloved during sleep

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Numbers 22:21-38

21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.

Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel

22 God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; so the donkey turned off the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall, and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck it again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!” 30 But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” And he said, “No.”

31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face. 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse[a] before me. 33 The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home.” 35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but speak only what I tell you to speak.” So Balaam went on with the officials of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the farthest point of the boundary. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “I have come to you now, but do I have power to say just anything? The word God puts in my mouth, that is what I must say.”

Footnotes:

Numbers 22:32 Meaning of Heb uncertain

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Romans 7:1-12

An Analogy from Marriage

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.

4 In the same way, my friends,[b] you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.

The Law and Sin

7 What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10 and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

Footnotes:

Romans 7:1 Gk brothers

Romans 7:4 Gk brothers

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Matthew 21:23-32

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father[a] went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Footnotes:

Matthew 21:30 Gk He

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

#June 30 #2020

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mastcomm · 4 years

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Tiny Love Stories: ‘His Shirtless Picture Caught My Eye’

A Shaft of Light

We were 7-year-olds without siblings, living in adjacent Montreal apartments that shared a bathroom light shaft. Margaret had curly, ruddy-brown hair and glasses, and we simply liked each other. As soon as our parentally approved time together ended, we would run to our respective bathrooms, stand on our respective toilet seats and chatter through the windows until called away. Eventually, her family moved out and mine left Canada. Sixty-two years later, I see: That light shaft was our social medium, those windows our screens, in our analog love story. — Dov Midalia

Before Tinder and Grindr

His shirtless picture caught my eye. “Me on my solo pilgrimage to Israel,” Todd typed. “Sorry if it’s risqué.” He’s cute, I thought. I was Catholic but drawn to this modest yet adventurous Jewish man. I had tried blind dates, New York City gay bars, even personal ads. In 2000, AOL chat rooms were a new way of socializing. Long before Tinder and Grindr, online hookups sounded illicit. So for years we lied to friends and family about how we met. Two decades and two children later, we’re proud that he, “HeartofBklyn,” found a connection with me, “GymRat.” — Steve Majors

The Youngest Legal Scholar

Without family near or money to spare, I brought my newborn with me to law school, placing her on my lap during class. Jane’s presence may have distracted other students, but it also brought them joy. (Without a dose of humanity, civil procedure can be rather dry.) Jane never cried — neither in class nor as I wrote papers late into the night, waiting for my medical resident husband to come home. Now, my daughter thinks my lawyer job is boring, but her quiet patience made it all possible. — Kate Vaughan

When Bonds Don’t Break

Marrying Pankaj wasn’t easy. We both lived in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand but belonged to different castes. Despite our parents’ opposition, we married. Eleven years into our marriage, I got terribly sick with dengue fever. As my weight dropped and my organs failed, I felt defeated, unable to fight further. Then, in the midst of my exhausted, blurred consciousness, I heard Pankaj’s voice: “Listen, you’re not going anywhere. I’m not letting you go. Do you get it?” I blinked and lived on. — Shikha Tiwari

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/tiny-love-stories-his-shirtless-picture-caught-my-eye/

#Life style

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cactusnotes · 4 years

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The Trinity

The Trinity is a confusing but important focus for Christians. There are several topics to cover: Need of Trinity, Christ’s divinity, Christ’s pre-existence, Christ’s relationship with God, the Origin of the Holy Spirit and Filioque Controversy.

There is a need for the doctrine of the Trinity, though it is a difficult concept to grapple. The Trinity is one God, of three distinct, equal persons in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all fully God- coexisting, coeternal and coequal. This is and extra, for we cannot understand what is and intra, the true nature of the Trinity, merely what we see in the definition.

The mystery of the Trinity is central to Christianity- “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith.” (CCC). It is necessary based on biblical grounds- “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One.” (Mk 12:29), “thine is but one God” (Cor 8) showing one God, but other sections showing the others to be God also- “The Word was God...the Word became flesh” (John 1) and “the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” (Gen 1). The Trinity is also important as it justifies worship of Jesus, and his death, it is a model for Christians as God is a community, and it connects the transcendent God to earth.

There are several ideas surrounding the Trinity in attempt to strengthen understanding of it. The economic trinity expressed the ad extra roles of the Trinity- to create, to save, to guide- for the immanent trinity is too difficult to grasp, and is ad extra, though some argue they are the same. “The Word (role, economic) was God (nature, immanent)”. Augustine champions this- for via ‘natural theology’, we see that we learn about God himself from his roles, indicating the two are the same.

The Orthodox Church reject this, saying the ad extra is being confused with the ad intra. Augustine also chirps on about the love analogy and mind analogy- will, understanding and remembering- all fully the mind yet distinct, and both functions and concepts in themselves. Augustine finally translated the hypostases and ousia analogy, using the analogy of a gold ring, key, and chain. Three forms- hypostases- of one substance- ouisa. Augustine, however, translated forms to ‘persons’, more problematic, more separate, though incorporated into the Nicene Creed.

There’s a lot of fact and fiction around the Trinity. What’s fiction is these heresies. Tritheism is three Gods. Modalism is a form shifting, indistinct God. Arianism is the belief that Jesus is merely the perfect creature. Adoptionism is the concept that Jesus was ‘adopted’ as son after his baptism. These are not correct. The nature and identity of Christ are determined in the issue of divinity and pre-existence. There is indeed evidence to show Christ is divine- “I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25), and existed before he was made flesh- “In the beginning was the Word”. Their relationship is also co-equal and co-eternal. “I and the Father are one” (Jn 14:10), “He who has seen me, has seen the Father” (Jn 14:19), “He was with God in the beginning.” (Jn 1:1).

The origin of the Holy Spirit is another concern. Filioque is “and from the Son”. Western Church said that the Son also sent the Spirit, while the Eastern Church argues saying that undermines creator God’s power, and makes them non-equal, which goes against the Trinity. The Catholics added this to the Creed without asking permission from the Orthodox Church, and the two were in discourse as Orthodox lands were trashed by Catholics in the crusades. Maximus the Confessor complained that the Catholics meant ‘through’ the son, not ‘from’ him, but discourse continued after the change in 589 CE. This was agreed upon recently, that this is what was meant, and they were uncondemned in each other’s eyes. That’s the Filioque Controversy.

#Religion and Philosophy / Cactus #Religion / Cactus #Concepts and Life / Cactus #God #trinity

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newsnigeria · 5 years

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Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/the-waves-of-time/

The Waves of Time

by Jimmie Moglia

That all the world is a stage and all men and women merely players is a familiar and generally accepted proposition. But many, prompted by curiosity and helped by new information previously unknown or uneasily available, would like to know more about the play they are the unwitting players thereof.

Which transforms the frame of mind of the curious into that of a historian. In turn, this exposes him to the immediate problem of interpretation. Interpretation of the historical facts themselves, often accompanied by a likely change of his worldview, following the discovery of new facts. For historians themselves can modify their views, when forced by the train of circumstances.

Here is an example. Friedrich Meinecke was an eminent German historian, with an unusually long life span, during which a series of revolutionary and extraordinary changes affected the fortunes of Germany. His books reflect four different Meinecke(s), each the spokesman of different times, and each speaking through one of his major works.

In his first, “World Citizenship and the Nation State,” published in 1907, Meinecke sees the embodiment of German national ideals in Bismarck’s Reich. And like many 19th and 20th century thinkers, he identifies nationalism with the highest form of universalism.

Here is dramatic evidence of the revolution of the times. In the parlance of current Western European & American elites, nationalism, rather than a higher form of universalism, is labeled as ‘fascism’ or ‘racism’. And since the characterization is ludicrous, a new word has been coined, ‘populism’, to demean and disgrace the idea.

In his second book, “The Idea of the Raison d’Etat,” (published in 1925), Meinecke speaks with the divided and bewildered mind of an observer of the Weimar Republic – where the world of politics has become an arena of unresolved conflict between the reason-of-state and morality. Morality, of itself, seems external to politics, but in the last resort it affects the life and security of any state. For morality is written in the human heart, even of those who hold it in contempt.

To frame the issues in today’s terms, since the end, in the 1950s, of the “Legion of Decency” act in American Cinema,” Hollywood’s productions have set the standard, planted the roots and sowed the of seeds of shame and iniquity, in just about all domains of collective and personal behavior.

In the Weimar Republic, as we know, it was the state of universal degradation, promoted, inculcated and imposed upon Germany after her defeat in WW1, that prompted the birth and growth of National Socialism.

In his “Development of Historicism” (published in 1936), Meinecke laments the idea of a certain view of history, which seems to recognize that whatever is, is right.

In our days, examples of this ‘historicism’ are many, from the totally unbelievable official explanation of 9/11, to the physical destruction of the Middle East, the ongoing farce in Ukraine, the grotesque Russophobia, the idea that Western European and North-American states can exist without borders, and so on.

Finally, in 1946, after seeing his country defeated and leveled to the ground, he published “The German Catastrophe,” where he exposes the belief that history is at the mercy of blind and inexorable forces.

That the times we live-in weigh on our thoughts and judgment is as obvious as saying that a great cause of the night is lack of the sun. Nevertheless, our individual evolving point of view also influences the selection of the facts needed to produce an acceptable explanation of causes and effects, or of causes and defects as the case may be.

That is, the historian and the facts of history are necessary to one another. For a historian without his facts is futile; and facts without a historian are dead and meaningless.

Finally – and I hope the strenuous reader will forgive the long preamble, though I hope there is method in the meandering – not all facts are historical. History begins when the historian selects certain facts and declares them endowed with historical value.

But the distinction between historical and unhistorical facts is not rigid or constant. Any fact may become historical, once its relevance and significance is recognized. If so, that fact generates its own historical wave, whose effects may be felt after a long time and with enormous power, unimaginable when the fact occurred.

In nature an analogy is the tsunami, where, at the point of origin, the waves are only about 3 feet high. But travelling at incredible speed across incredible distances, they finally release their apocalyptic energy on touching land.

As someone ‘curious about history’ and not a professional historian, I experienced a change of outlook on historical events when the United States declared war on Iraq and destroyed it. For I knew the country well and I could personally attest that all that was said about Iraq by the organs of mass persuasion, was false. And while accepting the inherent murkiness of politics, I could not reconcile myself to the idea that the two Bushes, one of whom is dead, could be some of the lyingest knaves in Christendom.

As it is universally accepted, the US destroyed Iraq to satisfy Israel’s ambitions. And given that curiosity is the mother of explanation, I took up the doubtful challenge of locating the original historical fact, the trigger and the source of the wave-of-time, which eventually led to the Iraqi Armageddon and beyond.

In this and similar instances, opinion reigns supreme. Other ‘curious about history’ may choose another episode or fact, and with good reason. But sometimes, lesser-known events, singularly representative of the reality and culture of an era, can offer a perspective different from the conventional and usual narratives.

In the instance, I pinpoint the source of the topic wave-of-time in Napoleon’s emancipation of the Jews in France, following the French Revolution.

Actually, already in 1791, in the midst of the Revolution, the National Assembly had granted Jews full citizenship. It was hoped that, by so doing, Jews would stop acting like a separate nation within France. But soon there were complaints that the Jews were stuck in their old ways, particularly in Alsace and Lorraine, where their majority lived. Their ‘old ways’ referred to usury, or, as we would say today ‘financial engineering’, or ‘banking shenanigans’.

The situation remained fluid and uncertain till Napoleon, converted from a servant of the Republic into an Emperor, convened, in 1807, what he called the Great Sanhedrin, to resolve the controversial issues arisen from the emancipation. The Great Sanhedrin refers to the governing body of the Jewish community, notably during the Roman Empire.

To a council of 71 Jewish leaders and rabbis, Napoleon posed 12 questions about their laws and customs. Some questions were amusing – for example, were Jews allowed to have more than one wife? The main issue, however, was whether Jews born in France, and now treated by law as citizens, would regard France as their country. They answered that there was nothing inherent in their religion preventing the full integration of the Jewish community into French life. This was enough to confirm their full recognition and emancipation, along with an obligation to take up French names.

Perhaps Napoleon ignored that if a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, a Shylock, by any other name would still call for his pound of flesh.

In fact, there was immediate widespread opposition to the move, in French-ruled Europe and in France itself. Even one of Napoleon’s famous generals, Francois Christophe de Kellerman, whose name is inscribed in the Arc de Triomphe, recommended strongly that the Jews be prohibited from dealing in commerce.

With easy hindsight, Napoleon, like all who like to anticipate futurity and exalt possibility to certainty, might or should have avoided this adventure, so linked to chance. For, in this and other similar instances, disappointment must always be proportionate to the breath of the original hopes.

The pressure became so intense that soon Napoleon restricted the terms of emancipation, via the so-called “Infamous Decree” of 1808. The decree annulled, reduced or postponed all debts with Jews, and imposed a ten-year ban on any kind of Jewish money-lending activity.

As an aside, the official public face of a notable politician or ruler, often conflicts with his private persona, as seen in his diaries or confidential papers. In a letter to his brother Jérome Napoleon, dated 6 March 1808, Napoleon writes, “I have undertaken to reform the Jews, but I have not endeavored to draw more of them into my realm. Far from that, I have avoided doing anything which could show any esteem for the most despicable of mankind.”

“Give me ten thousand eyes, and I will fill them with prophetic tears” – said Cassandra predicting the fall of Troy. The most Cassandra-like admonition given to Napoleon came from his uncle, Cardinal Fesh, who told him, “Sire, by giving the Jews equality as Catholics, you wish for the end of the world to come.”

But the onrush of events, including Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, inaugurated a new era. When an atheistic ideology, molded in the Age of Enlightenment, and strengthened by the impact of the French Revolution, took hold and spread at large throughout Europe.

For the 19th century saw an upsurge of anti-clerical movements and ideologies in the Western world. This is not a wholesale defense of organized religion. Nevertheless, religion also acts as a bulwark of the moral law. And irrespective of specific customs or ceremonies, religion – without disrespect – is metaphysics for the people, an intelligible intimation of eternity, an unthreatening glimpse of the infinity, a psychological safeguard from the despair of mortality.

In this context, it is not accidental that the rebirth of Russia, earlier ravaged, debased and plundered by the dissolvers of the Soviet Union, has seen the resurgence of her religion, which was dormant but never died.

Compare this with America, with her enforced and compulsive secularization, the banning of religion in schools and the prohibition of public display of religious symbols.

But I digress. Let’s return to the subject at hand. After 1815, Jewish supremacy, especially in the banking field, asserted itself in Europe, spearheaded by the ubiquitous House of the Rothschilds. In the second part of the century, England even had a Jewish Prime Minister, Disraeli.

During that time, with a pronouncement that today seems impossible, the Vatican declared that any country that abolishes the Christian religion will be run by Jews.

It’s worth transcribing an extract from a 1890 issue of “Civilta’ Cattolica,” the key media organ of the Jesuits and the Vatican,

“The XIXth century will end, in Europe, leaving her in the throngs of a very sad issue, of which the XXth century will feel consequences so calamitous, as to induce her (Europe) to drastically deal with it. We refer to the improperly-called “Semitic Question,” that more accurately should be called “Judaic Question” – which is connected via an intimate link, to the economic, moral, political and religious conditions of Europe.

How fervid at present and how much this question perturbs the major nations, is manifest by the common cry against the invasion by Jews in all spheres of public and social life; by the leagues formed to slow its advance in France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Russia, Rumania and elsewhere. By the calls for action in various Parliaments – by the large number of newspaper articles, books and pamphlets that are constantly printed, all showing the need to stem the growth of this plague, and to combat it, showing evidence of its very pernicious consequences….

Naively, some try to show that the ”Judaic Question” is the result of a (Christian) hatred of the (Judaic) religion or sect. Mosaism (read ‘religion inspired by Moses) in itself could not be an argument for hatred…. for it was the antecedent of Christianity… But for centuries Judaism has turned its back on Mosaism, exchanging it with the Talmud, quintessence of that pharisaism, many times blasted by Christ…. And although Talmudism is an integral element of the Jewish question, we cannot say that (Talmudism) is all that relevant to it (Judaic question). For in Talmudism the Christian nations detest not so much the theological part, almost reduced to insignificance, but the moral one, that contradicts the elementary principles of natural ethics…. “

Incidentally, and as another aside, it is customary to describe the roots of European culture as “Judeo-Christian.” Many contend that a better description would be the “Greek-Christian” tradition, as certain important tenets of Christianity are actually derived from Plato. For example, he suggested that a trinity of forces shapes the cosmos and he struggled with the idea of a Being, purely incorporeal, executing a perfect model of the universe and molding with his hand what was but a rude chaos of random forces.

As an explanation, or at least a theory, Plato considered the divine nature of the universe under three modifications. There was indeed a first cause, the Reason or Logos, the soul of the universe, along with three subdivisions.

Readers may recall the beginning of St. John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” where ‘word’ is an imperfect and narrow translation of the Greek ‘logos.’ For one of the meanings of ‘logos’ is indeed ‘word’, but not with sense that we usually attribute to it. A better translation could possibly be, “In the beginning was the Reason of the Universe.”

Plato conceived of 3 original principles, incorporated in the Logos, different, but linked to each other by a mysterious generation.

The important point is that the mystical and mysterious concept of the Trinity is the Christian rendering of Plato’s idea. The Trinity may still remain mysterious, but at least the mind can understand a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit, better than Plato’s more symbolic rendering.

Back to the main subject. During the early XXth century three events, distinct but important affected the wave-of-time begun with Napoleon.

One was the establishment of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 1913 – at first in America but now practically extended and enforced worldwide.

In fairness to its founders and all subsequent members, it should really have been called the ‘Jewish Anti Defamation League.’ Though by astutely avoiding the qualifying adjective, ‘ADL’ suggests impartiality, thus evading suspicion among the majority of the gentiles, who rarely or superficially follow the details of political events and institutions.

The actual purpose of the now ubiquitous and wealthy ADL was and is to aggressively prevent any criticism of Zionism and Israel, by crushing the critics, destroying their career, often depriving them of a livelihood and even removing them from the Congress or the Senate.

Observers may have noticed that when the Prime Minister of Israel addresses a US joint session of Senate and Congress, he routinely receives a record number of standing ovations. And, after an ovation, no one wants to be the first to sit down – presumably but also probably – for fear of being suspected of weaker Pro-Zionist sentiments.

Readers familiar with the Communist world will easily detect the stunning similarities between the new-speak of Communist Eastern Europe and ADL’s new-speak and thought-crime – in America but also in Europe and the English-speaking world at large.

As an example, in December 2018, the owner of a pleasant yet unostentatious house in the Italian provincial city of Aosta, installed a metal gate at the end of his driveway. The gate carried a decorative wrought-iron winged eagle, reminiscent of a National Socialist emblem, though without a swastika or other disturbing symbols.

But it was enough for a rabbi in Turin, 100 km away (and presumably a member of a local ADL chapter), to have a judge issue a search warrant and dispatch the Italian police to execute it against the shocked, bewildered and disbelieving house-dweller.

The police carried a thorough search of the premises, removed his computer, various personal effects and books from his library. In the end all the ‘incriminating’ evidence they found – besides the eagle on the gate – consisted of some books about the history of WW2.

Curiously, the event leading to the founding of the ADL had nothing to do with defamation and all to do with the sexual assault and murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year old girl in Atlanta, Georgia. Mary worked for the National Pencil Company, and in May 1913 went to her place of work to collect her $1.20 earnings from the company superintendent Leo Frank. She was never seen again. Her body was later found in the basement of the company, mutilated, bruised and with her undergarments torn off. She had been strangled and Frank was the most likely suspect.

At the trial, Frank pleaded innocent and declared himself a victim of hate. But after a thorough investigation, Frank was found guilty. That is when Adolf Kraus, president of the Jewish-American order of B’nai B’rith founded the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Its charter reads:

“The immediate object of the league is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens.”

Sometime later the outgoing governor of Georgia commuted the sentence from death by hanging to life imprisonment. But the leaders of the town were enraged by what they rated a corruption of justice. They dragged Frank from the courthouse and hanged him.

Ever since, Leo Frank is viewed by the ADL as a kind of patron saint; a man whose death serves as a reminder of the depths of depravity to which men can sink when in the grip of xenophobic hatred.

Today, as universally acknowledged, the ADL is the lay arm of the Zionist inquisition and a patently obvious instrument for censorship and the abolition of free speech.

The second momentous event I referred to was the publishing of the so-called Scofield Reference Bible. Which is a Bible annotated by Cyrus Scofield, a man of questionable background though an able manipulator of souls and money.

Scofield and his Bible are responsible for the birth and expansion of Christian Zionism. If there was ever a contradiction in terms, Christian Zionism is one. It created a class of unpaid and obedient political eunuchs at the service of the Zionist state.

Specific and central to Christian Zionist belief is Skofield’s comment on Genesis 12:3 (the words in Italics are the comment). ‘I will bless them that bless thee.’ In fulfillment closely related to the next clause, ‘And curse him that curseth thee.’ Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew—well with those who have protected him. The future will still more remarkably prove this principle.”

Though a struggling born-again preacher, Scofield became a member of the exclusive New York ‘s Lotus Club, where he was befriended by the Wall Street lawyer Samuel Untermeyer. Untermeyer was instrumental in having Scofield’s annotated bible published.

In Scofield’s biography, written by Joseph Canfield, we read that Scofield’s theology was “most helpful in getting Fundamentalist Christians to back the international interest in one of Untermeyer’s projects—the Zionist Movement.”

Israel holds the Christian Zionists in utter contempt. The Talmud considers Christ a heretic boiling in excrement for eternity, and his mother a whore. Jehovah allows goys to exist so as to be like donkeys in the service of the chosen people.

But according to Fundamentalist preaching, at some unspecified time in the future, there will be what they call a ‘rapture,’ during which the Messiah will return to earth and all Jews will convert to Christianity.

If Fundamentalism were played on a stage it would be condemned as improbable fiction. Even Greek-Roman paganism contains more truth than Fundamentalism and its absurd ‘dispensations,’ as they define their ranting.

For the extravagance of the Grecian mythology proclaimed clearly that the inquirer, instead of being scandalized or satisfied with the literal sense, should diligently explore the occult wisdom, which had been disguised, by the prudence of antiquity, under the mask of myth and the display of follies practiced by the quizzical dynasty of the Olympian Gods.

The Fundamentalists are a large congregation. Israel supplies their leaders with money, endowments and private planes, while feeding and securing their lavish lifestyle.

The third event, whose momentousness and importance is gradually being recognized, was Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi’s launching of the plan for the creation of the European Union, with extraordinary, new and revolutionary characteristics.

He was the son of the Austrian Ambassador to Japan, Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi, who was also a great friend of Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.

In the 1920s Heinrich’s son, Richard Kalergi, published a few books, the most important of which is “Praktischer Idealismus,” never, as far as I know, printed in English. The book is important because what Kalergi prophesied, promoted and predicted about the fate of Europe is occurring under our own eyes.

Kalergi envisioned a unified Europe, invaded by Africans, who would miscegenate with Europeans, creating a new negroid population, similar in appearance to the characters depicted on the inside walls of Egyptians pyramids and tombs. Ruling over them would be a class of “the best of the Jews” some of whom would intermarry with the best of the European nobility.

In his autobiography Kalergi states that when his book was printed, it came to the attention of the Jewish banker Schiff, who along with the American Jewish banker Warburg generously financed him to carry out his plan. From then on Kalergi would undertake a massive lobbying operation, which – temporarily halted during WW2 – was restarted immediately afterwards.

An Italian history professor, Matteo Simonetti, has published a very interesting book, titled “Kalergi, La Prossima Scomparsa Degli Europei” (Kalergi, The Forthcoming Disappearance of the Europeans) – available at Amazon. In his book, Prof. Simonetti included the most critical pages of Praktischer Idealismus translated from the German. What transpires is even worse than the disappearance of the Europeans.

I quote directly from the translation. At pages 21-22-23 of Praktischer Idealismus we find that “the future race, negroid-caucasian will be composed by people without character, without scruples, weak in their will, without respect (for one another) and untrustworthy. The new race will replace the multiplicity of people with a multiplicity of individuals.”

As for the ruling Jews, Kalergi describes them as “close in blood”, whose “strength of character and sharpness of spirit” predestines them to become “the race of (the new) Europe’s spiritual leaders,“ the “carriers of the nobility of spirit,”…. endowed of superior intelligence, a race of lords (Herrenrasse)… the chosen people (pages 28, 33, 49-51 in the original German book).

But it gets worse. The only free marital union will apply to “the most noble of men and women.” Inferior men and women will mate with their societal equivalent. The “erotic style” of the lower classes will be casual mating. Only the upper classes will enjoy the free formation of families.

The new cultivated nobility of the future will emerge from the divine laws of erotic eugenics. “It is here, in social eugenism, where the new nobility will achieve its historical mission of excellence” (pages 55-57).

The new miscegenated race of the lower classes will live in “factory-cities,” where the factory will be the new “cathedral of work”, the center and object of devotion of the new race of miscegenated goys (page 110).

As for the elimination of genders, Kalergi hints at the formation of a Brave-New-World society. “Today men of both sexes (sic) command political and economic power. The emancipation of woman is but the triumph of the feminine man over the real feminine woman. With the emancipation, the feminine sex is mobilized for a technical war and regimented into the army of labor.” (page 119)

As for democracy, Kalergi says it is an instrument to be discarded, as soon as the new Jewish nobility will be established and in charge. (page 36).

In summary, there we have it – the predicted apocalyptic end of the tsunami – helped and driven by the ADL (at work to criminalize free speech), the fundamentalists (a docile army of spiritual eunuchs in the service of Israel), and the Kalergi Plan (a Europe of Negroids ruled over by Jews).

As universally acknowledged, Jewish elites and politicians are at the forefront of the push for illegal immigration and the abolition of borders, worldwide.

And the Left, deprived of its reference class, the proletariat, has made of the migrants a sort of fig leaf to prove that they still side with the weak. Indeed, migrants are the new proletariat, because their identity (or consciousness thereof) is not here, but elsewhere. But the original inhabitants of the poorer districts of Europe and elsewhere have the right not to be uprooted from their customs by a culturally heterogeneous immigration. The migrants do not reside in London’s Chelsea, New York’s Upper East Side or the posh districts of other cities. Nor they steal the jobs of bank managers and corporate directors.

The chosen elites have decided that people are ugly, dirty, bad and xenophobic because they do not want to accept migrants by the millions. But it is the people who bear the weight of immigration and the loss of manual work.

During the latter years of neo-liberalism and turbo-capitalism, the cultural devaluation of labor has been possible thanks to the reserve army made up of migrants. It is logical that the chosen elites favor immigration. It frees them from relocating in the cesspits of despair, by bringing cesspits and despair to the ugly and xenophobic locals, along with the prospect of a Kalergi-type future.

We cannot know precisely how far the wave-of-time, traced back to Napoleon, has travelled towards its end. For the laws of probability, true in general, fail in the details. But given the essentially unchallenged progress of the wave, I doubt whether the collective consciousness of the European peoples will wake up and prompt them to react effectively in self-defense.

Until historically recently, the Catholic Church provided protection. It preached and prohibited violence against the chosen people, but expected them not to corrupt the culture of the host nation. And she gave them the option of conversion. By converting to Christianity, all true or pretended forms of discrimination would be instantly removed.

But the Catholic Church has lost power and unity. In recent Catholic pronouncements, it is even stated that Jews no longer need to convert to be “saved.” And in current religious ceremonies the brethren are invited to “pray for our elder brothers in the Abrahamic religion.”

Therefore, given that time comes stealing by night and day, I must reluctantly observe that the very shortness of time and the failure of hope will tinge with a deeper shade of brown the evening of our current historical times, and the last act of the play performed on the current historical stage.

The Waves of Time

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Our Bible Lessons for November 1 to 7

What's ahead in the Bible readings

November 1 to November 7, 2018 The Twenty-third Week After Pentecost The Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time*

Bible Review: The Modern English Version

The most important thing you need to know about the Modern English Version (MEV) is that it is a revision of the Authorized Version, usually called the King James Version (KJV). It incorporates modern English vernacular. This translation started as an effort by military chaplains to provide an update to the KJV, so that troops could better understand it. Military chaplains got others who were not chaplains involved in the work; eventually, the target audience changed to the entire English-speaking world. It follows the principle of formal equivalence, which means being as literal as possible using proper grammar and syntax.

One feature that I find helpful is naming the parallel passage just below the title of a section. A slight disadvantage of this approach is that it requires a title whenever there is a parallel passage, even if one isn't necessary for us to understand what follows. As always, remember that the title is not part of the text, and was added by editors to help us. This translation is usually the source of the parallel passages included in our daily readings. A relatively unusual feature is that pronouns referring to God or Jesus are always capitalized. This can be helpful at times when it isn't clear to whom the pronoun refers. References to books of the Bible in footnotes and when parallel passages are named use abbreviations for book names. For example, Mt for Matthew and Lk for Luke.

The books are in the usual order. It does not include the deuterocanonical/apocryphal books.

There is an interesting but incomplete history of English language Bibles included in the introduction, starting with William Tyndale's translation. It is incomplete because it does not mention the Revised Standard Version (RSV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), or any of the many translations by Catholic scholars. It does have a very complete description of the development of the KJV.

Here is our Sunday Gospel Lesson from the MEV: The Great Commandment Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28

One of the scribes came near and heard them reasoning together. Perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, he asked Him, “Which of the is the first commandment of all?”

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’¹ This is the first commandment. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’² There is no commandment greater than these.”

The scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, that there is God, and there is no other but Him. To love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask Him any question.

¹30 Dt 6:4-5 ²31 Lev 19:18 (MEV)

Previous Bible reviews covering the NET Bible, the Message, and The Inclusive Bible, and the Amplified Bible are here.

If you decide to purchase the Modern English Version, please consider using one of these links, so your purchase will benefit The Lectionary Company: Modern English Version Bible Thinline Reference $17.07 Modern English Version Economy Bible $2.99 Modern English Version Bible Personal Size Large Print $24.97 The prices above are as of October 27. You can search for other editions of the MEV at this link: Modern English Version

This week's illustration

The image this week is of the Good Samaritan with the man who was beaten on the road. He is at the inn, and the inn keeper is helping him to bring the injured man inside. It is a reminder to me first, that actions are greater than words, and second that help can come from unexpected quarters.

Theme of this week's lessons

Our readings this week nearly all have a theme of love. The key reading from the complementary Hebrew Scriptures comes on Sunday when we read the beginning of the Shema prayer from Deuteronomy:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

You can find the rest of the Shema here.

Gospel Lessons

Our Gospel lesson for Sunday a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest, and Jesus quotes from the passage above and adds "and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The scribe replies

“Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, that there is God, and there is no other but Him. To love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (MEV)

Of course, there is always the question of who is my neighbor. Jesus answers this in the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is our Saturday Gospel reading. We are so used to the idea of the Samaritan as a good and righteous person that most of us don't understand the ways in which Jesus' hearers would have thought of the Samaritan. The Samaritans rejected a view of salvation history centered on Jerusalem, and their religious life centered on a temple on Mt. Gerizim, rather than on the Jerusalem temple. An analogy might be Christians and Muslems. We worship the same God, but in quite different ways, and there is unfortunately enmity between us. So it was between Jews and Samaritans.

In our third Gospel reading, on Wednesday, Jesus tells us to love one another. So our three Gospel readings tell us to love God, our neighbors in the broadest sense, and one another. Think this week about who is your neighbor in the sense of the Good Samaritan parable.

Psalms

I want to share some perspective on verse five of the complementary Psalm 51, which we read during the time of reflection. “Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me,” reads the verse. Here is what the New Interpreter's Bible commentary has to say:

It is not intended to suggest that sin is transmitted biologically or that sexuality is sinful by definition. Rather, it conveys the inevitability of human fallibility. In each human life, in each human situation, sin is pervasive. We are born into it, and we cannot escape it. While sin is a matter of individual decision, it also has a corporate dimension that affects us, despite our best intentions and decisions.

Here is the good news:

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God forgives us. Thanks be to God.

Our semi-continuous psalm during the time of preparation reminds us that God graciously lifts up those who are bowed down.

Epistle Lessons

In our Friday Epistle, Paul reminds us that our God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles, of course, means everyone who is not Jewish. Paul also reminds us that Jesus has paid for our sins by his blood. In our Sunday Epistle from Hebrews, we are reminded of this: if the blood of goats and bulls sanctifies those who have been defiled, much more Christ's blood brings us redemption. In our Monday Epistle lesson, Paul urges the Romans (and us) to live peaceably with all, and reminds us that love is the fulfilling of the law.

Complementary Hebrew Scripture

Our Wednesday Hebrew Scripture reading has the prophet Micah reminding us what God requires of us: to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. See the discussion above for our Sunday Hebrew Scripture.

There one lesson where some context might be helpful. The Saturday Hebrew Scripture is about what happens when an Israelite is unable to celebrate Passover. The answer is that you do it later, at a time specified in the reading. This actually fits with the rest of our readings, because it is about the importance of returning the love that God has shown us by freeing the Israelites from their Egyptian bondage.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture

This week we are reading about Ruth and Naomi, a pair of women bonded as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Ruth, a Maobite, sticks with Naomi, a woman from Judah, as they return to Naomi's homeland. There Ruth takes some pretty forward actions, which are ultimately rewarded with marriage to a relative of Naomi's. I especially note how Ruth shares what she gets by gleaning in the fields with Naomi, sustaining them both until Ruth's marriage. We will finish up our lessons about Ruth next week in our Thursday through Sunday lessons.

Thank you for all that you do but to bring about justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. Mike Gilbertson

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Summary and a link for each day

Thursday to Sunday Psalms Complementary Psalm 119:1-8 Seeking God with all our hearts Semi-continuous Psalm 146 God lifts those who are bowed down.

Thursday: Preparation for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Exodus 22:1-15 Laws about restitution Semi-continuous Ruth 1:18-22 Ruth the Maobite and Naomi the Judean return to Judah after both are widowed. Both Hebrews 9:1-12 The ritual of the sanctuary: Christ has entered into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Friday: Preparation for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Leviticus 19:32-37 You shall fear God. You shall treat aliens as part of your community, for you were aliens in Egypt. Semi-continuous Ruth 2:1-9 Ruth meets Boaz. Both Romans 3:21-31 God is God of both Jews and Gentiles. Christ, through his blood, has atoned for our sins.

Saturday: Preparation for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Numbers 9:9-14 All should keep the Passover. You have one law for the resident alien and the native. Semi-continuous Ruth 2:10-14 Boaz protects Ruth. Both Luke 10:25-37 Jesus, through the parable of the Good Samaritan, defines who a neighbor is.

The Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Deuteronomy 6:1-9 The Great Commandment; The Shema Semi-continuous Ruth 1:1-18 Ruth remains with Naomi. Both Hebrews 9:11-14 If the blood of goats and bulls sanctifies those who have been defiled, how much more will Christ's blood bring us redemption. Both Mark 12:28-34 Jesus, asked which commandment is the greatest, answers, "The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

Monday to Wednesday Psalms Complementary Psalm 51 I have sinned against you. Create in me a clean heart. Semi-continuous Psalm 18:20-30 It is you who light my lamp. God lights my darkness.

Monday: Reflection on the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Deuteronomy 6:10-25 When you enter the land that God has promised you, do not put God to the test. Semi-continuous Ruth 2:15-23 Ruth gleans in Boaz' fields during the wheat and barley harvests. Naomi says that Boaz is a close relative. Both Romans 12:17-21; 13:8-10 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The law is summed up in this word: love your neighbor as yourself.

Tuesday: Reflection on the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Deuteronomy 28:58-29:1 The cost of disobedience Semi-continuous Ruth 3:1-7 Ruth and Boaz are at the threshing floor at night. Both Acts 7:17-29 Stephen, speaking before the Sanhedrin, recounts Moses' early years.

Wednesday: Reflection on the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Complementary Micah 6:1-8 Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Semi-continuous Ruth 3:3-8 Boaz is startled by Ruth's presence on the threshing floor. Both John 13:31-35 Jesus says, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another."

The links become active on the designated day at 3:05 a.m. eastern time.

*Denominations have different ways of designating the weeks during the year, so your church may refer to this week by a different name or number or both. Regardless of the name or number, the readings are the same. Here is an explanation: Calendar Explanation

Selections from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from The New Revised Standard Version, (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All right reserved. The Sunday Gospel is taken from The Holy Bible Modern English Version (MEV), copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image credit: The Good Samaritan by Rembrandt, via cs.m.wikipedia. This is a public domain image.

#Modern English Version review #Great commandment

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