#Israel is the only place in the world where we are welcomed and celebrated as a people

[girlactionfigure]

My mom bought me these boots from Zara in Denver a few weeks back. She could feel me sinking into a pit of rage, grief, and hopelessness. So, she came to meet me in Denver and upon landing, took me to walk the mall “just to get out and move through it.” My mother, a miracle, born to a father who was the sole Holocaust survivor in his family, knows a thing or two about battling anger and grief at a world fixated on annihilating Jews and our spirits.

 I've been intimately familiar with the horrors of October 7th since it happened. Like countless Jews, I've meticulously followed every gruesome detail of Hamas' well-planned and well-funded genocide attempt. Every despicable act of torture, rape, and murder – etched into my bones. On top of that, I follow daily the relentless onslaught of people and communities celebrating, erasing, and justifying the slaughter, while denying our right to defend ourselves. Watching old friends ‘like’ and share posts constantly which dehumanize Jews and lie about Israel, putting our lives further at risk. Contending with all of this over the past few months has been unbearable. Like many Jews, I'm haunted both awake and asleep. 

I've been debilitated, struggling to cope with all of it. How do we carry on in a country where so many wish us dead? How do we thrive in a place that dismisses our pain and disregards our countless contributions to society? How do I contemplate having children in a place where their lives aren't valued? How can I coexist with so many people who, at best, couldn't care less about the brutal murders of over 1200, the kidnapping and daily ongoing torture of hundreds more for over 119 days, while the world cheers for the rest of us to be annihilated? How do I sleep at night when all I can think about are the looming threats to Israel and the Jewish people, the treatment of our hostages, and the insidious web of hatred that constantly engulfs our existence? 

When my mom handed me these boots, I thought they might be fitting for Israel, but I didn't really dwell on it. I knew the journey would be grueling. And while I thought I already knew the gruesome details, walking through the aftermath is a different level of knowing. These boots tread through miles of hell – the remnants of homes ruthlessly attacked by a kind of evil I couldn't fathom existed. An evil that deliberately targeted communities of Israelis dedicated to peace, only to be met with beheadings, rape, burning alive, and slaughter.

 These boots tread through miles of desolation – the aftermath of thousands of terrorists and hundreds of so-called "civilians" perpetrating unspeakable acts against over a thousand innocent, peace-loving people. These vile rapists and murderers were the beneficiaries for years of those they heartlessly slaughtered. They were acquainted with so many of these good people, the very people they mercilessly killed. Several of these compassionate Israelis had welcomed these terrorists into their homes for years, offered them work opportunities, and tirelessly tried to help them lead a better life. 

These boots ventured through charred remains, blood-soaked grounds, and homes, bomb shelters, and once-beloved personal spaces and belongings torn apart, covered in bullet holes, reduced to pieces and char – all obliterated by hours of relentless assaults by terrorists armed with thousands of machine guns, fire bombs, and RPGs. Weapons funded, in part, by American and European taxpayers, whose leaders for years knowingly funneled billions into a terror operation whose sole objective is eradicating Israel and every Jew from the map before extending their genocidal ambitions westward. 

After coming back from our third trip to the massacre sites in the south, 

@JordynTilchen

insisted on me wiping these boots down before stepping into our rental, but the weight of what they carried was too immense. I couldn't erase the traces of blood and death that clung to them. Instead, I brought them home with me wrapped in several bags. These boots hold more than just grime; they carry the echoes of unspeakable atrocities and the silent cries of hundreds and hundreds of innocent lives ruthlessly tortured and taken.

 I've decided to give them a burial here, to acknowledge the horrors they tread through, the shattered communities and homes they traversed, and to honor the remains of the once-beautiful lives torn from existence that cling to them. As I do this, I promise to honor not only those brutally murdered and taken hostage, but also those who are risking everything to defend the rest of us. I promise to continue to do my best to not be consumed by what feels like a tsunami of hopelessness, but to pick myself back up and channel this endless grief and anger into meaningful action and resilience.

Eden Cohen ✡︎ עדן כהן

@edencohentweets

[dfroza]

the Word and the Bread

“The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 6th chapter of the book of John:

Once this had transpired, Jesus made His way to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (which some these days call the Sea of Tiberias). As Jesus walked, a large crowd pursued Him hoping to see new signs and miracles; His healings of the sick and lame were garnering great attention. Jesus went up a mountain and found a place to sit down and teach. His disciples gathered around. The celebration of the Passover, one of the principal Jewish feasts, would take place soon. But when Jesus looked up, He could see an immense crowd coming toward Him. Jesus approached Philip.

Jesus (to Philip): Where is a place to buy bread so these people may eat?

Jesus knew what He was planning to do, but He asked Philip nonetheless. He had something to teach, and it started with a test.

Philip: I could work for more than half of a year and still not have the money to buy enough bread to give each person a very small piece.

Andrew, the disciple who was Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.

Andrew: I met a young boy in the crowd carrying five barley loaves and two fish, but that is practically useless in feeding a crowd this large.

Jesus: Tell the people to sit down.

They all sat together on a large grassy area. Those counting the people reported approximately 5,000 men—not including the women and children—sitting in the crowd. Jesus picked up the bread, gave thanks to God, and passed it to everyone. He repeated this ritual with the fish. Men, women, and children all ate until their hearts were content. When the people had all they could eat, He told the disciples to gather the leftovers.

Jesus: Go and collect the leftovers, so we are not wasteful.

They filled 12 baskets with fragments of the five barley loaves. After witnessing this sign that Jesus did, the people stirred in conversation.

Crowd: This man must be the Prophet God said was coming into the world.

Jesus sensed the people were planning to mount a revolution against Israel’s Roman occupiers and make Him king, so He withdrew farther up the mountain by Himself.

Later that evening the disciples walked down to the sea, boarded a boat, and set sail toward Capernaum. Twilight gave way to darkness. Jesus had not yet joined them. Suddenly, the waves rose and a fierce wind began to rock the boat. After rowing three or four miles through the stormy seas, they spotted Jesus approaching the boat walking mysteriously upon the deep waters that surrounded them. They panicked.

Jesus (to the disciples): I am the One. Don’t be afraid.

They welcomed Jesus aboard their small vessel; and when He stepped into the boat, the next thing they knew, they were ashore at their destination.

The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.

Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.

Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?

Jesus: I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.

Crowd: What do we have to do to accomplish the Father’s works?

Jesus: If you want to do God’s work, then believe in the One He sent.

Crowd: Can You show us a miraculous sign? Something spectacular? If we see something like that, it will help us to believe. Our fathers ate manna when they wandered in the desert. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus: I tell you the truth: Moses did not give you bread from heaven; it is My Father who offers you true bread from heaven. The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.

Crowd: Master, we want a boundless supply of this bread.

Jesus: I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty. Here I am standing in front of you, and still you don’t believe. All that My Father gives to Me comes to Me. I will receive everyone; I will not send away anyone who comes to Me. And here’s the reason: I have come down from heaven not to pursue My own agenda but to do what He desires. I am here on behalf of the Father who sent Me. He sent Me to care for all He has given Me so that nothing and no one will perish. In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life. So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.

Some of the Jews began to grumble quietly against Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

Crowd: Isn’t Jesus the son of Joseph? We know His parents! We know where He came from, so how can He claim to have “come down from heaven”?

Jesus: Stop grumbling under your breaths. If the Father who sent Me does not draw you, then there’s no way you can come to Me. But I will resurrect everyone who does come on the last day. Among the prophets, it’s written, “Everyone will be taught of God.” So everyone who has heard and learned from the Father finds Me. No one has seen the Father, except the One sent from God. He has seen the Father. I am telling you the truth: the one who accepts these things has eternal life. I am the bread that gives life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died as you know. But there is another bread that comes from heaven; if you eat this bread, you will not die. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven to rescue those who eat it. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. The bread that I will give breathes life into the cosmos. This bread is My flesh.

The low whispers of some of Jesus’ detractors turned into an out-and-out debate.

Crowd: What is He talking about? How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?

Jesus: I tell you the truth; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not know life. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, then you will have eternal life and I will raise you up at the end of time. My flesh and blood provide true nourishment. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will abide in Me and I will abide in you. The Father of life who sent Me has given life to Me; and as you eat My flesh, I will give life to you. This is bread that came down from heaven; I am not like the manna that your fathers ate and then died! If you eat this bread, your life will never end.

He spoke these words in the synagogue as part of His teaching mission in Capernaum. Many disciples heard what He said, and they had questions of their own.

Disciples: How are we supposed to understand all of this? It is a hard teaching.

Jesus was aware that even His disciples were murmuring about this.

Jesus: Has My teaching offended you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascend to return to where He came from? The Spirit brings life. The flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have been teaching you are spirit and life, but some of you do not believe.

From the first day Jesus began to call disciples, He knew those who did not have genuine faith. He knew, too, who would betray Him.

Jesus: This is why I have been telling you that no one comes to Me without the Father’s blessing and guidance.

After hearing these teachings, many of His disciples walked away and no longer followed Jesus.

Jesus (to the twelve): Do you want to walk away too?

Simon Peter: Lord, if we were to go, whom would we follow? You speak the words that give everlasting life. We believe and recognize that You are the Holy One sent by God.

Jesus: I chose each one of you, the twelve, Myself. But one of you is a devil.

This cryptic comment referred to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he was the one of the twelve who was going to betray Him.

The Book of John, Chapter 6 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

How is it possible to follow this path and believe these truths? To be honest, it is not easy. In fact, some find this so hard that they leave Jesus for good. The rest readily admit they are still working on what it means to follow Him. So Jesus leaves behind a number of practices to help believers. One of these is known as the Lord’s Supper. Jesus instructs His disciples to break bread and share wine to remember how He will allow His body to be broken for all humankind. In some beautiful, mysterious way, Jesus is present in the simple elements of bread and wine, so the worshiper may touch Him, taste His richness, and remember His most glorious hours on the cross. In that moment, He embraces all darkness and shame and transforms them into light. As believers come to the table together and feast on His light, life seems more hopeful and complete. Taking the bread and the wine means affirming the reality that the One who has come to liberate souls is among and within His people.

Today’s paired reading from the First Testament is the 18th chapter of the book of Genesis:

The Eternal One appeared once again to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was resting at the entrance to his tent in the middle of a hot afternoon. Abraham glanced up and saw there were three men standing nearby. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent out to where they were standing and greeted them warmly, instinctively bowing to the ground.

Abraham: My lord, if you would like to stay for a while, I beg you not to pass me by. I am your humble servant. Let me send someone for water in order to wash your feet. Please go and sit down under that tree over there and rest. Meanwhile, let me send for some bread so that you can nourish yourselves. After that I will not detain you further—you may be on your way—since you have come and honored your servant with your presence.

Three Men: Please, go and do what you have suggested.

In spite of the heat, Abraham hurried into his tent to Sarah.

Abraham (to Sarah): Sarah, we have guests. Quickly prepare three measures of our best flour, knead it, and make cakes.

Then Abraham ran to where his herds were pastured. He took a tender calf and gave it to one of his servants, who rushed off to prepare the choice meat. When it was ready, Abraham took curds and milk, along with the meat, and he placed all of this lavish feast before his honored guests. He stood nearby under the tree while they ate to their fill.

Three Men: Where is Sarah, your wife?

Abraham: She’s right in there . . . in the tent.

One of the Men: I will return here to you when life emerges from the womb of your wife, Sarah. She will give birth to a son.

Now Sarah was behind her guests, listening to all of this from the entrance of the tent. Abraham and Sarah were quite old at this time, well advanced in years, and Sarah had long ago gone through menopause. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying under her breath, “At my age—old and decrepit, as is my husband—both of us long past having any desire to engage in lovemaking?” But the Eternal heard what Sarah said and addressed Abraham.

Eternal One: Why does Sarah laugh and say to herself, “There’s no way I’m going to give birth at my age!” Is anything too difficult for the Eternal One to accomplish? At a time that I will determine, I will return here to you when life emerges from her womb. I’m telling you, Sarah will give birth to a son.

Sarah was embarrassed and tried to deny laughing. She feared these were no ordinary guests.

Sarah: I wasn’t laughing.

Eternal One: That is not true, Sarah. You did laugh.

At that point, the three men set off on foot toward Sodom, and Abraham walked with them to start them on their way.

Eternal One (to the other two men): I wonder if I should hide from Abraham what I am about to do. After all, Abraham will become the father of a great and powerful nation, and all the other nations of the earth will find their blessing in him. I have chosen him for a reason, namely that he will carefully instruct his children and his household to keep themselves strong in relationship to Me and to walk in My ways by doing what is good and right in the world and by showing mercy and justice to all others. I know he will uphold his end of the covenant, so that he can ensure My promises to him will be fulfilled and upheld as well.

(continuing so Abraham could hear) I have heard terrible things—urgent and outraged calls for help—coming from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin has become a serious problem. I must go down and see for Myself whether the outcries against them that My ears have heard are really true. If not, I will know.

At this point the men turned and headed toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Eternal One. Then Abraham approached Him solemnly and pled for the city.

Abraham (to God): God, would You really sweep away the people who do what is right along with those who are wicked? What if there were 50 upright people within the city? Would You still wipe the place out and not spare it on behalf of the 50 upright people who live there? Surely it can’t be Your nature to do something like that—to kill the right-living along with those who act wickedly, to consign the innocent to the same fate as the guilty. It is inconceivable to me that You, my God, would do anything like that! Will not the “Merciful and Loving Judge” of all the earth do what is just?

Eternal One: If I find 50 good and true people in the city of Sodom, I give you My word I will spare the entire city on their behalf.

Abraham (emboldened): Look, I know I am just a human being, scooped from the dust and ashes of the earth, but if I might implore You, Lord, a bit further: What if the city lacked 5 of those 50 right-living people? What then? Would You destroy the entire city because it lacked those 5?

Eternal One: I won’t destroy the city if I find 45 good and true people there.

Abraham (persisting): Suppose 40 are found there.

Eternal One: I won’t destroy the city for the sake of 40.

Abraham: Please don’t be angry, Lord, at my boldness. Let me ask this: What if You found 30 there who are good and true?

Eternal One: I will not do it, even if I find only 30 there.

Abraham: Since I have implored the Lord this far, may I ask: What if there were 20?

Eternal One: For the sake of 20, I will not destroy the city.

Abraham: Please don’t be angry, Lord, at my boldness. Let me ask this just once more: suppose only 10 are found?

Eternal One: For the sake of only 10, I still will not destroy it.

At this point the Eternal ended the conversation with Abraham and went on His way, and Abraham returned to his home.

The Book of Genesis, Chapter 18 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

Scripture records here an amazing exchange between the Lord and Abraham. In all of the Bible there is nothing quite like it. In these verses Abraham is negotiating with God over the fate of Sodom and its inhabitants. But this is no game. Abraham isn’t bargaining with a peddler over the cost of his wares; the lives of many people hang in the balance. Abraham has followed God long enough and knows Him well enough to stand confident as he presses and probes the extent of God’s mercy. God’s mercy, he learns, runs deep; but there are limits, and Sodom has crossed the line.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Wednesday, march 20 of 2024 with a paired chapter from each Testament (the First & the New) of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about God’s care:

Shalom friends. The festival of Purim begins Saturday, March 23rd at sundown this year. During this time we revisit the enigmatic Book of Esther and joyfully recount how God providentially cares for his people...

Although the Name of God is not explicitly mentioned in the Book of Esther, the story is essentially about revelation, that is, the disclosure of God's Presence despite His apparent concealment. The phrase hester panim (הֶסְתֵר פָּנִים) means "hiding of face" and is often used when discussing the divine providence. God's plan is being fulfilled, step-by-step, even if it is hidden within the "natural" world of human beings and their choices (Jer. 10:23; Prov. 21:1). The LORD is Ha’mashgiach (i.e., הַמַּשְׁגִיחַ, the supervisor) of all things - from the motions of subatomic particles to the great events of the cosmos. He not only calls each star by its own name (Psalm 147:4), but knows each particular lily and sparrow (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). Indeed, each person is under the direct, personal supervision of God Himself (הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית) -- whether he or she is conscious of this or not. As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30).

The Apostle Paul taught that God “chose us [εκλεγομαι] in the Messiah before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). God called you by name -- before He created the very universe itself. “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13). God loves you with an “everlasting love” (אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם) and with lovingkindness (i.e., chesed, חֶסֶד) draws you to Himself (Jer. 31:3). There is no fear in God’s sovereign and irresistible love for your soul (1 John 4:18). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

For more on this topic, see “Theology, Paradox, and Purim” on the H4C site.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

========

Psalm 145:3 Hebrew reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm145-3-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page pdf:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm145-3-lesson.pdf

3.18.24 • Facebook

from yesterday’s email by Israel365:

Israel, the Start-Up Nation and the Holy Land, has a problem. Despite technological advancements in food production and the incredible community outreach services available, there are still an alarming number of families who find themselves in the grip of poverty. Over half a million families face the heart-wrenching reality of hunger daily. Hamas’ war on Israel has only exacerbated this challenge – as many families who were already struggling to get food on the table are now evacuees, forced out of their homes due to the constant threat of rocket fire. How can you feed your family when you don’t even have a home?

In the face of such adversity, there lies a beacon of hope. As part of Israel 365 Charity, a movement has arisen driven by the belief that no one should be left to suffer in silence. With your donations, we have been making a concerted effort to ensure that every Israeli family, regardless of their circumstances, is treated with dignity and respect. We have been partnering with food charities and redefining what it means to give, delivering nutritious food that mirrors regular grocery delivery, preserving each family’s dignity, and offering them a glimmer of hope and a plate of deliciousness.

This initiative manifests the biblical tenet of caring for the needy, a sacred duty that calls for action, not just sympathy.

אַשְׁרֵי מַשְׂכִּיל אֶל־דָּל בְּיוֹם רָעָה יְמַלְּטֵהוּ יְהֹוָה׃

Happy is he who is thoughtful of the wretched; in bad times may Hashem keep him from harm.

Psalms 41:2

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

March 20, 2024

Tell Them About the Savior

“Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?” (Exodus 2:7)

In Exodus, Pharaoh ordered the execution of all newborn male Israelites. Moses was spared since his sister intervened, and she later became his helper as he led their people to freedom. Throughout the Bible, godly women played important roles. In “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship,” such women are enjoined to pray for sinners and testify of His power to save.

Sisters will you join and help us?

Moses’ sister aided him;

Will you help the trembling mourners

Who are struggling hard with sin?

Tell them all about the Savior,

Tell them that He will be found;

Sisters, pray, and holy manna

Will be showered all around.

In the beginning, “God created man in his own image...male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). As God’s image bearers, godly women are equipped to minister to others, often being especially effective in attending to individual needs. In our hauntingly beautiful study hymn, such women are called to help trembling sinners convicted of and struggling with sin.

Women can be powerful in prayer. Lasting fruit is borne in ladies’ Bible studies and in children’s Bible lessons taught by godly women. Many rescue missions, mission fields, and counseling rooms are primarily staffed by ladies unashamed of the gospel. Thankfully, God has chosen to shower “manna all around” through the ministry of godly Christian women. JDM

[lindajenni]

jan 12

familiar friday - the pursuit of God

"when gideon came to the jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit." judges 14:14 i had a dear friend write me the other day.  she is a fairly recent friend but one that has entered my heart with the warmest of welcomes.  she wrote me the other day about one of the dailies i had written.  it was just a short note commenting about it's content. since i am relaying her message anonymously, i feel safe in repeating it here.  "beautiful, linda. always, just beautiful. how could anyone every read these tributes and not want to know the Jesus YOU KNOW????" i do not repeat this in any way to try to lift up myself.  i only want all of you to know, "this is indeed my mission ... to make you want to know the Jesus I KNOW".  He has at last become the greatest desire of my heart.  for years i wandered around in the dark.  for years i ignored His gentle tugs at my heart and sought to find happiness in things transient and unfulfilling.  but He was always there, waiting to greet me as the Father did the prodigal son.  not just waiting, but rushing out to greet him and celebrate his return.  yes, he was returning; returning from the filth and squalor the world had finally driven him to.  it is the only outcome that can be in a heart that has not prepared a place for our Lord. "the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  john 10:10  he will entice you with pleasures, fame and fortune.  he may grant you these for awhile.  he offered our Lord the kingdoms of the world if He would just bow down to Him.  it would truly be a foolish heart to give what he could never lose for that which he could never keep. i love the book "the pursuit of God" by aw tozer.  we are all in the pursuit of God.  our God has set it up this way.  "truly You are God, who hide Yourself, o God of israel, the savior!"  isa 45:15 it is like the verse from a poem i know.  "take heart and let the thought of God allure you further on."  our pursuit of knowing Him can be a most fulfilling task in itself.  ah, but the finding.  shall we ever know the finding of all that He is?  eternity will not be long enough for such a task.  all the goodness, all the holiness, all the love, all the many perfect things that make Him God.  the pursuit - yes it is worth it; worth it a thousand times over to me.  "there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."  deut 4:29 if you've never felt the release of all the shame and guilt and hopelessness, it is there waiting for you.  often it is at the rock bottom.  we often have to reach the end of ourselves.  from the bottom there is no place to look but up and up is where He is.  "a broken and a contrite heart — these, o God, You will not despise."  psa 51:17 do i want you to know this God i love and serve also?  with all my heart.  would that my heart extended to the lengths the apostle paul's did, but it does not.  "for i could wish that i myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh."  yes, i love you but i am in the pursuit of my God and i will not let go.  follow not me.  follow Him! i leave you with this invitation and warning from the word of God.  "know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.  if you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever."  1 chron 28:9 i pray you will begin your pursuit today.  if you already have, intensify it.  seeking and finding will be one's reward over and over again.  try as we might, we can't never out give God.

[labbaik-ya-hussain-as]

🔴 The speech of the Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, started at the celebration honoring the martyrs who rose on the road to Jerusalem.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- I welcome this great and solemn celebration

- We mourn the martyrs of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Islamic Resistance, the Al-Quds Brigades, and the civilian martyrs in Lebanon.

- Our blessings and condolences extend to every place where martyrs rose...in this battle

He talked about martyrs, their great level and their position in Islam and heavens

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- To the families of the martyrs, your sons were killed in a righteous battle, no battle more worthy to fight in religiously and humanly.

- To the families of the martyrs, we address them to thank them for their patience and power. They are our true power, which is manifested in the faith and true belief.

- Best regards to the people in Gaza, the most brave and best people of this world. We saw how the civilians in Gaza came from under ruble yet still steadfast. Likewise in the West Bank

- Today I will focus on what happened, to explain it and tell about our responsibilities in Hezbullah.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- We send our regards to Yemenese and Iraqis for their participation.

- The whole world knows the occupation and suffering faced by Gazans, however things got worse in the last few years. The suffering increased.

- There was 4 things stressing in Palestine.

1- The countless prisoners in Israel, women children and men

2- The status of Jerusalem and the increased Israeli desecration of it.

3- The barbaric Israeli seige of Gaza

4- The new threats facing the West Bank through the new settlement movements and the daily murders and raids.

Hamas and the resistance was burdened by these, while no one in the world cared.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- And as the people suffered in Gaza, the Israeli state only become more violent and harsher.

- There needed to be a shock event to revive the Palestinian case. And so was the glorious 7-October attack done by Hamas and various other factions.

- This godly battle was planned by Palestinians, and executed by Palestinians. They kept it secret and Hamas didn't tell anyone about it. This secrecy is what made 7-Oct successful.

- This secrecy didn't bother us. We congratulated them for keeping it secret and this didn't affect our decision making. This was a proof of the true identity of the battle...a pure Palestinian liberation movement.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

-The decisions taken by the leadership of any faction, is purely by its leadership. Today is yet another proof.

- 7-October was a brave, big, well executed operation. It shook Israel, it was an earthquake. It has ramifications on all levels.

- The speed the US came to help Israel, shows its fragility. In the face of a small besieged Gaza, the US had to bring its naval fleet to give emotional support to Israel.

- Then came the US generals to help Israel. Then they took the decision to give ammo to Israel. We haven't even started yet!

- The sacrifices are well worth it. The sacrifices are what will shape the future of Palestinians. They had no other choice. They only faced more death and destruction if they didn't act.

- The decision taken by Hamas was taken at the correct timing.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- When the Israeli soldiers tried to liberate the settlements. It was Israeli soldiers who killed many Israelis in airstrikes. Just wait till this battle ends and it'll be revealed.

- The Israeli government have not learned anything from its previous experiences. They didn't learn anything from their battle with Lebanon and Israel.

- The goals Israel have given are goals they cannot achieve. Their goal to eliminate all of Hamas, is unattainable. Unrealistic goals.

- The Israeli army never freed its prisoners unless with an exchange. Why would it be different this time? Don't they learn from the past lessons?

- Likewise in 2006 with the Israeli army goals and the destruction it did in Lebanon. What is happening in Gaza is similar.

- What is Israel doing in Gaza? Killing. Most of the deaths are women and children.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- We all witnessed the braveness of Hamas fighters in Gaza. How will the IDF fare fighting such people?

- The Israeli army is afraid and weary. Yes the Israeli army is doing what it knows well, killing people and destroying buildings and neighborhoods. Something any pathetic army can do with a few jets.

- The battle will end with the victory of Gaza.

- All what happens in Gaza, reveals to us again the barbaric nature of this state.

- The crimes of Israel in Gaza unmask the true face of Israel and proves the contrary of what the West portrays them as

- 30 days and Gaza is being crushed with terror.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- The enemy was not able to provide a single military achievement after a month of the battle in Gaza

- We should understand, the US is responsible solely to what is happening in Gaza. Israel is a tool.

- It is the US who is against a ceasefire. The US is a great Satan, the US should be punished.

- The Iraqi resistance in Iraq and Syria is fighting against the US occupation there. A wise and right decision.

- It is the duty of everyone to showcase the evil of Israel. The world sees the bodies of dead children and Women in Gaza.

- To fight in support of Gaza is a human duty. Whoever stays silent should question his humanity and religion.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- When this state was created in 1948, all Arabs suffered. Not only Palestinians, notably we did too.

- Today there is no difference. The war in Gaza isn't a simple battle like no others. It's a historic war that after it is not like before.

- There are two goals: To stop the war in Gaza and to ensure Hamas wins in Gaza

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- It is the be benefit of everyone to ensure Hamas wins. It is everyone's benefit.

- Gaza winning is a national interest to Syria, Egypt, and everyone. But importantly, Gaza winning is a national interest for Lebanon

- While the Israeli army is drowning in the sands of Gaza, they are threatening in Lebanon

- If the Arabs will not work to facilitate Hamas winning, at least work on ending the massacres in Gaza.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- Now regarding the responsibilities of the resistance, the Iraqi resistance is handling its duties. Likewise the Yemen government and army.

- In Lebanon, we are in this war since 8-October

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- We started our operations a day after 7-October.

- We started in Shebaa farms then we covered the whole border with operations. What is happening on your front is very important.

- Some naively tell us to join the war in full force. But what is being done now is very important.

- What we did won't be enough and this will only get more intense.

- Not even in 2006, we did what we are doing now. Attacking the whole border, including tanks, soldiers, and equipment.

- The resistance in Lebanon is fighting a real war on the border. A war different than all is battles, in its goals and tools and procedures.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- Let me explain what we did in Lebanon, after all this blood.

- The Israeli army withdrew from our border its regular troops and sent them to Gaza.

- Our attacks forced the Israeli army to bring back troops to the Lebanese border, and we thwarted the Israeli attempts to move its special forces from here to Gaza.

- We put ourselves under fire but denied the army's ability to move all its forces to Gaza.

- I have exact numbers of the Israeli army forces, to single digits. But in simple terms, 1/3rd of the Israeli army is now on our borders.

- Half of the Israeli navy is on our beaches. 1/4th of the Israeli forces are dedicated to Lebanon.

- Half of the Israeli air defence are facing Lebanon.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- The possibility that the war on the Lebanese front will deteriorate into an all-out war is real. The enemy must understand this.

- The Israeli army should be very careful on how to deal with the Lebanese front. The Israeli army is afraid of a full fledge war with Lebanon.

- To the Israeli army, who could be planning a premeditated strike on Lebanon, you would be making the worse mistake in your history.

- What is happening in Gaza, is giving us enough reasons to continue our actions on the Lebanese border.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- They told us if you attack Israel on the border, be aware of the US navy and planes. They will attack you.

- More and more resistance factions will penetrate the Israeli-Lebanese border.

- How this border battle expands, is related to two things. How the situation in Gaza evolves and how truly it evolves.

- The second thing that controls the battle on the border, how the Israeli army acts in Lebanon.

- Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians, might force us again, to kill an Israeli civilian for any Lebanese civilian killed

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

We should all be ready for the future and all its possibilities. Anything can happen.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

The US navy ships you threatening us with, we have the weapons to deal with it. We have taken it into consideration.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

If the US wants to avoid a regional war, stop the war in Gaza.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

If a regional war starts, no navy nor airforce, nothing, will stop us from decimating Israel and US military assets

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- We have not reached a moment when we can one against Israel with one blow. We haven't reached that.

- We win through patience, through small battles. This is how we won in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan

- Our people have lost everything then said, this is for the sake of the resistance.

- It is god's promise for victory for those who belief. Sacrifice is the proof of commitment.

🔴 Secretary-General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

- To our people in Gaza, you will win. We and you, while we are mourning our deaths today, we will meet soon to celebrate victory. ❤️

END OF SPEECH

[miajolensdevotion]

Our Hope Is Christ, The Risen Lord!

WELCOME How was your celebration of Holy Week different this year from previous years?

WORD 1 Peter 3:13-15 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Our grave concern about COVID-19 clearly brings out fear of death. We sometimes think that death is the end of life, forgetting that we are all just passing through on earth. Eternal life & there is no other religion or person who can claim victory over death apart from JESUS; the only ONE who conquered death! In a seemingly hopeless situation, where do you look for HOPE? Hope is so crucial to our daily existence. Research shows that people without hope are the most susceptible to sickness & death. The apostle Peter tells us in

1 Peter 3:14

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

not to be afraid or be troubled & he points his readers towards the HOPE that is IN US. It is JESUS CHRIST alone! Therefore, Jesus has to be central in everything in life. This means that we must take into consideration what JESUS wants us to do in every situation we find ourselves in. Peter instructs believers to sanctify Christ as Lord; which means that you do not only do what He wants you to do, but you also uphold Him as your source of confidence. Peter then encourages his readers that their lives should be so distinctly different so that others who do not believe will see that HOPE IN CHRIST is so much more than any other earthly source of hope. In fact, we are expected to be able to explain this to others effectively. HOPE in the Bible means CERTAINITY & that is why it is very important to put our HOPE in CHRIST, the RISEN LORD!

Hebrews 11:1 By Faith 11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

said “faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” Faith & hope are like a pair of wings; they work together. Ou Christian life will soar in Christ alone! When we say our HOPE is in CHRIST, we have to look at three things that form the basis for this unshakeable confidence we have: His CLAIMS, the PROOFS He gave & the IMPLICATIONS of His resurrection from the dead.

HIS CLAIMS

The only way-Jesus said, “I am the only way”

John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

and it sets Him apart from all the other founders of various religions in the world. His claim was specific; He is the ONLY way & therefore, Jesus defined His ministry with such great & impeccable precision!

God-In the old testament

Isaiah 44:6

Besides Me There Is No God 6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lordof hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

God spoke of who He is; the King, Redeemer & the LORD of Hosts, the first & the last. In the new testament, Jesus made the same claim in

Revelation 1:17-18 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Gives eternal life-In John 10:22-33 I and the Father Are One 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

the Jews demanded that Jesus reveal once & for all if He was indeed the Christ; the promised Savior. Jesus answered that He has the power to give eternal life. In

John 10:30

30 I and the Father are one.”

Jesus stated, “I & the Father are one.” The word “one” used was in tge neuter form, which means they are one in ESSENCE. Who alone can give eternal life other than God? The people understood this, so they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy.

Grants forgiveness-In Mark 2:3-5 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic

Jesus declared to the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven. This was attributed as blasphemy on the part of Jesus & this was why the religious leaders wanted to kill Him, blasphemy was punishable by death. People doubted His ability to forgive sins, but He showed His authority over all by commanding the paralytic to stand up & walk. The people were amazed & glorified God upon seeing this!

Mark 2:6-12 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

PROOFS His resurrection-put simply, the proof of who Jesus is, was His RESURRECTION,

Romans 1:3-4 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David[a] according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

the most important evidence of Christianity! We believe in Jesus because we know from historical & Biblical accounts that He died & rose again; a foundational truth for us Christians. Many people can make claims, as what other religious leaders are doing. But why is our HOPE so secure?

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 The Resurrection of Christ 15 Now I would remind you, brothers,[a] of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

tells us that the most important truth of the gospel is that Jesus died & He rose again on the third day, in fulfillment of prophecies made about Him in the scriptures.

Legal Method-science is not the only way to access & assess truth claims.

1 Corinthians 15:5-8 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

mentons to whom Jesus appeared. These eyewitness include James, the brother of Christ who did not believe in Jesus but eventually led the church in Jerusalem, Paul, who as Saul, persecuted Christians & even to the infamous doubting Thomas:

John 20:26-28 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

These are credible legal evidence from these “adversarial witnesses.”

Martyred followers-the 11 of the 12 apostles of Jesus died for their faith. To risk your life for something that you know is not true is something that you just do not do; but they willingly gave their lives to prove their belief that the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ was TRUE & ultimately important. They have encountered the reality of the resurrection & did not fear death because of this truth.

IMPLICATIONS We are given these wonderful ASSURANCES as we HOPE in

Assurance of forgiveness-

1 Corinthians 15:17-19

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.19 If in Christ we have hope[a] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

reminds us of the assurance of our forgiveness. Many of us have skeletons in our closet. We have done things we know we should not have done, but knowing that Christ can offer absolute, complete pardon & forgiveness, it gives us hope!

Power-we not only have assurance of forgiveness, but according to

Ephesians 1:18-20 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

we are also assured that the same power that made the resurrection possible is at work in us to accomplish His purpose for us.

Eternal life-In

John 11:25-26 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus said that He is the resurrection & the life. All who believe in Him will enjoy eternal life with Him!

Glorious future-

1 Peter 1:3-5 Born Again to a Living Hope 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

promises that our future is so glorious. It is guaranteed & protected by God Himself. That is why we can choose not to fear or be troubled, because a great future awaits us with the Risen King who will be worshipped forever; Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate & remember this Sunday!

DISCUSSION QUESTION: (DONT INCLUDE HERE YOUR PAST EXPERIENCE BECAUSE WE ARE NOW AT THE PRESENT 2020, POST THIS IN YOUR WATTPAD)

How is your sense of hope nowadays considering the pandemic? Have you experienced feeling hopeless? Mia answer: My sense of hope nowadays considering the pandemic by being hopeful to Gods purpose; no I never experienced feeling hopeless Kathy answer:

Where do you put your hope aside from Christ? Mia answer: I put only my hope in Christ Kathy answer:

List down two verse from this lesson that are most meaningful to you. How will you apply the truth in these verses in your life this week? Mia answer: 1 Peter 1:3-5 Born Again to a Living Hope 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

& John 11:25-26 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

I will apply this by continuing believing in faith & put my hope in Christ Kathy answer:

[patsypat]

"The light shines in the darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it." John 1:8 In the liturgical year of the Catholic church, the Christmas season will continue until January 8, the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus.  We celebrate the light, Jesus, that shines in the darkness that engulfs this world. We cannot deny the darkness. 2022 has been a tough year, an extremely challenging one for many of us all around the world. We have been to some dark places, and for some of us, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It can be easy to give up, to lose hope, but the thing is, sometimes God does bring us to dark places because that is where growth occurs. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24 If we leave seeds in the packet, it will remain seeds. But if we plant it in soil, it will grow. God is our gardener and we are His garden, it says in 1 Corinthians 3:9. Our gifts, talents, dreams and goals are just like seeds. Sometimes, we can only see the growth and blooming after it is planted in a time of darkness, of frustration, and even failure. Our resourcefulness, ingenuity, creativity, comes forth in new life. Yes, if we stay in faith, trusting God, refusing to get bitter or pessimistic, God can bring new life out of darkness. Even where Jesus was born two thousand years ago, in Bethlehem, they are still deeply divided. There are grumblings of war between Israel and Jordan. In many places, there is still no room for Jesus to dwell. But just as He brought new life from Mary's dark womb on the first Christmas morning, and new life from Calvary's tomb, He can bring life and healing and restoration to every heart who welcomes Him.  So if we are seeing some darkness now, the message of Christmas is "the light shines in the darkness". It is not time to despair or feel defeated, but time to rejoice! New life is coming! Let us receive Him with joy!  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmzzd9qBTb1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[laineystein]

It has been 73 years since the IDF was created. The recent rise in antisemitism is proof enough:

Never Again is now.

[jewish-privilege]

[December 12, 2020] - For this year’s Hanukkah, Amir is lighting menorah candles and reciting blessings to celebrate the holiday’s eight nights, as many Jews are around the world.

But he does so in secret, worried that Chinese officials will come around – as they often do on religious occasions – to enforce a ban against Judaism, pressuring him to renounce his faith. Sometimes, he’s even called in for interrogations.

(...)

Since 2015, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has waged a harsh campaign against foreign influence and unapproved religion, part of a push to ‘Sinicise’ faith – ripping down church crosses and mosque onion domes, and detaining more than a million Muslims in the western Xinjiang region.

As well as Christians and Muslims, Mr Xi’s suppression has hit China’s tiny congregation of Jews, whose ancestors settled more than a millennium ago along the Yellow River in Kaifeng, then the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.

That such a small group can attract the Communist Party’s ire shows how far the crackdown has spread. Only about 1,000 people in Kaifeng claim Jewish heritage, and of those, only around 100 or are practising Jews, experts say – barely a splash in China’s sea of 1.4 billion. Even at its peak in the 1500s, the community only numbered around 5,000.

“It’s government policy – China doesn’t want to recognise us as Jews,” one man, who dreams of training as a rabbi in Israel, told the Telegraph. “Their goal is to make sure the next generation doesn’t have any Jewish identity.”

At home, he teaches everything he knows to his child, just as his forebears – most likely merchants from Persia – did for generations.

In that way, Kaifeng’s Jewish heritage survived dynasties, wars, natural disasters and the Cultural Revolution, when many destroyed genealogical records to hide their lineage. It has also helped them manage without a rabbi for more than 150 years.

They are fighting to keep their history alive, even though “asserting their desires to be connected with their Jewish heritage falls afoul of the official [Chinese] position on unauthorised religions,” said Anson Laytner, a retired rabbi and president of the Sino-Judaic Institute.

(...)

Chinese authorities are also concerned about undue foreign influence if the Kaifeng Jewish community is allowed to build links with Jews abroad.

“In terms of numbers, it’s so insignificant, but in terms of potential attention, it’s much, much bigger,” said Noam Urbach, an Israeli academic who has studied the Kaifeng Jews. Their existence can “raise a lot of attention among the international Jewish community.”

In Kaifeng, stones engraved as far back as 1489 with the community’s beliefs and ancestry that used to mark a 12th-century synagogue have disappeared from a public exhibit.

An ancient well, believed to be the synagogue’s last ruins, has likewise vanished under a cloak of cement. The authorities have also torn down the city’s few Hebrew signs that once marked the Teaching Torah Lane.

In that same lane, a spot where a few dozen Jews – some of whom were government officials – used to meet for services is now plastered in propaganda about China’s “management of religious affairs.” They include reminders that Judaism is prohibited. A security camera is directed at the entrance.

(...)

The crackdown is so intense that Kaifeng residents are afraid to dine together in public. “It’s a small place,” one Jewish man said. “Restaurant managers know that we are the Jews, and they will report us to the authorities.”

Across the city, the remaining trace of Jewish heritage appears to be two tombstones with the star of David and epitaphs in Chinese and Hebrew – but even this, they fear, will soon be gone.

Yet the Jews in Kaifeng are remarkably resilient, and have found ways to keep their faith alive underground.

Each week, meetings are held in secret to celebrate Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.  Many don’t eat pork, though keeping fully kosher is risky and expensive. But for holidays, they pool money for kosher meat and wine procured through a network of friendly intermediaries.

At home, residents decorate with photos of Israel, stars of David and traditional Passover seder plates, and serve guests tea in jars that used to hold yahrzeit candles lit in memory of the dead.

(...)

Groups like Mr Laytner’s Sino-Judaic Institute and Shavei Israel had previously set up centres to teach Hebrew and Jewish history and traditions, and helped some to emigrate. But both groups were expelled a few years ago, among the first targets of the government crackdown.

Mr Laytner does not consider the suppression to be specifically anti-Semitic – a sentiment experts say is unusual in China. The country sheltered thousands of European Jews fleeing the Nazis, and today, many Chinese view Jews favourably, typecasting them as an affluent bunch in influential positions – bankers, politicians, lawyers, doctors, film directors.

“In fact, the history works in their favour, because Jews were treated like garbage all over the world, but the Chinese accepted them,” said Moshe Yehuda Bernstein, a researcher in Australia who has written on the Kaifeng Jews.

“It’s something the Chinese could be proud of, yet recently in this clampdown on unofficial religions, they’ve taken away all historical evidence of a Jewish presence in Kaifeng, which is absurd.”

China’s ministry of foreign affairs denied the “so-called suppression,” instead highlighting that it had once welcomed Jewish refugees in a written response to the Telegraph.

Kaifeng Jews hope Israel will support them, though they aren't considered Jews under Israeli law – after generations of inter-marriage, Judaism has not been consistently passed down the maternal line. Mr Laytner also doubts that Israel wants to jeopardise Sino-Israeli relations “for the sake of a couple of thousand people."

Indeed Israel has deepened trade ties with China over recent years. The Israeli embassy didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.

But while those in Kaifeng insist they’re proud to be Chinese and only want to preserve their history and traditions, the crackdown has been very painful.

“We love our country; we’re not criminals; we just don’t eat pork,” said Amir, blinking away tears. “Why do we have to practice our faith in secret, and live floating on the fringes of society? It’s really hard to bear.”

[a-queer-seminarian]

Jesus flipping tables: a more accurate & respectful reading

This post shares a large chunk of chapter two of Amy-Jill Levine’s book Entering the Passion of Jesus. (Read the whole chapter as a PDF here.) Levine is a Jewish woman who is also a Professor of New Testament Studies.

Levine combats traditional readings of the text with their antisemitic layers by evincing how Jesus’s anger reflects the anger of his predecessors Jeremiah and Zechariah — an anger focused not on the simple fact that sacrificial animals were sold in the Temples’ outer courts, but on the way the Temple (like many of our worship spaces today) had become a safe place for corrupt oppressors, who behaved as if their daily atrocities would be overlooked by God if they paid for a sacrifice every now and again.

TL;DR: to sum up Levine’s points, she evinces how:

Jesus’s whole table flipping, whip-wielding stunt is more symbolic than practical (echoing similar stunts pulled by his people’s prophets).

Some have argued Jesus is mad about gentiles not being allowed to worship in the temple, but they very much were welcome. (There were places and rituals off limits to them, just as there are certain things non-members can’t do in our own worship spaces, like take communion or be on a committee). 

Jesus wasn’t pissed about animals being sold in the temple’s outer courts; that was normal and logical. There’s also no evidence of exploitation or unjust prices, so he’s not angry about the poor being cheated here either.

Jesus did not reject the Temple, or its laws & rituals! He followed them himself and helped restore people to them. (He even has “zeal for his father’s house.”)

Jesus also isn’t condemning the high priest or other priests with his actions here. That’s just not in the text; plus Caiaphas’s worry about Jesus’s actions inciting political violence that could harm his people were reasonable.

What Jesus is communicating with his table flipping and whip-wielding: he’s upset that the Temple is as “a den of thieves,” a place where people who sin and oppress in their everyday life feel perfectly comfortable, instead of feeling called to repent and reform. His words hearken back to previous prophets with similar concerns.

And finally, in the version of this story told in John’s Gospel, Jesus seems to be looking forward to a time when the Temple is no longer needed, for all places will be sacred and God will speak directly to everyone of every nation -- once again, Jesus is hearkening back to previous prophets who looked forward to the same thing. This is also a concept that the Pharisees were into, so stop depicting the Pharisees as “evil” or “backwards” or completely at odds with Jesus! (One key difference between Jesus’s vision and the Pharisees’ if of course that Jesus identifies a “new temple,” his own body.)

One last thing: if you’re unfamiliar with the various Gospel versions of the “temple cleansing” -- Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:11-17, Luke 19:45-46, and John 2:13-17 -- or want to reference them as you read this post, visit this webpage to read them all.

Without further ado -- the excerpt from Levine.

________________

The incident known as the ‘Cleansing of the Temple’ is described in all four Gospels. Most people have the idea--probably from Hollywood--that this is a huge disruption. When we see this scene depicted in movies, we find Jesus fuming with anger, and we inevitably see gold coins falling down in slow motion. Everything in the Temple comes to a standstill. ...But we are not watching a movie: we are studying the Gospels. 

Here's what we know about the actual setting. We begin by noting that the Temple complex was enormous. It was the size of twelve soccer fields put end to end. So, if Jesus turns over a table or two in one part of the complex, it's not going to make much of a difference given the size of the place.

The action therefore did not stop all business; it is symbolic rather than practical. Our responsibility is to determine what was symbolized.

For that, we need to know how the Temple functioned.

The Jerusalem Temple, which King Herod the Great began to rebuild and which was still under construction at the time of Jesus, had several courts. The inner sanctum, known as the "Holy of Holies," is where the high priest entered, only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to ask for forgiveness for himself and for the people. Outside of that was the Court of the Priests, then the Court of Israel, the Court of the Women, and then the Court of the Gentiles, who were welcome to worship in the Temple. 

The outer court, the Court of the Gentiles, is where the vendors sold their goods. The Temple at the time of Jesus was many things: it was a house of prayer for all nations; it was the site for the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot/Pentecost, and Sukkot/Booths; it was a symbol of Jewish tradition (we might think of it as comparable, for the Jewish people of the time, to how Americans might view the Statue of Liberty); it was the national bank, and it was the only place in the Jewish world where sacrifices could be offered. Therefore, there needed to be vendors on site.

Pilgrims who sought to offer doves (such as Mary and Joseph do, following the birth of Jesus, according to Luke 2:24) or a sheep for the Passover meal would not bring the animals with them from Galilee or Egypt or Damascus. They would not risk the animal becoming injured and so unfit for sacrifice. The animal might fly or wander away, be stolen, or die. And, as one of my students several years ago remarked, "The pilgrims might get hungry on the way." One bought one's offering from the vendors.

And, despite Hollywood, and sermon after sermon, there is no indication that the vendors were overcharging or exploiting the population. The people would not have allowed that to happen. Thus, Jesus is not engaging in protest of cheating the poor.

Next, we need to think of the Temple as something other than what we think of churches. A church, usually, is a place of quiet and decorum. ...The Temple was something much different: It was a tourist attraction, especially during the pilgrimage festivals. It was very crowded, and it was noisy. The noise was loud and boisterous, and because it was Passover, people were happy because they were celebrating the Feast of Freedom. ...We might think of the setting as a type of vacation for the pilgrims: a chance to leave their homes, to catch up with friends and relatives, to see the "big city," and to feel a special connection with their fellow Jews and with God. It is into this setting that Jesus comes.

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Driving out the Vendors 

...It seems to me that Jesus, in the Temple, was angry. But what so angered him? I hear from a number of people, whether my students in class or congregations who have invited me to speak with them, that the Temple must have been a dreadful institution; that it exploited the poor; that it was in cahoots with Rome; that Caiaphas, the High Priest in charge of the Temple, was a terrible person; that it banned Gentiles from worship and so displayed hatred of foreigners; and so forth. ...Some tell me that the Temple imposed oppressive purity laws that forbade people from entering, and so Jesus, who rejected those laws, rejected the temple as well. No wonder Jesus wants to destroy the institution.

But none of those views fits what we know about either Jesus or history.

First, Jesus did not hate the Temple, and he did not reject it. If he did, then it makes no sense that his followers continued to worship there. Jesus himself calls the Temple "my Father's house" (Luke 7:49: John 2:16). ...

Second, Jesus is not opposed to purity laws. To the contrary, he restores people to states of ritual purity. Even more, he tells a man whom he has cured of leprosy, "Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them" (Mark 1:44; see also Matthew 8:4; Luke 5:14). 

Third, Jesus says nothing about the Temple exploiting the population. As we'll see in the next chapter, when we talk about the widow who makes an offering of her two coins, Jesus is concerned not with what the Temple charges, but with the generosity of the worshipers. 

Fourth, we've already seen that the Temple has an outer court, where Gentiles are welcome to worship. They were similarly welcome in the synagogues of antiquity, and today. They do not have the same rights and responsibilities as do Jews, and that makes sense as well. When I [a Jewish woman] visit a church, there are certain things I may not do. We might also think of how nations function: Canadians, for example, cannot do certain things in the USA, such as vote for president; nor can citizens of the USA vote in Canadian elections.

As for Caiaphas...Caiaphas is basically between a rock and a hard place. He is the nominal head of Judea, and he is supposed to keep the peace. Judea is occupied by Rome, and Roman soldiers are stationed there. Caiaphas needs to make sure that these soldiers do not go on the attack. He needs to placate Pilate, and he needs to placate Rome. 

At the same time, as the High Priest, he has a responsibility to the Jewish tradition. Rome wanted the Jews to offer sacrifices to the emperor...but Caiaphas and the other Jews refused to participate in this type of offering because they would not worship the emperor. The most they were willing to do was offer sacrifices on behalf of the emperor and the empire.

When Jesus comes into the city in the Triumphal Entry, when people are hailing him as son of David, Caiaphas recognizes the political danger. The Gospel of John tells us that the people wanted to make Jesus king (John 6:15). Caiaphas has to watch out for the mob. Caiaphas also has to watch out for all these Jewish pilgrims coming from all over the empire celebrating the Feast of Freedom, the end of slavery. When he sees Roman troops surrounding the Temple Mount, Caiaphas has to keep the peace. And Jesus is a threat to that peace. But none of this has to do directly with Jesus' actions in the Temple. He is not at this point protesting Caiaphas's role.

Sometimes I hear people say that Jesus drove the "money lenders” out of the Temple. That's wrong, too. Money-lending was a business into which the medieval church forced Jews, because the church concluded that charging interest was unnatural (money should not beget money). Yet people needed, then and now, to take out loans. The issue for the Gospel is not money lending but money changing. These money changers exchanged the various currencies of the Roman Empire into Tyrian shekels, the type of silver coin that the Temple accepted. We experience the same process when we visit a foreign country and have to exchange our money for the local currency.

So, if Jesus is not condemning the Temple itself, or financial exploitation, or purity practices, what is he condemning? Let's look at what the Gospels actually say.

According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, ...the concern is not the Temple, but the attitude of the people who are coming to it.

In Mark's account Jesus begins by saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?" (11:17). Indeed, it is so written. Jesus is here condensing and then quoting Isaiah 56:6-7... Jesus' rhetorical question should be answered with a resounding “Yes!"--for the Temple already was a house of prayer for all people. More, he is standing in the Court of the Gentiles when he makes his pronouncement. ...Thus, the problem is not that the Temple excludes Gentiles. 

Already we find the challenge, and the risk. Are churches Today houses of prayer for all people, or are they just for people who look like us, walk like us, and talk like us?

How do we make other people feel welcome? Is the stranger greeted upon walking into the church? Is the first thing a stranger hears in the sanctuary, "You're in my seat"? When we pray or sing hymns, do we think of what those words would sound like in a stranger's ears? ...

Matthew and Luke drop out "For all nations," and appropriately so, for they knew it already was a house of prayer for all nations. Matthew and Luke thus change the focus to one of prayer. And prayer gets us closer to what is going on in the Synoptic tradition.

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Den of Thieves

Jesus continues, ‘But you are making it a den of robbers’ (Matthew 21:13). Here he is quoting Jeremiah 7:11: “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight?”

A "den of robbers" (sometimes translated a "den of thieves") is not where robbers rob. "Den” really means "cave," and a cave of robbers is where robbers go after they have taken what does not belong to them, and count up their loot. The context of Jeremiah's quotation -- and remember, it always helps to look up the context of citations to the Old Testament -- tells us this.

Jeremiah 7:9-10 depicts the ancient prophet as condemning the people of his own time, the time right before Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple over five hundred years earlier: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are safe!’ -- only to go on doing all these abominations?" 

Some people in Jeremiah's time, and at the time of Jesus, and today, take divine mercy for granted and see worship as an opportunity to show off new clothes rather than recommit to clothing the naked. The present-day comparison to what Jeremiah, and Jesus, condemned is easy to make: The church member sins during the workweek, either by doing what is wrong or by failing to do what is right. Then on Sunday morning this same individual, perhaps convinced of personal righteousness, heartily sings the hymns, happily shakes the hands of others, and generously puts a fifty-collar bill in the collection plate. That makes the church a den of robbers -- a cave of sinners. It becomes a safe place for those who are not truly repentant and who do not truly follow what Jesus asks. The church becomes a place of showboating, not of fishing for people. 

Jeremiah and Jesus indicted people then, and now. The ancient Temple, and the present-day church, should be places where people not only find community, welcome the stranger, and repent of their sins. They should be places where people promise to live a godly life, and then keep their promises. ...

___________

Stop Making My Father's House a Marketplace

John's Gospel says nothing about the house of prayer or den of robbers. In John's Gospel, Jesus starts not simply by overturning the tables, but also by using a “whip of cords" (since weapons were not permitted in the Temple, he may have fashioned the whip from straw at hand), and driving out the vendors. Jesus when says to the dove sellers, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (John 2:16). He is alluding to Zechariah 14:21, the last verse from this prophet, "and every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sacrifice. And there shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day."

In John's version of the Temple incident, Jesus anticipates the time when there will no longer be a need for vendors, for every house not only in Jerusalem but in all of Judea shall be like the Temple itself. The sacred nature of the Temple will spread through all the people. He sounds somewhat like the Pharisees here, since the Pharisees were interested in extending the holiness of the Temple to every household.

The message is a profound one: Can our homes be as sanctified, as filled with Worship, as the local church?

Do we “do our best" on Sunday From 11 a.m. to 12 noon, but just engage in business is usual during the workweek? Do we pray only in church, or is prayer part of our daily practice? Do we celebrate the gifts of God only when it is time to do so in the worship service, or do we celebrate these gifts morning to night? Is the church just a building, or is the church the community who gathers in Jesus' name, who acts as Jesus taught, who lives the good news? 

Jesus' words, citing Zechariah, do even more. They anticipate a time when all peoples, all nations, can worship in peace, and in love. There is no separation between home and house of worship, because the entire land lives in a sanctified state. Perhaps we can even hear a hint of Jeremiah's teaching of the "new covenant," when "no longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the LORD,’ For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). Can we envision this? Can we work toward it? ...

[dailyaudiobible]

03/16/2022 DAB Transcript

Numbers 24:1-25:18, Luke 2:1-35, Psalm 59:1-17, Proverbs 11:14

Today is the 16th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s great to be here with you today as we move forward on our journey and we are in the book of Numbers we’re reading the story of King Balak of Moab and this prophet figure who can bless and curse named Balaam. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today, Numbers chapter 24 and 25.

Commentary:

Alright so, in the Book of Numbers we are well, we have worked our way through the story of Balak, who is the King of Moab and Balaam who was summoned to curse the children of Israel on behalf of Moab. And there is much for us in our own human experience and in our motives and the way and the why in what we do what we do that can be found in both of these characters in the story. So, we talked some about Balaam yesterday and the talking donkey and him looking like a fool and him only being able to say what God told him to say, which is what we saw play out. He was only able to bless Israel, but whether or not Balaam had mixed motives, we know he did from this story but we also know and we'll see this later in the Scriptures that he made some suggestions. He invited the Moabites to consider sending their women into seduce the children of Israel's men, which is something that we began to see in today's reading. So maybe Moab isn’t gonna be strong enough to take on Israel militarily but maybe they can undermine the culture by getting within them and starting to destroy them from within. But let's turn our attention to King Balak today because that's mostly what we we’re reading. Balaam shows up, Balak wants the children of Israel to be cursed. Altars are made, sacrifices are given, Balaam listens for the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord is to bless and not curse Israel and so, what is Balak do? Let me show you a portion of the camp of Israel from a different place and so they travel to a different peak or a different viewpoint where more sacrifices are made and more listening for the word of the Lord and the word of the Lord hasn't changed. And so Balak’s like, let's, let's go look from another place. Maybe there God will allow you to curse them and so they go to another place, but it's only blessing that God wants to do to Israel and so the word of the Lord hasn't changed just the location where there looking at the children of Israel has changed. Where this really does become something in our lives is how we do that, we’re not getting the answer that we want so, we want to reframe the question in a way that we can get the answer that we want. Let's look at it from over here. Oh, it’s still a no well, let's look at it from over at this angle, this should be a yes, right Lord. Oh it's still and no well, let's look at it from this angle then. Because all we’re doing is looking for the answer that we want, not the answer that we need, not the answer that is the truth. We are looking for what we want and then so often when that doesn't work out, we blame God for what we've done. So, aside from the fact that this story carries us forward in the history of the travels of the children of Israel in the wilderness, it is also a very, very insightful story for us to examine our own hearts posture and motivations for why we do the things that we do. And this the story certainly exposes some of the shadow side of that.

And then in the Gospel of Luke, we must make mention of the fact that what we, what we witness today is the story that we celebrate at Christmas time. The birth of the Savior and the rejoicing and the hope and the peace and goodwill that is offered and all of the people that were waiting for this. And so, I know Christmas is past and is in the future. And so, this is Christmas time but there is no shortage of times to be grateful that God would come for us and become one of us so, that we can see what it looks like to live in this world, as broken as it is, to have this example of being Christlike. An example that lets us know that our lives are headed in that direction when we surrender ourselves to God, we are moving in that direction, Christlike. And if there is any one wise thing that we could do this year, it is not to thwart that in any way. To walk humbly with our God surrendered, that we might be transformed into the image of our Savior. This is the goal and one of the ways that we look at that is to examine the motives of our hearts as we we're doing in the Book of Numbers.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for another day to take another step forward together. We thank You that each day there’s something for us. It’s like You’re so gracious and not dumping all of the things that we’re doing wrong and all of the things that need to be worked on. We realize in our own strength, we are nothing but You have given us an opportunity day-by-day, step-by-step be challenged and comforted in specific areas of our lives that need to be transformed. And the thoughts and intents of our heart, our motives are definitely one of those things that need to be continually and vigilantly examined. So, we thank You for this story of Balak and Balaam that allows us to enter into that story by viewing it through someone else's eyes and then applying it to our own lives and in our own hearts. And so, come Holy Spirit, show us what needs to change and give us power to surrender to You in these changes we ask. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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And that's it for today, I'm Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good evening family, it’s Mikayla from Glosser. It’s Sunday the 12th of March. I hope you’re well. I’m just calling with an update really and some advice I suppose. So, on the 1st of December, 2021 I started journaling. So, I’ve attempted before, it’s not a habit that’s ever really stuck or something that I’ve ever really been consistent in. But on the 1st of December I started just because I needed an outlet. I needed to get my thoughts out you know, down onto paper and also to use as a way of crying out to God and getting those things down. And you know, 3 and half months later more or less, I’m still doing that. You know, and I can see the change, going back and reading, you know, those December entries to where I am now. You know, only God, you know, it’s only by God’s grace that I am where I am now. And I can say, at times I’m still struggling, you know, you still battling some negative thoughts or the temptations to pick up previous coping mechanisms. But you know that will, it’s a slippery slope, that you have no control over. So, it’s just, yeah, I coveted advice, if it’s your thing, to try you know, at the end of the day, just talking to God and committing that to paper and see where that goes.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community. This is Diane Olive Brown with my husband Jeff and it’s about five after six in the morning central time. Shalom, shalom, nothing is missing and nothing is broken. I'm responding this morning to Karen in St. Louis who has wanted a husband all of her life and she, she just wants a husband. And I would like to pray with you Karen because it's something to want. My husband, we’ve been married, will be 50 years, I think this July. And we’ve married and it's been such a wonderful marriage. And I would like to pray for you to have a husband by God, given by God who is Jesus with skin on. That’s all I can tell you about my husband. I don't deserve it. I’ve been a mess all my life. And here he is this farm boy, just does everything right, quiet, steady as you go. And I’m the helium balloon he’s holding on to. But something in me says, if she wants a husband, a good husband. Who’s to say that God can’t give her good husband this late in life. And so, Karen in St. Louis, I am going to believe God for you to get a husband like my husband who is Jesus with skin on.

Hey my tremendous DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Family, it’s day 72. I'm praying for marriages. And today, I want to pray for missionaries Bob and Barbara in Nicaragua. You guys didn't actually request prayer, when I heard you call in. But you just made mention of the fact of the work that you’re doing for the Lord on the mission field and I just felt prompted to pray for you. So, thank you so much for what you guys are doing for the kingdom. Father, I lift up missionaries Bob and Barbara in Nicaragua. God, I thank You so much that they have said here we are Lord, send us. I thank You that they went, Lord, as you sent them and I'm asking Lord, that You would continue to equip Bob and Barbara and I pray that You would give them all the resources that they need. Bless the school that they are over, the children that they are caring for and teaching and instructing in the word of God and all the things that they are administering to the country of Nicaragua. I ask Lord, that You would let Your hand of provisions be upon them. Let Your hand of favor be upon them. Will you cause no good thing to be withheld from them as they continue to walk up right before You on the mission field. Thank You for this precious man and woman, this son and daughter of Yours, Lord. And I'm asking that You will bless their home, bless their family and everything that they put their hands to. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hello precious family, this is Shannon from Salem, Oregon. I would love for you to pray for my husband, he is part of a team that is working in the UK on an evangelistic tour that will be happening throughout the spring and summer. So, my husband Brett is in the area of Sheffield, England. But there are teams located in several cities throughout the UK. And I am so delighted that Sarah from London responded to my recording a little while back. And we've been emailing each other and God’s Smile and I have been messaging each other too. So, if any other brothers and sisters from the UK want to connect, I would love to be praying intentionally with you, for you, for your communities and you're free to, feel free to message me through Facebook, I’m a member of the DAB friends’ group there or my email too. My email is shannon@innocencefound.org. So, like the opposite of innocence lost shannon@innocencefound.org and I would love to connect and pray. Pray also for our family and the many other families of these staff members that right now are away from home, more than they’re home. As their kind of leading up to these events. My husband comes home on Wednesday of this coming week. And he’ll be home for about a week and half and then be off again, back to the UK. So, it's challenging but the Lord sustains us. So, I would appreciate your prayers everyone. Love you all, bye.

Hello family, my name is Grace. I called before, a year or two ago asking prayer for the bullies in my life. It’s going on three years. I’m to the breaking point. What I don't have the strength to continue to endure and I don’t feel like I can go back to my work. I don’t have the strength to do it. So, I’m asking you to pray for a solution in my situation that God would just do His will in my life. And I ask you to pray for the bullies in my life to be restored. My desire has been and I have endured so that I can show them the love of Jesus through me. But that has not come to any effectiveness in their life, I don’t see fruit in that but only in the fact that they continue to persecute me. And now I’m just unable to continue family so, I’m begging you please for you pray with me for a resolution. I’m a single lady, I’m 55 now and very little means. So, please pray because I might lose my job and I just don’t know what else to do. I just need my family to be there for me so I’m … thank you Brian, thank you family for this, it has hold me through the most difficult times in my life. I have endured a lot but God is faithful.

[hiddur-mitzvah]

There is a lot going around about what is happening in Jerusalem, and while I am no where near an expert on the conflict, I will offer my pov as an American Jew.

To start: I support Palestinians. It is cruel and inhumane to force people from their homes and into the homes of oppressors. However, the exact same can be said for Israel.

Following WWII, hundreds of thousands of Jews were left homeless and penniless. Their homes had been destroyed, they had been separated from their families. They quite literally had nothing except the people they were next to, and an insurmountable amount of pain and trauma and uncertainty. Following WWII, these Jews were refugees. The only places left to go were Allied camps in a defeated Axis territories.

Throughout the war and after, the Allied powers did not want to deal with these refugees (see SS St.Louis). They had freed them, but only as an after thought. They didn’t fight WWII for the Jews, they didn’t give a shit about the Jews. So America passed legislation severely limiting the number of immigrants from Europe (it was almost exclusively used to prevent Jews from imitating). Meanwhile, Britain, France and the rest of Europe were in shambles having been the fighting grounds of the war.

So what to do with these enormous amounts of refugees who conveniently have been trying to get back into their holy land since they were kicked out ~2,000 years ago? Let them back into their holy land, which Britain just so happened to own. However when making this decision Britain and the UN “forgot” that there were people already there. So Britain drafts up an intentionally vague declaration saying the Jewish refugees are going to live in the Palestine Mandate.

What follows is a complicated war with a lot of grey area, but the main idea is this: some Jews wanted to live in the Palestine Mandate. Some Palestinians did not want Jews in the Palestine mandate because they would have to be nice to the Jews (who they saw as foreign invaders) and let them see their holy sights. Commence, war. In the end the Jews somehow win and get a bunch of land and the surrounding Arab countries are pissed and vow to never recognize the existence of Israel. During this conflict Britain also breaks pretty much every promise they made to both Jews and Arabs causing a huge mess each side blamed the other for.

This brings us to today when Israel has given some of the lands the won back to the original owners in exchange for recognition and peace (kind of). What is important to note is that during this whole process, Jews were facing antisemitism and fleeing to Israel. The war itself caused a huge surge of antisemitism in the east and several surrounding Arab nations kicked/forced out their Jewish populations. These Jews then went to the closest (and pretty much only) safe place for Jews: Israel.

And remember how at the end of WWII Jews were prevented from entering most of Europe, well one of the few countries who did welcome Jews was Russia. This of course caused problems when Russia -> USSR and religion became a bad thing again. Simultaneously, the USSR was blaming Jews for capitalism, and the USA was blaming Jews for communism. The USSR persecuted Jews via the KGB and generally making being Jewish illegal. The USA persecuted Jews via the CIA and making being Jewish treason (because. . . National security?). So here we have a whole new batch of Jews being persecuted who really would just like to be aloud to live their life without fear of persecution. The solution: Israel is giving citizenship to Jews all around the world so they can escape antisemitism.

All right, I think that is enough backstory. All of this is to say: Israel is important to the existence of Judaism and the Jewish people. There has literally never been a time when Jews weren’t being kicked out of some country or another. These Jews would leave for a country not persecuting Jews, only to be kicked out a few decades later. To Jews, Israel was revolutionary. There was finally a place they could go where they wouldn’t have to worry about being kicked out. Even in the middle of war, Jews flocked to Israel because if they won, they could finally call a place home. They would no longer be an other.

I call myself a Zionist because I fear what a world without Israel would look like. I fear for my Jewish siblings around the world facing much worse antisemitism than me. I fear the “anti Zionist” movement and how quickly I have see it turn to outright antisemitism. I full stop support Palestinian self-determination. But I have to support them from the Zionist side of the fence.

I fear that letting go of the title “Zionist” will also let go of the people who need Israel to exist. I fear it will erase the history of oppression Jews are already struggling to keep alive. I fear the increase in antisemitic hate crimes every time Israel makes the news. I fear wearing my kippah or Magen David outside because I don’t want to be next.

I dream of a land of milk and honey. A land where I no longer have to fear being Jewish. A land where I don’t have to fight to get even the most basic holidays off. A land where Jewish celebration can be public. A land where the streets can be lined with parades for Rosh Hashanah. A land where I can take off the holiest day of the year. A land where my synagogue doesn’t have to hire extra security around Chanukah. A land where I no longer am numb to the brutalization of my people. A land where 2% of the population doesn’t make up more than 50% of all religiously motivated hate crimes.

Above all, I want a land where I know I am safe.

TL;DR: People hate Jews. We just want to exist without fear.

[1234-waystodie]

The Israeli-Palestine conflict

*for the disclaimer - this message was written by an Israeli citizen who is following what happens in Gaza closely from news all over the world*

Thank you for reading this message. I will start with the fact that I’m not going to refer to the start of the conflict (who the land belongs to, who was here first) because it’s not relevant to the point that I’m trying to get to. This message talks about the present-day - Israel is a state, Gaza is not. Israel is a democracy, Gaza is being controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization. Those are facts and you can look them up at Google if you don’t believe me. Okay so - let’s talk about the present conflict, “Shomer Hachomot”. It all started with what happened in Jerusalem. Frankly, I’m not going to get into this either because you can look at this both ways but I will say this - nobody shot anybody just because they were in a certain place. Jerusalem is a very complicated story and I’ll admit I didn’t really dig about what happened there. The fact is that after what happened in Jerusalem a group of Israeli-Arabs radicals who lived their whole life in peace with their neighborhoods, Israeli-Jews, made violent acts across the mixed cities (Lod, Ramle, Jerusalem, Haifa)... Cities that just a couple of days before were safe and happy for both sides became war zones - Arabs (again, radicals, there are a lot of Arabs that are against the way others act) lit things on fire, broke things across the city, tried and killed a citizen that was on his way home and made a lot of damage both to the city but more importantly to the trust of their neighborhoods who did nothing wrong.

Just for those who don’t understand how bad things got - my father bought a week before everything went down in Ramle meat from a nice Arab man who gave coffee and a warm welcome as my father was new to his shop. I used to get into Umm al-Fahm, An Arab village, to buy stuff. Now people are afraid to walk the street - a jew that lived all his life in that mixed city was killed when he drove through it, people broke his window, took him out of his car and hit him with a brick to his head and he died. Murdered.

So, as “support” Hamas started firing rockets from Gaza to Israel and that’s how “Shomer Hachomot” - the current operation started. Now, the drill is this - Hamas is firing rockets at the citizens of Israel. Israel tells them to stop and if they don’t they fire in Gaza and that’s the part you need to read closely. 

Israel is not firing at civilians. It’s a fact and if you don’t believe me you can look at videos such as https://www.facebook.com/ynetnews/posts/10159905254995572 Translation: “Check if there are any children here.” “There are kids here, they are moving fast.” “Wow, we think there are kids here. We are stopping this.” “Right? there is a big one and a couple of small ones.” “We are suspecting that there are kids and we will not do it, we wouldn’t risk their life.” “Yes.”

So, why Israel was planning to fire in that place in the first place? Simple this is the point that I feel that most of the world doesn’t understand. When Israel fires at Gaza it doesn’t aim at civilians. Hamas is firing missiles and building headquarters where the civilians are so when Israel will come and kill Hamas members the citizens will be in the crossfire as well and then they would say “Israel is killing civilians!” 

Now you would say “this is not an excuse they are still firing at civilians!” Wrong. 

Israel is giving a couple of hours’ notice before they are attacking a building with civilians in it. Just a couple of days ago a big news tour was brought down - one of the reporters, from the Gaza side, who worked there wrote a breaking story about how they got a short notice, about how he couldn’t get most of the things he holds dear out. About how people that are leaving there are homeless. What he ‘forgot’ to say was that the building was the headquarters of Hamas, and they were the target of this Israeli raid. All the citizens by the way are well and alive because, as I said, Israel always tells beforehand so that people wouldn’t get hurt. 

A couple of days ago we saw the picture and video of a young girl (6) that was rescued from the distraction of her home after an Israeli raid destroyed a building close to hers. Tragic. Again what the media left out was that Hamas build tunnels underneath the city so he could hide from civilians and Israelis alike and when Israel destroyed a building that was related to Hamas the tunnels underneath collapsed which, unexpectedly, led to homes of innocent civilians collapsing as well - hence what happened with this 6-year-old. Israel doesn’t want innocent civilians to be killed and there was no way to know this would happen - a thing that Israel by the way said and apologized for as it was not planned to happened.

I don’t remember when but sometime in this operation a rocket that was fired from Gaza and was supposed to lend in Israel landed in Gaza and killed kids. Do you know what the media in Gaza did? That’s right kids - they took pictures and posted that Israeli rid killed those kids. Because that’s easy to blame the enemy when the whole world thinks it’s their fault anyway so why not make things worst? Another point that makes people hate Israel is the Iron Dome. Fewer people in Israel are getting killed because of that - for those who don’t know what the Iron Dome is, it’s “is a mobile all-weather air defense system[8] developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.[7] The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) to 70 kilometers (43 mi) away and whose trajectory would take them to an Israeli populated area.[9][10]” (taken from Wikipedia)

That is the face of Israel - defend and protect citizens while Hamas is doing everything he can to attack Israeli citizens without thinking twice about the life of people in Gaza.  

Funny story, did you know that Israel gives Gaza food, fuel, electricity, medicine, aid, money, and far more? Every month? Yes, taxes from people like me and my friends go to Gaza to help them. My money goes to help Gaza citizens, my government tries to help Gaza citizens and it’s been happening for the last 20 years.

Now let’s talk about what happened world-wild. When things are bad for Israel do you know who the rest of the world blames? Jewish people. Notice how from anti-Israeli the hate became to be anti-Semite. In London, my favorite place on earth, people called out to “rape all the Jewish girls.” In Montreal people are looking to find Jewish houses to attack the people in the house, my friend told me that she knows a girl our age that is afraid to go out of the house. They called a mutual friend of hers who is Christian to threaten her if she doesn’t give them her location so they could hurt her friend. Only a month ago a citizen from my city was murdered in the US for being Jewish. He was there to celebrate the wedding of his family and was murdered. For being Jewish. 

Believe me when I say that non of the citizens of Israel are happy for how people in Gaza are suffering. It’s awful. But, and it’s a big but, it’s not Israel’s fault it’s Hamas. So yes, #freeGazafromHamas is the hashtag that needs to go around, it doesn’t have to be Israel VS Gaza, us or them, life if not black and white, it needs to be #IstandwithIsrael while also saying #freeGazafromHamas. 

To sum up - please read more than one source and don’t believe everything that the media is saying. I know it became a trend to hate Israel because a lot of celebrities see what’s on the media and decided not to question anything and hate a country that is just trying to protect itself. And please, god please, stop hating Jewish people who have nothing to do with what happens in the middle east. If you have any more questions or if you want to make a civil conversation you can always write me <3

[dfroza]

“In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life.

So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.”

“The words I have been teaching you are spirit and life, but some of you do not believe.”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 6th chapter of the book of John:

Once this had transpired, Jesus made His way to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (which some these days call the Sea of Tiberias). As Jesus walked, a large crowd pursued Him hoping to see new signs and miracles; His healings of the sick and lame were garnering great attention. Jesus went up a mountain and found a place to sit down and teach. His disciples gathered around. The celebration of the Passover, one of the principal Jewish feasts, would take place soon. But when Jesus looked up, He could see an immense crowd coming toward Him. Jesus approached Philip.

Jesus (to Philip): Where is a place to buy bread so these people may eat?

Jesus knew what He was planning to do, but He asked Philip nonetheless. He had something to teach, and it started with a test.

Philip: I could work for more than half of a year and still not have the money to buy enough bread to give each person a very small piece.

Andrew, the disciple who was Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.

Andrew: I met a young boy in the crowd carrying five barley loaves and two fish, but that is practically useless in feeding a crowd this large.

Jesus: Tell the people to sit down.

They all sat together on a large grassy area. Those counting the people reported approximately 5,000 men—not including the women and children—sitting in the crowd. Jesus picked up the bread, gave thanks to God, and passed it to everyone. He repeated this ritual with the fish. Men, women, and children all ate until their hearts were content. When the people had all they could eat, He told the disciples to gather the leftovers.

Jesus: Go and collect the leftovers, so we are not wasteful.

They filled 12 baskets with fragments of the five barley loaves. After witnessing this sign that Jesus did, the people stirred in conversation.

Crowd: This man must be the Prophet God said was coming into the world.

Jesus sensed the people were planning to mount a revolution against Israel’s Roman occupiers and make Him king, so He withdrew farther up the mountain by Himself.

Later that evening the disciples walked down to the sea, boarded a boat, and set sail toward Capernaum. Twilight gave way to darkness. Jesus had not yet joined them. Suddenly, the waves rose and a fierce wind began to rock the boat. After rowing three or four miles through the stormy seas, they spotted Jesus approaching the boat walking mysteriously upon the deep waters that surrounded them. They panicked.

Jesus (to the disciples): I am the One. Don’t be afraid.

They welcomed Jesus aboard their small vessel; and when He stepped into the boat, the next thing they knew, they were ashore at their destination.

The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.

Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.

Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?

Jesus: I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.

Crowd: What do we have to do to accomplish the Father’s works?

Jesus: If you want to do God’s work, then believe in the One He sent.

Crowd: Can You show us a miraculous sign? Something spectacular? If we see something like that, it will help us to believe. Our fathers ate manna when they wandered in the desert. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus: I tell you the truth: Moses did not give you bread from heaven; it is My Father who offers you true bread from heaven. The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.

Crowd: Master, we want a boundless supply of this bread.

Jesus: I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty. Here I am standing in front of you, and still you don’t believe. All that My Father gives to Me comes to Me. I will receive everyone; I will not send away anyone who comes to Me. And here’s the reason: I have come down from heaven not to pursue My own agenda but to do what He desires. I am here on behalf of the Father who sent Me. He sent Me to care for all He has given Me so that nothing and no one will perish. In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life. So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.

Some of the Jews began to grumble quietly against Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

Crowd: Isn’t Jesus the son of Joseph? We know His parents! We know where He came from, so how can He claim to have “come down from heaven”?

Jesus: Stop grumbling under your breaths. If the Father who sent Me does not draw you, then there’s no way you can come to Me. But I will resurrect everyone who does come on the last day. Among the prophets, it’s written, “Everyone will be taught of God.” So everyone who has heard and learned from the Father finds Me. No one has seen the Father, except the One sent from God. He has seen the Father. I am telling you the truth: the one who accepts these things has eternal life. I am the bread that gives life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died as you know. But there is another bread that comes from heaven; if you eat this bread, you will not die. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven to rescue those who eat it. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. The bread that I will give breathes life into the cosmos. This bread is My flesh.

The low whispers of some of Jesus’ detractors turned into an out-and-out debate.

Crowd: What is He talking about? How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?

Jesus: I tell you the truth; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not know life. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, then you will have eternal life and I will raise you up at the end of time. My flesh and blood provide true nourishment. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will abide in Me and I will abide in you. The Father of life who sent Me has given life to Me; and as you eat My flesh, I will give life to you. This is bread that came down from heaven; I am not like the manna that your fathers ate and then died! If you eat this bread, your life will never end.

He spoke these words in the synagogue as part of His teaching mission in Capernaum. Many disciples heard what He said, and they had questions of their own.

Disciples: How are we supposed to understand all of this? It is a hard teaching.

Jesus was aware that even His disciples were murmuring about this.

Jesus: Has My teaching offended you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascend to return to where He came from? The Spirit brings life. The flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have been teaching you are spirit and life, but some of you do not believe.

From the first day Jesus began to call disciples, He knew those who did not have genuine faith. He knew, too, who would betray Him.

Jesus: This is why I have been telling you that no one comes to Me without the Father’s blessing and guidance.

After hearing these teachings, many of His disciples walked away and no longer followed Jesus.

Jesus (to the twelve): Do you want to walk away too?

Simon Peter: Lord, if we were to go, whom would we follow? You speak the words that give everlasting life. We believe and recognize that You are the Holy One sent by God.

Jesus: I chose each one of you, the twelve, Myself. But one of you is a devil.

This cryptic comment referred to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he was the one of the twelve who was going to betray Him.

The Book of John, Chapter 6 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

How is it possible to follow this path and believe these truths? To be honest, it is not easy. In fact, some find this so hard that they leave Jesus for good. The rest readily admit they are still working on what it means to follow Him. So Jesus leaves behind a number of practices to help believers. One of these is known as the Lord’s Supper. Jesus instructs His disciples to break bread and share wine to remember how He will allow His body to be broken for all humankind. In some beautiful, mysterious way, Jesus is present in the simple elements of bread and wine, so the worshiper may touch Him, taste His richness, and remember His most glorious hours on the cross. In that moment, He embraces all darkness and shame and transforms them into light. As believers come to the table together and feast on His light, life seems more hopeful and complete. Taking the bread and the wine means affirming the reality that the One who has come to liberate souls is among and within His people.

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 8th chapter of the book of Isaiah:

The Eternal told me to take a large tablet and write—“Swift the Spoils of War and Speedy Comes the Attacker”— and to get believable witnesses, both the priest Uriah and Zechariah (Jeberechiah’s son), to watch me do it. I approached the prophetess—a woman who, like me, speaks for God—and she became pregnant and had a son, whom the Eternal said I should name Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Swift-the-Spoils-of-War-and-Speedy-Comes-the-Attacker); because before he is old enough to say “My father” or “My mother” the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carted off to become the property of their enemy, the king of Assyria.

The Eternal One explained to me,

Eternal One: This disaster will happen because this people have rejected the stream of Shiloah

that flows gently to Zion.

Instead they rejoice over Rezin and Remaliah’s son.

Just watch—the Lord will overwhelm them

with great waves of the Euphrates River.

Like a river, Assyrian might and glory will bear down on them;

it will rise over its banks as unstoppable as a raging flood.

This Mesopotamian power will pour into Judah, rise and pass through,

wreaking near-fatal havoc.

And its reach will extend over all your land.

God, be with us.

Go ahead, make your alliances, you peoples, yet you’ll be crushed.

Listen closely, even if you’re far away:

Get ready for battle—get ready to be battered;

get ready for battle—get ready to be shattered.

Go ahead, devise your plans, but they will fail;

your proclamations won’t matter because God is with us.

See, this is what the Eternal told me. God leaned in close—His strong hand on me—to keep me from following these people.

Eternal One: Don’t call for an alliance, like all the rest of this people do.

Don’t fear what they fear, or dread what they dread.

After all, only the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, should terrify you.

Only God is holy. Only God should leave you trembling.

Look what I’m going to do in Zion:

The Eternal will be for you a sacred place,

But for both houses of Israel I’ll also be a stone that blocks their way

and a rock that trips them up;

For those who live in Jerusalem, I’ll be a trap and a snare.

Many will stumble over them. They will trip and be broken;

they’ll succumb to capture and be grabbed up.

Now take care to keep this message as it is.

Seal up this teaching

and hand it over to my disciples.

As for me, I will wait for the Eternal, even though He feels absent, even though He has hidden His face from the family of Jacob. I will put all hope in Him. You see, I and my children whom the Eternal One gave to me, we personify the promise. We are signs of what God intends and will do in Israel, what amazing things the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies has in mind, the One who is indeed present in Zion, this heaven on earth.

People might tell you to ask the fortune-tellers, consult the babbling astrologers, conjure the dead to tell the living what’s to come, but shouldn’t they ask their God? Go to God’s teaching and His testimony to guide your thoughts and behavior! If any response disagrees with the word of God, then it’s muddling and wrong and not the least bit illuminating. It leaves the people bedraggled and desperate, drifting here and there. In their hunger, the people are bound to be infuriated and curse their king and God. They’ll look up to the heavens and down to the earth, yet see nothing but trouble, gloom, anguish, and darkness. They will be driven out into the darkness.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 8 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

No one wants to believe that God would use foreign power to wreak destruction on other lands and peoples. Yet, as God is holy, so God’s place must be holy. He simply cannot dwell where holiness is not. He cannot make a larger-than-life Zion out of an earthly Jerusalem, unless that place (and its people, of course) are right. At best, these people seem to think that paying lip service to God is enough; at worst, they don’t even care about God. A simple explanation is the people must be clean and holy. And this condition of rightness, holiness, and cleanliness is a product of how they are—in relation not only to God, but also to each other and the very land itself; these things are inseparable. The consequences of their failure to ensure the holiness of this sacred place by being right with God, land, and others are dire indeed. God must cleanse His people and place because He determines to be represented within and by them. So, better days will come again, and His covenant people will be set right and be happy and prosperous again.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, july 4 of 2023 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that illuminates trust in God:

"If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me, for the darkness cannot hide from You, but the night shines as the day: nothing escapes your radiance" (Psalm 139:11-12).

The heart of faith confesses that the light of God overcomes all the darkness, even the darkness of our own hearts, and furthermore affirms that we can trust that God is in our darkness, in the silence, in the unknown... Yeshua was covered by the dark cloud as He suffered on the cross on your behalf. You come out of the shadows when you admit that you act just like other people, that you are human, in need of reconciliation yourself... Above all you need God. You need help. You need a miracle to help you to truly love. You may find excuses for many things, but you cannot escape the "wretched man that I am" reality that is grounded in your fears.

God sees in the darkness and is present there, too. When you feel alone, like an unbridgeable gulf lay between you and all that is good; when you feel like you want to scream but are afraid that even then no one would hear, may the LORD shine His light upon you... Amen, may His light shine upon you.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

========

Psalm 139:11 reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm139-11-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page pdf:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm139-11-lesson.pdf

7.3.23 • Facebook

from yesterday’s email by Israel 365:

The Hebrew words for “teacher” and “parent” are moreh and horeh, two words that are linguistically related to the word Torah, for teachers and parents instruct their students and children in the ways of holiness, just as the Torah does for Israel and for all of humanity.

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 4, 2023

True Freedom

“As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16)

We who live in what the song writer called the “sweet land of liberty” have a great responsibility to preserve that freedom which our forefathers obtained for us at great cost over two centuries ago. At the same time, we must not turn liberty into license. It would surely hurt those brave and godly men if they could see how we now use “freedom of choice” to justify murdering innocent children before they are born, and how we use “freedom of speech” to warrant fouling the eyes and ears of our children with widespread pornography and to promote all kinds of immoral behavior in our society in general. No nation can remain free very long after such practices become widely accepted by its citizens. We need to pray for revival!

The same warning applies to the abuse of our spiritual freedom in Christ. As the apostle Paul said and repeated: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient” (1 Corinthians 6:12; also 1 Corinthians 10:23, where he added that “all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not”).

As Peter says in our text, even though we are “free” and have real “liberty,” we are nevertheless “servants of God,” where the Greek word doulos actually connotes “bond servants,” or even “slaves.” Our liberty in Christ is not freedom to sin whenever we so choose, but rather freedom from our former bondage to sin. “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

Although our nation is rapidly becoming anti-Christian in belief and practice, we Christians can still best serve our nation and our Savior by practicing and proclaiming Christ’s wonderful saving gospel of free salvation from sin and regeneration unto righteousness. HMM

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

How do I write a world where non-earth religions (I’m creating them) are both diverse, and also common place to see people participate in multiple religions’ festivities or rituals. One, because there’s distance to actual religion and entering common lifestyle. Example like on earth plenty of non Christians are holding Christmas parties, it’s a common thing and not overtly religious. Two, or why not because of the diversity, religions simply mix together. Like on earth why not have fasting like Muslims do simply become a common lifestyle custom alongside Buddhist meditations also being common lifestyle customs. Three. Like two, but why can’t someone on earth be both Muslim and Buddhist?? Does that even make sense?

I only gave you real life religions as example only, for ease of explaining, not at all what I’ll use.

Also in this kind of world, how would you see religious tolerance? Can it honestly really be in harmony? How about the bigots? There’s still got to be some won’t there? Especially when daily lifestyles, or simply in the architecture and design throw all sorts of religion in their faces they can’t avoid unless they live under a rock.

Feral:

I’m not sure what the question is here. Should some people in your world participate in religious festivals that do not align with their beliefs? It’s certainly possible, and it depends on the religion in question. Christianity is inherently an evangelical religion; “witnessing” is the call of every Christian, so Christian religious activities tend to be geared towards welcoming non-believers with the intent on making them believers. Not to mention nearly all Christian festivals were the festivals of other religions that Christians reshaped into their own. And not to mention the commercialization of Christmas specifically has fundamentally changed how Christmas is viewed by Christians and non-Christians alike; I’ve heard it said, and am inclined to believe more or less, that even Christians in Victorian England really didn’t celebrate Christmas until Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol.” So, Christmas, for example, is of such mixed ancestry and exists in such a way as to be welcome for outsiders to “celebrate” without already believing in the underlying religion. It’s very important to keep in mind that this happens in culturally Christian regions or where Christmas has been so commercialized that people couldn’t even tell you its religious significance; and a lot of people of minority religions really fucking hate it - it’s insulting to be told that displaying a hanukiah at work is against company policy because you can’t have anything overtly religious on display when you’re surrounded by Christmas trees and listening to Christmas carols like “Oh Holy Night” piped in over the sound system. So you’ll want to keep in mind that some people will view a religious festival that’s “ubiquitously” celebrated as a dominant religion being forced on them at the expense of their own religious identity. You’ll also likely have religions that don’t proselytize and have absolutely no interest whatsoever in non-believers participating in their holy days - they’re holy! They’re meant for the people who already believe.

I’ve already briefly touched on why some religions would have a problem with non-believers crowding in on their holidays, but it’s worth repeating - not all religions are like Christianity. I’d go so far as to say that no other religions are like Christianity in this particular way. As for your examples regarding “Muslim fasting” and “Buddhist meditation”? People do fast. People do meditate. And it has nothing to do with religion. A lot of what makes “Muslim fasting” Muslim is prayer and dedication to Allah; if you’re removing that religious aspect of it, then you’re just fasting. And fasting is part of a number of religions, so it’s really hard to say which religion it comes from once the religion has been stripped away. As for meditation, meditation gained a lot of traction in the West because of the explosion of yoga. Which is a religious practice in Hinduism and Buddhism (and Jainism). It’s just been stripped of the religion, and like with fasting, meditation is found in many religions around the world; it’s just not that unique.

So, Buddhism is quite famous for being adoptable into other religious practices. Like if you had asked “why can’t someone be Muslim and Hindu?” my answer would have to be a run-down of the many fundamental theological reasons why those two religions are incapable of coinciding in a single person’s beliefs; however, Buddhism or Buddhist practices can be practiced alongside most religions. It’s non-theist, so there’s no creator deity that could contradict the beliefs of monotheists, polytheists, and atheists. Buddhism and Christianity have this whole huge long history, and Buddhism and Catholicism specifically dovetail really nicely together. What you’re talking about is syncretic religion, and it’s pretty common worldwide and throughout history.

The answers to all of those questions depend so intimately on how you build your religions and what their specific beliefs are. Some religions are naturally exclusivist, or you might have soft polytheism. It’s your world and your religions; we cannot make these decisions for you. If you want fundamentalism and bigotry to be a part of your world, then you can build your religions in such a way that those things would naturally occur. If you want harmony across religions to be a part of your world, then you can build your religions in such a way that that would naturally occur. You can even have it both ways! A world is a big place, and how people interact with their religion and the religions of others depends largely on where in the world they are and who else is there with them. A cosmopolitan culture where you have everyone brushing elbows with everyone else will have people developing a tolerance and softening their hardline views that would not occur in a more homogenous society where one religion is dominant.

Delta: A note about bigotry and prejudice: In geopolitics on earth, religious intolerance tends to be about one of two things: first, the majority religion (in the western world, Christianity) feeling compelled to force itself on other populations who do not share their beliefs. Examples of this include the Spanish Inquisition and, to some extent, “evangelical aid.” In Christianity, evangelicalism is a very important concept; sharing the religion is almost as important as a person’s personal faith. Off the top of my head, as Feral discussed, I can’t think of another religion with quite the same focus; so, by eliminating this element of religion, a huge amount of conflict could be eliminated if practitioners weren’t compelled to make all their acquaintances agree with them all the time. (Which is not to say all Christians just walk around proselytizing all the time, but it is fairly common in America; though I understand it to be somewhat less common in Europe, which through both culture and law has become more secular; more on this later.)

Second, it’s also about not wanting to concede power or control. A huge motivating factor behind all the Medieval Inquisitions, including the Spanish Inquisition, was the effort to curb what people in power considered religious heresy or just straight-up religious differences. They thought it was their place to dictate a group’s religious beliefs. Spain in particular was trying to stop the spread of Islam through the growing Ottoman Empire, which comes down to Medieval geopolitics as much as it does the religious differences between Islam and Christianity. Modern Islamophobia and religious conflict falls in this category a lot, too. But if your religions weren’t tied to more extensive geopolitical conflicts, you won’t have politicians using them as leverage to take and keep power like we do, so you could reduce religious tolerance that way, too.

Finally, secularism, which doesn’t directly address your question, but I wanted to mention it. In China, the official Communist Party has been somewhat infamously aggressively secular because religion was seen as a potentially rebellious force. Soviet Russia had similar experiences, both particularly with Muslim populations with whom they have political differences with besides, religion in this instance becoming a motivating factor for rebellion.

This is different from someplace like France, which aims to simply be neutral. Europe, overall, does not share the same public religious zeal that places like Israel, America, and Saudi Arabia have, but that doesn’t mean the conflict isn’t there.

Utuabzu: Something worth considering is are these gods real in the world you’re building? If the gods are demonstrably real, religiousness will be a lot more common and people are probably going to be more accepting of those that worship different deities given that any claims about them being false are easily refuted. Another thing to consider is the difference between philosophy and religion. In the West, Christianity fills both slots for many people (Judaism and Islam also do for some). In much of Asia, however, philosophies like Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Yoga (the Hindu philosophical school, one of six major Hindu schools), etc. are practiced in addition to a more localised traditional religion, often comprised of a local pantheon of gods and some degree of ancestor worship. To some degree, even Christianity is sometimes treated like this, see the Chinese Rites controversy for example. It is entirely possible to have people simultaneously believing in local animistic deities (local forest/mountain/river gods), regional major deities (Sun god, moon god, justice god etc.) and one or more universalist philosophies. Add in the possibility of mystery religions (closed faiths that do not publicise their theologies and often don’t accept converts, see Mithraism, the Orphic Mysteries, or for a modern example, Yazidiism) and ethnic religions that don’t seek or don’t accept converts (see Judaism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism), and it is very possible to have a wide variety of beliefs coexisting in a society. If they’ve been coexisting over a long period, one would generally expect most people to be aware of the major festivals, ceremonies, etc. of each, and while some may be open to all and treated by non-believers as more of a cultural festival (probably the animist ones), others may be believers-only, or invitation-only. Some festivals might be shared by several religions, because they either come from the same root, or both revere the same prophet/saint/whatever, or both worship the same deity, or maybe just had similar festivals happening at roughly the same time and though mutual influence ended up doing them at the same time. It really depends how you’ve built these religions and what their stances on non-believers are, how long they’ve been coexisting and how orthodox/orthopraxic (emphasis on believing the right things vs. emphasis on performing rituals correctly) they are.

[humanistauno]

Chris Evans’ Life Behind The Limelight

by: Matt Basco

Chris Evans is an American actor best known for playing comic book superhero Captain America on the big screen.

Early Life

Christopher Robert Evans was conceived on June 13, 1981, in Boston, Massachusetts, and brought up in the close by town of Sudbury. While his father, Robert, gave monetary solidness as a dental specialist, Evans and his three kin were attracted to the performing expressions universe of their mom, Lisa, an artist turned Youth Theater chief. As Evans reviewed, "We resembled the von Trapps [from The Sound of Music], all singing and moving."

A characteristic competitor, Evans wrestled and played lacrosse at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, when not put resources into his school or network theater. He spent the late spring before his senior year of secondary school interning for a throwing organization in New York City, making significant contacts and sharpening his aptitudes at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Anxious to restore, the hopeful entertainer sped through his senior year to graduate a half semester in front of his cohorts.

Who Is Chris Evans?

Brought up in the Boston zone, Chris Evans handled his first significant film job in the parody Not another Teen Movie. He played the Human Torch in two Fantastic Four flicks, however the ball was in his court as another superhuman that moved him to notoriety in the immensely fruitful Captain America and The Avengers blockbusters. Evans additionally earned praise for his exhibition in the tragic Snowpiercer, and made a generally welcomed Broadway debut in 2018.

Movies

'Captain America' and 'the Avengers'

In July 2011, Evans joined the burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe Empire with Captain America: The First Avenger. As Steve Rogers, the scrawny but dutiful serviceman who undergoes a massive physical transformation to become the titular super soldier, Evans capably displayed the earnestness central to his character, along with the eye-popping physique and fighting skills requisite for a modern action star. The First Avenger was just the start of the MCU run for Evans, who joined Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor and other big-name actors, both in and out of costume, for the superhero blockbuster The Avengers (2012). Evans went on to headline the sequels of his own Captain America franchise with The Winter Soldier (2014) and Civil War (2016), while also leading the charge for The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and surfacing in other Marvel features, like Ant-Man (2015) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Initially reluctant to wield the Captain's shield due to the extended commitment, Evans was ready to move on by the time his contract drew to a close, with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) showcasing his final performances as America's super solider.

Early Roles

'Not another Teen Movie' and 'Cellular'

Evans first major film role came in Not another Teen Movie (2001), a spoof of high school dramas like She's All that (1999) and earlier predecessors. As football star Jake Wyler, he follows the formulaic procedure of accepting a bet to date the nerdy, glasses-wearing girl, delivering a silly highlight by squirting on the whipped cream bikini made famous by Ali Larter in Varsity Blues (1999). He followed with another high school comedy, The Perfect Score (2004), as part of a group of students who steal the answers to an SAT exam, and then the action-thriller Cellular (2004), where he showed his future leading man chops by helping to rescue Kim Basinger from her captors.

'Fantastic Four' and 'Scott Pilgrim'

Other Comic Adaptations Prior to his star-making turn in Captain America, Evans went the superhero route for Fantastic Four (2005), as Johnny Storm/Human Torch. The film was a commercial success, but a downturn at the box office for Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), along with another round of largely negative reviews, led to the cancellation of a third installment.

Returning to comic-sourced material, Evans provided voice work for the animated TMNT (2007), as the boyfriend of the Ninja Turtles' colleague, April O'Neil. He later co-starred in the action comedy The Losers (2010), which drew mixed reviews despite a strong cast, and landed a supporting role in the entertaining Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), as an over-the-top version of the Hollywood action hero he had become. Meanwhile, the actor took advantage of the all-American good looks and charm that made him a natural for romantic comedies. He played the "Harvard Hottie" of past and future co-star Scarlett Johannson in The Nanny Diaries (2007), before becoming the ideal match for Anna Faris in what’s Your Number? (2011).

Drama and Sci-Fi

'London' and 'Sunshine'

Coming off his early teen films, Evans showed he could handle weightier fare with London (2005), as a junkie struggling to get over his ex-girlfriend. He later took on Tennessee Williams in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008), with Bryce Dallas Howard, and portrayed a real-life lawyer and drug addict who goes after the pharmaceutical industry in Puncture (2010).

'Iceman' and 'Snowpiercer'

Despite his Marvel commitments requiring much of his energy, Evans found the time for other screen projects to his liking. Iceman (2012) gave him the chance to overturn his squeaky-clean superhero image as a contract killer who assists Michael Shannon's sadistic hitman. Snowpiercer (2013) placed him back in leading man territory, albeit as an antihero in a dystopian future.

'The Red Sea Diving Resort’ and 'Knives Out'

Evans next starred as an Israeli agent in The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019), based on the real-life rescue and transport of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1981. Late that year, he again distanced himself from the wholesome superhero image by playing an obnoxious playboy in the murder-mystery Knives Out.

Net Worth

Evans checks in at a cool $70 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The bulk of his fortune has come from his Marvel Cinematic involvement, though it took a little while to get there, after reportedly receiving a relatively modest $300,000 for his first Captain America movie.

Romantic Life and Girlfriends

Evans was involved in an on-and-off relationship with actress Jenny Slate after they got to know one another on the set of The Gifted. The couple spent the 2017 holiday season together, though they reportedly split for good a few months later. Earlier in his career, from 2001 to 2006, Evans was in a long-term relationship with Jessica Biel. He has also been linked to actresses Minka Kelly and Lily Collins.

Chris Evans's Height and Workout

At 6 feet tall but naturally slim, Evans displayed the results of long hours in the gym while progressing from the rangy jock of Not another Teen Movie, to the beefier Human Torch of Fantastic Four, to the cartoonishly muscular Captain America. Packing on the pounds was vital to the appearance of his laboratory-enhanced superhero, prompting a training regimen that included high-weight reps of squats, deadlifts and incline bench presses, as well as bodyweight exercises like dips and pull-ups. By the time of The Winter Soldier, he had incorporated gymnastics and plyometrics to his routine for more speed and agility, aiding his efforts in such scenes as when he beats up a group of men in a crowded elevator.

TV Shows

Sent to Los Angeles by his agent in the late 1990s to audition for a show called Get Real (where he met Anne Hathaway), Evans instead wound up with a supporting role on Opposite Sex, alongside Milo Ventimiglia, as one of the few boys to attend a former all-girls academy. The teen comedy-drama lasted for only eight episodes in the summer of 2000, but still provided vital exposure for its young stars. Evans went on to make appearances in The Fugitive, Skin and the popular Boston Public. In 2008, with his successful film career well under way, he provided voice work for Adult Swim's stop-motion series Robot Chicken.

[pope-francis-quotes]

7th April >> (@ZenitEnglish By Deborah Castellano Lubov) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis’ Homily during the celebration of Holy Mass in Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday of Holy Week. #Pope Francis Prays ‘for Those Serving Unjust Sentences’ (Full Text of Pope Francis’ Morning Homily).

At Casa Santa Marta on Day Cardinal Pell Was Acquitted, Reminds that From the Womb, God Had a Plan for Each of US

None of us fell into this world by chance…. From the womb, God had a plan for us…

According to Vatican News, Pope Francis stressed this today, April 7, during his private daily Mass at his residence Casa Santa Marta on this Tuesday of Holy Week.

At the start of the Mass, while remembering all victims of Coronavirus, the Holy Father prayed for innocent people, unjustly sentenced.

“I would like to pray today for all those persons who suffer an unjust sentence because of persecution.”

Jesus, the Holy Father lamented, was targeted by the doctors of the law even though He was innocent.

Reflecting on Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 49: 1-6) relating to the Messiah and the People of God, the Pope has ‘chosen’ each and everyone of us, for a particular mission.

“God chose the prophet before he was born,” the Jesuit Pope reminded, pointing out: “In the same way, each one of us is chosen with the vocation of serving from our mother’s womb. None of us fell into this world by chance.”

Each one of us, he said, has a destiny, a free destiny. “The destiny is the election of God. I am born chosen to be a servant of God with the task of serving.”

All of us, the Pope reminded, in one way or another are called to serve, and to live out our own vocation in significant and in little ways.

“Except for Our Lady and Jesus,” he admitted, “we have all fallen.” The example of Peter is a source of inspiration, Francis said, recalling that when Peter denied Jesus and the cock crowed, he cried and repented (Mt 26:75).

“This is the path of a servant who asks for forgiveness when he or she slips and falls.”

Francis lamented the other path where the servant is incapable of understanding that he or she has fallen, leaving the heart open to passions that lead to idolatry. “Like Judas,” he regretted, “the heart becomes open to Satan.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily, inviting faithful to to think of Jesus who was faithful in service. “We are by vocation meant to serve and not to make a profit from our position in the Church.”

Like Peter, Pope Francis prayed, may we be able to weep when we slip and fall.

Before concluding, the Pope exhorted faithful to partake in Spiritual Communion in this difficult time, and ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.

Here are the Holy Father’s words, followed by the prayer for Spiritual Communion:

I prostrate myself at your feet, O my Jesus, and I offer you the repentance of my contrite heart, which abases itself in its nothingness in Your Holy Presence. I adore you in the Sacrament of Your Love; I desire to receive You in the poor abode that my heart offers You. While waiting for the happiness of a Sacramental Communion, I want to possess You in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, that I may come to You. May Your Love inflame my whole being, in life and in death. I believe in You, I hope in You, I love You. Amen.

The Masses in Francis’ chapel normally welcome a small group of faithful, but due to recent measures’ taken by the Vatican, are now being kept private, without their participation.

It was announced this month that the Pope would have these Masses, in this period, be available to all the world’s faithful, via streaming on Vatican Media, on weekdays, at 7 am Rome time.

The Vatican has also published the Pope’s Holy Week and Easter schedule, confirming this year’s events will not welcome the physical presence of the faithful, and the events will be made available via streaming.

This comes at a time too when the Italian bishops’ conference has canceled public Masses throughout the nation, following guidelines put out by Italian authorities.

In addition to Santa Marta, the Vatican has taken other steps to keep people safe and to stay close to the Pope, even if from a distance. They are televising the Pope giving privately, from the papal library, his weekly Angelus and General Audience addresses.

The Vatican Museums are now closed, along with the Vatican’s other similar museums. There have also been various guidelines implemented throughout the Vatican, to prevent the spread of the virus.

For anyone interested, the Pope’s Masses at Santa Marta can be watched live and can be watched afterward on Vatican YouTube. Below is a link to today’s Mass. Also, a ZENIT English translation of the Pope’s full homily is available below:

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FULL HOMILY [translated by ZENIT’s Virginia Forrester]

The prophecy of Isaiah, which we listened to, is a prophecy about the Messiah, about the Redeemer, but also a prophecy about the People of Israel, about the People of God: we can say that it can be a prophecy about each of us. In essence, the prophecy underscores that the Lord has chosen His servant from the maternal womb: it says it twice (Cf. Isaiah 49:1). His servant was chosen from the beginning, from his birth or before his birth. The People of God were chosen before their birth, also each one of us. None of us fell into the world by accident, by chance. Each one has a destiny, has a free destiny, the destiny of God’s election. I am born with the destiny of being a child of God, of being a servant of God, with the task to serve, to construct, to build — and this from the maternal womb.

Jesus, the Servant of Yahweh, served until death: it seemed a defeat, but it was the way of serving. And this underscores the way of serving that we must take up in our life. To serve is to give oneself, to give oneself to others. To serve and not expect for each one of us some benefit that isn’t to serve. To serve is glory, and Christ’s glory is to serve until annihilating Himself, until death, death on the Cross (Cf. Philippians 2:8). Jesus is the Servant of Israel. The People of God is servant, and when the People of God moves away from this attitude to serve it is an apostate people: it moves away from the vocation that God has given it. And when each one of us moves away from this vocation to serve, we move away from God’s love, and build our life on other loves, often idolatrous.

The Lord has chosen us from the maternal womb. There are falls in life: each one of us is a sinner and can fall and is fallen. Only Our Lady and Jesus <are not>. All the rest of us have fallen, we are sinners. However, what matters is <my> attitude before God who chose me and anointed me as servant. It’s the attitude of a sinner that is able to ask for forgiveness, as Peter, who swore “no, I will never deny You, Lord, never, never, never! — then, when the cock crowed, he wept. He repented (Cf. Matthew 26:75). This is the path of the servant: when he slips, when he falls, he asks for forgiveness. Instead, when the servant isn’t capable of understanding that he is fallen, when passion takes hold of him in such a way that it leads him to idolatry, he opens his heart to Satan, he enters in the night: it’s what happened to Judas (Cf. Matthew 27:3-10).

We think today of Jesus, the Servant, faithful in service. His vocation is to serve until death and death on the Cross (Cf. Philippians 2:5-11). We think of each one of us, part of the People of God: we are servants, our vacation is to serve, not to profit from our place in the Church: to serve – — always in service.

Let us ask for the grace to persevere in service. Sometimes with slips, falls, but at least the grace to weep as Peter wept.

The Pope ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, inviting the faithful to make a Spiritual Communion.

Here is the Prayer Recited by the Pope:

My Jesus, I believe You are really present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul. As I cannot receive You sacramentally now, come at least spiritually into my heart. As if You have already come, I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You. Do not permit me to be ever separated from You.

Before leaving the Chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit, the ancient Marian antiphon Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven”) was intoned:

Hail, Queen of Heaven, hail, Lady of the Angels, gate and root of salvation, bring light into the world. Delight, glorious Virgin, beautiful among all women; hail, O all holy One, pray for us to Christ the Lord.”

7th APRIL 2020 15:27POPE'S MORNING HOMILY