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mariesdeluluworld · 4 years ago

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Nameless Fear (Jon Snow x Reader) Part 1

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙊𝙣𝙚: 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮

𝙔/𝙣 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧

"Father, what does this mean?" asked young Y/n Lannister. Her eyes were wide and full of curiosity. Lord Tywin Lannister looked over at his youngest, his calculating green eyes met her (e/c) eyes she got from her mother. Rumors were spread far and wide that Lord Lannister loved and favored his youngest out of all of his children.

"Father, what does this name mean?" Y/n asked once more, pointing her small index finger to the ink scribbled into her forearm. Tywin's eyes traveled to where his child was pointing at and his eyes widened at the name scribbled in her smooth skin. Memories of Joanna flooded his mind as he stared at the familiarity of this situation.

"Father?"

"Come here, Y/n," he commanded. Little Y/n walked across the stone floor to her father, her hair bouncing as she walked. Silence overlapped the two Lannisters, only the faint sound of crickets could be heard.

"Lend me your arm,"

Y/n did as she was told and let her father look at her arm. The pads of his fingers traced her skin, sending shivers up her spine.

"What is it?" she asked in a shy voice. Tywin met her eyes, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "It's a soul mark." she furrowed her brows in confusion. "You don't know what a soul mark is?" questioned Tywin. Y/n nodded. "We haven't covered it yet in my lessons," she said sheepishly.

Of course! Thought Tywin. She's only 6 name-days after all.

"A soul mark is a gift that the gods give very special children, the name of your soulmate. I have one, and so does your brother Tyrion. As well as your Uncle Kevan." Y/n's little hands overlapped one another, her brows were pulled tightly together.

"But what if I don't want a soulmate father?" Tywin sighs and closes his eyes before answering his daughter. "Well, I guess if you don't want one then . . . then you'll never meet them." Y/n opened her mouth but Tywin raised a finger. "But, make no mistake Y/n, when finding your soulmate you will feel like your soul is finally complete. That empty space will be filled, and you'll do everything in your power to keep them safe."

Y/n just stared at her father, her eyes widening at his words. Her small child mind's wheels turning and thinking. "What if . . . what if my soulmate is an enemy? What if he's a . . . a highborn." Tywin's eyes danced with mirth at his child's remark. Even though she was only a child, she still thought about her family more than her own desires. A true Lady of the Rock. Unlike her sister or brothers.

"When the time comes, we'll figure it out. But until then," Tywin cupped her face with his calloused hands. "You will learn, fight, and be a Lannister. A lion. My heir." he kissed her forehead and Y/n closed her eyes, bathing in the pride she was overcome with. She was a Lannister, and Lannister's don't act like fools. They were lions. They were powerful. And she would be the lioness of Casterly Rock.

Years passed since the day Y/n discovered her soul mark, and ever since - she's covered it up. She vowed to never give her enemies a weakness. And the name on her arm was a weakness. She trained day and night, in the training yard, and in her fathers' study. Since the day she was born, she was taught how to be a Lady. The Lady of Casterly Rock, and every day she trained and did her very best. Proving to her father that she was capable of handling the Lannister Ancestral home. On her 10 and 6 name day, she received a letter from her elder brother Jamie Lannister, asking her to come to King's Landing.

"Father," said Y/n as she strutted into her fathers' study in Casterly Rock. Lord Tywin looked up at his daughter, placing his quill down. His green eyes studied her as she walked into the threshold, her head held high, her shoulder back. She walked with grace and confidence.

"Y/n," he said and gestured for her to take a seat. "Father I've received a letter from King’s Landing," she takes the rolled-up parchment out from her dress pocket and hands it to him. "It's from Jamie," Tywin takes the parchment and reads it quickly.

"He wants you to come to King's Landing," he mused. Y/n nodded her head. "Yes, he thinks it would be good for me to come to that rat's nest." Tywin laughed dryly. "Ha!"

He rolls the letter back up and places it on his desk. "Tell me Y/n," he laced his hands together. "what do you think of this?" Y/n sighs before answering. "I think it would be good for me to go. It would help me make friends and allies at court. Also, I may even help Tyrion and Tysha with their children and teach Tysha more about being a proper lady of the court." Tywin hummed. "And, this visit can help me oversee how bad of a King Robert is."

"You don't need to be there to see how bad of a King Robert is, Y/n, everyone in the seven bloody kingdoms knows. The only reason why they aren't starving is because of us, House Lannister." Tywin stood up from his desk, the chair scraping against the stone floor. He walked over to the portrait of Lady Joanna, Y/n's late mother, with his arms behind his back.

"Father?"

Tywin didn't answer, he just stared into the painted face of Joanna. After the birth of Tyrion, the Maester warned Joanna and Tywin that no more children should be born, for it might kill her. But one night, Tywin and Joanna were caught up in the passion of love that they didn't realize Tywin spent himself inside her. Because of that night, Joanna fell pregnant. For nine-months, Tywin was a wreck. He worried and tried everything in his power to help with the birth of his fourth child. But he did not have the power of the gods. Y/n was born during a blood-red dawn. Even on the cusp of death Lady Joanna held her baby girl in her arms while crying. Tywin was there with his wife and daughter, holding Joanna as she became weaker with every passing minute. For the last hour of her life, Joanna held her daughter and spoke to Tywin, telling him that she loved him, and their children.

After her death, Tywin gave his daughter a name; Y/n of House Lannister. The name came from a great Lannister warrior, Y/n "Red Lion" Lannister. Unlike all the other Lannister, Y/n "Red Lion" Lannister was not just a Lady of the Rock, she was one of the greatest female warriors of Westeros. Her deeds and bravery rivaled Visenya Targaryen. Though she did not ride a dragon, like Visenya, she did ride a Lion. The Lannister Warrior named her lion Leo. And Leo was the warrior's most trusted companion, she raised the lion since he was a cub, and she became like Leo's mother.

Y/n loved her namesake's story, and she too hoped to become like her. When she first heard the story of her namesake from her father, Y/n begged Tywin to get her a lion. It took time but on her 5th name day, she woke up to her father presenting her with an iron key. The key belonged to a cage where a small lion cub sat. Y/n squealed and thanked her father, jumping around and laughing at the sight of the lion.

Everyday Y/n would take her lion cub and train him, fed him, and walked him like a dog. She named her lion Ty, after her father. Ty grew up very fast and soon became Y/n's protector. He never did leave her side, only when he was commanded to by his mother. Ty was tame, but if anyone threatened his mother, the last thing they would see would be a lion roaring and bashing his teeth before going in for the kill.

"You will go to King's Landing Y/n," Tywin turns his head. "and you will observe Robert," Y/n furrowed her brows. "If I may ask father, why?" He smirked. "Because it's been too long for that fat excuse of King has been unsupervised."

Y/n chuckled. "You speak of him as if he's a child,"

"Which he is,"

She smirked at her father. "I have no doubt Father, but why me?"

"Because you and Kevan are the only ones I trust, at the moment." He walks over to Y/n and stops in front of her. "Your siblings have failed me - have failed our House. You, my daughter, are the savior of our House. You shall restore our family name. You will be the Heir to the Rock."

"But I thought Jamie -"

"Jamie will never give up that gold cloak. He would rather serve than become Warden of the West. And Tyrion, he's a dwarf, a drunk, and I'm not even sure if he's my son." Y/n nodded her head. She knew, of course, her fathers' doubts of Tyrion being his son.

"And I shall never give the seat of Warden to your sister's children, Tommen is too young, and Joffrey . . ." he trailed off. Joffrey was sadistic. He loved seeing people in pain, bleeding, and loved to hear their screams. He wasn't fit to be King of the Seven Kingdoms. But he was Heir. And Tommen was a spare.

"The Rock falls to you, Y/n, and I have trained you for this spot, for you to be Wardrenss since you were pushed out from your mother's womb," Tywin said. He placed his hands on Y/n's face, looking into her eyes, Joanna's eyes.

"Make me proud, Y/n. Make our House proud."

Y/n looked up at her father. She was only 16, but she was ready. Ready to prove herself. She was ready to be a Lannister.

"I will Father. I promise. I will make our family, my mother, proud."

And for the first time in a very long time, Lord Tywin Lannister smiled.

"Into the rat's nest we go," muttered Y/n as she got off her white mare. Her red cloak flowed behind her as she walked, her feet moved with purpose and didn't falter. Her shoulders were back and her head held high as she walked over to her family. Cersei, Jamie, Tyrion, and her niece and nephews.

Jamie embraced her first, hugging her tight. "Welcome, sister," he said in her ear. Y/n hugged him back before letting go and greeting her other older brother; Tyrion.

"Hello, Tyrion,"

"Ahh, hello little sister, I hope the ride to Kings Landing wasn't troubled."

Y/n smiled at her brother before leaning down to hug him and kiss him on the cheek. Tyrion and Jamie loved her more than Cersei, the brothers protected Y/n from a very young age. When Y/n was just a girl of seven, Jamie chased away a boy who tried to kiss her - even though Y/n had already slapped the boy and kicked him in his groin - while Tyrion comforted her and lectured the boy before their father could attack him with an open sword.

"Y/n, how do you fair?" questioned Queen Cersei after Y/n released Tyrion and stood up. Y/n met her sister's narrowed green eyes. The Queen was beautiful but old. With Y/n standing in front of her, any onlooker could see how much fairer the young Lannister was.

"I am fine, sweet sister." Y/n turned her gaze towards her eldest nephew Joffrey. His arms were crossed and there was a bored expression on his pouty face. His blonde curls framed his face and created a golden curtain around his Lannister features.

"Hello, Joffrey,"

"Aunt Y/n," A cruel smile appeared on Joffery's face that made Y/n shiver. "I'm so glad that you've come all this way to King's Landing,"

Y/n was about to reply when seven-year-old Tommen squealed in delight at the sight of a large caravan flying House Lannister flags. Y/n's guard's surrounded the caravan, protecting her sweet lion.

"Ahh, Ty's here." Joffery watched as his Aunt's guards stopped and started shouting orders. A man with short copper hair and silver armor with a flaming tree etched on his breast-plate was the one shouting commands to the other guards. This man had bronze color eyes and stood proud as if he was born to lead. This was Ser Addam Marbrands little brother, Eric Marbrand, commander of Y/n Lannsister's guards.

Joffery could hear scratching and something growling from inside the caravan, while Tommen watched in awe. Myrcella clutched onto her mother's arm, fearing the creature that made such noise.

Eric walked over to his Lady and bowed curtly at the royal family before addressing Y/n. "My Lady," Y/n smiled at Eric. "Thank you, Eric, for seeing to my beloved lion's safety," She gave him a small peck on his cheek before walking over to the now open caravan. A blush coated Eric's face before he composed himself and followed after his lady, a hand on the hilt of his sword. He would be damned if anything happened to Y/n, he would die for her, but until then, he shall follow her and protect her.

A large yellow paw was the first thing Tommen saw before he squealed louder, making Joffery scoff and complain about how un-princely his little brother sounded. Although Joffery was too impressed and excited to see his rumored Aunt's "baby".

"Ty!" Y/n said and the blonde lion walked out of the comfy caravan towards his mother. Ty rubbed his face on Y/n's dress while she laughed and smiled at her lion. The big lion purred as Y/n rubbed behind his ear, turning the big furious lion into a house cat.

Tommen tried to walk up to his Aunt but his mother grabbed his arm and stopped him. The seven-year-old prince glared at his mother but Cersei didn't even pay attention, she was too busy glaring at her younger sister.

"Why did you bring this beast?! This thing could kill one of my children!" she scowled. Y/n just sighed and looked up from her lion to her big sister. "Ty would never hurt a child, Cersei, he's trained. And he only attacks unless I command him to."

"Mama, I want to go pet him!" said Tommen. Y/n smiled indulgently at her youngest nephew. "Tommen," started Cersei before Tyrion interrupted her and walked over to his young sister. He waddled over to the lion and he put out his hand for Ty to sniff. "Well, I must say, sister, this is a surprise," he said. "Father let you take this . . ." he trailed off as Ty licked his hand.

"Yes Tyrion, father knows that wherever I go, Ty comes along. Besides, father likes knowing that I have a fierce lion protecting me when he cannot." Y/n giggled as Ty started licking Tyrion's face making the dwarf laugh nervously.

"Tyrion, where's Tysha?" Y/n asks, her eyes looking around the courtyard. "Ah, I see you haven't heard, Tysha is resting. She's just given birth to a girl. Thomas and Janus are with their baby sister as we speak," The young lion smiled at her brother. "Congratulations, brother dear." Tysha and Tyrion have been trying to have a baby girl for a while now and it seems like the gods have blessed them.

When Tyrion was 16 and Y/n 8, he met Tysha near Casterly Rock. She was being chased and almost raped by bandit's and Jamie chased them away while Tyrion comforted the girl with black hair and blue eyes. She was lowborn but Tyrion didn't care about that. Tyrion was born with the name "Tysha" on his wrist, and when they first touched they felt a spark. Tyrion fed her, drank with her, and talked. They fell in love and made love that night. Afterward, she sang him a song and kissed, they were so in love that Tyrion married her without their father's permission. They found a drunken Septon and got married with only pigs to witness their union. They lived in a cottage by the sunset sea where they made love, kissed, and sang. But when Septon sobered up, he told Tywin of his dwarfs' son's marriage. Tywin was enraged that day and only young 8-year-old Y/n could stop her father from doing what he intended to do. She convinced him that if he went through with his plan she would kill herself. She wouldn't stand by and live knowing that her father split up two soulmates. Tywin cried that night and hugged his last living memory of Joanna and promised to never split Tyrion and Tysha up.

The next day he and Y/n went down to Tyrion's and Tysha's cottage and took them to the Rock where Septa's and Y/n taught Tysha how to be a proper lady. That was Tywin's condition, if Tyrion wanted to live in the Rock with his wife, she would become a proper lady. Turns out that Tywin greatly enjoyed Tysha's presence and she soon became part of the Lannister Family, though she and Tyrion would never inherit the Rock. Cersei hated Tysha but then again, she hated almost everyone that wasn't her or was a threat.

"I'm glad, brother, you and Tysha deserve all the happiness in the world." Y/n said before looking at her sister. "If you don't mind sister, brothers, I'm very tired. Would you please show me to my room?" Cersei nodded. "Jamie, show our little sister where she'll be sleeping." Cersei turned and headed back inside the Red Keep with her children trailing behind her with a few Lannister guards shadowing her movements.

"Come, sister," said Jamie sweetly before leading her through the Red Keep.

#jon snow #jon snow x reader #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #house lannister #lannister reader #x reader #tyrion lannister #tysha lannister #cersei lannister #jamie lannister #tywin lannister

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hpdabbles · 5 years ago

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How to Break a Timeline Part 2

Being married to Harry was nothing like he expected marriage to be. Granted as a Black, Regulus knew his definition of marriage wasn’t the same as common folk. Most of the marriages in his family were of convenience rather than love (like his parents) but a few did bloom from emotions such as Cousin Narcissa to Malfoy last summer.

Still, he didn’t think one’s husband should be this determined to make him a widower not ever three days since the ink dried on their marriage certificate.

“Harry are you sure we have to do this?” Regulus asks wearily standing before Gringotts. His husband, now properly dressed in fine robes, smiled at him bashfully. If he hadn’t been wearing that same expression when the taller male had to force the muggle-raised fool into changing his outfits then Regulus would have thought him harmless.

“We need to the cup,” Harry says looping his arm into the curve of Regulus’ own and then quickly planting a peck on his cheek not the bit shy about public display of affection. He took this chance to whisper in his ear “Don’t worry. I can get us past the dragon. We’ll be fine.”

Oh yes, lets rob Gringotts. Nothing will go wrong. It’s all in the name of stopping the Dark Lord Regulus felt like throwing up.

Around them, people were gaping at the couple who seem to be whispering sweet nothings to each other-er well one look ecstatic and the other anxious. This is the first time they’ve seen the couple but they been the talk of the British Wizardly world for the past two days.

Everyone is aware that the Black Heir had been recently been proclaim as Black Family Head.

This change was noted at the last Wizengamot, where Orion’s name had replaced by Regulus’ mid-meeting. This wouldn’t be such a big deal but seeing as his father has not yet died the only way for him to inherit the Black Seat was if he got married.

Which he did. He just didn’t tell anyone when or whom he married. This was a scandal in and of itself but with the war going on the public needed something to focus on, anything to take their minds off the death and terror.

Thus, the shotgun marriage has been fully blown out of proportion.

Merlin, Regulus didn’t want to think about his father’s reaction. The man had been sitting in the chair when the inscription change right above his head. His son had gotten married and he wasn’t present for it, he was just as confused as everyone else.

The reason he hasn’t been sent a howler is that Harry’s tent is charmed with so much protection charms, wards and muggle booby traps it was nearly as protected as Regulus’ ancestral home.

“Let’s go,” Harry said, with such determination it sounded as if he was stepping into battle. They kind of were and he wondered not for the first time why his life turned out like this.

It’s only been three days!

Leading the two into the bank, Regulus wondered if he was aware of the reporter following them, her eyes gleaming with greed. Probably not. Harry isn’t from the world of aristocrats, he wasn’t worried about how his behavior would reflect on his family name so he didn’t keep an eye on his surroundings at all times.

(Regulus had learned to behave from a young age not allowing himself to be distracted in public. One could get kidnapped, or someone could take his words/actions out of content and risk the standing of the Blacks)

“Excuse me, Lord Black” The reporter called her voice carrying over the chatter of the bank. Harry’s steps wavered, turning his head in her direction which was his first mistake. He practically gave her permission to speak to them.

She jumped on the opportunity like a Niffer on gold. “I was wondering if I could ask a few questions.”

“Actually we don’t have time-” His husband started

“Just a few questions. Won’t take too long.” She spoke over Harry, snapping her fingers. A Quick-Quote-Quill rose into the air on her parchment, ready to do its job. Harry eyed the quill with great dismay as if though he feared it.

Regulus didn’t know why but he wasn’t about to let this woman bully his savior. For all of Harry’s oddness, and great lack of self-preservation he was a decent person and kind. Besides, the man was his husband now which meant he was in the House of Black, and no one attacked the House of Black.

“No.” He steps in front of the shorter male effectively blocking him from view. “We are needed elsewhere and do not have time for questions.”

His gaze flickered to the Quill that was quickly writing, his eyes narrowing “I will, of course, be confiscating what you have written about us as we did not give permission for you to cover us. We would not want to bring our lawyer into this would we?”

The woman’s lips pressed together. “Of course not Lord Black, of course not.”

She handed them the piece of parchment and he promptly tore it in half, twisting on his heel to take the gapping Harry to a teller. He pretended not to notice the rest of the lobby that was staring at him, only half aware of a hand holding onto his arm.

“That was cool” Harry whispered sounding slightly awe. “That was really cool”

Regulus felt smug that he made this impossible man feel impressed by him....for a total of thirty minutes. Seeing as his husband managed to not only find but break the Hufflepuff cup by hissing at the dragon guarding the vault. The goblin had left them alone upon Regulus' request, under the guidance of showing his new partner the family vaults.

As soon as the creature had left Harry snuck out to find what he was looking for. He came across the dragon who the Black thought was about to eat them alive until Harry started hissing and the thing had calm, letting them pass without so much as a twitch.

“You speak to dragons?!” He demands inside of Cousin Bellatrix’s vault.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Harry says watching the cup scream as it burned with a classless wave of his hand as if dismissing all of the worries away.

“I’m being ridiculous!?” Regulus repeats almost hysterical. “You speak to dragons! When were you thinking of telling me this!?”

Harry put out the spellfire and kicked the no useless metal away. “I wasn’t trying to hide it you know. Besides, I don’t speak to dragons, I speak to snakes which are close enough to get my point across.”

“You’re a Parselmouth?!”

Harry’s green eyes gleam in the shine of gold around them “Is that a problem?”

Regulus thinks this man is going to make his heart stop early from stress but he managed to get his breathing under control only now realizing it was running wild. He’s going to lose his mind before the month was up he knew it.

“Of course not, I just rather know these things before you do them. It would be helpful to be included in whatever hair brain ideas you develop. Not go through these dramatic means, I could have gotten us into this vault without having to chance a dragon understanding what your point is!” he snaps

Harry blinks “You could have? How?”

“Cousin Bellatrix isn’t married yet. She’s still a Black and by law, all Black vaults are within my right to enter as the Head.” Regulus huffs, then seeing the naked confusion on Harry’s face he sighs “Do you not know anything about wizarding culture?”

“Not really.”

Regulus stares. Is...Is Harry a Mudblood? It would make sense of everyhting he’s learn about him but he’s too powerful to be a magic stealer...wasn’t he?

________________________________________________________________

The ride back to the front was a silent, Harry not one to make too much noise unless adress or in his friends presence and Regulus absentmindly carelessly the spot where the Dark Mark used to be.

He hadn’t spoken since Harry admitted to not being well informed of the wizarding world as he should be. (The fact there were laws stopping people from reporting on him was one of them. If only he had known this back in fourth year.)

He never knew silence could be this loud.

Harry wondered what was going on in his husband’s head. For the last three days, he’s been actively trying to remind himself that he went and done it. He’s gotten hitched without his friends or family. To a man, he barely knows, in a time where he doesn’t exist and while trying to take down Riddle all over again.

What would Ron say if he saw him now?

Sighing Harry, tried to push that thought away because he’ll start to cry and he can’t afford that right now.

Instead, he thinks about what Regulus said. Indeed, Harry hadn’t told him everything he planned on doing to beat Riddle once and for all, but that’s because he wasn’t overly sure he could.

Yes, he trusted the other didn’t want to be a Death Eater anymore and had even gone through the very very painful Dark Mark removal but was that enough to spill everything that could end this war? No.

On the other hand, if he had been aware Regulus could have gotten to the cup without a single problem. It made sense now why the curse that turns everything red hot hadn’t triggered this time around, the spell was meant to act against those that did not have permission to be there, and apparently, his new husband did have it.

Would it be easier if he included him more in the plans? This is Regulus' time, he knows more about what to do, who to avoid and apparently knew his laws well enough to aid him. Plus, he is smart, maybe on par with Hermione and Harry knew he couldn’t have beaten old Voldy alone the last time.

They climbed out of the cart, Regulus’ back straight and slightly tense in front of him. They were the same age right now, with Harry being only three months older (if one didn’t count the time travel) but the other beat him in hight. Not by much, maybe only a few inches at the most, but still make it hard to see over his shoulder. This is the first time he walks in front of Harry instead of beside him, and it makes his stomach twist with anxious uncertainty.

Harry thinks he’s upset about not being told of the plan still, and while logically he knows its a sound move, the green eye time traveler hates that he’s disappointed him. He’s always hated letting people down.

Dumbledore made sure of that.

“Um, Regulus-”

“Well, well, well, fancy running into you here.” A voice cuts whatever he was going to say. Before him Regulus’ tense back coils further. “Heard you got yourself married, Reggie. Does Sirius know?”

“My brother has nothing to do with me, Potter.” Regulus answers and Harry feels his breathing stop. Walking around his husband, he’s is meet with a man who looks nearly exactly like him.

He comes face to face with James Potter. Said Potter looks anything but friendly despite the smile curved on his lips. For a second, the green-eyed youth thinks about the James of Snape’s memories and realizes its that version of his father standing before him.

James’ hazel eyes were sharp, taking him in with nearly as much interest as Harry.

“Oh erm, hello,” Harry says awkwardly, heart-squeezing in his chest painfully. “I’m Harry-um-that is-I’m Harry Black. Pleasure.”

James doesn’t take the hand he holds out instead he runs his eyes up and down Harry before smirking.

“Couldn’t take my rejection of your boyhood crush so you found someone who looks like me instead Reggie? Now, that’s just sad.”

Regulus face turns dark. Taking Harry’s hand he attempts to move around the older man. “Don’t flatter yourself, Potter. That was a boyhood mistake at most. If you excuse us, we have other places we need to be.”

“Is he pregnant?” James asks side-stepping into their path seemingly unwilling to let them go without saying his full piece. “Tsk Tsk. One would expect a member of the pure and Slytherin House of Black to be more careful. Then again, rumors had it you were desperate enough to not care-”

Harry heard enough. He’s temper has never been the easiest to handle but his father- who he’s starting to see less and less as the lost dream of an orphan and more of an ass- just had to get and test his limits. He’s aware male wizards can produce offspring but it’s a rare and nearly impossible feat, not nearly as being a Parselmouth but close enough.

There were enough times, however, that wizards did get accidentally pregnant to warn their children about.

Ron had been the first one to realize Harry wasn’t aware of this fact and had dragged his best friend to a very awkward conversation with Arthur Weasley sometime around third year.

His best friend knew due to Harry’s upbringing, this part of the magical world was a little out there for him to handle and hated when others presume he was the one to carry for those same reasons.

Said best friend wasn’t here to realize Harry’s temper had snapped and thus couldn’t hold him back either. Which meant Harry was able to react without someone stopping him.

James stumbled back in shock and pain as Harry’s fist collided with his nose, his knuckles crushing the bone. “Shut your whore mouth! Don’t talk to Regulus like that!”

Before the other Potter could react, Harry had grabbed a stun Regulus and pushed him into the lobby. Thanks to the fact James had found them on the way to the carts the only people who had seen him punch the Potter Heir was the goblins who couldn’t care less.

Harry only slowed down long enough to thank the goblins- earning him some odd looks- and soon had them stream rolling out of the bank. In a second he’s Apparition them back to his outer side of his tent.

Just as what he’s done was starting to catch up with him- He punched his dad! He cursed at him! He’s dad, who has been dead up until now and what does Harry do? Attack him!- Regulus lets out a wheezed laugh.

Harry turns around, eyes widening as the Black continues to laugh and laugh, eventually, his chuckles climbing in volume until he’s all but roaring.

This may be the first time I’ve ever heard him laugh Harry thinks slightly daze. A small blush crept onto his head and the beginning of something warm and fuzzy was being planted into his heart.

“Harry, that, was the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Regulus gasps when he finally able to control his chuckles to an appropriate level. “Merlin, you are by far the oddest wizard I have ever meet.”

Harry doesn’t know if that a compliment or not and chooses not to acknowledge it. “You had feelings for that ass?”

“Yes, though I regret it now” Regulus grimace his mood souring. “He is best friends with my idiot older brother. When I was a boy I was unable to see how dislikeable he was. I feel great shame for my younger self.”

Harry smiled “We all make mistakes.”

“Yes. Some more than others.”

Oh? There is a story there. “I reckon he wasn’t the only one you regret having feelings for?”

“Don’t we all?” Regulus rolls his eyes. “Snape wasn’t someone who enjoyed my misguided affection either-”

Cutting himself off his husband seemed to be aware of how loose his tongue had become and instead snapped his mouth shut. He suddenly looked terrified, the panic in his eyes clear as day, studying Harry with horror.

Harry had no idea why. Yes, Regulus could do so much better Severus Snape and gag, the man was his professor, but there wasn’t enough of a reason to look that scared of Harry’s opinion.

“I assure you my interest in the Half-blood were purely lust,” Regulus says suddenly. “I wouldn’t lower the House of Black to impurity with actually flowery affections for someone who’s only half worthy.”

Oh. Oh.

Half worthy? Of course, Regulus had been a Death Eater, and unlike Draco, no one forced him to join now did they?

All humor fell from Harry’s face. To think he was starting to like the guy to, to think he was considering letting him into more of the plan. The seed in his heart was crushed before it could bloom just as quickly as it had been planted from a laugh.

“You disgust me.” He spat turning on his heel, he made for the kitchen wishing there was a door for him to slam as childish as that was.

“What?”

“Just so you know, the House of Black has lost its purity. I’m a Half-blood. I hope I’m worthy enough to have saved your life and marry you.”

Silence rang behind him and Harry wished Ron was here all that more. His best mate would know what to do about the burning of his eyes and the pain in his chest.

But he would never see Ron again, would he? Maybe a younger version of him but never his first and best friend.

For the first time, he wished he hadn't broken the timeline

#hpdabbles #Harry Potter #How to break the time line Au #Part 2 #slight angst #double POV #Slow burn #Pureblood politics #mentions of mpreg #harry x regulus #In which both Harry and Regulus realize they are married to someone they barely know #Also Regulus fucked- up #Wizarding world are a bunch of gossips #Being impresed by your husband #Fights #James is freaking out #Timeline is a mess like Harry

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violetwolfraven · 5 years ago

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Ninjago Playlists

(Playlists of songs that remind me of each character and short excerpts from the lyrics of each)

Kai:

Natural by Imagine Dragons (Tell me, will the stars align, will heaven step in will it save us from our sin will it cause this house of mine, stands strong. That’s the price you pay, leave behind your heartache, cast away. Just another product of today.)

Hey Brother by Avicci (Hey, Brother. Do you still believe in one another? Hey, Sister. Know the water’s thick, but blood is thicker. Oh, and if the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.)

Wings by Little Mix (Mama told me not to waste my life. She said spread your wings, my little butterfly. Don’t let what they say keep you up at night. And if they give you shhh... then they can walk on by.)

Zane:

See You Again by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth (It’s been a long day without you, my friend. And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. We’ve come a long way, from where we began. Oh, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.)

Titanium by David Guetta (I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Riccochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away. Shoot me down, but I won’t fall. I am titanium.)

No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine (You are the hole in my head. You are the space in my bed. You are the silence in between what I thought and what I said. You are the nighttime fear, you are the morning when it’s clear. When it’s over, you’re the start. You’re in my head, you’re in my heart.)

Jay:

I Lived by One Republic (Hope when the moment comes, you say, I, I did it all. And I, I did it all. I owned every second that this world could give. I saw so many places and things that I did, yeah with every broken bone, I swear I lived.)

To the Sky by Owl City (Bird’s eye view. Awake the stars cause they’re all around you. Wide eyes will always brighten the blue. Chase your dreams, and remember me, sweet bravery, cause, after all, those dreams will take you up so high, so bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind and, take to the sky.)

Thunder by Imagine Dragons (Just a young gun, with a quick fuse. I was uptight, wanna let loose. I was dreaming of bigger things and wanna leave my old life behind. Not have a yes-sir. Not a follower. Fit the box, fit the mold, have a seat in the foyer, take a number. I was lightning, before the thunder.)

Cole:

Who We Are by Imagine Dragons (It’s who we are, doesn’t matter if we’ve gone too far, doesn’t matter if it’s all okay, doesn’t matter if it’s not our day. Won’t you save us, what we are, don’t look clear it’s all uphill from here.)

Noah’s Ark by Young Heretics (Noah’s ark can’t save us all. Binary against the squall. And in its wake, good men will fall. And finally we can move on.)

100 Bad Days by AJR (When all is going wrong and you’re scared as hell, whatcha gonna do, who you gonna tell? Maybe, 100 bad days made 100 good stories. 100 good stories make me interesting at parties.)

Lloyd:

Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons (Looking at my years like a martyrdom, everybody needs to be a part of them, never be enough, I’m the prodigal son, I was born to run, I was born for this.)

Explosions by Ellie Goulding (Explosions, on the day you wake up, needing somebody and you’ve learned... it’s okay to be afraid. But it will never be the same.)

Centuries by Fall Out Boy (Some legends are gold. Some turn to dust or to gold. But you will remember me. Remember me for centuries. And just one mistake, is all it will take. To go down in history. Remember me for centuries.)

Nya:

Alive by Sia (I was born in a thunderstorm. I grew up overnight. I played alone. I played on my own. I survived.)

Natural by Imagine Dragons (Will you hold the line? When every one of them is giving up or giving in, tell me, in this house of mine. Nothing ever comes without a consequence, a cost, tell me, will the stars align?)

I See Fire by Jasmine Thompson (Oh, misty eye of the mountain below. Keep careful watch o’er my brothers’ souls. And if the sky be filled with fire and smoke, keep watching over Durin’s sons.)

Wu:

When We Were Young by Lost Kings (For a second, for a minute can we go? For a second, for a minute can we go, can we go back when we were young? And didn’t care if we messed up. We have forever, so we got lost in each other cause time wasn’t catching, time wasn’t catching us.)

Good Old Days by Macklemore, feat. Kesha (I wish somebody would have told me then, that someday these would be the good old days. All the love you won’t forget, and all these reckless nights you won’t regret. Someday soon your whole life’s gonna change. You’ll miss the magic of the good old days.)

Lean on Me by Bill Withers (Lean on me, when you’re not strong. I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on. Just call on me, brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on.)

Garmadon:

Control by Halsey (I’m bigger than my body. I’m colder than this home. I’m meaner than my demons. I’m bigger than these bones. And all the kids cried out, please stop you’re scaring me, I can’t help this awful energy, goddamn right you should be scared of me, who is in control?)

Nightmare by NateWantsToBattle (We’re only kids who lost our way. But if we wait long enough, we will be saved. Just sleep, just dream. This isn’t fair, no we’re not just what we seem. We want to fly but our souls are trapped inside. It’s not a game, not to blame, we’re forced to hide. Just sleep, just dream. It’s only a nightmare and soon we’ll be set free.)

Monster by Imagine Dragons (I’m only a man with a candle to guide me. I’m taking a stand to escape what’s inside me. A monster, a monster, I’ve turned into a monster. A monster, a monster, and it keeps getting stronger.)

Pixal:

Never Be Alone by Shawn Mendes (Take a piece of my heart, so when we are apart, you’ll never be alone. You’ll never be alone.)

Gasoline by Halsey (You can’t wake up, this is not a dream. You’re part of a machine, you are not a human being. With your face all made up, living on a screen. Low on self-esteem, so you run on gasoline.)

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons (I feel it in my bones, enough to make my systems blow. Welcome to the new age, to the new age, welcome to the new age, to the new age.)

Skylor:

Glory and Gore by Lorde (You could try and take us, but we’re the gladiators, everyone a rager, but secretly they’re saviors. Glory and gore go hand in hand. That’s why we’re making headlines. You could try and take us, but victory’s contagious.)

Try by P!nk (Where there is a fire, there is gonna be a flame. Where there is a flame, someone’s bound to get burned. Well, just because it burns, doesn’t mean you’re gonna die. You gotta get up and try, try, try.)

I Walk The Line by Halsey (I keep a close watch on this heart of mine. I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds. Because you’re mine...I walk the line.)

Harumi:

The Devil Within by Digital Daggers (I’ll keep quiet, you won’t even know I’m here, you won’t suspect a thing, you won’t see me in the mirror. But I’ve crept into your heart, you can’t make me disappear, till I make you.)

you should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish (Bite my tongue, bide my time. Wearing a warning sign. Wait till the world is mine. Visions I vandalize. Cold in my kingdom size. Fell for my ocean eyes.)

Angry Too by Lola Blanc (And does it get your blood boiling? And does it make you see red? Do you want to destroy it? And does it get in your head? Cause it gets my blood boiling. And I’m coming unglued. It would hit you like poison, if you knew what I knew. You would be angry, too.)

#lego ninjago #ninjago #kai smith #zane julien #jay walker #cole brookstone #lloyd garmadon #nya smith #sensei wu #lord garmadon #pixal #skylor chen #princess harumi #playlist

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reveriesramblings-blog · 5 years ago

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Path Of The Arrow

A Lavellan And Harding Love Story

A fanfiction depicting a personal headcanon of my Lavellan playthrough in the Dragon Age:Inqusition franchise. The Inquisitor struggles to integrate into a new life, but finds a familiar comfort in new friends and a possible new love. As he becomes the new shining face of Thedas, he learns that there is more to life than running away...

This will be a series I’ll be updating every Saturday or so. Of course, I do not own the rights to the Dragon Age or the characters! This is purely for entertainment purposes. Some quotes/ dialogue were taken from the game.

Credits

A quick thanks to Dragon Age Wiki for a guide on elven cipher! FenxShiral for reference. WARNINGS Please note that this series is 18+ for adult language and themes! Further warnings include PTSD, depression, violence, blood, possible gore, some sexual content, death, etc. Please message me privately if you have any other concerns.

Just a final note: I’m new to tumblr, so please have mercy while I learn the proper tag/edit system! I edit to the best of my ability and I’m here to share my imagination as well as improve my creative writing abilities.

Enjoy!

Elven translations:

Lethallen (pl) - one who is familiar; usually a friendly title given from one elf to another. Similar to kin.

Shemlen/shems - quicklings; unfavorable name for humans

Mala suledin nadas - You shall endure

Falon'Din enasal enaste - An elven prayer for the dead

Vhenan -Heart; term of endearment

Ma vhenan - my heart; my love

Ir abelas - I'm sorry

Ma melava halani - you helped me

Ir tel'him - I'm me again

Ma serannas - thank you

Chapter 1: Severed Roots

A herd of Halla; pounding hooves against the lush earth of the Planasene Forest floor, in which he was never allowed to be in. The echo of these sacred beasts swirled around Larkin’s head as a memory, tucking the past back into a far corner in his mind. Once he was a respected hunter among his clan, providing food to ensure the survival of his Lethallen; his kin. Now, he was about to embark on a new path with a new name: The Herald of Andraste, they called him. The one who fell out of The Fade and was sent by Andraste herself to close The Breach that wounded the sky.

“What a large burden to carry, and it’s only gonna get heavier.” Varric pitied him in private when they had a moment to breathe. Privacy was a luxury now that everyone and everything demanded his attention: “Your Worship, please look over these marching orders?” this, “Herald, I need your response to the Chantry by the end of the daylight,” that. He knew nothing of politics and pleasantries and suddenly he was the face of a controversial organization as well as an entire religion that he did not want. Few perks there were so far, but one of them included the few moments he could spend in playful banter with the Dwarf gave him some sense of relief. A new world and a new life among the shemlens -- not one he would have chosen for himself. The elf was perfectly content running from them in The Free Marches as it were; nothing could have prepared him for so many concentrated in one area. They smelled weird, the food was strange, but there was no denying the honest hospitality. Larkin couldn’t help but wonder though: would it be different if he weren’t their so - called martyr? Would he be exploited and shunned as all other Dalish were in human company?

“Mala suledin nadas…” he uttered under his breath as his eyes searched the aching mark on his hand, possibly for more answers. He lifted the glowing scar to the sky, replicating the moment he first closed a rift as if it would give him some profound knowledge on how to close The Breach; but alas, there were no voices in his mind.

Another chimed into his ears instead, “Master Lavellan” a familiar voice requested his attention. What else was new? The Herald had half a mind to turn toward the speaker in annoyance, but took a moment to collect himself. Of course it was Cassandra who came and interrupted his much needed quiet time. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat but made no hesitation in addressing the task at hand; he hadn’t known her for long but he could tell that this was going to become a regular occurrence -- he should’ve just accepted it then and there. “My apologies on the sudden...intrusion…” She wasn’t really sorry, “Your presence is needed in the council, my Lord. Leliana and Cullen have a few suggestions on how to get things moving. We need to head into the Hinterlands as soon as possible to seek out Mother Giselle and ask for her aid. I have come to escort you.”

With a deep sigh, the Herald stood up from the stone fencing and turned to her with a reluctant nod “I suppose I can’t just sit this one out?”

Cassandra gave him a judgmental squint but held her tongue from expressing her true thoughts on his sarcasm. “Need I remind you of what’s at stake here?” She paused and her mood seemed to shift, "I understand that you didn’t ask for any of this, but now that you’re here...you’re our only option for the time being. I can’t promise that it will be easy, but I can promise that you won’t be alone in this…” her voice trailed at the end into a softer note as if she was trying her best to express compassion or something of the sort. “I understand, Cassandra, and I appreciate your willingness to uphold your duty.” Silence fell between them. It wasn’t meant to sound curt, nevertheless, the words cut and he could see that it slightly bothered her. He pursed his lips together in regret “I didn’t mean for that to--” “Let’s just...get this over with.” The Seeker turned to leave and head toward the Chantry but stopped for a moment to turn and look at him with a small smirk, waiting for him to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The briefing appeared to be simple enough: ask for The Revered Mother’s assistance and look for opportunities to establish the Inquisition’s presence. Unbeknownst to any of them, the Hinterlands was ass-deep in chaos and it would be far from easy. The mages and templars were practically at war, putting all the refugees nearby in danger. People were starving, cold, dying and nature was being destroyed by seemingly random fires. Lowly bandits took advantage of the conditions and began to claim passages, making it harder for Inquisition soldiers to do their job. To top it all off, demons were crawling about from opened rifts; just more reasons to need a savior. Larkin surveyed the crossroads from the hilltop with dread in the pit of his stomach. The air carried a slight chill through his chestnut hair and smelled of pine, which reminded him of home. Bittersweet memories cut short by the sight of humans cutting each other down...like always. How the fuck was all of this happening so fast? He gripped his stomach and swallowed hard, stepping down from a tall rock that overlooked the plains. Varric caught a glimpse of the elf’s anxiety, offering an awkward grimace; he knew he and the Inquisitor were feeling the same sense of fuck this. If it were that easy to walk away, Varric wouldn’t be far behind him. The Herald stepped into camp among all the hustle and bustle of recruits trying to multitask between gathering supplies and an array of other important things. All he could hear was the babbling of side conversations and metal clanking from swords and arms being forged and repaired. Larkin’s attention was pulled left and right again the minute he arrived, until Cassandra rescued him by taking his arm and pulling him aside. Varric and Solas accompanied them as well to take a breather. “There’s something that needs your attention --” she began and was readily cut off by Varric.

“Give him a minute, Seeker...He just got here.” He threw his hands up in frustration with her too urgent attitude. “Wouldn’t it be wise to let the one person that can actually fix all this shit take a small break? You know -- Just so we don’t break him before it starts getting tough?” Solas butted in with his two cents. “Ideal, not wise, Varric.”

“Thanks, Chuckles.” The dwarf shook his head “The Herald of Andraste succumbing to a nap every once in a while? Perish the thought…” Larkin attempted to joke. At least Varric was amused. "What? Just trying to ease the tension a little. I’ll be fine…we’ll be fine.”

“Your Worship?” a soft feminine voice called to the group, singling them out from the rest of the camp. A Dwarven female approached them with a friendly and professional air about her. Her soft-looking red hair was tied up and out of her face; pale skin, but her cheeks were no stranger to the sun. Freckles decorated her face, giving her a rather youthful appearance despite the scar running down the left side of her cheek.

“Scout Harding, at your service.” She paused for a moment to give Larkin a good look-over. He was tall, but that was mostly because she was a dwarf of course. Here he was: Andraste’s chosen in the flesh; he looked even more noble than the stories portrayed him to be. The view wasn’t so bad either. If her eyes could’ve opened any wider they would.

“Pleased to meet you” he simply said, unsure of how he should address her just yet.

“Wow” she awed, he breath taken from her, “I can’t believe it’s really you. I’ve heard the stories; you should know how grateful everyone is for what you’re doing.” A small, toothy smirk appeared on Larkin’s face “I’m starting to worry about all these stories everyone’s been hearing.” This comment brought a chime of laughter from the scout, causing her to clear her throat once she realized that it might come across as inappropriate. “ Well, they only say you’re the last great hope of Thedas.” She grimaced. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that… “Oh, great.” he pursed his lips.

“Aaaanyway, you already have your briefing, I should let you get to work.” She handed Larkin a scroll tied with twine “A map.” she smiled softly but with an awkward note. “Maker guide you.”

Harding wandered off to attend to other matters; a recruit already scrambling after her with questions. She left a small smile on Larkin’s face, his eyes refused to separate from her as he held the map limply in his hand. It wasn't until he felt eyes on him that he looked to his companions and then turned to make his way out of the camp. "Right," he cleared his throat "to work then." All four of them marched away from the camp, following the sounds of distant fighting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Falon’Din enasal enaste…” Larkin whispered slightly out of breath over the corpse of an elven mage. He was careful to keep his first language out of earshot as a subconscious reflex. However it didn’t escape Solas’s impeccable hearing; the elven prayer for the dead caused him to eye the Herald curiously and smirk snarkily. Larkin tried to ignore the eyes on him and examined the blood on his gloves and felt slightly dizzy. He must’ve lost his footing at some point because the next thing he knew, he was on the ground, facing the sky above him. He felt hands gripping him tightly; everything was spinning and then what was a clear day turned into inky darkness. A gentle hand pressed against Larkin’s cheek and his eyes slowly opened to see a blurry but familiar figure above him. The sound of trees swaying in the breeze; birds chirping in the early morning sun. “Vhenan...” the words were clear, but the voice was obscured and almost unrecognizable, but he didn’t need to know. He could feel who the voice belonged to by the nature of his touch. Larkin’s eyes squinted as the sun’s light bore into the spectre and he placed his own hand on top of the one cupping his cheek. “Ma Vhenan” Larkin repeated, his voice barely audible. “Ir abelas..” “Ma melava halani...Ir tel’him...ma serannas…” The voice began to fade.

Larkin began to squirm in his fur lined bedroll, feverishly chanting elven over and over until his eyes shot open and he woke in a cold sweat. The hand he gripped in his dream was not a past lover, but belonged to a healer instead. She stared down at him, frozen in place as she did not dare to try and pry her hand free, afraid he might lose it even more. Within just a moment more she caught a grip and placed her free hand on his other cheek, smiling gently. “Your Worship, please, rest easy. Everything’s going to be alright. You’re safe in your tent.” her Orlesian accent was thick. The Chantry sister placed a cold rag on the elf’s forehead, hushing him gently. “Sleep. I will inform your companions that you have the day off.” He didn’t pay much attention to when the sister left his tent, he was more focused in undressing as soon as possible --his clothes were drenched in sweat. As promised, no one entered his tent for the remainder of the day, but rest would not come easily to him. He gently rolled over to his side and out of bed, standing on his bare feet in one motion. Larkin opened the flap of the tent door, letting the cool air of the night hit his face as he paused to take a deep breath. Nice and cool. He kept his pants on and wore a loose tunic to spare the camp of an accidental nude elf sighting; they weren’t that friendly yet. The corner of his eye caught the toe of one of his boots, choosing to leave those behind. His feet deserved to be free again, and it was so worth it. The moment the pads of his toes felt the grass, he let out a relieved groan, closing his eyes as he flexed his feet to caress the ground. Before anyone could see him, he took off into the nearby trees, running as fast as he could to pick up the wind and feel it against his lithe frame, only stopping when he was finally out of breath. His short frolicking led him back to the overlook where he first stopped when they arrived in the Hinterlands. Just slightly tired, he sat down and let his feet dangle over the edge of the cliff and looked up at the face of the full moon that lit up the night.

“Lovely, isn’t it?” Larkin practically whipped his head around feeling slightly defensive, his shoulders tensed, but dropped again when she stepped more into the light.

“Scout Harding?” Larkin confirmed softly and released a small amount of breath.

“You sound surprised.” She smirked but then looked a little concerned as her voice wavered slightly. “What are you doing out here anyway, aren’t you supposed to be resting? Healer’s orders you know…” Harding took a seat beside him with respectable space in between them. Her concern brought a soft grin to his face “Aren’t you supposed to be resting yourself? Thanks for the concern but I feel fine.” He noticed she was dressed casually, too. “You got me.” she giggled awkwardly and shifted slightly in her seat. “I was hoping you’d be out here, actually. Oh Maker, that came out strange...I mean, I wasn’t stalking you or anything like that. I just...wanted to apologize for earlier.” She brought a finger up to scratch the side of her cheek.

“Oh?” The Herald’s interest was piqued. She held his attention now. “Apologize, Whatever for?” “Oh you know,” she began “You’re only the last great hope of Thedas…” she bit her lip in regret “The last thing I wanted to do was cause you more anxiety about the situation. I know you have a lot on your plate.” “Hm…” he hummed, looking up at the moon and stayed silent on purpose, just to tease her.

"Oh, pants!" She exclaimed in frustration "Please just accept the apology!"

"Pants?" He cocked a brow and couldn't help but laugh. "I've never heard that one before!" When calm, which wasn't for a good long moment, he sighed and ended the exhale with a small chuckle. "I accept. Though, I was never offended either. Just for the record." He smiled softly at her.

Perhaps Harding focused on his lips a little too hard. The dimples that pressed into his cheeks revealed an endearing innocence in him that was rarely found in a leader. Without a moment longer she stood up on her feet.

"I should head back. Wouldn't want to miss my beauty sleep and all."

"You don't need it." Larkin turned to look at her, the corner of his mouth curling softly.

They exchanged tender looks under the stars for what seemed like an eternity.

"Good night, your Worship." Harding left him with a smile and vanished into the trees.

"I'll see you in my dreams." he said to himself now that she was gone. His eyes looked back at the moon, wondering if it felt as lonely as he did at night.

#dragon age inquisition #inquistor lavellan #scout harding #fanfic #http://reveriesramblings.tumblr.com/FANFIC

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magiesheartlove · 6 years ago

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The Greatest Show (a love letter to MLP:FiM

Okay, so I was planing on writing this down sometime after the season ended but, I’m just feeling a lot of...feels, at the moment that, I just needed to get this written down.

I’m going to be frank, I am sad MLP is ending but, at the same time, I’m glad it won’t become one of those series that just keeps going and going to the point at which it overstayed it’s welcome. I have long since accepted that season 9 would be the end of MLP. When a show ends, I always accept it. If it ends on a high note, even better.

Out of all the shows I have watched in the early 2010s, MLP was one I never, in a millions years, would have imagined would gain not only such a huge and devoted following that stretched far from its intended demographic, but also was a series that, in my eyes, reflected everything I loved about storytelling and why I wanted to tell stories to begin with.

I will never forget the first time I was introduced to the series. I was watching television on an ordinary Saturday, and one day on the Hub Channel in the channel guide I read My Little Pony was on. I simply shrugged and decided to just watch a little snippet of my childhood, so “what the heck”.

I had since grown out of the MLP phase, and while I still love magically colorful equines, the cutesy, baby talking cartoon horses didn’t appeal to a high school senior like myself. Instead of seeing either some old nineties rerun of an old episode, or something meant for a pre-school audience, I saw... cute, funny, not-cheesy, modernized ponies in a stylized flash animation...and they were taking on a flipping DRAGON!

It was the episode “Dragonshy”, and when I saw Fluttershy stand up to that dragon, no joke, my jaw dropped. I’ve seen the typical “shy person gets over their fear” plot done before, but the way it was handled, and the way they portrayed the ponies (including Rainbow Dash, who I remembered being a fashionable pony who said “darling” every other word), as a rough and tumble tomboy was awesome! It had a fashionista unicorn with sass, a Pinkie Pie who was actually funny, a country pony with muscle, and a unicorn who took charge.

This... this wasn’t the MLP I grew up with. This was... modern and, updated and stylized and, thought out more.... and... I... was.... HOOKED! I couldn’t stop gushing about it to my Mom, and she was staring at me like “it’s My Little Pony”, and I was all “I know!”

Of course, when I watched “Winter Wrap up” and I saw that they were about to sing, I thought, “Oh, a cutesy song. Okay.” And then the song played.... it wasn’t annoying, the lyrics weren’t babyish, and the ponies sounded.... good. Like, star quality, Broadway good. The music, the animation, the way the song fit into the episode it.... it was..... I loved it. My jaw was to the floor at how it completely blew away my expectations. This was definitely NOT the my little pony I remember, and I just fell harder and harder for it.

I fell for the characters in a heartbeat, the world building was colorful and beautiful, and the morals. Let me tell ya, the morals sold it for me. While I had seen other educational shows that practically shove the message in your face, this one did it in a way that was tailored into each episode without feeling like it was bashing you over the head with it. Sure, there were a few times near the end, but they were minor nitpicks in my opinion.

This, this was the kind of show, the kind of story, the kind of world, the kind of characters I always dreamed of making myself. Stories about love, and friendship, and family, characters with bonds that you could feel radiating off of the screen, a world so vast and endless you wished you could enter it and live every day exploring the horizons and uncovering new mysteries within it, and all alongside the ones who would wrestle a hydra or jump from a crystal palace for you.

As I grew older, finding good quality shows I could enjoy was difficult. Shows now a days either try to be “edgy” or “mature” that they just came across as trying too hard. As much as I adore overarching stories, it was refreshing to go back to that slice of life, villain of the week format that is feels like it’s being rejected now a days in animation. Again, I don’t have a problem with overarching plots, but slice of life stories can be just as fun, and open up a lot of doors for character interactions and enough wiggle room for the morals to shine through more.

MLP continued to surprise me over the years. As I grew, so did the show. I mean, Twilight went from an awkward student who didn’t care about friends, into the flipping PRINCESS of Friendship! Rarity expanded her business, Rainbow Dash learned humility and became a Wonder Bolt. Fluttershy became more and more confident, Applejack learned to ask for help, and Pinkie Pie had her ups and down, but at the end of the day, all she really cared about was making her friends happy. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally found their calling, and it completely blew me away. Like a lot of people, I cried.

Speaking of tears, I know the whole villains reforming thing has caused some controversy over the years, and while I do empathize with a lot of the criticism, I can’t not love seeing these villains change for the better. Call me a compete and total sap, but if a man who persecuted and murdered people for believing in a Savior, only to have the most earth shattering revelation and transform into a messenger of the Gospel, even at the risk of his own life, and if a man from my Church can go from a man with the heart of a murder, into a devoted and kindhearted man who sung songs to The Lord every Sunday, then yes. If someone is willing, if they WANT it enough, I believe a heart of stone can become a heart of flesh. I know, a lot of people don’t believe it, and I understand why. But like Jesus, I want those lost lambs to find their way back.

As a President Lincoln once said: If I make my enemy my friend, have I not defeated my enemy?

I love when a villain changes for the better. Even if, story wise, it can be rushed, the meaning is still there. For me, that’s enough. I know not everybody changes, but that doesn’t mean nobody will. We live in a fallen world, but there is a Light that chases away the dark, gives us His hand, and shows us there is a better way. Just like Twilight did for Sunset Shimmer, and Sunset Shimmer did for Human Twilight.

Aside from introducing me to an amazing fandom, meeting so many wonderful people, and even being the show that coaxed me into the fanfiction world which led me to discover my love fo writing, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has and will forever be my all time favorite show, surpassing all others from my childhood. It came during my transition from a child to an adult. It sparked my imagination, made me smile, made me laugh and made me cry.

This series, this world, and its characters carried something that made it stand out amongst so many other shows in my eyes, and in my heart I always knew why. To quote the minister of Shady Oak ministries on YouTube; “They took the love of God, and put it on ponies.” Yes, when I watched MLP, when I heard the messages and witnessed the strong relationships, I saw Jesus manifested in each of them. I wasn’t even trying to find it, I just... felt it in my heart.

The Magic Of Friendship brought out the best in the Mane Six, brought out the best in those around them, and came through for them even when it seemed as if all was lost. And, it didn’t just go by the motions. The characters grew and learned, but that spark, that special little something that made them who they were, it didn’t fade, it only became stronger. They became the best versions of themselves, and though they still tumble and fall, they keep getting back up, because one way or another, there will ways be somepony there to reach out their hoof and help them back up.

I am so grateful for this show, and for all the wonderful things that came with it. The good, the bad, the weird, the funny, all of it.

Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, Celestia, Luna, Sunset Shimmer, Discord, everypony, Thank you all for these wonderful nine years, and for teaching us that Friendship truly is the most powerful magic of all. But most importantly, Thank You Jesus, for having revealed this series to me, and for speaking to me through these ponies, reminding me of Your love, Your mercy, and most of all, Your friendship.

Nothing stays the same for long, but when it changes doesn't mean it's gone. Things may come and things may go. Some go fast and some go slow. Few things last, that's all I know. But Friendship, carries on through the ages.

#my little pony friendship is magic #my little pony season 9 #mlp finale #mlp ending #the end lf my little pony #my little pony the final season #twilight sparkle #rainbow dash #rarity #applejack #pinkie pie #fluttershy #discord #princess celestia #princess luna #sunset shimmer #starlight glimmer

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moonlitgleek · 7 years ago

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Anonymous asked:

What was going on in the Tower of Joy. I am so confused by it. Why did Rhaegar leave THREE King's Guard with his baby mama and one teenager with his wife and lawful heir?

Because it seems that Rhaegar did not take into account the possibility of defeat.

Rhaegar had put his hand on Jaime's shoulder. "When this battle's done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but . . . well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return."

In his mind, he’d have ridden to the Trident to crush the rebellion then returned to call a Great Council and overthrow Aerys. So Elia and the children, inside the Red Keep and surrounded by guards if not Kingsguard, weren’t in danger as far as he was concerned. That, of course, leaves Aerys but Rhaegar was fighting for Aerys and so was Dorne so Aerys had no reason to harm Elia or the children. Their stay in the Red Keep might not be pleasant (or by choice) but Rhaegar probably did not see a pressing danger in it as long as his father saw that Rhaegar was fighting for him. By the time their presence within Aerys’ reach could turn dangerous (when Rhaegar put whatever plans he had into motion), Rhaegar supposedly would have been back and in place to remove Aerys without posing a danger to his family. Of course Rhaegar failed to take into account his father’s unpredictability and the extent of his paranoia into account, and what that could lead him to do. Indeed, Aerys randomly decided that the loss at the Trident was because the Dornish had betrayed them and refused to send Elia and the children to the relative safety of Dragonstone which ultimately left them at the mercy of the Lannister forces, but oh well.

Note that Rhaegar’s belief in the prophecy has to be taken into account here as well because it’s probably what underlay his conviction of victory. He firmly believed that his children were the three heads of the dragon and meant to save the world, so it’s entirely possible that he believed the same magic that foretold the birth of the three heads of the dragon and that would bring the dragons back would ensure the safety and survival of his children, prophesied saviors that they were. That might have played into his firm conviction of his victory, and could explain how his plans to “protect” Lyanna were equally suspect, or why he committed so many glaring blunders without a thought to the consequences. If you have prophecy and magic on your side, what could possibly go wrong?

For a guy so fond of Summerhall, you’d think he would learn something.

Why, after most of the Royal family was killed because of poor guarding, did they not go to the new King, and pregnant dowager Queen who were actively being percussed?

Some argue that this is the biggest piece of evidence of Jon’s legitimacy and that the Kingsguard were there to protect their infant king. I disagree, because a surprise legitimacy reveal would be a deus ex machina that loses Jon’s story a lot of its narrative weight. And because even if Rhaegar took Lyanna for a second wife (probable), that does not mean their marriage was legal or would be recognized by anyone. More importantly, Jon did not have to be trueborn for the Kingsguard to be assigned to protect him.

Some kings thought it right and proper to dispatch Kingsguard to serve and defend their wives and children, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins of greater and lesser degree, and occasionally even their lovers, mistresses, and bastards.

Of course we then run into one main obstacle: Rhaegar was not king. He never was. But Rhaegar was also not king when he instructed the Kingsguard to stay in Dorne to “guard” Lyanna instead of fulfilling their duty to the king they were sworn to obey

The first duty of the Kingsguard was to defend the king from harm or threat. The white knights were sworn to obey the king's commands as well, to keep his secrets, counsel him when counsel was requested and keep silent when it was not, serve his pleasure and defend his name and honor. Strictly speaking, it was purely the king's choice whether or not to extend Kingsguard protection to others, even those of royal blood.

Aerys was facing an active rebellion that the Kingsguard vows compelled them to defend him against but the three Kingsguard eschewed their duty to the king and followed Rhaegar’s orders instead. So, in practice, Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent and Gerold Hightower had all but treated Rhaegar as de facto king. They sat out the rebellion because Rhaegar told them to remain at the Tower of Joy, so remain they did. That says much about the allegiance of the three of them to Rhaegar’s person, which falls in line with what Yandel tells us about the state of Aerys’ court in recent years and the factionalism that permeated it between those loyal to Aerys and those loyal to Rhaegar. Arthur Dayne was an open supporter of Rhaegar whereas Oswell Whent is speculated to have been involved in whatever scheme was supposed to take place at Harrenhal. Our knowledge of Gerold Hightower is more limited but it says a lot that the Lord Commander didn’t return to fight for the king but stayed behind where Rhaegar instructed him to stay.

So the Kinsguard stayed with Lyanna instead of going to Viserys because Rhaegar ordered them to, and dead or not, their loyalty to him remained.

(And to be fair, Aerys was murdered by his own guard, while Gregor Clegane scaled Maegor’s Holdfast to get to Elia and Aegon at a time when the city was crawling with an overwhelming number of Lannister soldiers. Those are not good odds for any Targaryen guard.)

Why, when Ned, Howland, et al, finally came for Lyanna, did they fight. It was her brother and a bunch of Northmen. I assume they had a Stark banner. Yeah, if it had been Robert, I’d have been worried, but it was Ned and his buddies. It wasn’t like an army, it was 9 guys, they could have talked for five minutes. Ned wasn't going to hurt Lyanna or her baby.

Yeah, that’s one of the reasons many of us question Lyanna’s assent to remain in that tower and just how “willing” her stay was. According to GRRM:

The King's Guards don't get to make up their own orders. They serve the king, they protect the king and the royal family, but they're also bound to obey their orders, and if Prince Rhaegar gave them a certain order, they would do that. They can't say, "No we don't like that order, we'll do something else."

Which by no means absolve them from the responsibility of choosing to follow Rhaegar’s orders even in defiance of their knightly vows, btw. It’s not like their vows render them physically incapable of defying the king. That was still a choice on their part.

But the fact that Ned had to cut his way to Lyanna’s side does not give the best impression of Rhaegar’s orders to the Kingsguard or speak of Lyanna’s wishes being respected or taken into account. It is quite possible that the Kingsguard were not sure of Ned’s intentions: after all, Ned was one of the leaders of the rebellion and the three knights had received the news about what happened with Elia and her children, and who knows how accurate or comprehensive the account was. They might not have known that Ned spoke against the crime or quarreled with Robert over Clegane, Lorch and Tywin escaping punishment - indeed, he left King’s Landing to lift the siege of Storm’s End and accept the surrender of Lords Tyrell and Redwyne so in their eyes he was working for “the Usurper".

However, my issue with this is that they chose to meet Ned sword-to-sword (using their vows to justify it) without even attempting to suss out his intentions, or you know, listening to the sister who knew that her brother would never hurt her or her baby. Lyanna clearly trusted Ned and had faith that he’d help her protect her child so it’s not like the Kingsguard had no grasp on who Ned Stark was or what he was capable of. Even if they did not fully trust Lyanna’s account due to her age, illness or general familial bias, surely escorting Ned to her under guard wouldn’t have cost them anything. Or a conversation that wasn’t centered on how the Kingsguard do not flee and that’s why they were fighting the guy who only wanted to get to his sister and who was literally pushed into war, on the assumption that he might just turn out to be a kinslayer after all. I’d have hoped that three of the finest knights in the land would have enough moral judgement to recognize the position Ned was in, his family murdered and his sister missing for over a year and a half. He was only trying to reach Lyanna (who may have been yelling for him, if that part of his fever dream is correct.) Ned did not want to fight. He was sad about having to fight the Kingsguard but they were giving him no choice to get to Lyanna but to cut his way through. The fact that they were keeping him from his sister and that they were complicit in carrying her off means that the onus was on them to prevent bloodshed.

That is all to say that the Kingsguard gave more weight to Rhaegar’s orders - which seem to have been “no one gets past. Period” - over the needs and wants of the dying woman inside the tower who, if nothing else, deserved to have her brother by her side when she died and deserved to have the comfort of knowing that her baby was safe with her beloved brother, instead of taking her last breath as another of her brothers was cut down outside her door.

And what was the plan for them? They didn't know Lyanna was going to die (unless that was the plan), so what where they planning on doing with her and the baby? WTF King’s Guard guys? (you write the best meta so I thought I’d ask if you could help me understand.)

It would have been clear by the time Ned made it there that Lyanna was dying but I really have no idea what their plans were after that, if they had any. My best guess is that they would have taken Jon and crossed the Narrow Sea to Essos, though their reaction to Ned telling them that Willem Darry did exactly that with Viserys and Daenerys could be a counter-indicative to that. But I don’t know what else they could have done.

(Sometimes I entertain the possibility that Davos’ words about Cortnay Penrose “trying to yield with honor.... [e]ven if it means his own life" apply to these Kingsguard, hence their words about how the Kingsguard do not flee. Not that that would have been any better because killing Ned’s companions to accomplish that does not make them honorable, it only makes them awful. Idk, just a thought I had.)

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #elia martell #rhaegar targaryen #lyanna stark #ned stark #the kingsguard #rhaegar's folly #rhaegar and lyanna #the tower of joy #aerys targaryen #arthur dayne #oswell whent #gerold hightower #robert's rebellion #consent issues

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gawvi · 4 years ago

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The question is, 'How can mere mortals get right with God?'

Job 9:3 (ESV)

3 If one wished to contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

God's wisdom is so deep, God's power so immense, who could take him on and come out in one piece?

He tells the sun, 'Don't shine,' and it doesn't; he pulls the blinds on the stars.

All by himself he stretches out the heavens and strides on the waves of the sea.

He designed the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.

We'll never comprehend all the great things he does; his miracle-surprises can't be counted.

Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it.

If he steals you blind, who can stop him?

Who's going to say, 'Hey, what are you doing?'

God doesn't hold back on his anger; even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.

So how could I ever argue with him,

construct a defense that would influence God?

Even though I'm innocent I could never prove it; I can only throw myself on the Judge's mercy.

If it's a question of who's stronger, he wins, hands down!

If it's a question of justice, who'll serve him the subpoena?

Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me; blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.

"God and I are not equals; I can't bring a case against him.

We'll never enter a courtroom as peers.

-Here's the good part-👇🏾👇🏾

How I wish we had an arbitrator to step in and let me get on with life—

To break God's death grip on me, to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.

Then I'd speak up and state my case boldly.

As things stand, there is no way I can do it."

All those word's were Job's 👆🏾👆🏾

Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion.

Even God boasted about Job, and as crazy as it is, he makes a bet with the devil on Job's faithfulness.

No mere man in all of scripture is more honored.

However Job suffered more than he could bare because of this.

And you see the thing?

God gave Job every reason to curse God. But he didn't.

Job knew who the boss was.

If you understand original sin, and why man deserves God's wrath, you will understand that we are totally at God's mercy, we think God owes us good things, nice things, a world of judgment and hell isn't fair.

But what it means to say God is good! Is a whole ugly truth on its own. And God is good. And we are totally at God's mercy.

He will do to us as he pleases. He will have mercy on whom he would have mercy.

Its hard huh?

Yeah. Its mind blowing to me!!

Back to Job, in chapter 9 of Job, you realize the hard truth, that man can't be right with God on his own doing.

Job 9:33 (ESV)

33 There is no arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34 Let him take his rod away from me,

and let not dread of him terrify me.

No man can see God unless God makes him known.

When Job wanted a reason for his suffering, only God could give it to him. Job couldn't protest, and he couldn't bribe God to change his condition.

Job wished he knew someone who'd make a case for him before God, to seek his mercy.

When you look back at Job, you will understand why you need Christ as Lord. Because he serves as an advocate with the father as scripture says.

It is through him that God displayed his love, mercy and grace to mankind, in that while we were sons of disobedience, enemies of God, Christ died for us.

It pleased God to punish Christ on a cross so that we can go scot free from the guilt of our sins.

There is one God, and one mediator between man and God, the man Jesus Christ.

He serves as arbitrator between us. He's the priest that goes to the Holy place to offer up the sacrifice for our sins. The sacrifice which is his very own self.

When Job trusted in God, even in the face of all the evil God allowed to happen to him, he did have mercy, he did receive more than he lost, and he certainly did receive Christ. He is a child of heaven and that's the life I'm in pursuit of. One that I glorify God and enjoy him forever.

John 1:18 (ESV)

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Titus 2:11

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

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gameofthrawns · 7 years ago

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A Night with the Hunters

A/N: Off on a plane tomorrow, so I’ll post this now. For tarched’s HTTYDArtAugust event, Prompt 3: Campfire.

This actually works for both this prompt and the next one, as does the next story (sorta). This was originally for the next prompt, but I switched them out because people will probably be expecting a story about Dragon Hunters for a prompt titled “The Hunters”, and I’d sooner sell my fedora and mason jars than do something so obvious.

I hope you kinda like these random OCs, as they’ll probably be showing up in one of the later HTTYDArtAugust prompts.

“So where are you from again, boy?”

Hans hid his frown with a swig of ale. He hated being called that. It was accurate, but still, it made him feel small, especially surrounded by these four strangers. Also, it was the second time the older man, Rolf, had asked that question, and Hans didn’t doubt that he was simply trying to make conversation.

Well, it couldn’t hurt.

“Polder,” he replied.

“Hmm...” Rolf intoned, scratching his red beard in thought. “I vaguely remember the name. It’s one of those, um—”

“One of those Teuton Kingdoms,” Sigrid said quickly, shooting a proud glance at Rolf, who simply scowled. “All marshes, worse than living in a pile of yakshit I’ve heard. It’s no wonder you look so skinny.”

He didn’t bother hiding his frown this time.

She shrugged. “I guess you’re still tall, so you’ve got that going for you.”

Hans regarded the woman with a little more admiration than he knew was reasonable. Perhaps it was her bright blue eyes, her...shiny golden hair, her sharp, pale face—but not too sharp and pale because that would be unpleasant—and...something. He was quite bad at this, and there was only the campfire’s light to go by right now, but he had seen here earlier today, on the docks when he first arrived on this “Dragon Hunter Island”. He remembered enough to know that yes, she was certainly pretty.

Or perhaps it was because she was sitting among four men, men who hunted and killed dragons for a living, yet she did not avert her gaze or flinch when she spoke with them, for she was a Dragon Hunter herself. She was, in fact, the only woman Dragon Hunter he’d seen so far. Was she the only one in the entire...tribe? Or whatever this organization considered itself.

“Stop ogling, lad,” Rolf said with a knowing snicker, and Hans’ eyes snapped from the sigrid back down to the crackling fire faster than he thought possible. “Sigrid can and will castrate you with a rusty knife if you keep it up.”

“I’m okay with looking,” Sigrid corrected. “Just don’t touch.”

“All right, back on topic,” Snorre said loudly, but quite cheerily. So far, he’d been the most amicable boss Hans ever had the pleasure of knowing, though perhaps it was just the ale. “So your name’s Hans, and you grew up in yakshit. What else?”

Hans scratched his head nervously. “Why are you all so, uh, curious?”

Snorre picked a piece of chicken out of his beard. “You’re a part of our...team—what does Viggo call them?”

“Squad,” Rolf corrected.

“Yes, squad. We’re not herding sheep. We’re fighting men, dragons, sometimes men riding dragons...”

That got a grim reaction out of everyone else.

Hans had heard of this strange alliance between certain Vikings and dragons. Just the thought of it slightly terrified him, but apparently the reality was even worse. He had prayed he’d never have to fight them.

Well, just his luck.

“What about these dragon hunters?” Hans asked.

“We try to fight them,” Snorre said. “We usually lose. Well, not us specifically, as we’ve only ever faced them once. You know what I mean, us Dragon Hunters as a whole.”

“It’s usually the same five or so dragons and riders,” Sigrid added. “They’re all probably your age, maybe slightly younger. Their leader’s a boy, brown hair like yours, I recall. Rides a Night Fury.”

“We need to know if we can count on you. Do you know what happened to the man you’re replacing?”

“No,” Hans said, suddenly nervous. It probably wasn’t going to be easy for Hans to meet the expectations set by—

“Raven-starving coward!” the man sitting just beside him suddenly shouted. Hans had somehow forgotten both his name and presence.

“He died,” Snorre said plainly. “We were gathering Changewing eggs on an island when we were attacked by their mothers. He tried to sneak away with the eggs while we were fighting our way out, and then...” He punched into his own hand. “Bam, right into the rest of the pack. Justice of the gods, I tell you. I still pity the fool.”

“Well I certainly don’t,” the paranoid man snapped.

Snorre just shook his head. “Aye, turns out we didn’t know him as well as we thought.”

Never mind, then. So it was the opposite problem: they’d been betrayed once, and that had made them cynical and suspicious of him.

“Well...all right,” he said reluctantly. “I was born in Polder.”

“You said that already,” No-Name said.

“Ivar, enough,” Snorre commanded. Ah, yes, that was it. Ivar.

“Never really knew my parents,” Hans continued. “My mother died giving birth to me, and my father died from fever soon after. So I lived with uncle and his family.” He laughed bitterly. “He always hated me, blamed me for my parents dying, so his family hated me too. Just...constant beatings and...”

He shook his head to clear the unwelcome memories, but they stubbornly clung to his mind. “I slept outside,” he said, his voice slightly softer than he would’ve liked it to be, “even in winter. And I prayed to the Savior, our Lord. I prayed every day to be taken away to a better life.”

Snorre nodded grimly. Ivar’s mustache twitched in sympathy. Sigrid poured herself some more ale.

Rolf snorted. “Which side of the family tree?”

“I don’t remember. I don’t even know how old I am anymore. Mercenaries invaded the village when I was twelve. Said I wanted to join them before they even entered the village, and I guess they liked my...what’s the word, enthusiasm. Never looked back.”

“So how’d you get here?” Sigrid asked, leaning forward. “How’d you learn to speak Norse so well?”

Hans had to admit, he found her interest quite flattering. “Well, um, I did not stay with those mercenaries for too long. I joined the Visithugs very soon after, and then I ended up on some trader ship as just muscle. Basically I went from one job to another job to another job. And now...” He shrugged. “I am here!”

Rolf rubbed his mustache thoughtfully. “What a delightful tale, truly special. Sounds a good bit like Ryker’s upbringing, doesn’t it?”

Hans remembered that name. Ryker was the second-in-command of all the Dragon Hunters, the massive hulk of a man who’d greeted the new “batch” at the docks, made a very brief and uninspiring speech about never underestimating a dragon’s cunning and following orders to the letter and watching out for each other. So basically, about five sentences, if one counted “I’ll make this quick” and “All right, dismissed” as part of the speech.

“No, no, you might be thinking of Viggo,” Ivar said dismissively. “Or you’re pulling all this from your ass, as usual.”

Rolf was scratching his beard again. “But aren’t they brothers?”

“I thought Ryker’s family got eaten by dragons,” Sigrid muttered.

“He was a good Dragon Hunter who got rich and left the business early,” Snorre said, staring directly at Hans. “Land, wife, kids, love and happiness and sunshine. Then the dragons had their revenge and burnt it all to the ground, so he’s back.”

“Lost his land, his family...and love and happiness and sunshine,” Ivar repeated for emphasis. “That’s why we hunt dragons, boy. So more men don’t end up like Ryker. He’s just...not human, anymore.”

Snorre loudly sighed. “The boss’s life story is his business. We’re not old ladies, here, so why are we gossiping over rumors? While still on this island, too? What if Ryker’s nearby and hears us?”

“We offer the new guy as a sacrifice,” Ivar suggested. That got a chuckle out of everyone, even Hans.

“I thought they were Templars,” Rolf said suddenly.

“What now?” Hans felt compelled to ask, much to the others’ dismay.

“Ryker’s family was assassinated by the Templars,” Rolf continued, “because he was rich yet openly defied your savior god.”

The others around Hans groaned, but he himself was only somewhat paying attention. There was something he wanted to ask, something important.

“Odin’s fucking beard, Rolf, cut it out,” Snorre practically hissed. “Every time...You know, we don’t even know if any of these stories are true.”

Hans bit his lower lip, thinking hard.

“No, no, I’m serious, I distinctly remember someone saying he crushed a man’s skull with one hand—”

“What about all of you?” Hans blurted out. That wasn’t quite the way he’d wanted to phrase the question, but his nerves had somehow gotten the better of him.

Ivar raised a bushy eyebrow. “What about us?”

“Do you mean, how we became Dragon Hunters?” Sigrid offered.

“Yes,” Hans said. Sigrid gave a small, understanding smile, and just like that, his confidence had returned. “I would like to know how you became a Dragon Hunter, too. All of you. Starting with...Sigrid?”

She frowned. All right, perhaps too confident. “Please?” he added, almost childishly.

Rolf and the others chuckled. “Oh, Hans, my friend,” he said, clearly amused, “we’ve been trying for the past two years.”

“I mean, it’s just a bit unfair, seeing as how I have told everything—”

“There’s an old Roman proverb: It’s not wise not to pry secrets from a woman,” Rolf said with an air of wisdom, “or from cold-blooded killers. Sigrid’s probably both.”

“I feel like you just made that up,” Hans countered.

“Of course he did,” Ivar said with a snicker.

“Ivar, don’t tell me you’re siding with this boy over your old friend—”

“Enough,” Snorre grumbled. “Enough, please.”

Hans shook his head in slight annoyance. “Look, I’m just asking—”

“I have a brother at home,” Sigrid said quietly, and everyone else instantly fell silent. It was only now that Hans realized how small the fire had gotten.

“Sven was three years my younger, I think,” she continued. It’s been too long, but you remind me of him, Hans. My mother died giving birth to him, and I guess my father loved her too much, and it made him so cruel towards Sven. But never to me. As I grew up...he said I looked so much like Mother.”

Hans swallowed the lump in his throat. “So why did you...leave?” he asked carefully. “And your brother is still...”

Sigrid was frowning again, even harder than before. And this time, there was no laughter to break the tension

“Don’t push your luck too far, son,” Snorre said humorously. It was false, of course, but it still helped. “We've already tried. Trust us, the guy before you? He tried. Wasn’t able to sit properly for a week, I think.”

Ivar plucked at the tip of his mustache, slightly grinning. “And now him betraying us makes so much more sense.”

“Anyways,” Rolf said excitedly, “on to happier subjects.”

Snorre snorted as he threw more kindling into the campfire. “Like your life story?”

“No...I mean yes, exactly that!” Rolf slapped his knees. “You see, dear Hans, I am a man of truly noble blood, my lineage extending all the way back to Emperor Maximillian the Fourth himself—”

“Yakshit.”

The rest of the night went along much like this, arguing and debating until the fire finally died out for good, and the “squad” retired for the night. Hans made sure to say a brief prayer before settling in his furs.

He slept soundly for the first time in a while, actually, assured in the knowledge that he was surrounded by four friends.

#httydartaugust #httyd #rtte #tarched #fanfic #henchmen lives matter

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lost-gokiburi · 7 years ago

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Queen of Crimson White

Often the first snowfalls in Kyrei province were but a prelude to the beautiful, unblemished coat of white that would soon coat the land as far as the eye could see. Travelers would travel far in order to glance at the snow covered peaks of the mountaintop fortresses where the Lord and Lady of Kyrei ruled from on high. Even from such a distance, at night, one could see the Lunar Lotus blossoms that lit the mountainside in a beautiful display. A coveted tree that grew within the recesses of this patch of mountain and nowhere else in the world.

Often, the first snowfalls were the prelude to a new day for the blood stained lands belonging to the Kitsune clans would be coated in a fresh coat of snow. Covering their bloody work from the prying eyes of the Lord and Lady of Kyrei province.

The fourth moon hung idly in the sky, shining it's luminous light onto the landscape below, casting a beautiful azure hue on the pure white that coated the land. The eyes of many wanderers had ventured to see this once in a life time occurrence as the fourth moon broke from it's brothers and sisters, hanging high in the night sky over Kyrei. An occurrence that only happened once every eight hundred and fifty four years.

It was a sign of a new day, an age of peace.

“My Lady, it is a beautiful sight.” Came a whisper as a young woman adorned in a sheer white kimono stepped out from within a dimly lit structure. Her bare feet brushing against a brilliant, patch of wood where whom she spoke to resided. “Only my father has seen such a sight.”

She spoke, a soft note on the wind. Her voice was an island of calm beside an ocean of violence while her last remaining eye settled on the land. Her irises glowing brilliantly beneath the luminous light, her pupil strained to look upon the snow. “Then he is a lucky man.”

Youthful eyes of silver settled on the woman who had deigned to visit their prestigious inn. She was familiar with the woman who sat only a few feet away, knowing the scars as any decent Kitsune servant would, a savior of her people. A woman born of a people who were dying out by the centuries. Heroes of a lost age. Long had she wished for a moment with this ancient hero if only to hear her speak of tales of valor and bravery. Her father would have chided her upon discovery, yet she had her chance with tray in hand. She would brave this moment to spend only but a few moments with this venerable spirit of battle.

She stepped closer before the others voice cut in once more. “You bring tea, at this hour?” Her gaze turns towards the silver eyed woman. “Have you not seen the sun set?”

“I...” She trails off, soliciting a gentle chuckle from the warrior ancient.

The Ancient watches as the young Kitsune's face flushes with a gentle color towards the height of her cheeks while ears atop her head flatten in embarrassment. “You do me a great honor, to serve tea at this hour, but be careful what you might ask for.” She reaches for a pipe of ivory and obsidian, picking it up and igniting it with the candle light not too distant from her. “You might get your wish and perhaps more than you intended.”

“I did not mean to seem as though I wa-” She was cut off by the warrior-ancient.

“was trying to seduce me?” She asked candidly as she took a long pull on her pipe, allowing the smoke fill her lungs while she exhaled softly. Her attention had fallen from the young Kitsune and fell upon the glimmering snow that stretched out before them. “I would welcome the challenge, but I am not one for being seduced so easily. I am not a cheap claim, little fox.”

Smoke pours from her mouth much like a dragon's breath. It obscures sharp features of a woman bedecked with countless battle scars. Proof that she was but a master of her craft while she still drew breath and countless others did not. Despite her words, the youthful other did not relent in her intent to speak with the warrior-ancient. It was this spirit that had gotten her in trouble so many times before and yet, she was drawn to this moment. Where peace was to be had beneath such a beautiful sight. She wanted to share such a memory with someone worthy of remembering her. Quietly, she steps towards the warrior-ancient, kneeling down onto the ground while her eyes are fixated on a scar that lingers on the back of the warrior-ancient's neck. It disappears into a beautifully woven blanket, sporting colors of spring and what appeared to be gold and silver woven into the fabric itself.

The work of an artisan born beneath the shadow of the capital. As she knelt, she reached for one of the tea pots, humming a gentle song to herself while she poured the glass for the warrior-ancient. Once filled, she slid to the left slightly, before lifting the cup and offering it to her.

“You present an offering worthy of a lover to a mere stranger.” The Warrior-ancient speaks quietly, her voice barely heard on the gentle touch of the cold breeze. A pulse of anticipation floods through the young Kitsune's chest as she almost fell prey to this single moment. It was clear that this Warrior-ancient was adjusted to their customs quite well. This was indeed a bit much, to brew something so painstakingly for just a conversation? More would have been expected to be offered and even more to be given. “I shall accept your offer and return to you what is owed.”

She waits for the warrior-ancient to accept the cup from her with a frail moment of silence and there is no movement to come. She does not offer a hand but rather turns her gaze towards the eager Kitsune. “My Lady Shi-.”

“Do not say that name...” She pleads with the youthful woman, her battle weary gaze settling upon her once more. There is an indescribable expression that lingers within her remaining eye. It gives pause to the youthful Kitsune. She falls silent, as if subdued by some unseen force. “Don't... call me that name here. I do not wish to be her when I am with you.”

“I...” She attempts to speak, her own shame creeping up once more. “My deepest apologies...”

“No..” The Warrior-ancient answers immediately. “It is I who should be sorry.”

The Kitsune freezes up for a moment, her ears perking up as if touched by a jolt of lightning. She feels a soft grip of a calloused hand. It is unlike the cruel humans that pass through the inn, lacking it's rough qualities but rather it is the grip of something more than that... or less than that depending on who you might ask. Still, to be approached so directly was not something she was prepared for. “M-My Lady?!”

“Please...” The Warrior-ancient pleads with her once more, her voice growing softer by the moment as her hand gently travels up the Kitsune's arm, sliding into her sleeve. The Warrior-ancient pulls her closer, causing the young Kitsune to press against her while there is a slight spill of tea onto the crimson wood. “Stop calling me that...”

“I can't... Tsu'Liao.” Came the answer as eyes of sharp silver now rest upon the Warrior-ancient's face. Gone was the facade that had been adopted by the Kitsune, revealing a woman of some danger. A fierceness that rest beneath the surface had now forced itself up. Yet, here was Shiki, holding her here as she had before. “You can't deny who you are. Shiki.”

In that moment, Tsu'Liao's anger twisted fiercely and shoved the Kitsune off of her and into the snow. She shot from her seated position with blade drawn. It's silver edge pointing towards the fallen Kitsune that now lay in the snow. “Stop it! Stop calling me that twisted monster! I am not that thing! I never wanted to be that thing! You all forced that upon me!”

“Yes...” Came an answer she did not wish to hear. “We did. But what will you do? Set fire to the capital? Hang everyone involved? Skin their children like you had in the past?”

“Call me that name again Shikou, and I'll kill you!” She warns the Kitsune. “I'll gut you like I did Saito! Like I did your husband and your goddamn father!”

“See?” Shikou said calmly, her silver eyes looking up at the god of war before her. That blood stained warrior as her bare skin savaged by the cold air, she could feel winter's bite as the other before her had begun to gather her own power to her. It wasn't long before steam begun to rise from Tsu'Liao's skin as her body reacted to the freezing air. “You cannot run from what you are. You killed so many. You even killed your own chil-”

“Stop!” She threw her blade like an arrow, impaling Shikou through the leg as blood spat onto the unblemished snow. “Why?! Why do you keep bringing them up after all these accursed centuries?! Why are you always making me face down every life I've stolen in the past eight thousand years?! How many of them have I killed for you? How many Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters have I slain all in order to further your own goals?!”

“How many centuries have you robbed me of? Soaking my hands in all of this rotting blood that haunts me everywhere I go?!” She continued, her anger rising further and further before right eye had opened up, revealing a blood red iris that settled on the Kitsune. “You, my father and everyone in my life have done nothing but used me for their own ends! You sit on your throne and lord over everyone and still you seek to haunt me and remind me of what a wretched thing I am! Of all the people I've killed and every wrong I've done!”

“Why do you think I did all of this, Shiki?” Shikou asked, her stance firm and unrelenting. “Do you think I took pleasure in feeding that beast hidden inside of you? You're an avatar of war! Synonymous with even the Builder himself on how ruthless you truly are. I made you into a blood soaked icon that has existed without end.”

“Don't say that man's name!” Tsu'Liao snapped at Shikou, her nails digging into her hand hard enough to draw blood. “Don't you speak his name as if it's yours to say! You know nothing of the builder! I am nothing like him!”

“Shiki, you aren't listening!”

“The hell I'm not!” She raced forward, her feet cracking through the frozen snow as a burst of white was the herald of her approach. Every step could be felt through the air as she brought her fist towards Shikou's face.

The other moved swiftly, evading the blow as she tore the sword from her thigh and swung it towards Shiki. The blade's edge tasted it's owners stomach as a spray of crimson red painted Shikou's kimono. There was a moment in which the two of them had realized what had just happened. Despite the Kitsune being taller and possessing a longer reach along with the same experience as Shiki, she knew at a base level she was outmatched. Her eyes settled on the Warrior-ancient before her as blood soaked into her clothes.

“What is there to listen to.” She asked as her hand gripped the open wound inflicted upon her. “When one of the only people I care about kills me again.”

For a moment, Shikou was about to say something before she watched the Warrior-ancient fall onto the ground. Succumbing to her injury far quicker than normal. This was a dance they performed time and time again, an event which culminated at the end of a violent era. If only to silence her suffering for a brief moment and yet... it was so painful. This war beast she created in the name of defending peace, she was always destined to turn into this vicious animal and every time she awoke, she held no memory.

Yet, time and time again, Shiki fell in love with Shikou.

As if this path was ordained by some cruel, divine power.

Just as Shiki fell in love with Shikou, she would use Shiki in order to accomplish her goals and this moment would play over again and again. A dance without end for the punishment of interfering with the Gods themselves. A brief moment where she had halted the Builder's progress to save her people and so she was damned to this moment. A moment where she is to strike down the only person she would ever feel affection for. Affection so strongly that should Shiki ever ask for all of this to stop, she would.

However, she would never ask that. She would never question anything that Shikou asked of her until this moment when everything was just simply too late.

Quietly, Shikou stepped towards the fallen form of her lover. A trail of blood in her wake. Dropping the sword in the snow, she knelt beside her beloved. Turning her over in the snow, she looked upon that face. “I'm so sorry...” Came a whisper barely heard beyond the wind. ”I want it to end, Shiki... but I can't stop. I have to find a way to end this.”

“You wont.” Came a voice unknown. It's owner is towering, holding a blade made of obsidian black that casts a shadow of unlife onto this existence. Eyes of solemn green are affixed upon the pitiful creature in it's shadow. “You cannot escape the plans of the gods. However, should you kill him, you may set yourself free.”

Shikou looks up at this... thing. An agent for that Which Lies Sleeping. “I know your toll, soul-keeper. Begone. I will not pay it.”

Wordlessly, the form fades and she holds Shiki's immobile body. It isn't long before an arm reaches for her and her dying whisper is heard. A whisper she hears every one thousand years. “Goodbye my Queen of Crimson White...”

#Original writing

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ar3volut1on · 7 years ago

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Tonight we will continue our study on the sign of Revelation 12. We’ve looked in depth at the actual sign Jesus told us of in Rev. 12:1, studied the stars and planets that make the exact sign in the sky on Sept. 23rd of this year, discussed the significance of that date – Hebrew-year 5777, Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, etc. , and looked into what the verses say and used Scripture to gain a deeper understanding of what to expect and be watching for. I truly believe we are nearing the day when our Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer will be returning to call up his bride, thus saving us from the coming judgment upon the earth.

But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. Romans 5:8-9

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness; Romans 1:18

For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9

Keep those verses in mind as we look again at the woman travailing in childbirth, the child, and the dragon. Last night I told you who each figure stood for: the woman is Israel, the child the Church, and the red dragon is Satan. Let’s reread the verses once more as we get started.

And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child: and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was about to be delivered, that when she was delivered he might devour her child. And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Revelation 12:1-6

We know the woman is pregnant, ready to deliver her child in fact which will be snatched up, caught up to God before the dragon can harm it. There’s a specific word used for “caught up” in the Greek that let’s us know this is the Rapture of the Church. It’s the word harpazo meaning to seize (in various applications): – catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force). This is the same word used in another rapture verse.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

Consider the verse we looked at in Corinthians last night where Paul wrote of the last trump in light of the verse from Thessalonians and what we now know about the sign of 12:1-2.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

It is becoming clear that the Rapture is biblical, is going to happen, and very possibly happen very soon. I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence that there are so very many signs, significant Jewish feasts and holidays, and Scripture references all pointing to Sept. 23, 2017 as being the birth of the Church, the body and bride of Christ. Even Jesus himself pointed to this time when he used a Jewish idiom to point out when he would return for his body, his bride.

But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. Matthew 24:36

Those exact words were commonly used by betrothed young men when asked about their pending wedding, since in those days when a young man got betrothed he would then leave his bride to be and so to his father’s house to prepare their home, their place. This could sometimes take him a while and once he belt that his place was ready for his bride then he had to seek his father’s approval, whim he might mot get the first time. Since his return to claim his bride was dependent upon his father’s approval he would reply to any asking how much longer saying ” But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.” When we consider that the same idiom was used in reference to the Feast of Trumpets, the Last Trump, and Rosh Hoshanah (all of which converge on 9/23 ) which all depend upon two witnesses sighting the first visible sliver of the new moon. Depending upon the weather and such this could occur on one or two nights. It then seems clear that Jesus didn’t literally mean no one would know save God, for even the bridegroom would know when he was prepared for his bride and merely awaiting his father’s go ahead and we have a 2-3 day window for the new moon to appear. In both cases we can know the general season and time even if not the exact. Take that with the sign which occurs over a period of several hours culminating at the time known as “the twinkling of an eye” to the Jews on the Feast of Trumpets at the Last Trump and I think we can definitely say something is going to happen. I think it’s the Rapture, the birth of the Church into heaven. I have pointed out before that Jesus gave the iron rod to the church in the letter to Thyatira.

And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father: Revelation 2:26-27

Now that we are clear on the baby let’s look at the woman, Israel, again. I believe that once the Church, the Restrainer is gone from the earth that paves the way for Daniel’s 7Oth Week to begin, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. See there is this strange verse in Isaiah that talks about a child being born before the birth pangs which happen after.

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Isaiah 66:7

Since the Church was conceived in Israel on that Pentecost day all those years ago it makes sense that it is the baby, the man child that will immediately be caught up to God to be protected during the birth pangs, the judgment when Israel will labor under the weight of her sins. After all we know that once the church age ends, once the age of grace is completed then God will once again begin dealing with his bride, his chosen people, his nation, Israel.

Unfortunately, this is also the time when Satan, the Red Dragon, the Serpent is cast out of heaven down to earth. No longer will he stand before God accusing man day and night.

And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:9-10

Instead, he will be wreaking havoc on earth because he knows his time is almost up, he will soon be bound for a thousand years. He’s going to really tear loose during these last seven years on earth before Christ returns and sets foot on the earth once more as he defeats the evil in this world, the World system that will give rise to the Antichrist and his right hand man the False Prophet. We will meet this evil twosome another night though so just keep them in the back of your mind, true believers who are caught up in the birth of the Church – the Rapture – won’t have to face these two pawns of Satan. Nope, we will be with our Head, on Groom celebrating our wedding fast in heaven and enjoying our seven year honeymoon with our Lord. See I forgot that part of the Jewish wedding, that after the gloom and his pals go and get his bride in the night, just like thieves, then he takes his bride to the place he has prepared for her where they stay and consummate their marriage for a full seven days. A week, Daniel’s 70th?

We’ll talk about that more when we look at verse 12:6 of Revelation tomorrow night Lord willing. For tonight let me close with this my brothers and sisters in Christ:

But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28

Signs Pt. 3 Tonight we will continue our study on the sign of Revelation 12. We've looked in depth at the actual sign Jesus told us of in Rev.

#church #faith #God #Israel #jesus #king #love #Revelation #truth

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romancatholicreflections · 7 years ago

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15th August >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflection on Luke 1:39-56 for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘The Almighty has done great things for me’

Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary Gospel (Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada & South Africa) Luke 1:39-56 Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home. Gospel (USA) Luke 1:39-56 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. for he has looked upon his lowly servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. Reflections (10) (i) The Assumption of Our Lady Today we celebrate what the gospel calls the great things that the Almighty has done for Mary, in bringing her to share in a unique way in the risen life of Jesus. Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus throughout her earthly life. She carried Jesus in her womb for nine months. Having given birth to Jesus, she cared for and looked after him in the way that any mother cares for her child. She lived under the same roof as him for the first thirty years of his life. She was there throughout his public ministry, even if in the background. She was there at the foot of the cross. She was there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down upon them all at the first Pentecost. Just as Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus during her earthly life, the church believes that she now has a unique relationship with the risen Lord in heaven. She has come to share fully in his risen life. Mary’s relationship with Jesus in this life wasn’t so unique as to leave her remote from us. Yes, she was the mother of Jesus, but she was also a disciple of Jesus, and we are all called to be the Lord’s disciples. Her life shows us what it means to be the Lord’s disciple. Today’s gospel reading is Luke’s account of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Just before this gospel reading, we have Luke’s account of the annunciation to Mary. The angel Gabriel declared to Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of his Son. After struggling to come to terms with what was being asked of her, Mary eventually declared, ‘Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word’. Luke portrays Mary here as a woman of faith, who surrenders to God’s will for her life, God’s purpose for her life. It is this faith which Elizabeth recognizes in today’s gospel reading, ‘Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. Mary believed and surrendered to God’s word as spoken to her by Gabriel. She allowed God’s word to shape her whole life. Later in Luke’s gospel, Jesus will say ‘my mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’. Mary was above all a woman who heard God’s word and did it. This is the essence of faith. Through baptism, we are all called to such faith, and Jesus declares that those who, like Mary, hear the word of God and keep it, will become his brothers and sisters. Today’s gospel reading gives us an insight into how Mary expressed her faith. In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul declares, ‘the only thing that counts is faith working through love’, faith expressing itself in love. The faith that Mary displayed at the Annunciation immediately found expression in love. She made the long journey from Nazareth in Galilee to the hill country of Judah to be with her relative Elizabeth who was also with child. This is one of the ways our faith finds expression today. We journey to others in love. Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth in a very physical sense, carrying him in her womb. Elizabeth recognized what was happening, ‘Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’ When we journey towards others in faith and love, we too bring the Lord to them. The Lord wants to visit others through us, to speak to others through us. A little later in Luke’s gospel, when he is sending out the seventy on mission Jesus says to them, ‘whoever listens to you, listens to me’. The name ‘Christopher’ literally means Christ bearer or Christ carrier. Mary was the supreme Christopher and we are all called to be a Christopher in our own place and time, in accordance with our own qualities and gifts. Today’s gospel shows that Mary’s faith not only found expression in love, it also found expression in prayer. At the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul calls on the church, ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances’. In response to Elizabeth’s greeting, Mary immediately praised and gave thanks to God. God was the horizon within which Mary moved. God was at the heart of all her human relationships of love, including her relationship with Elizabeth. In a sense, Mary exemplifies the two great commandments, to love God with all one’s being and to love our neighbour as ourselves. One of the ways our love of God finds expression is through prayer. Mary’s prayer, the Magnificat, has been prayed by believers down through the centuries. If Mary exemplifies a life of faith that finds expression in love and prayer, she also shows where such a life ultimately leads. Those who follow this path, in the words of Paul in today’s second reading, ‘will be brought to life in Christ’. Mary shows us that all who bring Christ into the lives of others will be brought to life in Christ beyond this earthly life. And/Or (ii) The Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s sharing in the risen life of her Son in a way that is unique to her among the human race. The church has always believed that just as Jesus’ earthly body did not remain in the tomb after he rose to new life but was transformed in a glorious way, so too Mary’s body underwent the same glorious transformation beyond death. In the words of the Preface of today’s Mass, ‘rightly you would not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb’. Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life. She carried him in her womb for nine months. Having given birth to Jesus she cared for and looked after him in the way that any mother cares for her child. She lived under the same roof as him for the first thirty years of his life. She was there throughout his public ministry, even if in the background. She was there with the other women and the beloved disciple at the foot of the cross. She was there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down upon them all at the first Pentecost. Just as Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life, the church has always believed that she had a unique relationship with him in death and beyond death. For that reason, the glorious women that features in today’s first reading has been interpreted from the early days of the church as a reference to Mary, ‘a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head as a crown’. It is likely that the author of the Book of the Apocalypse from which that reading comes was depicting the whole church as this woman. The conflict between the woman and the dragon was a symbol of the conflict between the church and the Roman Empire of the time. Yet, Mary expresses in herself all that is best in the church. The interpretation of that symbol of the woman as Mary is a legitimate one. The church is the community of the Lord’s disciples, the community of believers. Mary is the complete disciple; she is the woman of exemplary faith. This morning’s gospel reading brings that home to us. There is a striking contrast between the glorious woman of the first reading, and the young woman of Nazareth heading south to the hill country of Judea to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. Yet, it is the same woman. The woman in glory in the first reading is the woman of faith in the gospel reading. Just prior to this scene in Luke’s gospel, Mary had given her full consent to God’s purpose for her life to the angel Gabriel, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. God’s purpose for Mary’s life was for her to become the mother of his Son. This was such an extra-ordinary purpose that Mary could not possibly have fully understood all its implications at the time. Yet, she generously said ‘yes’ to all that God was asking of her. In her ‘yes’ she anticipated the opening petitions of the prayer that her adult son would give to his disciples, ‘Father, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as in heaven’. It was above all in Mary that God��s will was done on earth as it is in heaven. She was the first and greatest believer. In the words of Elizabeth in the gospel reading, ‘blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. Mary’s deep faith immediately expressed itself in love, as she set out on a journey to give support to her older cousin Elizabeth. Paul in his letter to the Galatians says, ‘the only thing that counts is faith, working through love’. All genuine faith in the Lord expresses itself in deeds of love for others. Mary’s ‘yes’ to God was at the same time a ‘yes’ to those in need. In visiting her cousin Elizabeth she brought the Lord to her whom she carried in her womb. She portrays our own calling as people of faith to bring the Lord to each other. Mary’s faith not only found expression in deeds of love. It also found expression in prayer. Elizabeth had declared Mary blessed and, in response, Mary blessed God. She praises God in the great prayer that has come to be known as the Magnificat. Mary’s prayer is the prayer of a humble person. To be humble is not to make ourselves out to be less than we are. It is to acknowledge all the good that is in us while recognizing that all comes from God. This is what we find Mary doing. She proclaims the greatness of the Lord who has done great things for her. She recognizes that what God has done for her, a poor, lowly woman from an insignificant village in Galilee, is just the latest expression of how God has always exalted the lowly and filled the hungry with good things. Mary in glory reveals our ultimate destiny to us. Mary of the gospels reveals the path we are all called to take as we journey on our pilgrim way towards our share in the Lord’s risen life. And/Or (iii) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary We have all experienced, to some degree, the value of visiting others or being visited by them. We can probably think of times when we went on a journey to visit friends or family members. Such visits generally do us good. We come away the better for having made the visit. We might also be able to remember occasions when friends, neighbours, family paid us a visit and, again, we experienced it as a blessing. In today’s gospel reading we hear the story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Luke describes a visit that left both the visitor and the one visited greatly blessed. As a result of Mary’s visit Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and because of the way Mary’s visit was received by Elizabeth, Mary herself was filled with the spirit of prayer and praise, the Holy Spirit. Luke describes a visit that was truly life-giving for both women. Elizabeth addresses Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord’. She recognized that in welcoming Mary she was welcoming the Lord whom Mary was carrying. Elizabeth was aware that the Lord was visiting her through Mary, and so she declared Mary blessed. That is why we too honour Mary. We recognize that it was through her that the Lord visited us. Later on in Luke’s gospel the crowds come to say of the adult Jesus, ‘God has visited his people’. The really significant visitation is God’s visiting us in the person of Jesus, and it was through Mary that this visitation came about. It was through this woman of Nazareth that the Lord visited his people and having visited us remains with us until the end of time. The first reading today speaks of the woman who brought into the world the son who was to rule all nations. We honour Mary because she was the gate through whom the Lord came to us. That is why, as she sings in her Magnificat, all generations have called her blessed. Because she is the gate through whom the Lord first came to us, Mary has a unique relationship with the Lord. It is because of that special relationship with the Lord that she shares uniquely in his risen and glorious life. That is what we celebrate today on this feast of the Assumption. We celebrate Mary’s complete sharing in her Son’s triumph over death. In the words of Paul, in today’s second reading, she has been brought to life in Christ because she belongs to him in a special way. What Mary has become, we hope to be. The great things that God has done for Mary is a pointer to the great things that God wants to do for all of us. She is, therefore, a sign of hope for us on ‘our pilgrim way’, as today’s Preface puts it. Mary’s life also indicates how we are to travel that pilgrim way. Like her, we are called to be channels of the Lord’s visitation to others. As Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth, and to all of us, we are called to bring the Lord to each other, so that those who meet us might come to say, ‘The Lord has visited his people’. This is the best way to honour Mary and how she would want to be honoured. If we honour Mary in this way, we can be assured that, at the end of our pilgrim journey, the Lord will honour us as he honoured her. He will do the same great things for us that he has done for her. Like her, we too will come to share fully in Christ’s risen life. And/Or (iv) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary We can all think of occasions when we went on a journey to visit friends or family members. If we were well received and welcomed, the visit did us good. We came away the better for the visit. We can also probably think of times when people visited us. If we received them in a welcoming way, they would have departed blessed and graced by their visit to us. When we visit someone or when someone visits us, something worthwhile can happen. The Lord can touch our lives. Today’s gospel reading tells the story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Luke describes a visit that left both the visitor, Mary, and the one visited, Elizabeth, greatly blessed. As a result of Mary’s visit, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Because of the way Elizabeth received Mary’s visit, Mary herself was filled with the Spirit of prayer and praise that found expression in her great prayer, the Magnificat. In response to Mary’s greeting of Elizabeth, Elizabethaddressed Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord’. She recognized that in welcoming Mary she was also welcoming the Lord whom Mary was carrying. Elizabethwas aware that the Lord himself was visiting her through Mary, and so she declared Mary blessed. That is why we too declare Mary blessed. We honour Mary because we recognize her as the one through whom the Lord came to us. As the human being though whom the Lord first visited us and came among us, Mary has a unique relationship with the Lord, and, because of that unique relationship, she shares uniquely in her Son’s risen and glorious life. That is what we celebrate on this feast of the Assumption, Mary’s complete sharing in her Son’s triumph over death. In the words of today’s second reading, she has been brought to life in Christ. Like Christ, she has been raised body and soul to the glory of heaven. This feast is not only about Mary. It is also about ourselves. What Mary has become, we hope to be. The great things that God has done for Mary is a pointer to the great things that God wants to do for all of us. We believe that God will raise us too, body and soul, to new life after our own death. The doctrine of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven brings home to us that our bodies are destined to be gloriously changed after death. How this will happen is utterly mysterious. We have tended to think of the soul and body as two separate things. At death, the soul leaves the body and dispenses with it, as it were. However, this is not the way that Jesus and his followers would have thought. For them, the soul and the body were distinct, but they were not separate. The body was understood as the material expression of the soul. In other words, when we look at someone’s body, we are looking at their soul in some sense. We often speak of the eyes being a window to the soul. As the soul expresses itself in a physical body in this life, it is the faith of the church that the soul will expresses itself in a glorious body in the next life, and that our future glorious body will have a very close relationship to our present physical body. We are only complete as soul and body, both in this life and in the next. This way of understanding the human person as embodied soul has important implications for our attitude to our bodies. At the very least, it must mean that our bodies are fundamentally good. God saw what he had made and it was good. Within the history of Christianity there have been heretical movements that took as their starting point a dislike and disgust of the human body, regarding the body,and material reality in general, as deeply flawed and even evil. Such an understanding is contrary to what we find in the Scriptures. St. Paul, for example, reminds us that ourbodies are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit. If we believe that, through baptism our bodies belong to Christ and the Holy Spirit in a special way and that they are destined to share in eternal glory, it follows that we must treat our bodies and those of others with the utmost respect and, even, reverence. Today’s gospel reading tells us that Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth in an embodied way. She literally carried the Lord to Elizabeth in her body, in her womb. We too are called to embody the Lord, to allow the Lord to revealhimself to others in and through our bodies and how we use them. The Word who became flesh in Mary’s womb now seeks to become flesh in all of us who are members of Christ’s body, the church. Recognizing that the Lord comes among us in embodied ways inspires us to be concerned about the welfare of people’s bodies. When in today’s gospel reading Mary sings of God as one who exalts the lowly and fills the hungry with good things, she acknowledges God as one who is deeply concerned about people’s bodies, about their physical well-being. Today’s feast calls on us to make that concern of God our own, and to give expression to God’s concern in the way we relate to others, especially to those who are broken in body or spirit. And/Or (v) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary Dragons are the stuff of children’s folk tales. They are there to be slain by the hero of the story. We find a dragon in the first reading for today’s feast, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns. The reading is taken from the Book of Revelation, a book full of vivid images and symbols. In this book the red dragon is a symbol of the Roman Empire; the seven heads of the dragon are suggestive of the seven hills of Rome. Over and against that very negative and destructive symbol or sign there is the other sign of a woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. This woman seems to be a symbol of the church. She gives birth to a child, the Messiah, whom the dragon wishes to devour as soon as it is born. This deadly conflict between the red dragon and the woman is the author’s way of giving expression to the conflict between the Roman Empire and the church at the time the book was written, especially in the Roman province of Asia to which the book is addressed, corresponding to the western part of modern day Turkey. Towards the end of the first century there was pressure on all inhabitants of the cities in that part of the Empire to take part in the worship of the Emperor. Those who failed to do risked hostility and even martyrdom. In that context the reading proclaims that the members of the church will be preserved from ultimate harm. The woman, the church, will be taken into the desert where God has made a place of safety ready. In the deadly conflict that is underway, the readers are being assured that the victory has already been won through the death and resurrection of Christ. He has triumphed over the powers of evil and death and they already share in that victory. That brings us to today’s feast, the feast of the Assumption. Today’s celebrates the good news that Mary has come to share fully in Christ’s victory over sin and death. That is why the image of the woman in the reading has been understood from the earliest centuries of the church as an image of Mary in her risen glory, sharing fully in the risen glory of her Son. Today’s feast points us towards the mystery of the resurrection. On this feast of the Assumption we look to Mary as one who has been fully conformed to the image of her risen Son. We see in her our own eternal destiny. Our own sharing in the resurrection of Jesus begins at our baptism; we are baptized into Christ’s risen life. Baptism calls us to live this risen life here and now in preparation for that moment when we will live it to the full in eternity. Mary shows us our ultimate destiny, but she also shows us how to journey there. She shows us how to live our risen life here and now. The gospel reading for today’s feast features Mary as a young woman from the village of Nazareth still pregnant with her child, Jesus. Mary is portrayed there as a young woman who sets out on a journey of care. She wants to be with her older cousin Elizabeth so as to support her in her own pregnancy. Her journey is one we are all called to make as disciples of Jesus. Whenever we journey towards those who are vulnerable and in need we are giving expression in our lives to Mary’s visitation. When Mary arrived to Elizabeth and greeted her, her greeting caused the Spirit of God to stir within Elizabeth. Here again Mary models for us what it is to live the risen life of the Lord into which we have been baptized. We are to be present to others in ways that causes the Holy Spirit to stir within them. Mary’s loving way of being present to Elizabeth and to others was rooted ultimately in her faith. Elizabeth declares Mary blessed because she believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. She received God’s word of promise and in spite of some initial confusion she went on to trust that word completely. Again she models for us how to live our risen life here and now. Like here we are to take the Lord at this word; we are to entrust ourselves fully to that word and allow it to shape our lives. Saint Paul in one of his letters speaks about faith working through love. Mary’s faith found expression in love, a love that was life-giving for others. She models for us authentic faith. Her faith also found expression in prayer. According to our gospel reading, when Elizabeth declared Mary blessed Mary immediately deflected that blessing onto God; she acknowledged God as the source of her blessing, ‘the Almighty has done great things for me’. Her prayer is all about God, not about herself. She praises God for what God has done and is doing. Her prayer is a lesson in prayer for us all. Today, on this feast of the Assumption we celebrate Mary’s assumption as the ultimate goal of our earthly journey. We also celebrate her as the pilgrim who shows us how to journey towards that destiny. And/Or (vi) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary Today’s feast of the Assumption declares that the end of Mary’s earthly life was really a beginning, the beginning of her powerful intercession in heaven for all of us. Her Assumption is the beginning of an era when all generations would call her blessed, in the words of Mary’s Magnificat. To say that Mary was assumed into heaven is not to say that Mary was spared the experience of death, which is the experience of all human beings, including Mary’s Son Jesus. Indeed, down through the centuries artists have depicted the moment when Mary died, with the disciples gathered around her. One striking artistic portrayal of Mary’s death that comes to mind is the one by the artist Caravaggio. Mary went through the experience of death, like every human being. The feast of her Assumption declares that she has come to share fully in the risen life of her Son. There is nothing incomplete about her glorious life. It is the teaching of the church that even though we may go to heaven after we die,there is something incomplete about our glorious state until the second coming of Christ when all of creation will be renewed. Today’s feast declares that Mary has fully arrived at the ultimate destiny of humanity. We can see Mary’s Assumption as a special privilege for her, but we are also encouraged to see it as carrying a promise for all of us. She is the goal for the church and for every disciple of the Lord. In her we see what we are all called to be. Her assumption shows us our own destiny, and her earthly life shows us the path that leads to that glorious destiny. Mary’s Assumption was the conclusion of a life of fidelity. She was faithful to God’s call and God’s purpose for her life throughout her earthly existence. That faithfulness to God is clearly expressed at the beginning of Luke’s gospel where she is depicted as responding to God’s call with the words, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’. The remainder of her life was a living out of that surrender to God’s will, God’s call. She is the prime example of that group Jesus refers to as ‘those who hear the word of God and keep it’. Her ‘yes’ to God’s call and God’s presence found expression in a ‘yes’ to the call of those around her, especially those in need. In this morning’s gospel reading, we see Mary journeying to visit her cousin Elizabeth in her hour of need, and staying with her three months to be a support to her. At the beginning, of John’s gospel we find her responding to the need of the married couple and their guests, when the wine for the feast ran out, interceding for them with her Son. At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles we find her in the company of the disciples, supporting them in that moment of transition after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Her ‘yes’ to God always found expression in a ‘yes’ to others. Her life shows us that ‘faith in the Lord’ is always ‘faith working through love’, in the phrase of Saint Paul. We look to Mary not just as the one who embodies the ultimate goal of our life journey and as the one who shows us how tojourney but also as the one who intercedes for us along that journey. She is with us as we struggle to live lives of faith working through love. Something of the reality of that struggle isbrought out by today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation. In that reading we have this great conflict between the woman and the dragon. We tend to interpret the woman there as Mary, and with good reason. She is referred to in the reading as the woman who brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations. We cannot but think of Jesus’ birth from Mary. Yet, many of the symbols in the Book of Revelation have more than one meaning and the woman in that text is also a symbol of the church. The church is called to give birth to Jesus in every age. The conflict between the woman and the dragon is a conflict between the church, the faithful, and evil in its various forms. We are reminded of the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil’. It is always the case that the dragon stands ready to devour the child, the image of Jesus that is within us. It is always a struggle to be faithful, to keep saying ‘yes’ to God’s purpose for our lives, and to live out that ‘yes’ in our relationship with others. Yet, in that struggle we are not alone. We are surrounded by what the letter to the Hebrews calls a ‘great cloud of witnesses’, all the saints, those living among us and those who have gone to their reward. Today’s feast reminds us that among that great cloud of witnesses Mary is pre-eminent. She supports us along the way, and she does so by leading us to her Son, saying to us, ‘Do whatever he tells you’. She calls on us, in the words of the letter to the Hebrews again, to keep ‘looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith’. And/Or (vii) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary We can all be very slow to label someone evil, yet, at the same time, we all recognize evil when we see it. We have been very distressed at what has been unfolding in Northern Iraq in recent times. We recognize as evil the suffering inflicted on men, women and children, sometimes to the point of death, simply because of their religious beliefs. The atrocities that have been committed in the name of a warped form of religion can only be seen as evil. The Scriptures are very aware of the presence of evil in the world. Sometimes forces of evil can be depicted in very graphic ways. We have an example of that kind of imagery in today’s first reading. The visionary, John, who was responsible for the book of Revelation describes a vision he had of two great signs. One of those signs was an imaginative depiction of evil, a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, whose tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and stood before a woman who was with child, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born. John probably understood this frightening figure of the dragon as a symbol of the Roman Empire. The dragon’s seven heads suggests the seven hills of Rome. John experienced this great power not as a source for good but as an embodiment of evil bringing chaos, destruction and death, and persecution for Christians. Yet, there was another sign in this vision of John, a very different one. He saw an image of a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, with twelve stars on her head as a crown, crying out in the pangs of childbirth. The woman gave birth to a son and, although the dragon wanted to devour the woman’s child, he was taken up to God. Probably John would have understood this woman as a symbol of God’s people, the church. This woman, the church, gives birth to the risen Lord in every age, often in the face of great evil. According to the vision, God ensures that the work of the church in giving birth to Christ is protected from the deadly intentions of the dragon. The child is taken up to God, and the woman is brought by God to a place of safety in the desert. It is as if John is proclaiming, ‘Yes, there is terrible evil in the world, but God will see to it that his life giving work in and through the church continues and will never be overcome by evil’. In that sense, the reading invites us to look evil in the eye and not be overpowered by it, because, as Paul says in his letter to the Romans, ‘where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more’. From the earliest decades of the church, believes began to recognize the woman in our first reading not just as a symbol of the church but also as a symbol of Mary. She is unique among men and women in that she has brought into the world a unique child, a child who belongs to God in a special way, who through his life, death and resurrection becomes Lord of all. She stands up against the power of evil in the world because she gives to the world someone who is totally good, who is God’s goodness in human flesh. Because Mary brought Christ into the world, she belongs to Christ is a special way. It has always been the belief of the church that, because she belongs to Christ in this special way, she shares in his risen life in a special way. Through her death she passed over into the fullest possible sharing in Christ’s risen life; her body, like Christ’s, was transformed and did not know corruption. In Mary’s assumption we see our own ultimate destiny. We too will come to share fully in Christ’s risen life. As Paul says in today’s second reading, all who belong to Christ will be brought to life in Christ. Mary not only shows us our ultimate destiny; she also shows us by her life what belonging to Christ really means. Like her, we show that we belong to Christ by bringing Christ to others. This is what we find Mary doing in today’s gospel reading. She literally brought Jesus whom she was carrying in her womb to Elizabeth. She also brought the love of Jesus to Elizabeth by setting out on a journey of care to be present to Elizabeth in her hour of need. The woman clothed with the son of the first reading and the young woman of Nazareth in the gospel reading are, in many ways, world’s apart. Yet, in both readings, it is the same woman bringing Christ into the world, a world where evil often stalks. Mary models for us both our ultimate destiny but our God-given vocation. We too are called to be Christ bearers, people who bring his loving presence to others. We do so fully aware of the evil in the world, but, like Mary, we not allow ourselves to be overcome by evil because we believe that, in the words of today’s first reading, ‘victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ’. And/Or (viii) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Images can speak to us in a way that words alone do not. We only have to think of the great artistic depictions of the various mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. However, there are times when words can also paint a picture. A well written piece can create an image for us that can touch us very deeply. This is true of all good human literature. It can be especially true of the literature we call the Scriptures. We understand the Scriptures to be God’s word in human words. This is human literature that somehow has the quality of God’s Spirit about it. We believe that not only are the human authors of these Scriptures speaking to us but God is speaking to us through them. Very often the Scriptures can conjure up wonderful images. Perhaps this is why artists down through the centuries have been moved to transpose these written images into paintings. Today, the feast of the Assumption, the readings put before us two very contrasting images of Mary. In the first reading, from the Book of Revelation, there is a very dynamic image of a woman in labour, and standing before her a red dragon waiting to devour her child as it born. She gives birth to her child but her child is preserved from the threatening dragon and is taken up to God and to his throne. It is clear from the description of this child that Jesus is being referred to. It is said of this child that he was a son who would rule the nations with an iron sceptre. This was one of the traditional ways that the Jewish Scriptures spoke about the coming Messiah. In the course of the church’s history, many believers immediately thought of Mary when they heard this passage. It was she who gave birth to the Messiah into a world that was hostile to him. We only have to think of the story in Matthew’s gospel of Herod’s attempt to kill the child. Thesehostile forces appeared to have destroyed him on Golgotha, but God raised his Son from the dead and highly exalted him, as Paul says. In the language of our first reading, this woman’s son was taken to God and to his throne. Here we have this picture of a woman in the splendour of the cosmos giving birth to a great rulerbefore hostile forces. It is a picture of vibrant colours and almost frenetic activity. We have another picture of the same woman in the gospel reading which is very different. It is of a young, peasant woman, from small village in Galilee, heading south to a town in the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. This young woman, Mary, is with child. Luke, the evangelist, has already told us in the preceding passage that her child is to be very special. He will inherit the throne of his ancestor David; he will be conceived by the Holy Spirit and will be Son of God. There is continuity between the woman in the first reading and the woman in the gospel reading, in spite of their very contrasting portrayals. In both cases the woman brings a special child, God’s anointed one,into the world. In the gospel reading, Mary initially brings this child to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth models for us all how we are to receive Mary’s child. Like Elizabeth, we are invited to recognize the visit of our Lord through Mary and to rejoice in and surrender to this wonderful visitation from God. We celebrate Mary, as we are doing on this feast of the Assumption, because, in as the first reading and the gospel reading portray, she is the woman through whom the Lord has come to us. This gives her a unique relationship with Jesus. In virtue of that unique relationship the church has always held that Mary shares uniquely in the triumph of her Son over death. In the second reading, Paul speaks of Christ as the first fruits of all believers who will be brought to new life. It could be said of Mary that she is the second fruits. The first and second fruitspoint to a greater harvest to come, one that embraces us all. Mary’s assumption puts before us our own ultimate destiny. As the preface to today’s Mass expresses it, Mary is a ‘sign of sure hope and comfort’ to God’s pilgrim people. As well as showing us our ultimate destiny, Mary also shows us the path to that destiny. Her unique calling was to bring Jesus into the world. We too are called, in our own way, to bring Jesus into our world today. The earliest interpretation of our first readingwas to see the woman as an image of the church, of all of us who make up the church. We are to bring Jesus into the lives of others, to witness to him, even though it will often mean encountering opposition. Yet, as that first reading assures us, we do so knowing that God will protect and safeguard us in our efforts to allow his Son to come to others through us. And/Or (ix) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary We have all experienced, to some degree, the value of visiting others or being visited by them. We can probably think of times when we went on a journey to visit friends or family members. Such visits generally do us good. We come away the better for having made the visit. We might also be able to remember occasions when friends, neighbours, family paid us a visit and, again, we experienced it as a blessing. In today’s gospel reading we hear the story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Luke describes a visit that left both the visitor and the one visited greatly blessed. As a result of Mary’s visit Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and because of the way Mary’s visit was received by Elizabeth, Mary herself was filled with the spirit of prayer and praise, the Holy Spirit. Luke describes a visit that was truly life-giving for both women. Elizabeth addresses Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord’. She recognized that in welcoming Mary she was welcoming the Lord whom Mary was carrying. Elizabethwas aware that the Lord was visiting her through Mary, and so she declared Mary blessed. That is why we too honour Mary. We recognize that it was through her that the Lord visited us. Later on in Luke’s gospel the crowds come to say of the adult Jesus, ‘God has visited his people’. The really significant visitation is God’s visiting us in the person of Jesus, and it was through Mary that this visitation came about. It was through this woman of Nazareth that the Lord visited his people and having visited us remains with us until the end of time. The first reading today speaks of the woman who brought into the world the son who was to rule all nations. We honour Mary because she is the one through whom the Lord came to us. That is why, as she sings in her Magnificat, all generations have called her blessed. Because she is one through whom the Lord first came to us, Mary has a unique relationship with the Lord. It is because of that special relationship with the Lord that, according to the ancient tradition of the church, she shares uniquely in her Son’s risen and glorious life. That is what we celebrate today on this feast of the Assumption. We celebrate Mary’s complete sharing in her Son’s triumph over death. In the words of Paul, in today’s second reading, she has been brought to life in Christ, and she has been brought to life in Christ in a way that is unique to her because of her unique relationship with Christ. What Mary has become, we hope to be. The great things that God has done for Mary is a sign of the great things that God wants to do for all of us. She is, therefore, a sign of hope for us on ‘our pilgrim way’, as today’s Preface puts it. Mary’s earthly life also indicates how we are to travel that pilgrim way. Like her, we are called to be channels of the Lord’s visitation to others. As Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth, and to all of us, we are called to bring the Lord to each other, so that those who meet us might come to say, ‘The Lord has visited his people’. This is the best way to honour Mary and how she would want to be honoured. If we honour Mary in this way, we can be assured that, at the end of our pilgrim journey, the Lord will honour us as he honoured her. He will do the same great things for us that he has done for her. Like her, we too will come to share fully in Christ’s risen life. And/Or (x) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s sharing in the risen life of her Son in a way that is unique to her among the human race. The church has always believed that just as Jesus’ earthly body did not remain in the tomb after he rose to new life but was transformed in a glorious way, so too Mary’s body underwent the same glorious transformation beyond death. In the words of the Preface of today’s Mass, ‘rightly you would not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb’. Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life. She carried him in her womb for nine months. Having given birth to Jesus she cared for and looked after him in the way that any mother cares for her child. She lived under the same roof as him for the first thirty years of his life. She was there throughout his public ministry, even if in the background. Shewas there with the other women and the beloved disciple at the foot of the cross. She was there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down upon them all at the first Pentecost. Just as Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life, the church has always believed that she had a unique relationship with him in death and beyond death. For that reason, the glorious women that features in today’s first reading has been interpreted from the early days of the church as a reference to Mary, ‘a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head as a crown’. It is likely that the author of the Book of the Apocalypse from which that reading comes was depicting the whole church as this woman. The conflict between the woman and the dragon was a symbol of the conflict between the church and the Roman Empire of the time. Yet, Mary expresses in herself all that is best in the church. The interpretation of that symbol of the woman as Mary is a legitimate one. The church is the community of the Lord’s disciples, the community of believers. Mary is the complete disciple; she is the woman of exemplary faith. This morning’s gospel reading brings that home to us. There is a striking contrast between the glorious woman of the first reading, and the young woman of Nazareth heading south to the hill country of Judea to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. Yet, it is the same woman. The woman in glory in the first reading is the woman of faith in the gospel reading. Just prior to this scene in Luke’s gospel, Mary had given her full consent to God’s purpose for her life to the angel Gabriel, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. God’s purpose for Mary’s life was for her to become the mother of his Son. This was such an extra-ordinary purpose that Mary could not possibly have fully understood all its implications at the time. Yet, she generously said ‘yes’ to all that God was asking of her. In her ‘yes’ she anticipated the opening petitions of the prayer that her adult son would give to his disciples, ‘Father, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as in heaven’. It was above all in Mary that God’s will was done on earth as it is in heaven. She was the first and greatest believer. In the words of Elizabeth in the gospel reading, ‘blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. Mary’s deep faith immediately expressed itself in love, as she set out on a journey to give support to her older cousin Elizabeth. Paul in his letter to the Galatians says, ‘the only thing that counts is faith, working through love’. All genuine faith in the Lord expressesitself in deeds of love for others. Mary’s ‘yes’ to God was at the same time a ‘yes’ to those in need. In visiting her cousin Elizabeth she brought the Lord to her whom she carried in her womb. She portrays our own calling as people of faith to bring the Lord to each other. Mary’s faith not only found expression in deeds of love. It also found expression in prayer. Elizabeth had declared Mary blessed and, in response, Mary blessed God. She praises God in the great prayer that has come to be known as the Magnificat. Mary’s prayer is the prayer of a humble person. To be humble is not to make ourselves out to be less than we are. It is to acknowledge all the good that is in us while recognizing that all comes from God. This is what we find Mary doing. She proclaims the greatness of the Lord who has done great things for her. She recognizes that what God has done for her, a poor, lowly woman from an insignificant village in Galilee, is just the latest expression of how God has always exalted the lowly and filled the hungry with good things. Mary in glory reveals our ultimate destiny to us. Mary of the gospels reveals the path we are all called to take as we journey on our pilgrim way towards our share in the Lord’s risen life. Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland. Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ieJoinus via our webcam. Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC. Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf. Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 7 years ago

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15th August >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflection on Luke 1:39-56 for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘The Almighty has done great things for me’

Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Gospel (Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada & South Africa)

Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home. Gospel (USA)

Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. for he has looked upon his lowly servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Reflections (10)

(i) The Assumption of Our Lady

Today we celebrate what the gospel calls the great things that the Almighty has done for Mary, in bringing her to share in a unique way in the risen life of Jesus. Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus throughout her earthly life. She carried Jesus in her womb for nine months. Having given birth to Jesus, she cared for and looked after him in the way that any mother cares for her child. She lived under the same roof as him for the first thirty years of his life. She was there throughout his public ministry, even if in the background. She was there at the foot of the cross. She was there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down upon them all at the first Pentecost. Just as Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus during her earthly life, the church believes that she now has a unique relationship with the risen Lord in heaven. She has come to share fully in his risen life.

Mary’s relationship with Jesus in this life wasn’t so unique as to leave her remote from us. Yes, she was the mother of Jesus, but she was also a disciple of Jesus, and we are all called to be the Lord’s disciples. Her life shows us what it means to be the Lord’s disciple. Today’s gospel reading is Luke’s account of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Just before this gospel reading, we have Luke’s account of the annunciation to Mary. The angel Gabriel declared to Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of his Son. After struggling to come to terms with what was being asked of her, Mary eventually declared, ‘Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word’. Luke portrays Mary here as a woman of faith, who surrenders to God’s will for her life, God’s purpose for her life. It is this faith which Elizabeth recognizes in today’s gospel reading, ‘Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. Mary believed and surrendered to God’s word as spoken to her by Gabriel. She allowed God’s word to shape her whole life. Later in Luke’s gospel, Jesus will say ‘my mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’. Mary was above all a woman who heard God’s word and did it. This is the essence of faith. Through baptism, we are all called to such faith, and Jesus declares that those who, like Mary, hear the word of God and keep it, will become his brothers and sisters.

Today’s gospel reading gives us an insight into how Mary expressed her faith. In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul declares, ‘the only thing that counts is faith working through love’, faith expressing itself in love. The faith that Mary displayed at the Annunciation immediately found expression in love. She made the long journey from Nazareth in Galilee to the hill country of Judah to be with her relative Elizabeth who was also with child. This is one of the ways our faith finds expression today. We journey to others in love. Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth in a very physical sense, carrying him in her womb. Elizabeth recognized what was happening, ‘Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’ When we journey towards others in faith and love, we too bring the Lord to them. The Lord wants to visit others through us, to speak to others through us. A little later in Luke’s gospel, when he is sending out the seventy on mission Jesus says to them, ‘whoever listens to you, listens to me’. The name ‘Christopher’ literally means Christ bearer or Christ carrier. Mary was the supreme Christopher and we are all called to be a Christopher in our own place and time, in accordance with our own qualities and gifts.

Today’s gospel shows that Mary’s faith not only found expression in love, it also found expression in prayer. At the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul calls on the church, ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances’. In response to Elizabeth’s greeting, Mary immediately praised and gave thanks to God. God was the horizon within which Mary moved. God was at the heart of all her human relationships of love, including her relationship with Elizabeth. In a sense, Mary exemplifies the two great commandments, to love God with all one’s being and to love our neighbour as ourselves. One of the ways our love of God finds expression is through prayer. Mary’s prayer, the Magnificat, has been prayed by believers down through the centuries.

If Mary exemplifies a life of faith that finds expression in love and prayer, she also shows where such a life ultimately leads. Those who follow this path, in the words of Paul in today’s second reading, ‘will be brought to life in Christ’. Mary shows us that all who bring Christ into the lives of others will be brought to life in Christ beyond this earthly life.

And/Or

(ii) The Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s sharing in the risen life of her Son in a way that is unique to her among the human race. The church has always believed that just as Jesus’ earthly body did not remain in the tomb after he rose to new life but was transformed in a glorious way, so too Mary’s body underwent the same glorious transformation beyond death. In the words of the Preface of today’s Mass, ‘rightly you would not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb’. Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life. She carried him in her womb for nine months. Having given birth to Jesus she cared for and looked after him in the way that any mother cares for her child. She lived under the same roof as him for the first thirty years of his life. She was there throughout his public ministry, even if in the background. She was there with the other women and the beloved disciple at the foot of the cross. She was there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down upon them all at the first Pentecost. Just as Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life, the church has always believed that she had a unique relationship with him in death and beyond death. For that reason, the glorious women that features in today’s first reading has been interpreted from the early days of the church as a reference to Mary, ‘a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head as a crown’. It is likely that the author of the Book of the Apocalypse from which that reading comes was depicting the whole church as this woman. The conflict between the woman and the dragon was a symbol of the conflict between the church and the Roman Empire of the time. Yet, Mary expresses in herself all that is best in the church. The interpretation of that symbol of the woman as Mary is a legitimate one.

The church is the community of the Lord’s disciples, the community of believers. Mary is the complete disciple; she is the woman of exemplary faith. This morning’s gospel reading brings that home to us. There is a striking contrast between the glorious woman of the first reading, and the young woman of Nazareth heading south to the hill country of Judea to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. Yet, it is the same woman. The woman in glory in the first reading is the woman of faith in the gospel reading. Just prior to this scene in Luke’s gospel, Mary had given her full consent to God’s purpose for her life to the angel Gabriel, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. God’s purpose for Mary’s life was for her to become the mother of his Son. This was such an extra-ordinary purpose that Mary could not possibly have fully understood all its implications at the time. Yet, she generously said ‘yes’ to all that God was asking of her. In her ‘yes’ she anticipated the opening petitions of the prayer that her adult son would give to his disciples, ‘Father, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as in heaven’. It was above all in Mary that God’s will was done on earth as it is in heaven. She was the first and greatest believer. In the words of Elizabeth in the gospel reading, ‘blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. Mary’s deep faith immediately expressed itself in love, as she set out on a journey to give support to her older cousin Elizabeth. Paul in his letter to the Galatians says, ‘the only thing that counts is faith, working through love’. All genuine faith in the Lord expresses itself in deeds of love for others. Mary’s ‘yes’ to God was at the same time a ‘yes’ to those in need. In visiting her cousin Elizabeth she brought the Lord to her whom she carried in her womb. She portrays our own calling as people of faith to bring the Lord to each other.

Mary’s faith not only found expression in deeds of love. It also found expression in prayer. Elizabeth had declared Mary blessed and, in response, Mary blessed God. She praises God in the great prayer that has come to be known as the Magnificat. Mary’s prayer is the prayer of a humble person. To be humble is not to make ourselves out to be less than we are. It is to acknowledge all the good that is in us while recognizing that all comes from God. This is what we find Mary doing. She proclaims the greatness of the Lord who has done great things for her. She recognizes that what God has done for her, a poor, lowly woman from an insignificant village in Galilee, is just the latest expression of how God has always exalted the lowly and filled the hungry with good things. Mary in glory reveals our ultimate destiny to us. Mary of the gospels reveals the path we are all called to take as we journey on our pilgrim way towards our share in the Lord’s risen life.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

We have all experienced, to some degree, the value of visiting others or being visited by them. We can probably think of times when we went on a journey to visit friends or family members. Such visits generally do us good. We come away the better for having made the visit. We might also be able to remember occasions when friends, neighbours, family paid us a visit and, again, we experienced it as a blessing.

In today’s gospel reading we hear the story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Luke describes a visit that left both the visitor and the one visited greatly blessed. As a result of Mary’s visit Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and because of the way Mary’s visit was received by Elizabeth, Mary herself was filled with the spirit of prayer and praise, the Holy Spirit. Luke describes a visit that was truly life-giving for both women.

Elizabeth addresses Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord’. She recognized that in welcoming Mary she was welcoming the Lord whom Mary was carrying. Elizabeth was aware that the Lord was visiting her through Mary, and so she declared Mary blessed. That is why we too honour Mary. We recognize that it was through her that the Lord visited us. Later on in Luke’s gospel the crowds come to say of the adult Jesus, ‘God has visited his people’. The really significant visitation is God’s visiting us in the person of Jesus, and it was through Mary that this visitation came about. It was through this woman of Nazareth that the Lord visited his people and having visited us remains with us until the end of time. The first reading today speaks of the woman who brought into the world the son who was to rule all nations. We honour Mary because she was the gate through whom the Lord came to us. That is why, as she sings in her Magnificat, all generations have called her blessed.

Because she is the gate through whom the Lord first came to us, Mary has a unique relationship with the Lord. It is because of that special relationship with the Lord that she shares uniquely in his risen and glorious life. That is what we celebrate today on this feast of the Assumption. We celebrate Mary’s complete sharing in her Son’s triumph over death. In the words of Paul, in today’s second reading, she has been brought to life in Christ because she belongs to him in a special way.

What Mary has become, we hope to be. The great things that God has done for Mary is a pointer to the great things that God wants to do for all of us. She is, therefore, a sign of hope for us on ‘our pilgrim way’, as today’s Preface puts it. Mary’s life also indicates how we are to travel that pilgrim way. Like her, we are called to be channels of the Lord’s visitation to others. As Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth, and to all of us, we are called to bring the Lord to each other, so that those who meet us might come to say, ‘The Lord has visited his people’. This is the best way to honour Mary and how she would want to be honoured. If we honour Mary in this way, we can be assured that, at the end of our pilgrim journey, the Lord will honour us as he honoured her. He will do the same great things for us that he has done for her. Like her, we too will come to share fully in Christ’s risen life.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

We can all think of occasions when we went on a journey to visit friends or family members. If we were well received and welcomed, the visit did us good. We came away the better for the visit. We can also probably think of times when people visited us. If we received them in a welcoming way, they would have departed blessed and graced by their visit to us. When we visit someone or when someone visits us, something worthwhile can happen. The Lord can touch our lives.

Today’s gospel reading tells the story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Luke describes a visit that left both the visitor, Mary, and the one visited, Elizabeth, greatly blessed. As a result of Mary’s visit, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Because of the way Elizabeth received Mary’s visit, Mary herself was filled with the Spirit of prayer and praise that found expression in her great prayer, the Magnificat.

In response to Mary’s greeting of Elizabeth, Elizabethaddressed Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord’. She recognized that in welcoming Mary she was also welcoming the Lord whom Mary was carrying. Elizabethwas aware that the Lord himself was visiting her through Mary, and so she declared Mary blessed. That is why we too declare Mary blessed. We honour Mary because we recognize her as the one through whom the Lord came to us. As the human being though whom the Lord first visited us and came among us, Mary has a unique relationship with the Lord, and, because of that unique relationship, she shares uniquely in her Son’s risen and glorious life. That is what we celebrate on this feast of the Assumption, Mary’s complete sharing in her Son’s triumph over death. In the words of today’s second reading, she has been brought to life in Christ. Like Christ, she has been raised body and soul to the glory of heaven.

This feast is not only about Mary. It is also about ourselves. What Mary has become, we hope to be. The great things that God has done for Mary is a pointer to the great things that God wants to do for all of us. We believe that God will raise us too, body and soul, to new life after our own death. The doctrine of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven brings home to us that our bodies are destined to be gloriously changed after death. How this will happen is utterly mysterious. We have tended to think of the soul and body as two separate things. At death, the soul leaves the body and dispenses with it, as it were. However, this is not the way that Jesus and his followers would have thought. For them, the soul and the body were distinct, but they were not separate. The body was understood as the material expression of the soul. In other words, when we look at someone’s body, we are looking at their soul in some sense. We often speak of the eyes being a window to the soul. As the soul expresses itself in a physical body in this life, it is the faith of the church that the soul will expresses itself in a glorious body in the next life, and that our future glorious body will have a very close relationship to our present physical body. We are only complete as soul and body, both in this life and in the next.

This way of understanding the human person as embodied soul has important implications for our attitude to our bodies. At the very least, it must mean that our bodies are fundamentally good. God saw what he had made and it was good. Within the history of Christianity there have been heretical movements that took as their starting point a dislike and disgust of the human body, regarding the body,and material reality in general, as deeply flawed and even evil. Such an understanding is contrary to what we find in the Scriptures. St. Paul, for example, reminds us that ourbodies are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit. If we believe that, through baptism our bodies belong to Christ and the Holy Spirit in a special way and that they are destined to share in eternal glory, it follows that we must treat our bodies and those of others with the utmost respect and, even, reverence.

Today’s gospel reading tells us that Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth in an embodied way. She literally carried the Lord to Elizabeth in her body, in her womb. We too are called to embody the Lord, to allow the Lord to revealhimself to others in and through our bodies and how we use them. The Word who became flesh in Mary’s womb now seeks to become flesh in all of us who are members of Christ’s body, the church. Recognizing that the Lord comes among us in embodied ways inspires us to be concerned about the welfare of people’s bodies. When in today’s gospel reading Mary sings of God as one who exalts the lowly and fills the hungry with good things, she acknowledges God as one who is deeply concerned about people’s bodies, about their physical well-being. Today’s feast calls on us to make that concern of God our own, and to give expression to God’s concern in the way we relate to others, especially to those who are broken in body or spirit.

And/Or

(v) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Dragons are the stuff of children’s folk tales. They are there to be slain by the hero of the story. We find a dragon in the first reading for today’s feast, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns. The reading is taken from the Book of Revelation, a book full of vivid images and symbols. In this book the red dragon is a symbol of the Roman Empire; the seven heads of the dragon are suggestive of the seven hills of Rome. Over and against that very negative and destructive symbol or sign there is the other sign of a woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. This woman seems to be a symbol of the church. She gives birth to a child, the Messiah, whom the dragon wishes to devour as soon as it is born. This deadly conflict between the red dragon and the woman is the author’s way of giving expression to the conflict between the Roman Empire and the church at the time the book was written, especially in the Roman province of Asia to which the book is addressed, corresponding to the western part of modern day Turkey. Towards the end of the first century there was pressure on all inhabitants of the cities in that part of the Empire to take part in the worship of the Emperor. Those who failed to do risked hostility and even martyrdom. In that context the reading proclaims that the members of the church will be preserved from ultimate harm. The woman, the church, will be taken into the desert where God has made a place of safety ready. In the deadly conflict that is underway, the readers are being assured that the victory has already been won through the death and resurrection of Christ. He has triumphed over the powers of evil and death and they already share in that victory.

That brings us to today’s feast, the feast of the Assumption. Today’s celebrates the good news that Mary has come to share fully in Christ’s victory over sin and death. That is why the image of the woman in the reading has been understood from the earliest centuries of the church as an image of Mary in her risen glory, sharing fully in the risen glory of her Son. Today’s feast points us towards the mystery of the resurrection. On this feast of the Assumption we look to Mary as one who has been fully conformed to the image of her risen Son. We see in her our own eternal destiny. Our own sharing in the resurrection of Jesus begins at our baptism; we are baptized into Christ’s risen life. Baptism calls us to live this risen life here and now in preparation for that moment when we will live it to the full in eternity. Mary shows us our ultimate destiny, but she also shows us how to journey there. She shows us how to live our risen life here and now. The gospel reading for today’s feast features Mary as a young woman from the village of Nazareth still pregnant with her child, Jesus. Mary is portrayed there as a young woman who sets out on a journey of care. She wants to be with her older cousin Elizabeth so as to support her in her own pregnancy. Her journey is one we are all called to make as disciples of Jesus. Whenever we journey towards those who are vulnerable and in need we are giving expression in our lives to Mary’s visitation. When Mary arrived to Elizabeth and greeted her, her greeting caused the Spirit of God to stir within Elizabeth. Here again Mary models for us what it is to live the risen life of the Lord into which we have been baptized. We are to be present to others in ways that causes the Holy Spirit to stir within them. Mary’s loving way of being present to Elizabeth and to others was rooted ultimately in her faith. Elizabeth declares Mary blessed because she believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. She received God’s word of promise and in spite of some initial confusion she went on to trust that word completely. Again she models for us how to live our risen life here and now. Like here we are to take the Lord at this word; we are to entrust ourselves fully to that word and allow it to shape our lives. Saint Paul in one of his letters speaks about faith working through love. Mary’s faith found expression in love, a love that was life-giving for others. She models for us authentic faith. Her faith also found expression in prayer. According to our gospel reading, when Elizabeth declared Mary blessed Mary immediately deflected that blessing onto God; she acknowledged God as the source of her blessing, ‘the Almighty has done great things for me’. Her prayer is all about God, not about herself. She praises God for what God has done and is doing. Her prayer is a lesson in prayer for us all. Today, on this feast of the Assumption we celebrate Mary’s assumption as the ultimate goal of our earthly journey. We also celebrate her as the pilgrim who shows us how to journey towards that destiny.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s feast of the Assumption declares that the end of Mary’s earthly life was really a beginning, the beginning of her powerful intercession in heaven for all of us. Her Assumption is the beginning of an era when all generations would call her blessed, in the words of Mary’s Magnificat. To say that Mary was assumed into heaven is not to say that Mary was spared the experience of death, which is the experience of all human beings, including Mary’s Son Jesus. Indeed, down through the centuries artists have depicted the moment when Mary died, with the disciples gathered around her. One striking artistic portrayal of Mary’s death that comes to mind is the one by the artist Caravaggio. Mary went through the experience of death, like every human being. The feast of her Assumption declares that she has come to share fully in the risen life of her Son. There is nothing incomplete about her glorious life. It is the teaching of the church that even though we may go to heaven after we die,there is something incomplete about our glorious state until the second coming of Christ when all of creation will be renewed. Today’s feast declares that Mary has fully arrived at the ultimate destiny of humanity.

We can see Mary’s Assumption as a special privilege for her, but we are also encouraged to see it as carrying a promise for all of us. She is the goal for the church and for every disciple of the Lord. In her we see what we are all called to be. Her assumption shows us our own destiny, and her earthly life shows us the path that leads to that glorious destiny. Mary’s Assumption was the conclusion of a life of fidelity. She was faithful to God’s call and God’s purpose for her life throughout her earthly existence. That faithfulness to God is clearly expressed at the beginning of Luke’s gospel where she is depicted as responding to God’s call with the words, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’. The remainder of her life was a living out of that surrender to God’s will, God’s call. She is the prime example of that group Jesus refers to as ‘those who hear the word of God and keep it’. Her ‘yes’ to God’s call and God’s presence found expression in a ‘yes’ to the call of those around her, especially those in need. In this morning’s gospel reading, we see Mary journeying to visit her cousin Elizabeth in her hour of need, and staying with her three months to be a support to her. At the beginning, of John’s gospel we find her responding to the need of the married couple and their guests, when the wine for the feast ran out, interceding for them with her Son. At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles we find her in the company of the disciples, supporting them in that moment of transition after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Her ‘yes’ to God always found expression in a ‘yes’ to others. Her life shows us that ‘faith in the Lord’ is always ‘faith working through love’, in the phrase of Saint Paul.

We look to Mary not just as the one who embodies the ultimate goal of our life journey and as the one who shows us how tojourney but also as the one who intercedes for us along that journey. She is with us as we struggle to live lives of faith working through love. Something of the reality of that struggle isbrought out by today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation. In that reading we have this great conflict between the woman and the dragon. We tend to interpret the woman there as Mary, and with good reason. She is referred to in the reading as the woman who brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations. We cannot but think of Jesus’ birth from Mary. Yet, many of the symbols in the Book of Revelation have more than one meaning and the woman in that text is also a symbol of the church. The church is called to give birth to Jesus in every age. The conflict between the woman and the dragon is a conflict between the church, the faithful, and evil in its various forms. We are reminded of the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil’. It is always the case that the dragon stands ready to devour the child, the image of Jesus that is within us. It is always a struggle to be faithful, to keep saying ‘yes’ to God’s purpose for our lives, and to live out that ‘yes’ in our relationship with others. Yet, in that struggle we are not alone. We are surrounded by what the letter to the Hebrews calls a ‘great cloud of witnesses’, all the saints, those living among us and those who have gone to their reward. Today’s feast reminds us that among that great cloud of witnesses Mary is pre-eminent. She supports us along the way, and she does so by leading us to her Son, saying to us, ‘Do whatever he tells you’. She calls on us, in the words of the letter to the Hebrews again, to keep ‘looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith’.

And/Or

(vii) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

We can all be very slow to label someone evil, yet, at the same time, we all recognize evil when we see it. We have been very distressed at what has been unfolding in Northern Iraq in recent times. We recognize as evil the suffering inflicted on men, women and children, sometimes to the point of death, simply because of their religious beliefs. The atrocities that have been committed in the name of a warped form of religion can only be seen as evil.

The Scriptures are very aware of the presence of evil in the world. Sometimes forces of evil can be depicted in very graphic ways. We have an example of that kind of imagery in today’s first reading. The visionary, John, who was responsible for the book of Revelation describes a vision he had of two great signs. One of those signs was an imaginative depiction of evil, a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, whose tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and stood before a woman who was with child, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born. John probably understood this frightening figure of the dragon as a symbol of the Roman Empire. The dragon’s seven heads suggests the seven hills of Rome. John experienced this great power not as a source for good but as an embodiment of evil bringing chaos, destruction and death, and persecution for Christians.

Yet, there was another sign in this vision of John, a very different one. He saw an image of a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, with twelve stars on her head as a crown, crying out in the pangs of childbirth. The woman gave birth to a son and, although the dragon wanted to devour the woman’s child, he was taken up to God. Probably John would have understood this woman as a symbol of God’s people, the church. This woman, the church, gives birth to the risen Lord in every age, often in the face of great evil. According to the vision, God ensures that the work of the church in giving birth to Christ is protected from the deadly intentions of the dragon. The child is taken up to God, and the woman is brought by God to a place of safety in the desert. It is as if John is proclaiming, ‘Yes, there is terrible evil in the world, but God will see to it that his life giving work in and through the church continues and will never be overcome by evil’. In that sense, the reading invites us to look evil in the eye and not be overpowered by it, because, as Paul says in his letter to the Romans, ‘where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more’.

From the earliest decades of the church, believes began to recognize the woman in our first reading not just as a symbol of the church but also as a symbol of Mary. She is unique among men and women in that she has brought into the world a unique child, a child who belongs to God in a special way, who through his life, death and resurrection becomes Lord of all. She stands up against the power of evil in the world because she gives to the world someone who is totally good, who is God’s goodness in human flesh. Because Mary brought Christ into the world, she belongs to Christ is a special way. It has always been the belief of the church that, because she belongs to Christ in this special way, she shares in his risen life in a special way. Through her death she passed over into the fullest possible sharing in Christ’s risen life; her body, like Christ’s, was transformed and did not know corruption.

In Mary’s assumption we see our own ultimate destiny. We too will come to share fully in Christ’s risen life. As Paul says in today’s second reading, all who belong to Christ will be brought to life in Christ. Mary not only shows us our ultimate destiny; she also shows us by her life what belonging to Christ really means. Like her, we show that we belong to Christ by bringing Christ to others. This is what we find Mary doing in today’s gospel reading. She literally brought Jesus whom she was carrying in her womb to Elizabeth. She also brought the love of Jesus to Elizabeth by setting out on a journey of care to be present to Elizabeth in her hour of need. The woman clothed with the son of the first reading and the young woman of Nazareth in the gospel reading are, in many ways, world’s apart. Yet, in both readings, it is the same woman bringing Christ into the world, a world where evil often stalks. Mary models for us both our ultimate destiny but our God-given vocation. We too are called to be Christ bearers, people who bring his loving presence to others. We do so fully aware of the evil in the world, but, like Mary, we not allow ourselves to be overcome by evil because we believe that, in the words of today’s first reading, ‘victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ’.

And/Or

(viii) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Images can speak to us in a way that words alone do not. We only have to think of the great artistic depictions of the various mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. However, there are times when words can also paint a picture. A well written piece can create an image for us that can touch us very deeply. This is true of all good human literature. It can be especially true of the literature we call the Scriptures. We understand the Scriptures to be God’s word in human words. This is human literature that somehow has the quality of God’s Spirit about it. We believe that not only are the human authors of these Scriptures speaking to us but God is speaking to us through them. Very often the Scriptures can conjure up wonderful images. Perhaps this is why artists down through the centuries have been moved to transpose these written images into paintings.

Today, the feast of the Assumption, the readings put before us two very contrasting images of Mary. In the first reading, from the Book of Revelation, there is a very dynamic image of a woman in labour, and standing before her a red dragon waiting to devour her child as it born. She gives birth to her child but her child is preserved from the threatening dragon and is taken up to God and to his throne. It is clear from the description of this child that Jesus is being referred to. It is said of this child that he was a son who would rule the nations with an iron sceptre. This was one of the traditional ways that the Jewish Scriptures spoke about the coming Messiah. In the course of the church’s history, many believers immediately thought of Mary when they heard this passage. It was she who gave birth to the Messiah into a world that was hostile to him. We only have to think of the story in Matthew’s gospel of Herod’s attempt to kill the child. Thesehostile forces appeared to have destroyed him on Golgotha, but God raised his Son from the dead and highly exalted him, as Paul says. In the language of our first reading, this woman’s son was taken to God and to his throne. Here we have this picture of a woman in the splendour of the cosmos giving birth to a great rulerbefore hostile forces. It is a picture of vibrant colours and almost frenetic activity.

We have another picture of the same woman in the gospel reading which is very different. It is of a young, peasant woman, from small village in Galilee, heading south to a town in the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. This young woman, Mary, is with child. Luke, the evangelist, has already told us in the preceding passage that her child is to be very special. He will inherit the throne of his ancestor David; he will be conceived by the Holy Spirit and will be Son of God. There is continuity between the woman in the first reading and the woman in the gospel reading, in spite of their very contrasting portrayals. In both cases the woman brings a special child, God’s anointed one,into the world. In the gospel reading, Mary initially brings this child to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth models for us all how we are to receive Mary’s child. Like Elizabeth, we are invited to recognize the visit of our Lord through Mary and to rejoice in and surrender to this wonderful visitation from God.

We celebrate Mary, as we are doing on this feast of the Assumption, because, in as the first reading and the gospel reading portray, she is the woman through whom the Lord has come to us. This gives her a unique relationship with Jesus. In virtue of that unique relationship the church has always held that Mary shares uniquely in the triumph of her Son over death. In the second reading, Paul speaks of Christ as the first fruits of all believers who will be brought to new life. It could be said of Mary that she is the second fruits. The first and second fruitspoint to a greater harvest to come, one that embraces us all. Mary’s assumption puts before us our own ultimate destiny. As the preface to today’s Mass expresses it, Mary is a ‘sign of sure hope and comfort’ to God’s pilgrim people.

As well as showing us our ultimate destiny, Mary also shows us the path to that destiny. Her unique calling was to bring Jesus into the world. We too are called, in our own way, to bring Jesus into our world today. The earliest interpretation of our first readingwas to see the woman as an image of the church, of all of us who make up the church. We are to bring Jesus into the lives of others, to witness to him, even though it will often mean encountering opposition. Yet, as that first reading assures us, we do so knowing that God will protect and safeguard us in our efforts to allow his Son to come to others through us.

And/Or

(ix) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Elizabeth addresses Mary as ‘the mother of my Lord’. She recognized that in welcoming Mary she was welcoming the Lord whom Mary was carrying. Elizabethwas aware that the Lord was visiting her through Mary, and so she declared Mary blessed. That is why we too honour Mary. We recognize that it was through her that the Lord visited us. Later on in Luke’s gospel the crowds come to say of the adult Jesus, ‘God has visited his people’. The really significant visitation is God’s visiting us in the person of Jesus, and it was through Mary that this visitation came about. It was through this woman of Nazareth that the Lord visited his people and having visited us remains with us until the end of time. The first reading today speaks of the woman who brought into the world the son who was to rule all nations. We honour Mary because she is the one through whom the Lord came to us. That is why, as she sings in her Magnificat, all generations have called her blessed.

Because she is one through whom the Lord first came to us, Mary has a unique relationship with the Lord. It is because of that special relationship with the Lord that, according to the ancient tradition of the church, she shares uniquely in her Son’s risen and glorious life. That is what we celebrate today on this feast of the Assumption. We celebrate Mary’s complete sharing in her Son’s triumph over death. In the words of Paul, in today’s second reading, she has been brought to life in Christ, and she has been brought to life in Christ in a way that is unique to her because of her unique relationship with Christ.

What Mary has become, we hope to be. The great things that God has done for Mary is a sign of the great things that God wants to do for all of us. She is, therefore, a sign of hope for us on ‘our pilgrim way’, as today’s Preface puts it. Mary’s earthly life also indicates how we are to travel that pilgrim way. Like her, we are called to be channels of the Lord’s visitation to others. As Mary brought the Lord to Elizabeth, and to all of us, we are called to bring the Lord to each other, so that those who meet us might come to say, ‘The Lord has visited his people’. This is the best way to honour Mary and how she would want to be honoured. If we honour Mary in this way, we can be assured that, at the end of our pilgrim journey, the Lord will honour us as he honoured her. He will do the same great things for us that he has done for her. Like her, we too will come to share fully in Christ’s risen life.

And/Or

(x) Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s feast celebrates Mary’s sharing in the risen life of her Son in a way that is unique to her among the human race. The church has always believed that just as Jesus’ earthly body did not remain in the tomb after he rose to new life but was transformed in a glorious way, so too Mary’s body underwent the same glorious transformation beyond death. In the words of the Preface of today’s Mass, ‘rightly you would not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb’. Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life. She carried him in her womb for nine months. Having given birth to Jesus she cared for and looked after him in the way that any mother cares for her child. She lived under the same roof as him for the first thirty years of his life. She was there throughout his public ministry, even if in the background. Shewas there with the other women and the beloved disciple at the foot of the cross. She was there with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down upon them all at the first Pentecost. Just as Mary had a unique relationship with Jesus in life, the church has always believed that she had a unique relationship with him in death and beyond death. For that reason, the glorious women that features in today’s first reading has been interpreted from the early days of the church as a reference to Mary, ‘a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head as a crown’. It is likely that the author of the Book of the Apocalypse from which that reading comes was depicting the whole church as this woman. The conflict between the woman and the dragon was a symbol of the conflict between the church and the Roman Empire of the time. Yet, Mary expresses in herself all that is best in the church. The interpretation of that symbol of the woman as Mary is a legitimate one.

The church is the community of the Lord’s disciples, the community of believers. Mary is the complete disciple; she is the woman of exemplary faith. This morning’s gospel reading brings that home to us. There is a striking contrast between the glorious woman of the first reading, and the young woman of Nazareth heading south to the hill country of Judea to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. Yet, it is the same woman. The woman in glory in the first reading is the woman of faith in the gospel reading. Just prior to this scene in Luke’s gospel, Mary had given her full consent to God’s purpose for her life to the angel Gabriel, ‘Let what you have said be done to me’. God’s purpose for Mary’s life was for her to become the mother of his Son. This was such an extra-ordinary purpose that Mary could not possibly have fully understood all its implications at the time. Yet, she generously said ‘yes’ to all that God was asking of her. In her ‘yes’ she anticipated the opening petitions of the prayer that her adult son would give to his disciples, ‘Father, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as in heaven’. It was above all in Mary that God’s will was done on earth as it is in heaven. She was the first and greatest believer. In the words of Elizabeth in the gospel reading, ‘blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled’. Mary’s deep faith immediately expressed itself in love, as she set out on a journey to give support to her older cousin Elizabeth. Paul in his letter to the Galatians says, ‘the only thing that counts is faith, working through love’. All genuine faith in the Lord expressesitself in deeds of love for others. Mary’s ‘yes’ to God was at the same time a ‘yes’ to those in need. In visiting her cousin Elizabeth she brought the Lord to her whom she carried in her womb. She portrays our own calling as people of faith to bring the Lord to each other.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ieJoinus via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

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ar3volut1on · 8 years ago

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I want to talk tonight about the beginning and the end. Because God tells us right from the get go in Gen. 3 what is going to come upon this world as declared in Isaiah.

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Isaiah 46:10

So let’s go to Genesis and look again at the fall, a specific part of the story always stand out to me calling me to dig deeper and really search out the meaning of the thing.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Genesis 3:14-16

The imagery used there is plain, a woman, seeds, etc. but it is also so very important. See I know that the seed of the woman here was Jesus our Lord and Savior who bruised the head of the serpent when he conquered death by resurrecting from the grave three days after being crucified. Because he lives we have the blessed hope of eternal life, bodily resurrection also. But it also feels like that is only part of the story here in Genesis like there is an underlying meaning that will only make sense when we are given more information. Kinda like a cliffhanger story where you have to wait till next week to find out the ending. So I ponder it over sometimes. Last night I found a video series on YouTube that dealt with this very issue. The series is God’s Roadmap to the End if you want to check into it. It is very enlightening and insightful, but fair warning they use computer generated voices so it is a little bland to listen to, ignore that and persevere you will not be sorry you did.

Anyway they link the Genesis passage to Rev. 12 1-6 and when they dd it was such a click moment. Like oh ok, makes sense. The missing information was there all along, well maybe not all along since it is at the very end of the New Testament but you get my point. This time though instead of a earthly prophecy like in Genesis we are given a prophetic sign to look for in the heavens. Here we again have the woman this time clothed with the sun, I never quite understood that, how’s a woman wear the sun, but hang in here, she will be in about 5 months or so, wearing a crown of 12 stars with moon under here feet and about to give birth. Okay that’s a lot to take in already and that’s just verses 1 & 2.

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. Revelation 12:1-2

As if the woman isn’t enough we have another wonder appearing – a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns. Okay that sounds basically like the antichrist, I’ve spent a lot of time studying the end since I feel we are nearing the midnight hour of time, that I will see my sweet Lord very soon when he returns for his bride. I feel even more sure now after linking these two prophecies with what I have learned from the video I mentioned.

Which just happens to be supported by some of the things my son has been learning during his astronomy studies during school, one of the beauties of homeschooling is that our whole family is involved in learning together, it’s not just something he is sent away for 9 hours a day to the local indoctrination center to do. No, instead learning occurs with God as the center of all things and it truly is a family thing. I have become fascinated with astronomy as I have gone over the materials with my kid. Anyway, by participating in his studies of the planets over the last several weeks when we got to the outer ones Neptune and Pluto we ran across several sources mentioning that there has been a pull on the orbit of these planets, that there might be another planet out there at the very edge with a weird orbit. The orbital plane is more tilted than Pluto’s and it is a long elliptical that swings it around the sun quite close, sorta inside the orbits of the other planets. The sun isn’t the center of it’s orbit like all the other planets but it’s more like the whole solar system is. They thing the planet takes something around 2,000 years to complete it’s orbit so it has never been observed. But using the same methods used to predict and locate the other outer planets they are fairly certain it exists, which means it is on it’s way back into the inner solar system. They go into much more detail in the second series of the videos if you want to look into it but basically this Niburu / Planet X we keep hearing about is it and it’s coming soon. It also happens to be covered in a dust cloud making it invisible to any but infrared telescopes (which have not been around very long, less than 100 years), the very same type of telescopes that many of the nations have been installing on Antarctica in recent years. Which just happens to be the best location to view it when it finally comes into view, since it’s long elliptical orbit tilts down below the plane of the solar system. Nasa has reported on this several times in the past 40 years but currently has removed the records from their online archives, apologizing for any inconvenience this may have caused. Highly suspect if you ask me considering what this thing is, where we stand in prophecy and time, and the fact that what this thing is bringing is not good.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. Revelation 12:3-4

This beast is going to attempt to devour the child, but don’t worry it won’t. Nope God’s gonna catch it up to him until the due time. The woman mean while is going to flee until the man child returns in 1,260 days, that’s 3 1/2 years, the exact time allotted for the Great Tribulation or God’s pouring out of wrath upon an unrepentant, rejecting, unsaved world.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Revelation 12:5-6

I know you guys are thinking enough already get to the point woman! The point is that the sign given in Rev. 12 will appear in exact configuration on Sept. 23, 2017. This sign has only appeared in this exact, precise way one other time according to the available star charting programs working backwards. That time was Aug. 5, 3915 BC, now when we calculate that up knowing that this sign will appear on September 23 this year using a lunar year of 360 days which is the year God gives us and the Israelite’s use, we see that the first appearance occurred 6,017 years ago! Think about that, the exact age for the earth given in scripture. The precise date is probably the date that the original Genesis prophecy was given even. Think about this, if the sign we are to watch for that foretells the events that are to come, the events that are the end, is occurring in a few months then folks we are running out of time! If you are not saved then please, please, please I can not urge you enough to get to know Jesus and make him your personal Lord and Savior before it is too late. Trust me when I say you do not want to face what is coming without being secure in your eternal salvation. You don’t – there’s a very good reason Jesus said that God will shorten those days or there would be no flesh left upon the earth. They will be horrible, worse than anything we can even imagine. Just read the rest of Revelation and see what I mean. God is going to pour out his wrath on the world that has turned it’s back on him, thumbed it’s nose at him, rejected him and he is going to use the Antichrist, Satan and even the signs in the heaven to do it. Heaven help all who are unsaved when he does.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:18-32

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Ephesians 5:3-6

See I happen to believe in the rapture and that it will occur before the pouring out of wrath. It makes sense that before the powers of evil can be totally released to have dominion for a short, praise God short, spell then the restraining power of the Holy Spirit has to be gone from the earth. That’s the Church folks, that’s those who are true believers, and I believe he will snatch or catch us away before the coming terrors upon the world, that we would not suffer God’s wrath. This is taken straight from scripture :

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:10

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 3:10

See, when Jesus died and was resurrected it ushered in the Church age and at that point, specifically in 70AD, he stopped dealing with Israel as they suffered a long diaspora foretold by the many prophets of the Old Testament as well as by Jesus himself. This is the gap in Danial’s 70 weeks.

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” Daniel 9:24-27

We are told there will be 7 weeks of years from the time that it went out that the temple was to be rebuilt until it was, then another 62 weeks until the anointed one of God, Jesus, is cut off. That’s 69 weeks so far ending with Jesus dying on the cross. That leaves one week yet to come, the final week of years or 7 years of Revelation, beginning with a covenant with many but clearly involving the nation of Israel. Considering that Israel was scattered and destroyed as a nation in 70AD up until 1917 the very idea of this prophecy of Daniel’s coming true seemed an impossibility. But in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration a glimmer of hope for Israel sparked, then in 1948 when a nation was born in a day Israel saw that spark become a flame. That flame grew even larger in 1967 when they reclaimed Jerusalem during the 6-Hour War. In the time since these events began taking place the nation of Israel has flourished despite the odds and enemies against it and soon God will once again turn to his chosen people declaring himself to be their God, calling them to rise up an lead the world to turn from sin and the evil one who will rule this world completely once the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church is no longer here to hinder him.

God has promised to spare us as true believers and followers of Jesus from the coming wrath and suffering. We are the body of Christ and He will deliver us by catching us up into the clouds, where we will remain in his presence until he returns bodily to the earth at the end of the 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation as the returning King conquering and destroying all those who ave stubbornly refused to believe and trust in God and his Son, Jesus our only hope of eternal salvation. Just see what Scripture has to say about it.

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.1 Corinthians 15:51-52

Time is short, so short. Signs are occurring, planets are lining up, knowledge has increased to the point to allow us to make sense of signs that previously made no sense whatsoever. Such as the sign of Rev. 12 the woman clothed in the sun giving birth, the red dragon waiting to devour her child, it all seemed so strange for the last almost 2,000 years since John wrote down his Revelation in 90AD. But now we can see what it all means because the seal is broken on Daniels sealed prophecy; knowledge has increased and people run to and fro. The woman is the constellation Virgo which will be crowned with Leo and three of the planets making the 12 stars of her crown, and she will be in a position in the behind the sun to where the sun’s brightness will obscure or clothe her. Jupiter, also called the King planet or star, entered her womb last fall and will remain there 41 weeks, the exact term of a human pregnancy. Jupiter is in the womb of Virgo each year but normally it’s orbit is such that it passes through much quicker, instead this time there it’s position in relation to the Earth causes a retrograde action which makes it bounce back and forth with the womb for the full term of a human pregnancy before being birthed by the virgin. This matches the prophecy from Rev. 12 of the woman travailing in childbirth and giving birth to a male child who will rule the world with a rod of iron, it also links back to the seed prophecy in Genesis. Isn’t it amazing how God declares the end from the beginning and then ensures that it plays out just as he says it will. Jupiter will hover just outside the womb for a couple of more weeks while the moon cycles into it’s position at the feet of Virgo and completing the sign of the woman. The time frame for this began with Jupiter entering the womb Nov. 20, 2016, the birth occurs on September 9th this year and the final alignment where the woman is clothed with the sun, crowned with 12 stars, the moon at her feet and her male child just delivered occurs on Sept. 23, 2017. You can’t tell me this is just a coincidence, the last time the exact same heavenly line up occurred was at the time the bible tells us Adam and Eve fell and the original seed prophecy was given. Now here we are 6,017 years later, which is the time frame for the earth reflected in the 6 days of creation I might add. For with God a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. That makes the 7th day or 7th thousand years the millennial reign of Christ. This is also the time line given for us in 1st Enoch. Please if you are not saved get right with the Lord, accept Jesus’ gift of salvation now, before time is up. And if you are already numbered among the blessed then please share the Good News, share the hope, that you serve a living King, a risen King. Your Savior is alive and he is returning soon for his own, we only have a limited time to grow the body of Christ. When the church is caught up all hell will break loose on earth, folks will die by multitudes, they may not have time to accept Jesus before they die. Evil will reign on the planet until the day Christ returns to claim Israel for his Father and set up his throne in Jerusalem. Please brothers and sisters let’s be hard about the Father’s business winning souls to Christ and salvation while we can.

Oh, yeah, I didn’t forget about the Great Red Dragon of the Rev. 12 sign or Niburu / Planet X I’ll get to them tomorrow night Lord willing. It’s all just a lot to cover in one evening, a lot to process. In the meantime prayerfully seek the Lord’s guidance and to do His will. Until next time, may God bless and keep you!

Fear Not, Look Up I want to talk tonight about the beginning and the end. Because God tells us right from the get go in Gen.

#faith #genesis #God #prayer #signs #video

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