#my brother in christ what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament

[ponydanza-in-a-canza]

Haters will comment "trash" on my fics like they weren't the inspo

[haystarlight]

"Marceline?"

"How do you know The Star's true name? Are you her spy?!"

My sister in Ooo, how do YOU know The Star's true name?

[rosietherivendell]

This whole the pope used gay slang to say that there are too many f*gs in the priesthood thing is a real my brother in christ what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament moment

[veggiesforpresident]

"my brother in christ" and "what were you doing at the devil's sacrament" same energy

[buggie-hagen]

Funeral Sermon for Oliver (12/9/22)

Primary Text | John 1:1-5, 9-14

----------------------------------------------------

Dear People of God, Dear family and friends and all who loved Oliver,

          The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. We will come back to this. Those who know Oliver know he is a big fish. He’s contagious, he’s the type of guy that people want to be around. He’s well-accomplished, he’s a legend in his field. More than that he was a kind person. For you who are mourning now, you who feel the pain of his absence, it is because you experienced his kindness so warmly, so profoundly. He has left his imprint on you. This man Oliver has clearly been a precious treasure to you. We are gathered today around the time of his death. It is true, he has been taken from our eyes. Even before his death there were things whittling him down in body and mind—so that he could hardly leave his bed. These dreadful things are what we call the work of darkness. We will all in one way or another necessarily endure this darkness for ourselves. In dark times like these, especially in the dark times, I am bidden to speak in a particular way. I am to say something that does not come from me. It is of divine origin. That is, the Lord God has something in particular to say of Oliver, and to you, this afternoon. The LORD Christ brings before us God’s gracious promise. This promise: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

          Many decades ago God made this light known to our brother Oliver. The first time Oliver encountered the light was the day he was baptized with water for the forgiveness of sin. For on that day he was clothed with his LORD Christ. There are no better garments to wear in all the world than these ones God gave him on that day. When the words were uttered “Oliver, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” his life was changed forever. On the day he received the sacrament of holy baptism God made several unbreakable promises to Oliver. In those baptismal waters God said to Oliver: “My dear child, I give you everything I have—I clothe you with my Son Jesus Christ—who died for you. I give you the unconditional forgiveness of sin, I give you salvation, I give you my Holy Spirit, I give you a life eternal. Oliver, you now belong to me; I will be your God forever. In Jesus Christ I have pitched my tent to live with you, and in him I share the same flesh as you, to save you. Whatever you go through, be comforted that I will be right there with you, in you. You will face the darkness; you will experience it. But I will keep reminding you that my light can never be put out—the darkness will inevitably lose—my promise to you will yet prove true. All your days I will put my word in your ears, dear Oliver. I will feed you my word of promise again and again in the Lord’s Supper. And you shall be comforted. I will never abandon you. Do not trust your eyes, trust your ears—trust what I say to you now. There is nothing in all the world, no darkness, no death, that can separate you from my love in Jesus Christ. When you die, yet you shall live.”

          Dear people, it is clear this man Oliver loved you as much as he could to the last minute. Though we may mourn and cry and feel the darkness of his death…you also have been given a divine promise…for we have not seen the last of our dear brother Oliver. God will without fail fulfill the everlasting promise he made to Oliver in baptism. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Therefore, the time is limited for the powers of sin, death, and the devil. Their darkness will be no more. The future Oliver has is a future far greater than his past—far brighter than his past…it is a future filled with every gladness, every goodness. This will not be taken away from him. There will be a resurrection of the body. That means God will raise Oliver with a body that never wears out. At this time, the Lord Jesus Christ will wipe away your every tear. You will once again get to see how contagious and kind Oliver is. Then with your eyes you will see the goodness of the Lord.

[pomodoko]

dying laughing at "then I remembered that you are a DSMP fan and that having good taste was never a top priority for you"

my brother in christ, you followed the mcyt blog. what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament anon, huh?

funniest shit is that I'm not even a proper dsmp fan. the most I've done is reblog pretty art, but most of the time I'm either a hermitcraft fan or an hbomb stan lmaoooooo

also my header is literally lego ninjago. if you wanna talk weird taste, why not that? smh my head 😔 if you wanna drag me at least do it right

[pate-de-rolo]

Bridgerton Episode 5 thoughts

1) mama bridgerton is a positive force that would best simons ass if she knew how mean he was to Daphne

1.2) the hangover but was really funny ngl

2) Friederich is honestly a nice guy. A himbo for Cressida to work like a puppet. I love it

3) he’s DRUNK

3.1) lady Danbury is going to hit someone with her cane and I hope it’s Simon. Also I feel like Will?/boxing buddies wife will be so, so disappointed in him when she heard about this. Like “make your own damn dinner if you want to act like that” and she’s right

3.2) the hand snatch OOP

4) the dressmaker has the best energy

5) Penelope is scheming. Lady Featherington is an old bag

6) Daphne pulled a “and what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament, Cressida?” And it went wrong in 6 ways

7) THE ARTIST LIKES MEN

7.1) please let the middle brother be nice please let him be nice please let him be no

7.2) implied three-way with the dressmaker and some random lady????? Now that is a scandal

8) Marina is so badass. Like, seducing the Bridgerton brother? Amazing.

9) Rose deserves a livable wage (y’all know anything she might be getting paid is getting eaten up by room and board)

10) I’m sorry but I don’t like any of the costumes except for Daphnes revenge dress and even that is mostly for the feather fan.

11) Penelope’s crush/friendship with Colin Bridgerton hurts my heart.

11.1) poor Colin Bridgerton is such a sweet boy, he deserves so much better than a sham/shotgun wedding

12) THEYRE SWINGERS OHMYGOD. Two lgbtq+ folks being swingers. I love it. They’re living the best life. That’s the happy ending, the middle brother gets invited to be in their slutty swinger circle and never has to worry about responsibility. That’s it. That’s the show.

12.1) I choose to believe that the wife absolutely told her swinger-artist husband about the implied artist wife-dressmaker-Bridgerton three way, and that Mr Artist approached him at the party only to see his expression when he realized “oh, it appears I’ve fucked his wife”

13) opposite “and there was only one bed” energy

13.1) opening the door to see the other person was just about to come in is such a good trope/cliche I love it sm

13.2) “I am yours, Daphne. I have always been yours.” FUCK that’s good.

13.3) no but if either of them have an ounce of sense they’d realize how much they love each other

13.4) ever since seeing how they filmed that sex scene in lucifer I have so much sympathy for actors that have to film anything beyond holding hands.

13.5) we love the asking for consent :) 10/10 !

13.6) I really hate how Daphne is like completely oblivious to sex being a thing. Like I understand it might be semi-realistic (??) but like, it’s kinda weird. Idk. Not the choice I would have made.

13.7) I also hate how shows always have the woman nakey first/most nakey. (I’ve heard (?) Bridgerton is better) but it’s just icky to me

13.8) this is too scandalous. I’m getting second hand embarrassment for the actors. Jesus Christ.

[pamphletstoinspire]

Sexagesima Sunday - February 7, 2021 - Latin Calendar

The second Sunday of the Septuagesima season is known as “Sexagesima, which means “sixty”. Sexagesima Sunday comes roughly sixty days before Easter. Throughout this short Season and that of Lent (next Season) you will notice a deepening sense of penance and somberness, culminating in Passiontide (the last two weeks of Lent), that will suddenly and joyously end at the Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday when the alleluia returns and Christ’s Body is restored and glorified. 

Sermon for Children’s Mass: Sexagesima Sunday

by Fr. Raphael Frassinetti, 1900

Gospel. Luke viii. 4 – 15. At that time: When a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities unto him, he spoke by a similitude: The sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon good ground: and being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundred fold. Saying these things, he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. To whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the wayside, are they that hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots: for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground: are they who in a good and very good heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

THE SEED OF THE WORD OF GOD THAT FALLS BY THE WAYSIDE, ON THE ROCKS, AMONG THORNS, OR UPON GOOD GROUND

It is hardly necessary to explain this Gospel, for Our Lord Himself gave the explanation of it by His own mouth. Let me ask you what kind of hearts you possess, what good do you derive from the frequent hearing of the word of God? Let me ask you if the ground is hard and trodden down where the seed falls; is it at once carried away by the devil, or is it rocky soil where it cannot take root? You hear the word of God, but does it grow up within you? Do you become more pious, more attentive, and reverent in God’s house? You hear the word of God, but do you observe the feasts of the Church with more devotion; do you go more frequently to the sacraments? You hear the word of God, but do you avoid bad companions, who lead you into sin? You hear the word of God, but do you give good example to your companions; or are you not, by your bad deeds and your wicked words, a rock of scandal to those who come near you?

Too often it happens that those who have all the advantages of good advice and example are still wicked themselves and make others so. This is a great source of sorrow to the priest who sows the seed of God with such assiduity, with much labor and solicitude. “Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him. Teach a just man, and he shall make haste to receive it.” But it is not so with the bad, who wish to continue in their evil ways; you may preach to them in vain, you may pray for them with many groans and tears; all is useless. You may represent to them the enormity of their sins, the scandal they are giving, and the imminent danger of eternal perdition in which they live, but all is in vain. You will not be able to make them say their prayers morning and night, they will not go to confession, they will not even say a Hail Mary in the day. If you tell them they should pray in temptation, that they should call on Jesus and Mary, they only laugh at you.

Heavenly wisdom will not enter a wicked soul, the hearts of such become harder and more obstinate, they are disgusted with the word of God. Is the number of these few, do you think? No, indeed. Go to church on Sundays and holydays; you will see that what I say is true. The streets, the public places, the saloons, are full of people, but few are found in the churches. This is the greatest punishment that God can send us, to let us go on in this disgust of His holy word. You should not belong to this class. You have religious training enough to know better. Do not imitate so many who never give themselves time to hear the word of God, though they have time enough to go to bad places and to immoral plays where the soul is ruined. Never do the like; remember that those who do not like to hear the word of God, have already the mark of damnation on their foreheads. Listen then gladly, for it will be your salvation. St. Bernard says that there is no surer sign of eternal damnation than to despise the word of God. Yes, my good young people, put aside all fear of hell provided you keep in your hearts the love of the word of God.

Here is a beautiful example of the holy virgin Scholastica which is found in the breviary. This holy virgin consecrated herself to God from her earliest childhood. Nothing delighted her more than to hear of God, or to speak of Him to others. At one time, as was her custom every year, she went to visit her saintly brother Benedict, who came out of his monastery to meet her, for women were not allowed within the men’s cloister. They had their supper together in the evening, after having passed the day in conversation about God. When Scholastica saw that the hour was getting late, she said to her brother: “You might do me the favor of staying with me overnight, that we may talk of the goodness of God, for it is now a late hour.” He answered, “I cannot do this, my sister; it is not allowed for a monk to remain outside of his cell during the night.” When Scholastica had heard this she was grieved, but she buried her face in her hands and began to pray. All at once a terrible storm broke out, with thunder and lightning, and the rain fell in torrents. St. Benedict knew that his sister had prayed for this. “What have you done, sister dear? You have prayed to keep me out of the monastery. May God forgive you.” The holy virgin with a bright smile answered: “I asked you to stay, but you would not listen; I asked my God, and no sooner had I made the petition than He listened to me. The sky, as you saw, was clear, but no sooner did I pray than the storm broke out.” St. Benedict was obliged to remain in the company of his sister, and spent the remainder of the night in prayer and pious reading. In the morning St. Benedict went back to his monastery and Scholastica returned to her home. Three days after, the holy monk raising his eyes, saw the spirit of his sister carried to heaven by the angels with great joy and festive song.

You, O good youth, who like to talk of God, console yourselves for the pretended loss of much pleasure in the conversations of the world, for you are of the number of the elect. They who are of God hear the word of God.

Let me beg of you, since it is in your power, to be always the good soil which receives gladly the seed of the word of God and so yields a hundred-fold. Let us not grow tired in doing good. Many young people indeed begin well; they are good, obedient, and respectful to grown people; they have faith; they love the Church and the sacraments, but when they grow older somehow they lose their piety. We find them in bad company, idle, beginning to drink, hangers-on at pool-rooms and gambling-places, and they avoid going to church. They go from bad to worse until they are ready for any deed of wickedness.

O, indeed, young men, if you did well you would have joy in this life, you would have the peace of God about you, that peace which the world cannot give, that peace which surpasseth all understanding. What great consolation will you feel at the hour of death when you shall see reserved for your glory and collected for your benefit all the good you have done in this life! The wicked will go to their graves with great show and pomp, but they are indeed poor before the throne of God, who rejects them, and sends them into exterior darkness. But to the good youth He will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord,” and then He will show him His beautiful home where He is to reign with God for all eternity. 

[altarsburning]

@kteague asked —  Was there one moment in particular for Maria where it fully hit her that she was in love with Frank?

three months. that’s all it was. three months. three months ago she’d agreed to go out with the bum in the park playing guitar, three months ago he’d taken her out to dinner at a little mom and pop italian place, saying his dad grew up with the owner — and sure enough, it was true. the food was good, and free, and she’d tasted her first chianti. three months ago he had been a gentleman, and walked her to her parents’ door and kissed her goodnight.

three months ago he had taken her on a second date. and maria, god help her, that good little catholic girl, her cheeks flushed from the sacramental wine that frank had snuck out of the church by his house, claiming, with that big grin of his, that it was okay — the father was cool about it, it’s the blood of christ, after all. she doesn’t take those things so seriously, as they sat in his car at the edge of the park, passing the bottle back and forth, telling each other little things about themselves. how he had planned to go into the priesthood before his friend’s brother deployed with the marines. that was the moment he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was meant to be a marine, a devil dog. and she told him about her dream to go to school, for dance. that she’d been dancing since she was old enough to stand, and she longed to perform on stage — the nutcracker, swan lake, all of it. 

bruce springsteen came on the radio, dancing in the dark, and frank leaned over to turn it up. his favourite song, he said. and then it happened — without thinking too hard about it, without questioning it, maria had leaned in to kiss him, her dark hair slipping from her shoulders. he fumbled, his hand landing on the stick shift, before finding her knee. this wasn’t the same kiss he’d given her a week ago, this was a kiss to end all of the ones before it. and the bottle of wine, practically empty, was discarded on the floor as frank hauled her bodily into his lap.

the only witness to what happened in that truck were sleeping birds and active bats, and even the street lamp above them played along, the bulb sizzling, snapping, casting them in darkness. she remembers the way his hands feel on her thighs as he pushes her dress up. she can remember the sound of his belt being undone, the zipper. she can remember the way she feels when he pulls her panties aside and enters her — she can remember the way she prayed holy against his shoulder, as she lowered herself onto him. it was a religious experience, sex with frank castle — and, as some religious experiences end up, a child was conceived.

that was three months ago.

and so now she stood in front of his house, on the sidewalk, and he stood there too, in the quiet darkness. the lights in his house were on, the game on the television, the crack of a baseball bat heard through the open windows. she could see her news had caught him off-guard. he stood there, slack jawed, one hand coming up to rub his chin. she sensed he wanted to run, his shoulders tense.

‘ i don’t.. ‘ she wanted to choose her words carefully, didn’t want to insult him. ‘ i’m keepin’ this baby, frank. ‘ she didn’t expect anything of him. ‘ i don’t wanna raise her alone, but i’ll understand if you don’t wanna stick around. ‘ she couldn’t expect him to — he had a life, he had goals, things he wanted to accomplish. and so did she, but she wanted this baby, this small life growing inside her. it had taken three pregnancy tests and a prayer to the blessed mother to make her see that it was true, and she had had a bit longer to deal with this than he had. 

‘ i gotta, i.. gotta think, maria. ‘ she’s a little taken aback that he doesn’t have a ready answer, maybe a little hurt that he isn’t instantly on board, but that’s more her fault than his: this isn’t a hallmark movie, baby girl. it’s real life, and not every story has a happy ending. she’s mute when she nods, tells him she’s gonna go, she’s got to tell her parents. and he watches her go, that petite girl in white sneakers and a sundress. 

it’s four in the morning when she hears something hit her window, and she’s nearly hit by what turns out to be a rock whens he opens the window, leaning out to find frank throwing the small pebbles from around her mom’s bird feeder. ‘ are you nuts? ‘ she whispered. 

‘ get down here, ‘ he says. ‘ please, ‘ is followed shortly after.

and so she does, in her night gown, trying not wake her parents when she opens the front door and turns on the porch light. the neighborhood is quiet, everyone is asleep, including the squirrels. 

‘ it’s four in the morning! ‘

‘ marry me. ‘ he gets the look, her brows knit, her face an expression of confusion and slight annoyance.

‘ what? ‘

‘ you heard me. marry me. ‘cause if you don’t, i gotta go play my guitar in the park again, and i ain’t sure i’m gonna get a girl as pretty as you again. ‘ he grins, standing there in his sweat pants and his hoodie with no shirt underneath. ‘ so marry me, maria. ‘

‘ you’re only askin’ — ‘ but she’s cut off when he steps up, shaking his head.

‘ no. i ain’t only askin’ ‘cause i got you in the family way. i’m askin’ ‘cause i love you. i’ve loved you since you told me to shut up in the park. i just ain’t been brave enough to say it. you make me brave, maria. ‘ 

her lips twist and she’s trying not to cry. she wipes at her cheek and he reaches out, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, gently tilting her head up to look at him. 

‘ marry me, maria elizabeth. if i gotta beg, i’ll beg. my knee ain’t so good though.. ‘ and as he’s getting read to get on his knees, she laughs and stops him, wiping at her cheek again. 

' alright, alright, i’ll marry you, jesus. ‘ 

grinning, he kissed her. ‘ my name’s frank. ‘

she fell in love with him like you fall asleep. slowly, and then all at once. she hadn’t been sure before, she didn’t know what he was thinking, what he was feeling, if he even liked her, or if she was just something to do before he deployed again. but when he stood there, asking her to marry him, saying he loved her without hesitation, she knew right then and there —

she loved him too. 

[eschaton-the-imminent]

My brother in Christ, what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament?

[incarnationsf]

“Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood”

By the Rev. Darren Miner

Gospel Reading

Let me start out with a legal disclaimer: “All references to cannibalism in John’s Gospel were made by a professional metaphorist in a particular historical context; taking them literally may result in involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital.”

With that out of the way, let’s do a little review. For the last few weeks, we’ve heard a lot about bread: the bread of life, living bread, the bread that comes down from heaven, and so forth. Today we hear more about bread. But it isn’t any kind of bread you can find on the shelves of Safeway! For today Jesus explicitly identifies the bread from heaven with his own flesh. And he claims that only those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will have eternal life.

As I mentioned, Jesus is speaking metaphorically, one might even say sacramentally. And latter-day Christian preachers have a tendency to gloss over the repugnant flesh-and-blood metaphor and to start speaking about the Holy Eucharist as soon as possible. But it behooves us to consider for a moment just how disturbing Jesus’ metaphor was for his original audience.

Jesus had just finished feeding the 5000 and then walked across the Sea of Galilee. He then entered the synagogue in Capernaum and started preaching a lengthy discourse about bread—but not just any kind of bread! For this bread is Jesus’ own flesh. He tells the faithful Jews in that synagogue that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. Now, this speech might have made some sense in the context of the Last Supper, but the Last Supper is a full year in the future. Not surprisingly, the congregation has no idea what he’s talking about. Even Jesus’ own disciples are confused, and some are so shocked and repulsed that they leave off following him as disciples.

Frankly, their dismay is understandable for a variety of reasons. Let me enumerate just a few. First, the very idea of cannibalism would have been as repugnant to first-century Jews as it is to us today. Second, the consumption of any kind of blood is expressly forbidden in the Law of Moses. Third, Jesus’ suggestion to eat his flesh would have had satanic connotations, for in Jesus’ day a common nickname of the Devil was “The Eater of Flesh.” And last but not least, the word that Jesus uses when he instructs them to eat his flesh is not the normal Greek term for eating; it is the word used when animals feed. So, it’s not surprising that some of Jesus’ disciples fell away. What’s surprising is that any stayed!

As is often the case in the Gospel of John, Jesus is portrayed as speaking in a kind of code. Usually, the code is explained privately to his disciples, but not in this case—at least, not yet! In this case, it will only make sense a year later when Jesus institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper. For, according to the Synoptic Gospels, it is only then, at that communal meal with his closest disciples, that Jesus finally explains the meaning of his difficult teaching in Capernaum the year before. Given that his audience in Capernaum, including his disciples, could not possibly have understood his true meaning, why did Jesus present them with this difficult teaching? We can only surmise. But one thing is clear, only those who stuck with Jesus for another year would ever come to know what Jesus really meant. And only they would have the opportunity to experience the eternal life promised them by their Lord. So perhaps Jesus’ teaching was a test of faith.

But things are different for us Christians today. We have it easy. Jesus’ disturbing metaphor fails to shock all but the most squeamish among us, because every Christian knows that Jesus is talking about the bread and the wine at Communion.

Now, after two millennia, a lot has been written about the theology of Holy Communion. Even so, I think I can summarize 2000 years of doctrine in a single sentence: “You are what you eat.” By taking the bread and the wine of the Eucharist into our bodies, we also take Jesus Christ into our very selves as well, and in a mystical sense, we are made the Body of Christ.

Now, brothers and sisters, there are costs to being the Body of Christ. But today, let me focus on the benefits. The catechism in the back of our prayer book lists three benefits of Holy Communion: “the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our union with Christ and one another, and the foretaste of the heavenly banquet which is our nourishment in eternal life.” But there’s more! According to Jesus’ own words, those who continue to eat his flesh and drink his blood will abide in him, will have eternal life, and will be raised on the Last Day—more than enough reasons to be a regular and faithful communicant!

And yet not all Christians are, in fact, regular and faithful communicants. The problem as I see it is that we don’t always feel an immediate effect from Communion, and so we take the Blessed Sacrament for granted. Theophan the Recluse, a Russian Orthodox saint, wrote: “The fruit of Communion most often has a taste of sweet peace in the heart; sometimes it brings enlightenment to thought and inspiration to one’s devotion to the Lord; sometimes almost nothing is apparent, but afterward in one’s affairs there is noted a great strength and steadfastness in the diligence one has promised.” 1 The effects of Holy Communion may be quite subtle. They may be quite gradual. But, trust me, they are quite real!

So, today, at the conclusion of the eucharistic prayer, when we all say the Great Amen, I would ask you, who are the Body of Christ in the world, to gaze for just a moment in adoration upon the Body and Blood of Christ made present in the Blessed Sacrament. And then, in the words of our parish motto, come and be fed!

 © 2018 by Darren Miner. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

1. From The Spiritual Life; italics mine.

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for the 10th Sunday per annum (B)

Gen 3:9-15; Ps 129; 2 Cor 4:13–5:1; Mark 3:20-35

St John in his first letter says: “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jn 3:8) And what are the works of the devil? He causes a rupture in the relationship between God and mankind; division between men and women, in our human relations; and a certain chaos within ourselves so that we become motivated by fear – we hide our true selves, our vulnerabilities, then, from God and from one another. 

All this we see in the aftermath of the original sin of Adam and Eve. Eve, succumbing to the devil’s lies, is now unable to see the truth: that she was made for endless happiness through a friendship with God. However, Eve trusted the seductions of the devil. He promised her a counterfeit happiness: Do as you see fit, not as God tells you. Distrust him, and take what you desire. Indulge yourself, taste and eat, and you will be like God, meaning, independent, eternally happy, and fully satisfied through your own powers. Such are the lies of the devil that continue to lurk behind every sinful act. The devil, you see, is rather boring and his strategy remains unchanged. From the original sin right down to the latest sin, there is very little that’s original in sin. It follows the same pattern and the same end: Rebel against God, and take his place; every sin is a rebellion against God’s goodness, God’s wisdom, God’s truth. Hence, Adam and Eve hide from God when he comes in search of them. For, often, when Man chooses sin and the works of the devil, he no longer wishes to hear the voice of Truth, nor does he wish to see God. As St John says in his Gospel, “the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (Jn 3:19) 

The philosopher Roger Scruton comments on this, arguing that the Western world, seduced by consumerism and its false promises of happiness, and lied to by powerful but faceless corporations is now confronted with a “godless void”. Hence the West is now overtaken by a widespread atheism – both explicit atheism, that is favoured by so-called celebrities and intelligentsia, and practical atheism, such as is evident among the Baptised who do not worship God every Sunday, as the Lord commands. Christians, whose lives and moral values are indistinguishable from non-Christians, live as though God does not exist, and so they become practical atheists. But the result is that, Scruton says, our existential restlessness is  experienced as a deep loneliness, and this is intensifying – just consider the high-profile suicides that have been in the Press this week – because we, as a society, have tried to hide from God’s face. 

This, too, is the devil’s work. For when we fall into sin, he wants to keep us there, trapped by our guilt, paralysed by our fear and shame, caught by our passions and sinful desires, and seemingly unable to change. The devil, after all, is called the Accuser in the book of Revelation. Among his works is to lead us into sin by tempting us, insinuating distrust for God and his holy Church, and then keeping us bound up in a state of sin by accusing us of them and keeping us fearful and distant from God. Or better yet, there is a further lie, which is to call sin good and natural and right, and therefore to be celebrated with Pride. But as Jesus warns, the devil is “a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him… he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn 8:44)  

Hence, the Son of God, he who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” comes to destroy the works of the devil. He is born to crush the Serpent’s head. Jesus comes to tie up the “strong man”, Satan, and to “burgle his house”. This means that Jesus has come to set you and me free from the lies of the devil. He comes with the Truth of his Gospel to tie up the Liar, and so to liberate us from Satan’s falsehoods that lead us into sin and that keep us in a state of sin. 

The first great falsehood is to say that we can’t help but sin; that we cannot change; or that we’re too far gone to turn back to God, to come back to church, to do better. But Jesus tells us solemnly – whenever we hear this in the Gospel we know that Jesus is revealing a divine truth to us – that “all men’s sins will be forgiven”. So, there is no sin so great that we cannot repent and receive God’s forgiveness and mercy. As St Faustina reports in her ‘Diary of Divine Mercy’, Jesus says: “Let no one doubt concerning the goodness of God; even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery.  One thing alone is necessary: that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God’s merciful grace, and then God will do the rest.” Yes, fear not to open the door of your heart, that is, your house, and so let the Strong and Merciful God enter in and steal you away from the devil and the bondage of sin. 

But if we say that we cannot be saved from our sins, if we say that God’s grace is not strong enough to convert and change our lives, then we will have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. What this phrase means is that one despairs of God’s mercy; one resists God’s grace that would convert our hearts – it means to keep the door of one’s heart closed to God. Let us never do that. No matter how often we fall into the same sins, and no matter how tangled and complicated our situation is, open your heart to God’s grace, and let the Holy Spirit heal your wounds and set you free. So Jesus tells St Faustina: “Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul.  When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you.  I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy… If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity.  The torrents of grace inundate humble souls.”

Through the sacrament of Confession, therefore, Jesus is at work to destroy the works of the devil. In this sacrament, the Lord builds us up again, bridging the gap between us; his Holy Spirit creates order out of the chaos of sin; and above all, the light of Christ fills the darkness and godless void. And we hear again the voice of God calling out to us. Jesus says: “I call you friends”. (Jn 15:15)

And the second great lie of the devil is to say that Man can find happiness without God so we can just do what we think is best while ignoring his commandments. Or that we can remain in sin, unrepentant, and still be perfectly happy in this world and the next. And yet, if we know our theology well, we know that God alone is “perfectly happy in himself”. Indeed, he is the Source of all joy, goodness, pleasure, and delight. So, look at what Jesus offers us if we do the will of God – not for God’s sake but for our own sake, for our own good and genuine well-being: we become like Jesus’s “brother and sister and mother”. This means that we come to share in his divine nature, and so we share in his eternal happiness, no longer existentially lonely, but embraced in the communion of love that is our one true God. The devil had promised Eve that sin would make her like God. But this was the fundamental lie. Only God can make us like God, and he does this through Jesus Christ by uniting our human natures to his divine nature; by healing the wounds of sin with the medicine of his Sacraments; by befriending us through the gift of grace. 

Therefore, Pope Francis recently reminded us all: “Do not be afraid to set your sights higher, to allow yourself to be loved and liberated by God… For in the words of León Bloy, when all is said and done, “the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint”. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to this great truth which destroys all the lies of the devil.

[thewahookid]

Same Old Sins...Again?

Do you get tired of asking for mercy? How often have you struggled with some sin in your life and you feel like a hypocrite going back to confession, time and time again with the same sin, asking for mercy?

How often do you hope it won’t be the same priest in case he might remember you? How often does the devil, the great discourager, tell you that you are wasting your time so give up going to confession? How often do you feel you are fighting a losing battle with sin in your life?

Struggling with Confession

We all have these same feelings, fears, doubts, discouragements and judgements. We become burdened with the weight of our sins and we feel it is useless to go to confession again with the same list of the same sins.

God Never Tires of Being Merciful

The first Sunday after his election, Pope Francis said, “We get tired of asking God for mercy, but God never tires of being merciful”. I think the Holy Father has pointed out a very real challenge for us all. Speaking both as a priest and a penitent, his words make great sense.

The Lord comes to take away our sins

The Pope knows how difficult it can be to live in the midst of the struggle with sin in one’s life. He knows that we can become terribly discouraged and fed up. This can be made even worse when we don’t accept the mercy of God for our past sins. I can remember going to confession once, and the priest said to me that I had carried all my old sins back into the box with me. Even though the Lord had forgiven all the sins of my past, yet I had held onto them, so that each week in confession, I kept repeating the old sins. He asked me, “Do you believe in the power of Jesus to forgive you your sins?” I said, “Yes”. Then he asked me why was I still clinging to them? The Lord comes to take away our sins and very often we don’t allow Him to do that. We go after them again and carry them with us as old companions on the road. When we don’t allow the Lord to take away our sins, we can become even more tired of asking for mercy.

Our tiredness of asking for mercy

The Pope is asking us to reflect upon our tiredness of asking for mercy. He wants us to focus on God and His mercy. He wants us to see confession as a sacrament of love rather than a torture chamber we fear. Too often we look at the Sacrament of Reconciliation only from our own point of view, when all the time we are being asked in the life of the Church to see things from God’s point of view. We only see our sins and not our loving Father waiting for us.

The love of Jesus Christ lasts forever

Recently, before publicly going to confession himself, Pope Francis said, “The love of Jesus Christ lasts forever. It has no end because it is the very life of God. This love conquers sin and gives the strength to rise and begin again, for through forgiveness, the heart is renewed and rejuvenated. We all know it: our Father never tires of loving and his eyes never grow weary of watching the road to his home to see if the son who left and was lost is returning. We can speak of God’s hope: our Father expects us always, he doesn’t just leave the door open to us, but he awaits us. He is engaged in the waiting for his children.”

Sinners can't earn Mercy

These words remind me of words spoken by Saint Pope John Paul II, “We must not think that it is the sinner, through his or her own independent journey of conversion, who earns mercy. On the contrary, it is the mercy that impels the penitent along the path of conversion. Left to ourselves we can do nothing. Before being man’s journey to God, confession is God’s arrival at the person’s home”.

I confess to Almighty God

I have been reflecting lately on the fact that when we come together to pray at the Holy Mass, the first thing we do is to publicly admit that we are sinners. We say “I confess to Almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts, and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do” and we blame no one else for this situation expect ourselves for we say that we have done all this through “my own fault”, indeed through “my own grievous fault”. We can only so publicly admit that we are sinners because we believe in mercy.

If we didn’t believe in mercy then, like most of the world, we would either take pride in our sins or deny they were sins. Without mercy, our sins would indeed crush us. But praised be to God, we know that there is infinite mercy with God. That is why we must never get tired of asking for mercy. Mercy is our only hope of becoming people who can live in the freedom of the children of God, free to love as we ourselves are loved by our merciful Father.

In the likeness of God

We can only love each other when we relish the mercy of God in our own lives. As the Pope reminds us, “From the heart of the person renewed in the likeness of God comes good behaviour: to speak always the truth and avoid all deceit; not to steal, but rather to share all you have with others, especially those in need; not to give in to anger, resentment and revenge, but to be meek, magnanimous and ready to forgive; not to gossip which ruins the good name of people, but to look more at the good side of everyone. It is a matter of clothing oneself in the new man, with these new attitudes.”

Never tire of asking for mercy

Never tire of asking for mercy, never become discouraged in your fight against sin and selfishness. The Lord is victorious over all the forces of darkness and sin. He is our hope and our mercy. Rejoice in God’s mercy and ask for it more and more each day.

[pope-francis-quotes]

17th March >> (@zenitenglish) Pope Francis Address to Faithful in Pietrelcina (Full Text). Pastoral Visit of the Holy Father Francis to Pietrelcina and to San Giovanni Rotondo, on the occasion of the centenary of the apparition of the permanent stigmata and the 50th anniversary of the death of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Photo ~ Pope Francis ~ © Vatican Media) Holy Father Francis left early on March 17, 2018, by helicopter from the Vatican heliport destined for Pietrelcina, in the diocese of Benevento, and to San Giovanni Rotondo, in the diocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, on the centenary of the apparition of the permanent stigmata and the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. Upon arrival, at around 8.00, in the square adjacent to the Liturgical Hall of Piana Romana, the Pope was received by the archbishop of Benevento, H.E. Msgr. Felice Accrocca, and by the mayor of Pietrelcina, Mr. Domenico Masone. The Holy Father paused briefly in prayer in the Saint Francis Chapel before the elm of the stigmata. Then, at 8.15, in the square in front of the Liturgical Hall, the Pope met with the faithful. After greetings from the archbishop, Pope Francis gave his address. At the end, the Holy Father greeted the Capuchin Community and a representation of faithful. Then, at around 9.00, he left from Piana Romana to transfer to San Giovanni Rotondo. The following is the Pope’s address to the faithful: Address of the Holy Father Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! I am glad to be in this town, where Francesco Forgione was born and began his long and fruitful human and spiritual life. In this community he tempered his humanity, he learned to pray and to recognize in the poor the flesh of the Lord, so that he grew in following Christ and requested to be admitted to the Friars Minor Capuchin, becoming in this way Brother Pio of Pietrelcina. Here he began to experience the maternity of the Church, to whom he was always a devoted son. He loved the Church, he loved the Church with all her problems, with all her difficulties, with all her sins. Because we are all sinners, we are ashamed, but the Spirit of God has convoked us in this Church which is holy. And he loved the holy Church and her sons, sinners, all of them. This was Saint Pio. Here he meditated with intensity on the mystery of God Who loved us to the extent of giving Himself for us (cf. Gal 2: 20). Recollecting with esteem and affection this holy disciple of Saint Francis, I cordially greet all of you, his countrymen; your parish priest; and the mayor, along with the Pastor of the diocese, Msgr. Felice Accrocca, the Capuchin community and all those of you who wished to be present. We find ourselves today on the same land where Father Pio dwelt in September 1911, to “breath a little healthier air”. At that time there were no antibiotics and diseases were treated by returning to one’s hometown, to one’s mother, to eat things that are good for you, to breathe the air well and to pray. This is what he did, like any other man, like a peasant. This was his nobility. He never denied his hometown, he never denied his origins, he never denied is family. Indeed, in that time he resided in the town of his birth for health reasons. That was not, for him, an easy time: he was greatly tormented inwardly and feared to fall prey to sin, feeling he was under assault by the devil. And this did not give him peace because he was restless. But do you believe that the devil exists? … You are not so convinced? … I will tell the bishop to do some catechesis … Does the devil exist or not? [they answer: “Yes!”]. And he goes, he goes everywhere, he gets inside us, he moves us, he torments us, he deceives us. And he [Father Pio] was afraid that the devil would assail him, would drive him to sin. He spoke with few people, either by letter or in the town: only to the Archpriest Don Salvatore Pannullo did he manifest “almost all” his “intent to have some enlightenment” (Letter 57, in Epistolary I, p.250), because he did not understand, he wanted to clarify what was happening in his soul. He was a good boy! In those terrible moments, Father Pio drew vital lymph from the continuous prayer and the trust he was able to place in the Lord: “All the ugly ghosts – so he said – that the devil is introducing into my mind disappear when I trustfully abandon myself to the arms of Jesus”. Here there is all theology! You have a problem, you are sad, you are sick: abandon yourself to the arms of Jesus. And this is what he did. He loved Jesus and he trusted in Him. Thus he wrote to the provincial minister, asserting that his heartfelt “attracted by a superior force before joining Him in the morning in the Sacrament”. “And this hunger and thirst, instead of remaining satisfied”, after receiving it, “grows [more] more and more” (Letter 31, in Epistolary I, p. 217). Father Pio immersed himself in prayer to adhere ever better to the divine plans. Through the celebration of Holy Mass, which constituted the heart of his day and the fullness of his spirituality, he reached a high level of union with the Lord. During this period, he received special mystical gifts from above, which preceded the manifestation in his flesh of the signs of the Passion of Christ. Dear brothers and sisters of Pietrelcina and of the diocese of Benevento, you include Saint Pio among the most beautiful and luminous figures of your people. This humble Capuchin friar amazed the world with his life devoted to prayer and patient listening to his brothers, on whose sufferings he poured out the love of Christ as a balm. Imitating his heroic example and his virtues, may you also become instruments of God’s love, of Jesus’ love for the weakest. At the same time, considering his unconditional loyalty to the Church, you will bear witness to communion, because only communion – that is, always being united, in peace among us, the communion between us – edifies and constructs. A town that quarrels every does not grow, does not build itself up; it scares people. Instead, a town where one seeks peace, where everyone cares for each other – more or less, but they care for each other – they do not wish evil upon each other, this town, even if it is small, grows, grows, grows, it expands and becomes strong. Please, do not waste time, strength, quarreling between yourselves. This does not serve any purpose. It does not make you grow! It does not make you walk onwards. Let us think of a child who cries, cries, cries and does not want to move from his crib, and cries, cries. And when his mother puts him on the floor so that he can start to crawl, he cries, cries … and returns to the crib. I ask you: will that child be able to walk? No, because he is always in the crib! If village quarrels, quarrels, quarrels, will it be able to grow? No. Because all the time, all its strength goes towards quarreling. Please: peace between you, communion between you. And if one of you feels like gossiping about another, bite your tongue. It will do good to your soul, because the tongue will swell up but it will do good, also to the town. Give this witness of communion. I hope that this territory will be able to draw new life from the teachings of the life of Father Pio in a difficult time like the present, as the population gradually decreases and ages because many young people are forced to go elsewhere to look for work. The internal migration of the young, a problem. Pray to Our Lady to give you the grace that the young may find work here, among you, near to the family, and that they are not compelled to go away and look elsewhere, so that the town declines. The population ages, but this is a treasure, the elderly are a treasure! Please, do not marginalize the elderly. The elderly must not be marginalized, no. The elderly are wisdom. And may the elderly learn to speak with the young and the young learn to speak with the elderly. They have the wisdom of a village, the elderly. When I arrived I had the pleasure of greeting a man of 99 years, and a youngster of 97. Beautiful! These are your wisdom! Speak with them. May they be the protagonists of the growth of this town. May the intercession of your Saint and fellow citizen support the intention of joining forces, so as to offer to the young generations in particular concrete perspectives for a future of hope. Do not miss be lacking in caring attention, full of tenderness, as I said, for the elderly, who are the heritage of our communities. I would like it if the Nobel prize could be awarded once to the elderly who give memory to humanity. I encourage this land to preserve as a precious treasure the Christian and priestly testimony of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina: it is for each one of you an incentive to live your life in fullness, in the style of the Beatitudes and with the works of mercy. May the Virgin Mary, whom you venerate with the title of Madonna della Libera, help you to walk with joy on the path of holiness. And please, pray for me, because I am in need. Thank you! © Libreria Editrice Vatican

[romancatholicreflections]

4th January 2017 (Wednesday) >> 'Holiness Of Life By Living A Life Of Love And Service As God's Children'. ~ Daily Reflection on Today's Mass Readings for Roman Catholics

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 3:7-10; JOHN 1:35-42 ] We are still within the celebration of Christmastide. We have also just celebrated the Solemnity of the Mother of God and the beginning of the New Year. Consequently, the Church invites us to continue to reflect on the significance of the Incarnation, of what it means for Christ to be born for us. Christ’s birth was only for one reason – that we may regain our dignity as God’s children which has been lost through sin and a life of sinfulness. By becoming man, He assumed our humanity, and lived a life of holiness, in obedience to the Father’s will to the extent of dying for us. In this He showed us the way to be reconciled with God. In Christ, we are reborn in Him. We are now children of God, as St John reminds us. We are not children of the devil any longer. Through the Holy Spirit given to us at our baptism, we have been made heirs with Christ, thus becoming God’s adopted sons and daughters. Having received the sonship given to us in Christ, we must now live consciously as God’s children. To be God’s children means that we share the same life of God as our Father. St John says, God is holy. Consequently, as God’s children, our fundamental calling is to live a life of holiness. As such, holiness of life remains the fundamental vocation of every baptized Christian. To be a Christian is to desire to be holy. Indeed, to desire to live a holy life is to live the life of God. It is the only way to share in the life of God. This is precisely what St John was urging his fellow Christians, and all of us, to do. He wrote, “My children, do not let anyone lead you astray: to live a holy life is to be holy just as God is holy; to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil, since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.” By living a holy life, it shows that we are begotten by God. “No one who has been begotten by God sins because God’s seed remains inside him, he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.” A life of holiness is more than just not falling into sin, but it is a life of love and service. “In this way we distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil: anybody not living a holy life and not loving his brother is no child of God’s.” To live a holy life requires that we seek to express our sonship by loving God and our fellowmen according to our calling in life. According to our vocation and charism, we are called to live for others, our brothers and sisters. A holy life is a life that is dedicated to the service and love of our brothers and sisters. In a most concrete way, we show our Christian identity as sons and daughters of God by giving our lives to the service of the poor and the underprivileged. We who are the privileged children of God cannot be indifferent to the sufferings of our marginalized and poorer brothers and sisters in our midst. Our Christian dignity as the sons and daughters of the one God and one Father of our Lord Jesus requires us to offer the same love and concern that God our Father has for all, especially the suffering, the poor and the abandoned. In this way, the glory of God shines in us as we make the presence of Christ felt in the way we live out our lives, in humble service and charity. In this way, those who see us living a life of Christ can also rejoice with the psalmist and declare, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation. At the presence of the Lord: for he comes, he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.” Yet we must constantly remind ourselves that whilst holiness is expressed in a concrete life of love and service, yet this capacity to live a holy life is not something we can do by one’s strength but only by the grace of God. Unless God lives in us, we cannot do the same work He has done for us. Hence, a life of holiness entails necessarily a close relationship with the Lord. We must always be careful that we do not turn Christian charity into another social work based on another form of ideology or humanitarian work. Charity does not spring from mere empathy and identification with our fellowmen but the basis for our charity must spring from our consciousness of our identity as God’s children in Christ. Every person is sacred, has a soul, created in God’s image and likeness and called to sonship. We love because God loves us first and He loves everyone. So, Christian charity is deeply rooted in Christ’s love for us and His grace at work in us. On our part, therefore, lest we get carried away by activism based on human satisfaction and human fulfillment, we must constantly return to Christ as our cornerstone in all that we do. Without Christ, whatever service we do in Church or in society can end up in frustration, anger and bitterness instead, especially when we see so many challenges and often a lack of Christian ambience and charity. Indeed, some of our members have left the Church as a consequence of their having experienced injustice and disillusionment in the Church. We must avoid taking things into our own hands, lest we become angry first with the situation, then with the system and the institution, and then we become enemies of God as we come to conclude that God is not on our side. Indeed, this is what the gospel invites us to do. When the disciples of John followed Jesus, He called them to “Come and see.” Before they could be disciples of Jesus and later on His apostles, it was necessary that they lived with Jesus, know Him personally and be inspired by His life and love. It must have been a great moment of encounter for the disciples, so much so that they could even remember that it was the tenth hour that “they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day.” Do we also spend time with Jesus before we go and serve? Unless ignited by the fire of His love, we have no real motivation to share what God has done for us to others. It would do us much good to spend an hour before the Blessed Sacrament each day before we begin our day’s work. Without finding strength from Christ, we cannot truly be His messengers and prophets of love and peace. Only living from and with Christ, can we become the Lamb of God for others, like Jesus who offered Himself to the world for the conversion of sinners and the redemption of humanity. At the end of the day, regardless of the work we do, whether social, charitable, Church or corporate, we are doing the work of God. All works of love are for the greater glory of God. In the final analysis, the greatest act of charity is to bring someone to Jesus, like Andrew who brought Simon Peter to Jesus. We read, “early next morning, Andrew … took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.” Because of what Andrew did, Simon underwent a total change, not only in name, but his life and mission were totally changed. Giving Jesus as the cornerstone to all peoples is our ultimate goal, for when they have Jesus, they have true and lasting peace and joy. They no longer have to live in fear and anxiety because they know that Jesus will provide and care for them. Most of all, they in turn will give their lives in service to Christ, Church and society, and in the process find fullness of life. Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore.

[greehnery]

For Freedom, For You

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.”

John‬ ‭10:10, Galatians‬ ‭4:21-22

One takes. The other gives. One uproots; the other plants.

It goes without saying right now that we’re living in tumultuous times. Voices surround us every day, vice and virtue, beating us into submission. Sometimes it happens to us; sometimes we’re the ones doling it out. What with the pandemic and the pressures to be seen as righteous in our response to it, as well as the poison that is our own politics, berating one another, including our own brothers and sisters in Christ based on one another’s ballots...deep down our heart’s collective cry is one of deliverance.

This is most certainly true for everyone, in all of human history, both Christian and secular. We all want salvation. Perhaps more aptly and especially in this moment, what we want, truly, is freedom. And without us even realizing it, having to spend an entire year plus right now with this “new normal” is exposing the depths of our fallen reality.

What we need is a pure, undefiled, unthwartable promise.

Law, you see, is the language of our natural man. It’s more than just a set of commands etched on stone—perfect picture though that may be of our faithless hearts—and it’s more than just the first five books of the Bible (the Torah). It’s really the stuff of our daily lives. Hence the petition of the Lord’s Prayer to “give us this day our daily bread”. It’s the air we breathe. Food, clothing. Circumstances, even. In a sense then there would seem to be nothing in this world more real. But Jesus assures us, life is so much more than these.

Yet our tendency is to think that if anything is going to get done, demands (and maybe some good old fashioned spiritual elbow grease) are going to bring it about. Certainly the promises of God (to say nothing of our own) by comparison seem weak, pitiful, and powerless; such is how they come to us after all. But the law, it turns out, is spiritual; we are made of flesh. Left to ourselves a promise becomes an aid to the law at best, if not completely synonymous with it.

When we speak of promises, we too often treat them like anything but—and talk like thieves and robbers, belittling the very power of God unto salvation in favor of some fragment of “freedom” we suppose sin hasn’t permeated in us—rather than faithfully delivering the same life-giving Word we’ve been given in all its radical death-defying purity.

So enamored are we with the ‘strong man armed’ in all his apparent glory--with his crossed t’s and dotted i’s--that we forget about the puny little child lying in a filthy manger, born to die—who nevertheless binds up this strong man and divides the spoil among the citizens of His eternal kingdom. After all, sight is better than sound, and actions speak louder than words...right? Speaking of which, who wants a God in diapers, “Lord at thy birth”, as we rightly sing, while He was yet—excuse my French—a literal pants-crapper, swimming not only in his own stink but that of His creatures surrounding Him...who grows up to waste His life preaching such a foolish thing as forgiveness to all the wrong people, only to be strung up on a cross, to die the most humiliating death known to man? To say nothing of even being associated with one so pitiful...What a joke!

Rather, when we speak of this precious, living Promise—the Word made flesh, God’s own Christ—we throw Him to the voracious beast that is the law, to be swallowed up in yet more “shoulds”, “oughts”, and “musts”. Why this hunger and thirst for what does not ultimately satisfy, much less save?

We forget, willingly at times, that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free. Let me say that again. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. That’s free freedom—given freely!

Because as beings who presume themselves to be free already, true freedom—Christian freedom, as promised by and only through Christ—is not only frightening, it is offensive.

On that note, allow me to play devil’s advocate for a moment.

When the serpent said to Adam and Eve that they would not die when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was he correct? Likewise when he said to them that their eyes would be opened?

Of course he was. After that first bite, there they stood—alive and kicking, with freshly opened eyes. It’s what he did not say that perpetrated the lie and powered the temptation toward life in morality rather than simple, creaturely sufficiency in the things God had made for us (and consequently, in Himself, as they were sacramentally given).

So it is now. Just so is the law correct in accusing us of sin left, right, up, down and all around. In exposing the gravity of our sinful condition—not just the sum total of sins (plural) over against our “good works”—and leaving us with absolutely no breathing room with which to justify ourselves. Just so is the law holy, righteous and just in stopping our lying mouths cold—putting us sinners to death. Dashing us to pieces.

It is when we fail to recognize its limit, its end in Christ, that the heart of man becomes a living hell, bound to trust in its own (feigned) goodness come hell or high water. And we ought not think ourselves immune as Christians; we are, after all, simultaneously justified and sinful, not one or the other, but 100% sinful in and of ourselves and 100% righteous, externally, in Christ.

Therefore, this love affair we have with unknowns, uncertainties, unfaithfuls, and indeed, what remains unsaid, undone, is very real and ever-present within us.

Put another way, given the choice—we would go for the unpreached God, hidden and obscured in all His overwhelming glory and majesty—in short, by the law—over God given, God preached, God clothed in womb, water and Word of promise any day. Because the former puts some distance between us and God, allowing us to size things up and make our decision “for Him”, while the latter gets all up in our sinful business, claiming it as His own so as to lavish His perfect righteousness on those who did not ask for it (for we hate the light, and hide our faces from it, He rightly says). Jesus comes to flip the salvific script on us, and we who want to be the stars of the story and trust that the law ultimately proves it to be so don’t like it one bit.

And whenever the gospel is not proclaimed to sinners in all its scandalous freedom, grace and truth, it allows us time and space—valuable materials from which we forge a host of hollow, idolatrous promise-makers. All of which sound sanctified and blessed, but amount to us making a name for ourselves—and end with a crucified, abandoned Christ. Make no mistake; God is not mocked.

As He put it through the prophet Jeremiah:

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” ‭‭

Both Christ and the religious bigwigs of his day (whom aren’t so different from us today) made their claims to freedom. But because death itself could not hold Him...God preached in the Word of the cross is decidedly the opposite of all our haughty hopes and autonomous dreams. He is precisely the death of them, of us as sinners, the death of death itself, and the beginning of a new creation. Not phony, little-g gods, but rather something far more earthy. Mundane. Perhaps even distinctly unappealing, and not particularly “beautiful” or glorious as we are so apt to think.

Humans. Creatures whose bondage to dead works, to self-sustenance, justification and glorification is a thing of the past. Good trees which produce—you guessed it—good fruit! Who simply live and give. And this, not by the sight of the law. Not by being goaded into it some such way. But by bare-naked, passive faith in the promise that it will happen, because God said so.

After all, He does not lie—he speaks, and the thing is, in fact, done. He alone calls a thing what it is, who calls into existence that which does not exist. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

And this, brothers and sisters in Christ, is where freedom becomes so, well, freeing. And for sinners, utterly frightening. We know ourselves. And consequently we fear what others might do when they are truly set free, by being told, again and again, while they are yet sinners—that it really is finished, that in baptism Christ’s death and resurrection is in a very tangible and present way theirs, they are forgiven, and there is nothing left for them to do. Period.

Where the law is all we ever hear, there is nothing but all manner of uncertainty, strife, envy, murder, and selfishness in our foolish pursuit of some ideal of perfection...but where the promise of God—Christ for you—is spoken, law’s relentless voice is both fulfilled and finally stilled as with the waves of the sea...and there exists no more accusation, no transgression, no condemnation.

What then? Is the very question that the apostle Paul not only anticipated, but answered time and again not with to-do lists, however short, but with this blessed good news. And while it may seem like I’ve just been prattling on about pithy, sanctimonious nonsense in light of all that’s going on around us—it has everything to do not just with eternity, but with our messy lives in the here and now, in a world very much given back to us who believe. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The good news is simply that in the midst of all the muck and mire and God-knows-what of your everyday life, the kingdom of heaven has come near. You don’t have to “meet your Maker” as it were, because He has already met you in this very Word. And though you feel anything but free, especially right now, your bondage to sin is over. On account of this little Christ, crucified for your transgression and risen for your justification...you—yes, you—are forgiven and free indeed.

The grass withers, and the flowers fade, and so too do we...but the Word of the Lord stands forever. Hear His promise for you once more: come what may, dear sinner, you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.