EWTN Series...Hope Springs Eternal

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

From the EWTN website: (http://www.ewtn.com)

FINDING GOD THROUGH FAITH AND REASON

Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., lends insight into new evidence gathered from the fields of contemporary philosophy and physics which supports proof for the existence of God. The universe itself connotes the existence of a creator and the principle of intelligent design leads to logical conclusions about the nature of God.

Looks like Fr. Thomas Dubay, Fr. Robert Spitzer and Dr. Anthony Rizzi are engaged in a critically important work...Keep pushing the envelope.

LIGHT, LIFE, LOVE...those three haloed words

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

God and Albert Einstein...Is the world warming to the Fullness of Truth of E=mc2?

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

As I continue reading Pope Benedict XVI's Introduction to Christianity from 1967, I am in awe.

The Holy Father is a great teacher. Over the first hundred pages he has focused on what is Absolute and what is Relative and he does this in an engaging, contemporary look at the history of the Creed. His way of imparting knowledge offers abundant light as he guides his pupils down a path, slowly but surely, to an understanding of Truth based on the foundatation of what is Absolute.

What do we know absolutely about Albert Einstein's life, his motivations and his theories?

Well, first off we know Albert was driven by light (imaginatively riding a beam at the speed of light) that he was seeking enlightenment, and that all of his greatest accomplishments were intimately tied to light.

We also know that he maintained a lifelong "relationship" with God, although he was conflicted at to who by definition this God was in essense.

Furthermore, we know that his formal education began in a Munich Catholic School and that from age 6-9 he was the lone Jew among seventy Catholic boys; at the Peterschule he was exposed to the Fullness of Truth, Jesus Christ, the "Light of the world" through the study of the Catholic catechism. This formal training was supplemented by one-on-one tutoring from a distant unnamed Jewish relative that overlaid the Old Testament Light of Eloahim, the All-Powerful Creator and God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, on top of the New (this caused young Albert great confusion).

And we know he loved mystery and that he was motivated to deep religiosity (at least as a child).

Finally, we know he loved, married and collaborated with a practicing Greek Orthodox physicist, Mileva Maric. This 16-year "rocky" marriage that ended in divorce coincided with Einstein's "productive period," i.e., his fruitful years from 1903-1919.

While this all may seem circumstantial, it is just the beginning....the tip of the iceberg.

With E=mc2 on the table...
there is deep Truth that has yet to be given light.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Good Company? The Best

J.M.J. + O.B.T

St. Augustine's Symbolism:

Veritas with rays of light from Heaven

St. Augustine
"a man in search of Light"

Pray for us!

_________________________

St. Thomas tells us:

St. Augustine teaches (Confess. xii; Gen. ad lit. 1,15), formlessness did not precede forms in duration; and so we must understand the production of light to signify the formation of spiritual creatures, not, indeed, with the perfection of glory, in which they were not created, but with the perfection of grace, which they possessed from their creation as said above. Thus the division of light from darkness will denote the distinction of the spiritual creature from other created things as yet without form. But if all created things received their form at the same time, the darkness must be held to mean the spiritual darkness of the wicked, not as existing from the beginning but such as God foresaw would exist.

More from St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica:

FIRST PART (QQ. 1-119)
TREATISE ON THE WORK OF THE SIX DAYS
ON THE WORK OF DISTINCTION IN ITSELF (FOUR ARTICLES)
Question 67: Article 1

(1) Whether the word "light" is used in its proper sense in speaking of spiritual things?

Objection 1: It would seem that "light" is used in its proper sense in spiritual things. For Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. iv, 28) that "in spiritual things light is better and surer: and that Christ is not called Light in the same sense as He is called the Stone; the former is to be taken literally, and the latter metaphorically."

Objection 2: Further, Dionysius (Div. Nom. iv) includes Light among the intellectual names of God. But such names are used in their proper sense in spiritual things. Therefore light is used in its proper sense in spiritual matters.

Objection 3: Further, the Apostle says (Eph. 5:13): "All that is made manifest is light." But to be made manifest belongs more properly to spiritual things than to corporeal. Therefore also does light.

On the contrary, Ambrose says (De Fide ii) that "Splendor" is among those things which are said of God metaphorically.

I answer that, Any word may be used in two ways---that is to say, either in its original application or in its more extended meaning. This is clearly shown in the word "sight," originally applied to the act of the sense, and then, as sight is the noblest and most trustworthy of the senses, extended in common speech to all knowledge obtained through the other senses. Thus we say, "Seeing how it tastes," or "smells," or "burns. "Further, sight is applied to knowledge obtained through the intellect, as in those words: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8). And thus it is with the word light. In its primary meaning it signifies that which makes manifest to the sense of sight; afterwards it was extended to that which makes manifest to cognition of any kind. If, then, the word is taken in its strict and primary meaning, it is to be understood metaphorically when applied to spiritual things, as Ambrose says (De Fide ii). But if taken in its common and extended use, as applied to manifestation of every kind, it may properly be applied to spiritual things.

The answer to the objections will sufficiently appear from what has been said.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Breathing with Both Lungs...E=mc2

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

St. Damascene, Doctor of the Church:

"...the true doctrine teaches that the Deity is simple and has one simple energy, good and energizing in all things, just as the sun's ray, which warms all things and energizes in each in harmony with its natural aptitude and receptive power, having obtained this form of energy from God, its Maker." (Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 1:10)

A picture is worth a billion souls? I hope

PRAY FOR UNITY
BETWEEN
EAST AND WEST

Then maybe we will see HIS LIGHT

Go to http://soltlaity.org/breadoflife.htm
to read the December 2004 paper

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

No More Tears

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

"new world whose light
is God himself,
whose lamp is the Lamb"


Pope Benedict XVI's
Meditation on the Apocalypse
August 23, 2006

But, while she is threatened, pursued by the Dragon, she is also protected by God's consolation. And this Woman, at the end, is victorious. The Dragon does not conquer. This is the great prophecy of this book, which gives us confidence! The Woman who suffers in history, the Church which is persecuted, at the end is presented as the splendid Bride, image of the new Jerusalem, in which there is no more tears or weeping, image of the world transformed, of the new world whose light is God himself, whose lamp is the Lamb.

For this reason, John's Revelation, though full of constant references to sufferings, tribulations and weeping -- the dark face of history -- at the same time presents frequent songs of praise, which represent, so to speak, the luminous face of history.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

These Eyes...are crying

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

At the Ascension
Jesus carried a 'broken human heart' back to heaven.

Seated at the right hand of the Father
on the Great White Throne of His Father's House,

Does the Eternal Lamb of God weep?

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

True Colors...Veronica's Veil and Mystery

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Catholics are either the most notorious hoaxsters in human history,
or the designated custodians of the Fullness of Truth.

There really is no in-between, with tell-tale signs such as:

the Shroud of Turin that wrapped the Crucified Christ,
St. Juan Diego's tilma bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
and so many other manifestations of mystery that defy modern science
and human understanding.

Veronica's Veil is above.
I enhanced the image using a few 'magic' tricks on the PC.

Veronica (meaning True Icon) was given a visual record
of the Face of Jesus on the Way to the Cross...
it is not painted, it is visible on both sides of a fabric
so sheer that you can read a newspaper through it.

AMAZING TRUE STORY


JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Imitate Mary...orans, orans, orans from the heart

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity ... in time

Our Lady of Knock ... in eternity

QUEEN OF HEAVEN, Pray for us

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Queen of Heaven, Woman clothed with the Sun, pray for us

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Pope Benedict XVI speaks volumes
when he relates the Truth of Light
at the Feast of the Transfiguration
the Fourth Luminous Mystery

(ZENIT)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday, Mark the Evangelist recounts that Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up a high mountain and was transfigured before them, becoming so dazzlingly bright that they were "whiter than the work of any bleacher could make them" (Mark 9:2-10).

Today, the liturgy invites us to focus our gaze on this mystery of light. On the transfigured face of Jesus, a ray of light which he held within shines forth. This same light was to shine on Christ's face on the day of the resurrection. In this sense, the Transfiguration appears as a foretaste of the Paschal Mystery.

The Transfiguration invites us to open the eyes of our hearts to the mystery of God's light, present throughout salvation history. At the beginning of creation, the Almighty had already said: "'Fiat lux' -- let there be light!" (Genesis 1:2), and the light was separated from the darkness. Like the other created things, light is a sign that reveals something of God: It is, as it were, a reflection of his glory which accompanies its manifestations. When God appears, "his brightness was like the light, rays flashed from his hand" (Hebrews 3:3ff.).

Light, it is said in the psalms, is the mantle with which God covers himself (cf. Psalm 104:2). In the Book of Wisdom, the symbolism of light is used to describe the very essence of God: Wisdom, an outpouring of his glory, is "a reflection of eternal light" superior to any created light (cf. Wisdom 7:27,29ff.).

In the New Testament, it is Christ who constitutes the full manifestation of God's light. His Resurrection defeated the power of the darkness of evil forever. With the Risen Christ, truth and love triumph over deceit and sin. In him, God's light henceforth illumines definitively human life and the course of history: "I am the light of the world," he says in the Gospel, "he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

In our time too, we urgently need to emerge from the darkness of evil, to experience the joy of the children of light! May Mary, whom we commemorated yesterday with special devotion on the annual memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, obtain this gift for us. May the Blessed Virgin also obtain peace for the peoples of the Middle East, overwhelmed by fratricidal fighting! We know well that peace is first and foremost God's gift to be implored insistently in prayer, but at this time let us also remember that it is a commitment for all people of good will. May no one shirk this duty!

Thus, in the face of the bitter observation that so far the voices asking for an immediate cease-fire in that tormented region have gone unheard, I feel the urgent need to renew my pressing appeal in this regard, asking everyone to make an effective contribution to build a just and lasting peace. I entrust this renewed appeal to the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin.

QUEEN OF HEAVEN, Pray for us

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Bridge over the River Street Kwai?

On a search for the latest info the blog world has to offer
on Einstein and E=mc², this bridge photo taken somewhere
in China beckoned for me to take notice.

Please take note...we Catholics must build bridges
of TRUTH today, Truth that is the One, who is
TRUTH Himself, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

For if we fail to build bridges today,
we will be forced to build tunnels tomorrow.

By essential extension, His Eucharist is also TRUTH.

His Eucharist is the Light, Life, and Love that saves us.

His Eucharist is all bound up with good Creation,
for everything was created through, with, in and for Him,
in whom we have our Being.

So why is it a stretch to consider the TRUTH of a relationship to E=MC²?

If HE created the laws of nature...

If HE is responsible for creating and sustaining nature...

If HE desires union with those souls who freely follow Him...

Then, if we ponder the both/and relationship between:

Divine Action (energeia) and E (Energy)

Mass and (m) mass

Light and (c) light

We see a curious connection, a bridge, a glove fitting a hand,

We see a blueprint both for the "Big Bang"

and the Last Supper

We also see the down side...

The mass destruction that might ensue

if mankind does not heed the warning

MASS CREATION

v.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Please start the dialogue---

it is a matter of life or death.

We need to lift HIM up
and HE will draw all men to HIMSELF.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

.

PBS American Master...Jesus or Einstein?

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Seems PBS is at it again, pushing Albert Einstein, and we are going
to see another American beatification of the "great one."

Here in Corpus Christi it will air on Thursday, August 24 at 7:00 pm.

If we take all that the mass media offers about Einstein at face-value,

we will miss the point and fail to see the "gift" that God allowed

to be revealed during that annus mirabilis (miraculous year) of 1905.

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

See you on the High Ground!

Ezekiel and John

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

The First Readings for Mass this past week have given us a good look
at the prophetic mission of Ezekiel. If his visons tell us anything in this
time of great anxiety and sorrow, it is that He wins in the end and reigns
in glory. Both Ezekiel and the Beloved Disciple saw this. The End, both
Tav and Omega, the truth in its entirety, the Truth that is a Person...

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Rainbows and more Rainbows

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

I planned to run the following image early today...

I saw it on the cover of the Spanish version of the Magnificat Magazine
and sensed that Fra. Filippo Lippi, the Florentine, was onto something
with his beautiful symbolic depiction of the Coronation of Mary
in the dome the Spoleto Cathedral in Italy.
(IMHO his work is grossly underrated,
it might have to do with his scandalous life)

Well as Providence would have it, when I turned on Mozilla
and was redirected to my start page at SPIRITDAILY.com.
I received another gift, a confirmation of sorts.


Anyone vaguely familiar with my life story,
and my journey of faith would recognize the
symbolism of the Cross, the Rainbow
and the SpiritDaily pict and article,
God and the Beatles.

Like many of my generation I traded in the Beatitudes
for a Magical Mystery Tour with the Beatles.

I was a confirmed junkie of the "Fab Four" from 1976
Got To Get You Into My Life and Birthday...got me hooked
until 1997 when I finally saw that The Inner Light was an imposter
that kept me from seeing the TRUTH of the

Sacred Heart of Jesus

(The Fool on a Hill...that's me!)

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Thirty-three (33) Reasons

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

There are at least thirty-three good reasons why it is worthwhile to
review the life and times of Albert Einstein to ponder the mysterious
relationship between his life and legacy and the Holy Eucharist.

+++

The Bread of Life, the source and summit of our faith,
the antithesis of what Pope Benedict XVI called the
"dictatorship of relativism"

The Kingdom of the New and Everlasting Covenant
the antithesis of what Pope John Paul II called the
"culture of death"

I. Let us begin with names.

God's revelation, His plan for all of human history, is often tied to the bestowing and changing of names. Names carry meaning, and they are but one way of linking the Old and New Testaments. This is done through the study of biblical typology where there is a clear bridge between the Jewish and Christian faiths.

Moses (Drawn from the water)/Joshua (God saves) (OT)--->Jeshua-Jesus (the Living Water)(the Savior) (NT), Miriam (OT)--->Miriam (Mary) (NT)...Two great examples of how an OT "type" relates to the NT "fulfillment."

As St. Augustine relates it, "the New is concealed in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New."

Christening is the process of naming a child of God at his or her baptism. It should not be taken lightly.

Ia. Albert - meaning noble and bright

Albert – St. Albert the Great (1205-1280) the greatest of pre-Reformation Catholic scientists; schooled and grounded both in theology and science; a native German also from the vicinity of Ulm; mentor of St. Thomas Aquinas (an Italian) and theological genius, well ahead of his time. St. Albert is the patron saint of all scientists.

St. Albert the Great was convinced that all creation spoke of God and that the tiniest piece of scientific knowledge told us something about Him. Besides the Bible, God has given us the book of creation revealing something of His wisdom and power. In creation, Albert saw the hand of God. (Source: EWTN)

Both St. Albert and St. Thomas are Doctors of the Church; their lives bear witness to the fact that there was no disagreement (only apparent contradictions) between Faith and Reason and between Faith and Science.

See ALBERT, THE GREAT at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01264a.htm

+ + +

Ib. Einstein - meaning one stone

Sacred Scripture shows us the importance that God places on both stone and rock: altars of stone, "sharp stone" for circumcision, Moses striking the stone twice, "two tablets of stone," David's "smooth stone" slaying Goliath, "the stone the builder rejected, now a cornerstone," "they decided to stone Him," tombstones, capstones, millstones, stumbling stones, "I will take away the stony heart," "you are Rock, and on this Rock." They are all important, for they provide us a medium for the conveyance of the analogical truth about God's relationship with man and good creation. God is fond of working with what is solid, after all He is the Rock who saves us.

See STONE in Sacred Scripture at http://www.drbo.org/cgi-bin/s?q=stone&b=drb&t=0

+ + +

I will not form conclusions, that is your job. I will only lay the case before you, the judge and jury.

I will continue this study in future blog entries.

If you'd like to follow the clues yourself, here they are:

II. Einstein: inspiration...riding a beam of light back to its source, his relationship as a child seeking the secrets of God, the "Old One"

III. Einstein: a Sign of Contradiction...a slow learner...maybe, but his memory was sharp

IV. Einstein: the son of Herman, a German "Father of Lights"

V. Einstein: the special gift of a magnetic compass...orientation to truth and mystery at age 5

VI. Einstein: the Great Event—Lighting up the Munich Oktoberfest in 1885

VII. Einstein: three years of Catholic school education (age 6-9)
as 69 children learned the catechism and began to understand the sacramental life of the church to include First Holy Communion

VIII. Einstein: the priest->nail->"Jews did this to Christ" incident at the Peterschule and potential isolation and subconscious scarring

IX. Einstein: love of his little sister Maja (meaning, Sea of bitterness), music and a religious awakening

X. Einstein: layering of knowledge...Jewish (secular), Catholic (religious), Talmud (religious), Science

XI. Einstein: rebellion against a secular family

XII. Einstein: rebellion against religion in favor of science (Max Talmud :) Talmey)

XIII. Einstein: Immanuel Kant, as mentor (even his name is significant, "singer of God with us"...not)

XIV. Einstein: Euclid Geometry and a first instance of future genius

XV. Einstein: falls for Greek-Orthodox physicist, Mileva Maric, who apparently converts to Catholicism in 1905

XVI. Einstein: Liesel (meaning, God is my oath), the shotgun marriage, and mystery of baby's fate

XVII. Einstein: 1905 Albert Einstein's annus mirabilis...a "Light-filled" revelation

XVIII. Einstein: E=mc², the "holy grail" of energy

XIX. Einstein: Olinto DePretto, the Italian scientist from Vincenza...was he the real author of E=mc²?

XX. Einstein: Special Theory of Relativity and the seeds of Relativism

XXI. Einstein: relationship to Sigmund Freud

XXII. Einstein: The Eclipse of 1919, opportunity seeking Eddington

XXIII. Einstein: Quotable Quotes on mystery and bridge between faith and science

XXIV. Einstein: divorce to Mileva and his adultery, Baruch Spinoza's philosophy

XXV. Einstein: The Nobel Prize for Physics...for the both/and of Light (photoelectric effect), not Special or General Relativity

XXVI. Einstein: 1933 and the Great Escape from Hitler's Third Reich

XXVII. Einstein: Letter to President Roosevelt urging the Allies to pursue the development of the atomic bomb

XXVIII. Einstein: Trinity Project (not part of it) and its epic proportions and ramifications

XXIX. Einstein: Humanist, Pacifist, Zionist vs. Christian – Humanism, Peace, New Zion

XXX. Einstein: President of Israel?...Not

XXXI. Einstein: Fr. Charles McTague and the mystery of Transubstantiation vs. quantum "spooky" mechanics

XXXII. Einstein: Quest and failure to discover the Grand Unified Theory

XXXIII. Einstein: The Rainbow Bridge, the True Bridge Over Troubled Water constructed for the future of mankind

Please send comments and/or questions to jmjriz@aol.com.

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Two Stones that the Master Bridge Builder might use

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Edith Stein (Stone)
Albert Einstein (One Stone)

One crawled into the Catholic Church and into anonymity,
a saintly champion for philosophical truth and honor,
She chose the spiritual High Ground of Mt. Carmel
and a martyr's death at Auschwitz...

The other stumbled his way to fame, vain glory, and truth be told,
his E=mc2 may not have been his original work after all.
He shattered the life of his first wife and he was a causal link
to the atomic bomb that shattered the dream of peace with honor.
He died unfulfilled, still seeking the mystery of unity in his field of study.

What might we learn from these two lives, especially now,
when a third German is the leader of the Universal Church?

If history is a reliable guide, we might ponder
the relationships of the Blessed Trinity
to the saintly trinity from Poland:

Pope John Paul II
St. Maximillian Kolbe (His feast day is today)
St. Faustina Kowalska

+ + +

So, now what about Germany?

Although Albert Einstein was never accused
of being a "saint" during his lifetime,
might there be something special about his "gift"
that God has yet to fully reveal.

Here are a few clues...

Did you know that:

Albert's dad was a true "Father of Lights" in Munich in 1885

He went to Catholic School from age 6-9
He was religiously curious at the same time that his
70 Catholic classmates were receiving their First Holy Communion

He married a practicing Greek-Orthodox physicist

He was fascinated by the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation

And St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross,
her phenomenology is shared by
Pope John Paul II who gave the fruit of this
philosophical gift to the Church and the world.

If you haven't been exposed Edith Stein's work
it is not easy, but after three tries, it sinks in.
and is nothing short of...phenomenal.

And Pope Benedict XVI?
Augustinian-based and an engineer to boot.

...we all expect him to commence
building pontoons that span the Tiber, Danube,
Rhine and English Channel and Bosporus Strait
and bring the message of the
TRUE Eucharistic Christ to a dying world.

After all he is the pont-if of the Universal Church

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

"Mass murder on an unimaginable scale"

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Signs of the Times?

"mass murder on an unimaginable scale"

If this EVIL ACTION is the result of evil thoughts and evil motives, then it is a certainty that the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of our Christian faith, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is diametrically opposed, a DIVINE ACTION of good will, God's will, sharing His Light, Life and Love.

Might this be a wake-up call for
"Mass communion on an unimaginable scale."

ULTIMATE GOOD will defeat ULTIMATE EVIL

Mass murder on an unimaginable scale...we've seen this before...the Holocaust, the Gulag Death Camps, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Rwanda's tribal genocide and the World Trade Center.

And what about the "killing of the innocents"
the hundreds of millions victims of a legal genocide

YES, their souls are a big part of the equation

And what are we Catholics doing about it?
NOT ENOUGH, that is also for certain

WE HAVE THE VICTORY!

WE HAVE THE WAY,
THE TRUTH
AND THE LIFE

WE HAVE THE HIS POWER

And yet...we don't believe Him or don't trust Him

We don't know Him, love Him or serve Him

The Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church have a gift to share with the univeral church...The Triune God

They know that they can never know His ESSENSE, and yet they also know that they can know Him intimately by being in contact with His DIVINE ACTION, His ENERGEIA, His work in creating, redeeming and loving each and every ensouled human being that He made in His image and likeness.

Intimate knowledge...direct contact, koinonia, Holy Communion

Mary and St. Joseph, St. Francis and St. Clare, St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa of Avila, St. Padre Pio and St. Therese of Lisieux...they are our models...we too are called to know.

HOW?

Begin the dialogue and ponder anew the Gospel by focusing on "living encounters in Jesus Christ." It is here that we experience Divine Energy, the gift of faith-based grace that leads to our conversion, communion and solidarity.

By prayerfully basing this work in Jesus Christ, the Light of the Gospels, we will keep from falling prey to the "new age trap" of going cosmic and denying the personhood and unity of God, his ESSENSE.

"Seek His face" and "Put out into the deep"

Pope John Paul II's impassioned pleas echo from his grave.

We must believe that we are conscripts in the Church Militant, we follow the Queen of Heaven and the Heavenly Host in battle and we are engaged in a life and death struggle---a war against evil.

It is a HOLY WAR, no doubt...for we are all called seek holiness in our state of life.

It will not be by our brainpower, willpower, or firepower that we prevail---it will be by His Power.

"For when I am weak, then am I powerful." 2 Cor.12:10

"Power is made perfect"...
The strength and power of God more perfectly shines forth
in our weakness and infirmity; as the more weak we are of ourselves,
the more illustrious is his grace in supporting us, and giving us the victory
under all trials and conflicts. --Douay-Rheims Bible

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Heaven and Earth...Bound in His Love

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

GOD IS LOVE

GOD IS LIFE

GOD IS LIGHT

Jesus Christ is the one mediator
between Heaven and Earth

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Saint Sharbel...Pray for us!

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

He helped Christians, Muslims, Jews...
His shining example, like a rainbow,
revealed the saving Truth of the Eucharist.

We need his intercession now,

St. Sharbel, holy son of Lebanon,
Pray for us.

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

El Shaddai...The Transfiguration and Light Energy

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

When will humankind finally come to its senses,
recognize the tell-tale signs of the times and
worship Our Almighty God and Father
who is offering us the grace to accept the truth of His Son,
Light, Life and Love

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

Silver Anniversary Truth be Told

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Twenty five years ago media moguls of Hollywood presented the movie going public with a veiled gift, a key to ultimate reality...a demonstration of the Light, Life and Love of a Father God to humankind, through His chosen people, a manifestation of Divine Action that conquers sin and death.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK...
a blockbuster, a starmaker, a $$$ machine
Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford used the Sacred Bible
and a prefigurement of the Truth that sets us free
to captivate and entertain us—to hook us...
Think about it.

In that summer of 1981 the lost Old Testament Ark of the Covenant was found. Revealed the world over (at least in celluloid) it demonstrated its mysterious, real power for the first time in over 2,500 years.

DID WE GE IT? NO WAY

Marshall McLuhan's famous "the media is the message" or was it "the media is the massage?"— the jury is still out as to what he really meant, but regardless of which way you take it, the mass media can function as a mind altering drug that clearly impacts our day and age. It is antithetical to real life and real relational dynamics.

Experience something, some person, place, thing or event virtually and you have been there–done that, no big deal, you've had your fix, or been fixed in place.

The mass media is a nerve center for the "dictatorship of relativism" for it is precisely where absolutes are ignored, where reality and fantasy are confused, where canned "reality TV" and tabloid "journalism" reign supreme. Thank God for EWTN....a beacon, a ray of hope.

Truth is now a strange, foreign concept to the average Westerner and the the source and summit of Eucharist, the True Center of Life, Real Truth, a Person, Our Lord Jesus Christ is ignored or blasphemed. This Blessed Sacrament is no longer believed, for now as just another "sign" it has been moved from the center of Church, to "its" place in some dark corner. Jesus surely weeps.

The Blessed Mother of God...the real Ark of the New and Everlasting Covenant waits for us to come to our "senses."

Unless we seek the Truth and breathe forth the Light, Life and Love of the Most Holy Trinity— communicating this ultimate Truth in charity to the world—we have little hope...

Beirut, "Paris of the Middle East", a Second City of Light is also now under seize.

Our Lady of Lebanon is witnessing the Maronite Catholic mass exodus about to happen.

She must be weeping too...Cana the scene of her Son's first miracle and first step toward Calvary is being bombed.

http://maryourmother.net/Lebanon.html ---> Our Lady of Lebanon, Harissa

http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=6881 ---> Maronite mass exodus from Lebanon

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0604409.htm ---> Chaldean mass exodus from Iraq

Please attend Mass, worthily offer yourselves in love
and receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist...daily, while we are still able

We Catholics have a great responsibility...
darkness may be moving to blanket and suffocate the globe
yet we have His Light to guide us to His Eternal Light

We must be a constant witness,
a candle set high upon a hill.

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!

The First Bon Voyage of Benedict XVI

J.M.J. + O.B.T.

Last summer, Pope Benedict XVI inaguarated his missionary pontificate
with a trip to Bari, on the beautiful Adriatic Coast of Italy...
There he encountered the "Sun in the East" and prayed for unity.

(The following is from various news sources)

Standing before a sparkling sea drenched in sunlight, Benedict received his most sustained applause from the estimated 200,000 people at the Mass when he pledged to work "with all my energy" toward rebuilding "full and visible unity with all the followers of Christ."

"We cannot communicate with the Lord if we are not communicating among ourselves," the pope said to tens of thousands of followers gathered for the open-air celebration in the seaport of Bari. "I ask all of you to decisively take the path of spiritual ecumenism, which in prayer will open the door to the Holy Spirit, who alone can create unity."

Bari, which faces eastward toward the Balkans, has long been regarded as a historic "bridge" between East and West. It is the final resting place of the bones of St. Nicholas of Myra, an important fourth-century figure revered by Catholics and Orthodox alike as the patron of Russia, Sicily, Greece, children and sailors.

In his greetings at the start of the Mass, Archbishop Francesco Cacucci of Bari referred to the city's Orthodox ties, saying the arrival of St. Nicholas' bones in 1057 "built a bridge between the East and West that neither time nor divisions have ever demolished."

In Bari, the pope's appearance officially concluded the weeklong 24th annual National Italian Eucharistic Congress.

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
See you on the High Ground!