A Theology of Light? "Come baby light my fire."

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

If Jim Morrison, the charismatic leader of the Doors (of Perception) had remained a Catholic he might have crafted a Advent hymn that centered on the line "Come baby light my fire."  Born in Advent, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (12/08/43), he was a marked man. He would be a prophet, one way or the other.

His early retirement from the physical world in 1971 remains a great tragedy (and mystery). Riders on the Storm is still bone chilling, and I haven't heard it in over 12 years.

Who won in The End? God only knows. (don't get me started now on Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys).  I must stay on task, I must stay on task, I must stay on task.

So to any priest reading this blog my advice is:

1. TURN OFF ALL THE LIGHTS AT MASS!

Have seven candles do the lighting (six on the altar, one for the tabernacle) and don't concern yourself with the rest. Think menorrah and Holy of Holies! Oh and have a sunrise service each morning this Advent when it is inconvenient to get to Mass.  Coming out of the darkness makes you appreciate the Light of Christ.

2. Preach deeply on the Theology of Light

Tell parishioners that the parking lot is closed—that they would be better served by walking in small groups from their localities to the Church...from the dark into the Light.

3. Continue to teach and discuss Light at breakfast. We who are inundated by artificial light (and this internet and cable TV are prime sources) are spiritually dying for True Light. We need a double dose of it along with our two cups of coffee.  A tour of the stained glass windows is a nice way to start.  You might even consider purchasing a wonderful DVD from NOVA on PBS.  Entitled Building the Great Cathedrals, it is a lesson on the inspiration of the Middle Ages that gave us such lasting beauty.
http://video.pbs.org/video/1619317222

We must all join the likes of Fr. Robert Barron who continues his work bringing Catholicism home. We see a great opportunity to witness to the True Light of Jesus Christ.  This GOOGLE Search on Theology of Light is a good place to start a reeducation without gnostic/New Age infiltration.  I'm going to click on Fra. Angelico and his great paintings.

REMEMBER: We must look to the East, to the Light from the East, to get our bearings.  Then we can see what a difference it means to "breathe with both lungs" so that we will have the energy to climb the mountain of the Lord and reach the high ground.  From there, the panoramic views are breathtakingly Catholic.

The End...as mysterious as the song—in Paris the City of Light, at age 27—in a bathtub as if he was being rebaptized—with a Greek inscription that translated, seems to mean "He followed (or "True to") his own spirit"—hero or heroin?

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

The Armor of Light? Amen

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

GOOGLE Searching Images can be pretty eyeopening.  The number of entries says something, the items that come to the top of the list adds to the impact. The contents of the first 100 entries and the overall density of certain types of images is another key research item to ponder.

"Armor of Light"

Then there is the surprise factor....look what I found!

Bravo to SOCOM at http://www.soldiersofchrist.net/gear--initial-issue.html

This R-G-B colored medallion is near perfect!

What a gift! As we light the violet (purple) First Week of Advent candle, we have this "armor of light" phrase from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 13:12 at Holy Mass. Violet is the far end of the visible light spectrum, red is the nearest to us (based on frequency and not wavelength). It is as if the Roman Catholic Church "had it all planned."  As we start the Advent journey toward the Light of Christmas, we are traveling from far to near.  We are traveling from violet to red and in the manger we witness the birth of the Christ Child...and poinsettas mark the joyeous occasion.  Gaudete Sunday December 13, is joyfully pink to show that we are getting closer to our destination.

We must realize that this physical armor represents light-based spiritual realities, the most important is the Holy Eucharist, Himself—The Body for the Armor.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas;
St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Why we must take back the rainbow for sacred use...

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

Fra. Lippi's Coronation of the Virgin

(Please double-click the image to study the detail) 

 The Franciscan Renaissance painters and poets got it right.  They were so much in love with "Lady Poverty" that they were gifted by the Holy Spirit to create works of universal beauty so that Catholic churches manifested the grace of heaven. In this Duomo of Spoleto painting notice the colors of God the Father's (Abba's) robes....R-G-B

The Spoleto Cathedral.  Notice how brilliantly white white is.

We would to well to recover the RAINBOW from the ranks of those who dishonor its symbolic/covenantial meaning relative to Creation and Revelation.

A step in this direction is to rediscover RED-GREEN-BLUE

One manifests as three in the Mystery of the Triune God

From this three-ness comes all that is Real (True), Good, and Beautiful

One---WHITE

Three---RED-GREEN-BLUE

Millions---RAINBOW

That's a God that loves multiplication!

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Malleus, Incus, and Stapes: Thank heaven for little bones

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*



http://www.otologycolombia.com/MiddleEar.jpg



Malleus, Incus, and Stapes...

sounds like the name for a death metal band.

Our Triune God seems to have created a little hidden reminder that "faith comes through hearing" the Word.

God who is absolute and constant created human hearing to reflect this constancy. 

Think of how important it is for human bonding to know your mother's (and father's) voice and to cherish its beauty.  Now what if sounds changed as one grew from newborn to toddler, from toddler to kid, from kid to adolescent...  Get my point?  Ponder this while considering all of life's various relationships and you will see how significant it is.  Beauty wants to be recreated in the brain properly.  Is it live or is it Memorex?

It wouldn't matter if our sense of hearing kept changing, now would it?

God preserves us from this confusion by keeping  the hammer, anvil and stirrup constant shape and size so that sound waves which travel right around 333 meters/second pass through the outer ear's eardrum, into the middle ear to vibrate the three bones; for newly amplified waves to reach the inner ear cochlea and "pluck the strings" that then become electrical signals traveling down the auditory nerve for our brain to faithfully appreciate vocal and musical beauty. 

I am indebted to the Moody Institute and a wonderful old film entitled Dust or Destiny for this auditory appreciation lesson. Its a great film that my kids love.

Let's face the music...we are hardwired for sound and that sound seems awfully triune.

Thank heaven for little bones.

PS Don't do a GOOGLE Image Search on malleus...it proves my point about death metal.  Gulp...

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas;
St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

3.33 x 10^5: That's how many Earth Masses would equal the Sun's Mass

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

3.33 x 10⁵ to 1

That's how many Earth masses are needed to equal the Sun's mass

Now since the Sun's mass is intimately connected to the gravitational pull it exerts upon the Earth and the other planets in our solar system, it is a certainty that our "Living Planet" depends upon this mass ratio being just what it is.  It would be an interesting test to see just how much deviation would be tolerated before life would cease to exist because of an orbit closer or further away from the Sun.
3 x 10⁸ m/s Speed of Light  
(Think lightning)

3.33 x 10² m/s Speed of Sound
(@ 3° Celsius)    (Think thunder)

The human genome occupies a total of just over
3 x 10⁹ DNA base pairs    (Think Jesus)

Now is it me or are these numbers "rigged" for they point
to the Triune God's creative handiwork,
as appreciated by the Roman Catholic Church.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas;
St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Light, Life and Love and Mary's Relationship with the Triune God

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

There is no doublt about it.  There is something to this color scheme.

The Lovely Lady dressed in blue received this color mantle from her Father, Abba in heaven.  It was a gift, not unlike Joseph receiving a coat of many colors from Jacob. In both instances there is "favoritism" from a light sensitive parent to a special child.  The color of grace, pure water from heaven, is most often symbolized as blue.

Mary prayerfully knit and presented Jesus a gift of great value—a red seemless garment. "The Robe" was a symbol for his life as one destined from all eternity to be mankind's King and Saviour through His sacrifice as the Paschal Lamb at Calvary.

The Holy Spirit who is the love between the Father and the Son and peace is green as the olive branch, and the Trees that give their fruit in season in heaven. (Rev. 22)

Father, Son, Holy Spirit...Light, Life, Love...Blue, Red, Green

Keep an eye on the little guy...

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Just one look, that's all it took...COME HOLY GHOST

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

COME HOLY GHOST

Let flesh, and heart, and lips, and mind,
sound forth our witness to mankind;
and love light up our mortal frame,
till others catch the living flame.

St. Ambrose of Milan
4th Century

On this Feast of Christ the King let us be moved by the Holy Spirit to consider anew the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Divine Action that saves us.

Light, life and love are bound together in one—three-in-one—in the Holy Eucharist.  Would we expect anything different from our Triune God? 

What is the significance of this? EVERYTHING

Deeply, let us ponder these following triads from Holy Mass.

Holy, Holy, Holy…

Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are filled with your glory, Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.

Who is this HE?  The Father? Jesus Christ the Son?  The Holy Spirit?  Or all three?

At the offertory, the Holy Spirit sanctifies our offering in the unbloody holocaust of Holy Mass. Jesus is the eternal High Priest; our prayers are His prayers. Our prayers are united in faith with the three elements—the bread, water and wine—and at this moment, executing His divine power and might, the Holy Spirit ignites the spiritual bonfire and sends its smoke to the Father, who accepts it as He did when Jesus first offered Himself both at the Last Supper and at Calvary. This incense (in a special sense) seeds the spiritual clouds of heaven for the raining down of God’s merciful and just love during Holy Communion.  This incense is key to our understanding Mass.

(Just an aside: consider OT/NT fire and the fact that it is triune. Light, heat and smoke are its constituent parts and each is fire. This can also be said of a nuclear explosion.)

Benjamin Franklin offers the following:

At the epiclesis, the Holy Spirit shrouds the sacred altar in mystery.  He hovers above and veils the eternal moment that breaks through space and time.  Eyes of faith can truly perceive the Holy of Holies that is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  The OT shekinah light in the tabernacle,  pillar of fire and pillar of cloud prefigure this impending moment just as the Ark of the Covenant prefigures the tabernacles of our Catholic Churches.

(Just as an aside: please call to mind the Shroud of Turin and consider the sign that light irradiation has left us to ponder 2000 years after the Resurrection. New Life in this First Glorious Mystery leaves an exact image of the crucified Body of Christ. Science cannot explain it but there are clues… The speed of light is absolute in a vacuum. It is ever so close to 3 x 10 ⁸ meters/second. Hmmmmm?)

At the consecration, the Holy Spirit mystically streams Light from Light to the altar, two return strokes of spiritual lightning, executed as the Words of Consecration are spoken by the Priest (in persona Christi): “This is My Body.” “This is My Blood.”  The Holy Spirit effects this transubstantiation in silence, as befits the “small still voice” that “blows where He wills.” We mortals mark and in some ways fill this silence with three reverential bells ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding.

(Just as an aside: please consider the scientific fact that at 3° centigrade this bell’s sound travels at 333 meters/second. IMHO this is not a coincidence. No, it is a God incidence, pure and simple)

Timeless? Yes   But would it be wrong to say this happens at God’s Perfect Light Speed?

Where there was no life, there is now Jesus’ perfect life: His Body, Blood Soul and Divinity.

And is this not His perfect love...the innocent, blemishless Lamb who lays down His life for the eternal life of the guilty and soiled….His friends.

Now let us consider the following three prayers as one:

1. Our Father– This is “our daily bread,” the Holy Eucharist from this altar, a real memorial of the Last Supper and Calvary. Supersubstantial bread = Body of Christ.

2. Fraction of the Host– The priest breaking and separating the host represents Christ giving up His Spirit while dying on the Cross at Calvary.  “Father into your hands, I commend my Spirit.” We are all taken to the foot of the Cross to receive the outpouring of grace. Body: blessed, broken and given and Blood: New and Everlasting Covenant.

3. Lamb of God–This is the Divine Liturgy in Heaven as recorded in Sacred Scripture. We are part of this Universal and Eternal Mass as we are part of God’s plan.

The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God behold him who taketh away the sin of the world.  John 1:29

And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.  Rev. 5:6

And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruits every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse any more; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him.  And they shall see his face: and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more: and they shall not need the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall enlighten them, and they shall reign for ever and ever.  Rev. 22:1-5

And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb. And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. And the nations shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it.  Rev. 21:23-24

 

 

(http://www.lamb-of-god.com/timeline for some perspective on the attack by those who set themselves against God.)

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio


Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

The Blue Light Special is on the way

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

http://churchads.net/2010/index.html


Many thanks to Mary Ann @ http://www.lesfemmes-thetruth.org/

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael,
St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Licht, Liebe, Leben...Light, Life and Love

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R*



This would have been an appropriate entrance to the Petersschule in Munich.

 If Albert Einstein passed through this door each school day from 1885-1888 he would remember how these three vaulted words relate to the Triune God.

I wonder what the Petersschule Chapel (or was it a parish church) looked like.  What were the stained glass images that caught young Albert's attention during Holy Mass?

One stone left unturned...

Dr. Allen L Roland hint's at it:

And so there you have it ~ Einstein was right . God doesn't play dice for God is love, the ultimate life force as revealed by the universal urge to unite which exists even within the basic subatomic particles of light.

Einstein always thought that there should be something simple and yet profound about a grand theory of everything and what could be more simple and yet more profound than love.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mf0cs9OYKEcJ:www.allenroland.com/archives/newsletter.php

"There are two ways to live your life:
one is as though nothing is a miracle,
the other is as though evergything is a miracle."
                                          –Albert Einstein


Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas;
St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

St. Albert the Great...Patron Saint of Albert Einstein?

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

St. Albert the Great and Albert Einstein

They're more alike than you might think.

Besides the fact that both were born

in the Ulm region of Germany:

• Both talked alot about God
• Both were Doctors in their vocation
• Both were drawn up into international events
• Both were in communication with key historical figures
• Both attempted to unify scientific principles into a grand theory

About Albert the Great:

...he was careful to distinguish what was ascertained by revelations, pointing to the limitations of rational thought. He regarded revelation as primary in testing any thought (for example, philosophy cannot explain the triunity of God), although he did engage in speculative discussion. He adopted the same approach toward the existence of God. By drawing upon Aristotle and attempting to synthesize a philosophy and theology Albertus Magnus insisted that human knowledge could be used to discover divine mysteries. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/albert?show=biography

From ON CLEAVING TO GOD:

Chapter 3

He who cleaves to God is indeed translated into the light, while he who clings to the world is in the dark. So the supreme perfection of man in this life is to be so united to God that all his soul with all its faculties and powers are so gathered into the Lord God that he becomes one spirit with him, and remembers nothing except God, is aware of and recognises nothing but God, but with all his desires unified by the joy of love, he rests contentedly in the enjoyment of his Maker alone.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/albert/cleaving.v.html

Chapter 7

So let us withdraw our hearts from the distractions of this world, and recall them to the inner joys, so that we can establish them to some degree in the light of divine contemplation. For this is the life and peace of our hearts—to be established by intent in the love of God, and to be sweetly remade by his comforting.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/albert/cleaving.ix.html

NOTE: This work is still largely attributed to St. Albert the Great although there is discussion as to whether it was reworked at a later time.

Light, Life and Love
those three haloed words

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

The Call: My Light, Life and Love

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

Stained glass window from Notre Dame Chapel, South Bend, IN

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
Such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light, as shows a feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joyes in love.

from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Megatons of Grace..."three drops of her most pure blood"

 

J.M.J. + O.B.T. +M.G.R.*

A GOOGLE Search  on "three drops of Mary's  blood"
yields only 2 responses...hmmmm?

A second GOOGLE Search on "three drops of her most pure blood"
yields only 24 responses...curious

A third GOOGLE Search on "three drops of blood"

yields 3,770,000 responses

2 to 24 to 3,770,000

We need to get the word out. 

http://www.themostholyrosary.com/mystical-city-vol-ii.pdf


Here is the text from
Venerable Mary of Agreda's
Mystical City of God:
The Incarnation
p. 110-111

Venerable Mary of Agreda, circa 1643

137. Therefore this great Lady considered and inspected profoundly this spacious field of the dignity of Mother of God (Prov. 21, 11) in order to purchase it by her fiat; She clothed Herself in fortitude more than human, and She tasted and saw how profitable was this enterprise and commerce with the Divinity. She comprehended the ways of his hidden benevolence and adorned Herself with fortitude and beauty. And having conferred with Herself and with the heavenly messenger Gabriel about the grandeur of these high and divine sacraments, and finding Herself in excellent condition to receive the message sent to Her, her purest soul was absorbed and elevated in admiration, reverence and highest intensity of divine love. By the intensity of these movements and supernal affections, her most pure heart, as it were by natural consequence, was contracted and compressed with such force, that it distilled three drops of her most pure blood, and these, finding their way to the natural place for the act of conception, were formed by the power of the divine and holy Spirit, into the body of Christ our Lord. Thus the matter, from which the most holy humanity of the Word for our Redemption is composed, was furnished and administered by the most pure heart of Mary and through the sheer force of her true love. At the same moment, with a humility never sufficiently to be extolled, inclining slightly her head and joining her hands, She pronounced these words, which were the beginning of our salvation:"Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum"; (Luke 1,31).

138. At the pronouncing of this "fiat," so sweet to the hearing of God and so fortunate for us, in one instant, four things happened. First, the most holy body of Christ our Lord was formed from the three drops of blood furnished by the heart of most holy Mary. Secondly, the most holy soul of the same Lord was created, just as the other souls. Thirdly, the soul and the body united in order to compose his perfect humanity. Fourthly, the Divinity united Itself in the Person of the Word with the humanity, which together became one composite being in hypostatical union; and thus was formed Christ true God and Man, our Lord and Redeemer.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

The Truth: Light, Life and Love

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

One view of how the Trinity relates its light, life and love.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus "the Light of the World" gives us a great opportunity to explore the deep relationship that exists between those three haloed words: LIGHT, LIFE, AND LOVE and the hoped for promise of salvation.

John 5:31-47

"If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true; there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen; and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent.

You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men. But I know that you have not the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words."

Moses witnessed to the Light of the Son of man at the Transfiguration.

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

See you on the High Ground!

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Where have all the Rainbows gone?

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

This morning I found a very comprehensive site
on the subject of Rainbows and the Bible, and sacred art.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~colmusic/rainbow.htm

But landscapes with rainbows were extremely rare in both secular and religious art - even as late as the 17th century, those of Rubens, and in Jacob van Ruisdael's "The Jewish Cemetery", were exceptions.    In religious art, the rainbow throne was fading from prominence as a new iconography emerged. Images of the bow had begun to lose their colour, often reduced to a pale or golden band with minimal indication of its stripes. So it also appeared in scenes of classical mythology, catering to the interests of private clients. No longer would sacred figures front the viewer in the time-honoured Byzantine fashion, sitting on a rainbow, and confined by borders to their heavenly sphere. They began to disport themselves more freely about the sky, walking among the clouds, with not a rainbow in sight. The new arrangement could be applied to the Last Judgement, justified by the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. On the last day, mankind would see "the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory". This glory of the resurrected Christ was shown as a burst of golden light, if at all. It no longer manifested in perfected colour, "just as variously coloured glass derives its splendour from the sun's radiance", as Thomas Aquinas had put it (evidently, drawing his analogy from 13th century stained glass.) As the Bible was read afresh during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, its stories took on a new appearance.

It appears to this observer that the Reformation
fundamentally broke the back of the rainbow
as it relates to God's covenant. 

King Henry VIII probably hated them too! 

So now we know why it is so easy for the forces in the world
who are trying to destroy the covenant of marriage
to proudly march under the rainbow banner.

The Fullness of Truth
will set them free.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Seek and you shall find

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

Seek and you shall find!
Do it with all your heart!


ULTIMATE AND
ABSOLUTE TRUTH
IS JESUS CHRIST

This is an outstanding teaching on reality
I found on my search this morning

Dr. Peter Kreeft is right on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq4A0vf4eeI&feature=related

I received three gifts from this:

1. He mentions E=mc²; and Jesus in the same breath (27:03).

2. He talks to the four chambers of the heart (29:33).

3. He mentions the rainbow as a light-filled bridge to truth (30:35).

Earlier this morning on this search I received a gift when I was taking a screen shot of a book on the Rainbow Bridge and it merged with one of the many images that serves as a desktop background.

This never happened before and the result was quite striking.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

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

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael