Sunday, December 8, 2013

“Woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and around her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1).

 

Pope Venerates Immaculate Conception Statue



(Vatican Radio) Following a tradition laid out by his predecessors, Pope Francis celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by travelling to Piazza di Spagna where he venerated the statue named for the Marian Feast. The celebration began with a reading from the book of Revelation in which Mary is described as a “woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and around her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1). The Holy Father then recited a prayer to the Immaculate Conception, in which he asked Our Lady to “awaken in us a renewed desire for holiness,” and to “make present all of the Gospel’s beauty” in our lives. He went on to ask Mary’s intercession in helping us remain attentive to the Lord’s voice, and to never be indifferent to the cry of the poor, the sick, the elderly, of children, and every human life. Before taking leave of the Piazza, the Holy Father greeted the sick and disabled who had gathered in the Square for the celebrations. After the celebrations, Pope Francis paid a visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major where he said a private prayer before the image of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani. The statue of the Immaculate Conception, venerated by the Holy Father this Sunday, was consecrated on December 8, 1857 several years after the dogma which states that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin was adopted by the Church. It has since become a tradition for the Pope to venerate the statue each year on December 8 as part of the celebrations for the Marian feast. Listen to Ann Schneible’s full report: RealAudioMP3

Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/12/08/pope_venerates_immaculate_conception_statue/en1-753957
of the Vatican Radio website

"The Principle". Blockbuster New Science Movie.




Subject: The Principle: A Blockbuster Movie Coming to a Theater Near You!






Dear Friends,

Hello! This is Robert Sungenis, executive producer of the upcoming movie, The Principle, scheduled for theatrical release across the USA in Spring, 2014.

I am writing to invite you to see The Principle, but most of all, to help me get the message out to the rest of the world before its theatrical debut.

This movie has been three years in the making by the amazing crew of experts I know from Hollywood. (No, not everything that comes out of Hollywood is bad!)

Briefly, this will be one of the most astounding films you have ever seen, or ever will see. The material we present will simply rock your world unlike it’s ever been rocked before.

Not only do we have a shocking story to tell, we tell it with the best talent available in both the entertainment industry and modern academia, and we tell it with the best production quality available.

The attached PDF file [only a part of this given below] gives you a synopsis, with photo excerpts from our film, of the subject matter, the production personnel and the cast of characters in The Principle.

At the end of the PDF, I give you instructions on how you can help us succeed with our Internet campaign, which kicks off on Monday, December 9, 2013.

Together, let’s change the world!

I look forward to working with you.

Robert Sungenis
Executive Producer, The Principle
Stellar Motion Pictures, LLC
13101 Washington Blvd. #248
Los Angeles, CA 90066
1-800-531-6393



....

That’s right. You heard it here first. Our 90-minute documentary, which we plan to put in theaters across the country in 2014, will show for the first time in history the shocking scientific evidence that nullifies the Copernican Principle – the modern belief that the Earth is neither unique nor inhabits a central place in the universe and that the human race has no more significance than star dust.

This is one of those movies you must see to believe. You have been told all your life by such icons as Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking and even Mr. Wizard, that the Earth is a mere speck of dust among the myriads of galaxies, lost in some remote corner of the universe with no rhyme or reason to its existence.

Well, we are about to change all that, and in a very dramatic way. I know that once you see the movie, the odds are that you will become a believer like me. For agnostics, not only will their lives begin to have much more meaning, they will understand the very purpose of their existence. For believers, everything will instantly make sense as they see the barrier between religion and science melt before their eyes.
....


What You Can Do to Help!

So now that you know the message and the methodology of The Principle, here is what we would like you to do to help in promoting it.
 Please send this PDF file that you are reading about The Principle to ALL the people on your email list, your Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Let them know that:
 We will be launching The Principle’s Facebook page and The Principle’s website (www.theprinciplemovie.com) on Monday, December 9, 2013.
 Tell them to check first the following websites, since each of them will have a link to The Principle’s Facebook page and The Principle’s website.
www.magisterialfundies.blogspot.com www.robertsungenis.com
www.galileowaswrong.blogspot.com www.galileowaswrong.com
 Tell them that both The Principle’s Facebook page and The Principle’s website will have a button they can click to see the Trailer of The Principle.
 Tell them to click the button that says “Like it.”
 Tell them they can also join the “live conversations” at Facebook and the website.
 Tell them, above all, to share all this information with everyone on their email list, Facebook page, etc. etc., before and also after Monday, Dec. 9.
Finally, I say with no exaggeration or special pleading (and for reasons I cannot explain to you right now) that your participation in this campaign is absolutely essential for the success of The Principle. So please, just take a few minutes out of your day and send this PDF to all the people you know, and ask them to send it to all the people they know.
Above all, you must go to The Principle’s Facebook and website and make your “clicks.” We are counting each “click,” and our success depends on your “clicks.”
If you have any questions, send me an email at cairomeo@aol.com or to Mr. Delano at
gwwmovie@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your participation!

Robert Sungenis
Executive Producer
Stellar Motion Pictures, LLC

Monday, December 2, 2013

'King Money' has failed humanity, Pope Francis says



Pontiff says 'throwaway culture' had discarded a generation of young Europeans
Fearlessly denouncing capitalism and the pursuit of financial gain, Pope Francis now says that the worship and obeisance of "King Money" has done nothing for humanity in the long run. Francis, speaking out on the issue of high youth unemployment in his first interview in his native land of Argentina this week, warned that today's "throwaway culture" had discarded a generation of young Europeans.

At one time the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis in March became the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years. He is the first South American pope.
At one time the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis in March became the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years. He is the first South American pope.
 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The pope insisted that the Church must reform itself and pay more attention to the poor. He also says that the church needs to abandon the complacent attitude that says "we have always done it this way."

Issuing an 84-page platform for his eight-month-old papacy, Francis blasted unrestrained capitalism as "a new tyranny." Francis linked high European unemployment to its twin problem of neglecting older people who are past their earning prime.

"Today we are living in unjust international system in which 'King Money' is at the center," he said in the interview.

"It's a throwaway culture that discards young people as well as its older people. In some European countries, without mentioning names, there is youth unemployment of 40 percent and higher," he said. "A whole generation of young people does not have the dignity that is brought by work."

European leaders have failed to adequately tackle youth unemployment. There have been no new ideas to confront this problem which is dangerously fueling social unrest.

Nearly six million people under the age of 25 are without work in the European Union, with jobless rates among the young at close to 60 percent in Spain and Greece.

The pope's skepticism of free markets and concern about the lack of ethics in finance were shared by his predecessor, Benedict XVI. The current pope's modesty and rejection of the traditional trappings of office lend his words particular weight.

"A people that cares neither for its youth nor for its older people has no future," the pope said. "Young people take society into the future, while the older generation gives society its memory, its wisdom."

At one time the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis in March became the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years. He is the first South American pope.

Francis has called for a more austere church that sides with the poor, and has promised to clean up the murky finances of the Vatican bank.

A birth foretold: click here to learn more!

© 2013, Distributed by THE NEWS CONSORTIUM.
 
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Taken from: http://www.catholic.org/hf/faith/story.php?id=53359

Sunday, December 1, 2013

"But Augustus belongs to the past, Benedict notes, while Jesus "is the present and the future"."



Dec. 16, 2012 4:21 p.m. ET
Imagine touring the Sistine Chapel with someone who has done more than merely read some learned commentary on the paintings of Michelangelo. He has looked at them, pondered them, loved them, even waited upon them to reveal their inner harmony, and now he seeks to hand on to you what he has found. Imagine listening to a master organist, not playing the whole St. Matthew Passion but showing you, as he touches a chord here and makes a progression there, some hint of the grandeur of Bach's composition that you might miss in the overwhelming storm of its performance. Then you have an idea of what Pope Benedict XVI has attempted in his three-volume work on the life of Jesus, but most humbly and sweetly in the "Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives."
WSJ

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

By Joseph Ratzinger
(Image, 132 pages, $20)
Modern men too often see things only by the guttering firelight of politics. Pope Benedict, who wrote many works of deep scholarship while simple Joseph Ratzinger, also served as the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, earning him a reputation among the ignorant as combative—"God's Rottweiler." It may surprise some, then, to read that Pope Benedict has written about one topic all his life long. Love is the key to his work, as it is the theme and lesson of this work. Indeed, the Pope has written that in Jesus, the man and the mission are one, and the mission is the holiness of love—of being entirely for and with God, and for and with mankind, without reserve. Now Benedict shows how this understanding of Jesus is manifest from the beginning, in his conception, his birth and his childhood.
Any scholar who would write on the first few chapters of Matthew and Luke faces two problems. The first is the opinion that the narratives about the birth of Jesus are add-ons, not central to the mission and the person of Jesus. The second is that we are too familiar with them. We have heard the carols and seen the crèches. We do not see the shadow of the cross fall upon the stable at Bethlehem.
Benedict addresses both problems at once, affirming the historicity of the narratives and showing that the question of who Jesus is hinges upon the question of whence he has come. People who encountered Jesus, whether they chose to follow him or not, claimed that they knew exactly where he came from, the no-account village of Nazareth. Yet they did not know where he came from—whence he derived his authority. The early Christians, by contrast, saw the life of Jesus as a coherent whole. The end of Matthew's Gospel, says Benedict, when Jesus commissions his disciples to go forth to the ends of the earth, baptizing all nations, is present in the beginning, in the genealogy that links Jesus with Abraham and God's promise of universality. Abraham is the essential wayfarer, Benedict writes, whose "whole life points forward," a dynamic of "walking along the path of what is to come."
Even to those who think themselves familiar with these texts, every page of "Jesus of Nazareth" will present some pearl of great value, something that should have been obvious but that has been passed over in haste or inattention. For example, when Luke places Jesus' birth in the context of the Augustan empire, and notes that Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem to register for the tax, he expects his readers, Benedict argues, to compare one "prince of peace" with another, for that is what Augustus styled himself ("Princeps Pacis"). The epithet was more than propaganda, Benedict says. It expressed a heartfelt longing in the people of the time, racked by the Roman civil wars and conflicts between the Roman empire and her rivals to the east. We might see how seriously it was taken if we study Augustus's Altar of Peace in Rome, consecrated a few years before Jesus' birth. It was so placed that on the emperor's birthday, between morning and evening, the sun cast the shadow of an obelisk, says the Pope, along a line that struck the very center of the altar, where Augustus himself was portrayed as supreme pontiff.
But Augustus belongs to the past, Benedict notes, while Jesus "is the present and the future." That is because the salvation we yearn for is not simply a truce, with some economic prosperity, but the healing of our very selves. Man is "a relational being," Benedict writes, by which he means that we only know ourselves when we give ourselves away in love. More to the point, Benedict teaches, God allows us to know Him by giving Himself in love to us. This gift, though grand, is necessarily also secret and humble, seeking not to overmaster but to invite.
In speaking of an intimate love, all the Gospel writers speak the same language, Benedict explains, whether it is Matthew showing that the birth of Jesus occurs outside of and against the predilections of the grand court of Herod, or Luke stressing the quiet interior life of Mary, or John saying that God has pitched his tent among us, submitting to the infirmities of the flesh, and to rejection.
This love is no mere sentiment. It is the ground of our being. Yet Benedict points to the gospels themselves for examples of how often we seek less than love, even while we believe we are seeking more. Jesus' own disciples believed that he would reestablish the earthly kingdom of David—and Matthew takes trouble both to establish Jesus' descent from David (it is why Joseph had to travel to the city of David, Bethlehem) and to show that this kingship is wholly new, and not of this earth.
Thus Joseph is told that the child's name will be called Jesus, a name derived from the Hebrew word meaning "to rescue," because "he will save people from their sins." That seems at once too little and too much, Benedict says. He compares the verse with the episode of the paralytic in Luke, who hears Jesus say, "Your sins are forgiven." But he wanted to walk—and the Jews wanted freedom from their overlords. The paralytic would indeed rise up and walk, but the point is clear: The gospel calls people to no less than complete love of God and neighbor—to the surrender of illusions that we can heal ourselves.
"The Infancy Narratives" is a short volume but for that very reason may be an ideal introduction to Benedict's writings, and for that matter Jesus' message of love.
Mr. Esolen, a professor at Providence College, is the author of "Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child."
....

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Pope Francis calls for power to be taken away from Vatican

 

Updated Wed 27 Nov 2013, 2:01pm AEDT


Photo:Pope Francis outlined his suggestions in his first 'apostolic exhortation'.
(Reuters: Ueslei Marcelino - file photo)
 
Pope Francis has outlined a mission statement for his papacy, arguing the power of the Roman Catholic Church is too concentrated in the Vatican.
The Pontiff also called on Catholics to be more engaged in helping the needy and to welcome those of other faiths.
Continuing his markedly different path, Pope Francis says excessive centralisation within the church is complicating life and the papacy does not have all the answers to issues facing the world.
The Catholic leader said he was "open to suggestions" on how his role should change, using an informal style in his first "apostolic exhortation".
"Nor do I believe that the papal magisterium should be expected to offer a definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the world," he said.
Bishops should have "genuine doctrinal authority", he said in the document - a type of long open letter used by popes to communicate with their faithful.


Pope Francis has instituted a council of cardinals to advise him on reforms including a shake-up of the Vatican bureaucracy after a series of high-profile scandals in recent years and disgruntlement in many local churches.
He added the church had to embrace change rather than stick to old habits.
Pope Francis said he would rather a church that was bruised, hurting and dirty because it had been on the streets rather than one unhealthy clinging to its own security.
The pontiff said ordination of women priests was not open to question, but said the church needs to do more to support pregnant women who are victims of rape or in extreme poverty.
The Vatican this month also launched a worldwide consultation of Catholic dioceses including questions about pastoral care for same-sex couples and re-married divorcees, but there was no mention of any changes foreseen on these hot-button issues.

Emphasis on helping the poor, reaching out to other faiths

In the document Pope Francis stressed the importance of the Church's social message, which he has made a priority.
"The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode," he said.
Turning to other faiths, the pope said ties with Islam had taken on "great importance" for the Catholic Church because of the growing number of Muslim immigrants in many traditionally Christian countries.
"We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition," he said.
"I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries."
Much of the exhortation was devoted to spiritual issues, particularly the need for a more joyful approach to faith reflected in the document's Latin title "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel).
"There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter," he said, adding that the Christian message should not be "a catalogue of sins and faults" and should be about striving for "the good of others".
The document included practical tips from Francis for priests on how to give better homilies as well as a call for them to be closer to their parishioners.
"Our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door," he said.
"I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures," he said, condemning "structures which give us a false sense of security... while at our door people are starving".
ABC/AFP

First posted Wed 27 Nov 2013, 8:51am AEDT
 
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

"I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets". Pope Francis.



By Daniel Burke, Belief Blog Co-editor
 
(CNN) - Pope Francis on Tuesday called for big changes in the Roman Catholic Church including at the very top saying he knows it will be a messy business but he expects his flock to dive in feet first.
"I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," the Pope said in a major new statement.
"I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures," Francis added.
The Pope's address, called an "apostolic exhortation," is basically a pep talk from the throne of St. Peter. But Francis' bold language and sweeping call for change are likely to surprise even those who've grown accustomed to his unconventional papacy.
"Not everyone will like this document," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author in New York. "For it poses a fierce challenge to the status quo."
Officially known in Latin as "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel), the 85-page document is the first official papal document written entirely by Francis. (An earlier document was co-written by Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.)
Although Francis sprinkles the statement with citations of previous popes and Catholic luminaries like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, the new pontiff makes a bold call for the church to rethink even long-held traditions.
"In her ongoing discernment, the Church can also come to see that certain customs not directly connected to the heart of the Gospel, even some which have deep historical roots, are no longer properly understood and appreciated," the Pope said.
"Some of these customs may be beautiful, but they no longer serve as means of communicating the Gospel. We should not be afraid to re-examine them. At the same time, the Church has rules or precepts which may have been quite effective in their time, but no longer have the same usefulness for directing and shaping people’s lives."
Such statements mark a sharp break from Benedict XVI, a more tradition-bound pope who focused on cleaning up cobwebs of unorthodoxy in the church.
By contrast, in "Evangelii" Francis repeats his calls for Catholics to stop "obsessing" about culture war issues and enforcing church rules, and to focus more on spreading the Gospel, especially to the poor and marginalized.
The outside world, particularly economic equalities, didn't escape Francis' notice either.
In a section of "Evangelii" entitled "some challenges to today's world," he sharply criticized what he called an "idolatry of money" and "the inequality that spawns violence."
"Today’s economic mechanisms promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric," the Pope wrote.
But the bulk of Francis' statement addresses the church, which, he said, should not be afraid to "get its shoes soiled by the mud of the street."
The Pope also hinted that he wants to see an end to the so-called "wafer wars," in which Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are denied Holy Communion. His comments could also be taken as another sign that he plans to reform church rules that prevent divorced Catholics from receiving the Eucharist.
"Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason," Francis said.
"The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak."
Even so, Francis reiterated the church's stand against abortion, defending it against critics who call such arguments "ideological, obscurantist and conservative."
"Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question," Francis said.
The Pope also reiterated previous rejections on ordaining women, saying the topic is "not open for discussion."
But that doesn't mean the church values men more than women, he said.
"We need to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church," the Pope said.
Francis also said he expects other parts of the church to change, and called on Catholics to be unafraid of trying new things.
"More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving."
Francis didn't mention specific changes, but made it clear he expects them to start at the top and include even long-held Catholic practices.
"Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion of the papacy," he said.
The church's centralization, where all roads lead to Rome, and the "we've always done it this way" type of thinking have hindered Catholics' ability to minister to local people in far-flung places, Francis suggested.
"I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities," the Pope said.
Martin, the Jesuit priest, said, "I cannot remember ever reading a papal document that was so thought-provoking, surprising and invigorating."
"The document’s main message is that Catholics should be unafraid of new ways of proclaiming the Gospel and new ways of thinking about the church," said Martin, who is also an editor-at-large at America Magazine in New York.
- CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

Filed under: Catholic ChurchChristianityFaith NowPope Francis

 
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Monday, November 25, 2013

Pope Francis Welcomes Vladimir Putin To Vatican



Pope Francis Welcomes Vladimir Putin To Vatican Amidst Catholic-Orthodox Tensions; Leaders Kiss Madonna Icon
By NICOLE WINFIELD 11/25/13 02:16 PM ET EST AP
The Vatican said Monday that ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches weren't really discussed during the 35-minute discussion between Putin and Francis in the pope's private library, though Putin brought greetings from Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.
Rather, the discussions between Putin and the pope, and then Putin and the Vatican's top diplomats, focused on Syria and the role of Christianity in society.
Putin thanked Francis for his September letter to the Group of 20 meeting in St. Petersburg, in which Francis urged world leaders to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria and lamented that one-sided interests had prevented a diplomatic end to the conflict.
Francis mobilized hundreds of thousands of people around the globe to participate in a daylong fast and prayer for peace, as the U.S. threatened military strikes following an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus. Moscow opposed military intervention as well.
Francis gave Putin a ceramic mosaic of the Vatican gardens, and Putin presented Francis with an image of the icon of the Madonna of Vladimir, an important religious icon for the Russian Orthodox faithful.
After they exchanged the gifts, Putin asked Francis if he liked the icon, and Francis said he did. Putin then crossed himself and kissed the image, and Francis followed suit.
The Argentine pope is particularly devoted to Marian icons.
Long-running tensions in Russia between Orthodox faithful and Catholics in Russia prevented Pope Benedict XVI and before him Pope John Paul II from achieving their long-sought dreams of a Russian pilgrimage and meeting with the Russian patriarch. Recently officials have floated the idea of a meeting in a third country, but the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said ecumenical issues weren't discussed Monday.
He confirmed that Putin didn't invite Francis, making the Russian president one of the few world leaders who have visited the popular pope and not extended an invitation in exchange.
Related on HuffPost:

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Here’s a better idea, Uthman. Warn your fellow Muslims instead. They’re the ones getting killed.

untitled
 
 
A fundamental mistake
 
 
IT'S probably just an occupational hazard for those in the head-chopping caper. When you're out there every day busily carving away at infidels and other betrayers of the faith, all heads must eventually look the same. So it's no surprise when the occasional routine slaughter goes awry. 
  
Last week Islamist rebels in Syria asked for "understanding and forgiveness" after cutting off the wrong man's head. The victim, Mohammad Fares Marroush, had earlier ended up in an Aleppo hospital after being injured in battle. Loaded with painkillers, the delirious man apparently said one or two things that convinced local head removalists he was a follower of Islam's Shia branch instead of being one of their anti-government allies.
That's a big mistake when you're in Sunni territory. During the night, as he slept in hospital, Mr Marroush reportedly became detached from his head - which went on to star in the latest death-to-the-unbelievers online tape, held aloft by his killers.
Say what you will about the failings of the NSW health system, but you can generally make it through the evening without a significant portion of you appearing on Syria's Decapitatiest Home Videos.
Last week also brought news that an Australian had joined the Syrian population explosion. The man, believed to be from Brisbane and lately going by the name Abu Asma al-Australi, turned up on YouTube swearing a few Koranic oaths before riding a bomb-loaded truck towards a Syrian army base.
The detonation killed dozens of Muslim soldiers and converted the former Brisbane resident into, depending on your view of these things, either a revered martyr for Mohammed or a pointless red mist with eyeballs.
Then again, this could be yet another of those crazy Syrian identity mix-ups. The Brisbane man's brother claims that he's still alive, and offered this gentle opinion on Aussies who join their Islamist mates in combat overseas: "Just because our religious outlook is a bit more fundamental doesn't mean we're extremist."
Well, that's a relief. It would be terrible if anyone got the impression there was anything extreme going on. Meanwhile, the bit-more-fundamentalists in Gaza are in conflict again with their Fatah co-religionists. Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently reported: "For the past few weeks, the security apparatus in the Strip has been arresting Fatah supporters, including adolescents, raiding homes and warning people not to demonstrate. There are reports of torture."
As in Syria, the Hamas-Fatah feud exists between Muslims. The Islamic world is rife with bloody disputes, which are far deadlier than any disagreements with Israel or the US.
We have our own version of intra-Islamic fighting. The Muslim-dominated Brothers 4 Life crime gang previously fought with other western Sydney outfits but has recently taken to shooting and killing fellow members.
"It's difficult to classify it as one type of conflict," NSW Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said earlier this month. He went on to wonder if the attacks were "a power struggle or people simply being offended about something that's been said, and acting in a quite irrational way by shooting someone instead of arguing".
Indeed. Let's not lose our heads over minor points of difference - or, in the case of the unfortunate Mohammad Fares Marroush, over points of complete similarity.
In the wake of all this Muslim against Muslim mayhem, Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar last week claimed that the government was deliberately trying to antagonise Muslims into reacting violently.
"The government should be warned," the Hizbie honcho said.
 
Here's a better idea, Uthman. Warn your fellow Muslims instead. They're the ones getting killed.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Comparisons Between the Book of Revelation and the Visions of Daniel

 
 
COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE VISIONS OF ST. JOHN IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND THE VISIONS OF THE PROPHETS EZEKIEL AND DANIEL
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
 
 


Parallels between the visions of the Book of Revelation and the visions of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel

THE VISIONEZEKIELREVELATION
1. The Throne VisionChapter 1Chapter 4
2. The Book Being OpenedChapters 2-3Chapter 5
3. The Four PlaguesChapter 5Chapter 6:1-8
4. Those Slain Under the aAtarChapter.6Chapter 6:9-11
5. The Wrath of GodChapter 7Chapter 6:12-17
6. The Seal on the Saint's ForeheadsChapter 9Chapter 7
7. The Coals from the AltarChapter.10Chapter 8
8. The 1/3 DestructionChapter 5:1-4 and 12Chapter 8:6-12
9. No More DelayChapter 12Chapter 10:1-7
10. The Eating of the BookChapter 2Chapter 10:8-11
11. Prophecy against the NationsChapters 25-32Chapter 10:11
12. The Measuring of the TempleChapters 40-43Chapter 11:1-2
13. Comparing Jerusalem to SodomChapter 16Chapter 11:8
14. The Cup of WrathChapter 23Chapter 14
15. The Vine of the LandChapter 15Chapter 14:18-20
16. The Great HarlotChapters 16, 23Chapters 17-18
17. The Lament Sung Over the CityChapter 27Chapter 18
18. The Scavenger's FeastChapter 39Chapter 19
19. The First ResurrectionChapter 37Chapter 20:4-6
20. The Battle of Gog and MagogChapter 38-39Chapter 20:7-9
21. The New JerusalemChapters 40-48Chapter 21
22. The River of LifeChapter 47Chapter 22
 
M. Hunt ©, 2000, www.agapebiblestudy.com
Parallels between the visions of the Book of Revelation and the visions of the Prophet Daniel

THE VISIONDANIELREVELATION
1. Three and a half time period (a time, 2 times and ½ a time)Chapter 12:7Chapter 11:9, 11
2. The ten hornsChapter 7:8Chapters 12:3, 13:1; 17:3, 8
3. The Leopard, the Bear, and the LionChapter 7:4-6Chapter 13:2
4. The Beast mouthing boasting and blasphemiesChapter 7:8, 11Chapter 13:5
5. The war against the SaintsChapter 7:21Chapter 13:7
6. The worship of the Beast's statueChapter 3:5-7, 15Chapter 13:15
7. The Son of Man coming on the Glory-CloudChapter 7:13Chapter 1:7 and 14:14
 
Michal Hunt © 2000, www.agapebiblestudy.com

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Fatima and the Haman Conspiracy





Is the Book of Esther a Real History?


by


Damien F. Mackey



Though I think that it is, all of my previous attempts to demonstrate this have come unstuck.

This time around I am going to take as my starting point, for Esther as a real history, these two interesting clues, that may possibly be connectable:


Firstly, Louis Ginzberg’s ‘substantial evidence that Mordecai and Haman were both Jews who knew each other well’ (The Legends of the Jews). [See further on]


And,secondly, a synthesis of the elevation of the Jewish king, Jehoiachin, by an eastern king:


2 Kings 25: 27-28: Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon.


with the elevation of Haman by an eastern king:


Esther 3:1: After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.


That Haman was a king (at least as considered from a Jewish perspective) is apparent from Queen Esther’s words, in her prayer:


Esther 14 (Douay): [8] And now they are not content to oppress us with most hard bondage, but attributing the strength of their hands to the power of their idols, [9] They design to change thy promises, and destroy thy inheritance, and shut the mouths of them that praise thee, and extinguish the glory of thy temple and altar, [10] That they may open the mouths of Gentiles, and praise the strength of idols, and magnify for ever a carnal [var. mortal] king.


Presumably“king” here refers to Haman, not to Ahasuerus, who was somewhat gullible and not really au fait, it seems, with the inner machinations of Haman’s conspiracy (16:2-15).

....

For complete article, go to: http://bookofesther-amaic.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/is-book-of-esther-real-history.html

The Dangerous Road from Imam to Catholic Preacher: An Interview with Mario Joseph


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Mario Joseph was an imam at age 18. Then he became a Christian and his father tried to kill him. Today, he is a Catholic preacher in India. His case is unique in the world: he is the first Muslim cleric to have embraced Christianity, which in the Islamic world is punishable by death. In the cemetery of his Indian town, there is a tombstone with his name, and underneath it, a coffin with a clay sculpture of his size. His father told him, “If you want to be a Christian, I have to kill you.” This man is alive, and Lartaún de Azumendi was able to interview him on “The Night of COPE”:


Mario Joseph, good evening. You were 18 years old and you were a Muslim cleric. What happened to change your perspective?

I was the third of six brothers. When I was eight years old, my father sent me to a Koranic school to become an imam. After ten years of study, I became an imam at age 18. One day, I was preaching in the mosque that Jesus Christ was not God. Then a person from the audience told me not to say that and asked me who Jesus Christ was. Since I had no answer to give, I set about reading the entire Koran, and there I discovered that in Chapter 3, it speaks of Jesus. The Koran often refers to him as Jesus Christ, and in chapter 19, it speaks of Mary. In the Koran, Mary is the only female name that is named, and the Koran also says that Jesus is the Word of God.


Was the area where you lived in India a Muslim area?

Yes. It is predominantly Muslim and Hindu, and there are virtually no Christians.


And starting from that question that arose when you were preaching, how did the conversion process begin?

The Koran says that Mohammed is dead but that Jesus Christ is still alive. So when I read that, I thought, “Who, then, should I accept? The one who is dead or the one who is alive?”

I asked Allah whom I should accept and I began to pray to help me on this issue. And when I started to pray, I opened the Koran and in chapter 24 verse 10, it says that those who have a question like that on the Koran should read the Bible. So I decided to start studying the Bible. Then I realized who the true God is, and from that moment on, I embraced Christianity.


You tell that story so naturally, knowing what you would have to endure to accept it. How did your community react?

When I converted, I went to a retreat center and my family started looking for me. They found me there. My father beat me hard and took me home. When we arrived, he put me in a room, tied my hands and feet, undressed me, put pepper in my eyes, mouth, and nose, and left me there without food for 28 days. After that time, my father came and took me by the neck to see if I was alive.

I opened my eyes and saw that he had a knife in his hand. He asked me if I accepted Jesus and told me he would kill me if I said yes. I knew my father would kill me because he is a very hardline Muslim and he was convinced. I said I accepted Jesus Christ, and at that moment, a very powerful light struck my mind and gave me the strength to scream with all my might: “Jesus!”

At that moment, my father fell and the knife he carried in his hand pierced his chest. It made a big cut and he started bleeding profusely and was foaming at the mouth. At that time, my family was scared for him. They took him to the hospital and forgot to close the door. I was able to go out and catch a taxi to the retreat center where I had been caught, and there I stayed in hiding.


It is incredible that you had the physical ability to get out of the house and go to the Catholic shelter...

Although I was naked and weakened, that light gave me strength and a health that came out of nowhere. However, I am still suffering the consequences of this punishment because I have a stomach ulcer and mouth ulcers.


It seems like a story touched by God. It is not normal for one to come out strengthened with that power. How long ago did this happen?

It was 18 years ago. Suffering still accompanies me, because it is written in the Koran in over eighteen places that he who rejects the Koran must be eliminated.


Since then, have you returned to see your father?

I have not gone back to my village. I never set foot in my land again. Not only that, but I am buried there because my parents made a grave with my name and the day I was born on the headstone.


Listen to the full interview on the website of the COPE Channel.

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Taken from: http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/the-dangerous-road-from-imam-to-catholic-preacher-an-interview-with-mario-joseph-13174001