The Future of the United States of America.

Eeeek.

 

A special prayer of blessing for James Martin

May God bless him and keep him... far away from us

 

Yeah, stole it from the rabbi

 

'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness' Is 5:20. So much confusion in the Church today, where there should be clear teaching.

Back to the Icons if I may... I know Padraig said that he'd prefer little discussion and much prayer, but I was wondering about the first Icon which hasn't had much attention. This one doesn't seem to fit in with the rest. It's set in Ancient Rome, and concerns the execution of Christians who were good citizens, especially in the soldiery, except that they wouldn't sacrifice to the pagan god-emperor. I've given some thought to this and what it might mean for us, particularly in the context of the future of the US.

Clearly it depicts suffering and martyrdom. There have been terrible martyrdoms throughout Christian history, and the Icon could have shown the priests crucified in Japan or the Christians in communist countries. In Nazi death camps too. The suffering continues to this day. Yet, Ancient Rome is the scene for the first Icon.

Will modern American Christians have to become like the first Christians, refusing to bow to idolatrous deified humanity ("You will be as gods")? Their contribution to society regarded as nothing? From the Apostolic age onwards, Christians have been a sign of contradiction in society, and society has been uncomfortable with this. People are going to have to choose between God or the World, and the consequences could be severe in earthly terms.

I don't know. I was talking to a Protestant Christian during the break at my art class yesterday. She's an older woman, like myself. We found ourselves agreeing on so much. She ended up by saying that she has decided that if she has to, she will die for her faith. She spoke softly and firmly and I felt inspired by her quiet resolve. This is in the UK, but those of us with eyes to see can read the signs of the times.

 

The signs are all around us. God give us the grace to persevere….

 

Yes. I pray for it every day.

 

Yes. Very thoughtful and thought provoking post.

 

One thing that REALLY gets my goat is that when the jabs first came out, Biden ed. al. all gathered around claiming how THEY were the ones responsible, and ignoring the fact that Trump was the one who got the ball rolling. Now we've had the jabs for over a year and are seeing the effects: thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of permanent injuries, etc., NONE of which are being covered in the MSM. And yet, I know that if Trump were still the president, these adverse effects would be front and center in the news every night and every day.

 

I haven't checked, but I'll wager Sky News Australia will be covering it, if not already.

 

Exactly!

 

Edith Stein is a great saint to reflect on in these days. She died in the Auschwitz. There's a story that she sneaked a note out to her community and it read, "Even in here I have found baby Jesus." Our dear Lord never abandons us. When persecution increases, so does His grace. We were made for these times. Let's pray we all persevere until the end and remember God is a God of the present. All we have is the moment before us.

 

Very inspiring post

 

Great post, 'We were made for these times'.

We will just have to up our game.

 

Agree. Reminded me of a post from a your pastor by the name of Alex Craven. He was encouraging parents of children of today who are so worried about their future. Thought this was very uplifting and true. It’s really about every single one of us. God has us here in this moment and time on purpose and for HIS purpose. Courage.

“Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be. God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident. Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God. Train them up in the authority of His Word. Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control. Empower them to know they can change the world. Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it. Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan. He knew Daniel could handle the lion’s den. He knew David could handle Goliath. He knew Esther could handle Haman. He knew Peter could handle persecution. He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it! Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose you to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime. Rise up to the challenge. Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers, and Peters! God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world. He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth. Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.”

 

Today’s Mass reading just reinforce in my mind the times we live in and how to responds. Even Jesus’ prayer was NOT to take his disciples out of the world. He had to stay in the world himself to suffer and die. We too must face our cross in the world. But Jesus did pray we would not succumb to evil. He prayed we would never give in to the world. And we would be consecrated to the truth! Truth- something that is a rare commodity in our world today

As St Paul wrote in first reading, we will struggle but in end we too will be raised.

Two very encouraging readings today. Thanks be to God!


Reading 1
2 Cor 4:7-15
Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,
we too believe and therefore speak,
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.


Gospel
Jn 17:11b-19
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, saying:
"Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me,
and I guarded them, and none of them was lost
except the son of destruction,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you.
I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the Evil One.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth."

 

Today is also the memorial feast of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, two ancient martyrs. Certainly, Cornelius and Cyprian lived in difficult times, as do we. I came across this prayer attributed to St. Cyprian, which I found to be inspiring:

We pray to the Lord without duplicity,
in tune with one another,
entreating God with sighs and tears.
We pray that peace may very soon be restored to us,
that help reach us in our dangers and draw us
from our dark retreats,
and that God's gracious promises find fulfillment.
May we see after the rain, fair weather;
after the darkness, light;
after these storms and tempests, a gentle calm.
Amen.

Sts. Cyprian and Cornelius, pray for us!

 

Beautiful and worthy posts, miker and bflocatholic. Thank you.

 

Beautiful!!!

 

Seattle and King county here in WA have announced the requirement of vaccine passport or proof of negative test to enter public places. Not that I have any desire to visit King county or Seattle but seeing the ratcheting up of these requirements for citizens as well as businesses struggling to make ends meet is disappointing.
I expect that this will also translate into being a requirement for church attendance as well.

I've been house bound for quite some time and rarely get out to do anything besides doctors appointments. It's of course been very hard on my family. It's hard to imagine what this sort of psychological pressure will have on those who live in these places, choose not to have experimental serum's injected into them which they must show proof of when demanded and are young let alone with children to raise. The irony of it is that King county has the highest rate of the injected in all of WA at roughly 70%. So much for those early promises of freedom for compliance.

This notion that once everyone goes along and takes the serum that everything will get back to normal is a complete fallacy. It is only the first step in the coming demands to give up piece by piece ones sovereignty for safety and security.
It is not just the rules that have been changed but the people also. They constantly bewail and claim to care for others yet this only seems to go so far as it secures in their own minds the fairy tale of their safety and comfort.