And the Lord seeking His workman in the multitude of the people, to whom He proclaimeth these words, saith again: “Who is the man that desireth life and loveth to see good days”? If hearing this thou answerest, “I am he,” God saith to thee: “If thou wilt have true and everlasting life, keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it”. And when you shall have done these things, my eyes shall be upon you, and my ears unto your prayers. And before you shall call upon me I will say: “Behold, I am here”.
What, dearest brethren, can be sweeter to us than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See, in His loving kindness, the Lord showeth us the way of life. Therefore, having our loins girt with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk His ways under the guidance of the Gospel, that we may be found worthy of seeing Him who hath called us to His kingdom.
If we desire to dwell in the tabernacle of His kingdom, we cannot reach it in any way, unless we run thither by good works. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to Him: “Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest in Thy holy hill”? — Prologue
Listen, O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and incline the ear of thy heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving Father, that by the toil of obedience thou mayest return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience thou hast gone away.
To thee, therefore, my speech is now directed, who, giving up thine own will, takest up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, to do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King.
In the first place, beg of Him by most earnest prayer, that He perfect whatever good thou dost begin, in order that He who hath been pleased to count us in the number of His children, need never be grieved at our evil deeds. For we ought at all times so to serve Him with the good things which He hath given us, that He may not, like an angry father, disinherit his children, nor, like a dread lord, enraged at our evil deeds, hand us over to everlasting punishment as most wicked servants, who would not follow Him to glory. — Prologue
I resort once again to history, and on considering the men of best repute in ancient days, who were ever preferred by grace to the office of ruler or prophet, I discover that some readily complied with the call, others deprecated the gift, and that neither those who drew back were blamed for timidity, nor those who came forward for eagerness. The former stood in awe of the greatness of the ministry, the latter trustfully obeyed Him Who called them. Aaron was eager, but Moses resisted, Isaiah readily submitted, but Jeremiah was afraid of his youth, and did not venture to prophesy until he had received from God a promise and power beyond his years.
By these arguments I charmed myself, and by degrees my soul relaxed and became ductile, like iron, and time came to the aid of my arguments, and the testimonies of God, to which I had entrusted my whole life, were my counsellors. Therefore I was not rebellious, neither turned away back, saith my Lord, when, instead of being called to rule, He was led, as a sheep to the slaughter; but I fell down and humbled myself under the mighty hand of God, and asked pardon for my former idleness and disobedience, if this is at all laid to my charge. I held my peace, but I will not hold my peace for ever: I withdrew for a little while, till I had considered myself and consoled my grief: but now I am commissioned to exalt Him in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the seat of the elders. If my former conduct deserved blame, my present action merits pardon.
What further need is there of words. Here am I, my pastors and fellow-pastors, here am I, thou holy flock, worthy of Christ, the Chief Shepherd, here am I, my father, utterly vanquished, and your subject according to the laws of Christ rather than according to those of the land: here is my obedience, reward it with your blessing. Lead me with your prayers, guide me with your words, establish me with your spirit. The blessing of the father establisheth the houses of children, and would that both I and this spiritual house may be established, the house which I have longed for, which I pray may be my rest for ever, when I have been passed on from the church here to the church yonder, the general assembly of the firstborn, who are written in heaven. — Paragraph 114, 115, and 116.
—I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.—
Faith requires us to do things that are completely crazy, outlandish in the eyes of the world.
Abraham believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become —the father of many nations, ——¨according to what was said, —Thus shall your descendants be.—
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body
as already dead – for he was almost a hundred years old –
and the dead womb of Sarah.—¨
Can you imagine, the walking dead and the dead womb of an old woman setting off on a journey; a journey whose mission was to create a nation? Can you imagine the reaction of the relatives back in Ur when Abram set off for an unknown land – based on a call from an unseen God, based on a promise that was physiologically impossible? Today we would have these elderly folks put in a nursing home. We would think that they were failing, thinking unreal things, acting in unreal ways. We would be uncomfortable imagining them in bed together, trying to make children.
People of faith do outlandish things.
As Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, —Follow me.——¨
Jesus called a tax collector and asked him to follow in His footsteps, to be His witness. Not only that, but He dinned at the tax collectors house, with other tax collectors and various notorious sinners.
Jesus, being a Rabbi, and knowing the Law, should not have done that. He should have shunned Matthew. He should have walked on the other side of the street from him. He should have avoided Matthew’s house, his food, and his company.
Jesus’ actions in this case were improper, irreverent, and against the tenants of the Law, at least the Law as the Pharisees saw it.
People of faith do outlandish things.
Brothers and sisters,
Like the people of Ur would have avoided Abram and his crazy thoughts, so too did those who were self-righteous avoid Jesus. People avoided Abram, they avoid Jesus, and they avoid and criticize His followers today because faith requires that we do things that are completely crazy and outlandish in the eyes of the world.
As Christians we are people of faith. Faith tells us that Jesus is our Lord, that this life is only temporary, that we have an important mission, and that we must be doers of faith.
The people of Hosea’s time were going through the motions. Justice and righteousness were a series of practices. God condemned them through Hosea’s words:
for it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.—¨
In other words, get in the game. Stand up and take action. Not action for the sake of action, but actions that show the depth of love we carry in our hearts. We are called to be 100% Christians, people who hear Jesus before they act. People who live the Christian faith in everything they do.
We are so weak, and so out of shape. We believe that we will be clothed in righteousness because our words are right and because we tread the well worn path to church each week. Know this, that path to church is only the warm-up. The words we have been taught are the rules. The time for the next step, for getting in the game, is here.
People of faith do outlandish things.
So must we.
Jesus came to call back sinners. He came to tell all of us, who are sinners, that through repentance, through following and actively living His word, we will be saved. Therefore, the hateful word must cease. Charity must prevail. Gluttony and lust must cease. We are to live restrained and continent lives. Greed must cease. What we have is the Lord’s for which we must be thankful and from which we must give cheerfully to all in need, asking no price in return. Let us come to Christ and His Holy Church – and go out equipped so that we may live up to the name we were given; live up to the faith we were blessed with, and the call we received.
Some among us will think, this is too hard. This is too much. Others will think I can do it. Know this, it is not too hard and we can do nothing on our own, but Jesus Christ alive in us through His sacramental presence and the Holy Spirit enveloping us will do all in us.
During this month of June let us resolve to allow Christ to take us up. Allow Him to do outlandish things with us. Allow Him to call us, to service as priests and deacons, to service as active members of this parish and of our Holy Polish National Catholic Church. Allow Him to lead us and let us surrender all to Him. For He said:
—Follow me.—
Jesus is waiting. This is the time. Amen.
Moreover, to distinguish still more clearly between them, we have, against the fear of office, a possible help in the law of obedience, inasmuch as God in His goodness rewards our faith, and makes a perfect ruler of the man who has confidence in Him, and places all his hopes in Him; but against the danger of disobedience I know of nothing which can help us, and of no ground to encourage our confidence. For it is to be feared that we shall have to hear these words concerning those who have been entrusted to us: I will require their souls at your hands; and, Because ye have rejected me, and not been leaders and rulers of my people, I also will reject you, that I should not be king over you; and, As ye refused to hearken to My voice, and turned a stubborn back, and were disobedient, so shall it be when ye call upon Me, and I will not regard nor give ear to your prayer. God forbid that these words should come to us from the just Judge, for when we sing of His mercy we must also by all means sing of His judgment. — Paragraph 113.
For if it be granted, and this alone can be strongly asserted in such matters, that we are far too low to perform the priest’s office before God, and that we can only be worthy of the sanctuary after we have become worthy of the Church, and worthy of the post of president, after being worthy of the sanctuary, yet some one else may perhaps refuse to acquit us on the charge of disobedience. Now terrible are the threatenings against disobedience, and terrible are the penalties which ensue upon it; as indeed are those on the other side, if, instead of being reluctant, and shrinking back, and concealing ourselves as Saul did among his father’s stuff –although called to rule but for a short time– if, I say, we come forward readily, as though to a slight and most easy task, whereas it is not safe even to resign it, nor to amend by second thoughts our first.
On this account I had much toilsome consideration to discover my duty, being set in the midst betwixt two fears, of which the one held me back, the other urged me on. For a long while I was at a loss between them, and after wavering from side to side, and, like a current driven by inconstant winds, inclining first in this direction, then in that, I at last yielded to the stronger, and the fear of disobedience overcame me, and has carried me off. Pray, mark how accurately and justly I hold the balance between the fears, neither desiring an office not given to me, nor rejecting it when given. The one course marks the rash, the other the disobedient, both the undisciplined. My position lies between those who are too bold, or too timid; more timid than those who rush at every position, more bold than those who avoid them all. This is my judgment on the matter. — Paragraph 111 and 112.
On May 23rd Holy Mass was offered at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in commemoration of the martyrdom of Jerome Savonarola, and to mark the closing of the Savonarola Theological Seminary’s 100th academic year.
In honor of this event God’s Field, the Official Organ of the Polish National Catholic Church published the following prayer, which Savonarola prayed prior to his martyrdom while holding the Holy Eucharist in his hands.
Lord, I know that You are the true God, Creator of the world and of humanity. I know that You are the perfect Trinity, indivisible and inseparable, distinct in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I know that You are the everlasting Word, that came down to earth in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was crucified to shed Your Precious Blood for us miserable sinners.
I beseech You, Lord, I beseech You, my Savior, I beseech You, my Creator, that the Precious Blood shall not have been shed in vain for me, but will be for the remission of all my sins, for which I ask Your forgiveness, from the day on which I received holy baptism until the present time; and I confess my sinfulness to You, Lord. And therefore, I ask Your forgiveness for anything in which I have offended this city and this people, in spiritual and temporal matters, and for everything in which I may have erred without knowing it.
And I humbly beg forgiveness of all these people here present, and ask that they may pray to God for me, that He may give me strength at my last end, and that the Enemy may have no power over me. Amen.
Shall many die for a another country’s whim? From today’s Washington Post: Pushing Bush to Attack Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to use his White House visit today to push President Bush to take a more aggressive approach toward Iran — and there are some signs that he’ll have a receptive audience.
Both Olmert and Bush are badly wounded and looking for salvation. Olmert is facing corruption allegations that could drive him from office. Bush is wildly unpopular, desperate to salvage his legacy and fighting irrelevance as the general election begins in earnest — with even the Republican candidate trying to keep him at a distance.
It’s in this environment that the Jewish Telegraph Agency reports: “Ehud Olmert will urge President Bush to prepare an attack on Iran, an Israeli newspaper reported.
“Citing sources close to the Israeli prime minister, Yediot Achronot reported on its front page Wednesday that Olmert, who is due to hold closed-door talks with Bush in Washington, will say that ‘time is running out’ on diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
“The United States should therefore prepare to attack Iran, Olmert will tell Bush, according to Yediot.”
Olmert certainly telegraphed as much in public last night. Matti Friedman writes for the Associated Press that “the Israeli prime minister told thousands of Israel supporters at the annual convention of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday that the Iranian threat ‘must be stopped by all possible means…’
I have a better solution. The truth. Iran is no threat beyond its own borders, and cannot even control several regions within its borders. It may be a thorn in Israel’s side, but that is their regional conflict, not ours.
Haven’t enough U.S. Service people died? Haven’t enough innocent bystanders died? Those (un)fortunate enough to have survived with horrific injuries will bear witness for decades. Do we want to add nuclear holocaust to our list of recent errors by nuking Iran (as administration officials are advocating, also see articles here and here)?
Those who will not learn from their mistakes, or who never acknowledge making a mistake, are doomed to repeat the mistake.
From the Australian: Former aide Scott McClellan attacks George W. Bush in book
At one point, Mr McClellan also discusses rumours of Mr Bush’s possible cocaine use in his younger days — a charge that dogged him on the campaign trail for the presidency in 1999. Despite public denials, Mr McClellan says Mr Bush told him privately he “could not remember” if he used it.
“I remember thinking to myself, how can that be?” Mr McClellan writes. “How can someone simply not remember whether or not they used an illegal substance like cocaine? It didn’t make a lot of sense.”
Mr Bush, he said, “isn’t the kind of person to flat-out lie.
“So I think he meant what he said in that conversation about cocaine. It’s the first time when I felt I was witnessing Bush convincing himself to believe something that probably was not true, and that, deep down, he knew was not true,” he writes.
“And his reason for doing so is fairly obvious – political convenience.”
He described this “penchant for self-deception” would have devastating consequences in the US’s foreign policy — saying Mr Bush was too “stubborn to change and grow” in the White House…
At least Ca’iaphas didn’t advocate wipping out an entire country…
First they led him to Annas; for he was the father-in-law of Ca’iaphas, who was high priest that year.
It was Ca’iaphas who had given counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
In regard to the distribution of the word, to mention last the first of our duties, of that divine and exalted word, which everyone now is ready to discourse upon; if anyone else boldly undertakes it and supposes it within the power of every man’s intellect, I am amazed at his intelligence, not to say his folly. To me indeed it seems no slight task, and one requiring no little spiritual power, to give in due season to each his portion of the word, and to regulate with judgment the truth of our opinions, which are concerned with such subjects as the world or worlds, matter, soul, mind, intelligent natures, better or worse, providence which holds together and guides the universe, and seems in our experience of it to be governed according to some principle, but one which is at variance with those of earth and of men. — Paragraph 35.
Again, the healers of our bodies will have their labours and vigils and cares, of which we are aware; and will reap a harvest of pain for themselves from the distresses of others, as one of their wise men said; and will provide for the use of those who need them, both the results of their own labours and investigations, and what they have been able to borrow from others: and they consider none, even of the minutest details, which they discover, or which elude their search, as having other than an important influence upon health or danger. And what is the object of all this? That a man may live some days longer on the earth, though he is possibly not a good man, but one of the most depraved, for whom it had perhaps been better, because of his badness, to have died long ago, in order to be set free from vice, the most serious of sicknesses. But, suppose he is a good man, how long will he be able to live? Forever? Or what will he gain from life here, from which it is the greatest of blessings, if a man be sane and sensible, to seek to be set free?
But we, upon whose efforts is staked the salvation of a soul, a being blessed and immortal, and destined for undying chastisement or praise, for its vice or virtue,–what a struggle ought ours to be, and how great skill do we require to treat, or get men treated properly, and to change their life, and give up the clay to the spirit. For men and women, young and old, rich and poor, the sanguine and despondent, the sick and whole, rulers and ruled, the wise and ignorant, the cowardly and courageous, the wrathful and meek, the successful and failing, do not require the same instruction and encouragement. — Paragraph 27 and 28.