Kacper, a 16 year old web designer from Poland, living in Sweden, has linked up to my Gadu-Gadu WordPress plugin. Dziękuje Kacper.
An updated version will be posted to the WordPress plugins directory in the next few days.
Providence, then, is the care that God takes over existing things. And again: Providence is the will of God through which all existing things receive their fitting issue. But if Providence is God’s will, according to true reasoning all things that come into being through Providence must necessarily be both most fair and most excellent, and such that they cannot be surpassed. For the same person must of necessity be creator of and provider for what exists: for it is not meet nor fitting that the creator of what exists and the provider should be separate persons. For in that case they would both assuredly be deficient, the one in creating, the other in providing. God therefore is both Creator and Provider, and His creative and preserving and providing power is simply His good-will. For whatsoever the Lord pleased that did He in heaven and in earth, and no one resisted His will. He willed that all things should be and they were. He wills the universe to be framed and it is framed, and all that He wills comes to pass. — Book II, Chapter XXIX
God then made man without evil, upright, virtuous, free from pain and care, glorified with every virtue, adorned with all that is good, like a sort of second microcosm within the great world, another angel capable of worship, compound, surveying the visible creation and initiated into the mysteries of the realm of thought, king over the things of earth, but subject to a higher king, of the earth and of the heaven, temporal and eternal, belonging to the realm of sight and to the realm of thought, midway between greatness and lowliness, spirit and flesh: for he is spirit by grace, but flesh by overweening pride: spirit that he may abide and glorify his Benefactor, and flesh that he may suffer, and suffering may be admonished and disciplined when he prides himself in his greatness: here, that is, in the present life, his life is ordered as an animal’s, but elsewhere, that is, in the age to come, he is changed and—”to complete the mystery—”becomes deified by merely inclining himself towards God; becoming deified, in the way of participating in the divine glory and not in that of a change into the divine being.
But God made him by nature sinless, and endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean not that sin could find no place in him (for that is the case with Deity alone), but that sin is the result of the free volition he enjoys rather than an integral part of his nature; that is to say, he has the power to continue and go forward in the path of goodness, by co-operating with the divine grace, and likewise to turn from good and take to wickedness, for God has conceded this by conferring freedom of will upon him. For there is no virtue in what is the result of mere force. — Book II, Chapter XII
That there is a God, then, is no matter of doubt to those who receive the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament, I mean, and the New; nor indeed to most of the Greeks. For, as we said, the knowledge of the existence of God is implanted in us by nature. But since the wickedness of the Evil One has prevailed so mightily against man’s nature as even to drive some into denying the existence of God, that most foolish and woe-fulest pit of destruction (whose folly David, revealer of the Divine meaning, exposed when he said, The fool said in his heart, There is no God), so the disciples of the Lord and His Apostles, made wise by the Holy Spirit and working wonders in His power and grace, took them captive in the net of miracles and drew them up out of the depths of ignorance to the light of the knowledge of God. In like manner also their successors in grace and worth, both pastors and teachers, having received the enlightening grace of the Spirit, were wont, alike by the power of miracles and the word of grace, to enlighten those walking in darkness and to bring back the wanderers into the way. — Book I, Chapter III
God, however, did not leave us in absolute ignorance. For the knowledge of God’s existence has been implanted by Him in all by nature. This creation, too, and its maintenance, and its government, proclaim the majesty of the Divine nature. Moreover, by the Law and the Prophets in former times and afterwards by His Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, He disclosed to us the knowledge of Himself as that was possible for us. All things, therefore, that have been delivered to us by Law and Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists we receive, and know, and honour, seeking for nothing beyond these. For God, being good, is the cause of all good, subject neither to envy nor to any passion. For envy is far removed from the Divine nature, which is both passionless and only good. As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable to bear He kept secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition. — Book I, Chapter I
For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. — Chapter V
Received this via my Christian Newswire news feed: Catholics and Protestants Urged to Come Together to Back Huckabee:
“Governor Mike Huckabee is the only candidate for President we can support with confidence,” said Douglas R. Scott, Jr., president of Life Decisions International (LDI). “I urge my Protestant brothers and sisters to join me in doing all they can to advance Mike Huckabee’s campaign.”
“We need to back a candidate who has a consistent record of supporting traditional values,” said Thomas C. Strobhar, chairman of LDI. “Mike Huckabee is that kind of candidate. I urge my Catholic brothers and sisters to join me in doing all they can to advance Mike Huckabee’s campaign.”
…
“I believe it is the responsibility of every pro-life/pro- family American to support a candidate that wholeheartedly supports life–without apology and without compromise,” Scott said. “While the only person I agree with on every issue is me, Mike Huckabee comes pretty close. And since his positions are faith-based, one can be sure he will not sell out the Pro-Life Movement the very lives of preborn children.”
“Pro-lifers have been used and abused by too many candidates that claim to be pro-life only at opportune times,” Strobhar said. “Mike Huckabee is not worried which way the political wind blows. He’s the real deal.”
“I am thrilled that there is a candidate I can enthusiastically endorse rather than holding my nose and supporting the ‘lesser of two evils’,” Scott said. “Mike Huckabee deeply and personally cares about these issues. He is the kind of candidate pro- family Democrats, Republicans and independents can support. The choice is clear; Mike Huckabee should be the next President of the United States.”
…
Life Decisions International (LDI) is dedicated to challenging the Culture of Death…
So I wonder if they support Mr. Huckabee’s idea of deporting all Palestinians (I guess that includes Christian Palestinians) out of Israel for points unknown in other “Arab lands.” In common terms that’s called ethnic cleansing (thanks to the Young Fogey for pointing to this).
I’m not feeling all that confident in a man who supports ethnic cleansing, deportations (and the deaths that sure accompany that sort of thing – people aren’t going voluntarily), and a continuing war in the Middle East involving our soldiers; a place we should never have gone and which we must leave forthwith.
Mr. Scott, you still have to hold your nose. The stench of death is still there – only its coming from the Middle East.
The Third Annual Blogs4Life Conference is scheduled for Tuesday, January 22, 2008 in Washington DC.
The Family Research Council is providing a first class meeting facility just a few blocks from the annual March for Life, the massive pro-life event which draws tens of thousands of pro-lifers (some estimate the crowd at well over 100,000) . A morning session is scheduled before the March with over a dozen well-known pro-life speakers including Kevin McCullough (MC), Jill Stanek, Judie Brown, Eric Scheidler, Barbara Curtis, Dawn Eden, Phill Kline, Michael New, Michael Illions, Maggie Datiles, Michelena Fredenburg, Peter Shinn and Rep. Chris Smith.
An afternoon session from Noon to 4 PM will be held in a luxurious room close to the Capitol building overlooking the March for Life. Internet access will be provided for live-blogging and a 50-inch flat screen monitor will broadcast the Rally and March for Life as it occurs. In addition, several pro-life leaders will be available for interviews and commentary.
If you plan to attend, please let us know by registering at Blogs4Life. Space in the afternoon session is limited and will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Yet we do speak a wisdom to those who are mature, but not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom
Today we enter the holy season of Septuagesima. Easter is only 70 days away. We jump right from Christmas joy to the contemplation of the Lenten journey which lies ahead.
Today we consider wisdom, and choices.
The Apostle Paul tells us that the Holy Church teaches wisdom. That’s a hard thing to accept.
It is hard to think that, until we realize that the wisdom, the truth that we teach, is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ as taught and preached by the Apostles, the Fathers, and our Bishops down to this day.
We teach what He taught. We desire what He desired. The Church desires that each and every person live in the truth. The Church desires that you and I surrender to Christ, and to the image of Christ in each other.
Brothers and sisters,
The Book of Sirach is a book of wisdom. Wisdom is truth boiled down to its simplest elements:
There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
We have choices to make. Paul tells us that the Church teaches wisdom. Wisdom tells us that we have a choice.
Our great and holy founder, Bishop Hodur taught the very same wisdom. People can come to us, to His Holy Church. If they find truth and light here they are welcome to stay. They are welcome to learn wisdom from the Holy Church. If they do not find it here, if their conscience leads them elsewhere, we hinder them not.
We desire that all come to the truth. Therefore we welcome all who come to seek the truth. We desire that all come to Christ, all those seeking, wishing to learn, desiring to love. Let them come here to find, to learn, and to love. Above all we desire that all form their conscience in accord with the wisdom of God – and in the end make the decision for Christ – to be more than church goers, to be Christ followers.
This weekend we held a rummage sale.
We held a rummage sale because, believe it or not, we are Christ followers. We found a means to raise a few dollars to help a member of the Holy Church in his ministry to the children of Iraq, children in the one of the very worst areas of Iraq.
We did not consider politics. We did not consider the fact that the children we serve may never fully know the reality of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We simply helped a man who bears the cross of Christ on his uniform; helping him witness to Christ.
As we walk through this holy season let us consider the ways in which we live as Christ followers. Let us examine our consciences in that regard. Jesus taught us that it is the state of the heart that matters. Our sins are more than the doing of the sin, they begin in the heart. He told us:
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
In other words, be honest through and through.
Let us hold Christ in our hearts. Let us live as Christ followers. Let us see Christ in every person on earth.
Wisdom is to follow Christ. Let that be our choice.
Amen.
O Thou who willingly dost give Thy flesh to me as food, Thou who art a Fire, consuming the unworthy, consume me not, O my Creator; but rather pass through all my body parts, into all my joints, my reins, my heart. Burn Thou the thorns of all my transgressions, cleanse my soul, and hallow Thou my thoughts. Make firm my knees, and my bones likewise; enlighten as one my five senses, establish me wholly in Thy fear; ever shelter me, and guard and keep me from every soul-corrupting deed and word, chasten me, purify me, and control me; adorn me, teach me, and enlighten me. Show me to be a tabernacle of Thy Spirit only, and in no wise the dwelling-place of sin, that from me, Thy habitation, through the entrance of Thy Communion, every evil deed and every passion may flee as from fire. As intercessors I bring to Thee all the saints, both the angelic leaders of the bodiless powers, Thy Fore-runner, and Thy wise Apostles; and besides these, Thine immaculate and chaste Mother; do Thou accept their prayers, my Christ, Who art compassionate, and make Thy servant to be a child of the light: For Thou alone, Good Lord, are the sanctification and splendor of our souls, and to Thee as God and Master, day by day, duly we all ascribe glory.
May Thy holy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, be unto me for life eternal, and thy precious Blood unto remission of my sins. May this Eucharist be unto me for joy, health, and gladness; and at Thy dread Second Coming make me, a sinner, worthy to stand at the right hand of Thy glory: through the intercessions of Thine all-immaculate Mother and of all Thy Saints.
Amen.