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Ignorance is Bliss
Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis) has presented
a budget that non partisanUS government auditing offices describe as destroying all entitlement programs of any kind. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, disability payments, child welfare, public schools and child care.
Savings go to tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Paul Ryan
hates all, yes all of Jesus' teachings. He hates Jesus. We have
many other God haters but the facebooking tweeting citizens
would rather see their own kids and parents die than put away their toys, grow up
and rally around God.
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Church
Fathers The
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians It is the Part of the Wicked to Vex the Righteous. You are fond of contention, brethren, and full of zeal about things which do
not pertain to salvation. Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit. Observe that
nothing of an unjust or counterfeit character is written in them. There you will not find that the righteous were cast off
by men who themselves were holy. The righteous were indeed persecuted, but only by the wicked. They were cast into prison,
but only by the unholy; they were stoned, but only by transgressors; they were slain, but only by the accursed, and such as
had conceived an unrighteous envy against them. Exposed to such sufferings, they endured them gloriously. For what shall we
say, brethren? Was Daniel cast into the den of lions by such as feared God? Were Ananias, and Azarias, and Michael shut up
in a furnace of fire by those who observed the great and glorious worship of the Most High? Far from us be such a thought!
Who, then, were they that did such things? The hateful, and those full of all wickedness, were roused to such a pitch of fury,
that they inflicted torture on those who served God with a holy and blameless purpose [of heart], not knowing that the Most
High is the Defender and Protector of all such as with a pure conscience venerate His all-excellent name; to whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen. But they who with confidence endured [these things] are now heirs of glory and honor, and have been
exalted and made illustrious by God in their memorial for ever and ever. Amen.
sociopath - a person, as a psychopathic personality,
whose behavior is
antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience. Start your reflection with Rep. Paul Ryan a man who re-crucifies Jesus every day.
Guarding the Gates of Hell
Imagine being a slave
and digging for diamonds from the age
of let's say six until you die at twenty-five of old age. It's happening NOW! Capitalism the religion of choice. There are more slaves today than there were one hundred years ago
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Somalia of American Empire
How Much Wealth Do The Economic Elite Have? While 68.3 million Americans struggle to get enough food to eat and wages are declining for 90 percent of the population, US millionaire household wealth has reached an unprecedented level. According to an extensive study by auditing and financial advisory firm Deloitte, US millionaire households now have $38.6 trillion in wealth. On top of
the $38.6 trillion this study reveals, they have an estimated $6.3 trillion hidden in offshore accounts. In total, US millionaire
households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth, the majority of thiswealth is held within the upper one-tenth
of one percent of the population.
David DeGraw, Alternet
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NarcissismSpirituality, American Style!
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No Pope, no bishop, no priest, no politician, no judge, certainly no lawyer,
no businessman, no banker, no one will stand up for justice. Bernie
Sanders of Vermont does. God be with Him.
Churches have
misunderstood.... They continue to be pathetic when they
are called to be prophetic!
Corporate Agenda to curse and blaspheme God
1. Destroy Social Security.2. Destroy Medicare. 3. Destroy Medicaide. 4. Destroy Disability Insurance.5. Destroy Unemployment Benefits.6. Destroy Minimum Wage. 7. Destroy workers rights to organize. 8. Destroy Food Stamps desperately needed by the hungry.
9. Destroy Public Schools and Education for our children.10. Destroy healthcare in every way, shape or form for anyone.11. Destroy private home ownership. 12. Destroy the Lords Day Buy! Buy! Buy! Demand and end to Faith Hope and Love13. Destroy your children through starvation, neglect and enforced ignorance. 14. Destroy the Family15. Destroy the climate, the oceans, the planet.
16. Destroy public transportation or any affordable means to get here to there.17. Destroy any effort to have billionaires pay any income tax.18. Destroy any effort to have billion dollar corporations pay any income tax.19. Wage eternal war on anyone we like!20. Eliminate Libraries21. Incarcerate or execute all immigrants and people of color. Because of item 21, far too many poor and middle class white Americans are passionately in step with REPUBLICAN
EVIL.Beware,
the Democrats aren't too far behind!
If any politician rebutts this agenda I will happily
publicize that rebuttal.(No one has taken me up on this offer. Hmm !)
When politics and sin converge and when politics and religion collide. God demands that we talk about it! Vague references to peace and justice are self-delusional and useless! Christianity
is dead without witness
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"A
just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons. It requires shared sacrifice
by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement
programs fairly. The moral measure of this budget debate is not which party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who are jobless, hungry, homeless,
or poor are treated."
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire
Bishop of Stockton
and Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development,
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
"Why should Christians care
about what the national budget does to the poor? Jesus understood his ministry as one which called on the community, again and again, to respond to the poverty around them. In Luke 4 Jesus says, "The Sprit of the Lord is upon me for He has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor."
These are words from Isaiah 61, and after reading them, Jesus announces that, in their hearing, that day these words were coming into being.
These words of Isaiah were
words spoken to the king - the governmental structure of his day. Jesus says my ministry is about announcing good news to the poor by calling on the nations of the world to do the justice that is good news to the poor. The Church has not always recognized the extensive presence in
the bible of the call to
economic justice in our national life. Sometimes we have gotten so concerned about our personal lives we have neglected this very point." Rev. Peg Chemberlin
President, National Council of Churches
Of the people, by the people, for the people now considered traitorous words in Washington. Obama, the Republicans and Democrats, Cowardly murderers of God's helpless Obama, Corporate Quisling The United States is a Corporate Dictatorship
of
Republidems
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Politicians who vote to cut Medicare
and Medicaid are
aligned with Satanic powers
and despise God. In the Name of
a loving and compassionate God, Flush Washington.
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What
is the Endpoint?
The most wonderful thing is that we willsucceed in bringing about God's Kingdomas the Lord's Prayer directs. That is God's promise and our hope.The Barons of wall street or
Big Business or "Free" Markets will
experience God's justice. The timing of that event is up to you and what you do for God and God's children.
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These animals (along with thousandsof bankers and hedgefund thieves) make upObamas circle. Satan worship in our Capital.
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Obama and Biden Savagely punishing the poorhour after hour day after day.A Golden Idol worshipper and a 'Catholic' War Monger............Shame!
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The
world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on
and do nothing.
Albert Einstein
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I
represent bankers,
wall street, corporate interests and Republicans. I am part of the new one party system in America.If it is for public good I am against
it.
If
it isn't dishonest or nuclear powered, If it isn't about war or destruction of the planet then I'm not interested.I am today's Herbert Hoover.
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Paul LePage (R-ME) sponsors
and passes a bill permitting
children to workas many hours
as demanded by companies (up
to 50 Hours!) for any pittance
they want to pay them. AnotherGOP
satanist legalizing slavery for our childrenOf course no one, including the children, cares.That is why they bold kill Jesus.
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| John Boehner |
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Big John is the House Leader representing Corporate America and the wealthy. He hates
families, old people, our children, the unemployed the sick and the helpless. He loves WAR, FAMINE, DISEASE, PESTULANCE, and PLANET RAPE. He OPPOSES ANY TAXES ON THE WEALTHY OR CORPORATIONS.He
is a monster like his buddies Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and like them laments
that he wasn't around two thousand years ago to crucify Jesus. He
can cry at the drop of a hat.... I wonderif
God will be impressed?
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The GOP and increasingly the Democratic Plan: Murder, enslave, incarcerate and kill the bottom
80% of Americans (then the bottom80%
of the world) and get the stupid, ignorant, Texting, Facebooking American citizens to do it to themselves to boot!
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Republicans wage war
against the
Sermon on the Mount, Compassion, Love and Justice ... in other words a war against God and Goodness!
See GOP worship of Evil. Click Here
"I give people Ayn Rand with trappings" - Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan (to Kim Klein of the Washington Post, 1970)
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GE
earned $14.2 billion in profits in 2010, but it paid not a penny in taxes. In fact, GE got a $3.2 billion tax
benefit. Is this God's sense of justice?
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Are you better off today than you were a decade ago?
Ronald Reagan 1980
Since 1980 have murdered 50+ million unborn babiesand we have murdered 2,000,000+ innocent muslimsand we have given all (30+ trillion dollars) to the military industrial complex and to the richest 5% of us at the expence of our own children and
their children and their children's
children. We are a dark people indeed.
Salvation is never beyond hope. It is Jesus we need now more than ever.
Repent means to turn, can
we do that in time to save the world?
So,
the wealth gap gets worse and so does the pay gap: The wage gap between the
top 100 CEOs and workers
"Let's microchip illegal
immigrants so we can track
them like lost dogs." Pat Bertroche , GOP physician running for Congress in
Iowa.
"How about we put down land mines to get them at the border?" Tom Mullins, GOP candidate New Mexico "Looks like to me, if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works, maybe we have found a (solution) to our illegal
immigration problem.
Better yet, let's shoot them down from helicopters like hogs." GOP Kansas State Rep Virgil Hogs
This
will succeed because most Americans spend their time texting, tweeting, facebooking, vigorously supporting war and murder playing violent video games looking for the next relationship and hating any race or culture that isn't their's. They support gun ownership and Global
Warming.They are mostly ignorant,
selfish, cowardly and ignorant and are happy to be that way.
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When will
churches support the people and call this whole Corporate
War on the poor the evil that it is.Perhaps that is why churches are empty and priest
are known for their prowess in pedophilia and once savedalways saved clergy present a twisted sinful Christianity.
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A Prayer for the End of Insanity Dear Lord, Your people suffer and die at the hands of those who hate you or
do not know you. Trillions and trillions of dollars go to thieves in thebanking industry,
defense behemoths that kill for pleasure and companies that are in league with the
darkness of mass murder for profit. We approach an irreversable climate catastrophe
and no one tells us.We destroy our own species with indifference. Instead of generosity
we hear that the poor must pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Send us your saving
light that we may understand this path as the Godless darkness that it is and help us become once again your children and your community.
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One Million Iraqi Civilians (including 500,000 babies) killed by U.S. Sanctions after Gulf War I.
Over one million Iraqi civilians killed since post 9-11 U.S. invasion.
Anthropogenic Extinction The irreversible end of our species. Imagine
that?And nobody cares. Politicians
are proudly gutting the EPA and nowbody cares.Nothing is being done about climate change because nobody cares. Destroying God's creation is anti-God.
Imagine....One percent of the population owns 34% of the wealth and the next 9% owns another 38%. They own the news you are permitted to hear and see.
They own the climate that will kill 2 BILLION people in the next
50 years. They
own YOU but more importantly they own and intend to destroy your children, your planet. Doesn't that bother you? Are you that
spiritually dead? Do Ruppert Murdoch, the Walton family or the Koch brothers or others of their ilk fashion your destiny? Do
you even know who they are? Do you let them control your own salvation? Think about it.
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American (Global) Corporations Dream
of America Corporations are not people though they rape, kill, pillage and burn like evil folks do then destroy humanity for profit. Stunning!
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| Detroit |
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The Miracle of our Tabernacle
Our Wonderful New Home in Trainer!
Deo Gratias!
The Christmas Altar
A Christmas Welcome
Windows to the World
And you shall find him ...laying in a manger
Rev. Bernie Callahan, Pastor
Church of the Beatitudes (Pennsylvania)
Breakfast at Lansdowne's famous
"Doyles" restaurant!
The Arms and Legs of Christ
Our Fifth Year
The Feast of the Assumption
Aug 15, 2007
Happy Anniversary!
Church Dedication February 3, 2008
A Church Dedicated ..... to YOU!
The Bishop Comes Knocking
All Are Welcome
Bishop Chuck and Bishop
Ken Denski
The Blessing Begins
The Altar
The Baptistry
The Crucifix
The Community!!
Homily
An Important Message From Our Bishop
Yesterday I listened to the pain and desperation of a young mother whose husband's paycheck had been garnished by a subsidiary
of CitiBank. In light of the current corporate bailout, I could not help but recall Jesus' description of a very similar situation
in Matthew 18, as well as the reaction of the kingdom to such behavior. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, after having
his own very large debt cancelled, the debtor then had another servant thrown into prison for the inability to repay a small
debt.
The bailout has thus far proved itself to be nothing less than another opportunity for the banking interest to practice unmitigated
greed. Instead of using the money given them to reopen retail credit markets, they have generally used the windfall to acquire
other banks and financial institutions. Many of bailout beneficiaries, including CitiBank, continue to operate highly profitable
predatory subsidiaries such as check cashing companies, payday loan companies and title loan companies that exploit the poor.
Each day more families, even those with young children, are being put on the street. Modest homes are being foreclosed at
an alarming rate. The wages of the poor are being garnished like never before to pay judgments obtained by bailout beneficiaries.
Instead of protecting the poor, the courts are continuing to facilitate these atrocities.
In the area around our Tampa Church, many families live in tents while several dozen boarded up foreclosed homes stand empty.
The Church cannot remain silent in the face of such suffering in our midst! To do so would make the Church irrelevant. To
do so would be to forget the priorities and example of Jesus. To do so would be to deny the presence of God with the suffering
poor. In its greatest periods, the Church, instead of simply accepting the worldly order, has always challenged the secular
order at point after point. Look again at the 17th chapter of Acts. It says that the early Christians were looked upon as
subversives who were turning the world from Caesar to another king, Christ. Consequently, it was said of them, "These are
the people who have turned the world upside down". If they had listened to the words of Jesus' mother in the Magnificat they
would have known this all along.
This bishop, with the approval of church leaders of various denominations, asked that a moratorium be placed on the foreclosure
of owner occupied homes under $70,000 in value until the benefits of the bailout could trickle down to the working poor. No
positive response has been received.
I believe God's poor should wait no longer for OUR response. The Church must stand in solidarity with them. I will be attending
several foreclosure hearings each week and telling the judges and lawyers that what they are doing is wrong. I also plan to
stand between the families and the police as a non violent witness when families are evicted from modest foreclosed homes.
I urge you to follow this example and to join with me. It is possible that if it takes twenty or thirty sheriff's deputies
to carry out one eviction, perhaps the authorities and the banks may be moved by publicity to slow down the process and make
an effort to renegotiate predatory mortgages.
Bishop Chuck Leigh
11/30/08
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Who Built
the Ark?
Coloring the Ark.... a
big job!
Anticipation
At the end of the day it's
about friendship
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"Faced with oppression, pillage, and abandonment, our response is life....It is a new and splendid utopia of life, where no
one can decide for others how they will die, where love will be certain and happiness possible, and where those condemned
to a hundred years of solitary confinement find, finally and forever, a second chance on this earth."
G. Garcia Marquez
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Romero Center, Camden New Jersy
Spring Meeting, Apostolic Catholic Church
Thank You Larry, Mike, Megan, Teresa, Sherine,
Holly, Margaret, Rosa and Eddie....Good food, Good Spirit,
Good Friendship....God's Grace!
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Bishop unanimously re-elected to another six year term
Bishop Chuck Leigh
Click Here To See Pictures of the Meeting
All the world's a song with Brother Andy Kukec at the piano!
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Easter 2009
The New Fire
The New Waters
Madison finds the Golden Egg!
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|
| Homeless man |
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| Homeless and mentally ill woman |
Can
you stretch your heart sufficiently to see Jesus here?
We, as a nation, collectively made a decision to move all "non-dangerous" mentally ill from safe hospitals to our mean and
cold streets. We also created a situation where "old" means used up (instead of wise) and now this man and woman have zero
chance of meaningful survival in our country.
Jesus cries out throughout the gospel for social justice.
Yes!! All are welcome!
A Family Affair
Fun for all!
Michelle directs activities
Happiness is a warm iced tea
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Brothers and Sister
of the Apostolic Catholic Church,
As your bishop I
spoke with the Israeli Consul General and his senior staff about the Israeli bombing in Gaza.
I expressed the sadness of Apostolic Catholics over the loss of Israeli lives from rocket attacks. I pointed out the vast disproportion in the Israeli action in Gaza.
I made known the sadness of Apostolic Catholics over the appalling loss of life and the suffering of those in Gaza. I communicated the utter outrage of the President of the Florida Council of
Churches over bombing and shelling of densely populated civilian areas. The staff
promised to send my written remarks on to the Foreign Minister.
I am not so naïve
as to think one short visit with mid-level officials will have any effect on Israeli policy.
But perhaps many visits by many people might have some effect. More importantly for us we, as the people of God, cannot
remain silent while others suffer. We must witness to the reality that we live
by different standards which do not permit mass killing and deprivation. Simply
because the suffering people are far away and may believe differently from us
does not give us leave to stop loving them. When we truly love another we are
saddened and perhaps outraged by their suffering. When we love them as ourselves
we share in their suffering.
Bishop Chuck Leigh
12/31/08
Rev. Mr. Craig Holderbaum
Went to the Lord April 29, 2009
RIP
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Faces in the Crowd
The old man with bushy concerned eyebrows says "things are not good at the moment."
The dirty blonde looking so very tired through bloodshot eyes smiles a protective, fearful and sardonic smile.
The wide happy eyes of a simpleton react to this momentary gifted place in time.
The rotted grin of one who has been meth-odized and eternally condemned by our types.
The old embarrassed couple, she guarding him and him her confused and fearful of the circumstance. "We lost our house you
see."
The skinny, pale black man turned gray by approaching calamity, guards his plate.
The craggy face of a worn old Lady who is street bound for being a societal failure.
The young man is tough, rebellious and dysfunctional with no one to listen or care.
Jesus is there wherever I turn. He gazes curiously at me, expectant of me, anticipating God knows what and I fail to acknowledge.
Oh dear God .....not again.
Dear God how will I ever come to know you!
Thoughts from our outreach program this night of August 5, 2007 here in America. How blessed am I to have parishioners who
can see.
"Ignorance and Want" the endgame of the "NeverEnding Story"
Christmas 2004
I came across the "NeverEnding Story" as I sifted through my VHS archives several weeks ago. On impulse I popped
it into the player and sat back to watch it for the first time in many years. It turned out to be an unnerving an experience
as I realized that it had moved from a prophetic to a post historic film.
If you are not familiar with the movie then get it and become familiar. Briefly it tells the story of a fairy tale place
called "Fantasia" where imagination and creativity flourish and nourish ever expanding vistas in the human mind.
Fantasia is under an assault by a dark and sinister force called the "Nothing" that steals the very breath from
this world leaving the emptiness of ignorance in its wake. Fantasia must depend on the faith and heart of a child for its
survival.
In the span of a few decades, our own country, if not the world, is threatened by a similar evil, cloaked in darkness
and anger, claiming that imagination, creativity, freedom of thought and inclusion of all life's stories is hideous and vile.
Already it has sucked the life breath of history and culture and literature and music and spirit. In my lifetime the histories
and stories of Vietnam, Cambodia, South Africa, Russia, South America, Black Americans, Babylon, the Arabian Nights and Arab
peoples to name a few have disappeared. Anywhere where aspirations and hopes and cultures have advanced civilization, their
stories are not to be heard anymore. The history and geography of peoples have been muted into the political "scientology"
of banal multimedia .
Good scholarship has surrendered to masonic folklore, De Vinci Codes and the partial truthing and false generalizing of
anything imaginable. Good screenplay is now "The Apprentice", "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", "Survivors"
or "A" through "Z" CSI formats. Spirituality is the realm of hack psychologists or self- helpers with
all the depth of a puddle. News is now the self-serving hype and gratuitous, angry, nasty propaganda of the power brokers.
Of course all schools are Universities now, towers of learning, expanding the minds of youth for the next spring break. Business
schools bob and weave in this post business world created by their outsourcing of a nations very soul. Centers of learning
are European or Asian now, look at test scores. How many truly excellent books, plays, movies or songs have you experienced
this lifetime? Let's be honest.
Does an enlightened populous vote against social safety nets for the poor, healthcare, public education and public transportation?
Does an enlightened nation ignore 150 million that will die of AIDS, 45 million children who will starve or even worse live
this year? Does a civilization willfully destroy it's flora and fauna? it's environment? It's planet? It's own children? Is
God about secret coding, lost manuscripts and logistic maneuvering of nation states on the fields of Armageddon? Have we no
bastion of good to be our Bastian? (read the book) Perhaps some will be jolted and challenged this Christmas season if they
watch the appalled Ebenezer Scrooge asks Christmas Present to whom these two children, ignorance and want, belong.
'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for
on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writings be erased. Deny it.' Cried the Spirit, stretching out its
hand towards the city. Slander those who tell ye.'
Perhaps a little fear would help.
07/15/04 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Let's not keep God waiting
The church calendar may say so but "ordinary time" it is not. What time do we
think it really is?
Some would say that it is time for the return of Jesus Christ and that the chaos swirling around
us portends that very event. They would even be willing even active contributors to that chaos, they would facilitate
the climate changes, start the wars and allow the famines and suffering that can then be interpreted as "signs" of the imminent
return of Christ. Manipulating God has been an obsession with humanity since the fall.
I look at photos of suffering
souls in South America and Iraq, on the horn of Africa and on the Indian sub-continent and Asia. The faces that stare back
at me are not ever nameless. Brother and sister , mother and father, son and daughter they cause me great pain but not
such pain as theirs. I see the face of the Suffering Servant, the Redeemer, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. These poor, these
needy, these hurt and dying Christs, need not worry of accepting Jesus as personal Savior as some bankrupt heretics would
have it. Jesus is one with them in their agony and closer to them than to the sinful such as me. Jesus waits as He has since
He created all of this. Patiently waiting for us to recognize Him is, indeed, the eloquence of this benevolent God.
He
waits for that recocognition that never seems to come from us. We who feel so comfortably close to Him. This Jesus
who lives in our fears and in our angers and in our hates and in our often desperate weariness continues to wait ........
for He is the Christ!
Perhaps one day we will pool our pathetic accumulations of grace and be able
for the first time to see how bright is the light of this God and how truly in opposition that light is to the darkness
of our greed and pettiness. Then we shall be able, through that admission, to enter into the light and be changed by It forever!
Jesus is so far above our primitive thoughts and schemes and yet
to simply love Him brings His eternal embrace. Why is that so difficult for us?
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