Peace to You!

Many people love making the peace sign as a greeting. In reality, simply using the phrase "peace to you" conveys a huge message. The peace as part of the liturgy in church goes back to the early church. In fact, St. Paul began almost all of his letters in the canon with the phrase “Grace to you and peace...." Using peace as a greeting is a huge deal, if you ask me. The Western Church just celebrated Easter this past Sunday, and the Eastern Church celebrates it this coming Sunday. One of the first things Jesus said to the disciples after his resurrection was actually the phrase “Peace to you." My point in saying all this is that we need to keep on saying it until the whole world says it together and means it. When this act becomes a reality in words, it will quite possibly also become a reality in the lives of all human beings.

Since it is Easter, I wanted to share a reading from the Gospel of Luke in which Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection. The reading is found in Luke 24:36-53, and is in quotes below:

"[36] As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them.

[37] But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit.

[38] And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts?

[39] See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have."

[41] And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"

[42] They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

[43] and he took it and ate before them.

[44] Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled."

[45] Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

[46] and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

[47] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

[48] You are witnesses of these things.

[49] And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."

[50] Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.

[51] While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.

[52] And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

[53] and were continually in the temple blessing God (RSV Bible)."

I hope everyone enjoyed reading this portion of the Scriptures. Happy Easter and blessings! Peace to you!

Reference:

Bible, Revised Standard Version

A Holy Week Post

Since this week is Holy Week I wanted to share something on here. I felt that the Gospel reading from this past Sunday would be appropriate. I hope everyone is having a pleasant and reflective week. The reading is from the Gospel of Mark. Blessings!

Mark 15:1-39

[1] And as soon as it was morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate.

[2] And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." 

[3] And the chief priests accused him of many things. 

[4] And Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you." 

[5] But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate wondered. 

[6] Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked.

[7] And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barab'bas. 

[8] And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he was wont to do for them. 

[9] And he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 

[10] For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 

[11] But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barab'bas instead. 

[12] And Pilate again said to them, "Then what shall I do with the man whom you call the King of the Jews?" 

[13] And they cried out again, "Crucify him." 

[14] And Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him." 

[15] So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barab'bas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 

[16] And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion.

[17] And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. 

[18] And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 

[19] And they struck his head with a reed, and spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him. 

[20] And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 

[21] And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

[22] And they brought him to the place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull). 

[23] And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it. 

[24] And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 

[25] And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. 

[26] And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 

[27] And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 

[29] And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 

[30] save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 

[31] So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 

[32] Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 

[33] And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

[34] And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "E'lo-i, E'lo-i, la'ma sabach-tha'ni?" which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 

[35] And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Eli'jah." 

[36] And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Eli'jah will come to take him down." 

[37] And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. 

[38] And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 

[39] And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

Reference:

Bible: Revised Standard Version

A Brief Video Clip on the Sudarium of Oviedo

Back on Sunday, September 19, 2010, I wrote a post titled: The Sudarium of Oviedo and The Shroud of Turin. This relevant brief video clip discusses the Sudarium. I just wanted to share with those of you that are fascinated by this subject. I hope you enjoy watching! Blessings! Please follow the link below.



Did this cloth cover Jesus' face after crucifixion? - CNN Video




Reference:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/02/25/finding-jesus-shroud-4.cnn/video/playlists/finding-jesus/

Unifying the Faith: The Names of the 21 Heroes

Hello, and I hope that we are all having a good month of February. This is a very brief post. I simply wanted to share a new post from my other blog, so that everyone has a chance to read it. The link to the article is below. I hope you enjoy reading it. Blessings!
 
the Faith: The Names of the 21 Heroes

Attacked for Speaking Truth by Bill Tammeus

When it comes to politics I consider myself a moderate. On some issues I am on the right, and I am more to the left on others. When it comes to theology I am about the same. I am somewhere along the Via Media, one might say. This blog is supposedly about defending the Faith; however, what has been the representation of our Faith historically by certain so called believers in our historical past often times cannot really be defended because their actions were contrary to what the foundations of our Faith are all about. In fact, there are many illustrations of those contrary actions of which I speak. On December 12^th, 2010, I posted an article titled: The Crusades. The Crusades were a good example of those actions or events in history that cannot really be defended as a positive representation of what Christianity should be all about simply based on how Jesus said we should act or behave as his followers. The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain is another good example. Moreover, there are many times in our past that Christians have misrepresented the Faith by committing horrendous acts. During the Crusades Western Christians did not only fight Muslims, they also killed Eastern Christians and looted Constantinople. Christians also have a history of burning people. On October 27th, 1553, John Calvin had Michael Servetus, a known Spanish physician of his day burned at the stake just outside of Geneva because of his different doctrinal beliefs. Centuries ago, Spanish Christians burned many natives such as Hatuey in Cuba because they did not convert. The list goes on and on.  It is almost miracle the Faith has survived for 2000 years because some of those documented events were evil and dark, if you ask me. Well, Christianity survived because most of the time believers have done far more good than bad. However, this does not mean that we can deny or ignore what some have called an “inglorious past.” So, what is with all the Christianity bashing on this post, you might ask? Well, this brings me to a post I wanted to share that is a mixture of politics and religion…one of the two best topics to bring up anywhere which normally results in a heated dispute…lol.

The article I want to share was posted on February 10^th, 2015 by Bill Tammeus on his blog, Bill's 'Faith Matters' Blog, and it is titled: Attacked for speaking truth. The article is about President Obama, and how he has been attacked verbally by many for something he said during the National Prayer Breakfast last week. Of course, if you ask me what many have repeated that he said was really taken out of context for the purpose of politicizing, and that is not very Christian-like to start with…. What I like about the article written by Bill Tammeus is that he tells us what the President said clearly. I am sharing it because I want you to read and form your own opinion. I am not one who sides with the President on many issues, although I do agree on some. Anyhow, it was a great article! I really think the ones that made the criticisms are either very ignorant or they just like to politicize issues for their own convenience since they know many Americans are too lazy and do not bother reading an entire speech by the president. Many simply assume the person making the comments would never lie to them. I especially like the comment Bill made about what the president was really doing when he said what he said. The comment was the following: "It was exactly the right point to make at a prayer breakfast. In effect, he was mirroring Jesus when he told someone to remove the log from his own eye before attempting to remove the speck from someone else's eye. A little humility about our religious history is always in order." Anyhow, if you need a Scripture reference for this passage mentioned by Bill, it can be found in the Gospel of Mathew 7:3-5 or in Luke Chapter 6. Bill said at the start of his article: "I wish I could say I'm surprised at some of the blowback President Obama has been receiving from politicians and certain religious leaders to his remarks last week at the National Prayer Breakfast. I’m not. It's what we've come to expect from the far right of both politics and religion. But even if I'm not surprised, I am appalled." Behind all the criticism what was going on was not even propaganda, in my opinion, it was a lie that was being told. In the end, what really ended up happening was that the President asked for new authority to use force against ISIS. Read all about it: "White House to ask Congress for new authority to use force against Islamic State: http://reut.rs/1CRjV9B. " I really don’t want to get side tracked because I really want you to read the article by Bill Tammeus, and see why I thought it was a really great article. The link to it is below. 

Attacked for speaking truth: 2-10-15 (Bill's 'Faith Matters' Blog)




Reference:

http://billtammeus.typepad.com/my_weblog/2015/02/2-10-15.html

Is Access to God Only Through Jesus?

I simply had to share this second video ever posted on my blog. It is a very short, 2 minute and 45 second clip.The video is of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church speaking a few years ago. In the video she seems to be addressing the topic of Soteriology. Moreover, she seems to be addressing the question: if access to God must be through Jesus? At this point in my life as a Christian, I completely agree with her view. I am sharing because it is my understanding that an out of context quote in The New York Times seems to have upset some. I hope you enjoy watching. Blessings!

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IxG96wpx60

Is the only way to God through Jesus? - YouTube

Another Christmas Has Passed

The Feast of the Nativity According to the Flesh of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ is behind, and another year is now yet to come. The question in my mind is still that it has been nearly 2000 years since Jesus’ birth and yet it is possible we do not really fully know or understand why He came. Isaiah 1:3 in the JPS Tanakh reads as follows:

"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider."

Of course, many claim that they know why He came, and that they know who He was. Some say he was The Messiah, some say He was the Son of God, some say He was the Second Adam, and some say many other things. But, is it possible that the ox and the ass in that manger knew what we still to this day do not know? The German Theologian, Paul Tillich, once said: "Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith." Perhaps, on this journey of faith we are slowly beginning to know, but are yet very far from knowing, although we may think we know. Jeremiah 4:22 in the JPS Tanakh reads as follows:

“For My people is foolish, they know Me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”

The Gospel of Mathew in Chapter 16: 13-17 in the RSV Bible reads as follows:

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven…’”

Some read the passage, and are convinced they understand; however, others read and ask for understanding. Blessings and a prosperous new year are what I desire for all of you! I also hope that we never stop asking questions with the hope that perhaps one day we will know.

References:

JPS Tanakh

RSV Bible