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From RC @ USA   [Published on March 30th]

I am not interested in the Mayans, but I was perusing the links to see what was there.

I was reflecting on this "Mayan" craze.  The new Mel Gibson movie is about Mayan sacrifice.  Another piece of uplifting entertainment I am sure.

 

I was also thinking today, I am troubled by the number of ordinary people who are totally oblivious to what is happening.  I am very concerned about these people amending their lives and besides praying and doing what I can to lead a better life as an example, I am not sure what else to do.

Logically, this means THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE LOST.  However, it would seem that God would not want this, and I wonder if at the moment of death, these people see the light and are saved.  If not for this kind of miracle, it would seem that only a tiny fraction of humanity will be saved.  That would be sad.

 I somehow cannot believe that God would allow this.  I have no right to judge what God wants, but at this late date, if we continue on our current trajectory, most people will not find God.  The other concept which I am sure that you know is that it is best if you know God, BEFORE you have a problem, since it is easier to approach Him.  I should stop worrying, but it is a concern.  When I have a concern it helps me to think harder to see if there is anything else I might be able to do.

 

I realize that the path is the narrow gate, but it seems such a waste that so many will not make it.  I am hoping that God provides some kind of window of Mercy at the end.  I'd like to think that He has done that for preceding generations since none of them had any apocalypse in their faces.

 

Bush is about to send the US over the edge.

 

Peace.

RC

 

From Initials VR @ Dubai   [Published on March 26th]

Was it not Judas who was disturbed with the nard being poured on the feet of the Lord? Was it not he who grumbled that it could instead have been sold and the money given to charity? [John 12: 4-5]

Now it is worse. They sell blasphemy (Archer's "The Gospel of Judas") and give the money to the poor!

May God Bless us all,

VR

From Initials LP @ USA   [Published on March 25th - Feast of The Annunciation]

This hymn (*) reminds me of what I see in the "Divine Encouragement" posts.

This particular song gave me consolation in the winter of 1978-1979, when I had done a story about some far-left criminals in Oregon, and was catching hell from leftists in town for what I had published.

It was in the summer of 1978 that I had returned to Christ, and began going to church again after a 13-year lapse, and as I worked on that awful story that winter, I prayed a lot ... and got the divine assistance that the song describes.
_________________________
(*) How Firm a Foundation

From Initials Withheld @ USA   [Published on March 20th]

   

"Riveting and plausible."
--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"I have read it and like it very much indeed!"
--Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury

"I am writing to both of you together to offer my congratulations for the work that you are doing, and which should do a great deal of good."
--Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Archbishop emeritus of Milan and former rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute

"I share with you the hope that it may lead many more people to turn to the four Gospels and to present a compassionate Jesus."
--Denis J Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne"

And the news page indicates that the RC Cathedral of Westminster will host a debate early on:

Jeffrey Archer | News & Events

Quote:

"Appearance at Westminster Cathedral
On Wednesday 21 March at 6:30pm, there will be a lecture and debate on The Gospel According to Judas, with Jeffrey and Professor Moloney at Cathedral Hall, Westminster Cathedral, Ambrosden Avenue, SW1.

To attend, please contact Louise Crumley at l o u i s e c @ c o l m a n g e t t y . c o . u k ."

===================================

Here is the latest story in the London Telegraph.  The lead graf says that the book will be launched in Rome today.  Remember that this is the British press; we will know soon enough.

Telegraph newspaper online

Here are the key parts of the long article, with bold added:

"As Jeffrey Archer's new book is launched in Rome today, Peter Stanford asks the former jailbird what drew him to the bad boy of the gospels"

and

"How about Judas as scapegoat then, I suggest? Archer's new book presents the errant apostle as someone as much sinned against by subsequent Christian scribes, anxious to paint him in the blackest light, as he himself ever "sinned" against Jesus. Does Archer feel a connection because he has, some have argued, been scapegoated as the epitome of Tory rule in the 1980s when he was deputy chairman and a star fund-raiser for Margaret Thatcher?"

Senders Comments in brackets:

 [So Archer was a "deputy chairman and star fund-raiser for Margaret Thatcher"!  This is a very important item:

1.  It establishes that Archer is a conservative, not a "pinko-liberal"

2. Thatcher was a close collaborator with Reagan and, later, Gorbachev

3. As I recall, when Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, for the first day or two George HW Bush was NOT taking a hard line against the attack.  It is as if he was following through on the "wink-wink" that Ambassador Glasspie supposedly to Saddam earlier that year, when Saddam hinted at his plans.  But Thacher was firmly anti-Saddam as soon as the invasion occurred, and (I believe) that it was her intervention that stiffened Bush the Elder's resolve to oppose the invasion.  (Note: I don't have sources; this is just based on what I recall from the period.)

4.  Given points 1-3 above, it seems likely that Archer is a part of the social circle of key NWO players. ]

Back to the quotes from the Telegraph story.  The interviewer asked:

"Might it just be then, I persist, that his patent wish in the text to rehabilitate Judas has something to do with his own desire to be rehabilitated?"

and Archer replied:

"Go boil your head." It's said in a good-humoured way. Almost. "I'm writing a new novel. I've just been offered a new television series. I'm travelling to Rome and America next week. What else do I want? No thank you."

then

"How deep this new, humbler streak goes will be tested today when Archer stages the "global launch" of The Gospel According to Judas in Rome."

and

"The project was stalled until two years ago. "I was having sausage and mash at the pub with Father Michael Seed and I mentioned my idea and he said, 'Oh Jeffrey, you must meet Cardinal Martini..'"

Father Seed is, of course, the Roman Catholic priest and friend of the Blairs who is well-known for working with high-profile converts to the Church such as Ann Widdecombe and John Gummer. It was through Martini, a former Archbishop of Milan, once the great hope of liberal Catholics as the successor to Pope John Paul II, but now living in retirement, that Archer was put in touch with the priest who is his co-author.

In the past, the uncharitable have suggested Archer's string of best-selling novels, dating back to Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, which rescued him from bankruptcy in the 1970s, are not all his own work. On The Gospel According to Judas, he is a proud to have landed such a distinguished collaborator as the Australian Catholic theologian and long-time papal adviser, Father Francis Moloney, whom Archer calls "Frank".

Why was he so anxious about academic credibility? "I guess it's being married to an academic [Mary Archer taught chemistry at Cambridge]." The book itself - he is keen that it is not called a novel but a gospel - is an impressive piece of scholarship, with a nine-page glossary. "That was Frank's work," Archer says modestly. "I just got him to cut it down from 30 pages so the masses wouldn't get bogged down in it."

There is no sensationalism in The Gospel According to Judas, and little controversy. The suggestion that Judas did not regard Jesus as the Messiah come to save humankind but rather as a saviour to liberate the Israelites from Roman occupation is a standard one in academic discourse. Even the presentation is disarmingly straight. Despite Archer's previous literary reputation, he will certainly not be facing any accusations of blasphemy. One of his friends, he reports, has even called it boring.."

========================================

And here is a current story from the Australian press:

Judas goes to rehab - Books - Entertainment - theage.com.au

Key quotes:

"I am talking to Francis J. Moloney, a man who wears several impressive hats. He is one of the most respected biblical scholars in the world. He is head of the Australian Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco, an order of Catholic priests dedicated to helping young people in trouble. He is also, in one of the most unlikely cultural pairings since Kylie Minogue recorded with Nick Cave, the collaborator with Jeffrey Archer in a new book, The Gospel According to Judas."

and Moloney says of himself:

"I'm expecting trouble from the extreme right and the extreme left," he says. "The problem is the right are in power. George Pell will be annoyed by this. But I think I can handle these people, I'm an internationally accepted scholar."

Indeed he is. The author of almost 40 books, many on the gospels, Moloney served for 18 years on the International Theological Commission to the Holy See. His positions have included professor of New Testament at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC and president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.

There were dozens of gospels written in the first few centuries after Christ's death, but Moloney says: "They were never intended to be a factual history of Jesus. Most of what the gospels say happened did happen. But certain major elements are the fruit of the imagination of the preaching church. They're narratives composed of memories and stories, with the objective of showing what God had done for us through the life of Jesus Christ."

Why did the four gospels in the New Testament survive? Moloney says it's because they best addressed the issues readers were trying to grapple with at the time the early church established a canon.

At least some of the issues we're grappling with are different from those that preoccupied the first and second centuries, so maybe we need a new gospel to reflect this?

From JC @ USA   [Published on March 18th]

From WO @ USA   [Published on March 18th]

"Cardinal" Egan has once again shown his true demonic colors by tricking the Manhattan pastor of the only remaining Lithuanian national parish to come to the Chancery for a meeting with Egan....... so that hired goons, on Egan's authority, could change the locks on the Church of Our Lady of Vilnius. Fr. Eugene Sawicki. J.C.L. returned to find himself locked out of his rectory! And the church is now, abruptly closed.

 

 

While the parish is small and non resident in the area (it never was a Lithuanian neighborhood, the people came from all over the city), it was financially self supporting, to the best of my knowledge. The building sit in the VERY trendy Soho neighborhood, surrounded by the residences, flesh pots, galleries, and clubs of the glitterati...... like Robert De Niro and other Hollywood personas. It is simply very valuable real estate which Egan desires to sell for millions to fill the Diocesan coffers........ and likely to pay off sex abuse legal expenses too.

 

What makes this even sicker is that Egan met with and received pleas from the the Consul General and President of Lithuania, both via letter and a personal meeting with the Consul General!

 

May Egan come to repentance before he goes to meet Christ!

  P.S. The complete story


From Initials Withheld @ USA   [Published on March 12th]

It seems that Jeffrey Archer - Publisher of The Gospel of Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (to be released on March 20th) - would get on well with those in the Vatican who fabricated the version of the Third Secret of Fatima. From his Wikipedia bio: (*)
  

Archer had been selected by the Conservative Party as their candidate for the London mayoral election of 2000. He was forced to withdraw from the race when it was revealed that he was facing a charge of perjury.

In November 1999 Ted Francis, a friend (who claimed Archer owed him money) and Archer's former personal assistant Angela Peppiatt (whom Archer had been semi-maintaining) claimed that he had fabricated an alibi in the 1987 trial. They were apparently concerned that Archer was standing as Mayor of London and doubted that he was suitable for the post. The personal secretary had apparently kept a secret diary of Archer's movements. This formed the basis of the case against Archer.

The News of the World printed the allegations on 21 November 1999 and William Hague, the Conservative Party leader, forced Archer to withdraw as the Party's Mayoral candidate the following day. Hague said "This is the end of Politics for Jeffrey Archer. I will not tolerate such behaviour in my party".^[6] On 8 October he had described Archer as a candidate of "Probity and integrity. I'm going to back him all the way" at the Conservative party conference. Hague was never keen on Archer's running for the job in the first place^{[citation needed]} but as Archer was voted top of the poll by the Conservative associations he backed him.

On 4 February 2000 Archer was expelled from the Conservative Party for five years. On 26 September 2000 he was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice (i.e., obstruction of justice) during the 1987 libel trial.

A few months before the beginning of the perjury trial, Archer began performing in the star role in a courtroom play (which he also wrote) called The Accused. The play was staged at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket and concerns the court trial of an alleged murderer from beginning to end. While its plot appeared to have been largely borrowed from a 1950s film, Witness for the Prosecution (based on a play by Agatha Christie), the play used the innovation of assigning the role of jury in the trial to the audience, with theatre-goers voting on whether Archer's character was innocent or guilty at the end of each night's performance. The trick of using a jury from the audience was previously used in 1934 by Ayn Rand in her play "Night of January 16". Archer would attend his real trial during the day and be judged in his fictional trial at the theatre in the evening.

The real life trial began on 30 May 2001. On 19 July 2001 Lord Archer was found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice at the 1987 trial. He was sentenced to a total of four years' imprisonment by Mr. Justice Potts. The most ironic aspect of his trial was that he had fabricated the alibi for the wrong date. Archer never spoke during the trial. Ted Francis was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Archer's mother died on 11 July 2001 aged 87, and he was released for the day on 21 July to attend the funeral.

Archer originally was sent to Belmarsh Prison, but was moved to the category "C" Wayland Prison in Norfolk on 9 August 2001, and to HMP North Sea Camp, an open prison in October 2001. From there he was let out to work at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln, England, and was allowed occasional home visits. Reports in the media, which showed a continuing interest in him, claimed that he had been abusing this privilege by attending lunches with friends, and in September 2002 he was transferred to Lincoln Prison for a month.

In October 2002 Archer repaid the Daily Star the £500,000 damages he had received in 1987, as well as legal costs of £1 million (under the British legal system, losing claimants must re-pay the defendant's legal costs). That month, he was suspended from Marylebone Cricket Club for seven years for his behaviour.

On 21 July 2003 he was released on licence, after serving half of his sentence, from HMP Hollesley Bay, Suffolk. In September 2003, the government announced reforms that would prevent convicted criminals from serving in the House of Lords; supporters argued that other peers sent to prison, such as Lord Kagan, were not stripped of their titles. Those reforms have yet to be implemented.

Many of Lord Archer's friends remained loyal to him. He and Lady Archer were invited guests to the Memorial Service for Norris McWhirter at Saint Martin-in-the-Fields on Thursday, 7 October 2004 where they were observed sitting in the same pew as former head of the Conservative Monday Club, Gregory Lauder-Frost, and directly in front of Lady Thatcher, who made a point of embracing Lady Archer.

In the 2006 book "The Wonga Coup" by Adam Roberts, Archer was accused of being one of the backers of the 2004 coup in Equatorial Guinea. Records seized by prosecutors in the trial following the failed coup attempt show a bank transfer was made from the account of a "J.H. Archer" into the account of Simon Mann. Archer has denied involvement.

On 17 September 2005 Archer was appearing at an event in Manchester for the tenth birthday of Kirsty Howard to raise money for the Francis House Children's Hospice. Someone shouted out "Monica". Archer looked up and had a bucket of cold porridge thrown over him. The culprit fled.

In November 2005, after being expelled from the Conservative Party in 2000, he made a bid to re-join the party.^[7] The Independent newspaper reported of the "coincidence" that his bid to re-join the Conservative party, and the ensuing publicity, coincided with details of his forthcoming book being released.

On 26 February 2006 on Andrew Marr's Sunday AM programme, Archer said he had no interest in returning to politics: he would pursue his writing career instead.^[8]"

Yet, it seems that he's worthy of honor from the Bush Administration or from the Vatican, it seems.

(*) Jeffrey Archer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


From LP @ USA   [Published on March 11th]

There is a long article on the eclipse of "Liberation Theology" in the RCC. (*) This part got my attention (it is toward the end of the story) - bold added by me:

In his homily, the priest told this gathering of some of the most excluded people on earth that, if we want to understand the causes of poverty and injustice, we must not look outwards at structures and institutions, but inwards at the evil in our own hearts. It seemed a harsh message for people whose lives are blighted by political corruption and a global economic order that is indifferent to the misery of millions like them.

Then, when it came to Communion, a deacon reminded us that only those in a state of grace were entitled to receive the Eucharist. Very few went up and, when someone in our group asked why, we were told it was because most of them were single mothers. Some of us left that Mass feeling distressed and angry, and I felt ashamed of having taken Communion in a rite in which the rich felt qualified to receive while the destitute felt themselves to be unworthy.

Like much else over the last few weeks, this encounter with Catholicism in Africa was a challenging experience of contrasts and paradoxes. On the one hand, there was a vibrant sense of a Church that takes its place at the forefront of the struggle for justice, so that, if liberation theology itself has become somewhat exhausted, its message has seeded itself in the grassroots life of the Church of the poor. On the other hand, it is still a Church capable of stifling Christ's incarnational presence through an excessive emphasis on hierarchical structures and moral values ill-suited to cope with the struggle against HIV/Aids."

It seems as if the RCC has been teaching an inverted gospel, in which Christ comes to comfort and strengthen the "well," while sending away the poor and those who are aware of their own sin.  What awful catachesis preceded this moment, if its "success" was to persuade single mothers that they are unworthy of the Eucharist!

(*) The Tablet

From Initials Withheld @ US   [Published on March 9th]

"Dylan a False 'Prophet,' Says Pope Benedict"



From IC @ Philippines   [Published on March 7th]

My Friends,

 

The peace of our Lord be with you all, and continued blessings upon you all this new year!

 

While I hesitate to begin the year with more questions, I feel compelled to ask a few:

 

3 And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths, and shall devour their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain. 6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they will. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified. 9 And they of the tribes, and peoples, and tongues, and nations, shall see their bodies for three days and a half: and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres. 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry: and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. -- The Apocalypse of Saint John, Chapter 11.

 

The two witnesses are generally thought of as Elias and Henoch. If so, Miguel is Elias, who then is Henoch? In the November '06 Points to Ponder page, in one of your responses you stated "Remember, we are not talking about the Catholic Faith for which defense we will be put to death in the future..." Did the 1,260 days start with your  announcement of Miguel's true (spiritual) identity as Elijah? There are other questions I wish to ask, but these will suffice for now. I understand as always that God may not will these questions answered at this time (or at all), I just felt the need to ask.

 

I would also like to say that I feel blessed to live through these times, I only pray for the strength that I will feel the same when the chastisements come. To you all, and to Miguel especially, my deepest, most sincere thanks. You all know God better than most of us, but I hope you also know that there are still sinners like me who appreciate your efforts to lead us home. Again, thank you.

 

Yours In Christ.

IC

From LL @ USA   [Published on March 3rd]

As you already know, the last year I have been honored to care for, and have living with us, a very special lady who has Alzheimer's. As the months have gone on, and as expected, her health has gone downward, and I am unable to get out of the house as much because of caring for her. I thought, that since there are probably others like me, that are homebound for one reason or another, that I should share this web site with you. It also has wonderful prayers, a spiritual communion prayer and many readings to choose from, much more than the daily missal from my church has, for the daily readings.

Thank you Jesus for not leaving me alone, and for showing me other ways to find You, and to learn how to praise you. I feel to be so blessed to have found this site, just like I was to have found yours.
 
I had found it awhile ago, put it on my favorites list, but only visited once in awhile. I wasn't sure about it at first, if it was ok to be substituting 'live adoration' for a computer version, but I do think it is ok, when circumstances make a visit to a church impossible, if I am wrong, please correct me.


(*) Web site is: http://www.savior.org/

From JC @ USA   [Published on February 28th]

From LP @ USA   [Published on February 26th - received September 18, 2006]

From WO @ USA   [Published on February 26th]

 

From RC @ USA   [Published on February 25th]

From LP @ USA   [Published on February 24th]

Full article at :
Times Online - Ruth Gledhill - WBLG: Durham damns Blair as 'deeply unwise'
 

LP