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March 25, 2008
The Power of the Resurrection
New scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.
This story apparently defied the basic Christian belief of the empty tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, upon the claim of the discovery of the the Lost Tomb of Jesus.
On Saturday, 24 Feb 2007, Doctor Kloner, an archeologist dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense."
Faith is not restricted to an intellectual ascent that requires scientific methods to establish or disclaim the fact of the resurrection . Faith entails in itself totality of human experience that encompasses all the human faculties of body, heart, mind and soul. In other words, faith is not only loving “with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind” but also believing. On the Easter morning, though the women encountering Christ totally beyond their belief, they embraced and recognized Christ, as soon as they saw Him! The women were indeed privileged to meet the Risen Savior on the Easter morn. The resurrection of Christ, needs to be embraced.
The Risen Christ appeared to the apostles at varied times:
To the bewildered disciples after they buried all their apparent hope together with Jesus of Nazareth, he opens their eyes on the way to Emmaus, teaching them how the Old Testament must be fulfilled in Him.Ultimately opens their eyes to recognize Him in the Breaking of Bread.
To the frightened apostles, he appeared on the lake shore and cooked food for them, appeared behind the closed doors and said Peace be with you.
To one of the doubting apostles, he opens his side and asks him to verify for himself that he is the risen Lord and lauds those that had not seen Him and yet believed.
To the one who wanted to cling to Him, he tells her not to hold on to Him that He must ascend to His father. To all those who witnessed His gory death on Good Friday, Jesus gives the hope of everlasting life.
As a believer in the resurrection, we are certain that our God is real and alive. He came among us and pitched his tent with us in every way except sin. And therefore, as a human being He knows what each of us is going through in our own personal life. As our God He is there for us all the time, only if we could call on Him.
We can hope that all our suffering will end and have a redemptive value because of Christ. That each of us have our own cross to carry in this world until we cross over to our heavenly abode. No suffering is unbearable and no pain is capable of demoralizing us. Betrayals, Denials, falsehood with their accompanying pain, struggle, sorrow and suffering are going to be part of this human existence. But we can overcome all things in the Risen Christ who will strengthen us. "And if the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8:11).
We can hope for a resurrected body and life everlasting as did Jesus experience, as He rose as a victor over death and its dark domain. Our God is an awesome God at the same time interested in our personal well being. Remember God loves us no matter where we are in the scale of human standard of success or acceptability. He is risen. He is alive. He is here at our beck and call. Will we have the courage to call on Him?
Posted by frleo at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2008
Message from the Metropolitan Bp. Thomas Kleppinger
EASTERTIDE - 2008
Dear Friends,
When our dear Lord cried out from the Cross, "It is finished!" these were words of victory, not
defeat. Jesus came to save you from your sins. He fulfilled in His Person and Work every
requirement of the Old Testament Law. He offered Himself as Priest and Victim upon the Cross to pay the price of sin. He has finished the work of salvation His Father gave Him to do. His is the victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.
St. Peter says, "Christ died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." The veil in the temple was rent asunder showing that through His precious blood, Christ is the Way to the Father.You can not enter the Presence of God trusting in your own righteousness, but in His great mercy 'under the blood of the Lamb.'
The teaching of the Old Testament is that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.The Lord did not deal with your sin by simply setting it aside, saying everything is alright. He sent His Son into the world to make the acceptable sacrifice for sin. "There was no other good enough / To pay the price of sin, / He only could unlock the gate / Of heaven, and let us in." None can go unto the Father but through His blood.
In the Sixth chapter of St. John's Gospel our Lord speaks most plainly that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have His life in you. "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them." Some found this to be a hard saying and they deserted Him. In the Upper Room our Lord instituted the new covenant in His Body and Blood so that you can feed on Him and have His life in you.
The word Lent speaks to the lengthening of daylight as Spring draws nigh. Spring is the renewal of the earth after the time of death of Winter. It is nature's way of proclaiming the blessed hope of the glorious resurrection of our Lord on the third day according to the Scriptures. Easter is the Spring of Souls from the prison of sin, for Jesus as a sun has risen and the Winter of your sins is flying.Those who believe on Jesus have His life to raise them up from sin and death in newness of life to live forever with the Lord.
We trust that you will have a most Blessed Easter and be filled with the confidences that "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Because He lives, you, too, will live as you will be glorified together with Him. May the words of Jesus' victory become your words of blessed assurance. "It is finished!"
Yours in that Blessed Hope,
The Right Reverend Thomas J. Kleppinger
Posted by frleo at 3:20 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
St. Patrick's Day
Any festival has its cultural connotations and often we get carried away by its external celebrations while losing the perspective of the essentials. We could easily get lost in the revelry.St. Patrick's Day is associated with a man who loved God and His people immensely.
And yet, if we know the heart of this man who loved Christ immensely and said the following prayer, "St. Patrick's Breastplate", we certainly can imitate St. Patrick and become the kind of the missionary who was aglow with zeal for God and for the people. We can become time and again aware of immense love of God for each of us.
St. Patrick's Breastplate is contained in the ancient Book of Armagh, from the early ninth century. along with Patrick's authentic "Confession." St. Patrick's Breastplate is his prayer to strengthen himself with God's protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, high king of Ireland. Whether we are Irish or not, we certainly can be catholic (the faith that is universally accepted) at heart!
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort, [i.e., at home]
Christ in the chariot seat, [i.e., travelling by land]
Christ in the poop. [i.e., travelling by water]
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
Romans 8:28 rings again: For those who love God all things will turn unto good.
St. Patrick's own younger days in slavery, gave him the vision to proclaim the triune God to the people of Ireland in symbols and concepts that were very near and dear to their heart. If you see Shamrock today, don't forget that it is the sign St. Patrick used to explain God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
May St. Patrick's Breastplate be our own prayer as we wake ourselves each morning to a new day
And here is the video that narrates a portion from St. Patrick's Diary:
Posted by frleo at 8:44 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2008
PALM SUNDAY Inaugurates HOLY WEEK
Palm Sunday reminds us of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the fanfare with which He was received—crowds acclaiming Hosanna to the Son of David. Only a few days later the same crowd would call for Jesus’ condemnation. How soon the tide of political opinion turned against the Lord. The same is true of our lives too. It’s always better to put our trust in the Lord.
Palm Sunday has inaugurated the Holy Week that encompasses all the tragedies one could think of; but in the sight of God, all these would be turned into triumph through the glorious resurrection of Christ.
A cross has its own connotation depending on each person and the circumstance in which one is in and generally denotes any kind of pain or suffering that a Christian is called to take on and follow the Lord. A cross of poverty may not be a stark reality for those within the United States as much as for an impoverished family living in a third world country. A health issue may be easily treated for someone with the means to get healthcare, but to someone who doesn’t have the means, it could be a terrible crisis.
The cross could be a personal suffering wrought by failures, disappointments, sickness, family feuds or loss of a loved one. It could be financial instability or loss of employment. Whatever the case maybe we tend to get absorbed into the problems themselves and lose sight of the eternal perspective. We lose sight of what our Lord went through to secure our redemption.
We often bear the pangs emanating from our difficult situation and lose sight of the Christian dimension of suffering itself. We lose our peace of mind and struggle with restlessness. But there is power in the cross. The cross is redemptive only because of Jesus.
This Holy Week is loaded with all the human suffering that one can possibly imagine: our Lord’s agony in the garden in moments of loneliness where his sweat becomes blood, the betrayal by his friends and their abandonment, the deep sorrow that overcomes Him, the humanness of His crisis, the very people for whom He performed miracles of casting out demons and healing and the utter rejection by them. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. He dealt with physical suffering—the scourging, the crown of thorns. He was ridiculed by the mob and suffered His own uncertainty of enduring the passion, the crucifixion and agonious death on the cross.
How close Christ is to us through these sufferings. And yet we are invited to take up our own cross and follow the Lord. If our Lord and Master should endure this, who are we to complain about our crosses. Yet let us remind ourselves that God will not allow an ounce of suffering beyond what we can handle and He will also give us the strength. When we endure all the vicissitudes of our life with a Christian resignation, we will see for ourselves how redemptive these very situations can become.
Fr. Narsilio, an elderly Salesian Missionary to India, after his laborious active life, was confined to the Provincial House and I would often go see this inspiring patriarch. He would repeat this Italian poem to me:
When I was born a voice told me, "You are born to carry your cross." I embraced and carried the cross that the heaven assigned to me.
Then I looked, and I looked, and I looked, Behold all were carrying their crosses.
It’s good to remind ourselves that we are not alone when we carry our cross. There is company--The Lord and others. Our sufferings can become meaningful as long as we keep our eyes focussed on Jesus on the Cross.
Posted by frleo at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)
March 8, 2008
SPRING FORWARD!!!
It's time to spring forward and the Daylight Savings Time begins. Please do not forget to set your clocks FORWARD tonight, Saturday 8th 2008.
Spring is also intertwined with the Easter. At St. Gabriel's we are celebrating the salvific events of our Lord liturgically and sacramentally - His Passion, Death and Resurrection. It's a great time to spiritually revive ourselves by participating in this life saving event - life for all eternity. This is a once a year opportunity until the Lord's second coming. May we use these moments to spiritually charge ourselves, that we may accomplish everything according to His holy will.
Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Its time to own our sins and bring them to the feet of our Lord to receive forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption and release through the price He paid for our sins. Let us avail ourselves to the saving grace, liturgically we can be filled with this spritual abundance.
Lent & Holy Week Schedule
Every Sunday at 10:00 am Holy Eucharist
EVERY FRIDAY
12:00 pm Meditations on the Passion of Christ
March 16 PALM SUNDAY
10:00 am Blessing of the palms, Palm Sunday Procession and Holy Eucharist
March 18 HOLY TUESDAY
6:30 pm Chrism Mass (Blessing of Oil)
March 19 HOLY WEDNESDAY
6:30 pm Children's programs/Evening Prayer/Deacons Mass/Dinner
March 20 MAUNDY THURSDAY - First Day of Spring
6:30 pm Celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Washing of the Feet
March 21 GOOD FRIDAY
12:00 am Outdoor Stations of the Cross, Reflections on the Last words of Jesus from the Cross, Lenten Lunch followed by Good Friday Liturgy at 3:00 pm
March 22 HOLY SATURDAY
10:30 pm Holy Vigil Liturgy: Blessing of the Fire, Pascal Procession, Blessing of water, Renewal of Baptismal Vows and the Holy Eucharist
March 23 EASTER SUNDAY
10:00 am Easter Day Eucharist
11:15 am Resurrection Eggs Easter Egg Hunt
1:00 pm Santa Misa
And may this hymn be our prayer:
Soul of my Saviour, sanctify my breast
Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest;
Blood of my Saviour, bathe me in thy tide,
Wash me with water flowing from thy side.
Strength and protection may thy Passion be;
O Blessed Jesus, hear and answer me;
Deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter me;
So shall I never, never part from thee.
Guard and defend me from the foe malign;
In death's dread moments make me only thine;
Call me, and bid me come to thee on high,
Where I may praise thee with thy saints for aye.
See you at church this Sunday! God bless you and your family
Posted by frleo at 8:06 AM | Comments (0)
March 5, 2008
Body Broken for Us
Fourth Sunday in Lent
In the epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul the apostle illustrates the difference between believers who rested in Christ only and those judaizers who trusted in the law, by a comparison taken from the story of Isaac and Ishmael. Matthew Henry.
St. Chrysostom’s comments can be paraphrased thus: The Patriarch Abraham had two sons, Ishmael through Hagar, a bonded woman and Isaac through promise.
Ishmael, for instance, who was born according to the flesh, was not only a bondman, but was cast out of his father's house; but Isaac, who was born according to the promise, being a true son and free, was lord of all.
The bond-woman was called Hagar, and "Hagar" is the word for Mount Sinai in the language of that country. So that it is necessary that all who are born of the Old Covenant should be bondmen, for that mountain where the Old Covenant was delivered hath a name in common with the bondwoman. And it includes Jerusalem, for this is the meaning of,
Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.
The reference to Isaac as the son of promise brings us to the scene when God tests the faith of Abraham and asks him to sacrifice his only son on Mt. Horeb. On their way we see Isaac asking his father about the sacrificial offering.
“The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
Isaac, the son of promise becomes synonymous with the Messiah with one significant difference. There will be no substitute in terms of the victim as Isaac was saved by the Angel of the Lord. Here the victim will be Jesus Himself who will be crucified. St. Paul’s reference to Jerusalem in terms of the liberated indeed will become true through Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. In terms of the old covenant (Mt. Sinai), there will be substitution when Jesus will institute the New Covenant. The law kills but the spirit saves. This instance of the New Covenant brings us to the sixth chapter of Johanine narration of the miracle of multiplication of loaves and fishes, where Jesus passionately asks the hungry crowd to focus not just merely on the daily bread, but the Living Bread, which is His own body and blood.
Just as Jesus out of compassion for the hungry people would break the bread to multiply it, he would outside Jerusalem let his body be broken. Thus they will look upon him whom they have pierced. After the son of man is lifted up as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent and all who looked upon it were saved, Jesus says, “ I will draw all men to myself”
And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. In the Eucharistic prayer, these very words of the miracle will be repeated synonymously with the words of the last supper. For in the night in which he was betrayed, (a) he took Bread; and when he had given thanks, (b) he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, (c) this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper, (d) he took the Cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this; for (e) this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me.
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After feeding the multitudes, people will seek after him. Jesus takes the opportunity to open their eyes to the singular sacrifice that is about to take place outside the city walls of Jerusalem. The Living Bread would be broken for them and His Blood will be poured out for them, to save them from sin - something that His disciples will rediscover on their way to Emmaus after His resurrection.
Looking at the multitudes expecting several encores of the miracle, Jesus addressed them:
6 Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
30 So they asked him, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "
32 Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 "Sir," they said, "always give us this bread."
35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53 Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit [e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe."
During the administration of the Holy Communion the priest says reiterating that the Living Bread which is broken for us: The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee. The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that was shed thee. Preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.
It is not a matter of how he is present, that is our content of our faith: but that He IS present. The real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist should be apparent for anyone who would read the above mentioned discourse on Bread of Life (Jn.6). The Anglican tradition simply accepts this as a mystery, because Jesus said so.
The Prayer of Humble access is the greatest Eucharistic theology in simple terms:
“WE do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body, and our souls washed through his most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
Back to the Galatians, St. Paul reiterates that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. What a price Christ paid for our freedom, indeed! The choice therefore: to be children of slaves and sin or children of freedom and grace?
Posted by frleo at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)