Tribulation Times
July 10, 2014
(Exo 20:8-11) Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
ICN: Pope Francis: not working on Sunday is good for everyone
MEDITATION: Thoughts by St Theophan (1815-1894)
[Rom. 12:4-5, 15-21; Matt. 12:9-13]
It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. This is what the said Lord after healing a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day as a reproach to the Pharisees, who took the commandment about the Sabbath rest so far that they even measured the number of steps they could make on that day. But since it is not possible to do good deeds without movement, they would sooner agree to neglect good deeds than to allow any extra movement. The Saviour denounced them for this time and again, because the Sabbath required rest from worldly cares and not from deeds of piety and brotherly love.
In Christianity instead of the Sabbath day, Sunday is celebrated with the same goal — rest from all worldly affairs and devotion of that day solely to deeds of God. Christian good sense never reached the pharisaic pettiness concerning not doing things on Sunday; but nevertheless the permissible allowance for doing things on this day has been set far beyond the proper limits. Not doing things alienated the Pharisees from doing good deeds, whereas the things which Christians allow themselves are what lead them away from good deeds. On the evening before Sunday they go to the theatre, then some other entertainment as well. In the morning they oversleep and there is no time to go to church. There are several visits, lunch, and in the evening again entertainment. Thus all time is relegated to the belly and pleasing the other senses, there is no time to even remember God and good deeds.
VIA Jim J. McCrea: The Doctrine of the Antichrist by Jim J. McCrea
The doctrine of Antichrist is not so much a set of dogmas that we would find in a religion, but is more a philosophical world-view.
The spirit of Antichrist is now alive and well, as this philosophy has taken hold of much of Western society, to the extent that it constitutes a kind of tyranny.
Several decades past, when traditional Judeo-Christian morality was dominant in Western society concepts had clear meanings. Now, this is no longer the case. It is considered now that one concept bleeds into another - that nothing is stable and certain, and that traditional distinctions no longer hold.
For example, it is considered that there is no solid distinction between polarities such as God and creation, spirit and matter, human and animal, intelligible and sensible, subjective and objective, male and female, marriage and cohabitation, etc.. In the religious sphere it is considered that there is no proper distinction between sacred and secular, supernatural and natural, and priest and laity.
As far as blurring the distinction between God and creation, it is considered that there is no transcendent God who is radically distinct from creation and almighty over it. That is considered childish, and the "enlightened" stance is to hold that God is nothing but the positive energies exhibited by nature and our own inner power. God is thus to be found within by tapping our interior potentials.
There is no distinction held between body and soul and matter and spirit. Thus, training the body and the neurons is the key to spiritual enlightenment, as spirit is considered nothing but the more subtle workings of matter.
The lack of recognized distinction between human and animal allows animals an exaggerated importance to the detriment of human interests. This is connected with the perceived lack of distinction between the sensible and intelligible, as the cleverness of animals to make associations between various sense objects is considered intelligence, and it is not recognized that humans have a cognitive ability different in kind from animals in their capacity to understand abstract concepts.
The lack of recognition between male and female gives rise to the emasculation of males in society and radical feminism. This feeds the tendency to not rightfully recognized homosexuality as a perversion and a deviation, but as a legitimate alternative, as it is seen that a male being drawn to a female is not essential to proper romantic or sexual attraction, but is merely incidental or accidental and such a male could just as properly be attracted to another male.
In the religious sphere, the lack of recognition between the natural and the supernatural and the secular and the sacred, has dumbed down religious services and Masses in the Catholic Church to simply a party - and human relations, pop psychology, sociology, and political activism are preached instead of sacred doctrine and morals.
This is all done in the name of freedom and progress, as the traditional categories are seen as "static" and "rigid" and as limitations on freedom.
However, true freedom and progress require stable and absolute principles that only the traditional categories can provide - it requires the classical polarities.
The necessity for limits and absolutes is explained in Msgr. Pope's article here
** End Note 1 - it is true that there are subtleties, paradoxes, and ambiguities in things and situations, but these are governed by absolute rules on a higher level.
** End Note 2 - The obliteration of the traditional polarities is done in the name of freedom. But it is not free. In reality, it is the opposite. It is close and oppressive.
MORE VIA Jim J. McCrea: What is Meant by "a Mystery of the Faith"?
Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
 |
| God reposing on Sabbath day. Illustration from the first Russian engraved Bible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
(Exo 20:8-11) Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
ICN: Pope Francis: not working on Sunday is good for everyone
MEDITATION: Thoughts by St Theophan (1815-1894)
[Rom. 12:4-5, 15-21; Matt. 12:9-13]
It is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. This is what the said Lord after healing a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day as a reproach to the Pharisees, who took the commandment about the Sabbath rest so far that they even measured the number of steps they could make on that day. But since it is not possible to do good deeds without movement, they would sooner agree to neglect good deeds than to allow any extra movement. The Saviour denounced them for this time and again, because the Sabbath required rest from worldly cares and not from deeds of piety and brotherly love.
In Christianity instead of the Sabbath day, Sunday is celebrated with the same goal — rest from all worldly affairs and devotion of that day solely to deeds of God. Christian good sense never reached the pharisaic pettiness concerning not doing things on Sunday; but nevertheless the permissible allowance for doing things on this day has been set far beyond the proper limits. Not doing things alienated the Pharisees from doing good deeds, whereas the things which Christians allow themselves are what lead them away from good deeds. On the evening before Sunday they go to the theatre, then some other entertainment as well. In the morning they oversleep and there is no time to go to church. There are several visits, lunch, and in the evening again entertainment. Thus all time is relegated to the belly and pleasing the other senses, there is no time to even remember God and good deeds.
VIA Jim J. McCrea: The Doctrine of the Antichrist by Jim J. McCrea
The doctrine of Antichrist is not so much a set of dogmas that we would find in a religion, but is more a philosophical world-view.
The spirit of Antichrist is now alive and well, as this philosophy has taken hold of much of Western society, to the extent that it constitutes a kind of tyranny.
Several decades past, when traditional Judeo-Christian morality was dominant in Western society concepts had clear meanings. Now, this is no longer the case. It is considered now that one concept bleeds into another - that nothing is stable and certain, and that traditional distinctions no longer hold.
For example, it is considered that there is no solid distinction between polarities such as God and creation, spirit and matter, human and animal, intelligible and sensible, subjective and objective, male and female, marriage and cohabitation, etc.. In the religious sphere it is considered that there is no proper distinction between sacred and secular, supernatural and natural, and priest and laity.
As far as blurring the distinction between God and creation, it is considered that there is no transcendent God who is radically distinct from creation and almighty over it. That is considered childish, and the "enlightened" stance is to hold that God is nothing but the positive energies exhibited by nature and our own inner power. God is thus to be found within by tapping our interior potentials.
There is no distinction held between body and soul and matter and spirit. Thus, training the body and the neurons is the key to spiritual enlightenment, as spirit is considered nothing but the more subtle workings of matter.
The lack of recognized distinction between human and animal allows animals an exaggerated importance to the detriment of human interests. This is connected with the perceived lack of distinction between the sensible and intelligible, as the cleverness of animals to make associations between various sense objects is considered intelligence, and it is not recognized that humans have a cognitive ability different in kind from animals in their capacity to understand abstract concepts.
The lack of recognition between male and female gives rise to the emasculation of males in society and radical feminism. This feeds the tendency to not rightfully recognized homosexuality as a perversion and a deviation, but as a legitimate alternative, as it is seen that a male being drawn to a female is not essential to proper romantic or sexual attraction, but is merely incidental or accidental and such a male could just as properly be attracted to another male.
In the religious sphere, the lack of recognition between the natural and the supernatural and the secular and the sacred, has dumbed down religious services and Masses in the Catholic Church to simply a party - and human relations, pop psychology, sociology, and political activism are preached instead of sacred doctrine and morals.
This is all done in the name of freedom and progress, as the traditional categories are seen as "static" and "rigid" and as limitations on freedom.
However, true freedom and progress require stable and absolute principles that only the traditional categories can provide - it requires the classical polarities.
The necessity for limits and absolutes is explained in Msgr. Pope's article here
** End Note 1 - it is true that there are subtleties, paradoxes, and ambiguities in things and situations, but these are governed by absolute rules on a higher level.
** End Note 2 - The obliteration of the traditional polarities is done in the name of freedom. But it is not free. In reality, it is the opposite. It is close and oppressive.
MORE VIA Jim J. McCrea: What is Meant by "a Mystery of the Faith"?
9. Daniel said, 'When Arsenius was dying, he gave us this instruction: Do not make any offering for me. If I have made any offering for myself during my life, I shall find it.'
Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.