The GOD given genius of ST. BENEDICT and the LENTEN LITURGY

  1. The Liturgy.

      We are still within the Liturgical Season of Lent. The Lenten message, made more pronounced by the Corona virus is the necessity of Repentance. Like Nineveh, the world is living in sin and the Corona virus, like Jonah, was sent to threaten the world with chastisement unless it repents. Nineveh repented because of Jonah and the chastisement was withheld. On the other hand, the present world did not repent so the Corona virus devastated the world. 

2. A background.

     It all begun with Shrove Tuesday last year. Like Jonah, the Liturgy warned the Catholic world and the human race that God had been very displeased with them and a grievous chastisement is coming unless the Catholics repent and teach the rest of mankind to repent. Neither the Catholics nor mankind repented for, only, one reason. Neither knew how to repent. 

     Both could not practice the message of Shrove Tuesday, to know one's sins. People did not know what is right or wrong, what is moral and immoral, what is sinful and what is not. They did not know the commandments of God in the O.T. and they did not know the commands of Christ in the N. T. 

      Unable to repent, God chastised the world with the Corona virus; in effect God was saying, 'you have all sinned, you have not repented and I am sending you this pandemic to remind you of your unrepentant sins. This pandemic can kill and send you to hell. So repent. 

      The world could not repent because the world did not know what sin to repent for. Because the Catholic Church head quartered in the Vatican, who is supposed to teach what are sinful, did not know what were the unrepentant sins of the world. 

      How come they did not know? Sins are disobediences to the commands of God the Father in the O.T. and the commands of God the Son in the New Testament. The commands of God are explained in the Gospels of the Liturgy from Shrove Tuesday up to the 5th Sunday of Lent.  84 commands of God were explained in every Gospel in every daily Mass from Ash Wednesday up to the 5th Sunday of Lent.

3. Why the total ignorance of the commands of God.

     Because there were no Masses during that year from the start of the pandemic. No priest were teaching the commands of God and how to obey them. And no soul were interested in know those commands and how to obey them. 

     The few priests who dared celebrate Mass and give homilies did not explain the command of Christ from the Gospel and how to put the command into practice as explained by the Fathers of the Church. With priests totally ignorant of God's commands and how to obey them and people who were not interested in knowing the above, God found is useless to have the Masses celebrated. God always did this whenever He saw, both, the priest and people were unfaithful. And this is what we have today. 

4. God provides.

     The goal of the Lenten observance is to attain the theological virtue of Faith. And the purpose of the Corona virus is to force man to repent and progress towards Faith. Because it is Faith that  saves soul. 'There is condemnation for those who have Faith,' Christ said. 

5. What is Faith.

     Faith is believing and knowing what are the commands of Christ and how to obey them. Charity. that goes with living Faith, is putting into practice the commands of Christ in the way it should be observed. And the Liturgy, from Ash Wednesday up to the 5th Sunday Lent enumerates 84 commands to be obeyed in following Christ. Those are 84 Gospels read both on Sundays and Weekday Masses. To show a good Catholic should really hear Mass every day.

     Those commands are arranged in proper order. The order cannot be changed otherwise it won't work. That is why in obeying the commands of God, we must follow the order presented in the Liturgy and not the order found in the Bible. St. Augustine noted that the disorder in the Bible is meant to confuse those who just want to use the bible for other means, like to get rich like the Protestant,  rather than for the salvation of soul. It is for this same reason that the Council of Orange prohibited Catholics from reading the bible. They will just get confused. The Bible should be explained by an expert based on the Liturgy and interpreted by the Fathers of the Church. 

      To save souls the 84 commands as interpreted by the Fathers must be preached. And souls must be encouraged to put them into practice. These are taught every year from Ash Wednesday up to the 5th Sunday of Lent. 

     The 5th Weekday of Lent describes the goal. Faith and the salvation of one's soul. The whole week describes how Faith looks like so everyone can see if they have Faith or not. After two years of pandemic, its mere continuation to devastate the world,  shows that the world, especially most Catholics,  does not have Faith. Nobody seems to be going to heaven. Except probably a few. 'And few shall enter it.'

6. The God given genius of St. Benedict.

    It is impossible to know the 84 commands and even more impossible to know how to put them into practice. Because in both cases, the help of Divine Grace is needed. And God does not give it easily to anybody. God gives grace to the humble. And nobody seems to know how to be humble because it should be the 'humility of Christ.' Not anybody's humility. 

     It is, also, near impossible to observe the commands in its proper order as can be seen in the fact that no priest, no bishops and not even the present Pope had explained the proper order. One can clearly see the proof in You Tube. 

     St. Benedict placed the 84 commands in perfect order and in just the right amount to form them into a daily way of life. So that anyone who puts into practice the Rule of St. Benedict would be obeying all the 84 commands daily. In effect, a soul can attain Faith in one day and attain eternal salvation at the end of the day.

      Thus the entire Liturgy, from Ash Wednesday up to the Easter can be lived in one day by living a life in accordance to the Rule of St. Benedict. Thus Charlemagne, in desiring to save the souls of the subjects of his entire empire imposed the Rule of St Benedict in his realm. What a splendid king. No secular ruler could ever think of this. And he did it at the year 800 A.D. They were much brighter  that time because they were good Catholics. Today our rulers are Catholic abortionists. What can you expect from slaves of sin? More evil. Nothing good. 

7. Pope Benedict XVI

    Well versed in Catholic History and Theology, Pope Benedict gave the same wise suggestions by the end of his papacy. Seeing the utter confusion in Europe and in the world with no solution in sight, Benedict suggested that the world, especially Europe return to observe the Rule of St. Benedict, its patron saint, as the only solution to its problems. Just like Charlemagne.  But nobody listened to Benedict.

     Just like God, who saw it was useless to continue the celebration of the Masses because priest neither said Mass with Faith nor preach the Faith and church goers who just went to be entertained with Liturgical abuses, Pope Benedict saw it was useless to be the Pope of an unbelieving institutional Church. What for?

8. The hidden treasure in the pandemic.

    St. John Chrysostom wrote that the way of life of St. Benedict's Rule, wherein he put together a simple way of daily life observing the 84 commands of Christ, taught in the Liturgy from Ash Wednesday up to the 5th Week of Lent, can easily be put into practice while locked down in one's home with the entire family. Done well with knowledge and a good will, an entire family can become holy in one day and if they die the next day, they can all go straight to heaven. 

     And when you see God face to face, please pray for me. 

     

There is no condemnation for those with Faith. But for those without Faith ........4th Sunday of LENT

  1. First reading.

      The first Reading shows God destroying a nation, first, by sending no prophets who would preach repentance, happiness and the salvation of one's soul. If this does not work, it is followed by Divine chastisements, the total destruction of that nation. What was their sin? Infidelity. The people did not believe in the true God.

      A person does not have to die nor be judged by God to be saved or be condemned. A person is saved or condemned while they are alive here on earth. When? When he believes or have Faith, he is already saved. There is no condemnation for those who believe. But for those who do not believe, he is already condemned unless he repents before he dies. 

       Thus it is wrong reasoning to prepare oneself for death just before one dies. He would have been judged long before he dies depending on whether he has Faith or not. 

        St. Basil the great wrote that, ordinarily, a well catechised child can attain Faith at the age of 14. After which he has nothing to worry about preparing oneself for death and judgment. He just have to grow in virtue with the grace of God that he receives with the virtue of Faith.

        What is happening today is identical to that nation whom God was preparing for Divine punishment. The first step is on going; there are no preachers on how to repent due to the lock downs. And the few who are preaching are not preaching repentance that leads to Faith. So based on the first reading, we must expect the next step, the destruction body and soul,  of those without Faith in God. 

2. So.....

     At this very moment, if any one has no Faith, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to save his soul unless he repents in the proper way. On the other hand, if anyone has Faith, there is nothing anyone can do to destroy his soul. Thus the Catholic rule is to have Faith as early as possible in one's life. 

     If one has Faith, God will grant that soul graces so that  everything he does will be virtuous that will raise him to the heights of knowledge, wisdom and holiness. By the grace of God everything he does will benefit all body and soul. 

     On the other hand, if one does not have Faith he will continue to fall deeper into more serious sins. In fact,  the faithless cannot do anything good either for the body and soul of anyone. Even for himself. . This is a punishment from God. Christ said; 'If you continue to sin, worse things will happen to you.' Everything a politician will do if he is pro abortion will be evil. And he will be punished by God to continue doing, only, what is evil. He will be completely incompetent to do any good for himself or for his country. He will continuously do what is worse for everybody. This is Christ's condemnation for such.  A warning to pro-abortion politicians  and to those who vote for them. 

3. What is Faith?

     One cause of confusion in the world today is the inability to define words in the proper way. The Catholic church has its proper definition for all Catholic words based on its philosophic definition. Its Catholic definition is the perfected definition of the philosophic definition. Sort of, the philosophy of the Old Testament is perfected by the New Testament Catholic definitions. So it is expected that very few understands the Catholic definition unless well versed with the philosophic definition of terms. A man of Faith can never be understood by a man without Faith. 

        Faith is to know all the commands of Christ and how to observe them. This is the Apostolic Commission given by Christ to the apostles when they were commanded to go to the whole world to save souls. They must teach all the commands of Christ; and they must teach how to put those commands into practice. 

        Christ taught the apostles both, the 'what' and the 'how'. What are the commands and how to observe them. While the 'what' is found in the Gospel, the 'how' are not written in the Gospels. So preachers should explain both the 'what' and the 'how'. But from where can they learn the 'how'?  From the Fathers and Doctors of the Church who wrote down Christ teachings on the 'how' but, only later on, written down by them and referred to as 'tradition'. Nobody is interpreting the 'how' these days. And more often than not, they do not explain the Gospel 'spiritually'. Most , only, give the dictionary meaning. So the people are left without the 'bread of life'. No bread, norepentance, no Faith......and, therefore, in danger of being condemned unless they learn how to repent and attain Faith; which is impossible seeing the faithless state of the priesthood.

       This is the reason God sent the pandemic seeing priests do not know the right doctrines and the people are not interested in saving their souls. Why have Masses, and have priest preach sweet nothings while the listeners just want to be entertained. Both can just go to the theatre. 

     The very few who are really interested in saving their souls are instructed directly by God as He did to St. Paul, St. John Newman and Gilbert Chesterton. They were true Catholics even before becoming Catholics. 

     The people do not know the commands of Christ and how to observe them. There is no Faith so most are in a state of condemnation. For those who know the commands of Christ and how to observe them, it is very easy to classify each man, especially those in public life like the politicians and bishops. And label them 'saved' or 'condemned' unless they soon repent.'

4. Perfect atmosphere to have our past sins forgiven.

    It is important for the salvation of our souls that our past sins be forgiven and, by the grace of God, we avoid sins in the future. This is attained by a life of repentance until death. Repentance serve both purpose; the forgiveness of one's past sins and the avoidance of new sins in the future. This life of repentance is taught by the Liturgy from Ash Wednesday up to Easter. 

     With this pandemic, God gave mankind the perfect atmosphere to start one's life of repentance. Everyone lives in community, their families. They have the leisure to find out their sins with the help of their computers. They can pray, are in effect fasting and they can help each member of their family by teaching them how to save their souls. 

     Mystically, that is like living in community in the desert, just like the first Christians. Who is their instructor? Like the first hermits, God, Himself. 

     Just as Scriptures is very good for those who wish to be good, it can be used by the devil to destroy souls. Thus the present pandemic is a grace of God to make souls good. But the devil's co-horts are using it to push forward their communist evil goals. These events are like a two edged sword. 

5. The first reading. 

     The pandemic, together with its accessories, like the snow storm, the black out, the earthquakes, an atheistic government, a faithless church... these are all signs that God is about to punish a nation for its sins. Maybe not as soon as Sodom and Gomorrah. But more like the days of Noah. Where those without Faith could not have Faith while they were slowly drowning for they have run out of time. And the good are so few, as Christ prophesied; 'the way is narrow and many will try to enter heaven, but very few, very few, will be able to do so. We, alone, can decide if we are among the few. 

The HUMBLE and the PROUD.

  1. God will judge every one.

      There are interminable debates going on around the world. The issues are as diverse as there are people talking. It is a cacophony of sounds from TV debates, to newspapers opinions, to political issues... and even to religious issues. But there is only one thing that matters...whether it is the Will of God or not. 

      If man is doing the Will of God, he is all right and will be rewarded with eternal happiness in heaven.  If a man is against the Will of God, he is in big trouble and is in danger of losing his body and soul to the eternal flames of hell. 

      This is the only thing that matters. Everything else can be reduced to whether it is in accordance of God's Will or not. Everything else is Byzantine discussion......errrrr..a totally useless discussion.

       Let us take an example; border crossing, a prominent headline all around the world; a serious situation in the US and equally distressing situation in Europe. Unnoticeable but equally problem in the rest of the world, if a person is born in Argentina, it is God's Will that he is an Argentinian. If a person is born in Mexico, it is God's Will that he is a Mexican venerating Our Lady of Guadalupe. If a person is born in Africa or Asia or the Middle East, it is God's Will for them to belong to their own country. 

      In God's great power and wisdom, He would not have a man born in Africa or Mexico if He wanted him to be an American. God is simple; he is not complicated like man. Man is unlike God; he is complicated. Born in Mexico, he will travel far and in grave danger to be in a place God never wanted him to be in. 

       So, this great migration going on, encouraged by the new US government and, also, encouraged by the Vatican, is totally against the Wisdom of God. If an African needs help, Charity demands that all help be given him where he is. And Charity equally demands that he is returned to where God willed him to be. 

       Man may be divided into two groups; those who do the Will of God as expressed in His commandments. And those who disobey the Will of God as expressed in the same commandments. The obedient is represented by the Publican who prayed well. The disobedient is represented by the Pharisees who prayed badly. Christ declared that the proud will be punished; while the humble will be exalted. One goes to heaven, the other to hell......both for all eternity. 

      We chose where we go. God simply confirms our choice. Our choice is of the utmost importance because our eternity will depend on it. Christ declared where you will go depending on what you chose, pride or humility.

2. The proud Pharisees who prayed. 

    The Pharisee was praying and yet he sinned. Well, Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Paradise and yet they sinned. Sin is from the faculties of the soul, the mind and the heart. One can sin anywhere as long as he has his mind and heart. 

    What is in the mind and heart is what counts. The Pharisee had pride in him; because he could not see his sins while he saw the sins of the publican. He sinned interiorly, in his mind and heart. So while externally he was in front of the altar seemingly praying, his soul was engaging in the highest form of pride. St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that he was not praying to God. He was talking to himself. 

     Like a typical politician, he attributed to himself all the good that God did through him. While blaming all the sins to everybody else except to himself.  A politician may enumerate his accomplishment, but as long as he attributes them to God by saying 'In God I trust,' he is all right. He is not proud. 

    A common sign of extreme pride is; self-sufficiency, wherewith a person thinks he can do things all by himself without any aid from God. He thinks he can be a president without God's help, just with a little help from a little dominion machine; and that he can abort babies without being immediately punished by God. This pride is painted in the face of all men and women.  But not in very young children who are naturally humble. 

     Like the Pharisee, they cannot see their sins that are published in the headlines and shouted on TV, like their sin of murdering babies,  but they see the non- existing sin of collusion of their neighbour Trump.

      God loves and gives graces to the humble. He hates the proud and punishes them with insanity. 

3. The humble publican.

     The publicans, like the tax collectors, were considered sinners for their known corruptions. But this publican saw, only, his own sin and unworthiness while blind to the defects of the Pharisees. This ability of seeing his own faults while not seeing the faults of others is a sign of humility, a virtue praised by Christ wherewith the publican left justified, i.e. pleasing in the eyes of God. This virtue is rare these days, while at the same time difficult to detect. 

4. St. John Chrysostom and the two chariot drivers.

    St. John described the proud Pharisee as a chariot with two drivers; righteousness and pride. And the humble publican as a chariot with two drivers; sinner and humility. Which chariot will win the race or reach their goal first. His answer, the sinner and humility. 

     But better still, who will race the fastest and reach the goal of heavenly happiness? The Chariot with righteousness and humility. 

5. Salvation is a gift for the humble, not for the proud.

    Christ, Himself, had prophesied that the world today will be populated with mankind filled with the pride of life. And it is. With a little knowledge of the virtue of humility and the vice of pride, it is very easy to see who are proud and who are humble. Thus it is easy to see who will be judged for heaven and for hell. We can even judge ourselves. 

     

A HOUSE OF PRAYER. 3rd Sunday of LENT.

  1. House of Prayer.

     The Liturgy describes five elements of a good education. This is in the spiritual level, but it is the same in the natural level. First, a good curriculum. Secondly, a good teacher. Thirdly, an ideal classroom. Fourthly, a good pupil and lastly, you must know the tests and the correct answer to the tests. With these five elements, a student should easily graduate.

     These five elements are even more necessary in the spiritual level for a soul to know how his soul may be saved. Firstly, the curriculum is the plan of salvation as found in these two words; repent and believe. These were Christ's first words; to repent and to believe. 

     Secondly, the teacher must be Christ together with the Fathers and the Doctors of the Church. 

      Thirdly, the classroom must be the 'kingdom of God,' i.e. the Christian community.

      Fourthly, the pupil must be a fertile soil, possessed with a humble spirit. 

      Fifthly, we must know the tests that we will undergo and the correct response to the tests. All of these may be found in the Liturgy of the Mass from Ash Wednesday to Easter. 

      We learned these last year as a preparation for the coming test, the Corona virus pandemic. But nobody seems to have learned from this ideal environment. So the pandemic continues. Since nobody seems to be learning, the pandemic will continue until mankind learn his lesson. 

2. The ideal classroom had been explained by the Liturgy when discussing the parables on the Kingdom of God. This is a clear description of the Catholic Church.  And today's Gospel describes the Catholic Church as a House of Prayer. 

     Prayer is a spiritual activity by the mind and the free will. Before this spiritual activity can be spiritual it must be raised to the supernatural level by the grace of God. No aspect of prayer is in the natural level. So the Gospel condemns all natural activities; selling of cows, oxens and pigeons. Changing of money. Buying and selling. 

     The Gospel specially condemns priests, bishops and cardinals who are engaged in global warming, immigration, social and political issues and social activities. Because a soul cannot combine a natural with a supernatural activity within it. He will be faithful to one and unfaithful to the other. 

3. The prophecy.

     The events of the Gospels are both historical and prophetic. Christ, historically, really cleansed the temple of those engaged in purely natural activities and restored the nature of the Catholic Church in that it must be a house of prayer.

      A house of prayer is where one or two who have perfect Faith and the beginnings of Charity are gathered together seeking the salvation of their souls. The two or three can be the husband and wife with their child. Two or three people in a parish, in a diocese or in the Vatican. But it is the two or three who make up the house of prayer, the Church.  They must be praying in the way Christ taught in the Gospel on the Our Father.

4. Every moment Christ enters the temple.

     Every moment Christ enters the family, parish, diocese and even the Vatican to see who is praying and who is engage in Global warming. He, then, makes a whip and drives away those engage in global warming, social and political issues and retain the two or three who are praying with perfect Faith and the beginnings of Charity thus keeping the Church in being a House of Prayer. 

      But to be truly a house of prayer, the church must, also, have the four other characteristic mentioned above.