Terrorism and the Fear of the Lord

He who destroys both body and soul in Gehenna

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

The Marawi incident is truly an eye opener. It made us realize that terrorism is real and not only does it happen in distant Europe and in the Middle East. It also happens to us. It also opens our eyes to the depth of our own Christianity. The news of how Christians escaped death by wearing Muslim apparel and by memorizing Arabic verses has gone viral. And their creativeness was justified. They had to do it in order to survive.

However, the Word of God today reminds us: “Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.” The readings today are timely inasmuch as we are living in a time when Christian witnessing will be demanded of us. Contrary to the belief that martyrdom is a thing of the past, we are actually living in a time of martyrs. Not only are we required to live out our faith in Jesus. The possibility of dying for him is very much real. Christians are made hostages and killed. Christian women are sold, indoctrinated, and then sent as suicide bombers. Churches are desecrated and burned. These are repeatedly reported every day. The threat of terrorism is real. The prophet Jeremiah speaks well on our behalf: “Terror on every side! Denounce! Let us denounce him!” Pope John Paul II wrote: “The Church has once again become a Church of martyrs. The persecution of believers – priests, religious, and laity – has caused a great sowing of martyrdom in different parts of the world…In our own century, the martyrs have returned, many of them nameless, ‘unknown soldiers’ as it were of God’s cause.” (Tertio Millenio Adveniente, 37.)

And yet, Jesus strengthens us for times like this. He reminds us of the limitation of what the enemies can do: they can deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul. Our fear of God must be greater than our fear of men because God can destroy both body and soul in hell. The Word of God assures us that we are not alone: “The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting unforgettable confusion.” The true God whom we serve loves us: “Every hair of your head has been counted; so do not be afraid of anything. You are worth more than an entire flock of sparrows.” His love will sustain us through persecution and suffering.

Therefore, let us not allow terrorism to intimidate us. As we have said in the past, the zealous proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus is our response to terror. “What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.” God is more powerful than terrorists. If we entrust ourselves to him, he will not allow us to fall. Instead, he will send us the Spirit of Truth who will teach us what to say in the face of our persecutors. His Holy Spirit will sustain us and help us give witness to Jesus. Knowing that we are loved, let us not be afraid to give witness to him. Even when faced with the threat of death, let us not hesitate to say, “I am a Christian!” Jesus says: “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The False Prophet

The Good Tree

He is perhaps the most famous prophet today because no one dares malign his revered name. Christians who wished to be saved from execution have to declare him as god's only prophet. And yet, is he a true prophet or a false one?

Jesus said: Any sound tree bears good fruit, while a decayed tree bears bad fruit. Therefore, let us look at the fruit to determine the tree. The obvious fruit is terrorism. His followers kill in the name of the god he preaches. He taught his followers to enslave and sell women. He even allows them to take many wives. Are these fruits good or bad?

Jesus tells us: I am the Vine and you are the branches. As long as the branches are attached to the vine, they bear fruit. Once, a young man approached Jesus and said to him: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus did not tell him: Kill the infidels. Instead, he said: Do not kill. Jesus did not say: Sell women and take many wives. Instead he said: Do not commit adultery. Obviously, his fruits are good. Therefore Jesus is the Good Tree.

Let us therefore sow the good seeds of the Good Tree. The seed is the Word of God. Let us allow the Light of Christ to spread throughout the world. The Light of Jesus should expose the evil fruits of the false prophet.

Eternal Life is this: To know the One True God and Jesus Christ he sent! Beware of the False Prophet! 

The God of Love and Peace

God is Love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Jesus, I trust in you!

It is disturbing to know that many acts of terrorism today are done in the name of God. Apparently, terrorists think that if they burn churches and kill unbelievers, they are doing the will of God. But this deception comes from a false notion of who God is. On this Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, the word of God proclaims to us that the one true God is the God of love. On Mt. Sinai, God revealed himself to Moses: “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” This revelation runs contrary to our common perception of a God who is always angry and relentless in his cruelty. St. Paul tells the Corinthians that God is the “God of love and peace” who commands us to “encourage one another, agree with one another, and live in peace.” God does not hate the earth. He does not want it condemned nor destroyed. Instead, “God so loved the world that he gave his Only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Take note that he does not threaten: “Believe or be killed.” Rather, the peril of death is already present on account of our sin. “This is indeed a stiff-necked people.” Our stubbornness in sin is the real culprit…it is the reason we die. Violence does not come from God. Hatred does not come from God. Terrorism does not come from God. War does not come from God. It comes from sin. Our Lady said at Fatima: “War is a punishment for sins.” Contrary to what pagans believe, there is no god of war. The only true God is the God of love and peace.

God does not want us to perish. He wants us to have eternal life because he loves us. This is why he sent his Son. He did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. God sent his Son to offer us a way out of the condemnation that the world has brought upon itself. All we have to do is to believe in his Son so that we may not be condemned. He who does not believe in Jesus remains in his sins. He remains condemned.

There will be war as long as people do not know the Blessed Trinity. Violence and hatred will remain so long as the world does not know the God of love and peace. The God of love is the Blessed Trinity. “God is Love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (CCC, 257.) In the inner life of God is a great mystery of communion in love: the Father loves the Son in that Fount of Love who is the Holy Spirit. And this Love is so great and powerful that the Blessed Trinity reveals himself wherever there is love. St. Augustine said: “Where there is love, there is a Trinity: a Lover, a Beloved, and a Fountain of Love.” St. Francis of Assisi used to lament: “Love is not known. Love is not loved.” The world continues to live under the threat of violence because Love is not known and loved. The world will not be at peace until it knows and loves the Blessed Trinity. Therefore, let us make Love known. “Mend your ways, encourage one another, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you…The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!  

Prayer of St. Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier, Patron of the Missions

At the end of the Ramadan, I would like to invite you to pray this prayer by St. Francis Xavier, Patron of the Missions:

O God, the everlasting Creator of all things, remember that the souls of unbelievers we made by Thee and formed in Thine own image and likeness.

Remember that Jesus, Thy Son, endured a most bitter death for their salvation.

Permit not, I beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thy Son should be any longer despised by unbelievers, but do Thou graciously accept the prayers of holy men and of the Church, the Spouse of Thy most holy Son, and be mindful of Thy mercy.

Forget their idolatry and unbelief, and grant that they too may some day know Him whom Thou hast sent, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Salvation, our Life and Resurrection, by whom we have been saved and delivered, to whom be glory for endless ages. Amen.

True Adoration

In his Wednesday Audience, the Holy Father meditated on the Prophet Elijah and drew from the story very important lessons on the adoration of the True God. This is a wonderful meditation in preparation for the Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity:

"What is in question here first and foremost is the priority of the first commandment: to adore God alone. Where God disappears, man falls into the slavery of idolatry, as the totalitarian regimes of our own time have demonstrated, along with the various forms of nihilism that make man dependent upon idols, upon idolatry -- they enslave him. Second: the primary end of prayer is conversion: the fire of God transforms our hearts and makes us capable of seeing God, of living according to God and of living for the other. And the third point: The Fathers tell us that this history of a prophet is also prophetic, if -- they say -- it foreshadows the future, the future Christ, it is a step on the path to Christ. And they tell us that here we see the true fire of God: the love that leads the Lord all the way to the Cross, to the total gift of Himself. True adoration of God, then, is to give oneself to God and to men -- true adoration is love. And true adoration of God does not destroy, but renews. Certainly, the fire of God, the fire of love burns, transforms, purifies, but it is precisely in this way that it does not destroy but rather creates the truth of our being, recreates our hearts. And thus, truly alive by the grace of the fire of the Holy Spirit, of God's love, may we be adorers in spirit and in truth."

follow the link: ZENIT - On Elijah's Lessons in Prayer