One Nation Under God

 

In 1954 President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," to the pledge of allegiance. America was then in its golden age, still being forged by what is referred to as the ‘greatest generation’. The faith and morals of that generation being a natural endorsement of the sentiment expressed. Even into the sixties it was still evident in national identity. 

One spectacular achievement of those times during the cold war and space race was the Apollo 8 mission; the first time man had left his home planet and ventured into space beyond earth’s orbit and saw our world from above. And on Christmas Eve as they made their final orbits of the moon; there was to be a short window of opportunity for the astronauts to deliver a TV broadcast, via NASA to the people on earth. Everyone gathered around their TV’s or Radio and as we looked for the first time at the earth rise the message was given: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."… 

It was a witness, not only to the atheistic Soviet union whom they had beaten to the goal, but a declaration to the world of who they were as a nation; a simple, faithful people who acknowledged His sovereignty. 

In the decades which followed we have seen an astonishing reversal and downward spiral in faith and morals to the degree that as Billy Graham’s late wife put it “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Decriminalization of abortion and sodomy during the seventies and more recently gay marriage and the insanity of gender ideology illustrate the extent of man’s rejection of God, now prevalent in society. 

The most terrifying prospect for the USA though is not that God would punish them or try to chastise the population and bring about repentance, no, that would be a blessing. What is worse is that He would accept their decision and withdraw His hand and leave the nation alone, to harden their hearts further (like the ancient Egyptians) until the society reaches the full extent of ruin. 

God sees the hearts of men and nations and He offers either justice or mercy as we wish. 

St Anthony's Brief

In the 13th century, a Portugese woman who’d been demonically oppressed resolved to do the unthinkable by taking her own life by drowning herself in the Tagus River. On her way to the river, she passed a shrine erected in honor of the great orator and miracle-worker, St. Anthony of Padua. She stopped to pray, one last time. As she prayed, she saw St. Anthony standing before her, saying, “’Arise woman, and take this paper, which will free you from the molestations of the Evil One.” Then he gave her a parchment inscribed with what is now known as the “Brief (i.e., “Letter”) of St. Anthony,” 1 and she was now free from demonic oppression and the desire to do away with herself.

News of this miracle spread, even to the King who asked the woman for the Brief. He placed it with the Crown Jewels of Portugal, which was fine for the King, but bad for the woman. After the Brief was no longer with her, she began to weaken and lapse, so the King made a copy for her that restored her to her healed state. Other copies of the Brief were spread to help the faithful fight the Evil One and remind them that Christ has conquered.

Behold, the Cross of the Lord! Begone, all evil powers! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, The Root of David, has conquered! Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Mysterious Chambers of the Human Heart

My doctor informed me of a 'blip' on my ECG scan, picked up as part of a routine annual physical examination. I was reminded of a saying by the stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius:- 'death stands at your elbow' and for a moment I could feel the grip of his icy fingers.

What followed was a series of heart tests to determine the problem. One in particular built on the incident and is only amusing with hindsight.

As I checked-in at the clinic for the treadmill stress test I was asked to sign a waiver, the gist of which was that if I died during the test that it wasn’t their fault and they would not be sued. Although they would make every effort to resuscitate me.

On entering the room the test was being conducted in, I observed little to offer any reassurance. There was an enormous treadmill, a bench; presumably to lay out the corpses of those who don’t complete the test and the menacing hum of a conveniently located defibrillator.

The only thing missing, as I later emerged undefeated, was a disappointed looking undertaker handing me his business card for the 'Happy Ending' funeral parlor and the quip, ‘see you later’.

Medieval art often contains a skull or skeleton to remind the viewer of death. And in a way it’s good to reflect on its inevitability so that our hearts are prepared for it by living lives of faith, adorned with works of mercy. Perhaps especially now in November, we have that chance to reach out to the Holy Souls through our prayers; they were once as we are, and we will soon be as they are …but not yet.

You have saved the best wine until last

The founder of the Catholic TV station EWTN, Mother Angelica, often reminded the elderly members of her audience that ‘old age is the best wine’ when it comes to our prayer life and our dynamism as intercessors or prayer warriors. 

This is counter cultural as in our day, youth, strength and beauty are idolized by society at large and the elderly are often overlooked and forgotten. But for believers who have spent their lives walking with their Saviour, deepening their relationship with Him and have experienced His power and love in their lives – this is the time to sprint the last hundred yards into His Kingdom!

I saw a good illustration of this in Star Wars (Episode 3) where the contemplative Jedi Master ‘Yoda’ engages in battle with the Sith Lord (the devil character). Yoda has a face that has seen many winters, his back is bent over, he walks slowly with a cane but as the fight begins and he draws his light saber, he is animated by the force (the Holy Spirit character) and flies through the air, bouncing around the room as his inner life becomes visible in all its strength and energy for good. The sword ‘does not sleep in his hand’.

The elderly are the treasure of the church and every prayer, ache and pain are useful in building the kingdom; for some, walking upstairs to the bathroom is like a climb to Calvary, a mighty act of intercession it can be…

Perhaps Tennyson spotted this when he wrote:-

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' 

We are not now that strength which in old days 

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; 

One equal temper of heroic hearts, 

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will 

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

A Light in The Darkness

There are many good charities here in the Philippines (and all are needed) but mostly they serve the ‘easier poor’ where a scholarship or livelihood training program can yield a tangible and swift result. Below this are levels of more intense suffering, that of the scavengers and beggars who have no voice and very few to speak for them or reach out to them.

Drop-in Center 

During the pandemic however, when things were about to become catastrophic for them, a Catholic group stepped in. The Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation run by the Divine Word Missionaries were already running a drop-in center for street people where they could get a hot meal and take a bath and wash their clothes as well as receive instruction in the faith. So it has faith as its primary focus. 

Drop-in Center

They quickly formed partnerships with some Catholic universities whose facilities were opened up to house the homeless and missionaries and volunteers provided the food for several months. They also provided for many others who had lost jobs and fallen on hard times during the lockdown; a local park is still the venue where several hundred people a day queue in for lunch. 

 

in De La Salle University during Lockdown

Near Luneta Park ... daily meal distribution

Best of all is a new residential community they have opened to enable some to get off the streets and to finish their education and/or undertake skills training to lead them back into work and the mainstream of society. Its first intake are both young and old, each with their own story, from former gang members, or drug users and many others discarded by society. But here their often tragic past can be redeemed and the future infused with a new hope. Like in Luke 19:10 ‘for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.'

Bahay Kalinga Center

For more information or to help viait :-    AJ Kalinga Foundation

A tree and its Fruits

 

The road to racial equality in America has been a long and bumpy one; fortunately the leadership of the movements that progressed it successfully have done so in a particular way. 

The early abolitionists were escaped slaves; one of the most prolific was Harriet Tubman who had a wonderful simple trust in God. After escaping herself to the north she began her work of leading others to freedom and made countless journeys to the south to rescue slaves and lead them back. The slave owners placed a bounty on her head but she had no fear of capture despite often being within a few feet of search parties. Her trust in God was absolute, a legacy from her own father who despite being a slave almost all his life trusted and loved his Savior, fasting every Friday to remember the sacrifice that sets us all free. Later Harriet helped the Union army during the civil war as a spy and scout. This is the pedigree and conviction of those who helped end slavery. 

A century later the civil rights movement under Martin Luther King showed the same source of inspiration and power. Prayer and the humility of non-violence also led to substantial change as it brought about the end of segregation on buses, schools etc, another major step forward. 

Both Harriet and King both realized the nature of their struggle. In the latter’s case he framed it as seeking unity with his white brothers, winning them back. Harriet, even more astoundingly when asked how she viewed the white slave owners said that they ‘didn’t know any better’ they had learned to think that way which is reminiscent of Jesus’ own words on the cross, ‘forgive them Father for they don’t know what they are doing’. Graciousness in spite of great suffering and opposition, their focus was always reconciliatory. 

The more recent events in America and the Black Lives Matter movement seems to be a very different narrative and as such is likely to have a very different result.

From Darkness to Light – A Tibetan Monk’s Testimony

Tenzin Lahkpa was born in a village in the mountains of Amdo (now in west China). His parents proudly named him after the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who hails from the same region. When he was 15, his mother took him to the local monastery to commence a lifetime of Buddhist study and service. She told her tearful son:

"From the moment you were born, I knew that you would be the one to honor our family and become a monk. I have dreamed about this day since you were very little. You were always so smart and kind. You were always so clever, and I knew that your purpose was to be a monk. I know that this is not easy for you to understand, but you were born to be a monk and lead our people into enlightenment."

In the monastery, Tenzin's life was miserable. It was like a huge, dark prison cell that he felt he would never be able to escape from. In the mornings he joined the other monks begging for food on the streets, and after returning to the monastery each day they were abused verbally, physically, and sexually.

According to Tenzin, some of the older monks and lamas were rampant homosexuals and pedophiles who did not think twice about using small children to satisfy their wicked cravings. On many nights, Tenzin was unable to sleep as he heard the muffled screams of anguished young boys in other parts of the monastery. He also grew disillusioned when he discovered that many of the senior lamas, who are supposed to be celibate, had secret wives and families away from the monastery.

Tenzin longed to escape, but he knew he would never be allowed to go free. For more than 20 years he remained enslaved in monastic life, and despite moving to Lhasa and then to India—where he met the Dalai Lama several times—inner peace eluded him.

While he was in northern India, Tenzin was visited by a relative who was a former monk. He was shocked when this man explained that he had moved to America and had become a Christian. Tenzin had never heard that word before, but when he was told it describes a follower of Jesus, Tenzin recoiled in horror, for all monks had been taught never to utter that Name. It had been drilled into them that the Name of Jesus was so dangerous that it had the power to overturn the very fabric of Tibetan life, and Buddhism itself.

For the next few years Tenzin's interest in Jesus grew, but he was frustrated in his attempts to satisfy his curiosity. One day a letter arrived from his mother, asking him to return home because his father had died. Tenzin was heartbroken and made the long overland journey back to Tibet. Not having a passport, he made it only as far as the Nepal-China border where he was arrested, bound, and severely beaten by Communist officers before being imprisoned for six months.

After contracting tuberculosis, Tenzin was admitted to hospital, where a Tibetanspeaking foreign doctor treated him. The physician wore a small cross on his collar, and when Tenzin asked what it meant, he was told that it meant he was a follower of Jesus Christ.

Tenzin was excited to meet a believer in Jesus, as he had many questions he wanted to ask. The doctor gave him some Christian literature, in both Tibetan and Chinese, and asked him to study it.

One day, the doctor asked if he could pray for Tenzin's healing, for his condition had deteriorated and he needed more than medicine to survive. Tenzin agreed, and later described what happened:

"The doctor walked closer to my bed, put his right hand on my right arm, and began speaking in a language I was not familiar with. Suddenly, without warning, I felt something flow through my arm. It was like a warm, soft blanket. It moved into my shoulders and chest, and then throughout my entire body. I could not understand the doctor's words, but his prayer had something my prayers lacked. It had power."

That moment was a turning point in Tenzin Lahkpa's life. He had come face to face with the reality of God's power, and that night as he fell asleep, he had a dramatic, life-changing dream. He recalled:

"A man in a white robe came to me in my dreams. He had a glow about Him that radiated in every direction. I felt warm and safe in His presence. As He approached me, I could tell there was something wrong with His hands. In His palms were scars that had not completely healed over. I tried to look closer to see if I could catch a glimpse of His face, but I could not.

‘Follow Me,' He said. He spoke perfect Tibetan and had a low, soothing voice like that of a loving father.

‘Are you Jesus?' I asked.

But again, He simply said, ‘Follow Me.'

‘Are you the one to show me the path to truth?'

‘Follow Me, Tenzin. I am the Way. I am the Truth. No one comes to the Path but through Me.'

'Okay,' I answered. ‘I will follow You.'"

For weeks Tenzin remained in hospital, using every spare moment to study the Bible. The doctors and nurses were amazed at his recovery, and Tenzin knew it was due to the healing prayer by the Christian doctor.

Awed by everything he had learned, Tenzin realized that a time was coming when he would have to leave the monastery. His journey to discover the truth was taking him on a radically different path.

After returning home, Tenzin was burdened to share what he had learned with his friends at the monastery. He called a special gathering of the monks and requested a public debate with the head of the monastery, Tashi Lama.

Despite knowing that the monks would react furiously the moment he mentioned Jesus, Tenzin felt a supernatural peace within. God was with him and had promised never to leave or forsake him. Even if he was killed, he knew he would be with his Lord and Master in paradise. There was no reason to fear.

Hundreds of monks crammed into the monastery courtyard to witness the debate. Rumors swirled about the reason for the special meeting, with some assuming that Tenzin planned to challenge the lama's leadership in a bid to replace him.

After struggling to find the right words, Tenzin Lahkpa took a deep breath and boldly declared:

"What if I told you that I prayed to a God who said that He could guide me through the spirit world, and I did not have to earn merits to hear from Him because He gave it all to me by grace? I could not earn it on my own.

When I was lying in the hospital bed, I was told about a God who gave His life for me so that I would not have to suffer any longer. He did not do it because I had earned enough merit. He did it because He loved me. His love leads to the path that ends suffering, and His Name is Jesus."

Instantly, an enraged Tashi Lama screamed, "Grab him now!" and dozens of monks rushed at Tenzin, hissing, "He's a Christian! Kill him!"

The new believer was choked and savagely beaten to a pulp, and his battered and unconscious body was left to die. Even his own brother, who was also a monk, was forced to beat him. Tenzin's mother also suffered for her son's actions, and her house was burned to the ground.

The severely injured disciple of Christ recalled his thoughts as he was being beaten:

"I knew that I must die to myself so that I could live in Christ. And if I could live in Christ, then, although they would kill my body, I would live again with Him. In that moment, I no longer feared death.

Although I was on the ground being kicked and punched by everyone, I was not their prisoner. I was being beaten as a free man. I had more hope in that moment than all the other men there. I was no longer a prisoner of Buddha. They were. I was being beaten for leaving Buddha, and they were beating me because they were too afraid to leave."

Hours later, after darkness had fallen, the blood-splattered Tenzin regained consciousness, and he heard a soothing voice say, "Follow Me, My child." A supernatural peace flooded his soul, and moments later a hand was clamped firmly over his mouth. His brother had returned to help him escape in the night.

Tenzin was put on a bus to a faraway city, where he took months to recover from his injuries. He was warned never to return to his home or he would be killed.

For most of Tenzin's life his identity had been chosen for him. His head was shaved and his clothes were the same as all the other monks, to strip him of individualism and identity. He struggled to think for himself or act independently of the monastery.

He was now free, but it would take a long time to adjust. Despite having no money, bank account, or any connections in this world, he walked away from his former dark way of life and toward Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.

In his new location, Tenzin was eventually contacted by some Christians, who warmly embraced him and explained that he had a unique and precious God-given identity which made him different from everyone else in the world.

Meanwhile, the monks back at the monastery remained furious with Tenzin. In their minds he had dishonored his nation, family, and culture. They tracked him down and tried to force him to recant and return to the monastery. When their pleas fell on deaf ears, they decided it was better for him to be dead than to walk away, and several attempts were made on his life.

Later, Tenzin began working with a medical charity in west China, giving him the opportunity to witness to many sick Tibetans who visited the clinic for treatment. One visitor was a Tibetan lady named Mapu. Tenzin shared the Gospel with her and she believed, becoming the first Tibetan he baptized. Mapu loved him, and they were united in marriage. For 20 years he had scarcely seen a woman and had been completely cut off from all contact with the opposite sex, so marriage was another shocking change to his life.

Tenzin and Mapu now have two sons, and he often says the most wonderful gifts God has given him, apart from salvation, are his wife and children.

Not one to lack courage, in 2017 Tenzin heard that a bacterial infection had broken out in his home area. Many people, including his beloved mother, had died as the epidemic swept through. Despite the threat to murder him if he ever showed his face there again, Tenzin was compelled by the love of God to return to the very monastery where he had almost been beaten to death years earlier. He reasoned:

"I knew that most of them wanted to kill me because they felt I had betrayed them. However, I could not sleep knowing that God had given us the means to save them. I knew that because Jesus loved them, I needed to love them too— even if they hated me. I wanted to be there to serve them and to show them the love of Jesus, and I would do so—even if they killed me."

Tenzin led a medical team to his hometown, providing treatment to more than 1,000 people. The locals were hesitant to receive help from him, but so great was their distress that they put aside their prejudices and accepted the assistance.

One day, Tenzin was sitting in the clinic when Tashi Lama walked in. Tenzin immediately grabbed a chair for him to sit on and bowed to honor his former persecutor. Tashi Lama's eyes grew large when he realized he was being served by the man he had tried to murder.

The next day, all the leading monks gathered as Tenzin presented a plan to build the first health clinic in the town.

Tenzin Lahkpa—who was dedicated to Buddha at a young age and who served many years as a monk—is now a jewel in the crown of Jesus Christ, and a living example of God's ability to transform lives radically from the inside out.

Many years earlier, Tenzin's mother predicted that he would lead their people into enlightenment. He is doing just that. He continues to serve the Living God, and he leads a small Tibetan fellowship.

With living examples like Tenzin Lahkpa displaying the liberating power of Jesus Christ, it's no wonder the lamas of Tibet and the demonic world fear His matchless Name, and why they shudder at the thought that the ‘Jesus virus' might one day spread throughout the Tibetan world.

Note: Quotes in this article are from Tenzin Lahkpa with Eugene Bach, Leaving Buddha: A Tibetan Monk's Encounter with the Living God (Whittaker House, 2019).

Part-Han 2014

A video with pics from the Laura Vicuna Foundation Christmas party for street children in Manila. 1500 kids from the various drop-in centers get together each year for the Parti-Han, See http://lauravicunafoundation.weebly.com/partihan.html

Separate them from the herd

 

The natural world is filled with clues as to the true nature of things and God speaks through them when we pause and listen. 

I was watching a brilliant documentary about the Serengeti and the seasonal migration of animals. It showed the various predators as they stalked the herds of antelope and buffalo. Predators have different techniques but what is common to all is they always target the youngest and weakest. The adults have the task of shielding their young, moving them into the centre and guarding them and defending with whatever tools they have while the predators seek to separate them from the herd. Once they have achieved that, they move in for the kill. 

One distinct advantage the herd has though is instinctive ‘situational awareness’. They know the lions are in the Savanna; that the crocodiles are waiting at the water’s edge and so can be prepared for the inevitable attack. They lose a small proportion of the herd. As humans we have lost our situational awareness, even as Christians. Not in relation to animal attacks but in the conflict with the world, the flesh and the devil. 

It proceeds in much the same way but with a more insidious intention. The youngest and weakest are led away from the security of the praying church community, into pastures that seem inviting. The devil cannot make hell look attractive so he makes the route look exciting. There is no quick kill as with a Lion attack, it’s a gradual elimination of beliefs, the end of any prayer-life and even without moral corruption and ruin, the generations which follow are then automatically in the bag too. How many generations are missing from the church in the West now… how many grandparents wearing out their knees praying for them to return? It’s a lot easier to protect in the beginning, than try to recover the lost further down the road. 

We tend to think of ourselves as the top of the food chain on earth, which in the natural world we are; but remember that Jesus refers to us as sheep… mostly lost (and thick) and the only defense we have against our enemy is the rest of the flock , the shepherd and to listen to His voice.

Fruits of Persecution in the Church in China ...

Chinese Christians imprisoned for their faith are memorizing Scripture passages smuggled to them on small pieces of paper because prison guards “can’t take what’s hidden in your heart,” one former prisoner revealed.

In a recent sermon, Wayne Cordeiro, pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, Hawaii, shared an experience he had on a trip to China, where the church went to train leaders.

The pastor shared how 22 Christians from the Hunan Province took a 13-hour train ride to attend the leadership training held at a 700-square-foot hotel room. Out of the 22 Christians present, 18 had been imprisoned for their faith, the pastor revealed.

“If we get caught what will happen to me?” Cordeiro began by asking.

“Well, you will get deported in 24 hours, and we will go to prison for three years,” the Chinese Christians responded.

After beginning his lesson, the pastor realized he only had 15 Bibles to pass around, so seven people went without.

“I said, 'turn to 2 Peter 1, we are going to read it.' Just then one lady handed hers to the person next to her, and I thought ‘hmm interesting,'” he recalled.

As the Christians began reading, he quickly realized why she had given her Bible away: she had memorized the whole book.

“When it was done, I went over to her at a break and said, ‘You recited the whole chapter,’” he said. She replied, “In prison, you have much time in prison.”

“Don’t they confiscate the Bible?” he asked.

She said that while any Christian material is indeed confiscated, people smuggle in scripture written on paper and hide it from the prison guards.

“That’s why we memorize it as fast as we can because even though they can take the paper away, they can’t take what’s hidden in your heart,” she explained.

Following the three-day training session, one Chinese Christian man asked Cordeiro, “Could you pray that one day we could just be like you?”

“I looked at him and said, ‘I will not do that,’” he replied. “You guys road a train 13 hours to get here. In my country, if you have to drive more than an hour, people won’t come.”

“You sat on a wooden floor for three days. In my country, if people have to sit for more than 40 minutes they leave. You sat here for not only three days on a hard wooden floor, in my country if it’s not padded pews and air conditioning, people will not come back.”

“In my country, we have an average of two Bibles per family. We don’t read any of them. You hardly have any Bibles and you memorize them from pieces of paper.”

“I will not pray that you become like us, but I will pray that we become just like you,” he concluded.

China has seen explosive growth in the number of believers over the last several decades. Estimates have even suggested that China is on track to have the largest Christian population in the world by 2030.

About 30 million Christians in China are estimated to attend state-sanctioned churches while many others attend illegal underground house churches that are not registered with the government.

In efforts to stunt the rapid growth of Christianity, authorities throughout China have shuttered a number of prominent house churches and arrested Christians for worshiping without the approval of the government.

Previously, Crazy Love author Francis Chan said he believes the reason the underground Chinese church has grown so large is that Chinese Christians "actually believed they could make disciples and start these gatherings because Jesus was enough."

"I started to think, 'This is what made the underground church in China unstoppable. If you have a group of people that actually embrace suffering, how are you ever going to stop them?'" he asked during the "Rethink Church/Rethink Mission" event at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia, in October.

Chan argued that the problem with churches in the West is they are "so stoppable the moment it gets too difficult."

"What if you actually go, 'I want to suffer for Christ?'" Chan asked. "Will you suffer to obey these things? Will you actually sacrifice? Because it's a lot easier to come somewhere and be fed than to love [others] as much as Christ loved you, as much as the Father loves the Son, and to break bread with [others] thinking, 'Christ was tortured for me; would I do that for [others]?'"

The pastor urged Christians in the West to embrace suffering for the glory of Christ "because the Church is that beautiful and that important."

The works of men

An old man was sitting in his cell and a voice came to him which said, "Come, and I will show you the works of men." He got up and followed. The voice led him to a certain place and shewed him an Ethiopian cutting wood and making a great pile. He struggled to carry it but in vain. But instead of taking some off, he cut more wood which he added to the pile. He did this for a long time. 

Going on a little further, the old man was shown a man standing on the shore of a lake drawing up water and pouring it into a broken receptacle, so that the water ran back into the lake. 

Then the voice said to the old man, "Come, and I will shew you something else." He saw a temple and two men on horseback, opposite one another, carrying a piece of wood crosswise. They wanted to go in through the door but would not because they held their piece of wood crosswise. Neither of them would draw back before the other, so as to carry the wood straight; so they remained outside the door. 

The voice said to the old man, "These men carry the yoke of righteousness with pride, and do not humble themselves so as to correct themselves and walk in the humble way of Christ. So they remain outside the Kingdom of God. The man cutting the wood is he who lives in many sins and instead of repenting he adds more faults to his sins. He who draws the water is he who does good deeds, but mixing bad ones with them, he spoils even his good works. So everyone must be watchful of his actions, lest he labour in vain." 

Someone asked Abba Agathon, 'Which is better, bodily asceticism or interior vigilance?' The old man replied, 'Man is like a tree, bodily asceticism is the foliage, interior vigilance the fruit. According to that which is written, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire" (Matt. 3.10) it is clear that all our care should be directed towards the fruit, that is to say, guard of the spirit; but it needs the protection and the embellishment of the foliage, which is bodily asceticism

Will I go to Heaven ?

                                     

Last week a couple of acquaintances, a brother and sister, were found to be COVID -19 positive, although fortunately asymptomatic thus far. Faced with the sudden possibility of death people often have a change of outlook, re-evaluate their lives in the light of a realization of their mortality. 

My thoughts went to the children of Fatima and particularly Jacinta and Francisco who died very young during the last global pandemic of Spanish flu a century ago. As I recall the story, Our Lady had told them that she would be taking them soon and they asked if they would be going to heaven. The answer was ‘yes’ but in Francisco’s case he would have to ‘pray many rosaries’. 

What is interesting is his wholehearted response. He stopped schooling and rid himself of all trivial pursuits even the play natural for children, and devoted himself to prayer and making sacrifices. It is hard to imagine someone that young having much to atone for – how much more for those of us whose lives have been many times as long as his already! The need for atonement and sanctification must be very great indeed. 

Another thing that makes Francisco’s witness very compelling is that the children had all seen Heaven, Hell and Purgatory in a vision and I imagine this too must have prompted such a resolute response. 

In the last few months more than half a million people have died of this virus, I bet none of them expected to die this year anymore than the ones who will join them between now and December do. If we can draw a lesson from the pandemic I think it’s to ‘be prepared,’ take a moment to reassess the important things in life, consider what happens if … and focus on making atonement for our sins and through prayer to seek the sanctification we need.

 

God’s purpose is revealed

It’s not often that the Lord ‘tips His hand’ and allows us to see things from His perspective and what He has in mind. Perhaps it’s an occasional reward for faithfulness or more likely when an intimate ally is ready to see it, when their heart has been prepared. 

There is a wonderful story about a seminarian Mang Eui-Soon , (not sure of his denomination) from Seoul in South Korea at the beginning of the Korean war that gives an insight into this. He was a man of prayer, barely in his twenties and had a particular fondness for ministering to the sick in the hospital attached to his church. 

The invasion of south Korea was fast; the north Korean army overwhelming the South by sheer weight of numbers and in days many found themselves behind the lines. Mang Eui-Soon and his companions hid and tried to make their way south through the countryside to safety. 

Their journey was not easy; first they were captured by the invading army and tortured for days as suspected spies. After being released they continued their journey only to be captured again and pressed into service carrying munitions and cooking for the North Korean army. They escaped and pushed south where they eventually met with the South Korean and American forces who arrested them and sent them to a Prisoner of War camp assuming they were NK spies. So he was placed with the captured NK soldiers and later their Chinese allies. At first he tried to convince them otherwise (as did many of his south Korean acquaintances outside the prison camp) but then he began to realize in prayer what the purpose was. 

As North Korea and China were both atheist countries, cut off from the world behind the iron curtain, he began to see God’s purpose. As he put it “they are not enemies invading our country with rifles, but sheep that God has driven along” He realized that “God had started the work of salvation on billions of Chinese… we have to sow the seed of the Gospel in their hearts” 

For years then he worked tirelessly in the camp and its hospital to reach out to the NK and Chinese prisoners and brought the Gospel to them, even constructing a church inside the camp. He had to dodge his own release even after the allies sought to set him free so he could remain with those he was evangelizing. Before the end of the war, after which the POW’s were to be repatriated to NK and China, he died in the camp and most attended his funeral. He brought so many to God by his persistence and kindness and then they returned to North Korea and China, no longer combatants but as evangelists, sowing the seed in their home countries where it continues to grow in secret.

Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation

Talkative Souls...

Some brothers were coming from Scetis to see Abba Anthony. When they were getting into a boat to go there, they found an old man who also wanted to go there. The brothers did not know him. They sat in the boat, occupied by turns with the words of the Fathers, Scripture and their manual work. As for the old man, he remained silent. When they arrived on shore they found that the old man was going to the cell of Abba Anthony too. When they reached the place, Anthony said to them, 'You found this old man a good companion for the journey?' Then he said to the old man, 'You have brought many good brethren with you, father.' The old man said, 'No doubt they are good, but they do not have a door to their house and anyone who wishes can enter the stable and loose the ass.' He meant that the brethren said whatever came into their mouths.

The Miracle of Medjugorje in english

Eventually someone would come..

An English missionary to China in the 1900’s, Gladys Aylward, came to understand the real power of the word of God one afternoon, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in northern China. She and her companion, a Chinese doctor were exhausted from walking and knelt down on the grass and prayed, she prayed for food and shelter ,  her companion prayed ‘O God, send us the one you want us to tell about Jesus’ They then broke into songs of praise. At that point a man appeared on the brow of a hill; he was a llama (Buddhist monk). He beckoned them and took them to his monastery way up on top of a mountain.


They were taken to see the abbot and he showed them a scrap of paper, that one of the monks brought back years before from a town where they sold their crops, it read ‘For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (Jn3:16). That was all, but they learned from that short passage that there was a God who loved and they all read and re-read that passage and wanted to know who the God who loved was.


They sent monks out to towns and villages to try and find out. One heard that Jesus had commanded his disciples to ‘go out into the whole world, and proclaim the good news’ The abbot reasoned that if the first passage was true, the second was too and that eventually someone would come and tell them the rest of the story.


Gladys and her companion stayed on for many days and laid out the Gospel story for them. Every night after they finished, there would be a queue outside their rooms of Buddhists wanting to know more...

Common sense is the enemy of the supernatural life

It’s interesting how God revealed Himself in the three persons of the Trinity sequentially and how each step takes that revelation to a deeper, more intimate level. 

I owe a lot to Cecil B. DeMille and Charlton Heston for my introduction to God in the movie The Ten Commandments, a burning bush on Sinai, His mighty deeds in Eygpt – this was a God I wanted in my corner. As a boy I rather hoped to climb Mt. Sinai and see if He was in. 

The image of Jesus is certainly different, more personal though not lacking drama by any means. I find that the scene on the shore of Lake Galilee, after His work, death and Resurrection is completed, tells a lot about Him. It’s a rather ordinary scene, breakfast on the shore with His friends to strengthen their hearts and celebrate. There is no pomp and ceremony; if you’ll excuse the absurdity, St Peter’s doesn’t put on a big hat while the apostles line up in height order and start chanting (in Latin) while he wafts incense in Jesus’ general direction. I wonder if we have lost sight a bit of what He is really like. 

At Pentecost the Holy Spirit is revealed to us and this is the area where we have really lost the plot. The principle thing that happened with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the beginning of the supernatural life of the church. As the apostles witnessed, their word was confirmed by the miracles that accompanied their testimony as they were led by the indwelling Spirit. 

Are we led by the same indwelling Spirit ? It’s said that “common sense (worldly wisdom) is the enemy of the supernatural life” or the life in the Spirit as often the supernatural life is counter intuitive. For example in Acts 3:6-7 where Peter meets a lame beggar at the beautiful gate. Common sense may lead us to help in a practical way, food, small change, etc. but the supernatural life says “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk” which of course he did. Similarly in Acts 9:36-40 where a believer called Tabitha dies. Common sense might recommend an undertaker, the supernatural life caused Peter to kneel down and pray and say to the corpse “Tabitha, get up” which she did. For that to happen in our day we must be open to the Spirit, develop the interior life and listen to the Spirit or we will miss those moments in hesitation or because of our allegiance to common sense..

Laura Vicuna Foundation New Blog 2020

LVF Blog  Link

Benefits of praying for the Holy Souls...

The cases of intercession of the souls in Purgatory are numerous :-

The following one, which is among the best known and most moving, happened in Paris in 1817.

A domestic servant, who had the pious habit of having a Mass said every month for the souls in Purgatory, became ill and having to be hospitalized, lost her job.

Upon leaving the hospital, she went to a church to pray, where she remembered that she had failed to have Mass said for the poor souls that month. However due to her unemployment, she could not afford a Mass offering since it would leave her penniless. After hesitating, she gave the offering.

Leaving the church, she met a young man who seemed to be a noble. He unexpectedly asked her if she needed employment and gave her the address of a house, which needed a maid.

When she arrived at the house, the owner, who had just dismissed her maid, wondered who could have known that she needed help. While describing the young man at the Church, the servant saw a painting of him on the wall.

Hearing this, the owner exclaimed, "That is my son, who died two months ago!"

Then both realized that God wanted to reward the maid's charity and reveal the power of a suffering soul's intercession.

Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem

The  Miracle involves a woman and her unfaithful husband. In a desperate attempt to save her marriage, the woman went to see a sorceress for help. The sorceress said she would grant the woman’s wish of renewing the husband’s fidelity: in exchange for the woman bringing her a consecrated Host. Reluctantly the woman decided to commit the sacrilege and steal a host. The woman went to Mass at the Church of St. Stephen, she received the Holy Eucharist in her mouth, then took the Sacred Host out of her mouth and wrapped it in her veil, and headed quickly out of the church.

Before she had taken more than a few steps, the Host began to bleed. It bled so much that it appeared as if she had cut her hand. Several concerned parishioners went to help her, but as they reached her, she ran out of the church.

Upon returning home, she threw the bloody Host into the bottom of an old trunk in her bedroom. As was his custom, her husband returned late that night. During the middle of the night, a mysterious light emanated from the trunk. When the couple awoke, the woman confessed to her husband what she had done. They then both knelt in adoration and repentance before the Miracle.

The next morning they told the parish priest what had happened. The Host was then placed in a wax container and solemnly returned to the Church of St. Stephen. Of course, upon hearing the news, the villagers hurried to the church to see and venerate the Miracle.

When the priest opened the tabernacle another miracle had taken place! The wax container holding the Sacred Host was found shattered in many pieces, and the Host was now enclosed in a crystal pyx. After an exhaustive investigation by ecclesiastical authorities, the Miracle was approved. It is believed that St. Francis Xavier visited the Church of the Holy Miracle before setting off for missionary work in India.

It is an article of our faith that the wine and bread literally become the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ during the Consecration, and to actually see it physically manifested is a wonderful experience.

"Testimony of Medjugorje International Relief "

Lets get a van, fill it with food, and take it to Bosnia

On a cold February evening in Manchester in 1993 this simple (some might say naive or downright stupid) idea was born. Perhaps even more unlikely was that it was going to work out and develop over the coming months & years beyond our wildest dreams.

God chooses the weak, the least qualified, the inexperienced and the barmy (crazy) to show His power and glory, and that is precisely what He did with us and still does.

No-one in the team had any experience of aid work, fundraising, or the myriad of difficulties we would be presented with, many were not even practicing Catholics at that stage. We just took that first step or decision and God took over”.

First we needed a place to store the foodstuffs that would be collected from donors and churches in the area. At a local church, (where we are still based 12 years on) there was a pre-fab, formerly an old school building which would make a good warehouse. The PP immediately gave his permission for us to use it.

Next we needed to start collecting food. A handwritten poster was made and photocopies distributed to churches in the neighboring parishes along with big conspicuous cardboard boxes. More volunteers arrived and word started to spread further a field.

Food was flooding in, so fast we couldn't pack it quick enough; the carrier bags full, soon turned into car boots full and even Van loads started to arrive from churches of all denominations from all over the city and beyond even Cheshire and Derbyshire.

Funds started to come in too, the local council even allowed us to have street collections, city-wide for 3 weekends on the run. (quite unheard of).

Success brings new problems ! How could we get all this food over to Bosnia, we would need a fleet of vans ! Which despite the fundraising was still well out of our grasp.

As we pondered this, a new volunteer arrived, with an incredible story, and the answer to my prayers (even though I did not pray then). He was a landscape gardener at Manchester Airport and on his travels had seen a number of redundant (but in good working order) vehicles rusting on the apron.

He went to see the Managing Director of the airport and asked if we could have them to take to Bosnia, He said yes and a few phone calls later, they were signed over to us (filled with petrol !) and we drove them back (quick, before they change their minds).

There wasn't one mechanic between us and so we would have to beg for help once again. Again, all doors were opened to us, Quicks carried out urgent repairs to one van and all the rest were given a thorough inspection and service by the Territorial Army transport corps whose base was round the corner from our warehouse.

We were all set, and this was only the first trip to Medjugorje. Others followed as did many tons of food, toiletries, blankets, medical equipment, ambulances and vans.

Another little surprise awaited many of the drivers once they arrived in Medjugorje, a change of heart , a new found faith or renewal of a luke-warm one. The writer needed several trips to penetrate his stubborn heart, but Our Lady never quits ! 

Over the next 27 years the appeal has continued but with a wider remit, sending millions of pounds in aid to 30+ countries throughout the world.

Still a bunch of amateurs, still in a shed in Old Trafford, still relying on providence for all we need, our catch phrase might be “God softens the hearts and we pack the boxes and sign the cheques just directing traffic ! 

One man’s good deed is another mans miracle on the first trip to Bosnia, we visited a refugee camp the day after the refugees arrived with nothing, (very timely!). One old man approached us, as we unloaded boxes of food, he had been forced to leave his home by soldiers and only given a few minutes to gather his possessions and had lost his spectacles, did we have any ? As an after-thought, just before we left England, we put a small box of specs in, to fill a space. He rooted through the box trying different pairs on and found some that were just right ! He was filled with joy, such an easy thing for the donor to give, but the gift of sight to this poor man.

God Has Saved us for the last 2 years, much of the fundraising has been directed to the slave redemption programme in the Sudan with partners Christian Solidarity International On one recent mission, one boy and his grandmother were set-free from slavery and the Boy said I want to become a Christian and be called William, because God Has Saved Us! 

Hold the Front Page - a letter from Kenya we received following a donation sent to enable them to keep a pro-life newspaper running, read as soon as we received your letter, we immediately ran to the church to thank God for His provision.

There are many other examples, the point being that this work is in the hands of God and the recipients receive it as such. Every 6 months we have an empty warehouse and an empty bank account, and God fills them both up as we embark on the next project He has in store for us.

Evangelisation ? - a funny example was applying for a minibus permit from a government office. We had to submit a constitution for the charity,, and naturally enough included information about Medjugorje. The phone rang and the clerk who was processing our application, a lapsed Catholic, and her boss, another lapsed Catholic, wanted to know all about Medjugorje ! You get the picture !

Icon of Our Lady Queen of Peace

Two of our volunteers, a husband and wife team, commissioned an Icon of Our Lady Queen of Peace, based on the descriptions of Our Lady given by the visionaries in Medjugorje, in May 2002.

It was written by a Russian Orthodox Iconographer in Walsingham and interestingly completed in October as the Pope gave us the new luminous mysteries of the Rosary and declared a year of the Rosary.

Subsequently the Icon ,after debuting at Medjugorje International Relief’s 10th anniversary day of prayer at the Schoenstatt shrine in Manchester, has been traveling across the city to many of the churches that have helped over the years, sometimes just for a day of prayer or for extended periods.

There have been some interesting stories associated with its presence.

At one church the PP decided to have devotions on a Wednesday night during its stay, Rosary, a talk about Our Lady and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. This continued for some months and then all-day adoration started on the Wednesday preceding the Rosary in the evening. Now, some months later, the parish has an adoration chapel which is open all day and every day ! As the familiar saying goes, to Jesus through Mary.

Interestingly, our income also rose by about 300% during that time.

Medjugorje Internatinal Relief :- Blog Page

Renewing the face of the earth

I live in one of the most polluted cities in Asia; but today (still in lockdown) I sit under a cloudless sky with the sun on my face and the only air traffic is a majestic bird of prey (an escapee from the zoo next door) which is encircling our house. Earlier I read this verse from Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed, for I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told” 

Many atheists in the world are rather alarmed as the structures they trust in, start to break down as a result of the corona virus. 

A similar plague occurred during the cultural revolution in China, centered around a labour camp which housed political prisoners including many Christian evangelists. One evangelist named, Miao Zizhong from Zhejiang had a particularly spectacular rescue from the virus. It killed more than a thousand of the 1300 prisoners in a few days and once he caught it he was examined by the camp doctor and sent to a side room which was filled with corpses awaiting burial in a pit that was still being dug. 

He fell to his knees and prayed for healing. At this point an angel appeared to him and transported him to a dazzlingly white room where the angel breathed into his lungs and he immediately felt relieved and was then returned to the side room. He exited and returned to the doctor who was terrified and thought he was a ghost! No one recovered from this disease. Miao testified that his prayer had been answered and God had healed him. The doctor fell to his knees, saying “your God is true, Jesus is alive, I now believe and ask Jesus to receive me”. 

The current state of flux we find ourselves in, reminds me of a quote from the ‘Vicar of Baghdad,’ an Anglican priest stationed there who said “we only knew that Jesus was all we needed, when he was all we had left”. 

Whatever the circumstances that surround the inception and spread of this latest virus it does present a great opportunity for a change of mindset in how we live generally and in particular, it’s an invitation to return to God... 

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 chronicles 7:14)

An Exorcist tells his story ...

The local and global responses to the Corona virus are interesting, in that, here we have an invisible but real threat seen by its effects. Large efforts and vast resources are being deployed to counter this.

I believe Christians and the church particularly can learn a great deal from this fervor and realization of danger in our midst. For, we too, face an invisible enemy whose effects are more far reaching than a flu virus. Can anything other than the full message and application of the authority Jesus extended to it, counter and protect humanity from such an enemy?

At a time in history when humanity is being assaulted simultaneously on multiple front lines, there seems to be a muted or bewildered response. Clauswitzian fog before the eyes of many leads to rationalizing instead of bold action taken in faith. Whereas every diocese is required to have its own exorcist for example, those in need of one might have to travel half way around Europe to find one nowadays, we are no longer equipped for the times. Fr Amorth in his book “An Exorcist tells his story” mentions what a Bishop (who had not appointed an exorcist in his diocese) said that he ‘did not want to make an enemy of the devil’ perhaps forgetting his predecessors when they said ..“Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He (Jesus) replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke10; 17-18)

But it goes beyond this. Wishy-washy preaching turns the good news into the good advice, the demands of holiness and a fierce devotion to a baseline of mediocrity and complacency. There is a need to look back and see that what worked for the saints in the centuries gone by, was not sophisticated reasoning but simply telling the truth about God, about our need for Him and the salvation He offers, how desperately He is reaching out to us in love to ransom us and shield us from the clutches of the evil that surrounds us. We must take it seriously.

The legions of the enemy camp take their work very seriously, have undivided hearts as they assault the world with their deceptions of abortion, gender ideology, atheism and a host of other ways to destroy souls; our response cannot be to offer a peace treaty of tolerance and fear but on the contrary to see it for what it is and push back with the full force of the truths of the Gospel, for the healing of souls and the liberation of those who fall into the power of the devil.

What will it take for people to even believe anymore? Does satan have to have his own TV show before we become alert and aware!

A New Way

A few times each day a helicopter passes overhead and lands on the helipad of a five star hotel near Manila bay, a service to guests who would prefer to avoid our famous traffic. Its flight path goes over the national sports stadium in whose covered alcoves the homeless sleep and store their handful of belongings… so close, and yet so far. 

The distance between rich and poor here is greater than anywhere I have seen in the world. Unbridled capitalism and endemic corruption work synergistically to ensure an ever growing underclass and untouchable and increasingly isolated elite. Added to this, are the aspirations of the middle classes which can counter compassion and build walls against the poor. It all chips away at our humanity and increases separation and isolation. A big event like the Papal visit for example, sees the homeless shunted away by the government, dehumanized as an embarrassing problem. 

We must seek out a new way, of compassion and dignity. Everyone has a story but not all have a voice. 

I read a post some time ago and the chap who told the story was just sitting down for lunch at a simple outdoor carinderia (café) when a homeless man came shuffling along with a few bags in tow. He invited him to join him for lunch and they got talking. The homeless man had not always been so. He had worked all his life; he and his wife had a good home and life together until she became ill. Hospital bills quickly mounted and exceeded their savings until he had to sell his house and property to continue treatment. (Whilst the Philippines is a developing country, the medical fees are set at first world prices.) Eventually she died and now he was left grieving (although without regret) and had nothing left. 

He was making his way back to a province where he had relatives who might take him in and so his host bought him a bus ticket to that town and they parted company. Sometimes a few minutes to listen and a few pesos can lift someone up. 

How easy it was to help; how much easier not to bother to engage though, like in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Compassion is the better choice; the better choice for rich and poor alike.

To the ends of the Earth ..

On entering the Radio Maria Philippines HQ in Tarlac in central Luzon, I was greeted by the familiar image of Our Lady of Tihaljina on their logo and immediately knew the quality of their mission. The focus is almost entirely on prayer, both the Mass and Rosary broadcasts daily coupled with the prayer of the church and solid Catholic teaching.

Each Radio Maria station in the world has its own special role to play in bringing the Gospel to the people. Here the terrestrial coverage is limited to a few regions of the country but it struck me that it’s real potential was way beyond that. 

In Yellow, Fr, Raymund Cruz, Station Director with some of many volunteers

We have reached a stage in human history where we can almost ‘proclaim the gospel to every creature’ by partnering with technology. The station is also available through internet and an App for IOS and Android smart phones and can be heard all over the world. This is particularly important for Filipinos because the work force is so mobile. More than 2 million are OFW’s (Overseas Foreign Workers) and are often employed in some of the most inhospitable countries where the faith is restricted or outlawed entirely but via Radio Maria they can now stay connected to their faith and join in unity with this huge praying community and in their own language. 

Another enormous potential audience are the seafarers. Somewhere between 30-40% of the world’s seamen are Filipinos as Maritime schools have flourished here for many decades. It can be a lonely and isolated life spending months at sea without much to feed the soul, but now they can listen in and join together in prayer as they plough the ocean and sea roads.

Most of the funding comes from the pennies of the poor: parishes and school children filling tins with coins to keep the station running and volunteers provide most of the content as well. A class of school kids might be leading the Rosary on air today, a group of college students from another town tomorrow so it’s really a grassroots and providential undertaking. 

Before I left, the station Director Fr. Raymund Cruz told me news that quickened my spirit even more. They are just starting a new station in one of the darkest corners of Europe…England.

In my mind’s eye, I could see the angels gearing up for this Marian invasion of my homeland. It’s almost a thousand years since the apparitions of Our Lady in Walsingham, at one time a shrine almost as popular as Jerusalem or Rome; such was the strength of faith and Marian devotion in those days. Perhaps the Mother of God is set to reclaim England which in ancient times was referred to as the ‘dowry of Mary’ How wonderful to live in such days of restoration!

Walsingham ... The Ancient Shrine

A glimpse of Walsingham below  and a soundtrack called Mary's Garden by Paul Lisney

Mary's Garden from maxtmh on GodTube.

To download the Radio Maria App to your phone go here to their website:- https://www.radiomaria.ph/