The paschal season of the Church is preceded by the season of Great Lent,
which is itself preceded by its own liturgical preparation. The first
sign of the approach of Great Lent comes five Sundays before its
beginning. On this Sunday the Gospel reading is about Zacchaeus
the tax-collector. It tells how Christ brought salvation to the sinful
man and how his life was greatly changed simply because he “sought to
see who Jesus was” (Lk 19:3). The desire and effort to see
Jesus begins the entire movement through lent towards Easter. It is the
first movement of salvation.
The following Sunday is that of the Publican and the Pharisee.
The focus here is on the two men who went to the Temple to pray—one a
pharisee who was a very decent and righteous man of religion, the other a
publican who was a truly sinful tax-collector who was cheating the
people. The first, although genuinely righteous, boasted before God and
was condemned, according to Christ. The second, although genuinely
sinful, begged for mercy, received it, and was justified by God (Lk 18:9).
The meditation here is that we have neither the religious piety of the
pharisee nor the repentance of the publican by which alone we can be
saved. We are called to see ourselves as we really are in the light of
Christ’s teaching, and to beg for mercy.
"Even all the hairs of your headare counted" (St.
Matthew 10:30).
Brethren, "the hairs of your head are counted" much less
the days of your life! Do not be afraid, therefore, that you will die before
your appointed time nor yet hope that you will somehow be able to extend your
life for one day against the will of Him Who counts and measures. Let this
knowledge teach you meekness and fear of God.
"The hairs of your head are counted" much less your
sufferings on earth! Do not be afraid, therefore, that you will suffer more
beyond measure. Fear even less that your sufferings will remain forgotten and
unaccounted for by Him Who sees all. This knowledge will teach you patience and
confidence toward your Creator and Provider.
"The hairs of your head are counted" much less your
friends and enemies on earth! Do not be afraid, therefore, that you will have
either too many friends or too many enemies. Neither be afraid that your
enemies will overcome you nor be assured that your friends will defend you.
Concern yourself only that you have God for a friend and do not be afraid of
anything. Behold, He is your only friend Who loves you without change.
O Good Lord, Wise Provider Who knows the number, measure and time of all,
banish from us every fear, except the fear of You. That through fear of You, we
may arrive to the pure and holy love toward You, our Creator and Benefactor.
I am posting the entire entry from the Prologue From Ochrid for this great Feast day. At one time, Theophany was held in greater esteem by the people of God than the Nativity of our Lord -- For by it the Holy Trinity was announced to the world.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
THE EPIPHANY [THEOPHANY] OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST When our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His teaching and salvific work. He Himself signified this "beginning of the beginning" by His baptism in the Jordan river. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, " The beginning of the world - water; the beginning of the Good News - Jordan." At the time of the baptism of the Lord in water, that mystery was declared to the world: that mystery which was prophesied in the Old Testament; the mystery about which in ancient Egypt and India was only fabled; i.e., the mystery of the Divine Holy Trinity. The Father was revealed to the sense of hearing; the Spirit was revealed to the sense of sight, and in addition to these, the Son was revealed to the sense of touch. The Father uttered His witness about the Son, the Son was baptized in the water, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovered above the water. When John the Baptist witnessed and said about Christ, "Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world"
(St. John 1:29), and when John immersed and baptized the Lord in the Jordan, the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation was shown. That is to say: The Lord took upon Himself the sins of mankind and died under them [immersion] and became alive again [the coming out of the water]; and we must die as the old sinful man and become alive again as cleansed, renewed and regenerated. This is the Savior and this is the path of salvation. The Feast of the Epiphany [Theophany in Greek] is also called the Feast of Illumination. For us, the event in the Jordan river illuminates, by manifesting to us God as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided. That is one way. And, the second: everyone of us through baptism in water is illumined by this, that we become adopted by the Father of Lights through the merits of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.
HYMN OF PRAISE
THE HOLY TRINITY
O, Holy Lord, holy in creating,
All that You create by Your Word, by Your Spirit You consecrate.
O, Mighty Lord, mighty in suffering,
For the world You walk to Your death; for the world, You resurrect.
Immortal Lord, in voice, we praise You;
Father, Son, Holy Spirit - God, have mercy on us!
The Father, Who appeared over Jordan as a Voice,
The Spirit, Who as a White Dove hovered,
The Son, Who by the Prophet John was baptized,
Three rays of light, one light shown,
The Trinity manifested, we praise You in voice:
Father, Son, Holy Spirit - God, have mercy on us!
REFLECTION
At one time, the fables of the heretics plagued the Church of God and now the Church is plagued by the fables of the apostates from God. By perseverance in the Faith, by diligence in prayer, by confession of the Faith and even martyrdom for the Faith, the Church remained undefeated until now. Only by these methods will these neo-plagues be defeated. The Church of God, the Vessel of Divine Truth will triumph in the end, "The enemies are ruined completely forever" (Psalm 9:7). Blessed Clement of Alexandria said about heretics who left the Church, "He who has fallen into heresy travels through an arid desert, abandoning the One True God. Alienated from God, he seeks water in dry places, he gathers barren fruit with his hands and enters into an uninhabited and thirsty land." This also can be said today about the many hypothecators and theoreticians who are led by their imaginations and not by the truth of God.
CONTEMPLATION
To contemplate the event of the Baptism of the Lord:
1. His humble coming to the Jordan river unknown to all, except John;
2. His immersion in the water; the hovering of the Dove over Him; and the Voice from on High.
HOMILY
About the mystery of [Heavenly] Divine Trinity
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit and the water and the blood: and these three are together"(I John 5: 7-8).
When we read Holy Scripture, we should be alert to keep an eye on every word. To the rapid reader, for example, this distinction which the Evangelist draws between the Heavenly Trinity and the earthly trinity will not become apparent. Concerning the Heavenly Trinity, he says, "And these three are one;" and concerning the earthly trinity, he says, "And these three are together." There is an enormous difference between "being one" and "being together." The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are One, whereas the spirit, water and blood are only together and are not one. Even enemies could be together as one, but are not one. All the people on earth are together, but they are not one. Water and blood constitute the body and the spirit is the spirit. "For the flesh has desires against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh" (Galatians 5:17). However, they are not one, but they are still together. When man dies the union is broken apart and ceases to exist. Blood and water go to one side and the spirit goes to another side. Whereas the [Heavenly] Divine Trinity in the heavens not only are they together but they are also one.
There is also another trinity in the inner heaven of man which should be, not only a unity, but a oneness so that man could be blessed in this world and in the other world. That is the union of the mind, heart and will. As long as these three are only in togetherness, man will be at war with himself and with the Heavenly Trinity. However, when these three become one, so that neither one rules and that neither one is enslaved, then man becomes filled with "the peace of God that surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7), man's every word, every explanation, every fear and every sorrow. Then the small heaven in man begins to resemble that great heaven of God, and the "image and likeness of God" becomes apparent in man.
O Triune God, help us to resemble, at least, those who resemble You.
By the time I left the Hive, whatever had once bound me to it had long since frayed away. The upward pace of a "career" seemed more and more like a pointless marathon, a mere job. Long days spent striving to "exceed corporate goals" came to resemble a game of pick-up-sticks played with cows. Efforts to save an enterprise that one didn't own came down to admitting that the enterprise had no intrinsic worth other than maintaining the vulgar lifestyle of an aging monomaniac who could no longer reason his way through two and two to four. It all combined into a vast cloud of wind-spun detritus that obscured the plain and simple fact that while government employees were working 24 hours a day printing more money, nobody anywhere was printing more time.
"...A number of years ago, an aged former home builder told me that in the 1920′s when he started building homes, the houses had lots of bedrooms and no closets because everyone had lots of kids but owned very little. But by the late 1950′s the trend had switched to homes with fewer bedrooms and lots of closets, he told me, as we came to love things rather than people. He sighed, and said, “We used to love people and use things, and now it is the reverse.”
Great post by Father Ted. Read the whole thing here.
Jonah Goldberg is not the only conservative who fails to see what is happening under the radar. Sadly, there are so many who refuse to understand the nature of Mohammedism, that it is an ideology that demands that all of it’s adherents, in order to be considered true Muslims and not apostates who are unworthy to live, must wage war at all levels against the non-Muslims with the ultimate goal being either the enslavement of all non-believers or, more preferably in the eyes of Allah, their conversions or deaths.
As Azathoth writes in a comment to Mr. Goldberg’s post:
It doesn’t matter how friendly the smiling Muslim is. He is an enemy. Even if he, himself, would never harm a hair on your infidel heads, he will most assuredly accept the Islamicisation of this country–up to and including dhimmi status for you, his ‘friends’.
The miniscule few who would be considered ‘moderates’ by the West would be apostates to that friendly smiling Muslim. He will accept them now. For now.
See, he works towards sharia–not with great demonstrations, but with innocuous ideas–let’s keep bars and liquor stores away from schools and places of worship–it’s for the Children….and, if you look at our country, you’ll find places where laws like this have been passed–all without mentioning how important the area area a mosque be alchohol free–without mentioning that it is a matter of sharia law.
But he smiles, and he’s nice, and his kids watch tv and play video games just like yours….
They’re in Europe in numbers that would make Charles Martel scream. Let’s not follow suit.
If we stopped watching every movie or TV show featuring a pro-choice celebrity, we’d never watch anything. However, there are a few entertainers who are such blatant shills for the abortion industry that I as a pro-lifer feel obligated to deny them my money and attention. Here are just a few. I’m putting them in ascending order from least to greatest in terms of how much they annoy me, but rest assured they are all deeply annoying.
There's apparently no depth the tawdriest elements in our politics -- i.e., left-liberals and the Democrat Party -- will refuse to plumb. If the completely unsubstantiated sexual-harassment allegations against Herman Cain have proved anything, that would be it.
[snip]
Well, in at least one sense, it's a blessing of sorts. As I wrote recently, the gauntlet is out there, and better that a candidate face it during the primary phase of the campaign than after he's been tapped for the nomination.
[snip]
However, before we pass on, it would be well to acquaint ourselves afresh with the outline of this nastiest current in political advocacy. Fortunately for us in the Right, Ann Coulter has done the hard part for us:
Herman Cain has never lived in Chicago. But you know who has? David Axelrod! And guess who lived in Axelrod's very building? Right again: Cain's latest accuser, Sharon Bialek. Bialek's accusations were certainly specific. But they also demonstrated why anonymous accusations are worthless.
Within 24 hours of Bialek's press conference, friends and acquaintances of hers stepped forward to say that she's a "gold-digger," that she was constantly in financial trouble -- having filed for personal bankruptcy twice -- and, of course, that she had lived in Axelrod's apartment building at 505 North Lake Shore Drive, where, she admits, she knew the man The New York Times calls Obama's "hired muscle."
Throw in some federal tax evasion, and she's Obama's next Cabinet pick.
The reason all this is relevant is that both Axelrod and Daley have a history of smearing political opponents by digging up claims of sexual misconduct against them.
John Brooks, Chicago's former fire commissioner, filed a lawsuit against Daley six months ago claiming Daley threatened to smear him with sexual harassment accusations if Brooks didn't resign. He resigned -- and the sexual harassment allegations were later found to be completely false.
Yes, please go read the whole thing. And read every day, it's that good.
It is always time for the Truth, in the person of Jesus Christ.
Aaaand...here's a bit of truth in the political arena, via Bookworm:
Why, oh, why, oh, why do we believe anything the media says about conservatives? I wrote yesterday that Gingrich is a principled conservative with an unprincipled private life (thinking mostly about his abandoning his cancer-stricken wife), while Romney is an unprincipled conservative with a principled private life.
THE EPIPHANY [THEOPHANY] OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST