Freedom of Speech

Some day in the near future, I will receive an e-mail or notification informing me that I have violated some policy and that my account here has been frozen or locked or deleted etc...  It's sad that we can't practice our constitutional right to express ourselves through speech and "pen".  I don't always have to be right (I do grow and change); but, we need healthy debate too.  Voltaire must be rolling in his grave!

Why the Frack Can't We Leave People Alone

Now I hear there's an uproar in England because some department store clerk clerk refused to sell alcohol for religious reasons.  Everybody!  Leave everyone alone!  Frack!  It's like kindergarten.

Why Can't We Just Leave People Alone

So, I tried to send the guys at Duck Command an e-mail from their web page that didn't get through.  Here's a snipit of it:

"You should all quit in protest.  I think that the statement made may not have been the best choice in topic; but, I believe in freedom of speech and expression.  While my own Christian faith allows me to accept gays and gay marriage, I also understand the "love the sinner hate the sin" approach of the Evangelical Christian folks.  The fact is that I used to agree with Phill, still believe in God, and think that censorship is very wrong.  Nobody bothered to bring to my attention the part where Phill said to love and not to judge.  The show is a huge hit for A&E and you should all leave in protest.  God willing, everything will work out.  Peace be with you."

Here is an interesting article to read from Chicks on the Right:

 http://www.chicksontheright.com/posts/item/25117-so-we-obviously-need-to-talk-about-the-duck-dynasty-drama

For the Lazy

The harder you work, the more distasteful is socialism; also, the lazier you are, the more palatable is socialism.

The True Meaning of Christmas

So, I'm watching TV the other night when an ad comes on.  The woman says the true meaning of Christmas isn't giving and getting gifts, it's loving and helping others.  Wrong!  It's a nice statement, and a worthy goal.  However, that being said, it is NOT the true meaning of Christmas, Christ Mass.  What ever could be the true meaning of CHRISTmas?  Well, we've let the politically correct sensor us to the point that the atheists and non Christians have really won, haven't they?  Does anybody know what Christmas is now?  Please, let me and my people celebrate Christmas, not have a happy holiday season.  I will let you celebrate Hanukkah and Ramadan unmolested too.  Enjoy your culture, traditions, and faith.  We, after all, live in a mosaic society...wink wink nudge nudge.

Phill

I understand his point. It is, however, an invalid argument (slippery slope); there is no connection leading from one to another. That being said, he is passionate about it and his god. He truly believes it is wrong, and that the world is descending into evil. Christ called us to be in the world but not of the world. St. Paul said that he needed to be all things to all men in order to win them for Christ; or, when in Rome do as the Romans do. Being in the world but not of the world, there is no need for Phill to try to fight all the evil he sees in it. St. Francis said to preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words. We don't have to use words. We can live a Holy life, or as near to Christ's example as we can. God has given us other examples, less perfect than Christ. St. Peter was far from perfect; and so, St. Peter is easy to identify with. We can't be perfect, and we don't have to be as we are washed of our sins by Christ's sacrifice. And, is it truly evil, or is it judgment? If they give thanks to God for the gift of love, as St. Paul explains in the 14th Ch. of Romans, is it still sin? I believe it is not. To be all things to all men, Phill needs to stop telling God loving homosexuals that they are sinning. Who am I to judge a fellow servant of the master? He is simply zealous and misguided in his actions, as St. Paul was at the stoning of St. Stephen. To be in the world as a witness and not judging is not easy. We always want to be the older brother of the prodigal son, telling the father than the brother has sinned and getting mad when the father welcomes the return of the prodigal son. We must all be all things to all men to win them for Christ and trust God and leave punishment to Him alone. As we judge, so shall we be judged. Now...unpack all that.

80/20

Liberals complain that 80% of the world's resources are consumed by 20% of the population.  Then, they lament free trade and try to legislate protectionism.  You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Liberal Greed

Liberals only cry greed when you try to keep your own money, never when you take somebody else's.

Serious Racism

If you're serious about ending racism, you have to stop using the word every time a white person disagrees with a black person, unless you were only using it as leverage to better your position; in which case, you were never interested in equality in the first place.

Rogers Wireless Message / Message de Rogers Sans-fil

Cast not your pearls before swine.

Rogers Wireless Message / Message de Rogers Sans-fil

Repent!

Rogers Wireless Message / Message de Rogers Sans-fil

When they're young, you can put the poison up high and lock the cupboards. When they're teens, they find it on the street.

Evil I Do

 "I don't do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do."  Romans 7:19 Good News version

Life, The Roller Coster

Faith & life, the double helix roller coaster I am on.

Democratic Socialism

Somebody once told me the best system was democratic socialism.  Tonight I had an epiphany; they realized it was dangerous and had to be controlled.

Clockwork Orange

The inner city children are clockwork oranged into a lifestyle of violence and socialism.

To Serve (All) and Protect

The police cars in London have Arabic on them. Where's the Hebrew? Where's the Italian or Polish for that matter?  Where's the German?  There are two official languages in this country, and neither of them are Arabic.  This liberal Islamophilia is really starting to irk me.

Make It Like Home

People are going to say I'm a bigot for this: but, they left their country because they're shi++y; so, why would we make changes to make it like their home land?

Pendulum Backlash

Dad used to say that society was like a pendulum in that opinion always went too far before it started to come back to the middle of the road.  Well, as somebody who has experienced discrimination at the hands of social engineering liberals, I guess I am the backlash.

Fight Ideas Not People

I saw a picture on Facebook where they had pork tipped rifle rounds to kill Muslims with.  I was thinking about hating the enemy.  In WWII, we fought the Germans and learned to hate the Nazis.  But war isn't always like that, as the Americans learned in Vietnam, where the enemy looked like the side you were helping.  And, I thought that we aren't fighting a people; we're fighting an idea.  In Afghanistan, we aren't fighting the people; we're fighting the terrorists, the extremists.  I remember reading something in a magazine a very long time ago about a soldier "bagging a rag head" or something like that.  It was clear to me, as it was evident, the writer hated the enemy.  But, he hated the people; the allied people of Afghanistan, were they also not "rag heads"?  We have to fight ideas, not people.  Sometimes we have to fight the people who fight for those ideas, but we have to be able to stop on that line when we get to it without going over, and that isn't always easy.

Outfriggenstanding!

"We sing a little song in our struggle - you've heard it - We Shall Overcome. And by that we do not mean that we shall overcome the white man. In the struggle for racial justice the Negro must not seek to rise from a position of disadvantage to one of advantage, to substitute one tyranny for another. A doctrine of black supremacy is as dangerous as a doctrine of white supremacy. God is not interested in the freedom of black men or brown men or yellow men. God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race, the creation of a society where every man will respect the dignity and worth of personality. So when we sing We Shall Overcome, we are singing a hymn of faith, a hymn of optimism, a hymn of faith in the future."  Martin Luther King Jr.

Take the Fight to the Institutions of Learning

Stalin said that education was a weapon; he was right.  If conservatives are to win, we can't just fight at the poles.  We've already lost.  The education system churns out class after class, generation after generation, of liberals.  The public school system, a social institution ran by left leaning unionized teachers, shapes the minds of the young.  Those who go on to higher education, also attend institutions funded in part by a great amount of social spending.  Go figure that institutions that are the recipients of social spending show favor to (and teach) left leaning ideology.  The whole education system, from top to bottom, is biased.  This kids come out fighting mad, believing they are championing the right (correct).  They don't know anything else.  They don't know any better.  Institutions of higher learning are festering with liberal biased bigoted instructors.  The educated liberal elite are cultured, educated and enlightened products of this system who go on to be those limousine liberals who make the working class pay through the nose for the lifestyle of the lazy in their social engineering experiments.

Pandemic

I've been told that as far as a pandemic is concerned, it's not if but when.  It won't be the strong who have the best chance to survive, or the fit, or the smart.  As marrodding killers fend for themselves, it will be those who held on to their guns.

Limousine Liberals & the Lazy

While working like a slave for the meager possessions I have, I don't need a limousine liberal telling me to be benevolent to the lazy.

SSM?

This passage spoke so much to me about SSM.  Read it.  Think about it.  Pray.  St. Paul sure had a way with words.

Help Me To Be

Jesus, help me to be a better person.  Amen

Quotas Are Wrong

I was thinking that, because of the low number of successful African American Major League ball players--due in large part to the low number of African American players--we should do more to make a higher percentage successful.  We can do this by giving them four strikes for hitters and five balls for pitchers, while at the same time allowing them to catch the ball on the first hop for an out.  We can also lower the Mendoza line to .100 for players of African decent.  No?  Is this insulting to players of African decent?  Does this cheapen the game?  Is it unfair to Whites and Hispanics?  Then, why are work quotas okay?

Social Engineering

Liberals with their stupid social engineering policies are a lot like horses.  They keep going back to them, like a horse running into a burning barn for safety because it's the only safe place the horse knows.

Most Remarkable Man

From an atheist's point of view, grown intelligent men in our age of enlightened reason who follow the teachings of a Rabi from 2000 years ago make Jesus a most remarkable man.

Anarchy

I don't advocate for anarchy; we need laws.  I believe in social contract theory.  However, that being said, I am a conservative with libertarian leanings and believe in small government and laissez faire legislating.  In contrast to that, I also believe in having security (I can't stand peaceniks) from threats to the nation (national defense etc...) and civil security, which must be balanced against the civil liberties and freedoms the people in a free and democratic society enjoy.  I'm a rule of law boyscout when it comes to security and the institution.  Oh, there's a place for black ops too, but it's such a touch and go judgement issue that can so easily be misused by the wrong person.  I'm a seeming walking contradiction.  Or, as I like to view it, it's a lot of balance and is very subjective.  I am not a fence sitter; I like balance.  Nobody wins with anarchy.

Starve

You know what happens when you dump money into a poor area on the map? They take it. Want change? End welfare.  They won't starve to death.  They'll become self sufficient. The only people that should be getting government handouts are people collecting ODSP.

Biggots

Does it make liberals bigots (dictionary definition) to assume--and insist--I'm racist because I'm conservative?

Bigger Person

Sometimes people on the outside looking in--with inside information--think enemies getting along at Church are being fake to each other.  Maybe they're being sold short.  Jesus did tell us to love our neighbour and pray for our enemies.  So, is it so wrong to make your best effort to be pleasant to those you don't like in the house of God?  Does that make you a hypocrite, or a bigger person?

Men Are Evil

I hate Violence Against Women campaigns because they target men as offenders. I have done nothing wrong.  Why can't we campaign against domestic violence?  Why do we have to single out a group of people as bad guys?

Planets and Atoms

I remember once in high school I suggested in physics class that the planets might be particles in something larger.  My physics teacher had a reaction akin to a priest being told that Jesus was the antichrist.  I never understood why.

Drama

Is it going to help or is it going to hurt? It annoys me when people say, "They deserve to know the truth."  To what end, so you can have drama?

Frienemies

Beware of frienemies.

Torpedoed

Of all the things thrown at me today, the one that I couldn't handle was being torpedoed by a friend.

Justify It!

Have you ever been refused a job because of your skin colour, because I have. Any excuse you use justifies discrimination.

Apartheid Okay?

If discriminating against a majority is okay, why was the South African Apartheid wrong?

Hire Me First I Have a P3n1$

If discrimination is wrong, what makes it okay? The Premier of Ontario has announced a proposed law to force private employers to hire an equal number of women.  I thought 51% of the population was female?   Does this go for men too?  Are they going to force hospitals to stop hiring women nurses until the number of men is equal?  I wouldn't mind being a law clerk or court recording monitor.  Are they going to hire me before a qualified woman?  Should they?

TBTG 4 Better Days

Thanks be to God for better days.

Kinder Cult

George Carlin hit the nail on the head when he said we are engaging in child worship. Goggle it.

I'm Not Broken

Before introverts were recognized as a normal personality type, people tried to fix them. It's the same now with conservatives.  Don't fix me.

Contractor

It sickens me when liberals make the case that Jesus was a socialist. Jesus was a carpenter.  He was a skilled contractor capitalist who offered goods and services for monetary compensation in a primitive free market economy, Who also happened to recognize that there were people less fortunate on whom He was moved to spend money on.  Small business owner?  Fiscal conservative?  Oh yeah, he also hung around with fishermen who worked the sea and sold their catch...FOR CASH!  You didn't think they ate all those fish, did you?  Sure, they shared their blessings; but, nobody forced them to.  And, St. Paul said that if you don't work you won't eat; look it up.

Do You Hear Me?

The funny (not funny ha ha) thing is that a liberal won't be able to read my blog and understand it.  Because, as soon as they detect the slightest hint of conservatism, a mental block will go up.  They will listen but not hear.  I hear what they're saying, that we have to give more to those who they think are at a social disadvantage so that they do have an equal chance.  I hear it, and I disagree.  Stop treating people differently.  If we started treating everybody the same, then we all would be on an equal playing field.  Tit for tat, eye for eye righting of wrongs of the past is not fair to the evil white male majority.  I have felt the painful claws of discrimination first hand.  I can tell you that it didn't make me feel any less angry knowing that some non white person was given the job I was qualified for because their father and grandfather had not been.  We can't right wrongs with wrongs.  Dr. King said that he dreamed of a time when people would not be judged by the colour of their skin.  Handing out money creates people who become dependent; it enslaves them.  They become institutionalized.  Socialism and quotas are not the answer to social justice (I hate that term now) issues.

Or (because my white ancestors treated my native ancestors so despicably), we could plow the cities of North America under and send all the white people back to Europe, all the black people back to Africa, Israel for the Jews--Arabs to Arabia, kick all the French out of France and give it back to the Franks, remove the Turks from Turkey and give it back to the Greeks, remove the Spanish from Spain and hand it back to the Moors, and I don't know where the women go.  How can we unwrong them?

Cell Phones Are Evil

Unplug people! Geez! We all have ADD!  Bishop Terry was right; cell phones are evil. I'll say it again:  The Desert Fathers had it right.

Called?

Things are changing. I can see it.  The folks might be moving away again. Chandra will be off to school in under a year.  This frees me up for change.  I don't know why God called me to St. Paul's--and I do believe that He called me there.  I can't see rhyme nor reason as they say.  With the Church and I on diverging paths (they say they want diversity, but in reality they want only people who think like they do), and all the lip service paid to tolerance, it will become increasingly difficult to stay in a Church that doesn't really want me.  Oh, sure, whey want me in the pew; but, they want me far from the reins of power.  Where now LORD?

Sailor at Heart

I think that I was born with the soul of a sailor.

Hard to See the Dark Side is?

They say the greatest trick The Devil ever pulled off was to convince the world he doesn't exist.  Similarly, I wonder if true evil (the spiritual evil that leads to our evil acts) becomes harder to see the more evil we become.

Sub Hunter

One Sunday after Church, Cindy and I went out for lunch to a fish place.  As we were getting up to leave, an old guy (late 80s I'm thinking) said, "Excuse me, what's that button," referring to my Bishop's award.  I told him what it was, that I didn't deserve it but they gave it to me anyway.  He said that he thought it was an anchor and that I might be a sailor, to which I replied that I wished I was.  His wife said at this point that her husband was in the navy in the UK.  I replied, "You were in the Royal Navy then!"  I asked him when and he said '43 'till the end of the war.  I then asked him what ship, and he named a destroyer, said he was stationed in the Indian Ocean.  I foolishly said that I didn't know that we--allied forces--operated in the Indian Ocean (which I much later realized that I did know).  He explained that they were hunting subs.  I asked him if they had a carrier--which must have irked a destroyer sailor from the lower deck--to which he replied that they did.  All this happened as the waitress was impatiently waiting to get by to give somebody their bill or something.  The last thing I said before I turned and walked away was, "Thank you for your service!"  He looked genuinely shocked.  I hope I made his day.  God bless our veterans.

Bias

I really hate how social media censors opinions that aren't politically correct or don't fit with their left leaning agenda; it's not just the media and the education system that have a left leaning bias. 

Equality?

Do we want equality, or special rights for certain people?

Feminists?

You know why I don't like feminists? They don't want equality. They want special rights. Extra rights.

Adversarial

In a long running adversarial situation--perceived or real--both sides fight for the upper hand, believing that fighting for equality will be relenting (causing them to loose ground).

Appalling

It's appalling that we force natives to live out their lives in poverty confined on reserves, with no option to integrate.

Fighting for Civil Rights?

Reading the Dr. King post, I recall I posted some time ago about Dr. King's statement about judging by skin colour and not personal character, and it seems to have disappeared.  Was he fighting for civil rights in principal, or only for blacks?

Dr. King

What did Dr. King mean when he spoke of not judging by the colour of somebody's skin?  Down with whitie?

Clarification

There are actually many different kinds of conservatives:  religious conservatives; social conservatives; business conservatives; traditionalists; libertarians; fiscal conservatives; and many more.

Bigot

It doesn't make you a bigot because you believe that everybody should be treated equally.

Quotas

Is discrimination wrong, yes or no? Then how can you justify quotas?

Two Conservatives

There are two types of conservative, those who are intelligent and see that socialism doesn't work and that liberals exploit the emotions of the have nots who are too lazy to better themselves by earning the things they covet belonging to those they envy, and bigots who reinforce liberals' propaganda by mascaraing as true conservatives.

Everybody Wants to Sing the Blues

When I was in college, we talked a little about youth offenders who came from good homes and a good life.  I didn't understand it, really, at the time.  Without something, some pain, to push somebody to--or to justify--some evil, I didn't get it.  Well, after having witnessed it first hand, I don't understand it any better; however, I believe now that there is a human condition to seek out pain and suffering, sick as it sounds.  We want to know pain and suffering.  That's why we rush to accident scenes.  That's why we are attracted to drama or create it.  We all seek to be special, to have our unique condition.  I'm allergic to lilac bushes.  I have a sore back.  I'm depressed.  I need my meds.  I'm whatever.  To invoke pity in others?  To have attention?  We're addicted to the feeling?  We're controlled by the learned behavior?  Is it Freudian psychosomatic, caused by guilt etc...?  It's why we watch sad movies.  It's why we take sick pleasure in the suffering of others.  If we don't have problems in our lives, we create them so that we can sing the blues.  It's sick.  Now, prove me wrong.  No, no, I don't want your opinion.  Don't tell me that you believe that life is full of unicorns and rainbows.  Prove me wrong.

How Sinful

Have you ever heard someone say that the more knowledge you acquire, the more you realize how little you know?  I was thinking the same can be said about faith.  The greater your faith, the more you understand how sinful you are.  I've observed that people judge those of faith; they think that people of faith think they are better than everybody else.  I think they are actually the ones who believe in their hearts that those of faith are better than they are, because their sin makes them believe it is so.

Just War

I got thinking about just war.  The idea was put forward by St. Augustine in the Christian world.  For generations, the Church supported war if it was just.  Now, politics, liberals, and peaceniks are opposed to war at any cost.  What changed?  I think we've become arrogant.  We put our faith in psychiatry, sociology, left wing ideologies, etc... and not God.  We value them more than the wisdom of the people of God for thousands of years, to our peril (thinking of the soldier killed on the streets of the UK recently--multiculturalism and political correctness, a debate for another time).  But, after all, we're smarter now than those simple minded pre industrial narrow minded cultists.  We have science.

A Talk

I had a good talk about SSM with a gay friend of mine.  I explained my thoughts on the opposition to it from a traditional Christian view.  Knowing that they have a hostile outlook toward evangelicals, I was heartened by our civil and respectful talk.  I felt like I really communicated well and conveyed the ideas.  I could be wrong, but I think that part of the problem with the ongoing SSM debate is that people (on both sides) are so hate filled that they don't listen.  There's no communication.  There's only lashing out.

Worship Science

For as much time as I spend on Facebook, I'm coming to hate it.  I read a post that said something like, "The sign of an educated mind is the ability to entertain an idea without accepting it."  The writer went on to say that they were specifically thinking about God.  I'm not an idiot.  What they're really thinking is that if I were open minded (not an imbecile), I'd see that science is real and God is not.  What I'm thinking they're saying is to worship science, not God.  The post is a borrowed statement, one that has been used to insult intellectual opponents for generations.

42nd Psalm

Some say that you have meaning from Holy Scripture as it speaks to where you are in life.  I read the 42nd Psalm the other day and really identified with it.  Not that I'm blaming God, I just feel like I'm in a very low part of the track on the roller coaster of life.

Mask

A former priest of mine once said that when people in an old folks home have their mind start to go, you see the true them.  They forget who you are and maybe who they are.  They become wicked and their speech becomes aggressive and crass because the mask falls off.  They have no more pretenses.  This bothered me, and it is not how I see it at all.  Their mind is going and they are not in control anymore.  This isn't who they really are, minus the inhibitions.  This is who they aren't, like a junkie who's high on something.  It isn't them, it's who they aren't.  They may have some memories.  But they're trapped inside this diseased body.  We're all exposed to things that we are not as we go though life.  Expelling those things when we are demented, or regurgitating those things when we are ill does not make the sick person expose who they really are.  A sick animal is pain will bite the master it loves too.  This is not the dog that loved, but the sickness that bites.

I always thought that when I knew it was coming, I would somehow write my wife and daughter's names somewhere, so that I wouldn't forget, not so I would remember, but so that I would not hurt them.  The mind going is a terrible thing to those who have to watch it.  I could be there now.  If you were in a home with dementia, you could think it's now and never no that it wasn't.  You could be there now, no?

Suits Again

I wear a suit to Church.  I've spoken of it before.   I'm called a hypocrite for looking like I'm showing off and called a holier than thou type.  But, it's how I was brought up.  When I was a kid, that's how people went to Church.  I'm doing it to honour God, not to show off or because I think I'm better than others (which, clearly, I'm not).  My worship is an offering to God.  We were told to give God only the best, not the sick goats/sheep, but the best of what we have.

Good Friday Readings Are Awesome

From the prophesy in Isaiah, to the meeting together warning at the end of the Hebrews reading, to the Gospel reading, there's so much here, so much:

Isaiah 52:13-53:12
52:13 See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.

52:14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals-

52:15 so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

53:1 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

53:3 He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

53:4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

53:8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

53:9 They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.

53:11 Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

53:12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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Psalm 22
22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.

22:3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

22:4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.

22:5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

22:6 But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.

22:7 All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;

22:8 "Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver-- let him rescue the one in whom he delights!"

22:9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother's breast.

22:10 On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God.

22:11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

22:12 Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

22:13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;

22:15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

22:16 For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled;

22:17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me;

22:18 they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.

22:19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!

22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!

22:21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

22:22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

22:24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.

22:25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

22:26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!

22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

22:28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

22:29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.

22:30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,

22:31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

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Hebrews 10:16-25
10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,"

10:17 he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

10:18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

10:19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,

10:20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),

10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

10:22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

10:23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.

10:24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,

10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

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Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
4:14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.

4:16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

5:8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;

5:9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

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John 18:1-19:42
18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

18:2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.

18:3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

18:4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, "Whom are you looking for?"

18:5 They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

18:6 When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they stepped back and fell to the ground.

18:7 Again he asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."

18:8 Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go."

18:9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, "I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me."

18:10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus.

18:11 Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?"

18:12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him.

18:13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

18:14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

18:15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,

18:16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in.

18:17 The woman said to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not."

18:18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

18:19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

18:20 Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.

18:21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said."

18:22 When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?"

18:23 Jesus answered, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"

18:24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, "You are not also one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not."

18:26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?"

18:27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

18:28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.

18:29 So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?"

18:30 They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you."

18:31 Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death."

18:32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

18:33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

18:34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?"

18:35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"

18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

18:37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

18:38 Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him.

18:39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?"

18:40 They shouted in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a bandit.

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

19:2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe.

19:3 They kept coming up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking him on the face.

19:4 Pilate went out again and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him."

19:5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

19:6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him."

19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God."

19:8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever.

19:9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.

19:10 Pilate therefore said to him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?"

19:11 Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

19:12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor."

19:13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.

19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!"

19:15 They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor."

19:16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus;

19:17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

19:19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

19:20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'"

19:22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."

19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 19:24

So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots."

19:25 And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son."

19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

19:28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty."

19:29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.

19:30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.

19:32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.

19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

19:35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.)

19:36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken."

19:37 And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

19:38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body.

19:39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.

19:40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

19:41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.

19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Love

At the end of the Gospel reading on Maundy Thursday, Jesus says that they will know we are his disciples is we love each other.  Think about this.

The Last Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2011:23-26&version=GNT

Cup

Many of the readings over Holy Week caught my attention.  Psalm 116 on Maundy Thursday talks about lifting up the cup of salvation, foreshadowing The Last Supper, and Mary being the servant girl of the LORD.  It's a great time with much meaning and scriptures filled with messages.

Eat The Lamb

The Old Testament reading on Maundy Thursday spoke of how we were to eat the lamb.  The lamb should be eaten, divided among the people present.  We must eat the flesh of The Lamb of God in order to live forever.  We must share Jesus amongst us.

Driven Out

In the Gospel reading on Tuesday in Holy Week, Jesus said that now the ruler of this world has been cast out.  So, what does this mean?  Did the Devil loose his power?  Was he chained?  Or, was he just deposed in the sense that we have been freed from the power of sin under his rule?

Glory

Was it idolatry for those in Jerusalem to want St. Peter's shadow to fall on them?  Was St. Peter great?  I've had these and similar discussions with friends in the past.  A passage comes to mind, one that we read on Tuesday night in Holy Week.  In the Gospel of John, it says that the Father will bring honour to those who serve the Lord.

The Cross is Foolishness

Tuesday in Holy Week, the New Testament reading from one of St. Paul's writings says that the Cross is foolishness to those who are being lost (or as I like to say, those who don't believe).  How true.

The Table

I'm strongly considering renaming my blog The Table, based on Fr. Ted Hales' sermon on Maundy Thursday.  The table is the centre of many things in life.  Our family and friends surround the table as we eat, talk, and interact.  It was the centre of the meal in The Last Supper, where the important events of that night took place.  It was a place where friends talked and interacted, where ideas were exchanged, where teachings were shared. 

Scripture Alive

I was reading Psalm 78 today, and the first two verses grabbed me.  It's Jesus again!  Did He not teach ancient wisdom, using parables?

Ashes

After I go to the Ash Wednesday service, I always wonder what to do with the Cross that I have on my head.  Do I leave it on?  Do I remove it?  It's an internal debate.  I have usually left it on.  I've heard that you leave it on until sun down.  I have, in the past, gone out in public to stores and restaurants with it on, wholly aware of the attention it draws.  I have also removed it after Church.  Two scriptures come to mind.  The first, says that if you deny Jesus now, he will deny you before the Father on Judgement Day.  The second, is from the Gospel of Matthew, where it says that you are not to parade around making a show of your faith.  Pray in private.  Fast without telling anybody.  This reading from Matthew was the Ash Wednesday reading.  So, I removed the Cross when I got home.  That, I have not done in the last few years.  I went out for lunch, "naked and ashamed".  Another scripture comes to mind, one I know well and read this morning, the parable of the three servants who are given money.  The third servant buries his money.  This has always been a story to teach us to spread our faith, to me.  I have been given faith, I should invest it in other people, spread the faith.  I used to say grace for my food at work.  I thought about this a lot.  I thought that I would be denying Christ if I didn't, and it was a conversation starter; I could perhaps use it to evangelize.  I have long since stopped.  I started no conversations.  I came to the conclusion that people probably thought I was showboating.  I say a private thanks to God at work for my food.  So, what's right?  I don't know.  It's still an internal struggle.  My advice?  Pray about it, look into your heart, act in the moment, and may the Spirit guide you.

Pope Resigns

"Pope Resigns," reads the headlines.  Then, the online Catholic Church/Pope/Christian bashing begins.  One online meme, posted on Facebook, had a split picture of the Pope and Jesus.  On one side the Pope was saying that he resigned.  On the other, Jesus said, "We can quit?"  I said to my friend who pointed it out, "it's blasphamas, but it reminds me of an old movie that dealt with the issue.  Ever heard of The Last Temptation of Christ?"  The point I want to make here is the Jesus went to the Cross by choice.  He didn't have to do it.  Love is the reason He did, not fear.  It wasn't done because He didn't have a choice.  He went freely to the Cross and death. 

SSM

So, you don't think gay people should be able to get married.  Fine; but, who told you that you could throw stones?

Snap

I've bit my tongue for so long to be polite, to not impede God's work through me, to get along with people.  Sure, there's my blog here; but, nobody reads it.  Well, with the school shooting in the USA before Christmas, society got so polarized that I just couldn't take it anymore.  I broke out on Facebook, telling it how I feel.  Now, maybe I can't minister as effectively; God make it not so.  I just couldn't take it any more.  The problem with liberals is that they preach tolerance, so long as liberal ideas are espoused.  I lost probably up to 15 FB friends after my posts started in response to the polarizing diatribe online.  But, maybe, now that it's out on Facebook, God may return to my God Wall.

Dufuss

I'm a dufuss.  I had a third post to write today, but I procrastinated and forgot it.  This happens to me all the friggen time.  So, I usually look at it like this:  If God wants it here, I'll remember; if I don't remember, it was never meant to be here.

Custom

Luke 4:16 says that Jesus went to the synagogue as was the custom.  Fr. Ted was speaking about this in his homily this week.  I was thinking about how my evangelical friends are so anti tradition/ritual/custom/rite/orthodox/structure etc....  I thought about Jesus in God's house.  He was in the synagogue as was the custom.  Now, my friends will be quick to point out that when the veil was rent in two, it was symbolic of how everything changed in the relationship between the individual and God.  True, and I'm not arguing that fact.  However, consider this:  Jesus never sinned.  Therefore, being in the synagogue because it was the custom was not idolatry.  He was not making Church or ritual an idol.  There is nothing wrong with the customs of the Church.  Jesus was sinless.

Just Like College

I was thinking about liberals in the Church again, and about college.  When I was in public school, I was beaten up almost every day for years.  This stopped when I got to New Carlisle High School, kind of like junior high.  My older and bigger cousin was in that school, and he put a stop to the beatings.  But, I sure wasn't one of the in crowd.  In '89, we moved to Ontario.  It was a new school and I knew nobody.  I had a heavy Gaspe accent, and was so not in the in crowd.  I made friends, some of whom turned on me.  I was no angel either in high school.  Everything changed when I got to college.  I was accepted for who I was by a group for the first time.  It didn't matter that I wasn't in the in crowd before.  They didn't even know that I wasn't, or acted the part.  I, in turn, befriended a new roommate in my second year, a straight out of high school momma's boy.  I introduced him to college and showed him the ropes.  I knew what he was, but it didn't matter.  I had the feeling that he'd never drank--let alone been to a party--in his life.  It didn't matter.  He went with us.  College was great.  I wish life was just like college.