AWAKE, OH CHURCH!
We must return to our Judeo-Christian teaching. It is a call to “stand” and to “stand” in righteousness!
Jesus warned:
“but an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think and claim that he has offered service to God.” John 16:2
The “Angel of Light” works diligently in the “latter days” as he infiltrates the church. In the name of “good” he does evil. He delights in having God’s people actively involved in the “shedding of innocent blood” while using the name of our Lord and words to kill.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue .” Proverbs 18:21
What began as an intellectual heresy is now apostasy as Satan, in his “cunning,” has articulated words to deceive and kill. These words have long since been adopted by most within the church. Death has been universally accepted to extend the life of another as the “gift of life,” speed death for those “that would have died anyway” or “are in the process of dying” or deemed “as good as dead,” giving women a “choice” to kill their unborn child and allow those condemned as a “burden” in our society a speedy “death with dignity.” Our Author and Creator of all life hates death. God has not changed His mind. Jesus left to us His work and His people unto our watch and care. We are to “fight the good fight.”
The weak, the most helpless in our society have been allowed to have their lives taken for decades while the church continues to “eat, drink and be merry.” The church has become “politically correct” and has done little to stop the killing. Under a great veil of deception, the church is in great error and disobedience to His Holy and Divine Word.
Jesus speaks clearly to the church:
“Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” Matthew 25: 45
The church boasts of the prosperity in this land and claims the Lord’s favor. It has been in times of prosperity that God’s people have historically, repeatedly been lured into demonic activity. Likewise, God has repeatedly dealt harshly with His people when they disobey-tyranny, oppression and slavery follows.
God hasn’t changed His position, His mind, His laws or precepts. On the contrary, we have turned from Him. We have become “turn coats” and denied our God.
God does not turn His head from those that suffer injustice. The pain, the blood shed and the voice of those that have been ignored by the church of this generation are heard by God. The “blood of the innocent” are on the hands of those that profess Jesus Christ as Lord and do nothing. When nothing is done to protect His people-even the weak and most vulnerable-“the least”-“ME”-Jesus Christ-it is His people that are held accountable. We are to “hate evil,” having “nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.” We are to prepare for the return of our Lord, standing “spotless” before Him. We must stand for TRUTH, righteousness and justice and stop the “shedding of innocent blood.” God’s people are not complacent- they stand!
“. . .the people that know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits.” Daniel 11:32
Death was redefined, life redefined, the laws redefined, the human being redefined and now marriage and family redefined. The “Antichrist” continues to mock our Lord as His people do nothing. The future of scientific and medical technology continues down a sadistic, twisted path. When will God’s people stand and stop the killing?
Have we lost our “first love?”.
Scriptural Support
| HEART | BREATH |
| Genisis 6:5The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:4-6 (in Context) Genesis 6 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 1:30And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. Genesis 1:29-31 (in Context) Genesis 1 (Whole Chapter) |
| Genesis 6:6The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. Genesis 6:5-7 (in Context) Genesis 6 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 2:7the LORD God formed the man The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) it is also the name Adam (see Gen. 2:20). from the dust of the ground and breath ed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:6-8 (in Context) Genesis 2 (Whole Chapter) |
| Genesis 8:21The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart : “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. Genesis 8:20-22 (in Context) Genesis 8 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 6:17I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. Genesis 6:16-18 (in Context) Genesis 6 (Whole Chapter) |
| Genesis 24:45“Before I finished praying in my heart , Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ Genesis 24:44-46 (in Context) Genesis 24 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 7:15Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. Genesis 7:14-16 (in Context) Genesis 7 (Whole Chapter) |
| Genesis 34:3His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. Genesis 34:2-4 (in Context) Genesis 34 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 7:22Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Genesis 7:21-23 (in Context) Genesis 7 (Whole Chapter) |
| Genesis 34:8But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Genesis 34:7-9 (in Context) Genesis 34 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 25:8Then Abraham breath ed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. Genesis 25:7-9 (in Context) Genesis 25 (Whole Chapter) |
| Genesis 42:28“My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their heart s sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” Genesis 42:27-29 (in Context) Genesis 42 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 25:17Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breath ed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. Genesis 25:16-18 (in Context) Genesis 25 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 4:14Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. Exodus 4:13-15 (in Context) Exodus 4 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 35:18As she breath ed her last-for she was dying-she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin. Genesis 35:17-19 (in Context) Genesis 35 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 4:21The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Exodus 4:20-22 (in Context) Exodus 4 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 35:29Then he breath ed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Genesis 35:28-29 (in Context) Genesis 35 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 7:3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart , and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, Exodus 7:2-4 (in Context) Exodus 7 (Whole Chapter) | Genesis 49:33When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breath ed his last and was gathered to his people. Genesis 49:32-33 (in Context) Genesis 49 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 7:13Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. Exodus 7:12-14 (in Context) Exodus 7 (Whole Chapter) | Exodus 15:10But you blew with your breath , and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Exodus 15:9-11 (in Context) Exodus 15 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 7:14[ The Plague of Blood ] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Exodus 7:13-15 (in Context) Exodus 7 (Whole Chapter) | Deuteronomy 20:16However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breath es. Deuteronomy 20:15-17 (in Context) Deuteronomy 20 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 7:22But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Exodus 7:21-23 (in Context) Exodus 7 (Whole Chapter) | Joshua 10:40So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breath ed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua 10:39-41 (in Context) Joshua 10 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 7:23Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart . Exodus 7:22-24 (in Context) Exodus 7 (Whole Chapter) | Joshua 11:11Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anything that breath ed, and he burned up Hazor itself. Joshua 11:10-12 (in Context) Joshua 11 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 8:15But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Exodus 8:14-16 (in Context) Exodus 8 (Whole Chapter) | Joshua 11:14The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breath ed. Joshua 11:13-15 (in Context) Joshua 11 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 8:19The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said. Exodus 8:18-20 (in Context) Exodus 8 (Whole Chapter) | 2 Samuel 22:16The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils. 2 Samuel 22:15-17 (in Context) 2 Samuel 22 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 8:32But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go. Exodus 8:31-32 (in Context) Exodus 8 (Whole Chapter) | 1 Kings 15:29As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breath ed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the LORD given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite- 1 Kings 15:28-30 (in Context) 1 Kings 15 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 9:7Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go. Exodus 9:6-8 (in Context) Exodus 9 (Whole Chapter) | 1 Kings 17:17Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breath ing. 1 Kings 17:16-18 (in Context) 1 Kings 17 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 9:12But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses. Exodus 9:11-13 (in Context) Exodus 9 (Whole Chapter) | Job 4:9At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish. Job 4:8-10 (in Context) Job 4 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 9:34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their heart s. Exodus 9:33-35 (in Context) Exodus 9 (Whole Chapter) | Job 7:7Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath ; my eyes will never see happiness again. Job 7:6-8 (in Context) Job 7 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 9:35So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses. Exodus 9:34-35 (in Context) Exodus 9 (Whole Chapter) | Job 9:18He would not let me regain my breath but would overwhelm me with misery. Job 9:17-19 (in Context) Job 9 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 10:1[ The Plague of Locusts ] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart s of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them Exodus 10:1-3 (in Context) Exodus 10 (Whole Chapter) | Job 12:10In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:9-11 (in Context) Job 12 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 10:20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart , and he would not let the Israelites go. Exodus 10:19-21 (in Context) Exodus 10 (Whole Chapter) | Job 14:10But man dies and is laid low; he breath es his last and is no more. Job 14:9-11 (in Context) Job 14 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 10:27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart , and he was not willing to let them go. Exodus 10:26-28 (in Context) Exodus 10 (Whole Chapter) | Job 15:30He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away. Job 15:29-31 (in Context) Job 15 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 11:10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart , and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country. Exodus 11:9-10 (in Context) Exodus 11 (Whole Chapter) | Job 19:17My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers. Job 19:16-18 (in Context) Job 19 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 14:4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart , and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this. Exodus 14:3-5 (in Context) Exodus 14 (Whole Chapter) | Job 26:13By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. Job 26:12-14 (in Context) Job 26 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 14:8The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. Exodus 14:7-9 (in Context) Exodus 14 (Whole Chapter) | Job 27:3as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, Job 27:2-4 (in Context) Job 27 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 14:17I will harden the heart s of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Exodus 14:16-18 (in Context) Exodus 14 (Whole Chapter) | Job 32:8But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. Job 32:7-9 (in Context) Job 32 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 15:8By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. Exodus 15:7-9 (in Context) Exodus 15 (Whole Chapter) | Job 33:4The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:3-5 (in Context) Job 33 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 25:2“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. Exodus 25:1-3 (in Context) Exodus 25 (Whole Chapter) | Job 34:14If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath , Job 34:13-15 (in Context) Job 34 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 28:29“Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. Exodus 28:28-30 (in Context) Exodus 28 (Whole Chapter) | Job 37:10The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. Job 37:9-11 (in Context) Job 37 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 28:30Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD. Exodus 28:29-31 (in Context) Exodus 28 (Whole Chapter) | Job 41:21His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Job 41:20-22 (in Context) Job 41 (Whole Chapter) |
| Exodus 35:21and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments. Exodus 35:20-22 (in Context) Exodus 35 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 18:15The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. Psalm 18:14-16 (in Context) Psalm 18 (Whole Chapter) |
| Leviticus 6:9“Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar heart h throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. Leviticus 6:8-10 (in Context) Leviticus 6 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 27:12Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breath ing out violence. Psalm 27:11-13 (in Context) Psalm 27 (Whole Chapter) |
| Leviticus 19:17” ‘Do not hate your brother in your heart . Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Leviticus 19:16-18 (in Context) Leviticus 19 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 33:6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. Psalm 33:5-7 (in Context) Psalm 33 (Whole Chapter) |
| Leviticus 26:36” ‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their heart s so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. Leviticus 26:35-37 (in Context) Leviticus 26 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 39:5You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath . Selah Psalm 39:4-6 (in Context) Psalm 39 (Whole Chapter) |
| Leviticus 26:41which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies-then when their uncircumcised heart s are humbled and they pay for their sin, Leviticus 26:40-42 (in Context) Leviticus 26 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 39:11You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth- each man is but a breath . Selah Psalm 39:10-12 (in Context) Psalm 39 (Whole Chapter) |
| Numbers 15:39You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own heart s and eyes. Numbers 15:38-40 (in Context) Numbers 15 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 62:9Lowborn men are but a breath , the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath . Psalm 62:8-10 (in Context) Psalm 62 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 1:28Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart . They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ “ Deuteronomy 1:27-29 (in Context) Deuteronomy 1 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 104:29When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath , they die and return to the dust. Psalm 104:28-30 (in Context) Psalm 104 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done. Deuteronomy 2:29-31 (in Context) Deuteronomy 2 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 135:17they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Psalm 135:16-18 (in Context) Psalm 135 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 4:9Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:8-10 (in Context) Deuteronomy 4 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 144:4Man is like a breath ; his days are like a fleeting shadow. Psalm 144:3-5 (in Context) Psalm 144 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 4:29But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:28-30 (in Context) Deuteronomy 4 (Whole Chapter) | Psalm 150:6Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Psalm 150:5-6 (in Context) Psalm 150 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 4:39Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Deuteronomy 4:38-40 (in Context) Deuteronomy 4 (Whole Chapter) | Ecclesiastes 3:19Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath ; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 3:18-20 (in Context) Ecclesiastes 3 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 5:29Oh, that their heart s would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! Deuteronomy 5:28-30 (in Context) Deuteronomy 5 (Whole Chapter) | Song of Solomon 7:8I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, Song of Solomon 7:7-9 (in Context) Song of Solomon 7 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 6:5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (in Context) Deuteronomy 6 (Whole Chapter) | Isaiah 2:22Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? Isaiah 2:21-22 (in Context) Isaiah 2 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 6:6These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your heart s. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (in Context) Deuteronomy 6 (Whole Chapter) | Isaiah 11:4but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:3-5 (in Context) Isaiah 11 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 8:2Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart , whether or not you would keep his commands. Deuteronomy 8:1-3 (in Context) Deuteronomy 8 (Whole Chapter) | Isaiah 25:4You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall Isaiah 25:3-5 (in Context) Isaiah 25 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 8:5Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Deuteronomy 8:4-6 (in Context) Deuteronomy 8 (Whole Chapter) | Isaiah 30:28His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray. Isaiah 30:27-29 (in Context) Isaiah 30 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 8:14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 8:13-15 (in Context) Deuteronomy 8 (Whole Chapter) | Isaiah 30:33Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze. Isaiah 30:32-33 (in Context) Isaiah 30 (Whole Chapter) |
| Deuteronomy 10:12[ Fear the LORD ] And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, Deuteronomy 10:11-13 (in Context) Deuteronomy 10 (Whole Chapter) | Isaiah 33:11You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you. Isaiah 33:10-12 (in Context) Isaiah 33 (Whole Chapter) |
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE�, Copyright � 1960, 1962,1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe which occurred in Mexico in 1531 were an evangelization experience unsurpassed in all of Church history with the possible exception of the Day of Pentecost. December 12th marks the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who I believe can be titled, Patroness of the Church Militant. I say this because, in that experience, She brought together all of the elements of a spiritual army that conquered what was then a total culture of death; if She could overcome the evil forces that directed the massacre of thousands of innocent human beings in 16th Century Mexico, we can be assured that She can repeat that victory for our modern day culture of death and dethrone the abortion demon from his altar of sacrifice.
Despite the glowing accounts of revisionist historians about the Aztec Indians (16th Century Mexico), the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice in a systematic and brutal manner. Their “religion” was based upon obeisance to bloodthirsty false gods who demanded a regular glut of killing to provide them with fresh hearts and blood of sacrificial victims. They had their own priests, rituals and a theology/cosmology tied to the idea that only blood sacrifice would appease their gods and so keep the world in order. It is estimated that as many as 50,000 victims a year were offered on the pyramidic temples of these gods dotting the landscape of Mexico.
After Hernando Cortes conquered the kingdom of Montezuma in 1521 he wiped out all the temples and put a legal end to the abomination of human sacrifice; yet, the murderous practice continued under the cover of darkness because the people were not converted from their killing instincts and practices which were deeply-rooted in culture and history. Enter Our Lady of Guadalupe with Her maternal love a decade later when the crisis of culture in the newly-conquered land had reached an apex.
The Virgin Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego, one of the early Christian converts from the pagan religion, and decreed by Her magnificent authority that the killing would stop in the hearts of the people as well as in their law. The story of the apparitions is well-known (see sidebar) but the effects of the apparitions are not, and these effects are equally important to understand in order to grasp what I call “The Guadalupe Event.” That is, the conversion of the people of that time from their idols and the dissipation of the Aztec culture of death. It was done precisely by marshaling an army of faith, and in this, She gave us a formula for the Church Militant that only needs to be repeated to conquer our own culture of abortion.
The first and critical element of the “Event” was the wholehearted cooperation of a holy and discerning bishop, Juan Zum�rraga. To him Our Lady sent St. Juan Diego for the building of a church. It was not the project of the layman to build the church. St. Juan Diego proved his sanctity by being a faithful messenger of Our Lady’s plan, but She did not ask him or want him to build a church lest the pagan people think that She was setting up another religion other than the one Her Son founded. The bishop was the recipient of the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary impressed on the Indian’s cloak (tilma) and afterwards gladly built the church that Our Lady requested for the people. Following that, he sent out his cohort of missionary priests to baptize and sacramentally cleanse the people of their idols of polygamy, human sacrifice and demonic religion. The combination of the churchmen working hand-in-hand with the lay faithful in a full-scale assault on the idol-worship of the time is how the culture was purified. There are various estimates of just how many Indians came into the Catholic Church in the decade following the apparitions (1530s), but all accounts admit that there were 8-10 million conversions. That amounted to three-fifths of the entire Aztec population at the time!
Our Lady did not use a political process or a Supreme Court to accomplish this mass conversion. She engaged the Church in a battle of spirit with the demonic culture and thus purified the lives of the people from all their idols. Do not all the prophets foretell that God will purify His people from their idols if only they will turn to Him? Well, Our Lady shows us that the cleansing of body, soul, spirit – and culture – is indeed possible; if only the Church will become once again a Church Militant marching under the standard of Our Lady’s leadership.
On December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, please join me in praying for the Church Militant to rise up again and defeat the culture of death!
Download
Dr Paul Byrne on Brain Death
With an Appendix of a Sermon given by Bishop Clemens von Galen, Munster, Germany, 1941
[Foreword from Thomas A. Droleskey, Ph.D: Readers will notice that I rarely use my academic title or the initial of my terminal degree in my articles. Indeed, I don’t think that I’ve ever done this in any article on this site, perhaps doing so in some fund-raising letters now and again. Readers can find out the details of my academic background on th “About Christ or Chaos” page on this site. Some are “put off” by academic titles, finding them pretentious and pompous. The titles and credenitals do indeed mean nothing in eternity. As they represent one’s training and competency in a given field of study, however, and one’s participation in academic organizations, there are times when it is appropriate to use a title or to list the initials of one’s terminal degree. This is one of those times.
[I was for many years a member of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, serving as chairman of its political science section from its founding and organizing annual “related group” meetings for the Society at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. We had a number of interesting panels, including one on Americanism in 2000, over the years. I also served as the Society’s “second vice president” (sort of vice vice president, if you will), advising the senior officers now and again. Although it is well known that I have made my break from the structures of the counterfeit church of conciliarism, largely because of the denial of the Social Reign of Christ the King by the ethos of conciliarism, I do nevertheless have great respect for much of the scholarly work being done by our fellow Catholics in various professional organizations even as every fiber of my being disagrees entirely with any and all concessions made in the direction of conciliarism and/or any efforts to attempt to reconcile conciliciarism with Catholcism, whether concessions are made corporately by organizations or individually by their members.
[While not everything in these organizations is free of the taint of the influences of conciliarism and some of the work, as just mentioned, is to rejected completely, to be sure, there are certain individuals in certain fields who are doing exemplary work in defense of the Catholic Faith and in defense of moral truth. One would be a fool to ignore this work simply because it is undertaken and completed by people who have yet to realize that conciliarism and Catholicism are irreconcilable. As one who stayed in the structures of the false church for far too long but who was devoted to defending the Catholic Faith as best as I could with the tools available to me, I am not going to throw stones at those who have devoted their lives to the defense of the Faith and moral truth but who have not found their way clear to come to the proper conclusions about the state of the Church.
[To wit, excellent work has been and continues to be done in the field of Origins and Special Creation by Dr. Hugh Owen and the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation, on whose advisory board I served for a few years, and by Father Brian Harrison, O.S., Dr. Robert Sungenis and by the members of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculata of New Bedford, Massachusetts. It should be noted as well that Father Thomas Eutenauer of Human Life International has written many interesting columns in defense of Faith and Morals. Much good work is done by Mrs. Judie Brown and the American Life League and STOPP (Stop Planned Parenthood). Mrs. Randy Engel has long championed the pro-life cause by means of the United States Coalition for Life and The Michael Fund, becoming also one of the foremost opponents of the rot of explicit classroom instruction in matters pertaining to the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, to say nothing of her exposing of the network of perverts within the conciliar hierarchy.
[To dismiss this work because it has been completed by Catholics who have not found their way to accept the fact that we are in the midst of apostasy and betrayal is to be myopic and Pharisaical. We can appreciate and even applaud this work no matter what those who are responsible for it think of us or the positions we have taken on the Mystical Passion and Death of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at the hands of the conciliar apostates.
[It is with this prologue that I want to introduce an interview conducted by Mrs. Randy Engel, the founder and president of The Michael Fund, with Dr. Paul Byrne, a medical doctor who is an expert in “end-of-life” issues, for The Michael Fund Newsletter. Dr. Byrne is committed to presenting and defending Catholic truth, seeing through the anti-life agenda of the medical and legal communities that is supported in many instances by the full weight of state law (thank you, “states’ rights,” a subject that will be explored in-depth in an upcoming article, probably to be posted on the Feast of Saint Lucy, Thursday, December 13). There is much excellent work in authentic Catholic bioethics being done by Catholics across the ecclesiastical divide. This work is essential to study and to consider in light of the simple fact that there have been so many changes in medical technology over the past few decades that things which could once be classified as “extraordinary” in medical terms have become quite ordinary, cost-effective and without undue burden, whether financial or otherwise, upon patients and their families. Having a proper Catholic response to these developments and how to make the moral judgments related to them requires a thorough study of the work undertaken by such professions as Dr. Byrne, who is ready, willing and able to speak before any Catholic group anywhere in the nation.
[With this introduction, therefore, I hereby paste Mrs. Engel’s interview with Dr. Byrne, appending thereafter a sermon given by the courageous Bishop of Munster, Germany, Count Clemens von Galen, in 1941 that spoke against Adolf Hitler’s euthanasia policies that are already upon us in a de facto manner in American hospitals and hospices at the present time. I thank Mrs. Engel for giving me permission to format this interview for posting on this website.
[Please circulate this information widely. Thank you. Sincerely yours in Christ the King and Mary our Immaculate Queen, Thomas A. Droleskey, Ph.D.]
Vital Organ Transplantation and “Brain Death”
A Re-Examination of the Basic Issues by Dr. Paul A. Byrne
Since the founding of the IFGR/MF in 1978, the Michael Fund Newsletter has covered many life-death issues, particularly those related to the field of genetics including eugenic abortion, prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling. In this issue of our newsletter, we examine some important aspects of vital organ transplantation with the distinguished physician and pro-life advocate, Dr. Paul Byrne. Editor, Randy Engel
Editor: Dr. Byrne, how would you describe the body of a human being?
Dr. Byrne: A human person on earth is composed of body and soul. God creates the person. Biologically speaking, the body is composed of cells, tissues, organs and eleven systems, including three major vital systems. No one organ or system controls all other organs and systems. Interdependent functioning of organs and systems maintains unity, homeostasis, immune defenses, growth, healing and exchange with environment, e.g., oxygen and carbon dioxide. Life on earth is a continuum from its conception to its natural end. The natural end (true death) occurs when the soul separates from the body.
Editor: Most adults and children, even if they are not physicians, recognize signs of life, don’t they?
Dr. Byrne: Yes, of course. The vital signs of a living human being include temperature, pulse, blood pressure and respiration. Physicians, nurses and paramedics listen to the beating heart with a stethoscope. Patients in intensive care units have monitors to demonstrate the beating heart, blood pressure, respiration and oxygen in the blood.
Editor: What about the signs of death?
Dr. Byrne: Throughout the ages, death has been and is a negative, an absence – the state of the body without life. The soul has left the body and decomposition has begun. After death what is left on earth is a corpse. The remains are empty, cold, blue, rigid and unresponsive to all stimuli. There is no heartbeat, pulse or blood pressure. The patient has stopped breathing. There is poor color of the skin, nails, and mucous membranes. Ventilation will not restore respiration in a corpse. A pacemaker can send a signal but it cannot initiate the heartbeat in the corpse. Healing never occurs in a patient that is truly dead.
Editor: When we speak of vital organs, what organs are we talking about?
Dr. Byrne: Vital organs (from the Latin vita, meaning life) include the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and pancreas. In order to be suitable for transplant, they need to be removed from the donor before respiration and circulation cease. Otherwise, these organs are not suitable, since damage to the organs occurs within a brief time after circulation of blood with oxygen stops. Removing vital organs from a living person prior to cessation of circulation and respiration will cause the donor’s death.
Editor: Are there some vital organs which can be removed without causing the death of the donor?
Dr. Byrne: Yes. For example, one of two kidneys, a lobe of a liver, or a lobe of a lung. The donors must be informed that removal of these organs decreases function of the donor. Unpaired vital organs however, like the heart or whole liver, cannot be removed without killing the donor.
Editor: Since vital organs taken from a dead person are of no use, and taking the heart of a living person will kill that person, how is vital organ donation now possible?
Dr. Byrne: That’s where “brain death” comes in. Prior to 1968, a person was declared dead only when his or her breathing and heart stopped for a sufficient period of time. Declaring “brain death” made the heart and other vital organs suitable for transplantation. Vital organs must be taken from a living body; removing vital organs will cause death.
Editor: I still recall the announcement of the first official heart transplant by Dr. Christian Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967. How was it possible for surgeons to overcome the obvious legal, moral and ethical obstacles of harvesting vital organs for transplant from a living human being?
Dr. Byrne: By declaring “brain death” as death.
Editor: You mean by replacing the traditional criteria for declaring death with a new criterion known as “brain death”?
Dr. Byrne: Yes. In 1968, an ad hoc committee was formed at Harvard University in Boston for the purpose of redefining death so that vital organs could be taken from persons declared “brain dead,” but who in fact, were not dead. Note that “brain death” did not originate or develop by way of application of the scientific method. The Harvard Committee did not determine if irreversible coma was an appropriate criterion for death. Rather, its mission was to see that it was established as a new criterion for death. In short, the report was made to fit the already arrived at conclusions.
Editor: Does this mean that a person who is in a cerebral coma or needs a ventilator to support breathing could be declared “brain dead”?
Dr. Byrne: Yes.
Editor: Even if his heart is pumping and the lungs are oxygenating blood?
Dr. Byrne: Yes. You see, vital organs need to be fresh and undamaged for transplantation. For example, once breathing and circulation ceases, in five minutes or less, the heart is so damaged that it is not suitable for transplantation. The sense of urgency is real. After all, who would want to receive a damaged heart?
Editor: Did the Harvard criterion of “brain death” lead to changes in state and federal laws?
Dr. Byrne: Indeed. Between 1968 and 1978, more than thirty different sets of criteria for “brain death” were adopted in the United States and elsewhere. Many more have been published since then. This means that a person can be declared “brain dead” by one set of criteria, but alive by another or perhaps all the others. Every set includes the apnea test. This involves taking the ventilator away for up to ten minutes to observe if the patient can demonstrate that he/she can breathe on his/her own. The patient always gets worse with this test. Seldom, if ever, is the patient or the relatives informed ahead of time what will happen during the test. If the patient does not breathe on his/her own, this becomes the signal not to stop the ventilator, but to continue the ventilator until the recipient/s is, or are, ready to receive the organs. After the organs are excised, the “donor” is truly dead.
Editor: What about the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA)?
Dr. Byrne: According to the UDDA, death may be declared when a person has sustained either “irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions” or “irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.” Since then, all 50 states consider cessation of brain functioning as death.
Editor: How does the body of a truly dead person compare with the body of a person declared “brain dead”?
Dr. Byrne: The body of a truly dead person is characterized in terms of dissolution, destruction, disintegration and putrefaction. There is an absence of vital body functions and the destruction of the organs of the vital systems. As I have already noted, the dead body is cold, stiff and unresponsive to all stimuli.
Editor: What about the body of a human being declared to be “brain dead”?
Dr. Byrne: In this case, the body is warm and flexible. There is a beating heart, normal color, temperature, and blood pressure. Most functions continue, including digestion, excretion, and maintenance of fluid balance with normal urine output. There will often be a response to surgical incisions. Given a long enough period of observation, someone declared “brain dead” will show healing and growth, and will go through puberty if they are a child.
Editor: Dr. Byrne, you mentioned that “brain dead” people will often respond to surgical incisions. Is this referred to as “the Lazarus effect?”
Dr. Byrne: Yes. That is why during the excision of vital organs, doctors find the need to use anesthesia and paralyzing drugs to control muscle spasms, blood pressure and heart rate changes, and other bodily protective mechanisms common in living patients. In normal medical practice, a patient’s reaction to a surgical incision will indicate to the anesthesiologist that the anesthetic is too light. This increase in heart rate and blood pressure are reactions to pain. Anesthetics are used to take away pain. Anesthesiologists in Great Britain require the administration of anesthetic to take organs. A corpse does not feel pain.
Editor: I know that there have been instances where young pregnant women have sustained serious head injuries, declared “brain dead,” and have given birth to a live child.
Dr. Byrne: That is true. With careful management, these “brain dead” women have delivered a live baby. In the longest recorded instance, the child was carried for 107 days before delivery.
Editor: Are there other uses for “brain dead” patients besides being the source of fresh vital organs?
Dr. Byrne: Legally, “brain dead” patients are considered corpses or cadavers, and are called such by organ retrieval networks. These “corpses” can be used for teaching purposes and to try out new medical procedures. Yet these same “corpses” are carrying unborn children to successful delivery. Certainly this is extraordinary behavior by a “cadaver!”
Editor: What if a potential organ donor does not meet the criteria for “brain death,” but has sustained certain injuries or has an illness suggesting that death will soon occur?
Dr. Byrne: Such cases have brought about the development of a what is called “non heart-beating donation” (NHBD), more recently labeled “donation by cardiac death” (DCD)–in which treatments considered extraordinary means, such as mechanical ventilation, are discontinued and cause the patient to become pulseless. As soon as circulation stops, death is declared.
Editor: Then what?
Dr. Byrne: This stopping of life supporting treatments is done in the operating room. After a few minutes–the time varies in different institutions–procedures to take vital organs begins.
Editor: But how can this be accomplished if the person declared to be dead, is truly dead?
Dr. Byrne: It can’t.
Editor: What about insurance coverage for “brain dead” patients?
Dr. Byrne: Hospitals allow them to occupy a bed and insurance companies cover expenses as they do for other living patients. If the patients’ organs are suitable for transplantation, any transfer of the patients to another hospital is covered by insurance. Insurance also covers the cost of life support, blood transfusions, antibiotics and other medications needed to maintain organs in a healthy state. This also applies to “brain dead” patients to be used in medical teaching facilities.
Editor: I know that the federal government has taken an active role in promoting so-called “living wills.” Has it also played a role in promoting vital organ donations?
Dr. Byrne: The federal government has, for reasons that are unclear, been deeply involved in promoting vital organ transplantation. For example, a federal mandate issued in 1998 states that physicians, nurses, chaplains, and other health care workers may not speak to a family of a potential organ donor without first obtaining approval from the regional organ retrieval system. If the potential for transplantation exists, a trained “designated requester” visits with the family of the patient first, including families that adamantly oppose organ donation. If someone at the hospital speaks to the family of the patient first, the hospital risks losing its accreditation and possibly federal funding.
Editor: Why the “designated requester”?
Dr. Byrne: That’s because studies show that these specialists have a greater success obtaining permission for organ donations from grieving family members. They are trained to “sell” the concept of organ donation, using emotionally-laden phrases such as “giving the gift of life,” “your loved one’s heart will live on in someone else,” and other similar platitudes, all empty of true meaning. Don’t forget that the donation and transplant industry is a multi- billion dollar enterprise. In 1996, Forbes Magazine ran an informative series on this issue, but as a rule it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain solid financial data. One thing, however, is clear: donor families do not receive any monetary benefit from their “gift of life.”
Editor: There appears to be a strong utilitarian aspect to vital organ transplantation.
Dr. Byrne: That is because the philosophy that inspires the practice is based on the error that man is an end to himself, and the sole maker with supreme control of his own destiny. Slavery bought, sold and treated enslaved persons as chattel. The human transplantation industry and the “bioethics” groups that promote vital organ transplantation also consider human beings to be chattel, that is, they can be used as a source of organs for transplantation. This utilitarian ethic should be rejected. “Brain death” and all forms of imposed death are contrary to the Natural Moral Order and against God’s Ordinance “Thou shall not kill.”
Editor: It is obvious that organ donation is a very serious matter – literally a matter of life and death for the potential donor and the family of a potential donor, and that everyone ought to be implicitly and explicitly informed about the true nature of so-called “brain death” and vital organ transplantation.
Would you review for our readers some of the questions they should ask themselves before signing an organ donor card or giving permission for a loved one to be declared “brain dead” in anticipation of organ transplantation?
Dr. Byrne: If there is any question in the mind of your readers as to the fact that “brain death” is not true death, perhaps they may want to ask themselves the following questions regarding “brain death” and vital organ transplantation:
· Why can health insurance cover intensive care costs on “bread dead” patients?
· Why do “brain dead” patients often receive intravenous fluids, antibiotics, ventilator care, and other life support measures?
· Is it right and just for physicians and “designated requesters” to tell families that their “bread-dead” loved one is dead when she or he is not dead?
· How can “brain dead” patients have normal body functions, including vital signs, if they are really dead?
· How can a “brain-dead” pregnant mother deliver a normal, healthy infant?
· Why does a ventilator work on someone declared “brain dead,” but not on a corpse?
· Why is it wrong to carry out the burial or cremation of a “brain-dead” person?
· Are persons who have been declared “brain dead” truly dead?
· If “brain-dead” persons are not truly dead, are they alive?
Editor: Thank you on behalf of The Michael Fund for providing this valuable information to our readership?
Dr. Byrne: Thank you for this opportunity to inform your readers about this vital issue of vital organ transplantation. If they don’t remember every thing that I have said, I hope that they will remember this one point: “brain death” is not true death. Instead of signing a donor organ card, I would encourage everyone to obtain a Life Support Directive. A free copy of this document is available from Citizens
United Resisting Euthanasia at: cureltd@verizon.net or write C.U.R.E, 303 Truman Street, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411.
Dr. Paul A. Byrne is a neonatologist and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics. He is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and past-President of the Catholic Medical Association. He is the producer of the film Continuum of Life and the author of Life, Life Support and Death, Beyond Brain Death, and Brain Death is Not Death. Dr. Byrne has presented testimony on life-death issues to eight state legislatures beginning in 1967. He opposed Dr. Jack Kevorkian on the television program Crossfire. and has appeared on Good Morning America and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The International Foundation for Genetic Research, popularly known as The Michael Fund, is a U.S.-based pro-life genetic research agency specializing in Down syndrome research. Please visit us at www.michaelfund.org.
Sermon by the Bishop of Munster, Clemens August Count von Galen,
on Sunday 3rd August 1941 in St. Lambert’s Church, Munster
To my regret I have to inform you that during the past week the Gestapo has continued its campaign of annihilation against the Catholic orders On Wednesday 30th July they occupied the administrative centre of the province of the Sisters of Our Lade in Muhlhausen (Kentpen district). which formerly belonged to the diocese of Munster and declared the convent to be dissolved. Most of the nuns many of whom come from our diocese, were evicted and required to leave the district that very day. On Thursday 31st July. according to reliable accounts, the monastery of the missionary brothers of Hiltrup in Hamm was also occupied and confiscated by the Gestapo and the monks were evicted
Already on 13th July, referring to the expulsion of the Jesuits and the missionary sisters of St Clare from Munster, did I publicly make the following statement in this same church: none of the occupants of these convents is accused of any offence or crime, none has been brought before a court, none has been found guilty. I hear that rumours are now being spread in Munster that after all these religious, in particular the Jesuits, have been accused, or even convicted, of criminal offences, and indeed of treason. I declare: These are base slanders of German citizens, our brothers and sisters, which we will not tolerate I have already lodged a criminal charge with the Chief Prosecutor against a fellow who went so far as to make such allegations in front of witnesses.
I express the expectation that the man will be brought swiftly to account and that our courts of justice still have the courage to punish slanderers who seek to destroy the honour of innocent German citizens whose property has already been taken from them. I call on all my listeners, indeed on all decent fellow-citizens, who in future hear accusations made against the religious expelled from Munster to get the name and address of the person making the accusations and of any witnesses.
I hope that there are still men in Munster who have the courage to play their part in securing the judicial examination of such accusations. which poison the national community of our people coming forward with their person, their name and if necessary their oath I ask them. if such accusations against the religious are made in their presence, to report them at once to their parish priest or to the Episcopal Vicariate-General and have them recorded. I owe it to the honour of our religious orders, the honour of our Catholic Church and also the honour of our German people and our city of Munster to report such cases to the state prosecution service so that the facts may be established by a court and base slanderers of our religious punished.
(After the Gospel reading for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost: “And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it . . .”, Luke 19.41-47).
My dear diocesans!
It is a deeply moving event that we read of in the Gospel for today. Jesus weeps! The Son of God weeps! A man who weeps is suffering pain — pain either of the body or of the heart. Jesus did not suffer in the body; and yet he wept. How great must have been the sorrow of soul, the heartfelt pain of this most courageous of men to make him weep! Why did he weep? He wept for Jerusalem, for God’s holy city that was so dear to him, the capital of his people. He wept for its inhabitants, his fellow-countrymen, because they refused to recognise the only thing that could avert the judgment foreseen by his omniscience and determined in advance by his divine justice: “If thou hadst known . . . the things which belong unto thy peace!” Why do the inhabitants of Jerusalem not know it? Not long before Jesus had given voice to it: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13,34).
Ye would not. I, your King, your God, I would. But ye would not! How safe, how sheltered is the chicken under the hen’s wing: she warms it, she feeds it, she defends it. In the same way I desired to protect you, to keep you, to defend you against any ill. I would, but ye would not!
That is why Jesus weeps: that is why that strong man weeps; that is why God weeps. For the folly, the injustice, the crime of not being willing . And for the evil to which that gives rise — which his omniscience sees coming. which his justice must impose — if man sets his unwillingness against God’s commands, in opposition to the admonitions of conscience, and all the loving invitations of the divine Friend, the best of Fathers: “If thou hadst known, in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But then wouldst not!.: It is something terrible, something incredibly wrong and fatal. when man sets his will against God’s will. I would) than wouldst not! It is therefore that Jesus weeps for Jerusalem.
Dearly beloved Christians! The joint pastoral letter of the German bishops, which was read in all Catholic churches in Germany on 26 June 1941, includes the following words.
“It is true that in Catholic ethics there are certain positive commandments which cease to be obligatory if their observance would be attended by unduly great difficulties; but there are also sacred obligations of conscience from which no one can release us; which we must carry out even if it should cost us our life. Never, under any circumstances, may a man, save in war or in legitimate self-defence, kill an innocent person.”
I had occasion on 6th July to add the followings comments on this passage in the joint pastoral letter:
“For some months we have been heating reports that inmates of establishments for the care of the mentally ill who have been ill for a long period and perhaps appear incurable have been forcibly removed from these establishments on orders from Berlin. Regularly the relatives receive soon afterwards an intimation that the patient is dead, that the patient’s body has been cremated and that they can collect the ashes. There is a general suspicion, verging on certainty. that these numerous unexpected deaths of the mentally ill do not occur naturally but are intentionally brought about in accordance with the doctrine that it is legitimate to destroy a so-called “worthless life” — in other words to kill innocent men and women, if it is thought that their lives are of no further value to the people and the state. A terrible doctrine which seeks to justify the murder of innocent people, which legitimises the violent killing of disabled persons who are no longer capable of work, of cripples, the incurably ill and the aged and infirm!”
I am reliably informed that in hospitals and homes in the province of Westphalia lists are being prepared of inmates who are classified as “unproductive members of the national community” and are to be removed from these establishments and shortly thereafter killed. The first party of patients left the mental hospital at Marienthal, near Munster, in the course of this week.
German men and women! Article 211 of the German Penal Code is still in force, in these terms: “Whoever kills a man of deliberate intent is guilty of murder and punishable with death”. No doubt in order to protect those who kill with intent these poor men and women, members of our families, from this punishment laid down by law, the patients who have been selected for killing are removed from their home area to some distant place. Some illness or other is then given as the cause of death. Since the body is immediately cremated, the relatives and the criminal police are unable to establish whether the patient had in fact been ill or what the cause of death actually was. I have been assured, however, that in the Ministry of the Interior and the office of the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Conti, no secret is made of the fact that indeed a large number of mentally ill persons in Germany have already been killed with intent and that this will continue.
Article 139 of the Penal Code provides that “anyone who has knowledge of an intention to commit a crime against the life of any person . . . and fails to inform the authorities or the person whose life is threatened in due time . . . commits a punishable offence”. When I learned of the intention to remove patients from Marienthal I reported the matter on 28th July to the State Prosecutor of Munster Provincial Court and to the Munster chief of police by registered letter, in the following terms:
“According to information I have received it is planned in the course of this week (the date has been mentioned as 31st July) to move a large number of inmates of the provincial hospital at Marienthal, classified as ‘unproductive members of the national community’, to the mental hospital at Eichberg, where, as is generally believed to have happened in the case of patients removed from other establishments, they are to be killed with intent. Since such action is not only contrary to the divine and the natural moral law but under article 211 of the German Penal Code ranks as murder and attracts the death penalty, I hereby report the matter in accordance with my obligation under article 139 of the Penal Code and request that steps should at once be taken to protect the patients concerned by proceedings against the authorities planning their removal and murder, and that I may be informed of the action taken”.
I have received no information of any action by the State Prosecutor or the police.
I had already written on 26th July to the Westphalian provincial authorities, who are responsible for the running of the mental hospital and for the patients entrusted to them for care and for cure, protesting in the strongest terms. It had no effect. The first transport of the innocent victims under sentence of death has left Marienthal. And I am now told that 800 patients have already been removed from the hospital at Warstein.
We must expect, therefore, that the poor defenceless patients are, sooner or later, going to be killed. Why? Not because they have committed any offence justifying their death, not because, for example, they have attacked a nurse or attendant, who would be entitled in legitimate selfdefence to meet violence with violence. In such a case the use of violence leading to death is permitted and may be called for, as it is in the case of killing an armed enemy.
No: these unfortunate patients are to die, not for some such reason as this but because in the judgment of some official body, on the decision of some committee, they have become “unworthy to live,” because they are classed as “unproductive members of the national community”.
The judgment is that they can no longer produce any goods: they are like an old piece of machinery which no longer works, like an old horse which has become incurably lame, like a cow which no longer gives any milk. What happens to an old piece of machinery? It is thrown on the scrap heap. What happens to a lame horse, an unproductive cow?
I will not pursue the comparison to the end — so fearful is its appropriateness and its illuminating power.
But we are not here concerned with pieces of machinery; we are not dealing with horses and cows, whose sole function is to serve mankind, to produce goods for mankind. They may be broken up; they may be slaughtered when they no longer perform this function.
No: We are concerned with men and women, our fellow creatures, our brothers and sisters! Poor human beings, ill human beings, they are unproductive, if you will. But does that mean that they have lost the right to live? Have you, have I, the right to live only so long as we are productive, so long as we are recognised by others as productive?
If the principle that men is entitled to kill his unproductive fellow-man is established and applied, then woe betide all of us when we become aged and infirm! If it is legitimate to kill unproductive members of the community, woe betide the disabled who have sacrificed their health or their limbs in the productive process! If unproductive men and women can be disposed of by violent means, woe betide our brave soldiers who return home with major disabilities as cripples, as invalids! If it is once admitted that men have the right to kill “unproductive” fellow-men — even though it is at present applied only to poor and defenceless mentally ill patients — then the way is open for the murder of all unproductive men and women: the incurably ill, the handicapped who are unable to work, those disabled in industry or war. The way is open, indeed, for the murder of all of us when we become old and infirm and therefore unproductive. Then it will require only a secret order to be issued that the procedure which has been tried and tested with the mentally ill should be extended to other “unproductive” persons, that it should also be applied to those suffering from incurable tuberculosis, the aged and infirm, persons disabled in industry, soldiers with disabling injuries!
Then no man will be safe: some committee or other will be able to put him on the list of “unproductive” persons, who in their judgment have become “unworthy to live”. And there will be no police to protect him, no court to avenge his murder and bring his murderers to justice.
Who could then have any confidence in a doctor? He might report a patient as unproductive and then be given instructions to kill him! It does not bear thinking of, the moral depravity, the universal mistrust which will spread even in the bosom of the family, if this terrible doctrine is tolerated, accepted and put into practice. Woe betide mankind, woe betide our German people, if the divine commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”, which the Lord proclaimed on Sinai amid thunder and lightning, which God our Creator wrote into man’s conscience from the beginning, if this commandment is not merely violated but the violation is tolerated and remains unpunished!
I will give you an example of what is happening. One of the patients in Marienthal was a man of 55, a farmer from a country parish in the Münster region — I could give you his name — who has suffered for some years from mental disturbance and was therefore admitted to Marienthal hospital. He was not mentally ill in the full sense: he could receive visits and was always happy, when his relatives came to see him. Only a fortnight ago he was visited by his wife and one of his sons, a soldier on home leave from the front. The son is much attached to his father, and the parting was a sad one: no one can tell, whether the soldier will return and see his father again, since he may fall in battle for his country. The son, the soldier, will certainly never again see his father on earth, for he has since then been put on the list of the “unproductive”. A relative, who wanted to visit the father this week in Marienthal, was turned away with the information that the patient had been transferred elsewhere on the instructions of the Council of State for National Defence. No information could be given about where he had been sent, but the relatives would be informed within a few days. What information will they be given? The same as in other cases of the kind? That the man has died, that his body has been cremated, that the ashes will be handed over on payment of a fee? Then the soldier, risking his life in the field for his fellow-countrymen, will not see his father again on earth, because fellow-countrymen at home have killed him.
The facts I have stated are firmly established. I can give the names of the patient, his wife and his son the soldier, and the place where they live.
“Thou shalt not kill!” God wrote this commandment in the conscience of man long before any penal code laid down the penalty for murder, long before there was any prosecutor or any court to investigate and avenge a murder. Cain, who killed his brother Abel, was a murderer long before there were any states or any courts of law. And he confessed his deed, driven by his accusing conscience: “My punishment is greater than I can bear . . . and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me the murderer shall slay me” (Genesis 4,13-14).
“Thou shalt not kill!” This commandment from God, who alone has power to decide on life or death, was written in the hearts of men from the beginning, long before God gave the children of Israel on Mount Sinai his moral code in those lapidary sentences inscribed on stone which are recorded for us in Holy Scripture and which as children we learned by heart in the catechism.
“I am the Lord thy God!” Thus begins this immutable law. “Thou shalt have not other gods before me.” God — the only God, transcendent, almighty, omniscient, infinitely holy and just, our Creator and future Judge — has given us these commandments. Out of love for us he wrote these commandments in our heart and proclaimed them to us. For they meet the need of our God-created nature; they are the indispensable norms for all rational, godly, redeeming and holy individual and community life. With these commandments God, our Father, seeks to gather us, His children, as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings. If we follow these commands, these invitations, this call from God, then we shall be guarded and protected and preserved from harm, defended against threatening death and destruction like the chickens under the hen’s wings.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Is this to come about again in our country of Germany, in our province of Westphalia, in our city of Münster? How far are the divine commandments now obeyed in Germany, how far are they obeyed here in our community?
The eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not lie.” How often is it shamelessly and publicly broken!
The seventh commandment: “Thou shalt not steal”. Whose possessions are now secure since the arbitrary and ruthless confiscation of the property of our brothers and sisters, members of Catholic orders? Whose property is protected, if this illegally confiscated property is not returned?
The sixth commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Think of the instructions and assurances on free sexual intercourse and unmarried motherhood in the notorious Open Letter by Rudolf Hess, who has disappeared since, which was published in all the newspapers. And how much shameless and disreputable conduct of this kind do we read about and observe and experience in our city of Munster! To what shamelessness in dress have our young people been forced to get accustomed to — the preparation for future adultery! For modesty, the bulwark of chastity, is about to be destroyed.
And now the fifth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill”, is set aside and broken under the eyes of the authorities whose function it should be to protect the rule of law and human life, when men presume to kill innocent fellow-men with intent merely because they are “unproductive”, because they can no longer produce any goods.
And how do matters stand with the observance of the fourth commandment, which enjoins us to honour and obey our parents and those in authority over us? The status and authority of parents is already much undermined and is increasingly shaken by all the obligations imposed on children against the will of their parents. Can anyone believe that sincere respect and conscientious obedience to the state authorities can be maintained when men continue to violate the commandments of the supreme authority, the Commandments of God, when they even combat and seek to stamp out faith in the only true transcendent God, the Lord of heaven and earth?
The observance of the first three commandments has in reality for many years been largely suspended among the public in Germany and in Münster. By how many people are Sundays and feast days profaned and withheld from the service of God! How the name of God is abused, dishonoured and blasphemed!
And the first commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” In place of the only true eternal God men set up their own idols at will and worship them: Nature, or the state, or the people, or the race. And how many are there whose God, in Paul’s word, “is their belly” (Philippians 3:19) — their own well — being, to which they sacrifice all else, even honour and conscience — the pleasures of the senses, the lust for money, the lust for power! In accordance with all this men may indeed seek to arrogate to themselves divine attributes, to make themselves lords over the life and death of their fellow-men.
When Jesus came near to Jerusalem and beheld the city he wept over it, saying: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemies . . . shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Looking with his bodily eyes, Jesus saw only the walls and towers of the city of Jerusalem, but the divine omniscience looked deeper and saw how matters stood within the city and its inhabitants: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings — and ye would not!” That is the great sorrow that oppresses Jesus’s heart, that brings tears to his eyes. I wanted to act for your good, but ye would not!
Jesus saw how sinful, how terrible, how criminal, how disastrous this unwillingness is. Little man, that frail creature, sets his created will against the will of God! Jerusalem and its inhabitants, His chosen and favoured people, set their will against God’s will! Foolishly and criminally, they defy the will of God! And so Jesus weeps over the heinous sin and the inevitable punishment. God is not mocked!
Christians of Munster! Did the Son of God in his omniscience in that day see only Jerusalem and its people? Did he weep only over Jerusalem? Is the people of Israel the only people whom God has encompassed and protected with a father’s care and mother’s love, has drawn to Himself? Is it the only people that wou1d not ? The only one that rejected God’s truth, that threw off God’s law and so condemned itself to ruin?
Did Jesus, the omniscient God, also see in that day our German people, our land of Westphalia, our region of Munster, the Lower Rhineland? Did he also weep over us? Over Munster?
For a thousand years he has instructed our forefathers and us in his truth, guided us with his law, nourished us with his grace, gathered us together as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings. Did the omniscient Son of God see in that day that in our time he must also pronounce this judgment on us: “Ye would not: see, your house will be laid waste!” How terrible that would be!
My Christians! I hope there is still time; but then indeed it is high time: That we may realise, in this our day, the things that belong unto our peace! That we may realise what alone can save us, can preserve us from the divine judgment: that we should take, without reservation, the divine commandments as the guiding rule of our lives and act in sober earnest according to the words: “Rather die than sin”.
That in prayer and sincere penitence we should beg that God’s forgiveness and mercy may descend upon us, upon our city, our country and our beloved German people.
But with those who continue to provoke God’s judgment, who blaspheme our faith, who scorn God’s commandments, who make common cause with those who alienate our young people from Christianity, who rob and banish our religious, who bring about the death of innocent men and women, our brothers and sisters — with all those we will avoid any confidential relationship, we will keep ourselves and our families out of reach of their influence, lest we become infected with their godless ways of thinking and acting, lest we become partakers in their guilt and thus liable to the judgment which a just God must and will inflict on all those who, like the ungrateful city of Jerusalem, do not will what God wills.
O God, make us all know, in this our day, before it is too late, the things which belong to our peace!
O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, grieved to tears at the blindness and iniquities of men, help us through Thy grace, that we may always strive after that which is pleasing to Thee and renounce that which displeases Thee, that we may remain in Thy love and find peace for our souls!
Amen.
Viva Cristo Rey!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Our Lady of Loreto, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.
Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.
Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.
© Copyright 2007, Thomas A. Droleskey. All rights reserved.
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Who Is Jesus?
Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
From a small town He came.
He did not speak from a podium.
His message was not contained in a building.
He wore no robe or crown.
He held no scepter.
He held no religious or political position.
No army accompanied Him.
He walked miles everyday and when the evening hour came,
He was exhausted, filthy, hungry and homeless.
He carried no weapon of man’s device.
He raised His voice and spoke the written word of His Father, the Lord God Almighty.
He spoke with an authority not known to man of this era. For the days of man were consumed in darkness, void of His Father’s word and instruction.
He graced this earth with a light so brilliant and powerful that to date, the world trembles in the wake of His brief, triumphed life.
There is none like Jesus. He is the first and will be the last in His word, authority, power and rule.
His Name is proclaimed throughout the world, yet most do not know Him.
After 2000 years, most are deceived today as they were so long ago.
The world hungers to know-
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
The people of this day lived in brokenness and despair. For generations they had been impoverished and enslaved. They had no reprieve from their labor. Their lives were a meager, physical existence. Their days were consumed in their efforts to survive. They were unable to offer their children a future different from that of their own. They were a people entrapped in bondage, under the authority and oppression of man.
They heard of this One, Jesus, a stranger in their land. He walked from town to town to deliver His message of love, peace and joy. Multitudes gathered awaiting His spoken word. He went into the alleys and beyond the city gates that the very least among them, those despised and forsaken, would hear His message. The ill and diseased were made well, the crippled walked, the blind were given sight and their dead were raised. He cast out demons that possessed them, spiritually and physically renewing them.
He used no potion or instrument, for it was with His powerful, supernatural Spirit in which He healed. Into them He spoke His word, life and spirit, miraculously restoring them.
He looked beyond their rough, haggard exterior and into their broken hearts. It was there that He met them in their secret place and He saw their pain. His compassion and love was felt as He touched each and every heart, one at a time. They clung to His every word and in doing so, they were given His priceless gift of hope. In Him their every need was met. In Him they were valued, worthy and honored just as they were. He called them friend; mother, father, brother and sister though they knew Him not.
Who is the Jesus of Nazareth
His miracles astounded and amazed all that witnessed. He came, this stranger, into the land and did what no other before Him could. Jesus is the Son of God and through Him the people were given a personal relationship with their Almighty God. No longer did they have the need to listen to the empty words of man, for they were given the wisdom and council of God through Jesus. At His feet they entered the Holy of Holies, the throne of God.
Jesus served the people daily with every breath He took and every measure of His strength.
His message rocked the largest, most powerful nation in the world into utter chaos. His words of TRUTH were cutting like a double edged sword, penetrating the hearts, souls and minds of those that heard Him. His spoken word was commanding, convicting and converting, transforming a lost and forsaken people. Jesus offered both the Jew and Gentile alike a life in which transcended the grave, an everlasting life with Him in paradise. Through Him they were promised to become a new creation, their generational curses and sins forgiven and forgotten. Nothing could they do to earn any of this in which He offered freely to them. For it was only through Him and in Him that they could be made whole-perfect and spotless-separated from their old life and all evil. He told them to believe in Him, trust in Him, keep His commands and be redeemed. He chose them unto Himself for He loved them so.
Jesus empowered the masses in His TRUTH and love.
His word and miracles, heard and witnessed, were testimony of His greatness. There was no longer an excuse for the wicked deeds of man. No. There is no excuse for now they had seen God, His goodness-Holiness-and the Way in which to live.
Jesus came to give all people life and that they might have it more abundantly. In offering Himself, they were compelled to choose their master.
Jesus warned the people as He addressed the issues that plagued them. He told them they could not serve two masters and they must choose-Jesus, the God of TRUTH and life, or Satan, the father of all lies and death.
Their love of money-the root of all evil-pleasure and power, had been their hearts desire as this was seen by the poor as their only means in which to escape their enslavement. Poor were some that wanted only to crown Jesus as means of their provisions and future prosperity. They had witnessed His miracles of feeding thousands. They sought Him to provide them with their physical needs. Jesus offered them Himself, His bread and water-His word and Spirit-to satisfy their souls. In Him, never again would they hunger or thirst, for they would not be poor in spirit. They turned their heads from Jesus and remained in darkness.
The rich worshiped their money and could not accept what He taught. Their earthly treasures stored and their life of comfort was their god. They refused to acknowledge that they were to love their neighbor as they did themselves and provide for their neighbor by sharing their wealth. They chose to deny their neighbor of his needs and in doing so, denied Jesus. They too remained in darkness.
Those that rejected Jesus did not understand that it would be better for them to loose their life and gain it, rather than to gain their life and loose it. The god of their choice would have them pay for an eternity in Hell, separated from Jesus.
There were many religions of this day. All were deeply involved in their religious, ritualistic occult practices. Although the names of the gods they claimed to serve were different, all served Satan.
One such occult was most prominent as they proclaimed the name of the Lord God Almighty. They claimed to be the remnant of God, His chosen people and heirs to the inheritance of God. In their possession they held the ancient scrolls of God’s Holy Word; however, they did not hold His word sacred. They used God’s word as merely a means in which to hide as they portrayed themselves holy. Their high priests had neglected God’s people as they withheld the word of God from them, condemning them according to the Law of God. God’s instruction and His love and mercy were not offered. Due to their lack of knowledge God’s people perished.
They had adopted occult teachings and customs and in doing so, they had allowed the perversion of God’s word, His moral laws and precepts. They were imposters, blasphemers, having no loyalty to God whatsoever. Their thoughts and deeds were of evil and they had become a twisted people.
Without God’s instruction-TRUTH- darkness prevailed and the culture depicted the evil that dominated. The shedding of innocent blood, divorce and sexual immorality was prevalent. Evil was taught as good and good as evil. The masses were held captive as tyranny resided.
The religious gave no thought to God as though He could not see into their hearts and their wickedness. The masses with whom they kept in ignorance and poverty were deemed of having no value. Jesus has fiery eyes and saw their apostasy. He heard the cries of those suffering-His children.
The religious did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God-God in the flesh- the prophesized Messiah. They rebuked His virgin birth. His parents were from Nazareth, a town from which no one of renown had come. They denounced His every word. They murmured slanderous things and plotted against Him.
They sent to Jesus their high priests and lawyers with their prestigious degrees and their well articulated, rehearsed words that they might discredit Him and judge Him falsely in public. Jesus saw into their hearts and was aware of their cunning and deceit.
Jesus did not compromise TRUTH and stood firm in His response to them. Their reasoning and philosophies of evil could not withstand the test of His spoken word. Their wise and proud were confounded by His infallible word and inconceivable wisdom, making foolish their accusations against Him.
They were seethed with anger that Jesus claimed all authority and power of GOD ALMIGHTY! They refused to submit to Him and conspired to have Him killed. They knew, should Jesus continue to teach God’s word in TRUTH, their position of power over the people, their relationship and influence they held within the government and the great wealth they had accumulated thereof would be jeopardized.
Through Jesus and His publicly proclaiming His TRUTH, the once captive in deceit were offered freedom in Jesus. Exposed were the lies of the religious. The followers of Jesus were growing in number as light of TRUTH and knowledge shined.
These religious moved to eradicate TRUTH-Jesus-once and for all.
In the name of God, the Jewish high priests contacted government officials to have Jesus arrested. Once killed, they conspired; the masses would resume their lowly state having lost their leader.
Tension grew throughout the land as those in authority evoked fear upon those that followed Jesus.
They offered a cash reward for the whereabouts of Jesus to be revealed. Jesus was betrayed when one of His friends accepted money and led His enemies to His place of prayer.
Those faithful to Jesus could not comprehend all that Jesus had spoken. As the enemy rose up against Him, Jesus told them that this was necessary for His Father’s work to be completed in Him, glorifying His Father.
As the enemy approached, He prayed for those He called His own-His precious.
When He was arrested, He humbly submitted Himself unto His enemies.
His followers who called Him Lord denied Him, fearing that they too would be apprehended.
Jesus stood alone.
The religious sought to remain sovereign over the people.
Their high priests demanded His death.
The government sought to remain sovereign over the nations.
The religious were recognized as peacekeepers, controlling the masses.
Despite being found innocent of any crime by the government, the religious were obliged their demands.
The judgment of Jesus was given to the religious.
The religious knew not TRUTH and justice. Hate was their motivation.
Jesus did not resist as He was brutally beaten.
As He took His last steps on earth, He was forced to carry the weapon that would be used to kill Him.
His gruesome appearance, His body torn and bloody, was a reflection of the dark, wicked hearts of those that had gathered to witness His excruciating torture and death.
He did not complain. Not once.
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
He offered them forgiveness and His right arm.
They rejected Him.
He offered them mercy and His left arm.
They condemned Him.
He offered them grace and His right leg.
They screamed, “Crucify Him!”
He offered them His Kingdom, all that He possessed, and life eternal through Him as He extended His left leg.
Willing, He offered each limb, one at a time as the nails were driven into His hands and feet.
They applauded the cross as it was raised, the nails that secured His body and the torture they witnessed as His face contorted in pain.
For nine hours He hung in the heat of the midday sun.
His mother stood helpless at His feet and watched in horror as her child suffered in torment. Her ears filled with the roaring of the crowd as they hissed in mockery and sadistic pleasure.
In love He looked out over this seething, hateful crowd asking His Father’s forgiveness on their behalf.
Jesus took His last breath and died.
The sky turned dark and the earth shook violently.
The great curtain of the religious temple tore in two when Jesus died. Just as the curtain had separated the people from God, the death of Jesus allowed passage of God’s people to Him. No man, no religion, nothing can stand between God and His chosen forevermore.
The religious returned to their ritualistic rites having forgotten Jesus of Nazareth.
Three days later those close to Him were witness of His risen Person.
The religious plotted again, paying the guards to keep secret the news of the risen Christ.
The followers of Jesus watched in awe as their Lord Jesus rose into Heaven.
They waited to receive the promise of His Spirit, His Comforter.
Through His powerful Spirit of TRUTH, they saw their sin. His suffering and death was for the atonement of the sin of all man. Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God. He washed us clean with His blood.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.
He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
King of Kings, Lord of Lords!
Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and His everlasting love for you,
This is Jesus of Nazareth, our living Lord and Savior!
He spoke with an authority not known to man of this era. For the days of man were consumed in darkness, void of His Father’s word and instruction.
He graced this earth with a light so brilliant and powerful that to date, the world trembles in the wake of His brief, triumphed life.
There is none like Jesus. He is the first and will be the last in His word, authority, power and rule.
His Name is proclaimed throughout the world, yet most do not know Him.
After 2000 years, most are deceived today as they were so long ago.
The world hungers to know-
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
The people of this day lived in brokenness and despair. For generations they had been impoverished and enslaved. They had no reprieve from their labor. Their lives were a meager, physical existence. Their days were consumed in their efforts to survive. They were unable to offer their children a future different from that of their own. They were a people entrapped in bondage, under the authority and oppression of man.
They heard of this One, Jesus, a stranger in their land. He walked from town to town to deliver His message of love, peace and joy. Multitudes gathered awaiting His spoken word. He went into the alleys and beyond the city gates that the very least among them, those despised and forsaken, would hear His message. The ill and diseased were made well, the crippled walked, the blind were given sight and their dead were raised. He cast out demons that possessed them, spiritually and physically renewing them.
He used no potion or instrument, for it was with His powerful, supernatural Spirit in which He healed. Into them He spoke His word, life and spirit, miraculously restoring them.
He looked beyond their rough, haggard exterior and into their broken hearts. It was there that He met them in their secret place and He saw their pain. His compassion and love was felt as He touched each and every heart, one at a time. They clung to His every word and in doing so, they were given His priceless gift of hope. In Him their every need was met. In Him they were valued, worthy and honored just as they were. He called them friend; mother, father, brother and sister though they knew Him not.
Who is the Jesus of Nazareth
His miracles astounded and amazed all that witnessed. He came, this stranger, into the land and did what no other before Him could. Jesus is the Son of God and through Him the people were given a personal relationship with their Almighty God. No longer did they have the need to listen to the empty words of man, for they were given the wisdom and council of God through Jesus. At His feet they entered the Holy of Holies, the throne of God.
Jesus served the people daily with every breath He took and every measure of His strength.
His message rocked the largest, most powerful nation in the world into utter chaos. His words of TRUTH were cutting like a double edged sword, penetrating the hearts, souls and minds of those that heard Him. His spoken word was commanding, convicting and converting, transforming a lost and forsaken people. Jesus offered both the Jew and Gentile alike a life in which transcended the grave, an everlasting life with Him in paradise. Through Him they were promised to become a new creation, their generational curses and sins forgiven and forgotten. Nothing could they do to earn any of this in which He offered freely to them. For it was only through Him and in Him that they could be made whole-perfect and spotless-separated from their old life and all evil. He told them to believe in Him, trust in Him, keep His commands and be redeemed. He chose them unto Himself for He loved them so.
Jesus empowered the masses in His TRUTH and love.
His word and miracles, heard and witnessed, were testimony of His greatness. There was no longer an excuse for the wicked deeds of man. No. There is no excuse for now they had seen God, His goodness-Holiness-and the Way in which to live.
Jesus came to give all people life and that they might have it more abundantly. In offering Himself, they were compelled to choose their master.
Jesus warned the people as He addressed the issues that plagued them. He told them they could not serve two masters and they must choose-Jesus, the God of TRUTH and life, or Satan, the father of all lies and death.
Their love of money-the root of all evil-pleasure and power, had been their hearts desire as this was seen by the poor as their only means in which to escape their enslavement. Poor were some that wanted only to crown Jesus as means of their provisions and future prosperity. They had witnessed His miracles of feeding thousands. They sought Him to provide them with their physical needs. Jesus offered them Himself, His bread and water-His word and Spirit-to satisfy their souls. In Him, never again would they hunger or thirst, for they would not be poor in spirit. They turned their heads from Jesus and remained in darkness.
The rich worshiped their money and could not accept what He taught. Their earthly treasures stored and their life of comfort was their god. They refused to acknowledge that they were to love their neighbor as they did themselves and provide for their neighbor by sharing their wealth. They chose to deny their neighbor of his needs and in doing so, denied Jesus. They too remained in darkness.
Those that rejected Jesus did not understand that it would be better for them to loose their life and gain it, rather than to gain their life and loose it. The god of their choice would have them pay for an eternity in Hell, separated from Jesus.
There were many religions of this day. All were deeply involved in their religious, ritualistic occult practices. Although the names of the gods they claimed to serve were different, all served Satan.
One such occult was most prominent as they proclaimed the name of the Lord God Almighty. They claimed to be the remnant of God, His chosen people and heirs to the inheritance of God. In their possession they held the ancient scrolls of God’s Holy Word; however, they did not hold His word sacred. They used God’s word as merely a means in which to hide as they portrayed themselves holy. Their high priests had neglected God’s people as they withheld the word of God from them, condemning them according to the Law of God. God’s instruction and His love and mercy were not offered. Due to their lack of knowledge God’s people perished.
They had adopted occult teachings and customs and in doing so, they had allowed the perversion of God’s word, His moral laws and precepts. They were imposters, blasphemers, having no loyalty to God whatsoever. Their thoughts and deeds were of evil and they had become a twisted people.
Without God’s instruction-TRUTH- darkness prevailed and the culture depicted the evil that dominated. The shedding of innocent blood, divorce and sexual immorality was prevalent. Evil was taught as good and good as evil. The masses were held captive as tyranny resided.
The religious gave no thought to God as though He could not see into their hearts and their wickedness. The masses with whom they kept in ignorance and poverty were deemed of having no value. Jesus has fiery eyes and saw their apostasy. He heard the cries of those suffering-His children.
The religious did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God-God in the flesh- the prophesized Messiah. They rebuked His virgin birth. His parents were from Nazareth, a town from which no one of renown had come. They denounced His every word. They murmured slanderous things and plotted against Him.
They sent to Jesus their high priests and lawyers with their prestigious degrees and their well articulated, rehearsed words that they might discredit Him and judge Him falsely in public. Jesus saw into their hearts and was aware of their cunning and deceit.
Jesus did not compromise TRUTH and stood firm in His response to them. Their reasoning and philosophies of evil could not withstand the test of His spoken word. Their wise and proud were confounded by His infallible word and inconceivable wisdom, making foolish their accusations against Him.
They were seethed with anger that Jesus claimed all authority and power of GOD ALMIGHTY! They refused to submit to Him and conspired to have Him killed. They knew, should Jesus continue to teach God’s word in TRUTH, their position of power over the people, their relationship and influence they held within the government and the great wealth they had accumulated thereof would be jeopardized.
Through Jesus and His publicly proclaiming His TRUTH, the once captive in deceit were offered freedom in Jesus. Exposed were the lies of the religious. The followers of Jesus were growing in number as light of TRUTH and knowledge shined.
These religious moved to eradicate TRUTH-Jesus-once and for all.
Luke 17:
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
“Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
New Living Translation
“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked. Jesus replied, “Just as the
gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”
English Standard Version
And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Berean Standard Bible
“Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there thevultures will gather.”
Berean Literal Bible
And answering, they say to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the
body is, there also the vultures will be gathered together.”
King James Bible
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them,
Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
New King James Version
And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
New American Standard Bible
And responding, they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where thebody is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”
Greek
“Oirov to croiixay €Kei crvva^Orjcroi’Tac ol aerol.’
Wyclif 1380•
‘””thei answereden and seiden to h\^^l/ wher lord, whiche seide to hym/
where euer the bodi schal be ‘. thidur schuln be gaderid to gidre also the
eglis.
Tyndale 1534
And they answered/ and sayde to him : wheare Lorde ? And he sayd vnto
them : whersoever the body shalbe/ thyther will the egles resoorte.
Cranmer 1539
And they answered, and sayd to him : where Lorde : He sayd \-nto them :
whersoeuer the body shalbe, th)i:her wyll also the Egles be gathered
together
Geneva
And they answered, and sayd to hjTn, Where Lorde ? And he sayd vnto
them, Whersoeuer the body shalbe, thither wyl also the Egles resorte.
Rheims
They answering say to him, Vvhere Lord ? Vvho said to them, Vvheresoeuer
the body shal be, thither wil the eagles also be gathered.
Authorized
And they answered, and said to him. Where, Lord ? And he said vnto them,
Wheresoeuer the body is, thither wiU the Eagles be gathered together.
Vulgate
Qui dixit illis: Ubicumque fuerit corpus, illuc congregabuntur et aquilæ.
In the name of God, the Jewish high priests contacted government officials to have Jesus arrested. Once killed, they conspired; the masses would resume their lowly state having lost their leader.
Tension grew throughout the land as those in authority evoked fear upon those that followed Jesus.
They offered a cash reward for the whereabouts of Jesus to be revealed. Jesus was betrayed when one of His friends accepted money and led His enemies to His place of prayer.
Those faithful to Jesus could not comprehend all that Jesus had spoken. As the enemy rose up against Him, Jesus told them that this was necessary for His Father’s work to be completed in Him, glorifying His Father.
As the enemy approached, He prayed for those He called His own-His precious.
When He was arrested, He humbly submitted Himself unto His enemies.
His followers who called Him Lord denied Him, fearing that they too would be apprehended.
Jesus stood alone.
The religious sought to remain sovereign over the people.
Their high priests demanded His death.
The government sought to remain sovereign over the nations.
The religious were recognized as peacekeepers, controlling the masses.
Despite being found innocent of any crime by the government, the religious were obliged their demands.
The judgment of Jesus was given to the religious.
The religious knew not TRUTH and justice. Hate was their motivation.
Jesus did not resist as He was brutally beaten.
As He took His last steps on earth, He was forced to carry the weapon that would be used to kill Him.
His gruesome appearance, His body torn and bloody, was a reflection of the dark, wicked hearts of those that had gathered to witness His excruciating torture and death.
He did not complain. Not once.
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
He offered them forgiveness and His right arm.
They rejected Him.
He offered them mercy and His left arm.
They condemned Him.
He offered them grace and His right leg.
They screamed, “Crucify Him!”
He offered them His Kingdom, all that He possessed, and life eternal through Him as He extended His left leg.
Willing, He offered each limb, one at a time as the nails were driven into His hands and feet.
They applauded the cross as it was raised, the nails that secured His body and the torture they witnessed as His face contorted in pain.
For nine hours He hung in the heat of the midday sun.
His mother stood helpless at His feet and watched in horror as her child suffered in torment. Her ears filled with the roaring of the crowd as they hissed in mockery and sadistic pleasure.
In love He looked out over this seething, hateful crowd asking His Father’s forgiveness on their behalf.
Jesus took His last breath and died.
The sky turned dark and the earth shook violently.
The great curtain of the religious temple tore in two when Jesus died. Just as the curtain had separated the people from God, the death of Jesus allowed passage of God’s people to Him. No man, no religion, nothing can stand between God and His chosen forevermore.
The religious returned to their ritualistic rites having forgotten Jesus of Nazareth.
Three days later those close to Him were witness of His risen Person.
The religious plotted again, paying the guards to keep secret the news of the risen Christ.
The followers of Jesus watched in awe as their Lord Jesus rose into Heaven.
They waited to receive the promise of His Spirit, His Comforter.
Through His powerful Spirit of TRUTH, they saw their sin. His suffering and death was for the atonement of the sin of all man. Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God. He washed us clean with His blood.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.
He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
King of Kings, Lord of Lords!
Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and His everlasting love for you,
This is Jesus of Nazareth, our living Lord and Savior!d