tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72781319091068704632024-03-06T08:13:48.718+01:00Cappuccino - a sideways view on lifeGet your hot "cappuccino" here from this virtual coffee house - a place to meet, relax, discuss, reflect, see life perhaps from a different point of view, consider its true meaning.....john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-53458604959270511952020-07-08T16:56:00.001+02:002020-07-08T16:56:14.656+02:00The seed is the word of God<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">« Sunday, July 12 »</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspQ6qWyHaNW9BItg70aQ_H28P9qu-eHzOQTjBP25ScpdzWvcu8DGInWe6Z1C0Xnk42EDyLow4AaJBJU-gbVR0IxEZUAl0rpB27K9UrMgNIQxAkuLFxZxnvgd25rvE4MjbJNDLwBdgWz7A/s1600/parable.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="741" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspQ6qWyHaNW9BItg70aQ_H28P9qu-eHzOQTjBP25ScpdzWvcu8DGInWe6Z1C0Xnk42EDyLow4AaJBJU-gbVR0IxEZUAl0rpB27K9UrMgNIQxAkuLFxZxnvgd25rvE4MjbJNDLwBdgWz7A/s320/parable.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lectionary: 103<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Il-Ħmistax-il Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul
is-Sena<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background-color: orange;">Gospel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>MATTHEW 13:1-23 OR 13:1-9<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and
the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in
parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on
the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had
little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the
sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell
among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich
soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears
ought to hear.” The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to
them in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has
not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I
speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not
listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You
shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they
have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them. “But
blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you
see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. “Hear
then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears
the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and
steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the
one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and
lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of
the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who
hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the
word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty
or thirtyfold.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background-color: lime;">Evanġelju </span> Qari skond San Mattew 13, 1-23<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dakinhar Ġesù ħareġ mid-dar, mar f’xatt il-baħar u qagħad
bilqiegħda hemm. U nġabru madwaru folol hekk kbar ta’ nies li kellu jitla’ fuq
dgħajsa u jinżel bilqiegħda fiha; in-nies qagħdu lkoll wieqfa fuq ix-xatt, u hu
beda jkellimhom fuq bosta ħwejjeġ bil-parabboli. U qalilhom: “Darba wieħed
bidwi ħareġ jiżra’. Huwa u jiżra’, xi żerrigħat waqgħu mal-mogħdija, ġew
l-għasafar u naqqruhom kollha. Oħrajn waqgħu f’art kollha blat, fejn ma kienx
hemm wisq ħamrija, u malajr nibtu, għax il-ħamrija ma kinitx fonda; iżda mbagħad
telgħet ix-xemx, u nħarqu u nixfu, għax ma kellhomx għeruq. Oħrajn waqgħu qalb
ix-xewk, u x-xewk kiber magħhom u ħonoqhom. Imma oħrajn waqgħu f’art tajba, u
għamlu l-frott, min mija, min sittin, u min tletin. Min għandu widnejn, ħa
jisma!”. Resqu lejh id-dixxipli u staqsew: “Għaliex tkellimhom bil-parabboli?”.
Hu weġibhom: “Għax lilkom ingħata li tagħrfu l-misteri tas-Saltna tas-Smewwiet,
iżda lilhom dan ma kienx mogħti. Għax kull min għandu, jingħatalu, u jkollu
żżejjed ukoll; iżda min ma għandux, jitteħidlu saħansitra dak li għandu. Jien
għalhekk inkellimhom bil-parabboli; għax iħarsu kemm iħarsu ma jarawx, u
jisimgħu kemm jisimgħu ma jifhmux. U hekk isseħħ fihom il-profezija ta’ Isaija
li tgħid, “Tisimgħu kemm tisimgħu ma tifhmux, u tħarsu kemm tħarsu ma tarawx.
Għax il-qalb ta’ dan il-poplu twebbset; kienu tqal biex jisimgħu b’widnejhom, u
għalqu għajnejhom li ma jmorrux jaraw b’għajnejhom, u jisimgħu b’widnejhom u
jifhmu b’moħħhom, u hekk ibiddlu ħajjithom u jiena nfejjaqhom”. Intom, iżda,
henjin għajnejkom, għax qegħdin jaraw; henjin widnejkom, għax qegħdin jisimgħu.
Tassew, ngħidilkom, li bosta profeti u nies ġusti xtaqu jaraw dak li qegħdin
taraw intom u ma rawhx, u jisimgħu dak li qegħdin tisimgħu intom, u ma
semgħuhx! Mela isimgħuha intom il-parabbola ta’ dak li ħareġ jiżra’. Kull min
jisma’ l-kelma tas-Saltna u ma jifhimhiex, jersaq il-Ħażin u jisraqlu dak li
jkun inżera’ f’qalbu: dan huwa dak li nżera’ mal-mogħdija. Dak li nżera’ f’art
kollha blat huwa dak li jisma’ l-kelma u jilqagħha minnufih bil-ferħ; imma
għeruq ma jkollux fih innifsu, u għalhekk ftit idum; imbagħad jiġi fuqu
l-għawġ, jew isib min iħabbtu minħabba l-kelma, u malajr jitfixkel. Dak li
nżera’ qalb ix-xewk huwa dak li jisma’ l-kelma iżda l-inkwiet żejjed
għall-ħwejjeġ tad-dinja u l-ġibda għall-ġid tal-art joħonqulu l-kelma, li
għalhekk ma tagħmilx frott. Dak imbagħad li nżera’ f’art tajba huwa dak li
jisma’ l-kelma u jifhimha; u tassew hu jagħmel il-frott; dan jagħmel mija, dak
sittin, u l-ieħor tletin”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-ZPGIzr7AmsXkgVFkGbWLaZwg0mQiZstfq419m8pX-xEtxAI2bY-aO7KZLvLOZOAq7K85DFZPCZLLnNcD6_7eJ_wTZ9recr1VzQbvsa8Xztpbw5yKXIj0lrmx5p2pgf_ouMu3dv9UTG0/s1600/parable-of-the-sower1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="540" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-ZPGIzr7AmsXkgVFkGbWLaZwg0mQiZstfq419m8pX-xEtxAI2bY-aO7KZLvLOZOAq7K85DFZPCZLLnNcD6_7eJ_wTZ9recr1VzQbvsa8Xztpbw5yKXIj0lrmx5p2pgf_ouMu3dv9UTG0/s320/parable-of-the-sower1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A God of His Word<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gospel Commentary </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical
Household Preacher<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The readings of this Sunday speaks of the word of God with two
interlaced images: that of rain and of seed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the first reading, Isaiah compares the word of God with rain
that falls from heaven and does not return without watering and helping seeds
to grow. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the word of God as a seed that falls on
different terrains and produces fruit. The word of God is seed because it
generates life and rain that nourishes life, which allows the seed to grow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When speaking of the word of God we often take for granted the
most moving event of all, namely, that God speaks. The biblical God is a God
who speaks!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Our God comes and will not be silent," says Psalm 50;
God himself often repeats: "Listen, my people, I will speak" (Psalm
50:7). In this the Bible sees the clearest difference from the idols that
"have mouths, but do not speak" (Psalm 115).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What meaning should we give such an anthropomorphic expression as
"God said to Adam," "thus speaks the Lord," "the Lord
says," "oracle of the Lord," and others like them? Obviously it
is a way of speaking that is different from the human, a speaking to the ears
of the heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God speaks the way he writes! "I will place my law within
them," says the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:33). He writes on the heart
and he also makes his words resonate in the heart. He says so expressly himself
through the prophet Hosea, speaking of Israel as an unfaithful bride: "So
I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart"
(Hosea 2:16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God does not have a human mouth or breath; the prophet is his
mouth, the Holy Spirit is his breath. "You will be my mouth," he
himself says to his prophets. He also says "I will put my word on your
lips." This is the meaning of the famous phrase "human beings moved
by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God" (2 Peter 1:21). The
spiritual tradition of the Church has coined the expression "interior
locutions" for this way of speaking addressed to the mind and heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And yet, it is a speaking in the true sense of the term. The
creature receives a message that can be translated into human words. So alive
and real is God's speaking, that the prophet recalls with precision the place,
day and time that a certain word "came" to him. So concrete is the
word of God that it is said it "falls" upon Israel, as if it were a
stone (Isaiah 9:7). Or, as if it were bread that is eaten with pleasure:
"When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the
happiness of my heart," (Jeremiah 15:16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">No human voice comes to man with the depth with which the word of
God comes to him. "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit,
joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the
heart" (Hebrews 4,12). At times God's speaking is a powerful thunder that
"splinters the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 29), at other times it seems
like the "tiny whispering sound" (1 Kings 19:12). It knows all the
tones of human speech.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This interior and spiritual nature of God's speaking changes
radically the moment that "the word became flesh." With the coming of
Christ, God also speaks with a human voice, which can be heard not only with
the ears of the soul but also of the body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As we can see, the Bible attributes immense dignity to the word.
Attempts have not been lacking to change the solemn affirmation with which John
begins his Gospel: "In the beginning was the word."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Goethe has his Faust say: "In the beginning, there was
action," and it is interesting to see how the writer comes to this
conclusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"I cannot give 'the word' such high value," says Faust.
"Perhaps I should understand it as 'hearing,' but can hearing be what acts
and creates everything? Hence one should say: 'In the beginning force existed.'
But no, a sudden illumination suggested the answer to me: 'In the beginning,
action existed.'"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, these are unjustified attempts at correction. John's word
or logos has all the meanings that Goethe assigns to the rest of the terms. As
we see in the prologue, it is light, life and creative force.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God created man "in his image" precisely because he
created him capable of speaking, of communicating and of establishing
relationships. He, who has in himself from eternity one word, has created man
and gifted him with the word, in order to be, not only "image" but
also "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26). It is not enough for man to
speak, but he must imitate God's speaking. The content and motor of God's
speaking is love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">From beginning to end, the Bible is no more than a message of the
love of God for his creatures. The tones might change, from the angry to the
tender, but the essence is always, and only, love. God has used the word to
communicate life and truth, to instruct and console. This poses the question:
What use do we make of the word? In his play "Closed Doors," Sartre
has given us a striking image of what human communication can become when love
is lacking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Three persons are introduced, in brief intervals, in a room. There
are no windows. The light is at its brightest and there is no possibility to
turn it off. There is suffocating heat, and there is only one seat for each
one. The door, of course, is closed. The bell is there but does not ring. Who
are these people?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They are three dead persons, a man and two women, and the place
they are in is hell. There are no mirrors, and they can only see themselves
through the words of the others, which gives them the most horrible image of
themselves, without any mercy, on the contrary, with irony and sarcasm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When, after a while, their souls became naked to one another and
the faults of which they were ashamed have come into the light one by one and
enjoyed by the others without mercy, one of the individuals says to the other
two: "Remember, the brimstone, the flames, the tortures with fire. All are
stupidities. There is no need of torments: Hell is the others." Abuse of
the word can transform life into a hell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-JHrlOeFHsswqqE-jj-_SHh8Jz3Ha0jmidZdE982ZjeWbgZz2kx4DH7uabML8BU5FoM_AjhwVXrk-57ruAHyAo1pemZTq6fw7z-BtMs-NFnD4rO_pHYvphKAF_2wLRZGIKS_zY_g0mA4/s1600/parable-sower-4.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-JHrlOeFHsswqqE-jj-_SHh8Jz3Ha0jmidZdE982ZjeWbgZz2kx4DH7uabML8BU5FoM_AjhwVXrk-57ruAHyAo1pemZTq6fw7z-BtMs-NFnD4rO_pHYvphKAF_2wLRZGIKS_zY_g0mA4/s320/parable-sower-4.gif" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">St. Paul gives Christians this golden rule in regard to words:
"No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good
for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear"
(Ephesians 4, 29). The good word is the one that chooses the positive side of
an action and a person and that, even when it corrects, does not offend. A good
word is one that gives hope. A bad word is every word said without love, to
wound and humiliate one's neighbour. If a bad word comes out of the lips, it
will be necessary to retract it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Not altogether correct are the verses of the Italian poet
Metastasio: "Word that comes from within, is no longer worth retracting;
The arrow cannot be stopped, when it has left the bow."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A word that issues from the mouth can be retracted, or at least
its negative effect can be limited, by asking for forgiveness. Hence, what a
gift it can be for our fellow men and what an improvement for the quality of
life in the heart of the family and of society!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>////////<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[Translation
by Joseph G. Trabbic]<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br />john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-41716389955380868642020-04-12T16:00:00.000+02:002020-04-12T16:00:05.691+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 7<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuZ6S09zwKQNXp30RGfaiNT9lIr9ase7qZ-GncbtadCFMJg9cOhpJeIQPVdSPtkNFDYuZoKh5ODtpLSyLOv0btbnmTRjaOfC0nEbKby6_4V84d5AUKPAV8XQwDIw_hU7fD53BLsuaCSMe/s1600/0f5c072e327b72fbf010196b9fb77b0a--grief-jesus-christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="736" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuZ6S09zwKQNXp30RGfaiNT9lIr9ase7qZ-GncbtadCFMJg9cOhpJeIQPVdSPtkNFDYuZoKh5ODtpLSyLOv0btbnmTRjaOfC0nEbKby6_4V84d5AUKPAV8XQwDIw_hU7fD53BLsuaCSMe/s320/0f5c072e327b72fbf010196b9fb77b0a--grief-jesus-christ.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Verses of promise</b><b> </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b>
</b></span><b>“But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then
they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here."
And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.”</b><b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><i>Revelations
11: 11-12 </i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>"I will ransom
them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O
death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?” </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Hosea 14: 14</i></span><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“I am with you always till the end of
time…”</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>-
Matthew 28: 20</i></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #003366; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Closing Prayer…</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Lord God of eternity, please be with me as
I seek to allow<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">love to be my primary compelling motivation in life.</span></i></div>
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</div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I want to show Jesus my love and
appreciation for all that He has </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">done to save me. </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I want to live for
Jesus so others know that He is </span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>Lord of my life. </i></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">I want my words and
life to show </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">His love to others, so that they can truly
experience it and</span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>come to know Him. </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Please bless me as I
pursue this goal. </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-57022777729012430422020-04-12T10:30:00.000+02:002020-04-12T10:30:16.324+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 6<b><span style="color: #0b4000; font-size: large;"></span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd8mb8qF5iyelCWSR2brmggqJl-tDre7Y5iRDSj0rB0z153dDxPI6p4k2HBZSsbCzC-tuXPG_kbI26j-QpWwHhXXvscQlLi4WeSw-Z4w5dpiSAAFi915FTj-ZVeIjHR69yya-eNJ8V28k5/s1600/jesus-resurrection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd8mb8qF5iyelCWSR2brmggqJl-tDre7Y5iRDSj0rB0z153dDxPI6p4k2HBZSsbCzC-tuXPG_kbI26j-QpWwHhXXvscQlLi4WeSw-Z4w5dpiSAAFi915FTj-ZVeIjHR69yya-eNJ8V28k5/s320/jesus-resurrection.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">The glory of God and the
resurrected Christ<i> </i></span></b></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>"<span style="color: black;">Now
to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.</span>"</b><i><b> </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ephesians 3: 20-21</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Sometimes
we go through life as if we – and not Christ – are the centre of the universe
forgetting that the smallest microscopical bacteria can lay us on our backs
more effectively than a toughest boxer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At other times, when we are able to notice that the same universe around
us now seems to be conspiring to come to our aid and supporting all our
efforts, we forget Who is really behind that same universe!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we are able to do that, in the full
realization that our reliance on Him who matters is the start of our rebirth in
Him, then there is nothing left for us to do except praise God! </span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">St. Josemaria Escriva wrote:</span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> “It is impossible to live
according to the heart of Jesus Christ…. without the clear realisation that we
ourselves need to trust in the mercy of God more and more every day. As a
result, we will foster in ourselves a vehement desire to live as co-redeemers
with Christ, to save all souls with Him" </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The other
day I read a reflection in which it said that while we undoubtedly may too
often dream of doing great things for God and His Kingdom, the dreams aren't as
big as God's plans. While we may be richly talented, influential,
powerful, or rich, these are merely tools in God's hands, not symbols of our
sufficiency. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> What
motivates us to do what we do? What drives us to accomplish, to achieve,
and to pursue even more? St Paul said that love was his compelling force.
What would happen in our lives if love was truly THE compelling factor in
our motivation and behaviour? What if our desire to love those who do not
know Jesus' saving grace became our all-consuming concern? He died so
that it would be so!</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">God knows
more than we do; and, since he is a Father who loves us unreservedly, He is
always providing us with those things we stand in real need of. Moreover, he
anticipates our requests, for - according to </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">St Pius V
Catechism –</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> “he responds to the inner, hidden desires
of the needy, not waiting for them to make explicit requests" </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">"God
is able" has to be one of the best and most accurate phrases in the Bible.
But this time, it's said about His work in you, in me. He is able
to do much more than we imagine to work through and in us when we allow Him. He
went to the greatest of lengths to do this….by giving His own life so ours can
be saved. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">St Francis de Sales asks: </span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">"What follows from this?
I seem to hear the voice of the Apostle like a peal of thunder startling
our heart: It is easy to see, Christians, what Christ desired by dying for us.
What did He desire but that we should become like Him? ‘</span></i><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">…that
those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for
them and was raised again.’ </span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">How powerful a consequence is
this in the matter of love! Jesus Christ died for us; by His death He has
given us life; we only live because He died; He died for us, by us, and in us;
our life then is no longer ours, but belongs to Him who has purchased it for us
by His death: we are therefore no more to live to ourselves but to Him; not in
ourselves but in Him; nor for ourselves but for Him".
</span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">What
can we say to that but Hallelujah?</span></i><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">John17:
22-23</span></b></div>
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<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“The glory that You
have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in
them and You in me, that they may become completely one….”</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-56449993481524697812020-04-12T01:00:00.000+02:002020-04-12T01:00:02.566+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 5<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Jesus is risen from the dead</span></i> </span></b></div>
<b></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“The true light which
enlightens everyone was coming into the world” </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(John 1:9)</div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b>“So that God may be
all in all” </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(! Corinthians 15: 28)<b> </b></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
friend Paul relates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“There I was having
breakfast with some friends during a weekend retreat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was immersed in enjoying their company,
chatting and eating this piece of toasted bread. Suddenly the unexpected
happened. The bread stuck in my throat and my windpipe was blocked. I couldn’t
breathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realised that I had to try
and clear it and coughed as hard as I could. Nothing happened. I got up off my
chair and tried to bend over forwards to dislodge the bread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was for nothing. My friends came round
but they were really panicking, not knowing what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was conscious and rational all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it dawned on me that I was not
breathing, that I was not able to cough or talk. My airway was completely
blocked. I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was really going to die in a
few<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>minutes unless someone knew how to
administer a Heimlich manoeuvre. Automatically I clutched my throat with both
hands as if to signal my distress. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Luckily
one of my friends rushed over and knew exactly how to grab me from behind and
delivered a series of upward abdominal thrusts that put pressure on the lungs
and the airway, forcing air in to push the toast out. At the second attempt the
toast was freed and life giving air flowed down my throat once again. I was
going to live after all. I was thankful for this new lease of life that God had
allowed me. It was like I had a new body.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0oZuGvzikaOmcQGtWRof22Rt64a1O1-LjqD8wwfF2UwVfMBiCzivT-CD1Puy16Vkt-FWHUAjUjwYeYlHKNILuMl6GSDxCaOhiAaQ5BqrRJoZ2VVtWbyNQRYCa6zG5I-5-2dvp1_mHSS9/s1600/7999260187_5398f92851_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="489" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0oZuGvzikaOmcQGtWRof22Rt64a1O1-LjqD8wwfF2UwVfMBiCzivT-CD1Puy16Vkt-FWHUAjUjwYeYlHKNILuMl6GSDxCaOhiAaQ5BqrRJoZ2VVtWbyNQRYCa6zG5I-5-2dvp1_mHSS9/s200/7999260187_5398f92851_z.jpg" width="152" /></a><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“When
I think back at that moment I realise that the experience was extremely
frightening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thanked God that I was
not alone when it happened as otherwise it would have been even more
frightening. I knew that in such a choking emergency it is important not to
panic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Panicking, while understandable
in such a scary situation, impairs judgment and can make it harder to help
yourself.”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i><br />
<br />
<i>Jesus had now laid on the cold tombstone for three
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the Father showed that He had
not abandoned Him and on this third day, life giving air again started to flow
in His human<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>body. Jesus the man was
alive again….gloriously alive, in a new body fit for a God made Man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had conquered death and as God’s power and
divinity again coursed through His veins, mixing with His human blood, the
Teacher became the Messiah and the Redeemer. </i><i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>And we again found the way back to the Creator whom we
had turned our backs on for our own selfishness and egoism.</i><i> </i><br />
<br />
<div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ezekiel 37:1-6</span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The hand of the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of
the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of
bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the
floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man,
can these bones live?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said,
"O Sovereign </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">,
you alone know."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he said to
me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, `Dry bones, hear the word of
the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">! This is what the Sovereign </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> says to these bones: I will make breath enter you,
and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come
upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come
to life. Then you will know that I am the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.' "</span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Acts 2: 29-34</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">"Brothers,
I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.
But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would
place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of
the resurrection of the Christ,<span style="mso-text-raise: 2.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"> </span>that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did
his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses
of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father
the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For
David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit
at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your
feet.’"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore let all Israel be
assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ."</span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-80759465031871161682020-04-11T08:00:00.000+02:002020-04-11T09:09:34.039+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQL-AMaNm46oUyNsmlwMcYi6H6c0p343clxQz7ovTMMzsHaqG7njqb246_46Pcq55-2MYuEsssftSDm3RYAzINImcQ4qq0i68-e3tpHa8UpWwn-ZEimS4Kap1YULYgdFREz60FUTrdlX2o/s1600/untitled2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="274" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQL-AMaNm46oUyNsmlwMcYi6H6c0p343clxQz7ovTMMzsHaqG7njqb246_46Pcq55-2MYuEsssftSDm3RYAzINImcQ4qq0i68-e3tpHa8UpWwn-ZEimS4Kap1YULYgdFREz60FUTrdlX2o/s320/untitled2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mary awaits the resurrection</span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>“Greetings,
favoured one! The Lord is with you.</i></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>And blessed
is she who believed…”</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Luke 1: 28, 45) </div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Can you imagine what it would
be like to have watched your only Son being scourged, nailed and killed on a
cross?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you imagine the kind of
thoughts going through your head if you were her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One word: WHY?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had no answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could only remember that notwithstanding
all s</i><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">he
had remained close to Him always.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">Think for another moment. If you were a
pregnant Mary, waiting in anticipation for this special son who would be born,
one who would change the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of
her as she remembered those special moments with Joseph as he lovingly taught
Him to handle pieces of wood. When He was young she had taught Him by example,
by her prayers. She didn’t only talk about prayer with Jesus - or believed in a
prayer time with Him - but she took the time to pray with Him and for Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></i></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">I can just imagine her teaching Him His night
prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every good Jew had to pray a
number of times a day, and she showed Him the way, even though, in the deepest
of her heart she knew He already knew it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But He submitted Himself to her completely just the same, obedient to
the end. </span></i><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DFC1UG7cz1BrETt9inVemW1k6BE_a0xUl2Os4U72e6Xz6KymhKgKcsBHTQV3Rmfp_HC1CtCyl_CxErnqSUZ45p3wQs8Rs_9NUgIMSkatLM1EZGsnJsOvgaKoWlTB2m89ffEP765o0fpA/s1600/arts-entertainment_16_temp-1398086077-535519bd-620x348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="620" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DFC1UG7cz1BrETt9inVemW1k6BE_a0xUl2Os4U72e6Xz6KymhKgKcsBHTQV3Rmfp_HC1CtCyl_CxErnqSUZ45p3wQs8Rs_9NUgIMSkatLM1EZGsnJsOvgaKoWlTB2m89ffEP765o0fpA/s400/arts-entertainment_16_temp-1398086077-535519bd-620x348.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">All this time of His growth she had stayed in
the background, yet ready to come forward in the thick of things to support and
comfort her Son, as any mother would. </span></i><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">Now He was dead. Or was He? We do not know if
He had ever spoken to her more clearly than is recorded in Scripture about His
resurrection. But as a good Jewess she believed in the teaching of the
resurrection so perhaps she did look forward to His rising again as He himself
had prophesied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DFC1UG7cz1BrETt9inVemW1k6BE_a0xUl2Os4U72e6Xz6KymhKgKcsBHTQV3Rmfp_HC1CtCyl_CxErnqSUZ45p3wQs8Rs_9NUgIMSkatLM1EZGsnJsOvgaKoWlTB2m89ffEP765o0fpA/s1600/arts-entertainment_16_temp-1398086077-535519bd-620x348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">She waited, full of hope. Her confidence must
have been boosted with this knowledge that it would happen…very soon! Did He
say three days?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a short time to
wait, so she put aside all the things she had to do, the house cleaning, the
mourning she was expected to live and display, the desperation of losing her
son the way she did….and concentrated on the only task that would truly satisfy
her heart….. more time to free herself to be with the Lord Her son.. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<h3 align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">1 Kings 17: 17-24</span></b></h3>
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill.
He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah,
"What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my
sin and kill my son?" </span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">"Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms,
carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.
Then he cried out to the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">, "O </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow
I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" Then he stretched himself
out on the boy three times and cried to the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">, "O </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> my God, let this
boy's life return to him!" The </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to
him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the
room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son
is alive!" Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a
man of God and that the word of the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> from your mouth is the truth."</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-61525164714177538532020-04-10T15:19:00.000+02:002020-04-10T15:19:35.034+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 3<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVKw7sG466PkE_UhqmOCsCXVXTzD_T3op7iE3yry_t9pNs6-8a9V8912feI5cyYrW8mpz1UrZUuKqdPuT0KvIClFlTWDEZaf3lCL8q4a6SxiSO24NHOaIh4pQSSwPg9cA49eFvufoajPv/s1600/carrying+cross.png" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 18.73px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="247" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVKw7sG466PkE_UhqmOCsCXVXTzD_T3op7iE3yry_t9pNs6-8a9V8912feI5cyYrW8mpz1UrZUuKqdPuT0KvIClFlTWDEZaf3lCL8q4a6SxiSO24NHOaIh4pQSSwPg9cA49eFvufoajPv/s320/carrying+cross.png" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b> </b></span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus dies on the cross </span></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<h3 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
“Father, into your
hands I commend my spirit….” <i>(Luke 23: 46)</i></h3>
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Have you ever died? </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Or thought what it would be
like to die? </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>They say that no one ever came
back to life after he or she died but a believer knows this to be untrue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially if your name was Lazarus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or you were Tabitha. </i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>So have you ever thought what
it would be like for Jesus to have felt as he faced death on the cross?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He, The Almighty, with open arms outstretched
to embrace all from this wooden cross. Yet the human body He was occupying now
was making Him feel rather inadequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>What was this that was causing
Him suffering? As God, He didn’t know what it really was; but as man He had
discovered for Himself this weakness. His arms ached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His knees were sore and blooded. His hands
were in great pain. And numbing. This tree he had carried on His back had
probably also dislodged a disk or two in His spine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>As He felt this human life
ebbing in Him He suddenly realised He was beginning to feel cut off from His
Father as a result and realised too the full extent of His situation –“this is
what is required of me, to suffer death on this tree. I must accept His will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Job had said, (13:4)</i><i><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I have
become a laughing stock, though when he called upon God he answered that if he
was a mere laughing stock, then at least he was a righteous and blameless one. </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">“Unto You I therefore
surrender myself. And my Spirit returns to You, Beloved Father.</span>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6I48yG-gmOH1jaiR_P0ZF3ao4N3UAvCT4Gb0OloOFsGLJGI7Y1BbPafIkGVXd1LUPz61qk6_w0jfXRy7gmaB01qnjmeHk_nj4ScYUbVI97XLtgzVGVj80n9tEEtJBAyOR4AvsJ4UzxmKe/s1600/untitled+live.png" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6I48yG-gmOH1jaiR_P0ZF3ao4N3UAvCT4Gb0OloOFsGLJGI7Y1BbPafIkGVXd1LUPz61qk6_w0jfXRy7gmaB01qnjmeHk_nj4ScYUbVI97XLtgzVGVj80n9tEEtJBAyOR4AvsJ4UzxmKe/s320/untitled+live.png" width="320" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<h2 align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6I48yG-gmOH1jaiR_P0ZF3ao4N3UAvCT4Gb0OloOFsGLJGI7Y1BbPafIkGVXd1LUPz61qk6_w0jfXRy7gmaB01qnjmeHk_nj4ScYUbVI97XLtgzVGVj80n9tEEtJBAyOR4AvsJ4UzxmKe/s1600/untitled+live.png" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Isaiah 43: 10-13</span></h2>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6I48yG-gmOH1jaiR_P0ZF3ao4N3UAvCT4Gb0OloOFsGLJGI7Y1BbPafIkGVXd1LUPz61qk6_w0jfXRy7gmaB01qnjmeHk_nj4ScYUbVI97XLtgzVGVj80n9tEEtJBAyOR4AvsJ4UzxmKe/s1600/untitled+live.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">"You are my witnesses," declares the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">, "and my
servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand
that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I,
even I, am the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">, and apart from me there is no saviour. I have revealed and saved and
proclaimed-- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,"
declares the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">, "that I am God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, and
from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who
can reverse it?"</span></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-71500832252599365462020-04-10T00:19:00.000+02:002020-04-10T00:19:18.809+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 2<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus receives his cross</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>“If any want to
become my followers, let them take up their cross daily and follow me…” </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Luke 9:23) </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>My friend Peter told me that
sometimes, when he looks at himself he sees his character as somewhat
suicidal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says: “Sometimes I look
back at what life has thrown at me and realise that everything seems to have
gone wrong. Perhaps even where I go and what I do seems to be wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could, in reality, be a psychological
imbalance due to the stressfulness I have had a good dose of in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be my inborn complexes that I have
struggled to overcome all my life, leaving me with feelings of inadequacy and
of not appreciating what I could really do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What I was really worth in God’s eyes”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is something like the experience of the prophet Elijah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God called him for a specific task – to
eradicate the worship of Baal in Israel – and yet he barely believed in his own
strength, let alone what His own God could really accomplish through him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was therefore allowed to plod around till
he had come to terms with himself and with God’s calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Whenever Elijah looked back
all he could see were the many people who had died because of him… persecuted
prophets killed in the hope that Elijah would be one of them…. a widow’s son
who died for no apparent reason after she had shown him charity and taken him
in when he had nothing and nowhere to go…. her city plundered and thousands
butchered because, as he saw it, it had given him refuge as he struggled with
his God’s calling, Someone the inhabitants didn’t even believe in
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He saw this as totally
unfair and unjust. </i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Why do we seem to have to
suffer the same kind of fate? Perhaps Elijah was right to argue with God about
it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to ask him to exonerate him
of this calling and find someone better qualified to finish off the job
successfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, despite it all,
Elijah is said to have appeared with Moses alongside Jesus on Mount Tabor where
the Messiah’s divinity was confirmed by the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two chosen Hebrew spiritual leaders
had, incidentally, argued with God and struggled to accept their calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet God prevailed and they accepted their
calling, their role in His plan, difficult as it may have seemed at the time. </i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Jesus also suffered and
struggled with this calling of the Father so that now He too was being asked to
face death to save those who wanted to kill Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Father was telling Him: “Sonny, I want this
great sacrifice from you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do it for me
and for them. I cannot promise they will all love you for it but I will love
you more than ever. Lie on this cross and when You’ll be high and lifted up on
it, the world will see how worthy you really are….and salvation will be
theirs.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<h2 align="right" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">1
Kings 19:3-7</span></h2>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Elijah was afraid and ran for his life…[and]….went a day's journey into
the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might
die. "I have had enough, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">," he said. "Take my life; I am no better
than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All
at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked
around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a
jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lord</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> came back a second
time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too
much for you."</span></div>
john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-52403041780339893702020-04-09T18:58:00.000+02:002020-04-09T18:58:53.066+02:00THE WAY TO OUR RESURRECTION / a series of thoughts for our Holy Week - 1<br />
<h2 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Jesus is condemned to death</span></span></h2>
<div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">“What
is truth?” </span></b></i><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"> “Here is the man!”</span></b> </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i> (John 18:38; 19:5)</i> </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Have you ever been wrongly
accused of something in your life? It doesn’t have to be something criminal but
even a small thing at home or at work.
Injustice has been served on you, the innocent party in this injustice.
You feel hurt, abused, angry at your accusers.
You have been condemned without
fault sand there’s no way that you are going to be allowed to get out of it,
irrespective of who is right. <i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Imagine now that you are Jesus
and the same thing is happening to you.
You are accused of blaspheming.
Of attacking God by claiming to be His Son. Of being in league with Satan and his clique.
If you were Him you would probably be saying to yourself “But can’t the world see that this is not
right? How could I have been seen to be
so bad? I only healed their sick. I only
gave the marginalised their dignity back. I only spoke about loving your
neighbour. I taught them how to be better people and how to pray to their
God. And have a relationship with
Father. </i><i> </i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eNqVKDQdFlh2bCbiOLymqI0FoWbGMvKVMOK2qp5n-WfYv9dhUHMu74ri3w9EaktTot1f8h-btp5uX0t8knrBquP7ILbwL9Ed0xBzeh3vKooKuFXgRXplp3SpHRjIogGxpubfbGUaV768/s1600/913dc74439f590582bb5d96475abecb6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="721" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eNqVKDQdFlh2bCbiOLymqI0FoWbGMvKVMOK2qp5n-WfYv9dhUHMu74ri3w9EaktTot1f8h-btp5uX0t8knrBquP7ILbwL9Ed0xBzeh3vKooKuFXgRXplp3SpHRjIogGxpubfbGUaV768/s200/913dc74439f590582bb5d96475abecb6.jpg" width="178" /></a><i>“I loved them as if they were
my children and now they do this to me. Look at me now. On show before this
crowd and for all my good works I am condemned to death. I hear the Roman say this about me: Here is
the man!. I feel anger well inside me. I have the power inside me to balance
things out and assert myself. But Father
whispers to my heart that this is not to be….I must suffer for them so that
they will be given the chance to find the salvation that was promised to them
from the beginning of time. .But, now that I think about it, I realise that
all this is unfair. I have a right to my own freedom too, to my
anger. I can roar and rage if I really want to…as I have done many times before
(as Amos and others wrote about Me) but Father just looks at me and says
nothing. Has He gone away and left me to the whims of these people?
Or perhaps He wants me to decide whether I want to follow His will or
mine. It is so difficult.</i> <i>Father has always known the plans He has for
me, for us all too, plans to make us prosper and not to harm us. </i><span style="color: #993300; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><i>What is
truth?”</i> <span style="color: #993300; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #993300; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #993300; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"> </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; position: relative; top: -3.0pt;">Ezekiel 32: 17-20</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; position: relative; top: -3.0pt;"></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">"Yet your countrymen say, <i>`The way of the Lord is not just.'</i>
But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his
righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. And if a wicked man turns away
from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so.
Yet, O house of Israel, you say, <i>`The way of the Lord is not just.'</i> But
I will judge each of you according to his own ways."</span><span style="color: #993300; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-58588009858972672782020-04-08T23:13:00.003+02:002020-04-08T23:17:29.721+02:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-47645268083021212022019-07-10T10:34:00.000+02:002019-07-10T10:34:14.609+02:00IN SEARCH OF THE ONE!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3SRyZJYexYwGG_LY_ie4Ij1DXNNoa5kkTJkbk_AvcESmeHdmtklKR4JrEXsGGw-lmLYdwbGRYyKkDGrbbGTCglRN9vWlagvSQYLLyVV-CO3mwV60hgHdcwfn9Y7A9Bnwl6NpZa6OOph7/s1600/sunight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3SRyZJYexYwGG_LY_ie4Ij1DXNNoa5kkTJkbk_AvcESmeHdmtklKR4JrEXsGGw-lmLYdwbGRYyKkDGrbbGTCglRN9vWlagvSQYLLyVV-CO3mwV60hgHdcwfn9Y7A9Bnwl6NpZa6OOph7/s1600/sunight.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">If you were simply to Google “Spirituality”
you will quickly realise the wide world out there that looks at spirituality in
so many different ways. But, briefly, they all indicate an attempt to contact
or to union with Something Else – call it a god, G-d or a God. Or some other name. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">“The Divine
Names”</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">, the classic treatise by
Pseudo-Dionysius, defines the scope of traditional understandings in Western
traditions such as Hellenic, Christian, Jewish and Islamic theology on the
nature and significance of the names of God.<sup> </sup>In a way these show
parallels in the history and interpretation of the name of God amongst Kabbalah,
Christianity, and Hebrew scholarship in various parts of the Mediterranean
world. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">In Judaism, the pronunciation of the
name of God (Elohim, masculine, but generally reduced to simply El), has always
been guarded with great care. It is believed that, in ancient times, the sages
are said to have communicated the pronunciation only once every seven years. The
nature of a holy name can be described as either personal or attributive. In
many cultures it is often difficult to distinguish between the personal and the
attributive names of God, the two divisions necessarily shading into each
other. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Philosophy too is full of titles for
this entity that we all seem to search for so much. , “The Unmoved Mover”, “The One”, ….. Aristotle
made God passively responsible for change in the world in the sense that all
things seek divine perfection. God imbues all things with order and purpose,
both of which can be discovered and point to his (or her or its) divine
existence. Much later, Georg Hegel reasoned that the finite has no genuine
being and when that state was reached all that exists will be harmoniously at
one with itself. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Since he viewed the essential stuff of
what exists as something non-material his philosophy became known as Absolute
Idealism. Hegel himself combined his ideas with belief in Christianity though
some of his followers saw it more as a form of pantheism while others saw it as
a sort of religion-without-God, the most radical of them being Marx (who only
saw the material – one economic growth - instead of the spiritual).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Nonetheless, other deep thinkers
continued to ponder the God-existence or not.
</span>In a time of upheaval, Rene Descartes (1596-1650) famously sought
to ground all knowledge on a foundation he could not doubt: that he was a
thinking being, <span style="line-height: 107%;"> “I think therefore I am”, a statement with obvious throwbacks to Jesus Christ’s own
description of himself. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Descartes says this about himself: “I
know myself to be a very imperfect being, ephemeral and perishable, and finite,
and yet I have in my mind the concept of an infinite being, eternal and
immortal, perfect in every way; and it is impossible that anything should be
able to create something greater than itself out of its resources; therefore
this perfect being must exist, and must have implanted in me an awareness of
itself, like a craftsman’s signature inscribed on an example of his handiwork.
The fact that I know that God exists, and is perfect, means that I can put my
trust n him: he will not, unlike the malicious demon, deceive me. So provided I
play my full part, pay serious attention and do all the disciplined thinking
required of me, I can be certain of the truth of whatever is then presented clearly and distinctly
to me as being true – not by my senses which I already know deceive me – but by
my mind, that part of me that apprehends God and also mathematics, neither of which the senses can
do; the mind that I irreducibly am!” <i>(Bryan Magee / “The Story of
Philosophy”)</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">CHRISTIAN THINKING</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christian thinking developed from the early Greek
philosophies especially Plato’s (though also including thoughts from his mentor
Socrates and pupil Aristotle) which were taken up by St Paul in his letters. Later
developments came from St Augustine some time later and from St Thomas Aquinas
with his monumental “Summa Theologica”.
He expressed himself through syllogism to express his logic. Such that
he would reason on the lines of “If it is raining, the streets are wet. It IS raining, therefore the streets ARE wet!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Aquinas described the state of the
being as a combination of the natural and the supernatural, the former
combining the eternal law, the natural law and human law. The supernatural state was simply the divine.
Aquinas puts a moral obligation on
believers to disobey human law. Because,
as he puts it, God speaks to us through our conscience and empowers us to
disobey. <i>(To avoid confusion, a
typical example application of this would be the Germans under Nazi rule and
ideology).</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
sum total of all this is that Catholic spirituality is the spiritual practice
of living out a personal act of faith (<i>fides <u>qua</u> creditur</i>)
following the acceptance of faith (<i>fides <u>quae</u> creditur</i>). Although
all Catholics are expected to pray together at Mass, there are many different
forms of spirituality within this Church which have developed over the
centuries. Each of the major religious orders of the Catholic Church and other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laity" title="Laity">lay</a> groupings
have their own unique spirituality – its own way of approaching God in prayer
and in living out the Gospel. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">On Wikipedia’s post on </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">Progressive
Ch</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">ristianity<span style="line-height: 107%;"> it claims
that this is a form of contemporary movement which seeks to remove the
supernatural claims of the faith and replace them with a post-critical
understanding of biblical spirituality based on historical and scientific
research. It focuses on the lived experience of spirituality over historical
dogmatic claims, and accepts that the faith is both true and a human
construction, and that spiritual experiences are psychologically and neurally
real and useful.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">CONCLUSIONS?</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">So, what or where is God that
Christians believe in? Does God exist
after all? How or where do we find God? </span></span></span></div>
john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-7636818239971330852017-10-19T18:17:00.002+02:002017-10-19T18:17:58.684+02:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb77BVqAJRatMmUIhyLxnNRyA4vbl9o1hqnnb8KRmLpPsAAs8ZTkogdz6vhooXoYs_zr8jm7rK5khwZ3yQKAJd5EnXvHS1-x6-CzWJ7kdctqVuO4Yc-diW-gPK34FiSWYnphkTXqWTCyvp/s1600/WP_20170929_13_29_54_Pro_LI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb77BVqAJRatMmUIhyLxnNRyA4vbl9o1hqnnb8KRmLpPsAAs8ZTkogdz6vhooXoYs_zr8jm7rK5khwZ3yQKAJd5EnXvHS1-x6-CzWJ7kdctqVuO4Yc-diW-gPK34FiSWYnphkTXqWTCyvp/s400/WP_20170929_13_29_54_Pro_LI.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There's something fascinating about reflections in a pool....</span></b></h2>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b> .....at least for me that's how it is!</b><br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
But use the ripples and the reflections creatively, positioning yourself well, and you can get some interesting surrealistic views....</div>
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There's no fancy camera work or Photoshop here... just a mobile phone camera!!<br />
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Actually the pics represent some beautiful clear blue sky and wafts of white clouds here and there... and you need your wife (or a friend) to walk around and make waves, so to speak. Then let the camera do all the work!!! </div>
john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-46715608924533515632014-09-02T17:29:00.003+02:002014-09-02T17:29:59.390+02:00Hi I'm Tess.... and I'm 7 months old now!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKhkA82rNhLoc4MVQ31rdsxg2cDFsnmt28gWt222_Pxiz9FQKNWEfRifeO_ubQDDoa-5uTbl057-EPf2FMvWvbtC5b_z1hOn6qYLHuWuG693gpoYVVJUiLS35GcpHl4Uy6eosduvXcBV3/s1600/DSCF3144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKhkA82rNhLoc4MVQ31rdsxg2cDFsnmt28gWt222_Pxiz9FQKNWEfRifeO_ubQDDoa-5uTbl057-EPf2FMvWvbtC5b_z1hOn6qYLHuWuG693gpoYVVJUiLS35GcpHl4Uy6eosduvXcBV3/s1600/DSCF3144.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm a gun dog so I like to go hunting around the garden smelling everything - and boy, is there a </div>
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lot to smell! And, yes, I just love rolling in the tall grass too! </div>
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My breed is from Malta, an island in the Mediterranean. It is known as "Tal-Kacca" and was originally introduced in early 1700 as a cross with other European Pointers. Unfortunately now we are slowly approaching extinction due to uncontrolled inter-breeding with other dogs. </div>
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But there's "trouble" on the horizon as Tess joins me at home in about 4 weeks time...hehe..... oh, Tess is the Pointer pup in the pic here with my daughter Jacki. The other two pics are of Tess' family, mum Spiz and her 8 siblings (can you call them that?). It was pile up time for lunch when I too these pics. Think Tess is going to be a very spoilt pet but more of that when she arrives. <br />
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God bless you all.<br />
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john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-45530949655599216602012-11-09T15:52:00.001+01:002012-11-09T15:52:40.439+01:00And the children drew Jesus <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">What does Jesus look like?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the age when digital photography did not exist<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (except probably in God's mind) </span>we today suffer from a lack of an image of what Jesus actually looked like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a good thing in a way because it allows us to tailor-make his looks to our needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Happy. Sad. Gentle. Authoritative. </span>He looks just as we want Him to look (though He acts only as He wants to, and cannot be bribed!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Possibly the best people to really picture Jesus are the children because they are freer in their creative thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Australian friend Alfred Arena shared with me about </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-GB; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">the Year of Grace activities at the three parish schools on the Mornington Penninsula in the vicinity of the Port of Hastings on outer Melbourne, Australia, where he works.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ywIj48fbFSDer-r9nzGOSxj4nzzl49TI00OxttoI0Mr4U2x0LJ4rmH90ErtWghjN9QDRGFXYnV0GfPkroAxqUjoixAApeBTElKQnHumk-GYwA2wk_H6p5Vg4VVRVNVbtC-Hh9WMS4gTT/s1600/P1040629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ywIj48fbFSDer-r9nzGOSxj4nzzl49TI00OxttoI0Mr4U2x0LJ4rmH90ErtWghjN9QDRGFXYnV0GfPkroAxqUjoixAApeBTElKQnHumk-GYwA2wk_H6p5Vg4VVRVNVbtC-Hh9WMS4gTT/s200/P1040629.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-GB; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">One of the methods used by some of the children was to combine a photo of the student with another of the iconic face of Jesus cut up into horizontal strips and alternately pasted to form a composite that alternate from one to the other. A sort of Jesus reflected in us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I find that the collage made up from the different drawings is most interesting from a photographic point of view too” Alfred ointed out; “not to mention the resonance these images have when one reflects of the Face of Christ.” </span><span style="language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">He added that the idea came out of the Pope’s encouragement to reflect on the “face of Jesus” in this coming Year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dutifully, when visiting the three parish schools, our parish priest requested that as part of their religious education activity, the teachers would invite the children in their respective classes “to use their imagination” and make a drawing of the Face of Jesus. These three parish Catholic primary schools have a contingent of 500 children so one may well imagine the volume of material that was to be produced. By the end of the exercise the interior of these schools were decked out with wall to wall pictures of the Face of Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Alfred said that “when I noticed the first pictures that where posted on the school’s main pin board in the foyer at St Marys primary school where I work, I was somewhat confused at the array of so many that looked like distorted faces of Jesus. They reminded me of a recent news segment where an old lady took it upon herself to restore an old beautiful fresco of Jesus in a chapel in Spain with the result that a British news commentator described it as now looking like. “A monkey wearing an ill fitting tunic”</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-arabic-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-hebrew-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> Unquote. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">“I asked our religious education coordinator at our school<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if the children were at least provided with a model they could work from. The reply was that that was what the parish priest asked for; to simply ask the children to use their imagination to draw Jesus’ face. So I didn’t pursue the enquiry further and left it at that. When during the week I visited another of our Parish primary schools - St Brendan’s – I noticed that one of the teachers used a little prompting in the way her children approached the task of drawing Jesus’ face. The pictures on her classroom windows showed a composite face of Jesus. One<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>side of the picture was an A4 size photocopy of Jesus’ face found in many common and popular icons while the other half was an attempt to hand draw and complete the face by the student. This while producing some excellent close representations was also marred by many unsatisfactory results full of distortions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pondered a while what were all these would be Faces of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>saying to me</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-arabic-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-hebrew-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> In theory there is only one Face of Jesus they should all resemble instead of all the hodgepodge of distorted images or c<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPCrlQhY4q-kjxKrLq45run0YKJFohvfb4XpbnxR-v1qYJuZP7knCBHh6gcC4-2InCBfpQxpvGtBA89zgf_kD-0FVRPb8gmhN-F1aSLdp00o5QUs34QTYqyjVjT56PmTeXFes7bsyDRfD/s1600/P1040633b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPCrlQhY4q-kjxKrLq45run0YKJFohvfb4XpbnxR-v1qYJuZP7knCBHh6gcC4-2InCBfpQxpvGtBA89zgf_kD-0FVRPb8gmhN-F1aSLdp00o5QUs34QTYqyjVjT56PmTeXFes7bsyDRfD/s200/P1040633b.jpg" width="124" /></a>lose approximations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">“Could there be a parable in all these images perhaps? Well I thought that for every Christian Jesus must be the human model we ought to grow into and that for everyone of us there is a present condition that we fit<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in that could be as remotely<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>far from the true model Jesus and as variant as the children’s pictures showed. Many of the drawings show a face with a beard, others with no beard while others showed a face with a Hitler’s moustache. Others show an image of Jesus with Bugs Bunny eyes, or looking more like Queen Elizabeth wearing a crown. And on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It made me sad to think that if<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– as the overwhelming majority of the ‘Face of Jesus’ depicted – Christianity is so far out of sync; where is Grace in this Year of Grace?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">"In my confusion" said Alfred, "all I could hear without any distortion whatsoever and unanimously was just the name - </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Jesus</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-arabic-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-hebrew-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> Every picture was titled Jesus or Jesus Christ. And perhaps that is all that is necessary at this point in time and in our futility; until we see him ‘face to face’. And finally it occurred to me that one other common and unmistakable characteristic was that even when you account for all the distortions what all the children drew was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>un</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-arabic-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-hebrew-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">-</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; language: EN-AU; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">mistakenly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a human face. There is no myth or metaphor in the mystery of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incarnation; this is an event in human history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God became incarnate and became man and dwelt amongst us; or one could say that God has become<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At One with us. Or as we familiarly recall – Emanuel – God with us; no matter how strangely our countenance might be.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-14734800490641619142012-10-26T11:11:00.004+02:002012-10-26T11:11:57.576+02:00A bird in hand....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvnKntu9_wUrWBjr9cFJMDQiSBKwqiYOMM6WICgU13HmYkCBUDhxJ7CUocON7vqbiCc3_m2cgiP6bBfMbZdFIEmQ7r3ydEK4SRItXrjm4R99XScwcWVBp8NfWfM9GuDTuH5ZCOPg48FbI/s1600/tww-600x316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" oea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvnKntu9_wUrWBjr9cFJMDQiSBKwqiYOMM6WICgU13HmYkCBUDhxJ7CUocON7vqbiCc3_m2cgiP6bBfMbZdFIEmQ7r3ydEK4SRItXrjm4R99XScwcWVBp8NfWfM9GuDTuH5ZCOPg48FbI/s320/tww-600x316.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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One of my dad's favourite pieces of advice to me whenever I had to make a serious decision on something was that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Coming from a banker and father I still feel it is good advice (even though I didn't always agree with him at the time). I've found that it's generally better to be a bit shorthanded now than to risk too much and then to find you have nothing. </div>
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I remembered this quote because I was talking to a friend the other day who had had enough of her husband playing the "little boy" and selfishly thinking only of himself and not of her feelings. She told me that it has been the story of her 20 year marriage and that enough is enough. She was going to take the matter up once and for all and sort it. Better to be alone than to be badly accompanied is her philosophy at the moment. </div>
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My reaction to that was that if you had to ask my wife about me she would probably say the same thing. We men somehow don't always seem to grow up... before it's too late and we'll have dropped a mill stone on our toes. But the thing is, too, that we have now been happily married for 37 years and though the bliss of the honeymoon is well and truly over, and in the past year our two kids were happily married too, we still move on. Together. Now, in my early days of retirement, I find that I have a chance to start afresh, to take my marriage and work on its flaws and fix them. Even if it may need surgery at some point. </div>
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Most probably it will be solved by the swallowing of.....no, not pills but..... my pride. I am learning to ignore what irritates me in what she does and am trying to be a good partner to her (I can her her muttering "finally" if she'll read this!!). It doesn't mean I have to become a floor cloth she can wipe her feet it, it simply means that I have to start seeing things the way I did the first time we met. And do the things I did in those long ago days. That was what sparked it all off in us. That's what will keep us together. </div>
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Talking of fatherly advice, I am reminded that Jesus' own advice is pretty much the same on this. Die to yourself for others. It doesn't have to be a painful death. It means more "yes" than "no" I suppose, keeping well in mind, though, that saying "yes" to something or someone would also mean saying "no" to someone or something else.</div>
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So to go back to my friend's dilemma..... saying no to her marriage because she's had enough of his chauvinistic approach, might be saying yes to a life that could be worse, no one to share with, no one to thrash in her mind because he's "a fool", no one to come to her aid if she falls and hurts herself or has an accident. </div>
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Better the bird in hand, I guess, than two in the bush. Robert Browing said it nicely, <em>"Grow old with me, the best is yet to come." </em></div>
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<strong><em>Afterthought:</em></strong> </div>
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I am no marriage expert, but I was wondering if the reasoning I expounded above will hold water if there are serious marital problems in a relationship, such as infidelity or infertility? </div>
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In the latter case, I would say: yes, definitely. In the former case, I would say: could be, because infidelity wasn't always there in the relationship and, once upon a time, love brought the two together. They need to look at themselves and ask: Have we worked enough at the relationship (even to always looking good for the partner as the years pass)? Have we died to ourselves at all or expected the other to submit to us? Are we ready to forgiven and be forgiven for taking advantage of our partner? </div>
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And, you know what, this trend of thought will take us right back where it all started.... better a bird in hand (with all the known problems) than two in the bush! (Or to use biblical terms: better the devil you know than the one you don't!) </div>
john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-74018724835669488892012-10-14T23:04:00.000+02:002012-10-14T23:04:08.397+02:00Preparing to say goodbye...?Just expressing some reality truths about life - the only definitely and undenaible thing in our lives is that one day we have to go. Death may be such a depressing thing to think about yet it is unavoidable. <br />
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I have just returned from the hospital visiting one of my old friends. Mid-sixties, like me. In the week since I last saw him he has regressed tremendously. Last week it was the usual fun or light conversation between us. "Just here for some tests but should be home by the weekend." <br />
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This is the weekend now and he seems worse than ever. Could barely speak to me. We communicated though. I suggested he ate something but he didn't want. Managed to persuade him to have some soup. The morphine is slowing him down but it is at least killing the pain. The breathing is noisily empty and resounding. He is dying I said to myself. But then, we all are. Aren't we?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVv85CDb3EiGcD2PUVnp4fF1Y_Y0PboROj1803N784siLkeJRnpGaM_859enxRLgZt-TO7C21cxTtygZoYW8rL22IAm-2_8qiy24TSq_23yojkPWIJVf3x5cKAaqONllRRfHOaNiOMPI7z/s1600/death-hospital_2266010b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVv85CDb3EiGcD2PUVnp4fF1Y_Y0PboROj1803N784siLkeJRnpGaM_859enxRLgZt-TO7C21cxTtygZoYW8rL22IAm-2_8qiy24TSq_23yojkPWIJVf3x5cKAaqONllRRfHOaNiOMPI7z/s200/death-hospital_2266010b.jpg" width="200" /></a>So my mind stopped playing tricks on me. Why do we fear Death? Is it perhaps because we are never really prepared for it? Or perhaps because we are very attached to our life? Let's face it, we are probably all attached to this life and don't really want to lose it because to some extent we don't really know what awaits us on the other side. Oh, I am presuming you believe there is something on the other side, right?</div>
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So why do we fret? Are we tied to our possessions and worry who'll get them after we're gone? Or perhaps what will happen to all the lovely collections we cared for? Or the investments we made to live a happy future? How would all this effect your thoughts on your own death?<br />
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I asked myself: How do you imagine your own death to be? And I drew a blank. I hoped it would come fast, without too much pain for me or for my family. That they would not suffer because of my sudden loeaving. I would - in typical fashion - exspect that all my "to do" lists would somehow be up-to-date and that everything unfinished could be finalised quickly and easily by my children. It's a trait I inherited from my parents but especially from father. He was organised even to after his demise. <br />
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Would I leave through an accident? At home in my room. Or in a hospital bed as my friend now was. Time would tell. This blog might even still be doing the rounds when my candle gets snuffed. Yet I feel I do not really fear the passing on. My bags are ready though, to be honest, I am in no hurry to leave, as the jovial and influential Pope John XXIII had said in the early Sixties. I trust in my Maker and know that He knows more than I when it is time for me to go. And I hope it will be Home. Because what is death? It is like a ship that leaves the harbour and sails to the horizon, getting smaller and smaller in our sight. But as she disappears from our sight on the horizon, others are seeing her coming and are saying "Here she comes!"<br />
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john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-15573290288406022492012-08-20T11:50:00.004+02:002012-08-20T11:50:56.935+02:00How wrong can wrong be?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHB7jTq3O_b8Qg_nKR7uXlpjiOyNrdNBBpOgcim-0WxR94aM99kh_jU5jVTRDhhdhJBNx6pXKdjqZQ5BfC0tHsnvrQtWYIDaPIa501kStW8GYKabvW8DIPoyI14-KHBc8VgY3n0apTte5w/s1600/sin.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHB7jTq3O_b8Qg_nKR7uXlpjiOyNrdNBBpOgcim-0WxR94aM99kh_jU5jVTRDhhdhJBNx6pXKdjqZQ5BfC0tHsnvrQtWYIDaPIa501kStW8GYKabvW8DIPoyI14-KHBc8VgY3n0apTte5w/s200/sin.bmp" width="200" /></a><em>Obviously the reference in the heading here is to sin! I am presently doing the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius and have just completed a few intensive weeks of reflecting on sin in the world and in my own world. I was particularly intrigued with the many ways in which sin has evolved in our lives, how we allow it to master us and how it controls us. Here are some thoughts on... </em></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Consider the effect of the sin of one person on others and you will realise that here we are talking of a person who chooses definitively to go against God. This person could be like the rich man in Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus <em>(Luke 16: 19-31).</em> Imagine what it would be like for a person to be totally closed off from God's love. When you u</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">se your imagination to reflect on this situation with modern-day counterparts and based on the current century's sad history of sin, violence, genocide, and injustice, you will realise that things haven't changed much since Jesus' time.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">It is not that easy to think of what goes on in such a person's mind when one decides to take on God and go against him directly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does one really realise the enormity of one's actions? I think that to sin against God you must really be stooping so low in your life that you cannot distinguish the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">If you will have have made yourself insensitive to this interior balance, you will have become an "evil" machine that reacts like a human being that does what "it" likes and feels it wants to do, instead of the conscientious human being that God created so that He can shower His blessings and love over His creation. In the Lazarus/rich man parable, the rich man has become everything that is despicable, a greedy, rich and unfeeling person who is unable to see favour in other beings. To him they are probably all equivalent to dogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just read of one of my countrymen who was arrested for keeping East European girls as sex slaves to be used for prostitution. He had lost the dignity of calling himself a human being in the way he reacted with other God-creatures. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Taking the modern image to this parable a little further we can also see how some political leaders can become dictators when they lose all sense of their leadership including their sensitivity to their subjects by imposing their own will on them. And by not respecting that of their subjects as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They see themselves as Gods and their subjects as no better than dogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History is littered with similar figures... Hitler, Amine, Hussein, and Gaddafi being recent additions from our lifetime. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">I concluded that when a person is able to become something like any of the above examples then one will have lost all of one's humanity. And becomes no better than an animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We may know people in these circumstances and perhaps try to ignore their plight by persuading ourselves that it is not our business to interfere. But isn't that like compounding the error?</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I think....that is what sin does to you. The march of the sin of one that rampages on....inexorably. </span></div>
john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-7209932190889902852012-08-10T10:30:00.000+02:002012-08-10T10:30:55.513+02:00Where Heaven meets Earth<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoIkv1fF847dDxzkm0LvUIK3EJlvjFgc3-78CsRqFpOeqeYd_PpK6ijHok7Ohx0A4XJHAQdPUvYDsx861NBi9xNq0ORvOe8XODyww0pDhDjypqeCxPvXlSkEZ4xqjD4gaorwc7Sdaa2Cru/s1600/imagesCACMT2PA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 201px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 211px;"><img border="0" height="200" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoIkv1fF847dDxzkm0LvUIK3EJlvjFgc3-78CsRqFpOeqeYd_PpK6ijHok7Ohx0A4XJHAQdPUvYDsx861NBi9xNq0ORvOe8XODyww0pDhDjypqeCxPvXlSkEZ4xqjD4gaorwc7Sdaa2Cru/s200/imagesCACMT2PA.jpg" width="200" /></a>When we come across a particularly beautiful and tranquil place we often mutter "It's Heaven here!" But is there a place where we can go to which is where Heaven and earth actually meet? </div>
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An interesting legend I recently read goes that a particularly learned monk who lived in a monastery built far away in the wilderness, found details of this place where earth and Heaven actually meet. In his heart he had this sudden urge to go and start living there till the Lord would decide it was his time to be called home. </div>
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So he wrote down the details of the route he needed to take, said his farewells to his fellow brother monks and left in search of this ideal place.</div>
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He walked down valleys and up mountains. He passed through forests full of wild animals and poisonous insects. He suffered hunger and pain as well as great heat or bone-biting cold. Yet his wish to reach this ideal place was so great that it drove him on and on. He continued to travel at a fast pace so he wouldn't dally. He wanted to get there as soon as possible.</div>
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One day he checked his papers again and realised that he should soon be reaching his goal. He saw a building in the distance which was also clearly marked on the chart he had. It stood out starkly against the great wilderness of the mountainside. All alone. Somehow he seemed to be familiar with it but not wanting to waste time in useless thinking he pressed on. Now, after all these months of painstaking travelling he was finally nearing his goal. </div>
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As soon as he got to the door he found it was closed. With a beating heart he knocked and the door opened. There in front of him was his fellow brother monk who was responsible for the entrance to the monastery. He received a great welcome and soon they were joined by all the other monks of the monastery who further fussed in greeting him . He had been away for quite a few months but now he was back with them. They even rang the monastery bells in joy of his safe return. But the monk realised that he had come back from where he has left. Because he had already found Heaven and was living there...yet he hadn't realised it. </div>
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Does the same happen to us? Let's praise God for the present and wish less for another (unattainable) place which we might think is ideal for us, where there are no crosses to carry and neither problems to face daily. <br />
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We will never find such an ideal place in this world because there's nothing like Heaven. Really!john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-91285439169799333432012-07-31T23:33:00.003+02:002012-07-31T23:33:50.081+02:00Saying YES or NO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is an interesting thought don't you think? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We say YES to many things in our life as much as we also say NO to others. But what is behind these decisions of ours? Do we realise that sometimes they can have too far reaching consequences?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I remember being on holiday in London and receiving a call from a friend back home whose daughter had just given birth that afternoon and there were complications. The new born was taken with urgency to one of London's top child hospitals for emergency life saving operations. My friend was asking if I could go that night to see that all was alright. The enormity of my automatic "Yes, I'll see what I can do" hit me a few minutes later....I did not know the parents, nor they me. I knew no one in the hospital and I was not direct family, so they wouldn't let me in. And now it was late evening and dark, they wouldn't let me in anyway. I decided to sleep over the dilemma. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My thoughts were obviously influenced by the bright day that arrived next morning, so off I went to the hospital. On the way I continued to debate what the hell was I doing here after all. But something inside me persisted and I walked into the hospital and blurted my real story to the receptionist who somehow believed me. A quick check through the computer to see where the baby was came up with no answers. She phoned various departments, all to no avail. But she came back with the story that if this was such an emergency then it might not be posted on the system yet. Could I wait patiently for a while longer?</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As eternity ticked away I was suddenly called to the desk where I saw the parents who had also just arrived and were worried to death because the baby couldn't be traced. They were informed who I was and as they looked at me in consternation I explained I was a family friend from back home. But they were so confused that all they could say was "thank you but we'll take it from here". So off I went feeling a bit stupid but at least with a quieted conscience that I had at least tried to do something. At least the grandparents would be satisfied with my attempt.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Over the following weeks the news from London was positive and the baby had undergone quite a few successful operations...and was going to be fine after all. Nonetheless I still felt that my "Yes" to respond to the grandparents' call was really a instrusion more than a help. I felt I had probably messed up more things in the anxiety of the moment than being of any real help. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jump forward by just over a year - the baby was now one year old and walking. The family was coming for a summer holiday to their grandparents' home and I was one of friends invited to dinner. The young parents recognised me and we got talking and all my fears were brushed aside as they showed me how that unexpected visit by the "stranger" had effected them. They said that though they felt that the sky was falling on them at the time, at least they knew someone, unknown, cared. So perhaps there were others in this world who also cared. They were not alone. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That child is now more than 2 years old....a strong willed girl who I am sure will go places. I have photos of her when she was 3 days old and as she is now, but though I would like to share them with you here I feel that it is a breach of privacy. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">BUT if you ever have to decide whether to reach out to fellow people in this world, no matter how crazy or useless that might seem to you. please always say YES not No. You don't know how much your support can mean to them. And to yourself. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-40893797818751005212012-07-24T23:05:00.000+02:002012-07-24T23:05:00.152+02:00Coffee<div class="headline_area">
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<abbr class="published" title="2012-06-15">How could I not share this post with you...it is, after all, well related to my Cappuccino name!! </abbr></div>
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<abbr class="published" title="2012-06-15">Anyway, for correctness, I came across this on the website "<u><span style="color: #810081;"><strong><a href="http://picturinggod.ignatianspirituality.com/2213/coffee/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PicturingGod+%28Picturing+God%29">Picturing God! - Faces and Traces of the Divine</a></strong></span></u>" (which I, incidentally, thoroughly recommend): </abbr></div>
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<img alt="decorative coffee" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2214" height="300" src="http://picturinggod.ignatianspirituality.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/decorative-coffee.jpg" title="decorative-coffee" width="400" /><br />
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“I am learning to <a href="http://ignatianspirituality.com/what-is-ignatian-spirituality/the-ignatian-way/finding-god-in-all-things/"><strong>find God in all things</strong></a><strong>.</strong> An endless discovery of all the places God is—and that is everywhere, from the cosmos to the microcosm. I love coffee, and particularly the coffee at Cuatro Sombras (the four shadows), a place in viejo San Juan. Puerto Rican coffee is superb. A great coffee first thing in the morning, accompanied by a tostada, is one way to feel grateful for all the goodness God surrounds me with.”<br />
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<em>Submitted to <a href="http://picturinggod.ignatianspirituality.com/">http://picturinggod.ignatianspirituality.com/</a> by Claire Bangasser.</em><br />
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Do you find God in sharing a great cup of coffee or a well-prepared meal? <a href="http://picturinggod.ignatianspirituality.com/about/"><strong>Share your photo at Picturing God!</strong></a> <br />
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</div>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-55545203361691866362012-07-02T00:32:00.000+02:002012-07-02T00:32:14.860+02:00MORE THAN A GAME?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sports fans this summer have so far been regaled with a spate of international events that have glued many to their TV screens or even to their seats if they were among the fortunate to actually be present for them. Wimbledon, Queens and Roland Garros for tennis, Euro 2012 for soccer. And soon, the World Olympics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have watched quite a few of the games that have been transmitted and sometimes I came out of the "gane" feeling that we have lost the meaning of sport. I was brought up from my young college days on the concept that the honour is not in winning but in having played the game. Is that what we still believe in as we strive to gain the victor's crown? Perhaps there are still some remnants of this philosophy left in the Olympics that start later this summer in London but in the more commercialised sports - as tennis and soccer - I think we have reduced them to nothing more than gladiatorial events... where the participants battle each other to the "death" but without the bloodshed. Could we draw a parallel with a virtual computer game battle where we are able to work out our deepest instincts in a relatively "harmless" way?</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Or, perhaps, does this show up our real feelings for each other? Our inability to control our inter-racial feelings within the context of a harmless game? And how harmless is harmless anyway? When one sees body language which says more about the participants and the supporters than they would like to display? Such as clenched fists uplifted in defiance which sometimes may have racial or sexual overtones as if to indicate the submission of the opponent. Or the fights fans get into during the games or afterwards in the streets around the stadia. Caused by racial intolerance which reflects the fans' support of their stars/teams? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Could the slogan for Euro 2012 be a trowback to that blockbuster movie "Blade Runner" about the future of sports? Was Euro 2012 trying to add something else to the discussion when it proclaimed "Respect Diversity" and asked each national team captain to read our a statement in their native language to that effect? This statement was the result of Football against Racism in Europe (FARE) - a network of organisations from several European countries - who set a plan of action based on the philosophy that "Football is the biggest sport in the world and belongs to us all. It should be the right of every person to play, watch and discuss freely, without fear. We want to see the 'beautiful game' played without discrimination. Unfortunately, at all levels of the game, from amateur to international, there are incidents of racism and discrimination. Be it from fans, players, clubs or other football bodies, FARE believes that such behaviour, on and off the field, is unacceptable and unwanted by the majority of fans and players." </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA59rWWeEP-8vie9I5XewMrcSpfXnS4W0C6KOh14jQV024rm-3sfivI80et9M1K91v8ujC0yKXgLagEZs5KuM8DZGiCfW9Q-WSXABeMpjv1V6pmWeb_kRk1swhRSWy919CQgt-yzR_ObCb/s1600/Crown.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA59rWWeEP-8vie9I5XewMrcSpfXnS4W0C6KOh14jQV024rm-3sfivI80et9M1K91v8ujC0yKXgLagEZs5KuM8DZGiCfW9Q-WSXABeMpjv1V6pmWeb_kRk1swhRSWy919CQgt-yzR_ObCb/s200/Crown.gif" vca="true" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One great sportsman who would have definitely support FARE as he believed this maxim strongly was Paul of Tarsus, the Apostle. In fact in his first Letter to the Corinthians he writes: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run [therefore] in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And to his friend and companion Timothy, he advised "...if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules... Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..... You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,..."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Toi which, another apostle, James, added: "Blessed is the man that endures trial: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Let's enoy sport for the clean enjoyment what it gives us. Keep it clean for everyone. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> <br /> </span></div>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-18376712605431832912012-06-14T11:11:00.004+02:002012-06-14T11:11:49.920+02:00Happy Father's Day<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLrC0HpHoVmG9TCSGWPRcKexowLwseJtwWPpUVO9y6A48b2TOqetXFTGu-GNG5hf0IOOs1Tc-dY44FkQonhBZksWwV5AcQAU7xzQlCxWv1txrZeYx48sQVPt-zVe1It3JhTwSZaiLUaCx/s1600/Dad+and+me+1955+-+low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLrC0HpHoVmG9TCSGWPRcKexowLwseJtwWPpUVO9y6A48b2TOqetXFTGu-GNG5hf0IOOs1Tc-dY44FkQonhBZksWwV5AcQAU7xzQlCxWv1txrZeYx48sQVPt-zVe1It3JhTwSZaiLUaCx/s200/Dad+and+me+1955+-+low.jpg" width="117" /></a>June 17th is Father's Day in most parts of the Western world. So may I wish all fathers - alive or dead - a very good Day with their sons and/or daughters wherever they may be.</div>
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<strong>To my Dad</strong> (who passed on some 24 years ago - seen here with me in this 1955 picture on right!) - <br />
<em>MISSING YOU DAD! Often have these urges to phone to let you know how we're getting on but I guess you already know that, don't you? Thanks for everything you did - and are still doing - for me, for your love and your guidance. Rest in peace.</em><br />
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And since I just received this thought below through Facebook I thought I'd share it with you all here too... it's so relevant to our relationship.....</div>
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<br /></div>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-17065325899705121122012-06-13T09:39:00.000+02:002012-06-13T09:39:31.307+02:00What about this God of ours....Carlo Carretto, Italian Church leader of the Fifties who left all and joined a monastic order to live in the Saharan desert, says that the promise of Jesus speaks of his presence, an activity of his spirit and of a revelation. “I shall make myself known to you”. In his book “Letters from the Desert”, Carretto reasons that making themselves known to one another is the task of lovers; a task never finished, never complete. There always remains something mysterious to discover in the relationship, an element of the unknown.<br />
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He writes: “Think of God; in Him everything is to be discovered. But in the case of God one thing must be made very clear. God is unknowable to humans directly. We can know him only through figures, symbols and signs. But they themselves are not God. Only God knows himself and knowledge of him remains a mystery for us. But in his love, God has decided to make himself known to us, to reveal himself to us. And that happens in a supernatural manner, in a language untranslatable on earth. A person who grasps this realisation can say nothing. He cannot repeat it…..God is unknowable and only he can reveal himself to me through ways which are wholly his, unrepeatable in words and in concepts beyond our understanding”.<br />
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Angela of Foligno, one of the great Italian mystics, says: “Before God the soul…can say nothing because it has no words to express itself with. In fact, there is neither thought nor intelligence that can reach that far, so greatly does it surpass everything, the ways of God cannot be explained."<br />
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Carretto concludes that as it was for Angela of Foligno so it is for all of us. “We feel the knowledge of God becoming greater in us little by little, as our love for him becomes greater. And of this knowledge we are unable to say anything. We know that it is a rich, mysterious, dark, personal knowledge of him; but we are unable to utter a syllable about what we know, about how He manifests Himself to us individually."<br />
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<br />john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-58622601036224498512012-03-06T23:41:00.000+01:002012-03-06T23:41:52.862+01:00When I'm 64....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPWuEZPBl4KebAAJW96KH31NIbhVZWdFWSeU1Yf3tkgizGrKlE_xsYSQi5HKfTMsS9afqM0ee-s6T6hXlC6BOGB8N_nKszYNZ6Mlf8T23_v4GwjNXy00uWcf1nnrpSmFJgnpvPIzkALZw/s1600/dd_mccartney_64.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPWuEZPBl4KebAAJW96KH31NIbhVZWdFWSeU1Yf3tkgizGrKlE_xsYSQi5HKfTMsS9afqM0ee-s6T6hXlC6BOGB8N_nKszYNZ6Mlf8T23_v4GwjNXy00uWcf1nnrpSmFJgnpvPIzkALZw/s200/dd_mccartney_64.jpg" width="200" /></a>I don't know how many of you remember the Beatles song from the mid Sixties <b><i>"When I'm 64".</i></b> It was sung, I believe, by Ringo Starr and featured in their film "Yellow Submarine", a full length cartoon movie. It was a song that has been with me for too many years, and though it was not really one of my top favourites then it has, over the years, featured as a sort of target. A date in the future when I'd reach that age.<br />
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S0 yesterday I finally reached that target....I now am 64!! Yipee!! I had a fabulous day with so many text, e-mail and FB friends wishing me all the very best, good luck and blessings for the coming year. It is somehow nice to realise you are appreciated after all. <br />
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BUT today is the day after. And so what was the big deal all about? I suppose you can say that birthdays come and birthdays go but the Beatles song stayed with me throughout the years. So I gave it it's run for what that's worth...and came up with some thoughts. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3Mq7ztTKQ1owGx28EgVYRrGVE0adKWUxhU9if18QOJE2g7i2pPL4WGlOTzuZd5nqx2tUw2ZKmlQx_Pe_3OZHbjp9-LiRCvgp9P20X7U-xlPupdLJLHyOKXRME3KVAZMgejHfhSvpmRcA/s1600/when-im-64.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3Mq7ztTKQ1owGx28EgVYRrGVE0adKWUxhU9if18QOJE2g7i2pPL4WGlOTzuZd5nqx2tUw2ZKmlQx_Pe_3OZHbjp9-LiRCvgp9P20X7U-xlPupdLJLHyOKXRME3KVAZMgejHfhSvpmRcA/s200/when-im-64.gif" width="200" /></a><br />
The song talks about that fateful day in the distant future when, having lost my hair, I'd turn 64. In a way it's a modern love song where the singer asks his life's partner what would she be doing when he was 64.....<i> "Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine..." </i><br />
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But I love the way he really takes the situation in hand and asks her <i>"Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" </i> The thing I like about this song is it's really human approach to a relationship which we seem to have lost - or are losing at a very fast pace - today. The author obviously thinks that at 64 they'd be still together...... <span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;">I could be handy, mending a fuse when your lights have gone, </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: #b8bcad; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12pt;">You can knit a sweater by the fireside, </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: #b8bcad; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12pt;">Sunday mornings, go for a ride</span><br /><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: #b8bcad; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12pt;">Doing the garden, digging the weeds, who could ask for more?</span></i></span><span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Will you still need me, will you still feed me </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>when I'm sixty-four?</i></span></span><br />
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Ah, how things have changed in the intervening 45 or so years when his song was written. Do we still believe that relationships/marriages last that long? Do we still believe that marriage is there to last a lifetime? "Use and discard" is way we live today; nothing is built to last more than a few years...why should it when another, better version, is bound to arrive to replace what we have? The same goes, it seems with families which tend t change format with every growing whim....and the poor children having to make out who their real mum and/or dad is!<br />
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How different I find that we are now at "age 64" than the times the Beatles envisioned for today.....<span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ah, grandchildren on your knee, Vera, Chuck and Dave! </span></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Am I being too pessimistic? Perhaps. But then perhaps the Beatles too had a feeling that not everything would be so fine and dandy. So let me close with the song's ending...</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: #b8bcad; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12pt;">Send me a postcard, drop me a line </span></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9sTQzm4leLq0sKYtUg2_WDdo7hRxofKibUBmx-55wk6cU6sAXZ3aJ5Hilh1XtruBxJCmSVHKb_2mJ4J6pDQAmZwXYb6A0lohIZistUXYplTWxrmSfDYzCRsjIcvO2AcIMgo9UUg_YD-v/s1600/yellow_submarine_1999.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9sTQzm4leLq0sKYtUg2_WDdo7hRxofKibUBmx-55wk6cU6sAXZ3aJ5Hilh1XtruBxJCmSVHKb_2mJ4J6pDQAmZwXYb6A0lohIZistUXYplTWxrmSfDYzCRsjIcvO2AcIMgo9UUg_YD-v/s200/yellow_submarine_1999.gif" width="200" /></a><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: #b8bcad; background-origin: initial; font-size: 12pt;">stating point of view</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /><span style="background: #b8bcad;">Indicate precisely what you mean to say, </span></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: #b8bcad;">yours sincerely wasting away</span><br /><span style="background: #b8bcad;">Give me your answer, fill in a form,</span></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: #b8bcad;"> mine forever more</span></span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;">Will you still need me, will you still feed me</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: #b8bcad; font-size: 12pt;"> when I'm sixty-four?</span> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">NOW enjoy the music and vision of John, Paul, George and Ringo from their original cartoon film...... </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>click here>>></b></span></i><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3chFhCP5mQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3chFhCP5mQ</a></b><br />
<br /></div>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278131909106870463.post-4135935353569494672012-02-08T13:42:00.000+01:002012-02-08T13:42:00.103+01:00Life is what we are alive to...<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>“Life is what we are alive to. It is not length but breadth....Be alive to...goodness, kindness, purity, love, history, poetry, music, flowers, stars, God, and eternal hope.”</strong></span></em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHPl9xOTPWeLhiNO9kwRPIIU5Y-wYgaCACBx0cSuzL_1eGImgp-EqBqGz0-ph23teR0vzt83Pbz094i71KJ6zNR-n0E0-hEwsjT4jt8z7ZEFfZeBAV74_r5wvzXx2k8RTYp5GZUqVd8Zk/s1600/Rev_Maltbie_Babcock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200px" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHPl9xOTPWeLhiNO9kwRPIIU5Y-wYgaCACBx0cSuzL_1eGImgp-EqBqGz0-ph23teR0vzt83Pbz094i71KJ6zNR-n0E0-hEwsjT4jt8z7ZEFfZeBAV74_r5wvzXx2k8RTYp5GZUqVd8Zk/s200/Rev_Maltbie_Babcock.JPG" width="141px" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is a quote credited to</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Maltbie Davenport Babcock (photogaph) -<span class="apple-style-span">1858 – 1901, a noted</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">American</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">clergyman and writer of the 19th century who authored the familiar hymn</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> “</span></span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is My Father's World</span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">” among others. Originally this hymn was a poem which eventually was put to music, yet its wonderful words still ring true today and i am repropducing them below as they still have a wonderful ring to them today:</span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is my Father's world: </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is my Father's world: </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; his hand the wonders wrought.</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is my Father's world: </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is my Father's world: </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> he shines in all that's fair; in the rustling grass I hear him pass; he speaks to me everywhere.</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is my Father's world. </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> O let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is my Father's world: </span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad!</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>john r portellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858113323764545471noreply@blogger.com