Advent Series - December 17

JMJ

December 17

Yesterday we talked about how God took Elias up in a fiery chariot.

Eliseus (Elisha) succeeded Elias around the year 850 B.C. By God’s power, Eliseus raised a boy to life and multiplied food to feed the hungry. Eliseus sent the general Naaman, to wash 7 times in the river Jordan, and Naaman was cured of his leprosy.

King Achab and Queen Jezebel were still living at that time. They were the 2 worst rulers in Israel. They both came to a bitter end. Achab was shot with an arrow in battle and Jezebel was thrown out of a window.

Jehu became king of Israel. King Jehu killed all the sons of Achab, and cut off their heads.
King Jehu also killed all the followers of the idol Baal. However, King Jehu did not get rid of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, which had been set up by the first king of Israel to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice. (4 Kings 10)

About this time, around the year 770 B.C. God told the prophet Jonas to go to the people of Ninive, and preach to them. Ninive was the capital of Assyria. Jonas did not want to go because the Assyrians were the enemies of Israel, but being afraid of God (because he was not obeying His command), Jonas got on a ship headed in the opposite direction.

God sent a great storm and the ship was in danger of sinking. Jonas knew that the storm was on account of his disobedience. He told the sailors to toss him overboard, and when they did the sea became calm.

God caused a great fish to swallow Jonas. And Jonas was in the belly of the fish 3 days.

(Our Lord said that Jonas in the fish was a symbol of the 3 days He would spend in the tomb before He rose again.)

After 3 days, the fish spat Jonas out onto dry land, and God told Jonas again to go to Ninive. This time Jonas obeyed. Jonas told the people of Ninive that because of their wickedness, God would destroy their city in 40 days. Now Ninive was a large city with more than 120 000 people. When they heard Jonas message, everyone did penance, fasting and wearing sackcloth and ashes and praying to God, so that after 40 days, God had mercy on them.

Incidentally, there is something special about the number 40;

1) During the world wide flood it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and thus cleansed the earth.
2) Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai when God gave the 10 Commandments
3) The Israelites had to wander in the desert for 40 years before they entered the Promised Land
4) Elias is given bread by an angel and walked 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb
5) Jonas was sent to tell the people of Ninive that God would destroy them in 40 days, but because they did penance, God spared them
6) Our Lord fasted and prayed 40 days in the desert before beginning His public ministry
7) And so it is fitting that the Church asks us that we do penance every year for 40 days during lent

In the meantime, the kingdom of Israel was still worshiping idols; the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. For many years God had sent prophets to lead them back, but they kept falling into idolatry. Finally God had enough. In 722 B.C., just 50 years after Jonas preached to Ninive, God allowed the Assyrians to take over the kingdom of Israel. The people were dispersed and became known as the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.

After that the only 2 remaining tribes were the tribe of Benjamin and the tribe of Judea in the kingdom of Judea in the south.

The time of Our Lord’s coming is getting nearer.

Today, the Church begins the 7 Great Antiphons or “O Antiphons” in her Divine Office. These are very old parts of the liturgy. They are solemn prayers, calling on the Savior to come. Each antiphon begins with a different title of Our Lord.

The 7 “O Antiphons” are named after the first 2 words which begins each prayer:

O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
O Adonai (O Leader)
O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
O Clavis David (O Key of David)
O Oriens (O Orient)
O Rex Gentium (O King of Gentiles)
O Emmanuel (O God With Us)

It is interesting to note that the first letter of each antiphon from bottom to top spells “ERO CRAS”.
This means “I will be tomorrow” or “I will come tomorrow”!

The O Antiphon for today is “O Sapientia”

“O Wisdom, who comest out of the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come and teach us the way of prudence.”

Jesus is the Word of God, proceeding from the Father from all eternity.

Hermeneutic of the Hermeneutic of Continuity - sspx.org

+ JMJ Since I'm looking at the 'four things', I thought this article would be good. Unfortunately, with the new SSPX.org website, I've been unable to locate the original article. This is a copy the I emailed to myself. This is an article that, I believe, was written in response to a conference given by Msgr. Pozzo. P^3

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 4 - The Mass (Updated with Postscript)

+ JMJ Introduction "I don’t understand why they are so afraid of this Mass!!!" A Conservative Catholic priest spoke these words to me one evening in his parich parking lot in 2011, mere days before Pope Benedict XVI issued his follow up to Summorum Pontificum ( 2007-07-07 Motu Proprio , Letter to Bishops , ), Universae Ecclesiae ( 2011-04-30 Motu Proprio , Note ). The people who were afraid that night were bishops. This conservative priest had started a project a year or so earlier – very simply a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration chapel. Earlier that evening I had visited this chapel with some friends and ended up in a conversation with the priest after everyone had left. Word reached the bishops palace after the completion of the chapel and the priest received a phone call and visit from his local ordinary. My impression (this being now ~15 years ago) was that he was nervous about how the visit would proceed. The bishop came, made a visit to OLJC in the Blessed Sacrament and ...

Rome,the SSPX and this time of Crisis - Updated

+ JMJ Obviously there's lots of events right now. First we have the April 1st - I almost thought it was April Fools - meeting between Pope Francis and Bishop Fellay. Nothing really news worthy as this is a natural progression as Rome appears to be considering fulfilling Archbishop Lefebvre's wish to 'accept us as we are'. Second we have the April 8th publication of what will be a verbose exhortation of the Synod of the Family. I'm willing to bet that the Pope will give with one hand (unilateral regularization of SSPX) and take with the other (ambiguous document that opens the flood gates of sin further). Much to pray for. P^3

What the heck is a congregation of "Pontifical Right"

+ JMJ In a discussion with a friend the question occurred to me that I didn't actually know was is involved in being a religious order of 'pontifical right'. I had a vague notion that this meant they reported to Rome as opposed to the local diocese. I'm also aware that, according to the accounts I have heard, the Archbishop received 'praise' and the written direction to incardinate priests directly into the SSPX. This is interesting because it implies that the SSPX priests were no longer required to incardinate in the local diocese but in the SSPX. This is something that belongs to an order of 'pontifical right'. Anyway here's some definitions: Di diritto pontificio is the Italian term for “of pontifical right” . It is given to the ecclesiastical institutions (the religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See or approved by it with the formal decree, known by its Latin name, Decretu...

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