Advent Series - December 20

JMJ

December 20

In our study of Old Testament history, we’ve seen how after the reign of Solomon, the Hebrew people divided into 2 kingdoms. 10 tribes broke away and formed the Kingdom of Israel in the north. Their king, Jeroboam, did not want his people to go to Jerusalem to worship God, so he set up the golden calf idols at Bethel and Dan.

The kingdom of Israel was eventually taken over by the Assyrians and the people were forced to leave their homes. They were dispersed all over the world, becoming the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.

The other kingdom was the Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Judah was made up of 2 tribes; Judah and Benjamin.

The Assyrians tried to take over Judah as well, but as we read yesterday, Judith killed the Assyrian general, Holophernes and for some time they were left in peace.

The Assyrians were busy elsewhere, however. They fought many battles and lost many men. They needed new soldiers to fight their wars, so they forced the people they conquered to fight for them. Naturally, these people were not very eager to fight. Assyria’s power was fading.

In 612 B.C., the Chaldeans took over Assyria, as well as the lands the Assyrians had conquered. The Chaldeans rebuilt the city of Babylon and brought back the Babylonian way of life. For this reason they are sometimes called Babylonians.

In the year 597 B.C. the Chaldeans did succeed in taking over Judah.
They forced many Jews to go to Babylon.
In 586 B.C. the Chaldeans destroyed Jerusalem. Only the poorest Jews were left behind to plant crops.

This was the time of the “Babylonian Captivity.”

Among those who were taken captive was a man named Daniel. Daniel was a prince of the Tribe of Judah; from the kingly line of David.

The Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar wanted a few of the best Jews to come and live at his palace so that those Jews might learn the ways of the Chaldeans. He chose Ananias, Misael, Azarias and Daniel.

One night King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, but he could not remember it very well. Of all the wise men at the king’s court, only Daniel, with God’s grace was able to tell the king what his dream was and what it meant. The dream foretold the rise and fall of the kingdoms of Persia, of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire, as well as the coming of the eternal kingdom of God; the kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ:

“… in the days of those kingdoms, the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed…it shall consume all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand forever.” (Dan 2:44)

Because of Daniel’s wisdom, King Nebuchadnezzar gave Daniel authority and power in Babylon. The other 3 Jewish men; Ananias, Misael and Azarias became governors of the provinces in Babylon. (The Chaldeans changed their names in the process, which makes this part a little confusing.).

Then one day King Nebuchadnezzar made a big idol and told everyone they had to worship it or else. Of course Ananias, Misael and Azarias would not do such a thing, so the king ordered them to be put into a furnace of burning fire.

“But the angel of the Lord went down with Azarias and his companions into the furnace: and he drove the flame of the fire out of the furnace, and he made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew…” (Dan3:49-50) And the 3 men sang a canticle to God praising Him for His mercies.

Incidentally, this part of history can be found in the missal for the Mass of Ember Saturday during Advent!

After some time, a new king, King Baltassar reigned in Babylon. This king had a big feast. While he and his guests were eating and drinking from the sacred vessels which had been stolen from the Temple of Jerusalem, a hand appeared and wrote 3 words on the wall; MANE THECEL PHARES

Daniel told the king that:

MANE meant that God would put an end to the king’s kingdom.
THECEL meant “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting”
PHARES meant that his kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

That same night, King Baltassar died.

Darius, the Mede, became the next king. (Dan 5) King Darius liked Daniel very much and wanted to put him in charge of his kingdom. This made the other men in power jealous and they looked for a way to get rid of Daniel. Tomorrow we will see what happened next!

Today’s O Antiphon is “O Clavis David”

“O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel, Who openest and no man shutteth; Who shuttest and no man openeth; come and lead the captive from the prisonhouse, him that sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death.”

It was prophesied that the Saviour would be of the line of King David (hence the “O key of David”). By dying on the cross, Our Lord would reopen the gates of heaven.

The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II: Dr. John Lamont

+ JMJ This is the second article from Dr. Lamont from his lecture given in May 2014. P^3 Source Part A: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny Source Part B: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny 8 May2014 The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II By John Lamont To understand how the Jesuit conception of obedience departed from earlier conceptions, it is helpful to compare it with the teaching of St. Thomas on obedience. The fundamental difference between the two is that St. Thomas considers the proper object of obedience to be the precept of the superior (2a2ae q. 104 a. 2 co., ad 3). Obedience that seeks to forestall the expressed will of the superior does not bear on what the superior wants or thinks in general, but only on what the superior intends to command. St. Ignatius’s lowest degree of obedience, which he does not consider to be virtuous, is thus what St. Thomas considers to be the only form of obedience. St. Thomas holds that St. Ignatius’s alleged higher forms of o...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

News Roundup February 17, 2024

+ JMJ First wishing you a Holy Lent! As usual for this series, attached below are articles that caught my eye since the last 'Roundup'. Catholic Church In CRISIS Looking at the response to MAiD, there is a bright spot amongst all the misc issues within the Church. It is a little disheartening that only the huge issues where the world is bumping up against Church Doctrine are addressed. The elephant in the room remains - the current and previous half dozen pontiffs have led us to this point. The academic discussion between theologians is, believe it or not, a healthy thing for the Church. Hopefully it will gain momentum and follow the general rules academic argumentation and not devolve into name calling (as it has previously). Rome - Fiducia Supplicans The storm created by FS continues. People are starting to talk about the next conclave Hopefully this pontificate will do three things: Wake up the faithful clergy to false obedience Spawn a clarific...

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 6c: Principles and Rules for Surviving this Crisis of the Catholic Church (Principle 2)

+ JMJ Principle 2: Know the Faith as the Catholic Church Teaches or Taught it. A knowledge of the Faith and familiarity with the history of the Catholic Church for at least the past 200 years provides a good foundation for weathering this storm. Bias, Opinions and Misbeliefs One landmine that undermines principle #2 is the mixing of personal opinion with doctrine. These opinions, beliefs by another name, are sometimes held in a death grip. In some cases they are just prejudices against various real groups such as immigrants, Jews, communists, masons etc. In some cases it extends to conspiracy theories such as sedevacantism. These firmly held beliefs prevent people from both understanding Doctrine as Taught by the Church and making the necessary distinctions. For example, which religions offer worship to the True God? Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Jews and Muslims. Some people suck in their breath through their teeth creating an noticeable hiss at the above statement....

Advent Series Introduction

+ JMJ The season of Advent is a special time set aside by the Church for us to focus on preparing our souls for the coming of Our Lord; His coming at Christmas, but also for us to prepare for His coming at the end of our lives, as well as the end of time Unfortunately, this time is also filled with holiday preparations and gift giving, and while its not a bad thing to be thinking of others, the focus on shopping and Christmas baking etc can make it difficult to detach from the things of this world. When I was in the convent, Advent was a very special time of year. We lived and breathed the spirit of the Church and we had nothing to distract us from it. As a result we felt rich; full to bursting at Christmastime. Each November, the newest members; the postulants would become a little sad. Perhaps it was their first time they would be away from home for Christmas. They seemed a little skeptical when they were told that this would be their best Christmas ye...

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