Advent Series - December 12

JMJ

December 12

The last of the 12 judges was Samson.

Before Samson was born, the Israelites once more fell into evil. God allowed their enemies the Philistines to take over. After 40 years, the Israelites again turned back to God and God heard their prayers.

And an angel appeared to Samson’s mother telling her that she would have a son, who would be a Nazarite of God.

According to the Old Law, the Nazarites were those who led a more perfect life. They abstained from wine, and all unclean things. They were not supposed to cut their hair for the law stated “All the time of his separation no razor shall pass over his head, until the day be fulfilled of his consecration to the Lord. He shall be holy and shall let the hair on his head grow.” (Num 6:5)

For this reason, Samson had long hair.

Samson led the people of Israel for 20 years. He had immense strength. He could kill a lion with his bare hands and fight many Philistines (Judges 15:15), but he had one weakness.

Samson loved a Philistine woman named Delilah. The other Philistines offered Delilah money to find out the secret of Samson’s strength. So Delilah kept after Samson to tell his secret. Samson told her he was consecrated to God. The sign of his consecration was his hair, which had never been cut. Samson told Delilah that if his hair was cut, he would no longer be consecrated to God and would lose his great strength.

While Samson was asleep, Delilah cut his hair. The Philistines came and took Samson prisoner. They poked out his eyes, making him blind and forced Samson to work as a slave. Samson was sorry that he had not kept faithful to God. He thought and thought about what he could do to make up for his sins.

Over time, Samson’s hair grew back and his strength returned. This time he kept it a secret. One day the Philistines held a large banquet, and they brought out Samson so that everyone could look at him.

Samson had a plan. He leaned against the pillars that supported the house and broke them, bringing down the roof and killing everyone inside. Samson gave his own life to weaken the enemies of the people of Israel.

The next part of history we are going to read is the life of Ruth.

Ruth lived during the same time the Judges ruled Israel.
There came a famine in the land and a certain man of Bethlehem went to live in the pagan land of Moab with his wife, Naomi and his 2 sons.
While they were there, the man died, and his sons married 2 women of Moab. Their names were Orpah and Ruth.

After a time, the 2 sons also died and their mother Naomi was left all alone with her 2 daughters-in-law.
Naomi was getting old, and she decided to return to her own country of Bethlehem
where she heard there was food again. Naomi said to Orpah and Ruth, “ Go ye home to your mothers: the Lord deal mercifully with you” (Ruth 1:8)

But Ruth would not leave Naomi. She said to her mother-in-law, “Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for withersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” (Ruth 1:16) So Naomi returned to Bethlehem with Ruth.

Ruth and Naomi were very poor, but Naomi’s husband had a relative by the name of Booz. Booz was a rich man, and had fields of barley just ripe for picking. Ruth went to the fields and gathered whatever was left behind by the harvesters for food for Naomi and herself.

Booz saw Ruth and was kind to her, saying, “keep with my maids, and follow where they reap. For I have charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink…at mealtime, come thou hither and eat of the bread” (Ruth 2:8-9, 14)

And Booz said to his servants, “let fall some of your handfuls of purpose, and leave them, that she may gather them without shame.” (Ruth 2:16)
Booz eventually married Ruth and we may safely assume that they had a happy life together. Their life is important because they had a son named Obed.

And Obed was the grandfather of King David from whose descendants the Savior of the world would be born! (We're getting closer to Christmas!!!)

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

The Vatican and SSPX – An Organizational Culture Perspective

Introduction The recent and continuing interactions between the Vatican and the SSPX have been a great opportunity for prayer and reflection. The basis for the disagreement is theological and not liturgical. As noted by Dr. Lamont (2012), the SSPX theological position on the four key controversial aspects of the Second Vatican Council are base on prior theological work that resulted from relevant magisterial pronouncements. So it is difficult to understand the apparent rejection of the theological position of the SSPX.

A Reply to Martin Blackshaw’s FLAWED Remnant article titled: FLAWED: SSPX Advice on Abortion-tainted Vaccines

+ JMJ An article has appeared in the Remnant (link to article) and I am afraid that there are a number of flaws in it that need to be addressed. The author, Martin Blackshaw, believes that both the Church and the SSPX are misapplying the principle of Moral Theology called 'Cooperation In Evil'. Unfortunately, Mr. Blackshaw rests most of his arguments on citing authors that support his position, without considering the possibility that they are wrong. This highlights a key factor in this crisis: ignorance of the faith and its application . I don't am not singling out Mr. Blackshaw for this criticism, I have observed that it applies to laity and religious, superior and subject a like. No one seems immune in this enduring crisis, myself included. I further believe that this ignorance is why so many Catholics, both traditional and non, rely on their gut feeling or "Catholic conscience" for charting their way through this crisis of the faith. While...

Battle Joy

+ JMJ I was listening to a Cd of John Vennari on Battle Joy ( Recapture the Flag: Dedication and Battle Joy - by John Vennari ) and it really captures a key point that Catholics (Traditional and otherwise labelled) need to adopt. We should see this conflict as a chance to prove our mettle for our King and to earn our unending reward. As veterans we'll be able to talk about the old battles in which we fought and the honour we gained in fighting for our King! Attached is a preview of course that, although secular, contains some of the elements of Battle Joy. P^3 https://www.coursera.org/learn/war/lecture/VDwfk/the-joy-of-battle

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...

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