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.

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

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...

Rorate-Caeli URGENT: Pope tells Italian Bishops he plans to abolish the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum

+ JMJ Now THIS is probably the most important news item in the last two years - yes I place this above the pandemic. I'm only surprised by how long it took for this to surface during this pontificate. I hope and pray that it is false or that if it comes to pass that somehow some good will arise out of the ashes of Summorum Pontificum. P^3 Courtesy of Rorate-Caeli URGENT: Pope tells Italian Bishops he plans to abolish the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (Updated) Update (May 26): Rorate's additional sources in Rome have confirmed this Wednesday that Francis has indeed a text on Summorum Pontificum lined up, which has been developed for months, but what is not known at this point is if the text is just about a more limited take on the Summorum application questionnaire (first revealed by us in the spring of 2020) or about an overhaul of Summorum Pontificum in general: drafts could be dealing with both matters. It is also not impossible for a text to come ou...

If Pope Francis is bad - what about Pope St. John Paul II et al?

+ JMJ So here we are on the apparent cusp of yet another post conciliar Papal canonization. This time we have Pope's John-Paul I and Paul VI canonizations to 'look forward' to. This follows, obviously, on the heels of Pope St. John Paul II's canonization? So the first question that I usually encounter is: How is it possible, keeping in mind the doctrine on infallibility of canonizations (note doctrine not dogma), that Pope St. John Paul II is a Saint? First, what does it mean??? According to the doctrine of dogmatic facts - it is the universal opinion of Theologians that canonizations are infallible. It means that they enjoy the beatific vision. ... that's it. That is the doctrine and it is at the level of universal opinion of theologians. It is called a 'dogmatic fact'. That they made mistakes is obvious. That the miracles seem to not be very miraculous is also a bit of an issue. Here's something to consider: The rush that surrou...

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.

Tradicat

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