Thursday, October 12, 2023

Malachi, Chapter 3, verse 16

¹⁶ Then those who FEAR the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened attentively; a record book was written before him of those who fear the LORD and esteem his name.

The people during the time of the prophet Malachi were perplexed. Why is it that evildoers prosper and even mock God and escape? The prophet is reassuring those who loved the Lord that nothing escapes God and if we have Holy fear and love the Lord, we will be taken care of.

Many of the behaviors of evil people lead directly to success; the biggest liar and manipulator on the sales team will usually be the top salesperson, for example. The evil person develops skill in seeing how to get the optimal outcome in every situation and is willing to take whatever the actions are to get that most desirable outcome… which is why they so often get there. These people are NOT being blessed, they are reaping the “rewards” of their evil in the same way that a child cheating on a test gets a higher score… this is NOT the work of God, as He NEVER rewards evil.[1]

No, we should not envy evil doers for whatever they gain is never enough. Nor do they find peace in their hearts for their needs are never satisfied nor their thirst for more ever quenched.

According to the author Michael H. Brown[2] we are in the midst of a war between the forces of good and evil and right now it may seem that they are winning the battle, but they have already lost the war-the war for our souls, which Christ purchase with his death on the cross. Hallelujah!

Famous Last Words[3]

· Friedrich Nietzsche, pernicious philosopher who preached "God is dead" Nietzsche died in spiritual darkness, a babbling madman. On a wall in Austria a graffiti said, "God is dead, --Nietzsche!" Someone else wrote under it, "Nietzsche is dead! --God."

· Oscar Wilde, sipping champagne on his deathbed:
"And now, I am dying beyond my means."

· H. G. Wells: "Go away...I'm all right."

· Ludwig von Beethoven: "Friends applaud, the comedy is over."

· Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian: "I am about to, or I am going to, die; either expression is used."

· Thomas Jefferson: "This is the fourth…"

· John Adams: "Thomas Jefferson? --Still surv.... "

· Jean Paul Sartre, existentialist "I failed!"

· Emily Dickinson: "The fog is rising…"

· The prophet Mohammed: "O Allah! Pardon my sins. Yes, I come."

· Nurse Cavell Before facing a German firing squad in 1915, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."

· Henry Ward Beecher: "Now comes the mystery."

· Karl Marx, born in a Christian Jewish family, originator of Communism. On his deathbed surrounded by candles burning to Lucifer, screamed at his nurse who asked him if he had any last words: "Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough."

· Lawrence Oates: British explorer, who sacrificed himself in 1912 in an attempt to save his starving companions during Scott's expedition to the Pole: "I am just going outside, and I may be some time"

· Crowfoot (American Blackfoot Indian Orator): "What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

· Cesare Borgia, statesman: "I have taken care of everything in the course of my life, only not for death, and now I have to die completely unprepared."

· Cardinal Mazarin: "Oh my poor soul, what is to become of you? — Where do you go?"

· Thomas Hobbes, English Philosopher: "It's my turn, to take a leap into the darkness!

· David Hume, the Atheist, He cried: "I am in flames!" His desperation was a horrible scene.

· Voltaire, the famous skeptic, Voltaire died a terrible death. His nurse said: "For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness."

· Napoleon Bonaparte, About Napoleon, Count Montholon wrote: "The Emperor died forsaken by all, on this horrible rock. (St. Helena) His death struggle was awful!"

· Thomas Edison, American inventor "It is very beautiful over there."

· Goethe, German Poet "Light, More light!"

· William of Orange, first King of the Netherlands, as he was shot by an assassin, "My God, my God, have mercy on me, and on my poor people!"

· John Newton b. 1725. d. 1807. Originally a slaver, he had a dramatic mid-ocean change of heart that led him to turn his slave ship around and take the people back to their homeland. He became a Presbyterian minister and preached against the slave-trade, inspiring William Wilberforce who brought about the abolition of slavery in Britain and its colonies. He is most famous for having authored the words to the hymn "Amazing Grace". As he neared his end, exclaimed, "I am still in the land of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon."

· Heinrich Heine, Heine, the great Skeptic, later changed his attitude. In the postscript to his poem collection "Romancero" (30.9.1851) he wrote: "When you are on your deathbed, you become more sensitive and you would like to make peace with God and the world… Poems, that only contained halfway reproaches against God, I delivered over to the flames in a fearful zeal. It is better, that the verses burn than the verse maker… I returned to God as a prodigal son, after I fed the swine with the Hegelians for a long time… In the theology I have to accuse myself of retreating, because I returned to a 'personal God'." As he died: "God will forgive me. It's his job."

· Sir Thomas Scott, Scott, once president of the English Lower House said: "Up until this time, I thought that there was no God neither Hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am delivered to perdition by the righteous judgment of the Almighty."

· Stalin who was responsible for the murder of at least 80 million Russian and Ukrainians, if not many millions more—most of them Christians! The greatest hushed up holocaust and genocide in human history, never mentioned by the media, as it is not "politically correct!" About Stalin's death struggle, his daughter Swetlana Allilujewa, who in March 1953 was called to the dying dictator in his dacha in Kunzewo, stated: "Father died terribly and difficult. God gives the righteous an easy death."

· A Chinese Communist, who delivered many Christians to their execution, came to a pastor and said: "I’ve seen many of you die. The Christians die differently. What is their secret?"

· Stephen the first Christian Martyr, as he was being stoned to death by the Pharisees, assisted by Saul, who later met Jesus in a vision and changed into the Apostle Paul: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

· Jesus Christ: Jesus, after a long morning of torture and a 3-hour lasting excruciating crucifixion, He first forgave his Roman enemies from the cross, saying: "Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they do!" Then he granted eternal life to a repentant thief that was crucified beside him, saying, "Today you shall be with me in Paradise" After the Father's Spirit left Him as He died for the sins of the world, he said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me!" Then He said, "It is finished!" and after He had cried out with a loud voice, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit"—He gave up the ghost!

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

SECTION TWO-THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH

CHAPTER ONE-THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION

Article 3-THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

IN BRIEF

1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).

1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.

1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.

1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.

1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. and it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you.... This is the cup of my blood...."

1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).

1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.

1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.

1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion each time they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.

1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord" (Paul VI, MF 66).

1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.

Thursday Feast

Thursday is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for consumption. Thursday commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe after Sunday Thursday is the holiest day of the week. We should then try to make this day special by making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass or even stopping by the grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the blessing of the week and thank our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.

Colorado Dinner Menu or pick a farmer approved dinner.