Monday, 3 March 2014
I am not surprised. Are you?
http://news.sky.com/story/1219922/russia-and-china-in-agreement-over-ukraine
"It's impossible to be optimistic at the moment. We're not in any position to be optimistic about the security situation and what is happening in the Crimea."
The crisis has had a huge knock-on effect on global stock markets, with Moscow's stock exchange plunging as much as 10% on Monday morning.
Russia's central bank raised its rate to 7% from 5.5% as the ruble hit an historic low against the dollar and the euro.
The New Eden Part Two
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| Abraham before the Trinity, St John’s Psalter, (England, c. 1270-80) Cambridge, St John’s College Library, MS K.26, fol. 9 |
All of us who are baptized and in sanctifying grace have the Indwelling of the Trinity. All.
I have written about this many times in the perfection series.
The Scriptures refer to this truth, as does the Teaching Magisterium of the Church. Here are just a few of the passages from the Bible referring to the Indwelling of the Trinity. There are many, many more.
John 14:17
Douay-Rheims
17 The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you.
1 John 3:24
Douay-Rheims
24 And he that keepeth his commandments, abideth in him, and he in him. And in this we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
Ephesians 2:22
Douay-Rheims
22 In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit.
1 John 2:27
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
27 And as for you, let the unction, which you have received from him, abide in you. And you have no need that any man teach you; but as his unction teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. And as it hath taught you, abide in him.
Now, Abraham walked and talked with God, as did the other patriarchs. The saints walk and talk with God.
We are called to do the same and if we are in sanctifying grace, God is with us. Do we pay attention?
What blocks our relationship with the Trinity is sin and the tendency to sin. In other words, selfishness stops us from being with God 24/7.
The Dark Night of the Soul cleanses us from all those blockages to realizing the fullness of the Trinity within us. And, as I have noted in the perfection series, the great saints show us what it is like to live in the Illuminative State and, finally, the Unitive State, both states which only come after purgation.
Some of us experience purgation for a long time. Abraham had a long life of purgation and we know his many sins. Sarah sinned as well, but they never gave up on their covenantal relationship with the Trinity.
The exterior visit of the Trinity with Abraham provides an analogy for us.
Abraham gave God all, and made time to be with Him. We must do the same, daily.
Without the life of the Trinity, we are dead. But, if we are alive in sanctifying grace, our bodies and our souls become a New Eden, as God walks and talks with us in "the cool of the day". We do not need to hide, as God wants us to find Him, and He wants to be found by us.
Such is our call as Catholics.
To be continued....
Why Did The Trinity Come to Abraham? The New Eden
One of the most famous encounters with God in the entire Old Testament is the meeting of our father in the faith, Abraham with the Trinity.
Here is a reminder of the passage. Genesis 18:12 DR
And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
Here is a reminder of the passage. Genesis 18:12 DR
And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
Abraham had been a friend of God for a long time. He had followed God into the new land from Ur. He had made a covenant with God. He had lived his entire life on the promises of God and not on the wealth or status of his family.
He had taken a huge chance in following the God Who Is One.
But, now, suddenly, this God Who walked with Abraham came to him as the Three Persons of the Trinity.
Astounding. Very few would see the Trinity or know the Trinity before the Birth of Christ.
It seems that David did in his psalms.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, of course, knew the Trinity intimately.
Why did the Trinity come to Abraham? It was not merely to warn the man and his people of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was not merely to prophesy the coming pregnancy of the promised child, Isaac.
There is more to this historical fact than prophecies or warnings, as important as these are in salvation history.
The Trinity came to Abraham for three reasons as I understand the text.
The first is that God so loved Abraham that He wanted to reveal Himself as He is to His friend. The Trinity is not only revealed to Abraham, but to us, his descendants in the faith. This meeting prepared future generations for the Incarnation and Pentecost.
Second, God wanted to test His friend and see how faithful Abraham actually was. Did this friend of God really trust God? Did this friend of God, who spoke with God, ask enough? I think not. I think Sodom and Gomorrah could have been saved if Abraham would have asked for more-for five good men.
He did not have enough faith, enough trust in the mercy of God. That mercy would be fully revealed on the Cross.
Third, God came to be with men. He came to be with us through this encounter. He ate with men. He talked. He walked, He haggled. He made promises. He judged. He destroyed.
God loved us so much He did not want to wait to reveal Himself.
I call this meeting the New Eden. What Adam and Eve threw away, Abraham and Sarah obtained-friendship with God. Abraham and Sarah may be analogous to the fallen first parents. Only, these parents trusted in God. They obeyed, not perfectly, but, try they did. They prefigure the New Adam Christ, Who is Perfect Obedience, and the New Eve, Mary, Who is Perfect Human Obedience.
How amazing that God came to be and to do on earth, and prepare all of us for His Coming again at Christmas and at Pentecost.
But, God will come again on the Last Day. This is also part of the history of this meeting.
God was preparing us for the final tribulation and purification of the world.
We are Abraham, as we were spiritually in his loins, as the Apostle tells us.
Abraham was considered "righteous" for his faith in God. He was holy.
He is St. Abraham. And he was told of one of the greatest times of judgement the world had ever seen.
God was spiritually preparing Abraham for purification, to become a great saint.
Pay attention.
To be continued....in Part Two.
To be continued....in Part Two.
I also warned friends against bitcoin
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303801304579410010379087576?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303801304579410010379087576.html%3Fmod%3DWSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Mt. Gox, once the dominant exchange for bitcoin trading, on Friday said more than $470 million of the virtual currency vanished from its digital coffers, kicking into high gear a search for the missing money by victims and cybersleuths
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Mt. Gox, once the dominant exchange for bitcoin trading, on Friday said more than $470 million of the virtual currency vanished from its digital coffers, kicking into high gear a search for the missing money by victims and cybersleuths
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The price swings have hit some investors hard. Fortress Investment Group FIG +1.40%LLC on Friday recorded an unrealized loss of $3.7 million from its purchase of $20 million worth of bitcoins last year. The asset-management firm held $16.3 million worth of bitcoins at the end of 2013, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mt. Gox halted customer withdrawals three weeks ago, saying a "bug in the bitcoin software" allowed some users to alter the ID on transactions and fraudulently claim that bitcoin transfers hadn't been sent. Other exchanges also had problems but were able to provide patches so activity could resume.
Mt. Gox didn't recover, and it shut down operations Tuesday.
The defunct exchange is the target of an investigation by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. The scope of the probe isn't clear, but prosecutors have subpoenaed the company, ordering it to preserve certain documents, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mt. Gox also faces lawsuits from customers. On Thursday, a customer who claims to have $25,000 worth of bitcoins tied up at Mt. Gox filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against the exchange. Gregory Greene, who filed the claim with an Illinois District Court, is seeking damages, an injunction, restitution and other remedies.
A Belle Wether
Some things I have known for a long time. Part of this is that I am very sensitive to the spiritual world. Part of it is that I am a poet and poet have antennae for movements. Part of it is that I take my Church seriously and when a Pope, when not a Pope, in 1963, warned of a pruning of the Church and I read this years later, I took this warning seriously.
I notice things. Some of us are weather vanes or bellwethers, the leading sheep in a flock which causes the others to follow.
One does not choose such a life, as it is painful. The life of the prophet is one of sticks and stones. And, the prophet is never accepted in his or her own town.
I warned of the dangers of the man who is now president in 2004. I warned my students of the ACT in 2009. I warned friends of coming wars involving Russia and China as early as 2008.
None of my ideas are "rocket science", but merely reactions to history and the present dangers. One also listens to the saints, the angels, one's own gut reactions.
Now, we are quickly sliding into chaos, as exemplified by the absence of our so-called leader from an important meeting, and the sending of a rabbit to another important meeting on Tuesday.
Never before in the history of America have the citizens lacked brilliant, honorable leadership as we do now.
Never before in the history of the Catholic Church in America have we lacked brilliant and bold leadership at the top as we do now.
We all shall suffer from this lack of leadership.
This crisis is of our own making. How many parents encouraged their sons and daughters to become priests and nuns? How many parents encourage their sons and daughters to become excellent civil servants and good politicians?
I have written about the death of noblesse oblige on this blog before. Nobility in leadership seems dead on two continents as the narcissists and self-seekers run the show.
Sadly, the ideology of communism never left Europe, and my Gramsci articles have not been well read. These warned people of the coming crisis. Few seemed to care or realize that his writings have been seriously used by the powers that be.
Does anyone think that the Church will be suddenly triumphant under either complete chaos and anarchy or strict communism? Dream on. The remnant is very, very small.
The main line Catholic media has deserted us, and we have one or two Catholic voices which speak the truth.
But, these men are labelled trouble-makers and are marginalized. Such were the saints.
If you are not preparing for chaos, you are purposefully being dull. You shall be held responsible for the souls in your care if you are ignoring the signs of the times.