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Jun 3023 min read

THY KINGDOM COME - JULY 2024

Price: 1 Rosary

Volume 5

2024 July

 


 

All for Jesus – All for Mary

All to Imitate Thee O’ Patriarch St. Joseph


 

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Contents

 

Mary’s Message

Message Received June 28, 2024 During a 2pm Divine Mercy Chaplet

During the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I was looking at the crucifix we have on our wall. The wall began to disappear as it was replaced by the vision of the world. The world was slowly spinning with God's hand below it.  Then, the world became engulfed with fire.Here, I was shown closeups of each continent. Every content was enveloped within different types of flames. I do not have the words to describe the more than demonic hatred I was shown. Armies were fighting. People were being tormented, attacked. So much horror I cannot begin to explain the sheer demonic presented before me.We must pray, sacrifice, and repent. We must face this evil with prayer, love, sacrifice, and acts of repentance.  We must pray for our souls and the souls of our priests and religious.  We must pray for those in danger of hell. It was truly hell on earth.  Let us pray Our Lady may mitigate what I was shown. Pray with all sincerity and repentance for this not to happen. This cannot happen! Pray for the King of Peace to reign in all of our hearts.   Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, we trust in you.


Request From a Previous DayOur lady asked me to do something she asked only once many, many years ago. She asked me to return to each of the nearby cathedrals on Thursdays to attend mass and pray the rosary for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is  the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus Christ. 

 

Sunday, June 4, 2023

11:45pm to Midnight (No accident it ended at midnight)

Yes, my son, it is I.  I have returned to complete the work I began with TeeBeb.  To complete the chapel.  I announced would be built in Lockport, the Miracle of the Rosary Chapel.  The Time of Great Distress is quickly upon this country and indeed upon all the world.  Great are the sins of humanity.  Not since the Time of the Great Flood have perversity, sin, and denial and rejection of God reach such levels.  But for the faithful few, it is Hell on Earth. Be not discouraged my son.  I have not abandoned nor forsaken you.  I am with you always.  Remain faithful to my work entrusted to you.  Be at peace. Go with God’s Blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.


2nd week of June 2023

My son, be not disturbed, but go forward in faith and with a heart filled with love and mercy.  Great are the hardships soon to befall humanity.  Only God can tend to their needs.  Be at peace and witness this peace of God through your life that all may praise God and glorify Him.  Be at peace. Go in the Peace of God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

From 2008, the 28th of an Unknown Month

An angel came to Darrell and said demons would be trying to get people to go against the Miracle of the Rosary Mission.


From the 17th of an Unknown Month and Unknown Year – Assumption is 2008

Darrell had a vision during 12:00pm Mass. He saw our Lady on a very big white horse.  On each side of her was 2 horses smaller than hers, but still big.  They had angels on them and behind them were legions of angels and people, an army. Later that day, during adoration, he saw our Lady standing on the side of her horse, holding the reign.  She was giving them to Darrell.  After Darrell put his head down, and Our Lord said arise and be not afraid.


News and Upcoming Events

  • Cross of Light – The Cross of Light is in the process of being fixed.  The company has agreed to do the necessary corrections, and it should be complete soon!

  • September 4th – We will begin the St. Louis de Montfort consecration to Jesus through Mary in anticipation of October 7th, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary  

  

  • October 7th – We will be having a public rosary on the lot in Lockport, LA where the Cross of Light is located.  October 7th is not only the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, but the date celebrated as the beginning of the Miracle of the Rosary Mission.


Spotlight

Charlene Richard, 1947 - 1959

Taken from the Website:

 “Charlene was born January 13, 1947. After being diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia, she died on August 11, 1959, at the age of 12. During her confinement in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette, LA, Charlene would offer her prayers and suffering to God each day for the benefit of others.

"She was a faith-filled little girl", said Fr Joseph Brennan, a priest for the Diocese of Lafayette, LA, who was serving as hospital chaplain and ministered to Charlene during her final days.

"I see Charlene as a witness for people of all ages to the power of resignation and acceptance of God's will", said Fr Brennan. "She wasn't different in any way except that when the crisis came in her life - and it came very early - she accepted it with faith and trust and love."”


In the Footsteps of Jesus


St. Thomas, the Apostle

Feast Day: July 3rd

Liturgical Color: Red

Patron of Architects, Builders, and the Blind

By Fr. Dean Danos


St. Thomas was one of the twelve apostles called to follow Christ. He is best known for his doubting and the need to see physical proof.  Because St. Thomas wasn’t present with the other apostles when Christ appeared to them after his resurrection, he wouldn’t believe that the Lord had indeed risen.  Instead, he said, “Unless I see the marks of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)  The following week, when Christ returned to those who had gathered, Thomas was given the proof he needed.  Seeing Jesus, Thomas immediately replied, “My Lord and my God!”  (John 20:28). Those same five words are often prayed silently by Catholics around the world during the consecration when the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.  It is believed that St. Thomas later preached the Good News in India where he was martyred.  In religious artwork, he is often portrayed with a carpenter’s rule, a builder’s square, or touching Christ’s pierced side.  We, too, can join in his words of awe and total faith: “My Lord, and my God!”

 

Prayer: Dear Jesus, you called St. Thomas to be one of your apostles even though you knew he would have questions and doubt.  But you knew he would come to believe completely, and proclaim, “My Lord and my God!  When we struggle with doubts, like St. Thomas, help us grow in faith, so we, too, can proclaim, “My Lord and my God!”.  This we pray in your name. Amen.

 

Monthly Moments

Monthly Prayer Intentions

  • Against Storms

    • Hurricane Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us from all harm during this hurricane season.  Protect us and protect our homes and property from all disasters of nature.  Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us!  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our brother; living and reigning with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen!

  • Military and Hospital Chaplains

  • Those Who Care for the Suffering and Dying

  • Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force

  • Law Enforcement Officers

  • Firefighters

  • Emergency Medical Services

  • 911 Dispatchers

  • Search and Rescue

 

Saint of the Month


Saints Anne and Joachim, Jesus’ Grandparents

By Fr. Dean Danos

Feast Day: July 26th 

Liturgical Color: White


Little is known about the grandparents of Jesus, though ancient Christian tradition tells us that they come from the Tribe of Judah and the House of David.  We can only reason that they were devout Jews who raised Mary to love God with all her heart and to trust in his plan for her life.  As grandparents, they must have loved Jesus deeply and enjoyed watching him grow in wisdom and grace.  We reflect also on our grandparents.  It’s a perfect day to pray for them and thank them for the many gifts they share – like their love and faith in us and their love and faith in God.

 

Celebration of the Month

USA – Independence Day – 4th of July

By Fr. Dean Danos


Americans celebrate Independence Day, known as the 4th of July. This holiday marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document claiming freedom from Great Britain and King George III.  We thank God for the blessings we share as citizens and residents of these United States.


“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” – Declaration of Independence

 

Book of the Month

“Our Lady of America Our Hope for the States” by Dan Lynch: https://a.co/d/088RBBwJ

 

Apparition of the Month


Our Lady of America

Taken From the website: Click Here


Officially, she is Our Lady, The Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of America. This title refers to the dogmatic recognition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from the stain of any sin, both in her conception and in her life. This singular privilege was given only to her who was destined to be the Mother of God Incarnate. This Catholic Doctrine is perfectly in harmony with her wonderful sanctity and preeminent dignity as Mother of God.


In 1792, the first bishop of the United States, John Carroll, consecrated the nation to Mary under her title The Immaculate Conception, and in 1846, the United States bishops unanimously chose Mary under that title as Patroness of the United States of America. At the dedication of the National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on November 20, 1959, Cardinal Patrick A. O’Boyle, Archbishop of Washington, again consecrated the United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

This consecration was renewed by the U.S. bishops on Nov. 11, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. Days later, the processional statue of Our Lady of America was first publicly displayed at the USCCB conference in Baltimore, Maryland. On November 15, 2006, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke (then Archbishop) blessed the statue. This same statue is now on public display in the West Wing of the Mother of Mercy Chapel, in Rome City, Indiana.


Prayer: Oh Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care.  Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this nation for the glory of your Son.  He alone is the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  God our Father, send Your Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation’s leaders.  With the intercession of Mary Immaculate, Patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the “culture of death”. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Virtue-Habit of the Month

Humility: We often confuse humility with either humiliation or the recognition of truth as our own truth and not that of God. Let us spend the month focused on God’s truth, who we are to Him, Who He is to us, and what He has taught us this means through Sacred Scripture (Prodigal Son, Lost Sheep, etc.).


Recommended Reading:


 

Submitted Articles

None Submitted This Month. This section is expected to have articles for next issue.

 

Doctrine and Dogma


On the Meaning of Human Suffering: Part 1 of 4

February 11, 1984 by St. John Paul II

Taken from the Vatican's Website: Click Here

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and dear brothers and sisters in Christ,


I. INTRODUCTION

1. Declaring the power of salvific suffering, the Apostle Paul says: "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"(1).


These words seem to be found at the end of the long road that winds through the suffering which forms part of the history of man and which is illuminated by the Word of God. These words have as it were the value of a final discovery, which is accompanied by joy. For this reason Saint Paul writes: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake"(2). The joy comes from the discovery of the meaning of suffering, and this discovery, even if it is most personally shared in by Paul of Tarsus who wrote these words, is at the same time valid for others. The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help—just as it helped him—to understand the salvific meaning of suffering.


2. The theme of suffering - precisely under the aspect of this salvific meaning - seems to fit profoundly into the context of the Holy Year of the Redemption as an extraordinary Jubilee of the Church. And this circumstance too clearly favours the attention it deserves during this period. Independently of this fact, it is a universal theme that accompanies man at every point on earth: in a certain sense it co-exists with him in the world, and thus demands to be constantly reconsidered. Even though Paul, in the Letter to the Romans, wrote that "the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now"(3), even though man knows and is close to the sufferings of the animal world, nevertheless what we express by the word "suffering" seems to be particularly essential to the nature of man. It is as deep as man himself, precisely because it manifests in its own way that depth which is proper to man, and in its own way surpasses it. Suffering seems to belong to man's transcendence: it is one of those points in which man is in a certain sense "destined" to go beyond himself, and he is called to this in a mysterious way.


3. The theme of suffering in a special way demands to be faced in the context of the Holy Year of the Redemption, and this is so, in the first place, because the Redemption was accomplished through the Cross of Christ, that is, through his suffering. And at the same time, during the Holy Year of the Redemption we recall the truth expressed in the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis: in Christ "every man becomes the way for the Church"(4). It can be said that man in a special fashion becomes the way for the Church when suffering enters his life. This happens, as we know, at different moments in life, it takes place in different ways, it assumes different dimensions; nevertheless, in whatever form, suffering seems to be, and is, almost inseparable from man's earthly existence.


Assuming then that throughout his earthly life man walks in one manner or another on the long path of suffering, it is precisely on this path that the Church at all times - and perhaps especially during the Holy Year of the Redemption - should meet man. Born of the mystery of Redemption in the Cross of Christ, the Church has to try to meet man in a special way on the path of his suffering. In this meeting man "becomes the way for the Church", and this way is one of the most important ones.


4. This is the origin also of the present reflection, precisely in the Year of the Redemption: a meditation on suffering. Human suffering evokes compassion; it also evokes respect, and in its own way it intimidates. For in suffering is contained the greatness of a specific mystery. This special respect for every form of human suffering must be set at the beginning of what will be expressed here later by the deepest need of the heart, and also by the deep imperative of faith. About the theme of suffering these two reasons seem to draw particularly close to each other and to become one: the need of the heart commands us to overcome fear, and the imperative of faith—formulated, for example, in the words of Saint Paul quoted at the beginning—provides the content, in the name of which and by virtue of which we dare to touch what appears in every man so intangible: for man, in his suffering, remains an intangible mystery.


II. THE WORLD OF HUMAN SUFFERING

5. Even though in its subjective dimension, as a personal fact contained within man's concrete and unrepeatable interior, suffering seems almost inexpressible and not transferable, perhaps at the same time nothing else requires as much as does suffering, in its "objective reality", to be dealt with, meditated upon, and conceived as an explicit problem; and that therefore basic questions be asked about it and the answers sought. It is evident that it is not a question here merely of giving a description of suffering. There are other criteria which go beyond the sphere of description, and which we must introduce when we wish to penetrate the world of human suffering.


Medicine, as the science and also the art of healing, discovers in the vast field of human sufferings the best known area, the one identified with greater precision and relatively more counterbalanced by the methods of "reaction" (that is, the methods of therapy). Nonetheless, this is only one area. The field of human suffering is much wider, more varied, and multidimensional. Man suffers in different ways, ways not always considered by medicine, not even in its most advanced specializations. Suffering is something which is still wider than sickness, more complex and at the same time still more deeply rooted in humanity itself. A certain idea of this problem comes to us from the distinction between physical suffering and moral suffering. This distinction is based upon the double dimension of the human being and indicates the bodily and spiritual element as the immediate or direct subject of suffering. Insofar as the words "suffering" and "pain", can, up to a certain degree, be used as synonyms, physical suffering is present when "the body is hurting" in some way, whereas moral suffering is "pain of the soul". In fact, it is a question of pain of a spiritual nature, and not only of the "psychological" dimension of pain which accompanies both moral and physical suffering The vastness and the many forms of moral suffering are certainly no less in number than the forms of physical suffering. But at the same time, moral suffering seems as it were less identified and less reachable by therapy.


6. Sacred Scripture is a great book about suffering. Let us quote from the books of the Old Testament a few examples of situations which bear the signs of suffering, and above all moral suffering: the danger of death(5), the death of one's own children(6) and, especially, the death of the firstborn and only son(7); and then too: the lack of offspring(8), nostalgia for the homeland(9), persecution and hostility of the environment(10), mockery and scorn of the one who suffers(11), loneliness and abandonment(12); and again: the remorse of conscience(13), the difficulty of understanding why the wicked prosper and the just suffer(14), the unfaithfulness and ingratitude of friends and neighbours(15); and finally: the misfortunes of one's own nation(16).


In treating the human person as a psychological and physical "whole", the Old Testament often links "moral" sufferings with the pain of specific parts of the body: the bones(17), kidneys(18), liver(19), viscera(20), heart(21). In fact one cannot deny that moral sufferings have a "physical" or somatic element, and that they are often reflected in the state of the entire organism.


7. As we see from the examples quoted, we find in Sacred Scripture an extensive list of variously painful situations for man. This varied list certainly does not exhaust all that has been said and constantly repeated on the theme of suffering by the book of the history of man (this is rather an "unwritten book"), and even more by the book of the history of humanity, read through the history of every human individual.


It can be said that man suffers whenever he experiences any kind of evil. In the vocabulary of the Old Testament, suffering and evil are identified with each other. In fact, that vocabulary did not have a specific word to indicate "suffering". Thus it defined as " evil" everything that was suffering(22). Only the Greek language, and together with it the New Testament (and the Greek translations of the Old Testament), use the verb * = "I am affected by .... I experience a feeling, I suffer"; and, thanks to this verb, suffering is no longer directly identifiable with (objective) evil, but expresses a situation in which man experiences evil and in doing so becomes the subject of suffering. Suffering has indeed both a subjective and a passive character (from "patior"). Even when man brings suffering on himself, when he is its cause, this suffering remains something passive in its metaphysical essence.


This does not however mean that suffering in the psychological sense is not marked by a specific "activity". This is in fact that multiple and subjectively differentiated "activity" of pain, sadness, disappointment, discouragement or even despair, according to the intensity of the suffering subject and his or her specific sensitivity. In the midst of what constitutes the psychological form of suffering there is always an experience of evil, which causes the individual to suffer.


Thus the reality of suffering prompts the question about the essence of evil: what is evil?

This questions seems, in a certain sense, inseparable from the theme of suffering. The Christian response to it is different, for example, from the one given by certain cultural and religious traditions which hold that existence is an evil from which one needs to be liberated. Christianity proclaims the essential good of existence and the good of that which exists, acknowledges the goodness of the Creator and proclaims the good of creatures. Man suffers on account of evil, which is a certain lack, limitation or distortion of good. We could say that man suffers because of a good in which he does not share, from which in a certain sense he is cut off, or of which he has deprived himself. He particularly suffers when he a ought"—in the normal order of things—to have a share in this good and does not have it.


Thus, in the Christian view, the reality of suffering is explained through evil, which always, in some way, refers to a good.


8. In itself human suffering constitutes as it were a specific "world" which exists together with man, which appears in him and passes, and sometimes does not pass, but which consolidates itself and becomes deeply rooted in him. This world of suffering, divided into many, very many subjects, exists as it were "in dispersion". Every individual, through personal suffering, constitutes not only a small part of that a world", but at the same time" that world" is present in him as a finite and unrepeatable entity. Parallel with this, however, is the interhuman and social dimension. The world of suffering possesses as it were its own solidarity. People who suffer become similar to one another through the analogy of their situation, the trial of their destiny, or through their need for understanding and care, and perhaps above all through the persistent question of the meaning of suffering. Thus, although the world of suffering exists "in dispersion", at the same time it contains within itself a. singular challenge to communion and solidarity. We shall also try to follow this appeal in the present reflection.


Considering the world of suffering in its personal and at the same time collective meaning, one cannot fail to notice the fact that this world, at some periods of time and in some eras of human existence, as it were becomes particularly concentrated. This happens, for example, in cases of natural disasters, epidemica, catastrophes, upheavals and various social scourges: one thinks, for example, of a bad harvest and connected with it - or with various other causes - the scourge of famine.


One thinks, finally, of war. I speak of this in a particular way. I speak of the last two World Wars, the second of which brought with it a much greater harvest of death and a much heavier burden of human sufferings. The second half of our century, in its turn, brings with it—as though in proportion to the mistakes and transgressions of our contemporary civilization—such a horrible threat of nuclear war that we cannot think of this period except in terms of an incomparable accumulation of sufferings, even to the possible self-destruction of humanity. In this way, that world of suffering which in brief has its subject in each human being, seems in our age to be transformed—perhaps more than at any other moment—into a special "world": the world which as never before has been transformed by progress through man's work and, at the same time, is as never before in danger because of man's mistakes and offences.

 

Flashback

This section brings back articles from the original Thy Kingdom Come issues.

Heresies & Heroes

DECEMBER 1995

BY BOB AND PENNY LORD


The Church in the First Century – Part 1 of 4

No sooner had our Lord died for us, risen from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, than the fighting and infighting began. The Lord gave us the Holy Spirit and Pentecost. Satan countered with one of the first and most vicious groups of heretics in the history of the Church. They attacked a very vulnerable sector of our Church, our Converts. This group of heretics was called...JUDAIZERS.


The Apostles began preaching in the Synagogues; therefore those members of the early Christian Community known as Judaizers, contended that the Church belonged to the Jewish people, the Chosen ones. They used this argument: since Christ came for the Jews, it was necessary for all believers to observe the Jewish law, the Mosaic Law, in order to fulfill the mandate of Jesus. Therefore, if non-Jews, or Gentiles, wanted to join the church of Jesus, they would have to observe all the Jewish laws.


Judaizing dates back to the very beginning, to the early days after the death of Jesus. It was to be a major source of controversy in the first Century! It almost caused a break between Sts. Peter and Paul in the infancy of the Church. It almost ripped their relationship asunder, as it tore away at the very fiber of the Church.


Judaizing was a heresy that insisted the Jewish laws and customs, as passed down through the centuries, especially the laws of Moses, had to be observed in the Christian community. They had a ready-made following among the Jews who had converted over to Christianity. They argued, "Why shouldn't the converts follow the laws of Moses?" It would be a smooth transition from Judaism into their new form of Judaism, Christianity.


Members of one of the heretical sects around Jerusalem, formed by Judaizers during this time (Acts 15: 13), were called Ebionites1. In addition to other 57 heresies, they taught: "Christ was a mere man." (This abomination has resurfaced down through the centuries, and is with us once more, in our time.) Because St. Paul defended Jesus' Divinity and His Church, Ebionites called him an apostate. Now, in the early Church an apostate was guilty of "going over permanently to paganism, the rejection, after an initial acceptance and Baptism, of the Graces of the Faith2". Therefore, like the ultimate deceiver himself, the Ebionites accused St. Paul of the crime they were guilty of committing.

 

The Church fights back!

Whenever there is a threat to the Church, you will discover the Lord will bring about Miracles of the Eucharist, our Lady will appear to her earthly children, or He will raise a powerful future Saint. The Church was in trouble and our Lord reached out to a contradictory figure. He chose Paul, a Jewish zealot, who had played a hand in persecuting the early Christians; this was the one He would use to defend His Church. But Jesus had to knock him off his prideful high horse first, and blind him to all the world and its prizes.


It was Saul who lost his sight, but it was Saint Paul who gained new sight, his eyes now only for the Way of the Lord.


He went into the synagogues and proclaimed the gospel. Anger rose up in the Greek Jews to whom he spoke. His Christian brothers pleaded with him to take it easy, not step on touchy subjects, like the Mosaic law. Paul ignored them. He spoke of Moses' law as having been replaced by the new covenant of Jesus. This was blasphemy! When the Jews plotted to have Paul killed, the Christians took this as an opportunity to get him out of Israel They took him by night to Caesarea. They put him on a ship for Tarsus where he waited until Barnabas came for him. Together, they embarked on their first journey of Evangelization. They went from town to town, first appealing to the Jews in the synagogues, and then, not having been successful with them, the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas came for him.  Together, they embarked on their first journey of Evangelization.  They went from town to town , first appealing to the Jews in the synagogues, and then, not having been successful with them, the Gentiles.  Paul and Bambas spent four years on this first missionary journey. We believe they thought they would return triumphant to Antioch in Syria. Maybe a little pat on the back, for a job well-done.  “[A]t they didn't expect was what was in store for them shortly after they arrived home.  Judaizers came to Antioch from Jerusalem.  They insisted that all Gentile Christians had to be circumcised, there could only be one Christian community, the Jewish converts who observed the Jewish law to the letter.  They criticized Paul and Barnabas.  “Unless you (Gentiles) are circumcised according to Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1)


Paul and Barnabas went through the ceiling!


These converts were not just numbers, a scoreboard. They were people! It went much further than Hebrew rituals. There was a big question which had to be answered. Was salvation dependent on faith in Jesus Christ, and all that implied. His death and Resurrection, or was salvation contingent on following the laws of Moses? Did Jesus give us a new Covenant, or was it an extension of the old Covenant?


It was determined that Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem, to present this problem to James and Peter. They brought Titus with them as an example of a pagan, who had converted to the Lord.


At the council meeting, Barnabas stood up and recounted their four year missionary journey. He introduced Titus as an example of the fiber of the pagan converts. That's when the riot began. "Some of the converted Pharisees then got up and demanded that such Gentiles be circumcised and told to keep the Mosaic law.3" Paul jumped to his feet and lashed out at the assembly. He defended his converts, and his understanding of the New Covenant. Peter, James and John stepped in and called for quiet. They took Paul and Barnabas into a private meeting. Paul and Barnabas shared their last four years on the road, how the Holy Spirit had worked so powerfully, in converting pagans to the new way of Jesus.


They spoke with such certainty, the apostles could do nothing other than agree with them, congratulate them, and lay hands on them.  The next day, James made the announcement to the council that the Gentiles did not have to undergo circumcision.  The battle had been won but there was still a great war to be fought.4


The bad news in our Church is, there is dissension among its members.  The good news is there has always been, and the Church has survived. Is this why our Lord left one head, one who would shepherd His children on earth?  The Judaizers came after Peter, our first Pope, and tried to create an irreconcilable problem.


“Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, victorious, so they thought.  But shortly after, Peter came to visit the church in Antioch. At first, everything was beautiful. Peter sat with Gentile converts, and broke bread with them.  But a contingent of Judaizers had followed to spy on Peter. He gave in to it; he removed himself from the Gentile Christians. He turned down invitations to be with them, so as to satisfy the Judaizers.  Paul was aware of it. When Barnabas separated himself from his own people to sit with the Jews, Paul knew he had to act.


"Peter was behaving contrary to the teaching of Jesus. "Who was he, Paul, to dare chastise the man whom Jesus had made head of the Church? But he had to do it. He got up in the middle of the assembly, and chastised Peter and the others for putting the law before Jesus. He ended on a powerful note "For if justice is by the law, then Jesus died in vain!"


Not a word was spoken. But everybody understood. Piercing silence blanketed the assembly. All eyes converged on Peter. He and Barnabas ran over to Paul and embraced him. And while the problem of Jewish dietary laws continued to plague the Gentile Jesus overshadowed adherence to the Mosaic laws5.


This was the first heresy the Church had to face. But, with the Fire of the Holy Spirit descending, once more, upon the Church, it was overcome. At the Council of Jerusalem in 40 A.D. the Apostles determined that the Judaizers were in error, (Acts 15) sending word to the Gentiles in Antioch: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit, and ours too, not to lay on you any burden beyond that which is strictly necessary, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from illicit sexual unition.” (Acts 15:28) making the way clear for Gentiles to be part of the Christian family.


And so, the Church corrected a serious error for all time, or so they thought.  Satan would not give up with this heresy.  If he could have successfully split Peter and Paul, the two powers of the Church of the First Century, we might have had to walk through our first split in the Church, a major splinter.  But Jesus had made a promise. Hell would not prevail against His Church.  As we walk through the brave battles that resulted in victory for Christ and His Church, we see the unrelenting, insistent Satan trying to lead the innocent lambs of the Church to final damnation.


References

1 Ebionite-comes from the Hebrew word for "poor."(Catholic Encyclopedia-Broderick)

2 Catholic Encyclopedia-Broderick

3 Acts of the Apostles 15:5

4 From the chapter: St. Paul in "Saints and other Powerful Men in the Church."

5 From the chapter: St. Paul in "Saints and other Powerful Men in the Church.


Heresies and Heroes is a serialized column excerpted from the book, Scandal of the Cross and its Triumph: Copyright 1992, by Robert & Penny Lord. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.


The book Scandal of the Cross and its Tri-umph, may be ordered from:

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