Sunday, July 17, 2016

The Family Of God

In any human family, you sometimes see siblings fighting against each other.  Even husbands and wives sometimes quarrel with each other. These are normal everyday things that happen in family life.  Although arguments and conflicts are common and normal in the human family, reconciliation keeps the family strong. This is also true with God's family.  

Since the beginning of Church history, we find that even the Apostles have arguments.  For example, St. Paul and St. Barnabus had a very serious argument over a trivial thing that they went their separate ways (Acts 15:36-40).  However, they later reconciled.  God always favors reconciliation that he even instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

Therefore, division within the Catholic Church is not new.  There have been divisions since the beginning, but reconciliation is what God favors. It is the devil, the father of lies, who sows division within the Church.   

In the jungle, Glaucon Jr. stated that a second way a nation came into being was through "experience."  According to Glaucon Jr.: 
The second way is by common experience of an event that permanently makes the group what it is. When the Patriarch Jacob and his family of 70 or so went down to Egypt, they went to make a life; 400 years later, that life was one of slavery. We all know the story: God sent Moses to lead them out, and they were brought out into the desert, and with them came others—some Egyptians, some Midianites, and some from other tribes and races.

But those who were brought out of Egypt weren’t the same as those who emerged from the desert 40 years later. That original generation grumbled against the Lord and complained that the manna he gave them wasn’t good enough. It didn’t meet their expectations. So in that 40 years of purification, they died and were replaced by those born in the wilderness, raised in the wilderness, dependent on God and His lawgiver-prophet at every turn. And when they came out of the desert, they were no longer a bunch of random tribes.

They were Israelites. They were the people of God.

It was by their shared experience of the Exodus Event that made them Israelites, and that’s why Jews even today celebrate Passover as they do: based on memory and not on blood, it remembers who they are based on the Exodus Event that made them who they are.

Christians are Christians in the same way. We share that common experience of the real, actual event of the Incarnation: the conception, birth, life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ our God. That is what makes us Christians.  Life in Christ is the full incorporation into Christ in this world and in Eternity.

Actually, they were Israelites because of the covenant God made to Abraham. The ones who came out of Egypt and the ones who came into the promised land were all descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whom God named Israel). God had already claimed the descendants of Abraham through Isaac's and Jacob's line "His people" because of the covenant He made with Abraham.  As a matter of fact, when God spoke to Moses, He said, I have seen the affliction of MY PEOPLE in Egypt and have heard their cry (Exodus 3:7).  He called them "my people" even before He brought them out of slavery from Egypt. 

The Israelites who went into the promised land (Canaan) were the children of the old generation who sinned and grumbled against God. These children were still the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The promised land is a prefigurement of God's kingdom.  The ones who did not enter the promised land (Canaan) were those who sinned and grumbled against God. This same rule will apply to God's kingdom in Heaven.  The covenant that God made with Abraham was circumcision (Genesis 17:10-19).  

It was through the covenant of circumcision that the Lord God became the God of Israel and the Israelites "His people".  Circumcision was the Old Covenant, and was made in blood.  Those who were circumcised belonged to the family of God. Those who were not circumcised did not belong to the family of God. 

In the same way, Christians belong to the family of God through a covenant that Christ made with us.  Like the Old Covenant, the New Covenant was also made in blood.....the blood of Jesus Christ. Baptism replaced circumcision. According to the Catholic Education Resource Center:
St Paul also confirms that baptism now replaces circumcision as entry into the New Covenant.  For example, he says, "In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.  You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him" (Col 2:11-12).
And according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the bold is mine): 

CCC 1267   Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another."72 Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body."73

CCC 1268  The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood."74 By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission. They are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light."75 Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that through our baptism, we become a HOLY NATION..... God's own people.  Our baptism brought us into God's own family.  

However, it is true that we are sinners.  We are not perfect.  We are not holy. We are not better than anyone else.  We are sinners and no better than the inmates at the Department of Correction.  Nevertheless, through our baptism.... God is our Father.  Mary is our Mother.  Jesus Christ is our Brother. Through our baptism, we are the sons and daughters of God.  

Do not listen to false prophets who tell you that God's people are born from "experience."  This teaching is heresy.  We became part of God's famiy through our baptism, and we certainly did not give birth to any Junglewatch nation.  The Junglewatch Nation came into existence through their own "experience" exactly as Glaucon Jr. claimed.   

As for natural religiousity, here is what Pope Francis has to say about it.  The rosary is good and the NCW members pray the rosary.  What they say about Kiko or the catechists telling us when to pray the rosary is false.  The NCW teaches its members HOW to pray.  They teach us that Christ is the center and focus of our prayer, not than the devotion.     

35 comments:

  1. Glaucon's latest silliness is this "Jungle Nation" stuff. He came up with the idea that his manamko army of the elderly, who go out for fun and entertainment for their old days when they picket around town, is actually a whole nation, a separate and distinguished group of people of common heritage. Lol! Yeah, they are a nation of fake super egos... Well, it is not only childish, it is also ridiculous. Let's remind the Jungle Nation of the word of our God:

    Psalm 96

    4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
    5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:26 pm,

      And they claim that the NCW teaches heresy. Look who turned out to be the heretic now. They forgot the meaning of "covenant." In the NCW, we are given words like "Covenant", "rock", "sabbath" for study. Then we have the celebration of the word. Imagine that!!!! They think that God's people were born from "experience."

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    2. Yes, Diana, you are right! Looks like Rohr was not the only lunatic in the jungle...

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 11:59 pm,

      I think Tim Rohr was delusional only because he thought that Father Pius was in charge of the Archdiocese.

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    4. I don't think he means a literal nation. And are you saying Glaucon's an idolator?

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    5. Some of these people believe just because their grand parents; parents gave the church their land to build or otherwise gave the church money; they now expect the church to continue..never forget what their families have done. Guess what; their grand parents and parents may be sitting on the table with Jesus but they themselves have done nothing but complain.

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    6. Glaucon Jr. still does not get it that it was a mistake to popularize the "Remnant blog" at the jungle. Its blatant anti-Pope bias criticizing and attacking Pope Francis on every turn is so amply demonstrated that only fools wanna be associated with the silliness of this blog.

      Only Ray D that he had the courage to expose the anti-Catholic machination of the new "jungle master". He said this:

      rey dJuly 19, 2016 at 11:01 AM

      sorry, but the words "funhouse Church that Francis is bullding" automatically made this article lose credibility to me.

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    7. glaucon didn't say anything about the remnant did he? it looks like his comments responded to other comments. Why not ask him what he thinks he hasn't been shy yet

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    8. Lol, anon at 11:01, so you just admitted that don't read Glau's submissions either... Cool! Because he actually included a whole article from the Remnant blog, popularizing its insipid anti-Pope propaganda an indolent bias against Pope Francis. Make no mistake, my friend, the Remnant blog IS schismatic and anti-Vatican to its core!

      Now, you cannot hide that long what you really think about the Supreme Pontiff and about the authority of Vatican. If you despise the Pope and mock the authority of the Curia, then you are probably not even a Catholic but someone who was SENT by the adversaries of the church to penetrate, stir controversy and destroy Roman Catholics from inside!

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    9. Where did he submit something from the Remnant? I don't see that anywhere. I saw he commented, but it doesn't look like he posted anything from there. Why not just ask him?

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  2. OMG, sweet Lord in heaven! Just look at what Glaucon Fr. is entertaining us with in the jungle. He shows how hungry he is to sip down deep EVERY WORD of this blog, especially the words of Diana! Yes, dear Diana, you are a true inspiration for him. He just produced a no end-litany composed in black, blue and red about his "nation" analogy. Hey, Glau, why don't you just say this jungle nation stuff was a misnomer and then we all get a good laugh and go home in peace... You don't need to overdo it, man. Lol!

    Glaucon Jr. is also demonstrating the true "power" of the jungle manamko: unlimited amount of time to waste on anything! He is turning his pastime hobby into lengthy written compositions that nobody has time to read through. Lmao! What were you thinking, dear Glaucon? It is only you retired folks who don't care about the time of others that you spend on scribbling down your half baked jokes and ideas in 1000 plus lines for homework reading for everyone. No, my dear manamko friend, we refuse your homework assignment. Normal people don't have that much time to read, not mentioning to write.

    But never mind. The important thing is that you elderly folks enjoy yourselves for your old ages. After all, you deserve the cheap fun you have on the expense on your own intellect, don't you?!

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    1. These old people only try to have some fun to chase their boredom. The jungle, the CCOG and the LFM are just some kind of movie theater for them to enjoy their time, to meet and reach out to each other. Perhaps the church could do more for these manamko by re-establishing the good old coffee-doughnut chat sessions after parish masses that would bring people closer to each other.

      Manamko at the parishes could get involved in more charity events rather than going out to protest against the church. It is much better to build the church by faith, love and charity than trying to destroy it by silly protests and picketing. What is this good for? The whole story is getting very old and boring by now...

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  3. Anon@8:54 PM: You stated in your comment that Normal people don't have that much time to read. Looks like you read it so therefore, you are not NORMAL. LOL!!

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 12:55 pm,

      I only read the first five paragraphs and then gave up. The rest was not worth reading. Obviously, his pride was hurt over what I wrote.

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    2. You called him a heretic. That's not pride, it's self-defense. You defend yourself all the time.

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    3. You always have an excuse for everything. So you're implying that you were also responding as "Anonymous" in your own blog? So it's safe to say that maybe all of the comments in this blog are written by the same person. Are you that delusional? LOL!!

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 2:07 pm,

      It is pride. And I do not defend myself all the time. When I find that I am wrong, I admit my mistake. A person with pride cannot admit their mistakes.

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    5. You called him out, he supported his position. That's it. You don't have to admit he beat you, but don't accuse him of pride. Or do you know him? Did God reveal this to you somehow about him>? And you STILL haven't answered where he called YOU out on Mary.

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    6. Anon @ 2:07 pm, Diana doesn't defend herself all the time. She just does a lot of Jungle Cleaning. That's not defending herself. That's just letting the jungle know there wrong

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    7. Dear Anonymous at 10:14 pm,

      I am sorry. I must have missed that part about Mary. As I said I did not read his entire post. What was his question about Mary?

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  4. Diana called him a heretic, so he proved her wrong. Long winded maybe, for sure, but not a heretic.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 12:57 pm,

      Actually, he did not prove me wrong at all. Glaucon Jr. Went on a different direction. He spoke about Abraham being the father of many nations. My post was clear. God chose the descendants of Abraham through the line of Isaac and Jacob. It was only through this line of descendants that God called His people, and it was through this line that one can see the sign of God's covenant with Abraham. He was called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (the God of Israel). He was never called the God of Ishmael despite that Ishmael was Abraham's son. Ishmael was not the chosen one.

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    2. He didn't say that. You said it was about circumcision. He said it's about the Passover. That was his point, and he used the catechism to prove it. You should have read the whole thing. At least he read yours. He said alot more than than that, and he proved you wrong on all of it, and gave you credit where he were right.



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    3. Dear Anonymous at 2:06 pm,

      He said that the nation of Israel was built as a result of "shared experience" of the Passover. That is incorrect. The Catechism only says that the Jews recall the Passover as more than a memorial. It did not say that the Passover or a "shared experience" built Israel. That is what Glaucon Jr. wants you to believe. This is false teaching.

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    4. Glaucon pretty long winded.1st paragraph I already quit reading it. Ummmm get to the point?

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    5. He said it's the shared experience of the work of God. Not individual experience. If that is false teaching then where does it say it is false? The memorial of a whole group of people is a shared experience. Give it up. You just won't admit that he proved every thing he said with the catechism. Now who is proud

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    6. Dear Anonymous at 10:55 pm,

      No. He said that a SECOND way to build a nation is the shared experience of the people. He then went on to explain how the nation of Israel was built as a result of this shared experience. This is incorrect.

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  5. Diana did the same thing. So what? It's a debate.

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  6. So why is it you don't show how the JW criticism is wrong? If they're wrong, show it and shut them up.

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    1. We show them wrong by our very existence. Lol!

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  7. Dear folks, perhaps it is only me, but I cannot help but laughing and laughing loud and hard until my shoulder is shaking uncontrollably when I read the theological masterpiece of someone called RAM, God bless his good heart whoever he might be... He gives the following remarkable lecture to Diana about the "true meaning" of the covenant of God with his people:

    RAMJuly 19, 2016 at 10:33 PM

    "The sign of this covenant is circumcision, for each time the priestly members, males will attend to the call of nature, they will see the sign, and it will serve as a reminder of the Covenant between them and God."

    Sweet Lord in heaven! Is this for real?? Is RAM truly proposing that some kind of "pee-covenant" is what makes a nation? ROTFL!

    By the way, RAM must be an extremely curious fellow. For his information, most people do NOT have the custom to watch when they have the "call of nature". It is just not the way to do it. Lol.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:33 pm,

      And in response to RAM's comment, Glaucon saw nothing wrong with it. LOL!!! In his response:

      Glaucon JrJuly 19, 2016 at 11:45 PM
      Indeed, well said.

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    2. AnonymousJuly 19, 2016 at 11:57 PM said:
      By the way, RAM must be an extremely curious fellow. For his information, most people do NOT have the custom to watch when they have the "call of nature". It is just not the way to do it. Lol.

      Then you must be woman. Men, however, can hardly miss noticing if they're circumcised or not. lol.

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  8. Pee covenant? He was referring to the conjugal act, which is of nature and not of sin, especially in the context of Holy Matrimony. The same is true with menses. They are both of nature, and both are intimately tied to the first command of God to "be fruitful and multiply."

    Is your fury for Glaucon so intense that it's darkened your mind?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 7:24 am,

      I doubt it especially when he spoke of "circumcision."

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