“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

This Scripture verse truly is preceded by an example of a whole multitude of witnesses throughout chapter 11. And this chapter ends as follows: “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

Then follows the verse which we are going to recite for two weeks. It begins with the words: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” And then it continues: “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The next verse is a continuation of the previous one: “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” And we read further: “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

Our cross is truly the greatest gift from God; it is meant to strip us completely of the old self, of the slightest clinging to anything, and to clothe us in thoughts of essential things – death, heaven, hell, and the abandoned, humiliated and crucified Jesus.

Whenever God wants to give new life – resurrection, the way to new life is through the death of the old self. There is no other way than to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus, and then die spiritually to yourself, to sin, and to the world! May God, through various little things, lead us into death with Mary and through Mary.

Christ appeared to the apostles on the evening of His resurrection. God willed that the Apostle Thomas should not be with them. The apostles said to him: “We have seen Jesus! We doubted at first, thinking in fear that we were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said to us, ‘Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’ Then He asked if we had anything to eat, and ate it in our presence, so that we might believe that it was really Him risen from the dead. The bones of the fish that Jesus ate are a testimony to that. Jesus is really alive. All of us, the ten apostles and the two disciples who went to Emmaus, have seen Him with our own eyes.” But Thomas would not accept the testimony of the apostles and did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. For a whole week he was in unbelief and just kept repeating to them: “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” A week later, on Sunday evening, Jesus appeared to the apostles again. His first words were: “Peace be with you!” Then He turned to Thomas and repeated his request in exactly the same words: “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” How did Thomas respond? He cried out: “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus says: “Abide in Me, and I in you.” (Jn 15:4) He is in us. He is with us. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20) But we are not with Him. That’s the problem! He is in me but, in fact, I am not in Him, and so I do not rely on Him.

“Abide…” How? By actual faith, by realizing the particular truth of the Word of God, receiving it personally and uniting to it. This truth then works in me and unites me to Jesus. Be aware: “Jesus, You are now in me, and I in You.”

The Word of God says: “We were buried with Christ in baptism and also raised with Him.” (Col 2:12) This is not a literary expression or poetry. This is reality! How we were raised with Christ and how we received a new life is a mystery. There is nothing to think about. Scripture says so and therefore it is reality. God’s Word says: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” and “We are a living temple of the Holy Spirit”. If we are in a state of sanctifying grace, all that Jesus obtained for us at Calvary and all that belongs to Him He gives to us, so it is also ours. If we give ourselves to Him and are united to Him, then if we have Christ, we have all things in Him. St Paul says: “In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Before Jesus raised Lazarus, who had been dead four days, Martha said to Jesus: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise again.” She said to Him: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So He has the same power and can raise the dead even today, especially the spiritually dead. He can do the same things He did when He was here on earth. When we read the lives of the saints and martyrs, we see that through many the Lord worked great miracles before they died, that is, while they were being tortured. For example, miracles with wild beasts, when the hungry lions in the arena did not tear the martyrs apart, but instead licked them and sat at their feet like sheep. Other times, when they were thrown into prison after cruel torture, their bodies were completely recovered the next day.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

Jesus wants mature people. He can do more with one mature person in a year than He can do with hundreds of immature people in 200 years. The mark of maturity is actually the degree of dying to self with Christ. The essence of this death to self is in humility, in completely renouncing at every moment one’s own will, one’s own good, one’s own ideas or desires, and accepting everything out of love for Jesus. People who are completely forgotten, buried, those who have died with Christ, mature souls, who have offered themselves as a sacrifice to Jesus – it is their sacrifice that decides the future of nations.

The greatest blessing is when God gives us the grace to be evil spoken of, unjustly suspected, reproached and humiliated for His name’s sake. The Lord Jesus trod this path before us, because He loved us. He was completely innocent. Yet He forgave and prayed for everyone.

The most important thing is to persevere with Jesus abandoned, not to nourish the slightest bitterness towards anyone, to constantly encourage one another and remember: Of what spirit we should be?! Yes, of the Spirit of Christ, who is meek and lowly. We need to humble ourselves before God again and again by entering into the truth about ourselves: How much self-will, how many critical thoughts and words, how much unbelief when we acted without God, according to our own reason, feelings or wishes. How much have we suffered not in order to promote the things of God but our own interests instead! Life goes by. No day will return. What we have sown in faith is sown.

Truly we know neither the day nor the hour, and nothing is more certain than death. Therefore, we have to redeem the time. How? By a living faith, by daily practising humility, that is, constantly renouncing our own wishes, good plans or intentions. Let us not stick to our own opinion, but bring everything to light, and humble ourselves every time we act spontaneously on our own. However, when others do something wrong, we should not condemn them but, again, humble ourselves in spirit: “Lord, I am twice as bad. I’ve made the same or even greater mistake so many times. And mine was a banal one that this person would never make.” Let us accept the concrete hardships as a cross to carry.

19 March 2024

The media report that Bergoglio’s autobiographical book spanning over 300 pages is set to be released on 19 March 2024. In the book, Bergoglio mentions his resignation, stressing that in this respect it is “a distant hypothesis”, since he says there are “no serious reasons” for his resignation.

Commentary: As early as 2018, Bergoglio and his homo-network were publicly called upon to resign by C. M. Viganò, Nuncio Emeritus to the US, for very serious reasons. Moreover, the fact is that Bergoglio has already excommunicated himself from the Church owing to his pseudo-gospel (cf. Gal 1:8-9). He cannot therefore be its head, as Scripture, the Church Fathers, the Doctors of the Church and the dogmatic constitution confirm. Nevertheless, he continues to illegally occupy the papal office.

The pages of the autobiographical book also traverse the history of the Argentine dictatorship during General Jorge R. Videla’s regime. Bergoglio dwells on repeated accusations addressed to him of being complicit with the dictatorship, and therefore deliberately presents himself in his book as a saviour of vulnerable children and young people.

11 March 2024

The season of Lent in this extraordinary time of great apostasy is a time of urgent repentance. The statements of Jesus about repentance are relevant for each of us. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Metanoite, change your mind and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15) “Unless you repent, you will all perish.” (Lk 13:3)

Watch this video on: https://rumble.com/v4k5uw3-lent-2024.html  
https://youtu.be/R2bElcVYJzE  
https://www.bitchute.com/video/sasjHokBGEis/   
https://cos.tv/videos/play/51462109433991168  https://ugetube.com/watch/UNGn9R5eeFZrcx9   

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him

must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

This verse is part of the well-known chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is preceded by the following five verses: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.” (Heb 11:1-5) Next, this chapter presents models of faith, such as Abraham, Moses, the prophets, and points out that not only are we saved through faith, but through faith God also works extraordinary miracles.

We need to talk about hell. It is hard to talk about this truth separately though. However, if we highlight the beauty of the Saviour as a contrast against this dark background, this is truly evangelization. Yes, hell is a real threat looming over everyone. But there is Jesus who came to save us from hell. Therefore, the fear of hell should be a strong impetus for us to sincerely repent and be saved.

A certain devout priest full of apostolic zeal carried out a mission in France for 40 years. In an audience with the Holy Father Pius IX in Rome, he gave a frank account of his missionary work. On this occasion, the Pope gave him an extremely useful advice: “Teach the great truths of salvation. Speak especially about hell. Do not conceal anything – and especially not about hell. Nothing so helps to awaken poor sinners and bring them to God as the truth about hell.”