When Popes Offend, Bishops Laugh

How should a Pope comment about homosexuality in his seminaries without offending anyone? Probably not in the way that he did it, 

from Religion Media Centre:

The Italian newspaper La Republica has reported that the Pope told a group of Italian bishops that there is “too much frociaggine (faggotry)” among those training for the priesthood.

The report is of a closed-door meeting from a week ago during a discussion on admitting gay men to seminaries. Corriere della Sera, Italy’s bestselling daily, confirmed the report and said bishops were incredulous, believing he was unaware of the offensive meaning of the word.

And from CNN (which could not print the word "faggotry" and instead wrote “f*****ry").  

The Corriere della Sera newspaper stated that the Argentine pope, who speaks Italian as a second language, may not have been aware of how offensive his language was, adding that the remark was greeted with incredulous laughter by the bishops.

 How do the know that the laughter was incredulous? It might have been giggling, chuckling, rolling on the floor laughing out loud. For all we know, only the homosexual bishops were offended. I suspect one of them leaked the conversation to the press.

 

 

Trinity Sunday and Memorial Day together in song

 This Sunday is the confluence of Trinity Sunday with a Memorial Day weekend. For this I chose what some might consider an unusual processional hymn to begin the service, "Let all mortal flesh keep silence" in part because "St. Patrick's Breastplate" was too hard for our small congregation to sing. 

1 Let all mortal flesh keep silence,

and with fear and trembling stand;

ponder nothing earthly minded,

for, with blessing in His hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

our full homage to demand.

2 King of kings, yet born of Mary,

as of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture,

in the body and the blood.

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heav'nly food.

3 Rank on rank the host of heaven

spreads its vanguard on the way,

as the Light of light descendeth

from the realms of endless day,

that the pow'rs of hell may vanish

as the darkness clears away.

4 At His feet the six-winged seraph,

cherubim with sleepless eye,

veil their faces to the Presence,

as with ceaseless voice they cry,

“Alleluia, alleluia,

alleluia, Lord Most High!” 

From  Hymnary.org, 

"One of the lesser sung Christmas hymns, this paraphrase of Gerard Moultrie is based on a text that has been used by the church since the late fourth century: the Liturgy of St. James. Moultrie’s words come from a part of that liturgy known as the Cherubic Hymn, which would be chanted as the bread and wine of Holy Eucharist were brought forward. This old text evokes a sense of majesty at the incarnation of Christ, and the slow, almost chant-like melody in a minor tone wonderfully expresses that awe and mystery. We come before Christ in silence and in awe to reflect upon the mystery of the incarnation, joined even by the hosts of heaven to witness the miracle. Singing this hymn, one can imagine him or herself standing in the stable, angels above, in reverent silence to worship the King, born a child to banish the darkness away."

I chose it because it fits perfectly with the reading from Isaiah 6:1-8

I

n the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory.’

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

 I felt that the reverent tone was appropriate for Memorial Day also. 

I chose "Almighty Father strong to save" for the Offertory.

We'll process out to "Crown Him with many crowns". 

Postlude tune will be "Materna" which should be familiar to the congregation as it goes to, "O beautiful for spacious skies...".

 

Marriage and Happiness

 Pewsterspouse and I recently had our 50th High School reunions, and it was sad to see just how many of our respective former classmates had passed away and how many have been divorced and remarried or not. The ones who had divorced appeared happy, but I know that they were scarred. A recent Gallup poll confirms our belief that marriage is something that God intended for us to stay in.

“Within the U.S., it is clear that married adults rate their lives more highly than others and have done so for the past 15 years,” the survey, released last Friday, concluded. “From 2009 to 2023, married adults aged 25 to 50 were more likely to be thriving — by double-digit margins — than adults who have never married. The 16-percentage-point gap between married adults (61%) and those who have never married (45%) in 2023 is within the range of 10 to 24 points recorded since 2009.”

Marriage’s emotional bonus held true “for men and women across all major racial/ethnic groups” and “is not explained by other demographic characteristics — such as age, race/ethnicity or education.”

Gallup researchers found wedded couples less prone to communication breakdowns in their relationships. Married couples were half as likely (26%) to say they experienced two or more days in the last month where they or their partner felt so angry, they could not speak to each other than those living together (46%) or dating exclusive (41%). Interestingly, living together outside marriage made people 12% more likely to argue than dating exclusively while living separately.

The poll does not address the importance for God to be present in a marriage for a couple's true happiness.

1st Century Language Learning

This Sunday we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit as told in Acts 2:1-11,

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’

That's one way to learn a foreign language. 

This first century version of  Babbel.com did not come cheap. For most, it would cost them their lives.

United Methodists Put Final Nails in the Coffin

The news from the recent gathering of the United Methodists (UMC) in Charlotte should provide more than enough nails to close the UMC's coffin.

First, from The Christian Post,

UMC drops decades-old ban on ordaining LGBT clergy without debate

On Tuesday, as part of another consent calendar, delegates voted 667-54 to remove the Book of Discipline's ban on funding LGBT advocacy groups and mandatory punishments for clergy who blessed same-sex unions.

The have been ordaining LGBT's for years, they are just making it official. They have been blessing same-sex unions as well. Orthodox African Methodists are going to leave the UMC en-masse.

And, to add lead weights to the coffin, the UMC decided this, 

Delegates to the United Methodist General Conference approved full communion with the Episcopal Church on April 30. The agreement needs the approval of the Episcopalians before going into effect.

If the Episcopalian Church affirms the agreement, which might not happen until meetings scheduled for 2027, it will mean that the two denominations recognize each other as “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church in which the Gospel is rightly preached and taught.”

Neither organization is a holy, catholic, or apostolic church in which the Gospel is rightly preached and taught anymore. 

Too bad that so many people are fooled into believing otherwise.

 

TMI?

This Sunday's reading from Acts 1:15-17,21-26 used in churches following the Revised Common Lectionary omits verses 18-20 (I have put them back in), and I am left wondering why,

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, 16 ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’

18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 ‘For it is written in the book of Psalms,

“Let his homestead become desolate,

   and let there be no one to live in it”;

and

“Let another take his position of overseer.”

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

I can only assume that the description of Judas' demise was felt to be too graphic for your typical Sunday pewsitter. 

Telephone Prophets Profit

 I don't know how many saw this at The Christian Post about dial up prophets raking it in, but it is something that I had not heard about,

Some 2,700 years ago, the Prophet Micah warned that “prophets tell fortunes for money.” (Micah 3:11 NIV) The business of prophecy selling continues in 2024.

Panganai Java, the flamboyant Zimbabwe-born but Maryland-based preacher better known as Prophet Passion Java, finances his lavish lifestyle by preaching the prosperity gospel and charging his followers $555 for phone calls.

Passion Java is well known for wearing expensive designer clothing and driving high-performance sports cars while attracting scrutiny from Prophets and Watches. His Instagram account has 7.9 million followers.

On his website, Passion Java promotes one-on-one phone calls for $555 and discloses there are no refunds. Testimonials on the website sound similar to ads for psychics:

“I had a one on one with Papa Prophet Passion in August. He prophesied that within 6 months you will have your visa. My VISA has been approved by Canadian authorities.”

According to the so-called prophet’s website, there is a long wait to receive a call from Passion Java: “Please be advised that after registering – one on ones are based on Prophet’s schedule. The average waiting time is 5-6 weeks but can fluctuate… Thank you for waiting in a timely manner as we are experiencing high volumes of registers.”

If Passion Java makes four calls a week, he will generate over $100,000 in one year from phone calls.

Passion Java also gives prophetic messages during his sermons, and in a Jan. 1 video, prophesied he will acquire a private jet in 2024.

Preachers Bernard Jordan and Manasseh Jordan also profit from the prophecy business.

Bernard Jordan’s Zoe Ministries offers personal prophecies for $52.

Meanwhile, Manasseh Jordan offers “Access to a LIVE prophetic phone call with the Prophet” to members of his Diamond Partner Program. These donors give $500 monthly to Manasseh Jordan Ministries.

In 2019, Manasseh Jordan lost a lawsuit in which he was accused of illegally robocalling people for donations. The Cook County Record reported that Manasseh Jordan Ministries “placed more than 163 million automatic calls to a database of more than 4 million unique cellphone numbers in just two years.”

Besides leading Christian drama productions, prophet Kyle Miller provides 15-minute calls for $42 and 30-minute calls for $80.

Naim Collins promotes himself as “a cutting-edge prophet called to the nations of the world.” Collins charges $50 for a prophetic word.

Prophetesses also offer prophecies for a price.

Prophetess Yasmin Best’s website, Prophets on Call, claims, “We deliver authentic and accurate insights for every situation from the mind of God directly to your ears.” Prophets on Call charges $78.50 for a 15-minute call.Prophets on Call Ministries files a postcard 990 with the IRS indicating the nonprofit organization takes in less than $50,000 annually. The nonprofit ministry is led by prophetess Best, who also runs the similarly named Prophets on Call Limited Liability Company.

People must be pretty stupid these days. Come to think of it, doesn't the Bible tell us that this type of fleecing has been succeeding for thousands of years. 

Tough Love

This Sunday's reading from John 15:9-17 has often been used to justify acceptance of sinful behavior in the name of "love", but I think it does not proscribe "tough love". In fact, following Jesus' commandments sometimes means telling the world the tough truth about sin.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. 

What is the loving thing to do when a child is lost? Should you let them stay lost? No, you organize a search party and go out looking for the child. 

What is the loving thing to do when a child tries to put a finger in an electrical socket? You slap its hand of course and tell it to never do that again.

What is the loving thing to do for someone who is spreading a false gospel? 

What is the loving thing to do when your friend is an Episcopalian or United Methodist?

Hmmm....

 

UMC's Divorce From Monogamy

 

Pity my poor brother-in-law. He is still in his United Methodist church in spite of the fact that the denomination is busy committing suicide one revision at a time,  

From World.

"United Methodism’s governing General Conference, meeting currently in Charlotte, N.C., is enacting a sexual revolution within what used to be, until very recently, America’s third-largest religious group."

"So far, in legislative committees, later to be ratified in plenary, delegates by wide margins are disconnecting sex from marriage or even monogamy. Until now, the United Methodist Church officially taught that 'sexual relations are affirmed only with the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage.'”

"But the proposed revision, okayed by 75 percent in committee, says we 'affirm human sexuality as a sacred gift and acknowledge that sexual intimacy contributes to fostering the emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of individuals and to nurturing healthy sexual relationships that are grounded in love, care and respect.'”

"That’s it. No mention there of marriage or monogamy."

That's is for the UMC alright. They will make their choice, and it will lead them straight to perdition. 

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it."

― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce