Next Sunday marks the beginning of Advent. Last Sunday we officially ended Original Time, and yesterday the calendar year came to a close, by celebrating the liturgy for "Christ the King".
It was not one of my better masses. I was cranky and defiant, and truthfully, I regretted not going to the 10 o'clock mass after seeing that the visiting priest would give the homily, because I find him to speak quite egotistically, too casually, and wants to give "entertaining" talks.
Having been awake for about only 40 minutes before I ran into the church several minutes late, unshowered, and with a mild discomfort from needing to use the washroom (there was a bathroom schedule conflict), I felt actual distain, as I took my place with lowered brows.
So when the Gospel reading came (from the book of Matthew, which is acknowledged by even minsters to be sharp and repudiate), my feelings then turned to hostility, more so with the church itself, for taking a teaching of Jesus too literally, "He (the Lord), will put the sheep at his right hand, and the goats at his left." (25.33).
Because of this one phrase, my fellow left-handers were persecuted and burned as witches in the Middle and Renaissance ages. Even my own grandmother, just two generations from me, had to learn how to use her right-hand, and corporal punishment was enforced to correct her if she failed to do so.
Of course, this terror, hatred, and intolerance that reigned for over 800 years, AD, was never Jesus' intention; in fact, it was the complete opposite. Rather, these traits of evil were of Satan's infiltration into the Vatican, where he still holds his influence.
Jesus said that magicians are to have forgiveness, as our Father in heaven forgives us (Luke 11.3-4); this is one of the two commandments that Jesus gave us: a change in the old law of the Jews, which states all magicians are to die. (Exodus 22.18). So the church actually regressed; but isn't that part of Satan's specialty, after all.
Looking up at the the scaffold, then down, then up again, I thought with a near frown, "This is so unfair" - a returning attitude of mine the past week or two after not getting the guy who I wanted.
Jesus said that magicians are to have forgiveness, as our Father in heaven forgives us (Luke 11.3-4); this is one of the two commandments that Jesus gave us: a change in the old law of the Jews, which states all magicians are to die. (Exodus 22.18). So the church actually regressed; but isn't that part of Satan's specialty, after all.
Looking up at the the scaffold, then down, then up again, I thought with a near frown, "This is so unfair" - a returning attitude of mine the past week or two after not getting the guy who I wanted.
Funnily enough, the visiting priest started off his homily saying that exact phrase, "It seems so unfair!", making a joke, saying that God doesn't really hate people "like him" (who is plump - in the first reading from the book of Ezekiel, the Lord says he will destroy "the fat and the strong"). Then he told us about a farmer who came to him after an earlier mass, and protested the readings as well: "What's wrong with goats!?".
We were told it was simply imagery, and that there's no need to be fearful. I could appreciate this, but really all I could think was, "When is he going to mention the 'devil on the left-hand side'? That was taken literally! Can he explain how my people were tortured and killed for being 'witches'?" And what about this folklore that has become superstition for us all today, even me: I am always temped to throw spilt salt over my left shoulder to "blind" the devil.
We were told it was simply imagery, and that there's no need to be fearful. I could appreciate this, but really all I could think was, "When is he going to mention the 'devil on the left-hand side'? That was taken literally! Can he explain how my people were tortured and killed for being 'witches'?" And what about this folklore that has become superstition for us all today, even me: I am always temped to throw spilt salt over my left shoulder to "blind" the devil.
After doing a quick scan on the witch hunts this morning (linked below), I wonder, are left-handed people really of the devil? My family, being Masons, have cursed my family tree, and endangered their souls. Even my last name has occult familiarity, but after the coming of our Lord, persecution was and still is not justified. Rather, the hunts were nothing short of blasphemy to Jesus in the highest.
So now I pray even harder that upon my conversion a year and a half ago, that I became of the ones in white - and of course not the fake head-to-toe white that I wore when I practiced the occult in kundalini yoga - but rather of the real saints, as revealed by St. John in the book of Revelation, who are absolved by the new and everlasting covenant. I believe that I have washed my robe clean in the blood of the lamb
Peace be with you.
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