Christ the King, Carly the Cranky

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.

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.

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.

Resources:

A timeline of the witch hunts
Cursed family trees

Purgatory month

Halloween has passed, and November 1st began a month of beautiful adoration to God and his saints.

Samhain was practiced (and is still today by pagans and secret fraternities) on the eve of the Celtic new year (October 31st), where sacrifices for purification were made.  When the Gospel was spread to what is today the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, holy rituals justly reversed abhorrent ones.  The greatest example being Jesus offering his flesh, to supercede that of the children and virgins.

The atheist might say that Christianity was violently spread, and no doubt there was much blood shed; but be assured, it was spilt in righteousness, whereas the blood of human sacrifice could have never gladdened God.  The Bible tells us that the Lord requires no sacrifices, in fact, he is revealed to detest them. See Proverbs 15.8, and Amos 5.25 for starters

But since God is LORD, he showed us so much mercy, to both the sinners and the saints, that it only caused him to use the deplorable acts that fuelled Satanic tribes, and to mirror them in making the supreme sacrifice of himself - humbly incarnated as the Christ to give up his body so that all human sacrifice should end once and for all. John 3.16

I maintain that the Gospel (most notably the gift of the Eucharist) is the direct opposition of gentile societies, which exists even today in the form of secret brotherhoods and within pagan and Satanic sects.

Catholicism (the true "Christianity", in fact that latter word shouldn't even exist), is the only way to conquer the angel of death (Satan).  And since Samhain is such a destructive time for us, we are offered guidance and extra support from those in purgatory for the entire month of November.

So next year on Halloween, consider why we dress up.  It's not a chance to unite in some unspoken act of solidarity to bear bellies, wear short skirts, and bright makeup, just because one doesn't have the confidence to do it the other 364 days of the year.  No,  costumes historically were disguises.

We dress up to camouflage ourselves against the demonic spirits that freely walk on the eve of the saints' day, the night where they are arguably the most bitter for being defied by the true power that nurtures us so that we may survive in enemy territory.  We dress as we imagine they look, to move under the radar (classic examples are witches, ghouls, vampires, zombies, and so on).

The night of the dead is a practice found world-wide, which ought to bear witness to even the unbelievers, and it's time that we consider ourselves before our neighbours, and before God.

This should not be about parties, but it is, because this is what Satan wants: we put ourselves in positions where we cannot listen to Jesus, "Keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5.8.   It is also not about trick-or-treating.  Truly, Samhain is so deceptive and insidious; remember, it is the children who were the prime sacrifices.

Rather, this is about one of the most evil, if not the most evil, night of the year, and about God's love reminding us that he has once and for all that is is HE who is victorious, giving us an entire month of honouring the dead of God's children - not Satan's.

Thanks be to the final supreme sacrifice to end all sacrifice, that has given us All Saints' Day (November 1st).  Let the real celebrations begin.


Sources for Purgatory month:
November pray

Holy souls in purgatory

Sources for child/human sacrifice
Druid sacrifice revealed
Human sacrifice on Samhain
Preparations for Samhain
Brief summary
Child sacrifice in Africa
Reports of sacrifice at the Vatican and LDS Temple
Human sacrifice
Celtic human sacrifice

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit = idolatry

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is to deny God, and to also accredit lesser gods (or demons) to the good works/miracles that actually come from God.  This, is idolatry, as defined by the Catholic Church, and is the one unforgivable sin, as stated in the Catechism:

"Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, 'You cannot serve God and mammon.' Many martyrs died for not adoring 'the Beast' refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God."

We see two famous stories of idolatry in the Gospels, where Jesus warns us of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,  Matthew 12.32, and the second most common warning in Mark 3.22.

And yet, people do not recognize that idolatry is at the heart of this unforgivable sins.

Now, I do not have the answers (yet!)  I have fallen victim to idolatry in my yoga practices, and I know not if I can be forgiven.  Does the one unforgivable sin mean that it is only unpardonable if we die before repenting?  What about the Church teaching that once we stand before God, in our purest form (the soul), we will choose Christ?  What then?

What I do know, is that most every one has fallen victim to the idolatry that is the curse inherited from Adam's Fall.  Only few will find and take the the narrow gate; the rest will succumb to idolatry, and typically not even realize it.

The greatest and most overt example of idolatry is within the growing popularity of yoga.  In 2008, tens of millions of people practice(d) yoga in the United States alone, with over a million Canadians practicing in 2003. (Ibid).  Imagine what that statistics are in 2011!

This, of course is hard to accept, even for the Catholic.  It is important when taking the narrow path that is requested of us, that we still follow Jesus' commandments, and also to remember what it truly means to love our enemies.  Jesus was not exclusive; though he came only for the lost sheep of Israel, anyone of faith was healed.

It is a fine line between apostleship and radicalism, condemning and warning. But more importantly, there is the maturation of the gift of discernment that is bestowed upon us at baptism.  We must pray for the grace so that God may strengthen our ability to know good from evil, and to know who that lost are, and who we are not meant to minister as Christ's disciples.

The real problem in (kundalini) yoga right now, is the failure to recognize that everything is God's will: even when it is us who are preforming the miracles, and making us seem God-like. And even though the Japji states that everything is in God's will, the yogi believes that the power is his, because he is God.  This is the most common iniquity committed by man since the beginning (Original Sin), and the reason why we suffer still.  Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit must be the centre of the Christian's focus when practicing yoga (even the yogis).

The consequences of idolatry have been made known to us for thousands of years, and even the complacent and ignorant are not absolved of their offences. If we want to break the generational curse of Adam, we must recognize the Christ, our True God; there is no other way.

Yoga and the Antichrist

John prophecised in Scripture that the Antichrists have come, and will continue to do so (1 Jn 2.18), while advising that "There are many deceivers at large in the world, refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in human nature.  They are the Deceiver; they are the Antichrist." (2 Jn 7)

Jesus himself warns us of the grave danger that we are to face, "False Christs and false prophets will arise and produce signs and portents to deceive (even) the elect...You, therefore, must be on your guard.  I have given you full warning." (Mark 13.22-3)

I have been seduced by the Antichrist, but as St. Paul was knocked right off of his horse on his way to Damascus to commit sin, so too was I knocked down on my way to becoming a yoga master, right at the beginning of my teacher training program in the autumn of 2008.  This is why I feel such a strong connection to the dangers of the New Age, though I did not understand until this month the mission that God has been preparing me for.

I am now working to release my bondage from Satan, as I repent for the times I would hold asanas to demons and lesser-gods, and for chanting blasphemy.   Even if I was unaware of what I was doing; ignorance is no defence (Ps 8.2), as well as for my inherent offences against God for the generational curse of my ancestors’ iniquity in practicing the occult (idolatry), “I punish a parent’s fault in the children, the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren among those who hate me.” (Ex 20.5).

The primal reason, the primitive reason, why yoga is the leading destructive force in the insidious New Age movement, is because it swiftly and accurately ushers in the Antichrist; it comes from the same seed that allowed for the first violation against God ever to be committed: idolatry - the worship of the self, over the respect due to the one who created us.  Indeed, New Age is not new - it is merely an exotic form of the forbidden fruit of the one and only rule that God had set for us in the Garden of Eden.

Yoga takes us away from God, by telling us that we are God, which empowers us and makes for an appealing teaching.  As God, we are perfect: we do not fault, we have no need to repent, we never die, we can control the weather, we can move mountains - and not with faith in God, but simply with faith in ourselves and our own "divinity".  Yoga claims to be spiritually superior, but what it really does is prey on the vulnerable.

Yogi Bhajan, my former master's master, who passed the year before I walked into my first yoga class, brought Kundalini Yoga to North America in the late 1960's.   Yogiji, as his followers call him,  was allegedly prophecised by the Hopi Indians to establish peace and unity on earth.  But I now argue that he is in truth an Antichrist, and the most powerful one this world has thus far witnessed.

This guru was attractive, charming, charismatic, intelligent, and persuasive; he even got away with telling his students that they are filthy on the inside.  Some of his lectures were so crass and cruel, that I would often have to stop reading them.  This is just one way in how yoga is contradictory (and should be a red-flag, but naturally is not).  In one class we're being taught that we are perfect, and in another we are being told we're ugly on the inside: fakes behind our spotless white garments that symbolize purity.

It is pressing that us Catholics recognize the dangers of yoga, and also be vigilant of New Age philosophies that are seeping into some of our priest's homilies.  It is time to ask for courage to become a Jeremiah, and to watch out for our brothers and sisters who are leaving the flock to pursue a life of idolatry - the one grave sin that Jesus says is unforgivable (Mk 3.29), yet which tens, maybe even hundreds by now, of millions of North Americans have been recorded of practicing.

And yet naturally it is challenging to understand the dangers of yoga, because it makes one feel attractive: it gives one confidence, strength, and esteem.  But the devil makes us feel good, this is why we usually do not recognize his ways.

Satan makes us feel like limitless gods - until he calls his debt in.

As Jesus says, you have been warned.

The essentials in being human

What I've learnt so far in the summer of 2011 (an on):

1) Being in pools, lakes, oceans (playing in water)
2) Amusement parks (going on rides)
3) Mosh pits

"Welcome"

From new indie band of St. John's, Newfoundland, Hey Rosetta!

The first time I heard this song, I only really picked up on the line about being 33 years old, because that's my age.  I felt guilt, because my immediate interpretation was, "everything (I) wanted and tried to be has been pulled apart because of MY fear and greed."

But when I saw Hey Rosetta!  at Downsview Park on Canada Day, one of their last songs was "Welcome", and it gave me chills, as though I was high.  Suddenly, I realized that this is my song to feel inspired, not my song to feel shame because of any fault through my own doings!  Maybe it sounds strange to identify with this song as "mine", but the embarrassment that I felt at the aforementioned lyric, and the upliftment of how I now interpret it after seeing them perform live, is truly strong.  This is MY song!

After the lyrics, I posted a flawless performance by the group during the South By South East festival at the beginning of the summer.  Enjoy :)

You'll be a bright light, coming out of the dark.
All the doctors, blinking hard.
You'll be lightning, coming out of the storm.
It's a message; it's a miracle.

You will do alright.
You've got your mother's eyes.
You've got your daddy's head;
everything thing you need for this hard ride
they'll be strapping you on.
All the ups and downs, and you can't get off.

There's trouble we're handing off
and you've got to do better than us.

It will be alright.
You've got lots of time.
You've got your daddy's love,
everything you want.

I can feel you, and what you're going to be.
You'll be stronger, you'll be smarter than me.

Oh baby, I'll say it again:
You're the most incredible thing.

I'm sorry, this is it.
It's cold and hard and badly lit,
and there's no backing out of it.

So forget where you've been.
It will never be that good again;
we must only look ahead.

And soon you're 33,
and everything you tried to be
is pulled apart by fear and greed.

But young hands could build you up,
and carve your face in honest rock,
sunlight on your noble jaw.

Young hands build you up...

I'm happy that you've come along.

Hey Rosetta! performing "Welcome"

On guard for thee

Whatever happened to just standing on guard for thee?

 From today's Globe and Mail:

"Canada is more...than hockey, saying ‘eh’ a lot, and drinking Tim Hortons coffee".  I'm conflicted on this belittlement of (fun) national identity.

First of all, it's the beholders' own folly for ignoring (or making conclusions based on ignorance) our incredible and accomplished history.  Who doesn't know that we burned down the White House?   Canada IS in fact known to have excellent hard power, despite the US making fun of us for being, and I quote Homer Simpson, the "younger brother, who, by the way, has never had a girlfriend".

In trying to show we are not just soft power, (which apparently is how we define Peacekeepers who gang up on and  beat civilians to death), we're sending out a very clear message to the world stage that we ARE in fact aggressive; but this is already completely obvious!  We riot over hockey, for crying out loud.  How does puffing out our chest and implying that we are ready to fight benefit us?  This only puts us on the radar.  What are we trying to prove, and to whom?

Now in terms of the Monarchy, as a once dominate culture (which I personally hail from), that has now become the minority to what appears to be Eastern Europeans, whom, from what I have observed, consider Canada to be second-rate to their homeland and don't really seem to want to be here, I really don't have a problem with returning back to the entire foundation of this awesome country.  But then where does this leave Quebec?  The French helped to make this country interesting and unique, and it is crucial to work with the Separatists, whilst not alienating those who do in fact respect the Empire.

On the flip side to my disagreement of our exertions, Harper is brilliant for funding our presence in the North, and I am extremely grateful for his timely insight and action; this is standing on guard, literally, which is, in my opinion, is the most noble form of patriotism.  

In closing, can we not just be left to train for defence: we already know we are amazing, must we flaunt pearls before swine? 

Harper spins a new form of patriotism