Monestir de Santes Creus. La tomba del rei Pere II és l’única tomba reial de la corona catalanoaragonesa d’època medieval que no ha estat profanada.

Pere II fou el fill de Jaume el Conqueridor i la seva segona muller, Violant d’Hongria, i successor al tron de la Corona d’Aragó.

El seu pare el nomenà primer, hereu (1243) i procurador general de Catalunya (1257), i definitivament de Catalunya, Aragó i València (1262). El seu germà Jaume, per la seva part, fou nomenat hereu del Regne de Mallorca, el comtat de Cerdanya i de Rosselló, així com la ciutat de Montpeller.

“The Lord said, ‘I will hasten my work in its time’ (D&C 88:73). Surely anyone observing the recent growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keenly aware of that hastening process. This should make us humbly grateful for the Lord’s omnipotent hand. Obstacles that seemed insurmountable have proven to be merely challenges for the faithful, for ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37). “Inspiration has prepared the way from the beginning, when the Lord impressed the Prophet Joseph Smith to compose the twelfth article of faith: ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.’ This inspired statement was surely written for our day. The Prophet knew that the gospel was ultimately to be taken to all nations regardless of their governmental differences. He knew that the ordinances of salvation and exaltation could bless the lives of people regardless of their politics. And he knew that people who were taught correct principles and who were loyal to their civil leaders and observing of their local laws would be most able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Hey Guys MegaMuffin Here!
I’m Going To Do The Coins Contest! But I’m Going To Add More Coins! Now You Will Get 20,000 Coins If You Win! The Sub-Winner Will Get 5000 Coins! & The Person To Guess The Features Gets 5500 Coins! If The Winner Guesses The Features, He Will Get 25,500 Coins! And Sub-Winer Guessed He’d Get 11,000 Coins! And We Are Also Having A MiniParty For 2 Reasons!
1. 9,000 Hits!
2. I Got A New Cat! (Yay)
(The Party Details Will Be Below The Contest)
Contest

Ok The Contest Is! How Many Friends Have I Got? The Closest Answer Will Win! 2nd Closest Will Win The Sub Prize!
Features:
Ok The Features Are… What Are My Dragons Age (They Both Same Age) & How Many Coins Have I Got (I Have Inbetween 50-0 Coins! You Can Only Guess Once For This Whole Competition!)
If You Guess *ALL* Features Correctly You Win 5500 Coins (By Correctly I Meen Closest Answer)

I Will Also Be Giving Out A Special Panda 100,000 Coins Once I Get 300 Followers! Once I Get 300 Followers! I’ll Scroll Through All My Panda Followers, And See Who…Then I’ll Write Down All Their Names On My Computer, The Print Of All Their Names! Then Cut Them Out And Stick Em Into My Hat, Shake My Hat About Then Pick A Random Card, And I’ll Post The Winner On Here!
If You Win Send Your Contact Details To:
PandaMember@Gmail.Com
||CONTEST ENDS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25TH 2009||

Party Details:
The Party Will Be Thursday 12Am Greenwich MeanTime: London,Lisbon,Wales & American Central: 7Pm…
It Will Be A Server Willow At Bear Hollow!
I’ll Be Will Be Adding Everyone!
I May Have Some Special Guests Come Like:
Penguitt
Henry
Jmann93
Geek

So Hope You Can Make It! (I Might Be Announcing The Winners At The Party Aswell!)

Cya Guys!,
MegaMuffin Out,
Peace.

Well here we are, three lines in to the offering formula and about to start on the fourth and last.  And here it is:

en ka en imakhy Senwosret, maa-kheru: for the ka of the revered one Senwosret, true of voice.

Sound like anyone you know?  Do you revere the colleague whose card or whiteboard you are embellishing?  Are they known for their honesty, the accuracy of their pronouncements or their karaoke prowess?  Never mind, it’s only a formula.  Let’s look at the first bit of it.

en ka en:  for the ka of.  Let’s do the easy bit first.   The Sherlock Holmeses among you will instantly have deduced that the squiggly lines top and bottom correspond to the en. 

Elementary.   And speaking of elements, the squiggly line in hieroglyphs represents the watery one.  It’s a ripple of water:

See the resemblance?  We’ve already seen wavy lines representing water, in the post on wabet.  But we haven’t had them as the actual letter n.  Here’s an original:

It’s a zigzag line.  What else is there to say?  The ka, on the other hand…

The Egyptians didn’t have souls.  Or rather, they didn’t just have single souls.  The deceased Egyptian exploded into a whole menagerie of afterlife entities:  the body, the shadow, the akh (a heron-like bird with a lamp who circled the skies with the stars), the ba (a human-headed bird that hung around the necropolis and twittered mournfully – they’ve made a comeback on the Internet lately) and the ka, or life force.

The ka had its advantages and disadvantages.  A disadvantage was that it was confined to the tomb, unlike the ba and the akh.  Maybe it kicked the ba and the akh out, so it could get some elbow room, with the body and the shadow.  Maybe that was why the ba twittered mournfully.  The advantage was that the ka got to ascend the burial shaft, come out through the false door into the offering chapel and feast upon the food and drink brought by the family or magically invoked by the passer-by.  The ka was the life force, and it fed upon the life force of the food.  But we’ve been through all this before.

The hieroglyph for ka is a pair of upraised arms, as found on the head of this royal ka statue:

What a beautiful, slender yet well moulded pair of arms and  shoulders, and delicate, detailed hands.  They didn’t always put so much work into the hieroglyphs,

although they have taken care to paint this ka the dark red colour they used for male skin (men being more likely to be outdoors than women, and therefore more tanned).  I draw my kas very simply:  three straight lines plus a little crescent at each end for the hands.

NB:  this ka is not to be confused with the ka meaning bull of a few posts ago.  Katie Hughes tweeted a good idea about that some time ago:  kh1369  @SusanLlewellyn Egyptians would be sustaining the ka (“spirit”) with ka (meat)? What a multi-purpose word! Also, is “kau” like “cow”? Easy!  She’s great at making these connections.

The lonely, isolated hilltop burial ground of Ballygunner Temple Cemetery is my current focus for a series of  B&W photographs.

This old Irish cemetery once served the City of Waterford ( world famous for its Crystal glass) and was also used during the Great Famine in the 1800’s. Some graves even date back as far as 1734.

The first President of Ireland, John Moore was interred here in 1799 following his capture during the 1798 Rebellion against the British. His grave lay undiscovered for over 160 years and was accidentally found in February 1960. Two years later his remains were exhumed and taken for burial near his family home in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

For more about me and my work please visit my website

Our Epitath

If it weren’t for Lars we wouldn’t have had the shirt. If it weren’t for the shirt we wouldn’t have known Denise. If it weren’t for Denise we wouldn’t have been in Barcelona. If it weren’t for Barcelona we wouldn’t have that cell phone. If it weren’t for that cell phone we wouldn’t have been found by Umberto. If it weren’t for Umberto we wouldn’t have gone to the market. If it weren’t for the market we wouldn’t have met Mr Kim. If it weren’t for Mr Kim we wouldn’t have learned the code. If it weren’t for the code we wouldn’t have written the song. If it weren’t for the song we wouldn’t have gotten the coins. It it weren’t for the coins we wouldn’t have bought the pills. If it weren’t for the pills we wouldn’t be dead.

-Bob Zatko

This post contains a few quotes from the Prophet Joseph Smith. I invite you to read them with a honest and humble heart. Then afterwords ask yourself how did you feel when reading them? Pray about what is being said. These are words direct from the first modern day Prophet. I humbly ask that you treat them with respect.

“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. But in connection with these, we believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power of faith, the enjoyment of the spiritual gifts according to the will of God, the restoration of the house of Israel, and the final triumph of truth” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 2007, 45-50).

“We deem it a just principle, and it is one the force of which we believe ought to be duly considered by every individual, that all men are created equal, and that all have the privilege of thinking for themselves upon all matters relative to conscience. Consequently, then, we are not disposed, had we the power, to deprive any one of exercising that free independence of mind which heaven has so graciously bestowed upon the human family as one of its choicest gifts” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 2007, 344-345).

“God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make Himself visible,—I say, if you were to see Him today, you would see Him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 2007, 40).

“We take the sacred writings into our hands, and admit that they were given by direct inspiration for the good of man. We believe that God condescended to speak from the heavens and declare His will concerning the human family, to give them just and holy laws, to regulate their conduct, and guide them in a direct way, that in due time He might take them to Himself, and make them joint heirs with His Son” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 2007, 66).

Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon see Christ and testify that He lives:

“And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness;…

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:20,22–24).

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (Book of Mormon, Introduction).

Our Father in Heaven is more anxious to bless us than condem us. He’s more anxious to forgive us than to cast us away. But this is no excuse to live a life at odds with His commandments because God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. (Callahan)

i too come to affirm my committment to the opposite

long have been your seeming loves and undying felicities

that am left with but a singular path to consider -

and take it shall i

for consider me nothing less than a proper companion

in your amorous escapades and forays

on that, please care not add any knowing to mine

the long history of our runnings tortures and accuses my gaunt frame

how you have proven unworthy of proper company is beyond question

your long and diseases speeches have but a singular purpose: death

the rough linings of your tongue purpose nothing save bitterness

of a certain in you flows only the waters of the meribah sort

such lip clothed strife violently entombed in sinewy beddings

perchance that desert-prince could be returned for to sweeten it

for not unlike his people, i too have grown into an orphan

a ready vagabond, habitually enslaved by weaker foes

in my mind, i daily yearn for a return to our lands

homes long forsaken for your sake

to that, so do i purpose to die to your windy charms

so as you smile and create those semblances

of humanity upon your visage – consider me cured of your singular disease

Have You Seen Smallville: Season 5 Episode 14 – Tomb?

Episode Synopsis:

During a power blackout, Chloe sees the ghost of a girl and cuts her both wrists. Chloe is interned in the hospital, and the psychiatrist diagnoses that she had a breakdown due to stress. Lana asks Lex to send Chloe to a mental institution for treatment since nobody believes her. However, Clark brings his friend to Lois’s apartment above the Talon, where Chloe is possessed by a spirit of the dead girl, called Gretchen, and shows Clark the place where the skeleton is hidden in the Talon’s wall. Chloe leaves the apartment alone seeking revenge against the killer, while the deranged orderly Michael Westmore kidnaps Lois. Meanwhile, Clark researches for information about the death of Gretchen in old newspapers. Also, Lionel encourages Martha to take the late Jonathan’s place as senator to move on with her life.

So what do you think of this episode?

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

shakespeare was but a mortal, marlowe did die

donne remins only of the occassioned bone, perhaps two

raleigh lives only in extravagant and glorified parchment

so does the blind seer, milton, – librarians have taken after him

pope still awakens primordial passions of the burning sort

yet his is not the land of the living – neither is johnson, nor hawthorne

and certainly not whitman – that poet of the body

what of the blessed keats or the amorous byron

yet how it stands that in death they yet speak with such vehemence and certainty

how that in death they all become into glorified instructors – even those spurned in their day

for we all be but the attending caretakers in natures vast burrial ground – even the library

for in reading pope, am at once transported into such glories that i dont count it strange to

find myself sitting by his bedside or rather grave

thus in return for elegant companionship – i offer my services even attending to their graves

Resurrection Day - Luke 24

Luke teaches us about Christ’s tomb, His travels, His triumph

In Josh McDowell’s book “Evidence that demands a verdict” he quotes W.J. Sparrow-Simpson “If the Resurrection is not historic fact , then the power of death remains unbroken, and with it the effect of sin; and the significance of Christ’s death remains uncertified, and accordingly believers are yet in their sins, precisely where they were before they heard of Jesus’ name.”

Christ’s Tomb v. 1 – 12 W. Robertson Nicoll quotes Pressense as saying “the empty tomb of Christ has been the cradle of the Church…”

Strength of Love v. 1 – 4
Simplicity of Living v. 5 – 12

Application:
Measure your faith
Meditate on truth
Motivate others to see

Christ’s Travels v. 13 – 33 Kenneth Latourette, cited by Straton, says: “It was the conviction of the resurrection of Jesus which lifted His followers out of the despair into which His death had cast them and which led to the perpetuation of the movement begun by Him.”

Time for Reflection v. 13 – 24
Time for Revelation v. 25 – 33

Application:
We need more than a pragmatic approach to Christ’s life & resurrection.
We need a personal approach to Christ’s life & resurrection.

Christ’s Triumph v. 34 – 53 John Warwick Montgomery says: “Note that when the disciples of Jesus proclaimed the resurrection, they did so as eyewitnesses and they did so while people were still alive who had had contact with the events they spoke of.”

Confirmation of Resurrection
Celebration of Resurrection

Application:
We need individual encounters with Christ & testify to His Church
We need corporate encounters with Christ & His Church

Wilbur Smith writes of Luke’s observations…The very kind of evidence which modern science, and even psychologists, are so insistent upon for determining the reality of any object under consideration is the kind of evidence that we have presented to us in the Gospels regarding the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, namely, the things that are seen with the human eye, touched with the human hand, and heard by the human ear. This is what we call empirical evidence.

There are many false doctrines circulating in modern “Churchianity” about Satan the devil. Some believe he is merely the embodiment of all that is evil, and therefore not a real being, but just a bad “idea” in the minds of men. Others believe Satan appears as a red, dancing monster with wings like a bat, horns, a tail and a pitchfork. 

But What Is the Truth?

The Bible reveals that Satan is the god of this present world. Paul expressly says: “In whom the god of this world (Greek “aion”, or “age”) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Cor. 4:4).

In trying to overthrow Christ, Satan boasted, “All this power will I give thee (all the kingdoms of the world), and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:6).

Had Satan made this statement falsely, Christ would certainly have refuted it! And yet, Christ said not one word to contradict Satan’s presumptuous remarks about the kingdoms of this world. Jesus did, however, rebuke the devil for tempting Him by means of the kingdoms of this world.

Jesus warned His disciples that the majority would be deceived, and going in the broad, wide, easy way — the way of following that which seems right to a man — to destruction! (Matt. 7:13.)

The deceiver is called the “prince of the power of the air” in Eph. 2:2. John’s vision plainly showed Satan as the deceiver of the whole world, who was cast down with his angels, who are now called demons (Rev. 12:9).

Satan’s Work

Scripture shows that fully one third of all the multiplied millions of the angels followed Lucifer in his rebellion, and were cast down to the earth with him! (Compare Rev. 12:4 with Rev. 1:20.) These fallen angels, remember, are spirit beings! To accomplish his work of deception, with the ultimate goal of destroying human beings, Satan utilizes these millions of disobedient spirits! He is called the princes of demons (Matt. 12:24).

Satan began — by trying to destroy Adam and Eve — the very first humans on the earth. Again, when God sent His own Son, Satan tried to have Him killed — to thwart His every purpose! Finally, when it was time according to God purpose to allow Christ to be killed, Satan the devil was a direct instrument in executing Christ. He entered personally into Judas! (John 13:27.)

What About the Everlasting Fire?

At this present time, God is directly allowing Satan to be used as His instrument in blinding the world, so the lesson of mankind will be so firmly and completely etched in its own blood that there will never again be a society existing in total rebellion against God’s government! God is the One who has “concluded (shut up) them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all” (Rom. 11:32). He says He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should finally come to repentance! (II Peter 3:9.)

At the beginning of Christ’s millennial rule over the nations, Satan is to be bound, and cast into an abyss (Rev. 20:1-3). This condition of restraint will last during the thousand years, and then the devil will be momentarily allowed freedom to deceive the nations again (verse 3)! But consider what occurs next!

Jesus said He is going to cast unrepentant, carnal-minded humans into “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). This parable of the sheep and the goats is another example of a parable of Christ that makes no special reference to the time element, but is showing a spiritual lesson and principle to be learned! The separation described in verse 32 takes place over a period of 1,100 years! — to the end of the 100-year period after the Millennium.

This everlasting fire is not the conventional hell preached about by mainstream Christianity. Fire is a physical, chemical thing! It is the combustion of physical objects with oxygen which changes the physical objects into ashes and gaseous vapour!

Notice that the wicked (the same ones Christ referred to) are to be ashes under the feet of the righteous! (Mal. 4:3.) Therefore, this fire Christ spoke of in Matthew 25 is a fire that consumes human beings! But Satan is a SPIRIT being not affected by fire!

The “Age-Lasting” Fire

Next, let’s notice carefully some significant facts about the fire Christ will use to destroy His enemies! When Jesus returns to this earth as KING, His first act will be to destroy, not all the wicked, but that “wicked ONE.”

Next, turn to Revelation 20:10. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet (were).” There is no verb “are” in the original Greek, as the King James revisers have added in italics! See an interlinear or any concordance!

Notice that the devil will be cast into the (not just “a,” but the definite article “the” is in the Greek) lake of fire where the Beast and the False Prophet were cast!

This is the same fire. It was burning at the precise beginning of the millennium when the Beast and False Prophet were thrown into its flames; it will be burning at the end of the millennium, when Satan is thrown into the same fire! That’s why it is called an age lasting fire in Matthew 25:41 because it does, literally, last for an age — the millennial age!

What About the Demons?

Christ said the fire was being prepared for the devil and his angels! So they, too, are to be thrown into the lake of fire!

A commonly misunderstood explanation of this is found in I Peter 3:19-20. People have assumed, because they base their religious philosophies on the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, that Christ was busy preaching to some supposed “souls” of men in hell!

Your Bible plainly states the time element in these verses. Christ did the preaching, not during the three days and nights when He was dead in the tomb (I Cor. 15:3 and 20) but “WHEN once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing …” (I Peter 3:20).

But notice to whom Christ witnessed about the flood. “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison”! (Verse 19.) Who were these “spirits”? Certainly not men — nor the “souls” of men, since men do not have immortal souls!

II Peter 2:4 says: “For if God spared not the angels (spirits) that sinned, but cast them down to hell (prison — “hell” is a mistranslation from the Greek “tartaroo” which means a “condition or position of restraint,” as an “imprisonment”), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”

The “spirits in prison” are the sinning angels, or the demons that have perverted their ways and followed Satan, and are bound to the earth — imprisoned here by the power of God until their day of judgment.

The Lake of Fire

This tremendous conflagration will be so intense, so white-hot, that the surface of the whole earth will literally melt with the fervour of the flames! Peter describes this awesome time as a melting of the very elements, a time when all the works on the earth are burned up — dissolved! (II Peter 3:10-11.)

Christ shows this time occurs after the final Great White Throne Judgment when God’s plan is complete. After this final judgment, even death and the grave are destroyed (Rev. 20:13-15). The surface of the earth will become for a time just as if it were the blazing surface of the sun! This is the great Gehenna fire that Christ talked of, that will destroy the wicked. It is into this vast, seething lake of fire that Satan and his angels will have been cast.

But remember! This fire is physical! It consumes the bodies of the wicked, but spirit is not combustible!

How a Spirit Can Suffer

God created our bodies with a type of “safety device” against too much pain! When the physical human body is subjected to extreme pain, it will reach a certain point and then lapse into unconsciousness! The mind does not continue to register the pain — even though the body continues to suffer!

A disembodied spirit — one that cannot any longer physically manifest itself — is an uncomfortable, miserable spirit! Jesus described this condition of mental torment when He said, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out”. (Luke 11:24).

This is further illustrated by the account of Christ’s experience with the many demons who had entered the man in the country of the Gadarenes. Jesus commanded the spirits to come out of the man, and they “besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country” (Mark 5:10). “And all the devils (demons) besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them” (verse 12).

When Philip was performing miracles at Samaria, he cast out many demons, who came out of people “crying with loud voice” (Acts 8:7) showing their frustration and anger at being deprived of their dwelling place! (Luke 8:28.)

God says the demons know of His power — they are aware of the great authority of God! We are told that willful sinners are going to be left with a certain fearful looking for of judgment (Heb. 10:26-27) and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! (Verse 31.)

James said, “Thou believest that there is one God? Thou doest well: the devils (demons) also believe, and tremble”! (James 2:19.)

Satan Will Not Be Destroyed!

Satan is NOT ultimately destroyed. Turn again to Revelation 20, and verse 10. Notice that the devil is cast into the lake of fire where the Beast and False Prophet were cast, And Satan and his demons shall be tormented day and night forever and ever!

This expressly states Satan will be tormented for the ages of the ages! (See “International Critical Commentary”, an interlinear or other such Bible helps. ) This expression in the Greek means for all eternity — for time everlasting!

But notice carefully the verse states Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and tormented forever! It does not say that he will remain in the fire forever! The fire is on this earth! The fire is an age-lasting fire, which will not be burning after God’s new heaven and new earth are established! Since Satan is to be tormented forever, and the fire is to finally consume the physical objects it is burning until it burns out, Satan does not remain in this lake of fire forever! Satan is a spirit! Fire cannot consume spirit — and a spirit cannot die! Jesus Christ said so!

For a clinching proof, turn to Luke 20:34, Christ begins to explain to the hypocritical Sadducees about the resurrection.

“… The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world (age), and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die anymore, for they are equal unto the angels …” (verses 34-36).

Jesus tells us the angels cannot die! Satan is a fallen angel! Therefore Satan cannot die! So what happens to him and the angels?

The lake of fire will end when the new heavens and new earth are established, and Satan is to be tormented unto the ages of the ages! It also shows his torment while in that fire is going to be mental, at seeing all he has strived toward, worked for, plotted for, burned up.

Christ preached to the spirits on this earth during the time of the flood as a witness to them! The flood was a type of the yet future destruction of the earth — this time by fire! Christ was warning them of the impending destruction of all their works — and their everlasting banishment from this earth! The exact nature of their punishment is yet to be decided!

Jude gave a slight indication of the possibility of the nature of that punishment when he used the demons as a type in warning Christians about false teachers who had crept in unawares.

Verse 11 shows these errors are exactly that of the sinning angels in that they too tried to usurp authority! This, as shown in the example of Korah (Numbers 16), does not sit well with God.

Jude continues, “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars (see Rev. 1:20, where stars are symbols of angels) to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever! (Verse 13.)

Which blackness of darkness is this? Rev. 20:1-2 describes a bottomless pit in which Satan and His demons are thrown for a thousand years, only to be loosed again at the end of the Millennium for a short while to try man a final time. It is no great stretch of the imagination to believe that this will then also be his final place of abode after this time, never to again bother man. It is the ultimate bottomless pit – dark, empty and void of anything except these creatures. Now they can never again interact with anyone – for eternity.

Things are continuing to stay busy here in Rome.  Classes are speeding along and I have been spending a lot of time studying and trying to keep up with the readings.  However, the 2-mile walk each day, to and from class, gives me an hour to just relax and walk with friends.  It is always difficult to be just starting at a new institution because the tunnel seems so long, but I have been assured by many of the newly ordained deacons that their time here in Rome has flown by.  It is pretty amazing that I left the United States three and a half months ago.  On one hand it doesn’t feel like it has been very long, but it also seems like it has been a long time since I have seen my family.  This is ironic because I talk to them a lot and can even video chat with them via Skype.

While things have been normal at the seminary and at the University, this last week was special.  Jean, the Secretary of the Vocations Office for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and her husband, Tom, visited Rome for their first time.  It was nice to be able to spend some time with someone I know from Oklahoma City.  We saw a lot of the sights of Rome, enjoyed some great meals, and we even prayed at the bones of St. Peter (thanks to my diocesan brother, Cory).  This was a travel weekend at the North American College, but I have been telling the other seminarians that I “went to Rome for the weekend!”  The city is so large and I have been so busy that I have neglected to see a lot of the historical sights of the Eternal City.  It was a great weekend and I discovered a lot about the city.  It was also great to show Jean and Tom around St. Peter’s Basilica and the North American College.

Sunday, November 1, 2009, was All Saints Day in the Roman Catholic Church.  It is the day that we celebrate the lives of the Saints that have lived in this world and have led their lives to glorify God.  For Sunday Mass, we went to The Pontifical Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.  The Basilica was magnificent and very large.  We even went into the courtyard of the Benedictine Monastery and saw fragments of a lot of marble sarcophagi with early Christian markings on them.  There was also a beautiful little museum and Relic Room, complete with St. Paul’s staff.  There was also a very large tapestry with a depiction of St. Paul’s shipwreck near Malta.  It was pretty cool to think to myself that I had just been there just a few weeks ago.

Monday, November 2, 2009, was All Souls Day in the Roman Catholic Church.  It was also my birthday.  It is a tradition in the Church to bring to minds our loved ones whom have gone before us into the Kingdom of Heaven.  There was an option to have Mass within the North American College’s Mausoleum located in Campo Verano.  I had never been to an Italian cemetery prior to this trip and I was surprised with what I found.  In the United States, we are used to green fields with small gravestones.  However, there are so many people here, and they have been hundreds and hundreds of years of deaths, that they have had to adopt a system to deal with death.  The cemetery was composed of small, casket-sized plots with a stone lid and then a headstone covered with names and pictures of the deceased members of that family.  Some of the family plots were simple, but others were massive and quite expansive.  From what I was told, when a family member dies, they place the body beneath the stone lid and wait for the body to decompose.  They then place the bones in a small ossuary-type box and then place it in a different chamber.  There is also not a one-time fee for the plot.  If a plot is not continually paid for, the remains are disposed of, probably by cremation, the monument is destroyed, and then a new family may purchase the plot.  They also do not embalm the bodies, so there was a slight stench from the decomposing bodies.

Deep within the tight walkways, we came upon a beautiful red-bricked building overlooking the rest of the cemetery.  This tall, four-level mausoleum is where the earthly remains of around ten seminarians and faculty from the Pontifical North American College are entombed.  Instead of a small box for their bones, each body was placed behind a 5 or 6-foot wide, marble monument with their name, diocese, and age of death written in Latin.  When seminarians could only travel here by ocean, it would take a long time to get from Italy back to the United States, so if a seminarian or faculty member died, they were buried in this mausoleum.  One of the seminarians, Frank Parater, is being considered by the Vatican to become a Saint.  He is currently considered a “Servant of God”, which is only two steps away from becoming a Saint.  He died in 1920, after living a life in which inspired many people.  His young life evolved around prayer and he eventually discerned that God was calling him to become a Catholic Priest.  He eventually was sent by the Diocese of Richmond to study at the Pontifical North American College.  At the age of 23, he passed away and was buried at the mausoleum.  While he sounded like an amazing guy, his Last Will and Testament is really what caught everyone’s attention.

• “I have nothing to leave or to give but my life and this I have consecrated to the Sacred Heart to be used as He wills…This is what I live for and in case of death what I die for. …Since my childhood, I have wanted to die for God and my neighbor. Shall I have this grace? I do not know, but if I go on living, I shall live for this same purpose; every action of my life here is offered to God for the spread and success of the Catholic Church in Virginia. …I shall be of more service to my diocese in Heaven than I can ever be on earth.”

During the Mass of All Souls Day at the mausoleum of the North American College, I stood right next to his tomb.  What a wonderful blessing it was to realize that God tries endlessly to stir our spirit to follow Jesus Christ.  Even in Frank Parater’s final days of his illness, he kept God’s will as his focus and was completely reliant on Him.  The more I learn about him, the more I wish I could have met him in person.  That is the whole point of even venerating the Saints within the Catholic Church.  They provide examples for us of people that have followed God with complete trust and have showed us a glimpse of the Father’s love.

The rest of my birthday was pretty normal.  It was raining all day, so I was not able to go out for dinner with some of my friends, but I received a lot of birthday wishes from the seminarians within the North American College and from my friends in the United States.  I even received a special call from Mrs. Wynn’s 5^th Grade Class at All Saints Catholic School in Norman, Oklahoma.  During our short video chat, they sang “Happy Birthday” to me.  They are special kids and I really appreciate their prayers and support.  They are the future of our Church and I have been very impressed with their love for God and his Church.

Are Apostles and Prophets still a part of Christian doctrine? Does the Gospel of Jesus Christ have room for Apostles and Prophets? If we accept the Holy Bible (I use the king James version) as the text for Christianity then the answer to these questions has to be YES.

You cannot claim to be a Christian and not accept the fact that Apostles and Prophets are the mouth piece for Jesus Christ.

We’re all familiar (I hope) with many of the Old Testament prophets like Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha and Malachi etc. We could write essays or Books on each one. This little post is just on scripturally proving that the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes Prophets and Apostles. Eventually we will tell you where to find them. Not all Christian religions have them, in fact I know of none that have Prophets and Apostles as part of their doctrine.

In Deuteronomy 18:22 it says “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” You can judge a prophet by what he says. If he prophecies and that thing comes to pass it is proof that he is called of God to be a prophet.

1 Samuel 3:20 read as follows “And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.” This is just one of many verses in the Bible talking about the use of prophets in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 9:9 refer to the terms of both prophet and seer “(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)”

2 Kings 17:13 is evidence of the Lord using the prophets to communicate with His people. “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” If the Lord used prophets to communicate with his people back then, why doesn’t he do so today?

In Nehemiah 9:30 the Lord testified against his people, trying to get them to repent and he used Prophets to do it “Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.”

2 Chronicles 29:25 specifically refer to Nathan being a prophet “And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.” Do you know of a modern day prophet by name?

Not only did the Lord use prophets to communicate to His people but got upset with His people for ignoring what the Prophets had to say as it implies in 2 Chronicles 36:16 “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”

Have we not shown enough evidence of the Lords use of Prophets? There is more. Keep in mind that there is even more evidence regarding the Lords use of Prophets than what is present in this post.

Prophets are very special people. Yes they are people. They are not Gods they are men called of God to the office of being a prophet as indicated in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” A prophet is not just a prophet to a group of people but a prophet to the nations of the world.

One of my favorite verses regarding prophets in all of Christian Scripture is found in Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” .

Now we move to a few verses found in the New Testament regarding the teaching of the prophets and references to Prophets and Apostles: Matthew 11:13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”

This verse found in the Gospel of Luke talks about God using holy prophets since the world began. Did The Lord use Prophets since the world began only to stop when the Twelve Apostles died off? Luke 1:70 “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:”.

As I started this Blog and have had numerous feedback I have come to learn that there are Christians out there that do not consider the Old Testament part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They say that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and so the Old Testament is worthless. They err in their assumptions. The truth of the Law of Moses in general is a preparation for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who would dare say that the gospel of the Old Testament has nothing valid for us? Additionally not all the Old Testament was about the Law of Moses. There we the Patriarchs and there teachings before the Prophet Moses.

Having said all that and for the benefit of any who think that way here is New Testament teachings long after the Law of Moses was fulfilled.

One of the first things Jesus did at the start of His ministry was to call twelve Apostles as indicated by Matthew 10:1-4 “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

One of my other favorite scriptures about Prophets and Apostles is found in the Book of Ephesians. Ephesians 2:19-20 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;“

This is a powerful verse regarding Prophets and Apostles. This verse calls the Apostles and Prophets the foundation of the gospel or household of God. With Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone.

The foundation of the Gospel or Christianity is built upon Apostles and Prophets with the Savior being the corner stone. Using this scripture can you be a Christian without believing in Apostles and Prophets?

During the time of the Apostles they used the phrase “as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit in Ephesians 3:5 “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”

Back in the days of the Apostles and in our day they were and we have “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”. The solution is found in Ephesians 4:11-14 where it says “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”

We need Apostles and Prophets as much now as they did in the primitive Church.

Here are three more New Testament passages of scripture testifying of The Lords use of Apostles and Prophets.

Hebrews 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.”

2 Peter 3:2 “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:”

1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”

Besides what we have already learned of the Prophets, being a mouth piece for the Lord we learn from Matthew 16:19 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Additional duties of Prophets.

From other Christian Scripture we learn more about Prophets and Apostles. Jacob 4: 4 “For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.”

D&C 1:14 “And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people;”

D&C 1:38 “38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”

So is there a living Prophet today? Are there Twelve Apostles alive today to lead Christianity? The answer is a resounding yes!

It started with the prophet Joseph Smith when God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. From that point on, after a long apostacy, the heavens were opened and The Lord once again started speak to men through Prophets and Apostles.

Happy All Souls Day and Happy belated Halloween.

Halloween is my very favorite holiday of the year and this year my friends and I visited the legendary and  historic   Sleepy Hollow Cemetery  in Sleepy Hollow, NY. This is where Washington Irving penned the thrilling story of  The Headless Horseman and is also his resting place as well as the Headless Horsman’s. Yesterday was a very “dark and stormy day” but the rain did hold back until the evening making it a soggy night for Trick-or-Treaters.

I must confess that when I got home and uploaded the images I was very upset to see that most of them were not exactly “tack” sharp; to be honest they were quite blurred.  Why? Because I was trying to shoot in very low light without a tripod and in my excitement to be in this wonderful historic place I was not paying attention to my shutter speed vs. my focal length ratio and after emailing a good friend and professional photographer he confirmed that this was indeed the problem.

Ok, I messed up big time on this one but it is a lesson learned. Luckily I did not completely flip out like I usually do and delete the whole “shootin” batch. I closed down the computer and set the camera battery to recharge, made myself some popcorn and watched Night of the Living Dead to calm myself down. Nothing like a good ole B grade black and white scary movie to do that.

This morning refreshed and feeling a little more friendly towards my photos. I began reviewing the images again and wondering how to salvage them. One thing I quickly realized was that although the color and composition were great one tomb stone looks just like another and that I was getting bored. So, reflecting on the movie I watched last night I decided to convert the cemetery shots to black and white and then add filters like diffused glow, radial blurs, spot lights, and canvas textures and some I converted to infrared to give them a more somber, haunted, walking-in-a-dream look and to add some diversity and excitement to the overall composition. It also hides the “mistakes” too!  It worked and they look great. Thank God for Photoshop! They will make great prints. I posted a few shots below or click here for the full gallery.

We also visited the Philipsburg Manor  and low and behold the sun came out for about an hour and I was able to take some great fall foliage shots and yes these were tack sharp. I added them to an existing gallery entitled Autumnal Fun.

Christmas celebrates the eternal gift of Heavenly Father giving the world the gift of Jesus Christ. The traditional of giving gifts is a grand memorial to the greatest gift ever given in history of the world. But I wonder if, in the hustle and bustle of shopping fever, we forget the meaning of what gift giving is all about?

It is nice to give a gift the receiver will like and it’s important to give a gift you can afford but take time and give the purest gift you can give, a humble and sincere heart to the Lord of Christmas, Jesus Christ. (Callahan)

At Christmas time there are movies that are watched with the theme of believing in the Christmas spirit like we did when we were children. Then the movie reaches its apex with the spirit of Christmas being Santa Claus. Let us teach ourselves and our Children that Santa Claus is a symbol of hope and a symbol of giving but the purest symbol of all Christ like virtues is Jesus Christ himself. (Callahan)

I see nothing wrong with teaching and letting children believe in Santa Claus. But when they learn the truth about Santa let us teach them that Santa Claus is special symbol of  Hope, Peace and Good Will. Those virtues then naturally lead into teaching them the true meaning of Christmas. God The Father giving us His Son, Jesus Christ as an eternal gift to all mankind, Saints and sinner alike. (Callahan)

Christmas is a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Why celebrate the birth of Jesus? The life and times of Jesus Christ is the great thing to happen to all of humanity. It is therefore natural to celebrate His birth. So why do we confine the celebration of the greatest event to a few short weeks. Let us truley celebrate the spirit of Christmas all year long. Let us truly keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all year long and reflect on all Christ has done for us. (Callahan)

QUOTES ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

It amazes me that Christians manipulate the Bible to suit there needs. If the Bible is the source of Christian thought then the teaching of the Bible should be adhered to. (Callahan)

You can take prayer out of schools, you can remove monuments of the Ten Commandments out of public places, you can commericalized Christmas and take Christ out of the festive celebrations but to the faithful you cannot take Christ our of their souls.  (Callahan)

It’s ironic that even among some of the non Christian religions they have regard of Jesus Christ. (Callahan)

You can take the name of the Lord in vain if you like but the Lord, Jesus Christ, will never take your name in vain when He pleads your cause to Heavenly Father. (Callahan)

I am eternally grateful that Jesus Christ loves me without reservation. I am eternally grateful that Jesus Christ made it possible for me to repent and I am eternally grateful or the Mercy and Grace that comes to me from Jesus Christ. (Callahan)

If you want a pure example of loving unconditionally look to the Master teacher, look to Jesus Christ. For He loves unconditionally the saint and the sinner alike. He stands ready to bless the saint and forgive the sinner. (Callahan)

When you think all is lost and you cannot take another step think of how Jesus must have felt when on the Cross the Spirit of His Father withdrew from Him for a time and He literally was alone in the greatest agony ever to have occured in the history of the earth. Surely all is not lost and even though it may take all the energy of you mind and body to take another step, the next step may take you to the dawning of a new morning with renewed hope and the sight of spiritual vistas never before seen. (Callahan)

Mind what you say, think and do for the Lambs Book of Life doesn’t make mistakes when it records your life. (Callahan)

Christ is my way to salvation but I often wonder if everyone in the world practiced the pure essence of their faith or religion, how much better off would the world be? (Callahan)

An ancient tomb with exterior and interior coffins has been unearthed in the northern port city of Hai Phong, according to the city’s museum.

The tomb was found by construction workers who were digging into the Thanh Den Mountain’s side to expand the acreage of the Tan Phu Xuan cement plant.

The exterior coffin is made from large pieces of ironwood while its boat-shaped interior coffin is carved out from a big tree trunk, a style belonging to the Dong Son culture, which existed more than 2,000 years ago.

No vestiges of bones were found except a rush map used to cover the dead.

Archaeologists also found seven large trays, four human statues, plates, bowls and combs, all made from wood, and several terracotta pots, jars and bowls with beehive and line patterns.

According to archaeologists from the Hai Phong Museum , the tomb is believed to date back to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD or 1,800 years ago.

(Source: VNA)

Even though we already stopped the tradition of going from Bacolod all the way to Toboso to visit our dead relatives, All Saints’ Day still sucks the energy out of me. Especially when we go at noon. The blistering, midday sun, the glaring whiteness of the cemetery and the heat from burning candles (and small fires) equal a very unpleasant experience.

Whiteness...

Paying respects

It was a relief when we finally arrived at the family mausoleum in Cadiz. Where there was an actual roof above our heads shielding us from the heat of the sun (Thank God!).

Candles and Flowers

After adorning my grandmother’s and uncle’s final resting places with flowers and lighted candles, we went to my aunt’s residence nearby for lunch. After a satisfying meal of turbo broiled chicken (love the sauce) and lumpia shanghai, we headed back to the cemetery for the Mass. The Cousins’ Guild (or at least, the few who were present) held a short meeting when the Mass was done to discuss current issues and upcoming events, including plans for the Dinagsa Festival. We stayed until evening, keeping the remains of our loved ones company. People resorted to other stuff (like drinking, Yanggaw and Alvic) to keep themselves entertained.

Alvic, my nephew

Guess what's getting all the attention

After a few hours, we again went to my aunt’s house for a tasty dinner before heading back to Bacolod to pay a visit to my mom in Rolling Hills to complete the occasion.