In the peace of His Majesty, Our Lord Jesus. May our Lady, the Immaculate Queen of All Saints, pray for us and may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Ave María! Due to the tragic events unfolding in Palestine, a common heresy has recently littered the air with a new fervor. This heresy is filled with blunt rejections of the Gospel and overt blasphemy. In the Gospel excerpt for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we hear these sobering words relating to the heresy in question: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a marriage feast for his son. And he sent his servants to call in those invited to the marriage feast for his son. And he sent his servants to call in those invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ But they made light of it, and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business; and the rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. But when the king heard of it, he was angry; and he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; go therefore to the crossroads, and invite to the marriage feast whomever you shall find.’ (Matthew 22:1-14). In this parable the Master teaches us the story of the Kingdom of Heaven, the covenant of God and man. The marriage feast for the King’s son can be understood as the Incarnation of Christ, the King’s messenger-servants can be understood as the prophets and those invited as the Hebrews. By means of the prophets and kings, God invited the Hebrews to the marriage feast, the marriage between God and man in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This first invitation from the prophets starting from the beginning and ending with St. John the Baptist, was rejected. The second group of servants sent by the king is Our Blessed Lord Himself and the continual invitation presented by His Church. Both group of servants were (and are) persecuted and rejected. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you (Matthew 5:12). This flat-out rejections of the Messiah can be found in many other places: Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me. And you will not come to me that you may have life. I receive glory not from men. But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. I am come in the Name of My Father, and you receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive glory one from another: and the glory which is from God alone, you do not seek? Think not that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words (John 5: 39-47). Again, we hear Our Blessed Lord refer to Moses, and Himself as being messengers sent by God. Again in another place: The Jews therefore said to Him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I Am. They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple. (John 8:57-58). Here we see, even after Our Blessed Lord has releveled Himself, they still take up stones against Him. There should be much recollection into the actions of His Majesty as a foreshadowing: Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple. Finally, when Our Lord proves Himself by raising Lazarus from the dead. The High priest heard of this they derived a plan to put Our their God and King to death. But one of them, named Caiphas, being the high priest that year, said to them: You know nothing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed. From that day therefore they devised to put him to death. Wherefore Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews; but he went into a country near the desert, unto a city that is called Ephrem, and there he abode with his disciples. It should be noted our Lord sought refuge in the Ephrem near the northern border with Samria, the land of the gentiles. Another Action we ought to consider. Then just Three days before Passover, just before His entrance into Jerusalem we see Our Lord weep: And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves (Luke 19:41-46). Again, we hear Our Lord does not sleep in Jerusalem. The essence of the first part of this parable is summarized by the words we hear at the end of each Mass: He came unto his own, and his own received Him not (John 1:10-11). This rejection of the Messiah, this rejection of the invitation to the wedding feast, got this response from the King in the parable: he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. In 66 AD, Roman legions under Gessius Florus crushed a revolt led by Hebrew nationalist factions and religious zealots. When the revolt began the rebels overwhelmed the Roman forces in Jerusalem, ruthlessly lynching the remaining Roman citizens. Florus was quick to surround the city and crush the rebellion, he did however, spared the temple, hoping it would ease tension. The Hebrews which had accepted Christ fled the city as commanded by the Master: And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army; then know that the desolation thereof is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea, flee to the mountains; and those who are in the midst thereof, depart out: and those who are in the countries, not enter into it (Luke 21: 20-21). Unrest would continue in Judea and especially in Jerusalem, with many rising up to claim they were the messiah and leading armies against the Romans. In 70 AD, three days before Passover, the city fell into total revolt and was surrounded by Roman legions. These historic accounts were recorded by Hebrew historian Josephus. Jerusalem was largely controlled by three factions. The first dressed in women’s clothing in order to steal and murder more easily, they had control of the territory from the temple walls to a few of the outer streets. The second largest faction was not entirely Jewish but made up of gentile marauders and amongst them were Hebrews who were taking advantage of the situation. The last were religious zealots who had barricaded themselves inside the temple and appointed high priests for themselves. These factions fought against each other, only uniting to stop and mutually fight the Romans. These three revolutionary factions are similar to the three rejectors in the marriage feast parable who: made light of it, and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business; and the rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The siege lasted five months and when the Romans eventually overcame the walls of Jerusalem they were met with fierce resistance. On July 17th, the perpetual sacrifice of the Temple ended, just as predicted by the prophet Daniel: And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation. And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end (Daniel 9:26-27). Originally, Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasianus ordered the Temple of Herod to be spared. It was the Hebrew zealots who first used fire in the in an attempt to stop Roman advances. Only then did Roman soldiers set fire to an apartment adjacent to the Temple, hoping to smoke out the zealots. The Romans then desecrated the Temple by flying banners with pagan images and burning incense to their idols in the Temple. Many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come. When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand (Matthew 24:11-15). It should be noted that the site of the Temple Mount is now topped with the Islamic Dome of the Rock, the earliest structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and its inscriptions contain the earliest proclamations of the false prophet Muhammad. According to Israeli archaeologist Ronny Reich “remains relating to the destruction of the Temple are scant.” This is because the Romans destroyed the city entirely, fulfilling the words of Our Lord: And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew Him the buildings of the temple. And He answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed (Matthew 24:1-3). This defeat of not only the politically governing body but religious structures of Israel came after 40 years of Persecution of Christ and His Church. With the stoning of St. Stephen, throwing St. James the righteous, the first bishop of Jerusalem, off the temple walls, and the murder of many other Catholics. From the time of our Lord’s public ministry in 30AD until the destruction of the temple, he Hebrews were given 40 years, much like their fathers in the desert with Holy Moses, to accept the Messiah and failed. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts: As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works. Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest (Psalm 94: 7-11). Without a Temple, a priesthood or sacrifice, the sack of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple was the historical end of biblical Judaism. Professor Israel J. Yuval, Ph.D., of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, defines this end of biblical Judaism: “Biblical Judaism died, and two religions claimed to be its legitimate heir, Christianity, and Rabbinic Judaism. Thus the Judaism we know of is a jealous sister and not a mother faith or "elder brothers" to Christianity. Its practitioners are not the people who remained faithful to the old religion, the biblical Judaism with its sacrifices, Jerusalem temple, ritual purity, tithes, and priests disappeared two-thousand years ago. It is a new faith explicit made to fight Christianity.”
Zionism, a blasphemy against the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If it isn’t clear by now the heresy in question is Zionism. This protestant heresy is held by most American evangelicals and unfortunately, many misinformed Catholics. This heresy espouses the return of the biological decadents of the Hebrews to the Holy Land as something willed by God. Though it has levels, starting from God simply willing their occupation of Palestine to the acceptance of Christ being unnecessary for the descendants of the Hebrews. The history of this heresy starts, and seemingly ends, in England. As we know, the battle cry of the Protestant revolt was “Sola scriptura” a heresy that places the (incomplete and altered) Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Protestants. Scripture, when read through the Universal (Catholic) lens is very unifying and edifying but when it is read through the lens one’s own interpretation, it is very divisive and confusing. Scripture is also largely the Old Testament, 80% to be exact. Under this ideal of biblical self-interpterion, many erroneous protestant beliefs came about from the Old Testament. Such as the strange rites of the Bohemian Brotherhood and the Calvinist Geneva banning the use of names from the New Testament and encouraging the use of Old Testament names. Another one of these odd beliefs is Zionism. The first reference of Zionism is not found among any Rabbi or Hebrew sage, but in Anglicanism. In a monograph written by Anglican cleric Thomas Bridgman in 1585. Bridgman calls the English people to support the return of the decadents of the Hebrews to Palestine in order to hasten the return of Christ. This idea grew in popularity among various English clerics. In 1621, English attorney Henry Finch advanced a proposition in the British parliament which stated: “the Jews shall repair to their own country, shall inherit all the land as of before, shall live in safety and continue in it forever.” From that time forward Zionism was supported by many Anglican clerics. Its association however with the Anglican clerics made most American protestants uninterested, especially after the revolution. This changed with the Protestant organization known as Plymouth Brethren. Non-conformist and anti-authority, the first official non-denominational, denomination was established in 1825 in Dublin, Ireland. The first meeting in England was held in 1831 in Plymouth. It was organized John N. Darby, a former Anglican cleric. The movement soon spread throughout the United Kingdom. The term Darbyites was widely used to describe them. Showcasing the influence Darby had on the movement. Darby is also the founder of premillennialism or Dispensationalism, the heretical belief that Our Lord is going to return before the golden 1000 years of peace spoken of in Revelations. A belief widely held by most evangelical Protestants clerics in the United States. This belief system also holds that Israel, and the Christian church are distinct entities and both valid covenants with God. This belief was introduced to American Protestantism by Cyrus I. Scofield. Born to nominal Episcopalian family, Scofield was also a confederate veteran of the 7th Tennessee Infantry. He deserted to union lines and publicly took the union oath of allegiance after receiving an injury in combat. After gaining a degree in law, in 1866, he married a nominal French Catholic in St. Louis named Leontine LeBeau and later moved to Kansas. There he ran and won the seat for District Attorney for Kansas, at 29, the youngest in the country. That same year Scofield was forced to resign "under a cloud of scandal" because of questionable financial transactions, which included accepting bribes from railroads, stealing political contributions intended for Ingalls, and securing bank notes by forging signatures. Later, Scofield abandoned his wife and two daughters during this period and the same year Scofield married Hettie Hall von Wartz, with whom he eventually had a son. He was later converted to evangelicalism. By 1879 he served as the secretary of the St. Louis YMCA and was heavily involved Walnut Street Presbyterian Church. There he fell under the spiritual mentorship of James H. Brookes, a prominent dispensationalist. In October 1883, Scofield was named a Congregationalist minister. He accepted the pastorate of a small congregation, which became the First Congregational “Church” of Dallas (now Scofield Memorial “Church”). In 1895, Scofield was called as pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational “Church” of East Northfield, Massachusetts. During the early 1890s, Scofield began styling himself Rev. C. I. Scofield, D.D.; but there are no records of any academic institution having granted him the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. In 1903, he returned to his Dallas pastorate and began a project which consumed much of his energy. When the Scofield Reference Bible was published in 1909, it quickly became the most influential statement of dispensational premillennialism, and Scofield's popularity increased. Royalties from the work were substantial, and Scofield bought real estate in Dallas, Ashuelot, New Hampshire, and Douglaston, Long Island. Being a “born again” preacher did not preclude Scofield from becoming a member of an exclusive New York men’s club or the prestigious Lotos Club. The worldly Scofield died outside the Catholic faith and steeped in heresy at his home on Long Island in 1921. This Bible commentary, by the self-proclaimed “Doctor of divinity” is why conservative evangelicals believe that God demands their uncritical support for the modern State of Israel. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3). Of which Scofeild wrote “‘I will bless them that bless thee.’ In fulfillment closely related to the next clause, ‘And curse him that curseth thee.’ Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew—well with those who have protected him. The future will still more remarkably prove this principle.” This was the most successful injection of Zionist ideas into American Protestantism. The New Scofield Study Bible, published by Oxford University Press in 1984, intensified Scofield’s position by adding “For a nation to commit the sin of anti-Semitism brings inevitable judgement.” Voices like Baptist clerics Jacob Gartenhaus and J. Frank Norris began preaching to their followers that it was their Christian duty to support the Zionist cause and wrote President Truman in support of Zionist claims to Palestine in 1947. Though they were among the most notable, they were far from the only ones. By May 14, 1948, many evangelical Protestants in the US and England supported the proclamation of the state of Israel by David Ben-Gurion. Since then, the state that literally exists as a result of the rejection of Christ had the support of many notable Protestants such as Martin Luther King Jr. and William Franklin Graham Jr. (Billy Graham). Televangelist John Hagee’s Cornerstone mega-“church” preaches that not only do the decedents of the Hebrew’s not need to accept Christ Jesus but the only reason for the Western World to exist is to keep the state of Israel safe. Protestant organizations such as “Christians” United for Israel (CUFI), a group that claims 11 million members, have a significant influence on politics and in hardening Washington’s support for Israel. To be perfectly clear, this is a political lobby which is largely supported by a faction of Protestantism. In 2015, it was recorded that Protestant organizations donated 65 million dollars to Israel. Outside of Protestantism, Zionism has two other origins. One of the earliest non-religious supporter of Zionism was US founding-father John Adam who in 1818, wrote: “I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation.” The same John Adam who wrote the proclamation “to Freemasons of State of Maryland, July 1798” and wrote of the Catholic Church “The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?” This interesting coincidence may have something to do with that fact that both dominate political parties in the US fully and unwaveringly support the state of Israel and Zionism. Perhaps it’s all a coincidence that both presidential nominees President Doanld Trump and nominee Hillary Clinton both supported Israel, and their only accusation against the other was being less supportive of the state.Within the descendants of the Hebrews, many rejected Zionism from Protestants as they believed only the messiah could return and restore Israel. This changed with Theodor Herzl in 1897. Inspired by Haskalah, a late 18th century movement that sought to preserve the Hebrews as a separate and unique collective, Herzl officially established the First Zionist Congress, which met in Basel, Switzerland for the return of the descendants of the Hebrews to Palestine. He also formed and became the first president of the World Zionist Organization. This group, which was highly influenced Marxism and nationalism, held the belief that there was no physical Messiah. Instead, many of them believed that their collective body was the messiah. Many in the group also believed Marxism was the light to the gentiles that was prophesied. Herzl, who was Austrian, and others priamrly from Russia, began to migrate to Palestine, which was under Ottaman-Turkish rule. They were expelled in 1915 by Turkish officials under suspicions they were subjects of enemy Russia, and that communist Zionists were working to detach Palestine from the Ottoman Empire. It should be noted many Palestinian Christians and certain factions of Muslims were also deported. In 1922, the British ceded the Holy Land, and the decedents of the Hebrews were allowed to return. In 1929, more than 250,000 decedents of the Hebrews arrived in Palestine. After the events of the WWII, On 2 April 1947, the United Kingdom requested that the question of Palestine be handled by the General Assembly. Immediately following the declaration of the new state, both superpower leaders, US President Harry S. Truman, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, recognized the new state. Although Herzl died in 1904, years before Israel was officially declared a state, he’s often considered the father of modern Zionism and “the spiritual father of the Jewish State.” Not Abraham, not Moses, not David. In other words, the modern state if Israel is not even an attempt at a recreation of the Hebrew kingdom of Israel but an entirely modern state.
True Sionism, the Roman mountain of God.
To circle back to the to the parable, we find the rest of the story: The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; go therefore to the crossroads, and invite to the marriage feast whomever you shall find.’ In other words the marriage feast continues, the covenant of God established on Abraham, was and is still present. The destruction of the temple was not end of the covenant but its fulfillment. For He who prophesied the destruction said: Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18). And Thus, His Majesty, Our Lord Jesus fulfilled the laws of Moses. What Holy Moses said of the Covenant: Moses wrote all the words of the Lord: and rising in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord. Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls: and the rest he poured upon the altar. And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people: and they said: All things that the Lord hath spoken we will do, we will be obedient. And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words (Exodus 24:4-8). These acts were fulfilled in the Messiah, Christ Jesus. And taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins (Matthew 26:27). Thus, His majesty ushered in His Covenant, built upon the promise of Abraham and through the fulfilled Laws of Moses. Our Lord then, opened the Covenant, fulfilled by Him, to all people and those who refused Him, voluntary left the faith and covenant of God. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us (1 John 2:22). The promise of Abraham is the Messiah. Know ye therefore, that they who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing, that God justifieth the Gentiles by faith, told unto Abraham before: In thee shall all nations be blessed. Therefore they that are of faith, shall be blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law, are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is every one, that abideth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that in the law no man is justified with God, it is manifest: because the just man liveth by faith. But the law is not of faith: but, He that doth those things, shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus: that we may receive the promise of the Spirit by faith (Galatians 3:7-14). The covenant is the Church, which is in a spiritual sense the same entity as Israel, is now opened to all. Making no distinction between the decedents of the old covenant or the Gentiles. For you are all the children of God by faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ's, then are you the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3: 26-29). It should be noted also the evangelical position on Genesis 12:2-3, as God speaking of the decedents of the Hebrews and not the Church is rendered totally condemned by scripture. Those decedents of the Hebrews that still live in rejection of their messiah, do not hold any familiarity with God and should be evangelized, contrary to the notions of Protestants and modernists. Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father, and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also. As for you, let that which you have heard from the beginning, abide in you. If that abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning, you also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise which he hath promised us, life everlasting (1 John 2: 22-25). Not only do those decedents of the Hebrews who reject Christ not follow the old law but an entirely new system of beliefs that has nothing to do with the laws of Moses or the Temple of Solomon. and thou art blasphemed by them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan (Revelations 2:9). Even if, the temple was to be rebuilt and the sacrifices and priests restored, those acts would not be hallowed by God but a blasphemy against Him. The Sacred places, acts, and customs of the of the Laws of Moses are fulfilled in Christ through His sacraments and are therefore dead. That you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the conversation of Israel, and strangers to the testament, having no hope of the promise, and without God in this world. But now in Christ Jesus, you, who some time were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his flesh: Making void the law of commandments contained in decrees; that he might make the two in himself into one new man, making peace; And might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, killing the enmities in himself (Ephesians 2:12-16) .The Church continues on the matter of the Old Law: It firmly believes, professes and teaches that the legal prescriptions of the old Testament or the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, holy sacrifices and sacraments, because they were instituted to signify something in the future, although they were adequate for the divine cult of that age, once our lord Jesus Christ who was signified by them had come, came to an end and the sacraments of the new Testament had their beginning. Whoever, after the passion, places his hope in the legal prescriptions and submits himself to them as necessary for salvation and as if faith in Christ without them could not save, sins mortally. It does not deny that from Christ's passion until the promulgation of the gospel they could have been retained, provided they were in no way believed to be necessary for salvation. But it asserts that after the promulgation of the gospel they cannot be observed without loss of eternal salvation. Therefore it denounces all who after that time observe circumcision, the sabbath and other legal prescriptions as strangers to the faith of Christ and unable to share in eternal salvation, unless they recoil at some time from these errors. Therefore it strictly orders all who glory in the name of Christian, not to practice circumcision either before or after baptism, since whether or not they place their hope in it, it cannot possibly be observed without loss of eternal salvation-Converts should be forbidden, under pain of severe penalties, to bury the dead according to the Jewish custom or to observe in any way the sabbath and other solemnities and rites of their old sect. Rather, they should frequent our churches and sermons, like other Catholics, and conform themselves in everything to Christian customs. Those who show contempt for the above should be delated to the diocesan bishops or inquisitors of heresy by their parish priests, or by others who are entrusted by law or ancient custom with inquiring into such matters, or by anyone else at all. Let them be so punished, with the aid of the secular arm if need be, as to give an example to others- similarly we too to whom, though unworthy, the lord Jesus Christ has deigned to entrust his people, as we hear of the abominable crime that certain wicked men dwelling in Basel have plotted in these days so as to breach the unity of holy church, and since we fear that they may seduce some of the unwary by their deceits and inject them with their poisons, are forced to proclaim in like words to the people of our lord Jesus Christ entrusted to us, depart from the tents of these wicked men, particularly since the Christian people is far more numerous than the Jewish people of those days, the church is holier than the synagogue, and the vicar of Christ is superior in authority and status even to Moses. Session 11, Ecumenical Council of Florence. Therefore, those who continue to practice the Old laws, even if just in name, blaspheme and sin against God. Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father. For I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doth not yield good fruit, shall be cut down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:8-10).
This isn’t to say the laws and prophets were not from God, they were, but their sacredness derived from the coming Christ. For if the firstfruit be holy, so is the lump also: and if the root be holy, so are the branches (Romans 11:16). After the Lord Himself fulfilled the law, He made it perfect and fulfilled. Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad (John 8:56). Why any Christian, let alone Catholic, would attempt to participate in these customs and insist against Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated (John 19:30) is another question: because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions. I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared. When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you: Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning and shall not find me: Because they have hated instruction and received not the fear of the Lord, Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof (Proverbs 1:24-30). What then is Mount Sion, the mountain? The Holy Catholic Church. As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in 1264: Lauda Sion Salvatórem Lauda ducem et pastórem (Sion, lift up thy voice and sing: Praise thy Savior and thy King). The Church is Sion [Zion in Latin]. Christ Himself taught: I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven (Matthew 16:18-29).
And as we know the holy Ambrose of Milan wrote: There Peter is, there is the Church. Where the Church is, there is Jesus Christ. Where Jesus Christ is, there is eternal salvation. Around A.D. 34, St. Peter went to Antioch and established there a chair, ecclesiastical government. Antioch, the city where Christ’s followers were first called Christians. St. Peter remained there for seven years, then travel went to Rome, the center of the civilized world. St. Peter, the Bishop of Rome. He will bring those evil men to an evil end; and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, that shall render him the fruit in due season. Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof (Matthew 21: 41-43). In A.D. 68, he was crucified by Emperor Nero, only two years before the destruction of the Temple of Herod. This much discussed sack of Jerusalem by the Roman pagans saw not only the destruction of the Temple but it entirely being taken apart, stone by stone. As as said by our Lord: Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed (Matthew 24:2). This historic scene can be seen on the Arcus Titi in Rome, an arch commissioned by Roman emperor Domitian to honor the victory of General Titus over the Judea revolt against Rome. This scene showed the Romans in triumph, carrying back captured items from Jerusalem in procession to Rome. The Candelabra (Menorah), the table of showbread and altar of incense were all taken from Jerusalem to Rome. The torn veil, the golden cherubim and seraphim, the trumpets which called the Hebrews to prayer and Torah along with the Psalms and books of the prophets. All taken in triumph from Jerusalem to Rome. Many of these artifacts are still in Rome to this day. The most interesting thing however, were the stones of the Temple. Every single stone was taken and sent to Rome, where it was used to built various structures and temples. Chiefly among these structures was the Colosseum. These stones were also used to rebuild the= Pantheon, a temple dedicated to twelve Roman idols and the Circus of Nero, which was damaged by the great fire of 64AD. We know Nero’s circus was the site of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s martyrdom, along with many other Catholics. The same with the great colosseum, where Catholics were slaughtered in circus and fed to lions. These stones built into pagan temples, which saw Cipas the high priest and his followers reject our Blessed Lord, later saw countless gentile Catholics refuse to sacrifice to their former idols and give their lives for Christ. The stones that were once sprinkled with the blood of bulls, doves and lambs were later stained with the blood the saints, who are the mystical body of Christ. For Christ would come to reign in Rome through the blood of the Martyrs and sign of the Cross which he gave to Constantine. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). Niches in the pantheon that were once filled with pagan idols were filled with statues of the saints who converted the eternal city by uniting their suffering to with the Holy Passion of Christ Jesus. ordered that in the old temple called the Pantheon, after the pagan filth was removed, a church should be made, to the holy virgin Mary and all the martyrs, so that the commemoration of the saints would take place henceforth where not gods but demons were formerly worshipped, Pope St. Boniface I. That circus built by the Anti-Christ Nero for his own glory, the honor of idols and the cruel execution of Christians, would be dismantled and rebuilt into St. Peter’s Basilica under the orders of Constantine the great. These stones were restored to the service of God in the foundations the visible structures of His Mystical Body. This glorious Basilica took 40 years to be built, construction started five years after the edict of tolerance and was competed in 362 AD long after the edicts against idolatry and witchcraft of 356AD. By the time of St. Peter’s completion, Roman law demanded the closing of all pagan temples within the empire. This great christening would not stop there but the Church would continue to spread into Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations (Psalm 21:28-29). Standing in front of St. Peters Basilica there is an Egyptian Obelisk. Originally dedicated to idols in Alexandria, it was brought to Rome after the conquest of Egypt by the Emperor Caligula. It was brough up the Tiber river and rolled into a sleepy suburb, later the circus of Nero. This Obelisk was a monument of imperial might of Rome. Later topped with a Cross and CHRISTVS VINCIT / CHRISTVS REGNAT / CHRISTVS IMPERAT / CHRISTVS AB OMNI MALO / PLEBEM SVAM / DEFENDAT (Christ conquers. Christ reigns. Christ commands. May Christ defend his people from all evil). Just like Rome itself, this obelisk now services as a sign of the Might of the Lord, God. This St. Peters Basilica, which was rebuilt in the 16th century, is made of the entirety of old basilica and stone from other Roman ruins. At the center one finds the crypt of St. Peter, adored above with a structure dating back to the 216 AD, which was originally built over the prince of the apostles tomb. A fusion of stones from pagan Rome and the Temple of Jerusalem. A perfect represation of Israel, that is the Church, with its foundation in the prophets and law, fulfilled in the Blood of Our lord Jesus Christ. The One, Holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church is the mountain of God. That you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the conversation of Israel, and strangers to the testament, having no hope of the promise, and without God in this world. But now in Christ Jesus, you, who some time were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his flesh: Making void the law of commandments contained in decrees; that he might make the two in himself into one new man, making peace; And might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, killing the enmities in himself. And coming, he preached peace to you that were afar off, and peace to them that were nigh. For by him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God, Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: In whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:12-22).
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