Catholic Faith Defenders. The Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd. FOUNTAINS FROM THE WELL- SPRING OF SALVATIONBy. Arganiosa* Actually this is not a homily but a written article which is Fr. We are an online forum community for owners of Land Rover Defenders and Series trucks. Home to the popular Land Rover Defender Forums, Defender Classifieds, and the huge Defender Registry. Paul synthesizes the grace of being a priest. Being human a priest is created out of clay . Through the consecrated hands of our priests heaven opens every day to give us the Body and Blood of the Lord giving us a pure sacrifice that sanctifies the sinful world from the rising of the sun to its setting . That is very far from reality. Defenders of Freedom Radio is a music radio station that is dedicated to showing support for our troops. We’re based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but broadcast nationwide. Contact us to receive. Welcome to the Crown Defenders Mossley Online Forum. To register please click 'Register' below and enter all of your details, hope to see you on soon! Visit the Defenders website to learn more about what we're doing to protect our wildlife and wild places—and what you can do to help. Secret Defenders Comic books for sale online. 812,000 DC Marvel & other comic books for sale. It was established by the Father from the Old Covenant, perfected by Christ in the New, and is guided by the Holy Spirit throughout the ages. Thus, we proclaim the divine origin of the priesthood. Let us take a closer look at the grandeur of this sacrament not only from its essential nature but also on its external appearance. The Lord God ordered that holy vestments be made for them . These vestments are the tunic, robe, white linen garments, girdle and even. It seems that the ancient book is not referring to Aaron but instead to our Pope in full regalia or the Archbishop during the Chrism Mass . The colors are even specified: . It is basically the liturgical colors of the Roman chasubles. Imagine, these were not yet the rituals in the temple of Jerusalem rather of the Tent of Meeting during the Exodus Journey, yet the People were already told to glorify God in liturgical manner. So, the beautiful vestments of our priests are not for vain glory, rather they are intended by God to manifest His glory. Of course we must not spend gold for vestments beyond our means to the neglect of the works of charities, but it is also the duty of the believers to beautify the church through the liturgy. The beauty of God is not only manifested in architectural designs and in the. This is exactly how our priests are being ordained. The Lord God specified an all- male priesthood . Our rite of ordination is very ancient. The Jerusalem Bible beautifully expressed it: . The priests are sharing in the priesthood of God who is the source of all holiness so that in turn they can sanctify the people. The prophets of old already announced that the Kingdom of the Messiah shall be characterized by saints and priests: . Priesthood is Perpetual . First, by assuming the office of the High Priest forever: . Second, by implementing the Priesthood of Melchizedek rather than that of Levi . Lord Jesus perfected the priesthood from being a mere office into being a sacrament. He converted the sacrifice from the holocaust of rams and bullocks into the one Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood as Melchizedek offered bread and wine for Abraham . As the Father chose Moses and Aaron as priests over the people of the first covenant so the Lord Jesus gave us St. Peter and the apostolic college as the priests of the new covenant by ordaining them to the same Sacerdotal Order empowering them: . Lk 2. 2: 1. 9; 1 Cor 1. For that reason we are always called upon by Church to love each and every one of our priest regardless of look, talent, color or nationality. The grace of priesthood though voluntarily taken by the person is always above and beyond him. It depends on the Lord: . That is why defiance against the authority of the Church through the person or office of the Pope, the Bishop and the priest is always a terrible offense against the unity of the Church and against God. Jude in his very brief yet powerful epistle reminds every baptized to refrain from committing the. He wanted to make himself equal with the authority of Moses by his insistence to offer incense which is exclusive to the priests. His pride and disobedience caused division in Israel as if the mutiny of Lucifer were being reenacted . Today there are many who defy the authority of the Church and we thank God that in His mercy they are not being swallowed by the earth. We pray for their conversion because in their pride they are causing wounds in the Body of Christ . Cor 1. 2: 1. 2- 1. Eph 1: 2. 2- 2. 3. It is unfortunate that there are lay people who are acting as if they are priests and worst as if they are higher than them in authority. It is also equally problematic if a priest is acting and thinking as if he is a lay forgetting the distinct character of his ordination. I once read a book detailing the history of the Church in Korea. The Church suffered severe persecutions therein so that during certain periods no missionaries were being sent. In the absence of priests the Korean Catholics gathered together in a room every Sunday, setting up the Eucharistic altar complete with chalice and the vessels, unleavened bread and wine. Then, in front of that altar they knelt for hours crying to God in supplication to grant them a priest. In their distress they never tried to defile the Sacrament by illicit ordinations; they never dared to violate the authority of the Pope and the Bishop. Instead, they called on the eternal High Priest to have mercy and He did. Today that Church is one of the fastest growing in the world. It is very sad however to know that in some places people reject, disrespect and malign their priest while on the other hand some priests fail to bring Christ to their flock and create scandals instead. That is why to see a holy priest, a fatherly priest, a scholarly priest and a priest who is a loving pastor, is like beholding the face of God. The face of the saintly priests shines like the face of Moses after conversing with the Almighty on Sinai . This virtue is very misunderstood in our world today because we are living in the midst of a sexual revolution where thanks to Freud sex and pleasure are supreme. It is frequently asked . Peter is our first Pope but he is not our Lord. This same Lord is also the One and Eternal High Priest. We follow in the footsteps of Jesus . The saints are models of sanctity because they followed the Lord but our gaze is focused on Jesus. Our Lord chose not to get married to a single woman, but instead offered His Body completely for the sanctification of the Church. For this reason we mystically speak of the Church as the. Eph 5: 2. 2- 2. 3; Rev 2. Jn 3: 2. 9. The goal of the priest to follow Christ sets him apart from among men, by doing so the priest truly shares in the very life of his Lord: The. Every adoration we proclaim it: . By His being a Victim the Lord Jesus gave us salvation and by this same sacrifice He vanquished Satan. Our priests being in total union with Christ are also doing the same by the sacrifice of their lives, and by their Eucharistic offering are bringing about the triumph of the Gospel and the downfall of the Devil. The defeat of Satan can only be achieved through the Holy Eucharist . Paul and he is a ministerial priest: . He is also celibate: . Now to the unmarried and to widows, I say: it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do. Through celibacy the Lord and His priests testify that life is not limited to material things and sexual desires. There are higher values. Man does not live on bread alone . Celibacy was practiced by Jesus because even here on earth He was living a heavenly life: . Mt 2. 2: 3. 0; Lk 2. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph lived in chastity because their hearts and minds were attracted by the highest good that is Jesus. Living with Jesus day in and day out made them feel . If one is completely absorbed by the presence of God the desire for sex disappears, the attraction of power vanishes and the lure of money fades away because the person already possesses the supreme value. That is why later on in life St. Peter spoke in behalf of all apostles: . Who said to them: Amen, I say to you, there is no man that hath left home or parents or brethren or wife or children, for the kingdom of God. They became the first of those men who followed the Lamb . What others see as a burden is actually a source of joy for those who were called: . There is nothing further from the truth because even though the Catholic Church experiences difficulty finding vocations in certain areas there are also abundances elsewhere. Much more, the Catholic Church is numerous either by the number of her baptized members or priests. There are groups whose ministers are married yet they are shrinking into oblivion while the Catholic Church is growing in spite of the challenges. The Catholic Church is 1. These priests are living and dying with the people because they are celibate. Married couples are very difficult to assign from one place to another and much more so for an entire family. By being alone our priests are free to serve and be transferred by the Bishop. This brings tremendous dynamism in the Church that is unequalled anywhere else except in the military. The Catholic Church is the largest non- government provider of education and medical services in the world . Geopolitics 1. 5 (1): 3. All these Catholic institutions draw water from the Spring of Salvation through their priests who give the sacraments, serving as their spiritual father. Mother Teresa said it best: . He must be an exemplar of holiness because God is holy . Lev 1. 1: 4. 6; Lev 2. Pt 1: 1. 6. He must emanate goodness because God is good . Jesus is the Good Shepherd . The Lord Jesus differentiates the good shepherd with the hired one; the latter escapes in times of danger . In a Deanery meeting one of our elderly priests came to me and touched my hand saying . Actually I should have retired years ago but I don. Almost all his hair was gone, his face wrinkled and his hand was a little shaky as it held mine. His voice was firm, almost bordering into a whisper, yet this old but noble heart still serves even though his body is already frail. Already weak, still he empowers others. He put me to shame because I am relatively young yet there were occasions when I was doing things halfheartedly. After listening to his words of wisdom I answered back: . With the Blessed Virgin he became a. In just few minutes of talking to him, I felt like a deer that found a running stream.
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