The Truth about the Crusades

The followers of ISIS constantly bring up the crusades in their propaganda.  They call the alliance fighting them crusaders and the word itself is a loaded word which for the ignorant (such as those marching under the flag of ISIS) brings to mind evil hordes of Christian knights attacking and killing the peaceful Muslim people.  It brings to mind men filled with greed and taking the spoils of war from these same peaceful Muslims as they tried to mind their own business and make a living selling things to nomad traders.  Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Beginning in the year 632 AD the following countries were all Christian lands; Egypt, France, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica but in less than one-hundred years they would become under Muslim rule. The Christian communities in Arabia were destroyed when Jews and Christians were expelled from the peninsula. Between 850 and 950 Benedictine monks were driven out of their monasteries, the Papal States were overrun and plundered by Muslim pirates that set up their bases on the coast of Italy and France. But what about the Crusades?  All we have heard about so far is Muslim conquests.  We will get there in a minute, but let's talk about the conditions that surviving Christians had to endure under the rule of the followers of Islam. By the eleventh century AD conditions for Christians living in lands controlled by Muslims were harsh. They had to pay a special fax and were considered a second class known as the dhimmi. Churches were destroyed and harsh conditions were imposed.  In 1067 a peaceful group of seven thousand German pilgrims lost two thirds of their members to assaults from the Muslims. 

The call for the first Crusade went out in 1095 AD. It was called to address the tyranny and the spoiling of places such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site of the crucifixion where Christian pilgrims were massacred.  Before the capture of Jerusalem, Muslim fighters taunted the crusaders by profaning religious objects and taunting them. The commanders of the crusaders lost control of their men and the melee that followed was brutal and bloody and while it happened it should be remembered that the Crusaders were deeply religious men and the blasphemous things done to the cross would strike deeply at what they were there fighting for.  They were there not only to retake the holy land but they were there fighting for Cross and all that the Cross meant to them. 

So, the Crusades were not a war of aggression. The war of aggression had been started 450 years BEFORE the first crusade was called for by the Muslim armies of conquest.  History clearly shows that the Christians had no hair trigger, did not rattle swords but waited four and a half centuries before attempting to right the wrongs of Islamic conquest. Once again the Muslim jihadists are on the move like a plague of locusts laying waste to all that they can get their hands on.  Their cruel and bloodthirsty ways are not unlike their forefathers in the early centuries. I am afraid that I have come to the belief that Islam caters panders to the evil impulses of the creature we call man. I am not saying that it is completely evil and depraved, only that it can be turned that way by the "correct" reading of their holy book which contains such charming instructions as to cut the head off of the infidels wherever you find them. Or to beat your wife if she disobeys you.  All very practical and made so you can live peacefully with other people. 

The scary part of Islam is that it is a religion without any leader. There is no one in charge to say this interpretation is correct and this interpretation is wrong.  So for my neighbor down the street, Islam is a religion of peace because he does not take the verses that preach violence to heart.  On the other hand the follower across the street, he believes in the sword and is biding his time waiting for his opportunity to strike. Until then, he smiles, nods, pays his taxes, votes and worships at the local mosque where he hangs with other radicals who also are biding their time. To be quite frank about it, I am afraid of most Muslims because you just do not know. 

Let is be said and let my voice be heard.  I am an American. I believe in the American way of life and part of that way of life is the freedom of religion for ALL of us.  It was not so long ago that Catholics were looked down upon as second class citizens and unworthy to be called Americans just because of their religion. Today there is still great amounts of anti-Catholic rhetoric out there and still much prejudice against us. Some say it is the last acceptable form of prejudice in America.  So, I know my Father in heaven loves all of His children, including the misguided followers of the prophet and I want them to be free in this great country of ours. 

So when you read Islamic propaganda that uses the word Crusade  or Crusader in ways that make it seem evil. remember, that the Crusades were just wars undertaken to return peace to the Holy Land, to protect Christians and other that lived there from Muslim injustice.  

Many thanks to Scott Eric Alt whose article formed the basis for the facts quoted here. 

ISIS Cannot Win

ISIS is losing ground and the so called caliphate is but a shadow of its former self. The vicious snake has begun to consume itself as we hear of executions of their own fighters, men who have had enough of the killing of innocent women and children and have tried to desert these butchers.. Now their rabid leader calls for lone wolf attacks against "the infidels." everywhere.   It turns out that the infidels include everyone who are not a part of ISIS including other Muslims especially the Sunni branch of Islam.  So in one of the latest attacks two fevered followers took five hostages and after shouting obscenities around the altar in the Catholic Church killed the eighty-five year old priest who was saying Mass.

The murder of the priest in a house of worship should come as no surprise. ISIS and it followers have no desire to co-exist with any other religion including Sunni members of Islam. To them all are infidels deserving of death. The fact is that there has been a wholesale slaughter of Christians in the lands that have been infested by ISIS. Thousands upon thousands of Christians, Catholics and Protestants alike have been put to death because they would not submit to the pagan religion espoused by ISIS.  Why our esteemed president, Barack Hussein Obama, seems afraid to call this wholesale murder of whole blocks of people for their religious beliefs what it is, genocide, is beyond me.  Who is he afraid of alienating? ISIS? ISIS would like nothing more than to have the president in their clutches. Is he afraid of alienating ordinary Muslims? Your ordinary Muslim hates what ISIS has done to their religion and wants nothing more than to live in peace.  How do we know this?  Because it was done for hundreds of years in places where Christians and Muslims lived together in peace. Declaring the murder of the innocent a genocide is not declaring war on Islam at all, it is declaring war on those who pervert Islam. 

There will be more bloodshed and there is no safe place. The lunatics that ISIS attracts live among us. They may be of foreign descent but they may have been born in America and will use the freedoms we have against us. But the title of this post is, "ISIS Cannot Win." and so far what I have written makes it sound as if they are.

ISIS cannot win because they do not bear any allegiance to God at all. They cannot win because they have turned their hearts away from the way of peace and hardened them into hearts of stone. The martyrs they are making are showing other Christians what it may take to prove themselves to Christ.  The Christian martyrs know that Jesus is the Son of God and rules at the right hand of the Father.  They surrender their very being to Jesus rather than to deny Him.  When a group of Christians were going to be executed by ISIS there was one Arab man who was not a believer among them. He watched as the Christians prayed and said the name of Jesus over and over again. His captors told the Arab man that if he converted to Islam right there and then he would be spared.  He looked at the condemned Christian men praying and told the devil's apostles that "Their God is My God."  He went to his death and  I am sure directly to heaven as he was a martyr for the faith because he professed his belief in Jesus at the cost of his very life. 

ISIS cannot hope to win because we know that Jesus Christ has already won the victory and that at the name of Jesus, every knee must bend and every tongue proclaim to the Glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is Lord.   

Lord Teach Us To Pray

Why do we fold our hands when we pray? 

There are a lot of theories out there and many of them make sense but the one I like is the one that explains that if you were an enemy  soldier captured by a Roman soldier you could avoid immediate death by folding your hands which indicated you have surrendered and were ready to be shackled and taken into captivity. This symbol of surrender is a proper one for us to adopt when we pray. 

THERE IS POWER IN PRAYER ! 

What a great power we have within us. Each of us can make the creator of the universe stop whatever he is doing and actually listen to us. Can you imagine that? The God that built the galaxies, who set the planets in their places, who keeps all things in existence is there ready to listen to you or I.  The power of God is so very great that when you are lifting yourself up in prayer to Him you have His whole attention! He cares about the most minute things in your life and He wants you to share them with Him.  It is true that he already knows all of your problems,sins, virtues and needs before you can mention them but He wants you to freely demonstrate your trust in Him by telling them in your own way and in your own words. 

Trust In God 

Our prayers show God that we trust Him and that we recognize Him as our true and most loving Father. Our prayers make us realize that we cannot do it alone, that we need help and that help is only one breath away. Sometimes our needs are so great that we cannot put them into words. In those times of great stress, God's spirit will pray of us in words and ways we do not understand. 

Prayer As An Obligation

Prayer is an obligation too. God can and will exist quite nicely even if we do not pray. When we pray we acknowledge our dependence. Prayer helps us to conform to the will go God and helps us find what His will is.  

There are many methods of prayer out there some of which are quite complex and take years to master. But simple prayer is nothing more than speaking to the Lord as to a friend. The strange thing about it is the more that we pray the more we recognize the beauty and wonderful nature of God. 

Pray With Confidence

We should pray with confidence and with trust and with persistence. God answers all prayers, and I mean all prayers.  There are only three answers God gives to prayer. The first is the one we long to hear, "Yes." There is nothing better than you and God agreeing fully about something. Yes is more beautiful than any other word you can hear when you pray. The second answer is "No."  We really dislike when the answer to our prayer is "No."  When the answer is no, we have to accept it as if it were a yes. This is because that yes and no are the same answer, the answer that expresses inexhaustible love for us. 

Like a good Father,He will give us everything that we need, but not necessarily everything that we want. Yes and no are easy to deal with compared to the third possible answer to prayer and that answer is "Wait." Why should we wait? We know what we need, we know what is good, why does He make us wait? We have to remember that this earth is not our home.  Our home is in heaven with God and He will give us everything that we need to make it to heaven. Sometimes that means we have to wait for a time. 

Praying in or out of the foxhole 

It is sad that more people do not realize that within them they have this great power, a direct line to God. Some people resort to prayer when all other possibilities under their control have been used and they are in a foxhole with enemy shells whizzing overhead. It is okay to pray then of course, but personally I when the enemy seemingly is winning I would rather have a personal ongoing relationship with God, not because he is more or less likely to answer my prayer, but rather my spirit would be calmer knowing by experience that he will answer and his answer will come in the nick of time. 

The late Mother Angelica said this about prayer and I have always remembered it: 

"WHEN WE PRAY TO GOD OUR PRAYER NO MATTER WHAT THE WORDS ARE ASKING GOD IF HE LOVES US AND HIS ANSWER NO MATTER WHAT THE ANSWER IS, YES, NO, OR WAIT, IS THAT YES INDEED HE LOVES US." 

Attitude Is Important

The Sodom Chamber of Commerce Welcomes You!
What happens in Sodom stays in Sodom. 

Today in this world we have created for ourselves, a world where little by little God is being edged out and being replaced with what seems good, or feels good, or doesn't offend, we Christians have a grave duty.  It is a duty to our to our God, to our Church and to our fellow human creatures.  Our duty is to be the pain in the ass for the world. (I cam't believe he said that!) It is the easiest thing in the world to be politically correct, just sitting back and letting what happens around us happen. We need not participate. No we just need to stand by and watch it happen. This will promote peace and harmony among all of the people and isn't that what we are after?  Peace is a good thing after all isn't it? Well, there is peace and there is peace. In 1938 Neville Chamberlain stumbled off of his airplane clutching a piece of paper in hand and proclaimed that he had brought back "peace in our time." We all know what happened. On September 1, 1939 NAZI Germany started World War II which caused millions of deaths world wide. 

The men and women living in ancient Sodom kept things politically correct, they were at peace with one another and we know what happened to them. I am afraid that peace is something that is going to be hard to achieve in our world. We Christians have the duty to point the way, to be a lighthouse that points out the rocky outcrops that litter the pathways of life. This duty is not going to make us popular with the people around us that have chosen to turn their back on the law of God and to follow their own law. It is very important that in being a PIA we do so keeping in mind that those we are trying to help are beloved by God our Father just as we are. The most rabid homosexual activist, the Muslim who bathes in the blood of the innocent, the abortion doctor who has filled his wallet with money by creating baby cadavers, all of these are loved by God who is just one step away from them with His arms outstretched waiting for them to return to Him. 

In a soul where God is absent, ego grows to imperfectly fill His place. A soul without God can never be satisfied because no matter what he/she obtains in gratification of their wants still leaves them wanting more.  They are in a most pitiful shape because they cannot see the trouble that they are in. When we point out an issue where Christians and they are on opposite sides their ego shuts off their ability to see and they that cannot see, will not see. 

Okay, lets get to the bottom line. We must love our brothers and sisters back to life. Do you remember Chinese handcuffs? You put your fingers in them and if you pull hard, they hold more tightly to your fingers and you cannot get out of them. Release the pressure and your fingers slip right out. While we have to confront people about behavior that is sinful we must do it in a loving and respectful way. We must always remember that we are the planters and God Himself is the harvester. If we sit back and say nothing then we are guilty as if we committed the sin ourselves.  If we attack frontally and insult our brothers and sisters, we can only expect them to hold on to their beliefs even more strongly. We must love them back to health. Our good example and gentle prodding will do more good than anything else. 

God bless all of you. Please leave a comment, even if it is only to say you think I am nuts! Michael 

Early In The Morning

I was up very early this morning. It is a gloomy looking start to the day and it is refreshingly cool as I sit by the window with my computer thinking about what I want to say this weekend.  To be honest, I feel a little bit down today.  I look back at my life and I see nothing noteworthy that I have accomplished. It seems everything I have tried has come to naught.  I look at the lives of others and with suppressed envy I wonder why the key to success does not fit the lock I have been given. This is a very rare thing for me to be feeling this way. I am normally a guy who sees the glass as being half full, not half empty.  

There have been a few changes in my life recently, nothing too bad but changes none the less.  The most important of these changes is that my Type 2 Diabetes has become harder and harder to control with just oral medications and TLC care, so my doctor has put me on Lantus, a long acting synthetic insulin. Some of my friends have offered their sympathy and while I am grateful that they think that this is something to mourn about, it really is just another medication and I have adapted to it.  In my life too there have been things I have had to adjust to. I know it was bound to happen sooner or later and I think deep inside of me, in the part of my brain where "self failures" are stored I still consider this to be a failure.  this has been added to the list my brain has compiled when it wants to make me feel sorry for myself.  

My brother and sisters for reasons known only to them have in effect abandoned me and since the death of my father eight years ago I have truly been an orphan, declared persona non gratis by those that should be closest to me. I mourn about this regularly and pray to God often and ask Him why he has permitted this. 

Now, why am I sharing all of this personal stuff with you?  It is because our Gospel today is the story of Mary and Martha. You know, Mary is running around serving the guests while Martha is sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him speak.  Our deacon pointed out that what Mary is giving us is a poor me type of a story. She is saying "Oh poor me, look at how hard I have it, why me?" 

I truly believe that God has a plan for us and it is our job to cooperate as best as we can with that plan.  People come and go in your life and it is a fact that the ones that you love most are the ones that can hurt you the most.  As for me, I bear no ill will towards my estranged family.  I have granted them what their heart seems to yearn for, my absence in their lives. I leave it up to God to someday to tell me why this has happened.  This of course has caused my spirit to suffer, to feel lonely and abandoned but I offer my anguish and sadness that the situation causes me up to the Lord and ask Him, as Paul did in our second reading today, to add it to the all sufficient suffering he experienced on the cross for us. 

There is a purpose for everything under God's universe.  My puny mind and my sin weakened soul cannot hope to know what specific part those things that appear as evil in my life will have in bringing the ultimate plan of God into fruition, but I just have to remember that it will.  For the disappointments in life, for those things that have caused me pain and suffering I accept them and thank God for them because I know that He will ultimately place all things under his feet.

Change The Mass - An Ex Catholic with a Bad Idea and Lets Play Spin the Bottle Spin The Priest

Proposal By A Fallen Away Catholic

This week I skimmed over an article written by a young lady that styles herself as a former Catholic which in the olden days we would have called "fallen away."  She decided to take it upon herself to recommend to Pope Francis that the Catholic Church remove from the Mass the words of the Roman soldier, "Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, only say the word and my soul shall be healed."  Like many fallen away, excuse me, former Catholics she has suddenly become an expert on the Bible, sacraments, and the liturgy.  In her treatise she says that Jesus died for all and His death made us worthy so we should not say these words as they are not true and an affront to our humanity.  As many former Catholics, she has become blind to the beauty of the moment of when those words are said in the Mass.  She obviously does not or perhaps she chooses not to remember that this prayer is said as part of the communion rite, right before we receive.  She obviously has no respect for the Eucharist. I am sure that in her denomination any remaining grape juice and saltines are simply disposed of along with the stale cupcakes and used Styrofoam coffee cups used in the fellowship after their preacher finishes his sermon.  She should remember that in the Catholic Church the Eucharist is the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ who enters into us in the form of transubstaniated bread and wine.  The words of the soldier are very apt for each one of us. Because while it is true that we are saved by the Cross of Jesus, each one of us falls short, misses the mark, in some ways.  So the words confess that we are but a shack of a temple with a leaky roof and mud floors and in faith it shouts that when Jesus enters us in this most intimate way we become greater than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome because Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, the Triumphant Jesus, the Very Word of the Father  is physically within us.  This makes me just a bit on the humble side, as it should. 

SPIN THE PRIEST AROUND?

Since the reforms of Vatican II the priest has lead us in prayer by facing the congregation.  Prior to this the presider would face the altar with his back to the people.  First of all, let me say that whatever way the priest faces makes no difference to me.  But, if I had my choice, if the Church left it up to me, I would keep the priest facing the people, sharing prayer and better able to communicate with the people.  Some conservatives want to go back to the old way.  This week the Pope said that while it is permissible to face the altar instead of the people, it is not mandatory that the priest do so.  With Christians being slaughtered in the Middle East I think we should have more to worry about than this.  I will take what comes.  I have to confess that I was a bit put out when Pope Benedict vetoed using the name of God, "Yahweh" in our worship because I love the song "You Are Near" and really got into it when it came up as part of the music selected for worship, I put this in its place and realized that in the long run, this was something that does not matter.  I classify the position of the priest in the same way.  I would not be pleased if I started to have to watch the priest from behind, but I certainly would not stop going to Mass or give up the Catholic Church because of it.   What I say now, I say with all due respect to the Pope and to the Magistarium, but sometimes I think that breathing that holy rarefied air that seems to fill presidential offices, board rooms, and executive meeting chambers the world over sometimes makes those who inhale it lose sight of the little people below them that do not really care one way or the other.  So let's play spin the priest if we must but my fellow little people, let us not get caught up in a minor change in ritual that only makes a real difference to the Pope, the Cardinals, and the Bishops who make their living in and through the Church. Now, changing the words of songs to make them "inclusive," well, don't get me started on that...........

It's All In The Instructions

I brought home the thing and opened the box. It looked easy enough and I started putting the thing together. Well, part one went into part two but the hole for part three didn't quite line up but I inserted it anyway.  Part four almost lined up correctly and using the wrench provided by the manufacturer I tighten the nuts and turned my new table over and it was very, very lopsided.  I took the thing apart and looked in the box and pulled out this printed sheet. It appears that I had part one upside down as to how it was supposed to fit in part two.  I took the thing apart and this time I followed the instructions and my new table looked just like the sample did in the store. Reading and following all of the instructions made all of the difference. 

In the first reading at mass this Sunday, God reminds us in Deut 30 10-14 that the instructions are there, he put them there, we do not have to look for them, He has written them for us in our hearts.  In the Gospel today we heard the story of the Good Samaritan.  The story was a shocker in the time of Jesus. Samaritans were looked down upon, they were looked on as pagans by the faithful Jews of the time.  The road that lead to Jericho was avoided for a couple of reasons. First, it went through Samaria.  Second. it was well known that it was infested with robbers. A Jew would travel out of his way to avoid this road.  So it must have been an urgent mission that caused a priest and Levite to use that road. First of all the priest, why he could not stop. The man lying on the side of the road was bloody and if he touched him he would not be able to pray because he would be ritually unclean. The same was true for the Levite. Besides, what if the man was faking and either one of these two stopped to help, well maybe the man would jump up and rob them or hidden accomplices would jump out and beat the tar out of him and leave him for dead on the side of the road.  So for practical purposes alone, the priest and the Levite ignored the victim.  The Samaritan on the other hand was walking down that same road.  He stopped, he chose to extend mercy. He carried the victim to an inn and dressed his woulds and paid the innkeeper to watch over the man.  He also promised to pay whatever the innkeeper paid in excess of the two silver coins he left for the victims room and board. 

Jesus in this story makes sure to tell us while it is important to love God with your whole heart, soul, and being, you must also love your neighbor.  

On this Sunday where we are all still shaking our heads at the senseless violence that is plaguing our world, we have to ask ourselves are we taking care to be a caretaker of our neighbor?  Jesus is asking us to do so.  If we do, the violence will stop, I guarantee this to you. 

  

Freedom

It is the 4th of July holiday weekend. It is a time for festive events, picnics, family reunions, fireworks, and parades. I think it should be a time also for sober reflection on just what it means to be free. 

In America we have the freedom to hold any opinion about the government that we want to hold and we can shout it to the rooftops if we want to!  

In America we can elect any citizen to any office based on what they say and we can hold them accountable and even demand a recall election if they seriously fail in their job. 

In America we have the right to be free of government interference in our life and concurrently we have the right to give the government authority to do things for us and in our name, We the People!

In America we have an absolute right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

In America we are guaranteed the right to worship God in the way that we want to and to follow our conscience using the light that God sends to us. 

In America we can be what and who we want to be. We can be a garbage collector or a doctor, it is our choice what we become and what we work towards.

In America we have citizen soldiers, volunteers to protect us and our country. We have a duty to see to their welfare during and after the service that the give to us. 

In America we unite with our brothers and sisters in our neighborhood, in out towns and cities and try to live in peace and in harmony with each other. 

In America, law is master over might.

In America in modern times we have lost the ability to discuss things with one another, the word compromise has lost its meaning with our elected representatives. 

In America, we have lost confidence in our senate, in our congress, in our executive and legal branches because they no longer want to work together for the common good. 

In America, we move ever closer to having a state instead of a government. 

In America, our freedom of religion is being rescinded little bit by little bit. 

In America, the president now issues decrees called executive orders that have the force of law. 

In America, the Supreme Court issues decrees called decisions that have the force of law. 

In America, our Congress and Senate are deadlocked because party politics have become more important than the good of the citizens that sent them to Washington. Those entrusted to define the law do nothing. 

In America, you have the right to live unless you are in the womb and then you have no rights at all. 

In America, there is good, there is bad. But the only other form over government that is worse than ours is any other. 

God bless this country I call home, my Lord protect us, speak more loudly that we may hear your voice.  We pray oh Lord that never take for granted the freedoms that come from you. May America be a shining light to all the world of what can be.  Amen.