Saturday, May 24, 2014

Pope Francis blessed the waters of the Jordan River





Romereports


Published on May 24, 2014

http://en.romereports.com (-VIDEO ONLY-) The Pope arrived to the Jordan river, the site of Jesus' Baptism, on board a golf cart, driven by Jordan's King Abdullah. Their passengers included Queen Rania and the crown prince.
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U.S. urged to use provisions of federal law to promote religious rights




Catholic News Service


WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called on Congress and the White House to boost defense of religious rights worldwide by stepping up actions designated under federal law.

Robert P. George told a congressional hearing that provisions of the International Religious Freedom Act, including diplomacy, presidential actions and the negotiation of binding agreements, could be better used to protect religious rights.

A bioethicist and Princeton University professor, George told the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations May 22 that the U.S. could raise the profile of religious persecution through its actions against some of the world's strictest regimes.

"USCIRF recommends that current and future administrations and Congress recommit themselves to the full and robust applications of IRFA's mechanisms. Interest has faded over the past decade and a half, allowing these structures to atrophy," George said.

He also called upon President Barack Obama to fill the position of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and to raise the profile of the position by ensuring the person serving in it has "direct and regular access" to the secretary of state.

The Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook held the position from May 2011 until resigning in October. The position remains vacant.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., subcommittee chairman, said he called the hearing to call attention to some of the most serious violations of religious rights around the world. He cited incidents such as the imprisonment of Merian Yehya Ibrahim, a Christian expectant mother who is imprisoned in Sudan and facing a death sentence for not renouncing her faith, and growing anti-Semitism in Ukraine since the toppling of President Viktor Yanukovich in February.

He said U.S. leadership on religious freedom "could not be more critical," but noted that the tools to do so "are lightly used."

"History shows that when the U.S. makes religious freedom a priority and that priority is conveyed to countries of particular concern, we have seen conditions with minimal harm to security or economic cooperation," he said.

In his remarks, George urged the State Department follow the USCIRF recommendation to expand its list of countries of particular concern from eight to 16 because of rising evidence of crackdowns on religious practice. George pointed to the recommendations in the commission's 2014 annual report that Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam be added to the list.

Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan currently are designated as countries of particular concern by the State Department.

"Because religious freedom is so central to human identity, we would expect that in places where it is unprotected, societal well-being would suffer," George explained.

"Politically, religious freedom abuses are linked with the absence of democracy and the presence of abuses of other human rights, such as freedom of expression, association and assembly. Economically, religious persecution can destabilize communities and marginalize the persecuted, causing their talents and abilities to go unrealized, robbing a nation of added productivity and reducing its ability to fight poverty and make positive economic strides," he said.

"Wherever religious freedom is abused, peace and security may become ever more elusive," George added.

The commission chairman also called on Congress to pass legislation that would keep the commission in business through Sept. 30, 2019.

George was among several people to testify at the hearing.

Kenneth E. Bowers, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, discussed the persecution of people of his faith in Iran. He said that in January, 136 Baha'is were being detained in Iranian prisons.

Los Angeles attorney Amjad Mahmood Khan, a Muslim, told the hearing about persecution of members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan. Ahmadiyya Muslims adhere to the motto of "Love for all, hatred for none" and reject terrorism in all forms, he said.

Under Pakistani law, members of the community are denied the right to self-identify as Muslims, Khan said.

As a result, he explained, Ahmadi Muslim professionals have been targeted by extremist groups, police have failed to provide adequate protection to members of the community and "frivolous" blasphemy cases continue to be filed against members "as a means to settle personal scores and business rivalries."

Bob Fu, president of U.S.-based China Aid, testified that since January the Chinese government has intensified its suppression of house churches in China. In particular, Fu pointed to actions in Zhejiang province where authorities demolished what it called "illegally constructed church buildings" and the crosses on the roof of numerous churches.

He said the actions have spread to other provinces as worshippers have been held in administrative detention, fined, had property confiscated and faced criminal trial.

"The protection of religious freedom and other God-endowed human rights is the foundation of our nation and once was a sacred principle adhered by the U.S. government in diplomacy. Today, however, the U.S. government has given up the principle and its adherence to the sacred belief," Fu told the hearing.

He urged the U.S. to "take actions right away and send a clear, strong message to the Chinese government."




RELATED

*Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

Chris Smith, official 109th Congress photo.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 1981
Preceded byFrank Thompson
Personal details
BornChristopher Henry Smith
March 4, 1953 (age 61)
RahwayNew JerseyU.S.
Political partyDemocratic (Before 1978)
Republican (1978–present)
Spouse(s)Marie Smith
Alma materCollege of New Jersey
ReligionRoman Catholicism
Source: Wikipedia

Robert P. George 
Robert P. George
George Robert PCBE.jpg
Robert P. George
BornRobert Peter George
July 10, 1955 (age 58)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationProfessor of jurisprudence

He is of counsel to the law firm of Robinson & McElwee PLLC in Charleston, West Virginia, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
...
George drafted the Manhattan Declaration, a manifesto signed by Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical leaders that "promised resistance to the point of civil disobedience against any legislation that might implicate their churches or charities in abortion, embryo-destructive research or same-sex marriage."[2]

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In Era of Humble Pope, Earth Shifts Under Cardinal Dolan




By SHARON OTTERMAN
MAY 23, 2014



Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, at Iona College’s graduation last week, is “giving himself a bit of a tuneup,” a papal historian says. CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times


Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan lives in a 19th-century Madison Avenue mansion that connects to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A cook and two housekeepers serve him and three other priests. A driver chauffeurs him around, though in a Chrysler minivan.
It is a comfortable, if not necessarily extravagant, lifestyle, one in keeping with that of past archbishops of New York. But in the age of Pope Francis, who has captured the world’s imagination by rejecting many luxurious trappings of the papacy, is the cardinal’s lifestyle humble enough?

The question is just one of many that Cardinal Dolan is contending with as he navigates the changes in the Roman Catholic world wrought by the election last year of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Some see the influence of Cardinal Dolan, once considered a possible candidate for pope himself, waning in the era of the new pontiff. With Francis upending conventions not just about the pomp and pageantry of the office but also about the expectations for his priests and bishops, the church has inarguably changed around Cardinal Dolan, even as he maintained last week that he has stayed more or less the same.


Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan says he has reflected upon Pope Francis’ call for bishops to act more like humble parish priests. CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times

In a written response to a series of questions from The New York Times about Francis’ effect on him and the diocese, Cardinal Dolan said he did not believe he had altered how he ran the archdiocese, or made any adjustments in his personal habits. But some who study the Catholic Church say that they are beginning to detect subtle differences, at least in his public persona, as he seeks to adapt to the new spirit in Rome.

“He certainly is not doing a massive overhaul of his personality, but he is giving himself a bit of a tuneup,” said Christopher Bellitto, a papal historian at Kean University in New Jersey.

In the last years that Benedict XVI served as pope, Cardinal Dolan, 64, was America’s top bishop as the president of the United States Conference for Catholic Bishops. Ever the genial guardian of Catholic orthodoxy, he led the charge against the Obama administration’s efforts to require some religious employers to cover birth control for employees. Some church experts say he was also the go-to cardinal for many in the Vatican when they wanted to know what was going on in the American church.

Since then, Cardinal Dolan’s term as the bishops’ leader has ended. Francis is elevating different priorities, such as pastoral outreach to the poor and immigration, over the culture war issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. The new pope has selected as his closest American adviser Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, a Franciscan in robes and sandals who speaks fluent Spanish and champions the poor, appointing him to a privy council of eight cardinals.

To the powerful commission that selects the world’s bishops, Francis named Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, widely considered a moderate, to replace Cardinal Raymond Burke, a more conservative prelate who has advocated denying communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. Such moves are shifting the center of gravity of the American church.


Cardinal Dolan gave the commencement address at Iona College's graduation on May 17. In addition to local public service, the post of New York’s archbishop comes with national and international responsibilities. CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times

“It’s not that he’s out of favor or irrelevant,” said John Allen, who wrote a book with Cardinal Dolan and now reports for The Boston Globe. “But both in terms of who Rome listens to in the American church, and setting priorities for the American church, I think there’s no question that Tim Dolan is no longer the prime mover in that regard.”

Cardinal Dolan is still on several important Vatican committees, and in the United States, remains the preferred bishop to speak on television. He is a master communicator, pithy and gregarious. But the buzz that followed him into the conclave to select Francis as pope in March 2013 — that he himself could be a papal candidate — has dissipated.

“He’s not out in the cold, but neither is he the rising star anymore,” said Pat McNamara, a church historian and author of a forthcoming book on New York Catholicism.

When it comes to lifestyle, the pope is challenging the model of the bishop as royalty of the church and increasing popular expectations that bishops act more like humble parish priests, truly getting to know their people. It is a call that Cardinal Dolan said he had certainly reflected upon.

“I hope and pray that I was living a fairly simple life beforehand,” the cardinal said. “But I do have to examine my own conscience and ask: ‘Am I too comfortable? Do I take too much for granted? Are my priorities where they should be?’ ”


Cardinal Dolan with Mayor Bill de Blasio in January. Known as a master communicator, he is still the preferred bishop to speak on television in America.CreditFred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Besides reining in excess, however, Francis has asked priests and bishops to limit their travel and focus on ministering to their people — “to be shepherds with the smell of sheep.”

“Espouse your community, be profoundly bonded to it!” he told his bishops in September. “Avoid the scandal of being ‘airport bishops.’ ”

In the New York archdiocese, which covers the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and seven counties north of the city, Cardinal Dolan is popular among parishioners, but he is known among some priests as a delegator who is often out of town. He relies on a vicar to handle day-to-day priestly problems, and a consultant has been managing the process of deciding which parishes the archdiocese will merge and close. Cardinal Dolan will make the final decisions personally in September.

The post of New York archbishop will always come with national and international responsibilities. But some priests said a silver lining of Cardinal Dolan’s lowered profile would be a more hands-on approach toward running the diocese.

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“We’d like to see more evangelization in the parishes, we’d like to see more outreach and neighborhood involvement, we’d like to see more planning in the church,” said Msgr. Neil Connolly, who has been a New York City priest for more than 50 years. “Those of us in the parishes, we don’t work closely with the archbishop on a day-to-day basis.”


Cardinal Dolan resides in a 19th-century Madison Avenue mansion with three other priests. The home is connected to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Credit Anthony Lanzilote for The New York Times

Cardinal Dolan said Francis had led him to mull over issues like whether the diocese was too focused on its buildings, institutions and hierarchy at the expense of serving people.

“Certainly Francis has inspired me to look for ways that we can be more welcoming, more focused on being with those who feel distant from Jesus and the church, and less focused on structures and institutions,” he said.

And he said the pope was also serving as a role model when it came to presenting the church publicly, emphasizing mercy, for example, over judgment in his message.

“I do have to realize that what I say, and how I say it, is important, and what I intend to convey is not always what comes across,” Cardinal Dolan said.

On that front, he did seem to acknowledge a tonal shift some church experts had noted.

Dr. Bellitto said, “His more bombastic political rhetoric has been dialed down.”

An example may be instructive. Two years ago, Cardinal Dolan’s most-quoted comments on the subject of same-sex marriage were ones in which he said he felt “betrayed” and “burned” by the New York Legislature for not giving him more notice before legalizing it. But two months ago, when asked on television how he felt about Michael Sam’s becoming the first openly gay player in the National Football League, he expressed enthusiasm.

“Good for him,” Cardinal Dolan told David Gregory on “Meet the Press” on NBC.

“Look, the same Bible that teaches us about the virtue of chastity and fidelity in marriage also teaches us not to judge people,” he added, echoing Francis. “So I would say, ‘Bravo.’ ”


A version of this article appears in print on May 24, 2014, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: In Era of Humble Pope, Earth Shifts Under Dolan.

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A horse named "Sunday Rest"


Wow, wow, wee! 
Look and see:

  Skeet Ulrich portrays Chip Woolley in the movie "50 to 1." He is seen with Mine That Bird, played by Sunday Rest, in a scene from the movie.

Skeet Ulrich portrays Chip Woolley in the movie "50 to 1." He is seen with Mine That Bird, played by Sunday Rest, in a scene from the movie. (Courtesy of Allied Integrated Marketing)

Actress Madelyn Deutch, who plays an exercise trainer named Alex, is pictured aboard Mine That Bird, who is portrayed by Sunday Rest, in a scene from the

Actress Madelyn Deutch, who plays an exercise trainer named Alex, is pictured aboard Mine That Bird, who is portrayed by Sunday Rest, in a scene from the movie "50 to1." ( Courtesy of Allied Integrated Marketing)


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Parliament divided over Sunday voting



Friday 23 May 2014

Parliament gave a divided reaction on Friday to comments by home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk that European elections should be held on Sunday in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has been stopped by Brussels from publishing the official results of Thursday's European parliament elections ahead of Sunday's vote in most of the rest of the EU.

Plasterk says that moving EU elections to Sunday could increase turnout, although he is careful to point out that there must be a solution for people who want to respect the Sunday rest.
Interesting

Coalition partner the right-wing Liberal VVD thinks it is 'an interesting thought' because most EU countries vote on Sunday, the Nos reports.

However, the party's MP Joost Taverne said an alternative would have to be found for people who do not want to vote on Sunday on principle. They could vote by mail or a polling station could be opened on a week day for them.

The Socialists agreed with him, but took issue with the timing of Plasterk's comments. 'We've just been criticised by Brussels for our election day which really has nothing to do with the European Commission,' one of its MPs said.

Nor do the Socialist think moving election day would increase turnout.

Both the small Christian parties - SGP and ChristenUnie - are critical of the idea. 'People who do not vote on Thursday are unlikely to do so on Sunday,' the Nos quotes SGP party leader Kees van der Staaij as saying.


The Promise of Final Triumph


The work that lies before us is one that will put to the stretch every power of the human being. It will call for the exercise of strong faith and constant vigilance. At times the difficulties that we shall meet will be most disheartening. The very greatness of the task will appall us. And yet, with God's help, His servants will finally triumph. "Wherefore," my brethren, "I desire that ye faint not" (Eph. 3:13) because of the trying experiences that are before you. Jesus will be with you; He will go before you by His Holy Spirit, preparing the way; and He will be your helper in every emergency.

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:14-21).--General Conference Bulletin, May 27, 1913, pp. 164, 165.

Selected Messages Book 2, pp.407,408.
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Happy Sabbath


10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Psalm 119:10-16.
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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Beijing on Endrtimes: 她她 Tā tā

    
Beijing arrived on "EndrTimes".

Fr. Ralph Huse, SJ: The Gift of Contemplation






Jesuit Father Ralph Huse serves as a retreat and spiritual director at the White House Jesuit Retreat Center in St. Louis.




By Tracey Primrose

Jesuit Father Ralph Huse, spiritual director at the White House Jesuit Retreat Center in St. Louis, has an innovative approach to penance. Rather than asking the penitent to recite Our Fathers or Hail Marys, Fr. Huse suggests a reflective look at the coursing Mississippi River from the bluffs that anchor White House’s historic campus. It’s a penance that often provokes a quizzical expression or a smile followed by a quick retreat to the water’s edge.

The son of a Kansas farmer who moved the family to Wichita during the Dust Bowl years, Fr. Huse has always loved the land and loved the Church. He grew up half a block away from the parish where his dad was an usher and his mom was a member of the altar society. Perennially assigned as an altar server at the 6 a.m. Mass because “the priests knew my mother would make me go,” Fr. Huse would often serve four Masses in a row.


He came to know the Jesuits in high school and entered the Society of Jesus right after graduation in 1963, coming of age during the height of the Vietnam War and the post-Vatican II era. Always drawn to Ignatian spirituality and spiritual direction, he studied theology under the tutelage of Jesuit giants at Saint Louis University and hoped for a full-time assignment at a Jesuit retreat center following his 1975 ordination. He says with a laugh, “My request wasn’t granted for 50 years.” Such is the life of a Jesuit.

First, there were years of parish ministry in Pueblo, Colo.; a long stint as the director of novices at the Jesuit novitiate in Denver; and an assignment as the rector of the Bellarmine House of Studies, a Jesuit formation house in St. Louis. He also served as the chaplain of the lay faculty at two Jesuit high schools and the rector of Jesuit Hall in St. Louis, “the largest Jesuit community under one roof in Christendom.” Although he wasn’t assigned to full-time retreat work until 2012, he’s proud of the role he played in helping to form Jesuits. “The Society so often can identify a man’s gifts better than he can,” he says.



No matter where he's been assigned, spiritual direction has always been front and center for Fr. Huse. As a retreat and spiritual director at White House, a lush 85-room, 80-acre campus with historic 1922 stone buildings, Fr. Huse and his colleagues minister to more than 4,000 retreatants per year. White House offers a wide number of retreats, including ones tailored for those struggling with addiction. Some retreatants have visited annually for more than half a century.

At the end of a retreat, Fr. Huse offers several suggestions for ways to continue the contemplative experience at home. One idea is to establish a prayer corner, a dedicated spot used only for prayer. He says, “All it takes is a chair with perhaps a side table where you could place a candle, a crucifix or a Bible. You don’t sit in that chair for any other reason, only to pray.”


Another idea: Saint Ignatius’ prayer of memory. Fr. Huse suggests, “I invite people to simply remember. Remember your life, remember your parents, remember your first Christmas, remember the people, remember the relationships. God is in all of those things. A very easy and delightful way to pray is to simply remember and ask where the Lord was in all of that.”

And for Fr. Huse, one of the best places to find God is in the rushing waters of the Mississippi, hence his unorthodox penance. He says, “I tell retreatants: Just watch the river, don’t try to analyze how fast it’s going, don’t imagine a map of where it’s going. Just sit quietly and contemplate the river. The river reminds me of God’s love, it’s moving, it’s powerful, it brings life to the plants. And when it gets high in the spring, it’s going to pull all the crap off the banks.”

When he isn’t working at the bustling retreat center, Fr. Huse enjoys White House’s beautiful surroundings, walking the wooded grounds, watching the river and practicing quiet contemplation.



He’s mindful of the many gifts he’s received along the way. “Ignatian spirituality for me involves the whole person, so whatever is happening in that person’s life is the stuff of spiritual direction. So many men and women come here with their suffering, their doubts, their fear and guilt, and they come in and bear it all. It’s an incredible privilege to have that gift, through the Lord, given to me, such a privilege to get to know people at that level. I’ve been overwhelmed by the trust that people put in us. ”

Do you want to learn more about vocations to the Society of Jesus? Visit www.jesuitvocations.org for more information.

Photos of Fr. Huse by Fr. Tom Rochford, SJ.


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Destroying creation is destroying a gift of God, pope says at audience



POPE-AUDIENCE May-21-2014 (480 words) With photos. xxxi



(CNS/Paul Haring)



By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Polluting or destroying the environment is like telling God one does not like what he created and proclaimed to be good, Pope Francis said.

The Bible says that after every stage of creation, God was pleased with what he had made, the pope said May 21 at his weekly general audience. "To destroy creation is to say to God, 'I don't like it.'"

On the other hand, he said, safeguarding creation is safeguarding a gift of God. "This must be our attitude toward creation: safeguarding it. If not, if we destroy creation, creation will destroy us. Don't forget that!"

Continuing a series of audience talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said the gift of knowledge helps people see creation with God's eyes, recognizing its beauty and seeing it as a sign of God's love for men and women, who are the crown of his creation.
"Creation is not a property that we can dominate at our pleasure nor does it belong to only a few," he said. "Creation is a gift, a marvelous gift God has given us to care for and use for the benefit of all with great respect and gratitude."

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit -- wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord -- are not simply human virtues or talents, the pope said. And knowledge is not just the human capacity "to understand the reality that surrounds us and discover the laws that regulate nature and the universe."

Rather, he said, the gift of knowledge helps people understand, "through creation, the greatness of the love of God and his profound relationship with every creature."

The gift of knowledge helps people recognize that all things that are beautiful -- both things found in nature and things that are the result of human ingenuity -- speak of God, he said. "The Spirit leads us to praise the Lord from the depths of our heart and to recognize, in all that we have and all that we are, a invaluable gift of God and a sign of his infinite love for us."

At the end of the audience, Pope Francis led the recitation of the Hail Mary as a prayer for the victims of flooding in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Serbia. He asked the international community to assist the two Balkan nations, where more than three dozen people died and tens of thousands were left homeless in late May.

Pope Francis also told the estimated 50,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square that May 24 is the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, a Marian feast particularly dear to Catholics in mainland China. He asked people to pray that "Catholics in China may continue to believe, to hope and to love and, in every circumstance, to be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among their fellow citizens."

- - -

The text of the pope's audience remarks in English is available online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140521_udienza-generale_en.html

The text of the pope's audience remarks in Spanish is available online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140521_udienza-generale_sp.html

END


Source
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Vatican representatives backs UN efforts on climate change



Catholic World News - May 21, 2014



“The Holy See is cognizant of the devastating impact of climate change,” a Vatican spokesman told a meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, praised the UN agency for its work to promote “much desired rethinking and solidarity” on climate change. He encouraged the development of programs to address the problem, “especially climate-resilient pathways for sustainable development, as well as appropriate transformations in economic, social, technological and political decisions and actions.”

Archbishop Zimowski also praised the group for its work to promote awareness of the problem of autism and to encourage breastfeeding of infants.


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Obama Appoints Leftist Jesuit To U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom



May 20th, 2014 | By Editor2



Father Thomas Reese is the darling “Catholic” of the secular media.


Barack Hussein Obama has just appointed Father Thomas Reese, S.J. to serve on the U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom.

Reese is a long-time liberal Catholic who has been an apologist for Obama and is frequently quoted by the secular press for a “Catholic” viewpoint.

Reese defended the Obama Administration’s abortion mandate in Obamacare by stating that:

“HHS and the Administration have gone out of their way to resolve the concerns of religious institutions that object to covering contraceptives in their insurance programs. They have found creative ways to provide contraceptives to the employees of religious colleges and hospitals without the involvement of these institutions.”

Father Reese even appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss his admittedly socialist ideas and Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal:

He’ll be an Obama apologist and troublemaker on the U.S. Commission. You can count on it.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Vatican report shows 'significant progress' in supervision of financial activities



Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 7:01 pm






The Financial Intelligence Authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State (AIF) has presented its Annual Report for 2013. The report reviews the activities and statistics of AIF for 2013.

The year 2013 has seen a significant strengthening of the legal and institutional framework of the Holy See and Vatican City State to effectively combat financial crime, an institutionalisation of international collaboration of the competent authority of the Holy See with its foreign counterparts, and a massively improved performance in monitoring potential financial wrongdoing.

"In 2013 we have taken further decisive steps to foster the legal framework, and, at the same time, to make it work in practice" said Rene Brulhart, Director of the AIF. He continued: "The Evaluation conducted by Moneyval, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism of the Council of Europe, in December 2013, and our statistics allow us to say that today we have a proper and equivalent system in place to prevent and fight financial crime. A system that is well in line with international standards."

The AIF has recorded a notable uptake in suspicious transaction reports (STR), from six in 2012 to 202 in 2013. This increase reflects both the development of the legal framework and a substantial improvement in the operational performance of the supervised entities with regard to the prevention of financial crime. Five reports have been passed on to the Vatican Promoter of Justice for further investigation by judicial authorities.

The number of requests from AIF submitted to foreign authorities has increased from one in 2012 to 28; the number of requests received by the AIF from foreign authorities has risen from 3 in 2012 to 53 in 2013.

"This increase is also due to international cooperation fostered by a series of bilateral agreements we have concluded," said Brulhart. In 2013, AIF became a member of the Egmont Group, the global network of Financial Intelligence Units, and signed various bilateral agreements to institutionalize mutual collaboration in the area of anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United States.

As already observed in 2012, the number of declarations of cash above the amount of EUR 10,000 has decreased again in 2013 to 1,557 declarations for outgoing cash (2012: 1,782) and 550 declarations for incoming cash (2012: 598). This is due to an increased monitoring by the competent authorities and the introduction of reinforced procedures at the supervised entities.

Through two Motu Proprio in July and August 2013, the Holy Father extended the competencies of the Holy See authorities, particularly AIF, and aligned the legal framework with international standards. By way of a third Motu Proprio in November 2013, the Holy Father responded to the requirements set forth by the extension of responsibilities of the AIF by issuing a new Statute for the AIF. In essence, the new Statute has built the AIF on two pillars, supervision and financial intelligence, and has clarified some aspects with regard to the governance, e.g. required professional and financial skills for key personnel of the AIF's bodies.

In the initial trimester of 2014, AIF conducted the first ordinary on-site inspection of the IOR to verify the implementation of the measures taken to prevent and counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism pursuant to the Law XVIII of 8 October 2013.

The inspection has shown substantial progress made by the IOR over the past 12 months. As a result of the inspection, AIF has developed an action plan for the full adaption of procedures to the requirements of Law XVIII and the implementation of further organizational and procedural improvements.

The Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF) is the competent authority of the Holy See/Vatican City State for supervision and financial intelligence for the prevention and countering of money-laundering and financing of terrorism.

Established by Pope Benedict XVI with the Apostolic Letter in form of Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010, AIF carries out its institutional activity according to the Statute attached to the above mentioned Motu Proprio and the Law n. CXXVII of 30 December 2010, as subsequently amended and integrated.

In July 2013, AIF became a member of the Egmont Group. Currently, AIF has signed Memoranda of Understanding for the international exchange of information with financial intelligence units of other states, such as Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and the United States of America.



Source: VIS


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Adolfo Nicolas to resign as Superior General of the Jesuits in 2016





romereports

Published on May 20, 2014

http://en.romereports.com
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The Elijah Message


The Three Angels' Messages

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 14:6-14
(KJV)
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Monday, May 19, 2014

The Mark of the Beast pt. 2





EvenAtTheDoors

Published on May 15, 2014

The last warning to every inhabitant on the planet will be to choose whether you will worship God or worship the beast.
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Vatican has questioned, not silenced, Indian Jesuit theologian




Catholic World News - May 14, 2014



Reacting to reports that the Vatican has censured an Indian theologian, a Jesuit spokesman has told the Catholic News Service that no disciplinary action has been taken.

Father Michael Amaladoss, a Jesuit priest who head the Institute for Dialogue with Cultures and Religions in Chennai, has been in correspondence with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for months, revealed Father Joe Antony, a Jesuit provincial in India. “There has been no condemnation or censure,” he said, however.

In April, when Father Amaladoss cancelled a speaking appearance at Union Theological Seminary in New York, the institution announced that he had been silenced by the Vatican. Father Antony said that was incorrect; Father Amaladoss has chosen voluntarily to observe a period of silence, he said. Another Jesuit provincial in South Asia, Father Edward Mudavassery, confirmed in discussion with the UCANews service that “he has not been barred from writing and teaching.”

The key question in discussions between the CDF and Father Amaladoss is evidently the theologian’s treatment of the unique role of Jesus in the economy of salvation.
In recent years the CDF has cautioned two theologians, the Sri Lankan Tissa Balasuriya and the Belgian Jesuit Jacques Dupuis, on similar grounds. Father Amaladoss was once a student of Father Dupuis, who died in 2004.


Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
Indian Jesuits downplay reports of Vatican censure (UCANews)
Vatican investigating Indian Jesuit's work, but has not silenced him (CNS)


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New Jesuit provincial urges people to let Jesus find them among the poor



5/16/2014 10:58:00 AM




Catholic Sentinel photos by Ed Langlois

Father Scott Santarosa



Father Scott Santarosa addresses a Portland group last week.

Ed Langlois
Of the Catholic Sentinel

The priest who will become leader of Jesuits on the west coast made his first public appearance in Oregon last week, suggesting that people let Jesus find them where they least expect.

“Jesus really does work through other people, especially the poor,” said Father Scott Santarosa, who has spent his career working in inner city missions in California, including Dolores Mission in a part of Los Angeles plagued by gang violence.

Speaking to educators from Jesuit schools, parents and workers in Jesuit-sponsored ministries, Father Santarosa said it’s among the poor that many people find God — and are surprised. He includes himself.

When he was walking back from a memorial for a youth gunned down in a park and a little girl ran to hug him, Jesus found him, he told the group, gathered at the Old Market Pub for a regular event called Pub Theology. He said the same for the parents who organized a peace march after gang violence surged, a girl who worried about her little brother as she walked him to school and a mother of a shooting victim who reconciled with the mother of the gunman.

“These people showed me what the resurrection looks like today,” Father Santarosa said. “I know I am a better man and a better Jesuit because Jesus found me in situations like these.”

The priest, who is fluent in Spanish, said people in low-income neighborhoods where he served want three things: immigration reform, jobs and safety from violent crime. He realizes that in the Northwest, Jesuits have not been able to staff parishes with many Spanish-speakers lately. He would like that to change and hopes to continue the Jesuit focus on solidarity with the poor, a charism being expressed by Pope Francis.

“I would invite you to go to new places, especially among the marginalized and the poor,” Father Santarosa told the group. “I will tell you Jesus is there and he will find you.”

He wears a bracelet made by Dolores Mission school children. The students inscribed the words, “Si, se puede,” or “Yes, it’s possible.”

Father Santarosa says Northwest Jesuits have told him they feel humbler and more dependent on God after revelations of sex abuse by some of their confreres in decades past in Alaska. The Oregon Province entered bankruptcy in 2009 in order to provide compensation for hundreds of victims.

Regarding the Catholic identity of Jesuit high schools and colleges, the future provincial says that often the Catholic character is enhanced when well-formed lay people take over leadership.

Father Santarosa, a Sacramento native and a 1988 graduate of Santa Clara University, will assume the post of provincial July 31 as the Oregon and California provinces of the Society of Jesus begin a consolidation.


Source
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Lunar Sabbath: Jesuit Tools Used to Unleash Messianic Judaism



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Health Nuts: A History of Nutritional Advice



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Student nurses being trained in nutrition, New York, 1942 – photographed by Fritz Henle (Library of Congress).


Published: May 16, 2014

Until recently, the link between a high fat diet and heart disease was one of the touchstones of modern medicine. But new research has thrown that connection into question, just as numerous studies over the years have brought new advice about health and diet to the fore. So in this episode, the Guys take the long view on nutritional advice and explore some of the more surprising ways that past generations have defined “health food.”


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Will liberal thought police come for you *


Kirsten Powers: Liberals' Dark Ages

Kirsten Powers

6:33 p.m. EDT May 15, 2014

Each week seems to bring another incident. Who will the thought police come for next?



(Photo: Janet Van Ham, AP)



Welcome to the Dark Ages, Part II. We have slipped into an age of un-enlightenment where you fall in line behind the mob or face the consequences.

COLUMN: Dear Condi, no one was listening anyway

How ironic that the persecutors this time around are the so-called intellectuals. They claim to be liberal while behaving as anything but. The touchstone of liberalism is tolerance of differing ideas. Yet this mob exists to enforce conformity of thought and to delegitimize any dissent from its sanctioned worldview. Intolerance is its calling card.

COLUMN: 5 steps for Shinseki to rebuild trust in Veterans Affairs

Each week seems to bring another incident. Last week it was David and Jason Benham, whose pending HGTV show was canceled after the mob unearthed old remarks the brothers made about their Christian beliefs on homosexuality. People can't have a house-flipping show unless they believe and say the "right" things in their life off the set? In this world, the conservative Tom Selleck never would have been Magnum, P.I.

This week, a trail-blazing woman was felled in the new tradition of commencement shaming. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde withdrew from delivering the commencement speech at Smith College following protests from students and faculty who hate the IMF. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, this trend is growing. In the 21 years leading up to 2009, there were 21 incidents of an invited guest not speaking because of protests. Yet, in the past five-and-a-half years, there have been 39 cancellations.

Don't bother trying to make sense of what beliefs are permitted and which ones will get you strung up in the town square. Our ideological overlords have created a minefield of inconsistency. While criticizing Islam is intolerant, insulting Christianity is sport. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is persona non grata at Brandeis University for attacking the prophet Mohammed. But Richard Dawkins describes the Old Testament God as "a misogynistic … sadomasochistic … malevolent bully" and the mob yawns. Bill Maher calls the same God a "psychotic mass murderer" and there are no boycott demands of the high-profile liberals who traffic his HBO show.

The self-serving capriciousness is crazy. In March, University of California-Santa Barbara women's studies professor Mireille Miller-Young attacked a 16-year-old holding an anti-abortion sign in the campus' "free speech zone" (formerly known as America). Though she was charged with theft, battery and vandalism, Miller-Young remains unrepentant and still has her job. But Mozilla's Brendan Eich gave a private donation to an anti-gay marriage initiative six years ago and was ordered to recant his beliefs. When he wouldn't, he was forced to resign from the company he helped found.

Got that? A college educator with the right opinions can attack a high school student and keep her job. A corporate executive with the wrong opinions loses his for making a campaign donation. Something is very wrong here.

As the mob gleefully destroys people's lives, its members haven't stopped to ask themselves a basic question: What happens when they come for me? If history is any guide, that's how these things usually end.

Kirsten Powers writes weekly for USA TODAY.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter @USATopinion or Facebook.


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* Original title when I read it on Thursday's USA Today Newspaper (5/15/2014).
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Verdict not final for Sudanese sentenced to death for her Christianity, official says


By Faith Karimi and Yousuf Basil, CNN

updated 10:33 PM EDT, Sun May 18, 2014


Husband: All I can do is pray


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Meriam Yehya Ibrahim considers herself Christian, but a court says she's Muslim
A Khartoum court convicted her of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith
The court also found her guilty of adultery for being married to a Christian


(CNN) -- As outrage grows over a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for refusing to renounce her Christianity, the government defended the verdict, but said it's only preliminary.

A Khartoum court last week convicted Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith.

Ibrahim, who is eight months pregnant, is a Christian, her husband said. But the court considers her a Muslim.

"I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do," said her husband, Daniel Wani. "I'm just praying."

100 lashes

The court also convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to 100 lashes because her marriage to a Christian man is considered void under Sharia law.

Wani is American, Ibrahim's lawyer Mohamed Jar Elnabi told CNN.

The attorney said he'll file an appeal within a few days.

Sudanese parliament speaker Fatih Izz Al-Deen said the verdict is not final and is in the hands of the judiciary.

The verdict will go through all the judicial stages to reach the constitutional court, the speaker told Um Derman radio station. His comments were cited Friday by the official Sudanese News Agency.

Ibrahim says she was born to a Sudanese Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox mother. Her father left when she was age 6, and she was raised by her mother as a Christian.

However, the lawyer representing Ibrahim's family said Sunday that the mother is a devout Muslim.

The court had warned Ibrahim to renounce her Christianity by Thursday, but she held firm to her beliefs.

But the parliament speaker said that claims she was raised as non-Muslim are untrue.

She is a Muslim raised in an Islamic environment and her brother, a Muslim, filed the complaint against her, according to Izz Al-Deen.

The complaint alleges she went missing for several years and her family was shocked to find out she married a Christian, according to her lawyer.

However, because her father was Muslim, the courts considered her one too, which would mean her marriage to a non-Muslim man is void.

Attempts to contact Sudan's justice minister and foreign affairs minister were unsuccessful.

Pregnant with toddler in prison

Ibrahim's husband is struggling to survive.

He uses a wheelchair and "totally depends on her for all details of his life," said Jar Elnabi, her lawyer.

In addition to her pregnancy, the couple's 20-month-old toddler is with her in prison, and he is getting regular ailments due to lack of hygiene and the presence of bugs, the lawyer said.

She's having a difficult pregnancy, and a request to send her to a private hospital was denied, the lawyer said.

There also is the question of the timing of a potential execution.

In past cases involving pregnant or nursing women, the Sudanese government waited until the mother weaned her child before executing any sentence, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide spokeswoman Kiri Kankhwende.

Worldwide condemnation

Rights groups and foreign embassies worldwide condemned the verdict.

"The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion, is abhorrent and should never be even considered," said Manar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher.

Katherine Perks with the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said the verdict goes against Sudan's "own constitution and commitments made under regional and international law."

Foreign embassies in Khartoum, including those of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, urged the government to reverse course.

CNN's Catherine Shoichet, Christabelle Fombu, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Mohammed Osman contributed to this report.

Source
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US Official: China cited in cyber-espionage case






Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill last month. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


The United States is preparing to announce first-of-its-kind criminal charges Monday against Chinese military officials in an international cyberspying case, a government official said.

Attorney General Eric Holder and other federal law enforcement officials were expected to reveal the new indictments later Monday, the official told The Associated Press.



The indictments will accuse individuals of participating in cyber-espionage on behalf of a foreign government, said the official, who revealed this information only on grounds of anonymity because this person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the case in advance of the official announcement.

The official described the prosecution as unprecedented.

The official said Chinese government officials are being charged in the United States with hacking into private-sector companies to gain trade secrets, adding that Holder and other top-level law enforcement officials were poised to announce charges that include economic espionage and trade-secret theft.


Related


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The Chinese to be named, the official said, are current members of Beijing's military establishment. The U.S. official did not identify the companies or industries with which they were engaged.

John Carlin, recently installed as head of the Justice's National Security Division, earlier this year cited prosecution of state-sponsored cyber-threats as a key goal for the Obama administration.




U.S. officials have accused China's army and China-based hackers of launching attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property. China has said that it faces a major threat from hackers, and the country's military is believed to be among the biggest targets of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command.

Last September, President Barack Obama discussed cybersecurity issues on the sidelines of a summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

White House spokesman Ben Rhodes said at the time that Obama had addressed concerns about cyber threats emanating from China. He said Obama told Xi the U.S. sees it not through the prism of security but out of concern over theft of trade secrets.

In late March, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel revealed that the Pentagon planned to more than triple its cybersecurity staff in the next few years to defend against Internet attacks that threaten national security.

Hagel's comments at the National Security Agency headquarters in suburban Washington came as he prepared to visit China.

"Our nation's reliance on cyberspace outpaces our cybersecurity," Hagel said at the time. "Our nation confronts the proliferation of destructive malware and a new reality of steady, ongoing and aggressive efforts to probe, access or disrupt public and private networks, and the industrial control systems that manage our water, and our energy and our food supplies."


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Saturday, May 17, 2014

Will there be a World War III? by James Arrabito




Revealed truth

Published on Jul 15, 2013
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NWO: the Vatican, martial law, the mark of the beast, the Antichrist and the false messiah




friendofYahushua

Published on Feb 21, 2013


PLEASE watch this video in its entirety!

As Christians anticipate the imminent return of the Son of the Most High, Bible prophecy indicates that the world will soon go through unprecedented changes, which will take the great majority of us by surprise.

Satan, the father of lies and enemy of God, knows his time is short as prophetic signs point the imminent glorious return of the Son of God and Saviour of the human race, Jesus the Christ. Satan is using the Antichrist pope and a myriad of secret societies and government organizations to control, manipulate and decrease the world's population through triggered disasters, staged false flag attacks and other fear-mongering tactics to suppress individual rights and create a one world government including a one world religion, military, financial and economic system, with the Antichrist pope leading the charge. They are creating havoc on Earth, in anticipation of Satan's final attempt at deceiving the elect of the God -- the 144 000 -- who keep the commandments of the Most High and the faith of Christ (Revelation 14:12).

Then, Satan, as the false messiah, will come in the flesh and masquerade himself as Christ to a deceived world, which has rejected the Christ of the Bible and His Law of love, His holy ten commandments. However, this false messiah will not be able to deceive the elect of the Most High as well as countless others, who will come to the knowledge of the truth, in these end times. The false messiah will change the 7th day Sabbath commandment of the Most High which points to Him as the Creator to SUNday, the venerable day of the sun, in partnership with the Antichrist pope, to bring about Sunday laws worldwide.

Sunday worship will be the enforced mark of the Vatican beast, the prophesied first beast of Revelation 13 and whore of Babylon in Revelation 17. This is what the Vatican beast has to say about its mark:

"Sunday is our MARK of our authority [...] The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact". — Catholic Record of London, Ontario. Sept. 1, 1923.

Those who accept Sunday rather than the commanded 7th day Sabbath of God will pay a miserable price for disobeying an offended God. The seven plagues of the Most High will soon fall upon those who will take the mark of the beast (Sunday rest and worship) -- rather than observing the commandments of the Most High including the 7th day Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) - and their fate will be an unpleasant one, as mentioned in Revelation 14:9-10:

"[...] if any man worship the beast (Vatican) and his image (protestant churches) and receive his mark (Sunday) in his forehead (decision to accept Sunday as day of rest) or in his hand (not working on Sunday), the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Revelation 14:9-10).

Sunday observance cannot be found in the Bible. Christ or His apostles never ordained or commanded a change in the day of rest from the 7th day of the week to the 1st day of the week.

The Catholic church has even admitted this fact through the following statement:

"From beginning to end of Scripture, there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week [Saturday] to the first [Sunday]." Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900.

Soon, every man, woman and child will have to make a very important decision that will alter the fate: either embrace Christ and His commandments including the 7th day Sabbath commandment or obeying the satan-inspired beasts of Revelation 13, including the Vatican and the United States and their one world government and false religious system.

In Revelation chapter 14 verse 12 and in Revelation chapter 22 verse 14, those who will receive eternal life in Christ's kingdom are identified as the saints who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Christ. In contrast, those who willingly reject God's commandments, including the 7th day Sabbath commandment, will die for their disobedience since the wages of sin is death (Romans6:23).

Make the right choice: choose Christ, put your faith and trust in the Son of God, keep His holy ten commandments through the Holy Spirit (Exodus 20:1-17) and Christ will reward you, as a gift, with eternal life in His everlasting kingdom of love, peace and joy (Revelation 14:12; Revelation 22:14).

For more information and videos on Christian beliefs and prophecy, please visit www.theseventhdayremnantchurch.org; www.remnantofgod.org, www.sdrministries.org, www.john1429.org, along with cregen124 and NicholasPoGM's YouTube channels.