Gospel of the day
Micah 6:6-13 :
What offering should I bring when I bow down to worship the Lord God Most High ?
Should I try to please him by sacrificing calves a year old ?
Will thousands of sheep or rivers of olive oil make God satisfied with me ?
Should I sacrifice to the Lord my first-born child as payment for my terrible sins ?
The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands : “See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.”
I am the Lord, and you are wise to respect my power to punish.
So listen to my message for the city of Jerusalem :
You store up stolen treasures and use dishonest scales. But I, the Lord, will punish you for cheating with weights and with measures.
You rich people are violent, and everyone tells lies. Because of your sins, I will wound you and leave you ruined and defenseless.
John 7:30-34 :
Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he surely won't perform more miracles than this man has done !”
[It was then commonly accepted that the Messiah had to perform miracle to be recognised as such(, in order to accomplish the previous prophecies, particularly of Isaiah, the most quoted prophet in the New Testament)]
When the Pharisees heard the crowd arguing about Jesus, they got together with the chief priests and sent some temple police to arrest him.
But Jesus told them, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I will return to the one who sent me.
You will look for me, but you won't find me. You cannot go where I am going.”
[Do you understand ? I don't.
He repeatedly says that they/we don't know the ~place where he's (speaking/coming/.. )from, what is the kingdom of Heaven ? Is it the City of God ? The world of Ideals ?
I.d.k., that's probably not it. I'm in the crowd currently :]
The people asked each other, “Where can he go to keep us from finding him ?
Is he going to some foreign country where our people live ?
Is he going there to teach the Greeks ?
What did he mean by saying that we will look for him, but won't find him ?
Why can't we go where he is going ?”
[I'm glad that they wrote( once again) explicitly these questions, i'll stop there for today, these are questions worth asking ourselves(, as christian 'in/nov'itiates)]
Surah Al-Baqarah(, "The Cow") 2:187-189 :
It is made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the night of fasting. They are (Libâs/)cover/screen for you, and you are the same for them.
God knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He turned to you(, accepted your repentance,) and forgave you. So now have sexual relations with them and seek that which God has ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread(, light,) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread(, night), then complete your fast till the nightfall.
And do not have sexual relations with them(, your wives,) while you are in I‘tikâf(, confinement in a mosque for prayers and invocations, leaving the worldly activities,) in the mosques. These are the limits (set )by God, so approach them not.
Thus does God make clear His verses(/proofs/evidence/lessons/signs/revelations/limits/laws/'legal and illegal things') to mankind that they may become pious/righteous.
And eat up not one another’s property unjustly(, in any illegal way, e.g. stealing, robbing, deceiving, etc.), nor give bribery to the rulers(, judges before presenting your cases,) that you may knowingly eat up a part of the property of others sinfully.
They ask you(, O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) about the new moons. Say : These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage.
It is not pieous/righteous that you enter the houses from the back, but being pious/righteous (is the quality of the one )who fears Allâh.
So enter houses through their proper doors, and fear Allâh that you may be successful.
The next four verses(, 190-194,) talk about self-defence. We'll claim not to have double standards, in fact we usually refuse to agree that our enemies are also acting in self-defence(, we're dooming ourselves) :
Russia is protecting itself from the n.a.t.o. And Ukraine from Russia(, as well as from the separatism of those refusing to replace their russian-ukrainian identity by an 'euro-american'-ukrainian one).
Capitalists are protecting themselves from communist ideology. And communists are protecting themselves from capitalist-owned countries.
Atheists are protecting themselves from imaginary threats such as a possible attack from outside in order to convert them, but don't really fear 'religious ideologies'/conversions even if some 'atheists(e.g.)'/christians may fear a contamination through immigration(, while supporting neo-colonialism and its economic injustices/disparities). Religious people are the one who seem more afraid of atheist ideology, despite being right(, but all these theological proofs haven't penetrated that deeply in the mind of believers, it'll change with the rise of our standard of living, rational belief is desired).
Obviously, palestinians are defending themselves from israelis, and israelis are defending themselves from arabs.
Israel can't solve the prejudice it caused because it has nothing worthwhile to offer except their land, the offer has to come from the west in order to settle this exchange.
Our double standards are constant but not consciously recognised as such(, and lies/propaganda are mixed in there), rarely are they as visible as now though(, we would be fully anti-palestinians if the roles were reversed, even more than we were/are anti-russians or anti-{many others}).
You can read these verses about self-defence here, here, or there
Saint of yesterday : All our buried ones.
Saints of the day :
St. Sylvia, mother of st. Gregory the Great
St. Martin de Porres, Dominican(, more about him here)