Feast Of St Joseph

Today is the feast day of St. Joseph! Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.

We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).

Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus.

We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He knew women accused of adultery could be stoned to death, so he resolved to send her away quietly to not expose her to shame or cruelty. However, when an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him, 20 "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins," he did as the angel told him and took Mary as his wife. (Matthew 1:19-25).

When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).

We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, "Is this not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22)

Joseph is the patron saint of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

Joseph is also patron saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.

We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker. March 19 has been the most commonly celebrated feast day for Joseph, and it wasn't until 1955 that Pope Pius XII established the Feast of "St. Joseph the Worker" to be celebrated on May 1. This is also May Day (International Workers' Day) and believed to reflect Joseph's status as the patron of workers.

Prayer:
Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son. Amen.

Christians Are Rejecting Jerusalem As The Israeli Capital

"The question is whether the modern state of Israel is that nation that was imagined back in the Bible", states Gary Burge, an ordained Presbyterian minister and a professor emeritus at Wheaton College, an evangelical Christian institution.

Jews and evangelical Christians who say an undivided Jerusalem should be the eternal capital of Israel have a ready answer for anyone who questions that claim: The Bible says so.

Some conservative evangelicals have built their theology around the modern state of Israel, as if a biblical story has come alive again from the scriptures. In the Christian Old Testament, Jerusalem was established as Israel’s capital by King David about 1,000 years before Christ. Notwithstanding various wars and a Babylonian exile that led to the loss of the city, Jerusalem remained Israel’s de facto capital in the Jewish imagination. Even in the New Testament, Jerusalem is assumed to be Israel’s capital. But another war in 70 A.D. led to a longtime loss of the city. Modern Israel did not recapture Jerusalem until 1967.

The most often-cited text in the Bible is 2 Chronicles 6:5-6, wherein King Solomon quotes God as saying, "Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel."

The Bible could hardly be more clear, it would seem.

"As far as God is concerned, Jerusalem has been the eternal, undivided capital since the reign of David," said Laurie Cardoza-Moore, whose television program, "Focus on Israel," is aimed primarily at evangelical Christians like herself who see the Bible as "true and historically accurate." God, she said, "established the boundaries of all the nations, and he chose the city of Jerusalem for himself."


Those Christians who are not themselves Jewish may still feel included among the "people" of Israel,  says Cardoza-Moore - her organization is Proclaiming Justice to the Nations , by virtue of their faith in Jesus. She quotes Galatians 3:29, where Paul says, "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring." Her organization is dedicated to "building a global community of action and prayer in support of Jews and Israel." she says.  What Cardoza fails to realize is that we are all Abraham's offspring- Jews, Christians and Muslims (as well as all people of the earth). 

The argument that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel is also rejected by many of the Christians who live there or in the neighboring territories. Most are ethnic Arabs, and they may feel less kinship with Jews. In a joint letter , sent to Trump before he announced the policy change on Jerusalem, leaders of local Christian churches which included Orthodox, Coptic and Catholic leaders, cautioned that it could bring "increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering."

>Catholics thinking not based alone in the Old Testament’s land-based promises, but in the gospel, where the tribal or local theologies about Israel become global and universal, welcoming all people from every tribe and every land into a divine promise of blessing. Paul can refer to gentiles as children of Abraham (Romans 4:11) because it’s through faith, not ethnic lineage, that one gains access to the blessings of God. This shift in emphasis, which challenges the exclusivity of any one tribe and universalizes blessing, explains the world-mission of the ancient church and the inclusion of gentiles in Jesus’s Jewish messianic movement. From this viewpoint, arguments for ethnic land claims like Jerusalem sound silly.  

Middle Eastern Christians Send Letter To President Trump Against Jerusalem Being Given To Israel

The argument that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel is rejected by many of the Christians who live there or in the neighboring territories. Most are ethnic Arabs, and they may feel less kinship with Jews. In a joint letter to Trump before he announced the policy change on Jerusalem, leaders of local Christian churches cautioned that it could bring "increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering."

PATRIARCHS AND HEADS

OF LOCAL CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

President Donald J. Trump

President of the United States of America

 Jerusalem on December 6, 2017

Dear Mr. President,

We are fully aware and appreciative of how you are dedicating special attention to the status of

Jerusalem in these days. We are following with attentiveness and we see that it is our duty to

address this letter to Your Excellency. On July 17, 2000, we addressed a similar letter to the leaders

who met in Camp David to decide the status of Jerusalem. They kindly took our letter into

consideration. Today, Mr. President, we are confident that you too will take our viewpoint into

consideration on the very important status of Jerusalem.

Our land is called to be a land of peace. Jerusalem, the city of God, is a city of peace for us and for

the world. Unfortunately, though, our holy land with Jerusalem the Holy city, is today a land of

conflict.

Those who love Jerusalem have every will to work and make it a land and a city of peace, life and

dignity for all its inhabitants. The prayers of all believers in it—the three religions and two peoples

who belong to this city—rise to God and ask for peace, as the Psalmist says: "Return to us, God

Almighty! Look down from heaven and see!" (80.14). Inspire our leaders, and fill their minds and

hearts with justice and peace.

Mr. President, we have been following, with concern, the reports about the possibility of changing

how the United States understands and deals with the status of Jerusalem. We are certain that such

steps will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land,

moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division. We ask from you

Mr. President to help us all walk towards more love and a definitive peace, which cannot be

reached without Jerusalem being for all.

Our solemn advice and plea is for the United States to continue recognizing the present

international status of Jerusalem. Any sudden changes would cause irreparable harm. We are

confident that, with strong support from our friends, Israelis and Palestinians can work towards

negotiating a sustainable and just peace, benefiting all who long for the Holy City of Jerusalem to

fulfil its destiny. The Holy City can be shared and fully enjoyed once a political process helps

liberate the hearts of all people, that live within it, from the conditions of conflict and

destructiveness that they are experiencing.

Christmas is upon us soon. It is a feast of peace. The Angels have sung in our sky: Glory to God in

the highest, and peace on earth to the people of good will. In this coming Christmas, we plea for

Jerusalem not to be deprived from peace, we ask you Mr. President to help us listen to the song of

the angels. As the Christian leaders of Jerusalem, we invite you to walk with us in hope as we build

a just, inclusive peace for all the peoples of this unique and Holy City.

With our best regards, and best wishes for a Merry Christmas.

Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem

+Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate

+Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate

+Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator, Latin Patriarchate

+Fr. Francesco Patton, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land

+Archbishop Anba Antonious, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem

+Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate

+Archbishop Aba Embakob, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate

+Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate

+Archbishop Mosa El-Hage, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate

+Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East

+Bishop Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

+Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

+Msgr. Georges Dankaye’, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

A brief history on Israel and Jerusalem

The crisis over Jerusalem is much more complex than it being recognized as Israel's capital.

 This is not a battle of Jews and anti-semites that want Israel removed from the face of the planet.

 Did you know that when Israel was created in 1948 that those that occupied the land were not only Arab Muslims but also Jews and Christians? Those that occupied that land including Jews and Christians were forcabily removed. hundreds of thousands were killed as they were considered weeds on a lawn. 

The native Jews as well as Christians and Muslims all recognize Jerusalem as sacred and holy ground. These groups are protesting because they are losing their equal rights to the city and rightfully so, 

Why is it we criticize and distrust our own Government but give the Israeli government a free pass? 

We confuse politics with heritage and religion. People were considered racist when they criticized Obama when it wasn't his race they didn't like it was his politics. 

Now if anyone criticizes or asks questions about the Israeli government they are considered anti-semetic. So are the Jews that criticize the Israeli government anti-semetic? 

I see many using the wrong analogy saying "well its like other countries telling us New York should be our capital not Washington DC." Well New York or any other city in America does not have the historical or holiness of Jerusalem. 

Before everyone goes jumping on the band wagon on Trump's move to honor Bill Clinton's signed bill in 1995, more research should be given to study what is actually going on in the middle east.

 As of right now I am agreeing with my Pope, Francis, that this is a wrong move and that we should leave Jerusalem as is till a peace deal is brokered.

Trump demands Saudi Arabia allow emergency aid in the Yemen

Houthi Shiite victims of Saudi Arabia aggression inspect the rubble of the Republican Palace that was destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sanaa

I have directed officials in my Administration to call the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to request that they completely allow food, fuel, water, and medicine to reach the Yemeni people who desperately need it. This must be done for humanitarian reasons immediately. — Statement by the President

Why it matters: Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its blockade of Yemen. The Economist, calling the situation in Yemen "the war the world ignores," wrote the blockade "raises suspicion that the Saudis are using food as a tool of war."

Will The U.S. Move It's Israel Embassy To Jerusalem? Not So Fast.

President Trump is expected to announce Wednesday that he will instruct the State Department to begin the process of moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to U.S. officials, fulfilling one of his campaign promises.

Under the new plan, the U.S. also would officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. But the president is expected to acknowledge that the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city are subject to final status negotiation.


However, both Sunni and Shia Muslim groups and nations have expressed concern over the possible recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.  Sunni Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that moving the capital is a “red line” for Muslims and such an action would result in Turkey severing its diplomatic ties with Israel.

There are also many Christian Groups especially Middle Eastern Christians that are opposed to this move.  They too feel this is nothing more than a further land grab but those who are not of true middle eastern descent.  

When Israel was created in 1948, the lands were not vacant. Tens of thousands of families that owned and occupied the lands for generations were kicked off their property without any compensation.  These were Christians, Muslims and even native Jewish people that were forced to move off their land for European Jews. 

In the meantime, Trump will reportedly sign, and will continue to sign, the 6-month waiver to the Jerusalem Embassy Act. That act essentially allows presidents to sign continuous waivers to stall the relocation of the embassy and will prevent significant cuts to State Department funding.  This has been done since the act was created in 1995. 

The international community, including the U.S., does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as it is claimed by both Palestinians and Israelis. Like other countries, the U.S. keeps its embassy in Tel Aviv, approximately an hour away.

Should the U.S. move the embassy, it could cause significant harm to the U.S. credibility as a mediator for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The move would likely undermine confidence from Palestinians and Arab countries that the U.S. would remain an impartial negotiator in efforts to create peace in the Middle East. 

Both former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also pledged to move the embassy — only to abandon the idea once in the White House.


Congress approved in 1995 the funding and relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem by 1999. But the law included a stipulation, allowing for presidents to sign continuous waivers to stall the relocation of the embassy. Every president since has used the waiver in an effort to avoid conflict with the peace negotiations.

Should Trump follow through on moving the embassy, the United States could become a bullseye for Wahabbi terrorism and the world as a whole will be a much more dangerous place. 

Jerusalem is a sacred place to all religions, in a perfect world it would remain independent with shared governance of Jews, Christians and Muslims.   However reality states this will never likely happen.  

Some Truths About Islam And Its Followers

If Christianity has well over 1 billion believers with multiple different sects, why wouldn't Islam with almost as many believers not have multiple sects as well?  

First of all its clear to those who study religion is that Islam is

divided into two main groups, Sunni and Shia. Shafi, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali are the four religious Sunni Islamic schools.

Hanbali is the the most extremeist of the Sunni followers. The Hanbali group is the group that has the most extreme Hadith but they also retranslated the Quran their way. 

The other Sunni are modern and as moderate as any normal christian group. The Hanbali group broke even further into Wahabi in the 1800s. 

Now for the Shia muslims they don't follow any Hadith of Sunni which are the Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhār and Sahih Muslim.  The Shia follow the teaching of Imam Ali and the 11 other Imam. The translation of the Quran the Shia follow is the Nahjul Balagha written by Imam Ali it is translated today in English called the Peak of Eloquence. This book is taught in many universities in Europe. Many in the education community state it has strong values in humanity which is why it is taught in many universities.