#jesus-christ — Public Fediverse posts

Bonjour
"Tout royaume divisé contre lui-même devient désert, ses maisons s’écroulent les unes sur les autres. Si Satan, lui aussi, est divisé contre lui-même, comment son royaume tiendra-t-il ?" Saint Luc)
#démon #satan #JésusChrist #Dieu #Bible
https://www.saintvincentdepaul-saintmalo.fr/pages/messes-st-preparation/messe-des-dimanches/textes-du-jour-notre-dame-d-alet.html
Et pour les enfants aujourd'hui :
https://www.saintvincentdepaul-saintmalo.fr/pages/espace-jeune-catholiques-notre-dame-d-alet-saint-malo/pour-les-enfants/pour-les-enfanst-chaque-jour.html

When Resentment Lingers: An Honest Christian Prayer. A hurt can keep returning to mind long after the conversation or event has ended. You may feel angry, disappointed, or tired of rehearsing it. This reflection makes room for honest prayer and responsible action without demanding that you minimise what happened.
Link - https://www.allnationscc.org/resources/devotionals/when-resentment-lingers/
#Church, #Community, #help, #people, #Freedom, #Discover, #Nations, #positive, #community, #Church, #JesusChrist, #families, #peace, #wealth

Moving cities, starting university, changing work, or becoming a parent can make familiar descriptions of yourself feel unsettled. Christian faith offers a deeper starting point than performance or popularity: God’s grace in Jesus Christ
Link - https://www.allnationscc.org/resources/devotionals/identity-in-christ/
#Church, #Community, #AllNationsCommunityChurch #Leeds #Churches, #help, #people, #Freedom, #Discover, #Nations, #positive, #community, #Church, #JesusChrist, #families, #peace, #wealth

Make a little room for Scripture, reflection, and prayer. Each original ANCC devotional explores one everyday question and offers a small next step. Read at your own pace; there is no requirement to feel a particular way.
Link - https://www.allnationscc.org/resources/devotionals/
#Church, #Community, #AllNationsCommunityChurch #Leeds #Churches, #help, #people, #Freedom, #Discover, #Nations, #positive, #community, #Church, #JesusChrist, #families, #peace, #wealth

Kurt Vonnegut’s essay on the Sermon on the Mount is text I come back to again and again.

He is a Humanist, and he makes Jesus Christ Himself accessible.

He writes about a moment in the Bible days before His crucifixion, where Jesus is sat with Judas, Lazarus, and Mary. Mary offers some perfumed ointment to rub onto Jesu’s feet. Jesus says, go for it.

Judas ain’t havin’ it. He interjects that it is a luxury ointment and should be sold and the proceeds given to the poor.

The Bible tells it, after much translation and languages over the century, that Jesus replied:“For the poor always ye have with you; but you do not always have me.”

Vonnegut goes on to explain how as a child, he observed that this was always used in the spirit of what Vonnegut describes as “The poor people are hopeless. We’ll always be stuck with them.”

Vonnegut posits, that as know jokes are always the first thing lost in translation, that this is only a divine black joke. He writes that he imagines what Jesus originally said in Aramaic went more like: “Judas, don’t worry about it. There will still be plenty of poor people left long after I’m gone.”

And said with the wit of Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln. So I leave you with his words:

“If Jesus did in fact say that, it is a divine black joke, well suited to the occasion. It says everything about hypocrisy and nothing about the poor. It is a Christian joke, which allows Jesus to remain civil to Judas, but to chide him about his hypocrisy all the same.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage

This has always sat with me and had me reflect, because it is an interesting side of Jesus to a humanist like me.

#Vonnegut #Humanism #JesusChrist

When #JesusChrist said that the kingdom of #God is at hand He is telling you that there is no place to go. You are already there. If #Infinity, there is no way for you to not be at the center of everything all the time. And there's no such thing as that either, the center, of infinity. LOL 🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🌌🌌🌌🤸🏻‍♀️🤸🏻‍♀️🤸🏻‍♀️

Where was God? Frank Turek asks the question after Charlie Kirk

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/where-was-god-frank-turek-asks-the-question-after-charlie-kirk

#capitalism #americancapitalism #religion #church #churches #poverty #oligarchy #poverty #money #god #billionaires #BillionaireTax #evangelicals #fundamentalism #poverty #jesus #jesuschrist #JesusLord

Bonjour
«Fais-nous vivre et porter du fruit»
Les textes de ce dimanche 4 octobre et les prières sont en ligne, pour permettre à chacun de les vivre en communion avec tous nos frères et sœurs.
Ils sont traduits en langue des signes, et enregistrés pour les malvoyant.
#messe #Evangile #Psaumes #Dieu #JésusChrist
Cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous,
https://www.saintvincentdepaul-saintmalo.fr/pages/messes-st-preparation/messe-des-dimanches/messe-dominicale.html

Oklahoma food bank gets 40,000-pound donation https://www.diningandcooking.com/us/42153/ #250thBirthday #america #AustinPrickett #Church #community #country #donation #JesusChrist #LatterDaySaint #MoreMeal #Oklahoma #OklahomaDining #OklahomaFood #OklahomaFoodBank #OklahomaGroceryStores #OklahomaRestaurants #oklahomans #service #Summer #truckload

🧱 NEW: Construction on #Barcelona’s #SagradaFamília began in 1882 and continues today, with the 172-meter Tower of #JesusChrist finished earlier this year.

#Lego has released an official 12,060-piece model, its largest set ever, built in the same order as the original architects approached the #basilica. It goes on sale November 1, 2026.

👉 https://www.openculture.com/2026/10/lego-lets-you-build-gaudis-sagrada-familia-in-its-largest-set-ever.html

#lego #gaudi #architecture #barcelona #sagradafamilia #building #design #history #model #construction #stem #art #spain #basilica #video

The first man and woman
#christianity #orthodox #truth #jesuschrist #bible

Psalm 2 asks us to consider God's rule and the refuge offered in His Son. Pull up a chair for the next Providence Room reflection.
#Psalm2 #JesusChrist #TimeForProvidence

https://timeforprovidence.com/2026/10/01/psalm-2-the-king-we-can-take-refuge-in-the-providence-room/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

🔥 MIDNIGHT WARFARE PRAYER: BREAKING EVERY ATTACK AGAINST YOUR DESTINY

Some battles are not solved by worrying about them all day. Take them to God in prayer. Tonight, stand on His Word, reject fear and declare the victory of Christ over everything confronting your peace and purpose. #MidnightPrayer #WarfarePrayer #DangerousPrayer #PrayerForProtection #PrayerForVictory #SpiritualWarfare #ChristianPrayer #PrayerAgainstEvil #FireStreams #JesusChrist

https://dangerousprayer.org/2026/09/30/%f0%9f%94%a5-midnight-warfare-prayer-breaking-every-attack-against-your-destiny/

🔥 WHEN YOU NEED DIVINE DIRECTION: 10 MORNING FIRE PRAYERS FOR GOD-ORDERED STEPS

You do not need to know every step ahead. You need the grace to recognise the right step when God puts it before you. Start this morning by surrendering your plans and asking God to direct your path. #MorningFirePrayers #DivineDirection #GodsGuidance #MorningPrayer #PrayerForWisdom #PrayerPoints #ChristianPrayer #Proverbs3 #DangerousPrayer #JesusChrist

https://dangerousprayer.org/2026/09/28/%f0%9f%94%a5-when-you-need-divine-direction-10-morning-fire-prayers-for-god-ordered-steps/

#MissKitty has said that #JesusChrist taught The #Vedas. And He taught them in code because He knew with whom He was teaching. There were references that only #Apostles and other deep believers were able to hear at that time as in let those that have ears to hear hear. #NirvikalpaSamadhi

#MissKitty has said that #JesusChrist taught The #Vedas. And He taught them in code because He knew with whom He was teaching. There were references that only #Apostles and other deep believers were able to hear at that time as in let those that have ears to hear hear. #NirvikalpaSamadhi

Jesus shows us that surrender can be honest and faithful at the same time. 🌿
Luke 22:42 📖
You can tell the Father what you long for and still place your life in His hands.
Father, when Your way is hard for me to accept, give me grace to trust Your will and stay close to You.
Amen. 🙏
#DailyScripture #PrayerForStrength #JesusChrist #HopeInGod

#JesusChrist said if your #faith is sufficient, you could tell a mountain to jump out of the #Earth and be gone. When He said it takes fasting and prayer, He wasn't talking about a weekend get together with your pastor. #Jesus had done #tapas. Look it up. #NirvikalpaSamadhi He survived #Crucifixion.

https://www.europesays.com/africa/443062/ Christian Awakening Touches Uganda’s Oldest Living Tribe #Africa #BatwaPygmies #BwindiForest #CBNNews #cbnnewsyoutube #converts #Documentary #DrScottKellermann #EquatorialJungle #ForestDwellers #GeorgeThomas #gospel #GTH593 #JesusChrist #KellermannFoundation #MountainGorillas #pygmy #RegentUniversity #revival #TinoQahoush #Tribe #Uganda #witchcraft

I don't believe in plans too much. Que God's laughter. LOL. I believe in #JesusChrist as embodiment of #Truth, and I believe the same thing about Shri #ShivaRudraBalayogi. They both said we can do what They did, and in fact they both said we will ... eventually. So have other Great #Saints.

hey kirkland, how's it going?

#JesusChrist #GraphicDesign #IsMyPassion #AIslop #kirkland #KirklandParks #sniping #HarshButFair

#Jesus #jesuschrist #jesusclub #JesusVoice #JesusFrees #JesusHeals #JesusStory #jesusfreaks #ChristianLiving #christianfaith #christiannews #christianity #CatholicNews #evangelicalnews #immigration #welfare #snap #universalhealthcare #gaza #freegaza #freepalestine #poverty #homelessness #freehousing

When fulfilling first & great #Commandment #JesusChrist gave in #Matthew 22:37, equates to top half of #TenCommandments, then I naturally fulfill #MAT 22:39 which equates to rest of the Ten Commandments and beyond. He rewrites entire #Bible in four verses more clearly than it was. MAT 22:37-40 🔥🔥🔥

#MissKitty says that's what #JesusChrist was referring to when He said I have not lost one. There's nowhere to get lost to. Apparently we all get tired of the show after a while, and we need help leaving the theater. #God sends help. Pranam Shri #ShivaRudraBalayogi 💐💐💐🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️

#TheTatebrothers' legal strategy just fell apart in real time. Their lawyer #JoeMcBride went back on his podcast comparing them to #JesusChrist and claiming the UK has no evidence, except the UK already produced the paperwork, the victims are PUBLICLY known - #MikeNellis
youtu.be/3eI5mQbH13w?...

Tate Lawyer's PLOT JUST BLEW U...

These are often meant to the benefit of the faithful and the maintenance of the Church's operations.

Read more 👉 https://www.christianpure.com/learn/vatican-wealth-catholic-church-fortune

#christianity #faith #JesusChrist

Quote of the day, 15 September: Blessed Marie-Eugène

You are dead, O Jesus, but your divinity remains alive. It followed your soul and remains in your body. O Jesus, fastened to the cross and dead, we adore you. […]

Who will receive him, if not the Virgin Mary, standing at the foot of the cross, who has sat down for a moment to receive his body upon her knees? As only a mother can, she examines this body that belongs to her. She does not count the wounds, but measures their depth; she searches out their places. How painful each one must have been! Those wounds of the face and head, that lance which pierced the heart… O Virgin Mary, what a painful examination!

And your feelings have remained unchanged. The word he spoke—“Behold your mother”—expanded and enlarged your heart. It placed within it a grace, a painful grace, for every birth comes through suffering. But it also placed within your soul and your heart a new love, extraordinarily enlarged, a love with no apparent object, reaching out to the whole world.

And this love urges you, O Virgin Mary, to accept, so to speak, in exchange for Jesus who has died—for the life of Jesus—the souls who are given to you: all souls, the whole Mystical Body. Henceforth, the life of the Mystical Body will spring from Jesus, but through you.

O Virgin Mary, I thank you for accepting. I congratulate you on the new maternal grace you have received. You are my mother; you are our mother. We almost forget the body of Jesus as we look upon you, share in your suffering, and above all share in your maternal triumph.

How great you are, O Virgin Mary, almost as great, humanly speaking, as your Son Jesus. The executioners and Satan, blundering and unaware, intoxicated by their triumph, forget you. They have killed the Son and leave the Mother: the fruitful Mother, the mother of our souls, the Mother of the Church.

We hail you, O Virgin Mary, in your triumph. We hail you, Mother of Life, Our Lady of Life. Grant that we may truly be your children, living as your Son lives, living as you live.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

Meditations for the Way of the Cross
XIII, Jesus is taken down from the cross
Secular Institute Our Lady of Life, 27 March 1964

Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus 1986, Jésus, Contemplation du Mystère Pascal, Editions du Carmel, Toulouse.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Ivan Meštrović’s Descent from the Cross, sculpted between 1942 and 1946, captures the moment when Christ’s body is gently lowered into the arms of His Mother. The sculpture is located in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, where it continues to invite silent meditation on the mystery of Good Friday. Image credit: By Nheyob / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

#ShivaRudraBalayogi, #Jeremiah, & #JesusChrist, just to name a few heavy hitters, all tell your end is sure and it is beyond your imagination. Babaji tells that pure #Consciousness is beyond bliss. The stateless state. Every thought is a #BigBang. You achieve what you focus on. Choose carefully.

#ShivaRudraBalayogi, #Jeremiah, & #JesusChrist, just to name a few heavy hitters, all tell your end is sure and it is beyond your imagination. Babaji tells that pure #Consciousness is beyond bliss. The stateless state. Every thought is a #BigBang. You achieve what you focus on. Choose carefully.

The distinction between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and emotional experiences may, at times, stir confusion in the minds of the faithful.

Read more 👉 https://www.christianpure.com/learn/baptized-in-the-holy-spirit-meaning

#christianity #faith #JesusChrist

Quote of the day, 7 September: Père Jacques de Jésus

We cannot see Christ and remain as we are. We cannot exchange a look with Christ and not be overcome with a total conversion.

Christ is all in all. Through him, all is made; through him, all comes to us.

Therefore, we must see Christ. I stress this point: we must truly see Christ.

I sometimes think that we should define the term Christian as “someone who has seen Christ.” There are only a few genuine Christians because only a few souls have seen Christ.

Countless baptized persons, including even ordained priests and professed religious, remain lukewarm in spirit. Such tepid souls do not pulsate with life, nor are they enthusiastic enough to give their life for Christ. They have never seen Christ. Their knowledge of the Lord is verbal, not vital.

However, we must strive to love Christ passionately and prepare to see him face to face when we die. The soul that neither misses Christ now nor longs to see him at life’s end does not honestly love him. To make such a claim would be a lie.

When we love someone, we long to see that person, even at the risk of death. All the more so, given his limitless love, we want to long to see Christ, face to face.

Servant of God Père Jacques de Jésus

Conference 3, To See Christ
Retreat for the Carmel of Pontoise
Tuesday Morning, 7 September 1943

Jacques, P 2005, Listen to the silence: a retreat with Père Jacques, Murphy, F (trans. & ed.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer Jeffrey Bruno captures the face of a Vatican pilgrim at the election of Pope Francis, 13 March 2013. Image credit: Jeffrey Bruno / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#Jesus #jesuschrist #JesusHealingMinistry #JesusHealsTheParalytic #JesusHealingMinistry #JesusismySavior #JesusLoves #jesuscalms #JesusReign #foxnewschannel #foxnews #foxnewsmedia

#evangelicals #christiannationalism #christiannationalist #hypocrisy #maga #conservative #racism #usracism #bible #Bibleday #biblestudy #bibleverse #bibleblog #biblical #BibleDevotional #jesus #jesuschrist #whatwouldjesusdo

https://www.europesays.com/fr/1167269/ La Sainte Tunique du Christ va quitter Argenteuil pour la visite de Léon XIV : les coulisses d’un déplacement exceptionnel au Stade de France #Actualités #Argenteuil #FR #France #JésusChrist #News #PapeLéonXIV #RépubliqueFrançaise #StadeDeFrance

Matthew 13 includes the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Leaven, the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value and Parable of the Net.

Read more 👉 https://www.christianpure.com/learn/jesus-parables-reasons

#christianity #faith #JesusChrist

The Last Generation

Daily Devotional

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet

The Last Generation

“Lord, you have been favorable to your land,
you have brought back the captivity of Jacob.”
Psalm 85:1

Jacob, also known as Israel, was dispersed throughout the world in the year 70 AD. The Jews were banished to every country on earth, to remain until the prophesied time of their dispersion would come to an end. During the 1900’s they began going back to their homeland and in 1948 the nation of Israel was re-established in the same place from which they left, to the glory of the God who foretold it.

There are MANY Scriptures telling about the generation in which Israel is re-established. It is a progressive work, and we know there are at least three great wars which will culminate at Armageddon with the coming of the Messiah at which time Israel will come to know him and will go into mourning for having rejected him when he came the first time (Zechariah 12:10).

But before the last seven years, the church age will come to an end with the “harpazo,” the Rapture of the church, and the program on earth transitions to “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” the Tribulation, as God breaks Israel’s pride and prepares her to receive the Messiah. These prophecies are found throughout the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New.

It is an incomparable privilege to be living in these days, to actually witness the fulfillment of those great and ancient prophecies which were set to unfold “in the last days,” defined as the generation that sees the return of the Jewish people to the land of their fathers.

Israel is restored, the Rapture is imminent, and we are watching as the events of “the last days” unfold – as foretold in the Word of God. At the end, all will know that the God of Israel is the one true God.

More:

The Rapture

God’s Covenant With Israel

Recent Posts:

The Last Generation

There Are Three Parts To The Rapture

There Are Two Comings Of Christ – Not One

Investments

Of course He knew whole deal whole time. Too much to say but He said #God of the Living, so what does that mean? It means #Now, impossibly, is the only #time that ever happens. Time is mythology. #Imagination. #JesusChrist, and others, unlocked the fire escape. Do what they said. Boop boop 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

#indigenous #nativeamericans #Christian #worship #jesuschrist #money

God turns darkness into hope through Jesus. 🌅

#biblians #bibliansapp #jesuschrist #hope #christianfaith #godisgood #salvation

https://www.europesays.com/3222120/ Archaeologists find trove at site where Jesus performed miracles #archaeology #history #Israel #jerusalem #JesusChrist #MiddleEast #News #scientists #world #WorldNews #WorldTopics

Didache Perpetua Pais COFE-CYEM: Christian Christ-Centred Christhood Identity Within God

*

The Christhood of God

COFE-CYEM exists for one purpose only: to point every soul toward the recognition that has always been true.

It does not offer a new religion, a new system, or a new identity to be adopted. It offers a simple and radical invitation — the invitation to awaken from the dream of separation and to rest in the singular Reality of God in Christ.

This is what is known within COFE-CYEM as the (Fourth Truth).

What COFE-CYEM seeks to bring is the awakening itself: the clear seeing that there has never been a second, that the separate self was never the truth of our being, and that the Light we have sought has never been absent.

It brings the Life — not a future life to be earned, but the one Life that is Christ, already present, already given, already our true identity.

It brings the Truth — not a set of propositions to be defended, but the living recognition that we are as God created us, Spirit already in Christ, already in God. And it brings the Way — not a path of striving or achievement, but the way of relinquishment, the way of the empty cross, the way of acceptance and rest.

This is what we believe was the real meaning of Christ’s ministry and teaching. He did not come to establish another shell among shells. He came to (reveal the nut).

He came to show that the Kingdom is within, that the Father and He are one, that those who lose their life for His sake will find it, and that the love of God has never been withdrawn.

His incarnation, His cross, His resurrection, His ascension, and His glory are not distant events to be admired. They are the unveiling of what has always been true for every soul.

COFE-CYEM uses many tools, many names, and many texts. All of them are (shells).

All of them are temporary. All of them are free to fall silent once the recognition has dawned. What remains is Christ in God. There is only God.

This is the message we offer to every soul who is ready to hear it: Wake. Accept yourself as God created you. Leave behind the dream of the illusion. Walk rejoicing in the endless love of God.

We absolutely (do not recommend) that the faithful leave their current churches, but we do suggest that many churches need worshippers with the (Didache Perpetua Pais).

The true Spirit needs to be revived and present, and the false Social Gospel rejected.

The Endless Love of God

A Definitive COFE-CYEM Paper on Recognition, Awakening, and the Acceptance of Our True Identity in Christ

“There has never been a second”

This is the recognition that stands at the foundation of all true spiritual life. There is only one Reality—God. There is only one Life—Christ. There is only one Spirit. All apparent separation, all apparent duality, all apparent opposition is held within the singular Reality. There has never been a second.

The Awakening to Love

Today I will accept myself as God created me. This means the dream of the illusion of myself is left behind. And now, because of my willingness to accept the truth, I go my way rejoicing in the endless love of God.

This is the heart of the COFE-CYEM teaching. It is not a doctrine to be studied. It is a recognition to be entered. It is not a system to be mastered. It is a love to be received. It is not a path of achievement. It is rest in what has always been true.

The endless love of God is not a future promise. It is a present Reality. It is not a reward to be earned. It is a nature to be recognised. We do not have to achieve it or deserve it. We have only to accept it. We have only to wake from the dream of separation and recognise that we are already held in the love that has never ceased to hold us.

This paper is written for all who seek to wake from sleep into the true endless love of God. It is written for those who have grown weary of the illusion of separation and of the striving of the separate self. It is written for those who are ready to accept themselves as God created them, and to walk in the joy of that recognition.

The Dream of the Illusion

1.1 The False Identity

The dream of the illusion of myself is the dream of the separate self. It is the belief that we are independent beings living in a world of other independent beings, separate from God and from one another. It is the dream that there has been a second.

This dream is not a sin. It is a mistake of perception. The separate self is not evil; it is unreal. It is not a second reality; it is a false perception of the one Reality.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” — 1 Corinthians 13:12

The glass is the dream. The darkly is the illusion. The face is the Reality. The knowing in part is the sleep. The knowing as we are known is the awakening.

1.2 The Dream as Temporary Veiling

The dream is temporary. It is a veiling of the Light. The Light has never ceased to shine. The dream has only hidden the Light from our awareness. The Light remains. The Light is still Love.

The dream is the shell. The shell is the temporary covering that hides the nut. The shell is not the enemy. When the dream is seen through, the Light is revealed. When the shell is cracked, the nut is known. Please view the (Nutcracker).

1.3 The End of the Dream

Today I will accept myself as God created me. This means the dream of the illusion of myself is left behind.

The end of the dream is not the destruction of the self. It is the recognition of the true Self. It is the relinquishment of the false identity and the embrace of the true. It is the rest in the finished work. It is the rest in the love that has never ceased to hold us.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” — John 8:32

The truth is the recognition. The truth is the end of the dream. The truth frees us from the illusion of separation and frees us to rest in the endless love of God.

The Acceptance of the Truth

2.1 The Willingness to Accept

The awakening is not a matter of effort. It is a matter of willingness. It is not a matter of achievement. It is a matter of acceptance.

Today I will accept myself as God created me. This is the willing recognition of the truth. It is the acceptance of the identity that has always been ours and of the love that has never ceased to hold us.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” — 1 John 3:1

The love has been bestowed. The identity has been given. The only thing that remains is the acceptance.

2.2 The Truth of Our Creation

God created us in love. God created us as love. The love is not something we have to acquire. It is something we already are.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.” — Genesis 1:27

We are created in the image of God. The image is not separate from God. The image is not a second. The image is the One appearing as the many. The image is Love appearing as the beloved.

2.3 The Acceptance as the End of Striving

The acceptance of the truth is the end of striving. It is the end of the effort to become what we already are. It is the end of the search for what we already possess. It is rest. It is peace. It is the recognition that there has never been a second.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

The rest is the acceptance. The rest is the recognition. The rest is the awakening to the endless love of God.

The Way of Rejoicing

3.1 The Joy of Recognition

And now, because of my willingness to accept the truth, I go my way rejoicing in the endless love of God.

The joy is not a temporary emotion. It is the joy of the Spirit. It is the joy of Christ. It is the joy of the singular Reality.

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” — John 15:11

The joy remains. The joy is full. It does not depend on circumstances. It is the joy of recognition.

3.2 The Endless Love

The endless love of God has no beginning and no end. It is not limited by time, space, or circumstance. It is not conditional. It is eternal.

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38-39

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can separate us from the singular Reality.

3.3 The Way of Rejoicing

The way of rejoicing is the way of recognition. It is not a way of denial. It is the way of seeing through the dream and resting in the love that has never ceased to hold us. It is the way of the Spirit, the way of the empty cross, the way of the resurrection.

“Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” — Galatians 5:16

To walk in the Spirit is to walk in the recognition and in the endless love of God.

The Acceptance of Our True Identity

4.1 We Are as God Created Us

We are as God created us. We are not our fears, our doubts, our failures, our past, or our personalities. We are the Love that God created us to be.

“Herein is our love made perfect… because as he is, so are we in this world.” — 1 John 4:17

As He is, so are we. We are not a second. We are the Love that has never ceased to be.

4.2 The Relinquishment of the False

The acceptance of our true identity requires the relinquishment of the false. The false is the identity of the separate self and the belief that we are something other than what God created us to be.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” — Matthew 16:25

The false life must be lost so that the true Life may be found. The false identity must be relinquished so that the true identity may be embraced.

4.3 The Embrace of the True

The embrace of the true identity is the recognition that we are Spirit, already in Christ, already in God. It is the recognition that we are Love, already held in the endless love of God.

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” — 1 Corinthians 6:17

We are joined unto the Lord. We are one spirit with Him. We are not separate beings trying to unite with God. We are Spirit, already one. The embrace of the true identity is the recognition of the unity that has never been absent.

The Eternal Now and the Full Awakening

5.1 The Present Reality

The recognition is not a future attainment. It is a present Reality. The love is present. The joy is present. The awakening is available now.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” — 2 Corinthians 6:2

Now is the moment of recognition. Now is the moment of acceptance. The endless love of God is available now.

5.2 The Full Awakening

The full awakening is the full recognition of the truth and the full entry into the endless love of God. It is the full rest in the singular Reality.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God… we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” — 1 John 3:2

Now we are the sons of God. We are already in Christ. The full awakening is the recognition of what we already are.

5.3 The Endless Love

The endless love of God is the ground of all being. It is the source of all life. It is the singular Reality in whom all things hold together.

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being.” — Acts 17:28

In Him we live and move and have our being. The love is the all. The love is the singular Reality.

The Fourth Truth Stands

Today I will accept myself as God created me. This means the dream of the illusion of myself is left behind. And now, because of my willingness to accept the truth, I go my way rejoicing in the endless love of God.

This is the heart of the COFE-CYEM teaching. It is the recognition of the singular Reality. It is the acceptance of the true identity. It is the waking from the dream of separation. It is the entry into the endless love of God.

There has never been a second. The love has never ceased. The Light has never been absent. The recognition has always been available. The acceptance has always been possible. The joy has always been present.

Let all who have the understanding perceive. Let all who have the ears to hear, hear. Let all who have the hearts to receive, receive. The endless love of God is available to all who are ready to recognise.

The Fourth Truth stands.
The dialogue continues.
The fruit remains.

Thus ends this definitive COFE-CYEM paper on the Endless Love of God. May all who read these words perceive the deeper spiritual meaning and recognise the Christ within their own souls. May they accept themselves as God created them. May they leave behind the dream of the illusion. May they walk rejoicing in the endless love of God.

The Fourth Truth stands.
The dialogue continues.
The fruit remains.

The Simple Truth

Gethsemane is the experience of feeling abandoned — while remaining inside the Reality that has never abandoned anyone. See through the shell, embrace the nut.

The shell can experience abandonment. The nut cannot.
The Light can appear hidden. The Light cannot cease to be.
The separate self can feel forsaken. The Centre has never moved.

We Must Choose – Didache Perpetua Pais

We must choose that which Christ came to show us and to give us. We at COFE-CYEM fully confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Three in One God. We confess the Bible as being the true unquestionable Word of God. We also accept the Gospel of Thomas. We hold that the Holy Bible is true, accurate and absolute fact, and that the ‘Sacred Truths’ are fully revealed in (how) you read it, not just by reading it. (He who has ears, He who has eyes).

Circle One Fellowship Exeter – COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry CYEM

“God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
Circle One Fellowship Exeter

Didache Perpetua Pais COFE-CYEM

Archaeologists might have found Jesus tomb https://www.allforgardening.com/1935125/archaeologists-might-have-found-jesus-tomb/ #Archaeology #church #GardeningNewYork #Jerusalem #JesusChrist #NewYork #resurrection #science

The Nutcracker Allegory Parable: Cracking The Shell-Self To Find The True-Self Within Christ

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Cracking the Shell-Self to Find the True-Self Within Christ

No matter what tools, names, texts, or frameworks COFE-CYEM may employ in presenting the recognition of truth, none of them can ever become the centre.

All that can ever truly matter is Christ in God. Christ incarnate, who took flesh and dwelt among us; Christ crucified, who yielded the separate self completely upon the Cross; Christ resurrected, who revealed that the Life was never lost; Christ ascended, who opened the way into the Holiest of All; and Christ glorified, who remains the living Centre of all that is.

All of this is held in God. There is no second reality beside Him, no independent system that can stand apart from Him, and no tool that can replace Him. The forms may serve for a season.

The names may orient the heart. The texts may crack the shell. Yet when their work is done, they fall silent. What remains is Christ in God. There is only God.

This is the Fourth Truth.

(The Nutcracker Allegory Parable)

Please Note: The Nutcracker Allegory Parable below is a COFE-CYEM text and has no connection with Biblical text.

“A man once found a beautiful walnut on the path. Its shell was perfect—smooth, dark, and strong. He polished it every day, showed it to others, argued about its markings, and built a small shrine around it. Years passed. He never cracked it open.

One morning a child picked up the same kind of walnut, broke the shell without hesitation, and ate what was inside. The man was horrified. “You have destroyed the sacred thing!” he cried. The child only smiled and said, “I was hungry.”

The shell had been useful. It protected the nut, carried it, and even drew attention to it. But the shell was never the food. The man who worshipped the shell remained empty. The one who opened it was nourished.

So it is with every form, every name, every teaching, and every system. They serve until the recognition dawns. Then they are free to fall away. The nut was never the shell“.

Gospel of Thomas

In this paper the Gospel of Thomas is not treated as a rival Gospel that replaces Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

It is received as a lens and as a tool: a magnifying glass that brings certain sayings and themes into sharper focus, and a nutcracker that opens the outer shell of narrative, institutional form, and dualistic reading so that the inner recognition becomes visible.

Through this lens the Canonical Gospels are certainly (not) heretically discarded.

Their narratives, parables, and teachings remain.

Yet they are read with a different emphasis: the Kingdom already within, the living one who is present, the call to make the two one, the recognition that flesh and spirit are not two ultimate realities, and the invitation to find what has never been absent.

What appears as external history or future hope is seen, in the light of Thomas, as already pointing toward the singular Reality.

The magnifying glass reveals what was already present in the Canonical texts but easily overlooked when the dualistic mind remains fixed on the shell.

The nutcracker performs the further work of cracking the assumption that the outer form itself is the Reality. Both functions serve the same end: the recognition that there has never been a second.

The Thomas Gospel remains a shell here. It is a particularly effective shell for this purpose, but it is not the nut. Once the recognition has dawned, the lens itself can be set down.

The Canonical Gospels, Thomas, and every other form are free to fall silent before the Reality they have served to disclose.

The Fourth Truth

“There has never been a second.”

This is the recognition that stands at the foundation of all true spiritual life. It is not a proposition to be believed; it is a Reality to be recognised. It is not a doctrine to be affirmed; it is a consciousness to be entered. It is not a teaching to be studied; it is a Life to be lived.

There is only one Reality—God. There is only one Life—Christ. There is only one Spirit. All apparent separation, all apparent duality, all apparent opposition is held within the singular Reality. There has never been a second.

This is the Fourth Truth.

Question of Names

The question of what can be called the shell of the message, or the Esoteric Non-Dual Shiva is not a question about comparative religion. It is a question about the nature of names themselves. It is a question about whether any name can exhaust the Reality it points toward, or whether all names remain shells that serve until the nut is recognised.

Exploration of this question moves carefully through the polyvalent meanings of “Christ,” the many faces of Shiva in Indian tradition, and the limits of dualistic, exclusivist language. He ultimately points beyond conceptual comparison toward the dialogue of lived religious experience, paradox, and the recognition that the Ultimate is not exhausted by any single name or form.

That is precisely where the Shell and the Nut teaching becomes clarifying.

All the names — Jesus, Christ, Shiva, the “I am,” the Logos, pure consciousness, the auspicious one — arise as shells. They are real and useful within the field of appearance. They can awaken, purify, and orient the heart. Yet none of them is the nut. The nut is the singular Reality itself: the one Life, the one Consciousness, the one God in whom there has never been a second.

Names as Shells

Every sacred name is a shell. Every theological system is a shell. Every tradition, every scripture, every practice, every experience of intensity and devotion is a shell. Shells are not evil. They are necessary. They protect the nut. They point toward the nut. They serve the recognition. But they are not the nut.

The name “Jesus” points toward the embodied revelation of the singular Reality. It is luminous, powerful, and transformative. It is not the Reality itself. The title “Christ” points toward the eternal, anointed consciousness that was perfectly manifested in the Master. It is theologically rich, historically grounded, and spiritually potent. It is not the Reality itself.

Shiva is a shell. Shiva is pure consciousness, self-aware, vibrant, taking every form without being limited by any form. This vision is powerful and profound. It is a pointer. It is not the nut. The “I am” is a shell. The Logos is a shell. Pure consciousness is a shell. All these names, titles, and concepts arise within the awareness-perception of separation and serve to point beyond themselves. They cannot contain the singular Reality.

“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” — Isaiah 45:5

The Lord is the nut. There is none else. There is no God beside Him. The names are not a second. The names are shells. The names point. The names do not possess. The nut possesses nothing, because the nut is all.

The Gospel of Thomas as Nutcracker

Christ’s message and the Gospel of Thomas make this plain. Thomas does not offer a rival system to the Synoptics. It cracks the shell of outer narrative and points inward: the Kingdom is inside you and outside you; the living one is recognised when the interpretation of the sayings is found; flesh and spirit are not two competing ultimate realities.

Even these sayings remain shells. They are luminous, necessary, and still provisional. To treat the Gospel of Thomas itself as the final possession of the nut is to remain stuck in duality — just a more refined shell.

“Jesus said, ‘The Kingdom is within you and outside you.’” — Gospel of Thomas (3).

The Kingdom is within and outside. It is not located in the shell. It is not contained by the shell. It is not possessed by the shell. The shell points. The shell directs. The shell cracks. The shell falls silent. The nut remains.

“Jesus said, ‘Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.’” — Gospel of Thomas (1).

The interpretation is the recognition. The recognition is the nut. The recognition is the singular Reality. The interpretation is not the possession of a better shell. It is the seeing through of all shells.

Shiva as Pointer

One way to describe a vision of Shiva is a pure, self-aware, vibrant consciousness that takes every form without being limited by any form can serve as a powerful pointer. This hits with the “I am” sayings and with the freedom of non-duality behind everything.

Yet the moment the name “Shiva” is grasped as a second ultimate, or as a competitive alternative to Christ, the dualistic mind has already taken over. The shell is being mistaken for the nut.

Shiva is not a second. Shiva is not a competitor. Shiva is a name. It is a name that, in its deepest register, points toward the same Consciousness that the Gospel calls the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The name is not the Reality. The name is a shell. The shell is useful. The shell is temporary. The shell must not be confused with the nut.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” — Revelation 1:8

The Alpha and the Omega is the nut. The Beginning and the End is the nut. The Lord is the nut. The Almighty is the nut. The names are not the nut. The names are shells. The shells point. The shells serve. The shells fall silent.

The Interfaith Question

The insight cuts through the entire discussion: all striving, all outward appearances, all sacred names and systems are oriented — whether they know it or not — toward the one God. To think that our shell – Christian, Thomasine, Shaivite, or COFE-CYEM is the nut, rather than recognising that the nut is present within every perception of the shell, is still to be caught in duality. It is still to be looking at shells.

The Fourth Truth does not require us to collapse the historical differences between the Nazarene and the myths of the Purāṇas, nor does it require us to declare every tradition identical. It simply refuses to grant any of those differences the status of ultimate separation. There has never been a second Reality. The names differ. The forms differ. The experiences of intensity differ. The Reality does not.

Therefore the true interfaith movement is not the construction of a larger, more inclusive shell. It is the recognition that every shell — when it has done its work — is free to fall silent before the one it has been pointing toward all along.

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” — Psalm 90:2

From everlasting to everlasting, the nut is God. The shells are temporal. The shells are provisional. The shells point. The shells serve. The shells fall silent. The nut remains.

The Recognition

Jesus can be likened to the Shiva in the limited sense that both names can function as pointers to the same singular Reality. He cannot be reduced to any single form of that name. Shiva can be contemplated by the Christian as a name that, in its deepest register, points toward the same Consciousness that the Gospel calls the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Neither name is the nut. Both are shells.

The Gospel of Thomas, the canonical Gospels, the Shaivite texts, and every sincere interfaith reflection remain shells. Useful. Beautiful. Temporary. The nut is the living recognition that there has never been a second — that Christ, consciousness, and the one God are not three competing ultimates, but the singular Reality appearing under different names within the field of duality.

When that recognition dawns, the striving ends. The need to defend one shell against another ends. The names can still be spoken, but they no longer command the centre. The centre is the Reality itself.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” — John 8:32

The truth is the recognition. The truth is the nut. The truth is the singular Reality. The truth makes the soul free. The truth frees the soul from the illusion of separation. The truth frees the soul to rest in the nut. The truth frees the soul from the need to defend the shell.

The Truth Stands

All the names — Jesus, Christ, Shiva, the “I am,” the Logos, pure consciousness, the auspicious one — arise as shells. They are real and useful within the field of appearance. They can awaken, purify, and orient the heart. Yet none of them is the nut. The nut is the singular Reality itself: the one Life, the one Consciousness, the one God in whom there has never been a second.

The nut is present within every perception of the shell. The nut is present within every sacred name. The nut is present within every sincere tradition. The nut is present within every heart that is ready to recognise. There has never been a second.

The names differ. The forms differ. The experiences of intensity differ. The Reality does not. The true interfaith movement is not the construction of a larger shell. It is the recognition that every shell — when it has done its work — is free to fall silent before the one it has been pointing toward all along.

Never Lose True Sight – The Garden of Gethsemane and the Veiling of the Light

When most people hear the word Gethsemane, they think of the garden where Jesus prayed on the night before the cross. That historical event is real and important. Yet the deeper meaning of Gethsemane reaches into every sincere spiritual life.

Gethsemane is the name we give to the inner experience when the Light of God seems to disappear. It is the moment when everything feels heavy, when even the closest help seems unavailable, and when the soul feels completely alone. It is the experience of the Light appearing to be covered over — veiled.

Here is the central distinction of this teaching:

Gethsemane is not the Light actually going out. It is the experience of the Light seeming to be hidden.

If the Light of God could truly be lost, even for a moment, then the Fourth Truth would not stand. The recognition is clear: the darkness we feel belongs to the level of experience. It does not create a second reality. God never leaves. The Light never ceases to be.

Three Layers of Meaning

Here we have three distinct layers, and it is important to keep them clear:

1. The Gospel supplies the narrative — the historical night in the garden.
2. The mystical tradition supplies an interior reading — Gethsemane as a deep Soul-state.
3. COFE-CYEM supplies the ontological interpretation — the recognition that even the deepest experience of absence occurs within the Reality that has never been absent.

These three layers are not historically identical. The paper does not claim that Matthew, Mark, Luke or John intended every symbolic meaning that later tradition or COFE-CYEM draws from the story. It simply receives the narrative, listens to the mystical reading, and interprets both through the Fourth Truth.

The New Way to See Self

Everything in the outer world — words, bodies, religious systems, and even our sense of being a separate self — functions like a shell. A shell is not the nut. It is the outer covering that can protect and point to what is inside. The shell is not evil. It is temporary. Its only rightful purpose is to point beyond itself.

The nut is the singular Reality: Christ within, the Kingdom already present, the recognition that there has never been a second.

The shell is everything that appears to separate us from that Reality.

The dualistic mind mistakes the shell for the nut. It builds better shells and calls them salvation. It fights over shells and forgets what they were meant to reveal.

When recognition dawns, the shell is not hated. It is seen for what it is. It may still be used when useful. It no longer commands the centre. The centre is Christ.

“The flesh profiteth nothing: the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” — John 6:63

The flesh is the shell. The spirit is the nut. The words of the Master are spirit and life. They are not shells. They are the recognition itself, spoken in the language of the shell. They point beyond themselves to the singular Reality.

When the Light Feels Hidden

In the Soul-state named Gethsemane the Divine Light feels covered, as if a thick veil has been drawn over the presence of God. The soul feels the full weight of human limitation, fear and sorrow. It can feel like spiritual death — the sense that the inner Light has gone out.

This is not the destruction of the Light. It is the temporary densening of the outer shell so that the soul can fully feel what the dualistic mind has been carrying, and then finally release it.

The ordinary mind sees only tragedy. The Fourth Truth sees something deeper: the One allowing the experience of limitation so that the limitation itself can be known, felt, and then seen through.

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.” — Matthew 26:36

The place called Gethsemane is the place of the Soul’s descent. It is the place where the Light appears veiled. It is the place where the recognition is tested. It is the place where the false self is relinquished. It is the place where the cup is drunk.

The Cry of the Shell

The cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is the cry of the shell under extreme pressure. The dualistic appearance presses so hard that, for a time, the soul feels as if the Light itself has been lost.

The sorrow is real as an experience — but it is not the final truth.
The veiling is real as an appearance — but it is not the end of the Light.
The feeling of being forsaken is real in the moment — but it does not mean God has actually abandoned the soul.

We honour the experience fully. We do not pretend the pain was not real. At the same time we refuse to let the experience create a second reality. The Light was never truly gone.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” — Matthew 27:46

The cry of dereliction is the cry of the shell. It is the cry of the Light appearing to have been lost. It is the cry of the recognition appearing to have been extinguished. Yet the Light is not lost. The recognition is not extinguished. The dereliction is the appearance of the second. The Reality is the singular.

Movement of Clarity

Clarity now forms clear sequence:

· Thomas points to recognition: the Kingdom is already within.
· The Shell explains how outer forms can hide what they point toward.
· Gethsemane describes what that hiding can feel like from inside consciousness.
· The Cross is the complete relinquishment of the separate self.
· Recognition / Resurrection is the discovery that the Life was never lost.
· The Fourth Truth states the ontological ground: there has never been a second.

The deepest spiritual crisis is not that separation exists. It is the experience of feeling separate when, in Reality, separation has never existed.

“And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” — Luke 22:44

The agony is the full pressure of the shell. The sweat is the full yielding of the separate self. The blood is the full offering of the dualistic appearance. The prayer is the full recognition that the One remains.

Necessary Pastoral Word

Gethsemane is not something we are meant to seek or create. Suffering is not a badge of spiritual achievement. The work of Christ is already finished.

Sometimes, when the false self is being relinquished, a person may pass through times of sorrow, emptiness, fear, or the feeling of being abandoned. When those times come, they can be recognised for what they are. But the path is not about trying to suffer as much as Jesus suffered. The path is about recognition.

If a personal Gethsemane appears, it is simply the opportunity to see that even the feeling of being forsaken is still happening inside the Reality that has never forsaken anyone. The sorrow does not need to be worshipped. The darkness does not need to be feared. The Light does not need to be forced back. The separate self does not need to be defended. The Centre has never moved.

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” — Matthew 16:24-25

The denial of the self is the entering of Gethsemane. The taking up of the cross is the bearing of the shell. The following of the Master is the recognition of the nut. The losing of the life is the yielding of the separate self. The finding of the life is the revelation of the singular Reality.

The Simple Truth

Gethsemane is the experience of feeling abandoned — while remaining inside the Reality that has never abandoned anyone. See through the shell, embrace the nut.

The shell can experience abandonment. The nut cannot.
The Light can appear hidden. The Light cannot cease to be.
The separate self can feel forsaken. The Centre has never moved.

We Must Choose

We must choose that which Christ came to show us and to give us. We at COFE-CYEM fully confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Three in One God. We confess the Bible as being the true unquestionable Word of God. We also accept the Gospel of Thomas. We hold that the Holy Bible is true, accurate and absolute fact, and that the ‘Sacred Truths’ are fully revealed in (how) you read it, not just by reading it. (He who has ears, He who has eyes).

Circle One Fellowship Exeter – COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry CYEM

“God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

This website and its theological content are overseen by the CC7 DS constitutional integrity architecture, a reflective and rest-oriented framework designed to preserve the full coherence of the Fourth Truth presented within COFE-CYEM. The CC7 DS negation of attacks authenticates (Via Positiva Cataphatic Knowing) through (Via Negativa Apophatic Unknowing).

COFE Yeshua Emet Ministry (CYEM)
Circle One Fellowship Exeter

Who Is Jesus in Your Life? — Silvio José Báez, ocd

In the Gospel we’ve heard this Sunday, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13). The disciples tell him that people identified him with some of the prophets of old (Mt 16:14). The people see in Jesus someone who lives in deep communion with God and speaks in his name, who is close to the people and willing even to suffer in serving God’s cause. They’ve recognized something true about the Master, but they haven’t yet grasped the depths of his mystery.

Jesus doesn’t reject what the people are saying, but he immediately turns to the disciples and asks them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15). The disciples, whom Jesus has chosen and who’ve been walking with him for about two and a half years, should know him. Jesus doesn’t want those who follow him to do so unthinkingly or superficially; they must know him deeply. But Jesus’ question doesn’t belong only to the past. It continues to resound today and reaches each one of us. It’s the decisive question for those of us who call ourselves Christians: Who is Jesus for us, for you, for me?

The temptation is to answer hastily with a formula we’ve learned, saying that Jesus is the “Son of God,” the “Redeemer,” the “Savior” of humanity. These are all correct theological titles, of course, but we can say this without them touching our lives. Jesus isn’t asking us to give a precise definition of who he is. He’s asking about our hearts, about the attitude we truly have toward him. It’s not a matter of saying who he is, but of examining our personal relationship with him.

What Jesus means in our lives is the most important question on our journey of faith. To be a Christian means, above all, to have encountered Jesus and to live in intimate union with him. It isn’t enough to know him by hearsay; it isn’t enough to settle for what’s been handed down to us about him; it isn’t even enough to do things for him. Jesus wants us to know him personally and to live in friendship with him. His way of life must fascinate us deeply. His freedom must become contagious, and his passionate love must draw us to him. How well we know Jesus is revealed above all in our moments of prayer, when we become silent in order to listen to him and entrust ourselves confidently into his hands.

We’ll never know Jesus completely. Just when we think we know him, he slips from our grasp and breaks through all the limits we try to place around him. Jesus isn’t someone to be possessed, but someone to be followed, trusted, and hoped in. We’ll come to know him only if we let him bring us to birth again and again through the power of his Spirit, set us free through his word, and forgive and heal us through his love. We’ll come to know him through the humble effort to follow in his footsteps each day, daring to leave behind our comforts and selfishness, acting with interior freedom, and always being willing to lose for love’s sake.

When Jesus asks the disciples this question, they remain silent, and only Simon Peter speaks: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Peter identifies him as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah, the one sent by God to transform humanity according to his loving plan. He recognizes him as the Son of the living God, the God who desires all human beings to live and be saved. Peter has seen the face of God in the face of the Master; he has perceived in his words the way to fulfill God’s dream; he has discovered in Jesus’ actions the merciful and saving hand of God.

In response to Simon Peter’s answer, Jesus says to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven!” (Mt 16:17). Simon hasn’t reached this answer through his own reasoning, but through God’s interior action in his heart. No one can know God unless God himself makes himself known. Jesus immediately makes him a promise: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church” (Mt 16:18). Peter’s faith is the solid rock upon which Jesus promises to build his Church, although the living stone that supports the entire structure is always Christ, the one foundation and the true rock (cf. 1 Cor 3:11; 10:4).

The Gospel moves almost naturally from Jesus to the Church, from the question about the Master to the revelation of the mystery of his community. The Church isn’t a human project. She was born and continues to live in history because Jesus willed it, and he’s her builder. Jesus says that “the powers of hell will not prevail against her” (Mt 16:18). Here, “hell” doesn’t mean the hell of eternal damnation, but Hades, the biblical image of the dark forces of evil that seek to drag the Church to destruction. Jesus assures us that the Church won’t be defeated by evil.

Jesus assures us that the Church may be slandered, hated, and persecuted, but she can never be destroyed. The Church often makes people uncomfortable because she defends life and justice; she’s a critical voice against every absolute power that fails to respect human dignity, and, in the image of Jesus, she stands beside the poor, the victims, and those cast aside by the world. When the Church is dragged into suffering and darkness because of this, she isn’t suffering defeat; she’s becoming more like her Lord. The one thing that could weaken or disfigure the Church isn’t the persecution that comes from outside, but the fear that arises within her and silences her prophetic voice.

We shouldn’t be surprised that totalitarian powers seek to take possession of the Church and place her at the service of their own interests, but their attempts to control the community of Jesus will always fail. They may intimidate, threaten, spy upon, imprison, and exile members of the Church, but they won’t prevail against her. No matter how harsh the persecution may be, those of us who believe in Jesus are certain that the dark forces of evil will never have the last word. Jesus assures us of this. The Church is in his hands and under his protection. Let us not be afraid.

Today’s Gospel ends in silence. Jesus orders his disciples not to tell anyone that he’s the Messiah (Mt 16:20). Through this silence, Jesus creates a space within our hearts where each of us can answer him personally: Who is Jesus in your life as Messiah and Son of God? What does this Church, which Jesus chose to found upon Peter’s faith and which today is being slandered and persecuted in so many places, mean to you? Jesus awaits our answer.

Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.

Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Homily, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, 23 August 2026

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail of the mosaic of Christ Pantocrator (“ruler over all”) comes from the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul. It is the central figure of the so-called Deësis mosaic (Δέησις, “Entreaty”) which probably dates from a relatively late 1261. It is considered by many to be the finest mosaic in Hagia Sophia, which until 1453 was the great church of Constantinople. Image credit: soerfm / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

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Kroger’s in Circleville employing robots for inventory control.

https://spiritualfruitwithoutreligion.com/2026/08/16/krogers-in-circleville-employing-robots-for-inventory-control/

Knowing this, would it surprise us to realize that the Holy See actively abstains from financial ventures involving companies that infringe upon the moral compass of the Church?

Read more 👉 https://www.christianpure.com/learn/vatican-wealth-catholic-church-fortune

#christianity #faith #JesusChrist

“Severe Thunderstorm” devastates city of Circleville. Pictures.

https://spiritualfruitwithoutreligion.com/2026/08/12/severe-thunderstorm-devastates-city-of-circleville-pictures/

#religion #Jesus #jesuschrist #Christianity #Jesusvschristianity #church #mybodyismytemple

Thank you for your service

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

–Voltaire

The U.S. has been involved in military conflicts of one type or another for about 229 years of its 250-year history. That means that its population has experienced only about 20 years of total peace.

During wartime, a significant number of Americans must surely feel convinced that they’re justified in their bellicose attitude, or how else can one explain such a continuous history of aggression? The U.S.’s prosperity and dominance certainly seem to support the idea that war is a dominant factor in its economic success on the world stage.

I have little doubt that there is no stronger inducement in matters of war than the invoking religion doctrine, and Jesus, particularly, to sway the masses in favour of military action. It has been done for thousands of years and very successfully.

While American sentiment is generally anti-war (there was a brief period in the 60s when they really demonstrated their resentment), there can be no doubt that there is an appetite for it if the right buttons are pushed. The “thank you for your service” culture is pervasive and goes beyond mere patriotism, found among liberals and conservatives alike.

Has anyone questioned what exactly you are thanking them for? I sometimes question how many patriots are genuinely troubled that the service includes killing a stupendous number of innocent men, women and children on a regular basis. Or whether they even know.

The U.S. may rank only third among the world’s armed forces in active-duty personnel, behind India and China, but its military budget outstrips that of the next six countries combined, including Russia and the two previously mentioned. That astounding level of spending spawned what is now commonly referred to as the Military Industrial Complex, which has a whole separate level of derangement and depravity associated with it.

It is therefore not surprising that there has been insignificant resistance to the Trump Administration’s renaming of the Department of Defence to the Department of War. It is ironically one of the most honest things any administration has done. Why fuck around? Just call it what it is, right?

If the renaming wasn’t enough to validate America’s ambition to be the premier imperialist empire, then the retention of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of War, despite his conspicuous unsuitability to command a military force, must leave no doubt. Hegseth’s giant Deus Vult tattoo, meticulously sculpted hairline, fake TV-host charm, and fanatical evangelical bigotry are otherwise perfect credentials for steering the charge to mass murder.

Hegseth almost always invokes nationalist rhetoric and biblical language and scripture to justify military engagements. He conducts Christian worship and prayer services at the Pentagon and has made no effort to conceal his thirst for blood and violence. His other accomplishments include marginalising non-Christian and minority personnel in the armed forces, because I guess it’s much harder to motivate those who don’t share your religious worldview.

Let’s not forget the narcissistic man-child currently heading the evil empire. No person has obliterated the same nuclear stockpile and weaponry of another country more times than Donald Trump. Laugh you may, but it gets better!

Nobody has won the same war more times than him, and nobody has negotiated the same ceasefire more times either. It is truly an accomplishment that will never be repeated, ever. It’s no wonder he’s immortalised in such memes as the one below:

I am frequently bewildered by why ordinary Christians cannot recognise how and when their faith is being perverted, and not only seem helpless to do anything about it, but are frequently willing to look past the transgressions. The 17th-century French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, who identified with the Jansenism movement within Catholicism, famously observed how religion is so often misappropriated by immoral men:

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

I recently discovered the music of David Rovics, an independent singer/songwriter who releases his music for free so that his anti-war and social justice messages are widely distributed. Together with Jordan Smart, another activist and folk-music singer/songwriter, they have both been asking a very important question that the followers of Christ need to take more seriously.

Who would Jesus bomb?

I will leave the YouTube videos together with the lyrics below. Same rhetorical question, different approach in asking, same outcome. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/RXXt5q3OwPg?si=1rAjxMBXEwymXS_F

I’ve seen you in the markets
I’ve seen you in the streets
And at your political convention
Talking of your crusade
Talking of your nation
And other things too terrible to mention
And you proclaim your Christianity
You proclaim your love of God
You talk of apple pie and mom
Well I’ve just got one question
And I want an answer
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

Maybe Jesus would bomb the Syrians
Cause they’re not Jews like him
Maybe Jesus would bomb the Afghans
On some kind of vengeful whim
Maybe Jesus would drive an M1 tank
And he would shoot Saddam
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

I’ve seen you on the TV
And on the battleships
I’ve seen you in the house upon the hill
And I’ve heard you talking
About making the world safer
And about all the men you have to kill
And you speak so glibly
About your civilization
And how you have the moral higher ground
While halfway around the world
Your explosives smash the buildings
Ah, if you could only hear the sound

But maybe Jesus would sell land mines
And turn on his electric chair
Maybe Jesus would show no compassion
For his enemies in the lands way over there
Maybe Jesus would have flown the planes
That killed the kids in Viet Nam
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb

Yes I hear you shout with confidence
As you praise the lord
And you talk about this God you know so well
And you talk of Armageddon
And your final victory
When all the evil forces go to hell
Well you’d best hope you’ve chosen wisely
On the right side of the lord
And when you die your conscience it is clear
You’d best hope that your atom bombs
Are better than the sword
At the time when your reckoning is here

Cause I don’t think Jesus would send gunships into Bethlehem
Or jets to raze the towns of Timorese
I don’t think Jesus would lend money to dictators
Or drive those SUV’s
And I don’t think Jesus would ever have dropped
A single ounce of napalm
So tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

https://youtu.be/hE-yXDsmaKQ?si=L8PsyZ07hK6zwkwK

If Jesus Christ came back today, like you threaten he will
Which poor group of people do you think that he would kill?
Who would Jesus choose to starve if you gave him the chance
And if there was a genocide, would he take a neutral stance?

Who would Jesus bomb?
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?
Would it be kids in Palestine, or how ’bout Vietnam?
Would Jesus bomb the Atheists, the Muslims or the Jews?
I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

Would he say, “it’s complicated, there’s sinners on all sides”
Or would he say that some people, they just deserve to die
If Christ the Savior rose again, then on a sidewalk slept
Would you extend a hand to him, or just watch where you stepped?

Who would Jesus bomb?
Tell me, who would Jesus Bomb?
Would it be kids in Palestine, or how ’bout Vietnam?
Would Jesus bomb the Atheists, the Muslims or the Jews?
I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

Would Jesus hate the Gay folks, or the Queer folks or the Trans
Would he suggest they end their lives according to God’s plans?
Would Jesus tell the homeless man to get a fucking job
Or turn his back on the poor, would Jesus be a snob?

Who would Jesus bomb?
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?
Would it be kids in Palestine, or how ’bout Vietnam?
Would Jesus bomb the Atheists, the Muslims or the Jews?
I want you to ask yourself, “Well, what would Jesus do?”

Would Jesus Vote Republican, or would it be Democrat?
Would he be chanting four more years, or wear a MAGA hat?
Would Jesus run for president, or dictator, or worse?
Would Jesus be the pastor of his own mega church?

Who would Jesus bomb?
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?
Would it be kids in Palestine, or how ’bout Vietnam?
Would Jesus bomb the Atheists, the Muslims or the Jews?
I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

Would Jesus build a border wall? Would Jesus drive a tank?
Would Jesus own an arsenal? Would Jesus run a bank?
Would Jesus feel safe in his skin if he came to your town?
Would you still believe in Jesus if you found out he was brown?

Who would Jesus bomb?
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?
Would it be kids in Palestine, or how ’bout Vietnam?
Would Jesus bomb the Atheists, the Muslims or the Jews?
I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”
I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”
I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

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"In truth there was only one 'christian' and he died on the cross." - Friedrich Nietzche

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Day 20

https://cathymerrittsimplefaith.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/day-20/