Category: The Spirit

What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

Published on by M

Karlskirche_Frescos_-_Heiliger_Geist_2

“Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to attribute His operations to the opposite spirit, as says Basil the Great. How does one do this? Whenever one sees miracles brought about by the Holy Spirit or any of the other divine gifts in any of his brethren – that is compunction or tears, or humility, or divine knowledge, or a word of wisdom from on high, or anything else that is bestowed by the Holy Spirit on those who love God – and says that this comes from the deceit of the devil. But he also blasphemes against the Holy Spirit who works in them, who says that those who as sons of God are led by the divine Spirit, and perform the commandments of their God and Father, are being deceived by demons. This is what the Jews of old said against the Son of God.

“Like unbelievers and those completely uninitiated into the divine mysteries when they hear anything about divine illumination, or of the enlightenment of soul and mind, or of contemplation and freedom from passion, or of humility and tears that are poured out by the working and grace of the Holy Spirit, the eyes of their hearts are darkened rather than enlightened . . . They audaciously aver that these things come from the deceit of demons . . . To deny that at this present time there are some who love God and that they have been granted the Holy Spirit . . . that they have become gods by knowledge . . . and contemplation, that wholly subverts the Incarnation of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ! It denies the renewal of the image that had been corrupted and put to death, and its return to incorruption and immortality” (Saint Symeon the New Theologian, The Discourses).

The Third Passover, not the Second Coming

Published on by M

Why are you so afraid, O you of little faith? (Mt 8:26).

Many in the Church these days, in particular traditional and traditionalist Catholics, as well as Evangelical Christians, predominantly located in America and in the Anglo-Saxon world, believe that we are fast approaching the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. They speak, both in content and in tone, as though the end of the world is nigh. However, these Catholics and Christians are mistaken in both their ‘predictions’ and beliefs, not to mention their desires.

This is not the time of the Second Coming; the exact time and day of which is not even known to Christ, but to the Father alone. It is the time of the Third Passover, the crossing over from the era of sin and disorder into the era of holiness, peace, and order; the era of joy on earth, the Reign of the Divine Will.

A few indicators below once again, therefore, for the more skeptical, from the timeline of salvation history, to dispel the confusion that continues to be present on this issue.

Before the Second Coming:

  1. There will be the unification of Judaism and Christianity under the banner of Christ the Messiah. This has not yet happened;
  2. There will be the era of peace that is mentioned in the Book of Revelation. This has not yet happened;
  3. There will be the illumination of all consciences, also mentioned in the Book of Revelation. This has not yet happened;
  4. There will be the reunification of all the Christian churches and ecclesial communities in accordance with Christ’s prayer to the Father, “May they be one as We are One.” This has not yet happened;
  5. There will be a worldwide evangelization and rise of Christianity as has never been witnessed before, and in comparison to which previous evangelizations will pale. This has not yet happened;
  6. There will be the coming of the AntiChrist himself (not antichrists) and the global persecution of Christians. This will happen after #1 through #5 above, none of which have so far happened.

Several point to the current period of generalized (and increasing) apostasy from the Faith as the indicator that the Second Coming is near. Again, however, these people are missing one simple fact: Two periods of generalized apostasy will take place before the Second Coming, not one. The first period is happening now. The second period will not happen before #1 through #5 above have occurred and been completed in time.

Thus, the conflation of the first period of apostasy with the second period is an outright error and a gross misunderstanding of the location of our present time in salvation history. It is a misunderstanding born of fear (which always originates with Satan), not of faith (which always originates with God). An error born of vincible or invincible ignorance.

Further, the coming of the Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” (#2 above; the era of peace) has not yet occurred. This coming refers not to the (visible) Second Coming of Christ in glory, but to the (invisible) coming of the Kingdom within the heart of the soul (the nous) of man. It is the period of the intermediate coming that is (1) the commencement of deification, (2) the reign of the Father on earth, with everyone being able to hear Him and know that He is, indeed, their Father; (3) the temporary chaining of Satan and his demons by the Archangel Michael for a period of time, so that peace can truly reign on earth; (4) the Eucharistic reign whereby Adoration will once again become central to the prayer life of humankind and of the Church in every single part of the world, (5) the reign of the Holy Spirit and the consequent onset of the Second Pentecost, which will parallel the First Pentecost in terms of the stupefying and visible miracles that will occur; and (6) the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is all still the era of Divine Mercy.

What humanity is going through right now is the period of the Third Passover, which is the necessary period of purification before illumination occurs, so that deification can commence.

No man is evil

Published on by M

There is a strong tendency these days in popular culture, especially American culture, to call people evil – evil this, evil that – and this is occurring even within Church circles (a related phenomenon is the ‘demonization of the other’). Such parlance, however, is not only harmful and linguistically wrong. It is ontologically incorrect. In other words a lie.

No human person can be validly called evil as no one is evil. There is no such thing as an “evil human being” or an “evil person,” despite the ever-increasing proliferation of this kind of language, at times unwittingly by those who should know better, but deliberately and malevolently by pharasaical demagogues within the Church itself. No one is evil. Not even those, in many people’s minds, who might be considered the worst persons ever to walk this earth are evil (e.g., serial murderers, pedophiles, and so on). This because the image of the Triune God resides untarnished in every single human person.

It is the likeness that gets fractured by human actions and sin, not the image. Never, the image. Thus, to call a person or a group of people “evil” is to manifest wild ignorance about both the ontological reality of humankind (and one’s own ontology) and to extend that very definition to God Himself.

Deification is the true aim of man

Published on by M

There is no other way to know God than by the vision of the Light which comes from Him (Symeon the New Theologian).

Deification – the restoration of the likeness (not the image) – is the true aim of humankind, not just salvation, because deification is the invocation of the great God and Father, the symbol of the authentic and real adoption, according to the gift and grace of the Holy Spirit, thanks to the bestowal of which the saints become and will remain the sons of God (Palamas, Ad Thalas 61, PG 90, 636C; Scholia 6, ibid. 644C). It is deification that allows this name God [to be] communicable, not in its whole signification, but in some part of it by way of similitude so that those are called gods who share in divinity by likeness, according to the text I have said, ‘You are gods (Ps 82:6)’ (Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Response to I.13,9).

What is a Christian’s divine inheritance? Response to a question

Published on by M

Photo: Alexei Boitsov

The question has been asked, “What is a Christian’s divine inheritance?” The answer in a nutshell is, “To live forever in the bosom of the Most Holy Trinity.” That is what Christ gave us with His Passion, death, and Resurrection. Happiness, peace, joy, and love unparalleled for eternity. Something utterly inconceivable to many human persons and that was intended for us from the beginning.

Did Christ inherit divinity? Response to a question

Published on by M

Christ3The question has been asked, “Did Christ inherit the divinity of God?” The answer is a definitive “no.” Christ did not inherit divinity. He is, was, and will always be divine by origin, by nature, like God the Father Himself and this from before creation and the beginning of time (viz. Jn 1:1).

Christ is both God and Man. He did not become God by inheritance, by progressive deification, by grace as was intended by the Heavenly Father for humankind  – created beings. He is God because He has always been God, begotten not created: in the beginning there was the Holy Trinity – God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – and silence. No one else; nothing else. To claim, therefore, that Jesus Christ somehow ‘inherited’ His divinity is to proclaim an outright heresy.

How is God the Father if Jesus came from the Virgin Mary? – Response to a question

Published on by M

The question was asked, “How is God the Father if Jesus (Christ) came from the Virgin Mary?” The answer is simple and also refers to the previous post. Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, was begotten by God the Father before any creature – human or otherwise – was created:

In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through Him. All that came to be had life in Him and that life was the light of men (Jn 1:1-4).

Jesus was, in His divinity, in His Father’s Divine Heart before His human mother, the Virgin Mary was created in the flesh. In fact, in the very beginning there was God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (the Holy Trinity) – and silence. Nothing else; no one else. God the Father always was, is, and will be Continue reading “How is God the Father if Jesus came from the Virgin Mary? – Response to a question” →

God the Father icon in Approaching the Divine – A Primer for Iconography

Published on by M

APPROACHING THE DIVINE FRONT COVERThe diptych ecumenical icon of the Divine Heart of God the Father Encompassing All Hearts has just been featured in the newly released book Approaching the Divine – A Primer for Iconography by the world-renowned iconographer and Villanova University professor of art, Fr. Richard G. Cannuli, O.S.A. (Hope & Life Press, 2014). The icon is featured in the section Icons of God the Father. The icon had been written by Fr. Cannuli based upon the original pencil drawing of the Divine Heart. Approaching the Divine is available in hardback, paperback and ebook editions.