Dear Readers,
My
name is Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, Independent Old Catholic Church
(IOCC) of Africa, operating in South Africa, and also creator of this blog.
My background was that of a Liberal Catholic
Priest, and a Traditional Catholic Priest in South Africa, and at times an
independent Priest in the Catholic tradition. I was incardinated into the
IOCC by Archbishop-Primate Emeritus Maurice McCormick founder of the IOCC of America.
Primate Archbishop George Le Mesurier, IOCC of
America
Primate Emeritus Archbishop Maurice McCormick, IOCC of America
+++
Primate Emeritus Archbishop Maurice McCormick, IOCC of America
+++
Bishop George OtienoOdhiambo, IOCC of Africa
+++
Father. Franz Devantier, IOCC South Africa
Invocatio:
P.
In nomine Patris, et + Filii et Spiritus
Sancti. Amen.(In the name of the father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. )
Confiteor:
A. O Lord, Thou hast created man to be immortal and made
him to be an image of Thine own eternity; yet often we forget the glory of our
heritage and wander from the path which leads to righteousness. But Thou, O Lord, hast made us for Thyself
and our hearts are ever restless till they find their rest in Thee. Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our
manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled
with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of
Thy power and the image of Thy goodness;
Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Absolutio:
P. God the Father, God the + Son, God the Holy Ghost, bless,
preserve and sanctify you; the Lord in His lovingkindness look down upon you
and be gracious unto you; the Lord +
absolve you from all your sins and grant you the grace and comfort of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Second
Sunday in Lent –16h March
2014 (Colour of Celebration –Violet
/ Purple)
Let the sight of the grandeur of Jesus transfigured prepare
us for a brief contemplation of the humiliation of His Passion.
Intent: Control of speech.
O God, who unto man alone hast given the power of speech
wherewith to praise thee, grant that our hearts may be so filled with love and
wisdom that we may speak evil of no man, but evermore glorify thy holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Announcements:
We are actively recruiting members for Saint Titus,
Ordinary members, members who need baptism and confirmation, members who would
like a conditional baptism and confirmation certificate, Lay Preachers, Lay
Pastors, and candidate Priests. Full
practical training will be provided for the Candidate Priests, and a Diploma
issued on the successful completion of the training. If you are interested, then please contact Fr.
Franz devantierf@gmail.com
Special Prayer Requests:
=>
Let’s pray that our Church’s / Temple’s / Religious places, will be havens of
love, harmony, peace, and safety.
=>
Let’s pray for the continued safety and wellbeing of all of God’s creatures
whom we love so much.
=>
Let’s pray for the Salvation of all the souls on earth, and the return of Jesus
Christ to earth.
=> Let’s pray that as we have reached planetary limits,
with regards to greenhouse gases, pollution and etc; our leaders will make the
right green decisions on our behalf.
News:
Join
the Saint Titus
Newsletter and get all the latest news.
Sacred References:
Epistle: James,
Chapter 3, verse 2 onwards
I Thessalonians,
Chapter 4, verses 1 - 7
Gospel:
Luke, chapter 6, verse 41 onwards.
Matthew,
chapter 17, verses 1 – 9
Homily / Sermon:
Today I will start speaking about the Gospel, because if
you had attended a service, you would still have the words of the Gospel fresh
on your mind. Then later on we will go
into the Epistle, which is often the interpretation, application, of
understanding of the words of the gospel, so chronologically this is also
correct. I am also using the King James
version of the Bible for my background sketches; because the King James is not
copyrighted like many of the more modern version’s so wrongly are. Because of the version I am using I can quote
entire passages if it seems appropriate.
Firstly I am going to explain some advise that Jesus Christ
gave his disciples, as well as a practical demonstration of spirituality that
he provided for a select three of his disciples.
Secondly I am going to discuss the advice given to by James
on controlling your tongue, as well as some other concepts briefly mentioned in
the Epistle’s.
Lastly I will explain some concepts of how to continue in
the right way on this earth of ours that is reaching planetary limits in terms
of greenhouse gases, pollution and etc.
Winds of Change
Advice from
Jesus Christ:
We see Jesus instructing us to address the beam in our own
eye, before trying to remove or comment on the mote or splinter in your
brother’s eye. Very good practical
advice, that Jesus gives here. It is
like the nicotine addict telling us not to smoke, after having spent a lifetime
smoking tobacco products, and now in the process of dying from emphysema and
lung cancer, while smoking. You would be
more likely to take somebody seriously who did not smoke, or who used to smoke
and has stopped for good reasons. Nobody
would take the alcoholic, in a state of over-indulgence seriously, if he/she
were to tell us not to drink. It might
be very funny, but not something that one would want to model your life on.
We see the analogy that you know so well of the man who
built his foundation on the word of God, and his house stands the storm, but
the man who built his house without a foundation in the sand, suffers great
loss at the first storm. This really
speaks about the purification of your soul and your heart. You see if you have spent great effort in
purifying your heart over the years; then the symbolic house that you build on
the rocks will stand the test of trial and tribulation. However if you have put little or no effort
into getting your heart and soul aligned with the Will of God; then your
symbolic house build on the sand will not have a chance when the first storm
appears. You see your tongue will let
you down. As your eye is the window to
the outside world, so your tongue reports eventually to those around you, the
condition of your heart and soul in relation to God, and your environment.
Walk up to an upright looking person and unexpectedly slap
them hard in the face; the first words after that will reveal the true nature
of their soul. Yes the words coming from
their mouth after a few minute’s, may represent the person you thought they
were, but listen to the first words, for the first few seconds, those words are
the truth about them. Then on the other
hand, why would you want to understand the heart of another, while your own
heart still has beams of blackness inside it.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up onto mount Tabor, and
transfigures himself. With him in light
appears Moses, and Elijah. When we see
Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah, all in white robes and surrounded by light,
we realize that our understanding of life, death and the afterlife, as taught
in Sunday School, is a bit sketchy to put in nicely. Peter who was trying to understand this
situation, offered to build three tabernacles on the spot. However we know that God is spirit, and
spirit can’t be contained in physical structures. We hear what we understand to be God the
Father quoting these words from a cloud:
“This is my Son in whom I am well
pleased”. You see the Son is also God,
but we need hooks for our limited understanding to explain things to us. In that moment Peter realized that building
tabernacles there would not be of any value.
On the way down from the mountain, Jesus charges them: “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of
man be risen again from the dead”.
Wow these three guys were probably straining to tell
everybody about the unusual experience that they had just had. However Jesus Christ had to make sure that
the focus would remain on his coming Passion, and not shift to his
Transfiguration. You see, although Jesus
Christ was and is God himself, he had chosen to undergo the experience of death
and crucifixion in a physical human body.
We also are immortal spirits in physical human bodies. The question is what we are really doing
here, and how can we improve the outcome of our transient mission here on
earth. Well the Holy Bible is one of
many holy books that explain in great detail, how we can do just this. However it is not just a book of steps, but
rather a manual of spiritual teaching on how to purify your heart and
soul. Once you have achieved the goal of
improving your heart, then the other truths that are hidden in allegories in
the holy books will start to reveal themselves to you. In other words when your heart becomes purer,
your understanding of the transfiguration and the Passion takes on a greater
depth of understanding. It is this depth
of understanding that we should be striving towards, and not the outward and
emotional strapping’s of some modern religious practice. I do agree that sitting in a fundamentalist
revivalist type meeting can feel very uplifting, but in reality you are
deceiving yourself, because you are not doing any work on your inner heart and
soul. I must add that even in these
fundamentalist type settings, it is possible to work on your inner heart and
soul, although not being the ideal setting.
By the same token you can silently work on improving your heart, while
in ordinary world settings, such as at work, or at home etc.
Control of the
Tongue:
The first bit comes out of the book of James. James was a fairly legalistic type of person,
and had no problem in saying that things should be like this or like that. For James there was no possibility of a grey
area somewhere in the middle. You may
argue that in a time such as today, when most people have rebelled against
authority and are questioning everything, do we still need the teachings of
people like James, also known as James the Just. The answer is yes. You see James has transcended himself in his
writings, and given us spiritual gems that are priceless, ageless, and beyond
his circumstances. In the same way that
the Dali-Lama is able to transcend Buddhism in his writings, and speak to
everybody about spiritual truths in an universal kind of way.
James starts off by saying that if a man/woman can offend
nobody else by the words that they speak/write, that that man/woman is a
perfect man/woman. We can write volumes
on that very subject, it is actually a huge subject, and a portal if you like;
into understanding our spirituality and a measuring device/technique for
defining our relationship with God.
It is not just about keeping the door to our mouth
carefully closed, and carefully filtering the words that we allow to flow from
our mouths. In many spiritual practices
there is the symbolic step of a door-keeper to protect the temple. The temple is symbolically our hearts and
souls, or ourselves. In some traditions
like the freemasons, there may have been a person armed with a sword at the
door, to keep intruders out. One of the
minor orders in the Catholic tradition is the “Doorkeeper”. This order gives you the opportunity to
reflect on the very necessary practice of controlling what you allow into your
being, and also what you allow out in the form of words. You probably realized that we are talking
about the tongue. The tongue does not
control us, but is simply subservient to the desires of our hearts, and
reflects what is in our heart. It is
very important to master the controlling of the tongue from a spiritual
perspective. The perspective can be
demonstrated by the words of Jesus Christ: “do unto others, as you would like
others to do unto you.” So you see there
is this universal or Karmic balance here, and we can go a long way to
controlling it by simply controlling the tongue. If we cut down on the number of hurtful
things that we allow ourselves to say to others, then we will surely grow on a
spiritual level or understanding. This
growth is in addition to Justification by faith, and is not influenced by it in
any way.
However it is not all about the allegorical doorkeeper to
our souls, the tongue; or the doorkeeper’s to the expression of our emotions
and actions on so many different levels; or even the doorkeeper’s that we allow
to limit or advance our spiritual development, in different ways.
It is also about the source of the thoughts and words and
actions that are flowing from our being.
The same tongue can pronounce blessings, and almost immediately
pronounce curses. How is this
possible? We know that a fountain will
either provide sweet water or bitter water, and that it would be impossible for
it to provide these two variations at the same time. Yet the tongue can produce both bitter and
sweet words at the same time. So we need
to understand that the source of the words for the tongue comes from a far more
complex source, and as a result needs a comprehensive, and determined effort to
master. The source of who we are, or the
condition of our heart and soul is what we really need to work on. Our hearts are typically a mix of all sorts
of things, one minute we will be praising or blessing somebody, and the next
cursing that very same person. To start
the process off of renewing the mind, we need to understand that we can’t just
clean the mind or heart out, and start with a fresh slate, because that would
in fact remove our personality, and possible the soul from our bodies. So although the goal is to completely renew
ourselves it has to be a process, that we need to grow into, and not something
that can be magically achieved instantly.
Perhaps a good starting point is to take the controversial
mix of ideas and emotions that are constantly raging through our hearts and
minds, and to focus our emotions and thoughts on a positive aspect. As you focus your mind on this positive
aspect, more similar positive aspects are encouraged to flow through your mind,
which displaces the wild mix of good and bad thoughts that by default rage
though our minds. If we can keep our
mind focussed on this positive for a few minutes, then we can afford to ask the
doorkeeper to our soul to open the door to our tongue for a few minutes;
because we know that the words inevitable flowing from our mouths will be
related to the positive flows in our heart and mind. The more you do this the better you will get
at it, and the purer will be the residue left in your mind, until the next time
you focus your mind on a positive aspect again.
We can call this prayer, or meditation, or contemplation,
or whatever you like. Most religious or
spiritual systems have at least one vehicle for achieving this goal. Now we can’t blame the religious structures
or philosophy for lack of results if we don’t use the available tools that are
given to us. For example in the
Christian religion you are encouraged to pray at least once a day. If you want to take things more seriously
from a Christian perspective, you can get yourself a book of hours, and do a
mini-bible study and prayer/meditation every hour, given you 24 set prayers a
day, If you fall asleep, you just catch up on the prayers you missed while you
slept. If you are in a religious order,
then you can observe the various services such as complain, sect, prime etc,
and may find that there are somewhere around seven a day. Muslims have 7 set periods of pray a day, and
so on. We can go back to the story of
Daniel in the Lion’s den, to see how Daniel had a period of prayer, meditation,
and study of the Holy scriptures every day.
If we read the entire story, we see how this practice had tremendous
benefits for him, in the most hostile environment.
So we see that there are really two sides to controlling
the tongue. 1.) Keeping the door to
your mouth carefully controlled. 2.)
Developing the right positive spiritual attitude in your heart, mind, and soul,
so that the words that are seeking expression through your mouth, become more
and more blessings, instead of curses.
Now tell me, how many of you are intrigued with the idea of using a book
of hours, which has around 8760 set prayers for the year? You can probably get such publications from a
catholic Bookshop. Imagine the work you
can do on a soul or heart level, by bending or focussing your heart towards positive impulses every hour.
Do you see now how James has transcended himself in his
writings, and his words still have so much for everybody, even in these current
days. We don’t even think of his words
as being legalistic.
We go to look at the teaching of how we should possess this
vehicle or physical body, during our immortal spirits transient visit to this
earth plain. If we get control over our
tongue, and are able to renew our hearts and minds by a process of prayer and
meditation, then we will have gone a long way to possessing our vehicles on
earth in the right way. Again with just
a few words, we have opened up a huge
topic, that we could spend forever explaining and gaining deeper insights
into. However for most of us it is
simply enough to start with anyway, to be able to recognise that we are not our
physical vehicles, but an immortal spirit that is imprinted on this physical
body that is our vehicle. So in other
words if you can truly understand who you really are, then the traditional and
almost impossible questions of “who am I”, “where did I come from”, “where am I
going”, become easy to answer.
Winds of
Change:
If we think about the greenhouse gases
that are going into the atmosphere, and the upcoming global warming that is
approaching us. For example here in
South Africa, our government is building giant coal driven power stations that
will probably have to operate for the next 50 years, producing vast amounts of
greenhouses gases, in order to cover the cost of development. Alternatives like nuclear power which can
potentially fatally damage our environment and planet for thousands of years to
come, are under serious consideration. We
have no say in any of this. Alternatives
such as wind power, and solar energy, combined with battery packs or other
storage devices are continuously rejected.
The South African government we are told, takes an estimate of tens of
billions of Rands a year in mis-appropriated funds, which apparently end up in
Swiss bank accounts etc. Apparently
since 1994, somewhere around a trillion rand has been taken by government in
this way. New taxes and ways of
extracting more money from the people like e-tolls, are continuously being invented,
but we are not being protected properly, or serviced by the Government, as
evidenced by the high level of potholes in most of the alternative roads, as
well as incredible crime levels etc. I
could go on continuously, but I only wanted to put enough in here to start the
conversation. The winds of change are
blowing strongly at our door, and it is time to open it, and welcome the new
era in.
It is time for a change. The only question that remains, is what is
“that alternative to government, education, finances and faith”, and how can
such an alternative benefit us, the ordinary citizen?
The answer is very simple: “Cyber
Sovereign State”
You see we live in the age of the
internet, in which everybody is connected in one of various ways, but most
people in the future will be connected by mobile devices such as smart-phones
for example. Now if we had people
joining such a cyber state from all over the world, in sufficient numbers, then
a number of things start to become possible.
From a political perspective:
We can divide political governance
between global, global regions, sub-regions, countries or states, provinces or
counties, areas, cities, and suburbs. In
this way the smallest autonomous unit (a suburb) can have a say in how their
suburb is governed. Official passports
and dual residence can be set up.
Individual dwellings can be converted
to have the same status as a foreign embassy, and so create the sovereign
aspect of the cyber state. Such
dwellings or properties should ideally be converted to a land-ship status, ie
self sufficient with regards to energy, water, sewage, and food production on
the property. Such properties should
also have adequate perimeter security, because in essence they are sovereign
states/countries.
Become a member with a membership fee,
and can optionally pay a nominal tax if the income is generated from within the
sovereign boundaries. Paying tax in the
cyber state will eventually lead to tax-exemption in the country of location. Everything including financial positions, and
the flow of money will be completely transparent in the cyber state, with a
zero tolerance for any kind of corruption.
International Peace Corps will protect
the interests of the cyber state. Such
groups will use martial arts as well as conventional equipment to achieve their
goals.
From an education & professional registration perspective:
Education can be free online for
everybody, from grade zero to grade 12, from certificates, diplomas, and bachelor’s
degrees to post-doctoral degrees.
Classes that are attended will be subsidized by membership fees,
donations, and potentially some tax income.
Most third world countries have higher
requirements for professional registrations, especially medical, than first
world countries. We can accept registrations
for example, from the British Institute of Homeopathy, the Indian alternative
Medicine University, and etc. Then as
long as these professionals practice on the grounds or property of the Cyber
State, they are legally protected. Patients
or Clients will cross into a foreign country (The cyber state), in order to
receive treatment or service. In this
way the cyber state can bypass the specific countries stringent registration
requirements, and provide the world with a surplus of accessible, and properly
qualified medical practitioners, and clinics, using alternative, effective, and
affordable natural medicines. The same methods
can be applied to all areas requiring professional registration or recognition.
From a Finance perspective:
The cyber state provides programs and
work opportunities for everybody. The
programs will not all be conventional, but many of them will be tried and
tested online programs. Financial
programs will be based on online work opportunities, multi-level marketing, technology
support programs, and projects to supply green energy, water and food for the
planet, amongst others.
Everybody, that is members, will be
properly trained to earn a living for themselves, and the more success they
achieve the higher membership level they will be entitled to claim. The leadership is chosen from the higher
membership levels, which means that all of the leaders in the Cyber State, have
made a financial success of their specific area. In this way successful leaders will ensure a financially
successful cyber state in the long term.
From a Faith perspective:
Jesus Christ came to this earth to
give everybody on earth the opportunity for eternal life. Jesus did not come just for the Christians or
the Jews or the Muslims, or the Hindus or the Buddhists, or any other group or
sub-group. Jesus Christ came for
everybody.
We will facilitate or create the
opportunity for everybody, regardless of specific belief structures to obtain atonement
for sin, by saying the Prayer of Redemption.
The Prayer of Redemption
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dying
on the cross for my sins.
Please forgive my sins and give me the
gift of eternal life.
I ask you into my life and heart to be
my Lord and Saviour.
I undertake to be baptized as called
for in the scriptures, Mark 16, verse 16.
I undertake to regularly partake of
Holy Communion, as in Mathew 26, verses 26-28.
Amen.
Mark, chapter 16, verse 16
Whoever believes and is baptized will
be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Mathew 26:26-28
And as they were eating, Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said,
Take, eat; this is my body. And he took
the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For
this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission
of sins.
Prayer:
Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
For
Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
A Meditation for all Humanity, The Great Invocation:
This meditation or prayer refers to the Kingdom of God,
establishing itself on Earth, or the return of Jesus Christ.
(In place of the word “Christ” below, you may be more
comfortable with the term “Lord Maitreya”, “the Imam Mahdi”, “the Bodhisattva”,
“the Messiah”, or etc.)
1.) From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let Light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
2.) From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let Love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ
return to Earth.
3.) From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
4.) From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
5.) Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on
Earth.
By using the Invocation and encouraging others to use it,
no particular group, organisation, or religion is sponsored. It belongs to all
humanity, it belongs to you. Say this
prayer every day, when you wake up in the morning.
Benedictio:
P. The peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and
of his Son, Christ our Lord; and the Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, + the Son and the Holy Ghost, be
amongst you and remain with you always.
Amen.
Love,
Rev. Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, IOCC, South Africa,
devantierf@gmail.com
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