I Am The Bread Of Life

 

"I am the bread of life," says Christ in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. It's a remarkable statement. Jesus claims that he is the spiritual food which came down from heaven, sent by his Father. That he is true manna, "not such as your fathers ate and died, he who eats this bread will live forever." 

He, Jesus, is the very food which endures for everlasting life, the fulfillment and embodiment of the Law represented by the 5 loaves of the miracle performed the day before. 

He is the glory of God which passed by Moses, who was hidden by God in a cleft in the rock, and spoke through the unquenchable fire of the burning bush. He is now unveiled, present, incarnate, "and we beheld His glory, a glory as of an only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Glory that's given to us in sacrifice for our atonement on the Cross, "the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Bread which we receive by faith, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” And that's just it. Do we dare to believe, to put our humble, perhaps desperate and fearful faith in the Son of Man who came down from heaven that we might live. To put it another way. Do we labor for earthly food, for bread and power, or for the heavenly food which is the life of God himself? 

Christ faced this temptation in the wilderness and answered Satan, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God." He said no to "all the kingdoms of the world and the glories therein," and went to the Cross, which became his throne. He invites us to do the same, "take up your cross," so that we, in him, will have life, divine life.

Of course you might want to choose bread and power instead, thus cunningly marking yourself with the number of the beast. Your call, good luck. But remember, it's all a Big Pharma congressional larf until you wake up and a demon's gnawing on your inner thigh.

God bless,

LSP

They're Satanists

Have you been wondering why the Left are People of the Lie, of inchoate rage, fury, spite, deceit and self-contradiction? How they're all about destruction? For example, the Left is 100% in favor of killing babies in the womb and up to and beyond the point of birth, but they call this healthcare. Lies and destruction.

Again, America elected a president the Left didn't like. So they've lied, destroyed and freaked out in revolutionary fervor to the point of attempting to impeach on the basis of no evidence whatsoever. Pitch, froth, foam, lies and derangement under a pretense of the law. 

As with the absurd "Trump is a Russian Spy!" gambit, so too "Trump is a Ukrainian Crime Lord!" Yet more lies and destruction,  to Hell, literally, with our polity. But no wonder, they don't care, they want to destroy it.

The Left hates this country, its religion, its spirit, its people, its history and everything else about it. So they want to destroy it. 45 doesn't, he represents the old America, the America that loves its country,  so a clash is inevitable.

Who will win and to the point, what ultimately drives either side? On the Left we have lies, fury, hatred, destruction, rage, and infanticide. They're the party of infernal, satanic nonsense, in which men are women, murdered babies are healthcare, government control is freedom, taxation is wealth. 

Of course it makes no sense, but sense isn't in it. They've abandoned reason, ask any undergrad if there's such a thing as "truth." En lieu of that, truth, you have force, power and emotion, the ready weapons of the Left, all directed to tearing down and destroying their enemy, what's left of Western civilization. 

Make no mistake, they hate us and the West with all their emotive force, after all, emotion's all they have left; as it was in October 1917 so it is now, they're murderers from the beginning and their Father is Satan. 

45 would do well to align himself lock, stock and barrel with the other side. That in mind, only one side's going to win, and it won't be  the Devil's.

And I may be old but I'll put my gun on the line. Not kidding.

Your Pal,

LSP

Fishing Isn't God But I Still Love It

"Man," reminds Archbishop Fulton Sheen, "is engaged in a threefold quest for life, truth and love." Would I find that after Evening Prayer, fishing? Only imperfectly. Fishing, you see, isn't God.

Still, I won't deny that the sport's up there, especially when the watery beasts are switched on, for real and love what you're throwing in the water, which is pretty much the way it was yesterday evening.

The pier was empty, no pressure, and the spillway pool beckoned with submarine life. You could see it gliding about the water in search of prey. Big Gar, Catfish, a few Bass and a lot of Drum, some large; time to cast off.

Out went line #1 into the middle of the pool and stayed there, a stationary rod, then out went line #2 for casting. And sure enough, the fish wern't only live but loving the bait, with both rods popping. And that meant a bit of running around. 

There you are, reeling in a fish when the other rod starts jumping, bends double and off you go. Quick, sort that fish out and get on the other rod!

Big fun, I tell you, and while it's not God it does  make for a better evening than staring in slack-jawed consternation at some computer screen.

So get out and fish. Shoot and ride too, but those would be different stories.

God bless,

LSP 

The Miracle of The Widow of Nain

There's been a momentary lull in the War on Weather, giving us all time to reflect on the miracle of the widow of Nain, which is the Gospel reading for Sunday. In it we find two processions.

One is a procession of death, led by the grieving widow who has lost her only son. The other is a procession of life, led by Christ. At the point of contact, Christ is moved with great compassion and love. "Weep not," he tells the woman, and in power summons the son's soul back to his body and restores him to life. 

The widow and her son are, of course, types or figures of ourselves and the Church who are met, loved and given life by Christ. I found this reflection helpful, here's the conclusion:

The story of the widow of Nain is a wonderful story. It reminds us that the Gospel, like the Christian life itself, is seamless and perfect. The demands made on us are no less than the demands of love and of faith. As the Apostle John said, God is indeed love. And He responds to us, to the Church, as we in faith and in love cry out to him. For ourselves, for each other. For the living; for the dead; for the entire world. We cry out for mercy and for love and always – always – God responds. It is for this – faith and love – that we will be held accountable at the dread judgment seat. Nothing else. Not buildings, not numbers, not visible success. Faith and love. This is our life in the Church, it is our life in Christ.

You can read it all here, and if you think, in a fit of brazen, stiff-necked, secularist nihilism that it's all a load of pious nonsense, consider the reverse of the qualities of faith and love and see how far they get you.

God bless,

LSP