The Lamb's Supper - Dr. Scott Hahn(Audio Review)

          I first heard about Scott Hahn through my priest friend, Fr. Steve Tynan. He served for a long time in our parish chapel, and was transferred in our parish, St. Benedict. He recommended the book to me after having a discussion with me with regard to the Protestant claim of the things that they found to be not right in the Roman Catholic church. 

I just finished last Wednesday, around past 12 in the morning, the audio recording of The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn. During this pandemic times I was not able to go to bookstores because for safety reasons. Anyway, if you want to purchase his books, a lot of his titles are available in Google Play Books.

Just a short information about the author. Scott Hahn, was a Presbyterian pastor who realized that the true church founded by Christ, and faithful to the early Church worship, and teaching is the Catholic church. He went to a Presbyterian college, he mastered Greek with an Oxford tutor. Translated the book of Revelation from Greek to English. According to his study, the word rapture does not appear a single time from the book of Revelation. The Battle of Armageddon occurs once in the end, and the anti-Christ doesn't occur but in the opening chapter. 

I have attended for a long time Protestant services. I noticed that there was indeed a connection of the Old Testament, with the New Testament. A lot of parallelism. Just like what Scott Hahn noticed in the book of Revelation. 

One thing that was favorable, when I attended a Protestant church is their eagerness to read the Bible. As a Catholic, I didn't really read the Bible much. But still, there is a caution. The Bible interpretation of the Protestant is of course different from the Catholic Bible, aside from the number of books included. According to one of our church fathers, St. Augustine, the New Testament is concealed in the old, and the old was revealed in the new. The pastor in the Protestant church that I went to before, studied in a Catholic university, I'm not sure if that was for his Masters or Doctorate, but that was the reason why he knows St. Augustine, and often quotes him too. 

Some examples of parallelism in the Bible that was discussed in the book was Moises and Jesus. Moises had the 12 tribes of Israel, and Jesus had 12 disciples. There were 72 elders from both of them. Moises was the giver of the law, and Jesus gave the sermon on the Mount, law of the New covenant. This is called typology. You can find a chart online describing the parallelism between the two of them. Jesus is the new Moises.

There are 2 parts of the mass (Liturgy of the Word, and the Eucharist) just like, there are two parts in the book of Revelation. 

Dr. Hahn mentioned that the greatest most significant event for Jews is the Passover, just like Thanksgiving and Christmas were for Christians. Jesus was the new Lamb of the Passover. You have to look back to the Old Testament in order to understand this. Moises gave the law, the law was to slaughter an unblemished lamb, sprinkle the blood of lamb, and you have to eat the lamb, this is non-negotiable. Just like when we eat the Body of Christ, at mass! I never really appreciated what we have before, and now I am very glad because of the realization of the precious gift that we have in mass. 

Dr. Hahn's wife told him that he needs to write down a book someday so that Catholics would appreciate what they have, because in the Protestant services, it isn't this deep, it isn't biblical, it isn't what they have, like what he has shown in the book of Revelation. 

As Dr. Hahn have said, "We all want to go to heaven, we just don't wanna die first. Well, the good news for Catholics, you don't need to die in order to go to heaven. All you have to do is go to mass, and heaven is where you are!... And the saints, and angels are who you were with, and when you read the book of Revelation, that their songs and prayers are identical to ours, and those songs, and those prayers, and that sacrifice of the Lamb is what releases God's power to vindicate His people, to rescue us, to give us the help that we need whenever we have hard times, and persecution. "

Jesus gave these visions to John when he was an old man. It is hard to take everything in, so Jesus told John to write down everything. John's vision of marriage Supper and the lamb, is the mass. The early church Father's were unanimous in the meaning of the great marriage, that Jesus is the bridegroom, as the groom gives himself to the bride. Jesus gave Himself to us, His church! In the book of Revelation, John called Jesus as the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), 28 times! 

If you have not listened to the recorded audio online, you must! May God bless us all always! 

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I dedicated this post of mine, to my Lord Jesus. My Lord, and my God! Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam! 

Waiting on God's Promises

          It has been almost 5 months now, since our country has been on quarantine. We are on Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine now or MECQ, due to the plight of our dear health workers who are also the most affected in this pandemic that has hit the entire global community. I can relate to them because I am also a frontliner in my work assignment in the public sector.

Right now, we are on skeletal work force. I'm off duty so, I have the time to write again. If you have read my previous blog, you know that I'll be getting married soon. The challenge nowadays for most couples, sweethearts, and lovers is that we need to do social distancing. It is so difficult because we, as human beings were made for physical interaction, and connection. The only consolation that we have is that, we are on a very modern-age, and communication is not that difficult, compared in the olden days, wherein, we wait impatiently for the snail-mails to arrive, and as well as long distance-phone calls. Now, everything is within reach, thanks to these smart phones, wherein we can send messages instantly, and use video call. Still, for me this arrangement is very hard. I'm even worried because there are a lot of scenarios running on my mind now, and one, is that our wedding might be cancelled. I also worry that I might get sick, and that is one of my main concern that I told to the priest whom I spoke to during our canonical interview yesterday. Because, we may never know since the Covid cases here in the Philippines are still climbing-up. He said we are all experiencing difficulties during this pandemic, and we should unceasingly pray.

There are a lot of Bible characters that has taught us to wait on the Lord, especially in difficult, and trying times. One was Job who was afflicted with a skin disease, and whose family, tragically died, Joseph who was sold and was taken as a slave to Egypt, Sarah who longed to have a child, and many more. I was searching for the right Bible verse to incorporate into this writing of mine, and I have discovered among the few, from the Song of Songs. It says that "Deep waters cannot quench love, nor rivers sweep it away." It means that true love can overcome any trials.

Love also conquers fear. It says on 1 John 4:17-19, "There is no fear in LOVE, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because He first loved us." In these trying times, the more we need to have more faith in God. The more we should call upon Him. As we recall, last Sunday's gospel. We know that if we get carried away by the heavy wind, and the crushing waves, we can rely on our Lord Jesus, that He will lift us up, and help us to rise again. We will be able to pass through any storms in our lives, through His guidance, help and protection.

... And I will wait with hope for our Lord's promises. I trust that HE will never fail me. I pray for my beloved, and I, that we will be safely together soon, in each other's arms, for He has brought the two of us together. What God has joined let no one separate. 

Happy Mother's Day!

  Today we are celebrating Mother's day.
I just posted a greeting for my mom on my Facebook wall. We didn't celebrate, and we didn't order food today because my aunt doesn't want any food delivery, she thinks it is still not safe. The whole day we ate nothing but fish, sardines and milkfish. Still thankful because we have enough to eat during this quarantine/lockdown due to the virus, Covid19. I pray that God would continue to protect us all His children, for us to get through this crisis. That this will be over soon.

Every Mother's day, and especially during this month of May, we Roman Catholics honor, and remember our Blessed Mother Mary. After every Mass during the month of May we offer flowers to her. It has been a tradition.

 I admit that before, I was afraid that I might have displeased our Lord Jesus for honoring her mother. But as St. Maximilian Kolbe said, no one can greatly love Mary, than her Son, our Lord Jesus. So I, we should not be afraid of showing how much we love her. We can't simply put the Blessed Virgin Mary aside, because she is the Mother of our Lord Jesus. I remember before, I told our dear Blessed Mother, that she would be my mother, and I would be her adoptive daughter. I long for a loving mother like her, wise, humble, kind, and pious. I told our Lord Jesus, about that memory of mine in the past. I remember praying the Rosary with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe medal before, that has kept me comfort during the time I was sick because of Dengue, I was confined in the hospital. That was more than a decade ago. Praying the Rosary for others meant

I want to share this post of mine to be a testament, of how dear the mother of Our Lord Jesus was to me, and I also believe for all of us. One popular priest here in my country always say to his listeners, "Jesus, loves you. Mama Mary, loves you!" I'd like to end this post of mine by sharing a beautiful song, by Himig Heswita sung by Fr. RB Hizon. This song best describes our love for our mother, and for our Blessed Mother Mary. Shalom!

I Believe in You

          I chanced upon this song in YouTube while searching for LeAnn Rimes songs. I've been looking for a new song to give to Adonai Yeshua (Lord Jesus). This song is just perfect! The lyrics of the song, every line is really meaningful, so heartfelt. Actually, I want to post this article next month as my thanksgiving song, but I told myself, so what if its not yet December, I just want to give this song to Him. So what I did, I just drafted the other blog entry that I intend to publish here instead. I chose this article over that.  I think I don't need to explain further the meaning of the song. The lyrics are self-explanatory. This song is dedicated to our Lord Jesus, who's always there for me, through my life's, ups and downs. He's really a true, and loyal friend. He's the one who will never leave especially in times of trouble. Thank You Adonai Yeshua for everything!

I Believe In You

You breathe and life begins
You speak and my world makes sense
That's how it is when it comes to you

Your mercy has no end
You are more than just a friend
It amazes me you feel the way you do

I believe in you and nothing less
I believe in you can't help myself
You're all the hope the reason that I need

I believe in you just because
I don't need no one to prove your love
From all that I have seen

It's easier for me to believe in you, oh no, yeah

You are so beautiful, you are the miracle
That dry the tears, heals the wounded heart

And it's so clear to see, your hand in everything
You were there for me, there to see me through

* I believe in you and nothing less
I believe in you can't help myself
You're all the hope the reason that I need

I believe in you just because
I don't need no one to prove your love

From all that I have seen
It's easier for me to believe in you, oh no, yeah

Through the fire and through the rain
I know your love for me will never ever change*

The Greatest Love

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5

Lenten season is a time of fasting and abstinence for Catholics all over the globe. The remembrance of our Lord’s passion and death. They consider this time as a fitting day to practice mortification, penance, and for meditation on the mystery of our redemption.

Is it really a mystery? Christ has shown us clearly through His death and resurrection, that He has won over death, evil and sin. There’s nothing really “hidden” in that.  In abstaining from something, like from eating meat or extravagant food within this season or in anytime of the year, I don’t see anything wrong with that. As long we do it with good intention.

A lot of people now are re-enacting the passion and death of Our Lord Jesus in the streets and especially in the provinces, particularly in Pampanga. It is really indeed troubling.  Curious journalist have interviewed these people and most of them answered that they’re doing this in order for them to atone for their sins, that somehow this “act” will “lessen”or diminish the amount of sin in their lives. In Ephesians 2:8, we are reminded that it is not through our works that we are saved but through our faith. I once heard a pastor, explaining that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are responsible for our own body. So these acts of mortification and inflicting pain in ourselves, doesn’t really glorify our Lord GOD. No amount of penitence or sacrifices can ever pay our sins! The good thing is that JESUS, has paid it all for us! Completely!

This time is an opportunity for us to reflect and meditiate on Our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection, to understand its significance and importance. More than family bonding, and get together,why not, bond by reading the the gospel and study the good news! You can also watch Christian movies like “The Passion of Christ”. Let us use this time wisely. I have nothing against going out and bonding with one another but remember this is not always about having fun or about ourselves! It’s all about HIM!

I am amazed by Our Lord’s great love for us. When I accepted Him in my life that is when I really understood, His sacrifice for us and GOD’s amazing grace to a sinner like me. Like a line from one of my favorite Christian song – “In His suffering He thought of me. He gave His life for me and He made a way for me to know Him!” What kind of love is that? So selfless!”

In closing, I’d like to say a short prayer.

“Dear Almighty Father in heaven, thank You for sending Your only son, our Lord Jesus. For His stripes we are healed. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your great love to us. Thank You for being my Lord and Savior and for not giving up on me. Guide me always everyday.” Amen.

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(click on the title link below to redirect you to the music video)

 What Love is This? (MV)

You never change, you are the GOD you stay a while
when I'm afraid you calm and still my beating heart

You stay the same, when hope is just a distant thought

You take my pain
and you lead me to the cross

What love is this?, that you gave Your life for me
and made a way for me to know You
and i confess You're always enough for meYou're all i need

I look to You
I see the scars upon Your hands
And hold the truth
That when i can't You always can
I'm standing here beneath the shadow of the cross, 

I'm overwhelmed that I keep finding open arms

What love is this?,

that you gave your life for me and made a way for me to
know you.
And I confess, You're always enough for me
You're all i need

Jesus in Your suffering, You were reaching your thought of me.