Why bother keeping a blog?

I have decided to take up the blog again. I used to use this blog mostly for the purposes of saving my talks in a place where I could access them wherever I was- you can tell, because some of the older posts are even in point form! I figured that, despite the disjointed sentences, there was a possibility that someone may get something out of the notes- and indeed, people have (judging by the comments). I should mention too that I consider this blog tyo be an extension of my ministry at OLVC and at Sacred Heart Church in Wetaskiwin. As such, I do not mind comments that dissagree with what I am saying, however, if my commenters are so limmited in their vocabulary that they feel they have to include curses, or likewise- I will delete them! After all, I am even going to link this to my websites!

So, to begin the new era of blogging, I should mention why I have taken it up again. There is a part of me that is reluctant. It is somewhat self glorifying to think that people would be that interested in what I have to say, or whatever I am pondering on a given day. I only want to do things for the glory of God. But I sometimes wonder if the idea of only doing things for the glory of God sometimes prevents Chriustians from creating. we are so afraid of the secondary objective, that out of 'humility' we do nothing at all!

After all, "the Glory of God is Man Fully Alive" (St Irenaeus). Our dignity of man consists in being created in the image and likeness of God, which includes the creative potential that is unique to God. So as men we are not glorifying God unless we are using and developing our gifts. The fact that our motives are tainted (tainted may be a garve understatement) should not prevent us from doing the things which god uniquely created us to do!

So there it is. There is another reason that I have chosen to embrace blogging. Despite whether or not anyone will actually read this, it is good to develop clarity of thought and of expression through writing. In order to facilitate this, I have for many years been in the habit of keeping a prayer journal, consisting of letters addressed to God. Each time I fill a journal, I promptly destroy it(against the sagacious advise of others) because if I were to die suddenly, I do not want anyone to know the full extent of my sinfulness!

But prayer ought to have as it's focus the person to whom you are praying- that is God. Hence the fact that it is such a good practice to begin prayer with praise and worship- this raises your mind to think of God and who it is you are actually adressing. My prayers are most often intellectual ponderings or introspective naval gazing. Whereas a blog allows all of you to gaze at my naval! (I apologize for the disturbing imagery.)

So, this is it. Consider this a preamble to things to come. I will also be creating a new blog, "Ask Peter", in order to field questions from teenagers about their faith or how they live it! Please note that I am only a lowly Youth Coordinator, and no theologian... if you want better answers, I refer you to www.catholic.com or www.EWTN.com.

100huntley.com -

100huntley.com - "Maisha" - Mully Children's Family Choir

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Praise and worship.

I had written previously about the striking poverty I found in Kenya, and the conviction I now feel to live more simply. Now I would like to write about the matters of faith that I encountered.

An interesting thing in Kenya was the contrast of the faith. In Canada, Muslims and Christians, Hindus and Jews, all live side by side in near perfect harmony. This is the case despite the fact that often a difference in religion is manifested in a difference of skin tone or style. We are remarkably tolerant, overall. I was surprised when speaking to a beautiful, well educated girl in Malindi named Flavia, when she commented that she had never spoken to white people (mzungus) before. Malindi had a fair share of Italian Tourists, and despite being educated she could not find work so she worked as a cleaning lady in the hotel. So, I asked about the many Italians she must have spoken with.

However, those conversations did not count, as those Italians always treated black people 'like garbage'. She and others were astonished to learn that should they come to Canada, they would be treated like everybody else and in fact we likely wouldn't even really think much about it.

The first region we went to in Kenya was called Embulbul. It was cold there- the high altitude and the fact that it was winter (Kenya straddles the equator, but Embulbul is south) meant that the highs each day were only near 20 degrees, but for most of the day it was closer to 12 degrees. Despite being so far in land, Embulbul had a Mosque, which would sound it's call to prayer 5 times daily- most notably at about 4am. This trend continued so that in each place we stayed we were woken at that time every night. Of them all, Malindi was the worst, because there were at least 3 Mosques in the region, and each seemed determined to chant louder than the others. Loud speakers set at the top of the towers allowed that they would be heard clearly from wherever you happened to be, and even with windows shut, fan blowing, and ear plugs in, you would be awakened by the noise.

In contrast, the Christians were very quiet at 4am- they only started making noise at 7am. I admit, we were in part responsible for the noise. We were holding rallies in each of the towns, which they referred to as 'crusades'. Crusades are held in open air, often in the market place, so as to draw in those who are not of the faith and to evangelize. At first I was quite nervous about doing this in places where it seemed evident that Christians were the minority and Muslims the majority.

Crusades were a practice popular amongst the pentecostals. In fact, each morning on KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) video of a crusade could be watched. It consists first of all with Kenya style praise and worship- which, for us, meant keyboard music backed by keyboard drum and slightly shrill singing being played too loudly over a speaker system not equipped to handle the volume, and dance. The dance was in essence a line dance, wherein 10-20 members of the praise and worship team in matching t-shirts would follow one leader who would perform a rhythmic act over and over for a few bars, and then switch. It was not difficult to learn the dance, except that you had to figure out who was the leader so you could catch the switches.

It was fun, but I remember thinking that if I were an agnostic in Kenya, and I saw the Christians doing their silly dances and the wild eyed preachers who appeared to be scolding everybody, and then saw the somber and severe muslims with their disciplined call to prayer, I would be more attracted to the muslims. Here are some videos I found of what the music and dance was like- though these are more polished;




The last place we went was called Marafa- and we began the ministry there by going door to door and through the market inviting everyone to the crusade. There a group of children, let by a young man of about 20, literally came marching in just before the rally started, and took their seats at the front. When the music started, they went to the clearing area being used as a stage, and began their own line dance. It was as though they were competing with the praise and worship group that had come in, and, I have to admit, they were better.

They left as soon as the music ended, which was also odd because that is when the preaching would start. It was later determined that they were a protestant group, and that they were in fact in dirrect competition. Church planting is a big business in Kenya- everybody tithes, however poor or indebted they are, and so if you can begin a church and attract at least 10 followers, you would have a living wage. If you could attract more, you would be wealthy. And arguably, you would only have to work once a week. It was for this reason that it was so essential to teach people apologetics, because in Kenya there was much more at stake to motivate people to convert Catholics.

(It should also be mentioned that this same economic principal led to men desiring priesthood as a means towards social and economic advancement, and as such some of the abuses symptomatic of medieval Europe are found among he clergy.)

I became quite frustrated by the fractured nature of Christianity. The divisions are mostly caused by misunderstandings and myths, and political and economic motivations. This has so crippled the Christians in Kenya as to make them unable to properly combat the paganism, Islam, and social injustice that was rampant!

It is in part because of the ignorance and misinformation than a mission is so important. Before going, people would ask why an evangelistic mission to Kenya was necessary, as Africa has a reputation for having faith filled, Orthodox Catholics. I have seen now that this reputation is in large part unfounded, or simply based on he cardinals and bishops, but not the laity. Because the laity I encountered seemed inclined to obedience and enthusiasm, if only they were taught the truth.

Our mission consisted in two teachings in the morning, primarily apologetics, and the afore mentioned rallies in the afternoon. After the teachings, we would field questions. Apologetics was an important topic because of the competitiveness of the denominations. However, an even more important topic was Theology of the Body.

I discovered this to be the case after giving a chastity talk to teenagers in embulbul. I fielded questions after, and one of the first questions asked was ' Is it OK to have sex on the first date.”. Clearly for that girl, my message had been lost. But it also indicated to me that these teenagers had no idea what chastity was or what the Church taught about sex! And so many of the problems in Kenya- Aids, polygamy, overpopulation, poverty, could in part be alleviated by a propper education on these themes. The UN continues to maintain a philosophy of handing out condoms and hoping for the best. This would be like going into a region where there was drinking and driving problems, and making sure there was seat belts installed in all the vehicles. We the church must educate them! (both the Africans and the UN.)

I began including a teaching on Theology of the Body in the adult sessions- and it was that topic that raised the most interesting and telling questions. Here are a few gems.

“If my Husband cannot satisfy me sexually, can I find another man who can?”
“If my husband is impotent, may I create children with another man?”
“If I have 5 women, and I marry one of them, can I still sleep with the other 4?”
“Is aids Gods curse?”
“Why are men not satisfied by one woman?”
“If I am a Catholic woman, married a man who I didn't know was a polygamist and had several wives already, can I still receive communion?”

This last one was hard- I asked the Bishop of Malindi, and he said 'No'.

The long and the short of it is this- we must continue to go to Kenya to teach them the truth about Christianity, about sex, and about the charismatic movement (which is misrepresented by the pentecostals and by some rogue, undisciplined leaders) and we must bring them the truth of the hope of redemption, that they can be freed from their sins.

Reflections on Africa

Perhaps it was a little Naive of me to think that I could just update this blog from Kenya while on mission. The people are poorer than I thought- most have absolutely no internet access, and so I did not have the opportunity to write at all along the way. Instead, here I am again at the end of the journey, and I suppose I might as well write some reflections!

Africa was absolutely amazing- the mission was one of the best experiences of my life. I remember a few years ago, my friend Shauna Page visited Ghana, and upon her return the thing that stood out most to her was the culture shock of returning. The culture shock arriving there is one thing, but it's when you come back and are suddenly confronted again with how superficial and consumeristic our culture is that you really feel it. In a sense, Kenya was more comfortable, because there we were just people without all the trappings and the social pressure.

At first, I was very intimidated in Kenya. We drove to a small suburb of Nairobi, called Embulbul. We stayed there at the Catholic Church, which is in a compound, and the first day, I was scared to leave the compound. I did wander a little ways, and found some children sliding down a dirt hill on garbage bags. This must be the Embulbul version of 'sledding'. I joined them for a run, and got very dirty. But that was right outside the compound, and being the only mzungu (white man) around, I was scared to go further. After all the assumption of most kenyans was that if you are white you must be wealthy... and therefore, what was to stop someone from mugging me? (This picture shows several children that were playing soccer in Embulbul. Their ball was nothing more than a bundle of bags wrapped in strips of fabric. We bought them a new one.)

People would come straight out and ask for money, ask for sponsorship for their various projects. I found myself protesting that though I was white, I was not wealthy- I was, after all a missionary, not a tourist. The difficulty is, that this was not true. For example, I have a car. I also have a nice condo. I have more than 3 outfits, and none of them have holes in them. (Note the girls in decades old dresses- this was typical.) I have running water, and a toilet that works consistently. In short, I have more than the wealthiest people I visited!

This is the difficulty. I always knew that there would be the desperately poor- but I expected a larger middle class. The middle class lived the way people on welfare do in Canada. I visited a medical doctor in his home- he had more than one room, a car, and a TV. No decent plumbing though, and his furniture and clothing were clearly 20-30 years old. No computer or ipod or any of these things we are accustomed to. That's what doctors have in Kenya.

I became embarrassed by what we have in Canada. I didn't want to tell people about my car or jobs or my problems, because it seemed so selfish. We drove for about four hours along dirt highways (few roads are paved in Kenya), passing village after village of grass huts and dillapidated tin rooves, and a river where every week another lady doing laundry of drwaing water is eaten by a crocodile. by the time we reached Malindi, our destination, I felt physically ill. Because it was all so ugly- and this is not something the people there drive through once, but where they live daily. (In this photo, you can see in the distance the grass huts. They don't look ugly in the photo, but it is sad to think that this is all these people had!)

Malindi was our third destination, so we had by then been in Kenya for 2 weeks. I was sad in Malindi to find that it was a tourist town, catering especially to Italians. I suddenly felt like the mzungus were fat and pale and ugly and frankly quite aweful. I me a beautiful 22 year old girl named Flavia there, who spoke very good English. (They teach English in schools, so most teenagers and young adults can speak it.) She told me that she had never had a conversation with a white person before, because she was intimidated by them because the tourists all treated her like garbage.

Perhaps this reflection makes me sound like I did not enjoy myself. I loved it, as it was a profound experience of love and meaning and richness, and I feel like my heart has expanded through it. However, the injustice in our society is more poignant to me now than ever. Mother Teresa used to say "Live simply so that others may simply live." She also said "It is a poverty that someone should die so that we may live as we like." I always thought the latter saying was about abortion, but now I wonder. People are dying all over the world so that we can maintain our lifestyle, own more cars, entertainment units, the latest fashions in clothing and furnishings. I don't want to be a part of this culture anymore. God has given me the opportunity to give so much- I pray for the grace to make real sacrifices, and so to grow in true charity as he has called us to.

Adventures in Africa 1

I have decided to, as far as possible, keep a blog of my adventures while in Kenya, and leading up to that. I say 'as far as possible' because I do not expect to ghave frequent e-mail access upon arrival.

I am in the Gatwick airport now- spending £1/10 minutes to type this. I am always reminded that the only way to feel good about spending money in Europe or even the States is to pretend the exchange is on par. If I consider that I just spent £9 on breakfast, and that that works out to roughly $17, I'll feel ripped off. But if I just think of it as $9, well, it is still to be avoided, but more reasonable. And so it goes, when travelling.

I am traveling with Christopher Russel, husband of former Holy Spirit youth minister Bryanna Russel. Bryanna was kind enough to book pretty much everything for us, and I had a great sleep in the hotel we stayed at at Gatwick. Topher was still asleep when I got up, so I figured I'd just get out here and do some computer work. Once he gets up, we will spend the day touring London. Our flight to Dubai does not leave until this evening, and we will be traveling overnight.

Incredibly, the cheapest way to travel to Kenya is through London and Dubai. Clearly Dubai is determined to establish itself as a hub of tourism and travel, and I don't mind much the detour, since I imagine that it will be a fascinating place to see. Within a very few days, 3 all told, I will have been in 4 continents.

I am interested to see Dubai, but I am afraid that it may just be like Vegas. Very attractive to the materialistic and superficial, but for those of us trying to be counter cultural nothing but stress and dissapointment. I have to be honest here- I am gald that I am touring Londion and Dubai before actually doing the mission in Kenya, because I am certain that once I experience the poverty and lifestyle fior three weeks, my conscience will not easily allow me to be selfish with my money.

This is what I hope for out of this trip. I want top be changed. Of course, the trip is partly motivated out of a desire to evangelize to others. Bring some solid theology and hope to a people that, as I understand it, are largely confused. But I hope that I will see miracles, conversions, and perhaps even enough poverty that it will take a serious grip on me and make me adopt a more simple lifestyle. I have been compromising my standards of simplicity for some time now- particularly in the aquisition of a car, and the frequency with which I use it. It is not right that I should enjoy so many luxuries in life while others are starving. Especially since part of the reason I can enjoy so many luxuries is because of the oppression of those in 3rd world countries.

Also with the miracles. My faith can easily be reduced to an intellectual faith. I was listening to Hank Hanegraaff (the 'Bible answer man') the other day on the radio. He is a fundamentalist with a really funny quirk- he seems absoluetely convinced that he's right. Now of course, protestantism lends itself to this anyway- without a central wuthority, everyone interpretting scriptures for themselves, and everyone apparantly guided by the Holy Spirit, each individual is forced to the unlikely conclusion that they are right amd everyone else is wrong. But Hank will go even further, by stating that other popular protestant preachers are worng!

For example, in this particular broadcast, he was talking about Benny Hinn, a popular evangelist with an aparent healing ministry. According to 'The Bible Answer Man', Benny's healings could all be attributed to natural causes. I was stunned to hear the Hank Hanegraaff aparently does not believe that miracles continue to happen.

This tends to be my own stand, though. I am ever suspicious of those who say that they have recieved a miraculous healing or private revelation. But I understand that travelling with Renewal Ministries, I will likely witness these myself- the blind will see, the lame will walk, the posessed shall be exorcised. Just like in the days of the apostles!

Sitting here in the airport, it is hard to even imagine- like some bizaar, unbelievable story. Surrounded by well dressed people of every culture, and using a computer- do places like Kenya still exist?

If you have read this far, (which I tend to doubt that many will, but you never know!) then please pray for me. I am very insufficient for the tasks God has given me- and incredibly thankful that he has given them to me none the less!

choose your own jungle adventure

This story reads like a 'choose your own adventure', books I loved when I was a kid. It was given as a talk at the OLVC youth Rally. After each choice, find the letters from the choice and go to that section to follow your decision.


1. You have won a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the African Jungle for yourself, by rolling up the rim. You were flown in a chartered plane to Nairobi, and loaded onto a bus with 60 or so other teenagers, all excited about the opportunity before them. But to your surprise, the bus drops you off at remote camp, far from civilization. Your ipod, chewing gum, and cell phone are all taken away from you. At first you think “What is this, some sort of messed up cult?” but you decide to give it a shot. The Leaders tell you that the camp is training for going out into the Jungle.
This will be no regular Safari. You will not have a zebra looking bus to hide in from the animals. You will actually be sent out into the jungle and have to survive!
You find yourself getting into the camp, and making lots of friends. The last day of the camp, one of the leaders gets up. He is strong, charming and attractive, and very intelligent. A man of character. At 6’2, he towers over most of the teenagers at the camp. He is, of course, an adult, and he proudly ornaments his already strong jawline with a trim goatee and mustache. He wears thick rimmed glasses, which add to his mystique of intelligence, though they sometimes obscure his clear blue eyes. As he stands before you, his muscles rippling under his blue t-shirt with the sacred heart tattoo design on it, you begin to hear the girls around you giggling- undoubtedly because they are so attracted to him. You smile to yourself. You know well that the man is 30 years old, and married to blond bombshell, and even has an adorable baby- the kind that Anne Geddes would gladly mud wrestle with the CEO of Pablum for rights to photograph. But, you figure, some girls are just like that, always giggling and falling in love with celebrities. For you, you are simply in awe of his majesty.
Your leader begins talking, his baritone voice seeming so shake the very rafters of the building you are in. “It’s a jungle out there” he says. “A jungle that must be tamed. You are the alpha team. The ones chosen to go into the jungle and turn it into a garden. This weekend you have the opportunity to be at this camp, where you are safe. You will not be safe out there. We will not be there to protect you. That is why you must learn to protect yourself.”
The man lifts up a dusty backpack. “This is your survival kit. In it you have everything you need to survive the jungle. Don’t worry, we have been doing this for years, and have had few casualties. Relatively speaking. Follow our instructions, and you will survive. Now it’s time to go out there into the jungle. Grab your packs, people. You’re on your own now!”
Choice
A. Accept your intrepid leaders advice and bring a survival kit
B. Ignore your intrepid leaders advice, saying “Whatever, I’m pretty sure I can handle this on my own.”
B. Instead of taking your leaders advice, you stand up, stick your tongue out, and go “You’re not the boss of me!” Grabbing your ipod and forbidden chewing gum, you head out into the Jungle by yourself. Within 27 seconds, you’re lost. The jungle is so thick, you can’t see anything. You know that your dad always said if you were ever lost you should stay where you are. So you sit down and slowly die of starvation and exposure to the elements.
A. You stand and proudly say “Thank you, intrepid leader. You are both noble and incredibly good looking. I accept your kind offer of a survival kit.” Taking a pack, you find a place in the camp where you can go through it’s contents.
Inside you find a shot gun, which you’re very excited about. Also a machete, a mosquito net, a flask of water, a compass, tools for making a fire, and to your delight and surprise, a satellite phone. You feel a strong hand on your shoulder. It’s the intrepid leader. He looks you in the eyes and says “Go west. And keep in touch.”
“Thank you sir.” You say. “You are quite possibly the greatest man I have ever met.”
The man smiles, but says nothing. You realize that above all, it is his humility that you admire. You are sad to leave his company, but excited by the challenge ahead of you. With the gun on your back, and the machete on your belt, you sling the backpack over your shoulder and head for the jungle.
You remember your leaders words, “Go West.” But you have no idea which direction is west.
Choice
A. You spin in circles, 10 times, and wonder idly in the direction that you end up facing.
B. You make an educated guess, based upon which direction the sun set.
C. You see a part of the jungle that has large red flowers in it. It looks like the prettiest part, so you head for it.
D. You consult your compass
A. After spinning in circles, you feel a little dizzy, but confident that you are now certainly going the right way. You stumble into the jungle, go a few steps, and promptly forget which way you were going. “No problem” you think, doing the spin again. After repeating this process 5 or six times, you realize you are hopelessly lost. You have come to a gigantic swamp, which you would rather not cross. You sit on a log to try to figure out what to do next. The log turns out to be a Crocodile, which grabs you by the arm, drags you under water, and spins you under water until you finally die of suffocation. Then it buries you in the mud, to eat you at some later date.
B. You’re pretty smart, and you remember where the sun went down last night, and you know the sun always sets in the west, so you head out that direction. You make good progress, and feel confident that you are going to get where you are going. You choose a mountain that is roughly in the west, and choose to keep moving towards that mountain. You figure once you get there you can pick a new landmark which is roughly west and keep doing the same thing. However, as you head in the direction you’re pretty sure is west, you suddenly find yourself on a cliff, looking down over a huge valley. “Well,” you say to yourself, “This is roughly west, so I’d better climb down!” But as you begin to descend the cliff, the ground gives out under your feet, and you plummet to your death.
C. As you wonder amongst the giant red flowers, you congratulate yourself on making such a good choice. Even if it is not west, it sure is pretty! You take the time to sniff one of the flowers- beautiful. But you discover to your astonishment, that the flower is sniffing you back! You recoil in horror as you realize that every flower you past rotated as you passed it, and was still facing you! Moreover, there are flowers on every side, and they all seem to be sniffing you, and moving in as close as they can, being rooted into the ground. You pull out your machete, and begin swinging wildly. Out of one of the flowers, however, a green vine like thing darts like the tongue of an Ant Eater. It wraps itself around the wrist holding the machete, and sucks you into itself. The red flower closes around you, and you feel it tightening. It quickly gets very dark, hot, and hard to breath. With your one free hand you try to grab your gun, but the plant begins to squeeze you so tight that you cannot move. What starts as a strange tingling sensation is now turning to burning. The plant is emitting some sort of acid onto you. You cannot escape. You are slowly digested alive by the red flower. Your last thought is, “Just because one choice is attractive, that does not mean its right! It may trap you and kill you!” You have a very, very long time to think about this before you die.
D. You pull out your compass, and check to see which direction is west. To your surprise, you discover that west is a couple of degrees off of where you had expected. But you trust your compass. As you begin to head west, you consider that the compass is kind of analogous to life. You may try to guess what the right direction is in life, but without a clear guide, you might be wrong. You utter a little prayer to God, thanking him for the gift of the Catholic Church, which He had created to help us and give us direction. After all, you are so glad that you don’t just have to guess at what is the truth, or what is right. God didn’t want us to guess, he gave us the Church as our compass. And the Church in turn gave us the Bible and the Catechism. In fact, these tools are even on line, and searchable! You know that you will never have to guess at the answer, because you have a compass.
You are not walking long in the jungle, before you find that the plants are growing so close, they are seriously impeding your progress. They are scratchy, and obscuring your vision.
Choice
A. You push on through the Jungle, looking to your compass as a guide, but essentially walking blindly.
B. You grab your Machete, and use it to clear a path before you.
A. You push through the jungle foliage, but suddenly you fall face forward into a wettish mud. You didn’t see it coming! Your head surfaces, and you gasp for breath. It seems that this mud puddle is about shoulder deep. It should be no problem getting out. However, as you begin to try to move, you suddenly realize it is quick sand. Very slowly it is sucking you under, and your struggle against it only makes it worse! Theirs is no escape for you. You die of suffocation.
B. You pull out your Machete, and begin hacking away at the branches in front of you. Soon you are clearing a path, and you can see a few feet ahead of you. Using your compass, you make sure you are going in a straight line. You notice that there is a bit of a clearing directly ahead of you. With your machete, you clear the final branches so you can see what you are looking at. Quicksand! Your intrepid leader had warned you about this! It can look deceptively solid, and yet suck you in. You are grateful for your machete which cleared all of the obstacles in the way so you could see what you are looking at.
As you begin to blaze a trail around the quicksand, you realize that your machete is like your mind. First off, you have to use it. Second, if it’s not sharp, it’s useless. But if it is sharp- it will help you to see clearly where you are going. It could also be used as a weapon, if necessary. In life there are so many competing theories and ideas, which crowd in on you and make it difficult to find your way. A sharp mind is needed to prune these back. And of course, it must be used with the compass. With these two things you can find your way through the jungle!
Eventually you see another clearing ahead. With your machete, you make sure it is safe. It is a plain! You are happy for a bit of a break from the jungle. But now, without the cover of trees, you notice how hot it is! You look at your compass. To go west you will have to cross the plains. It should only take a couple of hours, but the African sun is still high in the sky, and beating down. And you are very thirsty and feeling weak.
Choice
A. You push on, ignoring your thirst.
B. You drink some water from your flask.
A. You continue to walk for quite some time. You know that there is water available to you, but you don’t want it. You’ve got your machete and your compass, you’ll be OK. Sun blazes down. Hot. Dry. The ground swerves before you. Sweat pours down your back, and you wish there was a breeze. You see all kinds of animals in the plain- giraffes, elephants, wildebeests. Vultures. Circling, waiting. You try hard to think of something, but can’t. The ground is dry- you feel it now with your hand. Did you fall? Vultures. The spinning. You’re dizzy. You close your eyes. Only for a moment….
B. You discover that the water in your flask is warm, and tastes dusty- yet it is remarkably refreshing. You feel energized now as you walk across the plain. You keep the water handy, knowing that you will need regular doses of it to keep your energy up. You marvel at all of the wonderful animals in the plain. Giraffes. Wildebeests. Elephants. You see vultures circling nearby- some poor animal must have died out there. You walk on. You find that every time you get tired, just a bit more water reenergizes you to keep going.
“Just like the Sacraments!” you think to yourself, with an uncanny ability to take your life experiences and create an analogy to the faith. “Sacraments are the source of grace you need to keep going, even when life gets hard. Some people try to go a whole year without even getting to Mass, only going at Christmas. That’s gotta be tough. They’re dying spiritually, and all they need is to get back to the sacraments and get recharged. No wonder the Church tells us to get to Mass every week!”
Suddenly, your thoughts are broken. There in front of you is a wildebeest, head down, foam at it’s mouth, stomping at its front hoof. You remember that back at the camp, the leaders had told you about mad cows, but you thought that was just a joke to keep people in bounds. Now there was nothing between you and it but open field, and it was getting ready to charge!
Choice
A. Turn and run, squealing like a school girl.
B. Grab your machete, and prepare to fight to wildebeest.
C. Take your gun and shoot it!
A. You turn and run, hoping to make it all the way back to the jungle. As you go, you let out a high pitched squeal like a school girl. Unbeknownst to you, the sound you make is very similar to the wildebeest mating call! Suddenly the whole heard is excitedly stampeding toward you! Much to your relief, your death comes by trampling, and not some other means.
B. You turn to face the animal. Your machete has served you well in the past- no doubt it will again. As it bears down on you, you jab at it with the blade. However, your blade hits it’s horns, and is knocked out of your hands! The animal knocks you down, and gores you to death with it’s horns.
C. You realize that this situation is out of your hands. You grab your shotgun, take aim, and fire. The animal crumples before you, it’s lifeless body skidding to stop at your feet. You take a moment to catch your breath, and suddenly realize what a fortuitous circumstance this is- wildebeests are made out of meat! You were wondering what you would eat for sinner that night! Already the vultures have noticed the dead animal, and hyenas could be heard with their laughter call to one another, announcing the arrival of dinner.
You know that it is not safe to stay there, so you take your machete and masterfully cut off the animal what will probably be the freshest steak you will ever eat, and leave the carcass to the predators. As you walk away, you think to yourself how wonderful it was that you had a gun. You were powerless on your own to stop this animal, even with your machete. Your gun, you realize, is like prayer. On the one hand it is a tool, but on the other hand it wields a power greater than yourself. Moreover, it can take a bad and even hopeless situation and turn it to the good, as it did by providing you with dinner.
“Prayer is one of the most important tools we have to stay alive in the jungle.” You say to yourself. However you realize that unlike the gun, prayer should not be a last resort, but should be used daily. God gave us the Holy Spirit, an extraordinary power beyond what our minds could understand. It is not enough to rely on our minds and our good resolutions, we need to tap into the power. People should pray every single day. “That way you’ll know how to use your gun when you need it!” You say, patting your beloved shotgun.
By the time you have crossed the plain, the sun is setting. You decide that it would be best to set up camp for the night. There’s a nice flat spot where you can lie down. You’re tired, but you’re also hungry.
Choice
A. Just go to sleep.
B. Eat your steak raw, then go to sleep.
C. Build a fire, cook your steak, eat your steak, then go to sleep, keeping the fire going all night.
A. You’re tired, and the idea of going to all the work to build a fire or even to eat does not appeal to you. You lie down with your head on your bag. It grows dark, and the sounds of the jungle change. Eventually, your eye’s grow heavy, and you’re asleep.
You wake up some time later with the feel of moisture on your face. Rain? It’s warm… you open your eyes to find the face of a grinning hyena staring down at you, drool dripping from his mouth onto yours. He can smell the steak in the pack under your head! He lets out his awful laugh, and you realize that you are surrounded by Hyenas! You are well aware that they are afraid of anything taller than them, but lying on the ground as you are, you are considerably shorter than them! You realize you must get up immediately… but before you can the one that drooled on you pounces, and eats your face.
B. Your tired, your hungry. Rather than going to all the work to build a fire, you decide to just eat your steak and sleep for the night. Your steak is tough and bloody, and still warm. You like rare steak, and besides, you figure the animal wasn’t dead long enough to have salmonella.
What you do not realize, is that unlike mad cow disease, mad wildebeest disease can be killed by cooking your meat. You finish your steak, and find that you are thirsty. You grab your flask, and chug the water, but your thirst cannot be quenched! You discover that your mouth is surrounded by white foam. You begin scratching at the ground, looking desperately for a spring of water. Nothing. You are shaking now, and you hear the idiotic sound of laughter. You have a moment to wonder if you are losing your mind. Then you see the source- a grinning hyena. It laughs again, and you laugh back. It looks at you, crawling and scratching and drooling and foaming, and you look at it, and you realize, you are one and the same. The pack surrounds you now, all grinning and nodding.
Accepted, you live out the rest of your days like a hyena, laughing maniacally and scavenging for carcasses.
C. You know well that fire is a good defense- most animals are afraid of fire.
You know also that cooking meat is generally a good practice before eating it. So, you take out the fire building supplies and get to work. Before long you have a small fire going, and as the night grows colder and darker, are glad for its warmth. Using your machete, you cut some branches and find fallen timber that you can use to keep the fire going. To keep the animals away, you will have to keep the fire burning all night, which means waking up every once in a while to stoke it.
You cook and eat your meat, and it is delicious. You hear something moving, probably smelling the cooked meat, but whatever it is, it does not come into the circle of light cast by the fire. You feel quite secure and glad for the fire. Finally, you settle down to sleep, keeping your gun and machete ready in case you need them. You know that you will have to stoke the fire every 2 hours to keep it burning high enough to keep the animals at bay.
As you drift off, you get thinking about the nature of fire. It’s kind of like zeal, you think. People talk about having the ‘fire of the Holy Spirit’ burning in them, especially after a retreat. They get all built up and excited about God and their faith. But then life goes on, and slowly the fire burns lower and lower- and eventually it goes out. It needs more fuel. Fuel like retreats and youth rally’s and other events that ‘fire you up’ about God. Sometimes too, you will feel to tired to go to all that work, but if you do it, you know that you won’t regret it. The bigger the fire, the more warmth and light it casts. But you gotta keep it going. You might as well plan for it. Just as you plan to get up every few hours to re stoke the fire, so you should plan every few months to stoke your spiritual fire by going on another retreat, and do smaller events in between. Just before falling asleep, you make a resolution to do that.
After a couple of hours you wake up, see the fire is low, throw some more wood on it, and lay down again. The fire keeps the animals away, except for these pesky mosquitoes. They buzz around you, land on you, bite you.
Choice
A. Set up the Mosquito net.
B. Tolerate the Mosquitoes and go back to sleep.
B. You choose to just tolerate the Mosquitoes. After all, this is not a life or death situation, it’s not a big deal. So a few little bugs take a bit of blood, who cares.
But they keep coming, swarming. You ignore them, ignore them, ignore them until finally you can’t sleep. You are itchy all over, and tired and irritable. You throw more wood on the fire to see your bites- you are astonished at what you see! These are not mosquitoes like you find in Canada- this is Africa! Every bite leaves a swollen red lump, the size of a loony! Impossible!
You find yourself feeling weak- could it really be from loss of blood? You decide that you need the mosquito net after all. You fumble with your bag, trying to open the zipper. Your stupid fingers are so bitten, they won’t bend or work properly! You can’t even grab a hold of the zipper! And these things are still biting you, still taking your blood and injecting their poison. They buzz around your head, they are on your neck, your arms, your feet. You swat mercilessly, but there are too many, and you hardly dare to breath lest you inhale them. There’s one on your eye- your eyelid begins to swell shut, so you cannot see. You struggle to protect your left eye, which is clear. Insanity! They are biting at your throat and your nose, and it feels like they are inside of you. Everything itches, and now your breathing passages are swelling. You start running, away from the fire and your gun and your machete and everything that should keep you alive. You eventually collapse, to weak to move. And you die, the victim of mosquitoes.
A. It is a bit of work to set up the mosquito net, propping it up with wood. But it creates a safe haven for you, and allows you to rest. Everyone needs protection, even from little things.
Spiritual life is like that, you realize. There are so many little things that pick at you, try to tear you down. Feed off you, and inject their poison into you, like mosquitoes. TV shows. Music. Websites. Books. Even friends. None of these are all that bad themselves, but slowly, they take your life from you and fill you with poison. Those friends that are always depressed and cynical, mocking your faith. Music that is full of negative messages. One song- no big deal. But over time, they just keep coming, tearing you down. Attacking your faith and your values. If only there was a mosquito net that kept these things away!
But you know that there isn’t one- you’ll always be bombarded by messages. Good thing you have your brain and your compass to help you sort through it all! But as your laying there, thinking about these things, you realize that at the end of the day there are some things that you’re just going to have to cut out. If it tears you down, get rid of it.
You make it through the night, keeping your fire going, safe in your mosquito net. You’re still sleeping in the morning when you hear someone saying “Wake up, sleepy head”.
“Huh, wha… have I been dreaming?” But as you shake the cobwebs from your mind, you realize that you remain even still in the jungle. The voice comes from a big black man, dressed in a loin cloth. He was decorated with red and yellow paint, a necklace of human bones, and another bone through his nose. He carried a spear, from which hung a human skull.
“Good morning” he said. A chorus of voices laughed at your stunned look, and as you look around you realize that there are no fewer than a dozen such men! “We were thinking about having you for breakfast. How does that sound?”
Unsure how to answer, you say “Depends on how you mean….”
More laughter. The pleasant fellow who woke you up smiles and says, “Ah, you are quite astute. Yes, as you suspect, we are cannibals, and intend to eat you.”
“I see” you say, still in your mosquito net. Your hand reaches for your gun. “I think I’d better not then…” but your gun is missing! As you look around again, you realize that one of the men is holding your gun, another your machete.
“Forgive us” the leader says, “we have taken the liberty of disarming you. Now we shall bind you, and hang you from a stick carried between two of us, like a wild boar, as we bring you back to our village.”
The men proceed to do so, and you discover that this mode of travel is quite uncomfortable.
As you travel, your guide describes the area, telling you what the trees are called, the names of the mountains, and the various animals that you see. At one point he says “You are wondering perhaps how it is that we speak English?”
You hadn’t been, but now that he raises the topic you certainly are. “Television” he says proudly. “We Cannibals are pleased to announce that we are progressing with the times.” You are pleased to hear that too, because from your position hanging from a pole carried by a man in very small loin cloth, you hope their fashion sense will soon catch up.
But then you have an idea. “If you are so well informed with modern customs, I am surprised that upon arresting me you did not read me my rights.” You say.
The leader smiles, and says “Of course! How very thoughtless of me. You have a right to remain silent, You have a right to a phone call. Anything you do say can and will be considered a tip as how best to cook you.”
“Thank you.” You say. “I’ll take my right to a phone call please.”
The crowd erupts in laughter, as the leader says “Yes, well, we don’t have very good reception out here, so….”
Choice
A. Mention the fact that you have a satellite phone, and make a call.
B. Decide that it is best to try to fight this on your own.
B. The leader jokingly hands you a banana, saying you can make a phone call on that. You realize that this is your chance for escape! You carefully peel the banana, using only your shoulders and teeth as your hands and feet are bound. Then you take a big bite. Dropping the banana peel carefully in the path of your rear guard, you spit the banana in the face of the leader.
The leader is temporarily blinded, as the rear guard slips on the banana peel, dropping his end of the pole upon which you are bound.
In one fluid motion, you manage to rip the other end of your pole out of your front guards hands, and before anyone has a chance to react, you are upright, still bound hand and foot to the pole. Unfortunately, it is impossible to run. Fortunately, you happen to be the provincial pogo stick champion for 3 years running, and you began madly pogo sticking away from your would be captors. Unfortunately, they still have your gun. They shoot you, in the buttocks, and you collapse in pain. The boil you alive, and inspired by your act of daring, eat you with a nice banana cream paste.
A. “I have a phone in my bag” you inform them.
Your leader stops the procession, calling to the man carrying your bag. “Well,” he says, “we wouldn’t want to seem uncivilized.” Interestingly, nobody laughs at this comment.
They put you down in such a matter that the bottom of the pole you are tied to is stuck into the ground, and you are upright. Placing the phone in your hands, you dial the number of your intrepid leader at the camp. Since your wrists are still bound to the pole, this is difficult to do, and the first time you accidentally dial Donnas Laser Hair Removal, but mercifully the cannibals give you a second call.
Within minutes, you hear the wonderful voice of your intrepid leader at the camp. You make small talk for a bit, get the results of last nights hockey game, then casually mention your predicament. He asks you where you are, and since you don’t know precisely, you ask the cannibals. The leader of the cannibals kindly gives you the precise coordinates, which you pass on to your friend.
All too soon the conversation is over, as the intrepid leader says his kraft dinner is boiling over and he has to go. You hang up the phone, sighing “He’s the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.” The cannibals nod their agreement, and once again you are hoisted onto the shoulders of your two guards, and the procession to the village continues.
Finally, you arrive at the village. Upon arriving, you realize that some of the people there are clothed even more inappropriately than your captors. But as they gather around, discussing who’s job it is to do the cooking, (You offer to do it yourself, but they don’t think you would know how)suddenly they are interrupted by the sound of a helicopter! There is your intrepid camp leader, still in his blue shirt, since unlike most people he does not sweat. He jams the controls of the helicopter so that it stays in one place, drops a rope ladder, and does a series of completely unnecessary acrobatic feats to descend the ladder. As he drops into the middle of the camp, all of the cannibals bow in worship!
You wish you could as well, but you are still tied to your stick.
Your intrepid leader speaks “People of cannibalism. I am not a god. However, if you wish to kiss my hand, I will allow it!” Of course everyone wished to, and that took quite some time.
While this was going on, more of your friends from the camp came into the village from the surrounding jungle. As one of them untied you (all of your guards were in the hand kissing line up), you whispered “How did you find me?”
“Intrepid texted us all.” Your friend answered.
“Wow.” You say to your friends gathered around you, as your rub your sore wrists. “Now I see why the phone is such a great tool to survive in the jungle! I did not go through the training camp by myself, but with all of these friends! Why would I try to survive it on my own? Now I know that just as I need friends to help me survive the jungle, so I need them to help me in my spiritual journey.”
Just then the leader of the cannibals approached you. He was fully dressed now, wearing a brown t-shirt, with blue writing on it that said preach the gospel always, when necessary use words. The man shook your hand and said “Now I know that cannibalism is wrong, and me and my people will all change our ways. Thank you for the witness you have been to us, and for loving and accepting us even though we were sinners.
“You’re welcome” You say.
“We will now go into the jewelry business, selling our wares to gullible tourists at safari sites. But for you, a free gift!” and before you could refuse, he pierced the middle part of your nose, and put a human bone through it.
And you still wear it today.
The End.

Destruction of Jerusalem

Destruction of Jerusalem (45minutes)
(To be presented as an epic story.)
Read Matthew 24:1-28

Jerusalem, 70 AD. The city, it's name meaning 'city built by the God of Peace' had been established 2100 years before by a mysterious man named Melchizedek. Melchizedek was both a king, and a priest, and as a priest he honoured the one true God.

1000 years later, King David made Jerusalem the capital city of his empire. Israel was united under this one king. He was the wealthiest and most powerful king in the entire region. His was succeeded by his son, Solomon, who added to the glory of this kingdom. He built the temple there- the center for Jewish worship. It was believed that the most high God actually dwelt in the temple, in the Holy of Holies.

For another 1000 years, Jerusalem would be subject to wars and insurrections, overun in turn by Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. The city walls and Temple would be destroyed by war, its people deported. Then they would return, rebuild the city and it's temple. Its people would look with hope to the day a ruler, descended from David, predicted by the prophets and scribes, and anointed by God, would arise who would rule the whole world from Jerusalem. He would overthrow these foreign powers.

By 70 AD, Jerusalem had a population of 60,000. It was under the iron fist of the Romans, the greatest empire in history. Puppet kings were set up, since Jews were difficult to rule, and demanded that they live by their own rules. They spoke their own language, obeyed their own laws, worshiped their own God. The temple was one of the greatest structures in the world- known as one of the seven wonders. Jerusalem was the center of the world for all Jews. It was believed that when God separated the land from the sea, he did so by pulling up on the mountains upon which Jerusalem was built,and the rest of the world came up with it.

Jerusalem was the political, financial, spiritual and cultural capital for the Jews. To a modern day Catholic American, Jerusalem was the equivalent of New York, Washington DC, Hollywood and the Vatican, all rolled into one.

New sects were arising in Jerusalem. One, known as “The Way” or “Christians”, claimed that the Messiah had already come, and that the victory he had intended was not a political one. The Jewish hierarchy suppressed this sect. It undermined their very culture and reason for being.

Another one gaining momentum were the Zealots. Zealots hated the Romans, and all non Jews, or Gentiles. They felt that Jews alone were the chosen people, and that they should fight against foreign rulers with violence. Christians, who taught that all people of every race were welcomed by God, were perverting the faith. But the real enemy was the Romans, the foreign oppressors.

Strange signs had been seen in and around Jerusalem for some time. A comet flew over the city for several months, that looked like a sword. Heavy iron gates in the temple would suddenly swing open of their own accord, and require several men to close. There was a piece of scarlet thread which hung in the temple, which would turn white when the atoning sacrifice was made, indicating that God had accepted the sacrifice. It had ceased to do so for the past 40 years, since the time when the curtain which separated the holy of holies from the people had been torn in two by a great earthquake. Some took this to mean that God no longer dwelt in the temple. Christians pointed out that these things had taken place just at the moment that their Messiah, Jesus, had died.

Eleazar was a priest, the son of the High Priest. As such it was his job to offer sacrifices in the temple. Foreigners often offered sacrifices to God, because though they were not Jews, they respected the temple and the God it housed. However Eleazar had been influenced by the Zealots, and he refused to offer sacrifices for gentiles. So that when Caesar himself wished to offer a sacrifice in the temple, it was refused. This was considered a great affront to the Romans. Several high priests and other officials tried to persuade Eleazar to offer sacrifice, but he refused. He surrounded himself with like minded Jews, and formed a small army, which occupied the temple.

Around the same time, the Zealots managed to take Massada- a fortress on a high hill outside of Jerusalem. They killed the Romans who were there, and occupied it themselves. These two acts were construed as acts of war. The leaders of the Jews knew that Eleazar and his men must be put down- so they sent word to neighboring officials in Syria to send armies to fight Eleazar. They did send Syrian armies, who then warred against the Zealots throughout the country. The dead were piled up in all the cities in the country, but Eleazar and his men remained in the temple.

A Roman by the name of Cestius laid siege to Jerusalem with several legions of soldiers. Eleazar and his men were terrified, and ran away- at which point the Jewish leaders prepared to open the gates and welcome in the Romans, to put an end to the war. However, for no apparent reason, Cestius suddenly ordered his men to retreat. As they did so, Eleazar and his men were emboldened. They began to pursue the Romans, killing those who were in the back of the retreat. Before long, Zealots from all over the country were joining in the fight, throwing the Roman ranks into dissorder, and killing several commanders. Cestius realized that the army of his enemies was growing even while his own was shrinking, and so he knew that he would have to flee from the whole region as quickly as possible. He and his men boarded boats on the lake of Galilee, in order to cross it and escape. But the zealots pursued them, and engaged them in battle on the lake.

However, here the Romans found that they had the advantage, both in numbers, and in weapons. There were many more Romans upon the water than there were Jews, and while the Jews threw stones at the Romans, the Romans had archers who fired arrows at the Jews. As the arrows flew further than the stones, The Jews were unable to even get close enough to make an attack. The Roman ships were also equipped with a long, sharp pole at the front. which was used to puncture and sink the Jewish boats. The Jews were left to swim for it- but on the shore, there were more Romans. Some of them attempted to swim towards the Roman ships, but the Romans would use their swords and cut off the heads or the hands of these.

In the end, the lake of Galilee was so full of blood that it was said that the water had turned to blood, and the shores were lined with shipwrecks and corpses, bloated and purifying in the sun. All, whether Roman or Jew, were punished by the stench.

In the end, Eleazars army had grown in numbers and in confidence. His army consisted now not only of religious zealots, but also of robbers and mercenaries, who took over the temple and the surrounding area. Lawlessness reigned, and there was no one who could stop it. And Rome considered itself to be at war.

It was the time of the passover, and Jews from all over were pouring into Jerusalem, such that the city now contained well over 2 Million people. A new army, men known as Idumeans, under the command of a man named Simon, came to Jerusalem in response to the leaders who had asked for assistance against Eleazar. However, upon arriving at Jerusalem with some 10,000 soldiers prepared for war, they were denied entrance to the city. And so they were forced to camp outside.

While in their tents, a massive thunderstorm arose. All night violent winds shook the city, with an onslaught of rain, ongoing lightning and thunder all through the night. There was also an earthquake, and it was thought that the thunderstorm itself was so powerful that it had caused the earthquake.

By this time, many in Jerusalem realized that war was coming, and wanted to get out before it would happen. However, the Zealots saw to it that all of the gates were guarded, so that no one could desert. The rich were able to bribe their way out of the city, but the poor were trapped. Should they try to leave, the zealots would kill them. Then, they would pile their bodies in the streets as a statement to those who would resist or would desert. Anyone who attempted to bury the dead would end up dead themselves. It should be noted that there were over 1 million people in the city who did not even live there. Between the extraordinary crowds and the number of dead, disease broke out in the city.

While Eleazar and his men continued to rule over the temple region, and Simon and his soldiers were camped outside the wall, yet a third army rose up within Jerusalem! This one was composed of Galileans, under the leadership of a man named John. These men took advantage of the lawlessness in the city, and began looting and robbing and taking whatever they wanted for themselves. In fact, they abandoned all scruples and morality, and began crossdressing, and committing homosexual acts all over the city. They would dress as women, and walk in effeminate fashion, and make advances on men, but suddenly draw swords and kill those who resisted them!

Those that fled from John found Simon outside the city walls, and he would kill them lest they defected to the Romans.

Eventually the people in Jerusalem invited Simon and his army to come into the city walls, and to fight against the armies of John and Eleazar. Simon managed to secure the upper and much of the lower city. John found himself fighting armies on two fronts. Eleazar and his men were above him, on the Temple Mount. Simon and his men were below. Of course, it is easier when using arrows and catapults to fight the people below, rather than above, therefore Eleazar had the same advantage over John as John had over Simon. However, John had powerful engines of war, such as catapults, which could fire rocks and arrows right over the walls of the temple and into its courtyards. Thus the priests in the temple who continued through all of this offering their sacrifices did so in danger of being struck down at the altar. And many were struck down, and mingled their blood with that of their sacrifices.

Those in the temple were given to drinking binges. When they would get drunk, this would free John enough to be able to focus his armies on Simon. On one such occasion John succeeded in burning the buildings that housed Simon's grain supplies. In retaliating, Simon burned Johns supplies. In the end, all of the grain storehouses, which were kept in the event of a famine or a siege, were destroyed. There had been enough food in the storehouses to feed the entire populace for several years. But now a severe famine set in.

In the meantime, the Romans had gathered no fewer than 10 legions of soldiers under the command of Titus, and laid siege to the city. No more food would come in. In fact, the Romans destroyed the surrounding forests and gardens to such an extent that to this day Jerusalem is surrounded by desert.

In time John succeeded in taking the temple, while Eleazars men hid in subteranean passages under the Temple. Many of Eleazars men joined Johns army, including Eleazar himself, giving John a combined army of 8000 men. Simon meanwhile had 15000 men. The two factions continued to war with each other in the city, while the Romans camped outside. The romans had set up their engines of war, and they began to hail down stones weighing as much as 100 pounds on the city.

As the famine grew deeper, the soldiers inside the city began to go mad. They would search a house for food, and if they found it, eat it, leaving the occupants of the house to starve. If they did not find it, they would torment the occupants on the assumption that they had hidden it exceptionally well. There was no difference now between the rich and the poor, except that the rich were more likely to have food, and thus more likely to have their homes torn apart in search of it. If people looked healthy, it was assumed that they had food somewhere hidden. Only those who were clearly starving were left alone. Eventually they realized that people might pretend that they were dying, in order to be left alone, and so these were searched as well.

After this had gone on for some time, in one home the soldiers could smell that some sort of meat had been cooked. They confronted the woman in the house about it, and she showed them where she hid the meat. She had already eaten half of it. She had killed and cooked her own infant.

In desperation even the soldiers in the city began eating their shoes and their loin cloths, their leather shields and their dung. Many tried to escape the city and find food. Those the Romans caught were crucified outside the city wall. There so many crucified that eventually the Romans ran out of crosses and room.

Some of the starving actually managed to escape from the city, and made their way to Arab and Syrian cities. There they were given food, but some ate so much from great hunger, while their stomachs had shrunk, that they literally burst open. Upon doing so, it was discovered that they had smuggled gold out of the city by swallowing it, in hopes and getting it out of their dung later. Once that was discovered, it was assumed that all of the Jews escaping the city contained gold, and so the Syrians and Arabs cut them open to find it. In one night about 2000 Jews were thus dissected.

Meanwhile, those inside the walls had begun to throw dead bodies outside the gates. It is reported that from one gate alone, 600,000 corpses were thrown out. There were so many dead everywhere that the stench prevented the Romans from invading the city.

Another strange sign appeared. At sunset one day, horsemen and chariots were seen racing around the sky over Jerusalem. A man claiming to be a prophet told the people that they must go to the temple where God was going to save them by a miracle. He turned out to be a false prophet. Several other false prophets arose, set up on purpose by the armies of John and Simon. They were set up in order to give the people hope, so that no one would try to escape, and to reaffirm the idea that one of the two men was the messiah.
In the end, the Romans did invade. They brought their ensigns, their flags, and the symbols of their country into the temple and offered sacrifices to them as idols. They utterly destroyed the city, burning down the temple, plundering all of the wealth, removing every stone and digging up the very foundations so that you wouldn't even know there had ever been a building where the temple had stood. Those that were not killed became slaves, or were sent to the provinces to be killed by gladiators or wild beasts in the stadiums. Even among the slaves, there were so many, and so few buyers, that they went for very cheap, and many of them were denied food from their captors and died of hunger afterall.

Thus the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and a new era began.

Gods Gift to Women

Gods Gift to Women (90 minutes)

The 'chick flick phenomenon.'
1. Why are girls into boy bands and chick flicks, etc? Why do they swoon and literally feel like they are falling in love?
1. Guys may like to see movies with hot girls, but they don't want to marry them- they just want to have sex with them.
2. Girls actually daydream about marriage, and wan to know things like how many pets the actor has, and what his favorite colour is. They will even write letters to ask these questions!
2. Oxytosin.
1. Oxytosin is a hormone formed in women that creates a bond.
1. It is formed by breatfeeding, romance, sex, etc.
2. Movies and boy bands may actually create oxytosin in a woman, and make her want to “marry” people they don't even know!
3. Men and women were created for each other.
1. Women, even much more than men, go through their lives wondering who they will marry, what he will be like, etc.
2. When you get married, you will 'give yourself' to your wife.
3. If you were a father, and your daughter was getting married, what kind of guy would you want her to marry?
4. God who is all good and all knowing and loves your future wife more than anyone else in the world ever could... has chosen you to be the most important person in her life!
5. You are Gods gift to women! (Or, at least, to a particular woman!)
We were created to be a gift for women. We are supposed to give ourselves to them. This is love- giving yourself to another. The opposite of this is Lust- taking the other for yourself.
1. Theology of the body
1. JPII taught a lot about sex. He said that the way the human body was made reflects deeper realities about our spirits.
2. God chose to use sex to create more humans- which he could have done without sex. But he wanted to create humans from an intimate act of love between humans.
3. In sex, the man literally gives himself to the woman and she literally recieves him. Man is supposed to be a gift!
2. common struggles with lust.
1. Instead of giving ourselves as a gift, we try to take women and use them.
2. A lot of Christian men who are saving sex for marriage still struggle with lust in other forms.
3. Masturbating or looking at pornography may seem harmless, in that there is no victim, but we are still using women for ourselves rather than making sex a gift.
“virtue” as manliness
1. What starts out as a thought or one time action eventually becomes a habit.
2. If we have poor self discipline about sex when we are single, then we will have poor discipline when we are married.
3. As men, we need to develop virtues. The word 'virtue' comes from the Latin word “vir” which means 'man'. So to be virtuous is to be manly!
4. To become virtuous we must train ourselves. A lot of men will fast for example to gain self control.
5. If you struggle with lust, you may have to take drastic steps to protect yourself. You may even have to take the TV or computer out of your room!
Transformation in Christ.
1. Christ was 'fully God, fully man'.
2. Some say he would not really be fully man, because he never sinned
3. Everytime we sin, it takes something away from our manliness.
4. So Christ was actually the only 'real man' ever!
5. By being a Christian, praying, receiving sacraments and growing in virtue, we are becoming like Christ.
6. Christ was to transform us completely so that to be “Christian” will mean to be “other Christs.”
Honouring women.
1. lust- this is clearly dishonouring to women, because we treat them like objects.
2. flirting- Flirting and dating can be OK in the right circumstances, but we have to remember the oxytosin. Girls get a much bigger emotional bond through these things, which means it hurts them more when you don't end up dating.
1. Guys sometimes wish girls would just take them at face value, and see flirting as fun without reading too much into it. But girls can't because of their oxytosin! So flirting and dating without leading to a commitment is bound to hurt girls more than it hurts us. So if you want to honour women, make sureyour actions towards them communicate the truth.
3. respect
1. Men ought to honour women in a way that is even higher than the respect we give each other. Not only are we a gift to women, but they are the most precious gift that God can give us. So we should never take them for granted.
2. Look for little ways to honor women daily (let the guys brainstorm. Be sure to suggest that they carry the luggage for the ladies when it is time to go home on Friday.)
3. (have a plan ahead of time for how you can honour the ladies with the guys.)
4. Be a gift to women n everything you do.
Gods gift to women bracelettes.
1. Have bracelettes that say “Gods gift to women” for each of the guys. Challenge the guys to wear them, and to let them be reminders that they are a gift, and should live as such!

Jesus as Lord and Saviour

Jesus as Lord and Saviour (Peter)

introduction
1. You may have heard the question “Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?” or something like it. Even though that quote is not exactly found in the Bible, it is widely considered to be the thing that sets Christians apart from everyone else. If you are a Christian, you will accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour.
Jesus as Lord
1. Saying Jesus is Lord basically means he is the Boss.
2. In the Old Testament, the word “Lord” usually meant God.
3. Jesus is God.
4. Some people debate who Jesus actually was. Some say he was just a good teacher or a prophet. However;
1. Jesus claimed to be God- this is why he was put to death.
2. Jesus said other things which actually a good teacher would never say;
1. “Be like me, because I am humble.”
2. Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do to me.
3. Wherever there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.
5. “Come follow me.” Rabbis in Jesus' time would say this to people, as if to say “Come be my disciple, I will make you into a Rabbi just like me.”
1. Rabbis could choose how hard to make it for their followers. The things they would have to do would be called their “Yoke”. (A yoke is the thing you but on oxen when they till the ground in old farms. It's like something they have to carry/drag)
2. Jesus said “My yoke is easy”, as in, it's not hard to be my follower.
3. He also said “Whoever follows me will have to take up their cross”. In other words, the 'yoke' of Jesus is his cross.
4. If we say Jesus is Lord, we make him our Rabbi- which means we will become like him. But he died because he loved people. We may have to do the same if we want to be his followers!
Jesus as Saviour
1. Joke;
1. The Devil went to God with this complaint. “Jesus is totally out of date, he can't relate to the people at all anymore. He doesn't have facebook, or MSN- he can barely even type. I can prove that I am better than He is.” God agreed and I was decided that both Jesus and the Devil should have to compete to create a document which presents their case. They would have to use computers, and have a time limit.
2. So, the competition began. The Devil was working hard and fast, getting quotes on line, and citing them, creating graphics, even developing a power point in order to explain his brochure. Meanwhile, Jesus was doing the old two finger type. It was almost the end of the allotted time- the devil had created a sharp, full colour two sided document and accompanying multimedia presentation, and had nothing left but to print his document. Jesus had about 3 lines, with typos.
3. Suddenly there was a power failure. When it came back on, the Devil discovered that he had lost everything, but Jesus had not. Then God came in and said “Ok, lets see what you've got!” The devil protested, asking for more time, explaining that there was a power failure. But God declared Jesus the winner, due to his 3 lines. “That's not fair!” the devil cried, I had so much more!” “yeah,” God said, “but Jesus saves.”
2. We are “Saved by grace through faith”
1. Grace means “Gods free gift.” We don't earn salvation. It doesn't matter how good you are, you can never save yourself! No one deserves to go to Heaven!
2. We are saved through faith- this does not mean that if you choose to believe in Jesus that he will automatically save you. Jesus himself warned that a lot of his followers would not get into Heaven. On the other hand, it is possible that many no Christians will get there. To have faith means to believe that God can and will do what he promissed, and not to give up hope.
3. Saved from what?
1. When we say we are saved, we don't mean just saved from Hell.
2. The word in the bible that gets translated “saved” is also translated “healed,liberated, forgiven”
1. Healed- sin hurts us. Our own sins, those of others. Jesus can heal you from the dammage that sins have done to you. Some of you may have had serious sins committed against you- you may have been sexually abused, or bullied, or threatened, or had to choose between two parents in a divorce. Or you mayy have had an abortion. Jesus can heal you from the dammage of all of these things!
2. Liberated- Sins trap us. We might be addicted to sex or porn or drugs or alcohol or cutting or occult things. By the power of God, we can be set free from our sins! It may take time- Jesus never promised that it would be instant. But again, we are saved by faith, so we need to just keep on believing and hoping.
3. Forgiven- we might hate ourselves for what we have done. Again, you may have had an abortion, or maybe you had sex, or almost had sex, even just once and you hate yourself for it. Maybe you're ashamed because of your sins, and you think that no one who really knew you could ever love you. But God does. He will forgive you!

Freedom
1. Jesus wants to give us lasting freedom from sin. He does this not by forcibly preventing you from sinning, but by working with your free will to strengthen you and over time give you freedom!
2. Once you are set free, you will not even want to do the things you used to do. That is the degree to which Jesus can transform you!
Conclusion
1. In order to be a Christian, you have to make Jesus your own Lord and Savior. Make him your master, and let him save you from all sin! (End the talk with a prayer service, whereby you have people stand and be prayed over for each of the following things. Call out an issue, have those people who it applies to stand, and say a quick prayer of healing an freedom for them. They should not feel pressured to stand if they are embarrassed. Get someone to play background music and create the mood! People may stand for more than one issue)

Reconciliation

Reconciliation (1 hour including examination)

We are all sinners in need of grace
1. The word 'sin' means to 'miss the mark'. In other words, it means being imperfect.
2. God created us to be in a perfect relationship with him- sinning hurts and eventually kills that relationship. Since God is love, life and truth, sin can eventually kills love, life and truth in us.
3. Just like any relationship, we need to be reconciled to God, and have our relationship restored.
4. God gives us grace, which means he forgives our sins and makes it possible for us to resist sin. Without grace, it would be impossible to not sin- and to sin seriously.
1. St Clement of Alexandria wrote in about 190 AD “A man by himself, working and toiling at freedom from passion, achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows his great desire and complete sincerity in this, he will attain it by the addition of the power of God. Indeed, God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained.”
1. In other words, it is impossible to defeat sin by your own power, but that does not mean that you do nothing and God just does it for you. Grace builds on nature, and God helps those who help themselves. If you want to be free from your sin, God wants to make it happen, and working together you will be!
Jesus instituted the sacrament of penance for the remission of sins. Through this sacrament, and others, you get the grace you need.
1. When Jesus forgave sins, people wee astonished, because no one has the right to do that but God. They didn't realize that Jesus was God. But Jesus passed that power on to his disciples, and so on to the Church.
2. Matthew 16:19 (Jesus speaking to Peter) “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.”
3. Since the earliest times, Catholics believed that in saying this, Jesus gave the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church alone, the authority to forgive sins.
1. Tertullian wrote in about 220 AD “'But', you say, 'the Church has the power of forgiving sins.' this I acknowledge.”
2. Firmillian wrote in 256 AD “Therefore the power of forgiving sins was given to the Apostles and to the Churches which these men, sent by Christ, established, and to the Bishops who succeeded them by being ordained in their place.”
some kind of external confession is required.
1. Despite the fact that Jesus gave the Church this power, a lot of people think they can just go straight to God for forgiveness. But the church has always taught that especially in serious matters an external confession is necessary.
2. Tertullian wrote “Thus, confession is a discipline for man's prostration and humiliation....Therefore, while it abases a man, it raises him; while it covers him with squalor, the more does it cleanse him; while it condemns, it absolves. In so far a you do not spare yourself, the more, believe me, will God spare you!”
3. In other words, we may find confession embarrassing- but this is exactly why it is so effective. We have to humble enough to admit, out loud, to another person, all of our sins, so that God can not only forgive us, but also help us to stop sinning.
4. Some people avoid confession because they are embarrassed. Or they don't tell all of their sins, or they kind of gloss over them. They might say stuff like “I was not nice to my sister” or “I didn't use my time well.” in order to say “I bully my sister and take her stuff and put her down in front of her friends, and I look at pornography on the internet and masterbate.” If it is embarassing, it is more important to say it! And you should go at least twice a year.
5. If you want to be right with God, you should go more often- at least once a month. But if you want to be a saint, try to get to confession every week!
Confession made to a priest followed by private penance.
1. On ocaision in the early years, people would say their confession in front of the whole church. And if, the sin was serious enough, they may even have to do some public act of penance. This would mean doing some sort of good work, or fasting, or even wearing sackcloth or something, to make up for the sin.
2. More commonly, confession happened one on one with a priest, like it does now. And your penance would be something less severe for sins that were less severe.
3. One of the Church Fathers, called Aphraates the Persian Sage had this to say about confession; “For anyone who has been wounded in battle ought not be reluctant to put himself in the care of a wise physician, because he was overcome and lost the battle. And when he has been healed, he will not be rejected by the king, but will again be counted and reckoned in his army. So also he who has been struck by Satan ought not be ashamed to bewail his folly, and to give it up, and to seek a remedy in repentance.” In other words, the priest is not going to judge you- he is like a physician, and you like a soldier. You need to keep fighting for God, trying to establish his kingdom on Earth. If you are too ashamed to admit that you are wounded, than you don't give the physician the opportunity to heal you and get you back into battle.

In a little while, you will have the opportunity to go to confession. Priests from all over Alberta will be here. Before hand we will have an examination of conscience, which will allow you to see what areas of your life you have sinned in.
1. We challenge you to take this seriously- this is your chance to be totally cleaned of all the sins you have ever comitted!
2. If you don't know what to do, or if you have never been to confession before, we want you to go anyway, and tell the priest that. He will walk you through, so don't be afraid.
3. Make a real and honest confession- don't leave anything out, or try to gloss over your sins so it is less embarrassing. That way you will receive a fuller healing.
4. Priests do this every day. They will not be surprised by your sins, or even likely remember them. They will not judge you, and are absolutely forbidden to tell anyone or treat you any differently for what you said!
1. Even if you confessed that you conspired with a terrorist who was going to hijack a plane and crash it into the Sears tower, the priest could do nothing to prevent this from happening! (But once you have repented, maybe you should do something!)

Theotokos

Theotokos (45 Minutes)

Introduction to the era
1. Legalization of Christianity under Constantine
2. Heresies! A heresy is a belief that is based in Christianity, but is in dissagrement with the official teachings of the church.
1. Gnostics
1. This was one of the major heresies. They taught that Jesus was not really a man, but rather that he only pretended to be a man, but was actually pure spirit. This would mean that he didn't really die or rise from the dead- he just faked it.
2. Arianism
1. Arianism had a saying that went “There was when He was not”. In other words, they didn't believe that Jesus was God, but said that he was a created being
Councils- The Church would call councils, where all the bishops in the world who were able to would come together and try to settle issues. Jesus had promissed the Church through the popes and councils that the Holy Spirit would guide her to make the right decisions. Here are some examples of councils.
1. Council of Jerusalem- This is the first council, and took place in Jerusalem when the apostles were still alive. You can read about it in Acts 15. The debate was whether gentiles (non Jews) would have to become Jewish before they could become Christian, which would mean getting circumsized. They decided that that was no necessary.
2. Nicea- The council of Nicea settled the debate about whether or not Jesus was God. It took place in ????????. It is from this council that we get the Nicene Creed, which is why the Creed goes on so much about how Jesus is 'God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, one in being with the Father.”
3. History of Bible; At first when St Paul and St John and others were writing their letters and Gospels, they had no idea that their writings might and up in Sacred Scripture. A lot of other Christians were also writing letters, and some even wrote Gospels and put the name of apostles on these Gospels (like the Gospel of Thomas) in order to make them look authentic. The Church had to decide which books actually belong. They did this in Church councils at the end of the 4th century. So anyone who thinks that the Bible is an authority should also agree that Church Councils are since they gave us the Bible.

Theotokos
1. Theotokos means “Mother of God”. Some Christians gave this title to Mary from early times, but others debated whether it was appropriate. They said it implied that Mary came before God, when she had clearly been created by God.
2. It was decided at the council of Ephesus in 431 AD that the title was appropriate.
3. “Mother of God”- Mary is Jesus' mother, Jesus was God, therefore she is Mother of God.
4. Does not imply that she came before God.
5. She did not give birth only to Jesus' humanity (human body and soul) but also to His divinity since Jesus is only one and cannot be separated.
6. This title was another way to honour Mary!
Honour of Mary in early church
1. Christians have always taught what the Church still teaches about Mary-
1. Immaculate conception- the teaching that Mary was created sinless and remained sinless
1. Consider this ancient hymn to Jesus, written in Nisibis in about 350 AD:
You alone and your mother
are more beautiful than any others
For there is no blemish in you ,
nor any stains upon your Mother.
Who of my children
can compare in beauty to these?
2. Mary remained a virgin after Jesus was born- some people today contest this.
1. St Athanasius referred to Mary as the “Ever Virgin” as early as 358AD.
history of Rosary
1. It is popularly believed that the Rosary was given to St Dominic, who introduced the devotion in the 13th century. However, historians point to even earlier origens, going back all the way to the desert fathers, who used prayer chains with 150 beads to keep track of their prayers. It is likely that Mary did appear to Dominic and have him pass on the devotion.
Conclusion
1. Since the earliest times, Christians have honoured Mary as their mother and mother of the Church. We must never worship anyone other than God. However, honouring his mother is honouring to God.

Thy Kingdom Come

New Covenant/ Thy Kingdom Come. (1 hour)

Meaning of Covenant
1. We are in a covenant relationship with God.
2. A covenant is a type of relationship where two people give themselves to each other. A marriage is a covenant,
3. In a marriage, a husband gives himself to his wife, and vice versa. With God, He has given himself to us by being our God, by loving us, forgiving us, answering our prayers, etc.
4. We give ourselves to God by trusting Him, living our lives for him, praying, acknowledging him in public, etc.
Description of Old Covenant
1. The Old Testament is a description of the Old Covenant. It was very legalistic. The deal was this.
1. God would give the Jews special priveledges among humans, and let them live in Israel, and make them wealthy.
2. The Jews would obey everything God said, andbe different from the rest of humans by being circumsized, not marrying non Jews (Gentiles), never working on Saturday, not worshiping idols, and keeping a very particular diet.
1. This diet is known as “Kosher”. It means no pork or pig meat, ll blood must be drained from meat before it can be eaten, you can't have meat and dairy in the same meal (No cheese burgers), etc.
3. The Jews did not live up to their end of the bargain.
4. God allowed their country to be invaded and them to be deported, and did not defend them.
Promise of a new Era
1. Prophets promissed that one day a new covenant would be made- where God would include people of every race, and give them power to heal the crippled and the blind, and there would be peace.
2. A new Jewish King would rule the whole world.
3. Everyone in the new covenant would be prophets.
4. A Messiah would come who would start this new Era.
Establishment of new covenant, Messianic age.
1. This new Covenant was established by Jesus.
1. Jesus is the Messiah. The Greek word for Messiah is “Christ.”
2. Instead of being slaves like we were in the Old Covenant, in the New Covenant we are made children of God.
3. God loves us as a father. Like a perfect father, he forgives us when we screw up, but he wants us to keep trying.
4.
“Thy Kingdom Come”
1. Jesus taught us to pray, calling God 'Father'- something which had never been done before, and was considered blasphemy.
2. He said we should pray “Thy Kingdom Come.”
3. As messiah, Jesus is the Jewish King who would rule over everybody.
1. In ancient days, years would be counted from the beginning of a kings reign, so people would say “It was the 25th year of King David, or whatever.
2. This year is 2009 AD- AD stands for Anno Domine, or “year of our Lord.” Jesus' kingdom was established 2009 years ago!
4. As Christians, we are citizens in his kingdom.
5. This means that all the things that were promissed- that we could heal people and even raise people from the dead- applies to us!
6. If all the Christians in the world really lived out our faith, then we would eliminate poverty and hunger, and there would be peace.
7. Eventually everyone would realize that Christianity is true, and so the whole world would be part of the kingdom.