Shalom!

The Rosary for World Peace is your portal to a global community of people who follow the Way of Peace through prayer and sacred music, art, and literature. Already, thousands of people from around the world, from many different countries, have visited The Rosary for World Peace.

As our community grows, we hope you will find the The Rosary for World Peace to be a source of inspiration for spiritual refreshment, meditation, and contemplation. The Rosary for World Peace is the first of what we hope will be other initiatives to open wide the Way of Peace . . . moored by the perennial values of beauty, truth, goodness, and love. 

At this critical time in world history, The Rosary for World Peace Oratorio will result in six original hours of sacred music and recordings that express the range of tonalities of the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. Because music is the universal language, The Rosary for World Peace Oratorio is expected to touch the souls of people worldwide.

Your thoughts of how to bring The Rosary for World Peace to fruition will be appreciated. Also, please subscribe to be informed of important developments.

As we embark on this journey together, may you be blessed with Christ's Gift of Peace.

 

The Rosary for World Peace

June 29, 2013, The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

 

 

 

The Meeting of Saints Peter and Paul, El Greco, 1590-1600, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shalom!

For centuries, lay people, religious, saints, and Popes have depended on the Rosary as a core meditation practice for the perfection of souls: a method of plaintive personal petition and spiritual support in times of trial, and a sublime meditation in times of great joy. Pope Francis's canonization of Pope Saint John Paul II brought to mind his devotion to the Rosary prayer:

"I myself have often encouraged the frequent recitation of the Rosary. From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. I was powerfully reminded of this during my recent visit to Poland, and in particular at the Shrine of Kalwaria. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns; in it I have always found comfort. . . . Twenty-four years ago, on 29 October 1978, scarcely two weeks after my election to the See of Peter, I frankly admitted: 'The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvellous prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and its depth'[...]."* His Holiness Pope John Paul II.

*From: Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter: ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE of the Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, to the Bishops, Clergy, and Faithful of the Most Holy Rosary (Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002), Sec."The Popes and the Rosary". 

 In 2002, Pope Saint John Paul II was inspired to add the Mysteries of Light, The Luminous Mysteries, to The Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries: the traditional Rosary format since the 16th century. The Luminous Mysteries brilliantly provide for the chronological and spiritual continuity of Jesus's life and ministry in the Rosary Tradition. 

This becomes evident when The Luminous Mysteries are placed in a continuum between  The Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries. The Joyful Mysteries span the time from Jesus's conception to when he was about twelve years of age. The Luminous Mysteries feature events in the three years of Jesus's public ministry, from approximately thirty to thirty-three years of age. Jesus's institution of the Holy Eucharist, at the conclusion of The Luminous Mysteries, provides a pretext, a stepping stone, for His subsequent suffering, death, and Resurrection in The Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, which follow. 

Specifically, The Luminous Mysteries include important mystical and miraculous events of Jesus's mission:

1. The Baptism of Jesus

2. The Wedding in Cana

3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

4. The Transfiguration of Jesus

5. The Institution of The Eucharist

The Rosary for World Peace Oratorio unfolds the Life of Christ in a dramatic, chronological, comprehensible portrayal. It could not have been written without Pope Saint John Paul II's contribution of The Luminous Mysteries.

We are grateful.

 

The Rosary for World Peace

 . . . be part of the PEACE!

 

*Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims version. www.drbo.org

© 2013 Exposition Management International 

 Portrait of Pope S John Paul II, Zbigniew Kotyllo, June, 2012

 

                                        Salvator Mundi (Andrea Previtali 1519)

Shalom!

The idea of kingship, a person who has a position of divine authority over a designated population, is unfamiliar to this generation. Today, we live in an era when earthly kings have mostly been replaced by officials elected by the people or officials appointed by governments.

In the time of Jesus, the officials of the Temple of Jerusalem were the recognized local spiritual authorities for the Jewish population. The recognized civil "king" was the Roman Caesar, Tiberius. His appointed local Judean ruler was Pontius Pilate, who had authority not only over the Jewish population, but also over all of the citizens of Judea.

For many Jewish people and local Gentiles, Jesus's divine intelligence and merciful, indiscriminate actions evoked love and grateful awe. Some of those who witnessed His power and heard His teachings were beautifully spiritually transformed.They were receptive to the idea that Jesus was truly a representative of divine authority, a person whose powers transcended the local government and spiritual authorities.

Although Jesus was acknowledged to be a Jewish spiritual teacher, His claim to being the Son of God was an outrageous idea to many people, especially those who held official positions of power. Jesus's very presence and growing number of followers invoked fear and anger from those threatened by His claim to divine authority.

In the Rosary for World Peace (RWP) Act III: The Sorrowful Mysteries, the challenge to the people of Jerusalem to accept Jesus as the Son of God is portrayed in the Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning With Thorns.

Jesus had been arrested and questioned by a group of corrupt Temple officials and was eventually brought to Pontius Pilate. To make their case to have Jesus crucified, the Temple officials manipulated Pilate to perceive Jesus's ministry as a potential threat to their claim to spiritual authority, Pilate's civilian authority, and, ultimately, to Caesar's kingly authority. Jesus was presented as their common enemy. In the RWP, the Pharisee Nicodemus observes, They afflicted the Spirit of His Holy One: He was turned to be their enemy (Isa 63:10).

Pontius Pilate, sensing their jealousy and envy, was sceptical of their claims. To appease their incessant demands to persecute Jesus, Pontius Pilate had Jesus brutally scourged, even though he had found no justification for the harsh punishment. By ordering the unjust scourging of Jesus, Pontius Pilate chose to cooperate with their evil intent, overturn moral law, violate the spiritual law, and initiate what was to become the state-ordered execution of Jesus.

In the RWP, God The Father observes the growing murderous travesty, fueled by the crowd's unruly and devious human nature. He remarks on the increasing rebellion against His absolute universal authority and the divine authority He has bestowed on Jesus, His Son, They have cast away the Law of the Lord of Hosts, and have blasphemed the Word of the Holy One of Israel (Isa 5:24). God The Father orders, Hearken to their voice, and make them a king (1 Kgs 8:22), creating a situation whereby the people of Jerusalem, the Temple officials, and Pilate will all have to choose a position regarding Jesus's divine person and God-given authority.

Pontius Pilate understood that Jesus's claim to divine kingship was untenable to the Temple officials. If the Temple officials acknowledged Jesus's divine authority, they would have to submit to Him, after having persecuted Him,  Shalt thou be our King? Shall we be subject to thy dominion (Gen 37:8). Pilate, who perceived their underlying murderous envy of Jesus, declares, Every man is a liar (Ps 115:11). Thy eyes and thy heart are set upon covetousness, upon shedding innocent blood (Jer 22:17). 

Jesus tells Pilate, They have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them (1 Kgs 8:7). . . The Lord thy God he hath given thee strength that he might fulfil his covenant which he swore to thy fathers as this present day sheweth (Dt 8:18). Behold I am in your hands: do with me what is good and right in your eyes: but know ye, and understand that if you put me to death, you will shed innocent blood against your own selves. For in truth the Lord sent me to you, to speak all these Words in your hearing (Jer 26:14-15).

Troubled by knowing that Jesus has unfamiliar, divine powers, Pilate questions the officials, Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to kill the Lord's anointed? (2 Kgs 1:14). Pilate appeals to their sense of justice, What has the just man done? (Ps 10:4). The rabble will not be quieted. They demand all the more, Crucify him. Crucify him. Pilate cynically challenges them again, Shall I crucify your king? (Jn 19:15). The Chief Priests choose to declare their allegiance to Roman civilian authority and respond, We have no king but Caesar (Jn 19:15).

Contemptuous of both the Temple officials and Jesus, Pilate allows Jesus to be clothed in a purple cloak of royal authority, crowned with a circlet of thorns, and presented in His mock royal regalia with a staff in His hands. The crowd roars again demanding Jesus's crucifixion. Pilate then chooses to cooperate a third time with their evil intent. He washes his hands in a public gesture of self-absolution, and orders Jesus's crucifixion, I am innocent of the blood of this innocent man (Mt 27:20). I will give thee a king in my wrath and will take him away in my indignation (Osee 13:11). The judgment of death is for this man (Jer 26:11).

Like the people of Jerusalem, the Temple officials and Pontius Pilate, we, too, need to ask ourselves to what authority are we willing to submit, if any?  Who is our king?

There are three general categories of law: spiritual, natural, and civil. The spiritual law is the bedrock of natural law and civil law, because it is based on eternal universal order and truth. Opposition to it will eventually cause harm, division, disorder, destruction, and oftentimes, death. 

Nature was created by God. God has authority over it and communicates to us, in part, through natural events and natural law. The natural law transcends political powers and human machinations. Natural law presents humanity with a specific set of constraints, which, whether acknowledged or not, will eventually become self-evident. Jesus demonstrated many times that He had spiritual authority over nature: when He initiated His public ministry by changing plain water into fine wine, multiplied loaves of bread and fishes, calmed the seas, healed the crippled and blind, and brought the dead back to life, among other manifestations of His divine authority.

Jesus did not defy the civil law, despite its corrupt officials. Instead, He permitted the authorities to choose to cooperate or not cooperate with the spiritual law. He was peacefully obedient to the civil legal process that ordered His death, because He knew that God The Father had predestined Him to die for a new spiritual awareness to spring forth on earth and initiate a new global era, where the spiritual integrity of each person, without regard to culture, wealth, or social position, would open all of humankind to His Way of Peace. In the end, there would be justice in God's Time. Eventually, the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed and the mighty Roman Empire ended. 

Like their ancestors, today's generation is more sensitive to the reality of natural law. Environmental issues have become the basis for global discussion. Through modern technology, people of all cultures, faiths, and social positions are able to seamlessly interface and foster a growing awareness of our common humanity and discuss the benefit of common civil laws of governance. At the same time, there is a growing global movement to liberate all people; there is also a growing movement, in some parts of the world, to impose more restrictive laws.

As we participate in this global evolution, we need to ask ourselves, who is our king? Do we acknowledge God and His universal spiritual law as the underpinning of natural law and civil law? God has always given angels and people the right to choose.

In the RWP, Pilate tells the clamorous crowd, Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him (Ecclu 15:18). If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: Choose this day that which pleaseth you (Jos 24:15). Choose one of them, that I may do it (2 Kgs 24:12).

Let us choose beauty, truth, goodness, and life. Let us choose to follow Jesus as our King and order our lives and relations in God's Way of Peace.

The Rosary for World Peace

 

 . . . .Be part of the PEACE!

 

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims version. www.drbo.org

© 2015 Exposition Management International 

 

 

 

                  The Wedding at Cana (Julius Schnorr Von Carolsfeld, 1820)

 

Shalom!

As we journey in our relationship with God, there are times when we are confronted with the reality of our own powerlessness. Perhaps our circumstances are caused by our own miscalculations, misunderstandings, or a lack of information. Or, we may find ourselves impacted by the behavior and choices of others, or even caught in the vagaries of world events. In any case, we may find ourselves in an unexpected predicament that only God can resolve.

As His children, we can look to God with patience to guide us out of these situations, in a manner that leads to a better quality of life with Him. Such times require loving faith and steadfastness, trusting that God will manifest His mercy toward us and bless us with His infinite bounty. Alternatively, God may permit these events to provide an opportunity for us to radically transform ourselves from within and start anew.

When, without human explanation, His blessings are suddenly bestowed and a problem resolved, there is often joyful exultation praising God. This scenario is portrayed in the Second Luminous Mystery: The Wedding in Cana.

The Wedding in Cana

We enter the scene where a wedding feast is under way. The bride, bridegroom, and their guests, including Mary, Jesus, and His disciples, are present. In accordance with Jewish Tradition, in preparation for this holy day, the bride and bridegroom would have purified themselves in atonement for their transgressions and put on matrimonial garments that symbolize their intention to enter into a new, sacred, state of being as a married couple.Their wedding would have taken place among family members and invited guests. A celebratory feast now follows the spiritual uniting of the individuals into one soul. At the feast, sanctified wine is served.

Wine is a sacred part of the Jewish wedding rite and is created through a specific ritual. In the Jewish tradition, grapes are identified with God because of their naturally occurring transformational properties that convert the common fruit into treasured vintages. Throughout the growing season, grape vines are carefully maintained and the best grapes selected and harvested to make sacramental wine.

In the Jewish marriage ceremony, the bride and bridegroom drink of the same cup of sanctified wine twice: when receiving the priestly blessing of their union and when they are blessed with the recitation of seven traditional blessings. The seven blessings refer to God's universal power of creation, including His creation of woman and man, and the blessing of marriage.

By drinking of the same cup, the bride and bridegroom signify that they have chosen to join their souls together: the two have become one and will experience the joys and sufferings of life together. By sanctifying their vows to God, in the presence of the souls of their ancestors, their families, and their wedding guests, they choose to accept God's will to continue His powers of creation through them. Through the wedding ceremony, they are transformed into a new entity and a new blessing for each other, their families, and the community: their relationship with each other and their community will never be the same again.

The wedding guests play an important role in being the first to acknowledge the transformation of the bride and bridegroom into a new spiritual entity. They also drink of the sanctified wine and serve as witnesses of the two individuals leaving their families and reentering their community, blessed by God, and as helpmates to each other. The guests celebrate their joy with them, often for the week following the wedding ceremony.

The Mystery of the Replenishment of Sacred Wine

On the third day of the wedding feast in Cana, Mary notices that the wine has run out, and she compassionately chooses to become the couple's advocate. She simply states to Jesus: They have no wine (Jn 2:3). Jesus responds: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come  (Jn 2:4). Mary turns to the waiters and tells them: Whatsoever he shalt say to you do ye (Jn 2:5).

Running out of wine could have brought shame on the newlyweds. Sanctified wine could not be easily procured. Only God's merciful intervention can resolve the problem.

Like the status of the newlyweds is transformed through the wedding ceremony, the status of Jesus, through the manner in which He chooses to assist the them, is also transformed into a new position before the community. The wedding guests are about to become witnesses of His miraculous powers, through the creation of new wine out of water: their relationship with Jesus will be changed forever.

Everyone attending the wedding feast was expected to enter the banquet in a purified state, signified by the washing of their hands, with the water provided in large stone pots. The vessels were now empty. 

Jesus instructs the waiters to fill the stone pots with fresh water: Fill the water pots with water (Jn 2:7). The waiters fill the stone pots to the brim. Then Jesus tells them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast (Jn 2:8). The waiters do as they are instructed and present the water made wine (Jn 2:9)  to the chief steward. The chief steward tastes the wine and discovers it is very good, but he does not know from where it has come.

The chief steward approaches the bridegroom and remarks: Every man at first setteth forth good wine and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou has kept the good wine until now (Jn 2:10). Jesus had not only resolved the problem, but had also bestowed an unexpected blessing by providing high-quality wine.

The newlyweds were bound to be praised by the community for their generosity and their relationship with Jesus. And Jesus, having instantly created excellent wine out of water, without engaging in the long-held rituals governing sacred-wine production, would have been regarded in a completely new way.  Through the power of God, both the couple and Jesus were transformed before the community by the problem and its resolution.

The Promise of God's Abundant Blessings

In the Rosary for World Peace Oratorio, the bounty of God's blessing is promised to His chosen ones through His Son Jesus. God The Father and Jesus perform a duet referring to God's promise to bless His chosen ones with abundance: He will love thee and multiply thee, and will bless the fruit of thy womb; and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, thy vintage, thy oil, thy herds, and the flocks of thy sheep upon the land (Dt 7:13).

God The Father affirms Jesus's power: The children of men shall put their trust under the covert of thy wings. They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure (Ps 35:8-9).

Initiated by Mary's compassion, the miracle of the water changed to wine marks the commencement of Jesus's public ministry. Jesus sings: Give drink to my people, my chosen (Isa 43:2). Hear my voice, and do all things that I command you (Jer 11:4). All the best of the wine I have given thee (Num 18:12). You shall be my people and I will be your God (Jer 11:4).

The bride and bridegroom rejoice in a duet: O hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God! (Ps 35:8). Thou has multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: in thy thoughts there is no one like to thee (Ps 39:6). Let the just feast and rejoice before God and be delighted with gladness (Ps 67:4). Jesus proclaims: Go then, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with gladness (Eccles 9:7). 

Ways of Transformation

This mystery can be contemplated from several perspectives. Like Mary, we can think of the times when we are called by love to become an advocate to God on behalf of others. Mary did not have the power to solve the problem of the bride and bridegroom; she simply presented the fact that there was no wine to Jesus and trusted that He would help them.

Many times we do not have the resources to solve the problems of others; but we, like Mary, can petition God to help them and trust in His compassionate mercy to resolve the most challenging of predicaments. 

The waiters, too, played an important role. They immediately obeyed the instructions of Mary and Jesus. Jesus elected to manifest His first public miracle before the community with the assistance of others. What the waiters were asked to do was unusual, but they completed the task without question. God may work through us as well to provide for the miraculous assistance of others. Are we willing to quickly obey without question God's promptings to help others?

Like the bride and bridegroom and wedding guests, we need to make atonement and be purified to enjoy God's banquet. What have we done that requires forgiveness? What habits, thoughts, and feelings do we need to change in order for us to turn more completely to God and become more receptive to His mercy? Like the stone pots, we may need to be emptied out, 'reach the rock bottom', to create the condition within our souls to be open to being filled up again and transformed by God's power into new spiritual vessels and serve as God's blessing to others, in unity with his creation.

And, like Mary and Jesus and the bride and bridegroom, we need courage and fortitude to leave our former identities behind and crossover the spiritual threshold to assume new spiritual identities. Will we vow to be 'married in our hearts' to God and, thus transformed, reenter our spiritual community as renewed spiritual people, to be His helpers forever?  

Exhilarated by this miraculous transformation, we can join with Mary, the Chief Wine Steward, the Bridegroom and the Bride and sing: O Lord God, Creator of all things (2 Mach 1:24). O Lord my helper and my redeemer (Ps 18:15). Let the earth bless the Lord: let it praise and exalt him above all forever (Dan 3:74).

 

The Rosary for World Peace

  . . .  be part of the PEACE!

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims version. www.drbo.org

© 2014 Exposition Management International 

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

Shalom!

There are times in our world when we are surrounded by forces intent on inflicting pain and destruction, even death. When directly impacted by these catastrophic events and persecutions, we may question why God permits those of good will to suffer. Indeed, God's power can appear to be absent, while we bear assaults.

What we experience is only one part of the eternal perspective and purpose of our lives: our immediate circumstance is part of an evolving spiritual dynamic within a universal experience of God. God grants permission for evil forces to assail us: Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the highest? (La 3:38). If we remain faithful, the effects will ultimately be for our own good and/or for the good of others. The strikes of good and evil both serve a purpose for the greater glory of God, and, hopefully, the betterment of Creation. 

The Scriptures abound with citations of innocent people being assailed by those with evil intent. Many ultimately triumphed: if not in the material realm, in the spiritual realm. For example, in the New Testament, Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judea, ordered the scourging of Jesus, even though he believed Jesus to be innocent of the charges brought against Him by a small, local, ruling junta.

Jesus chose to peacefully and patiently accept the suffering ordered by Pilate, which was permitted by God the Father. Having surrendered to God's Will for Him the night before in the Garden of Gethesemene, Jesus knew there was a greater purpose to His suffering. By becoming a victim soul in a self-sacrificial offering, Jesus became an intercessor for the souls of all eternity. The effects of His sacred suffering would reverberate throughout the generations and throughout the cosmos for all time.

When the hearts of a group of powerful men had turned against Jesus and brought Jesus to Pilate to have Him executed, Jesus chose not to escape, as He had easily done before. Instead, He deliberately chose to serve as their symbolic scapegoat and absorb their hatred and anger in the torture of His Body.

It was His choice to engage the evil emanating through these men, as a means of achieving an eternal spiritual catharsis for the benefit of the greater good for all generations. This event is portrayed in The Rosary for World Peace: An Oratorio in Four Acts in The  Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar.

Jesus was selected for persecution because of Who He said He was: the Son of God. In the Rosary for World Peace, Jesus reflects: They that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I follow goodness (Ps 37:20-21). They consulted to take away my life (Ps 30:14).

The persecutors would not accept that the Spirit of God emanated through the Person of Jesus. They sought a way to justify their persecution of Jesus by having false witnesses testify against Him, but even that attempt failed: The chief priests and all the council sought for evidence against Jesus, that they might put him to death, and found none. For many bore false witness against him, and their evidences were not agreeing (Mk 14:55-56).

The high priest asked him, art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed God? Jesus said to him: I AM. You shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God and coming with the clouds of heaven (Mk 14:61:62). For Caiphas, the High Priest, Jesus's claim to be the Son of God was blasphemous and warranted the death penalty: What need we any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What think you? Who all condemned him to be guilty of death (Mk 14: 63).

To accept Jesus's claim to kingship with God would have required Caiphas to redirect his way of life to serve God in the manner that Jesus had preached: to follow the Way of Peace through self-sacrificial love for others. This was too drastic a change for Jesus's persecutors.

By condemning Jesus, His persecutors condemned themselves. They began a descent into a path of evil that would corrupt their moral standing, deaden their consciousness, and result in their contributing to the murder of an innocent person, which was a transgression of the Sacred Law of God they were charged to uphold.

Pilate, too, would not escape the scourge of evil that resulted from his indecision to recognize the Spirit of God manifested in the Person of Jesus. In the Rosary for World Peace, Pilate's conscious is disturbed: There is none like him in the earth, a man simple, upright, fearing God, avoiding evil -- and still keeping his innocence? But thou has moved me against him that I should afflict him without cause (Job 2:3).

The stakes increased. Pilate offered Jesus's persecutors a known murderer, Barabbas, in place of Jesus, Whom he cynically named the king of the Jews: Will you that I release to you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the Chief Priests had delivered him up out of envy (Mk 15:8-10). 

Jesus's persecutors took another step toward the abyss by rejecting Pilate's offer and insisting on the death of Jesus a second time: Condemn him, condemn him, condemn him (Wis 2:20). Hearing them, Pilate reflected on their murderous rage: Their throat is an open sepulchre: The poison of asps is under their lips: their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood (Ps 13:3).

Jesus then peacefully surrendered to the suffering His persecutors demanded and Pilate ordered: Then did I pay that which I took not away (Ps 68:5). They rejoiced against me, and came together: scourges were gathered together upon me (Ps 34:15). Silently, Jesus submitted to the terrible torture that would tear flesh from His bones and pour His sacred blood to the ground.

Like Jesus and His persecutors, when engaged in conflict, we must ultimately choose the purpose of our intent. His persecutors chose to use their hateful, jealous frustration and murderous anger to manipulate the Sacred Law and ignore the absence of evidence, as required by the Law, to justify their request to Pilate to crucify Jesus. Aware of the contradiction, they appealed to the civil law to remedy their conflict with the Sacred Law.

Pilate initially chose to remain aloof from the clamor to murder Jesus. In the end, he capitulated to the demands of Jesus's persistent persecutors to protect his own material self-interest: Pilate desired to keep in good standing with the Roman Empire by maintaining order in Jerusalem. He, mirroring the manipulations of Jesus's persecutors, also ignored the absence of evidence, as required by the Roman civil law. His decision to have Jesus scourged gave Jesus's persecutors a foothold and opened the gateway to even more devious persecution.

Jesus chose to become a silent witness to the evil perpetrated upon Him. The vicious scourging that would rip flesh from His bones initiated the blood letting that would lead to His death. His wounds would forever mark the transgressions perpetrated upon Him and the spiritual darkness that has existed in this world throughout the generations. His bodily sacrifice would be offered up to God the Father as a means to transmute the evil of His persecutors through all time, if only they would choose to accept God's gift of merciful forgiveness and love and enter into peaceful communion with Him. 

When engaged in conflict in our generation, we need to choose to be fully conscious of the material and spiritual effects of our decisions. Our intent is the linchpin for choosing our journey either into greater spiritual darkness or into greater spiritual light. Choosing to remain indecisive is a choice as well and can be manipulated by others to cause unjust harm to innocent people, for which we will be responsible. Our choices, too, will resound throughout the generations. Let us choose the path of self-sacrificial love to assist God in the positive transformation of Creation to expand His Kingdom on Earth. 

 

The Rosary for World Peace

    . . .  Be Part of the Peace! 

 

 

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims Version. The Holy Bible. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1989. 

www.drbo.org

© 2014 Exposition Management International 

 

 

 

 

 

                  The Agony in the Garden (Paul Gauguin 1848-1903)

 

Shalom!

God made the world as an expression of His desire to share His Love with humans: intelligent beings created with the capacity to choose to freely love in return. Our world is ordered towards God’s Glory. God gave human beings dominion to rule over the earth, in accord with the God-given “natural law”, which is encompassed within a transcendent, supernatural, Divine Order, the principles of which have been handed down through the ages. God's intricate, natural law is self-evident in universal truths that can be independently observed by all humankind. For example, the sun rises in the morning and the moon rises at night. The Divine Order and natural law also govern human relationships. 

While human beings have been given the capacity to freely love, they also have been given the capacity to freely hate and act to destroy each other and the perfect world God has given us, within the boundaries of God's Power. God is all knowing and all powerful and only permits destruction when there is the opportunity to transmute its effects into a greater personal and/or universal enlightenment and desire for God's Eternal Love: for God is Love.       

When there are disturbances to the natural order and violations of the universal, Divine Order, terrible suffering can ensue and total peace cannot be achieved: evil is revealed and its consequences are shared by all.  As the prophet Baruch admonished, Thou has forsaken the fountain of wisdom. If thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt in peace forever (Bar 3:12-13).*  We are part of God's Creation and He shares in the agony of suffering with us and we with Him.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to teach and enable humankind to return to union with God, the only source of perfect Peace and pure Love. He also taught how to interact with those who act to attack and harm those who choose to follow His Way of Peace. Jesus, the "new Adam", demonstrated through His life, death, and Resurrection, how the power of God's Love triumphs and transmutes the darkest evil, thereby instituting a pathway to the restoration of God's perfect Divine Order for all Creation.

Jesus's teachings are rooted in the ancient Mosaic Law. God had given the great prophet Moses, an Israelite, the Ten Commandments, known as the Mosaic Law, to serve as guideposts to achieve harmony between people and with the Divine Order. Jesus did not come to abolish the original Mosaic Law of Israel, but to fulfill it.

Jesus said, Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:16-20).*

One of the precepts of Jesus's Way of Peace acknowledges the freedom of each individual soul to choose not only to love God, but also to choose to be freely obedient to Him and live in solidarity with Him. Being obedient to the Divine Will and living in solidarity with God often requires sharing in the universal agony experienced by interacting with those who have chosen to follow a path of destruction and personally enduring the suffering caused by their actions.

Despite the wisdom of Jesus's teachings, there are those in the world who continue to choose to follow the path of violence and live in opposition to the natural law and the Divine Order, causing suffering for themselves and others.

For a soul who acknowledges that it has been operating in opposition to the Divine Order and desires to reestablish a harmonious balance with God and community, Jesus offers a restorative bridge, through sincere repentance and merciful forgiveness.

By living in accord with the Way of Peace, both the individual and its community can become whole and balanced again, mitigating the effects of the communal weakness and suffering caused by the painful fracturing of division both between and among its members. Jesus's Way of Peace provides a method to speed the healing of disruptions, while ensuring that justice prevails.  

In Jesus's time, a growing number of people understood and accepted the wisdom of His teachings; others realized they would have to change their ways of living to follow His Way of Peace: they would have to master their natural instincts that caused harm to others.

Some recognized they would have to let go of human-made constructs, strong feelings of hatred and anger, and quests for power and revenge that impeded the fulfillment of God's Love-based Law and directives. As a result, Jesus's introduction of the Way of Peace came with great personal suffering to Himself and to His followers.

At the time of Jesus, the Christ, Israel was occupied by Roman forces. Some of Jesus's followers understandably expected Jesus to fulfill their expectations for the powerful, prophetic Messiah to lead Israel to political victory and end the Roman regime. While the Roman occupation of Israel eventually did end, the teachings Jesus initiated would grow and supercede both the eras of the Roman Empire and the great Temple of Jerusalem . . . in God's Time.

Jesus's teachings and claim to spiritual kingship presented an obstacle to a strong, corrupt sub-group's power and ambitions. These individuals formed an alliance that served to justify their bold, calculated, and brutal actions against Jesus and His disciples.They leveraged their established relationships with the Temple leaders and with the governors of the occupying Roman Empire against Jesus to achieve their goals of executing Him and intimidating His followers into submitting to them.

A dichotomy emerged: just as Jesus intended to use His suffering to mercifully redeem and liberate humankind to live in harmony with the God for all time, this sub-group intended to use Jesus's suffering as a way to ensure their immediate control of the people. 

Jesus's experience of embarking on a path of suffering for the purpose of the redemption of all of humankind is described in The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary for World Peace: An Oratorio in Four Acts (RWP). 

In The First Sorrowful Mystery, The Agony in the Garden, Jesus struggles with coming to terms with God's Will for Him in the Garden of Gethesemane. Deep, supernatural agony was to precede Jesus's physical agony. An extraordinary event was about to take place, the spiritual effects of which would resound throughout the generations.

The First Sorrowful Mystery begins with a lamentation. The Apostle Matthew sings, We looked for peace and no good came: for a time of healing, and behold fear (Jer 8:15).* Michael the Archangel observes the opposition group, The unjust hath said within himself, that he would sin: there is no fear of God before his eyes . . .  In His sight he hath done deceitfully, that his iniquity may be found unto hatred (Ps 35:2).* 

The Apostle Peter bitterly complains, Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God hast Thou deceived this people and Jerusalem saying: you shall have peace: and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul (Jer 4:10).* God the Father retorts: There is no peace to the wicked (Isa 48:22).* The apostles would have to bear the suffering caused by those who had turned against His Son Jesus.

Jesus prayed intensely through the night, enduring a supernatural agony of the soul: They repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love (Ps 108:4-5).* Jesus asked God to take the suffering away from Him, while at the same time He respectfully subordinated His request to God's Will for Him: All things are possible to Thee: Remove this chalice from me; but not what I will, but Thou wilt (Mk 14:35-36). 

Obedient to God's Divine Will, Jesus acquiesced to be used  as an eternal, heroic agent for the salvation of all humankind. His suffering and death would act to transmute the evil forces of destruction that permeate God's Creation into a Love-based force for the restoration of God's Creation, thereby opening for all humankind a pathway to peace: a perpetual, divine remedy for restoring all ages into balance with the universal, Divine Order. 

Jesus's surrender to God's Will brought Him peace. He roused the sleeping apostles to meet His betrayer, the Apostle Judas, who arrived accompanied by the militia to arrest Him. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him but permitted Judas to fulfill his evil intent, because Jesus's passion was necessary for the greater salvation of humankind.

Judas identified Jesus with a kiss. Without protest, Jesus submitted to the militia's control. He was quickly arrested, as all of His most beloved friends and disciples abandoned Him to His fate.

We, like Jesus, may encounter times in our lives when we are invited to share in Jesus's agony of body and soul. We can choose to follow our human instinct to avoid suffering or accept and obey God's Will and offer our suffering to intercede for others. We may be called to endure immense physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual pain.

For example, we may be betrayed by those closest to us, endure deliberate acts aimed to alienate or destroy us, or bear the pain caused by the inherent weaknesses of human nature that often results in devastating personal and global tragedies. 

As instruments of the Divine Will, we may be called to patiently bear the suffering of a friend, family member, or act for a just cause, at great personal sacrifice.

We may live in times and places where there is institutional opposition to God's Way of Peace and organized group destruction of God's beautiful Creation. Like Jesus and His apostles, we may be confronted by those who have aligned to insult and assault us and God's Creation, using every means of treachery and deceit: even leveraging institutional lines of authority and the manipulation of information and laws against us, in a travesty of justice. We may experience the consequences of wars, abuses of nature, and the corruption of local, national, and global systems. 

In obedience to the Divine Will, we may need to surrender our personal ambitions to compensate for the weaknesses of others, who are unable or unwilling to act in accordance with the Divine Will, or who are themselves vulnerable or victims of destructive forces and ideologies.

It is at these times of deep personal, self-sacrificial suffering that we share in God's Agony. Like Jesus, by giving ourselves to prayer and refusing to become hateful and bitter, we can choose to persist in lovingly surrendering to the Divine Will and offer to be used as God's intercessors for the greater good of His Creation.

Surrendering our souls to the Divine Will and obeying the Divine Law will permit us to spiritually transmute and transform hatred into love, purifying ourselves, as we intercede for others and defend God's Creation. Through intercessional suffering, we can more readily attain the gift of conformity with the image and likeness of God and transcend the constraints of this world to live freely in alignment with the Divine Order. 

Responding to Jesus's call to love our enemies, each soul can choose to serve as a bridge for others to cross to be reconciled and live once again in harmony with God. 

Through the power of God, each soul can supernaturally reach beyond its particular time and place, culture and race to join others who also have chosen to live in harmony with the Divine Will and Divine Order.

As our spiritual, global community grows, we can choose to grow in the Way of Peace, as a means to maintain harmony with each other, for the benefit of all Creation, and the sustainability of our civilization for generations to come.  

The Rosary for World Peace

    . . .  Be Part of the Peace! 

 

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims Version. The Holy Bible. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1989. 

www.drbo.org

© 2014 Exposition Management International 

 

 

 

 

 

                              The Last Supper (Bouveret, 1852-1929)

Shalom!

God is the source of Eternal Light and Love. Often, we encounter God in the manner in which we search for Him: we can be consoled in seeing the beauty and power of nature, experiencing works of art, or delving into the stillness of transcendent prayer.

While these are positive ways of experiencing God, God is also present in the darkness:  I am the Lord, and there is none else: I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord . . . do all things (Isa 45: 6-7). It is this challenging aspect of God that is considered in The Rosary for World Peace Oratorio, in the Fifth Luminous Mystery: The Institution of the Eucharist.

The Mystery begins with Jesus directing His apostles to prepare for the Pasch, a religious observance of Israel. The Pasch, or Passover Seder, commemorates the release of the Jewish people from slavery under Pharoah, in ancient Egypt. The Lord God was the primary mover of the evil and good actions of both Pharoah, who enslaved the Israelites, and the Israelite prophet Moses, who liberated the Israelites.

The Lord instructed Moses to repeatedly tell Pharoah to release the Israelites from slavery. He gave Moses spiritual powers to signify to Pharoah that Moses was representing the authority of God. Moses did as God commanded.

However, the Lord hardened Pharoah's heart and he continued to refuse Moses's directive nine times. Each time Pharoah refused, he and the Egyptians were severely afflicted. Finally, the Lord God instructed Moses to tell Pharoah that all the firstborn sons of Egypt would be killed, if the Israelies were not freed. Still Pharoah was obstinate.

God then ordered the Israelites to mark their door posts with the  blood of a sacrificial lamb: the Lord would "pass over" their houses and their firstborn sons would be spared. Faced with the subsequent carnage, Phaorah finally relented and ordered the 600,000 Israelite men and their families to leave immediately. Because of the haste in which the freed Israelites left Egypt, only unleavened bread, matzo, was taken on their journey.

In the Seder, a prayer marks this time of terrible suffering. Three matzos are placed before the Seder leader, who takes the center matzo and says: This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in Egypt. This year here, next year in Jerusalem. This year slaves, next year free.

Jesus observed the Pasch tradition and celebrated it with His disciples. During the Seder, Jesus confronted the presence of a dark spirit among them: One of you that eateth with me shall betray me (Mk 14:18). Woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him, if that man had not been born (Mt 14:21).

The apostles were stunned to hear this and asked: Is it I (Mk 14:19). Jesus responded: One of the twelve who dippeth with me his hand in the dish (Mk 14:19). Judas, the apostle who was to betray Him, asked with the rest, Is it I? (Mt 26:25) Jesus responded, Thou hast said it (Mt  26:25). Like God through Moses with Pharoah, Jesus did not ignore the dark spirit in Judas, but exposed it and foretold Judas of the consequences of his actions. 

Jesus then took the unleavened bread into His hands. He blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His apostles saying: Take ye. This is my body (Mk14:22). He then took a chalice of sacramental wine, gave thanks, and passed it to His disciples saying: This is my blood, of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many (Mk 14:23-24). Jesus then foretold of His imminent death and Resurrection: I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new in the kingdom of God (Mk 14:25).

Jesus, in a physical/mystical manner, called transubstantiation, became the Living Body and Blood of the sacrificial lamb of the Pasch and instituted a means of redeeming and protecting the people of God for all time, from both spiritual darkness and enslavement to Satan. God the Father permitted Jesus's Body to be broken and His Blood to be shed to enable His Light to illuminate the darkest recesses of souls. Pierced by God's Light, souls enslaved in darkness can choose to follow Him to freedom of body and spirit or remain in eternal darkness. 

Later, Jesus and His apostles made their way to the Mount of Olives, where Jesus was soon to be arrested. Along the way, He said: You will all be scandalized this night; for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep shall be dispersed. But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you to Galilee (Mk 14: 26-28). 

Peter immediately protested, saying that he would not be scandalized by Jesus's public suffering. Jesus confronted the darkness lurking in Peter's soul: I say to thee, to day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice (Mk 14:29-30). In both the case of Pharoah and that of the apostles, God the Father and Jesus exposed their vulnerabilities and permitted them to change their ways and freely choose to follow His Light or remain in darkness.

In the Rosary for World Peace Oratorio, the Holy Spirit announces: Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is near, the Lord hath prepared a victim, he hath sanctified his guests (Soph 1:7). He hath sent redemption to his people: He hath commanded his covenant forever (Ps 110:9). Jesus sings: Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou has anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it (Ps 22:5).

Judas is aghast at Jesus's willingness to sacrifice Himself: he had had different expectations of Jesus and now Jesus has thwarted Judas's personal ambitions as a disciple.

Judas is greatly disturbed, saying: His life is not like other men's, His ways are very different (Wis 2:15). Jesus presses on: Because the life of the flesh is in the blood: I have given it to you, that you may make atonement with it upon the altar of your souls and the blood may be for an expiation of the soul (Lev 17:11). 

Judas is alarmed by Jesus's revelation: He boasteth that he hath knowledge of God, and calleth himself the Son of God (Wis 2:13).

Judas is distressed that his relationship with Jesus will result in his being rejected by his powerful and unscrupulous friends: I am become a fear to my acquaintance (Ps 30:12). Indeed, the price of Judas's relationship with Jesus has become too high for Judas to bear.

He turns against Jesus and aligns with a group of powerful, and like-minded scribes and Pharisees. In His ministry, Jesus has revealed their corruption.

Increasing numbers of oppressed Jews were gravitating toward Jesus, for relief from the corrupt scribes and Pharisees and the Roman occupying forces. Their power threatened, these self-interested Pharisees and scribes criticize Jesus and galvanize aggression toward Him: He is become a censurer of our thoughts. He is grievous unto us, even to behold (Wis 2:14-15).

The Temple Scribe I observes: He is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with transgressions of the law (Wis 2:12). Pharisee I sings: He devulgeth against us the sins of our way of life (Wis 2:12). Their anger soon turns to murderous thoughts.

The Chief Priest schemes: Let us wait in blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause (Prov 1:11). Satan enters the fray, singing with the Chief Priest in a duet: Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit (Prov 1:12).

Like God, through Moses with Pharoah, Jesus warns: Let them be confounded and shamed that seek after my soul (Ps 34:4). Woe to them that are of double heart and to wicked lips, and the hands that do evil, and to the sinner that goeth on the earth two ways (Ecclus 2:14). 

But now they are resolute. Angered by Jesus's very Presence, they demand: When shall he die and his name perish? (Ps 40:6).

As God commanded Moses, Jesus, the Son of God, commands: I am who am. He who is hath sent me to you (Ex 3:14). This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made you (Ex 24:8).

Forthrightly rejecting Jesus's authority, the group chooses to plan to brutally kill him: Let us condemn him to a most shameful death (Wis 2:20).

They progress in their sinful madness, mocking Jesus and testing God: Let us see then if his words be true, let us prove what shall happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be. For if he be the true Son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies (Wis 2:17-18).

Jesus accepts their decision and the temporary, earthly power that God the Father has permitted to allow each of them to choose to follow His Light or enter deeper into spiritual darkness. Jesus reflects: They that held the law knew me not (Jer 2:8). Even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted me (Ps 40:10). 

Judas, by his choice to turn against Jesus, put himself on a path of self-destruction. In less than a day's time, Judas and Jesus would both die: Judas would commit suicide, seemingly entering eternal darkness; Jesus would be killed by others, in an offering of sacred Self-Sacrifice, entering into Eternal Light.

Jesus's initial action of breaking the bread at the Pasch shone a cleansing, brilliant light into the darkness of Judas's soul and that of His wavering apostles. Jesus's interactions with the corrupt group of scribes and Pharisees exposed their underlying evil motives and intentions. Jesus, ransomed to God in atonement for the sins of the people, will fully experience the murderous darkness of evil, but will not succomb to it: although He will suffer a tortuous death, He will also be resurrected and reappear to His disciples. 

When we are surrounded by evil, we can be consoled that we can also encounter God's piercing and cleansing Light and Love. By turning to God, our souls can choose to breakthrough the darkness and be enlivened and enlightened by His Love.

Through Jesus's power, we, too, can share in the breaking of the sacred bread, in self-sacrificial, common-union with Jesus, through the sacrament of Communion. By consuming Jesus's Body and Blood, we can choose to vanquish the darkness of our own souls, illuminated by His Light and Love; or, we can choose to subsume our souls ever more deeply into spiritual darkness and be enslaved for eternity.

May we have the courage to follow Jesus's powerful path of sacred self-sacrifice and re-enter, with Him, whole in body and spirit, into the freedom of the Eternal Light and Love of God. 

 

The Rosary for World Peace

 . . . . be part of the PEACE!

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims Version. www.drbo.org

**Douay Rheims Version. The Holy Bible. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1989. 

© 2014 Exposition Management International 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shalom!

God calls us through many paths to enter into His Heart of Love, the Source of creation and unending re-creation. Immersed in His Love, we can be purified and transformed into more perfect spiritual beings. One path to His Love is meditative prayer and interior calm, when we can still our souls and become more aware of His Presence and open to renewal by His Grace. However, in the stillness, we may hear another call from God: to go out into the world and bring His Love to others through a path of active transformation. In the Rosary for World Peace Oratorio, this mission is revealed in The Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration of Jesus. 

The mystery begins when Jesus leaves the crowds and climbs a mountain, accompanied by his apostles Peter, James, and John. At the top of the mountain, God manifests Himself in a great, bright, cloud tower. Suddenly, Jesus is transfigured into a spiritual being of white light. The ancient prophets, Moses and Elias, appear in spirit and talk with him.

The apostles are astounded at the scene before them: Jesus is appearing in union with the most important prophets of ancient Israel and is conversing with them. In an instant, they see Jesus's spiritual stature and holiness revealed and witness His communion within an eternal spiritual dimension. Immersed in God's Light, Jesus is One with Him in the Light.

God's voice speaks through the cloud: This is my most beloved son. Hear ye him (Mk  9:6). That Jesus is chosen by God there can be no doubt. And he, like the prophets Moses and Elias before him, has been given a special mission by God. While Jesus is transfigured into a spiritual being of Light, God simultaneously instructs Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus. They are to be included in Jesus's special mission.

But Jesus's mission is very different from what the apostles had anticipated of the Christ. Jesus soon instructs them: not to tell any man what things they had seen: till the Son of man shall be risen again from the dead (Mk 9:8). This was a cause of wonder and confusion for them, as the apostles could not fathom what Jesus meant when he said: when he shall be risen from the dead (Mk 9:8-9). Why would Jesus talk about death at such a moment of miraculous glory?

Having encountered the renowned ancient prophet Elias in the present, they suppose a connection between Elias and Jesus. They question Jesus: "Why do the Pharisees and scribes say that Elias must come first? (Mk 9:10). In response, Jesus reveals His mission: Elias, when he shall come first, shall restore all things; and as it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things and be despised (Mk 9:11).

Jesus explains that Elias had already come and fulfilled his special mission: I say to you that Elias also is come, (and they have done to him whatsoever they would,) as is written of him (Mk 9:12). Jesus brings to their attention that John the Baptist had continued the work of the  powerful prophet Elias, and was murdered by Herod. Jesus foreshadows for them His predestined death, too, as foretold in Scriptures.

At once, the apostles are informed of a different pathway to God, a way that takes courage, immense faith, and sacrificial love to fulfill. The self must die to bring God's Love and Light to others over time. The suffering is cruel, brutal and short, but the spiritual effects last and radiate throughout the world for eternity, bringing salvific transformation to others.

In the Rosary for World Peace Oratorio, Jesus states a simple truth about the spiritual state of the times: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant . . . I alone am left and they seek my life to take it away (3 Kgs 19:14). God the Father does not deny that Jesus is being targeted to be killed. He foretells the specific actions that will lead to Jesus's death by crucifixion: Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine he shall wash his garment in the blood of the grape (Gen 49:11).

God the Father also reveals His eternal promise and the awesome purpose for Jesus's suffering, by referencing another great figure in the history of Israel, King David, from whom Jesus descends. He sings: Peace be with thee: fear not, thou shalt not die (Judg 6:23). I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: he shall open, and none shall shut: he shall shut, and none shall open (Isa 22:22). Fear not, I am thy protector and thy reward exceeding great (Gen 15:1). I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever (1 Para 17:11-12). He tells Jesus: Thou art my son, this day I have begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession (Ps 2:7-8).

Then God the Father announces Jesus's mission in an aria, singing: Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, for a law shall go forth from me, my judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations. My just one is near at hand, my saviour is gone forth, my arms shall judge the people (Isa 51:4-5).

Elias affirms the purpose of Jesus's mission: The Lord was willing to sanctify him to magnify the law, and exalt it (Isa 42:21). That the kingdom and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom . . . all kings shall serve him and obey him (Dan 7:27). 

Jesus obeys the call of God The Father and accepts His mission. He sings a duet with the prophet Elias, joining the present with the eternal spiritual world: My people will sit in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of confidence, and wealthy rest (Isa 32:18). The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great (Isa 32:5).

At once, Satan is poised to attack, snarling: He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation. He will toss thee like a ball into a large spacious country: there shalt thou die (Isa 22:18). But Mary, ever faithful, encourages Jesus and hints at the manner of the manifestation of Jesus's  kingdom: Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty. With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully (Ps 44:4-5) Make men learned of heart in wisdom (Ps 89:12).

Jesus's mission of transformation begins with the goal of bringing God's Law of Love and Peace to all people, in truth, meekness, and justice. He will change all of humankind by teaching them by appealing to the subtle, intelligent, wisdom of the heart: the seat of God's Love. 

We can contemplate how Jesus responded to God's call to go apart from the crowds and journey up the mountain to encounter Him. God may call us too to break away from our tasks at hand to encounter Him in a sacred place.

On the mountain, Jesus was open to the message of His ancestral prophets, Moses and Elias. These wise men had much to share with Jesus about the mission before Him.

We, too, can learn from the lessons of our ancestors, as the ancient words and thoughts are applicable to the present world, and coexist with it.

The spiritual world encompasses the material world, which continually grows and decays. Timeless and perfect, the spiritual world transcends the transient material world, and exists for eternity, affecting the past, present, and future. Jesus's earthly transfiguration prefigured His Resurrection: both incidents showed His apostles God's holy, luminous, spiritual quality that permeates through the material boundaries of life and death. This truth Jesus embraced when He embarked on His mission. His life was soon to be sacrificed, His material body destroyed, in order to achieve the greater transformation of the kingdom of earth into the spiritual embodiment of God, through the Law of God: the Law of Love and Peace.

His mission was no less than to unalterably transform global civilization for all time and eternity, by uniting the eternal, spiritual kingdom of God with the earthly, material kingdom of God. His mission was not to be accomplished by military power and indiscriminate violence, but through personal self-sacrifice and transcendent wisdom that would penetrate the hearts and minds of individuals and nations incrementally: little by little and by degrees (Dt 7:22) to gradually manifest a more enlightened global society governed by God's Law of Peace and Love.

Jesus's encounter with the prophets and God the Father physically changed Him. When He came down from the mountain, the people recognized that He had been touched by God: all the people were astonished and struck with fear; and running to him saluted him (Mk 9:14). On point, Jesus asks them: What do you question about among you? (Mk 9:15).

Through His transfiguration, Jesus became even more deeply set apart from the people. He had been given a mission: an agony He was charged to endure alone. While His apostles would witness and later mirror His sacrificial path in their own lives, first Jesus had to show the way by personally confronting the evil nature of the people, accepting their vicious attacks, and transmuting their evil into love of God.

This painful experience required a total immersion in the depths of evil, at the terrible cost of His own earthly life. And yet, like the experience of God in stillness and peace, His mission of transformation will lead to union with God in a very intimate way: His soul will release Itself into God's eternal Love, while He endures physical, emotional, and psychological pain. Like Jesus, God calls us to transform our souls through selfless outward acts of sacrifice, to magnify His Love and Light to others.

May we be blessed with the courage and fortitude of Jesus, as we selflessly become transformed and transfigured into the image and likeness of God, through the grace of His Light, Love, and Peace.

 

The Rosary for World Peace

 . . . . be part of the PEACE!

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims Version. www.drbo.org

**Douay Rheims Version. The Holy Bible. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1989. 

© 2014 Exposition Management International 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       
                                         God's Eye (Courtesy of NASA)

Shalom!

We live in a world where many people clamor for peace, but there is no peace: Peace, peace: and there was no peace (Jer 6:14)*. There are many reasons there is no peace between nations, religions, cultures, neighbors, family members, and, at times, even between friends. We can live without peace within our own minds, hearts, and souls and become overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety, fear, and anger that can lead to exterior expressions and actions.

A state of disequlibrium causes disturbance within and without and can grow into ever greater turmoil, with devastating results: a cycle of division, confusion, corruption, chaos, and death can follow. But how can we return to a state of equilibrium, tranquility, and harmony? In God there is hope. For before there were nations and cultures, before there were communities and people, there was God, and, by returning to the source of all creation, we can renew ourselves and  all our relationships in His eternal peace and love.

In the Rosary for World Peace Oratorio, The Third Luminous Mystery: The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, Jesus heralds God's Way of Peace.

The Mystery begins with the Holy Spirit appealing to God: Appoint O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men (Ps 9:21). God The Father orders Jesus to go into the earthly world: Hear O Jesus, Thou high priest, Thou and thy friends for they are portending men: Behold I will bring my servant the Orient (Za 3:8). Take up the ark of the covenant and go before the people (Jos 3:6). A path and a way shall be there, it shall be called the Holy Way (Isa 35:8). God's servant, Jesus, 'the Orient', rises like the sun to enlighten the world** to this Holy Way of  God.

Jesus bases His teachings on the foundation of ten ancient and supraeternal commandments to guide all people for all time: the law that is forever (Bar 4:1). The commandments were given to Moses by God and placed in the Ark of the Covenant. The commandments of God summarize the tenets of God's Law, guiding us to His Holy Way of living that results in peace for ourselves and others. The commandment is a lamp, and the law of light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life (Prov 6:23). All they that keep it shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it to death (Bar 4:1). 

The commandments are based on the natural order, beginning with our interior relationship with God, our Creator, and extending to our exterior orientations and behaviors with our neighbor and community. The first commandment is to love God: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole souls, and with thy whole strength (Dt 6:5).

By living in communion with God, Who is the origin and eternal source of all peace and love, one can experience interior stability of one's heart, mind, and soul. This interior peace will radiate from the interior self to the exterior world, for: the kingdom of God is within (Lk 17:21). When we love God first, the correct order of love for others naturally follows.

Because God gave us the gift of free will, to choose to love Him of our own accord, we have a choice to follow the commandments, or not to follow them. It is the choice to neither follow the commandments nor pursue a virtuous life that causes disturbance within one's self and in the exterior world. When we go against the Way of God, we go against our very selves, for we are in Him (1 Jn 2:5) and He is in us all (Eph 4:6). In God there is: all grace of the way and of the truth . . . all hope of life and virtue (Eccles 24:25).

Like John the Baptist, Jesus urges the people to repent, return, to the Way of God: Do penance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt 4:17). Doing penance marks a critical turning point for our souls, for it represents an exterior acknowledgment that there has been an interior departure from the Way of God. To return to God requires a reorientation of our interior self and a redirection of our exterior behavior marked by feelings of sorrow and contrition, exemplified by acts of self-denial, meditation, contemplation, and charity. Love of God grows within through repentance.The clarity gained by self-observing one's interior will is essential to re-establishing  harmony with God and will assist in recalibrating our exterior interactions with others.

While calling us to penance, Jesus offers mercy and compassion to sinners, the law breakers. He commands that we forgive our enemies: You have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on the right cheek, turn to him also the other (Mt 5:38-39). 

To choose to live with God in peace requires forgiving those who have hurt us and freeing ourselves from our entanglement with them. Like us, they can choose to continue to follow a path of destruction or choose to follow the Holy Way of God's Peace and live in concert with Him.

Jesus goes on to instruct: You have heard that is hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: pray for them that persecute and calumniate you (Mt 5:43-44). For if you will forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offenses: but if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offenses (Mt 6:14-15). 

Jesus states a simple fact: if we choose to continue to engage in interior and exterior violence in our emotions, thoughts, and actions, we cannot experience God's Peace. It is only by choosing to let go of interior and exterior aggression and disarm our destructive thinking, feelings, and behaviors that we can love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole strength, and become free again to live joyfully in His peace.

We are not to become attached to thoughts of revenge, which are an obstacle to peace. God is not insensitive to the need for justice, but revenge belongs to God alone: Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time (Dt 32:35).

Those who have knowledge of God's Laws are commanded to be merciful to their enemies: If thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat: if he thirst, give him water to drink (Prov 25:21). 

We need to accept that even if we forgive our enemies and show them mercy and compassion, they may never choose to seek peace or express any interest in learning God's Holy Way. Consumed by their anger, arrogance, and confusion, they may choose to follow the path of corruption, chaos, and death: and we may suffer greatly.

Even then, God gives us the choice to transform our suffering through the cross into a transcendent act of merciful intercession for them and the purification of ourselves.

Our responsibility is to mirror God's Way of Peace for our enemies. By keeping focused on God and allowing His mercy and compassion to work through us, we can be delivered from the darkness of sin. When we place our love for God first, we can choose to steadfastly continue on His Holy Way, despite destructive actions against us. Our desire for ourselves and for our enemies should be the same, that we: turn away from evil and do good: seek after peace and pursue it (Ps 33:15). We should not be against each other, but be together for God.

As His disciples, Jesus calls us to let God's Light shine through us to enlighten others to the Holy Way of Peace: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, who is in heaven (Mt 5:16).

Every day, the people of our earthly world either choose to walk along together, following God's Holy Way of Peace, or choose to leave the path to follow their own way deeper into the darkness. Let us pray that more people will become enlightened to the eternal Law of God's Peace and walk in His Holy Way with humility, mercy, compassion, and love to increase peace here on earth.

The Rosary for World Peace

 . . . be part of the PEACE!

 

*All Scripture verses are from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims Version. www.drbo.org

**Douay Rheims Version.The Holy Bible. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1989.  (Za 3:8), p.1014, footnote.

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