(The following is taken from the booklet, "Faith and common sense", +
Imprimatur: Most Reverend John F. Whealon, Archbishop of Hartford):
Jesus was born in the
town of Bethlehem during the reign of Caesar Augustus. Brought up in Nazareth,
He began to preach publicly during the reign of Tiberius Caesar. For
approximately three years He taught the Jewish crowds wherever He could find
them. He held out to them the fulfillment of their ancient hopes of a Messias,
but a spiritual fulfillment. The Jews did not entirely accept that, and Jesus
made enemies of the Pharisees and others in Jewish life by His popularity. They
decided to do away with Him. He was condemned on a charge of making Himself
equal to God, and then crucified by the Roman authorities of Palestine. On the
third day after His death he arose from the dead. Forty days later He ascended
into heaven from the little group of his disciples gathered on Mt. Olivet near
Jerusalem.
No man ever taught as this man. The wisdom of the sages of the earth is as
nothing compared to His. He worked miracles. The Gospels describe more than
forty of them in detail, and mention many more in general. He cured such things
as leprosy, paralysis, hemorrhage, deafness, blindness, dropsy and fever. He
changed water into wine, silenced tempests, walked upon water, and multiplied
bread and fish a thousandfold. He brought three dead people back to life: the
son of the widow of Naim, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus.
These were not sleight-of-hand tricks, “Faith-healing” of people who only
thought they were sick, or natural cures. They were done in the open upon people
who were known to be incurable sick. Consider the story told by John (John 9) of
the man born blind. He had spent his adult life begging at the gate of the
Temple. The Lord cured him by sending him to the Pool of Siloe to wash. He went
and washed and saw.
The adversaries of Christ were not fools, but well-educated men. They could
not admit a miracle from His hands any more than the modern critics can. They
investigated. First, they implied that a switch had been made between a blind
man and one with sight who resembled him. But the people who knew the beggar
identified him.
It was intimated that medicine had been used to work the cure. “What did he
do to thee? How did he open thy eyes?” they demanded (John 9:26). The blind man
could only reply that the Lord had anointed his eyes with clay and sent him to
wash in the Pool of Siloe. Blocked in this way the Jews cast doubt on whether
the man had been blind at all. But his parents testified he had been blind from
birth.
The force of logic
When all this examination failed, the Jews tried to break down the man’s
story by bluff. They pointed out that the cure was done on the Sabbath. God must
be responsible for miracles, but God would not violate the Sabbath rest by
working a miracle. To this bit of tortured theology the blind man opposed the
facts. “Not from the beginning of the world has it been heard that anyone opened
the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do
nothing,” he said (John 9:32-33).
This logic was indisputable, so they cast him out of their presence. But
the facts remained, and the facts have never been explained–unless we accept the
fact that God was with Jesus Christ.
That is the inescapable conclusion that follows from the existence of real
miracles. This world runs down its own track, precisely repeating over and over
again the same actions. The observed course of things becomes so clear and
constant that we make “laws” to give it expression.
“Whatever goes up, must come down,” we say. That it can go up, we do not
deny. As long as some force greater than gravity works on it, it goes up. A ball
goes up and up as long as it has the force of the bat behind it. An airplane
stays aloft as long as its speed is great enough to overcome gravity.
The only higher power in control of such forces, of course, is God. Doctors
can cure; they cannot create life. Yet Jesus of Nazareth raised Lazarus from the
dead. He did not cure him. Lazarus was not in a coma; he was dead. Christ
recreated life in him. No man can do that, no angel, no devil. Only God is the
master of life and death.
So also with the greatest miracle of all, His own death and resurrection.
He did what no man can do–He predicted His own death in precise detail. He said
He would be killed in a most unusual way. He predicted that He would be betrayed
to the Jews, condemned by them to death, and then delivered to the Gentiles to
be mocked and spit upon and scourged and crucified. And on the third day He
would rise again.
Death and resurrection
That was exactly what happened. He was scourged inhumanly by Roman
soldiers. Condemned men often died under that torture. Christ did not. He was
taken to a hill outside Jerusalem, His hands and feet were nailed to a cross,
and He was raised up and left there to die in slow agony. The end came with
unexpected suddenness, but there was no doubt that it was the end. He himself
"cried out with a loud voice, and gave up his spirit” (Matt. 27:50).
The Jews insisted on the execution being brought to an end before the
Sabbath day concluded. Consequently, the soldiers on the execution detail killed
the two thieves who were crucified with Christ. “But when they came to Jesus,
and saw that He was already dead, they did not break his legs; but one of the
soldiers opened his side with a lance, and immediately there came out blood and
water” (John 19:33-34).
Pilate was surprised that Christ had died so soon. He questioned the officer in
charge of the detail about it and was assured that there was no doubt.
The corpse was taken from the cross and wrapped in a linen cloth. Aromatic
spices were wrapped in the cloth and strewn within the tomb. The tomb was
sealed. Under such conditions, no human being could have survived even if there
had been a spark of life still in him.
Soldiers were detailed to guard the tomb round the clock. Yet on Sunday
morning before dawn the dead man in the tomb came back to life and left His
burial place.
Soon He began to appear to those who had been close to Him. St. Paul
summarizes the evidence. “For I delivered to you first of all, what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, and after that to the Eleven. Then he was seen
by more than five hundred brethren at one time, many of whom are with us still,
but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the
apostles. And last of all, as by one born out of due time, he was seen also by
me” (1 Cor. 15:3-8).
There was no doubt that this was Jesus. He said to them the first time He
met them after His resurrection, “Why are you disturbed, and why do doubts arise
in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Feel me and see; for
a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Luke 24:38-39). He
had Thomas put his hand into His side and touch the wounds in His hands. He ate
with them and walked with them. The proof was abundant and indisputable.
Yet some still doubt and seek other explanations. The Jews, for example,
bribed the guards to say that while they were asleep the disciples came and
stole Him away. The explanation was self-contradictory. If they were asleep, how
could they known that the disciples had stolen Him away? And if they were not
asleep, why did they not stop them?
Christ was God
It has been claimed that Christ was not dead, that He did not reappear,
that Christianity was founded on a fraud. This has satisfied no one, and the
doubters then have tried denying that there was ever the slightest degree of
truth in the resurrection story. They claim it was all made up much later on,
but this is also contradicted by historically provable facts.
The tomb of Christ still stands empty. It must be filled either with God or
with the greatest mystery the world has ever known. The facts are that Christ
was God. He arose. If the facts of His life are true–and they undoubtedly
are–then His teaching must be accepted as truth also.
Christ made that perfectly clear when He cured the paralytic of Capharnaum.
The man came to Christ for a cure of his physical disease. But the Lord saw in
him not only disease, but sin. And he forgave it. The Scribes and Pharisees
immediately saw the implication. “Who can forgive sins, but God only?” They
asked (Luke 5:21). For once they spoke the truth. By His actions and words the
Lord was teaching that He had power to forgive sins, and that power came from
God alone. He offered to prove His teaching by a miracle.
“Which is easier, to say, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee,’ or to say, ‘Arise
and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to
forgive sins”–He said to the paralytic–“I say to thee, arise, take up thy pallet
and go to thy house” (Luke 5:23-24).
Before He called Lazarus to come forth from the tomb where he was buried,
Christ prayed, “Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. Yet I knew
that thou always hearest me; but because of the people who stand round, I spoke,
that they may believe that thou has sent me” (John 11:41-42).
Christ’s authority
To the Jews who questioned His authority to teach, Christ said, “I tell you
and you do not believe. The works that I do in the name of my Father, these bear
witness concerning me” (John 10:25). And again, “If I do not perform the works
of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do perform them, and if you are not
willing to believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the
Father is in me and I in the Father” (John 10:37-38).
As Nicodemus, a learned Jew, put it, “Rabbi we know that thou hast come a
teacher from God, for no one can work these signs that thou workest unless God
be with him” (John 3:2).
At the Last Supper Christ once more reminded His Apostles, “Do you believe
that I am in the Father and the Father in me? Otherwise believe because of the
works themselves” (John 14:11-12). Only God can give the power to work a
miracle. He does not give that power to those that teach falsehood.
These are not theories, vague generalities, myths, pretty stories. These
are facts, hard, precise facts which will not be explained away. They are the
basis for the reasonableness of faith.
Christ often appealed for faith. The doctrines which He taught were often
acceptable on no other basis. He gave no proof that He was in the Father and the
Father in Him. He gave no proof that the bread He gave was His flesh for the
life of the world. He said these things. That was the only proof. They were to
be taken on faith. But faith is most reasonable since the facts prove
conclusively that He was from God.
"My
children, I have come to earth from the beautiful realms of Heaven to warn you
as a Mother. The Eternal Father has sent Me as a Mediatrix between God and
man--neither seeking to take the glory from My Son, as many make accusations
of. No, My children, I come in support of My sacrificed Son, for He is being
resacrificed by mankind. My children, I have been through this whole ordeal in
the past, and I watch now as you recrucify My Son. Is this how you have set
yourselves about to repay Him for His sacrifice: by blaspheming His name,
destroying His divinity, destroying the sheep?" -
Our Lady of the Roses, March 18, 1978
Our Lady of the Roses Bayside messages
These messages came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at
Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.
KNOWLEDGE IN FAITH
"The lessons of your Faith have been given to you for all time without change.
My Son is forever, for God is, God was, and God always will be. My Son is your
God in the Father and the Holy Ghost. Do not cast aside your knowledge in faith
of the Trinity. Do not cast aside your knowledge in faith of My Son's divinity.
Do not recrucify My Son upon your earth and in His Church, His House. You call
upon you a heavy hand of punishment from the Eternal Father!" - Our Lady,
December 24, 1976
OFFENSES
"Many victim souls are needed, victims in reparation for the offenses to the
divinity of My Son." - Our Lady, December 24, 1974
DISTORT AND DENY
"Do you not recognize, My children, that satan will seek to distort and deny My
words? Open your ears! Pray for the light! As shepherds, why do you choose to
cast Me aside when I have been sent to you by the Father?
"The offenses to the divinity of My Son are great!" - Our Lady, October
6, 1974
SINISTER PLAN
"It was, My children, a sinister plan from the depths of hell to remove the
knowledge of the divinity of My Son from among you. A Church in darkness wears a
band of death about it. All that is rotten shall fall!" - Our Lady, February
10, 1978
PROTEST
"My children, you must protest the offenses being committed against the divinity
of My Son. Prayer is a great weapon, but unless you act and pray too, My
children, you proceed nowhere. You become lax, indifferent; apathy sets in. Each
and every individual of conscionable age shall be tested." - Our Lady,
November 1, 1977
RETAIN
"Already, in many of My Son's churches, side by side, are they sacrificing My
Son, and also satan sacrifices unwilling victims to his black mass. My children,
you must fight to retain the divinity of My Son, and not have satan encroach
upon it. It is a war far worse than man has ever seen in history. These are the
days spoken of and written of by the prophets of old." - Our Lady, October 1,
1977
GREATEST EVIL
"If you know in your hearts, O pastors, that souls are in danger of being
corrupted, misled, and even destroyed, and you do nothing about it, because you
do not wish to offend your superiors, because you value your life in this world
too much and your good living; I assure you, O pastors, you shall stand before
My Son and He shall not know you. You will be disowned, banished from eternal
life in Heaven, and you shall join your father who is the father of all liars,
satan, and the prince of darkness.
"The greatest evil being now committed in My Son's House is denying His
divinity, defiling His sacred Body, casting mockery upon it, allowing immorality
to enter into My Son's House." - Our Lady, March 18, 1977
TO TEAR DOWN
"Many offenses are being committed in the House of God and the hearts of many:
offenses to tear down the divinity and true existence of My Son in the Father." -
Our Lady, May 10, 1973
NEW RELIGION
"You were given a foundation of Faith based on Tradition and knowledge of the
prophets. You cannot start this new religion, for it will lead you to one
religion that is not of My Son, that will not have His true foundation, and you
will take My Son's Body and defame it, no longer giving the knowledge of His
divinity. What manner of foul escapades are you planning, O you of little faith?
Whatever shall become of you?" - Our Lady, August 5, 1976
RESPECT
"Cover your body before My Son! Do not defame and disgust Him by your presence
and your acceptance of His divinity! Why, you are naked like pagans! Cover your
heads! You do not follow the modernism and modes of an evil generation. No! The
angels demand that all respect be given to the divinity of the Son of God in the
houses throughout the world. Do not be misled by false pastors--those
who care more for their worldly living and their easy living, and those who will
not stand forward because the faith has become weak, and defend My Son before
the enemies of God! No! They, too, will be cast aside with the goats. Fair
warning I give. I cannot say that the Father is satisfied with the teaching of
those He has chosen to guide the children and sheep of the world. No! I must
say, there is great sorrow in Heaven." - Our Lady, August 14, 1974
DESECRATED
"Even in My Son's churches I have watched My children approaching the Sacred
Species, My Son's Body and Blood--His
divinity being desecrated by young women, young men, and even middle-aged,
wearing satan's emblems! How foolish you are not to recognize the cross and the
sacramentals given by the institutionalized churchesthe
Roman Catholic Church of My Son--even
though sadly I have often cried at the many denominations that came from the
first Church of My Son. However, the cross is your salvation, and many of My
children are wearing Lucifer's symbols. You wear a horn about your neck, and you
say it is the Italian horn of plenty. It is not! It is the horn of Lucifer!" -
Our Lady, November 25, 1978
LITTLE CHILDREN
"You will all keep a constant vigilance of prayer going throughout your country
and the world. I admonish all parents now to spend at least fifteen minutes of
your day reading the Bible to your children and your family. It is now a command
from the Eternal Father! For the little children no longer know or recognize the
angel guardians. The little children have no conception of the truth of the
divinity or the existence of My Son. The little children are now being taught
the ways of satan." - Our Lady, November 21, 1977
Jesus Christ is God
Vatican
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A
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Jacinta's
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