Similarities Between Moses and Peter

When you think about it, there are some really interesting similarities between Moses and Peter....

Moses leader of God’s people                      Peter leader of God’s people

Both were part of a brother "team" of God's leaders: 

       Moses and Aaron  
       Peter and Andrew

Both had brothers who sought after them when God called: 

       Aaron sought Moses at Mt. Horeb's desert  
       Andrew went to find Peter (John 1: 41)

Both "shepherds" of God's people:

       Moses shepherd for forty years watching father-in-laws sheep.

       Peter a fisherman called to become shepherd of Christians. ("Feed my sheep.")

Both had a miracle associated with their introduction to God: 

       Miraculous fire in burning bush  
Called with miraculous catch of fish

Both had a miraculous fire associated with their call to lead God's people: 

      Called by angel in burning bush  
Tongues of fire come upon him

Both called to go before secular leaders in behalf of God's people:

       Called to go before Pharaoh  
       Witness before governors and kings (Matt. 10:18)

Both recoiled from God's presence at first: 

      Moses said, "Who am I, that I should go before Pharaoh?"  (Ex. 3: 11)  

      Peter fell at Jesus feet and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8)

Both men represented God to the people and the world: 

      God told Moses that Aaron, "will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were   your mouth and as if you were God to him." And, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.' "(Ex. 4: 16; 7:1) 

God told Peter, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  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 beloosed in heaven." (Matt. 16:18, 19)

Both calls were in the context of understanding who God was, the "I AM." 

      Moses asked God's name and He responded, "I AM, who I AM."

      Jesus asked Peter "Who do you say that I AM?" And Peter's answer proved he understood who Christ was. Both were given authority upon the name of the Great I AM. 

After being commissioned, both were immediately rebuked: 

      God sought after Moses to kill him. (Ex. 4: 24)  
Peter was called Satan. (Matt. 16: 23)

Both were given "The Rock": 

      Moses was given the rock in the form of the Ten Commandments, the written Word of God and the Old Covenant. The law was written in stone and given to Moses to implement. 

      Peter was given the title "The Rock" and his authority was in his own flesh. The law was in the church, in humans. 

Both were given the authority to bind and loose doctrine:

      Moses loosened the divorce laws (Matt. 19:8)           
      Peter was given keys. (Matt. 16: 19)

Both publicly betrayed God: 

       Moses by hitting the rock   
       Peter by denying Him three times

Both were given the ability to perform signs and wonders!

It is very interesting to note that these two great leaders of God's people actually met each other while Jesus was on earth. During the Transfiguration, Moses came and stood beside Jesus while Peter looked on. On one side was Moses representing God's people and the Old Covenant and on the other Peter representing God's people the New Covenant. And there is Jesus bringing them together in the middle. Jesus as the center of both men and both covenants!  [Mark 9:2-8pp -- Lk 9:28-36 9:2-13pp -- Mt 17:1-13] 

Former Father Corapi

I never watched him. I don't know who his is or anything... I have just been reading the blogs about him.

When I heard his audio leaving, I cried.

Being a new Catholic, I have no opinion about Corapi as a person or priest. But it still breaks my heart that we live in such corrupt society that:

1. Anyone can falsely accuse a priest and they can ruin another person's life with little consequence to themselves.

2. That we live in a time where priests are being convicted of living a life so out of step with their religious calling. (And the accusations turn out to be true.)

3. That we all feel we can judge Corapi when we don't know anything about it. And really, we can't expect him to be perfect. He has been traumatized and doesn't have a staff of writers to polish everything to be "perfect." Sorrow is hard to hide.... it comes out victimized, confused... and often embarrassing...

4. When no one judges anyone even when they openly live an immoral life. So if Corapi DID do what he was accused of, then he did the right thing by stepping down, but he shouldn't have then made himself a victim.

It is all confusing. I can understand anyone looking at the Catholic church and wanting nothing to do with her.

I am so very happy to be a Catholic despite the fact that 75% of Catholics don't attend church or know what they believe and divorce, abort and contracept and look no different from pagans. I am thrilled to be a Catholic despite the priests scandals and the inquisition and the millions they slaughtered because of religious intolerance (I know that didn't happen but perception is everything...) I am overjoyed to be a Catholic even though to the world we are nothing but a mess.... thanks to shepherds who have fallen from their religious responsibility and laity who could care less...

I am not Catholic because of people, I am Catholic because of the words of our Lord, "Upon this rock, I will build my kingdom and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." PETER WHERE ARE YOU? YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU! I am Catholic because I desire and love submitting to God's chosen authorities no matter how they fail to live up to their calling, for I submit not to man but to the Lord.

I hope Mr. Corapi remains faithful even under all the stress and the pressure will purge him, humble him and produce fruits of suffering that will turn out to the glory of God.

Mr. Corapi, do not let the gates of hell prevail against you....

Yes, I am rambling.....Right now, its too early to judge. Let's just pray....

Shameless Popery: An Evangelical Disproves Evangelicalism

Shameless Popery: An Evangelical Disproves Evangelicalism: "Yesterday , I talked about Scot McKnight's essay From Wheaton to Rome: Why Evangelicals become Roman Catholic , in which he explores reason..."

Anthony Weiner

Mark Shea is known for his comment, "Sin makes you stupid." 

This morning as I was pondering the suffering and shame that Representative Weiner has brought upon himself and his family, I was reminded of Shea's adage.

Many people will dismiss what he did with a roll of the eyes and blame it on the perpetual Peter Pans men have become. "Boys will be boys." Some people are merely calling him stupid. I think it is a lot worse than stupidity. I not only think it is imbecility, but I also believe that our culture has brought on a mass mental illness because of sin.

Most of us are raised severed from our historical past as Americans and Christians, disconnected from our family's history and worse yet we are unable to have a cognitive connection to our future. As scientific as we claim to be, we do not personalize the idea of cause and effect. It is not as if we cannot see the consequences for our actions, we just look at them as in some forever future that will not arrive. We are so inebriated with the present moment that we live in an oblivion that is willing to take deranged risks that imperil our own future and that of those who claim to love.

 In fact, our behavior is evidence that we do not believe anything matters, that we have lost the meaning to our lives and the lives of others. And those who fit the profile are the ones making decisions about our nation's future. It is scary. 

We need to reconnect with our souls. We need to discover that we, in fact, DO matter and what WE DO matters! There is a heaven, there is a hell and at some point in our lives we need to be sober enough to care the tiniest bit about this life we were given as a precious gift.

I pray that Representative Weiner will take a LOT of time off, go into seclusion and do some contemplation about his soul. His soul is priceless as is the soul of his wife. What he does matters. He matters.... 

Ave Maria and the Eternal Dance

Even as a Seventh-day Adventist, the music that made my spirit soar in a delicate, yet piercing, yearning for my Lord was Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria. I felt such an uncomfortable spirituality in it. Yet, in defiance of even my own conscience, I sang it for my senior vocal recital at an Adventist University and promised the Lord it really was for Him. Since only a few family members showed up, it didn’t cause scandal although the song was censored for a while in the SDA church I attended. 

I hummed it for years without the “idolatrous words” or in Latin so I couldn’t understand what I was saying. Happily, I discovered a version with Protestant lyrics I sang at church  but it left my heart empty.

For decades, I wondered WHAT was wrong with me? I wept at almost all Ave Maria’s-- Totus Tuus, Shubert, Caccini, Biebl. It seemed blasphemous that the sweetest, most exquisite sounds ever dreamed were about Mary and not Jesus. I would grab my chest in agony and apologize to Him.

Then one morning, with Haley Westerna singing Ave Maria in the background, in an ascending, sublime prayer I broke out into sobs, torn between the ethereal ecstasy of the music and guilt, when He spoke.

“Fear not. You are hearing my voice, Teresa.” 

Dearest, dearest... can you be speaking? Is that Your voice to sooth my anguish?

He continued, “When you hear Ave Maria, you are hearing My love song to my mother. You are witnessing the voice of God, the voice of the creator of the universe honoring through the archangel Gabrielle, the little Jewish girl, His mother.” 

He told me that I am privileged to listen to the greatest love song of all eternity. As once long ago, a young woman led the world into disaster with her disobedience, so now in these words, “Hail, full of Grace,” Jesus honors a young woman chosen of all women who have breathed upon the earth, to bear the Savior and be the instrument of salvation to all the world with her obedience.

This Ave Maria moment was the beginning of the Mystery kept hidden from the foundations of the world. We, finally, could see the genesis of the New Covenant of grace, a new beginning for mankind. The fullness of God’s infinite love for us begun with  Mary would culminate in the cross and the resurrection of Christ. What sorrow was begun with Eve was comforted, healed and redeemed with Mary. 

“You love her so much, don’t you, Jesus?” Knowing the tender affection reserved only for my own mother, I felt somewhat left out and crestfallen at my presumptuousness that  I could enter that kind of intimate Love that Jesus had for His mother. 

He quietly explained that I can yet not handle the Love I see between Mary and Himself, but He wants us to ponder it nonetheless because in these scenes of tenderest love there is the promise of what we shall have in heaven. We will join in this love story that surpasses all shadows we play out here on earth.

We cannot experience but a mere taste of celestial love here, because of our human nature. Mary was perfect and a soul without sin has no boundaries for experience. While our physical nature simply collapses under too much stimuli either good or bad, Mary’s can withstand the power of God’s love unfiltered. What we would find unendurable, killing us, Mary’s infinite capacity for love can receive. 

God’s love of Mary, we who have accepted His love, will one day be shared by us when we have a limitless spirit. As we look upon this immortal dance of the Groom and His Bride, as we ponder it in our hearts, we learn that one day our obedience will lead to a crown being placed upon our heads, that we will share in the glorious eternal dance with our Father. Then we will hear His voice singing to us... “Hail, full of grace.”

Predicting the End of the Word by Father Frank Pavone

http://youtu.be/JaQjYxMGFOE



I grew up in a sect called Seventh-day Adventists whose entire church was based upon a failed prophecy of the end of the world on October 22, 1844. This particular group of Millerite followers began to believe that the Millerite prediction had been misunderstood, just like Camping is saying now, that instead of the end of the world a judgment had come--just like Camping now! Weird to see first-hand how history repeats itself. Only this time the tragedy was contained. William Miller's 1844 prediction caused the Great Disappointment that ended up with death (both murder and suicide) and insanity as well as starvation for those farmers who didn't reap their harvest because they believed the Lord was coming. For newspaper scans of the Millerite Great Disappointment go to my other website:

www.arthurandteresabeem@blogspot.com

An Evangelical Meets Catholic Seminarians

I ran into this post an another blog and thought I would share it here:

http://pietrosquared.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/a-visit-to-heaven/#

A Visit to Heaven

My brother is a Roman Catholic seminarian, and I visited him at Mount Saint Marys Seminary the last couple days to see him installed in his second-to-last office (acolyte) before hopefully being ordained a priest (in about two years). I’ve been hoping to visit John for a long time, and finally got the opportunity.
My Evangelical brothers and sisters typically misunderstand and mischaracterize the Catholic Church, its leaders and theology and practices, so I felt compelled to write this to them, an “open letter” if you will.


First off, much of what Evangelicals believe about Catholicism, what they believe and who they are, is flat out incorrect. I will not dedicate any space here to that, except to say that people don’t listen to each other all that well in the 21st century, even though it’s easier than ever, technologically, to do. We should all try harder.


So let me tell you what I found among the more than 150 seminarians I spent a couple days with.


I found men who love Jesus with a passion and wholeness that I find rare among Christians of any stripe in these days.
I found men who struggle with the same kinds of things that we all do, regular guys who are dealing with what we all deal with… with the amazing support of Christ, of their brothers, and of the church.
I found men who can chuck a frisbee way farther than I ever will be able to.

I found a place where worship is very deep, even sublime, and regular and intentional and heartfelt… and amazing, and where prayer is an intentionally regular and essential and practiced part of every day. I found that Jesus was palpably present in every room and hallway.


I ate one of the tastiest meals I’ve had in forever.
I found generosity that is inspiring.
I found guys that, when it’s time to have fun… have some serious fun.
I found real intelligence, insight and wisdom being leveraged for the kingdom of Heaven. Almost any of these guys could probably lead, and lead well, in any secular company and probably make a lot of money.


I found the presence of Christ in community that I was, frankly, a little envious of.


I found a love of Christ’s body on earth that you don’t find very often anywhere.
I found that not everybody will make it, but if they don’t, it is handled with grace and love. I didn’t find any ambition, though, really.
I didn’t actually really hear anybody say anything that wasn’t uplifting and encouraging.


I met leaders and instructors who care for those under their charge with passion and charity.


I found the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit elevated and exalted and magnified in every single thing. I found some things that are not my particular practices, but even those things did nothing but lift up and exalt our Lord.


Men, what a blessing you were to me! I have news for you. Heaven will be just like this!


If these men are any indication of the kinds of people who will emerge as the priests and leaders of the Catholic Church in this new century, there are great days ahead for them, and more and more people are going to experience the Gospel in real, tangible ways.
Note: In the past few days, this post has become almost all of my internet traffic for the entire year, receiving thousands of hits. Thanks for sharing my joy in people who are passionately in love with Jesus and His Church.


But… I have received some comments (VERY few) I am not allowing to be posted here that were, in my opinion, inflammatory or negative. Sorry. It’s my blog… You’re welcome to start your own… but divisiveness among those who love and follow Jesus, especially divisiveness built on prejudice and ignorance and even past hurts, is not something I can stand any more at this stage in my life. My life’s background has included mainline and evangelical Christianity as well as Roman Catholocism (which I grew up in). I know what I speak of, and many of you that are saying the things you are saying are flat out incorrect, and I’m sorry for your hurts or feelings, but they have no place here. Blessings

What Do ALL These People Have in Common?

What do Tony Blair and Tony Snow as well as Bob Hope and “Bob” Robert Bork have in common besides a first name?

What do Doc Holiday,  Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson have in common besides the wild, wild west?

What do entertainers Gary Cooper, Faye Dunaway, Susan Hayward, Jim Nabors, Patricia Neal, Vincent Price, Jane Wyman and Sir Alex and Lady Guiness,  and Cherry Boone (daughter of Pat) all share in common? 

As well as royalty such as Charles II of England, Queen Christina of Sweden, King Henry the IV of France?

What about social activists Dorothy Day, Clare Booth Luce?

Besides being writers what do J R R Tolkien, Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway,  G. K. Chesterton,  and Malcom Muggeridge all share?

Or artists Peter Paul Rubens, Jacques Offenbach?

What do politicians Sam Brownback, Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich and those who comment about politics --Robert Novak, Laura Ingraham, Ramesh Ponnuru, and Brent Bozell all get together to celebrate besides political wins?

Or what about famous abortionist turn pro-life advocate Dr. Bernard Nathanson, and  Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff better known as “Jane Roe” in the Roe vs. Wade landmark court case who also is now a pro-life activist?

What about Thomas Merton and John Henry Newman....?

Do you know what unites all these people in each individual questions together and ALL of them have in common?

They ALL Converted to Catholicism when they were adults. Not that it really matters, but it is interesting....