As a start of this entry may I share to you the core concept of this post "THE POINT OF DEPARTURE IS THE POINT OF ARRIVAL"
Before the fall of man and just before they, Adam and Eve, were driven off the Paradise of Eden, they enjoy the freedom within the boundary of Divine Love and Providence. They have all their satisfaction of their needs. The air, the water and everything is clean and free and on top of this God is with them i.e. EMMANUEL. God in His fullness is with them. He walks with them in the paradise and converse with them and showing His glory and majesty to them.
Prior to that happening, a battle was waged in heaven, for a certain Angel provoked the wrath of God of his envy and defiance to worship and serve the greatest of all the new creation of God, and that new creation is MAN. The nine choirs of angels were created as pure spirit and they were given powers and attributes according to their roles in the administration of God's will in the entire cosmos. These angels manages and monitors the unseen forces, and they are in fact, the forces itself, in regulating the movements of all visible creation from the greatest planet and heavenly bodies to the atoms.
For each successive creation of God, all the angels are glad to know and see what else God has created. They don't see God, except His light and hear His voice, yet thru His creation the angels see the imprint or the signature of His greatness.
He created, as it was recorded in Genesis, in five days, all material things and all these the Angels admired and praised God for them. On the sixth day, as before, the Angels were excited to see the new creation. God announced to them that He shall create MAN, not as pure spirit, not like them, but like Him according to His image and likeness.
All the Angels waited for the completion of this great creation and Lo it was done, MAN who came to be called Adam which means 'from the earth' is before their eyes to behold. And since Man is created in the image of God and that the Angels did not behold God in His real face and form except with voice and light, they vowed, worshipped the IMAGE OF GOD- who is Adam. For they thought, here it is, through this man we can see God.
All, except for one Angel who is one of the chiefs and holders of the list of subordinate angels deny, worship and tribute to the MAN. That angel said to himself and to other angels and to God that why he has to worship the MAN who is made of earth while he in fact is the first and pure and beautiful and made from pure elements. He himself is to be worshipped and not the Man made of earth from the ground of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the footstool of God and it is already sanctified by His feet. It is where the clay or humus came from.
The angel who is known to fight the will of God came under the general title of Satan, yet his name is Lucifer or simply the Shining One, the prince of light. When he see that the MAN is given such glory he fly to the highest heaven above the stars and made his throne there, he is followed with all the other angels coming from each ranks i.e. 9 choirs. Lucifer is holding, as I said, a scroll containing all the names of the subordinate angels. Having their names listed in the scroll gives the holder the power to control them. This scroll, God ordered a certain angel, who in fact is a brother to Lucifer, to retrieve.
A battle is waged between Lucifer and the 'God sent angel' for the scroll. In several times the angel is defeated by Lucifer because of his great power. Lucifer knows words of power which when he speaks the 'God sent angel' is disarmed and became helpless. With that several defeats the said angel went back to God and reported what has happened. God gave the angel the power word which he has to shout as battlecry and he was given a sword in the form of a shining Cross. He was advised to start the battle once he see even Lucifer's shadow and give him no chance of preparing.
With that provision, the angel with his army patrolled and saw Lucifer with his army and the scroll in his hand. The angel shouted his battlecry "WHO IS LIKE GOD" or "MICHAEL" with that battlecry, the angel is called Michael. He defeated Lucifer and took from him the scroll. Lucifer was cast down from heaven and his minions and on his descent or fall from heaven to the earth the elements stripped him of his celestial cloth, beauty, and speed, except his knowledge; and upon touching the ground he is completely dark as charcoal and indescribably ugly; the same was the fate of his minions. This is the first fall.
Prior to his fall, he knows where the Man will live on earth for he knows where God made man's habitation. And that is in the paradise in the mountain in the land of Eden. He is so furious of the man and he would like him to share his fate for how could such an earthen being so priveleged to become God's image and deserve worship of the angels. But how could he climb the high mountain without much effort so he could reach the paradise and destroy the man.
He using his knowledge, a kind of magic, ask the animals to carry him to the paradise, all never consigned to his request except one, a winged serpent. Upon reaching the paradise Lucifer completely subdued the faculty of the serpent and made himself itself. The paradise is protected with a kind of fence to ward off intruders. The outsider could only see what is inside as well as the inside to see what is outside - a kind of transparent thing.
Lucifer/Serpent saw a man but not the one he saw in heaven, another being, a woman. But he could not directly talk with the woman for he is black as charcoal and undescribably ugly, the woman may be scared and run away. So again, through the agency of the winged serpent, who has some access to the paradise, approached the woman. Lucifer is still outside and he placed a kind of mirror between him and the woman so in that case, the woman is seeing herself, and the winged serpent close to her, and the voice of Lucifer behind the mirror.
And the story goes that the serpent with the voice of Lucifer enticed and won the woman to pick and eat the forbidden fruit. And she even shared it to her husband. In between the coming of Adam prior to his eating of the forbidden fruit, Satan injected his seed to the woman, who later was born as Cain. As punishment God stripped off the serpent with its wings and made it to crawl with its belly and eat dust. The woman because of the serpentine seed in her womb was cursed to carry the burden of childbirth. And the man sharing the fate of his wife has to toil and till the land to have something to eat. The man and the woman also called the first parents were driven off the paradise. A Cherubim with the flaming double edged sword guards the gate so no one could gain entrance in it.
The sentence was pronounced that the Woman shall crush the Serpent and the Serpent shall lie in wait to bite the heel of the Woman. There will be perpetual enmity or war between them and their seeds (Genesis 3:12). The Serpent and/or Satan shall lie in wait for the woman for he knows the seed of the woman shall crush him as well. And this perpetual enmity was also seen by St John and is recorded in Revelations 12. It is another woman, another Eve, which as we know is Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus - and there would be another Mary and that for this period I would conceal.
When the first parents were driven off the paradise, God did not leave them all alone by themselves. A part of God followed them. That part of God is His Presence, unseen and invisible in its true essence and greatness. The new man and woman, above all the animals and greater than the angels, were followed by the motherly care of God through His PResence. The Hebrews called it SHEKINAH. SHEKINAH is the Indwelling Presence of God, female and motherly for the care and guidance of Man and male and fatherly in discipline.
This is the point of departure. God who is full and complete in Himself sent off His Presence and Glory to follow the man off the paradise to the cursed earth.
God never left the man unattended. He is sending His angels to come and see what is happening on earth with them. But it so happened that fair and lovely daughters were born from them and the angels, two hundred of them, were tempted and took wives for themselves. This is the reason why woman has to veil themselves to hid their comely faces from the angels. Veiling is also mentioned by St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians.
What has happened to the intercourse of daughters of man and the angels is the birth of giants who is known to be great during their times. One of which David killed in the battle, the famous Goliath. God was so furious of what has happened so He prevented the angels who took wives to enter heaven. These angels could not reach the heights of heaven, instead they made their abode in the high places - between heaven and earth; this is what St Paul referred to in his letter.
David and the Giant Goliath
There was a man named Enoch, whom God favors more than all the people of his time. God took him and he was not seen, the bible said he is to come in the end of times. The angels who took wives and beget giants were now called fallen angels. This is the second fall for they cannot enter heaven anymore. They asked Enoch to intercede for them to God, however God did not allow Enoch to do it for them for the reason that they, the angels, have to intercede for man, and not man to intercede for angels.
God send a deluge or flood and cleansed the earth of the iniquities of the giants and the fallen angels. Their spirits are aspiring to reach heaven because their fathers are angels yet it is without sufficient strength for their mothers are of this earth. The spirit of the giants became the evil spirits, half divine and half human. Their bodies are bordering the purely spiritual and relatively physical.
God saved the family of Noah in this great flood and a certain giant though he stayed outside of the ark for he cannot fit inside. After the flood, they offered sacrifice to God and his sons subdivided the known land for themselves and their children.God still did not left MAn all alone. Man started to call the name of God and worship Him.
A certain man from the desert who is called Abram met a certain man who is called Melchizedeck, who according to tradition, is Noah's son Shem, in his old age. Abram gave to Melchizedeck a part of his spoils in the recently concluded battle. Melchizedeck in turn bless Abram and together they offered bread and wine to God.
This blessing of Melchizedeck is carried by Abram, God through Melchizedeck, found in Abram a quality fit for the fulfilment of His plan - the salvation of Man and His return to God and of God to him.
God appeared to Abram and made pact with him. He changed Abram's name into Abraham and his wife from Sarai to Sarah. Abraham is without son so God permitted him to have his female slave Hagar to give him a son, Ismael - great patriarch of the Arabs. But God promised that his son would be born by Sarah; and from Sarah Isaac was born. Abraham's son, Ismael, will not be the heir of the promise - the Saviour, but he and his descendants shall become exceedingly great nations.
Isaac married Rebecca and had sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob recieved the blessings i.e. the transfer of the prerogatives for the fulfilment of the promise.
Jacob was named by God as Israel for he fought with Him or an angel, and he, through his wives, gave birth to twelve sons who later became the twelve sons or Patriarchs of Israel. The prominent of the twelve is Joseph who was sold as slave and brought to Egypt.
Joseph rose from simple man to popularity and respect of the Egyptian throne because of his wisdom. He explained and interpret dreams of the king. One of which was the famine where the whole known world suffered except the land of Egypt for Joseph foretold this and preparation was made.
The twelve patriarchs lived and died in Egypt and their children greatly multiplied in the land. The new King do not know nor recognize the works of Joseph, he enslaved the Hebrews to hard labor. Fearing that the Hebrews may raise up against his throne he ordered that all male born child has to be killed. A certain child was saved in this horrible infanticide, the child was later known to be Moses. He was taken cared of by the Princess of Egypt and took as her own son. Moses was raised in the Egyptian court and received education. He later discovered he was a son to a Hebrew woman. He was sent off from Egypt after he was discovered by the Egyptian as both a murderer of an Egyptian and being a Hebrew by birth. He was sent to the desert as a punishment to die with thirst or be killed with wild beasts like scorpions and serpents or buried alive with the unforgiving heat and sand storm.
In the desert, far from Egypt, he met a family and married one of the daughters. He lived with the new found family. He went to see the Mountain of God. He saw there a lowly bush that is burning yet never consumed, the bush is called Rhamnus. This is the thorny plant where the crown of thorns of Jesus is made of. For hundred of years the SHEKINAH was never heard nor seen nor spoken to the Hebrews. By this time, appearing to Moses as fire, light and voice. He sent Moses to come back to Egypt and deliver His people and that He shall fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
God delivered the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt and made them a nation onwards the promised land. The Lord through His Glory and Presence, the SHEKINAH, guided the Israelites towards the promised land. He appeared to them as Pillar of Fire in the night to illumine their way and warmth, and a Great Dark Cloud during the day to protect them against the burning heat of the desert sun.
The SHEKINAH commanded Moses to create for Him an Ark according to the plan or image HE showed him in the mountain. Below is the Ark of the Covenant where the great light between and above the Cherubims is the PRESENCE OF THE LORD, THE SHEKINAH.
For the Hebrews, the SHEKINAH is their King, who is present in the Ark, in the Holy of Holies. HE is their God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob. The SHEKINAH stays with the Israelites when they followed and obeyed the commandments as set down through Moses and the prophets. The Lord defend them from their enemies, however, when they turned their hearts from the Lord, the SHEKINAH left them, and without God;s presence the Israelites were easily defeated by their enemies.
The SHEKINAH is the author of the prophecies, no eyes have ever seen Him or Her, until prophet Isaiah prophesied of the coming of the Virgin who shall give birth to a son who is EMMANUEL.
God keeps a certain lineage of Hebrew people from corruption and this the SHEKINAH along the course of time guards in greatest secrecy. In heaven, God created a beautiful flower which in appointed time shall be planted on earth. This flower is the Rosa Mystica or the Mystical Rose.
The Mystical Rose
This flower is sent to a husband and wife by the name Saint Ann and Saint Joachim though the agency of the seven Archangels. By the power of God SHEKINAH entered the womb of Saint Ann upon inhalation of the sweet fragrance of the MYSTICAL ROSE. St Ann conceived immaculately a child whose name, as announced by Archangel Gabriel, is MARY.
MARY is MARIAM, MIRIAM in Syria which means 'THE HIGHEST or HIGHNESS'; to Latin it is MARIA which they interpret as Star of the Sea; while for other this name MARIA is an abbreviation of the words MARIS AMANTISSIMO REXSUM IMPERATOR ALTISSIMA. Still other sources says that the said Mystical Rose is of five petals, on each petal is written M.A.R.I.A.; others call the Mystical Rose in its Filipino equivalent as GUMAMELA or GUMAMELA CELIS. This tradition is not written in the Canonical Bible, the sources are mainly the Apocryphals or simply the Concealed or Forbidden Writings.
However, the Catholic Litany of Loretto for the Blessed Virgin Mary called her THE MYSTICAL ROSE, she is also called the STAR of the SEA. And this is a pious belief for ages.
The Annunciation
"HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE, THE LORD IS WITH YOU!"
The Blessed Virgin Mary was born and she, according to tradition and the vision of the mystics, served in the temple starting in her young age until her betrothal to Joseph the Carpenter. Prior to this, the Angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she will become the mother of the Son of God - the Emmanuel who shall be called by the name JESUS or YESHUA who shall save the people from the punishment of their sins. Her son shall be called YESHUA HA MASHIACH or JESUS THE MESSIAH.
The Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ
The SHEKINAH appeared as Star guides the magi, descendants of Balaam, to the newborn Jesus and they offered Jesus their gifts of Gold because He is King, Frankincense because He is God, and Myrrh because He is man and is to suffer. This three wise men carry with them the Good News of Salvation and they brought this news back to their home.
Now, the Ark of the Covenant of old is no longer made of Acacia Woods, and the Laws is no longer written in solid rock but both are living in flesh.
Jesus, the living manna and the law himself and its author is in flesh; EMMANUEL. He, by the will of God Father and the willingness and cooperation and operation of the SHEKINAH is born of a virgin who also came from heaven as incarnated Mystical Rose. There are mysteries and wonders that we should believe and somehow understood here. First, the fragrance of the mystical rose who came from heaven is of the SHEKINAH for the fragrance signifies the presence of the flower and though fragrance and flower are different in itself they are inseparable reality; for flowers are described by its fragrance and beauty. Secondly, the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is of the Blessed Virgin Mary alone for the reason that St Joseph has nothing to do with her conception and of the incarnation of the Jesus. And Thirdly, the SHEKINAH is no part and not the Ark of the Covenant He rather sanctify it with His Presence and Glory however we were told to meet the Lord and know His will through the Ark of the Covenant.
It simply means that to meet the SHEKINAH or God, we have to come through the Ark of the Covenant - and that is no other than, in our time, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Does this mean that we worship Mary or it is more fitting to say that we can only worship the true God with Mary and never without her; for the reason that she is our truest sign and representation that God indeed is with us - EMMANUEL.
CARO JESU CARO EST MARIA - The Flesh of Jesus is the Flesh of Mary
And it is true, when we received the Sacred Host who is our Lord in His humble bread and wine appearance we as well received the flesh and blood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, his mother. Is it not so wonderful?
THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE DESTRUCTIONS
The Lord Jesus Christ prophesied that the Second Temple built during the time of Herod is to be destroyed and trampled upon by the Gentiles, i.e. the Romans; and this was fulfilled. This siege of the Holy City resulted to another Diaspora, the first was when the First Temple built by Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians.
It is said that the SHEKINAH was seen on top of Mount Olive asking them to return to Him. And since then they never heard nor seen the presence of the SHEKINAH. Be reminded that the Ark of the Covenant is no longer in the Second Temple. It was missing since the time of King Solomon, legend says that it was taken by Bathsheba to Ethiopia and this to this date is being claimed by the Ethiopians.
To date, the place once stood the Temple of Solomon is now occupied by the Dome of the Rock of the Moslems.
The Dome of the Rock
Let it be known that the SHEKINAH, or the Glory and Presence of the God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob leaves when the Israelites turn their hearts from God. The consequence of which is the invasion of their enemies. This same was said by the Lord Jesus in His parable of the Vineyard and the Laborers and the Son of the Vineyard Owner. Where it is said that the KINGDOM OF GOD WILL BE GIVEN TO THOSE WHO SHALL SERVE THE LORD.
As it is said in Jewish Prayer "Because of our sins we were exiled from our country and banished from our land. We cannot go up as pilgrims to worship Thee, to perform our duties in Thy chosen house, the great and Holy Temple which was called by Thy name, on account of the hand that was let loose on Thy sanctuary. May it be Thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, in Thy abundant love again to have mercy on us and on Thy sanctuary; rebuild it speedily and magnify its glory."
THE GREAT COMMISSION
The Lord Jesus Christ send and mandated His Apostles, firstly, to seek the lost house of Israel or simply the twelve tribes in Diaspora or those who are abroad; they are those who flee during the First and Second Temple destruction. Some Jewish or Israelites reached and settled in our land, the Philippines, even before the destructions of the first temple. They were the ones who gathered the golds to be used for the construction of the First Temple and some of them settled and in the course of time made our islands their permanent home and grave. Legend says that our land is the biblical Ophir, the land rich in gold and precious stones and metals.
The twelve Apostles were asked to find the Israelites in Diaspora and to announce them the Good News of Salvation. In contrary, St Paul is sent to the Gentile nations - to non- Israelites, non Jewish population of the world.
St Paul, a Roman Citizen and a Pharasee, Apostle to the Gentiles
Saint Thomas, one of the twelve, the first scientific Apostles to whom we owe great truths that indeed the Lord was crucified, died and resurrected. Tradition says that he was not present when the Blessed Virgin Mary died because during the said period he was in the Far East preaching the religion of Christ. He is, by sacred tradition, the Apostle of the Far East. The Christians in Malabar, present day Kerala, in India, revered him as their Patron Saint who brought Catholicism in the said coast sometime in 51 A.D. He went as far as China in 64 A.D. and Japan in 70 A.D. Bactrian21 missionaries were also noted to reach Japan, China, and Asia in the first century (100A.D.)
St. Thomas the Apostle
...to be continued
