Serpens in Gardino

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Why do I believe in the record of Creation and Original Sin in Genesis? Because without it none of Sacred Scripture would make any sense. There would be no purpose in Jesus having come into the world. There would be no resurrection of the dead. All of life would be completely pointless. Thank God, however, that that is not the case. Therefore, in emphasizing the need to accept the account of original sin given by Moses, Pope Pius XII writes the following in paragraph 37 of his encyclical, Humani Generis:

When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the Teaching Authority of the Church propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own.

Therefore Genesis 3:1-8 in today's Scripture readings is of particular importance. Here the serpent tempts Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and from there comes all of humanity's sin. Verse 6 tells us that she and her husband Adam succumbed to temptation:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

This is explained further in 1st John 2:16.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.

Comparing the two passages of Sacred Scripture we see the following:

• The Lust of the Flesh: Eve saw the tree was good for food
• The Lust of the Eyes: Eve saw the tree was a delight to the eyes
• The Pride of Life: Eve saw the tree was desirable to make one wise

Jesus was tempted in the same as recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.

• The Lust of the Flesh: The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
• The Lust of the Eyes: And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.”
• The Pride of Life: And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

But unlike the first woman Eve, the second Adam (as St. Paul calls him in his epistles) passes the test.

• Jesus Response to the Lust of the Flesh: And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
• Jesus Response to the Lust of the Eyes: And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
• Jesus Response to the Pride of Life: And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Jesus got those response from Sacred Scripture:

• Deuteronomy 8:3 - He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.
• Deuteronomy 6:13 - The LORD, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve,* and by his name shall you swear.
• Deuteronomy 6:16 - You shall not put the LORD, your God, to the test, as you did at Massah.

Here we see how the Old Testament from the very beginning in the record of Creation and Original Sin is one continuous account to Jesus the Atonement for our sin.

Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned — sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Romans 5:12-14

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 1 Corinthians 15:42-29

De Costa Adami et de Latere Christi

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Over the last several days the daily Scripture readings from the Old Testament have been from the beginning of the Book of Genesis. Today's reading is from Genesis 2:18-25. Verses 21 and 22 struck my notice:

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman.....

The reason why these verses struck my notice is the similarity that exists with the account of the blood and water which flowed from Christ's side after his death on the Cross as recorded in John 19. Verses 33-34 state:

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

Eve - the Bride of the First Man - was made from a rib taken out of Adam's side.

The Church - the Bride of Christ - was in a sense made from the Baptismal Water and the Eucharistic Blood which flowed from the pierced side of Christ.

I thought that comparison quite interesting. However, this is not an original thought. Article 766 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus." "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'" As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.

This idea is an ancient one, as someone pointed out at a different forum:

Doctors of the Church and other Saints drew a beautiful correlation between the piercing of Jesus' side by the soldier, and the life of Eve coming from Adam’s side. We read in Genesis 2:22 that the life of Eve was made from one of Adam's ribs. In John 19:34 we read that once one of the soldiers pierced His side there immediately flowed out blood and water. The life of Eve came from Adam's side, but the true mother of all living, the Church, was born by the piercing of His side.

““There flowed from his side water and blood”. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, “the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit”, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: “Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!” As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.”

St. Athanasius commented:

“He was pierced in no other part but His side, whence flowed blood and water; that just as deception had come through the woman formed from the side of Adam, so from the side of the second Adam might come the redemption and cleansing of the first--redemption by blood, and cleansing by water.”

St. Cyprian commented:

“If Adam was a figure of Christ, the sleep of Adam was the death of Christ Who was to fall asleep in death; that in the injury of His side might be figured the Church, the true mother of the living”

St. Ambrose commented:

“There came forth water and blood, poured out for the life of the world. This life of the world is the rib of Christ, the rib of the second Adam. For the first Adam was made into a living soul, the last Adam into a life-giving spirit, the last Adam is Christ; the rib of Christ is the life of the Church. From His side water flowed and blood. . . Why from the side? Because whence came the fault, thence also comes grace, the fault came through woman, and grace through Our Lord Jesus Christ”

From Adam came Eve, and from Christ came the Church.

Inventarium Morale - Sacramentum Poenitentiae et Reconciliationis

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Today for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time for which the Scripture reading are:

• False and True Worship: Isaiah 58:7-10
• Blessings of Righteousness: Psalm 112:4-9
• Proclaiming Christ Crucified: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
• Salt and Light: Matthew 5:13-16

Fr. Kirby at Our Lady of Grace continued his dialog on the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. Eastern Orthodox Churches who have a valid episcopate and priesthood, and valid sacraments, call these Holy Mysteries. This time Father focused on the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, also called Confession. My apologies to the readership that I failed to take written notes and my memory cannot do Father's homily justice. It was orthodoxy par excellence. So I will give my personal experience below that Father's homily brought to the forefront of my mind.

As I mentioned in a previous post - Dies Festus Praesentationis Nostri Domini in Templo - this Sacrament holds a very special place in my heart because of the moral inventory steps in AA and similar 12 Step Programs:

• Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
• Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
• Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

Further, in today's Old Testament reading from Isaiah I was remind of some of my favorite defects of character (as we say in 12 step programs), "oppression, false accusation and malicious speech," and equally some of my favorite shortcomings, "failing to share and help others."

It was some 30 years ago when I first came into the AA Program that my sponsor had me write my 4th Step moral inventory - all these defect of character (the things I do which I ought not to do) and shortcomings (where I come short: the things I do not do that I ought to do). The inventory was some 33 pages long. Then we recited the Third Step Prayer before he had me read it to him in the 5th Step:

God, I offer myself to Thee To build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy love and Thy way of life.

After listening to my moral inventory, he told me that I was no Adolf Hitler - I don't rank that high in the scheme of evil - and that I was just a garden variety drunken dope fiend, a regular megalomaniac. Then he told me to read it to my psychotherapist and my priest confessor (who was his sponsor in AA). After receiving Absolution he said I could then burn the paper on which my moral inventory was written.

This practice of moral inventory which is continued in the 10th Step stood me well in sobriety. Indeed, Father Kirby said something in his homily with which my sponsor would have agreed. Any time I feel angry or resentful or bitter or jealous or emotionally out of sorts, it's time for a moral inventory. Father even said from the pulpit that that is when he goes to his confessor, and that he does not understand how one can be authentically Christian and not practice this Sacrament.

Early in 2007 (sober then for 21 years) I went through a very traumatic experience that turned my life upside down and wrenched my heart out of my chest. It was worse than heroin withdrawals. So I drove my car out of the driveway and my home and reached my hand in my pocket to grab my Rosary. I prayed to our Blessed Mother and turned down the road to go to my priest for Confession. He told me what any good priest would have told me who knows something about alcoholism and drug addiction: don't drink, go to meetings and talk with my sponsor.

You see, amici, it didn't matter if I was right in this emotional turmoil or not. In fact, my sponsor always reminded me that the 10th Step says, "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it." It says nothing about when we are right. In fact, nothing is more irritating than a self-righteous alcoholic. The point is that I had done wrong and now I was reaping the consequences of that wrong and those consequences included a devastation turmoil which could not be avoided. If I had been practicing my moral inventory - or Confession - with true contrition all along, maybe the turmoil would not have happened or would not have been as bad. But suffice it to say that having gone directly to Confession, I did not drink or drug that evening.

What I have found in my years of sobriety is this: first, a moral inventory is a MORAL inventory. While this isn't AA, that means a thorough review based on the 10 Commandments (always a good place to start) which themselves are the epitome of all good morality.

After Mass I thanked Father for his timely homily, explaining to him how this Sacrament recalls the moral inventory of my early days in AA, and how if it were not for this Sacrament I would have died underneath a railroad bridge with a heroin needle in my veins long ago. Unfortunately, from time to time I need a crisis in my life to remind me that I am going off the beam and must avail myself of this Sacrament once again. For me, neglecting this practice means that hell can start right here and right now with a snort of cocaine, a drink of vodka, or a puff of marijuana; hell won't wait till I am dead. And frankly, I am not willing to go through that kind and degree of misery and pain tonight.

As Father Zuhlsdorf always says at his blog:

GO TO CONFESSION!

Dies Festus Praesentationis Nostri Domini in Templo

Amicic, Americani, Compatriotae,

Yesterday was the Feast Day of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple (which is the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary). I got to attend daily Mass during lunchtime at Our Lady of Grace. But before Mass I had the opportunity to avail myself of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Having gotten sober in a 12 Step Program some few decades ago, I hold a special place in my heart for this Sacrament. It is like the moral inventory steps in any of the Anonymous Programs:

Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

Page 85 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says:

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee-Thy will (not mine) be done.” These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

My sobriety is contingent on my spiritual condition. My spiritual condition is contingent on my moral inventory. My moral inventory is contingent on how well and how frequently I avail myself of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Therefore, to neglect this Sacrament is to set myself up for a drink or a drug where hell begins not after some future death but right here and right now. Today I choose to do what the Sacrament requires because I simply cannot stand the alternative of temporal hell on Earth, much less eternal hell in the afterlife. I suppose that's imperfect contrition, but my 12 Step sponsor (and his sponsor a Franciscan priest who was my Confessor early in sobriety) would always say that fear can be a great motivator. As Psalm 111:10 states:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
a good understanding have all those who practice it.
His praise endures for ever!

Nevertheless, without further delay, yesterday's Scripture readings included the following:

• The Coming Messenger: Malachi 3:1-4
• Entrance into the Temple: Psalm 24:7-10
• Exaltation through Abasement: Hebrews 2:14-18
• Jesus' Presentation in the Temple: Luke 2:22-40

Jesus' Presentation in the Temple

Father Kirby again gave an excellent homily on the Presentation. Several things stood out to me. First, Egypt's Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 1 had demanded the death of each male Hebrew child because the Hebrew people were multiplying and Pharaoh feared that they would join Egypt's enemies in a conflict. This was turned against Pharaoh in the last of the Ten Plagues where the first born male among each Egyptian family fell dead as the Angel of Death passed over the land (Exodus 11).

Second, for the Institution of the Passover (Exodus 12)and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13), the Lord commands thusly in Exodus 13:2:

Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.

And the Lord goes on in verses 11 to 16 to say:

And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstlings of your cattle that are males shall be the Lord’s. Every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every first-born of man among your sons you shall redeem. And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes; for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.

Leviticus chapter 12 gives further details on the Purification of Women after Childbirth, specifying a certain timetable in verses 2 through 4:

If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying; she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.

In obedience to these commands the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph bring Jesus their firstborn to the Temple 40 days after his birth - the forty having significance in the 40 years that Israel spent in the wilderness after the Exodus, and 40 days and nights that it rained upon the Earth during the Great Flood in Genesis 7.

Third, the term firstborn would seem to imply to us modern people that there must have been other children, otherwise Jesus would be called the only born or only son of the Blessed Virgin Mary (and obviously she wouldn't be Virgin). However, in Judaic Law the term firstborn has a legal significance regardless of whether or not there are other children afterwards. Therefore, those who use that term to dispute the perpetual Virginity of our Lord's Mother demonstrate ignorance of Scripture (and invariably they are Protestants who likewise deny the power of the Sacraments, the authority of the Church and the primacy of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ).

So Jesus was the firstborn dedicated to His Father 40 days after His birth as the Law prescribes. While He, being the Son of God, could declare exemption from the requirements of the Law, He did not, but was obedient even through His earthly Mother and foster father in every way. Philippians 2:5-8 describes it in this way:

Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

And if He did not exempt Himself from obedience to Divine Law, then what's wrong with us?

Quem Videtis?

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

I recently had a chance to visit a Protestant mega-church in the local metropolis of Charlotte, NC during an evening "service." (What exactly do these people serve, or whom? What is meant by "service"?)  I was struck by the visual difference between what is displayed in the Protestant "sanctuary" and what is front and center in the sanctuary of a Catholic (or Eastern Orthodox) Church. See the difference in the photos below? Which one displays Jesus and which one displays man? One has no Cross displayed, just the name of the church. Not even the windows are stained glass with images of the saints. The other depicts Christ's Crucifixion, beneath which is the Tabernacle in which the consecrated elements - Jesus Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity - rest. And on the windows are displayed the great Saints who as Hebrews 12:1 states are the great cloud of witnesses who have gone on before us. I think the answer as to who is revered in each church is obvious: one is man centered, serving man (hence the term "service") and the other Christ centered, serving Christ in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

PS, the "service" on Friday night was about depression and how to combat it - man centered.

Protestant Sanctuary - Man Centered

Catholic Sanctuary - Christ Centered

Ite Missa Est

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time for which the Scripture Readings include the following:

• Judgement on Israel's Enemies: Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
• Praise for God's Help: Psalm 146:6-10
• Christ the Power and Wisdom of God: 1st Corinthians 1:26-31
• The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12

As usual, Father Kirby gave an excellent homily at Our Lady of Grace, focusing on another of the Seven Sacraments, this time the Eucharist and the importance of attending Sunday Mass.

Venerable Abp Fulton Sheen

Father began by recounting a story of Archbishop Fulton Sheen before the age of television. There was a time when he would travel around the country giving a talk on the importance of the Mass. Having heard the same speech at least 90 different times, Archbishop Sheen's driver said to him that he could now deliver the speech. So on one such speaking engagement the Archbishop and the driver exchanged places, each dressing up as the other, and the driver flawlessly gave the the talk, at the end of which an astute person in the congregation asked a theologically difficult question. The driver (who was in disguise of the Archbishop) stated to the Congregation that the question was so ridiculous and so simple that he would let his driver (the real Archbishop Sheen but unknown to the congregants) answer the question.

Attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation are a requirement for one to be Catholic. Of course, that is not the only requirement as we see from the Beatitudes in today's Gospel reading. However, the Eucharist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the source and summit of our Faith, giving us the graces that we need to live out the Beatitudes in our lives.

The Mass is not about we we receive but about what we give: our past week, our labors, our sadness, our laughter, our happiness, our pain, our joy, indeed, all our lives.

Our sacrifice without the Sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist is offensive to God the Father. As Isaiah 64:6 states:

We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

What we offer to God is presented first during the Offertory as we prepare our hearts and during the offering itself when we give 10% of our income as tithes. Thus these words are said:

PRIEST: Pray brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the almighty Father.
CONGREGATION: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our good, and the good of all His Church.

At every Mass Jesus re-presents his one time for all Sacrifice for all humanity. ASIDE: here an important distinction is to be made for the Protestants who deny the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The Sacrifice which Jesus made on Calvary is made present again, hence the term "re-presented." It is NOT a mere symbol or representation. It is a presence shown to us again in this fashion. END ASIDE

It is to Jesus that we give our hearts and all of our previous week, both the good and the bad. Any focus on discipleship without the Mass is not possible, for in the Mass we receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in order that our souls will be healthy just when we take medication for our physical selves, our bodies will be healthy. And thus, the Mass is about what we are called to live: the Beatitudes of today's Gospel reading. We need the grace necessary to overcome egotism, narcissism, resentment, pride, hubris, backbiting, and all the defects of character and shortcoming separating us from God. And we need the grace to share that which we have received.

Catholics do NOT have "services." We have Mass. While sometimes the Protestant language of the Bible-belt south contaminates our speech, it is important to note that NO Protestant service can possibly compare to what we have: Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Protestants do NOT believe in the Real Presence of Jesus. They deny what John 6:53-58:

53 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.

ASIDE: similarly to Catholics, Eastern Orthodox likewise have a valid Eucharist in their Divine Liturgy and a valid Priesthood to "confect" or "consecrate" the elements - bread and wine - to become Jesus' Body and Blood. It can also be argued that Orthodox Anglicans (those not in communion with Canterbury or the ECUSA) who have a valid Episcopate lineage (e.g., cross-pollination from Eastern Orthodoxy) and who believe in the Real Presence of Jesus likewise have a valid Eucharist. But NO Protestant sect - Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, Nazarene, etc. - has Jesus in the Eucharist. This however does NOT mean that they are completely devoid of Jesus. The reader would be well advised to read Dominus Iesus by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church. All that is being said is that Protestants, because of their rebellion against the Body of Christ in the 16th century, do not have the fullness of Truth, and most are today in that state due to ignorance of history and Christian tradition before their particular religious denomination (more than 33 thousand now) sprung up. END ASIDE

Now at the end of Mass the celebrant (priest or bishop) proclaims the phrase "Ita Missa Est." From my early Latin days in high school I would translate this as "Go, it is sent," where "it" may refer to the "Congregatio." Father Kirby rather humorously gave this translate: "Get out of here." The point he was making is this: Get out of Mass and shine Jesus' face of light before the world. The Altar where we receive Him in the Eucharist is where we obtain our strength, our food and our mission, and when during the Mass itself  the bells ring is where we silent offer Him our bodies, our blood and our wills just as He offered His own to the Father. Thus must we go to share His mission with the world.

De Proposito Energiae Terrestris Auctorizare Suum Integralem Inliquefactum Salarium Reactrum

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae

Terrestrial Energy has informed the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its plan to get its integral molten salt reactor licensed. It intends to submit its Application for Design Certification in late 2019. This type of reactor was built and operated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1960s. Please see videos below. NuScale Power, LLC will now have some serious competition, and in a free market with a level regulatory playing field competition is always good for the consumer. Of course we wish both companies all success in becoming commercially viable - that's the whole point of the free market: to offer the consumer (or customer) safe and reliable choices which can be made based economic common sense and NOT on Tiberius Caesar prejudicing the outcome in the hostile regulatory constriction of corporate socialism. Unfortunately in these United States the only thing for which the regulations of the US NRC are designed and intended are light water reactors such as PWRs and BWRs. The US NRC has produced quite a long list of Policy Issues Associated with Licensing Advanced Reactor Designs. Of note to the reader are Presentations for DOE-NRC Workshop on Advanced Non-Light Water Reactors - June 7-8, 2016. One would hope that President Trump's declaration to reduce regulatory burden by 75% bears fruit. The Nuclear Energy Institute (an industry trade group) has, however, a Strategic Plan for Advanced Non-Light Water Reactor Development and Commercialization, but such plans are only as good as permitted by the socialist autocracy of the liberal progressive government which Barack Hussein Obama left to President Trump's inheritance.

Nevertheless, without further ado, here are the two videos from Terrestrial Energy.