http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/011710.shtml
Reading I Is 62:1-5
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be
quiet,until her vindication shines forth like the dawnand her victory like a
burning torch.Nations shall behold your vindication,and all the kings your
glory;you shall be called by a new namepronounced by the mouth of the LORD.You
shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,a royal diadem held by your
God.No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “or your land “Desolate, “but you
shall be called “My Delight, “and your land “Espoused.”For the LORD delights in
you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder
shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his brideso shall your God
rejoice in you.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10(3)
Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.Sing to the LORD a new song;sing
to the LORD, all you lands.Sing to the LORD; bless his name.Proclaim his
marvelous deeds to all the nations.Announce his salvation, day after day.Tell
his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.Proclaim his
marvelous deeds to all the nations.Give to the LORD, you families of
nations,give to the LORD glory and praise;give to the LORD the glory due his
name!Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.Worship the LORD in holy
attire.Tremble before him, all the earth;Say among the nations: The LORD is
king.He governs the peoples with equity.Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the
nations.
Reading II 1 Cor 12:4-11
Brothers and sisters:There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord;there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spiritis given for some benefit.To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another, the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds;to another, prophecy; to another, discernment of spirits; to another, varieties of tongues; to another, interpretation of tongues.But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.
Gospel Jn 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short,the mother of Jesus said to him,“They have no wine.”And Jesus said to her,“Woman, how does your concern affect me?My hour has not yet come.”His mother said to the servers,“Do whatever he tells you.”Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,“Fill the jars with water.”So they filled them to the brim.Then he told them,“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,“Everyone serves good wine first,and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galileeand so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
........................................................
We have often heard the modern proverb: "It's the economy stupid."
I regard that the two most intelligent statements regarding the productive
capability of humanity are found in the written Word of God.
The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. (Genesis 11:6 NASB)
In my own provincial level campaign as an independent back in 2006 I attempted to
deal with the astonishing productive capability of humanity in this way:
http://www.bankingsystemflaws.blogspot.com/
When well trained workers have high quality technology to work with then the
total of all wages and benefits paid out to employees is only a fraction of the
retail value of the products they produce. As a result of this fact the only way
to move products out of warehouses is to extend higher and higher levels of
credit. One problem with an abundance of red ink is that compound interest on
all this government, business and personal debt over a period of decades will
grow to astronomical levels. At this time there is approximately TEN TIMES as
much debt in Canada as there is money.
Wise old King Solomon made a brilliant assertion regarding the power inherent in money.
"Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the(Ecclesiastes 10:19 NASB)
answer to everything."
Although I took two years of Business Administration at St. Francis Xavier University a couple of decades ago, I feel that I had minimal comprehension of the big picture economically until 1994 when I was introduced to Social Credit Economic Theory by a group of Catholic Patriots who have published The Michael Journal. I was fascinated by their ideas but my experience seven years later of teaching English in Quito, Ecuador for over a year where I saw real poverty with my own eyes has caused me to become almost obsessed with a desire to educate people to the astonishing productive capability we humans actually have. I would like to think that I have been bitten by the same bug that dropped on Dr. Coady and gave me a little radioactive nip!
I Dennis Tate, am extremely interested in conversion to Catholicism but my motives are NOT entirely altruistic. In my area Dr. Moses Coady, Fr. Jimmy Thompkins with their friends and followers initiated the Antigonish Movement which has transformed not only the local economy here in rural Nova Scotia, but has grown to influence projects in one hundred and twenty nations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigonish_Movement
"As educators and priests, the leaders of the Antigonish Movement were primarily(Wikipedia)
concerned with human and spiritual development. The title of Moses Coady’s only
book – Masters of Their Own Destiny – encapsulates this desire to see ordinary
Nova Scotians achieve economic and social freedom."
...
"Ordinary Nova
Scotians he argued, had only themselves to blame for their poverty and vulnerability. They had permitted money and
business to become mysterious forces outside of their control. Fishers and
farmers for example, were exploited by marketing middlemen. Everyone was
exploited by moneylenders. If they took the time to understand their
circumstances and took the risks of co-operative action, they could achieve
economic security and on that foundation greater freedom and self-realization."
I feel that Dr. Moses Coady was so powerfully guided by the Ruach ha Kodesh/The Holy Spirit that it is legitimate to compare him with the ancient prophet Elijah. In my opinion, Dr. Coady has accomplished a tremendous amount even the economic aspect of the restoration of the tribes of Israel.
http://www.drbo.org/chapter/26048.htm
"And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch."...(Ecclesiasticus 48:1,10 DRBO)
"Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the
Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes
of Jacob."
I may be wrong in this assertion but over the past decade or so I have noticed over and over again that our opinions regarding politics and economics are astonishingly similar to our own ideas regarding philosophy and theology. Those of us who feel that God has a simple plan, that the souls of the dead are either saved or lost, either in heaven or in hell often seem content to be satisfied with a world in which a minority are spectacularly wealthy while the vast majority of humanity is forced to scrounge for a pathetic living. Dr. Moses Coady felt that there was some glimmer of real hope for the people who were in something of an economic purgatory. His confidence in their ability to be raised up to a higher level was instrumental in his being able to help so many thousand and now millions of poor people to transform their lives.
In 2007 Sir Richard Branson announced a $25 million award for a design for a device that could remove one billion tons of carbon out of the atmosphere annually. In a somewhat tongue in cheek but essentially still serious tone I submitted a proposal for this award:
"Dear Mr. Branson:It is my firm belief that the number one technological device
to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases has already been invented. It is the
tree.What is desperately needed at this time is not necessarily a new mechanical
device but instead a paradigm shift in economic theory regarding monetary policy. We require a readily understandable explanation on how leaders in business and government can direct not only millions, but actually trillions of dollars of investment into combating global warming."
One of the most effective practical methods that could be put into place in the
least amount of time would be dozens of the largest possible desalinization
plants all along the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Huge quantities of fresh water
could be dripped onto the Sinai and Sahara deserts and voila, well chosen
species of newly planted fast growing trees could soon change the color of these
relatively desolate areas, significantly reduce atmospheric CO2, positively
affect local weather patterns and at the same time significantly counterbalance
the increases in worldwide ocean levels as the polar ice caps melt. This will
buy us some extra time and thus expand the “very brief window of opportunity to
deal with climate change.” (Anti-Armageddon Paradigm Shift Monetary Policy
Theory, The Introduction by Dennis Tate).
One disagreement that I had with the editors of the Michael Journal was that they blamed all of our economic problems on our Prime Minister or on other secular political leaders. My opinion on who is actually in the best position to alter and redirect the entire world is a little different and perhaps the number one obsticle to my perhaps eventually becoming officially a Roman Catholic.
"So who is going to finance the construction of all these massive installations
not to mention the planting of all those seedling trees?"I believe that it is
possible for you to do this yourself Mr. Branson. You have already created a
Virgin currency unit/coupon which has astonishing long term potential. My wife
Maria Jose just returned from a two week trip to the British VIRGIN Islands. It
is theoretically possible to link your Virgin coupon with the national currency
of a small nation and you could soon be playing around in macro-economics.
Considering the volume of business being done through your Virgin Group I would
submit that you already are.Pope Benedict XVI may be in an even stronger position than you Mr. Branson to transform the world economy virtually overnight through the introduction of a new Vatican Currency Unit that could be linked
with each and every national currency where the Vatican State is free to do business."
The full text from my first submission for the Virgin Earth Challenge can be viewed here:
http://greendesertstoreducecarbon.blogspot.com/2010/01/anti-armageddon-paradigm-shift-monetary.html
As part of my introduction to my second submission for the Virgin Earth Challenge co-authored by New Mexico biologist Carl Cantrell, I made this rather politically incorrect statement:
"It seems to me that turning the world's one billion hungry people into a market for food produced in our deserts through both aquaculture and agriculture could be the way to reduce the amount of heat going into the atmosphere at the same time that we add fresh water to the water table of North Africa and the Middle East. Every cubic meter added to North Africa will NOT be on top of Florida, New Orleans, Holland or the Maldive Islands!"
Jesus/Yahushua made one of the most brilliant observations that I have ever read when he stated that many of his own followers might not be exactly the most insightful, well read, wise and articulate people to ever walk the earth.
"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly;(Luke 16:8 NASB)
for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the
sons of light."
I have the distinct impression from the following verse that the Apostle Paul had noticed essentially the same tendency.
"For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many(I Corinthians 1:26 ASV)
mighty, not many noble, are called:"
In the summer of 2008 I joined Canada's Christian Heritage Party but I left it a few months later because it seems that the majority of the membership regard the ideas on global warming as nothing more than an elaborate conspiracy to take away their freedom to drive their cars!
"You are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people(Isaiah 8:12 NASB)
call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it."
I am so glad that I was given this opportunity to do the homily for January 17, 2010, these are the perfect scriptures to introduce the theory that the Roman Catholic Church may well be in the perfect position to alter world monetary policy in such a way that the one billion hungry people on this earth become the key to combatting climate change in a manner that will actually address the most probable short term as well as the most likely long term hazards presented by climate change.
It was rather obviously God at work that I was delayed from being able to write this sermon until after this Monday in which I was able to see my daughter in law in her new wedding dress. A woman can be compared to the land in that the land produces food, and food is essential for life. It is pretty much impossible for a man to give birth to a baby and feed and take care of it by himself, modern medical and genetic technological innovations notwithstanding.
If the one billion hungry people on this earth were each to spend one thousand dollars on food produced through aquaculture, and hydroponics projects based in North Africa and the Middle East, then ONE TRILLION dollars has just been spent in such a way that it will directly combat climate change.
Biologist Carl Cantrell has stated that satellite images of this earth indicate that vastly more heat is going into the atmosphere from the deserts than from all of earths cities combined. Yes, greenhouse gases act as an insulator, but if your house was too hot it might be rational to try turning down the furnace before knocking all the insulation out of the walls.
In the afternoon the Sahara Desert may be 40 Celcius or higher, by the next morning that same area can be near the freezing point. Why? Well, because a desert has no plant cover nothing keeps the heat in. It dissipates rapidly into the atmosphere.
(Biologist Carl Cantrell, article, Global Warming II)"Therefore, the less vegetation you have on the planet, the more sunlight is
being turned into heat and the warmer the planet becomes. This is very critical
because warmer and dryer winds dry out other land areas faster decreasing the
vegetation on those land areas. Less humidity in the air also reflects less sun
light back out into space so that more sun light strikes the earth and more heat
is generated….”“The truth is that you can do more to decrease global warming by
just reducing the average temperature for the Sahara Desert by one or two degrees than if we humans completely quit using fossil fuels and returned to the cave….”“So, how would you start working to resolve this problem?
Easy, cool the deserts and get some vegetation growing on them as soon as possible. But the method is much more complex than that. You have to use the prevailing trade winds in relation to the deserts to get the best results as quickly as possible
and it will be extremely expensive….”“Then we build desalination plants along the coast near these water sheds and pipe water to the tops or ridges of the water sheds…”
Combatting climate change is the PERFECT excuse for the Roman Catholic Church to come up with a comprehensive plan to feed, clothe and educate one billion of the world's poorest and most malnourished people.
"The peril of Mother Earth and our children will not be alleviated without(Coming of The Cosmic Christ by Dr. Matthew Fox).
enlisting our spiritual heritage in the struggle. "Fight the worst with the
best," advises farmer/poet/prophet Wendell Berry. At a National Academy of
Sciences conferencein 1986 exploring the mass extinction of plants and animals
on our planet, Paul R. Ehrlich of Stanford University declared, "Scientific
analysis points curiously, toward the need for aquasi-religious transformation
of contemporary cultures."
I also feel that it was God delaying my ability to complete this homily until today. This theory is relevant to the after effects of the earthquake in Haiti. In my first submission for the Virgin Earth Challenge I drew the attention of Sir Richard and his colleagues to the localized micro-economic experiment being conducted in Ithaca New York.
Socially active citizens of Ithaca have gotten together and continued the printing of their own local currency unit. Many businesses in Ithaca accept these local currency notes for ten percent and even up to one hundred percent of the value of their products or services. I believe that official Haiti Gourdes would almost automatically tend to inspire an even higher level of psychological confidence and therefore acceptance in the minds of people than a local currency would, especially if a wide ranging attempt to use the Haiti Gourd as a prop in a series of reality or semi-reality films taking place all over the USA.
As a long term student of politics and modern world problems it is my recommendation that the people of Haiti form several film production cooperatives to operate in the United States. I recommend that because President Obama has granted the people of Haiti a special status for the next eighteen months that this is a perfect excuse to use monetary policy to attempt to repay them for this action.
Several years ago I read a statistic that on a per capita basis Americans are roughly one thousand percent more generous than we Canadians.
If the elected representatives of Haiti will make it a national policy to shoot reality films all over the USA where they attempt to the best of their ability to repay the kindness that has been shown by the American people and by President Obama. In my opinion it will not be possible to out give the American people but they would certainly love you for trying. Many of these films can focus simply on attempting to put American back into their old, or into even better housing than they may have lost during this recession.
When President Reagan desperately sought to bring down the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall who on this earth did he turn to for help?
Pope John Paul II.
Together President Reagan, his helpers, Pope John Paul II and his helpers prayed, cooperated, worked and prayed some more ultimately resulting in the dismantling of one of the most oppressive political and economic systems that the earth has ever seen.
I believe that we are in many ways in even greater danger today from the most probable effects of climate change than was presented by the cold war.
Climate change = Global warming - Global dimming
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3310_sun.html
Between the 1950s and the early 1990s, the level of solar energy reaching the
Earth's surface had dropped: nine percent in Antarctica, 10 percent in areas of
the U.S.A., by almost 30 percent in one region of Russia, and by 16 percent in
parts of the British Isles. This seemed to be a global phenomenon, so Gerry gave
it a suitable name: "global dimming."
DAVID TRAVIS: The 9/11 study showed that if you remove a contributor to global dimming, jet contrails, just for a three-day period, we see an immediate response of the surface temperature. Do the same thing globally, we might see a large-scale increase in global warming.
...
JAMES HANSEN: It has been overlooked how sensitive ice sheets are to global temperature. We can see that in the last year, the mass of Greenland decreased by 200 cubic kilometers of ice. That's a lot of ice.
In another article Dr. James Hansen stated that we could be looking at a much greater rise in ocean levels than has previously been thought:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hansen
"The geological record suggests that ice at the poles does not melt in a gradual and linear fashion, but flips suddenly from one state to another. When temperatures increased to 2-3 degrees above today’s level 3.5 million years ago, sea levels rose not by 59 centimetres but by 25 metres. The ice responded immediately to changes in temperature."
(Dr. James Hansen)
So was Moshe actually inspired by God to write that human productive
capability is essentially limitless when we have a unified language and common
goal?
I believe that he was.
Until taking this Ministerial Studies 130 course I had never taken the time to read the Roman Catholic Missal. Now I would so love to become an official member of the most numerous and influential group of socially active people that this planet has ever seen. I believe that by becoming Catholic I will be able to accomplish far more with my life than if I remain a theological independent.
The times they are a changin'---and at an ever increasing pace. How
should we respond? If the changes promote human welfare, we should do our best to support them. If they diminish human welfare, we should do our best to thwart them. As Christians we have an agenda of our own for
change. Indeed, we are challenged to change the world!
(Sunday Missal, 2009, 2010 page 378)
I recently viewed an exceptionally controversial Intelligence Squared debate on the BBC. The title was "Has The Catholic Church been a Force For Good In the World?" The majority of viewers at the end of the debate concluded, no! I have some very good news for one billion Roman Catholics. I am confident that within fifty years a similar debate and poll will turn out quite differently!
