YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, YOU DID WRONG, AND HERE'S WHY

Bring the truth to earthly power

When we celebrate the great apostle James, it is a good time to consider one of the things for which he is famous.  First and foremost, he is remembered as the first official, de facto, leader of the New Community, The Way, as the followers of Jesus were collectively known.  His seat of leadership was atop Mount Zion, the Holy City of Jerusalem.  He is also known for his short but powerful written instruction to the world, The Epistle of James. Finally, and to the point of my present letter he is famous for his teaching about the human tongue.  [James, 3; 1 - 12]  You can imagine that anyone who could have written that must have lived by it first.
When I think of James, I always remember Nathan, the great prophet Nathan,  God's "mouth piece"  bringing judgement down into the ears, heart and soul of the great sinner, saint and  King, David.  Nathan was not afraid of David because Nathan was dedicated to God and God's truth.  Like all God fearing and revering people, Nathan was not afraid to die because he was doing God's work and speaking for God.  He knew that he was right and that the king who had been chosen by God through the service of the Great Patriarch Samuel, knew that he had to listen to God's word coming to him now through the holy prophet Nathan.
We have much to learn from Nathan.  We have much to learn from James.  We also have much to learn from our Weeping Mother, Mary as she appeared to two illiterate children at La Salette in France in 1846, speaking the Naked Truth in stark, real-time terms. The first thing to learn is that closeness to God makes us strong in the truth.
The second thing is that the truth is always produced by God in every age until the end of time.  Jesus used His human tongue to bring the truth home to us.  He showed us that the truth is a sign of contradiction. He showed us that the truth, because it is inexorably from God, is, in fact, a sign of contradiction just as He, Himself and His Father are, and always will be.  Jesus, when His Hour had come, clebrated the truth by testifying to it while standing before the ultimate earthly power, the cruel potentate, Pilate, who, just before handing Jesus over to the Jews and the Roman soldiers asked, "Truth?  What is that?" [John 38, 38]
            Answer:
Closeness to God. The whole truth and nothing but the truth takes away our fear of earthly power.  It doesn't matter what the source of power is, it can never equal the grace of God.  Staying close to the pure, unvarnished truth is therefore a very important virtue for us to practice.  It keeps us close to God, the Pure, Eternal Truth, at every moment.  It is in this actual intimacy that we will find comfort, peace and joy.

We should be aware of this every time we use our tongue to communicate something.  We have some very lofty sacred examples to follow, Nathan, Mary, Jesus, James just to name a few.
Think about it the next time someone asks you "How old did you say you are?"
Don't be afraid to say that you heard it here.  Don't be afraid to refrain from crying at my funeral because I say the truth when I tell you not to do that.

THE LEGEND OF THE MILK GROTTO

Run, Mama Mary, Run!

Now that the Magi have gone and Herod is pissed off, Joseph and Mary decide, like all good children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob always do, to take off and flee to Egypt.  Of course, Egypt.  Where else?  The Bible is full of Egypt.  But, shortly after they started, something mighty interesting happened...You ready for this?  You'd better be.
According to legend, after Herod realized that the Magi had come and gone, he gave the famous edict to kill all male babies under the age of two years.  Jesus, being less than two years, as well as his cousin John by the way, had to be either hidden or taken to a friendly country for protection.  As usual, when God's people are in need of protection or better living conditions or food, they run south to Egypt.  So that is what Joseph and Mary decided to do.
Not long after they had set out on their journey, Baby Jesus got hungry.  So, familiar as they were with the Bethlehem lay of the land, they sought out a grotto where Mary could comfortably, and safely, attend to the needs of the Baby.  It is said that during the process of the feeding, a drop of the Virgin's milk fell to the floor of the cave, turning the entire rock surface white and giving rise to the chalky stone that remains the outstanding feature of the grotto until this very day.

The Milk Grotto is an irregular Grotto hollowed out of soft milk-white rock.  Just as for so many other natural features of the land in Israel, the Crusaders built a church over the famous "holy" grotto.  Over time it has become  famous for its healing powers.  Women for ages have scraped the walls for the dust that they produce and stirred it into their drink.   This mixture has a great reputation for its miraculous power to cure barren women and give them the gift of producing offspring.  It is also said to be a powerful aid for lactating mothers.  

Belle and I spent long, prayerful moments on three or four occasions before the charming mosaic that depicts Mother Mary attending to Jesus.  There we prayed for women whom we know would have been blessed by the curative powers of the rock dust from this holy place.  Belle brought some of the dust home and did give some to friends and acquaintances.  We have yet not heard any reports of good or evil coming from the use of this potion.  One of the more interested ladies has since left the area and we are no longer in touch with her.
So is the legend of Milk Grotto.


There is also the legend of St. Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.  It is said that because Zechariah was the priest in service at the time, he and Elizabeth could not run to Egypt.  So, Elizabeth and John went into hiding.  The family lived about 5 kilometers away from the Temple.  This was about 45 minutes of walking time.  One day, Zechariah was confronted by the Romans demanding to know where Elizabeth and the child were hiding.  When Zechariah refused to divulge his secret, he was slain on the spot.  
As you know, John and Elizabeth were not found.  John grew up and was subsequently beheaded by Herod.  You can read all about it in a story that you can read by clicking here.


disclaimer:  These are legendary stories, not Bible scripture.  There are more of these, but I don't want to confuse anyone.  Nonetheless:  enjoy.