Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall
the end come.
Continuing this study of Mashiach Ben Yosef (Messiah "Son of Joseph"), I want to focus on another aspect of the rabbis' understanding; that Mashiach ben Yosef will come first, and prepare the world for the Kingdom of the Lord. According to their teaching he will do this by fighting God's wars against "Edom", which is collectively understood as the enemies of Israel in the time preceding the restoration of the Messianic Kingdom by Mashiach "Ben David". This preparation is known as Ikvot Mashiach -- the Footsteps of Messiah. Their expectation was that the entire world would be thus readied for the arrival of Mashiach Ben David, the glorious King.
Messianic and Christian believers understand that Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of Mashiach Ben Yosef in His first coming, and we anxiously await His return to fulfill the role of Mashiach Ben David. During this long interval, we who know Mashiach "Ben Yosef", the Suffering Servant, Yeshua, (Jesus) also "walk in His footsteps", preparing the world for His return.
This "walk" also engages us in a war. "Edom" represents the earthly man, the man of flesh, an enemy against whom we struggle daily, facing many battles and obstacles as we prepare ourselves and our brethren in holy living for our expected Bridegroom's arrival. Walking in His Footsteps means living a life of expectant preparation, and calling others to this walk as we preach the gospel of the coming Kingdom to all the nations.
Let us follow faithfully in His footsteps, fighting in the spirit, the battle with "Edom", our sinful nature, and winning souls through holy living and sharing the gospel of salvation at every opportunity. (George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah)
Continuing this study of Mashiach Ben Yosef (Messiah "Son of Joseph"), I want to focus on another aspect of the rabbis' understanding; that Mashiach ben Yosef will come first, and prepare the world for the Kingdom of the Lord. According to their teaching he will do this by fighting God's wars against "Edom", which is collectively understood as the enemies of Israel in the time preceding the restoration of the Messianic Kingdom by Mashiach "Ben David". This preparation is known as Ikvot Mashiach -- the Footsteps of Messiah. Their expectation was that the entire world would be thus readied for the arrival of Mashiach Ben David, the glorious King.
Messianic and Christian believers understand that Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus) fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of Mashiach Ben Yosef in His first coming, and we anxiously await His return to fulfill the role of Mashiach Ben David. During this long interval, we who know Mashiach "Ben Yosef", the Suffering Servant, Yeshua, (Jesus) also "walk in His footsteps", preparing the world for His return.
This "walk" also engages us in a war. "Edom" represents the earthly man, the man of flesh, an enemy against whom we struggle daily, facing many battles and obstacles as we prepare ourselves and our brethren in holy living for our expected Bridegroom's arrival. Walking in His Footsteps means living a life of expectant preparation, and calling others to this walk as we preach the gospel of the coming Kingdom to all the nations.
Let us follow faithfully in His footsteps, fighting in the spirit, the battle with "Edom", our sinful nature, and winning souls through holy living and sharing the gospel of salvation at every opportunity. (George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah)
We request that you seriously consider that Catholic bloggers support a national network of faithful Catholic newsletters that defend the faith, promote Catholic teaching, and offer an antidote to the Tablet.
ReplyDeleteGreetings one and all,
The following is in reference to Richard Collins' Linen on the Hedgerow post in which I am the MC to which he refers http://linenonthehedgerow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/teaching-great-unwashed.html
I am specifically calling on the network of Catholic bloggers that have been faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church over the past five years. You will appreciate that you are a ready made network, spread throughout Great Britain, that time and time again has shown that you care about the future direction of the Catholic Church in this country. I am convinced that blogging has already made a substantive contribution to the battles that have already been won in the Church over the past five years.
Catholic blogging must continue, but there is also a growing belief that our message could go further and specifically to the Catholics on the pews that do not read blogs (or the Catholic Herald for that matter). They have a right to hear the authentic version of Catholicism. This message would also support Pope Benedict's Papal Visit wishes that there is a need to re-catechise and re-evangelise the faithful. Due to the proven track record of enthusiasm for the Catholic Church and the geographic spread of bloggers around the UK we are in a unique position to support Pope Benedict's wishes and to actually make a potential difference on the ground and 'get this important message out there'.
We need a network of Catholics who are willing to take an active part in spreading this message and myself and Richard (initially) suggest a nation newsletter that will carry this message to the pews every month. EVEN IF YOU ONLY WANT TO PRINT OUT TEN COPIES A MONTH THIS WILL STILL BE A MASSIVE STEP FORWARD!
Please read the following section and I would then ask that you would place your initial comments on Richard's Linen on the Hedgerow Blog.
[Please note that I have attached my own newsletter that I recently started distributing once a month at my local churches. Of course, this is not how a finalised network newsletter has to be. I have simply included it to show you that it is relatively easy to do. I presently print out 40, leave some at the church, target some to specific people, and place two copies on Church notice boards. I pin copies up at other local churches if I pass them. I am sure that a final network copy would be superior to my attempts]
Why do we need a network supported traditional/faithful Catholic newsletter championed by Catholic bloggers?
ReplyDelete1. The way I see it is that 'the message' needs to go beyond those that read Catholic blogs. It appears to me that those who need to hear the message very rarely hear it.
2. There is a need for an antidote to The Tablet. We already have one it is called the Catholic Herald but once again the people who need to read it do not seem to be the ones that ever buy it.
3. When making up your mind on whether to support us please bare in mind that The Tablet is now publicly supporting 70 Catholic priests (and other prominent lay Catholics) who are calling for dissent against Church teaching during The Year of Faith.
4. Who is the target audience?
Those who are generally un-catechised.
Those who love Catholicism but are embarrassed (due to the present climate) to go that step further i.e. a lady who said that she was too embarrassed to ask for Holy water because she felt the priest would look at her as if she had gone mad. We need these people to be more confident and start talking openly about all aspects of Catholicism. We can encourage these people to be open about Catholicism once again. No more closet Catholics.
Those 'fringe liberals' who can still be 'saved' if they had it properly explained to them why the rules of the Church are actually present.
5. A free monthly one sided news letter would at least have some impact because:
Catholics always pick up anything that is free (sad but true).
If it is short then the chances are at least one article will be read - Long diatribes must be avoided.
Copies could be distributed in the editors own Church (and further a field if they could afford to print more).
6. What is imperative?
The headlines and the articles must be pithy and get over the points of view within 2 sentences.
7. We need a network of enthusiastic Catholics who want to get the word out there.
It seems to me that we already have a network of enthusiastic people, they are called bloggers and many have the same goals.
8. I have to be honest this was initially seen as a network with everyone who signs up creating their own newsletter tailor made to their own parish. The reason I said this was because I believed that individual editors will only take the 'bull by the horns' and be enthusiastic if they are creating their own content. They know what needs to be said in their own parish. However, there is no reason why there should not be just one central newsletter that could have contributions by various bloggers. Please leave your thoughts on this aspect on Richard's blog post.
ReplyDelete9. What is the message
To point out that real Catholicism is not dead.
To show that there are other people involved in traditional/authentic/faithful catholic practices (i.e. you are not alone).
Encourage faithful 'closet' Catholics to be confident and finally speak up for Catholic ways within their own Church.
To highlight that 'Liberal ways are slowly coming to an end' and there is a generation of Catholics that want authentic Catholicism once again.
I think that it is imperative to highlight the fact that there are a younger generation of Catholics that want authentic Catholicism. Otherwise the liberals will just say that ' it is just the same old people moaning'.
It is a short news letter but, I also think that it is imperative that some explanations for Church teaching be included. In fact..........
10. At the bottom of my draft copy I have placed a text box (click on attachment) with the heading Why should Catholics be faithful to the Church? - I have no wish to push this on any one but could I suggest that maybe this should be a common thread running though all the newsletters. After all, is this not the key message that we are trying to get out there.
11. A network is important because it distributes the cost. Also, if someone can only afford to print off 10/20 copies a month then this should be no barrier (enthusiasm is more important than numbers - the Holy Spirit will do the rest). Maybe those who can only print less copies can target specific people and ask them to read it (I am sure the Holy Spirit will have an input here).
Finally, I really believe that this is an 'extremely Catholic concept'. Historically, when the Church struggled Catholics came up with underground ways to fight back. We can not take on The Tablet 'head on' but we can go underground and still get the message out there. The Papal Visit in many ways failed because the Bishop's are not re-evangelising and re-catechising the Church which is the one thing that Pope Benedict asked of them. If the Bishop's will not do it then there will be some Catholics out there who will take up the challenge. Maybe it is time for a home grown, grass roots antidote to The Tablet which is a simple, relatively cheap, non time consuming, level headed, and non-combative way of spreading the word of how authentic Catholicism should be and why Catholic teaching is there for a reason and what it actually means.
Please respond at Richards blog post (click on the link above),
All the very best,
God Bless