Very mysterious to see a picture of Pope St. John Paul II in a Q message! This picture is taken at the Sea of Galilee near the Mount of Beatitudes when Pope JP II visited there in March, 2000. The bishop the pope is greeting is apparently Archbishop Boutros Mouallem of the Greek Melkite Community.
He called his visit that day a rehearsal for World Youth Day in August and addresses his remarks to the youth of the whole world:
Relevant excerpt from the text:
These two mountains—Sinai and the Mount of the Beatitudes—offer us the roadmap of our Christian life and a summary of our responsibilities to God and neighbour. The Law and the Beatitudes together mark the path of the following of Christ and the royal road to spiritual maturity and freedom.
The Ten Commandments of Sinai may seem negative: "You will have no false gods before me; . . . do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness ... " (Ex 20:3, 13-16). But in fact they are supremely positive. Moving beyond the evil they name, they point the way to the law of love which is the first and greatest of the commandments: "You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. . .You will love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:37, 39). Jesus himself says that he came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law (cf. Mt 5:17). His message is new but it does not destroy what went before; it leads what went before to its fullest potential. Jesus teaches that the way of love brings the Law to fulfillment (cf. Gal 5:14). And he taught this enormously important truth on this hill here in Galilee.
3.
"Blessed are you!", he says, "all you who are poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, you who mourn, who care for what is right, who are pure in heart, who make peace, you who are persecuted! Blessed are you!" But the words of Jesus may seem strange. It is strange that Jesus exalts those whom the world generally regards as weak. He says to them, "Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners: the kingdom of heaven is yours!" Spoken by him who is "gentle and humble in heart" (Matt 11:29), these words present a challenge which demand a deep and abiding metanoia of the spirit, a great change of heart.
You young people will understand why this change of heart is necessary! Because you are aware of another voice within you and all around you, a contradictory voice. It is a voice which says, "Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way". And this voice seems to make sense in a world where the violent often triumph and the devious seem to succeed. "Yes", says the voice of evil, "they are the ones who win. Happy are they!"
4.
Jesus offers a very different message. Not far from this very place Jesus called his first disciples, as he calls you now. His call has always demanded a choice between the two voices competing for your hearts even now on this hill, the choice between good and evil, between life and death. Which voice will the young people of the twenty-first century choose to follow? To put your faith in Jesus means choosing to believe what he says, no matter how strange it may seem, and choosing to reject the claims of evil, no matter how sensible or attractive they may seem.
In the end, Jesus does not merely speak the Beatitudes. He lives the Beatitudes. He is the Beatitudes. Looking at him you will see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted. This is why he has the right to say, "Come, follow me!" He does not say simply, "Do what I say". He says, "Come, follow me!"
You hear his voice on this hill, and you believe what he says. But like the first disciples at the Sea of Galilee, you must leave your boats and nets behind, and that is never easy—especially when you face an uncertain future and are tempted to lose faith in your Christian heritage. To be good Christians may seem beyond your strength in today’s world. But Jesus does not stand by and leave you alone to face the challenge. He is always with you to transform your weakness into strength. Trust him when he says: "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9)!
Yet I think Q did not want to point at the pope's sermon. He also shows other people. The greatest of the earth. My intuition says that Q denounces them. Including the pope on the picture, and probably also the current one. I fear Q knows very bad secrets about the church. In that light consider this tweet:
Thank you for this. Maybe you're right, but the picture of Thor with his hammer seems to be a warning of divine retribution which would tie in very neatly with the Pope's 2000 Sermon at the Mount of the Beatitudes. You might interpret the pictures this way:
Picture 1) God presents two paths to everyone: follow the Laws of God or follow the road to perdition.
Picture 2) Those who choose to glorify and indulge themselves and "win" in this world at the expense of others will face the wrath of God.
Pictures of Hillary, Bill, Huma and Podesta are the primary agents of evil in the U.S. upon whom the hammer will fall.
Regarding Pope St. John Paul's Sermon at the Sea of Galilee, I would venture to say the following:
The Pope is pointing out the fact that there are two voices competing for our attention and two paths open to all of us: "the choice between good and evil, between life and death."
There is the voice of God and His Saints urging us to follow the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and to follow Jesus and "be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted."
Then there is the voice of Satan which contradicts the Beatitudes which says: "Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way". And this voice seems to make sense in a world where the violent often triumph and the devious seem to succeed. "Yes", says the voice of evil, "they are the ones who win. Happy are they!"
We are called to follow the former and make the fundamental choice to obey the Laws of God which requires a change of heart, a metanoia, to accept His grace and His assistance in following the straight and narrow path to eternal happiness.
This is apparently a decisive moment in the history of the world. Whom are we going to follow: Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or Satan?
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Gilderoy ago
Very mysterious to see a picture of Pope St. John Paul II in a Q message! This picture is taken at the Sea of Galilee near the Mount of Beatitudes when Pope JP II visited there in March, 2000. The bishop the pope is greeting is apparently Archbishop Boutros Mouallem of the Greek Melkite Community.
The Pope gave a beautiful sermon on that occasion: http://ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/documents-and-statements/roman-catholic/pope-john-paul-ii/337-jp2-00mar24
He called his visit that day a rehearsal for World Youth Day in August and addresses his remarks to the youth of the whole world:
Relevant excerpt from the text:
The Ten Commandments of Sinai may seem negative: "You will have no false gods before me; . . . do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness ... " (Ex 20:3, 13-16). But in fact they are supremely positive. Moving beyond the evil they name, they point the way to the law of love which is the first and greatest of the commandments: "You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. . .You will love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:37, 39). Jesus himself says that he came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law (cf. Mt 5:17). His message is new but it does not destroy what went before; it leads what went before to its fullest potential. Jesus teaches that the way of love brings the Law to fulfillment (cf. Gal 5:14). And he taught this enormously important truth on this hill here in Galilee.
3.
"Blessed are you!", he says, "all you who are poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, you who mourn, who care for what is right, who are pure in heart, who make peace, you who are persecuted! Blessed are you!" But the words of Jesus may seem strange. It is strange that Jesus exalts those whom the world generally regards as weak. He says to them, "Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners: the kingdom of heaven is yours!" Spoken by him who is "gentle and humble in heart" (Matt 11:29), these words present a challenge which demand a deep and abiding metanoia of the spirit, a great change of heart.
You young people will understand why this change of heart is necessary! Because you are aware of another voice within you and all around you, a contradictory voice. It is a voice which says, "Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way". And this voice seems to make sense in a world where the violent often triumph and the devious seem to succeed. "Yes", says the voice of evil, "they are the ones who win. Happy are they!"
4.
Jesus offers a very different message. Not far from this very place Jesus called his first disciples, as he calls you now. His call has always demanded a choice between the two voices competing for your hearts even now on this hill, the choice between good and evil, between life and death. Which voice will the young people of the twenty-first century choose to follow? To put your faith in Jesus means choosing to believe what he says, no matter how strange it may seem, and choosing to reject the claims of evil, no matter how sensible or attractive they may seem.
In the end, Jesus does not merely speak the Beatitudes. He lives the Beatitudes. He is the Beatitudes. Looking at him you will see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted. This is why he has the right to say, "Come, follow me!" He does not say simply, "Do what I say". He says, "Come, follow me!"
You hear his voice on this hill, and you believe what he says. But like the first disciples at the Sea of Galilee, you must leave your boats and nets behind, and that is never easy—especially when you face an uncertain future and are tempted to lose faith in your Christian heritage. To be good Christians may seem beyond your strength in today’s world. But Jesus does not stand by and leave you alone to face the challenge. He is always with you to transform your weakness into strength. Trust him when he says: "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9)!
andrevandelft ago
Thank you for the background of the picture.
Yet I think Q did not want to point at the pope's sermon. He also shows other people. The greatest of the earth. My intuition says that Q denounces them. Including the pope on the picture, and probably also the current one. I fear Q knows very bad secrets about the church. In that light consider this tweet:
https://twitter.com/RealChimpanzee/status/939075099960991744
Gilderoy ago
Thank you for this. Maybe you're right, but the picture of Thor with his hammer seems to be a warning of divine retribution which would tie in very neatly with the Pope's 2000 Sermon at the Mount of the Beatitudes. You might interpret the pictures this way:
Picture 1) God presents two paths to everyone: follow the Laws of God or follow the road to perdition.
Picture 2) Those who choose to glorify and indulge themselves and "win" in this world at the expense of others will face the wrath of God.
Pictures of Hillary, Bill, Huma and Podesta are the primary agents of evil in the U.S. upon whom the hammer will fall.
Gilderoy ago
Regarding Pope St. John Paul's Sermon at the Sea of Galilee, I would venture to say the following:
The Pope is pointing out the fact that there are two voices competing for our attention and two paths open to all of us: "the choice between good and evil, between life and death."
There is the voice of God and His Saints urging us to follow the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and to follow Jesus and "be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted."
Then there is the voice of Satan which contradicts the Beatitudes which says: "Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way". And this voice seems to make sense in a world where the violent often triumph and the devious seem to succeed. "Yes", says the voice of evil, "they are the ones who win. Happy are they!"
We are called to follow the former and make the fundamental choice to obey the Laws of God which requires a change of heart, a metanoia, to accept His grace and His assistance in following the straight and narrow path to eternal happiness.
This is apparently a decisive moment in the history of the world. Whom are we going to follow: Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or Satan?