December 5, 2025

Our Morning Offering – 5 December – O Adorable Heart of my Jesus!


One Minute Reflection – 5 December – … Know that the Kingdom of God is near. – Luke 21:29-31

Feria (First Sunday of Advent) propers & commentary (EF)

Friday of the First Week of Advent (EF)

Friday of the First Week of Advent readings & commentary (OF)

Friday of the First Week of Advent readings & commentary (OF)
Other Commemorations: St. Sabbas, Abbot

Daily Gospel

ADVENTCAzT 2025 – 06 – Friday 1st Week of Advent

Saint Sabas Patriarchal Abbot in Palestine

Saint Sabbas

Saints of the Day

Sermons for Everyday Living - Make Your Best Confession 12/5/25

Audio version of Gueranger
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I think we have a relationship with God in Christ. So we transition from the flesh to the spirit. When we invite Christ into our hearts He is living in us. But Christ cannot live with sin. So having Christ in us leads to a continual offloading of the sinful nature to come closer to God in that relationship.

Just like any relationship you have to work at it to get closer. Or you come to know the things you must do to continue to be close to God.

I think this is a matter pf personal relationship with each individual and it may be different. Depending on the particular experiences and circumstances.

While at the same time each is called to the level of their knowledge in God. In some ways seeking to be closer to God and to know His word and the spirit of God is opening up a persons eyes to God that this increases the responsibility. The more you know and become aware the more responsibility you have.

This same principle applies to those in positions of care under the law of Duty of Care. The more knowledge you have of the situation the more accountability you have to ensure good outcomes for others.

I think our conscience is the thing that tells each of us the truth and Gods will. If we are open to God then we will hear the spirit and the more we ignore this the more it persists until we act on it or reject it. Its an ongoing relationship of trust and faith. A battle between the spirit and the flesh.

An 8-year-old kidney transplant recipient in Brazil is becoming one of the country's youngest and most visible Evangelical figures as she preaches to churchgoers and millions online amid a trend of child preachers drawing strong social media followings in the South American country.

Ester Souza delivers sermons at a church led by her parents in Votuporanga, located in the state of São Paulo, often drawn from personal experience.

She speaks in front of a congregation of about 50 people each week, including both adults and children, The Washington Post reports. Her mother records the services on a mobile phone and uploads the videos to her daughter's social media accounts. She has nearly 2 million followers across platforms, and one of her videos has more than 11 million views.

The girl began preaching shortly after recovering from a serious medical condition. In 2020, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and remained in the hospital for two months. During that time, pandemic-related restrictions prevented her parents from staying with her. She later said she saw a man in white who told her she would be taken care of. Her kidney transplant took place in March 2021.

Continued below.

The day before Thanksgiving, Americans were shocked by the tragic shooting of two members of the National Guard by an Afghan asylum seeker allowed into the United States by the Biden Administration. According to the AP:

“The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting near the White House that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, both of the West Virginia National Guard, is facing charges … Rahmanullah Lakanwal is a 29-year-old Afghan national who had been living in Bellingham, Washington … He worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War.”

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This killer left his five children in Washington state to drive to DC to ambush Sarah Beckstrom with shots from a .357 pistol, then grabbed Beckstrom’s weapon and mortally wounded her with a shot to the head. He then shot Wolf multiple times, and “When Lakanwal paused to reload, a National Guard major leapt from cover and turned the ambush back on the attacker — stabbing the alleged terrorist in the head multiple times and bringing him to the ground. During the initial attack, the major allegedly heardLakanwal yelling 'Allahu Akbar,'" the New York Post reported.

Many wonder how Lakanwal could go from seeming an American ally in Afghanistan to this. I’d like to offer some perspective from what I have learned of Lakanwal and my experiences with Afghans in Afghanistan.

Continued below.

Even a cursory perusal of the national news media will suggest that among the significant problems afflicting American education from the elementary to the postgraduate level is a stunning lack of academic freedom. Indeed, anyone who has attended an American university in the last 30 years has been made aware to varying degrees that if you express certain “conservative” or “traditional” views on moral and political issues, you may well face varying degrees of discrimination or prejudice.

As I have interacted with students on campuses across the country over the past few decades, I have the clear impression that the “groupthink” on many college campuses (starting with a nearly monolithic faculty group liberal worldview) has reached stifling levels. Many, many times, I have had students tell me that they are fearful that if they say what they really think about various political, religious, or philosophical subjects in class or in term papers, they will be penalized by prejudiced liberal professors.

Even way back when I was an undergraduate (1965-1969), the overwhelming majority of my liberal arts professors at Princeton were liberal. I will always remember attending my first lecture in a history class. The professor, a man with a worldwide reputation, began by going through the syllabus, summarizing each of the assigned 16 required textbooks, giving each one’s historical worldview. He then volunteered that he was a Marxist-Leninist (he said he used to be a Communist, but he left the party as a protest to the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956) and he would be lecturing from that perspective.

Continued below.

12/05/25 Day 2

O St. Lucy, whose name proclaims the radiance of light, we approach you with humble confidence to seek your holy intercession. Obtain for us, through your prayers, that sacred illumination which guides our souls away from the shadows of sin and leads us toward the brightness of virtue.

Obtain for us also these petitions which we offer to you in this novena:

[Mention your petitions now]

We beseech you, St. Lucy, through your powerful advocacy before the throne of the Lamb, the protection of our eye sight, and for the grace to employ our eyes always in service of God’s glory and never for that which offends His divine majesty.

Help us to perceive with clarity the truths of our faith and the needs of our neighbor, that we may walk steadfastly in the light of Christ and labor earnestly for the salvation of souls.

Pray for us, St. Lucy, that having honored you as our advocate in this earthly pilgrimage, we may one day behold with you the eternal splendor of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose divine light all shadows flee away forever. Amen.

GoldenKingGaze said:

For century after century porneia in the new testament was translated as sexual immorality. But in the 20th century, romantic poetry and arts leaned towards porneia being love. Romatic love, unrequited love, love at first sight, free love. People moved by lust commit adultery and can't deny their feelings and falll in love with the other woman and leave the wife for the lover. There are stories true and fiction of men falling in love with their prostitute. A lover can be, or become first love. Ladies can be in love with their first love, lover for the rest of their life, despite getting married and having children with the second love.

Is it as simple as saying porneia is sexual immorality?

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I remember there was this idea that having sex with someone was more intimate then was made out. It was impossible to have sex with someone without it meaning something more than just sexual gratification. Even if that meant someone had to pretend or deny that reality. By doing so this took something away from the persons soul.

I think over time sex has been reimaged. Or maybe its history repeating itself. It seems when we take the spiritual aspect out of the equation we naturally turn to the base naturalistic instincts. Sex is made more important than it is to compensate the lack of spiritual connection.

Or sex is spiritualised with pagan beliefs which seems a natural belief when humans move away from God. They create gods out of nature, Gods creation itself.

A door is a gate or an entrance into something. It is a way into something or to somewhere. And in his life and death and resurrection, Jesus Christ provided the way to salvation from sin and eternal life with God. He is the way into relationship with God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. And he is the only way to forgiveness of sins and to victory over darkness. Even the faith to believe in him is gifted to us by God and is persuaded of God, and it is not of our own doing, not of the flesh of humankind.

And his sheep are all of us who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, by God-gifted faith in our Lord Jesus (see Romans 6:1-23). For Jesus said that his sheep listen to him, i.e. they heed (follow) his voice, and he knows them, and they follow (obey) him. And he gives them eternal life, and they will never perish (see John 10:27-30).

All who came before Jesus, who could be classified by him as “thieves and robbers,” were false prophets and teachers who taught lies and who led many people astray. And he could have been referring to the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees, as well, i.e. to all the religious rulers and people of prominence and influence in the temple of God who were teaching the people lies and who did not practice what they preached to others, too. They claimed to be of God, but they did not believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son.

But anyone who enters the sheep fold through the door (Jesus Christ), they will be saved. But we can only enter through faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which is gifted to us by God, and which is persuaded of God as to his righteousness and holiness and of our sinfulness and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands in holy living, empowered by God. So this faith is not of our own doing, and so we don’t get to decide what that faith looks like. God does!

The thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy is Satan, the devil, who is our arch enemy because he is the enemy of God. And all who are thieves and robbers are of the devil, because they serve his purposes and not the will of God. The goal of all of them is to keep us from believing in Jesus with God-persuaded faith in him, by which we die with Christ to sin and we now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And many of them are disguised as pastors who are teaching lies to the people.

So, test everything you hear coming from the mouths of all who say they are of God and who claim that they are teaching the gospel of Christ and of our salvation. Test what they are teaching against the Scriptures taught in their appropriate biblical context, and compare Scripture with Scripture, for they should agree with one another if they are teaching on the subject of faith in Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life with God. And many are those who are teaching lies by willfully teaching Scriptures out of context.

But Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

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The Door of The Sheep
An Original Work / December 5, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Strong in Him said:

So therefore nothing to do with a festival on the 25th.

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French priest and historian Louis Duchesne (1843-1917) proposed the influential "calculation hypothesis" for why Christmas is on December 25th, suggesting it wasn't just to replace pagan festivals.

Landon Caeli said:

"The human brain isn’t a blank slate waiting to be written by experience, according to research that challenges the century-old Tabula Rasa theory. The study shows that neurons grown in laboratory dishes spontaneously organize into precise firing sequences that resemble those seen in developing mouse brains, suggesting our neural circuits arrive pre-configured with computational architecture long before we experience the world.

The question of whether brains are shaped primarily by nature or nurture has occupied philosophers and scientists since at least the 17th century, when John Locke proposed the mind as a “tabula rasa” or blank slate. Modern neuroscience has largely assumed that while basic brain structures are genetically determined, the precise firing patterns that encode information must be learned through experience.

This study provides direct evidence against that"

Brain Cells Come Pre-Programmed, Challenging Century-Old 'Blank Slate' Theory

Lab-grown brain cells fire in precise sequences without sensory input, showing the brain isn't a blank slate.

studyfinds.org

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If not, who came upon the idea of "Brain washing?"

Richard T said:

Here is a critical view of Alligator Alcatraz. Detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facing ‘harrowing human right violations’, new report alleges.

Don't know what is true but I am pretty sure it might be hard to get a prisoner to a hospital if they needed it. I read some have been airlifted. I have to laugh at being able to handle just 115 MPH winds. So a low cat 3 can be handled by these tents? Hope I dont see that on the news.

As to the facility, it is subpar because of the lack of plumbing. All toilets are portable potties. To me that is unacceptable. I think American can do better especially at the price we are paying.


Alligator Alcatraz detention center are portable. Since the facility lacks permanent structures and plumbing, portable units are used for restrooms "and showers.

Details regarding the portable toilets:

• Sewage Removal: The waste from these portable toilets must be collected and trucked off-site, which has led to logistical challenges.
• Reported Issues: Detainees and former guards have reported that the portable toilets routinely back up, sometimes overflowing with fecal waste and contaminating the sleeping areas.
• Conflicting Reports: The Florida Division of Emergency Management has denied reports of issues with the portable toilets, claiming that the facility is in good working order.

The estimated cost to house a detainee at the
Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility is approximately $245 per day"

Folks that is about 94k per year. Fl;orida's average is around 40k for their state prisoners. Here is a state by state breakdown of prison costs.

How much do states spend on housing prisoners? | USAFacts

States in the South spend the least per inmate and have some of the highest prison incarceration rates in the nation.

usafacts.org

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Might they be intentionally perfecting a horrible plumbing concept, to be used as a deterrent itself?

Mari17 said:

I'm not sure that accurately reflects the character of God. I love the image of Him as the father of the prodigal son, running to meet him. Also, OCD tends to put too much weight on our feelings. Here is an article you might find helpful: Faith and Feelings: A Critical Issue for Religious OCD - Scrupulosity.com

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That is a great article! Thank you!

Aryeh Jay said:

Trump isn't starting anything. This was is being forced upon us by Venezuela the same way Ukraine forced Russia to defend itself from naked aggression and an unhinged unpopular leader.

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It is not a drug war that is for sure. Why? Because Venezuela is not the kingpin, it is more of a transit stop for drugs and a minor player compared to Mexico or Columbia. It is a cover story for getting regime change. Maduro is definitely a poor leader who also stole the election. I guess those are not good enough reasons? To me they are and I suppose I would support some military involvement as long as American leaders are not trying to game the nation with lucrative oil contracts and insider deals.

.Mikha'el. said:

You can have my share of the world's snow all to yourself if you want.

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Can I have it all?

I've been fortunate to have two hobbies that truly enriched my life.

I began making music for fun in the 60s, then played for church services in the 70s, and added gigging in bars and clubs in the 90s and early 2000s. While I haven't played for pay since about 2006, I still play for Mass 3 weeks a month and attend a jam session or two each month. I still have a lot to learn about playing the double bass, and I continue taking 2 or 3 lessons a month from a local pro. I practice at least 6 hours a week to stay sharp and overcome RA and other medical issues.

My other hobby was/is bicycling. My wife and I always enjoyed rides around the block, running errands, or taking the kids out for 15-mile runs to help them work off excess energy. When the kids left home, we started throwing panniers on the bikes and heading out for multiday, multi-state rides. That led me to get involved in bike safety advocacy and safety education. The RA put an end to the long-distance rides, but we still get out for a few hours during good weather. She is still on her touring bike, but I had to switch to a recumbent trike.

I've been blessed not just with hobbies, but with two lifelong sources of meaning, identity, and connection. Music provided community, service, expression, prayer, and decades of growth. Cycling provided adventure, family bonding, travel, health, and a way to help others through advocacy and training.

Hi I see this chapter as the Isaiah 53 of the second coming of Jesus and regardless of where ancient Azal is or what happened in Hezekiah's day the literal nature of this passage taken as whole is the best way to approach it. On this day all the nations are gathered against Jerusalem. In Revelation they stage at Armageddon. Jerusalem is being overrun badly and the taken with half the city being captive with the houses rifled and the women raped. This earthquake coincide with the LORD coming with all His saints. This earthquake is going to be massive and create a valley and river that ill flow year round and in Ezekiel 47 this river mentioned here heals the Dead Sea and not the salt marshes. The LORD melts the invader Indiana Jones style and on this day it is dark in the daytime and light at night showing that this is a literal single day event. On this day the LORD is king over all the earth. Rev has the angels proclaim the kingdoms of this earth have become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ and He shall reign forever. It shows this river flowing year round so a clear continuation of life on earth after the 2nd coming of Jesus. It shows the nations which are left (this implies some nations wont exist anymore) will be require to come to Jerusalem to worship the King and keep the feast of Taberacles or they will get no rain. Rev 15 says
Prelude to the Bowl Judgments
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark[fn] and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.”

It is here in Zech 14 we see the Nations now coming to worship before Him. We see the promises in Luke one Jesus taking the throne of David to order and establish it forever happen on this day. We see Isaiah 9
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This is when the government comes on his shoulder with justice and Judgment and the peace promised in many places will come when the LORD Jesus reigns. In that day they will say the LORD is one. Zech 14 shoes Israel now calling Jesus LORD and the blindness has come off and they have entered the new covenant . I could go on and on for pages of all the glory that comes on this day of all the bad that is over and all the good that has come and you guys are arguing over things that are technical and in a way that brings no glory, praise, edification or sanctification. When we pray thy kingdom come thy will be done this is the day that brings in the kingdom. There is so much to glory about in this chapter and who's right about Azal now or what happened with Hezekiah is certainly not the meat in this chapter and when it happens being right tor wrong on these matters are of little consequence. Love one another encourage us to not be divided over matters that do not profit and walk in the unity of the Spirit. I quite coming to this site due to all the pop up adds and all I can't stand it and have not been on for years but was researching chapter 14 and saw a link to this convo. I probably won't be back for another few years so God bless you all.

Landon Caeli said:

AI Overview

Morphic resonance is
a theory proposed by biologist Rupert Sheldrake that suggests all natural systems, including organisms and crystals, have a collective memory that influences their form and behavior over time. This proposed mechanism of "formative causation" claims that past forms and behaviors of similar systems create a cumulative, invisible influence that shapes the development and patterns of present systems, rather than being governed by fixed physical laws alone. It implies that nature is habitual and that new behaviors can spread more rapidly through a species because of this shared, non-physical memory.

Key concepts

Collective memory: Each species, from animals to plants, possesses a collective memory that individuals can access and to which they contribute.

Habitual nature: The theory suggests that the regularities of nature are more like habits that have been reinforced by repetition, rather than being immutable laws.

Similarity: The resonance is based on similarity. The more similar an organism or system is to past ones, the greater the influence it will have.

Behavior and form: Morphic resonance is said to influence both the physical form and the behavior of a system. For example, it is proposed to explain instincts and how certain patterns of behavior, like a new trick learned by rats in one location, can be learned more quickly by other rats of the same breed elsewhere.

Individual memory: The resonance of a system with its own past is also suggested as a way to explain individual memory, where memories are not entirely stored in the brain but are accessed through a resonance with the brain's past states.

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I have a personal life principle similar to it based on something I've observed for many years.

It gives me certain advantages I prefer to keep. The vast majority don't care enough so I have no intention of sharing it.

Rescued One said:

PLEASE don't forget to pray for Andrew!

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Thank you, Pop D.

I've just re-dedicated my life to God. I know this might sound a bit odd, but for some reason, I've never been charged with a single crime in my life. I feel like, God is responsible for that. Like he's watched me over the years. Like, my devotion to Christ, even if I fell away later, God kept me there. He's the only Reason I'm here to be anything. Thank you Lord God. Thank you, Immaculate Womb. The Pope, I haven't even begun to really grasp the Pope yet. Yes, but, God bless you. edit- When I say I re-dedicated my life to God, I mean, I had some things happen during the 'Protestant' version... and however it went, God was proud of me. God came to my life with those events you can't explain lately. I just woke up suddenly.

Bradskii said:

It's exactly the opposite of what you think.

From here (albeit from 12 years ago):

'In fact, over the course of the last two decades, warfare has been quietly disappearing from the planet. The world in 2012 is a less violent, less belligerent place than at any time in recorded history.

Although it may seem counterintuitive to those whose historical perspective has been warped by the twenty-four-hour-news cycle, levels of conflict, both in terms of number and magnitude, have been dropping steadily since the end of the Cold War. A series of empirical analyses done in the United States and Canada have consistently shown that the number of wars of all types—interstate, civil, ethnic, revolutionary, etc. —declined throughout the 1990s and into the new century. The risk for the average person of dying violently at the hands of enemies has never been lower.'

And as regards Israel's attack on Iran, from here: https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...es-hit-site-iran-abc-news-reports-2024-04-19/

'Iran's foreign minister said the drones, which the sources said Israel launched against the city of Isfahan, were "mini-drones" and that they had caused no damage or casualties.'

If that's what you want to propose as a definition World War III then maybe you need to look up the word 'hyperbole.'

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Statistically you right, I think the elevated status of war is because nearly everyone is spending more and there are far more rumours of war going on now. Let's hope the causualties go down instead of ramping up.

Bradskii said:

This one thinks it's excellent. My wife and I made a point of putting a little extra into our super fund over the years via what is called Salary Sacrifice. That's where part of your salary goes into your super and you don't pay tax on tax on it. So we retired with quite a decent amount. And we don't pay tax on the super fund when we access it.

Employers contributions are mandatory and you can pick your own fund managers or DIY. Our fund manager is doing a great job. We live very well on it. We've been drawing on it since we retired 7 years ago and there's actually more money in the fund now then there was when we retired. Not being able to spend it fast enough is just the sort of problem you want.

The federal pension is not accessible to us as it's means tested. So a decent super fund means you're totally self sufficient. That seems fair. If people do spend most of it (maybe I'll get that Harley and we'll start flying everywhere first class) then the government eventually steps in.

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Wait. So you never have to pay tax on it? Good grief that is much better then our system. As a government employee I have a pension and a tax deferred 457B but I have to pay taxes on any money I get from them.