Pray that Jesus Christ heals & comforts Israelis & Palestinians in order to heal them of PTSD, depression & anxiety due to the Israeli-Gaza war:

Now I’ll have to baptize myself Catholic’: Social media reacts to Pope Leo’s surprisingly poignant warning about AI​

A 42,000-word letter by the leader of the Catholic Church is resonating with modern readers in ways that speak to the unique anxieties of our era.

Given its profound implications for the workforce, the environment, and humankind as a whole, it’s no surprise that almost everyone has an opinion on artificial intelligence these days, including the pope.

Less than a year after his election, Pope Leo XIV just released his first encyclical, a pastoral letter aimed to offer guidance.

Titled Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, the 42,300-word letter offers a glimpse into the pope’s stance on AI, highlighting various concerns over the dangers of technology as well as a need for safeguards to be put in place.

Continued below.

Washington Nationals executive Sean Hudson has been fired days after an undercover video showed him saying the team excluded pitcher Trevor Williams from certain social media content because of the player's Catholic faith.

Hudson, the Nationals' director of community relations, was recorded by an undercover reporter with O'Keefe Media Group in footage released May 26. In the video, Hudson said the team avoided featuring Williams in lighthearted social media posts after the pitcher publicly criticized the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023 for honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag performance group known for mocking Catholicism.

The Nationals parted ways with Hudson May 29, three days after the video's release, sources told The Athletic.

The team declined to comment on Hudson's employment status, citing a policy against discussing personnel matters publicly, according to the report.

A spokesperson for the Nationals claimed in a comment to The Athleticthat the team had issued no directive to exclude Williams from social media content. The spokesperson said that Williams, who is currently injured, has been featured in some social media posts, and that Hudson is not on the social media management team.

Continued below.

The large protest that erupted inside a Minnesota church earlier this year led to high-profile arrests and federal charges, and it also prompted tougher legislation.

Lawmakers in several states have moved to tighten penalties for disrupting worship services. Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas have enacted laws to protect churches and other houses of worship from interference, while similar bills have been introduced in at least seven other states. Alabama and South Dakota are among the states that have considered related legislation. Nassau County, New York, has adopted a local measure addressing disruptions near houses of worship. Critics say some of these measures could raise free speech concerns.

In January, a group protesting immigration enforcement actions in the Twin Cities disrupted worship at Cities Church in St. Paul after learning that a church staff member was also a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

As protesters chanted slogans and waved signs, parishioners, including young children, huddled in fear. Afterward, the Southern Baptist Convention congregation condemned the disruption as “shameful” and “unlawful.”

Continued below.

mindlight said:

The animal soul that behaviorists like to reduce us to is just senses, instincts and a response to stimuli.

Click to expand...

Day 30: If Tonight Were Your Last Night, Would You Be Ready?

Death is certain, but its hour remains unknown.

Many people spend their lives preparing for tomorrow while neglecting eternity. Yet every soul will one day stand before God in judgment. The Church teaches us not to fear death, but to prepare for it through repentance, prayer, confession, and perseverance in grace.

In this final day of our Month of Mary Devotion, we reflect upon the traditional Catholic understanding of a holy death and the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who assists her faithful children at the hour of death.

May Our Lady obtain for us the grace of final perseverance, that we may die in the friendship of God and enter eternity prepared.

"O Mary, be with me at my last moment."

Ave Maria.

Login to view embedded media

Acts 17:10-13 NKJV


Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake

It seems like wherever Paul was sent by God to preach the message of the gospel of Christ to the people, if not right away, eventually someone among the Jews (mainly Jews) would stir up the crowds against him, which would sometimes land him in jail or to being beaten. Basically, he was persecuted pretty much everywhere he went because he spoke the truth of the gospel that certain people did not want to hear. And this often resulted in Paul having to depart from where he was and having to go to another location.

I empathize with him. Although, as an adult, I have not been physically beaten, and I have not been put in prison for speaking the truth of the gospel, I have been strongly opposed, mistreated, rejected, persecuted, and cast aside as unwanted because I spoke the truth of the gospel that many did not want to hear. And I have been falsely accused of what I did not do and of who I am not, because people were judging me by their own selves or because they did not want to hear what the Scriptures teach, in truth.

Truth Tellers vs Thieves and Liars

It is so refreshing if you go somewhere and you are received well, and there are people who want to hear what you have to share with them. And this was the situation for Paul in Berea. The Jews there received the word spoken by Paul with all readiness. But they didn’t believe it just because Paul said it, but they tested his words against the Scriptures to find out whether or not what Paul was teaching was indeed the truth. And this is what we all should be doing. We should be testing words spoken to make sure they are of God.

Especially in our day and age, for we have so many thieves and liars and manipulators who are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” pretending to be who and what they are not in order to deceive the people and to lead them astray to follow after what is not of God but is of the devil, instead. Many of them are trained and educated pastors of “churches.” Some of them are politicians or rulers of nations who may or may not have the appearance of all goodness, but they are leading many people to hell on the false promise of heaven.

The Gospel in Summary

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).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are 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 slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven.

Believe the Truth and Not the Lies

So, as those who are seekers of truth and righteousness, we should be testing the spirits to see which ones are of God, and we should not believe someone just because they are famous or well known or well liked among the people. But we should also not just disregard someone either just because what they are teaching may be different from what we originally believed unless it is obviously blasphemous. We should all be Bereans who search the Scriptures so that we know firsthand what they really teach.

[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; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 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 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

Be Like the Bereans
An Original Work / May 30, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

One of the blessings of getting older—despite all that one endures—is, for me, a great gift.

When I was a young monk, I was strong, busy, and often driving for the community. It was good for me. Yet, learning to settle quietly in God’s presence took many decades, and not without much frustration.

Working in the infirmary, caring for the elderly, helped me understand human weakness, especially in times of decline and vulnerability. Yet I also used that work, in part, to avoid deepening my relationship with God in any real way. Slowly, over the years, God worked on me—allowing me to struggle, fall, rise again, and gradually grow in trust.

God’s mercy and love can seem harsh when we are confronted with inner realities we did not know we carried. My monastic vocation brought many of these to light. Yet even in that, there was grace.

I still work. I remain Prior and Guest Master. By temperament, I am a good manager, so I am not overwhelmed. I have great respect for our Abbot and will serve as long as he desires, or until age no longer permits it.

By God’s grace—and only by His mercy—I have come to love solitude deeply. I find myself drawn into the vast, bottomless ocean that is God. In times of both consolation and desolation, I am slowly learning that His love does not change.

I pray the Chaplet of Mercy each morning before Vigils. Each day has its own quiet uniqueness. This morning, as I prayed slowly, I was drawn to contemplate Jesus washing the feet of the Apostles. Though He knew He would be abandoned, though He knew Judas’s intent, He still knelt before each one in love.

Then, suddenly, it was my own feet He was washing.

I recoiled inwardly—almost horrified by the turn my meditation had taken—yet I stayed with it. One of my sufferings in old age is my longing for God, alongside the painful awareness of how little I truly love Him. My heart remains guarded in ways that only grace can gently work open.

God as servant—everything turned upside down.

If I could weep, I would have. That, too, is a small sorrow I must carry and be patient with. I often feel like a moth drawn to light, continually meeting an invisible barrier—yet the pull only grows stronger.

When I speak with guests, I often feel they are closer to God than I am. Perhaps that is why I am a monk. I need the community; I cannot do this alone.

The Abbot understands me well. I have a tendency to isolate, which is not the same as solitude. He gently challenges me to remain connected. I am grateful for that, even when it stirs resistance in me. The resistance passes.

On Holy Thursday, the Abbot washes the feet of the community, mindful of its meaning. This morning’s grace has deepened that meaning for me. In the Rule, we are called to be obedient to one another—not only to the Abbot.

Yes, getting older—with all its burdens—may be the most important time of all, for those who are given the grace to receive it.

—Br. MD

concretecamper said:

Sorry of like saying, for the sake of this discussion, Jesus is nothing more than just another teacher.

Click to expand...

How very "Catholic" of you.

mindlight said:

Which is what I thought I just said. The souls of the martyrs are clearly conscious during the intermediate state as are parties on both sides of the unbridgeable chasm in the case of Lazarus and the Rich man.

Click to expand...

In that case, sorry for my misunderstanding.

Roman57 said:

MSN

Click to expand...

Interesting, but 3 of the "slides" your link takes me to are adverts for things like solar panels and hearing-aids.

While I have always respected the idea that we do not die perfect and there needs to be some kind of purification for our souls to dwell in the presence of the Lord in the intermediate state. Purgatory sounds a long winded way of doing that compared to the instance burning away of all darkness in the presence of the Lord.

Phar said:

I mean like God! He`s a bodyless soul just floating everywhere in nature and in you, what does he feed on for energy? And how does he conform energy from his surroundings when he doesn`t have a body, no metabolism?

Click to expand...

Cool question. In Genesis 2:7 the word nepesh is used to describe the living soul created when God breathed into dead matter to create the first human. This implied a monistic view of the soul that required both the material and immaterial to function. Aquinas refined our understanding distinguishing between the kind of souls given to plants, animals and rational agents like ourselves made in the image of God. As with most things the New Testament takes us deeper using the interchangeable terms pneuma and psyche to describe the immaterial aspect of our being. This opened up the dualistic possibility of out of body experiences, and the intermediate state in which souls are detached from bodies and yet remain conscious. The final and most perfect state envisaged for us in when we receive our new and glorious bodies at the resurrection and are made whole again.

In one sense the answer to your question is an obvious one. It is the presence of God that sustains the immaterial soul as it was his breath that gave it life in the first place and reanimated it at Pentecost in anticipation of the new creation that we personally experience through our new glorified bodies and now with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

But there are two kinds of people in the intermediate state, believers and unbelievers. Believers dwell continually with God so their sustenance is not really that mysterious but what about unbelievers. Isn't there a kind of absence in their case which makes how they survive to the judgment a little more mysterious. God sustains them without burning away their delusions, healing their wounds. IN effect their souls remain conscious in dark degraded bubbles so how is it they remain conscious at all.

That said maybe believers should not worry about those who are headed for that other place as their is an unbridgeable chasm fixed between them and us.

Michie said:

This is the Catholic forum for anyone that has not noticed.

Click to expand...

Sorry!

essentialsaltes said:

Mysterious airport tunnels to open beneath hub long tied to conspiracy theories​

Denver mayor says travelers can 'decide for themselves what's fact and what's fiction'​

Officials announced plans this week to convert sections of the airport’s underground baggage tunnels into pedestrian walkways connecting concourses A, B and C.

The tunnels, which have long fueled speculation involving secret bunkers, "lizard people" and underground military facilities, will become an alternative route for passengers traveling between terminals.

[Of course, the Illuminati lizard people have all moved to a new facility under Amazon HQ2 in Arlington VA.]

Click to expand...

The murals that they painted were very strange indeed.

The Liturgist said:

Indeed, and the Orthodox believe the same thing albeit without accepting the idea of doctrinal development - the teaching authority of the Orthodox church is ecumenical and derives from conciliarity or sobornost to use a Slavic word which rather elegantly expresses the idea, since our doctrines were received by the entire Orthodox church as a communion between the laity, the clergy and the episcopate with Christ as the head of the Church which is His Body onto which we are mystically grafted, and is also contingent upon our preserving without modification that which was received from the Apostles and the bishops who succeeded them (for which reason the Orthodox will become unhappy even at the idea of change; our allergy to change and conservativism was also at one time more a characteristic of the Roman church than of at least some of the Eastern patriarchates; we see relatively few Latin theologians of note from Rome itself compared to Greek theologians from Antioch and Alexandria, with most scandals in the Latin speaking West and most theologians rising up to oppose them occurring in the provinces; the ancient church in Rome was exceptionally good at refusing change, development or innovation, having said no emphatically to Marcion, Valentinus, Arius, Montanus, Pelagius, Nestorius and many others, while saying yes where it mattered, for example, to the translation of Scripture and the Liturgy to Latin under St. Victor. St. Gregory the Great is unusual in that he is the only bishop of Rome who made a large contribution to both the Western and Eastern liturgical patrimony (but while in Constantinople played a vital role in preserving Orthodoxy by shutting down an argument that Christ in His resurrection (and by extension we in ours) is devoid of physicality, a kind of crypto-docetism that arises every now and then, indeed, the leader of a large American evangelical/charismatic “non-denominational” denomination known for stressing the idea that the pastors of their churches should have unchecked authority, the “Moses model” polity, which suffers from the not inconsiderable problem of lacking any precedent in the early church or New Testament warrant and from the fact that Moses was incontrovertibly a holy prophet whose prophetic office was identified through repeated miracles, did make a statement in which he implied a similar crypto-docetic view of the Resurrection.

Click to expand...

The Orthodox instinct for paradosis as something received, guarded, and lived by the whole Church is something Catholics deeply honour; indeed, Dei Verbum 8 affirms that the Church “constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth,” not by altering the apostolic deposit but by the Spirit enabling the Church to understand it more deeply. Where we differ is not in reverence for the Fathers or conciliarity, but in recognising—on the basis of both Scripture (Mt 16:18–19; Lk 22:32; Jn 21:15–17) and the first millennium—that the Petrine ministry is itself part of that apostolic inheritance, serving the unity of the whole Church. St. Irenaeus appeals to the Church of Rome as possessing a “pre‑eminent authority” because of its apostolic foundation (Adv. Haer. 3.3.2), and St. Maximus the Confessor famously defended Rome’s doctrinal primacy during the monothelite crisis (Letter to Peter the Illustrious), not as a later Latin innovation but as a reality recognised in the East.

Catholics also agree that the ancient Roman Church was fiercely conservative in guarding the apostolic faith—its rejection of Marcion, Valentinus, Pelagius, and Nestorius is precisely why the Fathers so often looked to Rome as a doctrinal anchor. But this same conservatism is what Catholics mean by development: not change, but the Spirit‑guided clarification of what was always there, as St. Vincent of Lérins put it—growth “according to its own kind” (Commonitorium 23). The Orthodox concern about novelty is therefore not dismissed but taken with utmost seriousness; the Catholic claim is simply that legitimate development is recognisable precisely because it preserves identity with the apostolic deposit.

Finally, your point about Christ’s true, physical Resurrection is one where Catholics and Orthodox stand shoulder to shoulder. Both reject any docetic or spiritualising tendency, and both confess with St. Gregory the Great that Christ rose in the very body that suffered (Hom. in Evang. 26). Where we continue to hope for healing is not in the faith itself—which is substantially the same—but in the question of how the Church, as Christ’s Body, discerns and speaks that faith with one voice. For Catholics, the papal ministry is not an obstacle to conciliarity but its necessary guarantor; for the Orthodox, conciliarity is the primary expression of the Church’s life. These are real differences, but they are differences within a shared apostolic inheritance, and dialogue continues precisely because both sides recognise that unity is Christ’s will (Jn 17:21).

Sources (open‑access) [provided by MS Copilot]:
– Dei Verbum (Vatican II): Dei verbum (vatican.va in Bing)
– St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.2 (public domain): CHURCH FATHERS: Against Heresies, III.3 (St. Irenaeus) (newadvent.org in Bing)
– St. Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium (public domain): CHURCH FATHERS: Commonitorium (Vincent of Lerins)
– St. Maximus the Confessor, Letter to Peter (English trans.): [Oh dear, Copilot gave UFABET! a UFA betting site, imagine that, AI slop in the references to a good Catholic's post!!
]
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Maximus of Constantinople

I became a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers waaayyy back in 1972. The NFL is my favorite professional sports league and the Steelers are my number 1 favorite team. All other teams I like come in a distant 2nd, 3rd, and 4th for me when I rank them with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

orbiter said:

Peace in Christ.

True apostles (truly sent by Christ) work with their own hands to support their own earthly necessities rather than preach for them (rather than making a living off the people they preach to as false apostles do). The true apostles speak the true words of Christ while the false apostles do not.

“I know your works…and your LABOR…”

Labor = Greek- kopos = from G2875; a cut, that is, (by analogy) toil (as reducing the strength), literally or figuratively; by implication pains: - labour, + trouble, weariness.

Rev 2:2 KJV
(2) I know thy works, and thy labour (kopos), and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

The “super apostles” preach for pay rather than preach the gospel of God freely as Paul showed us. They speak eloquently but lack true knowledge.

“We”….the true apostles…have been thoroughly made manifest among us in all things.

2Co 11:5-7 KJV
(5) For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
(6) But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.
(7) Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

Paul showed us all things through laboring with his own hands to support his own necessities. This manifests a true apostle.

Act 20:33-35 KJV
(33) I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
(34) Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
(35) I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

True apostles will do what they do: preach the gospel FREELY.

“But I will keep on doing what I am doing (preaching the gospel FREELY without charge), in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.”

False apostles…the super apostles… want to be seen as true apostles (they glory that they may be found as we). The false apostles though fail the test as they preach for pay and not freely….and so manifest themselves as false.

2Co 11:12-15 KJV
(12) But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.

The false apostles want to be seen as being sent by Christ…but they are deceitful WORKERS.

(13) For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
(14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
(15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The true apostles work…LABOR… for their own earthly necessities….for their own bread…rather than eat of another’s labors.

The Greek word for “labor” (wrought with LABOR) is the same word (kopos) found in Revelation 2:2 .

False apostles eat another's bread for nothing as they do not work with their own hands to support their own necessities....eating their own bread.

2Th 3:7-12
(7) For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
(8) Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour (KOPOS) and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
(9) Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves THE ensample unto you to follow us.

False apostles will not obey the commandment of the true apostles to work with their own hands to eat their own bread. Their commandment is a binding commandment that cannot be changed. They did bind this earthly thing upon us who have our citizenship in heaven.

(10) For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
(11) For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
(12) Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

The true apostle will obey the commandment while the false apostle will continue walking after his own lusts (being covetous after another’s gold, silver, apparel)…disobeying the commandment of the true, original apostles.

Be mindful of the COMMANDMENT of us the APOSTLES of the Lord and Savior. This commandment is to work with your own hands to support your own earthly necessities.

The false apostles will not be mindful of it but will scoff at it and continue to walk after their own lusts.

2Pe 3:2-4 KJV
(2) That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
(3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
(4) And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

“The commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior” is to work with your OWN hands.

1Th 4:11-12 KJV
(11) And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
(12) That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Click to expand...

Have you ever considered the fact that the gift of Apostleship, as a 'foundational' gift/ministry (Eph 2:20) has ceased? Once a building (the Church) has been built, there is no need to again build the foundation. (Apostles & Prophets).

Ivan Hlavanda said:

Sadly, many churches have turned to idolatry and allowed sin.

Christians today (not all because there are many faithful) remind me of Israel in times of judges, who constantly compromised and mixed with sinner, and many fallen away from God. So it is with many Christians today who mix with the world and do things are evil in the eyes of the Lord

Click to expand...

Yes, there are many parallels between the two, I agree. It is a very sad situation, indeed.

People are becoming more and more apprehensive about the future, as we experience a proliferation of natural disasters, with increasing political and economic problems, coupled with shortages of food and resources, mostly due to overpopulation.

But, the most obvious and the prophesied flash point of danger is the Middle East. The very existence of the State of Israel in their midst is an anathema to all the Islamic peoples. Psalms 83 lists the origins of those people who will conspire to ‘wipe out Israel as a nation’. When their attack commences, God will then answer the prayer of Psalms 83:13-18 Scatter them, my God, like thistledown, as a fire raging through the forest. Terrify them with Your storm winds, let them suffer disgrace and perish.

Many prophecies state how the Lord will act on this Day of His vengeance and wrath:

Micah 4:11-12 But now, many nations are massed against you, they say; Let Zion suffer, we will gloat over her downfall. They do not know God’s purpose – He has gathered them as sheaves for the threshing. Matthew 3:12

Psalms 37:13-15 The Lord will laugh at the wicked, their judgement is coming. They have prepared their weapons, but their swords will pierce their own hearts.

Isaiah 66:15-16 See: The Lord is coming in fire, bringing His retribution and anger. He will judge with fire and sword to test all mankind. All the wicked will die.

Deuteronomy 32:41-42 I will sharpen My flashing sword and take vengeance on those who hate Me. Nahum 1:2

Malachi 4:1 The Day comes, burning like a furnace, all evildoers will be as stubble, destroyed in a fiery blaze. 2 Peter 3:7, Hebrews 10:27

Isaiah 30:26-33 The sun will shine with seven times its normal brightness. On that Day He will protect and save His people. See; the Lord Himself comes from afar, His anger blazing and His doom heavy. With fire, He sieves the nations for destruction. Isaiah 63:1-6, Rev. 6:12-17
Ref: REB, some verses condensed.

There are many other Bible passages that describe this Day. What we can establish from them is;

1/ It is this event that takes people unawares – that ‘comes as a thief’. Much later, for the glorious Return of Jesus, we are given the exact time from certain events.

2/ It will be a worldwide event, of 24-36 hours duration. Isaiah 29:5-6, Psalms 50:1-4

3/ The Lord will actually cause fire to destroy His enemies, by the means of a CME sunstrike. Their own weapons will contribute to their destruction, the heat flash and the intense electromagnetic pulse will make rockets and explosives detonate on the ground. Psalms 7:12-16, Joel 3:4
4/ His Righteous people will be kept safe and in a short time; Isaiah 29:17, they will gather and settle in the new country of Beulah, in all of the Holy Land: Isaiah 62:4, Isaiah 35:1-10, Jeremiah 31:7-14, Ezekiel 34:11-31

GoldenKingGaze said:

There are a few ideas on who Christ is, and that can effect people's morals. Jews and Christians, JWs, Catholics...

Click to expand...

I don't think theres too much disagreement that Christ sacrificed His life in love to save us. That He became flesh and identified with us. That He emptied Himself as the Son of God to become man.

I think thats the primary message as far as our identity is concerned. That we also be willing to empty ourselves of our own identity and sacrifice ourselves in obedience to Gods will. That it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.

Kaishyn said:

Let me start from the beginning and a warning, this is semi-long. My wife was separated, but married and I was divorced when we met. She was living with her mother-in-law at the time. Her husband had cheated on her before and during the marriage many times and she had separated from him more than a year before she met me. Now the reason for her remaining married. It was to help her husband out regarding health insurance.

She, like I, work for the state, so the health insurance is almost second to none with how good it is and the cost. Her husband had cardiac issues. When they separated, he couldn't get a job that paid well enough for him to care for himself and provide for their son. She was not going for child support, but she wanted to be sure that her husband could care for himself and their son with what job he had. He finally landed a job with the city government, and he would be able to afford his health insurance and still be able to provide for himself and their child. Divorce was discussed and papers were even filled out, on his end. She was working on them herself after he had handed them to her to do her part. Then, on Thanksgiving Day 2021, she got a call from him. He was in the hospital, and they diagnosed him with two forms of cancer. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma. She decided to forgo the divorce as she knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his job, and it was the right decision to make, as he lost it a few months later while going through treatment.

The first treatment was supposed to give him 5–10 years. It only lasted for 2.5 years. He did another treatment, and we had hoped that this one may have gotten him the 10 years that they talked about, as it had reduced the tumors by 50% and even got rid of some. However, a month later, they did another PET scan, and he had dozens and dozens of soft-tissue tumors all throughout his body, and they had given him weeks to live. The treatment had converted the multiple myeloma cancer to the soft-tissue tumors. The doctors said that it was one of the most aggressive cancers they have ever seen. That was this past summer. He passed away on October 21, 2025.

Doing what she had done allowed him to see their son graduate high school, which is what he wanted to be able to see. He also wanted to see her be happy, and he got to see her be happy with me.

We were at the memorial last week and those that knew what she did for him came to her and thanked her with tears in their eyes for giving him almost four more years. They even came to me and thanked me as well for staying by her side and never leaving her through all of this when I had every right to do so. She herself still thanks me for the same thing. Her dad has said that he is not sure she would have made it through all of this without me, and he thanked me for the sacrifices that I made during the 9 years her and I have been boyfriend and girlfriend and then fiancés.

Yes, we lived together during this as well. Neither could afford to live on our own with the rising prices of housing in Florida. Even apartments are getting more and more expensive and she lived with her MIL as I mentioned above and I was with my own parents after the divorce. They couldn’t afford to live in the house they were in and the MIL wanted to get out on her own again. It’s not that she didn’t love my wife, it’s that she just wanted to be on her own. I was living with my parents and that was getting to be volatile with my mom. I needed out and we decided to get an apartment together. That was February 2017.

We got married February 6, 2026.

We believe that God brought us together for a reason. This is the best relationship either of us has ever had. Neither tears the other down. If we argue, which is not often, there aren’t cheap shots and they don’t last long and then we communicate with each other about the argument. We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders. It honestly is the best relationship that I have ever had in my life.

On top of this, I’ll be getting custody of my two kids after school ends. Their mom, my ex-wife, has a medical condition that is progressing and she finds it hard to take care of them now and her husband has his own health issues and his hands full with just taking care of himself and her. My kids are a girl 13 and a boy 11. They have older half siblings up north, but that is for another day.

We feel truly blessed!

I wanted to post this in the beginning so that this was all out in the open. I didn’t want to hide it while I responded to posts within the forum.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the Forums!!!
Thank you very much for sharing your story with us.