*BEST OF DTB #189* The Catholic Defender: Pentecost

Pentecost, the Greek name for "Fiftieth Day"! It takes place 50 days from Easter! In Hebrew,(חג השבועות Hag haShavuot or Shevuot known as "the Feast of Weeks." Pentecost also marks the 1980th birthday of the Catholic Faith. Some might say Ascension Thursday is the birth of the Papacy, regardless, this is when we were sent out by the coming of the Holy Spirit!

This was the event the Lord called for his Apostles and disciples to wait in Jerusalem. This was the event that would change the world forever.

In the Old Testament, the work of the Holy Spirit was shown through powerful signs and wonders among the Israelites.

"So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. Gathering seventy elders of the people, he had them stand around the tent. The Lord then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.
Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit came to rest on them also, and they prophesied in the camp. So, when a young man quickly told Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses aide, said, "Moses, my lord, stop them". But Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets? Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all"(Numbers 11:24-29)!

Think of what Moses just said, "Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all"? The Lord had this in mind all along. This was why Jesus instructed the Apostles to wait upon the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.

This would become the first Novena of the Catholic Church as they awaited for the glory of the Lord. Unlike the Old Testament when the Spirit of God would come upon the Lord's people through His Ministers, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit 24/7.

"When he reached Lehi, and the Philistines came shouting to meet him, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him (Samson): the ropes around his arms became as flax that is consumed by fire and his bonds melted away from his hands. Near him was the fresh jawbone of an ass; he reached out, grasped it, and with it killed a thousand men. Samson cried out to the Lord, "You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Must I now die of thirst or fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? Then God split the cavity in Lehi, and water issued from it, which Samson drank till his spirit returned and revived" (Judges 15:14-19).

The New Testament, Jesus states, "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name--he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you"(John 14:25-26).

John 16:13 Jesus says, "But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you".

Jesus Said he would build his Church and the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus through his Catholic Church.

The Holy Spirit declares the truth to the people of God. This is important because many false prophets have come and they give the Holy Spirit credit for their interpretations and opinions. That is dangerous and the Catholic believer must be aware of this.

With Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles (50 days after the Resurrection of the Lord), we have seen the glory of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and Disciples along with Mother Mary, in the form of tongues of fire.

The Holy Spirit filled them all as they spoke in different tongues to the people. As the Holy Spirit scattered the people building the Tower of Babel with diverse languages (Genesis 11:7-9), the Lord was bringing the people to the Church through languages (Acts 2:5-12).

With the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost, the Catholic Church is enabled by the Lord to accomplish his will to take the gospel to all the nations. Praise the name of the Lord! Veni Creator Spiritus!

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The Catholic Defender: The Meaning of Life

One of the most often question people ask is "What is the meaning of life"?

I will answer this question this way:

It was the Spring of 1977, I had a baseball scholarship preparing for my second season.

My Uncle, Phillip Fraizer bought me a $60.00 baseball glove which was a decent price in those days for a baseball glove.

 Not only that, he drove me back to school which was about a 2 hour drive. This helped my Mother out a great deal as well as me.

The year before, I had played with an old glove I had through high school and it was beat up really bad.

Coach Smith and others had a lot of fun with me over that ball glove as I used shoe strings to help keep it together.

In this picture I was sliding in safe at home plate!

So when Uncle Phillip bought me my new glove, this was a great gift that I made the most of. I was an outfielder and that glove served me well for three years of NAIA college and semi-pro play.

Over the years, that old baseball glove has been placed as a memorial for the importance this gift meant to me and my college days.

Especially considering that following May, 1977, Uncle Phillip was brutally murdered by a group of teenagers who had been doing small time robberies for drugs.

The morning after the murder, I found out about it from reading a news flash in the dinning hall as I was eating breakfast.

I hurriedly went to the college library to find that the largest man-hunt in Southern Missouri was taking place as the criminals had kidnapped Uncle Phillip.

Today, if someone looked at this glove, how could they understand the value of this ball glove? The meaning is totally lost without knowing the importance this gift means to me.

This part of the story will become more important to me as this article unfolds. At this point it is important to note that Uncle Phillips gift to me was very important.

Consider today's reading at Mass: "I, John, had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.  They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. Then one of the elders said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple.  The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.  They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.  For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Notice what I highlighted from Revelation! "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb", "For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

This is clearly a reference to Baptism.  Consider 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states, "Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.  That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

Through Baptism we are delivered from sin, it is a free gift from God through the Ministry of the Church.  Consider Hebrews 10:22, "let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.  Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope,.."

Baptism cleanses us from sin, "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the GIFT of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39) 


In Baptism we receive the "Gift" of the Holy Spirit! That means the gift of life! This is the true meaning of life, to have life more abundantly through Jesus Christ.  

Just like people might not appreciate the importance of Uncle Phillip's gift to me, people many times do not understand the gift God is offering them.  

This is why many commit suicide, why families are in such turmoil, why there is such rampant apostasy and heresy everywhere.  This is why secularism is given a foothold in our society.   

Consider the direct opposite effect of someone who rejects the Catholic Faith.  2 Peter 2:22 warns, "What is expressed in the true proverb has happened to them, 'The dog returns to its own vomit, and a bathed sow returns to wallowing in the mire".   

How sad this is to see in our families such rebellion, but this is all prophetic.  We are in a battle for sure and we must stand firm in the Faith and persevere to the end.

Going back to my Uncle Phillip, my Brother Randy, a one time United States no-nonsense Marine, went to do prison Ministry in Columbia Missouri when he was confronted with praying with the master mind who killed Uncle Phillip.

This was something he had not expected, but when faced to make a decision, he, on his part, forgave the individual and what a gift this represents.  

It reminds us that all of us need this kind of forgiveness from the Lord and this is his gift to us.


I have been given much, I am well blessed, my Faith and his Grace is the greatest gift he has given me.

My wife Gigi is God's greatest gift and responsibility he has given me and the Children we continue to love and support.

Life has so much to offer with it's challenges and responsibilities, but it is a great opportunity to do his will in all things, to be his servant, his instrument..

The answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life" can really be answered in a scripture verse: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." Please accept the grace of God as a permanent gift to you if only we would act upon our yes.
 

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The Catholic Defender: Wait With Anticipation

"Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. For you I wait all the long day, because of your goodness, Lord. Remember your compassion and love, O Lord; for they are ages old. Remember no more the sins of my youth; remember me only in light of your love" (Psalm 26:5-7).
 

To "wait upon the Lord", we are called not to worry about the day when the Lord returns at the end of days, but rather; we are to wait for the Lords anointing to go to the world.

The Apostles asked our Lord, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel"?

That is an interesting question, we have people today trying to pinpoint that time of the end. Jesus response is most important,"It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusaelm, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth"(Acts 1:6-7). 

Jesus also said, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" Matthew 28:18-20).
 

The Prophet Daniel saw this event in a vsion testifying, "One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14). 

This is really the advent of the Church and the beginning of the Papacy as Jesus then fulfills His promise, "And so I say to you, you are Peter (Kepa), and upon this rock (Kepa) I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 1618-19).
 

The Apostles are to wait for "the promise of the Father" that you will be "baptized with the Holy Spirit".
 

The Catholic Church is sent by Christ to bring the goodnews to the whole world. The Holy Spirit has been given and we have this great commission which fills our day with much anticipation. As we continue to Wait With Anticipation for the coming of the Messiah, let us not labor in vain, but may we find in the Lord his reward for being faithful to His call.

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