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The Last Eight Days

April 13, 2019 Msgr. Charles Pope See What the End Shall Be – Palm Sunday The Passion, which we read in the liturgy for Palm Sunday, is too long to comment on in detail, so we will only examine a portion of it here.It may be of some value to examine the problems associated with the more moderate range of personalities involved. The usual villains (the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd shouting, “Crucify him!”) are unambiguously wicked and display their sinfulness openly. But there are others involved whose struggles and neglectfulness are more subtle, yet no less...

“Blessed Is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:1-9)Here comes Jesus, riding into town. Like a boss. Well, maybe not like a boss. More like a servant, sitting on a donkey, a beast of burden, rather than on a war horse. Yet as he enters Jerusalem, Jesus is greeted like a king. Which he is, only not the kind you would expect. There are a lot of people pouring into Jerusalem at this time. There’s a big holiday coming up, Passover, and all the Jews are supposed to go to Jerusalem and to the temple for...

      PALM SUNDAY Matthew 21.1 - 11 1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was...

See What the End Shall Be – Palm Sunday Msgr. Charles Pope • March 24, 2018 • The Passion, which we read in the Palm Sunday liturgy, is too long to comment on in detail, so we will only examine a portion of it here.It may be of some value to examine the problems associated with the more moderate range of personalities involved. The usual villains (the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd shouting, “Crucify him!”) are unambiguously wicked and display their sinfulness openly, but there are others involved whose struggles and neglectfulness are more subtle, yet no...

As last days America celebrates Palm Sunday, let us not forget about the history of the false perception that 2.7 million visitors of Jesus' day had (Jews and Gentiles) from all over the land of Israel and the known world during the Week of the Passover. Countless multitudes in Jerusalem at that time had totally misunderstood who Jesus was (Matt. 23:27; Luke 19:14). These countless multitudes that Jesus healed from demonic oppression and all kinds of diseases had soon forgotten His wonderful works for them. His 3-1/2 year preaching ministry was beginning to wear thin, and they had had enough...

March 25, 2018 Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion At the Procession with Palms - Gospel Mk 11:1-10 When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem,to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village opposite you,and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.Untie it and bring it here.If anyone should say to you,'Why are you doing this?' reply,'The Master has need of itand will send it back here at once.'"So they went off and...

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever.(Psalm 118:1-4) Psalm 118 is the finale of the series of Psalms referred to as the ” Hallel”, consisting of Psalm 113-118 , festal songs, sung during the Spring holidays, (The Feast of unleavened bread, Passover and First Fruits). The first half of this Psalm (vs 1-20) portrays...

“Annunciation, Acclamation, Crucifixion” (Luke 1:30-33; Mark 11:1-10; 15:1-39) Today is a day in the church year that goes by two names, “Palm Sunday” and the “Sunday of the Passion.” This is Palm Sunday, the day when our Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem, and the crowd spread palm branches before him and acclaimed him as their coming king. But today also serves as the Sunday of the Passion, the first day of Holy Week, looking ahead to Christ’s suffering, which will culminate in his crucifixion on Good Friday. The Scripture readings we have had so far in the service today...

As more and more details emerge concerning Friday’s Ramadan attack on a busload of Christians on pilgrimage, the more it becomes evident that these 29 martyrs died solely because they were Christians. Survivors of the attack said that the ten masked Islamic State militants did not merely open fire on the bus full of Christian pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confesor, but that the victims were made to descend from the bus and asked one by one whether they were Christians before being shot by the assailants. According to one of the chaplains of...

This year’s most notable attack occurred in Egypt, where two Coptic Christian churches were bombed during Palm Sunday mass, leaving 50 dead and 120 injured. While this incident received some coverage in Western media, attacks on churches in Egypt on or around Easter are not uncommon. For instance, this last April 12, just two days after the Palm Sunday attacks, authorities thwarted another Islamic terror attack targeting a Coptic monastery in Upper Egypt. Similarly, on April 12, 2015, Easter Sunday, two explosions targeting two separate churches took place in Egypt. Although no casualties were reported, hence no reporting in Western...

Sisi said that the “corpus of [Islamic] texts and ideas that we have sacralized over the centuries” are “antagonizing the entire world” and that Egypt “is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost—and it is being lost by our own hands.” Egypt’s Christians began Holy Week celebrations by being blown up today. Two Coptic Christian Orthodox churches packed with worshippers for Palm Sunday mass were attacked by Islamic suicide bombers; a total of 44 were killed and 126 wounded or mutilated. Horrific scenes of carnage—limbs and blood splattered on altars and pews—are being reported from both churches....

Woo hoo!! Our 2nd quarter FReepathon is now underway!! Drain the swamp and Make America Great Again!! Prayers up for continuing progress and success. FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the IRS -- trying to control...

“Holy Week: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb” (Matthew 21:1-11; 27:11-66) “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” Have you heard that saying before? It refers to the month of March. The idea is that March usually comes in “like a lion”--the weather is harsh and cold--but at the end of the month, March often goes out “like a lamb”: the weather is fair and mild. “In like a lion, out like a lamb”: strong at the beginning of the month, gentle at the end. That may be true for the month of March, but you can...

An explosion on Sunday morning at the Mar Girgis Coptic church in the central Delta city of Tanta has left at least 21 dead and over 40 people injured, according to officials. Worshippers were celebrating Palm Sunday.

See What the End Shall Be – Palm Sunday See What the End Shall Be – Palm Sunday Msgr. Charles Pope • April 8, 2017 • The Passion, which we read in today’s liturgy, is too long to comment on in detail, so we will only examine a portion of it here.It may be of some value to examine the problems associated with the more moderate range of personalities involved. The usual villains (the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd shouting, “Crucify him!”) are unambiguously wicked and display their sinfulness openly; but there are others involved whose struggles and...

The ISIS terror group has claimed responsibility for two separate Palm Sunday bombing attacks at Coptic Christian churches in Egypt that have killed 37 people and injured more than 100. The first blast happened at St. George church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, where at least 26 people were killed and 71 others wounded, officials said. Television footage showed the inside of the church, where a large number of people gathered around what appeared to be lifeless, bloody bodies covered with papers. A second explosion was later reported at St. Mark's Cathedral in the coastal city of Alexandria,...

April 9, 2017 Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion At the Procession with Palms — Gospel Mt 21:1-11When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalemand came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered,and a colt with her.Untie them and bring them here to me.And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, 'The master has need of them.'Then he will send them at once."This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:Say to daughter...

      PALM SUNDAY Matthew 21.1 - 11 1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was...

See What the End Shall Be – Palm Sunday Msgr. Charles Pope • March 19, 2016 • The Passion, which we read in today’s liturgy, is too long to comment on in detail, so we will only examine a portion of it here.It may be of some value to examine the problems associated with the more moderate range of personalities involved. The usual villains (the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd shouting, “Crucify him!”) are unambiguously wicked and display their sinfulness openly. But there are others involved whose struggles and neglectfulness are more subtle, yet no less real....