Has not Cain in the East a right to be bitter against Abel, or Peter?

[spauline]

Should we fail to hear the cry of the New Cain, who, in the East, is bitter, since He is able to offer less of the things of this world up to the God for sacrifice for the poor, than his brother Abel, who, in the West, and hence has a more pleasing sacrifice because he is Peter, and yet whose flock are fattened hypocrites who know little of suffering and misery that the faithful Orthodox have had to come through.

I have seen a film called Island, and there, an Orthodox mystic shewed a pathetic fat Catholic just what it means to do penance in the harshest and bitter conditions of the East. May the Lord have mercy on the West, for though it is under Peter, and therefore the fuller of the Kingdom, woe unto it for such pathetic little penance and mystery it celebrates typically, than the Eastern Fathers who are as it should be: The glorious vestements of black, the beards, the harsh and mystical asceticism, and the sufferings of terrible cold and hunger.

Is it therefore any reason they are bitter? I simply pray that by the mercy of God, they are spared from slaying Peter and His People, for they deserve it a sense.

 

[Danuska]

"the Eastern Fathers who are as it should be: The glorious vestements of black, the beards, the harsh and mystical asceticism, and the sufferings of terrible cold and hunger "- this part I do not get.

I would say that Mother Theresa (and many others) did quite a lot without the glorious black vestements of black, the beards, the harsh and mystical ascetism and the sufferings of terrible cold and hunger.

Plus, Catholic Church has many convents with very strict rules, just check them up. And do not generalise, there are many Catholics in Africa (you would be surprised with their zeal and devotion), India, or the Philipines - who are not really that fat.

And lastly - do not forget what Paul says in Corinthians in his Hymn of Love:
*If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver my body to be burned,
but have not love,
I gain nothing. *

 

[BarbaraTherese]

As a Catholic Christian there is no such thing as a right to be bitter, although I can certainly understand and have compassion, a disposition of mercy, towards the bitterness of others in some instances.

But I can certainly understand that we in the West should feel ashamed of our great wealth in the face of the great poverty in some countries, of the poverty and violence, starvation and disease, and not of their own making or fault, nor is it in their power to do something about it. I think that probably we can and have an obligation in The Lord to do whatever we can …and I have an obligation to do whatever I can within my means and power - both gifts of God for the benefit of all. “To whom much is given, much will be expected”. “Whatever you do to one of these, though it be the least of My brethren, you have done it to Me”. In the working to save my own soul, there is my attitude and disposition towards my brothers and sisters to be considered.

Quoting Danuska:

And lastly - do not forget what Paul says in Corinthians in his Hymn of Love:
*If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver my body to be burned,
but have not love,
I gain nothing. *

…Amen…

Blessings…Barb

 

[MarieVeronica]

I have seen a film called Island, and there, an Orthodox mystic shewed a pathetic fat Catholic just what it means to do penance in the harshest and bitter conditions of the East. May the Lord have mercy on the West,

My understanding of this is that you refer to the entire Church of the west? (Please correct me, if I’m wrong).

I can’t speak for the whole of the western Church. But I can certainly say that in my own, little corner of the world (southeastern United States) that there are those who suffer terribly. Many within the Church. People who are homeless and on the street. Some of these, on the street… because they couldn’t pay their medical bills… and therefore, lost their homes. The uninsured, who can’t afford to seek medical treatment. Many elderly Catholics, sitting in nursing facilities… waiting to die, with no one to love them. Thousands of immigrant Catholics, who are unjustly treated. There are many who suffer, unbeknownst to the eastern Church… or even their next door neighbor. And they are all… a part of the Mystical Body of Christ.

I once heard it said that our late Holy Father, John Paul II… referred to the eastern and western Church… as the “two lungs of the Church”. They are both vitally important, if the Church is to breathe properly. Love one another, pray for one another. God loves all of us.

Perhaps, if Cain had remembered that God loved both he and Abel, there would have been no “first murder”. God bless.

 

[spauline]

OH, Lord God, Have mercy on me, I did in no wise intend to say all in the world, much less all in the West, but rather, the fattened and dull ones, who think little and give little out of an abundance.

but, yes, have mercy on me, there is already much suffering as it were even in our own nation, and Lord have mercy that I somehow forgot this.

And to be bitter, is there are right? Understandable it can be, but is there a right (like the Inquisition, or other things in which the West has done bad things unto others?)? NO!

But shall we not therefore still look in love upon our brother who is bitter and say, dear brother, we love you, we offeneded you long agon, please accept our plea for mercy, can we not reconcile?

Oh Mother Mary, bring us together, heal our wounds, so that we may be one again, so that the world may believe in the Son.

To all you, who shew me what i have ignored, have mercy on me, i beg thee to forgive me, and pray for me.

Lord Jesus, and Mother Mary, help us all to be saved, and to the best we can with what blessings we have.

 

[bpbasilphx]

Speaking as an Eastern Christian, I rather resent being compared with Cain.

That’s the only thing I’m bitter about.

 

[sawman]

Please have mercy on me,
How is it that Cain becomes the East? and
Abel is the West?
I truly don’t get it.

I know I am overweight but I am truly suffering
I have nothing to put on the altar
But mypoor self alongside
He who is the sacrifice for us all

 

[spauline]

To my dear sawman, and my dear bpbasilphx,

who are much greater brothers than I could ever hope to be, …

…I say, in no wise do I aim any of these things at you…

…You are fulfilling the mission of God in your agony and pain and suffering, that you in no wise deserve, and yet accept with all humility and unite to Jesus, and His Sufferings, so that your pain might prevent others from a worst pain that can never end,…

…it is rather aimed, as it were, at me, the fat child of Peter, who was kicked on his ***, first, at 9-11, and later, by the man who in agony was the Russian mystic on the ISLAND, who is slaving in penance unfathomed, simply considering that he killed a man in utter cowardice, and was spared. For it shew me that I was even worse. For before all this, I would say to myself, I know all things, but I never thought, because I was a fat fool, but what do I do with what I have? I tell people what they should know, but how much do I suffer and impose sufferings upon myself, in order that they should not merely know, but also understand?

And so, in the end, I am not at all addressing to neither the brothers in the East, or the poor persons in the West, who are in agony in the Nursing Homes with noone to comfort them.

In reality, this cry is aimed at me, in which I say, “My Lord and My God, WHAT have I done?”

 

[spauline]

O, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I pray that thou woulds’t have mercy on me, the worst of sinners, and show me, that in the end, I may know all thing, but if i have not love, what am I? O, Lord, now beat me into subjection, that I may truly begin to chastise my flesh so that not only I end not in eternal fire, but that other creatures who know less, and are therefore less culpable, might also be spared these fires. For since to whom much is given, much will be expected, I shall certainly suffer flames of the utterworst torments, whereas the others, whereas they were basically culpable, shall therefore suffer, but suffer less, since they were less culpable.

For this I pray, and I call upon the Mother of God, and all the angels and saints to pray for me in this regard, so that in the end, we might all, the whole world, come to be with God forever, and so be a family of love unto eternity, united by the Divine Family that Was Within All Eternity, before anything began that had a beginning.

Amen.