After 150 Years, It's Natural....

By Anna Von Reitz

After 150 Years, It's Natural.....

The actual American States haven't been assembled in over 150 years.

It's natural that when Americans are faced with the news that they have to reorganize and restore their government, people assume that we are talking about the "government" they are familiar with ---- but we aren't.

We are talking about the government of the People, for the People, and by the People. We've never seen it in our lifetimes. Our States were last assembled during our Grandparent's and Great-Grandparent's lifetimes.

Worse, we were never told much about our actual government by those who were making their fortunes off of [mis]administering our assets.

In the Public Schools of this country all we were ever taught was the history of the Federal Government and the Federal States of States.

We were told about the British Territorial Government operating out of the District of Columbia and its structure and its "constitutional democracy".

We were told, if we were sharp enough to catch it, about the Municipal Government operating out of the Municipality of Washington, DC, and its Fascist Roman-Style oligarchy.

But we studiously were not told a word about our own "missing" Federal States of States and the Federal Government that we are actually owed.

We certainly weren't told a word about the actual American Government that is our heritage.

That was never mentioned at all, unless you had the good fortune to have been ---- like I was ---- the youngest daughter of the youngest daughter of the youngest son. My Grandfather was born in 1865. He remembered the dirt. He told his wife. She told her daughter. And her daughter told me. And now, I am telling you.

You already know that the "national assembly" effort headed up by the Michigan General Jural Assembly failed and was sidelined and co-opted. They included "US Citizens" as members and that automatically voided their efforts to organize an American State----if in fact that was ever their intention.

The only parties that can organize American States are American State Citizens. Our actual geographically-defined States don't allow Dual Citizenship.

Anything that "US Citizens" organize is by definition a "State of State" also known as a "Confederate State", but we are not confused.

We know what kind of State we are organizing --- an actual, factual, geographically defined State of the Union, which is a member of the Federation of States known as The United States of America [Unincorporated].

So, now here comes another such misguided effort, headed up by TeamLaw.com:

http://www.teamlaw.net/Government/usmap.htm

They are trying to elect "State" Governors, and advertising that these are "de jure" Governors of our States. But that can't be, either.

Governors, like Presidents, are CEO's operating in international jurisdiction, and depending on whether they are elected to serve the international jurisdiction of the land [our American State Governors] or elected to serve the international jurisdiction of the sea [British Territorial "Governor"], they are defined accordingly.

So, in fact, since 1868, the only kind of "Governor" we have had, are British Territorial United States "Governors" of State of State organizations. Not actual American land jurisdiction State Governors.

They use semantic deceits and call themselves "State Governors" because their State of State corporations, like the State of New Jersey, are all "Confederate States" ---- inchoate, non-physical, incorporated "States"----but none of it actually has anything to do with us or our lawful American Government or our geographic States of the Union.

So, again, we face the "Cuckoo Bird Switch" in which the British Territorial Government substituted itself for our lawful American Government and conveniently never told us a word.

They substituted their sea jurisdiction "Governors" for our land jurisdiction "Governors".

And again, only American State Citizens can elect a land jurisdiction State Governor.

If US Citizens elect a Governor, he is by definition a sea jurisdiction State of State [aka Confederate State] Governor.

So what TeamLaw is doing----- soliciting volunteers to fill vacant Governor-ships, however well-intended the effort may be, is invalid from the perspective of the actual States and People unless:

(1) the individuals involved have made the effort to record their paperwork and formally reclaim and declare their birthright political status as American State Citizens--because we have all been issued British Territorial Birth Certificates and mis-identified as "US Citizens" otherwise; and (2) they have assembled their actual States, populated their States, and elected a Governor who is a State Citizen.

Then, and only then, do we have actual land jurisdiction State Governors competent to wield the Powers of our States and People.

You may have noticed how, for the most part, the US Presidents boss the State of State Governors around. This is because the Governors are in fact running corporate franchises that are ultimately under the President's thumb. See all the information I have provided about the States of States having EINs, TINs, CAGE numbers, and Dunn and Bradstreet ratings as corporations.

By definition, no incorporated entity can be sovereign. Our actual States are sovereign. So you can see right there that their "States" are not our States and vice versa.

There is no actual Checks and Balances between the powers of a sea jurisdiction State of State and the Federal Corporation chartering it. Such a "State of State" [aka Confederate State] is dependent on the parent corporation the same way that your local Burger King is dependent on Burger King, International.

Thus, the Governor of your State is actually, legally, ethically powerless to oppose any directive from the parent Federal Corporation and the constitutionally mandated Checks and Balances have been undermined and side-stepped by the perpetrators.

As long as we continue to "acquiesce" to functioning as any sort of "US Citizen" we are in an invisible trap.

If US Citizens elect a Governor, that Governor is just the local CEO of a DC franchise corporation, obligated to protect the interests and profits of that corporation regardless of the harm it does to us.

It's only when Americans act as American State Citizens and elect a land jurisdiction Governor that the pedal hits the metal and Checks and Balances clicks back into place.

Only then do our Governors inherit the power to "hire and fire" the DC Bureaucrats.

I don't blame people for being confused. I have the utmost sympathy. If I had not had the good fortune to be born into a politically aware family that was devoted to the American Government ---- and therefore preserved memory of it across more than a hundred years--- I'd be just as confused as most other people appear to be.

As it is, I am not confused; I have joined together with others who are not confused, and we are trying our best to explain the circumstance and the jargon and the means by which we have been deceived and over-lorded by our own employees in hopes of getting through to other Americans.

The republican states that control the soil jurisdiction of this country don't even have "Governors". They have State Assembly Chairmen and the State Assembly Chairmen tell the Governors what they want done.

Thus the Pecking Order in the American Government is exactly the opposite of the Pecking Order in the Federal Government. We are bottom up and the Federal Government organizations we are all familiar with are top down, whether they are British Territorial corporations or Roman Municipal corporations.

If we put our minds to it and remember who we are, we can assemble our actual States, and restore the American Government we are owed.

That's why we started The American States Assembly and booted up the new website and teleconference: https://theamericanstatesassembly.net/ .

Please spread the word and explain the situation so that we can ---finally---- get the Americans organized and up to speed and moving in the right direction, acting in the right capacity, and exercising our birthrights effectively.

I am not suggesting that anyone join the TeamLaw effort on this one, because they need a proper State Assembly and State Elections by qualified State Nationals and State Citizens. Rather, I am telling you that they are off-track on this one and we need to reach out and explain why.

So long as these men are acting in good faith and are truly intending to fill the land jurisdiction Governorships, there is no reason that they can't join the State Assemblies as American State Citizens or American State Nationals and be elected to serve.

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Update on the Money Situation

By Anna Von Reitz

As at least some of you know, March 29 was the Drop Dead date for countries to be Basel III compliant and post a gold-backed currency.  The Territorial Government under the direction of Donald Trump managed to do that, just barely.  

The situation with the British Brexit and the impact on the European Union remains up in the air until April 12.  This is viewed as a necessary reprieve, both to allow the Brits to get their panties sorted and the rest of the EU nations to face up to the realities of dealing again in national currencies backed by actual assets.  Or the necessity of backing the Euro --- which is all but impossible absent an act of both God and the German Parliament. 

So, at least the Territorial Government is swimming forward and will participate in what has been dubbed the Global Currency Reset (GCR).  

We, the American States and People, have no need to worry about "transitioning" to the gold and silver standard.  We never left it.  Our gold Eagles and silver coinage and all the certificates and bonds based on the same will simply have a new valuation relative to other currencies in the world and will be recognized as "cash values". 

The same is happening within all the Central Banks --- a switching of gears.  

For many decades they have been sitting on the gold and silver stockpiles and not counting those assets ----  ignoring their existence as assets on the bank ledger. Now they have all been kicked into gear and forced to admit that, yes, we have all these assets.  

They still haven't been brought to bay and forced to admit who or what those assets actually belong to -- but that, too, is coming. 

As a result of all this, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) will be announcing new currency standards, also known as values, based on gold being "the" standard commodity.  

As of March 30, all the World Banks adopted Basel IV and gold became a world currency. 

Based on this new (and highly arbitrary) valuation scheme and the return to the old Gold Standard, people will be dealing in actual money instead of commercial script, and a great deal of the fraud and counterfeiting and "money" laundering that has gone on will fade away. 

The Americans, who never went off the gold standard, have nothing to lose and the accruals of ten decades to gain.  The Municipal "United States" hegemony has been liquidated to back the change.  The Territorial "United States of America" is sliding along just off the lee shore in a gale, thanks to Donald Trump and the faithful elements in the US Military. 

As a result of the double-dealing and bankruptcy protection schemes that went on at the turn of last century (1898 to 1934) and the Japanese Rumba during World War II, a lot of our actual American gold is in Indonesia and the Philippines.  

At least some of that stash--  which actually belongs to the American States and People-- has been underwritten by the Chinese and credited to "the" United States of America on an emergency basis to allow this country to maintain a basis of trade with the rest of the world.  

Count it as "Baby Steps" allowing us to continue to function and make the necessary correction of our political identity and processes.  Make no mistake --Americans are rich; it's the US Citizens who have been spent into oblivion. 

So now we have to moderate all that imbalance -- release the US Debt and deliver Offset Credit to the Americans. 

For all those Junk Bond Traders who sunk their Penny Stock Dreams in Zim and Iraqi Dinar, the pay off is coming ---- not as good or as bad as the extremes of various prognosticators, but coming nonetheless, probably this week.  

Be careful how you sign the paperwork.  Retain your copyright on your own names.  Use a private copyright Notice after your signatures --- a small "c" surrounded by a circle.  

The States will be enforcing the Constitutions and the Lanham Act, which should discourage a lot of Municipal Freebooters and other vultures. 

As everyone who knows me is aware --- I don't believe in money.   The worldwide addiction to money is the worst kind of idolatry and it needs to end, but for the moment, to prevent worldwide disaster, we need a means to trade and this is what has been worked out to allow that.   

That doesn't mean that there is no way to design an honest form of asset-backed money. It just means we aren't there" yet. 

I look forward to the day when we are.  

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Linus Pauling Was No Fool

By Anna Von Reitz

Linus Pauling was one of the most acclaimed and celebrated scientists in recent generations, he was wined and dined and toasted and awarded up the wazoo for decades, and then, something happened.  The same media that had draped him in every laurel leaf and accolade turned against him and decried him as a Tin Hat and a fool.  

Ever wonder why?  

Because he told people to start mega-dosing Vitamin C. 

This was a betrayal of the New World Order, which has been intent on poisoning our water for decades, and using this silent means to erode our health and net themselves and their commercial corporations billions upon billions of dollars worth of medical and dental service fees.  

Heart disease and arteriosclerosis are the major killers of Americans past age 40.  What are both of these conditions caused by?  Well, there ARE many factors --- genetics, diet, lack of exercise, etc. --- but the glue that cements these factors together and makes them lethal is chronic lack of Vitamin C.  

Most Americans suffer from Scurvy, which is ironic, because they are also being misidentified as British sailors and Merchant Mariners. 

How is this possible in the modern age, when we have ready access to vast quantities of citrus fruits and other sources of Vitamin C?  

Because the water we drink and cook with and wash with has almost universally been "treated" with poisons that leach Vitamin C out of our bodies at a tremendous rate --- Fluoride, which is a waste product of the Aluminum industry, and Chlorine, a waste product of the Petrochemical industry.  

You see now that the guilty commercial corporations are making profits on both ends of this deal.   First, they sell off their noxious by-products instead of having to dispose of them responsibly, and then they profit more from the diseases and chronic ill-health these poisons cause as they build up in our bodies. 

Scurvy is well-known to cause gum disease, muscular and skeletal degeneration, cardio-vascular and nervous system disorders, and ultimately, predictably, death.  

So now you have bleeding gums and gum disease, which means you have to go through all sorts of pain and spend thousands of dollars on dental fillings and bridges and root canals and implants.   The chronic infection in your mouth then also triggers systemic chronic inflammatory response.  

This then triggers inflammation of the joints and destruction of cartilage in the joints as a result of the inflammation (arthritis)..... and so it goes ---- downhill. We exercise less because we are in pain, and that just makes things worse.  

The chronic lack of Vitamin C also messes up the Calcium Cycle in our bodies and leads to calcium being leached from our bones (osteoporosis) and re-deposited in our veins and arteries, causing arteriosclerosis: hardening of the arteries due to calcified fatty acid deposits.  

They are killing us for profit via their "water treatment programs", and Linus Pauling blew the whistle on them.  That's how he went from being a Media Darling to Tin Hat.  

He blew his whole career, his reputation, and his funding to save our lives.  

Linus Pauling really was a hero.  

So, what are you going to do about it? 

You are going to go to the store and buy a shower head that contains a filter that removes Chlorine and Fluorine from your shower water.  It will cost you around $80 and the filters have to be replaced every few months, but that is a small price compared to the cost and misery of even one chronic illness.  These shower filters are available at hardware stores and on the internet.  

You are also going to go get a supply of food grade Vitamin C crystals or powder in a big bag, and add a couple teaspoons of this to your bathwater every time you take a bath.  

Why is this so important?  Because your skin soaks up Chlorine like a sponge. A single bath can absorb as much Chlorine into your body as drinking 68 cups of chlorinated water.  This is because your stomach acid destroys a good deal of the crud when you drink it, but you have no such defense when you bathe in it. 

Now if it irritates you (it irritates me) that they are charging you good money to poison you, and then you are having to spend more money to buy antidotes to the same poisons that shouldn't even be in your water in the first place --- and they are selling all this on the basis that Fluoride stops cavities, when it also makes your gums bleed and your teeth fall out as a result of leaching Vitamin C and all this then promotes chronic low-level inflammatory response throughout your body --- hey, put on your Tin Hat and wear it with pride.  

At least you aren't stupid enough to believe their self-interested lies-for-profit any more.  At least you have recognized one of the most pervasive and inescapable threats to your health.  At least you have the awareness to take action to defend yourself.  

As more Americans wake up and join their State Assemblies, the AMA and its Evil Half-Sister, the American Dental Association, are both going to get kicked to the curb over this atrocity, and so are all the Municipal Governments.  

In the meantime, if you are stuck with a polluted water supply, make sure you are supplementing your diet with lots of Vitamin C -- both Vitamin C supplements and Vitamin C in your bathwater, and a good filter on your shower heads.  

Thank you, Linus.  We are in your debt.

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Adrenalin Addiction Crisis

By Anna Von Reitz

My Mother was an Adrenalin Addict.  She had been abused as a child and developed a totally unconscious need for the Adrenalin that helped her over those crisis points. In the absence of any threat, she still unknowingly craved the "high" that Adrenalin gave her, and so, she learned how to trigger release of the internally manufactured drug by working herself up into rages and fear responses.  

It was very ugly and predictable to watch.  

Thankfully, I was able to watch instead of participating in her self-induced drama, because my older Sister protected me from her onslaughts when I was very small, and my stalwart Father wouldn't allow any such nonsense in his presence.  He would just sweep her up in a Bear-Hug and she'd immediately calm down.  Past about age seven, I could always outrun her and leave the house long enough for her to calm down.  

Thus, I escaped the worst impacts of being the child of an Adrenalin Addict, yet I saw --- mostly as a Witness --- the horrifying impact and logic of the illness.  

It's an insidious addiction because no drugs are actually taken.  The body produces Adrenalin naturally in response to threats -- both real threats and imaginary ones, so it isn't as if there is an obvious pill or syringe or powder involved.  You can't point at an Adrenalin Addict's stash, because it is hidden inside their own body.  

The onset of an episode with those afflicted has typical warning signs. They will start acting erratically, have lapses of attention or memory, for example--- stop answering direct questions like, "Where's the ketchup?" --- and seem to withdraw from the present world.  They get a taut, worried look, and either stare at nothing or start furtively glancing around as if to identify threats.  

They may or may not have their own telltale physical symptoms of needing a fix.  My Mother's giveaway was when she started quietly flexing her fingers and tapping them together.  Other people I have known with the same addiction have done things like narrow their eyes into tiny slits, pace randomly, clench fists, or assume an uncharacteristic posture.  

To bring on the Adrenalin attack they will often initiate a paranoid internal dialogue and let their imagination run wild, so that they create the necessary threat and the resulting fear that will trigger Adrenalin release. 

My Mother's favorite was the unknown assailant, the burglar or the rapist sneaking up the back stairs in the middle of the night.  She would prowl around the house at night whenever my Father was away, on eternal watch (with a shotgun no less) for criminals who never came.  

Looking back on it, it all seems so sad and predictable.  The abused child unconsciously learned about--- and took refuge in--- Adrenalin, so the adult still felt the physical and mental need for that excitement, that sudden charge of overwhelming power. 

She was actually a good woman, but like all addicts, she was in the thrall of something that she could not control and that led her to do many destructive things to herself and others.  My older Sister still suffers the after-effects and a tragic sense of loss, and as for me,  I was never able to be truly close to my Mother because of it.  

My Mother knew that there was a separation between us, and grieved over it, but I don't think she ever actually knew why.  Like all addicts, the addiction seemed --- to her at least --- to just be part of who she was, and she felt I should be able to accept her as is, which I did, albeit in an eternally guarded fashion.  

It's a terrible thing to have to watch your own parent like a science experiment, and always be on guard, but millions of children who grow up in families afflicted by alcoholism, drug addictions, and mental illnesses have to face this reality every day.  

My best friend in Grade School duly noted my Mother's peculiar rages and behavior.  I shrugged and said, "She's crazy."   But she wasn't crazy.  She was addicted to Adrenalin and unconsciously self-medicating. 

Today, there are millions of war veterans, millions of abused women and children, millions of war survivors, millions of people from all walks of life and social classes, who are unconsciously addicted to Adrenalin.  

Much of what doctors are calling "PTSD" and "Rage Syndrome" and "Anti-Social Behavior"  is Adrenalin addiction that is not being diagnosed and treated.  

The various efforts to treat this addiction with mood elevators and sedatives, with meditation and "dis-sociative" activities like arts and crafts, can help--- but not cure and not squarely address the actual problem.  Until we realize that these people are addicted to Adenalin we won't be able to find a cure. 

Unfortunately, some Vermin among us, have clued-in to the problem in the sense of marketing products that the addicts crave as stimulation.  They produce endless movies that provoke Adrenalin response --- horror films, shoot 'em-up, bang-bang live action films, gruesome war stories, endless "threat" movies of one kind or another.  

The Adrenalin Addicts among us gobble it all up like popcorn and candy. They also gobble up the "Nightly News" --- and for the same reason and for the same sales pitch: death and destruction, disease and sex crimes.  It all serves to pluck away at our adrenal system, like a guitar player strumming our strings. 

And we don't even realize that we are being played. 

The last time I saw my Mother she was in a nursing home surrounded by all the machinery and monitors and stainless steel implements of modern medicine. She had been doped up and was disoriented at first, and then she realized that it was really me and that I had come all the way from Alaska to see her. 

It had been a grey rainy day with thick cloud cover, but at that exact moment of realization, a brilliant ray of sun broke through and illuminated the joyous smile on her face.  She was still beautiful when she smiled, even at 96. 

I couldn't help but feel the wrench of pain: all the love and all the good times lost because of her unconscious addiction, all the closeness and joy that could have been.  

Maybe at one time, I could have explained it to her, brought it into her conscious knowledge, so that she could recognize what was going on and maybe --- just maybe --- she could have learned to control it; but,  I was 30 or 40 years old before I actually understood what was going on, and by that time, she was in her late seventies or eighties.  

She'd been an Adrenalin Addict since her own sad childhood.  

It was too late for her to change and too late for me to salvage a natural relationship with her, but maybe it's not too late for others reading this to become aware of the silent scourge of Adrenalin Addiction that is gripping America and the rest of the world, too.  

Veterans?  War refugees?  Domestic violence survivors?  Abused children?  Almost anyone who has suffered certain kinds of prolonged psychological or physical trauma is at risk of developing an addiction to Adrenalin.  

Please, for the sake of all these suffering people and for all their families who suffer along with them, take the time to stop and think --- to recognize the symptoms and think about how those suffering from this plague have been exposed to violence and threat and developed an addiction to Adrenalin. 

Think about what you can do about it.  Bring it to the attention of the medical professionals.  Take whatever action you can to promote conscious awareness of the damage this unseen "invisible" addiction is causing.  

Shame the newscasters for providing a steady diet of threats and despair and pretending that it is news.  Shame the "entertainment" industry for feeding all the Adrenalin junkies and making the situation worse. 

Take action to prevent Adrenalin Addiction from spreading from household to household and generation to generation.  Make people aware of it. 

Without my Father and my much older Sister to protect and underwrite my mental and emotional development, I could have been abused by my Mother and could have become an Adrenalin Addict, just as she did.  

Adrenalin exists for good reasons, but like every other gift of God, can be twisted and corrupted into something evil.  My Mother spent her whole life in near-constant turmoil and caused untold damage to others without ever consciously meaning to harm anyone, and without knowing why.  Millions of other people worldwide are in the same condition. 

Help them.  Help yourselves, too.  Guard your children.  Counsel our veterans and their families.  Let the survivors of domestic abuse know that they are at risk.  Make it a little "mini-ministry" to help heal and calm and spread the word. 

What these people need, as my Father so long ago demonstrated when he would Bear-Hug my Mother, is not another ping-pong rush of Adrenalin.  What they need is to be loved and reassured, and weaned away from destructive stimuli and behaviors.

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Fourth Sunday In Lent

Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's
The Church's Year

The Introit of this day's Mass, which begins with the word Laetare, is as follows:

INTROIT Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together all you that love her; rejoice with joy you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. (Isai: LXVI. 10. 11.) I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. (Ps. CXXI. 1.) Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who justly suffer for our deeds may be relieved by the consolation of Thy grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end, Amen.

EPISTLE (Gat. IV. 22-31.) Brethren, it is written that Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond-woman and the other by a free-woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born according to the flesh; but he of the free-woman was by promise: which things are said by an allegory. For these are the two testaments. The one from Mount Sina, engendering unto bondage, which is Agar: for Sina is a mountain in Arabia, which hath affinity to that Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother. For it is written: Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born according to the flesh persecuted him that was after the spirit, so also it is now. But what saith the scripture? Cast out the bond-woman and her son: for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman. So, then, brethren, we are not the children of the bond-woman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free.

EXPLANATION  It was the common custom, in the days of the patriarchs, for a man to have more than one wife. This was permitted by God, partly because they and their descendants would hardly have been satisfied with one marriage, (Matt. XIX. 8.) partly because bigamy was a means of promoting the increase of the people of Israel, typical of the future increase of the children of God. Thus Abraham had two wives, who had each a son; of these Ismael was born to Abraham from his bond-woman Agar, in the natural way; the other, Isaac, the son of the free wife Sara, was born in a supernatural manner according to the promise, (Gen. XVIII. 11. 14. ) that she by the grace of God, although aged, would give birth to a son. These two women with their sons were types, as St. Paul says, of the two Testaments: Agar the bond-woman typified the Old, Sara, the free-woman, the New Testament; the son of Agar, the Jews, the son of Sara, the Christians; for the Jews, like Ismael, are descendants of Abraham by natural descent, but the Christians, like Isaac, by grace. The Old Testament gave birth only to servants; for the Jews obeyed the commandments of God through fear of punishment, and in hope of temporal reward; the New Testament, the Jerusalem from above. that is, the Christian Church, gives birth to children who willingly and through love obey the commandments of God. Although the Christian Church, the New Jerusalem, chosen from heathenism, was in the beginning barren, as was Sara, she gives birth, by the grace of God and through His apostles, to more children than the Jewish Church, which was so long the Church of God, that is, more were converted to Christianity from the Gentiles than from the  Jews. The latter even hated and persecuted the Christians, as did Ismael his brother Isaac. For their hardness of heart they were cast out by God, like Agar and her son; that is, after the destruction of Jerusalem the Jews were dispersed to all parts of the world. Let us, therefore, give thanks to God, that through Jesus we have become the free children of our heavenly Father, who through love fulfill His holy will by which we shall be saved.

ASPIRATION Give me the grace, O Jesus, that by prayer and fasting, and patience in all adversities and persecutions, I may be made less unworthy of Thy passion; that I may not, one day, be cast out by Thee, but become worthy of Thy divine promise and Thy eternal consolation in the heavenly Jerusalem.

GOSPEL (John VI. 1-15.) At that time, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias; and a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were diseased. Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip: Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to try him; for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered: Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to him: There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes: but what are these among so many? Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down: in like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would. And when they were filled, he said to his disciples: Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost. They gathered up, therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said: This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world. Jesus therefore when he knew that they would come to take him by force, and make him king, fled again into the mountain himself alone.

Why did Christ try St. Philip?

To test his faith and confidence; to instruct us that before seeking supernatural means, we should first look for natural ways of providing; that the miracle of the multiplying of the loaves should be more marvelous to the people from having seen there was no provision; and that we may learn to trust in God, who is a helper in due time in tribulation. (Ps. IX. 10.)

What signs did Christ make use of in this miracle, and why?

According to St. Matthew (XIV. 19.) He lifted up His eyes to heaven, by which He showed that all good gifts come from above; He gave thanks, thus teaching us to give thanks to God for all His blessings. "The table," says St. Chrysostom, "that is approached and is left with prayer will never know want, but the more richly yield its gifts." He blessed the bread showing us that the divine blessing increases all things.

Why did Christ require them to gather up the fragments that were left?

That they should not be wasted or destroyed; that the greatness of the miracle should be made evident by the quantity of the fragments; and that we might learn to honor the gifts of God, even the most insignificant, and if we do not ourselves need them, give them to the poor.

Why did Christ, after this miracle, flee from the people?

Because after this miracle the people recognized in him the Messiah, and would have made Him king. He wished to teach us to flee from praise and honor, and in all our actions seek not our own, but God's glory.

CONSOLATION IN POVERTY

This gospel gives the account of Christ providing for those who followed and listened to Him, which is indeed consoling for the poor. God from the beginning of the world has always cared for His own. For the aid and comfort of His chosen people in time of famine God sent Joseph, the son of the Patriarch Jacob, in advance into Egypt: (Gen. XLV. 5.) for forty years He fed the children of Israel in the desert with bread from heaven; (Deut. VIII. 2. 3.) He fed the Prophet Elias by a raven; (III Kings VII. 6.) and thought of Daniel in the lions' den. (Dan. XIV. 37.) In the New Testament God shows His merciful care for His own, because in great need He fed them marvelously through angels, men, and even animals, as we frequently see in the lives of the saints. Truly has David said: God forsakes not the just, I have been young, and am now old: and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread, (PS. XXXVI. 25.) that is, one who sincerely serves Him, and seeks before all the kingdom of God and His justice, as Christ commands. (Luke XII. 31.) Strive to be a faithful child, and you will have God for your father, and with King David you can cast your care upon the Lord, and He will sustain you. You must not think it is enough to pray and trust in God, He demands that you should use your strength to receive help, for if any man will not work, neither let him eat. (II Thess. III. 10.)

ASPIRATION  In Thy omnipotence and goodness, O my God, I put my trust, firmly believing that if I fear Thee, serve Thee faithfully, and avoid evil, I shall not be abandoned in poverty, but receive many good things. Amen.

INSTRUCTION ON PREPARATION FOR EASTER

Now the Pasch the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. (John VI. 4.)

If we would sing a joyful Alleluia with the Church on the festival of Easter, we must fulfill her desire, and prepare ourselves to celebrate it worthily. Therefore, we should shun improper, clamorous meetings, and retire often to pray in solitude, especially to meditate on the bitter sufferings of our Saviour, for when man is alone, God speaks to his heart. (Osee. II. 14.) We should carefully examine our conscience, and consider how we stand before God, for upon this day shall be the expiation for you, and the cleansing from all your sins: you shall be cleansed before the Lord; for it is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls, that is, by fasting, watching, and praying. (Lev. XVI. 30-31.) From this Sunday until Easter we should fast more strictly, give more alms to the poor if we are able, or if poor ourselves, bear our poverty more patiently, offering it to Christ in union with His poverty, His hunger, thirst, &c. ; we should make a sincere and contrite confession, and purify our heart from the old leaven of iniquity, that we may keep the Easter meal with Christ in the unleavened bread of purity and truth. (I Cor. V. 7. 8.) For this end we should incite ourselves to holy desires, and rise from sin, which is the death of the soul.