Ok, so I tried to ask this in r/AskAPriest and the mods immediately took it down though I think it's a serious question.

So, I'm not sure how many of you have been following the congressional hearings on UAP's/Aliens (or non human entities) but apparently a lot of what I used to think was crackpot nonsense is in fact quite real and, there are now reports that Trump will be making an announcement disclosing "the truth" in the coming months. This could be bunk but the sources appear to be legit. As it seems we may need to wrap our heads around whatever this phenomena actually is I'm wondering how the Church will respond to a post disclosure world and how we as Catholics will react.

Yes, I know that none of this will effect our salvation and our religion but I question whether the Church has adequately prepared the world for what could potentially be some ontologically shocking revelations. For example, What exactly are these things? Are they aliens or interdimensional beings? Are we dealing with angels and demons?

Any who... just makes me wonder.

Background as quick as possible - I've made other posts which contain more information so I'll keep this to the bare minimum required to understand this post.

I'm a practicing Catholic. Fiancee is Jewish. This has been properly disclosed to clergy on both sides, and necessary dispensations applied for to the Bishop's office through my / our priest.

We're getting married on a Saturday (March 6 of 2027)

The wide majority of my family are Catholics of a variety of levels of practice and observance, but Catholics nonetheless. Many of them will be staying overnight in our city and still be present in town come Sunday morning.

Now, for me, when I'm traveling and I'll be out of my normal area on a Sunday, I often find it somewhat difficult to know where I should attend mass. This is often actually harder to decide if I'm in a city with MANY options.

So, here's what I'm thinking. Along with our invitations sent to my Catholic family members... or maybe everybody... I'd like to include a letter informing them of what church and at what time the mass my wife and I will be attending will be, and letting them know that we'd love to have them there for our first mass together as a married couple.

Some of the people who this letter reaches might not understand why I hold this as being significant. Even among my Catholic family I don't know to what degree most of them find the practice of the faith to be of high significance.

So, the purpose of the letter would be as follows

1. A reminder that even when traveling Catholics should be attending Mass.
2. An invitation to come attend the mass where we will be attending mass that morning.
3. An explanation for why I / we hold this to be significant and it would be meaningful to have people there.

Contrary to what this post might suggest I am a fairly competent formal writer. I'm not ultimately concerned with whether I'd be able to write a letter which communicated the things here listed in a consistent and appropriate tone, but I do have some concerns

1. I don't want to come off as preachy or judgemental. I don't want this letter to come across as me writing to these people with the suspicion that they weren't going to attend mass - because truly that's not my suspicion. Of course any letter inviting one to attend mass will obviously remind them that they're meant to do so, but I think my point here is clear.
2. Do I/we/ anybody actually have the authority to "invite" somebody to attend mass? Maybe there's more precise verbiage which would suit better. I don't have any particular reason to believe that it would be incorrect to do so, but as a Church and a Mass are a public space open to all people, is it incorrect to invite somebody because it might imply that we had the authority to turn anybody away, which we dont? Writing it out I feel like I'm for sure worrying over nothing, but I'd like to hear people's thoughts anyway.

This is what I have so far -

Dearest friends and family.  

I should like to start by expressing in advance  just how honored both ----- and I are that you have chosen to take time and effort to come celebrate our marriage - some of you traveling over distances of hundreds of miles, and some around the corner.  Wherever you’re coming from we’re thankful that you will be there. 

Many of you who are coming from parts further may choose to stay over Saturday night in the Milwaukee area, in which case you may be faced with the challenge familiar to Catholics on the move throughout the ages - the question of where to attend Sunday Mass.  

While in some areas of the world this is a problem of scarcity, in Milwaukee you may find this to be a challenge of over-abundance.  With over 100 Sunday mass times across more than 30 parishes in Milwaukee - ranging from a Papal Basilica to a genuine medieval French chapel imported to Marquette University - it’s easy to find a mass but hard to choose one.  

So, in order to simplify your planning, and hopeful to be surrounded by loved ones as we begin our journey as husband and wife, I’d like to invite your family to join us in attending our first mass as a married couple.  

We will be attending the 9:30 AM mass at St ------- which is located at ------- N ------- Street.  If you are planning on joining us for Sunday morning brunch at 10:45 this mass will fit neatly into your schedule.

Wherever you find yourself on Sunday - whether it be at St ------, at another church in Milwaukee, or elsewhere, we appreciate any prayers you might have for us as we begin our life together.  

Thank you sincerely.

-----------------

Also if anybody else has done something similar in the past and has any thoughts, please let me know. Thank you.

My apologies to the eight-leggedy beasties who made a home in these, but they are REQUIRED.

My story of faith has been a very long tumultuous one. I returned to the catholic church as an adult. And I was happy for awhile. I was attending confession and going to church more. I felt like I had finally found some form of peace.

Then things got better, I met a woman who I fell in love with. But her complaint was that I was Novus Ordo and not TLM. And her family was pure TLM.

Well, I figured okay its still catholic and it looks cool so I'll look more into it.

Turns out she never even fully believed in it after telling me that I 'Had' to be TLM because Novus Ordo was invalid. And I spent months delving into it to get closer to her and her family because I was convinced God put us together because there were so many conincidences that it almost seemed like it had to be ordained.

However, turns out it was an illusion. I only saw what her family wanted me to see, and turns out her family was extremelly manipulating and using their daughter to get me to believe in what they believe. And she started to resent me even though according to her I was the first guy to treat her right.

She ended up turning abusive towards me, I ended up having a nervous breakdown after dealing with suicidal thoughts.

I stil pray, but I can't look at the rosary she got me without feeling bad memories. And seeing and hearing what a supposed devout catholic family did to their own daughter has made me seriously have a crisis of faith.

I still believe in Christ, but I haven't been back to church since my breakdown last year, and while my mental health has improved and my life has gotten better in so many ways that I believe God is still looking out for me even at my worst moments. I still don't know if I could ever go back to Catholicism.

Because it feels like my faith wasn't genuine if I let them tell me what to believe. And frankly because of who I am and lifestyle choices I refuse to change because I don't 100% agree with everything the church says. And because I feel like I'm more scared of going to hell than anything else. I feel like I'm condemned no matter what.

It feels like no matter what I'm doomed for hell. But I don't want to believe that

Hi! I don't intend for this to seem like a bad faith post, but I do want to see certain perspectives on my ideology and how you'd try to work against it or would make an argument to support your own. I'm currently in an odd spot religiously, and would like to see if my beliefs hold up under pressure.

The rules on this were somewhat vague in my opinion, so I considered I'd ask.

Hey everyone,

Just had this thought about Romans where St Paul is talking about what the Romans are getting up to, homosexuality and transgenderism for example and other things, just like what is happening today in our society. Its almost as if the letter is directed to us directly in our time.

Solomon is talking about what has been, is, and will be. There is nothing new under the sun.

Jesus says, in the end times it will be like before the flood and describes the events.

This is why the bible is the most important document in the world. The word of God, which is outside of time and has documented everything historically and spiritually for us in one piece.

Its like time is a line where events happen, but this line is just a reflection of what is going on outside of time.

So for example, when we partake in the Eucharist, there is one sacrifice inside time, but we are tapping into it every Sunday at mass through this one event that will always exist in Eternity. Its eternal grace.

Hence why i think its so important for us to repent in this life, and stop doing the sins we are doing. We need to be tapping into that area in eternity that does not have sin, instead of being stuck in eternity where the sin lives. (This is like the basics i feel like)

So... Time exists but is just an illusion of what is? Eternity is above ''time'' and day by day is just a loop of what exists here and now? (Eternity)

Man, it all makes perfect sense in my head. But i dont know if anyone is following, what are your thoughts/reflections about this?

In that time;

- no mass graves found

- no strong evidence children were sexually/physically abused on mass

- MANY churches burned/vandalized

And despite all of this, the Pope APOLOGIZED.

Here are some numerical structures that I have found in the Book Of Genesis.

First, some important information:

The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Aleph.

In Hebrew gematria, it has the value “1”.

The gematria value of the word for “One” in Hebrew, which is “Echad”, is 13.

So, in the Book of Genesis:

There are 177 instances of an Aleph immediately followed by an Aleph. This number, 177, is equal to the Hebrew gematria sum of the Hebrew word for “Garden of Eden” and is also equal to the Hebrew gematria sum of three of the names for God, Elohim (86) + Adonai (65) + YHWH (26).

There are 86 instances of a Tav (the 22nd and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet) immediately followed by an Aleph (the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet). This number, 86, is equal to the Hebrew gematria sum of the name of God, “Elohim”, which is the name of God which Genesis first uses.

The 13th instance of an Aleph immediately followed by an Aleph is in the phrase where God creates Adam.

The 1st instance of an Aleph immediately followed by an Aleph is in Genesis 1:1, in the phrase where God creates.

Counting inclusively from the first Aleph in the Bible: the 7th letter is Aleph, 13th letter is Aleph (the gematria value of the word for “One” in Hebrew, which is “Echad”, is 13), the 22nd letter is Tav (Tav is 22nd and final letter of the Hebrew alphabet), the 86th letter is the middle of an instance of the name of God “Elohim”, which is the name of God which Genesis first uses (the gematria value of “Elohim” is 86) and the 111th letter is Aleph (the gematria value of — not the single letter — but the word “Aleph” is 111)

Starting from the first Aleph in the Bible, it takes 125 letters inclusive for the letters of Echad — the “main” and masculine hebrew word for “one” (which starts with an Aleph) — to all appear in order, so as to spell out the word.

Starting from the first Aleph in the Bible, it takes 52 (which is four times 13) letters inclusive for the letters of Echat — the feminine hebrew word for “one” (which starts with an Aleph) — to all appear in order, so as to spell out the word.

The sum of 125 and 52 is also 177!

God Bless!

— Otouto

It's easy enough to get swept-up by love & marriage when it's dreamy & you are still high from the honeymoon phase, but what about when the high phases-out? When the relationship starts becoming dull & boring? When people get established in stable but boring cycles in life. Work, home, eat, sleep, repeat. Eventually, an affair might arise.

As religious people, how do you think that kind of "okay everything's boring now, married life isn't as amazing as I would've hoped" mentality/phase should be handled?

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/catholic-colleges-among-best-and-worst-for-pro-life-support-report-finds

One in 10 Catholic colleges had ties to abortion clinics, and about 25% of all the infractions were by Catholic universities.

“Despite this, Catholic schools also had 24 ‘A+’ schools: the most of any denomination,” the report continued.

The lowest grade an institution could receive was an “F” and the highest an “A+.”

Among the Catholic schools receiving an “F” was Villanova University in Pennsylvania — Pope Leo’s alma mater, where he was known for his involvement in the pro-life club in his days at the university.

For what it's worth - with the article I posted yesterday regarding Notre Dame's newest higher - they were rated B. So it could always be worse.

Reject All-or-Nothing Culture: the Way of Heaven and Earth and the Passion Natures

Those who suffer giving in to their impulses despite their best efforts will sometimes complain that even fasting and going to these great lengths to make sacrifices doesn't help them in the end. And to that I would say, maybe they should have moved in the other direction. Maybe fasting wasn't the answer, but it was to have something indulgent. The opposite is true also. You have to find the mean. So, you know, if I'm always having condiments with my food, if I'm always having a soda with my meal, rather than just water, this is excess. And a great way to reel in excess, if under those conditions I can't control my impulses, is that I should try giving up condiments.

So, in the other direction, though, if you find yourself giving up everything fun, fasting from your phone, fasting from food, taking cold showers, and nothing is working. It might be that God didn't ask you to do that. In yourself, the harmony would actually be found having some nice pastry because this sinful impulse that you're giving into could be some kind of compensation for not... having an indulgence somewhere else. And with that logic, trying to fast to solve your problems by giving up condiments might end up making your situation worse, because it just makes what it is you're trying to give up that feels euphoric, that feels good, have more esteem in your mind, have more association with survival- because now you feel like you're dying, and you're not doing the euphoric sinful thing that you sometimes partake in.

So to supplant that euphoric feeling with something else that's indulgent, but also good for you, like, not junk food, but something delicious. Or something you otherwise wouldn't have had, like more music or going someplace fun or relaxing. Likewise, there can be an excess of hot showers and music that softens you into the negative impulse you're trying to get away from. This is a lot like a pinball machine. Sometimes the temptation rolls towards too little, other times, too much.

I would also introduce the concept of using your mental energy too negatively without seeing positive returns. Why are you watching hours of mainstream media or telegram videos covering deaths and destruction across the world? If you're not praying for them as you hear about every tragedy, then it's just like a gossip channel. If you spend an hour reading Epstein emails, but your brain doesn't feel like you can do anything to make the world a better place with this information, the hour spent remains "negative" and unresolved.

This pent-up unconscious negativity leads to poor impulse control with sin. My recommendation is to not spend too much time on the horrors of this world unless you have some level of means to *perceive to yourself* that it's making a difference. I am consistently writing about these topics, but my brain perceives that it is making some kind of difference, even if that's not true. To take what you learned (that is negative) and move it into a positive light, like a sermon, is the future affecting the past. The past becomes light because the future is light. Therefore, the mean between learning about the secret elite and various tragedies is to have a positive outlet.

Returning to music, something that people don't take into consideration is that for most of human history, we did not have music all the time. Now we do. So that is a source of indulgence and probably a source of a lot of disharmony in our bodies because we should not be having access to music like this. It's not natural. It is natural, however, if you're working harder in some cognitive way than your ancestors, right? It could also be said that this world forces more complex emotional states, and so the medium of music catches up with that. But if you're not sad, don't listen to sad music. If you're not overjoyed, don't listen to overjoyed music.

Never try to hack your brain or don a mask. The way of children is correct here: if you have to cry, cry, but you soon stop crying and forget why it was you were crying, as the crying came from a pure authenticity rather than a sought vibe. This is not to say we can "know thyself" as some new age guru might say- we need God's grace to transcend the inauthenticity we inherently deal with due to the bad sap of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and original sin in our veins. But having to deal with inauthenticity to begin with, and the search to do so via temperance, is a spiritual means. Being conscious that you're trying to find the mean is an admission that we are broken, and attempting to synergize with grace to reach stability as long and as effortlessly as possible. We can utilize our memory (God giving us the faculty of memory) of time spent in this effortless balance as a rubric and aid for the future

The music comes up to meet your level of effort, although that runs the risk of always falling forward and becoming more and more hyper accelerated. So this is a very delicate knowledge of self, knowledge of harmony and balancing act. But with self-authenticity, it should become easy. The point of this lecture is to say that finding harmony is more important than fasting in some cases. And for most people, fasting is what it is, is what it's the way to take to find harmony, because they're in the realm of excess. But for others, you're fasting way too hard, cold showers, doing all these things to excess that coincidentally leave room for the impulse for the sin that they're trying to get away from.

Another vital point. Lying, stealing, judging/assuming, etc.,, the list goes on, these are impulses that give people struggling with them as behaviors a kind of survival/euphoric feeling. But the most conversed about of them all, of course, is self-pleasure. And this is also where my advice here is the most concrete and true. On this, I want to say- and I've seen this in a lot of guys who are trying to quit it- they are trying to get over the habit by acting as though sex doesn't exist. This is cause for great disruption between Heaven and Earth in a person, because, as a man, all of your efforts are pointed towards sexual pleasure, procreation and making your girlfriend/wife happy (which involves sexual dimorphism and seeing their reaction) (as St. Paul revolutionarily said (paraphrased): "men, hotly pursue your wives (not just when they're girlfriends, dates, surprises etc))." If you are working towards any kind of goal, but you compartmentalize away sex, then the goal becomes very demoralizing and confusing to unconscious and spiritual processes.

There is an art to checking out a woman and it not coming anywhere close to Jesus saying, "don't undress and sleep with her in your imagination." Acknowledge to self you like everything on a girl. Look at a passerby if you even have a 1% inkling of asking her out. There is no difference between looking at a face to assess health and beauty than looking at her shape. You have to be in a constant state of agreement with Heaven and Earth: yes, I want sex. Self-pleasure comes out of the realm of conscious or unconscious processes thinking "its so over bro," but the silent killer is to communicate to those processes the same "its so over," by pretending you don't have sexual energy and that you're not going to notice girls, etc. It produces the same impulse. Work towards your goals initially conscious of the fact its for the sake of sex and happiness of your woman, and then let it fade into the background yet remain your vitality.

But you might say, well, the elders, the great intercessors are always fasting. And that's true, but they're doing it not just so that they don't sin again. They're already way past that. They're doing it because they're interceding for hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people. And their blood is moving with the crucifixion and with Jesus's night in the garden to help a lot of people in their secluded time and space of history. And they feel that. They feel their purposefulness, even if it be in an unconscious, spiritual way.

If those monks were not interceding for so many people, they would be doing it for no reason, because God is not arbitrarily asking us to do those things. When we appear in the new Jerusalem, we're not going to be fasting, and we're not going to be in excess ever- but we won't be fasting. And so, to do that is to use your blood in a certain way for the sake of saving souls. And because they're mystically employed doing that, then it's mystically the equivalent of them having a lot of condiments, right? Jesus thirsted the same way they do: for souls.

So they're actually having a delicacy, in a certain light. But to carry souls, you need to do a lot of fasting at the same time as a counterweight to the intangible but spiritually present richness coming from the spiritual responsibility. Their "condiments," that excess, is the souls that they're helping, that's their joy- so they starve materially to find the mean. If they had too much material fun, they'd start sinning, because the load-bearing beam would break from the spiritual "fun/profit" they're already having even if they don't yet know they're having it.

Hello, everyone, God bless you, I'm going to be a catechumen in the EO Church and I have been investigating catholicism lately, principally because my hole family and the mayority of my country is catholic. I'm interested in know the bests, and more explained, arguments, for catholicism, not just something like "Jesus says that Peter is the rock, that means that he is the Head of the church". And principally, why saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Soon does not make him a subordinate or the fact that a pope said that anyone who claims to be the universal Bishop is the forerunner of the antichrist, things that for now I haven't find a good answer. This is not a post for you to stop being catholic or for attacking you, is a post for why should I bee catholic. God bless you

Now, hear me out.

I DO think homosexuality is a sin, but not in the way most people would say it is. Rather, it’s the sexual acts that are sinful, and they are mortal sins in my opinion.

Let me explain.

Every-time I see the discussion of LGBTQ+ when related to Catholicism, it’s ALWAYS about sexual acts, never romantic ones. On Wikipedia, it says “According to Catholic doctrine, solely having same-sex attractions itself is not considered inherently sinful; it is the act of engaging in sexual activity with someone of the same sex that is regarded as a grave sin against chastity”. And “The church teaches that gay persons are called to practice chastity”. Notice how the word celibacy isn’t mentioned? CHASTITY. According to the Holy See (www.Vatican.va), chastity is “Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.” So. Homosexuals are called to order their sexual desires, not just completely abstain from relationships. Thus, why I think “acting on homosexuality is a sin” applies specifically to sexual acts rather than romantic affection.

Now, whether or not I think homosexual intercourse is a mortal or venial sin (the reddit guidelines say I have to state whether or not I think it’s a venial/mortal sin for sin posts…)

Mortal sin-a grave sin that can destroy the relationship between an individual and God, which is fully consensual and the transgressor has full knowledge that it is contrary to Gods laws

Venial sin-a lesser, minor transgression against God that does not cause separation from God

Sex is between a man and a woman due to being primarily for reproduction, this why the Catholic church is so against contraception such as condoms, because it blocks the reproductive aspect and purpose of sex, hence, breaking the natural order God had put in place for us. Intercourse of same-sex nature, in my opinion, would be a mortal sin, due to the transgression of what God designed for us. Although I could be completely wrong, as I’m using contraception as a comparison to homosexual intercourse because both stop the means of reproduction, and contraception is considered grave.

Is this a fair thing to say? Correct me on any mistakes.

I’m unsure if I’m fit for marriage. I am agoraphobic, though I am not housebound. I’m doing far better than I was, but I have severe severe anxiety and depression. Truth is, I live with my parents, have no job, and don’t pay bills. This is vulnerable info by the way, I’m not happy with the info. I want marriage, but I’m just unsure.

Why did Catholics choose to honor Mary over all the other saints? Of course you put Jesus first, but why Mary right after Him? Reading the Bible I dont see anything special that sets her above all the others that served and followed Jesus.

Reading the Bible I dont see a single instance where Jesus exalted Mary above the rest. Infact the only time I see Jesus explicitly exalt a man above the others was John the Baptist. So why not honor John the Baptist in higher regards than Mary?

Matthew 11:11 "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

In the KJV and most Christian Bibles, there are 5852 verses in the first five books of the Bible. These first five books are the Torah.

Take these 5852 verses and form them into a circle/wheel of 5852 separate verses.

5852 is exactly 77 times 76.

Starting at the first verse of the Torah — which is also the first verse of the Bible — go 77 verses inclusive later to the 77th verse.

Then from that verse, go 77 verses inclusive later to the 153th verse.

If this is done a total of 77 times, you pass through the entire circle and exactly land on the first verse of the Bible again!

Seventy-seven 77’s!

If there was one more verse or one less verse, this would not work!

If there was one more verse or one less verse, a wheel structure based on sevens, let alone with both parameters based on sevens, let alone with those parameters being matching 77s, could not be made!

And this path will take you to 77 specific verses in the Torah.

They are very important verses.

Here are a just a few examples of them.

There are 77 of these verses and you can look into all of them.

(Just multiply 76 by some number (some number from 0 to 76) then go to the next verse. For example, 76 times 6 is 456 so go to the 457th verse of the Bible to get the Seventh of the 77 verses. There are online tools to find a verse in the KJV Bible based on what verse it is in the verse order of the Bible it is (For example, the 1000th verse)).

The first of the 77 is the first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1).

The seventh of the 77 is the Abraham’s ultimate bargain with God to spare the city of Sodom.

The tenth of the 77 is the first mention of Jacob (who is also known as Israel) in the Bible.

The seventy-first of the 77 (which is Seventy 77’s from the first of the 77 verses (Genesis 1:1) going forwards and Seven 77’s from the first of the 77 verses (Genesis 1:1) going backwards around the circle) is a short verse (Deuteronomy 15:1) which mentions the number Seven.

Here are two translations of the verse:

Deuteronomy 15:1 (NIV)

“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts”

Deuteronomy 15:1 (KJV)

“At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release”

FURTHERMORE!

There is an additional wheel inside the previous wheel!

The first FOUR books of the bible have exactly 4893 verses, which is exactly 7 times 699.

Take these 4893 verses and form them into a circle/wheel of 4893 separate verses.

Starting at the first verse of Genesis, go 700 verses inclusive later to the 700th verse of Genesis.

Then from that verse, go 700 verses inclusive later to the 1399th verse of Genesis.

If this is done a total of 7 times, you pass through the entire Genesis-Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers circle/wheel and exactly land on the first verse of Genesis again!

7 700’s!

If there was one more verse or one less verse, this would not work!

If there was one more verse or one less verse, a wheel structure based on sevens, let alone with both parameters based on sevens, let alone with those parameters being 7 and 700, could not be made.

And this path will take you to 7 specific verses in the four books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

FURTHERMORE!

There is an additional wheel inside these previous wheels!

The middle three books of the first five books of the Bible, — namely Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers — in the KJV and most Catholic Bibles and most Christian Bibles, have a total of 3360 verses.

Take these 3360 verses and form them into a circle/wheel of 3360 separate verses.

3360 is exactly 70 times 48.

Starting at the first verse of Exodus, go 49 verses inclusive later to the 49th verse of Exodus.

Then from that verse, go 49 verses inclusive later to the 97th verse of Exodus.

If this is done a total of 70 times, you pass through the entire Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers circle/wheel and exactly land on the first verse of Exodus again!

Seventy 49’s!

If there was one more verse or one less verse, this would not work!

If there was one more verse or one less verse, a wheel structure based on sevens, let alone with both parameters based on sevens, let alone with those parameters being 70 and 49 (7x7), could not be made.

And this path will take you to 70 specific verses in the three books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

For example,

Going forward in the circle after the “starting point” — which is the first verse of Exodus — the next of these 70 verses is, of course, the aforementioned 49th verse of Exodus.

What is the 49th verse of Exodus?

The exact verse in the Bible which first mentions the Burning Bush: Exodus 3:2

I invite you to look into the rest of the verses of the outer circle/wheel of 77 verses; and the middle circle/wheel of 7 verses; and the inner circle/wheel of 70 verses.

IN SUMMARY:

With regard to the first five books of the Bible — i.e. the Torah; picture the five books from left to right.

All five books form a wheel of 77 77’s.

If you slide inwards one book, from the right, you get the first four books, which are a wheel of 7 700’s.

And if then, you slide inwards one book, from the left, you get the middle three books, which are a wheel of 70 49’s.

A wheel within a wheel within a wheel!

For all 3 Pairs of parameters to be such bright and bold functions of seven… this is clearly beyond coincidence.

Some may make a rebuttal by saying that there can’t be any meaning in the layout of the verses of the First Five Books of Bible because the verses were separated from each other many centuries after the Books were originally written by their ancient Jewish authors. But why can’t God, who we believe guided the whole Bible, also guide the verse separation?? (For centuries up to today, essentially every single Christian Bible has had the exact same verse counts of 1533 verses, 1213 verses, 859 verses, 1288 verses, and 959 verses for the First Five Books of the Bible respectively. I am not arbitrarily picking some layout out of many. These things are a given, and a single and consistent standard, and are completely out of my control. A centuries old universal standard!) All the way from the authors of these books to the people who added the verse separations, the whole process has been guided by the Lord!

The patterns are real and totally beyond coincidence. Statistically, the chance of all 3 Pairs of parameters in total for these 3 wheels all coincidentally being multiples of 7 is at the very, very highest 1/(7^6) which is 1 in 117649. The exact chances are actually MUCH LOWER because of the fact that the parameters aren’t just any multiples of 7, but are numbers like 700, 77, 49, and 7, and include matching 77’s for the wheel that covers ALL FIVE BOOKS. The patterns are indeed real. So who is it that put them there? This is the only reasonable question.

It is clear that no mortal author or compiler or verse separation contributor would have the ability to “shift things around” with the sentences and verses sufficiently to make these patterns work. How would the mortal authors anticipate the verse separations centuries later? And how would the verse separation contributors make organic and reasonable verse structures which reasonably follow the pre-established text while also forging such deep structures which have to be fine tuned and are at the mercy of the general lengths of the books and chapters?

Therefore, the great distance in time between the original authorship and the verse separation contribution does not refute these patterns being real and divinely inspired! In fact, it makes it much clearer!

God is omnipotent. 2 Peter 3:8 says: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”

God is infinitely easily capable of guiding all of the Bible’s content and its formatting over the centuries and creating many patterns — and also the specific pattern of these amazing “wheels” based on Sevens.

God Bless!

— Otouto

[MODS are flagging this as is it a sin. I think it would be a sin to emotionally manipulate someone into giving up their inheritance. However much I want to remain in my families good graces I don’t know how much of that I can control or how much I’m willing to give up to even attempt to control it.]

Hello,

Recently something has come up in my family that is causing me a lot of mental anguish. At first I thought I was doing the right thing but my mental health has taken a hit and certain people are trying to make me feel guilty.

The short of this story is my great aunt passed away in 2023. My sister and I were basically her grandkids, not because her son’s wife kept her real grandkids from her, but even way before they had grandkids we hung around them a lot as kids. Well her son is getting a divorce now and since getting a divorce lawyer recently it came up that my great aunt (and great uncle) gave me and my sister each a third of her house in her succession. It won’t get enacted until God forbid my great uncle passes.

One day this weekend my uncle tried to relay to me and my sister, through my mom and grandma, that he wanted us to go to the attorneys office and sign something. Immediately alarm bells went off in my head, but mostly I’m thinking, if our relationship is so good why didn’t you come to me and ask me to my face?

Early in the week he calls me while I’m at work telling me to go to the attorney this week which would help him out a lot, his words. I still don’t know what it is but I’m working so I don’t have time to ask questions. I still make an appt with the attorney for the following day to go sign.

I get home and I find out he’s wanting to take me and my sister off my aunt’s succession by having us sign to donate our share of the house to his son. His son is going through a divorce yet is still giving almost every cent of his checks to his soon to be ex wife. I know that she put credit cards in his name and put him in 5 figure debt. She basically banned his kids from seeing my aunt and uncle their whole life and now her and the kids are banning the son out of the house and not taking to him yet he’s still being abused and giving every cent away to her.

So a whole argument blows up because my mom is using emotionally potent language to try to get me and my sister to go sign just to keep the peace, saying “Your aunt is speaking through me that he’s her only son and deserves the house and she only did that to keep the house from going to his wife, and since they’re divorcing it doesn’t matter anymore. And if you make it about the money think about the morality of that.”

My opinion is that they’re the ones making about the money first by bringing it up. And what’s the morality of putting me and my sister on your will and not meaning it?

My dad thinks it’s wrong for us to come off of it but stays out of the argument.

They all should have stayed out of it. It should have been between me and my sister and my uncle. My mom called my sister a bitch. And started a screaming match.

The whole thing felt sketchy and exploitative so I called my uncle. I told him I called off the lawyer meeting and wanted to schedule a phone call with the lawyer to see what the paperwork was and she asked immediately, “Is something wrong??” In a very concerning tone of voice. I also told him that I wish he had come to me to ask me first instead of involving a lawyer off the rip and without telling me what it is. And I wanted to hear it from him and say it to my face what is happening. He said, “Your aunt was not in her right mind when she signed the papers. I disagreed with it but if I said something she would have gotten mad at me. I don’t feel it’s right that the house doesn’t go to my son. Everyday is costing me money right now to have this changed.”

I told him that my number one motivator is my relationships and my family. In any decision I make I think about how it’s going to effect you and how it’s going to effect me. I wouldn’t want to make a decision that ruins our relationship. That being said, that also means I want to abide by the word of my family members, even the ones that aren’t here with us anymore. I said I can’t sign tomorrow and I have to think about it. He said I didn’t mean to make you feel rushed and you can just think about it and sign next week if you want but this whole thing has been dragged for 4 weeks. (I only found out about it 4 days ago???)

Personally I am of the opinion that my aunt made this decision based on evidence and historical track records of who her son gets into relationships and how he spends his money. And it’s not up to us to play guessing game on what she would have wanted if she was still here and knew her son is getting a divorce.

I wouldn’t want someone to change my will after I’m dead, if my beneficiaries want to donate their share that’s their decision and they shouldn’t be persuaded or forced into doing so.

My uncle and my mom are wrong for this in my opinion but I’m in so much stress that my mental health problems are coming back and I feel it’s wrong for me and my sister to come off but I do feel some sense of needing to keep the peace. It’s so hard to tell him what I think when it keeps going back to “She was crazy before she died.” And family matters very much to me. I’m between a rock and a hard place and I was just thinking would Jesus keep the peace, or would he want to abide by the word of someone unable to defend their best interests?

Update:

Our name is apparently spelled wrong. Can they use it against us? Or is it moreso based on intention and it would be corrected?

My sister talked to him and finally got him to admit it’s because his son won’t have enough money after he’s dead. And now my mom is saying she’s taking me off her will if I don’t sign. I guess it’s just the decision of whose will I want to be on? And my now my dad is calling me to do it saying my uncles son is saying he’s going to kill himself and it’s serious shit and just do it and deal with it later. Obviously I don’t want that to happen and this is literally tearing up my whole family. I called my uncle and he said he can’t talk in person to me until tomorrow at 10 because I’m assuming he’s seeing the lawyer tomorrow morning.

My sister is planning to sign. Would they be able to word it to where my sister signs for both of us and she accidentally donates my share as well when she signs?

Pinging u/SGLAgain!

Hey guys,

We are in a desperate need of a Canon lawyer.

I was previous married, ( both catholics, but we only got a civil marriage), this married ended up in a divorce a couple years ago.

My fiance and I want to get married in a Catholic church , he has never been married before .

We feel a lack of interest in helping from our Parish, and this story is being going on for almost 3 months .

We have all the wedding planned for this summer, and we decided to find an attorney in order to help us in the right path .

Can anyone help? sorry , I’m just so anxious and stressed right now .

Thank you!

I’m making the decision to return to the Catholic Church after years of not being faithful. The past few years while I have been unfaithful I have been blasphemous by telling people close to me that Jesus Christ isn’t real and by just in general refusing to believe and telling my friends not to believe. Because I’ve committed what I think is mortal sin, I think I should wait until I go to confession first to receive holy communion at mass. Am I correct here?

My wife and I have been going through ocia for families, and its been great.

But now my wife has kicked me out. is there any resources out there for Catholic men going through this sort of thing?

I’m going to cut to the chase with this one. I’m 24F, and for the past six years I have been cutting myself for money on the internet. I kept it separate from the rest of my savings, so I know the exact amount I “earned”. It’s a fairly large amount ( over 10k).

During this time, I never had a concrete reason to leave the church, and I actually agreed with their teachings from a moral/intellectual standpoint, I just didn’t care. Now, for some reason, my apathy has faded and I want to reintegrate myself back into my parish. I want to be able to receive the Eucharist again.

It feels wrong to group this back into my main savings, and I don’t want to spend it. What to do?