Monday, May 12, 2025

Leo, Donald and Mark - Leo Romanus

We now have a Leo, Donald and Mark. Leo wants to save the sick and poor, Donald says he wants to employ them, and Mark wants to euthanize them. 

Leo wants to save the unborn, and so does Donald, but Mark wants to abort them. Leo wants to make friends with the diplomatic core, Donald wants to makes deals with every country imaginable, Mark wants us to believe he is doing something, but his government stole the election, spent $40 billion doing so, and now Canada is falling apart, waiting to see if Donald will give Canada a hand. 

Leo is professing the Word of God, Donald is enforcing free speech, Mark wants to slit your tongue.

Thank you,
Joseph Pede



Leo Romanus
Jesus said, "And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples"{John 13: 34, 35}


Christian faith speaks of Androcles and the Lion. It is a story we all learned as young children, but how many remember the story, especially in light of what is happening in the world today. How can we watch Satan's children starve and kill innocent Palestinians and do nothing. What thorn has cursed Humankind. What spear must awaken the idle soul. 

Androcles was identified as a practising Christian and was chased by the king's armed guards. He escaped into a dense forest and sought refuge in a cave. A wild lion with a large thorn stuck in its right paw entered the cave, limping on three legs and crying in great pain. He raised the swollen paw and showed it to Androcles who examined it with great care and compassion. He carefully removed the thorn and applied the fresh juice of medicinal herbs to alleviate the pain and cure the wound.  The lion felt relieved and licked the hands of Androcles as a mark of gratitude and love. He wagged his tail like a tame dog and left the cave thankfully. A few days later, the king's men traced Androcles and captured him. He was produced before the king. As Androcles refused to renounce his Christian faith, the king ordered that he shall be thrown to be eaten by a wild lion in the arena the next day.

                     Thousands arrived to witness the cruel murder. The king and the queen was seated in a special box. Androcles was brought to the arena . He knelt down and prayed to God fervently. A hungry lion was brought in a cage in a carriage. Its heavy grating was opened and the lion was let free to attack the helpless Androcles. The hungry lion jumped from the cage into the arena, roaring fiercely, ready to pounce upon his prey.

                      But, quite unexpectedly the lion became tame as he approached Androcles. He wagged his tail and licked Androcles with great affection. The lion recognized Androcles as the person who removed the thorn from his painful paw and affectionately nursed him before the lion was caught from the forest and was taken into the custody of the king's troops.

                       Everyone was struck with wonder. The king learned from Androcles the story of his encounter with the lion and praised his kindness. The king was deeply impressed by the religion of Androcles which enabled him to show mercy and love even to animals. The king stopped the persecution of Christians and allowed Christians to practise their religion with full freedom. Androcles was appointed as an important officer in the king's palace but he thankfully declined the offer and devoted his life to care for the poor, the sick and the illiterate people of his country.


Mark Twain and Switzerland's Lion Monument

When.....visiting the beautiful city of Lucerne in Switzerland, one must pay their respects to the Lion Monument, a sad sculpture designed by....famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. The sculpture shows a mortally wounded, weeping lion, impaled by a spear and resting on a shield. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in large numbers during the French Revolution.

Mark Twain recalls this extraordinary sculpture:
The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff — for he is carved from the living rock of the cliff. His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies.
Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion — and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.
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