“He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people”.
In his address to the US Congress on 24th of September, the Pope honored Thomas Merton. The controversial US Catholic monk meet with Daial Lama in 1968, and promoted interfaith relationship with Buddhists.
This is what Pope Francis said to the US Congress:
A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless slaughter”, another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people. In his autobiography he wrote: “I came into the world. Free by nature, in the image of God, I was nevertheless the prisoner of my own violence and my own selfishness, in the image of the world into which I was born. That world was the picture of Hell, full of men like myself, loving God, and yet hating him; born to love him, living instead in fear of hopeless self-contradictory hungers”. Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.
This is what Catholic.com has recored about the life of Thomas Merton. He dreamed about becoming a Zen Buddhist:
Last night I dreamed I was, temporarily, back at Gethsemani. I was dressed in a Buddhist monk’s habit, but with more black and red and gold, a “Zen habit,” in color more Tibetan than Zen . . . I met some women in the corridor, visitors and students of Asian religion, to whom I was explaining I was a kind of Zen monk and Gelugpa together, when I woke up. (Asian Journal, 107) 
He writes as if his Christianity and his Buddhism had already become enmeshed into a new hybrid religion, with “Christian mantras and a great sense of destiny,” and he expresses his desire never to return until he has found mahakaruna, the Buddhist notion of “great compassion.”
Source: Catholic.com
My comment:
The Jesuit Pope will surely face an uphill task, in his bid to also become the spiritual leader of Buddhists. Francis interfaith journey seems to start with recognizing a US Catholic monk who embraced Zen Buddhism.
The Pope has done this before. Also Jesuit saint Francis Xavier seems to have converted to Zen Buddhism during his visit to Japan. Please watch this video:
The end of Thomas Merton was horrible. He was electrocuted during an interfaith conference in Bangkok in 1968. This is what has been recorded:
On December 10, 1968, Merton was in Bangkok, Thailand, attending an interfaith conference between Catholic and non-Christian monks. While stepping out of his bath, it is generally concluded, he was accidentally electrocuted by an electric fan. However, his associate, Dom Jean Leclercq, OSB, contends that: “We will never know exactly and with certitude… On the evening of his death, two different versions were already being put forth by the media of Thailand and of the United States. Papers in the United States only made mention of electrocution; those in Thailand spoke only of a heart attack,” and notes that: “Some have begun spreading the rumor that the last moments of his life were in the presence of a statue of the Buddha. Others have suggested that he was assassinated like Martin Luther King had been.”
The Pope visited a Buddha temple in Sri Lanka, on 14th of January 2015.
For all evangelical Christians, this is yet another warning. The Pope is not a Christian, but an anti-Christ. This Argentinian high priest in the Vatican is the promoter of the new One World religion. All religious and apostate Catholics will embrace the new mantra from Rome. For the sake of “world peace”.
Stay away from such assembly of the wicked, but rather expose this evil.
Written by Ivar
Banjara Origin News 
“Thou shalt not have none other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make thee and GRAVEN IMAGE (idol), or any likeness of ANYTHING that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth. THOU SHALT NOT BOW DOWN thyself unto them, nor serve them for I the LORD thy GOD am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and forth generation of them that hate me, And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Deut. 5:9-10 “Little children, keep yourself from idols. Amen” 1 John 1:21
Wait a minute nannette, in another blog under News That Matters you claim the Law is done away with and here you are quoting directly from the Torah you claim in no longer valid. Which is it, done away with or, like I believe, still valid for the believer today?
1 John 5:2 & 3 (HNV), “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. His commandments are not grievous.”
Or one of the TEN COMMANDMENTS. YHWH’s WORD will never change.
In Catholic high school I read his book Seven Story Mountain, and in my first year of Catholic college he died. This college now hosts events that Buddhist monks attend, and teaches courses on Eastern mysticism. I thank God that He delivered me from darkness to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son.
Thank you for this post and the link to a video about Francis Xavier’s life. Like Pope Francis he was also a Jesuit.
May the Lord Jesus strengthen us until His return!
Maria
Dear Maria.
Shalom and love in Jesus.
This Jesuit Pope is not different from other Jesuits. A few weeks abo I spoke to a Doctor in History in Goa, a prominent Hindu. He was invited to address the local Jesuit research institute. He told them: If anybody speaks against Jesus, I will object to it. But I do not like your brother Francis Xavier.
Ivar, perhaps this doctor of history is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. I watched the video you did on Francis Xavier. It contains important information in the service of truth.
Shalom!
Maria
Dear Maria.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
You wrote:
Ivar, perhaps this doctor of history is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. I watched the video you did on Francis Xavier. It contains important information in the service of truth.
My reply:
This was interesting. Can you please explain what you have found?
Kalev, I showed what the Old Testament said, and what the apostle John said, “Little children keep yourself from idols amen.” 1 John 1:21. This is exactly what the book of Acts says, “But that we write them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood,” Acts 15:20. It’s like this as told me by a wonderful preacher. In California, when you get a driver’s license you must obey the laws of the road of California. If you move to Texas and get a drivers license the laws are different. You are now under Texas law, not California law. Some of the laws are the same, some are not. We must avoid legalism, Judizer’s, heavy shepherding, and most of all false prophets. As I said before, now I ask again, where does it say in the New Testament that we must obey the Sabbath. Instead of accusing prove your point. Blessings
“As I said before, now I ask again, where does it say in the New Testament that we must obey the Sabbath.” There was no need to tell anyone that we must obey the Sabbath in the Brit Chadasah, it was understood by every Jewish man and woman at that time that breaking the Sabbath was punishable by death, even the non-Jewish people understood this truth concerning the Jewish people. Yeshua always kept the Sabbath and never indicated it would ever be other than the seventh day. That is the best I can answer your question in a brief fashion. So I have a question for you, where does it say it the Brit Chadasah (New Testament) that we CAN disobey the Fourth Commandment? You indicated you had visited The Seed of Abraham website? Go to the main page, find the articles link, click on it and the first line will be the Biblical section, scroll down and read article 14 and 15 for a more detailed explanation. Please my friend do not take my comments and replies to you in a negative way, it is not meant to be. My true desire is to help you see more clearly, that you are following traditions of men in this matter rather than the precepts of God. I am trying to be a blessing to you rather than a curse. Aleikhem shalom b’Shem Yeshua haMashiach. (Peace be unto you in the Name of Jesus the Messiah.)
Dear Kalev
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
You are not trustworthy, and I should not continue to entertain your comments. You have promised to leave this site, but continue to spread your errors.
You wrote:
There was no need to tell anyone that we must obey the Sabbath in the Brit Chadasah, it was understood by every Jewish man and woman at that time that breaking the Sabbath was punishable by death, even the non-Jewish people understood this truth concerning the Jewish people.
My reply:
So, In stead of targeting lost pork eaters and Sabbath breakers among the gentiles, you should take a rifle with you down town Tel Aviv. Why dont you do that? Than issue a death penalty to all the Israelies who do not keep your understanding of how the Sabbath should be honored.
Next: You better leave this site. Show your self to be a man of your word. Please keep your promise.
Dear all readers.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
I am a man of my word. I have spammed Kalev Efrayim, and in this way helped him to leave News That Matters. If anyone miss his comments, let me know.
Efrayim, you need to quote scripture, look in the New Testament and show me, not make up stuff made up by men as you say, “it was understood by every Jewish man and woman, etc.”. I will not answer or look at your website. You show me in the New Testament a verse or verses that say we born again (John 3) Jews and Gentiles must keep the Sabbath as Moses did. “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of you of reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ, from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not, taste not, handle not, Which all are to perish with the using); after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.” Colossians 2:16-23
Dear Nannette
Shalom and love in Jesus.
The so called Hebrew root movement (HRV) is as heretical as the RCC.
The HRM do not belive that the New Covenant is the final, and superior to the old covenant of animal blood sacrified for the forgiveness of sins. But rather a time pass for the re-establishment of the Levitical priesthood.
The “god” of the HRM will again demand blood sacrifice in Jerusalem, inside a Third Temple. In this way the Messiah is mocked, and the power of His blood made equal to the blood of bulls, goats and whatever.
This kind of theology is as blaspehmous as the theology of the Pope, and must be exposed and rejected.
The HRM’s view on the Sabbath is based on legalism. These decived souls problaim that a man has to gain a rigtheousness of his own to be saved. Just like any other Orthodox Jew. They reject the gift of salvation, that is offered by God of the Bible.
The Messiah paid in FULL for our sins, and obtained eternal redemption for all who have faith in Him. We can not keep all the Laws. He, alone, did it. He took the death penalty we all deserve. And rose from the grave for our justification.
Explain this Scripture,
Ezekiel 43:18-27 (NASB)
18 And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. 19 You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘a young bull for a sin offering. 20 You shall take some of its blood and put it on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border round about; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.
22 ‘On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. 24 You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. 25 For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared. 26 For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it. 27 When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
This is during the millennial reign of Messiah.
And you still haven’t shown how I cursed you, so why do say I should leave and be a man of my word when you have falsely accused me? And you falsely claim I am a part of the HRM, when I am not, I study the Hebrew Scriptures from the Hebraic perspective which they were given. You on the other hand teach from the Greek perspective, just like the RCC does.
How dare you accuse me of blaspheme! Curses on you heretic and good riddance to your false teachings.
Note the time, check the records as to the time I unsubscribe from your website of lies and deception.
Dear Allistar and all readers.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
Just to display a man who curse, I have picked up a message from the spam flter.
Kalev wrote:
How dare you accuse me of blaspheme! Curses on you heretic and good riddance to your false teachings.
(end).
I do not permit occult people to continue on this site, people who use News That Matters to spread curses. People who are calling for secrifices of blood of animals. Since I have seen no repentance, this man will remain in the spam filter.
nannette,
First off, the website I asked you to look at for the two articles is NOT my website, it is the website run by the man that runs the ministry I am a part of as a licensed minister (the list of ministers is available on the main page and I am the only one from the state of Virginia). Both of those articles explain, better than I could in a brief manner why the (true) Sabbath should be kept by Christians, but if you insist on being stiff-necked and not read them, well that’s your loss. When Paul wrote to the Colossians he was instructing the newly converted gentiles to not let the non-believers there to hinder them from observing the weekly and annual Sabbaths nor the other portions of Torah that were applicable to them. Not all of the Torah is applicable to all of the tribes of Israel, as a matter of fact one chapter in the Torah is applicable to a woman only (Leviticus 12, but a man needs to obey the part in that chapter concerning circumcision, which is given in this case as a health issue for the good of a man, there are a number of chapters in Leviticus that is applicable only to the men of the tribe of Levi, where the priests and other men who were charged with the daily operation of the Temple). Have you been taught the idea of being grafted in to the house of Israel? Any Gentile that accepts Jesus as their LORD and Savior is grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel (not the modern nation state of Israel) and is expected to obey the commandments, statutes and ordinance given to Israel by God through Moses (Isaiah 56:6).
Exodus 31:12-17 (NASU), “12The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 13’But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel,’ saying, ‘You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 14Therefore you are to observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.’”
Perpetual means – FOREVER.
Numbers 15:32-36 (NASU), 32Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; 34and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Breaking the Sabbath carries the death penalty, it did then and it will in the millennial reign of Messiah.
Matthew 5:17-19 (NASU), 17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Do the heavens and earth still exist? Would you rather be the least in the Kingdom?
Matthew 7:21-23 (NASU), “21″Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22″Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23″And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
LAWLESSNESS is being without Torah.
Two final questions for you. Did Jesus keep the Sabbath? Aren’t we to walk as He walked?
I believe the answer to both is a resounding YES.
Blessings to you!
Peace to the readers and contributors on this blog.
1 Thessalonians 5
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
In the above, Kalev refers to the part of Torah concerning men – circumcision.
Under the New Covenant physical circumcision is not required, circumcision of the heart supercedes.
We have to be doers of the word and prove all things, being prepared to hold fast OR let go.
We might let go something we should hold fast to, and we might hold on to things that we should let go of.
Peace to you Nannette.
Ivar has excercised his right to spam Kalev, Ivar has posted the curse Kalev leveled at him.
You have quoted Collosians 2:16-23
The Church had been established at Collosae and Paul is writing to the Church a letter of encouragement.
Like Jude Paul was contending earneslty for the faith.
Jude 1
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
You see from Jude there are two issues.
1. Our Common Salvation.
2. the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
We need to fully accept what scripture is for
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
The Church of Collosae had been trained in righteousness.
Paul is writing to them because they were turning away from what they had been taught and in his letter he is appealing to them to return to and stick with the doctrines they had been established with.
This Church was not in Judea, they were not Jews and they would have been considered very strange by the locals because they kept what were considered Jewish practices, including resting on the Sabbath day.
All of Pauls appeals are about staying with the sound doctrine they had received.
Or as Jude put, ‘the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’.
I have read your comments regarding SDA.
We have a saying in the UK ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater’.
The Baby or the ten commandments you keep hold of, the false teaching – the bathwater, throw away.
Or as the Apostle Paul put it.
1 Thessalonians 5
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Amen Ivar, Amen! There will be a millinnial temple at the end of the great tribulation, but what happens there will be a reminder of what Christ already did. The church (born again) will rule and reign with Jesus. After 1000 years satan will be loosed again deceive the world and will promptly be put in the Lake of Fire along with those who follow after him. “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEY WHO WERE ONCE enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, IF THEY SHALL FALL AWAY, TO RENEW THEM AGAIN UNTO PREPENTANE; seeing they CRUCIFY TO THEMSELVES THE SON OF GOD AFRESH, and put Him to open shame.” Hebrews 6:1-6 There are many views of this passage. I want to say I had a back ground of Seventh Day Adventism from 7 to my teenage years. It is a cult, and say the leaders are apostates not unlike the HRR. They were never born again, but teach men to obey their doctrines (Ellen G. White). We need to reject them and seek to obey God and His Word (Hebrews 4:12), and reject cults, false teachers, false Christ’s and hirelings (Jeremiah 23, 1 Timothy 4) which are not shepherds. These false teachers know the truth but reject the truth that we must believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 be born again, John 3:3) not by works lest any should boast (Eph. 2:8&9) . Blessings, Ivar
Dear nannette
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
I have written before, that I do not rule out the possibility of Orthodox Jews building a Third Temple in Jerusalem. Still I feel it is very unlikely. They will rather use the existing Dome of the Rock as their new “Temple of all faiths”.
If they start to offer blood of bulls and goats, it will because of their rejection of the blood of the Messiah. They missuse Ezekiel 38 onwards.
I read this propehecy of Ezekiel to have been fulfilled in the First and Second Temple of Jerusalem. God will not return behind the curtain in a building built by men. The bodies of believers of the New Covenant are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
The Messiah will return to the Temple Mount, and set up His judgment throne there.
Ivar, first I believe that it is a very good thing that this Hindu doctor of history thinks more highly of the Lord Jesus Christ than the enemies of Christ who misrepresent Him, the Jesuits.
Secondly, what I was referring to was your post about Francis Xavier and his Buddhist connections, I had only known, as a young Catholic girl, of Francis Xavier’s devotional life through lives of the saints’ type books in our school library. In the last few years I’ve learned about the Counter-Reformation and the Jesuits’ militancy, so it was interesting and important to learn more about Francis Xavier from history and the Christian view.
Lord bless you!
Maria
Dear Maria.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
The story about Francis Xavier is interesting. Buddhists in Sri Lanka claims that the corpse in Basilica Bon Jesus in Old Goa is stolen. It is not the remains of Xavier.
These Buddhists believe that the Jesuites lost the corpse of Xavier at sea, and returned to Sri Lanka where they robbed the corpse of a “holy monk” from a tomb.
The Jesuits could not return to Goa without a corpse. Without a dead body, no examination of bones, no beautification process, and eventually no “sainthood”.
This story was exposed in the local media in Goa, before the last exposure in Old Goa in December 2014.
This is the link to the news item distributed by a local TV-station in Goa.
Thanks, Ivar! Not sure what to think unless the DNA test can be done. All we know for sure is that false relics and bones and frauds are everywhere. So deceitful.