Detailed LCCC English News Bulletin For April 02/17
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Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published On April 01-02/17
This is what life taught me/Eias Bejjani/March 31/17
Healing the Blind Beggar, Bartimaeus Son Of Timaeus/Elias Bejjani/April 01/17
Lebanon to bolster border security/Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/April 01/17
The Blockade of Sinai’s Extremists/Abdul Sattar Hatita/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 01/17
Europe: Combating Fake News/by Fjordman/Gatestone Institute/April 01/17
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published On April 01-02/17
This is what life taught me
Healing the Blind Beggar, Bartimaeus Son Of Timaeus
The biggest spreaders of terror
Lebanon to bolster border security
Hariri Rings Alarm Bells on Syrian Refugee Crisis
Cabinet’s General Secretariat: Power plan decision issued in agreement with cabinet’s decision
Rifi Criticizes ‘Hizbullah’s Armed Appearance’ in Dahiyeh
Miqati ‘Firm on National Constants’, Says Hizbullah is Free to Boycott Him
Hariri Urges World Help to Cope with Refugee Influx
Dismayed by Presidents Letter to Arab Summit, Hizbullah Compares it to ‘July War Awkar Meeting’
Report: Hizbullah Delegation to Baabda in Regards to Aoun’s Arab Summit Position
Hamadeh Mulls Resignation, Says Time Has Come to Privatize Electricity Sector
Report: Two Wounded in Arsal Blast Smuggled out of Hospital
Bou Assi windsup Zahle visit by lighting its Serail Building marking Autism Day: It gave me home in Lebanon and humanity
Fire breaks out in a building in Ashrafieh, Beirut Fire Brigade evacuates residents
Sitin at Ramlet elBaida in protest against takingover maritime properties
Jisr to Islamic detainees’ families: Draft amnesty law is underway
Army raids town of Awadah, arrests three people while fourth escapes after throwing a grenade
Relative calm in Ain elHilweh Camp, Contacts underway to maintain tranquility
Bassil from Sidney: Small electoral districts don’t mean partition of Lebanon
Bassil meets Australian Foreign Affairs Minister: Common factors, challenges to face terrorism bond us
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published On April 01-02/17
UN Reports Palestinian Population Decline in Syria
Hundreds of dead, wounded and missing persons in a landslide in Colombia
US Defense Secretary James Mattis : Iran Primary State Sponsor of Terrorism
General Jones: A Gulf NATO Delivers Powerful Message to Iran
Egypt’s ‘Fantastic Guy’ Sisi to Meet Donald Trump
Protests Brew as Venezuela Leader Denies Coup
The Bulletin’s Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.april02.17.htm
This is what life taught me/هذا ما تعلمته من الحياة
Elias Bejjani/March 31/17
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=53860
Self-respect, as well as respect of all others is a weapon of pride and dignity.
Honesty is sacred and holy.
Unity is strength.
Honouring of parents pleases Almighty God who Himself is a Father. Meanwhile it is a divine commandment and a worshiping ritual and a holy obligation.
God is Love. Love safeguards from temptations and prevents hardness of hearts
Tolerance and forgiveness keep the conscience alive and in peace
Gratitude is a human obligation, that reveals manhood and loyalty to all what is righteous.
Modesty is a priceless treasure.
Wisdom necessities all calculations be based on personal capabilities and potentials and not on imagined positive expectations from all others, including family members and close friends in a bid to avoid possible disappointments and frustrations. In this realm what comes all others will be a bonus.
Helping the needy honestly and without any personal gains keeps away ailments of arrogance, immodesty and bragging.
Worshiping money is an act of slavery.
Rejoicing at the misfortune, pain, losses or grief of others is a sinful horrible sin. No one is immune against such setbacks and stumbling encounters.
Life is a holy gift from Almighty God, Who God may recover it at any time .. A fact must not be overshadowed or forgotten no matter what.
All the earthly wealth and riches remains on earth. No one does not carry anything from it on the day God recovers from him/her the gift of life.
Healing the Blind Beggar, Bartimaeus Son Of Timaeus
Elias Bejjani/April 01/17
John 09:5: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world”.
We become blind not when our two eyes do not function any more and lose our vision. No, not at all, this is a physical disability that affects only our earthly body and not our Godly soul. We can overcome this physical blindness and go on with our lives, while our spiritual blindness makes us lose our eternal life and end in hell.
We actually become blind when we can not see the right and righteous tracks in life, and when we do not walk in their paths.
We actually become blind when we fail to obey God’s commandments, negate His sacrifice on the cross that broke our slavery bondage from the original sin, and when we refuse to abandon and tame the instincts’ of our human nature, and when we stubbornly resist after falling into the evil’s temptation to rise to the Godly nature in which we were baptized with water and the holy spirit.
Meanwhile the actual blindness is not in the eyes that can not see because of physical ailments, but in the hearts that are hardened, in the consciences that are numbed and in the spirits that are defiled with sin.
Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear”
When we know heart, mind and soul that God Himself, is LOVE, and when we practice, honour and feel LOVE in every word we utter and in every conduct we perform, we shall never be blind in our hearts, conscience and faith, even though when our eyes cease to perform.
In its spiritual essence and core, what does love mean and encompass? Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (13/01-07), answers this question: ” “If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails”
In every community, there are individuals from all walks of life who are spiritually blind, lacking faith, have no hope, and live in dim darkness because they have distanced themselves from Almighty God and His Gospel, although their eyes are physically perfectly functional and healthy. They did not seek God’s help and did not repent and ask for forgiveness, although they know that God is always waiting eerily for them to defeat the evil, get out his temptations and come to Him.
On the sixth Lenten Sunday, our Maronite Catholic Church cites and recalls with great piety Jesus’ healing miracle of the blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus. This amazing miracle that took place in Jerusalem near the Pool of Siloam is documented in three gospels; Mark 10/46-52, John 9/1-41, Matthew 20/:29-34.
Maronites in Lebanon and all over the world, like each and very faithful Christian strongly believe that Jesus is the holy and blessed light through which believers can see God’s paths of righteousness. There is no doubt that without Jesus’ light, evil darkness will prevails in peoples’ hearts, souls and minds. Without Jesus’ presence in our lives we definitely will preys to all kinds of evil temptations.
The Miracle: Mark 10/46-52: ” They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still, and said, “Call him. ”They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!” He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. The son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who was born to two blind parents truly believed in Jesus. His heart, mind and spirit were all enlightened with faith and hope. Because of his strong faith he knew deep inside who actually Jesus was, and stubbornly headed towards him asking for a Godly cure. He rebelled against all those opportunist and hypocrites who out of curiosity and not faith came to see who is Jesus. He refused to listen to them when they rebuked him and tried hardly to keep him away from Jesus. He loudly witnessed for the truth and forced his way among the crowd and threw himself on Jesus’ feet asking Him to open his blind eyes. Jesus was fascinated by his faith, hailed his perseverance and gave him what he asked for. He opened his eyes.
John’s Gospel gives us more details about what has happened with Bartimaeus after the healing miracle of his blindness. We can see in the below verses that after his healing he and his parents were exposed to intimidation, fear, threats, and terror, but he refused to succumb or to lie, He held verbatim to all the course details of the miracle, bravely witnessed for the truth and loudly proclaimed his strong belief that Jesus who cured him was The Son Of God. His faith made him strong, fearless and courageous. The Holy Spirit came to his rescue and spoke through him.
John 9/13-12: “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His disciples asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents’ sin?” Jesus answered, “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. He is blind so that God’s power might be seen at work in him. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light for the world.” After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes and told him, “Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means “Sent.”) So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing. His neighbors, then, and the people who had seen him begging before this, asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “He is the one,” but others said, “No he isn’t; he just looks like him.” So the man himself said, “I am the man.” “How is it that you can now see?” they asked him. He answered, “The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see.” “Where is he?” they asked.“I don’t know,” he answered.
Sadly our contemporary world hails atheism, brags about secularism and persecutes those who have faith in God and believe in Him. Where ever we live, there are opportunist and hypocrites like some of the conceited crowd that initially rebuked Bartimaeus, and tried with humiliation to keep him away from Jesus, but the moment Jesus called on him they changed their attitude and let him go through. Meanwhile believers all over the world suffer on the hands of ruthless oppressors, and rulers and men of authority like the Pharisees who refused to witness for the truth.
But despite of all the dim spiritual darkness, thanks God, there are still too many meek believers like Bartimaeus who hold to their faith no matters what the obstacles or hurdles are.
Colossians 03:12: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”
Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts with your light and open our eyes to realize that You are a loving and merciful father.
Lord Help us to take Bartimaeus as a faith role model in our life.
Lord help us to defeat all kinds of sins that take us away from Your light, and deliver us all from evil temptations.
In conclusion, let us never blind ourselves from knowing where is the light and who is the light: “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” (John 09/39)
