Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 When the first Spanish missionaries arrived in America, they were regularly amazed at the strange things they encountered everywhere. They met Mexico, Chile, Peru, Paraguay. They encountered stories. Well, the beard is closed strange for many centuries before had preached of God, the Indians, what sort of things would be preached to them? Once in Southwestern, Mexico, and Chiapas, they had a God. They knew of a God who, a son who a Virgin is now in heaven with him, that God was scourged crowned with thorns put to death by crucifixion. And that had happened on a Friday. The people has had also learned in ancient times to confess their sin the fast and every Friday and honor of their God. The oxycodone that crucified God remained dead for three days. And on the third day came to life again. Father Bernardino has sent me a Franciscan. He was one of the first missionary sent to Mexico in 1529.
Speaker 0 00:01:08 He was perfectly fluent in as tech and at the command of his superiors. He wrote the grade four call the history of new same in it. He States that the fact that in ancient times, and I quote a Vanderbilt white man with long hair and a beer and watch walking with a stab, preached a Holy law and a fast to 40 days all over America and erected crosses that were raved revered by the Indians to whom he announced that other men of his creep, but comes from the East instruct you will open those quotes. Furthermore, and this fact was established and he says by all the hieroglyphics in Mexico, by the ancient songs and also the Quepos of Peru, those are knotted string records and all the histories written by the Spaniards that probably strikes most of us. It'd be completely fantastic. The gospel preached in the new world before the Spaniards.
Speaker 0 00:02:02 Well, let's take a closer look. Starting with scripture will start sorting out this mystery in Matthew, Mark Luke's gospel, and also the naps. The scriptures clearly recorded. The pastors were commanded by Christ himself to preach the gospel to all nations. I quote from Saint Mark's gospel. He said to them go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature in ask first chapter. But he said in him, you shall receive the power of the Holy ghost coming upon. You should be witnesses in Jerusalem knowledge to you some area, and even to the uttermost part of the earth later in the acts, the apostles in st. Paul's letter to the Romans and the enemy is letter to cloth. The scripture States that faith isn't spoken of in the whole world now great many of the fathers, the church explained these passages as they to be taken.
Speaker 0 00:02:59 Absolutely literally the faith was early preached everywhere. For example, Tertullian, we started just a few minutes ago, early writer comment and enrollments, 10 States clear the gospel has been preached to the entire world. Not simply all the known nations, both civilized as barbaric, but to all the nations and the islands remote and unknown. That's his worst contrary Deus chapter seven, Pope Saint Gregory. The great States. Clearly the mystery about redemption has been announced in every part of the universe to make delicious shortlist simply limit to the study. Doc, the doctors is a university church who teach point st. Hilary at st. John Kristen st. Jerome Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Ambrose, the venerable bead at Saint Gregory. The great now these great saints, these fathers and doctors of the universal church all teach the gospel was literally preached all over the world that they explicit command of our Lord preached.
Speaker 0 00:03:58 Even the most outermost parts of the earth was literally fulfilled. Okay? So we have the fathers and doctors stating that the faith was literally preached everywhere. We have a specific example of a preachy here in this hemisphere witness to, but he's saying the Franciscan missionary, this choice fathers who wrote in the middle of 1500, there was a simple fat attested to, by other he's of Mexico. The ancient song from the Creek was approved and by all the history is written by the really spans that a venerable white man that's a long hair and a beard walking with a town, preach the gospel over America. Well just who was this? A venerable bearded evangelist. Do we know? That's a matter of fact, we do. The Indians told the Spanish history who it was before we look more closely at his work in this hemisphere. Let's first take a brief look at his work in the Eastern hemisphere.
Speaker 0 00:04:58 His feast day is coming on this Thursday. His name is st. Thomas. He's the apostle Saint commons. Of course, we're all familiar with his story of doubting Thomas and the gospel of st. John. When our Lord told Thomas, put that finger together and see my hands and bring Heather thy hand and put it into my side, be not faithless, but believe Thomas answered to my Lord and my God. We all love that. But how many of us know the rest of his story in the great commission? That was the closing lines of st. Matthew's gospel, the Lord commanded the passes to teach all nations. What exactly did that mean? In the case of st. Thomas, what nations would he sent to the Breviary tells us that st. Thomas, the Pasa preached, what is now Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Southern Russia, Pakistan, and then India. You wound up in the part of India in Acadia where the demon Shiva was worshiped.
Speaker 0 00:06:02 And that also that came also, it's not Pakistan. He established the church there and left in the care of a neighbor of Indian. Then after being gone for some years, you're 52. According to both the Christian and the Hindu traditions, he showed up again, this time landing on the side to coast and Malabar coast, the Brahman traditions tell about, and I quote from them, Tom and opponent of all humans. Your writings came to the Malabar coast and converted many prominent people in the land and Kelly gear three, one, five have three that will be 50 to 80 on our calendar, Kelly years, three, one, five, three to four new Thomas <inaudible> came to our village and preach there causing pollution causing Catholicism is what you need to cause inclusion. We therefore came away from that village. Now the Christian tradition is tell of the cure of hundreds and baptisms of thousands by st.
Speaker 0 00:06:53 Thomas. This is one of the first parishes I've worked in without Sarah Malabar Catholics who have these kinds of, they can tell you stories about st. Thomas cause they're ancestors were converted. And for those of us or European before most of our ancestors were converted. He went for 72 years on the Western coast before crossing over to preach on Easter. One day in 72 st. Thomas was praying a cave and a Hill, your modern day monorails. This cave where he was praying was in your temple of Kali. Kali is the goddess of death. Uh, she's depicted with a necklace of skulls, right? Of course. And the saddle is made from the flat out skin of a man, but they left the head. And you know, so he's got it's flopping around on the side and drinks, human blood from a chalice, a made from the Crohn's to human skulls, put hand to head.
Speaker 0 00:07:41 So her worshipers are called thugs. That's where we actually get the word thug because they offer sacrifice to her human sacrifice, preferably by strengthening. And again, that is where we derive the word. Let's say Thomas was praying in Brahmans from a temple of Cali, attack him in one, pierced his heart with the lands. He died on a stone there mile for India. The stone now has a cross engraved on it on numerous occasions. Over the years, the stone has been seen to booze blood on the 18th of December. Do I to have certified at the end of at least one bleed in the stone, the glistening white before return to its original black, the st. Thomas Christians of India, the serial Malabar, right Catholics could trace the funding, their church, correct me back to the Holy apostles. And they also hold that st. Thomas preached to the Chinese, perhaps during the years between leaving Northwest Edie and coming to Southern India, st.
Speaker 0 00:08:33 Francis Xavier found traces of st. Thomas is preachy, uh, among the highly herself, China. And they said that st. Thomas preach the men beyond the great Island beyond what great Island. Nobody's really sure some take it to be Sri Lanka and some take the great office just to match anywhere where beyond the greater, what did st. Thomas preach? What was cited? A few examples from new world Brazil for us to go and say that anyone greens, the Chronicles of Brazil must be impressed with the fact that since ancient times, names of Jesus, Mary and st. Thomas have been preserved since ancient times, the Brazilian. Yeah. It showed the missionaries. The path st. Thomas used to travel to Peru. It's pretty, she was still remembered by the tribes there. He did party. He left his footprints on a Ross, and those were still to be found in Eastern Brazil or father Emmanuel <inaudible>, as he noted a letter of 1552, Peru patricians as Peruvians tell the white bearded man who arrived in Peru from a suddenly direction, clothed and long violet, Carmen, and red man.
Speaker 0 00:09:37 He taught the people to worship the true God and creator rather than send them alone. He healed the sick in case side to the blind at Casta, you left a notch with a great chief in order to remind everyone of the commandments, his name torn apart or novel seems to be a corruption tonal PAVA, and they're novice signifies to pour water probably for, into baptism. So who can notice the proofing scheme, the name of pipe tunes, or father Thomas to the missioners after the Spanish conquest, although overzealous missionaries potted out ancient scriptures on rocks, which were venerated by Indians as precious relics as a bit of the Nat preached in the Holy well st. Trivia's. He was the arch Bishop of Leland gave orders to cover all such place with chapels that he convinced all three issues were worthy of religious respect Parkway on May 1st, 1533, the leader of five Franciscans to Paraguay wrote a letter in which he States they've been received like angels by an eighties, from who he learned at four years before the prophet arrived amongst them.
Speaker 0 00:10:40 Not that soon, brothers of st. Thomas would come to baptizing. The newcomers would not only not harm them, but do them great, could be taught them songs and how to keep the commandments and many other Christian teachings. You're 1609 five color. You don't have much shit. I met the Bernards. The chiefs has heard them, did they, according to their ancestral traditions and their mandate PI Toma or PI Zuma, which means father times had preached in their country. The faith of heaven made many conversions among them. When he left, he prophesied that they and their descendants would abandon the worship of the true guy, but in the distant future, other messages, the same button would come with a cross like, Hey, Carrie restored among in the faith. He preached him. When he left, he left traces of his footsteps in the rocks and various places in Paraguay, or those footsteps can still be seen on several Hills, just looked at him last week at pictures. One of them on the internet, if you know, which was some years later in other districts, Paraguay to other priests were greeted with great joy. But the Indians, when they saw them approach with the CR with the crosses in their hands, and they were told the same story, although they prefer to pie tomb as pie, a Barra, which meant a celibate father in all these regions, the first man missionaries are called <inaudible>.
Speaker 0 00:11:57 You're a quick, the natives could still point to a place where it sat down to read their traditions. Whether it's st. Thomas had prophesied the later coming of men who teach their descendants, the faith of the truth. God, see other codas feeds in Mexico, Quepos of Peru testimonies and various tribes throughout central and South America. And the reports, the Spanish missionaries, all witness preaching at the same time as this hemisphere. So in one sense, it's a little surprising because probably most of us haven't heard this before, but after all, it's nowhere near as surprising or hard to believe as the fact that the almighty God became a liquidity baby, put they're actually men. They can whisper words to pieces of bread. A piece of bread becomes a man. That man is God.
Speaker 0 00:12:53 So on the one hand, it might be a little Streisand, but on another hands, nothing, she'd be less surprised. We know that God desires the salvation, go on, man. And if he desires that, and if he loves the room so much that he gave his only begotten son that he wanted to believe in him shall not perish, but have life and life everlasting. Is it really any surprise at all? But having sent his son to his own to choose who received a nod, is it really surprising? He sent his messengers at the four corners of the earth to the highways and the Bible to invite to the marriage piece. Those he prepared the marriage piece. And you write at them to perhaps some, I wonder if st. Thomas about the gospel to America is why were they Indian, such pagans when the Spaniards arrived some 15th centuries later? The answer to that is just meditate on what we're going to be. If we have another 10 or 12 centuries we're living right now. So let's make this Christmas season of facts, profound things let's try and do a little lower and cheeses and thank him for his wonderful gift of faith, his faith, without which is it possible to please him and pay for the grace to live and die in that faith, which has been announced to the whole world. That's big st. Thomas for the grace to be not faithless, but to believe.
