Memorial 2020 during covid-19 lockdown
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By The Librarian
Jehovah's Witnesses commemorate Christ's death as a ransom or "propitiatory sacrifice" by observing the Lord's Evening Meal, or Memorial. They celebrate it once per year, noting that it was instituted on the Passover, an annual festival. This is the only celebration the Bible commands Christians to observe.
Of those who attend the Memorial, a small minority worldwide partake of the unleavened bread and wine. This is because Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the majority of the faithful have an earthly hope. Only those who believe they have a heavenly hope, the "remnant" (those still living) of the 144,000 "anointed", partake of the bread and wine. In 2014, the number of persons who partook worldwide was
Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. , whereas the number who attended was Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. .
The Memorial, held after sunset, includes a talk on the meaning of the celebration and the circulation among the audience of unadulterated red wine and Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. . Jehovah's Witnesses believe the bread symbolizes Jesus Christ's body which he gave on behalf of mankind, and that the wine symbolizes his blood which redeems from sin. They do not believe in transubstantiation or consubstantiation. Because many congregations have no members who claim to be anointed, it is common for no one to partake of the bread and wine.
See also: What is the meaning of the bread and the wine served at the Memorial?
Jehovah’s Witnesses observe the Memorial after sundown on Nisan 14, according to the reckoning of the Jewish calendar that was common in the first century. The Jewish day begins at sundown and extends until the following sundown. So Jesus died on the same Jewish calendar day that he instituted the Memorial. The beginning of the month of Nisan was the sunset after the new moon nearest the spring equinox became visible in Jerusalem. The Memorial date is 14 days thereafter. (Thus the date for the Memorial may not coincide with that of the Passover kept by modern-day Jews. Why not? The start of their calendar months is set to coincide with the astronomical new moon, not the visible new moon over Jerusalem, which may come 18 to 30 hours later. Also, most Jews today keep the Passover on Nisan 15, not on the 14th as did Jesus in harmony with what was stated in the Mosaic Law.)
Memorial is always held on the first full moon after March 21st. It's always a full moon because Memorial is always held 14 days after the new moon. Hebrew months start on the new moon (the new month). Therefore Nisan 14 is always a full moon (+- 24 hours).
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Why is it observed annually?
Talk: The Last Hours of Jesus Christ
Particularly beginning in the 1930’s, prospective members of the “great multitude,” or “great crowd” of other sheep, began to manifest themselves. (Rev. 7:9, 10, KJ; John 10:16) These were at that time referred to as Jonadabs. For the first time, in its issue of February 15, 1938, The Watchtower specifically invited them to be present at the Memorial, saying: “After six p.m. on April 15 let each company of the anointed assemble and celebrate the Memorial, their companions the Jonadabs also being present.” They did attend, not as partakers, but as observers.
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By The Librarian
Answer: I made a post about this here a few years ago. I hope it helps.
Remember: "Not even salt!" 😉
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By The Librarian
Memorial Bread Recipe
This is in preparation for the Memorial of the Death of our Lord Jesus Christ
2 Cups flour -- * (approximately)
1 Cup spring water -- (approximately)
* (preferably freshly ground with the coarsest bran sifted out; either hard whole wheat flour or spelt flour)
You will need a medium sized bowl, a rolling pin, a fork, or a metal comb or other utensil for making holes in the breads, and quarry tiles to fit on the rack of the oven or one or two baking sheets. Place tiles or baking sheets on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat oven to 425=B0F. When the oven is hot place 2 cups flour in a medium sized bowl and stir in water until a kneadable dough forms; you may have to add a little more flour or water, depending on your flours. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very quickly and vigorously until smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes. (Although you are trying to get the dough into the oven quickly, the time spent kneading is important, as it makes the dough easier to roll out very thin.) Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces and flatten with lightly floured hands. Work with one piece of dough at a time, keeping the others covered with plastic wrap. On a lightly floured surface roll out one piece of dough as thin as possible. Prick it all over with a fork or or a sharp toothed comb, and then try to stretch it slightly to widen the holes you have made. Transfer to the quarry tiles or baking sheet, placing it to one side to leave room for more breads and bake for 2 and 1/2 to 3 minutes, until golden on the bottom and starting to crisp around the pricked holes. Meanwhile, continue rolling out the dough, placing each bread in the oven as it is ready. If you are working with a partner, one should roll out the dough while the other pricks, stretches and bakes the breads. This will be much easier to get the breads baked in time. If your oven is small, you may not be able to fit in enough breads at once to get them done in time. If so, you can bake some of the breads on the your stove top in a dry skillet, to get them all started baking within the 18 minute time limit. For a traditional crisp, dried matzoh, leave the breads out on a rack to cool completely and to dry. With the small amount of dough this recipe makes, you can get all the breads into the oven if not completely baked) in less than eighteen minutes from when we first add water to the flour. the recipe assumes that you wish to make matzoh within the time limit; without a large commercial oven, and several helping hands for the rolling out, you must begin with a small amount of dough to get all the breads done in time. To make more, make the recipe again a second time. If you aren't worried about complying with the time limit, you can bake in larger batches. Makes 12 thin breads approximately 8" in diameter.
---- Matzo is the unleavened bread made from flour and water with no salt, no oil, and - most important, no yeast.
It is eaten during Passover to commemorate the haste with which the Jewish people fled Egypt. During Passover no yeast or yeasted products may be eaten. In religiosly observant households, the house is thoroughly cleaned and swept, and all old flour, biscuits and other unleavened products are discarded. Matzoh must be made quickly and with clean flour in order to prevent naturally occurring yeasts from making the breads rise. The Shulchan Aruch, a sixteenth-century codification of Jewish law, requires that no more than eighteen minutes should elapse. In order to get everything done within the time limit, many hands are needed to roll out the breads and get them cooked, and only small batches can be made at a time.
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By The Librarian
Answer: The Memorial wine is a plain red wine , without any additives, or fortifications. Fermented red grape juice ONLY
Often winemakers are not transparent about what they add to their wine. Most people don't realize that their fancy Cabernet Sauvignon has actually been treated with all kinds of chemicals.
FYI: @JW Insider actually made an interesting comment last year concerning our buying only Passover or Kosher wines here
Agape!
@The Librarian
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By Isabella
The rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus has been blamed for the introduction of strict tier four mixing rules for millions of people, harsher restrictions on mixing at Christmas in England, Scotland and Wales, and other countries placing the UK on a travel ban.
So how has it gone from being non-existent to the most common form of the virus in parts of England in a matter of months?
The government's advisers on new infections have "moderate" confidence that it is more able to transmit than other variants.
All the work is at an early stage, contains huge uncertainties and a long list of unanswered questions.
As I've written before, viruses mutate all the time and it's vital to keep a laser focus on whether the virus' behaviour is changing.
Why is this variant causing concern?
Three things are coming together that mean it is attracting attention:
It is rapidly replacing other versions of the virus It has mutations that affect part of the virus likely to be important Some of those mutations have already been shown in the lab to increase the ability of the virus to infect cells All of these come together to build a case for a virus that can spread more easily.
However, we do not have absolute certainty. New strains can become more common simply by being in the right place at the right time - such as London, which had only tier two restrictions until recently.
But already the justification for tier four restrictions is in part to reduce the spread of the variant.
"Laboratory experiments are required, but do you want to wait weeks or months [to see the results and take action to limit the spread]? Probably not in these circumstances," Prof Nick Loman, from the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, told me.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55388846
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By Isabella
Doña Gabina murió mientras se dirigía al Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, en busca de una cama de hospital tras personar síntomas graves de covid-19.
Luego de esperar, sin éxito, una cama con ventilador en la Unidad de Infectología del Hospital Centro Médico Nacional La Raza, del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), doña Gabina falleció por covid-19 en el trayecto mientras se dirigía al Autódromo Hermano Rodríguez. “Ayer mismo cuando regresamos ya no aguanto mi mamá, se sentía muy mal y falleció en el camino. En el camino falleció”, comentó Laura, hija de doña Gabina, quien procreó y educó a 8 hijos. El cuerpo de doña Gabina se encuentra resguardado en una funeraria y será cremada en una horas. Laura recuerda que tuvo covid. “Acabo de salir, me dieron de alta hace tres días, estuve muy enferma. Mi hermano está encerrado (en casa) porque tiene covid junto con su familia. Nosotros nos infectamos varios”.
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By admin
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19741-6?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_campaign=NGMT_USG_JC01_GL_NRJournals
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And men are significantly more likely than women to be vitamin D deficient. Smoking gun?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29705881/
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0096695
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hta/hta23020#/abstract
If this is the smoking gun, it also explains why dark skinned minority populations is also getting sicker and dying more.
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By admin
Xinhua
Virus-hit Wuhan has two laboratories linked to Chinese bio-warfare program
Virology institute there has China's only secure lab for studying deadly viruse
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Here is more info from reddit user DodgeyEdgey:
Here you go. In 2015 there was a test done at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It was headed by Ralph Baric. https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/lab-made-coronavirus-triggers-debate-34502 The purpose of the lab test was to manipulate a bat coronavirus to see if it could infect humans. It was discovered that it could. https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3985
One of the people who co wrote the paper was a Chinese researcher by the name of Xing-Ye Gi. Google scholar shows Gi has written or co-written numerous papers on SARS, ebola and coronavirus. https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?as_q=&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_sauthors=%22Xing-Yi+Ge%22&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_allsubj=all&hl=en Gi works in Wuhan.
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By LNN
22 September 2020
https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.12907
"This review obtained clues from basic research on other viruses to understand how the novel SARS‐CoV‐2 virus might generate pathogenic effects in male fertility. We highlighted that male fertility might be highly vulnerable to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Infection with this novel virus not only seriously threatens an individual's overall health, but also might lead to male infertility."
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By LNN
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/coronavirus-global-daily-case-rate-passes-500000-for-first-time/WFKPQ76OJSA4KHKQ6GYB5BUPK4/
"...According to modelling by the University of Washington, that death toll could double to more than 511,000 lives lost by February 28 next year.
And as infection rates soar across Europe, the World Health Organisation has warned of an "exponential" rise in cases across the continent."
We have seen the pandemic Summer. Now we get to see what happens in Winter
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By Michael Krewson
couple things to put in perspective.
we have only eradicated 2 diseases from the planet, smallpox and rinderpest.
the bubonic plague is still around. there was another case this year in the us. antibiotics have rendered the once greatest plague in history almost an afterthought.
H1N1 was the common flu strain in 2018. that is the same viral lineage that spawned the spanish flu of 2018 and swine flu.
these plagues continually fade away and resurface. So yes, covid will fade, but it may come back a later date. the key is keep an eye out for aggressive strains, and take appropriate actions to contain them.
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You're telling me it's not going to magically disappear???
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By Isabella
“Detainees in Eritrea are at great risk of contracting infectious diseases because of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions they are being held in,” said Deprose Muchena.
At the Mai Serwa Asmera Flowers facility, in reality a forced labour camp where Jehovah’s Witnesses and other detainees are forced to work on flower farms, there are no toilets for detainees. All 700 of them, both men and women, relieve themselves out in the open. At Mai Serwa Maximum Security prison, there are only 20 toilets for 500 detainees.
In Adi Abeyito, detainees can relieve themselves only twice daily in toilets located outside the compound. The prison has toilets within its grounds reserved for use in the rainy season or extraordinary circumstances such as suspected strikes or prison breaks. In 2015, detainees raised money and built a toilet in each detention hall to cater for the needs of the sick, elderly or those with disabilities.
No social distance
The four prisons are extremely congested; Adi Abeyito holds more than four times its capacity of 800 people, Ala prison holding about triple its capacity of 1,200 people while Mai Serwa has more than double its 230-person capacity.
The vast majority have never been formally charged or brought to court and do not know when, or if, their detention will end.
They are held in spaces ranging from 2x2m cells for solitary confinement at the Mai Serwa Maximum prison, to shipping containers holding more than 20 detainees, and halls measuring up to 10x20m. Detainees generally take turns to sleep on bare floors because beds or mattresses are not allowed.
Read more:
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By Isabella
DENVER — Heartbreak and hope happen every day inside hospitals.
The James family experienced heartbreak when 26-year-old Amber James couldn't breathe. She went to a nearby hospital in Thornton but was transferred to Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver when her condition got worse.
James tested positive for COVID-19 while she was 33 weeks pregnant.
“I’m here at home powerless not knowing what to do I can’t do anything," said Brett James, her husband, who was not allowed to visit her. "I had never been away from her while she was sick. Ever."
Less than 24 hours after Amber was transferred, doctors put her on a ventilator.
The next day, doctors performed an emergency cesarean section to save her baby.
“And it came to the point where we needed to get the baby out for baby’s sake and it was a risk to mom," said Dr. Roy Bergstrom, an OB Hospitalist in the Obstetrix Medical Group who helped care for Amber James.
Bergstrom said he and his team have performed more than a dozen emergency cesarean sections on moms with COVID-19.
This one was different.
“We’re Jehovah's Witnesses so we don’t accept blood, and that was the biggest struggle for me," said Brett James. "Because the doctor just straight told me, he’s like, 'so if she starts bleeding, you want us to let her die?' Just like that. And well yeah that’s our religion and that’s what we believe in."
Bergstrom said he had conversations with Amber James about this before she was intubated.
“It was definitely both an ethically challenging thing, and an emotionally challenging thing knowing that may come to be a factor in her care," he said.
Luckily, there were no complications in Amber's C-section, and baby Michilah survived.
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By admin
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/perpetual-crisis-now-who-telling-us-covid-19-may-never-go-away
The truth is that this pandemic could still potentially be in the early chapters. The Spanish Flu pandemic lasted for three full years, and we could possibly be facing a similar scenario.
And this week WHO official Mike Ryan warned that this virus could even become “endemic”, and if that happens it “may never go away”…
In other words, Ryan is saying that this virus could become like a flu that keeps reappearing year after year.
So what are we going to do if that happens?
Are we supposed to have shutdowns every year whenever a new wave of COVID-19 infections starts happening?
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By Isabella
El amor de la hermandad espiritual se activa y se ve en acción en tiempos críticos, como en los días de la pandemia del coronavirus. “Los testigos de Jehová hemos hecho todo lo posible por obedecer las medidas preventivas y proteger nuestra salud durante esta crisis sanitaria, pero no somos inmunes a los efectos del COVID-19. Por desgracia, ya han perdido la vida 872 hermanos por culpa de este virus, pero la hermandad mundial ha reaccionado rápido para consolar y arropar a los que están sufriendo. Por encima de todo, confiamos en que Jehová siempre nos da su paz”, indica la organización de los testigos de Jehová en su espacio Prensa, en su página oficial, jw.org.
María José Delgado, quien se dedica a llevar la información bíblica a las personas de habla quichua en las montañas de Ecuador, dice que los miembros de la agrupación se apoyados en estos momentos. Los padres de ella se enfermaron y murieron de coronavirus. Su madre, Fabiola de Delgado, quien tenía 56 años y su padre, Ricardo Delgado, quien tenía 60 años asistían a la congregación Praderas, de la ciudad Guayaquil.
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By Health and Medicine
https://news.sky.com/story/amp/coronavirus-scientists-conclude-people-cannot-be-infected-twice-11981721
genetic analyses of the virus have not found any substantial changes which would effectively disguise it from the immune system.
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By TheWorldNewsOrg
There was a twitter rumor going around in the last 48 hours that Zhengli SHI the chief scientist from the Wuhan institute of virology who used to study the different bat coronavirus, that she escaped China and is currently in Europe, specifically in France with her family seeking asylum and protection in the us consulate there.
The same rumor also mentions that she has thousands of documents with her showing that the virus in need come from the lab (though she herself publicly denied this couple of months back when the lab leak runour started spreading likely due to CCP pressure).
Since all this is rumor we have to take it with a grain of salt, however if this were true and she essentially becomes and whistleblower and defector from China with information that can prove the criminal negligence (or intentional) by the CCP, this can lead to the fall of the CCP as we know it and radical change to CCP vs the world relations.
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By Isabella
Dermatologists around the world are gathering data on what may be largely overlooked symptoms of COVID-19: skin conditions ranging from rashes to “pseudo-frostbite.”
Many viral illnesses—including chickenpox, measles and mononucleosis—are accompanied by telltale skin rashes, often a result of the body’s heightened inflammatory response while fighting off infection. Though more research is needed, a growing number of case reports and preliminary studies suggest SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can also affect the skin.
In late March, an Italian physician submitted a letter to the editor of the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, describing skin conditions that affected about 20% of 88 COVID-19 patients analyzed in the Lombardy region of Italy. Most of them developed a red rash on their torsos, while a few suffered hives or blisters resembling chickenpox. Then, in early April, a dermatology organization representing more than 400 French dermatologists issued a statement noting that among probable COVID-19 patients they had seen skin symptoms including hives, red rashes and frostbite-like lesions on the extremities. And finally, in mid-April, in a letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, a group of Italian physicians described a chickenpox-like rash as “a rare but specific COVID-19-associated skin manifestation.”
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By admin
Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. “This has been on people’s radar for quite a while,” he said. “Somebody on a different floor sneezes …The particle can stay airborne long enough to go all the way through the system and then pop out in somebody else’s office.”
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By Anna
"Morning worship announcement at Bethel.
In the United States, 9,000 of our brothers have contracted the Corona Virus, 2,500 have recovered, 563 are hospitalized and unfortunately 219 have fallen asleep to death.
This was mentioned April 14, 2020 in the morning worship in New York's bethel. It was asked that this be shared with the brothers so that we continue to pray for the entire association of brothers and understand the reason that the governing body has taken the measures that have been taken so far. Cheers!"
By the way I am just quoting someone. This info is not from me personally.
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By Health and Medicine
New Coronavirus (COVID-19) Drugs: Remdesivir, Tocilizumab (Actemra), and Leronlimab | New Coronavirus Treatment Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, and Leronlimab are new medications against Coronavirus (COVID-19) that are being explored. Besides hydroxychloroquine, these are other medications being investigated in the context of a clinical trial and some for compassionate use to treat coronavirus (COVID-19). Remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences Inc., is an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral treatment that was previously tested in humans with Ebola and had shown promise in animal models for treating Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which are caused by other coronaviruses. Currently Gilead Sciences has made Remdesivir available for coronavirus clinical trials and to more than 1800 people on a compassionate use basis. The hope is that the results from the phase 3 clinical trials will be available by the end of May, 2020. Tocilizumab is a monoclonal antibody that competitively inhibits the binding of interleukin-6 (IL-6) to its receptor (IL-6R). And by inhibiting the entire receptor complex, you block the signal to induce more inflammation from coronavirus.
In a recent study from China, researchers noted Tocilizumab appears to be an effective treatment option in COVID‐19 patients with a risk of cytokine storms. And for these critically ill patients with elevated IL‐6, the repeated dose of the Tocilizumab is recommended. Leronlimab, made by the Canadian pharmaceutical Cytodyn, is a CCR5 reecptor inhibitor drug that was developed to treat HIV. The CCR5 receptor stands for “chemokine receptor type 5” and is expressed on t-cells, macrophages and even on breast and prostate cancer cells. By blocking this receptor, the principle is that you are block cytokines that direct cell movement for coronavirus (COVID-19). And by blocking the movement, you don’t bring immune cells to the site of infection from coronavirus (COVID-19), thus decreasing the risk of a cytokine storm. While there are many more drugs still in the pipeline to treatment COVID-19, these are the new drugs I feel have the most promise and are moving along to phase 3 clinical trials and onto the consumer market.
- Dr. Yo.
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By 4Jah2me
Gibraltar Chronicle
Coronavirus is not the end of the world’By Manolo
20th April 2020 By Manolo Gatt
Jehovah’s Witnesses all around the world have reacted quickly to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Since the initial stages of this, now pandemic, rigorous measures have been taken including the suspension of all public religious activity including large assemblies as well as local meetings usually held in Kingdom Halls.
Locally, working very closely with the Civilian Contingencies Committee, we have implemented all recommended measures as and when required including the suspension of our main activity of going from house to house and public witnessing with our recognisable trolleys.
However, we have been using other means at our disposal such as video conferencing to continue to “meet together”, thus encouraging one another whilst also continuing, to the extent possible, to receive much needed spiritual instruction and comfort.
We of course continue in our determination to fully collaborate with the health authorities, which we thank for their invaluable work, as we endure these challenging times.
Please note that our website, JW.org, is open to everyone, where you can find encouraging and up building information for all age groups, including Bible-based movies which are very practical for our days.
In the meantime, our younger members are helping out as volunteers and are offering themselves to help their neighbours and the elderly going to supermarkets, pharmacies and taking them to the hospital to the doctor when they have an appointment.
We also very much take into consideration the needs of the deaf and the blind by providing them with programmes transmitted by video conference to their own homes in sign language by a team of translators and also Braille publications for those who need them.
Finally, although some people may say that Jehovah’s Witnesses are saying that the coronavirus is a sign of the end of the world, the fact is that we would never make such an affirmation.
What then? According to the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition), Jesus, responding to a question asked by his inquisitive disciples: “Tell us […] what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” Jesus answered, and we are quoting only in part: “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (epidemics)” (Luke 21:7, 11).
So it would be wrong to say that the Coronavirus is the sign of the end of the world. The truth is that epidemics and diseases have plagued and continue to plague the human race. As we all know humanity has been plagued in recent times, like “the Spanish flu” (1918-1919), that killed more than 40 million persons, the ‘simple flu’, that every year causes the death of between 250,000 and 500,000. Or aids that has infected more than 76 million persons and caused the death of 35 million with deceases related to this ailment. Only in 2016 1.8 million died because of Aids.
Therefore, what can certainly be said is that we are living in the time Jesus foretold when he answered his disciples question.
However, anyone that aims to take advantage of such a tremendous situation as the one we are experiencing today, so sad and tragic with its many deaths and economic instability, to frighten or intimidate the people that are our neighbours, does a great disservice to the real message of hope that the Bible highlights and Jesus taught us to pray for, saying: “Let your Kingdom come”.
That hope is the promise of a better world that everyone can aspire to where God Himself “will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things shall pass away.” And they will pass away. The Kingdom of God will accomplish this. (Matthew 6:9; Apocalypse 21:4; RSV Catholic Edition).
That is why Jesus wanted everyone to know about this, so he told his disciples that: “this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
This is the true essence of real Christianity.
Manolo Gatt is the Overseer Public Relations in the Gibraltar Congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Nice to have a balanced viewpoint.
However, we have been using other means at our disposal such as video conferencing to continue to “meet together”, thus encouraging one another whilst also continuing, to the extent possible, to receive much needed spiritual instruction and comfort.
We of course continue in our determination to fully collaborate with the health authorities, which we thank for their invaluable work, as we endure these challenging times.
Please note that our website, JW.org, is open to everyone, where you can find encouraging and up building information for all age groups, including Bible-based movies which are very practical for our days.
In the meantime, our younger members are helping out as volunteers and are offering themselves to help their neighbours and the elderly going to supermarkets, pharmacies and taking them to the hospital to the doctor when they have an appointment.
We also very much take into consideration the needs of the deaf and the blind by providing them with programmes transmitted by video conference to their own homes in sign language by a team of translators and also Braille publications for those who need them.
Finally, although some people may say that Jehovah’s Witnesses are saying that the coronavirus is a sign of the end of the world, the fact is that we would never make such an affirmation.
What then? According to the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition), Jesus, responding to a question asked by his inquisitive disciples: “Tell us […] what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” Jesus answered, and we are quoting only in part: “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (epidemics)” (Luke 21:7, 11).
So it would be wrong to say that the Coronavirus is the sign of the end of the world. The truth is that epidemics and diseases have plagued and continue to plague the human race. As we all know humanity has been plagued in recent times, like “the Spanish flu” (1918-1919), that killed more than 40 million persons, the ‘simple flu’, that every year causes the death of between 250,000 and 500,000. Or aids that has infected more than 76 million persons and caused the death of 35 million with deceases related to this ailment. Only in 2016 1.8 million died because of Aids.
Therefore, what can certainly be said is that we are living in the time Jesus foretold when he answered his disciples question.
However, anyone that aims to take advantage of such a tremendous situation as the one we are experiencing today, so sad and tragic with its many deaths and economic instability, to frighten or intimidate the people that are our neighbours, does a great disservice to the real message of hope that the Bible highlights and Jesus taught us to pray for, saying: “Let your Kingdom come”.
That hope is the promise of a better world that everyone can aspire to where God Himself “will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things shall pass away.” And they will pass away. The Kingdom of God will accomplish this. (Matthew 6:9; Apocalypse 21:4; RSV Catholic Edition).
That is why Jesus wanted everyone to know about this, so he told his disciples that: “this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
This is the true essence of real Christianity.
Manolo Gatt is the Overseer Public Relations in the Gibraltar Congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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By Michael Krewson
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/health/social-distancing-research-coronavirus-2022-trnd/index.html
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