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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Michele Marie Bachmann

"You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much."
 – Luke 7:46-47
If Michele Bachmann had appeared on the scene in the 2008 presidential race, I would have been among those rejecting her out of hand. I've changed a lot in the last few years and so has our country under the leadership of President Obama.

Where once I was proud to be tolerant, I am now fearful of being persecuted for my personal views. Where I once was apathetic about religion, I have become resolute in my convictions.

What changed? Did I change or did our nation change?

Both.

The deepening denigration of Christianity became an avalanche of attacks on followers of Christ in the wake of the Obama election. Never have Christian beliefs been so under siege in America than today.

Obama, who is the embodiment of secular humanism, opened wide the floodgates of anti-Christian activism through his very presence. He is a walking symbol – an icon – of the intolerant mob of church burning atheists that have waged an implacable campaign of hatred against the Christian Church.

His presidency has prepared the way for a new reign of terror against the Church.

There is nothing moderate about our current President. He began as a radical "community organizer" in Chicago and he is still a radical today. The primary focus of his presidency has been the advancement of a radical social agenda that sees the Christian Church as its biggest obstacle. Population control, radical feminism, "gay liberation" are at the very top of his priority list as seen through his undying support of Planned Parenthood and his never ending attacks on the institution of marriage.

[2009 video of Michele Bachmann discussing the radical leadership in Washington including then Speaker of the House "catholic" Nancy Pelosi.]


As Michele Bachmann surges in the polls, she has become a lightning rod attracting a storm of hatred aimed at Christian Americans. She has stood firm in her Christian beliefs and has been a bulwark against the constant barrage from the anti-Christian forces.



For there is nothing that the secular humanist forces fear more than a Christian woman becoming President of the United States. They will do everything in their power to keep this from happening.

Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus have dedicated their lives to the pro-Life cause; and they have helped active homosexuals turn their lives around and overcome this destructive condition.



Bachmann is the very antithesis of Obama. This is why his supporters hate her so much. They know that she will dedicate her presidency to destroy every social policy that Obama has implemented.

I don't agree with everything that Michele Bachmann stands for, and I don't expect any politician to be a messiah. I do offer her my prayers of support. And I do believe that God has a special plan for her.



And I will make a bold prediction right now. Michele Bachmann will become the first woman President of the United States in 2012.

No man or woman can save us from our own sins. Only Jesus can do that. But if Michele can become President, then it will be a sign that Americans still believe in the one true God of Abraham and Moses.
Without morality the State cannot endure -- a truth which that illustrious citizen of yours, [George Washington], with a keenness of insight worthy of his genius and statesmanship perceived and proclaimed. But the best and strongest support of morality is religion.
 – Pope Leo XIII, 1895
God bless America!

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"Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much"

The reason that I placed this quote from the Gospel of Luke at the beginning of this article is that I believe that in one sense this blessing upon the woman (who many believe to be Mary Magdalene) applies not just to this one sinner but to all women. In so doing Jesus lifts the curse that was placed by God on women since the time of Eve. This is in keeping with the blessings that were heaped upon his mother Mary, the new Eve. The absolution that the woman receives is the same as that given in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).

There are some Christians that will object to Michele Bachmann becoming President simply because she is a woman. They will point to the letters of the Apostle Paul. And yet Paul acknowledges the leadership roles played by many women in the early Church.

This is not an argument however for the ordination of women to the priesthood. This is a matter for the Church to decide according to scripture and the teachings that have been handed down to us. Pope Benedict XVI has reaffirmed the Church's teachings in this matter in a definitive way.

Jesus absolves the woman by saying, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:48). But He goes even further by saying that she is forgiven much because "she loved much". He elevates women in a spiritual sense and places them equal before God with men. This is radically different from the teaching of the Old Testament, and is part of the New Covenant with God; a priceless gift paid for by the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ , the Son of God, who sacrificed Himself for us on the Cross.

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UPDATE:

One extra footnote. I noticed that Jesus says, "You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment." Messiah means "anointed one". In the Old Testament the prophet Samuel anointed the boy David as the new King of the Jews to replace the corrupt Saul. The anointing would have been on the head of David and would have been accompanied by a kiss as when Samuel anointed Saul: "Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, 'Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel?'" (1Sam.10)

Since the woman did not have any priestly powers she humbly anointed his feet which are as far removed from the head as possible. If the head represents God and Heaven than the feet represent man and earth. Note that Jesus had already been publicly chosen (the purpose of anointing) by God at His baptism by John the Baptist.

Still, the feet have an importance in the Gospel. I have come to associate the feet of Jesus as showing us the path to follow in our pilgrimage on earth so that we may attain heaven in the afterlife. We do this by "following in the footsteps" of Jesus. The feet also represent the human nature of Jesus as opposed to the head which represents His divinity.

Mary Magdalene is depicted at the feet of Jesus when she listens to Him teaching, and at the Cross, and when the resurrected Christ appeared to her. (See Mt. 28:9 "And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Hail!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.") Add to that the anointing of Jesus' feet if the unidentified woman is Mary Magdalene. I believe this attention to the feet of Christ, is intended to demonstrate Mary's humility before Christ and her devotion towards Him. She reveres Him like a King and bows humbly before Him. It shows us that the path to heaven begins at the foot of Christ.

My own devotion towards St. Mary Magdalene is based on her humble example of devotion to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Mary Magdalene, God blessed you and revealed to you the divine nature of His Son, pray for us.

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UPDATE 2:

By anointing the feet of Jesus and kissing them, the woman demonstrates that she has accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. Michele Bachmann says:
"The Lord is my compass and he is my rock and my salvation. In Him do I trust. It wasn't until I was 16 years of age however that I truly understand that I was a sinner and that I needed to repent of my sins and that I needed to have a savior who paid for those sins and so when I was 16 i went to my Lutheran altar, knelt before that altar, confessed my sins before Jesus Christ, asked Him to come into my heart, cleanse me of my sins so that I could receive his righteousness and have an assurance of salvation that when I die that that wouldn't be the end, that that would just be the beginning, that I would spend eternity forever with Him and with those who have come to know Jesus Christ. My world changed when I was 16 years of age. It was like I'd lived in darkness my entire life and it was like a door was thrown open and I saw for the first time the fullness of life of all that there can be because life is not just about this world. We really are pilgrims here in this world. Our true life is our eternal life in Heaven with Jesus Christ."
Notice the similarity to the woman from the Gospel who recognizes that she is a sinner and throws herself at the feet of Jesus. Notice also the contrast between Barack Obama's tepid "Christianity" and Michele Bachmann's total devotion to Christ.

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UPDATE 3:

I changed the title of this article from "Michele Bachmann" to "Michele Marie Bachmann". I had been thinking that Michele's first name is not a very "Christian name". But then I realized it is a form of Michael, as in St. Michael the Archangel. Then I found out that her middle name is Marie and of course that is a form of Mary, as in the Virgin Mary. So her name becomes Michael Mary, and what could be more Christian than that? It brings to mind an image of Revelation 12 and the battle of St. Michael with the dragon, while the "woman clothed with the sun" gives birth to a child. And Michele is certainly been doing some battle with the dragon lately.

7 comments:

  1. UPDATE: I added a section further discussing the anointing of the feet of Jesus.

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  2. UPDATE 2: I added a video of Michele Bachman speaking passionately about her faith in Jesus Christ.

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  3. ANOTHER UPDATE: I added another video of Michele Bachmann. In this one she speaks about the RADICAL leadership in Washington.

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  4. ONE LAST VIDEO: This one is a must see. Michele says in an emotional statement that literally brought tears to my eyes:

    "When we come to the end of our days we want to know that on our death bed that the Lord will say to us, ‘well done my good and faithful servant’ and I wish I could say that for all of my life that I have been good and that I have been faithful, I haven’t. I’m a sinner but I thank God that I have received his grace and that he has forgiven me of my sins and made a way for my salvation."

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  5. I'm not American but I too would vote for her. I find it so refreshing based on the interviews that there isn't a dichotomy between her faith and politics. Rather her faith influences how she views politics not the other way around.

    I'll be praying for her and for the US. She's charismatic, so that's a great start. But knowing how the media and Hollywood - let's not forget how much Hollywood contributed to Obama's election! - will be against her means that there is much to do.

    Informative post.

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  6. M. You're right. Hollywood and the media have already started attacking her. And you have a good point about her faith coming first before her politics. I also agree that she is charismatic. And it is a natural charism, not the fake charism of Obama who stumbles badly without a script and a teleprompter.

    I can easily see her winning the Republican nomination. After that, watch how the attacks on her escalate. There will be parodies of her on Saturday Night Live just like there were against Sarah Palin.

    Comparing Bachmann with Palin will become a liberal sport. But there really is no comparison. It would be like comparing Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign with Barack Obama's.

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  7. UPDATE: I changed the title of this article to "Michele Marie Bachmann" and added some additional commentary.

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