A CALL TO CHRISTIAN UNITY

 In Guatemala, a law was recently passed declaring the first Saturday of August of each year as National Bible Day through Decree 5-2025. This initiative seeks to recognize the importance of the Bible in Guatemalan culture and values ​​and promote its reading and reflection.

As always, there are weeds that seek to divide in order to defeat God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The antichrists have appointed the priests of the Catholic Church to oppose this initiative at Masses, dividing evangelicals from Catholics because evangelical representatives proposed National Bible Day.

Catholic priests dislike evangelicals because of the politician and military officer General Ríos Montt, who was Head of State of Guatemala (1982-1983) and convicted of genocide, yet was an evangelical. Well, he's dead now; only God knows how he was judged. Her daughter was a presidential candidate, and almost no one voted for her. She went to the United States instead, where she was married to a Republican.

In my opinion, we shouldn't speak ill of Christians. On the contrary, regardless of religion, Christians should be united because that's what the Holy Spirit seeks: that we may be a family united by Jesus, the Son of God.

In all religions, there are good and bad people; the important thing is that the Holy Spirit transforms us into one people enlightened by God.

There are always people who speak ill of others. For example, they say that Mormons are CIA agents and that they contributed to the war in Guatemala by spies all over the country, denouncing leftists. Well, God will know if that's true; let Him judge them.

They say that Evangelical churches have built large temples to launder dirty money from drug trafficking and other businesses. Well, God will know if that's true; let Him judge them.

In my heart is always Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and I feel in my heart that Christians should always be united as brothers in faith. So let's not be upset by this new law; on the contrary, let's rejoice that the Catholic Church has a Bible Day on September 30th, and now there's another Bible Day on the first Saturday in August.

Let's have faith in Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, and the path he shows us is one of light, peace, love, and unity.

I have acquaintances who are Evangelicals, Anglicans, and Mormons, and I haven't had any conflicts. Honestly, we don't talk about religion. I will never leave the Catholic Church because that's where the Blessed Sacrament is, so I try not to judge priests because they are the ones who sustain the Catholic Church, and I'm not going to argue with them.

Note: The painting of Jesus' face created by a young woman is "The Prince of Peace," by American artist Akiane Kramarik, painted when she was eight years old after having heavenly visions. The painting, considered one of the most recognized portraits of Jesus in the world, was a world-renowned masterpiece and is on display at the Beloved Gallery. (more information)

The Christian Republic

 📘 The Christian Republic

A model of a nation illuminated by the values ​​of Jesus Christ

By Vera Bolaños, author of The Philosophy of Light

In a world where political structures are weakening, where systems seem to forget the human being, and where faith is sidelined as a social hindrance, a luminous, courageous, and necessary proposal is born: The Christian Republic.

This book is neither a utopia nor a call for religious imposition. It is a profoundly spiritual and humanistic vision, based on the Philosophy of Light, which proposes a way of organizing society based on the eternal values ​​of the Gospel: justice, truth, compassion, equity, and dignity for all.

✨ What will you find in this book?

• A clear and innovative definition of what a Christian Republic is (not theocratic, but inspired by Jesus).

• Founding principles for a nation guided by light.

• Concrete actions to eradicate poverty, live a just economy, and promote the common good.

• A new economic theory: the evolution of the economy, which unites the best of socialism and capitalism, to put wealth at the service of all.

• A public spirituality centered on the Holy Spirit.

• Spiritual education, luminous culture, soulful leadership, restorative justice, and religious freedom.

• And a profound proposal: building a civilization of love.

🕊️ Who is it for?

People of faith, committed citizens, leaders, young people, Christian communities, social thinkers, and anyone who believes that another way of governing and living together is possible when God is at the center.

📖 Get it on Amazon:

👉 The Christian Republic, Philosophy of Light, Amazon

✍️ About the author

Vera Bolaños is a Guatemalan writer, author of 17 books, and creator of the Philosophy of Light, a spiritual approach that promotes inner and social transformation through a relationship with the Holy Spirit, luminous consciousness, and the full experience of love and truth.

“Light is not just for prayer. It is for organizing nations.

It is time to govern with the heart of Christ.”

— Vera Bolaños

Guatemalan Holy Week as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

 On November 30, 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed Guatemalan Holy Week as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Guatemala is a multicultural country, yet Holy Week unites the entire country. The processions are seen as penances offered to God. Carrying these large processional floats is a way of doing penance for sins.

Guatemala has the largest procession in the world, with the largest float. It is the one at the Church of Our Lady of Remedies, Calvary in Guatemala City, which takes place every Good Friday. This procession is notable for the float, which measures between 25 and 27 meters long and is carried by 140 people per block.

People request their appointments to carry processions a year in advance. My mother was very devoted to going to see the processions. My father took us for walks on those days, but we always tried to attend Mass.

Processions in Guatemala were introduced during the colonial era, due to Spanish influence and the arrival of the first brotherhoods. These brotherhoods, religious organizations, established the first processions to venerate the passion and death of Jesus. The first brotherhood in Guatemala was formed in 1527, dedicated to the Virgin of the Conception.

I remember my mother taking me to visit the Blessed Sacrament, and on my birthday, which always falls on different dates before or during Holy Week, I would get up early to go to Mass. I always remember her praying the rosary. My mother was very devout; she always prayed for all her children.

I thank God that I was born in this country. Despite its flaws, it has that devotion to Jesus, and that's where I learned to love him. I once dreamed about it. I was walking down some streets and saw him passing by carrying the cross, and he said, "Help me with the cross." The dream impressed me because I was there watching him carry the cross along the Via Dolorosa.

Another aspect of Guatemala is the carpets they make with so much love for Jesus. They make them out of sawdust, so they can carry the processions. They are works of art. Throughout the country, Ladinos, Indigenous people, and tourists all come together to make the carpets. Antigua Guatemala is the most visited place by foreigners to see the spectacular processions and the atmosphere of devotion that prevails. Holy Week in Guatemala is a beautiful event.

GUATEMALA IS NOT A MONARCHY

In European countries, monarchies exist because the people want them that way. I notice that they like their monarchies and support them; it's like an ancestral reflection of their identity.

Monarchs are given salaries and their expenses paid. As they are established nations with strong economies, they logically have the money to pay them this amount, in exchange for activities that benefit their nations, as in England and Spain. They carry out acts of state and public relations that benefit their countries. I have noticed that Queen Letizia is looking to help poor women in some countries suffering from extreme poverty.

History shows us that many monarchies have fallen, for example the French one, where while the monarchs lived very well, the people suffered from famine. The Russian monarchy, which unfortunately suffered persecution, and well, there are so many historical films about those monarchies that have fallen.

I compare President Bernardo Arévalo, his wife, and children to the French monarchy. A few weeks ago, the first lady held a baby shower for her daughter at the presidential residence. The Secretariat of Administrative and Security Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic reported that they spent Q170,000.00 for the family event.

I believe that catering for a baby shower is an excessive expense that has offended the population, given that Guatemala cannot be compared to European monarchies, which can incur expenses for their monarchs' events.

The president has a salary, and the first lady should not touch public funds for personal expenses. They also point out that the children there are still eating and living at the presidential residence to avoid personal expenses.

President Arévalo remained in power because the population dreamed of "the democratic spring in Guatemala" with former President Jacobo Árbenz, or Juan José Arevalo, father of the current President Bernardo Arévalo.

The sad thing is that Bernardo Arévalo doesn't even dream of resembling his father. He's been gorging himself on cakes that are overcharged and tripled in price and billed to who knows which family and friends, in order to benefit from exorbitant bills. It's worth seeing how much the baby shower cakes were overpriced and who benefited.

This situation has disillusioned Guatemalans, seeing how the budgets in several ministries are not being implemented, and all the government's work is slow or simply not being carried out. Seeing how, overnight, he wanted to force lower-class people to buy car insurance, without even considering that the people often don't have money to eat or feed their families. 

I've been paying car insurance for years on my 2001 car. I do it in case I get a flat tire, they'll come and change it, ha ha ha, or if the battery dies. Thank God I have a new battery now, but when I can't afford insurance, my kids pay for it. Newer model cars all pay for insurance, but for those of us who don't have newer models, paying for car insurance is a luxury. I'm not against car insurance, but it should be done intelligently and offer low-cost insurance depending on the car model, rather than being forced overnight.

And now, with this baby shower situation, it's clear that the tenants of the presidential palace are only thinking about filling their stomachs and pockets with our tax dollars. This presidential outlook contrasts with the Guatemalan reality, as UNICEF indicates: Guatemala is currently the sixth country in the world with the worst rates of child malnutrition.

Artículo de Unicef, desnutrición infantil en Guatemala

Guatemalan women, mostly indigenous, are malnourished and logically have malnourished children. It's inhumane for the president of Guatemala to spend money on a baby shower for his grandson while Guatemalan children, who are his responsibility, are dying of hunger. He should feel a little ashamed. The first lady is supposed to work and ensure the development of Guatemalan children, yet she doesn't even consider her conscience, and they have no heart or love for the Guatemalan people. The presidential couple believes they are a monarchy, while here we are a Republic, with severe childhood malnutrition.

This is why God wants to defeat secularism in the State, because those who have Jesus in their hearts would work for the poor and fight to overcome childhood malnutrition; they would not tolerate the people suffering from hunger. Let us remember Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a great Christian who worked for the poor. Not all Christians are like her, but true Christians suffer when they see the hunger of others.

THERE IS NOTHING TO CELEBRATE ON WOMEN'S DAY

 In Guatemala, years ago I was preparing to wish "Happy Women's Day" and one day my son told me, "I don't know if I should wish you Happy Women's Day, because many women tell me that there is nothing to celebrate" and then I realized that we have nothing to celebrate because of the conditions of Guatemalan women, especially indigenous women.

So gradually we stopped celebrating and almost no women celebrate it, only some cultural activities or the popular demonstration that they do in all countries are held.

Worldwide, women suffer violence, contempt for their talents, envy, harassment because of their condition as women, injustices. In Spain, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, these are countries on the list of International Organizations that support women because they are murdered daily.

Now I understand why God named me Abraham, because he wants to show that a woman can bear that name and be worthy of hearing his voice. And why did Jesus make me his disciple? Because they only register male disciples.

Those who slander, defame and harass me, want to see me as a prostitute or a servant, do not accept my talents as a writer, do not accept that God sets his eyes on me as a woman. As several female poets say, men accuse us of being "crazy and witches" when we are intelligent and get ahead and have success.

I have a cousin who when he looks at me says, "Hello, Nobel Prize for Literature" in a mocking way, he envies me and there are many like that, they cannot stand that I am a writer. Another nephew told me when the Brewery published my book "The Wonderful Journey of Grandfather Rafael", "now you are famous" because the Brewery manages the advertising media and they made a great presentation for me, I attach the photos so that they are more envious ha, ha, ha. 😂😀

Every day I pray a Hymn to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help me become a better writer every day and worthy of the trust God has placed in me.

I share the Hymn for you to pray, John Paul II, he prayed it since he was a child to understand mathematics and he became Pope, it is miraculous.

Hymn to the Holy Spirit

Photographs of the Presentation of the Book "The Wonderful Journey of Grandfather Rafael" in 2016, when I became famous, ha, ha, ha. 😉 Here is some news from that day.

Book presentation

I had so many interviews that I thought, "It's exhausting to be famous" ha, ha, ha.

All the books have already been sold, I have a few copies left that I have to deliver to a school, I am going to publish another edition, now that I have my Publishing House. 👌

The envious tell me, the Castillos from the Brewery, only exploited your grandfather and they are shit, because they are millionaires and we are not, but my grandfather was a worker and it is true, they did not give him a pension because at that time there was no labor code in Guatemala, and my grandfather was left without a job because he was old and died. And my father received an inheritance but he didn't have the intelligence to manage the money that my grandfather gave him. My grandfather had a lot of money and he was a great gentleman of his time.

The Brewery published the book because it was the story of its beginnings and they supported me as a writer. I'm not going to fight with them because that would be a bad idea. They always buy the new books that I publish for the children of the Castillo Foundation.

Dictatorships an ideological imposition

Dictatorships are ideological impositions because the ruler wants to stay in power at all costs to prevent another ideology from ruling. That is why leftists see Cuba as the mother of their ideology. However, no one wants to see a mother living in extreme poverty.

Pope Francis agreed with President Biden for Cuba to grant freedom to 553 prisoners, I am very happy for these people. I also don't see feeding 553 prisoners as being favorable for Cuba, as the people suffer from so much economic poverty. Because that is the sad thing about dictatorships, that the rulers accumulate wealth while the people live in extreme poverty.

Pope Francis has a good relationship with the left, John Paul II initiated this position when he visited Cuba and Fidel Castro was governing.

In Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro imposed a dictatorship, because apparently he will allow other presidential candidates to run but he will always be the winner. I have seen publications from Venezuelans who say that they live very well with him, but I see many Nicaraguans asking for money on the street, they go to Mexico and then to the United States. 

Mr. Edmundo Gonzáles came to Guatemala to visit President Arévalo. He claims to be the winner of the last elections in Venezuela, but Nicolás Maduro is the son of Chavismo and continues to sit in power there. 

Here in Guatemala there is a sector of rich families that are some from the center left and others from the extreme right and hate Maduro, so I believe they will support Mr. Edmundo Gonzales.

In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega and his wife govern, children of communism from the cold era and unfortunately they say that the wife has a group of satanic witches who are her government advisors. They removed the Catholic Church because they are antichrists and now they are removing Save the Children because they are afraid that Donald Trump will order a coup d'état.

Against dictators, the only solution is coups d'état or the people's revolution, or for the dictator to die, either by divine command that gives him an incurable disease as he did with Chávez, or dies from another cause.

Dictatorships only provoke hatred, no one supports dictators, because they are taxes and human beings by nature seek to free themselves from those political ties. Dictators see enemies everywhere and begin to imprison and murder their adversaries, which causes national and international rejection.

The Philosophy of Light is against dictatorships, whether left or right, and as a human being who believes in God, I pray that this entire situation can be modified for the good of the people. 

The Philosophy of Light is not a political ideology, it is a discipline that studies the fundamental principles of reality, existence and knowledge. Their form of government is based on governing people with love and peace, as is the heart of Jesus.