Posted on 02/01/2016 4:05:40 PM PST by NYer
6) Plan a mini pilgrimage to a local shrine; make an effort along the way to live the corporal work of mercy of "welcoming the stranger" as Christ.
Growing up Catholic in San Diego, in the shadow of the first of 21 missions founded by St. Junipero Serra, clearly influenced my life as a nomadic Catholic, seeking out sacred sites that raise my mind and heart to God. As I moved around the country and the world, I learned that no matter where I am, a Catholic church is always home.
While I have been blessed to make a few of the "big" pilgrimages -- to the Holy Land, Rome, Fatima -- I still find a great deal of comfort knowing that there are no fewer than five small shrines all less than a 30-minute drive away from my little neighborhood in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I remember when we first moved here, I was amazed at how few of the Catholics I met knew that we were so blessed. It made me wonder, how many more Catholic shrines and places of pilgrimage do we have in the United States? How many people know about them?
My desire to find out and share that knowledge led my husband and I to produce The Faithful Traveler, a television series that explores those very sites. We devoted our entire first series to local shrines, visiting some of the most astonishing shrines and cathedrals in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Shrines and places of pilgrimage take on many forms. There's the little shrine, made up of a statue in a corner of a church, or the big shrine, like the National Shrines of Our Lady of Guadalupe or of St. John Nepomucene Neumann. I am also a fan of visiting cathedrals, because they are often stunning and historic and provide a plethora of little shrines or chapels to pray to many saints.
To live out this suggestion for the Year of Mercy, the first thing you have to do is find out if there is a shrine near you. Here are some ways to do that:
Once you've found your spot, plan to bring a book of spiritual reading. Or don't. I'll bet they have some good ones at the gift shop.
Bring your rosary and your list of prayer intentions.
If you have kids, bring them along! Visiting shrines is a great way to teach them about our faith.
Spend the day at the shrine, learning about the saint to whom or the devotion to which the shrine is dedicated.
And while you're there, it's a great time to move on to the second part of this challenge.
Welcome the stranger as Christ
The world can be a mean and unwelcoming place. But while I can't control how others behave toward me, I can control how I behave toward them. A simple smile and saying hello does wonders. Mother Teresa was a great proponent of the smile:
"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love."
"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
"Peace begins with a smile …"
Visiting shrines brings us face to face with strangers, and strangers provide us with the opportunity to grow in virtue, be it the virtue of patience, charity, or humility.
And of course, once we're nestled into our own pew, we can perform some of the spiritual works of mercy by forgiving offenses and praying for the dead.
There are so many blessings to be had from making a local pilgrimage, I could go on forever. Instead, I'll leave you with these words, spoken by the Virgin Mary to a young St. Catherine Labouré:
"Come to the foot of the altar, for there you will receive great graces."
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Diana von Glahn is the co-creator of The Faithful Traveler, a travel series for television that broadcasts on EWTN. The Faithful Traveler website provides access to her blog and photos from her travels. DVDs of her first two series can be purchased there, as well. Her upcoming special on Pope Francis' pilgrimage to the Holy Land, A Papal Pilgrimage in the Holy Land, will be broadcast soon.
“Your obvious personal attack on whether I drink or not is meant to impugn my argument, but it isn’t fooling anyone. I don’t drink. You?”
I didn’t ask if you drink. I asked if you were drunk. See the difference? Also, you had no argument. You made a strange, off-the-wall comment. Hence, the question: “Are you drunk?”
“And again, you deliberately left out this portion of my post, and put the latter part in quotes as if to imply that was all that I said.”
No. I posted what I was commenting upon. Your word choice of “deliberately” and “imply” can only be taken as “mind reading” on your part.
“According to Francis, Catholics and Muslims worship the same God.”
According to Muslims, Jews and Christians all profess to worship the God of Abraham. If you’re a Christian, that includes you - unless you’re denying you worship the God of Abraham.
“I asked you why, and you didn’t answer.”
If you’re asking why I posted only two out of three of the sentences you posted, I did answer your question in post #17 so why are you claiming I didn’t answer it when I did?
“I know why. It is too damaging to your argument to admit the truth that Francis said Catholics and Muslims worship the same God.”
What argument? I commented on your last two sentences. You have no argument. You made no argument. I made no argument about your first sentence. You failed to provide any evidence for what you claimed in those two last sentences. Why did you fail to provide that evidence? Will you continue to fail to provide that evidence? Sure looks like it.
I will not enter a mosque.
I view it as simply Pope Francis’s opinion.
Nothing more than SkyPilot’s opinion.
When I go to the National Shrine website, and it does have a vitural tour, that chapel for some reason is not listed. I have to look it up in reference to the Maronite links.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Matthew 23:9
Does that indicate you grew up in a home without a father ?
Do you think people who convince themselves that all their sins, past, present, and future, are already forgiven have no fear of bearing false witness against their neighbor, no conscience as it were ?
Bearing false witness? Explain when I did that. Perhaps it is you who accuse others falsely,? And Christ is the only way. See my tag line. Nothing else is required. What sacraments did the thief on the cross next to Jesus complete? What requirements did he fulfill, other than asking Christ to redeem him? Moreover, there is only One who deserves the title of Holy Father. And He is in heaven, the Great I Am.
There is a " To 6" in my post.
You wrote: "So next time just walk into a mosque instead of a church. Francis says it’s all the same, so Catholics should obey their pope.."
By which spirit did you write that ?
Perhaps it is you who accuse others falsely,?
Perhaps ? Does that mean you don't know but throw that at me anyway ? Or is that an accusation against me you stand behind ?
And Christ is the only way. See my tag line. Nothing else is required. What sacraments did the thief on the cross next to Jesus complete? What requirements did he fulfill, other than asking Christ to redeem him? Moreover, there is only One who deserves the title of Holy Father. And He is in heaven, the Great I Am. And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Mark, Catholic chapter ten, Protestant verses eighteen to nineteen,
Revelation, Catholic chapter twenty one, Protestant verses six to eight,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James,
boldness mine
These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Are you so drunk that you forget that Francis the talking whatever said that Muslims worship the same God (as do 'Catholics', it was understood in context) or are you just back to playing the usual pathetic word games while you otherwise engage in personal attacks?
You should be banned from FR for be a serial disruptor who simply will not abide by the rules.
Jim, this guy simply has to go. It's beyond time.
Sorry to bother you with this. But this has long been a problem.
There's no telling how many people have gotten fed up with the antics of the likes of vladi over the years, and have simply abandoned this site permanently.
Examples were made a a few troublemakers who picked on Catholicism. Isn't it about time that a few examples be made out of those who should know better than to make things personal -- but simply refuse (or are unable to) refrain from doing that very thing -- on a regular basis?
If there's no telling how many, why do you imagine there are any ? Have you simply abandoned this site permanently ? Apparently not.
And this is what concerns some? Really? You’re trying to ban a poster, Vlad because of what?
OMG some of you people are morons.
Though this not my primary motivation,
try looking at it this way;
It would help the general cause of Catholicism on FR.
No it wouldn’t.
I’ll just go on record, not that it means a damn thing, that banning this poster is stupid. IMO
Please give us the hot link to substantiate that statement.
In your opinion.
Ok. You're entitled to that.
I'll say no more "stupid" than banning Alex Murphy.
It would be less so, being more justified.
Whatever.
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