Text of Pope's Last Will and Testament

Associated Press ^ | April 7, 2005 | Associated Press

[Kaslin]

According to this there are four St. Anselm

Saint Index

[BigSkyFreeper]

LOL! Some of my best friends are Catholics!! No problem. I'm not part of the anti-Catholic crowd. LOL!

[jamesissmall218]

Main Entry: ven·er·a·tion

1 : respect or awe inspired by the dignity, wisdom, dedication, or talent of a person

wor·ship

The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.
The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.


May I point out a few differences. Veneration is respecting a person for their greatness. Worship is respecting,revering, or loving a divine being. If you cannot see the difference, then I don't really know what to tell you.

[DarthVader]

Something for all of us to ponder:

Faith Experiences

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Thursday, April 07, 2005

by Os Hillman

These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ~ 1 Peter 1:7


One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that if we fail to enter into a relationship with God that is born of the Holy Spirit, we are left with a religion, not a relationship. Many a person today lives with an intellectual belief in God, but without a relationship that is based on two-way communication. This is the greatest tragedy of all. It's like having a brand-new car but never having the gas to run it. It can't move you anywhere. It only looks pretty, but one cannot enjoy the ride or smell the newness inside.

Peter tells us that until our faith is proved genuine, we will never be able to give praise, glory, and honor to Jesus, because until such testing He will not be revealed in our lives. Peter describes this in the verse before: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials" (1 Pet. 1:6). Trials are designed to bring us to a level of trust and experience with God that we would never know otherwise. These "faith experiences" with God allow us to know firsthand the faithfulness of God, the love of God, and the personal nature of God. If you cannot recount several instances when God has met you personally, then chances are your faith has not been born of the Holy Spirit into a living relationship with God. It is easy to fall prey to a relationship to God that never experiences His real presence; rather, it is based on knowledge only. This is a tragic place to be.

If this is where you have been in your Christian experience, ask God today to make Himself real to you. Ask Him to show you His personal nature and love. He desires to do this. Those whom He has called know His voice. He will show Himself to those who are His. "He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him" (Jn. 14:21b).

[onyx]

Some of my best friends are Catholics!!



Yes, I know.
I'm one of 'em.

[Petronski]

The person never got around to asking for anything.

Not so. A litany is a series of reverent titles, followed by the refrain "Pray for us."

[Okies love Dubya 2]

And ironically, this Pope tried desperately to bridge these gaps... I want to celebrate the values I share with my Protestant friends, not tear down their beliefs.

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I agree wholeheartedly with your last statement. All this reminds me of walking into a funeral for a much-loved person and immediately badmouthing them to anyone who will listen. I mourn the passing of any good man or woman, I don't sit around and pick apart their religious preferences. But I'm kind of funny that way :)

[Rutles4Ever]

But...by your own standards, shouldn't you recuse yourself from this discussion? You're a "godless atheist" who has only read the Bible "half a dozen times."

(Cough!) Pharisee. (Cough!)

(Translation: Thank God St. Paul didn't treat us pagan Gentiles the way you do.)

[Smittie]

Mary was sinless. It's beyond your comprehension, I understand, but it's utterly, totally scriptural, whether you like it or not...

Exactly where in the Bible does it say this?

[Malacoda]

What ever happened to, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my peoples, that you do unto Me?"

Makes me think that if Jesus reappeared and wasn't the right stripe of Christian for them, they'd be just as nasty, rude and condescending to Him, as well.

[Pyro7480]

I am a former catholic, who left the catholic church 10 years ago, when true scripture was pointed out to me, that I was never shown while a practicing catholic.

Are you not aware that the Devil knows Scripture too? He quoted it to Jesus during His Temptation.

[Lady Heron]

It never ceases to amaze me that people with truly ugly, hateful totally useless thoughts and sentiments, deem them valuable enough to share with the rest of us.

In this case it is not about hate, and for once most of the Protestant Catholic bickering has not happened during the Popes funeral week that usually goes on. The Protestants have been very interested and for the most part said nice things or have just read the treads without comment sans a few and that is saying a lot for most threads here,it is your time not ours.

But, there is a reason for Protestantism and boy does his comment about putting into the hands of the 'Mother of my Master" strikes at the heart, when Protestants who know the Bible see that the first thing that goes through their minds is a cold blast of blashpemy and it is a shock. It firmly brings into sharp focus for them though this is a week of coming together and being nice, our huge differences and is hard for them to ignore without some word, otherwise were they faithful.

[Pyro7480]

To be more specific, the Sacrifice of the Eucharist IS the Sacrifice of the Cross. They are one and the same. The Sacrifice has eternal effects. It isn't "over and over."

[Lady Heron]

Then explain, because it sounds like blasphemy to a Prostestant.

[onyx]

BSF is Prot also!

[Truth666]

You are mixing respecting the parents with respecting God.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Where in the Bible does it state we are to place anything into the hands of the "Mother of My Master" bypassing Christ????

Exodus 20:12

[Rutles4Ever]

Makes me think that if Jesus reappeared and wasn't the right stripe of Christian for them, they'd be just as nasty, rude and condescending to Him, as well.

Well, Jesus did wonder whether He would find any faith when He returns...

[tiredoflaundry]

I wasn't trying to be argumentative. My point was that we are started in the same place.

[Lady Heron]

Great, then he can explain so that I can see it in an other way, because so far it is not good.