Posted on 08/27/2010 11:45:13 AM PDT by Hank Kerchief
Christ is compared and contrasted with Adam in both being created perfect but Christ brings life whereas Adam brought death. And it was Adam in his imperfection that named his wife Eve since she was to be the ancestress of all humans.
“I suggest reading the following from U Dayton
It’s a slam dunk about Mary be written all over the OT”
It that true then all the writers of the NT seem to have missed what a department of Marian Studies found in its
speculations.
“The Church Fathers knew typology well”
However true not really germane.
I was a 19 year old kid with a major abdominal shrapnel wound, scared, in shock and so very alone. An army chaplain comforted me and helped me overcome the fear and place my faith in Jesus. He helped me remember that what ever was to come next would be OK.
I don't know or care if he was a Catholic chaplain, or a Presbyterian, or Baptist, or Lutheran. He gave me my last rites (my dog tags said Roman Catholic), prayed with me and left me in peace when the medivac chopper took me away. I blacked out not knowing if I was letting go and dying or not. I woke up in a recovery room. Many did not.
I've seen Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists die, tragic, untimely, horrific deaths. No one dies well without God.
Thanks to both of you for your posts about being in danger of death. I’m glad you offered them and it helps me to understand many things.
I, too, have been in such a situation. In fact, I had a “near-death” experience.
It remains as clear to me this day as when it happened.
I can assure you that just because some people on this forum have described the “agonized death” of Catholic friends/relatives/etc. doesn’t make it a universal experience by ANY means. Anyone who has worked in hospice and with Catholic dying patients will refute the generalization that the typical Catholic death scene is one of agonized fear. In fact, they would be very likely to tell you that such a scenario is atypical.
Could someone let Markbsnr know that it's not presumptive or wrong to know you will be with the Lord in heaven before you die? I don't think he is alone in thinking that we won't know until we face "the judge" whether we will be saved or not.
My husband was a firefighter for over twenty years and he said he always could tell who was a real Christian by how they faced death and he saw a lot of death. It is called "blessed assurance" for a reason. Thanks for sharing.
Do you believe that there are people posting on this thread who are somehow willing to do you harm because you are Catholic?
The most you have to fear from any on these kinds of threads, I believe, is that we will continue to attempt to pursuade people away from Catholicism as a form of religion so that they will not be just like our Catholic family members and neighbors.
Not any physical harm. However, I do believe that some are unstable and irrational in their opposition to the Church.
Let me tell you about my Catholic friends and neighbors.
With God and my guardian angel watching me key these words, which are true:
* The example of the Catholic neighbor when I was a little girl who was my first experience with any Catholic and became my godmother at my baptism at age 21
* The wonderful priest, now deceased, who was my spiritual adviser for many years
* The parishioners at my parish, where I have gone to Mass for many, many years. They were the ones who prayed with me when I needed it, gathered in my home for Scripture study, gave me courage and the support of prayers in the face of a tragedy in my life. They are also the ones who helped to support Vietnamese refugees (in the wake of ‘Nam)) with housing and sustenance, and who also did the same for Sudanese and Iraqi refugees from persecution.
* The over 100 fellow parishioners who are there at morning weekday Masses to share Mass and prayer with me and to provide the “shelter” of their friendship as described in the Book of Proverbs
* The priests and lay people who helped in the catchesis of our children
* The countless number of people who come to the 24-hour prayer chapel at the parish. The chapel is open 24/7 and there are always people there, at any hour of day or night. They come as young couples to pray together, they come when they get off their night shift at the hospital and before they go home to sleep, they come leaving prayer requests in a notebook there for that purpose: that we would be aware for the needs of others and pray for them. They come in all ages and sizes. They come in good weather and in bad. They come with their Bibles.
* My own children—who have blessed me in my old age with their prayerful lives and their loving concern for their parents and for each other.
It is a Biblical truth: “all that is hidden will be revealed”. Because so much of what I have described as my experience of living life as a Catholic may seem not-so-typical to those of you who are not Catholic, you would be very surprised at how widespread it is without being noticed by anyone.
There’s a life going on that is hidden from many, but is very real and is happening. One day, it will all be revealed.
Thank you for this post.
You’re welcome.
And you are blessed, I’m sure.
Here’s a joke for you.
Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Adolph.
Adolph who?
Adolph ball hit me in da dose, dats why I’m talking dis way.:o)
You should be one, then, to come to my neighborhood and evangelize. Come to my family and evangelize. I mean evangelize the professing Catholics.
My own Catholic aunts and uncles were never interested in the well-being of my soul. My own Catholic dad, raised under French Catholic nuns in Ottawa, Ontario, never spoke the truth to me about eternal life or about the safety of my eternal soul. . . . until he was born-again at the age of 45 in 1974, and the next morning called me to testify of the grace of God.
My Catholic neighbors in the San Francisco Bay Area never “witnessed” to me when I was growing up. Where I have lived over the years in Kansas City, Jacksonville, FL., Dallas/Ft. Worth, Miami, Louisville, Winston-Salem, never “witnessed” to me-—not one time.
They were Presbyterians, Wesleyans and Four Square Holiness, and Baptists, mostly, who ever deliberately spoke to me about eternity and the things that matter. Then there was the odd J.W. and Seventh Day Adventist that came around. But never once did a Catholic ever try to speak to me or put a piece of Gospel literature in my hand.
And once, when I was distributing Gospel literature in the Philippines (never forcing, only offering, never coercing), it was a Catholic priest who grabbed a stack of tracts from my hands and threw them on the ground. He didn’t try to offer me anything he thought might be more enlightening.
My Catholic family and neighbors could never be distinguished from any heathen in the same general locality, and I have no reason to think their priest(s) are attempting to do anything to help them away from the world. They are simply part of the beer and bar-b-que set around town.
So, I would recommend that Catholics who have been so encouraged as you concerning the faith become missionaries to such neighborhoods as mine, and you could begin with the Catholic populace and their priests.
The neighborhood is also inhabited by members of almost every church who are exactly the same way, who couldn’t tell a soul how to take one step toward a Holy God.
But I must repeat that there are members of the other churches actively involved in evangelism, along with their pastors, and we see them often attempting to fill a void, that, I should say, if not filled by Christians, will be filled by Muslims before very long.
For 10 years I did such work in my parish. Going in pairs we knocked on every door within our parish boundaries. At every door we asked if there were any baptized Catholics at that residence. If the answer was yes, we asked to talk with them about their present situation in practicing their faith. We had a lot of success in talking with those who for some reason or other had become lax or “fallen away”. The results were excellent and helped our pastor to get a realistic concept of the status of Catholics in his parish boundaries.
BTW, if others answered our inquiry saying they were not Catholic but belonged to a Protestant church, we always treated them with respect and didn’t try to “evangelize” them away from their choice of faith practice. If the answer ws “unchurched” we always asked if we could answer any questions they may have ever had about Catholicism and didn’t know who to ask.
Our overall experience in that ten years was very positive, in one way or another.
I’m sorry that your experience with Catholics was as you describe.
In like manner, my (not-church-going) Protestant parents also didn’t speak to me about God as I was growing up.
Thanks. Thanks.
Rest has helped tired bones.
Which, IIRC, we have been told are
inconsequential because only
THE CATECHISM has valid value.
Sheesh.
The saline sinus wash has sure helped minimize such stuff in my life—alone with Vitamin D3 and Curcumin
Sounds like an excellent effort. Congrats.
One more time, in 2000 years the Catholic church has never produced an “official “commentary of the entire bible.. so there is no offical position in the meanings of 99% of the scriptures ..
As is true in my family as well. A recent discussion with a Catholic family member went like this.. A JW came to my door,I usually take time to respond biblically but I was busy so the family member answered the door... They threatened to put my dog on them and slammed the door in her face.
I said i was so sorry to miss the opportunity to share Christ with them..the comment I got back was .".they have a free will if they want to leave they will."
There was absolutely zip concern for that womans eternity...
This is someone that attends week day mass often, is active in the church and and is a "eucharist minister"
Well you can stand in yours if you like but I don't think that will work out to well for those that do
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