Posted on 12/27/2011 8:24:19 PM PST by RnMomof7
Rome, Italy, Dec 8, 2011 / 04:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the biblical description of a “woman clothed with the sun” in his remarks at Rome's Spanish Steps on the 2011 Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
“What is the meaning of this image? It represents the Church and Our Lady at the same time,” the Pope told the crowd assembled before the nearby statue commemorating the 1854 definition of Mary's Immaculate Conception. “Before all, the 'woman' of the apocalypse is Mary herself.”
The 12th chapter of the Biblical Apocalypse – also known as the Book of Revelation – describes the glorification and persecution of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
Though not named, this woman is described as the mother of the Messiah. In poetic language akin to the Bible's other prophetic books, Saint John says she faced the threat of “a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,” and “fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.”
Pope Benedict, offering white roses in his traditional yearly act of Marian veneration, gave listeners his insight into the connection between the Virgin Mary and the Church – portrayed in the Apocalypse through the single image of the sun-clad woman.
“She appears 'clothed in sunlight,' that is, clothed in God,” observed the Pope. “The Virgin Mary is in fact completely surrounded by the light of God and lives in God … The 'Immaculate One' reflects with all of her person the light of the 'sun' which is God.”
“Besides representing Our Lady, this sign personifies the Church, the Christian community of all times,” he continued.
The Church, he explained, is “pregnant, in the sense that she carries Christ” and “must give birth to him to the world.”
“This is the labor of the pilgrim Church on earth, that in the midst of the consolations of God and the persecutions of the world, she must bring Christ to men.”
Because the Church continues to bring Jesus into the world, Pope Benedict said, it “finds opposition in a ferocious adversary,” symbolized in scripture by the “dragon” that has “tried in vain to devour Jesus,” and now “directs his attacks against the woman – the Church – in the desert of the world.”
“But in every age the Church is supported by the light and the strength of God,” the Pope said. “She is nurtured in the desert with the bread of his word and the Holy Eucharist.”
“And in this way, in every tribulation, through all of the trials that she finds in the course of the ages and in the different parts of the world, the Church suffers persecution, but comes out the victor.”
Pope Benedict said the Church should not fear persecution, which is bound to arise, but will be defeated.
“The only pitfall of which the Church can and must be afraid is the sin of her members,” he warned, highlighting the key difference between the Church and the woman who is its prototype.
“While in fact Mary is immaculate – free from every stain of sin – the Church is holy, but at the same time marked by our sins.”
While sinless herself, Mary remains in solidarity with the Church struggling against sin.
“That is why the people of God, pilgrims in time, turn to their heavenly mother and ask for her help,” explained Pope Benedict.
He stressed the world's need for the hope brought by the “woman clothed with the sun” – “especially in this difficult moment for Italy, for Europe and for different parts of the world.”
“May Mary help us to see that there is a light beyond the veil of fog that appears to envelop reality,” he declared.
“For this also we, especially on this day, never cease to ask with filial trust for her help: 'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.'”
Uhh, so what?
All that nonsense about Mary being assumed into Heaven is just that, nonsense. The whole nonsensical argument ignores a very simple truth. Jesus Christ gave John the responsibility of looking out for Mary. John was the last Apostle to die. John wrote several of the Books in the NT. John never mentions Mary having any special role, or authority. Also, John never mentions Mary being assumed into Heaven.
If anything extraordinary occurred with Mary, John would have written about it.
Or is some more bunkum from Seek YHvH in His WORD ! Is there a verse in Holy WORD of Scripture ?
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
the Traditions of man ?
It is witchcraft. Remember those who practice necromancy
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
are condemned by YHvH.
Luke 7:28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
“so what”? So Jesus is saying that those who believe in Him are more blessed than Mary. That totally contradicts what Catholics teach.
Baloney.
You pull one sentence out of a passage and contruct an entire theological argument from it.
Oh, you need more?
Jesus disagreed with the words spoken about Mary and said those who believed were the ones who were blessed.
Luke 11:27And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Nay rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
The words spoken to Mary were no different then were spoken to Jael in Judges. In fact, Jael was called blessed above women. Mary was called blessed among women.
Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Judges 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,
Those words were also spoken of Noah, Moses, and David.
The Greek word charitoó is used by Catholics to try to point to Mary being “full of grace” or “highly favored. The word charitoo according to Greek concordances is: From charis; to grace, i.e. Indue with special honor -- make accepted, be highly favoured. [http://concordances.org/greek/5487.htm]
The word is used twice in the New Testament. Once in Luke 1 and the other in Ephesians 1.
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
"When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat down at his right hand." (1 Kings 2:19)
There's an interesting amplification of that --- and all from non-Catholic commentators, by the way---here: Honor for the Mother of the King (Link)
A fuller, and even more interesting treatment of the analogy is here: Bathsheba vs. Mary as Queen Mother, Analogy and Counter-Type (Link)
It has been explained to you that Catholics do not worship Mary and do not hold her to be a goddess, but rather Christ our Lord's mother. Please cease circulating falsehoods about Catholic belief.
You yourself might take a moment to ponder the commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
There’s really no way to tell whether he errs from habitual ill-will or from invincible ignorance. I always prefer to assume the latter.
And Jesus gave birth to the church.
This is all actually pretty straightforward, if one is willing to believe that God tells the truth.
PERHAPS these few paragraphs illustrate rather profoundly for any thinking Proddy . . . and whatever few thinking, fair-minded RC’s there may be—how enormous the SPIRITUAL gulf is between us. One could say the intellectual gulf; the Biblical gulf; the philosophical gulf; the theological gulf; the dogma gulf . . . and those are clearly all huge enough. However, the only gulf that matters to God . . . is the TRULY SPIRITUAL GULF—THE GULF THAT BESPEAKS OF A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM OR NO FUNCTIONAL, ETERNALLY SALVIVIC RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. I’m still shocked. I’m newly despairing that even the most tenuous of functional bridges can be built between authentic Christian Proddys and any of the RC’s who believe the Pope’s paragraphs. How dreadfully sad.
Quixicated:
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Enraptured by the splendor of your
[NOT Jesus' beauty but Goddess Mary's]
heavenly beauty,
and impelled by the anxieties of the world, we cast ourselves into
your arms
[NOT THE BIBLICALLY EXHORTED ARMS OF JESUS—Goddess Mary’s Arms!]
, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Mary, confident of finding in
your most loving heart
[NOT the heart of Jesus broken and bled for all—the heart of Goddess Mary! Gag]
appeasement
[Ahhhh yet again we see more proof that the oft claimed on FR that Mary is merely the telephone operator—we see YET AGAIN that Goddess Mary is IN FACT seen as quite POWERFUL ENOUGH TO GRANT Heavenly, Goddess level APPEASEMENT. I guess like Islam, deceiving/prevaricating/dissembling/misleading/lying in behalf of the Ashteroth-Mary-Goddess cult is quite “righteous!”]
of our ardent desires, and a
safe harbor
[NOT Jesus' arms are the safe harbor but Goddess Mary's] from the tempests which beset us on every side.
Though degraded by our faults and overwhelmed by infinite misery, we admire and praise the
peerless richness
[ahhh--MORE GODDESS MARY = TO JESUS brazen blasphemy]
of sublime gifts with which God has filled you, above every other mere creature, from the first moment of your conception until the day on which, after your assumption into heaven [more UNBiblical deceptions from hell], He crowned you
Queen of the Universe
[MORE not-so-subtle shoehorning into equal status with Jesus].
O crystal fountain of faith
[Not JESUS; NOT HOLY SPIRIT but Goddess Mary is the fountain of faith in such a blasphemous construction on (un)reality], [Goddess Mary--NOT Holy Spirit or Jesus--bathe our minds with the eternal truths {SCRIPTURE DOCUMENTS THAT CHRIST IS THE TRUTH, THE LIVING TRUTH AND THE AUTHOR OF TRUTH--NOT Goddess Mary]
! O fragrant Lily of
all holiness
[Ahhhh Goddess Mary is the source of ALL holiness--Not God the Father; Not God the Son but Goddess Mary],
captivate our hearts
[Not hearts totally surrendered to GOD ALONE but CAPTURED BY GODDESS MARY alone]
with
your heavenly perfume
[NOT the sacred aroma of Jesus or Holy Spirit but the perfume of Goddess Mary]!
O
Conqueress of evil and death
[GAG TO THE MAX--Not Jesus on The Cross as SUPREME AND ONLY CONQUEROR OF EVIL AND DEATH but Goddess Mary! WHAT ABJECT BLASPHEMY!,
inspire in us a deep horror of sin, which makes the soul detestable to God and a slave of hell
[That would take some incredible mental and spiritual contortionist gymnastics for her to cause RC's to have a horror of the blasphemies of Mary worship! LOL]!
O well-beloved of God,
hear the ardent cry which rises up from every heart. [Here we go again—Ashteroth Goddess Mary as the MEDIATREX BETWEEN GOD AND MAN—ELBOWING JESUS OUT OF HIS EXCLUSIVE POSITION! INCREDIBLE!] Bend tenderly over our aching wounds.
Convert the wicked
[AGAIN--Blasphemously appealing vainly to Goddess Mary to CONVERT when that is Biblically the exclusive task of Holy Spirit!],
dry the tears of the afflicted and oppressed
[NOT HOLY SPIRIT--THE COMFORTER ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE BUT GODDESS MARY! GAG!],
comfort the poor and humble,
quench hatreds, sweeten harshness, safeguard the flower of purity in youth, protect the holy Church, make all men feel the attraction of Christian goodness
[MORE GODDESS POWERS USURPED FROM HOLY SPIRIT AND THE LORD JESUS! WHAT BRAZEN BLASPHEMY!].
In your name
[NOT IN THE EXCLUSIVELY PRICELESS NAME OF JESUS but in GODDESS MARY’S NAME! What UNMITIGATEDLY OUTRAGEOUS Blasphemy!],
resounding harmoniously in heaven, may they recognize that they are brothers, and that the nations are members of one family, upon which may there shine forth the sun of a universal and sincere peace.
[Ahhhhhh, the cry of the global government, one world religion springs forth from the Pope Himself—as facilitated by Goddess Mary. What an UN-surprise. I REALLY was NOT expecting that! WOW—straight out of the globalists’ playbook, script! Alice Bailey would be smiling from hell if there were any smiling in hell.]
Receive, O most sweet Mother,
our [arrogant blasphemous]humble supplications
[Oh, what’s all this clap trap about ONLY ASKING the purported eternal telephone operator MARY TO !MERELY! PRAY FOR US? Oh, right—SUPPLICATIONS TO THE GODDESS FOR DISPENSING HER HEAVENLY POWERS TOWARD her faithful worshipers! GAG]
, and above all
obtain for us
[OH, so, she’s not merely a telephone operator—THE GODDESS MARY IS EMPOWERED TO OBTAIN FOR FOLKS RESULTS THAT OBVIOUSLY Jesus or Holy Spirit are EVIDENTLY too busy or too uncaring to bother with??? /sarc (WHAT BLASPHEMY!)]
that, one day, happy with
you
[NOT WITH JESUS OR THE FATHER OR SPIRIT but with GODDESS MARY!!! What blasphemy!],
we may repeat before
your throne
[NOT The Father’s throne; NOT Jesus Throne; NOT Holy Spirit’s throne—but blasphemously GODDESS MARY’S THRONE! GAG]
that
hymn
[“hymns” are sung to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
BLASPHEMIES are sung to other idolatrous personages.]
which today is sung on earth around
your altars:
[CHRISTIAN, BIBLICAL ALTARS ARE MADE TO GOD ALONE.
BLASPHEMOUS, PAGAN, IDOLATROUS ALTARS are made to demonic god and goddess figures and caricatures from hell, in league with hell.]
You are all-beautiful
[Ahh, Evidently she cleverly and supremely powerfully STOLE ALL THE FATHER’S BEAUTY; ALL JESUS’ BEAUTY AND ALL HOLY SPIRIT’S BEAUTY so that now in the Vatican Ashteroth-Mary-Goddess Cult’s construction on Heavenly reality—ONLY MARY HAS “ALL” THE HEAVENLY BEAUTY! GAG TO THE MAX],
O Mary!
You are the glory
[WHAT OUTRAGEOUSLY HIDEOUS BLASPHEMY! WHAT BRAZEN BLASPHEMY! WHAT EXTREMELY HORRIFIC USURPATION OF GOD’S EXCLUSIVE GLORY; CHRIST’S EXCLUSIVE GLORY; HOLY SPIRIT’S EXCLUSIVE GLORY! Clearly many RC’s need to do a word study on GOD’S GLORY in The authentic unrubberized BIBLE],.
you are the joy
[GAG—NOT Jesus the Biblical source of JOY UNSPEAKABLE but Goddess Mary! Gag],
you are the honor
[WRONG AGAIN! SCRIPTURE IS CLEAR THAT ALL HONOR GOES TO JESUS—THE LAMB FOR SINNERS SLAIN.].
of our people! Amen.
Sorry, John Grace, If y’all don’t FORCEFULLY AND THOROUGHLY repudiate such BRAZENLY OUTRAGEOUS BLASPHEMY, I must warn y’all that y’all are on EXTREMELY SHAKY ground.
I’m still stunned after closer examination of the Popes horrific blasphemous declarations. I guess he’s trying to out blaspheme the Ferraro sources. May God have mercy.
When I set out to examine the paragraphs more closely, I expected to find a few examples of blasphemy in the Pope’s paragraphs. I did NOT expect to find practically every 2-3rd phrase OUTRAGEOUSLY BLASPHEMOUS. Incredible.
Of course we should be prepared for the RC’s to now WAILLLL interminably and with great haughty indignation about how WORDS DON’T MEAN WHAT THEY MEAN. About how their Vatican Ashteroth-Mary-Goddess Cult’s DAFFYNITIONARY has to be understood as only the IN-GROUP INITIATES “PROPERLY CATHECHIZED” CAN UNDERSTAND such DAFFYNITIONS. Howe, therefore, rational, plain English Proddy understandings JUST HAVE to be wrong by daffynition—particularly in the Vatican Alice-In-Wonderland-School-of-UNTHEOLOGY sphere of unreality.
Oh, and how it’s all just hyperbolic affectionate metaphor that doesn’t mean anything. Which is obviously why they throw so much dust in the air; wail so shrilly to the mods so chronically and why they make such an intolerable fuss when folks tell them THE PLAIN AND OBVIOUS TRUTH. Some part of them must know they are deceiving even themselves and walking on very thin spiritual ice. Their rage is actually against the truth more than even against Proddys who are so brazen and so caring as to tell them THE TRUTH about their idolatries and blasphemies. If it didn’t REALLY mean anything of substance, they’d just silently slink off and pretend no one had caught them at such blasphemies. The degree of their fuss and outrage is a good indication that some part of their hardened hearts and deluded spirits and minds really still does have a glimmer of understanding about HOW OUTRAGEOUS their blasphemies are.
I prefer to avoid contending with your posts out of respect for our relationship.
However, I find on this topic that your assertions are far more full of double-speak than I think becomes you by a wide margin.
And, it is too important an issue for me to be totally silent on.
However, I’ll leave it at that as far as your posts are concerned.
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
THX THX.
WELL PUT.
AND FAR MORE BIBLICALLY PLAUSIBLE than the Pope’s blasphemous spew.
“or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.”
I’m guessing you are referring to Michael Servetus - and not Mother Mary?
Luke 7:28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
ABSOLUTELY INDEED.
Yet, on this score, they ABSOLUTELY REBEL against plain Scripture.
There's consequences for rebelling against God's Word.
INDEED.
WELL PUT. WELL PUT.
THX.
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