Posted on 07/26/2013 7:56:13 PM PDT by marshmallow
Fatima, Harissa, Damascus, Samalut, Assiut, Zeitun and many other places where the Virgin appeared are the destination of incessant pilgrimages from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iran. Pilgrims in search of physical but also spiritual healing; spontaneous and mystical prayer and not the schematic and formal verses of official Islam. The iconoclast Salafists destroy places of pilgrimage every year. But the devotion to Mary is growing, also fueled by the stories of the Koran. The spiritual dialogue between Christians and Muslims is much more promising than cultural, theological or political dialogue.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Each year millions of Muslims come on pilgrimage to the Catholic Marian shrines. Not only to the major shrines such as Fatima in Portugal or Harissa in Lebanon, but also to Egypt, Syria, Iran. Muslims - especially Muslim women - go to give thanks to the Madonna or great Christian saints, like St. Charbel or St. George.
In the eyes of many Westerners these gestures seem ridiculous or false: they speak of apparitions, of prayers, but then there are massacres, killings, violence in the name of religion!
Like it or not, the religious phenomenon is alive in Latin America, in Africa, in Asia. When you see millions of Hindus go to bathe in the dirty water of the sacred river it may seem like a ridiculous thing. Yet for those who do it is an act of purification, of prayer. The West is tolerant and benevolent towards other religions, but its attitude towards Christians is increasingly hypercritical. The West is not post-Hindu, post-Islam. It is only post-Christian!
The point is that in the West, the supernatural is considered outdated, it is branded as mythology, illusion, instead the West is forever denouncing the difficulties that neither miracles nor pilgrimages can erase.
But in the rest of the world the spiritual.....
(Excerpt) Read more at asianews.it ...
In Evangelical/Pentecostal/Charismatic churches, Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." and means that ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
It seems that in the RC church (and it would seem apparently, a few Protestant denominations), that the scripture passage reads, "For all* have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." and means that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, except:
* Mary, possibly Zechariah, possibly Elizabeth and whomever else our human leaders (Priest, Bishops and Popes) deem to be sinless.
IF your comment about the word "ALL" references Luke 1:5 “ …WALKING in ALL THE COMMANDMENTS and ORDINANCES of the Lord BLAMELESS”, then I direct your attention to Luke 18:18-23, Jesus’ discussion with the rich young ruler. Like Zechariah, he too, kept, “all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord” yet he could not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It was NOT because he was rich, but that he valued his possessions ABOVE his love of God.
Unfortunately, it seems to me that the RCC is like the Pharisees, adding layer upon layer of man-made rules and sacraments, becoming a ‘religion’ and losing sight of the relationship that Our Creator and Saviour desperately wants with us! It has been this way for much of the last 1500 years with the RC church and I see this with a number of Protestant denominations as well. When ANY denomination becomes more about ‘tradition’ than relationship, they are off track. With this Pope, I see a humble man and I pray that he gets back to a style of church like was practiced in the Apostolic days.
Begrudge? I just asked about the neighbors. Sorry I got the wrong neighborhood but folks down where I keep my ten oil drums and marine grade plywood don’t live on their boats.
For we are to God a sweet smell of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the smell of death to death; and to the other the smell of life to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. (II Cor. 2:15-17)
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. (II Cor. 4:1-2)
“The book is what Yehova provided.”
What year was that?
“Well, let’s not wax personal now. That’s not allowed.”
Really? When was your bragging not allowed?
I can’t see or believe that Muslims would go to Fatima (I’ve been there as a Christian) to worship or be one with the God of Abraham, Joseph, David and Jesus. Rather I tend to believe Muslims going to Fatima are for Taquia(?) or infiltration into the Christian world to usurp that world. The intent or method goes back to Mohammed but the origin goes back to Hagar who was expelled from the tent of Abraham with their son Ishmail who I believe was the root for Mohammed’s crusade against Christians as so prominent in Saudi Arabia.
Yeah, sounds like “begrudging” to me.
What “bragging” is that, narses?
Your own words - or is that modesty at work and I am unable to asppreciate how yachting and modesty go together?
LOL. Well, some people go through life with Limburger cheese on their upper lip and think the whole world stinks when they could just wipe their own upper lip and everything would improve for them.
Ask around, maybe Superslick CLG stinks and people who apply it liberally end up in the same boat as the Limburger wearing crowd.
Well now, isn’t someone just being as nasty as he wants to be! Who’s the one complaining about stink here?
Interesting that some Roman Catholics bash Prods, and then when there is a bit of pushback the protests spew forth. In the last year or two this has turned into a Catholic board, and you feel persecuted? Laughable.
When my daughter was 6 and nearly died from a serious bone marrow disease, she took 2 Lourdes baths and became stable immediately afterwards. Her bone marrow was at 90% a week later when tested at Johns Hopkins and the doctors there could not explain it. Her bone marrow had been at less than 10% prior and there was no explanation.
Please do not diss Lourdes without knowing the facts.
—— and the doctors there could not explain it. Her bone marrow had been at less than 10% prior and there was no explanation.
Please do not diss Lourdes without knowing the facts ——
Don’t confuse us with facts. ;-)
Actually your understanding is off a bit. there are three conditions for sin to occur: 1) It must be a serious/ grave matter.
2) The person must have full knowledge of what they are doing.
3) The act must be intentional.
Consequently a child that has not reached the age of reason cannot sin. Neither can a person that is mentally challenged or incapacitated.
This could explain the hostility that some non-Catholics have toward Christ's miracles, regardless of their knowledge of the facts.
Are you actually playing the, "God-loves-Catholics-more-than-Protestants, ha-ha!" game?
That's quite childish.
Who exactly is validating these deceptions and demonic parlor tricks as, quote, "Christ's miracles"? To what end may I ask?
A Catholic friend of mine swore up and down that he and his two sisters watched together in awe (or horror) as the lips of "Mary" were moving. IN A PAINTING. This occurred at the home of a friend of his in Marlboro, NJ some years ago at what had already became the site of an outdoor "Marian Shrine".
Simply and succinctly put. Exactly the case.
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