Posted on 08/15/2013 7:03:11 PM PDT by annalex
Once a woman in the crowd surrounding Christ and His disciples cries out to Him:
Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. (Luke 11:27)
What is it? We have, clearly, an act of venerating Mary. Note that the Blessed Virgin is venerated properly: not on her own but as the mother of Christ. Yet the reason for venerating is indeed concerning: it is her physiological and physiologically unique relationship with Jesus that is emphasized. That is not yet paganism with its crude theories of gods giving birth to other gods, but it is lacking proper focus and Jesus corrects it:
Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. (Luke 11:28)
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| The Virgin with the Child on her knees and a prophet pointing at the star. Catacomb of Priscilla, late 2nd c. Source |
Having gotten past this linguistic hurdle, we can understand clearly what this passage, Luke 11:27-28, does: it establishes veneration of saints based not on their blood relation to Christ but on their obedience to God. It is in that sense that we venerate Our Lady: given that Christ is the Word of God personified, she heard and kept both Him in person as her Child and His teaching, figuratively. In Mary the essence of sainthood is seen in the flesh as well as in the mind. We could say that by the late second century at the latest, when we find evidence of the veneration of both the prophets and the Mother of God in the catacombs, the two reasons to venerate a saint: his martyrdom as in the case of Polycarp, or his obedience to the Word, as in Mary, -- unite into a single practice.
It kinda would limit you to two chances and after that, too bad, no more hands to cut off - you're doomed! ;o)
Go over to the Gospel of Mark 10:29-30, and read a little more detail on that topic from Jesus:
Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
Gamecock has quite a collection of bizarre Catholic comments on his profile page, as well.
Riiiight...but everyone ELSE is?
The Jews had/have what are called "mikvahs" and the practice of baptism in the New Testament telling is not all that different from what the Jews already understood. Before Christ, for example, Gentile proselytes/converts to Judaism underwent a "baptism/mikvah". John the Baptist was not introducing a new ritual, but, the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" definitely WAS a new idea that Jesus brought to the believers and it was something that was not repeated in the life of a follower. It was symbolized by a water baptism ritual, but spiritually occurred upon repentance and belief. The Holy Spirit indwelled the Christian and is the "earnest of our inheritance until the day of redemption".
GMTA
There are people in the world who think that all Americans fall into that category and so by default, think that Americans can’t be saved, because to them we are rich.
I guess Solomon is screwed.
True, but Iscool is not Church.
You don't know what Particular and General Judgments are?
When each one of us dies, we are judged at that moment for our works. That is particular judgment (Hebrews 9:27). It determines whether one is saved or not. The general judgment will happen at the Second Coming of Christ. It will not contradict the particular judgment for anyone, but everyone will receive his body back, the salvation or reprobation of everyone will become public, the movement of time will stop and those who were saved live in their glorified bodies, while those who were condemned suffer torment in their resurrected bodies (Matthew 25:31-46).
it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; [27] Who needeth not daily (as the other priests) to offer sacrifices first for his own sins, and then for the people' s: for this he did once, in offering himself. (Hebrews 7:26-27)This is what makes the Holy Mass different than Levitical priesthood.
LOL. I'll go back to ignoring you, I think.
You are correct that the Bible has mention of many types of baptism. Relevant to us is the baptism of St. John the Baptist, and the Christian baptism that replaced it. The Christian baptism is in water and, like any sacrament, of the Holy Ghost at the same time: visible sign of invisible grace.
I have a wife and children that need my care. I'd love to be in a monastery but that is not where God placed me.
It is very good that you study the venerated fathers of the Church.
No, not always; we give what we can. But it is a good and pious deed to give the entire excess to the Church.
We are all judged by our works, Christians, Muslim, and Atheists (Matthew 25:31-46); and those who are saved become Catholic in heaven, for we don’t have a Muslim heaven and a Jewish haven, and a Protestant heaven but solely the Catholic heaven.
Ah, OK. I thought you were arguing something different.
Why, when we praise a saint generally, it is God who put these works in the saint and the glory belongs to God. The gospel is filled with some people being praised and some condemned; an intelligent reader would know that when, for example, John the Baptist is praised (Matthew 11:11) God is ultimately being glorified.
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