Thanks for the prayers—but don’t pray for me to give up my Roman Catholic faith, the beauty of its liturgy and its traditions, the priestly tradition, the beauty of Mary and her answer; the papacy. Pray for my arthritic hip; pray that my lung cancer does not return; pray for my son to find a job; pray for the millions of aborted babies. If I am in such a state of sin and apostasy, why should God answer my prayers and the prayers of any Catholic? Jesus died on that cross for me, and you, and all. It’s time for these condemnations to stop.
Well, since it pinged you enough to reply, maybe The Lord will use these discussions to reach your heart. All the matters of this world mean nothing; only that you know Jesus Christ as Lord -- not Mary, not priests, not "beautiful liturgy" that practices the re-sacrifice of Christ and makes it cannibalistic --
And I will certainly be more than happy to pray not only for you, but for your son to find a job and for an easing of your arthritic hip and the continuing remission of your cancer, Lord willing. And better I pray to The Lord directly for you than for others to pray useless prayers to "saints" and Mary who cannot hear you.
I do pray and trust that The Lord will do these things for you.
Hoss
Thanks for the prayers—but don’t pray for me to give up my Roman Catholic faith, the beauty of its liturgy and its traditions, the priestly tradition, the beauty of Mary and her answer; the papacy. Pray for my arthritic hip; pray that my lung cancer does not return; pray for my son to find a job; pray for the millions of aborted babies. If I am in such a state of sin and apostasy, why should God answer my prayers and the prayers of any Catholic? Jesus died on that cross for me, and you, and all. It’s time for these condemnations to stop.Yes! We are in your corner!
Amen. Praying for you.
Saying a prayer for you and your family.
English profs are my favorite type of person.
Certainly the physical infirmities need prayer, but the Lord reproved the Jewish leaders for their false doctrines, the beauty of the liturgy and traditions notwithstanding, as if not Scriptural then they are ugly to God.
the priestly tradition, the beauty of Mary and her answer; the papacy.
Yet none of them is Scriptural: There simply is not even on NT pastors (besides Christ) who is ever given the distinctive title of hiereus (priest from preost), but they are only called presbuteros (senior/elder) or episkopos (superintendent/overseer) whiich denotes on office. (Titus 1:5-7)
Nor are any ever shown changing bread into human flesh and or dispensing it to others in order to obtain spiritual life. But instead of dispensing bread as part of their ordained function the primary work of NT pastors is that of prayer and preaching. (Act 6:3,4) "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 4:2) More .
And while I am sure while the only Queen of Heaven in Scripture was beautiful, the Mary of Catholicism is not that of Scripture, with the multitude of virtues powers and position which parallel Christ, and are unique to Him, and Scripture knows nothing of the uncensored adulation of Catholics, including popes, such as
an almost almighty demigoddess to whom "Jesus owes His Precious Blood" to,
• whose [Mary] merits we are saved by,
• who "had to suffer, as He did, all the consequences of sin,"
• and was bodily assumed into Heaven, which is a fact (unsubstantiated in Scripture or even early Tradition) because the Roman church says it is, and "was elevated to a certain affinity with the Heavenly Father,"
• and whose power now "is all but unlimited,"
• for indeed she "seems to have the same power as God,"
• "surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven,"
• so that "the Holy Spirit acts only by the Most Blessed Virgin, his Spouse."
• and that “sometimes salvation is quicker if we remember Mary's name then if we invoked the name of the Lord Jesus,"
• for indeed saints have "but one advocate," and that is Mary, who "alone art truly loving and solicitous for our salvation,"
• Moreover, "there is no grace which Mary cannot dispose of as her own, which is not given to her for this purpose,"
• and who has "authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven,"
• including "assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels,"
• whom the good angels "unceasingly call out to," greeting her "countless times each day with 'Hail, Mary,' while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests,"
• and who (obviously) cannot "be honored to excess,"
• and who is (obviously) the glory of Catholic people, whose "honor and dignity surpass the whole of creation." Sources and more.
Nor does Scripture teach perpetual assured infallibility of church office as per Rome, or as necessary for preservation of truth, nor that that Peter was the "rock" of Mt. 16:18 upon which the church is built, interpreting Mt. 16:18, rather than upon the rock of the faith confessed by Peter, thus Christ Himself.
Or that all the churches looked to Peter as the bishop of Rome as the first of a line of supreme heads reigning over all the churches, and having the last word in questions affecting the whole Church.
Nor did it ever record or teach any apostolic successors (like for James: Acts 12:1,2) after Judas who was to maintain the original 12: Rv. 21:14) or that any apostolic successors were elected by voting, versus casting lots (no politics). (Acts 1:15ff) Instead, presbuteros were made overseers of the church. (Act 20:28)