Man's chief study nowadays, seems to be how they may best do without good works. they will go hanging and idling about God's vineyard, rather than come up, and be hired into it.
St. Thomas More (16th cent.)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thoughts
God has created me with free will, If I have sinned: ** I ** have sinned ….
I, not fate, not chance, not the devil.
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD) on Sin
I, not fate, not chance, not the devil.
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD) on Sin
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
It's been a while
It's been a very long time since my last post. So here's to a fresh start.
The recollection of an injury is ... a rusty arrow and poison for the soul.
St. Francis of Paola (1416-1507AD) on Bitterness
The recollection of an injury is ... a rusty arrow and poison for the soul.
St. Francis of Paola (1416-1507AD) on Bitterness
Monday, May 24, 2010
How long will we allow?
It's interesting really, "politically correct" is our version of "re-education" training. No longer is right correct. Political correctness embraces what we once knew was wrong. Many of us know that hasn't changed. What was wrong is still wrong. It will always be wrong. That will never change. What was right is still right and good. As a society, we've lost what is good and have to endure the horror of the trumpeters of evil as good. We were warned in scripture that this day would come. Many are not surprised.
But, this too will pass.
But, this too will pass.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Immigration
I'm heartily SICK of the statements being made by people about how there's some sort of prejudice involved with the laws governing immigration, especially the new law in Arizona.
The whole conversation is annoying. I'M AN IMMIGRANT. My parents spent the better part of a year getting all the information and documentation together so we could emigrate to this country. We did everything legally. I carry my "green card" with me at all times, because it's the law.
To say that it's profiling to look for Mexicans coming up illegally over the Mexican/US border among the people is nonsense. Why would they be looking for anything else?
The fact that they use that argument proves only that they're insane.
The whole conversation is annoying. I'M AN IMMIGRANT. My parents spent the better part of a year getting all the information and documentation together so we could emigrate to this country. We did everything legally. I carry my "green card" with me at all times, because it's the law.
To say that it's profiling to look for Mexicans coming up illegally over the Mexican/US border among the people is nonsense. Why would they be looking for anything else?
The fact that they use that argument proves only that they're insane.
Friday, May 1, 2009
What have we become?
A friend sent me the article about the elderly nursing home patient in Australia who was mauled by mice. This was my response to that article.
I was a geriatric nurse for about 10 years. The reason I quit and the reason I would never go back is that nursing homes are a dumping ground for people who’s families don’t want to take responsibility for their elders. They are warehoused there to die and they know it. The facilities consider the patients money making commodities and they are stripped of their humanity. They are no longer persons who have value but a product to make money with.
How low our society has fallen in shucking it’s duty to our elders.
I swore to myself many years ago that my parents will NEVER be warehoused. The article you sent is one of the reasons. I spent several years as a contract nurse and worked in MANY facilities. One of my most horrific memories was of facilities infested with cockroaches. It happened more than once. Debilitated persons are unable to defend themselves. In one facility I was the charge nurse several times on the graveyard shift. I had sixty patients and one CAN (nurses assistant). I had to do laundry before we could even do a bed check. That meant that incontinent patients were forced to lie in their own excrement until I could do enough laundry to clean them up.
Aside from having to do laundry there were meds, checking on the more severely ill patients, tube feedings for those no longer able to eat, treatments for wounds, records, and toileting patients, taking vitals (temperatures, blood pressures, etc.). It was a nightmare.
The nursing shortage is due to the interference of government regulations by people who have never had to work up close and personal with the sick, elderly and dying.
Can you tell this is my personal soapbox?
It is a weak, corrupt and dying society that treats it’s most vulnerable, the unborn citizens and the elderly citizens with such utter contempt.
I was a geriatric nurse for about 10 years. The reason I quit and the reason I would never go back is that nursing homes are a dumping ground for people who’s families don’t want to take responsibility for their elders. They are warehoused there to die and they know it. The facilities consider the patients money making commodities and they are stripped of their humanity. They are no longer persons who have value but a product to make money with.
How low our society has fallen in shucking it’s duty to our elders.
I swore to myself many years ago that my parents will NEVER be warehoused. The article you sent is one of the reasons. I spent several years as a contract nurse and worked in MANY facilities. One of my most horrific memories was of facilities infested with cockroaches. It happened more than once. Debilitated persons are unable to defend themselves. In one facility I was the charge nurse several times on the graveyard shift. I had sixty patients and one CAN (nurses assistant). I had to do laundry before we could even do a bed check. That meant that incontinent patients were forced to lie in their own excrement until I could do enough laundry to clean them up.
Aside from having to do laundry there were meds, checking on the more severely ill patients, tube feedings for those no longer able to eat, treatments for wounds, records, and toileting patients, taking vitals (temperatures, blood pressures, etc.). It was a nightmare.
The nursing shortage is due to the interference of government regulations by people who have never had to work up close and personal with the sick, elderly and dying.
Can you tell this is my personal soapbox?
It is a weak, corrupt and dying society that treats it’s most vulnerable, the unborn citizens and the elderly citizens with such utter contempt.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
How Catholics pray and why
"For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5 )
Does this verse really mean that there can not be other mediator’s between God and man? To answer this we must first note that the Great Apostle Paul was discussing a specific type of mediation, the payment for our sins and the ransom of our salvation (1 Tim 2:6), which was achieved on the Cross.
This ransom was paid for the blood of Christ, and in this specific sense there is only one mediator or redeemer. No pope, bishop, priest, or authoritative Catholic writer, ever claimed for the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Anne, or any of the other saints, the mediator ship of "redemption," or "ransom," "For All." They all claimed that this all-inclusive power belongs exclusively to Jesus Christ, the Supreme Mediator "between God and men and that the saints are mediators only in the secondary sense of the term.
But in the general sense of the term anyone can mediate or intercede on our behalf to God the Father for our benefit? Most Protestants both accept and use this form of mediation, as did the apostles. It is in this general sense that find the great Apostle Paul’s in his epistles asking the early Christian to intercede or mediate with God, through prayer, on his behalf:
· Rom. 15:30, Col. 4:3, I Th. 5:25, II Th. 3:1, Heb. 13:18-19
We also Find St Paul himself mediating with God, through prayer, on the behalf of others:
· Rom. 1:8; I Cor 1:4; II Cor 1:3; Eph. 1:15-16; Col. 1:3; I Th. 1:2, 2:13, 3:9; II Th. 1:3, 11, 2:13; Phm. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:3;
The power of this mediation through prayer is clearly shown in the scriptures, in his second epistle to the Corinthians (1:11) St Paul thanks the Church in Corinth for its prayers on his behalf, and assures them that these prayers were answered. In the Book of Act's we read how the whole Church prayed for the released of St. Peter from prison, and how these prayers were answered. St. James in his epistle ( 5:16) list Paying for one another as a important Christian act.
It is in this general sense that Catholics ask Mary and the Saints to mediate on our behalf. For who is in a better position to petition God, on our behalf? "The prayer of the just availeth much," says St. James (5:16).
Surely the canonized saints are foremost among "the just"; having conformed to the will of God in an heroic degree. These Saints have already achieved the glory of heaven, the friendship of Christ, and see the very face of our God. Mary, St. Anne, and the other saints with Christ in heaven, are personal friends of Christ; hence they have more influence with Him than have we humans. Therefore Catholics go indirectly to Christ through the petitions of the saints, as well as to Him directly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
only one mediator?
Does not Scripture in 1 Tim. 2:5 tell us that there is only one mediator? Why, then do Catholics pray to the Saints and to Mary?
As a matter of fact Protestants as well as Catholics do use prayers of SECONDARY mediators. Do they not ask their minister to pray for them? Do they not ask their friends to pray for them? If no SECONDARY mediator is necessary, then why ask them to pray for you? Why not go directly to God?
As with all Christians we believe that all graces come to us through Christ as the PRIMARY mediator. This does not mean, however, that we should not go to God the Father or to the Holy Ghost directly.
The logical inference from the literal translation of 1 Tim. 2:5 is that we must ALWAYS go to Christ first. On the contrary, we have the words of Christ Himself telling us that when we pray we should say, "Our Father who art in heaven, etc."
That the text of 1 Tim. 2:5 is NOT to be taken literally is evident from other sources of St. Paul."I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God." Rom. 15:30
Likewise in the Apocalypse (or Revelations) we read: "And when He had opened the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four ancients fell down before the Lamb, having each of them a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS." Apoc. 5:8
Also in this same inspired Book: "And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel."
The Catholic belief is based upon the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ,., that all baptized Christians are members of the Mystical Body of Christ and that all are working for the same objectives, the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
The very act of going to an intermediary and asking him to go to Christ is an acknowledgment that we believe all graces and blessings can come only from Christ.
It does not seem logical that we be permitted to ask living human beings to intercede for us, and yet be forbidden to ask the saints of God to pray for us. We pray to Mary because her influence with her Son is greater than that of any other saint.
On earth the power of this intercession was proved at the marriage feast of Cana where Christ performed His first miracle before the time set by Divine Providence, because Mary had asked Him to do so. (St. John 2:1-11).
The power of this intercession still exists in heaven since the mother-Son relationship still exists and because we have so much evidence of this intercession here on earth, i.e., the apparitions at Lourdes, Fatima, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why do you Catholics worship Mary?
It would be mortal sin for any Catholic to regard Mary as a goddess. If a Catholic expressed such a belief to a priest in Confession he would be refused absolution unless he promised to renounce such as an absurd idea.
We Catholics do not give worship to Mary, the Mother of Christ, but what we do give to her is the best that we can in the giving, namely, homage, veneration, reverence, but never worship.
We have enough intelligence to know that Mary the woman who gave human bone, human flesh, and human feature to the Savior of Mankind was not a goddess but a human member of the human race. Although she is a member of our race we hail her as the First Lady of Heaven and of Earth.
If any Catholic dared to worship Mary in the same way as he worships Christ, he would be guilty of a most serious sin, and no Catholic priest could give him absolution unless he promised never to do so again. But that does not mean that one must deprive Mary of all honor.
Of all the misconceptions about Catholic belief and practice, this one is the most absurd. Catholics are just as aware as Protestants that Mary was a human creature, and therefore not entitled to the honors which are reserved to God alone. What many non-Catholics mistake for adoration is a very profound love and veneration, nothing more.
Catholics do not "worship" We do not make her equal To God, nor a substitute for God, nor a sort of a ''goddess." We consider her a creature of God -- but the purest of creatures, and the one whom God must love above all creatures because of her purity and her function as the mother of the Redeemer. Instead of worshipping Mary, we venerate or honor her.
Mary is not adored, first because God forbids it, and secondly because the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which is based on Divine Law, forbids it. Canon Law 1255 of the 1918 Codex strictly forbids adoration of anyone other than the Holy Trinity
We honor Mary: Because she is the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. Certainly this fact alone makes her unique among all the millions of creatures of all times. We honor men and women of the world for less dignity and less important work.
Because Mary was honored by God the Father, Who chose her as the mother of His Divine Son, and sent His angel to announce this choice to her. "Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David, and the virgin's name was Mary." St. Luke l :26, 27
Because the Son loved her as His own mother. "'But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law." Galatians 4:4
The following texts of Scripture demonstrate the honor paid to Mary.
The sincere seeker will want to read the entire texts.
Gen. 3:15 -[Through] the "WOMAN", [He] would crush the head of the
serpent. Can any other woman But Mary be Suggested??
Isa. 7:14 - Prophecy of the virgin birth.
Luke 1:26-28 - The Annunciation by the angel.
Luke 1:39-56 - The Visitation: "Blessed art thou among women...."
Matt. 2 :11 - Visit of the Magi.
Matt. 2:14-21 - Flight into Egypt.
Luke 2:41-50 - Loss of the child Jesus in the temple.
Luke 2:51, 52 - The Child went down to Nazareth and was subject to
them.
John 2:1-11 - Marriage feast at Cana.
John 2:12 - She went to Carphanaum with Jesus.
John 19:25-28 - Foot of cross.
Mark 16:1-10 - At tomb.
Acts 1:15 - Pentecost.
Apocalypse (Revelations) 12:1-17 - The "WOMAN" clothed with the sun.
What other woman can be suggested but Mary?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vain Repetition?
When you say the Rosary, is this not vain repetition condemned by Matt. 5:7?
The Rosary is indeed a repetition of prayers ... but NOT vain repetition ... or useless repetition.
In this passage of St. Matthew, our Lord is condemning the Pharisees who "loved to stand in the corners of the streets that they might be seen by men." They talked to God only to be seen by men.
Our Lord never condemned repetition in prayer. He Himself repeated the self-same prayer three times in the Garden of Gethsemani. (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44).
The blind man repeated his prayer and was cured by Christ. (Matt. 20:31). We are told that the angels of God in heaven never cease repeating, night and day, the canticle: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." Apoc. 4:8.
Repeated prayers are not necessarily mechanical or unnecessary. The girl who is in love does not rebuke her boy friend for repeating the statement that he loves her.
In the Rosary, Catholics repeat the Scriptural prayers: the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6) and the Angelic Salutation, or "Hail Mary," found in Luke 1:28.
" Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it. -- St. Augustine (354-430) "
Does this verse really mean that there can not be other mediator’s between God and man? To answer this we must first note that the Great Apostle Paul was discussing a specific type of mediation, the payment for our sins and the ransom of our salvation (1 Tim 2:6), which was achieved on the Cross.
This ransom was paid for the blood of Christ, and in this specific sense there is only one mediator or redeemer. No pope, bishop, priest, or authoritative Catholic writer, ever claimed for the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Anne, or any of the other saints, the mediator ship of "redemption," or "ransom," "For All." They all claimed that this all-inclusive power belongs exclusively to Jesus Christ, the Supreme Mediator "between God and men and that the saints are mediators only in the secondary sense of the term.
But in the general sense of the term anyone can mediate or intercede on our behalf to God the Father for our benefit? Most Protestants both accept and use this form of mediation, as did the apostles. It is in this general sense that find the great Apostle Paul’s in his epistles asking the early Christian to intercede or mediate with God, through prayer, on his behalf:
· Rom. 15:30, Col. 4:3, I Th. 5:25, II Th. 3:1, Heb. 13:18-19
We also Find St Paul himself mediating with God, through prayer, on the behalf of others:
· Rom. 1:8; I Cor 1:4; II Cor 1:3; Eph. 1:15-16; Col. 1:3; I Th. 1:2, 2:13, 3:9; II Th. 1:3, 11, 2:13; Phm. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:3;
The power of this mediation through prayer is clearly shown in the scriptures, in his second epistle to the Corinthians (1:11) St Paul thanks the Church in Corinth for its prayers on his behalf, and assures them that these prayers were answered. In the Book of Act's we read how the whole Church prayed for the released of St. Peter from prison, and how these prayers were answered. St. James in his epistle ( 5:16) list Paying for one another as a important Christian act.
It is in this general sense that Catholics ask Mary and the Saints to mediate on our behalf. For who is in a better position to petition God, on our behalf? "The prayer of the just availeth much," says St. James (5:16).
Surely the canonized saints are foremost among "the just"; having conformed to the will of God in an heroic degree. These Saints have already achieved the glory of heaven, the friendship of Christ, and see the very face of our God. Mary, St. Anne, and the other saints with Christ in heaven, are personal friends of Christ; hence they have more influence with Him than have we humans. Therefore Catholics go indirectly to Christ through the petitions of the saints, as well as to Him directly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
only one mediator?
Does not Scripture in 1 Tim. 2:5 tell us that there is only one mediator? Why, then do Catholics pray to the Saints and to Mary?
As a matter of fact Protestants as well as Catholics do use prayers of SECONDARY mediators. Do they not ask their minister to pray for them? Do they not ask their friends to pray for them? If no SECONDARY mediator is necessary, then why ask them to pray for you? Why not go directly to God?
As with all Christians we believe that all graces come to us through Christ as the PRIMARY mediator. This does not mean, however, that we should not go to God the Father or to the Holy Ghost directly.
The logical inference from the literal translation of 1 Tim. 2:5 is that we must ALWAYS go to Christ first. On the contrary, we have the words of Christ Himself telling us that when we pray we should say, "Our Father who art in heaven, etc."
That the text of 1 Tim. 2:5 is NOT to be taken literally is evident from other sources of St. Paul."I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God." Rom. 15:30
Likewise in the Apocalypse (or Revelations) we read: "And when He had opened the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four ancients fell down before the Lamb, having each of them a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS." Apoc. 5:8
Also in this same inspired Book: "And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel."
The Catholic belief is based upon the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ,., that all baptized Christians are members of the Mystical Body of Christ and that all are working for the same objectives, the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
The very act of going to an intermediary and asking him to go to Christ is an acknowledgment that we believe all graces and blessings can come only from Christ.
It does not seem logical that we be permitted to ask living human beings to intercede for us, and yet be forbidden to ask the saints of God to pray for us. We pray to Mary because her influence with her Son is greater than that of any other saint.
On earth the power of this intercession was proved at the marriage feast of Cana where Christ performed His first miracle before the time set by Divine Providence, because Mary had asked Him to do so. (St. John 2:1-11).
The power of this intercession still exists in heaven since the mother-Son relationship still exists and because we have so much evidence of this intercession here on earth, i.e., the apparitions at Lourdes, Fatima, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why do you Catholics worship Mary?
It would be mortal sin for any Catholic to regard Mary as a goddess. If a Catholic expressed such a belief to a priest in Confession he would be refused absolution unless he promised to renounce such as an absurd idea.
We Catholics do not give worship to Mary, the Mother of Christ, but what we do give to her is the best that we can in the giving, namely, homage, veneration, reverence, but never worship.
We have enough intelligence to know that Mary the woman who gave human bone, human flesh, and human feature to the Savior of Mankind was not a goddess but a human member of the human race. Although she is a member of our race we hail her as the First Lady of Heaven and of Earth.
If any Catholic dared to worship Mary in the same way as he worships Christ, he would be guilty of a most serious sin, and no Catholic priest could give him absolution unless he promised never to do so again. But that does not mean that one must deprive Mary of all honor.
Of all the misconceptions about Catholic belief and practice, this one is the most absurd. Catholics are just as aware as Protestants that Mary was a human creature, and therefore not entitled to the honors which are reserved to God alone. What many non-Catholics mistake for adoration is a very profound love and veneration, nothing more.
Catholics do not "worship" We do not make her equal To God, nor a substitute for God, nor a sort of a ''goddess." We consider her a creature of God -- but the purest of creatures, and the one whom God must love above all creatures because of her purity and her function as the mother of the Redeemer. Instead of worshipping Mary, we venerate or honor her.
Mary is not adored, first because God forbids it, and secondly because the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which is based on Divine Law, forbids it. Canon Law 1255 of the 1918 Codex strictly forbids adoration of anyone other than the Holy Trinity
We honor Mary: Because she is the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. Certainly this fact alone makes her unique among all the millions of creatures of all times. We honor men and women of the world for less dignity and less important work.
Because Mary was honored by God the Father, Who chose her as the mother of His Divine Son, and sent His angel to announce this choice to her. "Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David, and the virgin's name was Mary." St. Luke l :26, 27
Because the Son loved her as His own mother. "'But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law." Galatians 4:4
The following texts of Scripture demonstrate the honor paid to Mary.
The sincere seeker will want to read the entire texts.
Gen. 3:15 -[Through] the "WOMAN", [He] would crush the head of the
serpent. Can any other woman But Mary be Suggested??
Isa. 7:14 - Prophecy of the virgin birth.
Luke 1:26-28 - The Annunciation by the angel.
Luke 1:39-56 - The Visitation: "Blessed art thou among women...."
Matt. 2 :11 - Visit of the Magi.
Matt. 2:14-21 - Flight into Egypt.
Luke 2:41-50 - Loss of the child Jesus in the temple.
Luke 2:51, 52 - The Child went down to Nazareth and was subject to
them.
John 2:1-11 - Marriage feast at Cana.
John 2:12 - She went to Carphanaum with Jesus.
John 19:25-28 - Foot of cross.
Mark 16:1-10 - At tomb.
Acts 1:15 - Pentecost.
Apocalypse (Revelations) 12:1-17 - The "WOMAN" clothed with the sun.
What other woman can be suggested but Mary?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vain Repetition?
When you say the Rosary, is this not vain repetition condemned by Matt. 5:7?
The Rosary is indeed a repetition of prayers ... but NOT vain repetition ... or useless repetition.
In this passage of St. Matthew, our Lord is condemning the Pharisees who "loved to stand in the corners of the streets that they might be seen by men." They talked to God only to be seen by men.
Our Lord never condemned repetition in prayer. He Himself repeated the self-same prayer three times in the Garden of Gethsemani. (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44).
The blind man repeated his prayer and was cured by Christ. (Matt. 20:31). We are told that the angels of God in heaven never cease repeating, night and day, the canticle: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." Apoc. 4:8.
Repeated prayers are not necessarily mechanical or unnecessary. The girl who is in love does not rebuke her boy friend for repeating the statement that he loves her.
In the Rosary, Catholics repeat the Scriptural prayers: the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6) and the Angelic Salutation, or "Hail Mary," found in Luke 1:28.
" Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it. -- St. Augustine (354-430) "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)