naturalmermaid said:
Jesus fasted for 40 days. Why can't we if we choose?:yawn:

Let the church say, "Amen."
I don't care what your beliefs are- Atheist or Zoroastrian. Everyone should strive to be more like Jesus and if he can resist the Devil making rocks into hot, buttered rolls in the desert, I'll be aiight.

Sent from my Inspire HD using LHCF
 
The list on books I need/plan to read is growing exponentially :nono:

I just came across No Price to High: A Pentecostal Preacher Becomes Catholic. Anyone read this one? It's about a black pentecostal pastor who starts researching worship styles and tries to model his service after the way early Christians worshiped. Lo and behold, it looked eerily similar to Catholicism. :grin: So he left his church and took about 50 people in his congregation with him. :yep: Oh, and because he was married, he became a deacon, not a priest.

Thanks for posting this. Will have to look for it. (Will post my review are reading it.)
 
Today is april 17 and we are remembering the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

I googled her, read the wiki page and all that.
Does anyone knows anything about her ?

auparavant do you know her ?
 
Today is april 17 and we are remembering the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

I googled her, read the wiki page and all that.
Does anyone knows anything about her ?

@auparavant do you know her ?


I've read of her. She has a very inspiring story. I think Kateri is canonized now (or will be this year). I wish I could go to Rome to see it.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us.
 
Today is april 17 and we are remembering the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

I googled her, read the wiki page and all that.
Does anyone knows anything about her ?

auparavant do you know her ?


Yes, Mohawk. She's one of my saints and actually answered one of my prayers with 2 white plumes. :yep: I go to her many times.
 
ANIMA CHRISTI. (another favourite prayer of mine)


Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from thee.
From the malignant enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death call me.
And bid me come unto Thee,
That with all Thy saints,
I may praise thee
Forever and ever.
Amen.
 
Nuns? They received their proper reprimand. I say, follow the bishops, as this is the appropriate decorum. The great falling away...either submit to Christ or find your merry way elsewhere. They cannot force such a change mandated by Christ Himself on His Church.
 
I won't be near the internet this weekend, so i'll drop this off now.

HAPPY PENTECOST SUNDAY TO YOU ALL

Anyone being confirmed this Sunday?

Sunday: Pentecost Sunday
Date: May 27, 2012
Year: B

The readings: [Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12-13 (Or Gal. 5:16-25); Jn. 20:19-23]

The message: As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

Today, we are celebrating Pentecost Sunday. Some of you may ask yourselves, "What is the origin of Pentecost in the Catholic Church?" According to the New Catholic Dictionary of 1929, the word Pentecost is Greek for "pentecostes" which means "fiftieth." This feast "commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, and takes its name from the fact that it comes nearly fifty days after Easter. It was a Jewish festival, and has been observed in the Christian Church since the days of the apostles. It is often called Whitsunday (White Sunday) from the practise of giving solemn Baptism on that day in early centuries, the candidates being attired in white baptismal robes."

Today's three readings made reference to the arrival of the Holy Spirit, being baptized in the Spirit and being sent forth to proclaim the Word of God so others may convert to the living faith.

The arrival of the Holy Spirit was affirmed in the First Reading [Acts 2:1-11] when we heard, "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. Being baptized in the Spirit was affirmed in the Second Reading [1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12- 13] when it was said, "In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." And being sent to proclaim the Word of God was affirmed in the Gospel Reading [Jn. 20:19-23] when we heard, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." These three passages are the gist of today's homily.

While preparing my homily, I was guided by the Spirit to review what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about Pentecost in relationship to the Church. Today, I would like to share with you some of those teachings.

"The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the accents of "love and fidelity." [Ezek 11:19; 36:25-28; 37:1-14; Jer 31:31-34; and cf. Joel 3:1-5] St. Peter proclaimed their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost. [Acts 2:17-21] According to these promises, at the 'end time' the Lord's Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace." (C.C.C. # 715)

"On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover was fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, poured out the Spirit in abundance." [Acts 2:33-36] (C.C.C. # 731)

"'When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church.' [LG 4; Cf. Jn 17:4] Then 'the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun.' [AG 4] As the 'convocation' of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them." [Mt 28:19-20; AG 2; 5-6] (C.C.C. # 767)

"The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. [SC 6; LG 2] The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the 'dispensation of the mystery' the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, 'until he comes.' [1 Cor 11:26] In this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls 'the sacramental economy'; this is the communication (or 'dispensation') of the fruits of Christ's Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church's 'sacramental" liturgy.'" (C.C.C. # 1076)

"Since Pentecost, it is through the sacramental signs of his Church that the Holy Spirit carries on the work of sanctification. The sacraments of the Church do not abolish but purify and integrate all the richness of the signs and symbols of the cosmos and of social life. Further, they fulfill the types and figures of the Old Covenant, signify and make actively present the salvation wrought by Christ, and prefigure and anticipate the glory of heaven." (C.C.C. # 1152)

"From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' [Acts 2:38] The apostles and their collaborators offer Baptism to anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing, pagans. [Cf. Acts 2:41; 8:12-13; 10:48; 16:15] Always, Baptism is seen as connected with faith: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,' St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi. And the narrative continues, the jailer 'was baptized at once, with all his family.'" [Acts 16:31-33] (C.C.C. # 1226)

"According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. [Rom 6:3-4; cf. Col 2:12] The baptized have 'put on Christ.' [Gal 3:27] Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies." [CE 1 Cor 6:11; 12:13] (C.C.C. # 1227)

"Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the 'imperishable seed' of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect. [1 Pet 1:23; cf. Eph 5:26] St. Augustine says of Baptism: 'The word is brought to the material element, and it becomes a sacrament.'" [St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 80, 3: PL 35, 1840] (C.C.C. # 1228)

"This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. [Ezek 36:25-27; Joel 3:1-2] On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, [Lk 12:12; Jn 3:5-8; 7:37-39; 16:7-15; Acts 1:8] a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost. [Jn 20:22; Acts 2:1-14] Filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age. [Acts 2:11; Cf. 2:17-18] Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn." [Acts 2:38] (C.C.C.# 1287)

"From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. For this reason in the Letter to the Hebrews the doctrine concerning Baptism and the laying on of hands is listed among the first elements of Christian instruction. The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church." [Paul VI, Divinae consortium naturae, 659; Cf. Acts 8:15-17; 19:5-6; Heb 6:2] (C.C.C. # 1288)

(cont'd)
 
..................

"It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost." (C.C.C. # 1302)

"From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:

- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, 'Abba! Father!'; [Rom 8:15]

- it unites us more firmly to Christ;

- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;

- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect; [LG 11]

- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross: [Council Of Florence (1439) DS 1319; LG 11; 12]

Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts." [SL Ambrose, De myst. 7, 42 PL 16, 402-403] (C.C.C. # 1303)

"Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the 'character,' which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness." [Council Of Trent (1547) DS 1609; Lk 24:48-49] (C.C.C. # 1304)

"This 'character' perfects the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism, and 'the confirmed person receives the power to profess faith in Christ publicly and as it were officially (quasi ex officio).'" [St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 72, 5, ad 2] (C.C.C. # 1305)

Finally, "In the Lord's Prayer, 'thy kingdom come' refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ's return. [Titus 2:13] But, far from distracting the Church from her mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of the Spirit of the Lord who 'complete his work on earth and brings us the fullness of grace.'" [Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV, 118] (C.C.C. # 2818)

Copyright © Catholic Doors Ministry
 
How do you all feel about the recent issue with the nuns?

If you're referring to the National Conference of Women Religious (I think that's it?), I say about time! I'm all for being active in the Church and ministering to people, but they often crossed the line by teaching or holding positions that contradict Scripture and Catholic dogma and moral teaching. I'm not surprised that their numbers are actually dwindling and the more traditional religious organizations (that are actually faithful to the Church and her teachings) are rising.
 
Wow, I had no idea there was a Catholic thread, I have actually only been in the Christian forum probably 3 times since I joined LHCF, shameful really. Although I was born and raised and remain a practicing Catholic, in the last year or so I realised that I actually know very little about the core tenets of my faith.
A question I would like to ask...May is the month of the Rosary, and I try to my rosary daily anyway regardless of the month,but for May I wanted to include my 6 year old in the daily recitation. The thing is I just make her say one decade, and then she concludes with her usual night prayers...she doesn't end with "Hail holy Queen" etc. Is this a half measure??? It's just that I have usually said my own 5 decades early in the morning, so I say just 1 decade together with her before bedtime because I feel at 6 she is too young( and too sleepy) to go through the entire Rosary. As a child though, every May and Oct, my mum would round us up and we had participate through the entire Rosary, irrespective of age,including the long Litany at the end!!! It's a fond memory now, but at the time I just wanted to escape and watch tv.
 
^^^Galadriel will probably know. I admit I don't say the rosary with any regularity. I can imagine Our Lady saying..."please say it!" LOL. But I tend to do the Chapelet of Divine Mercy more often. HHQ, it's usually included but I don't think it's considered 1/ an effort. I don't know because were taught to follow each decade with "Jesus and Mary, we love you, save souls" and then the final HHQ.
 
Wow, I had no idea there was a Catholic thread, I have actually only been in the Christian forum probably 3 times since I joined LHCF, shameful really. Although I was born and raised and remain a practicing Catholic, in the last year or so I realised that I actually know very little about the core tenets of my faith.
A question I would like to ask...May is the month of the Rosary, and I try to my rosary daily anyway regardless of the month,but for May I wanted to include my 6 year old in the daily recitation. The thing is I just make her say one decade, and then she concludes with her usual night prayers...she doesn't end with "Hail holy Queen" etc. Is this a half measure??? It's just that I have usually said my own 5 decades early in the morning, so I say just 1 decade together with her before bedtime because I feel at 6 she is too young( and too sleepy) to go through the entire Rosary. As a child though, every May and Oct, my mum would round us up and we had participate through the entire Rosary, irrespective of age,including the long Litany at the end!!! It's a fond memory now, but at the time I just wanted to escape and watch tv.

I HIGHLY recommend Catholicism for Dummies. It is well written and very easy to read. IMO, it should be given to candidates/catechumens in RCIA because the catechism is daunting and not so easy to read. . .
 
I read the story of Tobias last night. What an awesome story! I love it when the angel Raphel says "your spouse was set apart for you before the world existed. . .It has been decided in heaven that she be given to you!" and "it was I who presented the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord. . .I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand and serve before the Glory of the Lord." Revelation also mentions the 7 spirits before the throne of God which corroborates what Raphael said. :yep:

This was just a great confirmation for me that
-God can be a matchmaker :look:
-the saints and angels help carry our requests before God

:yep:
 
Wow, I had no idea there was a Catholic thread, I have actually only been in the Christian forum probably 3 times since I joined LHCF, shameful really. Although I was born and raised and remain a practicing Catholic, in the last year or so I realised that I actually know very little about the core tenets of my faith.
A question I would like to ask...May is the month of the Rosary, and I try to my rosary daily anyway regardless of the month,but for May I wanted to include my 6 year old in the daily recitation. The thing is I just make her say one decade, and then she concludes with her usual night prayers...she doesn't end with "Hail holy Queen" etc. Is this a half measure??? It's just that I have usually said my own 5 decades early in the morning, so I say just 1 decade together with her before bedtime because I feel at 6 she is too young( and too sleepy) to go through the entire Rosary. As a child though, every May and Oct, my mum would round us up and we had participate through the entire Rosary, irrespective of age,including the long Litany at the end!!! It's a fond memory now, but at the time I just wanted to escape and watch tv.

Begoody, I think your 6 y.o is doing very well :yep:. Perhaps you can start adding on the Hail Holy Queen after her decade on Saturdays and then increase from there.
 
How was everyone's Corpus Christi? It was awesome at my parish: after Mass, there was a procession of the blessed sacrament around the block while we sang/hum O Salutaris Hostia. Then we had benediction. I wish adoration was available (like on Holy Thursday) but that's okay. It was a great witness to the world. :yep:
 
How do you meet people in your parish? We get a lot of visitors at my church although I'm starting to recognize the regulars like myself. However, there doesn't seem to be a lot of time to socialize. There's a young black woman I see come into church for Mass, but I never got a chance to say hello after service is over. There are a few black families I see every Sunday too.
 
How do you meet people in your parish? We get a lot of visitors at my church although I'm starting to recognize the regulars like myself. However, there doesn't seem to be a lot of time to socialize. There's a young black woman I see come into church for Mass, but I never got a chance to say hello after service is over. There are a few black families I see every Sunday too.

If I don't get a chance to chat with them before/after Mass, then another opportunity could be parish events and ministries :yep:. For example, every Lent we have "Fish Fry Fridays" that bring out large group of us.
 
Communion of the Saints:

http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/prayers-to-saints.html

PRAYERS TO SAINTS:
FOR HEAVENLY HELP FROM
GOD'S MOST GRACIOUS ADVOCATES


Last-Supperph85ph.jpg


Some people ask “why say prayers to saints? Shouldn’t all our prayers be to God?” Praying to the saints is praying to God, in a fundamental way. We're praying to those who can ask God to help us in our various needs in accordance with His will.
When you ask someone to pray for you are you worshiping that person? Of course not! It’s the same when we ask the saints to pray for us! In our prayers to saints we ask them to “put in a good word” for us with God in Heaven. They are not the focus of our worship, God is.
In this regard, it is worth noting that many compilations of prayers tosaints also include prayers by them as well, to our Lord. The important thing to remember is that all these prayers have the same Divine destination, for our salvation.
The authors of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (“light of the nations”) noted that it was important that we “suppliantly invoke" the saints and "have recourse to their prayers, their power and help in obtaining benefits from God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer and Saviour."
For example, in one well known prayer to St. Joseph we ask him to
“assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your
divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.”

Saints-Stained-Glassph.jpg
In the saints we have as advocates members of what is called the Church triumphant (those already in heaven.) We on earth are part of the Church militant.

In addition, with the Church suffering (those in purgatory) we all make up what is known as the Communion of Saints, part of one glorious mystical body of Christ in His Church. We are truly all in this together!
Note that the saints had their weaknesses and struggles just we do. But they also had a tremendous devotion to God. They became canonized (that is to say, officially recognized) as Catholic Saints after their deaths. This was usually done after a lengthy review of both the holiness of their lives and miracles associated with them.
What is comforting is that with the saints we have so many members of our Church in heaven to look out for us! Do you ever feel some days like you need all the help you can get? You can ask one of many patron saints for their assistance. They’ve been “put in charge” of various causes, occupations, (and even countries!), though popular traditions or by the Church. These saints are considered our protectors as well as our intercessors.



St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland, for example, and people get their throats blessed on the feast day of St. Blase. (Just as a reminder, a feast day in the Catholic Church is a day to give special honor, that is to say recognition, to God, saints, doctrines, or sacred events.)
Many saints are patrons of more than one occupation or cause, such as St. Joseph, who, besides being a Universal Patron of the Church is also considered a patron saint of fathers, carpenters, and social justice. St. Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower," is patron saint not only of florists but also of missions as well.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is also considered a patron saint and has been given quite a few names as one, including many for places she has appeared (as in Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady
of Guadalupe).

Many prayers to saints take these “patrons” into account. For example, people pray to St. Anthony for lost items; to St. Jude (or perhaps St. Rita)for lost causes; to St. Gerard for motherhood; to St. Peregine for Cancer victims; and to St. Dymphna for those with mental or nervous disorders, or epilepsy. For many years the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel was included at the end of Mass for his help in defeating Satan.
Keep in mind that God also calls on us to be saints. If this seems like too tall an order, remember that, with God’s help we can live our lives reflecting His love and goodness, letting Him work through us, just like the saints!
As we read in the wonderful prayer of St. Francis “Lord make me an instrument of your peace…grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love.” Just ask for God's help in prayer. Remember, He’s an important part of your prayers to saints as well.
 
Do Catholics Worship the Saints?

“Pray” for non-Catholics is synonymous with worship.

But, not all prayer is worship.

There are four types of prayer:
1) Worship
2) Thanksgiving
3) Petition and
4) Intercession.

The original meaning and use ...of the word “Pray” is to “petition” or “ask.”

The practice of petitioning Saints or Mary dates to the earliest days of Christianity and is shared by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, the other Eastern Christians, and even some Anglicans—meaning that all-told it is shared by more than three quarters of the Christians on earth—It has only been with the advent of Protestantism (500 years old or less) that anyone has questioned the use of this word.

As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

So, we do pray to saints, but not to worship them. We pray to ask for their prayers. They pray with us and for us, just as others here on earth can pray with us and for us. Have you ever asked a friend or a family member to pray for you? It is the same thing.

Prayer is simply a request.

Worship is something altogether different.
We do pray to them, but some prayer is making a request.

We make requests of the saints and of Mary for their intercession, which the Bible says is pleasing to God.
Paul says that Christians should intercede: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4).

A request can only be answered by God.
We request God’s help, his mercy, and his divine intervention. Nevertheless, we do ask the saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary and others in heaven to petition our prayer to God for us. All with the same goal, that God will help, have mercy and divinely intervene.

Source: http://whycatholicsdothat.com/do-catholics-worship-the-saints/
 
Do Catholics Worship the Blessed Virgin Mary?

Misconception: Catholics worship Mary.

True Catholic Teaching: Catholics do not worship Mary. God ordered His people in the Ten Commandments to worship Him alone. Catholics only worship the one, true God in His three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is the second part of the Holy Trinity. He is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14). He is God.

Since Jesus is God and His mother is Mary, Catholics call Mary the “Mother of God”. This does not mean that we think Mary made God or came before God. Instead it is testimony to the truth that Mary is the mother of the part of God that became human – Jesus.

The Catholic Church teaches that God specifically chose Mary out of all the women in the world to be the mother of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke the angel Gabriel visits Mary to announce His coming and says,”Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Catholics believe that just as Mary’s virgin body was kept pure in preparation for Jesus, that her soul also was kept free from the stain of sin.

When it comes to the Catholic Church’s teaching on Mary, many of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters find the position Catholics hold regarding Mary difficult to accept. Namely, the Immaculate Conception, Mary as “Mother of God”, and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven and her Coronation as Queen. However, this difficulty mainly stems from a lack of understanding.

The Catholic Church firmly believes that Mary was immaculately conceived. Since God rejects all sin, and the purpose of Christ’s incarnation was to release man from the grasp of Satan, it was not suitable that our redeemer be personally associated with sin. This means that unlike the original sin that we as humans inherit at the moment of conception, Mary was exempt from this sin, and in like manner, was not subject to sin throughout her life.
In Luke 1:28, The Angel Gabriel addresses Mary “Hail, full of grace!” The fullness of grace would not have been hers, had she any stain of sin. In the Apostolic Constitution by Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception, he iterates this teaching:

“Above all creatures did God so loved her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.”

The Catholic Church commemorates Mary’s Immaculate Conception on December 8th of each year.

As we read the gospels, we see unmistakably that Mary is the Mother of Jesus. In the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, he confirms that she will bear the Son of God. In the profession of faith we recite at each Sunday Mass, we proclaim that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, that He is “true God from true God”. Therefore, if Jesus is God, we must gather that Mary, the one who gave birth to, and nurtured Jesus, is the mother of God who became Man – Jesus. There is no other human to whom Jesus was as closely and intimately connected, as His Mother, Mary.

The Catholic Church relies heavily on sacred tradition, as passed down from the apostles, and manifested in the teaching authority of the Church. The assumption of Mary is one doctrine of the Church that has emerged from apostolic tradition, rather than directly from scripture. It is not officially declared whether or not Mary underwent human death. However, what the Church does officially pronounce is that after the course of her earthly life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven by the power of God. The Church’s belief that Mary’s soul was perfectly sinless gives us confidence that she went directly to God. At the same time, her body was not subject to corruption, as our human bodies typically are. There is biblical history of one who is so close to God, being assumed body and soul into heaven. In the Old Testament, we see that Elijah was assumed into heaven in a whirlwind. (2 Kings 2:11). Similarly we read in Hebrews 11:5, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.” Mary was even closer to God than these two biblical figures, and therefore this special privilege of bodily assumption was granted to her. The feast of Mary’s Assumption is celebrated on August 15th of each year.

Mary’s body has been glorified in heaven and she has been given an important role near her Son as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mary is entitled “queen” because she is the Mother of Jesus, who is truly a King of kings. With the queenship Mary has been given by her Son, Mary offers abiding mercy and compassion, interceding for all of God’s children. In the book of Revelation 12:1, Mary’s status as queen is reflected, “and a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The feast of Mary’s queenship is celebrated on August 22nd of each year.

Mary has been given an extraordinary role in the history of salvation. In response to her special status, Catholics give Mary unequaled admiration and respect, greater than any other saint. This is a tradition often misunderstood by non-Catholics. The honor we give to Mary is not to be compared to the worship and praise we give only to Almighty God. However, Mary must not be disregarded, as she offers many graces, and mercy to all who call upon her intercession.

For more information regarding the Dogma of the Assumption and Coronation of Mary, please view the official Church document at the following link: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus_en.html


Source: http://whycatholicsdothat.com/the-blessed-virgin-mary/
 
Why is the Catholic Bible different from the Protestant Bible?

The New Testament canon of the Catholic Bible and the Protestant Bible are the same with 27 Books.

The difference is in the Old Testament.
Around 100 BC in Alexandria, the Greek Emperor, Ptolemy II, commissioned 71 Jewish leaders to translate the Jewish scripture into Greek. The book translated book is called the Septuagint.

During the first century, the Septuagint was widely used in the Roman world. It was the translation used during the life of Jesus. The Septuagint is the Old Testament and scripture that Jesus refers to in the Gospels. It continued to be the Bible used after the resurrection and the Old Testament Bible of Christianity.
After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jewish leaders came together and declared its official canon of scripture at the Council of Jamnia in 90 AD, eliminating seven books from the Septuagint.

The books removed were Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees (which tells the story of Hanukkah…so that means that you can only find the story of Hanukkah in the Catholic Bible), Wisdom (of Solomon), Sirach, and Baruch.
Parts of existing books were also removed including Psalm 151 (from Psalms), parts of the Book of Esther, Susanna (from Daniel as chapter 13), and Bel and the Dragon (from Daniel as chapter 14).

The Christian Church did not change with the Jews. They kept all the books in the Septuagint. It is the same Old Testament used by Jesus and used by the Catholic Church today.

In the 1500’s, Martin Luther broke with the Catholic Church. During this time he also changed the Old Testament. He rejected many tenants of Catholicism which could be found in some of the “rejected” books of the Septuagint (such as 2 Maccabees which provides some scriptural proof of the existence of Purgatory which Martin Luther didn’t believe in), so he decided to use the Jamnian Canon of Hebrew Scriptures instead of the Septuagint. These books are sometimes referred to as the “Apocrypha” by Protestants or the “Deuterocanonical” books meaning “also canonical” by Catholics. In fact, Martin Luther almost threw out the Letter of James from the New Testament because it talks about how important doing good works is to show that you are a follower of Christ. Anglican and Lutheran Bibles usually add these books today as an appendix. Many evangelical Bibles do not show the books at all.

The Council of Trent in 1546 reaffirmed what the early Church councils had proclaimed in the 4th century: the texts found in the Catholic Bible are all the authentic Word of God and comprise the complete canon of Sacred Scripture. Hence the Catholic Bible has 73 books.

Catholics should use Catholic translations when reading the Bible.
First, it has all the books that Catholics hear at mass.
Secondly, the footnotes are based on Catholic interpretations, not Protestant teachings.

Catholic Bible Translations
There are several different English translations available for the Catholic Bible. The primary ones include:

New American Bible (NAB) – This version is the most common American translation. It was written for an eighth grade reading level and contains the most “modern” language of the primary Catholic translations. The New American Bible is available in more versions than any other Catholic Bible.
Douay Rheim – This is the oldest English translation available and is frequently compared with the King James version because of its use of “Thee”, “Thou” and other older forms of words. This translation is considered highly accurate but can be more difficult to read for some people.

Revised Standard (RSV) – This was a joint translation project between American Protestants and Catholics with the Catholic Church completing the translation of the Apocrypha. This translation is considered the most accurate modern translation but still contains “Thee” and “Thou” when referring to God. This translation along with the New American Bible was approved for liturgical use in the United States.
Revised Standard 2nd Edition – This version is almost identical to the regular Revised Standard but updates the language by getting rid of “Thee” and “Thou”.
Jerusalem Biblee – The Jerusalem Bible, completed in 1966, is very similar to the Revised Standard Version 2nd edition in that it is a modern English language translation. It was produced under the direction of the Dominican scholars at the renowned Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem.

Source: http://whycatholicsdothat.com/why-is-the-catholic-bible-different-from-the-protestant-bible/
 
Oh lawd....so my youngest asks me to explain to him Revelations...and all I can think of is that it's largely allegorical and that some of it explains some of the tribulation of the Church that has already occurred. Suggestions for an online catholic study according to our faith? The kid is 12.
 
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