Posted on 12/23/2009 12:38:18 PM PST by RGirard
The U.S. Post Office is especially busy during the Christmas season. The lines are longer than usual as people wait patiently to send carefully packaged gifts to loved ones across the country, as well as Christmas cards to those both near and far. Business is good, albeit frantic, and once you get up to the counter you have a choice when it comes to stamps: Snowmen or Mary, take your pick.
The question may be phrased differently depending on which location you visit, but these were my choices when I asked for Holiday Stamps ...
I later discovered that the U.S. Postal service also offers Hanukkah stamps, Kwanzaa stamps, Eid stamps and a holiday pack of 2008 42-cent nutcracker stamps + 2-cent Nava-ho-ho-ho necklace stamps ...
Also, I'm a Protestant, so my natural instinct is to resist anything Catholic. I have had some Catholic friends ... so it's not the people as much as the institution I reject which exalts Mary and the Pope as if they were God himself. If my choice had been "Snowman or Jesus?" I would have of course said "Jesus!" ...
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
I think he looked like a Jewish baby.
Except their skin was probably a bit darker. Trouble is, you let your FALSE notions about Catholic theology get in the way of buying CHRISTmas stamps on CHRISTmas.
I hope that between now and next CHRISTmas, you'll shed your false notions about Catholic theology, quit bearing false witness against your Catholic neighbours, and maybe ... just maybe, you'll see fit to buy CHRISTmas stamps instead of winterfest stamps.
Oh, for heavens sake. Mary is an integral part of the Christmas story.
It amazes me how dimwitted, intellectually dull and moronic some folks can be.
I don’t think that he’s actually stupid ... but he has been led to believe some astonishingly stupid things.
I was kind enough to answer your question, so answer mine. Where in scripture are we instructed to pray to anyone other than God?
Where in scripture does it tell you scripture is the ONLY source of Truth and where in scripture does it tell you what makes up Holy Scripture?
Strange that The Madonna and Child would be one of the “””Holiday””” selections. I mean — at this time of the year, what are we celebrating? It is not as tho “Mother and Child” had anything to do with the true meaning of what we are celebrating.
Unless ——— would being there, in that manger, on that particular night, have anything to do with it?
</sarcasm>
We do not, therefore, hesitate to ask our friends (whether in this life or the next) to pray to God on our behalf. Such has been the constant practice of the Church from the beginning.
It's possible that you interpret those passages differently from me. By protestant theology, that's certainly your right. What is NOT your right, either by protestant or Catholic theology is to impose your personal interpretation of Scripture on anyone else.
But with regard to intercessory prayer (joining with others in the One Body to love each other and pray for each other): yes, we love and pray for each other, both when we are living on this earth and when we have passed from this earth but are still alive in Christ.
This is the sense in which "prayer" is not only permitted, but highly precious in the eyes of God: we are united in Christ and praying for each other. And we never stop. Not even death stops us.
Even kindergarteners can understand that there's a huge difference between the Creator (God) and created beings (all the angels and saints, including you and me and Mary and Joseph and the Apostles and martyrs and our loved ones who have gone on before us.)
Will you pray for me?
Paul asked living people to pray for him, not dead people. Jesus told his disciple they should pray to the Father. Other scripture invokes praying in Jesus’ name. Jesus is said to be our mediator who intercedes for us.
As far as I can tell from the scripture that is regarded by the majority of Christians, including myself, to be holy and God-breathed, I see nothing that would instruct anyone to pray to the dead or for the dead.
All of us impose our personal interpretation of Scripture on others, and that is not always a bad thing. For instance, we most likely view our interpretation of “thou shalt not kill” as worthy of imposition on every citizen in the United States. From our interpretation of scripture we may take a stand against abortion, not only for ourselves, but for others. Our personal view of scripture affects how we live, how we raise our children, how we vote ... no man is an island, nor should he live like one.
LOL..FRiend...I dare say those in Heaven are QUITE a bit more alive than you or I.
You haven’t answered either of my questions. What is your basis for determining what is included as Holy Scripture and where in Holy Scripture does it tell you that Holy Scripture is the ONLY source of the Truth of Jesus Christ?
Personally; I believe Jesus was born in late September, and I don’t pay much attention to the holidays. I’m not getting wound up over a stamp, however. If I’m mailing a bill; sell me a stamp. End of story. Bigger fish to fry.
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Mary does have a halo for some reason.
Sorry, I’m trying to work and wasn’t ignorning you. I didn’t determine what is the scripture and nowhere that I know of. Maybe you have extra-biblical writings that you regard as valid and God-breathed? I don’t. If someone presented me with something else and said it was at that same level I would be very skeptical. It would need to be in harmony with the scripture for me to accept it as divine truth.
Yes ... What would you like prayer for Mrs. Don-o?
You missed my two points. First of all I was trying to get at the fact that nowhere in Scripture does it say that Scripture is the only source of Truth. The Church has always accepted Sacred Tradition as the other component of Divine Revelation. It was only after the Protestant Reformation that Sacred Tradition was conveniently rejected by a minority of Christians (today’s protestants). There is no basis in Scripture for Sola Scriptura. It is a post-Reformation creation.
The other point I was making is that the Scriptures also don’t tell you what books encompass Holy Scripture. The Canon of the Bible was determined by the same Catholic Church you revile against Only since the Protestant Reformation have some of those books of the Bible been redacted. If not for the Catholic Church you would have various sects including a hodge podge of other books that the Church rejected.
Hopefully my comments will draw you to a closer study of Holy Scripture as well as salvation history. Any such study, I am confident, will lead you home to the Church of the Apostles, founded by Jesus Christ and protected from error by the Holy Spirit..as promised by Christ.
I will pray for you to make that journey home.
Merry Christmas
That would be the Greek Orthodox church. I had a close relationship with a girl who was Greek and that was her religion. We had some very good conversations which compelled both of us to delve into the scripture for clarification and greater understanding. She could interpret the actual scripture even better than her professors at the theological institute she attended, and had such a pure heart that I doubt I will ever find a better teacher of the New Testament scripture.
I am confident that Martin Luther, the Catholic priest, was correct in protesting the corruption of the church. We obviously disagree but I will wish you a Merry Christmas as well.
Thank you for the Merry Christmas....
I would encourage you to embrace the Greek Orthodox Church if you felt a pull in that direction. The Greek Orthodox Church has direct and valid bishopric lineage directly to the Apostles and the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of that apostolic succession.
God Bless
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