Posted on 11/05/2005 9:15:01 PM PST by Coleus
Of course. Christ said that the man would join Him that very "day" in paradise
Only one prayer was needed for him to go to heaven.
If only it was that simple, brother. That man died an incredibly painful death. Have you even considered that this ITSELF was punishment enough in God's eyes to forgive that man of the temporal debt that he owed God? ONE PRAYER?
And who is to say that man didn't go to Purgatory at all? We don't know how time "moves" in the after life. If God is outside of time, and Purgatory may be as well, then you cannot compare us to the people there. Thus, the thief on the cross does NOT disprove Purgatory.
Regards
"No offense, but why was the Book of Maccabees removed from the Hewbrew Canon by the Jews outside of Palestine?"
The Rabbinical Jewish Canon set not earlier than the 7th century AD had 4 criteria:
1. Must not conflict with Mosaic Law
2. Must be written in Hebrew (Not Greek or Aramaic)
3. Must be written before 400 BC (Not during the 2nd Temple)
4. Must be written in Judea (Not in Diaspora)
Jewish scholars began debating the issue at Jamnia in 90 AD.
Yes, we Catholics do, we think its like being locked in at a Southern Baptist picnic.
Nice people, but no beer.
Slightly better than hell.
What do you or I owe God? Jesus has done everything that needs to be done for me. No one else can do a thing. I lay my life and my sins on Jesus who has promised to forgive them and grant to me eternal life in heaven. Simple? Yes. However, there are many who would like to complicate the matter and cause many to worry about whether they are good enough to be saved. What a shame and a lie.
The Biblical references were listed above.
Purgatory is like a Southern Baptist picnic. Nice people. No beer. BEST explanation of purgatory, ever. Thank you.
"By grace are ye saved,thru faith, and this not of yourself, it is a gift of God unless any man boast".
Add to or detract from and a man's soul is put in danger.
If you want to believe the Bible as changed by Luther.
I believe the Bible says "King James" not "Martin Luther".
If a Catholic goes to Mass and receives Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays of the month, does he/she receive a plenary indulgence? Please explain the benefits of a plenary indulgence.
Exactly what do you mean by that? Do you refer to someone who, using their God-given intelligence, has a question(s) about Catholic teaching? If so, why does that make you a sucker?
Here's a personal experience: Due to a week spent on a very disturbing and serious marital problem, through no fault of either party, by the following Sunday my emotions could not be turned off like a faucet. As a result, I was not in a mental state to go to Mass, although by then the problem had been discussed, though could not really be changed.
I did not attend Mass that day, and the following Sunday, because of my 12 years of Catholic school teaching, I had no right to receive Communion.
Then I got angry at my Church which imposed such rigid rules on me. I COULD have MADE myself attend Mass but excused myself and now I had to confess my "sin" in order to receive Communion again.
I object to confession of sins to another human being. I've been more relaxed by not going than when I suffered with that obligation. That's a subject I'll reserve for another time.
When the Philadelphia priest scandal involving the abuse of boys was published recently, one worker in the city responded to a media question by saying, "If I went to confession, I would say to the confessor, "You first. You tell me what you've done wrong and then I'll tell you about my sins". Or something very close to that.
Was this an arrogant statement? Did this man have no justifiable reason for his comment?
The pastor of my daughter's parish, which I attended for months, pushed confession constantly to his parishioners. Before Mass, just about anytime he was available. The sad story emerged after the grand jury investigation in Phila., Pa, that he had worked in the Archdiocese before becoming pastor of their church, and had gone along with the policies of the Cardinal at the time, approving the moving of sexually abusive priests to other parishes. This pastor will no longer return to his parish. I'm sure many of his parishioners admired him before this. No goodbyes. He is just one of many. I'm sorry for him but I have to have more sorrow for the victims of priest abuse, and their families. These families trusted their priests!
I expect some kind of defense in response to what I've written, but I do believe that those who are not in total sync with your beliefs have valid grounds to disagree with you.
Does the Catholic Church require: we must have blind faith, we cannot question anything the Church decides, based on their interpretation of Scripture, and on the six commandments of the Church, on dogmas of faith, and on telling us we are damned to hell if we miss Mass on Sunday or a Holyday of Obligation?
Jesus never said we are destined for hell if we did not go to Mass on All Saints Day, Nov. 1st, e.g. Do you really believe that to be true? Please, if you can, show me where I'm off the track.
While of prime importance in my teenage years, today I view it as ridiculous.
Fine, I know of young women in their 20s who attend the same Mass I do on Sundays and they wear a head-covering not thinking it ridiculous at all. I don't wear a head-covering, (mantilla is a much better word don't you think), because it isn't that important to me and I never developed the habit. So, what's the point of your little story?
Saint Gertrude had a deep empathy for the Church suffering, the Holy Souls in Purgatory. At every Holy Communion she beseeched Jesus for His mercy to be bestowed on them. During one Holy Communion she experienced the descent into Purgatory with Our Lord. She heard Him say: "At Holy Communion I will permit thee to draw forth all to whom the fragrance of thy prayers penetrates." After Holy Communion Our Lord customarily delivered more Souls than she had dared to ask for.One time when Gertrude was praying with great fervor for the Holy souls, she asked Our Lord how many Souls His mercy would release, He answered: "My love urges Me to release the Poor Souls. If a beneficent king leaves his guilty friend in prison for justice's sake, he awaits with longing for one of his nobles to plead for the prisoner and to offer something for his release. Then the king joyfully, sets him free. Similarly, I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the Poor Souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from Purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer!" [29]
Our Savior taught Gertrude for whom she should most ardently pray for. On the day when the community commemorated in common the death of their parents, Gertrude saw the happy souls ascend the darkness of Purgatory like sparks from a flame. She asked Our Lord if all these were relatives. He answered: "I am thy nearest relative, thy father and thy mother. Therefore, My special friends are thy nearest relatives, and these are among those whom I have liberated." [30]
GERTRUDE was asked by someone, that when she offered to God all the gratuitous gifts with which He had favored her, to request that she might have a share in their merit. "As she prayed thus, she perceived this person standing before the Lord, Who was seated on His throne of glory, and held in His hand a robe magnificently adorned, which He presented to her, but still without clothing her in it. The Saint, being surprised at this, said to Him: 'When I made a similar offering to Thee, a few days since, Thou didst at once take the Soul of the poor woman for whom I prayed to the joys of Paradise; and why, most loving Lord, dost Thou not now clothe this person with the robe which thou hast shown her, and which she so ardently desires, through the merits of the graces Thou hast bestowed on me, though so un worthy of them?' Our Lord answered: 'When anything is offered to Me for the faithful departed, I immediately use it for them, according to My natural inclination to show mercy and pardon, either for the remission of their sins for their consolation, or for the increase of their eternal felicity, according to the condition of those for whom the offering is made.' " [31]
PRAYER TO FREE 1000 SOULS FROM PURGATORY: PROMISE PRAYER
A Prayer Which Would Release 1,000 Souls From Purgatory Each Time It Is Said:
Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was later extended to include living sinners as well. "ETERNAL FATHER, I OFFER THEE THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY DIVINE SON, JESUS, IN UNION WITH THE MASSES SAID THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY, FOR ALL THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."
APPROVAL AND RECOMMENDATION: M. Cardinal Pahiarca at Lisbon, Portugal, March 4, 1936
This prayer is also found on the Saint's page of prayers, which is printable.
29. SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT: HERALD OF DIVINE LOVE, TAN BOOKS, p. 44.
30. Ibid., p. 45.
31. THE LIFE AND REVELATIONS OF ST. GERTRUDE, p. 253.
I owe God my all. I don't know about you, but I owe God praise and honor, love and obedience. If I offend Him, I owe Him my sorrow and contrition.
I lay my life and my sins on Jesus who has promised to forgive them and grant to me eternal life in heaven. Simple? Yes
So the heart and soul of Christianity is to "merely" lay everything on Christ. We are NOT to pick up our cross daily? We are not to obey the King, the ruler of our lives? We are not to love others? We are not to ask forgiveness when we fall? We are not to give our lives totally to God? Hmmm. Yea, I guess your way is pretty simple. However, Christ said to avoid the wide path, and take the narrow way.
Thanks for your advice, but I'll stick to the way of the Cross.
Regards
"The Rabbinical Jewish Canon set not earlier than the 7th century AD had 4 criteria:
1. Must not conflict with Mosaic Law
2. Must be written in Hebrew (Not Greek or Aramaic)
3. Must be written before 400 BC (Not during the 2nd Temple)
4. Must be written in Judea (Not in Diaspora)
Jewish scholars began debating the issue at Jamnia in 90 AD."
That's all fine and dandy, but what does the Jewish Rabbinical Canon have ANYTHING to do with the Christian Canon? If we were to follow them on everything, we'd have to ALSO GET RID OF THE GOSPELS! At Jamnia, the Gospels were declared SPURIOUS writings by the Jews. To use the Jews are our determiners of what is Scripture is asking way too much.
Regards
Read it for yourself and evaluate it with the Ruach haKodesh as to content.
It is not the Word of G-d.
b'shem Y'shua
Because Christ teaches there is a third state of existence after we die, where one can repent of forgiven sins - to repay our temporal debts caused by our sins
Please direct me to that verse or series of verses in the Word of G-d.
b'shem Y'shua
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