Posted on 03/26/2006 3:50:13 PM PST by NYer
(AGI) - Vatican, March 25 - During the whole 26 years that Pope John Paul II served as pontiff, "everyone was quite aware of the presence of the Virgin Mary as Mother and Queen of the Church during his spirituality and his untiring inistry". But, said the new pontiff, "this presence was most obvious during the attack on his life in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981". This was a bold statement from Pope Benedict XVI this morning to the new cardinals and all Catholics on the role the Virgin played in deviating Ali Agca's bullet. He made it during the mass at the close of his first Consistory. In fact, it is widely known that the Polish Pope maintained that the prophecy of the third secret of Fatima was consigned to him, the description of a bishop dressed in white lying in a pool of blood.
On that occasion, Joseph Ratzinger was the regional head (or prefect) of the Holy See and had to explain the Pope's thinking to the public and make it clear that this interpretation was not a dogma of the Catholic faith. And today, looking at the window that is now his after the previous pope's papacy, Benedict XVI added, "in memory of that tragic event, Pope John Paul II wanted a mosaic of the Virgin to be placed high above the Apostolic Palace, overlooking St. Peter's Square. It would be there as a reminder of both the highlights and the more everyday moments of his long papacy, which entered its final phase precisely a year ago, a phase that was simultaneously painful and triumphant, in a way that is appropriate at Easter".
Nobody is required to do anything. Just as nobody is required to believe in God, the bodily resurrection of Jesus or the existence of Hell. These are articles of faith.
JPII stated his belief that the Blessed Mother saved his life. The present Pope concurs.
Each of us is free to agree or disagree.
Faith, by definition, is not about providing scoffers and skeptics with irrefutable, unequivocal visual evidence of the supernatural.
Use that line during your particular judgment.
I don't know where the original is. That one I found with Google images. But I even have a copy of it in my CCD classroom that the Religious ED director got from someplace else. It is a very nice, and meaningful picture.
Beautiful - thaks for posting!
Pope Benedict seems to get better every day, doesn't he?
He is a wonderful papa!
:-).
And if you had lived at the time of Christ, which side of the crowd would you have been on?
Certainly your wisdom and discernment would have revealed the divinity of Christ to you.....
But how did Mary become supernatural with powers like Wonder Woman?
The prayer of the righteous man [woman] availeth much.
Are you saying that Mary has some kind of power to see into the future and keep things from happening?
If that was the case, why didn't she keep him from getting shot in the first place?
Based on some of your previous posts, it is clear that you are no Catholic. One might wonder, then, at your intrusion on Catholic threads like this one, gracing them with a predictably ascerbic and skeptical comment or two, but, as you'll no doubt point-out, it is "your right" to do so under the posting rules here at FR. Fair enough.
However, your wit here is somewhat out of place. No one is going to provide you with the photos you request, since, obviously, such photos do not exist. But so what? To protest the lack of such photos, when you yourself come from a religious tradition demanding "faith" in certain comparable things, is either the height of irony or hypocrisy. Do you, as a believer in Judaism (I believe that is correct, though I will stand corrected if it's not), have any photos (or even independent, eyewitness corroboration) of the angel that stopped Abraham's hand as he was about to slay his son Isaac? Do you have photographic proof of the parting of the Red Sea? How about the fiery chariot of Elijah going heavenward in the whirlwind? I could go on, but you know my point.
No one at all but Abraham and (maybe) Isaac saw the angel. No one but Elisha could testify to the mode of Elijah's departure. There are absolutely no living witnesses to the parting of the Red Sea. You accept these events based on your faith in the credibility of the source material, sight unseen. Photographs are not necessary for you in these instances.
Just so...
Why didn't Jesus simply keep Lazarus from dying, especially since He had advance notice of his impending death? Why didn't He keep the son of the Widow of Nain from dying? Why didn't God keep the boy from falling out the window during St. Paul's preaching in Acts 20:09? Could it be that John Paul II was allowed to be shot for the same reason given in Lazarus' case (and presumed in the others cited): "It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it" (John 11:4)?
The intercession that John Paul attributed to Mary gave glory to God, if it happened, since Mary (or any other being, saint or angel) is tasked to intervene by God's consent, through His power, and for His glory.
That you and others refuse to see this seems willfull, given that, provided an example occurs in the New Testament, you accept similar scenarios without questioning, and without cautic comments about preserving the subject (John Paul in this case) from death or injury to begin with. The irony is rather glaring.
"Don't mess with my mom!" Why am I reminded of the Pagan variation, My Goddess gave birth to your God? (runs off like a scared little girl)
I've been listening to the Unitarians too much...
These items are being posted on a forum that is on a website known for discussion.
Should you not want the observations, caustic or otherwise, perhaps these things should be placed on a different site where they are not offered as food for thought.
requested photos please
thats what I thought. thanx
Notice that this is one sentence that contains two questions. The first question is: "Are you saying that Mary has some kind of power to see into the future?" The answer to that question is: no, I'm not saying that. Your second question is: "[Are you saying that Mary has some kind of power to] keep things from happening?" The answer to that question is: yes, she has the power to intercede through prayer. You have that power too, but she is "full of grace", and therefore, since the "prayer of a righteous man availeth much", her intercession availeth much.
-A8
Sorry, all of my pictures of Him are Black & White prints.
What's your snail mail address.
Take them to Kinko's and have them scanned.
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