J
Jesus_123
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+Re sacramentals . . . blest physical objects . . . below is a sharing by a teaching Catholic priest:
. . . :coffeeread: . . .
Why Sacramentals?
by Father Albert Joseph Mary Shamon
Why Sacramentals?
by Father Albert Joseph Mary Shamon
- **To crush the pride of Satan.
**It is beneath the dignity of God to take on Satan directly. **God **would not give him that satisfaction. So He used **St. Michael the Archangel **to kick him out of the created Heavens :bible1: (Revelation 12:7-9), and a frail woman’s seed to crush his infernal head :bible1: (Genesis 3:15)
Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, asks this question: “If a fellow attacked my opinions in print, would I reply? Not I.” And the reason he gave for not responding was the Hydrostatic Paradox of Controversy. Then he explained: "Take a bent tube, one arm of which was the size of a pipe-stem, and the other big enough to hold the ocean. Water would stand at the same height in one as in the other.
Controversy equalizes wise men and fools in the same way
— and the fools know it (p. 89)."
For **God the Creator **to take Satan on directly would dignify the fiend. Instead, God uses creatures, the weak things of the world, to confound the proud. Imagine mighty Lucifer being curbed by such weak and simple things as water, the **Sign of the Cross
**, beads, a cloth Scapular … the Rosary …
St. Teresa of Avila tells us in her autobiography that when the devil attacked her in bodily form and she made the** Sign of the
Cross **, he would fly away but return again later that day. However, she said, when she sprinkled **Holy Water **at him he would fly away and not return again that day. How that must crush his pride.
… Many of us are afflicted with the Naaman syndrome. The prophet Elisha told Naaman to go bathe seven times in the Jordan, and his leprosy would be cured. Naaman was furious; there seemed to be no proportion between the problem and the cure. Naaman would have shunned the cure had it not been for the better judgment of his servants (2 Kings 5). God can do a lot with a little.
God demonstrated the same thing to the Apostles. When there was a problem of feeding 5,000 people, they never believed five loaves could solve it (John 6:1f). They didn’t take God into consideration. God can do a lot with a little. That’s what sacramentals say. We must believe.
My senses five are five great Cups
Wherefrom I drink delight!
For them to God a grace I sing
At morning and at night,
For five fair loving cups are they
That feed me with delight.
(Rachel Taylor)
That is why the Church has her rites and rituals in her liturgy and worship of God.
When Jesus cured the blind man, He smeared mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:1-7).
On the deaf-mute, Jesus used spittle, touched his mouth and ears and said, “Ephphatha” (Mark 7:34).
So **God **who loves us would have us who love Him use [sacramentals] …
There are two extremes to avoid regarding sacramentals:
(In order to bless an article of devotion properly, the priest uses the prescribed formula; otherwise, he makes a simple Sign of the Cross
toward the article of devotion, audibly adding the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”)
Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, asks this question: “If a fellow attacked my opinions in print, would I reply? Not I.” And the reason he gave for not responding was the Hydrostatic Paradox of Controversy. Then he explained: "Take a bent tube, one arm of which was the size of a pipe-stem, and the other big enough to hold the ocean. Water would stand at the same height in one as in the other.
Controversy equalizes wise men and fools in the same way
— and the fools know it (p. 89)."
For **God the Creator **to take Satan on directly would dignify the fiend. Instead, God uses creatures, the weak things of the world, to confound the proud. Imagine mighty Lucifer being curbed by such weak and simple things as water, the **Sign of the Cross
**, beads, a cloth Scapular … the Rosary …St. Teresa of Avila tells us in her autobiography that when the devil attacked her in bodily form and she made the** Sign of the
Cross **, he would fly away but return again later that day. However, she said, when she sprinkled **Holy Water **at him he would fly away and not return again that day. How that must crush his pride.- God uses sacramentals to give us an opportunity to make an act of faith in Himself.
… Many of us are afflicted with the Naaman syndrome. The prophet Elisha told Naaman to go bathe seven times in the Jordan, and his leprosy would be cured. Naaman was furious; there seemed to be no proportion between the problem and the cure. Naaman would have shunned the cure had it not been for the better judgment of his servants (2 Kings 5). God can do a lot with a little.
God demonstrated the same thing to the Apostles. When there was a problem of feeding 5,000 people, they never believed five loaves could solve it (John 6:1f). They didn’t take God into consideration. God can do a lot with a little. That’s what sacramentals say. We must believe.
- **God uses sacramentals to accomodate Himself to our limitations. **
My senses five are five great Cups
Wherefrom I drink delight!
For them to God a grace I sing
At morning and at night,
For five fair loving cups are they
That feed me with delight.
(Rachel Taylor)
That is why the Church has her rites and rituals in her liturgy and worship of God.
When Jesus cured the blind man, He smeared mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:1-7).
On the deaf-mute, Jesus used spittle, touched his mouth and ears and said, “Ephphatha” (Mark 7:34).
- Finally, sacramentals are an attempt to bring our daily lives into a continuing relationship with God.
So **God **who loves us would have us who love Him use [sacramentals] …
There are two extremes to avoid regarding sacramentals:
One is SUPERSTITION—to treat the sacramentals as if they have magical powers. … The sacramentals are not magical charms; they are a calling upon God to act.
The other extreme is SOPHISTICATION—to pooh-pooh the sacramentals as the tools of the weak and ignorant. The trouble with the sophisticated person is that he or she seeks to shape God according to their own image and likeness, to cut Him down to their size. They seek** God** their way, not His way. Thus Lucifer rebelled against God …
The other extreme is SOPHISTICATION—to pooh-pooh the sacramentals as the tools of the weak and ignorant. The trouble with the sophisticated person is that he or she seeks to shape God according to their own image and likeness, to cut Him down to their size. They seek** God** their way, not His way. Thus Lucifer rebelled against God …
- **What does the Church think about sacramentals? **
(In order to bless an article of devotion properly, the priest uses the prescribed formula; otherwise, he makes a simple Sign of the Cross
toward the article of devotion, audibly adding the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”) . . . all for Jesus+
. . . thank You Dear lord+
. . . thank you Holy Mother Church+
**. . . St. Michael the Archangel+
guide and protect+
**
:bible1:
. . . thank You Dear lord+
. . . thank you Holy Mother Church+
**. . . St. Michael the Archangel+
guide and protect+
**
:bible1:
The Hail Mary