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katy
Guest
In the Bible, it says that we will be able to handle venomous snakes, drink poison, and such. What does that mean? It was in the Gospel today for the EF, but the preacher didn’t really address this part.
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Todd_Easton
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From A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, edited by Dom Bernard Orchard M.A., published by Thomas Nelson & Sons in 1953, page 933-934, on Mark 16:17-18:17-18. When sending the Apostles on a temporary mission in Palestine, [Mark] 3:14f.; 6:7, 13, Christ gave them power to cast out demons in order to strengthen the appeal of their preaching. Now he promises to believers miraculous signs to guarantee the truth and divine origin of the doctrine which they had accepted; cf. Heb[Hebrews] 2:4. The promise is made to the community of the faithful rather than to each individual believer. In the early days of the Church, possibly because of a greater need for extraordinary signs in order to move a sceptical and hostile world to which the Gospel and Church were still new, some of these manifestations of miraculous power were more frequent than in later times. But Christ’s promise is not limited to a particular period. In every age miracles have given proof that Christ abides with the Church. - ‘cast out devils’; cf. Ac[Acts] 8:6 f.; 16:16 ff. Irenaeus (cf. Eus. HE[Eusebius, *Historia Ecclesiastica,] 5, 7, 4-6) and other early writers speak of numerous instances of casting out demons. - ‘speak with new tongues’; cf. Ac[Acts] 2:3 ff.; 10:46; 19:6; 1 Cor[Corinthians] 14. - ‘take up serpents’; cf. Ac[Acts] 28:3 ff.; Lk[Luke] 10:19. - ‘shall lay their hands upon the sick’; cf. Ac[Acts] 28:8.
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katy
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That makes good sense.
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