Some things that are on my mind..

[Pier]

I haven’t read all the posts, so please pardon if I’m repeating something already said.

The Bibles states that the angel of the Lord, and Mary’s cousin Elizabeth hailed her and acknowledged her as the mother of God and blessed among women - and that generations to come would do so as well…

And Jesus said of John the Baptist, that no greater man was born of woman, which was indeed an acknowledgment of His cousin’s life of utter devotion to our Lord.

 

[Jesuspaiditall]

Yes He did. He venerated & honored His own mother. Mary is thee Saint of all Saints.

When did he do that? In Luke 11:27-28?

 

[JLongoria]

Why do people keep saying that the trinity is not in the Bible?

1 John 5:7

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word [cross reference with John 1:14 and Revelation 19:13 shows that the Word refers to Jesus, the Living Word], and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

I don’t know how the trinity could be stated any planer

And as far as proving the Word refers to Jesus:

John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh and dwelth among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth

Obviously Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, as is the Word, so the Word is another term used in scripture for Jesus.

Trinity doctrine is so obvious in the Bible. The Bible may never say the word trinity, but it also never says the word “elephant.” That doesn’t mean God didnt create elephants.

Those quotes actually don’t prove anything unless you’re interpreting them as the Catholic Church promulgated in 381AD.

The Arians tried to argue that the pieces of Scripture that say “are one” concerning the Father and Son (1 Jn 5:7; Jn 10:30) means one in purpose, not in being, a very critical difference.

They looked at Scriptures like Hebrews 1:5 which says, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” This was important for them, because to them it signified that there was a time before Christ existed, so while Christ may have existed in the beginning, he was still created then as well.

Paul even says that Christ was firstborn of all creation in Colossions 1:15, which further supported the idea that Christ - though divine - did not share in God’s eternal essence.

What’s more is that the Bible often speaks of many creatures as they are God Himself, such as in Genesis 18. In fact, the Bible is full of instances where anthropomorphisms are assigned to various things: the earth crying out at the blood of Abel, sin as a “thief crouching at the door”, etc.

So, the Arian says, when Paul calls the Spirit “Lord”, we should not be so quick to jump right in and say, “proof!” Thus, the Arians were able to trick alot of people in to believing what they preached, and they did it by using Scripture.

All of these are big no-nos for Christians today, yet back then these were serious issues that Christians faced. We don’t face these today because the Catholic Church defended us against them, and protected the Truth and the fidei depositum.

 

[JLongoria]

When did he do that? In Luke 11:27-28?

Yeah, He actually did in that one.

While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

St. Luke 11:27-28

Does this really mean Christ is saying, “pfft, no she is not blessed”? Good heavens, no! The thing is this: Mary is the very model of obedience to Christ’s teachings.

She followed Christ always, and never doubted a word He said. For this reason, the Early Church Fathers were able to say things like,

[Mary], being obedient, was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. . . . Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith.

Gabriel said that Mary was “highly favored”, and Elizabeth her cousin said she was “blessed among women.” God worked through her, as He does through all of us, to be instruments of His Will and purpose. He did so with Mary, and she was completely obedient to Him.

Let us not forget that we have free will in accordance with God’s love; did God just push a baby in to the virgin without her consent, the equivalent of supernatural rape (harsh words, but this is what it equates to)? No! Mary accepted it, knowing that it was the will of God.

So in St. Luke 11:27-28, Christ is telling them why Mary is blessed, not that she isn’t.

Remember: each of us is a willing participant in our salvation. We must accept willingly God into our lives in order to gain faith and perform profitable works, both of which are inseprable gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Mary, this was made manifest in the highest of ways: she was the most faithful and obedient believer.

 

[Lapell]

At a better attempt to understand the Catholic faith I will post some questions to those who think they have all the answers.
I say “think” because I have gotten SEVERAL e-mails with different answers to my “deleted questions”
Once again if we cannot be civil please DO NOT POST as snide remarks are not wanted or needed. This is serious to me.

Please be respectful! I really am ready to give up religion all together as people just cant agree and get along or be nice to one another. I really need a place to call mt spiritual home and I am looking very hard for answers.

1. The infallibility of the pope. How can this be? We have had some pretty bad guys in office ; why are such “sinners” considered infallible.
   (I am not going to explain every sin by some of our bad popes; if you have a question please pick up a history book or google)
2. Where is the Trinity in the bible?
3. Why do we venerate saints and such people? Why was this done to begin with? How did this start? How do we know this is a right practice? Jesus never did it? Did he?

I will keep it to 3 Q’s a thread.

Q1-The infallibility of the pope just concerns teaching in matters of faith and morals, nothing else! As for the rest, yes he can sin just like anybody else, but he then must be all the more careful!
Q2-Haven’t you read the last chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, the verse before last (Mt 28, 19): “Go, preach to all nations, baptize them in the name of the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT, and teach them to keep the commandments that I gave you.” It’s there, and in the words uttered by Jesus Himself!
Q3-We venerate the saints because they preceeded us on the path of sainthood and succeeded. We pray to them as our companions, to help us and those whom we love on our way. We don’t adore them, we only ask for their help because of the example they gave during their lives. They are part of our Church too, it doesn’t stop when they die.

 

[po18guy]

Yes He did. He venerated & honored His own mother. Mary is thee Saint of all Saints…

I would add that Moses and Elijah were both venerated in the “Transfiguration” which Christ revealed to Peter, James and John. They were shown to be alive, in conversation with Christ, and were recognizable/identifiable to the Apostles:

Matthew 17:1-3 “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”

Christ also venerated the prophets, bemoaning their rough, sometimes fatal treatment at the hands of the religious authorities of the day:

Matthew 23:30-31 “And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.”

Luke 13:28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.”