The Obituary
For Those Who Know Deceased
For Those Who Know Deceased
Tova posts:
My definition of dead is the same as yours. But try to think beyond the dead physical body in the grave for that's only where the dust remains until our soul is reunited with the body at the General Resurrection at the end of the world, followed by the Final Judgment.
Let's talk about life...and what we know from Genesis 1:26. "Let us make man in our image and likeness"....Tova7, this image of God in man is not in the body, but in the soul, which is a spiritual substance.
Now go on to 2:7 and God's creation of man..."And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth; and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul."
We die, that is, lose our life, when God removes his breath from our living soul. Our physical body corrupts, but our eternal and immortal soul lives on...
Death is the dissolution of the union between the soul and the body which must happen to every human being at the end of his life. "And...it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment," says St.Paul in Hebrews 9:27. As soon as the soul is separated from the body, its fate is decided by God...the Particular Judgment.
Some go to Heaven, some to Hell....
Those souls which are in Heaven are Saints....very much alive, not dead at all, and so when we pray to the Saints, we are praying to someone who is gloriously alive..We are not communing with the dead when we pray to Saints in Heaven.
LULA POSTS:
TOVA POSTS:
Then go back and read post # 119 about two thirds of the way down.
You will see that these biblical passages refute the Protestant contention that those who have died and gone to Heaven lack all consciousness and are unaware of us and our troubles until the Resurrection.
Refute 1St.Peter4:6, St. Luke 16:19-31; St.Matt.17:2-3; Hebrews 11:4; 12:1; Job 5:1 if you disagree that they all constitute proof of the living presence of the Saints and their active interest, through the will of GOd in our affairs.
Perhaps you can get KFC to help refute 2Machabees 15:11-16.
These examples in the Bible which some Protestants claim to believe in its totality solidly and squarely root the Catholic belief in the Communion of the Saints and their intercession on our behalf.
Please consider that the Protestant scorn for praying to Saints and placing no value on sanctity may be nothing more than the inevitable result of following the Reformers dogma handed down by Protestant oral tradition--that saints are no different than earthly "believers". The Protestant claim is that "We are all saints". You've been deprived by the Reformers that sanctity as an ideal and Saints are models to imitate. Protestants have no idea what sanctity is. They can't fully appreciate the heroism required to achieve holiness, and the accompanying reality, that this is the only heroism in the end that is worth emulating.
Besides, salvation according to the Reformers was easier.
Lula posts:
TOVA7 posts:
This is mean-spirited Tova7.
TOVA7 posts:
Our Blessed Mother was blessed among woman becasue she was specially chosen by God, but Scripture tells us she was more, much more than an ordinary woman.
God sent Angel Gabriel to announce to the virgin Mary that she was chosen to bewcome the mother of God the Son. St.Luke 1:28 has it that the Angel upon greeting her said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.."
Do you think ordinary woman are full of grace? What does full mean to you? and then what does "full of grace" mean? Understand that and you'll never say that the Blessed VIrgin Mary is an ordinary woman again. in God's creation, she is His masterpiece.
To Catholics, our Blessed Mother is certainly above other woman, so much so that she is considered worthy of special devotion, not of worship, latria, but of honor, hyperdulia. Her status accounts for the attention paid to her. Protestants tend to diminish her status to show she's ordinary..just like other woman.
Lula posts:
TOVA7 posts:
Enoch and Elias (Elijah) did not die before being taken into Heaven.
The Catholic position is that after our Blessed Mother completed her earthly life, she died....and was assumed by God body and soul into the glory of Heaven. In short, her body was not allowed to corrupt; it was not allowed to remain in the tomb.
True there are no express Scriptural proofs for this doctrine. However, the possiblility of bodily assumption before the General Resurrection is not excluded by 1Cor.15:23 and it is even suggested by St.Matt.27:52-53...."and the graves were opened and many bodies arose out of them, bodies of holy men gone to their rest; who after His rising again, left their graves and went into the holy city, where they were seen by many."
As an aside, note I highlighted "were seen". Does that tell you anything about "life" in Heaven?
Back to proof of the Blessed Virgin's Assumption body and soul into Heaven.....
We know that after the Crucxifixation the Blessed Virgin Mary was cared for by St.John. And early Christian writings for the Chruch Doctors and Fathers say she went to live at Ephesus with him. From these writings, we learn that when she died her body was placed in a temporary tomb. We also know that the bodies and relics of Saints were highly prized and zealously guarded Yet, here with Mary, certainly the most privileged of Saints, certainly the most saintly, no record of her bodily remains anywhere and no bones were ever found.
tova posts #126
Well, TOVA7, your lecture to me is rich....rich in irony...
It is a prime example of Protestant inchoherance. How many times I've heard of the sick and suffering traveling long distances to reach the places where Protestant stage "healing services" in the belief that they need the intervention of those who preside at those gatherings (can you say middle man?)
No one else but these "healers" will do...why then Tova7 do they not go directly to God?
These "healers" make a point of assuring their admirers that they themselves are not doing the healing, that God is. What then is their role? According to you, it's MIDDLE MAN, Tova7.
If the miracle workers are not serving as a middle man between the person who wants the healing and God, what are they doing there?
[
show me in scripture where you would find this.
of course. They're called Reformers because they were going back and reforming to what the bible had to say.
quote] Well, I wouldn't describe it as you have here, but close enough and after all this it feels good to agree with you on something!
ha! Good one. Well you're right. If we stick to scripture...we're ok...it's when you HAVE to bring up that CC dogma that gets you into trouble......;)
Agree with you on this one as well. We would do well to remember tho that God is not a respector of persons. He looks at all of us as sons and daughters and he doesn't put one on a pedastal whether it be Abraham, David Paul, or Mary. He's the father to all his children and he doesn't favor one over the other. That's what I'm trying to tell you Lula.
We all have different things asked of us. We have a myriad of examples in scripture. We have David a man after God's own heart....didn't say that about Mary. Abraham was willing to kill his own son with his own hand. Mary didn't do that. Paul was the most afflicted persecuted man of all.....well Jeremiah had it pretty tough too....but Mary wasn't afflicted or persecuted like this. Job was miserable and tested beyond measure......Mary wasn't given this lot.
KFC POSTS:
Imputed?
You use "impute" twice...
I always understood we inherited Original Sin, not that it was imputed upon us.
Your other use that Christ's perfection is imputed to us baffles me.
KFC POSTS:
I understand your larger point....
but wasn't Christ's entry into Jerusalem triumphant? I think it was.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.