I find it contradictory that they accuse Catholics of being idolaters and say that we will go to hell because of this, since this contradicts the mechanics of Lutheran salvation, in which our works do not add anything to our salvation.
I find trying to grapple with Protestants who take their faith seriously (sola scriptura) is mostly futile unless the Holy Spirit is there initiating the conversation. Some years ago my DIL told my oldest granddaughter that we worship statues. I set her straight gently and lovingly. And then told my DIL about it. Sigh. I don't know if it "took". She did tell me some years later quite unsolicited that I was every child's idea of a perfect grandmother. Shock. Surprise. Amazement. All I could say was thank you. I didn't say "even though I am a devout Catholic". I think we've both mellowed with the years. (A lot of prayer has gone up)
I realized a silogism (?) which means Calvinism is the worst theological system. the saved are saved no matter what they do- so they can sin freely the damned are damned no matter what: they can sin all they want, they arent saved anyways. a calvinist would say he doesnt want to sin...but taken to its logical conclusion, his desire is irrelevant and his theology entitles people.
I can relate to that. Just before my conversion I was tormented by the notion that Calvinism may be right and that God had predestined me to be lost, no matter what I did. This was because I had been keeping company with evangelicals who focus on being saved through accepting Christ as personal saviour. I had done this to the best of my knowledge (how DO you open your heart to Jesus?) but felt no different. It was a horrible feeling, of being unwanted by God. To be fair my eager friends were not responsible for this, I had studied history with an excellent teacher and knew the Reformation quite well. I didn’t have long to suffer as God flooded my soul with peace and I felt loved more truly than I ever had been. PF speaks about praying for a lady she saw in her spirit to be headed for hell. CS Lewis said something very similar- everyone we will ever meet in this life will end up either more radiant than we can imagine or hideous as the beasts in hell. I can’t remember the exact analogy but it shook me at the time. On a related note, his story The Shoddy Lands shows a person’s soul by how they see the world.
I think a good answer to the idol thing is the telephone. When we speak into a phone we are not taking to the phone, we are using the phone to talk to someone else. The same with statues and pictures. They are an aid to communication, like the telephone.
I have a few acquaintances on FB that are not Christian, and lately in these times have seemed to embrace Satanism. One for example is consistently posting memes about looking forward to being in Hell because of the "party" there with all her friends who hate religion. This gal is someone I consistently work with during dog shows in our State, and I actually LIKE her. She is extremely helpful and giving to everyone and will pitch in to help anyone handle their dogs for free. When I was laid up during surgery, she offered to drive over 2 hours one way daily to help care for my dogs. She is one of the few that I keep on FB and of course cringe with all her pro-abortion and anti Christian posts. BUT I do remember to pray for her and to pray a little extra when she posts these things. Also it helps me to see just how far the left is going in their supposed hatred for God and Religion. She says she doesn't mind my Catholic posts, and will tell me I am the only Christian she likes because she believes I am not a hypocrite, and actually lives by my beliefs. So that tells me something too.....Our life decisions as Catholics are NOTICED. They all know that after my divorce in my early 30s I have been celibate for Jesus sake because my marriage was valid. They have all tried to "set me up" with someone over the years and so I"ve had to explain it to them, and they are respectful even if they think I'm crazy and wasting my life. Sometimes I ask the Lord why we cannot do miracles like the Apostles did to bring people back to Christ, but then I realize what an impact we could make if people could SEE our love and devotion to Him, our joy, and how little value we place on silly things like romance and individualism, and how happy we are with just having Christ walk with us through this life. The world tells them they will be happy with material things, and attention, and romantic relationships, and they soon find out it is not true....
What a great post! I hope and pray that “they soon find out it is not true” BEFORE they die. What a great delusion to view eternal damnation as a big “party”. But you are right, people do.
GK Chesterton once famously said that people hate Catholics because of whom they suppose us to be, rather than whom we actually are . I suppose something in reverse can be said of what we might call dress for the part Satanists . They suppose they are Satanists, or witches but if they actually k ew what a genuine Satanist or witch actually is they would run away screaming for miles. During the Second Wirkd War Black magic was very widely practised on all sides as part of the, 'War wffort'. I homeward of a married couple, high up in British Intelligence who used a ancient Grimoire or Bkack Book to summon the devil. They succeeded and spent the rest of their poor lives in a mental institution screaming their mad ,terrified heads off
I think war itself is a satanic ritual. I read Erasmus's essay against war. and Lloyd Demausse proved around 80% of all war casualties are civilians always In earliest history, warfare was more like group MMA with weapons. the "war" lasted a day or 2 and only warriors died, the relatives just cheered from the sides
I think that is partly why Our Lady said that wars are a punishment for men’s sins. By the way, Happy Belated Birthday. Hope it was fun.
I think the story of David and Goliath comes closet to many ancient battle when one champion from one side fought one from the other fought and everyone else was a cheer leader. However the earliest example of Ethnic cleansing and Genocide also comes from the Bible too. When God told the Hebrews to wipe out all the various inhabitants of the Promised Land, man women and child.
On the other hand War can bring out many great virtues. Jesus said , greater love has no man than this than that has lay down his life for his friends. It is quite common in a war for men to lay down their lives for comrades and country. This is very admirable.
It is interesting that God doesn't displace people arbitrarily simply for the sake of His Chosen. Take the example of God's promises to Abraham in Genesis 15. Notice in v.15 God willingly displaces the Amorites only when their sin had reached a point of requiring judgment. And we know that judgment was brought upon Egypt because of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart! 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; 14 but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
I think St Alphonsus Ligouri says that God has a kind of tipping point when He no longer forgives but acts. So say I am a lover of pornography and keep going to Confession and promising not to do it again but keep repeating this say 500 times on the 501st time God might pull the curtains on me. That God has a kind of line in the sand. The same thing could surely be said of Nations too. That there is a tipping point. I think this is what Our Lady is talking about when she talks of, 'The Chalice filling up'. That there is a point when God will say enough is enough and we draw very close to this.
"If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them." -Our Lady of Akita
Yes, the Church teaches that there are certain sins that cry out to God for vengeance.I think that is the problem at the moment that these particular sins have become widespread. Also in the Book of the Apocalypse I believe it talks of the saints/angels in heaven getting angry so to speak with what is going on here below and calling on God to act.
