Years ago I asked the person who organised our visit to see this lady with the crucifix, what had happened and whether we could visit again and find out? I was told that the lady in question was a very private person and there could be no more visits to her home. In fact I think we were the only group to ever be invited there that one time! When thinking back about this encounter, I remember getting the real impression from the lady, that she was not in favour of having people visit her home or making any fuss about what had occurred there and also that all she wanted was for the Church authorities to take the sacred objects and place them in the church’s archives. I don’t know what happened to the crucifix or the Stations of the Cross, I’m hoping all worked out with the church authorities. This also has had me question; what happens to items in the archives? Because I believe once they are there, then they are no longer able to be taken and installed in other churches. Is that correct? When seeing some of the sacred objects in churches I often wonder why the beautiful sacred items of the past, like this beautiful crucifix, which was very impressive, are not given to other churches. This crucifix was made of a beautiful wood and the porcelain body of our Lord on the cross was sculpted to be so lifelike and the paint that depicted the wounds, the blood, the hair, the crown of thorns and the facial features of our lord was unblemished and remarkable. Truly a magnificent crucifix.
When I was ay school one thing has really engraved itself in my heart down the years. They taught us that in order to achieve a good we cannot do an evil . I remember they even taught us that in order to save the entire world we should not tell a lie. That sounds incredible I know, just a tiny lie to save the entire world; humanly speaking you would think . 'Well why not?' But that is what they taught us and it is right. It just goes to show the harm of even the smallest sin. Another way of looking at it is , suppose you had a chance of shooting Adolph Hitler way back, say in 1938 and you knew for a fact it would stop the entire Second World War...would you do it? Well killing Hitler would have been murder and so killing him would have been an evil done to achieve a great good ,saving tens of millions of lives...but would have been wrong. I love this moral truth , it has stood by me down the years. I recall a prolife activist came asking me to take part in violent action against abortionist Doctors. But this truth came to my wise help. You cannot achieve good through evil and even killing abortionist Doctors is murder. I was thinking about the serious sin of Simony. last night in prayer and my mind went back to Jesus casting the sellers out of the Temple. Do you recall how Jesus went into a fury and actually took a whip to them?
I get the feeling she was quite a holy woman? That so many sacred objects fall into the hands of those unworthy or outside the church is a real problem for those who were in charge of them, on their judgement . No wonder the road to Hell is paved with the skull caps of Bishops for their neglect.
I have always had a great dread of being thrown into hell. That is because I have never really had the least difficulty in believing in it, demons , fire and sulphur , eternal damnation..the heap (apart from when I lost my Faith) . Now if the Church says Simony is a serious sin this would , literally scare the hell out of me. For I would be afraid of committing serious sin and being sent to hell. More than this I would not take the least risk of being sent to hell , through, 'Ifs' and 'Buts' and 'Maybes'.
Nothing to apologise for Joe . We both know a post I deleted goaded you. [''are you sure about that Joe?''] My friend [who is real and not just made up for the sake of the post] came to exactly the same conclusion as you this morning Joe ...primary motive was not to deliver or protect or venerate this relic but to obtain the grace it contains for myself: my primary motive was selfish. As SoT said... If you win it.... I believe it has fallen into the right hands.
At times like these I think of what St. Therese said: "My sister, if you desire God’s justice, you will have God’s justice. The soul receives exactly what she looks for from God" In other words you are not to see a punishing God bent on seeing you suffer, but rather a loving Father that forgives and wishes to see His children eternally happy. I do not associate good things with bad things and therefore nobody should associate hell with heaven - God. Hell wants nothing to do with God and God has noting to do with Hell. Trust yourself into His love. God bless!
Cheers I will finish with one final comment. I see now, blinded by self-will, I did not ask if it was God's will that I should bid for the relic. I did not ask God what He wanted or what He thought. I did not consciously pray for knowledge of His will. It's only now I realize that I have still not asked God if it is His will that the bid I so rashly made be the highest. So now I say, albeit a little late, Thy will, not mine be done.
A fear of Hell or purgatory is a wise thing... If St. Therese is correct that one does not need to be in Purgatory because God Himself does not want this and would love to help us, the thought that Purgatory can be avoided is suddenly not so far-fetched anymore. But first there is the problem of the. aforementioned opinion which says that only few will avoid Purgatory. This is confirmed by great saints and mystics like St. John of the Cross who says, "Only a small number of souls achieve perfect love"8 (perfect love is necessary to go straight to heaven). St. Teresa of Avila also had the experience that only few will be able to avoid Purgatory.9 St. John Vianney said, "It is definite that only a few chosen ones do not go to Purgatory and the suffering there that one must. endure, exceeds our imagination."10http://www.franciscan-ofs.net/ap/litfwrpu.htm
I do not wish to go off subject so this may be my last post herein. I believe, Mac that you are sweet soul that has much to give, perhaps at times you are misunderstood and try your best. She is correct - that I can testify to as can many. Jesus has said: Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. And so I say if you love God with your whole heart: you have nothing to fear and you will not sin, and as such you should love thy neighbour as thyself. God bless! Matthew 22:37-40 Douay-Rheims
There is a line we sall of us walk between the gulf of legalism and gulf of presumption, God is meciful , but He is also just. There is a heaven.. but there is also a hell. Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, http://www.catholicbasictraining.com/apologetics/coursetexts/1s.htm
Well Padraig and some members have put up with me for a couple of years now. I suppose every good forum needs a cross. But a sweet soul ? not something I would like to see go to a poll . Even I would vote that down
You are not sweet Mac and thank God neither am I . I am a crankity oul fart. God is not nice either. We might as well take Him out and shoot Him as call Him nice. Jesus is the Lion of Judah
Waldorf: I have half a mind to leave. Statler. If you had half a mind you wouldn't be here. Mac n Padraig.....should be on a menu Couple of old relics.
Yes, to the unjust; unrepentant. Powerful in love and just; protecter of. Alpha and Omega. There is none like unto God. He is also the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sins of the world; In love. Hallelujah!
Forgive me, Padraig ..perhaps I have missed something... For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. That you and I may have life. He is better than nice. God bless!
Hi SoT I do not think you have missed anything SoT. In the words of John the Baptist, the Lamb takes away "the sin" (singular) of the world. This sin is against unbelief and the Holy Spirit. Faith is a gift from God. It cannot be bought or its fruits acquired by magic. These two often go together...money and magic and give rise to Simony. There is a world of difference between thought and belief. In magic it is attempted to bring about transformation by the power of thought. But we are told in scripture that you cannot change one hair on your head by thought. Faith, on the other hand, moves mountains. In Faith God's Mercy is revealed but mercy makes no sense without justice and vice versa. Similarly Big Bird on his own is good for nothing. He needs the other characters to bring his own character to life. Comparing God with Big Bird makes me uneasy. It's a bit too familiar. I can see Padraig is fine with it but perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that Padraig is like Big Bird than to make this comparison with God. I was trying to bring us back in line with the thread through my joke about two old relics. There is another old joke that "we are all here because we are not all there." Catholics long to be 'there', we want to go to heaven. But we can't buy an entry ticket. Relics give us a taste and bring us near to those who have already gained entry to heaven. They are a special connection to the saints. This connection or grace is not for sale. Like faith it is a gift from God not a given, not ours for the taking but rather for reception and grateful and joyful acceptance. I know this now. Relics help us improve our life of faith. Life is not for sale. As i write this I see how far reaching is the sin of Simony. It actually preserves the sin of the world which of course is diametrically opposed to the will of God and the mission of Jesus. He was sent to take away the sin of the world. He was sent to give life through Faith in Him. In relics we are reminded of the lives of those who lived this life of faith to the full. So thank you to all of you for bringing me to this clearer understanding. I love my relics but only as part of the treasure of our deposit of Faith. No other Faith has such treasures. The deposits of all the institutions of the world pale by comparison and as we are told we cannot serve God and money. We have to chose, Satan or Salvation.
