Jn20:19-23 Jesus bestowed on the Disciples the power to forgive sins, He did it on Easter Sunday. This is significant because of the connection of the Resurrection with spiritual life. The only other time that God breathed on anyone was when He breathed life into the first human being (GN 2:7). He gave them (the Apostles) the authority to forgive and not to forgive. "Those whose sins you forgive are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained".

Catholics always confess their sins to God. They do so directly as well as through His ministers because that is what God requires, as clearly taught in Scripture. In James 5:13-16, the author makes clear that the sins of the sick are forgiven in this sacrament of annointing. He specifies that the presbyters (priests) must be called. They obviously had a power the ordinary Christian did not: the power to forgive sins. Otherwise, why didn't James simply ask ordinary, fellow Christians to pray over the sick as is the case in numerous other passages. Early Church history confirms that Christians believed this power was passed on to the Apostles' successors

he Bible teaches that authoritative Christian teaching comes through the Bible, the Church, and the apostolic "deposit" or Tradition. Catholics agree that every true doctrine can be found in the Bible, if only indirectly sometimes, and cannot contradict it.

2 Timothy 3: 16 does not teach "Bible Alone," but simply describes the virtues of Holy Scripture. Biblical indications for the Catholic position are quite numerous. When Jesus condemns "tradition", he qualifies His rebuke by referring to corruptions or traditions of men."

The apostle Paul refers positively to a Christian Tradition ("maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you" 1 Cor 11:2). He also upholds the authority of oral tradition, referring to "the word of God which you heard from us" 1 Thess 2:13 and "sound words which you have heard from me." 2 Tim 1:13-14. The latter passage is very important because it is located in the context of the 2 Timothy passage that is the most common Protestant proof text against tradition.

Perhaps the clearest Biblical proof of the infallible authority of the Church is the Jerusalem Council, and its authoritative, binding pronouncement Acts 15. Peter made the decision that gentiles who came into the Church did not have to be circumsized or follow certain laws from the law of Moses. This decision that Peter and the Council agreed upon was found nowhere in Scripture. In fact, the Scriptures offered only support for a different decision. This is clear Biblical proof that the Church was able to make decisions that had no Scriptural support. At that time there was no New Testament.

In Matt 23:2-3, Jesus teaches that the scribes and Pharisees have a legitimate binding authority (even when they are being rank hypocrites): "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you." The idea of "Moses' seat" cannot be found anywhere in the Old Testament, but it appears in the (originally oral) Mishna, which teaches a sort of "teaching succession" from Moses on down.

In 1 Cor 10:4, St. Paul refers to a rock that "followed" the Jews through the Sinai wilderness. In the Old testament, we hear about Moses striking a rock to produce water, but it doesn't say anything about such a miraculous movement. But rabbinic tradition does.

Nor did the Jews ever accept Solo Scriptura. Only the skeptical Sadducees rejected Oral Tradition, but they also rejected the future resurrection, the soul, the afterlife, eternal rewards and retribution, and demons and angels. The nature of authority in the Old Testament times is illustrated by Ezra, a priest and scribe who taught the Jewish Law to Israel. His authority was binding, under pain of imprisonment, banishment, loss of goods, and even death. Ezra 7:6, 10, 25-26

The overwhelming weight of relevant biblical data is opposed to the central Protestant doctrine of Bible Alone, and strongly supports the idea of authoritative tradition. The History of Protestantism and its many doctrinal divisions and some 30,000 denominations strongly argues against the solo-scriptura Doctrine. How could a perspicuous Bible lead so many believers to so many different interpretations. The Bible is not easy to understand. It's a complex book whose words and ideas have captivated the world's most brilliant minds for millenia. Without an authoritative voice of interpretation --like a Church-- error and division are inevitable. Such division began right at the beginning of Protestantism. Martin Luther had different beliefs than Huldreich Zwingli about the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Calvin, Zwingli, and Luther were divided about Baptism. There are today five major competing Doctrines of Baptism.

2 Peter 3:15-17 "There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ingorant and unstable twist to their destruction, as they do the other scriptures."

Division is not of God, yet the Solo Scriptura Doctrine brought division to Christianity that had not been there previously. Martin Luther did not reform the Church, he splittered it into many different pieces, which is unbiblical. God wills that we be unified in faith. Our Lord Jesus prayed in John 17:22, "that they may be one even as we are one." Acts 4:32 informs us that the earliest Christians were "of one heart and soul." St. Paul taught that "there is one body and one Spirit...one Lord, one faith, one baptism," Eph 4:4-5, and that Christians were to "stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel," Phil 1:27, and to be "in full accord and of one mind".Phil2:2

St. Peter urges us to have "unity of spirit." 1 Pet 3:8 Denominationalism and doctrinal relativism are roundly condemned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 1:10-13 "all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement...each one of you says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ. Is Christ divided?"

Only an authoritative Church, commissioned by Christ to teach His truth and protected by the Holy Spirit from doctrinal error, can preserve individual Christians from the dissensions caused by their own flawed interpretations.

The false Prophet Muhammed said, "poverty is my pride". He had a good point but he was powerful, wealthy, a murderer, and a man with many wives. A carnal man who did not know the virtues of humility, modesty and poverty of heart.
John the Baptist lived in the wilderness on locusts and wild honey, with roug camel hair for clothing. Accused of being a madman and rejected by the Jews.
With poverty of heart one has richess of Spirit.
NKJV) Acts 2:44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
Jesus said "take nothing with you, no bag, no spare tunic, so spare sandals...freely you have recieved freely yoou shall give"

Jesus meek and humble of heart, deliver me from swedish furniture, deliver me from clever arts, deliver me from clear skin and perfect teeth, give me a bald head, thick glasses and a pot belly (to keep the flattering tounge away :)) from the desire of being esteemed, from the fear of suffering rebukes, the fear of being hated because of thee.

People of the world, you are not your wallet, you are not your bank account, you are not your reputation,
you are not your outward appearance or the clothes you wear, you are not the mansion you live in, you are not the car you drive.

Jesus is my castle,
the Father is my King,
sheltered within my fortress,
His praises I will sing,
Elohim, Elohim,
I will sing, I will sing
Shaddai, Adoni,
thou hast heard thy peoples cry

Lord of sea and sky, in thy arms I long to die.


Soft living is for the wordlings who desire not the cross of Christ or the poverty and humilty of the Son of man who had no place to rest his head, born in the poverty and humility of a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.
The Old testament tells us there would be nothing in his physical appearence that would draw us to him. That he would be shunned and despised by men.

Of all that the Church teaches, if there is one thing I dislike most, it is some not all of the practices of indulgences. When I am reading a prayer book and it says next to the prayer 500 days indulgence, I just think to myself, it's possible. Does 500 days imply that purgatory has 24 hour days?

Is it okay to say to a protestant:

"We dont seek our way to heaven by indulgenced prayers and practices. Nearly every good work or prayer has an indulgence attached to it, and you can be a Catholic and care less about the attached indulgence.
The Pope might say, "I grant an indulgence to those going on such and such a pilgramedge," but if you read a book that lists indulgenced prayers and works, it is endless, and you will find you get the same indulgence and far much more grace and spiritual growth from reading the Scriptures daily for a half hour or more etc.
To me, when we pray for someone, give alms, perform a work of mercy, make an act of love and praise to God, the grace that that brings down upon us is efficacious, and in union with Christs Sacrifice, makes reparation for sin and blasphemy, and can help convert sinners and save souls from hell.
My understanding is that any time the Lord gives grace to someone as a result of prayer, repentance, and good deeds, that is an indulgence.
You cannot sell such a thing, but almsgiving does please God and bring down graces upon us.
I do not deny there have been much abuses and I regret the behavior of people in power who abused their authority.

Also "God sent his only Son so that whoever believeth in him might not die but have eternal life".
In that quote from Scripture we see that by believing in Christ a man sentenced to die is declared "not guilty" and the eternal punishment and debt is lifted.
That is considered an indulgence even if we dont call it that. I dont care what you call it.

I would like to further emphasize the Church's point, that by the incarnation of Christ, God chose to use matter to convey grace to the world.
Christ healed a blind man using spit and mud and telling him to wash in water. All of these are lifeless matter.
Moses brought the plagues upon egypt by raising his staff, and that was also what parted the red sea.
Elishas bones touched a dead man and brought him back to life.
In Kings chapter 5 Namaan was healed of leprosy after dipping himself in the Jordan seven times.
Paul healed people by blessing hankerchiefs and sending them to the sick.
A hankerchief could heal someone with God's grace of course. Peters shadow fell on people and that healed them.
All these scriptures support the belief that God can use material things (relics) to bring grace and healing to people."

Some Protestant told me once that Catholics during their parades trample eachother to death to kiss crucifix's, paintings, or relics of Saints. Is this not worship?
First off, I havent seen evidence of such trampeling behavior.

My response to him was,
You rarely see such things in a Catholic Mass, at least these days anyways.
I suppose if people want to do that else where, they are free to choose what they want to do.
No one is forcing them to engage in such forms of devotion."
I have kissed a cross, I did not worship the Cross. I worship Christ in my heart while saying, I adore thee oh Christ and I praise thee, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
If you kiss your wife, or your Mom, or your child, are you worshiping them?
What if you kiss a picture of your true love when she is a way for a while. Is that worship?
I suppose it could be in certain cases, but that doesnt mean it is most of the time. There fore if I kiss the feet of a representation of the savior of the world on the wood of the cross, that is not idolatry unless I believe in my heart that the material is God.
Most people do not get to see God face to face, so we have art work to help us raise our minds and hearts to the unfathomabe God.
If you kiss a picture of your significant other and you believe that picture (the paper and the image) is your God, than that is Idolatry.

pray a five second prayer for me, Matthew Janes.
The name of Jesus is a prayer, an effective prayer. That doesnt take a second to say a powerful prayer.

Is the Rosary more Powerful than the Liturgy of the hours?



When I asked a Carmelite priest if the Rosary was more powerful than the Divine office he acted like I should know better. That the office is the most powerful and important prayer after the mass.
If that is so, why does our lady urge everyone to pray the Rosary and never does she say everyone must pray the office.
She says the Rosary is the key to world peace? She never says that about the Breviary.
Also, the psalms were written by King David, an adulterer and a murderer. They were also written in a time where Israelites annihilated nations, polygamy was practiced amongst men of God, and people were stoned to death for infractions so small as picking up sticks on the sabbath.
The psalms were written by a sinner, but the prayers of the Rosary come from the New testament and were from the lips of our Lord, St. Elizabeth, and the Angel Gabriel. One of them being God, another an Archangel without sin, and Elizabeth the mother of the most holy Saint after Our Lady and St. Joseph.
Also, the Breviary mainly has prayers and mysteries from the Old testament before the Messiah. The mysteries of the Rosary are all New Testament mysteries, the Mysteries of our salvation and the merits of Christs sacrifice. This to me makes the Rosary more powerful and more important than the Divine office [(liturgy of the hours) Breviary]. Also, all the protestants, Jews, and Muslims accept and chant much of what is in the Liturgy of the hours. The Rosary is authentically and exclusively a Catholic devotion.
Also, the Rosary has been known as the poor man's breviary because religious who could not read would pray the Rosary as their liturgy of the hours.
Also, the Rosary was known as the psalter of Jesus and Mary. The psalms are the Psalter of David. There were originally 150 Hail Mary's to supplement the 150 psalms.
Let me know if you think the Liturgy is more powerful. I suppose it is more important if you are a priest or religious who has taken a vow to recite the hours.
I have read Saints say that the Rosary is the most powerful prayer after the Mass. The Mass is the first meditation on the life, mysteries, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. After the mass the Rosary is the next most common and powerful devotion and meditation on The mysteries of our redemption.

Of course, it is all about what is in the heart not the words.

I have a few people here who pray the Rosary with me. It was they who were already doing that and invited me. Many of the people here do not have faith or are not Catholic, so I will tell them feel free to leave the prayer whenever you like, even if you just stay for the apostles creed. Many people will not want to pray a whole rosary. Just a decade is better than nothing. If I can get someone to come to the chapel for a minute to say one our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be that is better than going the whole day without praying at all, as many people here do.

Fortunately I had the priveledge of hearing one resident apoligize for using the G damn word. Alleluia! We can make a difference no matter how small and seemingly insignificant it may seem.

If I can get someone who doesnt pray, to just pray five seconds a day, I feel like I have made a difference. Im sure if someone prays for five seconds a day, eventually the Holy Spirit will inspire them to pray for longer. Here in the hedonist secular socialist states of America, if someone prays fifteen minutes a day on their knees, that is not very common.

Anyone who claims that they don't know how to pray should be reminded that the name of Jesus is a prayer.

Wow! you can say an efficacious (powerful) prayer in one second! What if everybody in the world prayed the Holy name of Jesus every night B4 bed? That would be more than 6 billion prayers a day. Imagine if everyone in the world took less than a minute out of their day to pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory be. That would be more than 18 billion prayers. Satan and all of hell would be pitifully outgunned.

In the Pieta prayer book we read about how our Lord told a certain nun that one "Jesus Mary I love you save souls" atones for 1,000 blasphemies when it is said with all your heart. He also said waste no time for every act of love can save a soul.
If every one on earth said that short prayer from the heart, that would be more than 1,000 X 6,000,000,000 (one thousand 6 billion) blasphemies atoned for. Could there be so much blasphemy out there to atone for? Imagine if every Catholic in the world made a single act of love each day from the heart.
Aside from the masses, the Rosary's, the Novena's etc. that would be at least 165 billion acts of love rising like incense to heaven in a years worth of time, and lovers cover a multitude of sins. God doesnt make the world's problems too difficult. It could be assumed that we could passify the world's problems if everyone would just put a minute of their time into fervent prayer each day.
Who can say that their life is so busy they can't take a minute out for prayer? Sadly the world is not like that so we need good prayer warriors to compensate for the world's infidelity.

I had those thoughts before the blessed sacrament. It reminds me how generous God is and his yoke can be easy, his burden light. It appears the world's problems are not only simple to solve, but easy if everyone would cooperate just a little.

With God all things are possible. If He chooses to protect a man from error, He can do so. In fact, we see this occuring in Scripture. Infalibility, according to the Catholic Church, means that the Pope (and the decisions of an ecumenical council in agrement with the Pope) cannot err in a teaching on faith or morals that is intended as binding on all Catholics.

Infallibility isn't the same thing as "inspiration"-- Catholics don't believe that the Pope speaks with the voice of the Holy Spirit-- and it doesn't guarentee that a Pope will be morally edifying, or even especially intelligent or wise. Since infallibility is a lesser gift than inspiration, it should not surprise us any more than, or seem less plausible, than our belief that God worked through the writers of the Bible to produce an infallible book. Why couldnt a God who worked through men to produce an infallible Bible continue to work through men to preserve the infallible teachings that flow from it, for all time? After all, some of the Bible's authors such as David, Paul, and Matthew, had also been great sinners at one time. Even Peter denied Christ three times, 11 of the twelve Apostles fled like cowards, and our Lord even said "get behind me Satan" to Peter.

Infallibility is less extraordinary than the gift of prophecy. Prophets routinely purported to proclaim the very "word of the LORD", a kind of "revelation on the spot.". The Pope doesnt claim to have this gift, which is a much greater claim than Papal infalibility. In Old Testament times, God granted certain men this gift of special protection from error. For example, the Levites , who were teachers, among other things: Malachi 2:6-8 "True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts."

The prophets recieved their inspiration by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is now given to all Christians. Is it unreasonable to believe that an even greater measure of the Holy Spirit would be given to the Chief Sheperd of the Flock, or to guide the Church councils. Jn 16:13, cf. 8:32 "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth."

If the Pope were to believe Heresy or even write Heresy that still would not contradict the Catholic Doctrine of Papal infallibility as long as he did not teach it officially or make it a required belief for all Catholics.

First Vatican Council (1870) "The Roman Pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in discharge of the office of pastor and teacher of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, is , by the divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be endowed."

A Pope who hasn't studied, prayed, and meditated on the mysteries of Christ wont enjoy any special knowledge or insights simply by virtue of the infallibility of his office. A Pope who doesn't nurture the gift of faith in his heart won't, simply because the Holy Spirit protects him from teaching error in official capacity, find it any easier to avoid doubt and yes, even heresy in his personal theological convictions.

If a Pope is imprisoned and being tortured he can even cave in and renounce Christ, renounce his faith, speak or write Heresy, but it still would not contradict infallibility because he is not committing those sins with 100% of his free will, and he isnt speaking ex Cathedra. Not once in the long History of the Catholic Church has a pope taught the Church to believe a moral or doctrinal error.

Is it Biblical to ask the Saints in heaven to pray for us? The Church says yes, since we are all part of the Communion of Saints. The communion of Saints refers to the bond of unity among all believers, both living and dead, who are committed followers of Christ. In Christ, we are made part of God's family (1Tim3:15), children of God (1John 3:1), joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17), and partakers of the divine nature ( Pet 1:4). This family communion of Saints is known to Catholics as the Mystical Body of Christ. We are joined in a supernatural union as members of Christ's own body, and thus as members of one another. Each of us participates in the divine life of Christ Himself. Know the image of the Vine and the Branches (John 15:1-5). We as branches are connected to Christ the vine, we are also connected to each other. Death cannot seperate Christians from Christ or from one another (Rom 8:35-39). In that union we call for help and support from our older brothers and sisters who have already won their crown of glory.

Necromancy means summoning forth spirits from the shadowy underword (Sheol) in order to converse with them. The Saints are not dead and they are not in Sheol. They are in heaven and alive with God. In Mark 9:4 Jesus is seen conversing with Elijah and Moses. Jesus tells the good thief "Amen I say to you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise". The Saints in heaven are more alive now then when they were on earth. We know that Angels and Saints place the prayers of the holy ones at God's feet (Tobit12:12; Rev 5:8; Rev 8:3-4), supporting prayers with their intercessions. The martyrs underneath the heavenly altar cry out for earthly vindication (Rev 6:9-11).

There is one mediator between God and man, but we share in Christ's priesthood, and our intercessions and prayers for eachother do have power. To share in Christ's priesthood means to share in his mediatorship, both in heaven and on earth. 1 Tim 2:5 confirms that we share in Christ's mediation, when we read it in context. In verses 1-7, St. Paul asks Christians to participate in Christ's unique mediation by offering prayers and intercessions for all men: "this is good and pleasing to God". We are called to unite ourselves to the one mediator Christ, "who gave himself as a ransom for all," by praying for all men, through Christ. All prayer whether in heaven or on earth, is in Christ and through Christ, our one mediator and high priest. Christ himself is the vine between the branches. We and the Saints form one communion, one body of Christ, being members of Him and members of one another. They can hear us and they are concerned for our Welfare. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Lk 16:19-30), the departed rich man is able to pray to Abraham and interced for his brothers. This implies that there can be communication across the abyss.

We are certain that the Saints in heaven jenjoy the face to face vision of God (1 Cor 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2). How can Saints hear all these prayers? Heaven has no space or time. Everything appears to God as one eternal present. Like God, the Saints are outside of the limitations of space and time.

It is true that God said thou shall not make of thee a graven image, but he was clearly speaking in the context of Idolatry. At that time Paganism and the worship of images and created things was an epidemic. There are, in fact, cases where God Commanded the Israelites to carve images.

Exodus 26:1. In God's commands to Moses concerning the tabernacle, given just a few chapters after the giving of the Ten Commandments, is this instruction: "Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman."

A similar command with respect to the Ark of the Covenant instructed Moses to have two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat. God said, "And there I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel" (Exodus 25:22). Here are images directly connected with the presence of God, and commanded by Him. From the very earliest years of the Church, Christians used such symbols as the cross, the fish, the peacock, the shepherd, and the dove. And early Christian tombs and catacombs bear paintings which are representations of biblical scenes.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:3-5). Note that the context shows that the term "graven image" is used to refer to an idol-an image created to be worshipped as a god. The Catholic Church would condemn any such thing.

If God did not want the Israelites to carve graven images than why did he command Moses to make a fiery serpent and lift it on a pole so that those who might see it shall live. Numbers 21:7-9:

7: And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8: And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." , 9: So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The bronze serpent prefigured Christ, for our Lord said, "just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

Thus, he commands them in the very ark of the covenant in which God himself resided. Even the ark itself is gold that is refined, cut to adorn a place where God would reside in a special manner. There is a mercy seat of pure gold. That in and of itself is a graven image. Plus, it is purely done in a religious context and the making of these images was to bring more Glory to God himself.

Let us see when it was actually done by Solomon when he put this into practice, 1 King 6:22-29:

22: And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 23: In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24: Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25: The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. 26: The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27: He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house; and the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. 28: And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29: He carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.

Ezekiel 41:18-19 there is a mention of making statuaries of men:

18And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces, 19so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around.


As far as venerating relics goes. I bet when the Israelites were dropping dead from snake bites people were trampling over the dead and dying bodies of their comrades to get a look at that golden snake. Could that be Godly? It sounds pagan when you think that people were being saved and healed by gazing at a serpent. Well, that is how God chose to heal them of their deadly venomous wounds.


Catholics look to the Crucifix because it inspires devotion in our heart to gaze at something that reminds us of how much he loved us, that we while we were yet sinners, were so loved by him that he suffered and died for us. Just as the serpent was lifted up in the desert so was Christ lifted up for us

By the incarnation of Christ God chose to use matter to convey grace to the world. Christ healed a blind man using spit and mud and telling him to wash in water. All of these are matter. Moses brought the plagues upon egypt by raising his staff and that was also what parted the red sea.
Elishas bones touched a dead man and brought him back to life.
In Kings chapter 5 Namaan was healed of leprosy after dipping himself in the Jordan seven times. Paul healed people by blessing hankerchiefs and sending them to the sick. A hankerchief could heal someone with God's grace of course. Peters shadow fell on people and that healed them. All these scriptures support the belief that God can use material things (relics) to bring grace to people

Biblical reasons, Church tradition, and the writtings of the early Christians. We see the first prophecy of the virgin Mary in Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman between her seed and thy seed. She shall crush thy head and thou shalt wait for her heal.

We begin to see partial fulfillments of this prophecy In the book of judges, we see Jael a woman who saved the Israelites by pounding a tent stake through the enemy Generals head. She crushed the head of a serpent. Later we learn about a women who saved Israel when she dropped a millstone on the head of another enemy general. So she crushed his head. Later we hear about Judith who saves the people of Israel when she cuts off the head of another enemy General. Again we see a woman crushing the head of an enemy of Israel. Israel is prefigured by God to be a type of the Catholic church.

The enemy Generals were real people that existed, but they were intended to prefigure and represent Satan, his demons, and the enemies of the church. The women were really people who actually existed, but they were intended by God to prefigure our Lady. In statues and pictures of our Lady we more often than not see her crushing the head of a serpent. So when we consider these women and what they did for Israel, we can see foreshadowing’s of what she does for the Catholic church.

After Jael cuts off the head of the sleeping enemy General she is praised by Debora who says, “blessed among women be Jael”. After Judith cuts of the head of the sleeping enemy General than she is praised by the prince of Israel who says “blessed art thou oh daughter of the most high God above all women on the Earth.” Those praises sound familiar because those praises are foreshadowing’s of the Archangel Gabriel’s and St. Elizabeth’s praise of our Lady when they say, “blessed art thou among women.”

There is a prophecy taken from chapter 44 from the prophet Ezekial. It Speaks of the eastern gate of the temple. This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut for the prince, the prince himself shall sit in it.

Cornelius Alapaday says, ”All the Fathers state that This closed Gate is the virgin Mary in which the prince that is Christ the Lord sits, when having been conceived in her most pure flesh, he lived for nine months in her sacred womb, as if it were his own dwelling place and temple, and the phrase It shall be shut for the prince, means even when the prince passes through it, the Gate shall be closed and shall remain closed. This clearly states the virgin was and ever will remain a virgin. Even to the prince himself, namely Christ, the gate would remain closed.” St. Jerome also shared these views.

Remember that the Ark was a golden Box built to the exact specifications handed down to Moses by God, containing the two tablets containing the word of God the ten commandments, contained a jar full of mana, miracle bread that had fallen from heaven, it also contained the rod of Aron which had blossomed.

The Ark had a golden lid, this mercy seat which had two cherubim on it. when the Ark of the Lord was placed in the holy place, whether it was the tabernacle or the temple, the glory cloud of the Lord would come down to rest above the mercy seat. The Ark was so holy it couldn’t even be touched.

Remember what happened when king David was moving the Ark up to Jerusalem, they put it on a cart by sliding these golden covered poles through rings on the side of the ark, and picking it up and setting it on the cart because you couldn’t touch it. But then as they were hauling it, it looked like the Ark was going to slip off the cart and Uzzah reached out to steady it and was struck down dead.

Please do not give up on the Democratic Party... without the Democrats there would be no Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, a minimum wage, child labor laws, or a living wage. If you really want to overturn Roe v. Wade (approved by Republican Nixon & upheld by Ford & Reagan) it will be the Democratic Party to do it...
Also, the Republican Party do not care for our Catholic brethren who are labeled "illegal" immigrants (despite well over a majority of them living here for years and having children here). It is time that we return our Party back to its Kennedy roots...

Please support President Jimmy Carter by signing the petition below which calls for the Democratic Party to accept Pro Life Democrats back into the Party. It will be submitted by Carter to the DNC Chair. A little under half of all Democrats are Pro Life and it is time that we are recognized...

Pro Lifers Please Sign the Petition Below
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bigtent/


news source quoting Carter below
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/29/j...tion-position/

Jesus Christ has raised me from the dead after 1,925 years of dormancy as regards a blessing in strength, namely, having a physical body. It's great to be back and you can't stop me.

Did Sunday replace the Saturday Sabbath as the new rest and worship day for Christians? I'm asking this because I'm getting conflicting answers from different Catholic sources. I was raised Catholic (not a Catholic now) and educated in Catholic schools and what I was taught was that Sunday replaced the Saturday Sabbath. But some Catholics are now saying it did not. The RC church in our locality prominently displays the 'Ten Commandments' at its entrance with this as the third commandment: "Remember thou keep holy the Lord's Day (meaning, Sunday)." This shows Sunday replaced the Saturday Sabbath that was enjoined to be observed on this third commandment, does it not?

A friend told me without warning that he didn't want us to have any more contact. (He is a friend of 33 years standing, not a boyfriend. Need to get that straight). No explanation. I may not always have been perfect over the years but I was never so bad as to deserve that. I am devastated. Have been praying for reconciliation ever since. Have expressed wiful regret for anything I did, will never do it again and pleaded for reconciliation. That was 4 months ago. Then his mother died last week, suddenly and unexpectedly. He was devoted to her and they were very close. He will be in pieces, I know. I felt I had to send him a letter of sympathy with prayers and I hope it didn't upset or annoy him to hear from me. Now I pray for his comfort in his grief but still for eventual reconciliation. It all feels so complicated now. Please pray for us both.

My name is Brandi. I am a college student. I am doing a research paper for my bachelor's degree on the Vatican Council II and how it affected American Catholics. Please help me in gaining some knowledge please. I would like to know how the changes in church beliefs and how it conducted mass affected you - both good and bad. Thank you.