Back with a new episode after a busy week: organising a talk in the parish, dining out with a theology professor and a priest, dietary restrictions, common objections of Protestants to the doctrine of Purgatory and praying for the dead.
Scriptural References for the doctrine of Purgatory / praying for the dead:
2 Samuel 12:13-16; Daniel 12:2-10; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 5:26 ; Luke 12:47-48 & 58-59; 1 Corinthians 3:13-15; 2 Timothy 1:16-18; Hebrews 2:27-28; Hebrews 12:22-23; I Peter 3:16-19; 1 Peter 4:6 [Comment: These dead could not have been in Hell; there's no escaping Hell. They couldn't have been in Heaven. So where were they?]; Revelation 21:10, 27; 2 Maccabees 12:43-46; Wisdom 3:1-7.
Update after our Word & Communion Service; How to deal with very different opinions how to run a parish; Holy See invites Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while keeping their own patrimony; Pope John Paul II and the Bible on unification/unity; Podcast Plug: Catholic Vitamins.
Links for this episode:
Ut Unum Sint. Encyclical by Pope John Paul II, May 1995.
This is a transcript of episode 23 of “A Journey into the Land of the Spirit” podcast. Like I promised in the podcast I transcribed the segment about statues and graven images for those who want to refer back to it.
I want to delve deeper in a topic that’s discussed often. As a new Catholic I have to explain this to my friends, who are still Protestant all the time. The most common question I will be asked is “Why do Catholics worship statues?”. And the short answer always is: “Catholics don’t worship statues”.
Their response often is “But you’ve got tons of statues in your churches”, on which I respond, “Sure, be we don’t worship those”. Usually the next comment is “But God forbids making statues, why do you make statues where God forbids you to do so?”. My response to that surprises most Protestants. First I throw back another question: “Why do you keep pictures of your loved ones in your wallet even though you see them every day? You must know by now how they look like?” Then I usually say “But God doesn’t forbid making statues, there are quite a number of Bible passages in which God commands us to make objects for veneration, but that’s something different then worshipping them of course”. Usually that’s the point where my friends are really curious, let me explain where my answer comes from.
Ubercaster has been fixed; my priest becomes tech savy; losing 2kg in a week by walking and working out; Catholic apologetic section about small gods – graven images and statues; Podcast plug – Catholic Book Club
Link from this episode:
Catholic Under the Hood, episode 195 “Truth and Beauty” on Catholicism and art.
The following post is a transcript from episode 21 of “A Journey into the Land of the Spirit” in which I discuss the history of the Blessed Rosary and what it’s foundation in Scripture is.
Where does the Rosary come from? What is the connection between the virgin Mary and the Rosary? Isn’t it wrong to put the focus on Mary instead of on Our Lord? And finally a question asked by many protestants: is the Rosary a ‘Biblical’ / Scriptural thing?
So starting with the first questions. What is a rosary? The word rosary comes from ‘rosarium’ and the chaplet comes from the word ‘corona’. So basically it’s name means ‘a crown of roses’. That seems to be a weird name for a set of prayer beads. But it becomes even stranger. Did you know that the English word for bead (so b-e-a-d) is derived from the Old English word for pray which is b-e-d-e? Even in modern Dutch and German you can find that same word still in use as a translation for ‘prayer’, which comes from the French together with a lot of other words imported from French after 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded Britain. Read more…
An update on recent events: visiting the hospital and attending Holy Mass with my mom; everything on the Rosary and a plug for Ian Maxfield’s podcast: The Catholic Laboratory. Go to http://www.spiritualjourneypodcast.com/ for the blog, e-mail me at spir...@gmail.com or leave a voicemail on Skype (ingeloots) to leave feedback. Don’t forget to rate/review my podcast if you’re an iTunes listener, it would be very much appreciated!
Photo by abcdz2000The following post is a transcript belonging to episode 20 of “A Journey into the Land of the Spirit”.
As a new Catholic with LOTS of Protestant friends, one topic immediately pops up when we talk about prayer. For some reason, my friends believe I stopped praying myself and am mindlessly reciting the Rosary (and thus praying to Mary instead of God) or I am praying to saints instead of God. Usually I have to explain that I pray to God only, but sometimes ask for saintly intercession, just like I ask them to pray for me. And the most common response to that is: “But the saints and angels cannot hear our prayers, only God can”. To them that’s the most logical thing on earth, because since God is omnipotent and omnipresent (he knows everything and is everywhere) he knows our prayers even before we know them. Since angels and saints are not all-knowing and do not share other divine characteristics, they don’t know what’s going on down here. Sounds like they have a point, but is that all there is to it?
Recovering from a dip (continued); installing Snow Leopard; hospital assessment; why saints in heaven can hear and act on our prayers; podcast plug: thecatholiccafe.com
Overdoing it again and the lessons to be learned from that; trying to find balance by praying, but how to pray with attention?; Soundseeing in Utrecht; Podcast Plug: SQPN’s Into the Deep.
N.B. I noticed that the sound starts clipping halfway the episode and stopped when I added a new take. This is probably a memory problem on my MacBook and I will keep it in mind when recording new episodes. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Taquoriaan RT @FaithandFamily: Moms: Are We Raising Future Saints?: This article from the Catholic News Agency entitled Vatican paper looks at fa.. ... [Taquoriaan].
Taquoriaan I decided to ignore internet and social networks for the rest of this Lent. The hatred towards Catholics in the Netherlands is too upsetting [Taquoriaan].
Taquoriaan Getting ready to leae for the cathedral. It's the only place I can think of finding comfort right now. I feel extremely sad and upset. [Taquoriaan].
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