Go read a round-up of what Catholic bloggers are saying in the blogosphere at Adam’s Ale it’s worth the trip just to see the picture of Benedict XVI as a Cardinal enjoying life!! The line-up of posts is great too!
Remember, if you don’t encourage the good stuff on the internet the blogs about celebrity gossip will be all there is to read out there. Read and comment!
Now if it turns out that the Shroud of Turin has nothing to do with Jesus, my world is not going to be shattered. But after reading this book, I am convinced that it is more probable that the shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus than not. I think of it as the burial cloth of Jesus. In any case, because the image is of a beaten and crucified man and I cannot see the shroud and not think of Jesus. So I purchased a high quality print of the shroud and hung it on the wall at the foot of my bed.
Obviously, it easily calls to mind the very high price that was paid for my redemption by Our Lord. But it is a detail that I learned of the image on the shroud from The Shroud of Turin, that got me the most teary when I read the book. The image on the Shroud of Turin bears the distinct imprint of flowers. It had just never occurred to me that those disciples that took charge of His Body and His burial, would have included flowers with the linen, and spices, and aloes. I would love to have heard Jesus on the hillside for the Sermon on the Mount. I would love to have been present at the Wedding at Cana. There are any number of events miracles in the Gospels that I would love to have been present for, but most of all I think, I would like to have been among the disciples that brought Him flowers on that day.
I can’t take back the sins that made it necessary for Him to die. I just want to bring Him flowers, to let Him know how sorry I am and to say “Thank you.”
Have you brought Jesus flowers today?
Psalm 15 LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? Whoever…lends no money at interest…Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken.
Imagine lending to someone who will use your money to raise his family from poverty. Imagine being able to make a difference like that in someone’s life. In due time, the loan is repaid and you can either take your money back or invest it in changing someone else’s life. Quite a different approach to charity if you ask me. Please, stop by their website and take a look. For as little as $25 you can help to change a life.
Sirach 4:31 Let not your hand be open to receive and clenched when it is time to give.
So if Peter is the biological son of John (John 1:42 Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).); then, what point is He making in Matthew 16:17 when He says “Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”
What does Jesus mean by calling Peter the “son of Jonah” or “bar-Jonah”?
Jesus mentions also in Matthew 12:39-41 “He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here.” This exchange is also recorded in Luke 11.
Jesus is the “sign of Jonah.” He died and resurrected. And he calls Peter specifically, the “son of Jonah.” As the the spiritual son of Jesus, Peter is entitled to an inheritance from Him. Jesus goes on to spell out what that inheritance will be. ”…and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Yes, we are all inheritors in the sense that we are all part of Jesus’ family, but Peter is singled out for a special inheritance and calling Peter the son of Jonah is just another reason why Catholics believe that the Chair of Peter is special.
Happy Feast Day!
I stumbled on the original post about a week ago when I was looking for something else[happy dance] and got the name of the book. 60 seconds later it was in my Amazon cart and shortly thereafter headed to my house. I had to READ almost the whole book to find the quote I was looking for….but I’ve got it. I am putting it here for two reasons. First, I think it’s a really cool story. Second, I want to be able to find it again.
Most Evangelicals remember how Philip met an Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza.The eunuch believed and was baptized, and the two went their separate ways (Acts 8:26-39). The eunuch went to what is now Sudan. Histoically reliable tradition tells us that there was only one other early missionary contact with this part of Africa–the apostle Matthew went there as a missionary.Because of the difficulty of traveling in that part of the world, there was no more outside Christian contact for about three hundred years. As Warren H. Carroll recounts in his history, when Christian missionaries again made the trip, they found that much of Christianity had been lost. One thing that struck the missionaries however, was the the Africans knew how to make the sign of the cross. Given their isolation, there are only two reasonable explanations: either, during the short time they interacted, Philip taught the eunuch to cross himself and the eunuch passed the practice on; or Matthew himself taught the Africans directly. Either way, the practice of making the sign of the cross can be traced directly back to the apostles themselves.
Of course, it might be said that the Bible never teaches us to make the sign of the cross. True. The practice actually appears to predate the writing of the New Testament. It was never written about because it was never questioned. The early Christians believed in a harmony between physical and spiritual worship. ~~from Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David B. Currie (page 151)
Go read and comment and support the good stuff on the internet. Don’t make me link to Lindsay Lohan’s latest pictures in that New York magazine to make my point….
Another way to support the good stuff is to nominate your favorite Catholic blog for the Catholic Blog Awards here. Nominations close February 29.
I recently had an exchange on my blog…in the ’comments’ section…about priestly celibacy. I had posted about
priestly celibacy and remarked that it seemed to me that the people complaining about priestly celibacy the most were those upon whom it wasn’t imposed. I had someone who came by the blog to tell me that she had read some polls or something that said that priests did want to see men who were married become priests.
<——I couldn’t find one being done in by a windshield.
Descartes replies, “I think not”, and promptly vanishes.
