21. UNDERSTANDING GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

The serpent's craft

Genesis 3:1-10  Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

And the eyes: Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes,) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.

The fall of our first parents

Genesis 3:11-15 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

She shall crush: Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her (Mother of God - Mary Most Holy) seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent's head.

Their punishment

Genesis 3:16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband' s power, and he shall have dominion over thee. And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them. And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken. And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Behold Adam: This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.

Heaven's gate was shut 

 Ezeckiel 44:2 And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut.

Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the rest of the Patriarchs, the Anawims and ancient people who found graces in the eyes of God were not able to enter the kingdom of God not until Jesus Christ had shaded His blood on the cross and upon Him the gates of Heaven were once again opened.

The promise of a Redeemer

I have promised them: Isaiah 59:20 And there shall come a, redeemer to Sion, and to them that return  from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord.19. Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the Lord the  king of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last,  and besides me there is no God. Isaiah 49:7 Thus saith the Lord the redeemer  of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to  the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the  Lord' s sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen  thee. Isaiah 54:5 For he that made thee shall rule over thee, the Lord of hosts is  his name: and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all  the earth. Isaiah 47:4 Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One  of Israel. Isaiah 63:16 For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us,  and Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer,  from everlasting is thy name. Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and  in the last day I shall rise out of the earth. 2 Chronicles 6:1 Then Solomon said:  The Lord promised that he would dwell in a cloud.   What is the Catholic understanding of the biblical plan of salvation?  The Church understands that we are all sinners in need of a savior (Rom 5:12-21). We are inheritors of original sin and all its consequences, and by actual sin we distance  ourselves from God. We can't save ourselves, but we don't need to: Jesus Christ has  paid the price for our sins. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation comes through  Jesus alone (Acts 4:12), since he is the "one mediator between God and man" (1 Tm 2:5-6). The saving grace won by Jesus is offered as a free gift to us, accessible through repentance,  faith, and baptism. We turn away from our sins, we are sorry for them, and we believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel. Repentance shows our willingness to turn from things that keep us from God, and baptism renews us, filling us with the grace necessary to have faith and to live it. This belief is more than just "head knowledge." Even the demons have that (Jas 2:19).  It's more than just believing you're saved. Even the Pharisees had that (Jn 5:39). True,  saving faith is one lived and exhibited daily: It is "faith working through love" (Gal 5:6, cf.  Jas 2:1-26). Sometimes the Church is accused of teaching "salvation by works," but this is an empty accusation. This idea has been consistently condemned by the Church. Good works are required by God because he requires obedience to his commands (Mt 6:1-21, 1 Cor 3:8, 13-15) and promises to reward us with eternal life if we obey (Mt 25:34-40, Rom 2:6-7, Gal 6:6-10, Jas 1:12). But even our obedience is impossible without God's grace; even our good works are God's gift (Rom 5:5, Phil 2:13). This is the real biblical plan of salvation.

God the Father created the universe and everything in it: 
God the Father created the universe and everything in it. He is a big God but at the same time is a personal God who knows each person's every need. Jesus said God knows us so well he has numbered every hair on each person's head.

God set a plan in place to save humanity from itself. Left to ourselves, we would spend eternity in hell because of our sin. God graciously sent Jesus to die in our place, so that when we choose him, we can choose God and heaven.
 
God the Father's plan for salvation is lovingly based on his grace, not on human works. Only Jesus' righteousness is acceptable to God the Father. Repenting of sin and accepting Christ as Savior makes us justified, or righteous, in God's eyes.
 
God the Father has triumphed over Satan. Despite Satan's evil influence in the world, he is a defeated foe. God's final victory is certain.

 
Strengths of God the Father:
 
God the Father is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere).
 
He is absolute holiness. No darkness exists within him.
 
God is just yet merciful. He gave humans the gift of free will, by not forcing anyone to follow him. Anyone who rejects God's offer of forgiveness of sins is responsible for the consequences of their decision.
 
God cares. He intervenes in the lives of people. He answers prayer and reveals himself through his Word (the Bible), circumstances, and people.
 
God is sovereign. He is in complete control, no matter what is happening in the world. His ultimate plan always overrules humankind.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)
The significance is that creation is the foundation of all God’s saving plans. It shows forth the almighty and wise love of God, and it is the first step toward the covenant of the one God with his people. It is the beginning of the history of salvation which culminates in Christ; and it is the first answer to our fundamental questions regarding our very origin and destiny.

Who created the world?
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one and indivisible principle of creation even though the work of creating the world is particularly attributed to God the Father.

God the Father said "Let us ..... to our image". Us and Our are both plural and is not singular. God the Father was referring to His co-creators, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Genesis 1:26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.2 Genesis 2:18 And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself. Obviously God the Father cannot be talking to Himself alone. And why God is called the Father? Because He has a Son. Both of them has spirit who is the Holy Spirit. This is why they are the Trinity and not just one God in one person, He is one God in three Divine Persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Anyone who believes there is only one God in one person is a believer of lies - the father of all lies is Satan.

God created the world
The world was created for the glory of God who wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth and beauty. The ultimate end of creation is that God, in Christ, might be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28) for his glory and for our happiness.

“The glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man’s life is the vision of God.”(Saint Irenaeus)

God created the universe
God created the universe freely with wisdom and love. The world is not the result of any necessity, nor of blind fate, nor of chance. God created “out of nothing” (ex nihilo) (2 Maccabees 7:28) a world which is ordered and good and which he infinitely transcends. God preserves his creation in being and sustains it, giving it the capacity to act and leading it toward its fulfillment through his Son and the Holy Spirit.

Divine providence
Divine Providence consists in the dispositions with which God leads his creatures toward their ultimate end. God is the sovereign Master of his own plan. To carry it out, however, he also makes use of the cooperation of his creatures. For God grants his creatures the dignity of acting on their own and of being causes for each other.

While respecting our freedom, God asks us to cooperate with him and gives us the ability to do so through actions, prayers and sufferings, thus awakening in us the desire “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

The fall of the angels
This expression indicates that Satan and the other demons, about which Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church speak, were angels, created good by God. They were, however, transformed into evil because with a free and irrevocable choice they rejected God and his Kingdom, thus giving rise to the existence of hell. They try to associate human beings with their revolt against God. However, God has wrought in Christ a sure victory over the Evil One.

The first human sin
When tempted by the devil, the first man and woman allowed trust in their Creator to die in their hearts. In their disobedience they wished to become “like God” but without God and not in accordance with God (Genesis 3:5). Thus, Adam and Eve immediately lost for themselves and for all their descendants the original grace of holiness and justice.

The original sin
Original sin, in which all human beings are born, is the state of deprivation of original holiness and justice. It is a sin “contracted” by us not “committed”; it is a state of birth and not a personal act. Because of the original unity of all human beings, it is transmitted to the descendants of Adam “not by imitation, but by propagation”. This transmission remains a mystery which we cannot fully understand.

Consequences derive from original sin
In consequence of original sin human nature, without being totally corrupted, is wounded in its natural powers. It is subject to ignorance, to suffering, and to the dominion of death and is inclined toward sin. This inclination is called concupiscence.

After the first sin, what did God do?
After the first sin the world was inundated with sin but God did not abandon man to the power of death. Rather, he foretold in a mysterious way in the “Protoevangelium” (Genesis 3:15) that evil would be conquered and that man would be lifted up from his fall. This was the first proclamation of the Messiah and Redeemer. Therefore, the fall would be called in the future a “happy fault” because it “gained for us so great a Redeemer” (Liturgy of the Easter Vigil).

God's Plan of Salvation

Because of the original sin committed by Adam and Eve, the kingdom of God, heaven was closed to mankind.... no one can enter which means every one who died particularly those who have lived according to God's will and were pleasing in His eyes were not allowed and they were hanging around somewhere in the vastness and infinite mystery of the universe. Therefore the only way for these and all worthy souls to enter heaven is for Jesus, the only Begotten Son of God to incarnate, be crucified and redeem mankind.   

In order for God's Plan of Salvation to consummate, as perfect as it is, it requires cooperation from His creatures and that also includes his Angels. Since, mankind are weak, The Holy Trinity had to chose a pure and immaculate woman for the Son of God to be incarnated and to come down to earth and dwell among His people.

Blood of Christ

For the Blood of God to enter a human person, the pre-chosen mother has to be so blessed, purest and most immaculate in every sense and at all instances. God is pure and only pure being can accept His purity. And part of that Plan of Salvation is to prepare and make Mary the purest and the most immaculate being to bear the Son of God.

Take note therefore that the Son of God will not be just a mere special human being as false churches claim because He is the True Blood of God, the Alpha and Omega, the mother shall then be called the pure immaculate "Mother of God". We will understand more of this on my forthcoming post "The Mother Of God". 

A separate posting will follow to provide more insights about the Blessed Mother and the Incarnate Jesus and what transpired before, during and after. It is a moment of truth for those who believe but it will be devastating for all anti-Christ and anti-Mary. their hearts will not feel and understand for they are already closed and hardened. Their souls will be consummated with more anger and pride. Because of jealousy their hardened and closed hearts will only try to find perverted bible verses from false writers and interpreters of the bible for one reason only - to continue to promote their heresies and hatred of the truth.

The Purity and Humility of the Blessed Mother

In her purity and humbleness, the Blessed Mother had requested and required the Apostles and the Gospel writers not to write much about her part in the salvation of mankind since she wanted all the glory to be centered in her son Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the Redeemer of the world. Her part as she required will only be passed on as oral traditions. This is the main reasons why there is nothing much about Mary that is written in the Holy Bible. And since there is nothing much that was written about her, all anti-Christ churches pursued the Sola Scriptura concept. The Sola Scriptura will also be discussed more in a future blog posting. 

In my next posting about the Blessed Mother and her role in the salvation of mankind, we would discussed why anti-Christs and anti-Marys have exceedingly misunderstood, downgraded, misinterpreted and maligned her in every way. They would rather believe, epitomize and idolize their leaders than the Mother of God relegating her to just a lowly mother with relentless disregard of the truth that without her there would have been no salvation at all. And without this Plan of Salvation only very few and perhaps just a few thousands would have the possibility of being saved. And they would be in the likes of the Patriarchs like Noah, Moses, Elias, Daniels and several others who are willing to sacrifice their whole being for the love of God and die for that belief. 

The world now had become the center of ego, vanity, entertainment, lust, sodomy and pride.

If Jesus is here now and will ask: "who is your neighbor?" Perhaps most will answer, "I don't know and I don't care."

The Chosen Ones

Besides the Blessed Virgin Mary, God has also chosen Patriarchs and Prophets in preparing mankind for the coming of the Messiah the Redeemer of mankind. 

God had to chose His Twelve Apostles as well who will teach mankind, establish God's church and baptize them in the name of the Holy Trinity. 

Matthew 28:19 "Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

In order to build and establish His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Son of God, chose St Peter to be the head of his church, to carry on His instruction and to apostolate all nations so every human being will be given the chance to be saved. 

Jesus had to be crucified and go back to His Father for the Holy Spirit to descend, proceed from Them and dwell among us and everyone's heart. As promised by the Son of God, the Holy Spirit will be with us thru the end of time to guide us and to inspire His Church and this is still so even after over 2000 years.  

Matthew 16:18 "And I say to thee: That thou art Peter;and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Matthew 16:19 "And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

Jesus promised Peter that in His church he will be in the midst of them at all times. But then Jesus will have to go back to Heaven with His Father (His Ascension) for the Holy Spirit to come down from Heaven and dwell among His people. And up to today Jesus is very much still with us. He is in our hearts and will always be so thru eternity and each time we gather around in His name. 

JESUS IS WITH US ALWAYS
UNTIL THE END OF TIME

Mary Adores her Divine Son Jesus Christ

At this moment let's bow our heads and put ourselves in the presence of our Lord.

Thank you Lord for gathering us here together today, you said, "For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20 

So please Lord "Grant us today.... the Serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage for the things we can and Wisdom to know the difference".

God's Plan

In the beginning God has a plan.

• God wants to bring all His creatures to His kingdom. 
• But for man to enter into His kingdom, man must be pure and sinless. 
• Therefore, God's Plan was for all of us to be pure and sinless. 
• Ephesians 1:4-5 (God chose us even before He created the Universe). [4] As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity. [5] Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will: 
• John 15:16 (We did not chose God, God chose us). [16] You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 
• Rev.21:27 (Conversely, it is impossible for Man to enter Heaven if he is stained with Sin). [27] There shall not enter into it anything defiled, or that worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb.

But somehow there was a deviation from that Plan. God's creatures became impure in His eyes.

• From the beginning, men & angels were created by God equipped with intelligence to work out the plan & free will to cooperate with God or not.
• But some of the angels failed & deviated from the plan (the fallen angels).
• So instead of becoming one of the perfect creations of God, those angels who deviated decided to destroy man & to make them disobey God.
• Altogether they want to destroy the plan of God.
• And Man (Adam & Eve) likewise failed and deviated as well from the plan

So how did man became impure in the eyes of God?

• ADAM & EVE deviated from Plan by committing the FIRST SIN of disobedience.
• They disobeyed the will of the Father. 
• And so Man became impure in God's eyes inheriting the Original Sin of disobedience.

But God will always be God and will never change, so He has to do His Plan "B" - The Plan of Salvation to UNDO the effect of that original sin

• God's Plan of Salvation includes:
• Sending His only Begotten Son to be the REDEEMER and
• To be born by a VIRGIN who is PURE & IMMACULATE.

In His Plan of Salvation, God has chosen His own people to execute the Plan.

• He chose the Hebrews to be His own people - the Chosen People of GOD - to undergo Centuries of Purification
• becoming the ANAWIM in the process including St. Joachim & St. Anne - Mary's parents
• culminating the purification & perfection in MARY, the APEX of the ANAWIM
• who is specially chosen in God's Plan since the beginning of time to be the Mother of the Redeemer.

Syllogism

• To enter the Kingdom of God is to unite oneself with God.
• To be pure is to unite oneself with God.
• For Mary to be the mother of the Redeemer, she had to unite herself with God and therefore she must be pure and immaculate in the eyes of God. (To bear Him in her womb, live with Him and care for Him - therefore she must be pure and immaculate from her birth and until death - she must not be tinted with impurities and sins even the smallest or insignificant one - at any time before, during and after her death.)
• So Mary, the Virgin Mother was already united with God PURE & IMMACULATE from the beginning of time and according to God's Plan of Salvation. She was already made pure not from her birth but from the beginning of creations.

The Role of Mary in the 

Salvation of Mankind

What Every Protestant Needs To Know About Mary
Please watch the whole video before commentating. "He that answereth before he heareth sheweth himself to be a fool, and worthy of confusion." Proverbs 18:13

Topics:
St. Kolbe on Mary [text] - 00:20
Pius IX on Mary [text] - 02:51
Who will crush the head? He or She? [video] - 03:52
Example set by Jesus [text] - 08:48
The Biblical Mary - Shocking revelations! [video/text] - 10:00

Video at the end This video was made by Gabriel of TrueFaith.tv originally posted on www.youtube.com/kolbe1019

Why is it so important for mankind to understand the role of the Blessed Mother in the salvation of mankind? Why does the Catholic Church consider her as co-redemptrix? 

Mary speak of Jesus: 

"And His smile.  The sun of our house!  The wealth which covered the naked walls of My little house with silk and gold!  Whoever has seen My Son's smile has seen Paradise on Earth.  A smile that was serene as long as He was a child.  An increasingly pensive smile to the point of being melancholy as He became an adult.  But always a smile.  For everyone.  And it was one of the reasons for His divine charm, on account of which the crowds followed Him, enchanted.

     

His smile was already a word of love.  When, moreover, the voice was joined to the smile, which was the most beautiful one in the world, even the sod and the stalks of grain trembled.  It was the voice of God that was speaking, Maria.  And it was a mystery, which only the inscrutable reasons of God account for, that Judas and the Jews, after having heard Him speak, were able to go so far as to betray and kill Him.

     

His intelligence, more and more open until reaching perfection, aroused My admiration and respect.  But it was so tempered with goodness that it never humilated anyone.  My sweet Son, You were gentle to all, and especially to Your Mother!

     

When He had become a young man, I prohibited Myself from kissing Him as when He was little.  But I never lacked His kiss and His caress.  It was He who urged His mother, whose thirst for love He understood, to drink in life by kissing His holy flesh, to drink in joy.

     

Before the Last Supper He came to draw comfort from His Mother.  And He remained resting on My heart, as when He was a child.  He wanted to fill Himself with a mother's love so as to be able to withstand the lovelessness of a whole world.

     

Afterwards I held Him, now cold and lifeless, to My heart in the leaden lights of Good Friday.  And to see the one who was still My Child--for to a mother, her son is always a child, and the more suffering and lifeless he is, the more he is one--to see My Child turned entirely into a wound, disfigured by the suffering undergone, crusted over with blood, naked, slashed to the Heart, to see that blessed Mouth motionless which had pronounced only holy words, those adored Eyes, whose gaze was a blessing, those Hands, which had not moved except to work, bless, heal, and caress, and those Feet, which had grown weary to seek to gather together His flock and which the flock had pierced  was a boundless agony which surged over the Earth to redeem it and invaded the firmaments, which shuddered with compassion.

     

I then gave Him all the kisses which I had in My heart and which, in the forced separations of those last three years, I had not been able to give Him.  Not a bruise remained without a kiss and tears.  And only I know how many there were.  Kisses and tears were the first to wash His lifeless Body, nor was I ever satisfied with kissing Him before seeing Him disappear under the fragrances, the sudarium, the shroud, and the bandages, and, finally, beyond the stone rolled over the closed entrance to the Tomb.

     

But on the morning of the resurrection I was able to contemplate the glorified Body of My Son."

Only a mother with a pure and immaculate heart most of all sinless - before, during and after life - can be the mother of the one Incarnate Only Begotten Son of God the Redeemer and Messiah Jesus Christ. All we need to do is to have an open heart to know her, accept her, love her and give her the rightful reverence as the Blessed Mother of Jesus Christ our God - the Mother of God.

Jesus speak of her mother: "You can disrespect me (Jesus) but never my mother."

1. Takfiri militants desecrate statue of Saint Mary in Syria (short video) 
2. Protestant Destroys Wrong Statue (short video) Watch this pastor smash a statue he believes to be Mary. (He is really smashing a statue of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux). This could be a laughing matter to non-Catholics but not to Jesus or to us Catholics. It is not about the act of destroying the statue but it is about the disrespect to the person being represented by the statue who is actually Saint Therese of Lisieux. 

My daughter who was then just about around 1 year old experienced what we modern adults starting from age of reason may never experience at all in our lifetime. My daughter experienced a spiritual phenomenon that she Jesus when she shouted "mommy, mommy...papa Jesus". We were at that time praying in silence just like all the families that were with us during a family blessing in one of our catholic devotional events and during that silence, my daughter was telling her mom what she was seeing in front of her. I didn't look but keep my eyes closed perhaps just like my 8 years old son and my wife. The papa Jesus she saw was the picture of Jesus in our home whom she fondly addressed as her papa Jesus. She saw her papa Jesus walking in front of us. Can my child lie at that time at her age? 

The Catholic Church condemns idolatry and will never condone. In the Old Testaments of the Holy Bible, the graven images mentioned are man-made things that do not represent God but god of their own imagination. 

The graven images do not pertained to the Blessed Mother, the Angels or Saints. God forbids worshiping anything that is not Him. But he allows veneration and respect for the Blessed Mother, the Angels and the Saints. God said our thinking is not his thinking and our ways are not his ways Isaiah 55:8. His is spiritual but humans are mortals. So when God spoke of graven images, he spoke spiritually unlike humans who speak and interpret things literally. 

I for one will be very upset if someone destroys the pictures in my family picture album. Wouldn't you? Humans always wants to prove by their very eyes and ears and they speak about God on their own interpretation just like Judas Iscariot who misinterpreted all the parables he heard from Jesus simply because Judas was literally trying to give meaning to all the parables. 

The Catholic Church is Jesus' own church he founded 2000 years ago and what he taught and what the Holy Spirit is continuously inspiring the church is what humanity should understand and live about. This is the reason why the world has always been in turmoil because humans live according to their own understanding and will not of God's will. 

What if God is offended by the actions of the Pastor and the Muslim you saw on the videos? Can you say that it was alright because they were just man made graven images? Would it be okay to you if I spit or destroys your wife or your husband or your sons and daughters or your mother or father's pictures?    

We need to give ourselves time to know more about His mother in order for us to understand her and to love her and ultimately give her the due respect for she is the greatest intercessor of all. Jesus will alway listen to her first and obey the wishes of His mother. 

It will be very important for everyone to know more both of them and how was their relationship starting from the beginning of mankind and what transpired from the Annunciation, Immaculate Conception, the Nativity, the Life of Jesus, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption of the Blessed Mother, why she was crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth. And we will start from knowing her as a model and why we should emulate her as our model. By doing so, we will have a much better chance for salvation.   

To be continued: Post # 23 "Mary - Mother of God" (click this link)

SOLDIERS OF CHRIST