The Skeleton Chattering finch and water-fly Are not merrier than I; Here among the flowers I lie Laughing everlastingly. No; I may not tell the best; Surely, friends, I might have guessed Death was but the good King's jest, It was hid so carefully -
Add Exodus 90, which I call clean Catholism. All the good teaching and encouragement with all most none of the keep this rule or don't break this rule!
Our denomination/church celebrates Reformation Day on Oct 31. I grew up dressing up for Halloween but we couldn’t wear scary costumes or evil things. Fun things like carving pumpkins, candy, crafts, Charlie Brown.
A friend of ours also celebrates Reformation day. I have always wondered why celebrate something that is at its essence a sad thing - a schism. Would be curious what you think of that. Thanks for reading!
My wife and I quit handing out candy for Halloween a few years ago. When kids started complaining about the type of candy or not letting them get handfuls at a time, we decided to stop.
I did enjoy the history of the Catholic Church and their interpretation of Halloween.
Yes, thank you. Rigorous is good to produce a better fruit of the Spirit in your life. Rigorous is voluntary. Rigorous is self evident and works with hope and courage. A high bar with all sorts of prerequisites and condemnations and thunderings and prescribed to-do's is hard to find room for a personal relationship among it.
Very Good! How Christianity is practiced varies a lot. I believe in traditions, fasting, disciplines,and listening to the Holy Spirit is often a woe is me. I love ❤️ what I have read from you. Braveness and courage to have all the trappings and practices of our faith is encouraging to others so thank you! I break with Catholicism theologically in some places.
If it is not in scripture then we should not celebrate it.
Lots of things were added to scripture and are just commandments of men:
"This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
(Mat 15:8-9)
You said "Honouring the dead and martyrs can be seen all the way back to the New Testament (Matt. 14:12, Acts 8:2), " But these verses have nothing to do with honouring the dead, it is simple mourning of those who have died. Nothing wrong with that. But there is nothing in scripture to tell us to celebrate the dead.
God however has his festivals, or Holy Days, which we as Christians should celebrate, they are clearly spelt out in scripture.
These Holy Days were kept by the Apostles and Christ, and continued to be kept by the church after his death. (Matt 26:2-19, Mark 14:1-16, Luke 22:1-15, 1Cor 5:7-8, Acts 18:21) :
“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. (Lev 23:4)
Jesus told us clearly that the first thing we need to be concerned about is false teaching: And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many. (Mat 24:4-5)
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isa 8:20)
God's festivals show the plan of God for Christians and will be kept after Christ returns: (Zec 14:16-19)
Do you not celebrate birthdays? I don't intend to get into the concepts of "added traditions of men" as if your interpretation of scripture is not a man made tradition. If you had commented in good will, with a mind open for learning and discourse I might respond in kind. God bless.
Yes I sometimes celebrate birthdays, but it is not a religious ceremony that worships God.
Christ was talking about worshiping him with their own doctrines:
"This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matt 15:8-9)
Sure I am willing to learn anything from anybody, but stick to the Bible not your own ideas that have nothing to do with scripture. That is what Christ said, if you don't like that "interpretation" then don't bother replying.
I did cite scripture in my article, quite a bit actually. My only problem is with you attempting to convey that I made this all up and it’s not based on scripture or Church history when, if you read what I wrote, you would see is not the case. You clearly do not like the Catholic Church’s interpretation, which is what I wrote about here, just be honest and say so. I have a good number of non-Catholic friends who I discuss theology with, and we do not always agree, but can still learn from one another in charitable dialogue. I simply don’t adhere to your personal interpretation of the Bible, which seems to be your issue, not mine.
Probably means dead in their trespasses and sins like all unbelievers. This the state of everyone prior to being saved by grace through faith. If your interpretation is that the dead spoken of are departed souls I would disagree.
The scriptures are difficult to determine what books are in or out, a very big subject that many people have argued about. If that is what you believe then that is great, have a nice day.
Add Exodus 90, which I call clean Catholism. All the good teaching and encouragement with all most none of the keep this rule or don't break this rule!
From what I understand of Exodus 90, it's quite rigorous!
Our denomination/church celebrates Reformation Day on Oct 31. I grew up dressing up for Halloween but we couldn’t wear scary costumes or evil things. Fun things like carving pumpkins, candy, crafts, Charlie Brown.
A friend of ours also celebrates Reformation day. I have always wondered why celebrate something that is at its essence a sad thing - a schism. Would be curious what you think of that. Thanks for reading!
My wife and I quit handing out candy for Halloween a few years ago. When kids started complaining about the type of candy or not letting them get handfuls at a time, we decided to stop.
I did enjoy the history of the Catholic Church and their interpretation of Halloween.
That's a shame that kids were complaining, definitely ruins the spirit of the day a bit. Glad you enjoyed the read though!
A well written and well researched explanation from Catholic perspective- thank you for sharing, I enjoyed reading. 🥰🙏🏼🫶🏼✨
Thank you Tracy!
Yes, thank you. Rigorous is good to produce a better fruit of the Spirit in your life. Rigorous is voluntary. Rigorous is self evident and works with hope and courage. A high bar with all sorts of prerequisites and condemnations and thunderings and prescribed to-do's is hard to find room for a personal relationship among it.
Ed you may find the first half of this post engaging as I address the idea of a personal relationship within Religion and why they are not mutually exclusive. https://mandymazzawi.substack.com/p/why-religion-matters-homemaking-in
Very Good! How Christianity is practiced varies a lot. I believe in traditions, fasting, disciplines,and listening to the Holy Spirit is often a woe is me. I love ❤️ what I have read from you. Braveness and courage to have all the trappings and practices of our faith is encouraging to others so thank you! I break with Catholicism theologically in some places.
If it is not in scripture then we should not celebrate it.
Lots of things were added to scripture and are just commandments of men:
"This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
(Mat 15:8-9)
You said "Honouring the dead and martyrs can be seen all the way back to the New Testament (Matt. 14:12, Acts 8:2), " But these verses have nothing to do with honouring the dead, it is simple mourning of those who have died. Nothing wrong with that. But there is nothing in scripture to tell us to celebrate the dead.
God however has his festivals, or Holy Days, which we as Christians should celebrate, they are clearly spelt out in scripture.
These Holy Days were kept by the Apostles and Christ, and continued to be kept by the church after his death. (Matt 26:2-19, Mark 14:1-16, Luke 22:1-15, 1Cor 5:7-8, Acts 18:21) :
“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. (Lev 23:4)
Jesus told us clearly that the first thing we need to be concerned about is false teaching: And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many. (Mat 24:4-5)
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isa 8:20)
God's festivals show the plan of God for Christians and will be kept after Christ returns: (Zec 14:16-19)
For a detailed summary of God's festivals we as Christians should be keeping, please see this post: https://friendswithgod.substack.com/p/gods-timetable-the-appointed-days
Do you not celebrate birthdays? I don't intend to get into the concepts of "added traditions of men" as if your interpretation of scripture is not a man made tradition. If you had commented in good will, with a mind open for learning and discourse I might respond in kind. God bless.
Thanks Mandy
Yes I sometimes celebrate birthdays, but it is not a religious ceremony that worships God.
Christ was talking about worshiping him with their own doctrines:
"This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matt 15:8-9)
Sure I am willing to learn anything from anybody, but stick to the Bible not your own ideas that have nothing to do with scripture. That is what Christ said, if you don't like that "interpretation" then don't bother replying.
Martin,
I did cite scripture in my article, quite a bit actually. My only problem is with you attempting to convey that I made this all up and it’s not based on scripture or Church history when, if you read what I wrote, you would see is not the case. You clearly do not like the Catholic Church’s interpretation, which is what I wrote about here, just be honest and say so. I have a good number of non-Catholic friends who I discuss theology with, and we do not always agree, but can still learn from one another in charitable dialogue. I simply don’t adhere to your personal interpretation of the Bible, which seems to be your issue, not mine.
2 Maccabees 12:46
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
This is a book of Holy Scripture which was wrongly removed from the canon by Martin Luther. It is still part of the Orthodox and Catholic Bibles
Probably means dead in their trespasses and sins like all unbelievers. This the state of everyone prior to being saved by grace through faith. If your interpretation is that the dead spoken of are departed souls I would disagree.
Hi Catie
The scriptures are difficult to determine what books are in or out, a very big subject that many people have argued about. If that is what you believe then that is great, have a nice day.