Ancient
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Life is short, pray hard!
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Post by Ancient on Mar 9, 2008 7:31:38 GMT -5
Theology - The Study of God
I find Theology to be very interesting. Others find it boring. I will share some facts that I have found to be relevant and worthy of note. It may not be interesting to you, but it will be for me. So, that's what this is...for whatever it is worth to you.
Pax Christi, Ancient
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Ancient
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Life is short, pray hard!
Posts: 13
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Post by Ancient on Mar 9, 2008 8:13:50 GMT -5
Dominica in Palmis (Palm Sunday)
Palm Sunday will be celebrated next week. It is celebrated by Christians around the world and is the beginning of Holy Week. It's history is Ancient and can be traced back to the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem when those who proclaimed him as King were laying down their cloaks and branches on the road almost like we "Roll out the Red Carpet" to symbolize the importance of the person we are doing it for. (Mark 11:9)
The tradition of the use of Palm branches during the sacred liturgy can historically be traced in written documents as far back as the year 397, but certainly began in Jerusalem with the first Christians and was passed along through oral tradition.
Paul mentions in 2 Thess. 2:15 "Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." This is one of the many traditions from the early Church that can certainly help us grow in our faith by, if from the depths of our hearts, we personally proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and has conquered sin and death and join with our fellow Christians of all generations by pronouncing "Hosanna!, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This is what the ancients have proclaimed. It is good that we should do this as well.
Pax Christi, Ancient
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Slater
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Post by Slater on Mar 9, 2008 16:18:23 GMT -5
This may be something useful for your new MyBoard. (I replied to your PM, and I did make a board for you) It is fine here, as well, though. Yes. This is a time we can roll out the red carpet for someone who more than really deserves it: Jesus Christ! There are many celebrities today who receive praises but do not necessarily deserve it...
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Post by Alilectric on Mar 11, 2008 1:46:17 GMT -5
uhh.... *coughparishiltoncough* i have actually been thinking a lot about theology lately, mainly God's transcendence of dimension and it blows my mind. God is SO amazing and HUGE I find myself unable to comprehend it. it's really incredible when you start to think about it!!!! i was thinking about how there is no time limit for him, things that are happening now, he is looking at as a future possibility, a past occurrence, as well as how we now see it! he sees ALL possibilities, the slightest of possibilities down to the different colors of our socks, as well as what really happens, what should happen, and the worst that could happen. i was thinking... tell me if this makes sense to you guys... since time makes no difference to God, why should it make a difference for us when we talk with him? theoretically, we should be able to pray for past events and the impact they have on people's lives, no matter what we know the outcome to be. God could change it without us even realizing. even though we're stuck with this mindset of a concrete and immovable past, God isn't confined into that mindset... so it's just a theory. but theoretically, it should be possible.
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ebannawibo
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All is not as it appears.
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Post by ebannawibo on Mar 15, 2008 12:16:17 GMT -5
Ummm...I'll have to think about that. It is kind of deep.
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Ancient
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Post by Ancient on Mar 15, 2008 23:41:17 GMT -5
Yes, that is a deep thought.
Speaking of deep thoughts regarding time, the Triduum is upon us , once again, this upcoming Thursday. It is a special time to prepare for the greatest event of all TIME and ETERNITY...Easter! (This directly relates to what you were talking about Alilectric.) I mention TIME and ETERNITY separately because they are. As the great St. Thomas Aquinas mentions in his Summa Theologica, "Time and Eternity are not the same. Eternity is the measure of a permanent being, whereas time is a measure of movement."
One thing that is very cool about Easter is the fact that God bonds us and even brings us into eternity with him. Therefore, although we are in time, we are also, although not fully, in eternity. That is how the mechanism works of which you spoke regarding a prayer in time not being limited to time. This is possible because prayer enters into the eternal dimension.
A good example of how eternity is manifested in time is in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Although the priest is in time, the actual sacrifice of the Mass is the exact same (although unbloody) sacrifice that Christ made at Calvary. Through the priest, God Re-Presents himself in time, in a tangible way by changing common bread and wine into the actual Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why does he do this? Because he loves us and he knows what is best for us. What an awesome God we have - indeed!
Happy Easter!! Ancient
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Slater
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Post by Slater on Mar 16, 2008 13:34:54 GMT -5
Yes, I've thought about that before; and I agree with your "theory". We could pray about something from the past and it could change it. Maybe if he didn't pray about it, that event would have gone differently. Of course, we don't think that in the present, but -- you're right, it's one of those unfathomable things that we'll want to ask him when we get to heaven.
Happy Easter to you, too, Ancient!!
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Post by Alilectric on Mar 16, 2008 16:47:11 GMT -5
lol palm sunday today, was pretty funny they were handing out palm branches because there is no shortage of them here, but it was really ridiculous looking. what kind of things do your churches do on holidays like Easter, Palm Sunday.. Good Friday.. all that jazz.
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Slater
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Post by Slater on Mar 16, 2008 17:06:14 GMT -5
Today for Palm Sunday they handed out the usual Palm branches... not entire branches, just "leaves" or whatever one section is called. Then everyone "processes" into the "worship area" and sits in their pew. Easter, we don't do anything special at our church, just get all happy and stuff.
Random fact that most people, even most Catholics, don't know: Roman Catholics should not say "Alleluia" during lent.
So yeah. We say it a lot on Easter.
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Post by Em on Mar 18, 2008 15:05:44 GMT -5
Fronds? GAAAAAAH! Don't say the word!!!!! My church doesn't really do much. Usual stuff - big Mass for Easter, the Vigil, Good Friday ceremony, Holy Thursday... We usually go to the Vigil and not the morning mass, but my brother's serving at morning mass this year, so they're not going to the Vigil. I have 3 papers due that Monday, so I'm not going to be home for church. Lol, I had a similar thought some time ago. There's a quantum physics theory called particle theory. It states that there are an infinite number of possible paths a particle can take to get from point A to point B, all equally likely, but that it will only go down one. The thought that occurred to me is that this is just like God - He sees all the possibilities of what can happen to us "particles" in every possible path in life, even every minor decision, and nudges us towards the one He wants us to take, although we don't always choose to follow that path. The interesting thing about particle theory though is that particles sometimes "jump" from one path to another - just like we can get back on the track God wants us to be on, or we can fall from grace. Some particles do this multiple times, just like people.
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Slater
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Post by Slater on Mar 18, 2008 18:11:54 GMT -5
Yeah, that's a great example, Kano. It's cool how God provides us with a physical, human example to help us better understand him for almost every situation.
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Post by Alilectric on Mar 23, 2008 1:28:46 GMT -5
Happy Easter everyone!!!
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