tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post3704456924175653041..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: How horrible!Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-5340666837545110102014-12-12T18:04:12.151-06:002014-12-12T18:04:12.151-06:00In this connection, I could not help but remember ...In this connection, I could not help but remember the Eastern Orthodox Easter Troparion:<br />Christ is risen from the dead!<br />By death he trampled Death;<br />and to those in the tombs<br />he granted life.<br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. Marquart<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-39262135357449626132014-12-12T16:09:25.517-06:002014-12-12T16:09:25.517-06:00Our fault we are in this positon. Lord, forgive u...Our fault we are in this positon. Lord, forgive us for our laxness in teaching the Faith...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-77629013650809020862014-12-12T10:16:06.660-06:002014-12-12T10:16:06.660-06:00C. S. Lewis was wrong! To say that may seem scand...C. S. Lewis was wrong! To say that may seem scandalous, but I really do not think Lewis thought this through.<br />Hebrews 9:15, “For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgression under the first covenant.” This says that we cannot be saved unless someone dies for us. We also know that when we are baptized, we are “baptized into His death”, Romans 6:3. So death plays a key role in our redemption, a role our Lord, who suffered death for us, certainly knew. Would He have wept because of His own imminent death, when He raised Lazarus? Surely not, since he knew what His death would mean for His children. Instead, “for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame…”, Hebrews 12:2. What we need to remember is that the Gospel changes everything: without it, death is eternal punishment; with the Gospel death is how we enter the Kingdom of God in this world when we drown in the water of Baptism, and later when we enter the Heavenly Kingdom. That is why St. Paul writes in that great Chapter 15 of 1Corinthians, “54…Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death is your victory, where O death is your sting.” <br />Indeed, as we read in that same great Chapter 15, “26 the last enemy to be destroyed is death”. But by that time, God Who makes “all things work together for good for those who love God”, Romans 8:28, will have made full use of death for our good, and it will no longer be needed, because we will live in eternity with Him.<br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. Marquart<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-86798647268581615782014-12-12T10:05:19.249-06:002014-12-12T10:05:19.249-06:00The way I see it, Christmas has been relegated to ...The way I see it, Christmas has been relegated to a secularized "feeling" and an idea associated with "good will" and gift giving, but the true message is still shared in churches and homes in America by the hymns and choirs which point to the Savior as the reason for the season. It is true that Christ was likely born around October, and that December 25th lined up with a pagan holiday, and it is true that Nativity scenes showing the three kings at the stable at the same time as the Shepherds are incorrect. Jesus was likely about two years old when the three Kings appeared. For the sake of honesty, I have often wished we Christians celebrated Christmas as a religious holiday in October or close to the birth of Jesus, that the true story be told and celebrated in our churches and homes, and that we let the world keep Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny.John Joseph Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06596324816480709495noreply@blogger.com