THE MYSTERY OF FAITH
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- Our Lady of Fatima
"Our Lady of Fatima" formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fatima. She is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions in 1917, seen by three shepherd children at the Cova de Iria in Fatima, Portugal. The three children were Lucia dos Santos, her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Jose Alves Correia da Silva, bishop of Leiria, declared the events worthy on October 13, 1930.
- FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY, ccc 1734-1738
1734 Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and ascesis enhance the mastery of the will over its acts. 1735 Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors. 1736 Every act directly willed is imputable to its author: Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is this that you have done?" He asked Cain the same question. The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered. An action can be indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding something one should have known or done: for example, an accident arising from ignorance of traffic laws. 1737 An effect can be tolerated without being willed by its agent; for instance, a mother's exhaustion from tending her sick child. A bad effect is not imputable if it was not willed either as an end or as a means of an action, e.g., a death a person incurs in aiding someone in danger. For a bad effect to be imputable it must be foreseeable and the agent must have the possibility of avoiding it, as in the case of manslaughter caused by a drunken driver. 1738 Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom , especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.
- FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY, ccc 1731-1733
1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude. 172 As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the posibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach. 1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."
- MAN'S FREEDOM, ccc 1730
1730 God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him." Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts. Response: Does man have the ability to be rational? If I look at it logically, man has the ability to show strength and muscles versus woman the ability to nurture. I believe man and woman both have objective roles and they are not the same. men tends to do unexplainable things in hope of a woman’s attention, women like to tease. We each have our own individual roles to play. Women are better at nurturing; men are better at protecting. Maybe the protective atmosphere tends to outweigh the emotion creating the ability to make a rational decision for the whole family unit. In this scenario it’s possible for man to be rational depending on his priorities.
- Abraham--"Father of all who believe", ccc 145-147
145 The Letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel's ancestors, lays special emphasis on Abraham's faith: "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go." By faith he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the promised land. By faith, Sarah was given to conceive the son of the promise. And by faith Abraham offered his only son in sacrifice. 146 Abraham thus fulfills the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things nor seen": "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Because he was "strong in his faith," Abraham became the "father of all who believe." 147 The Old Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. The Letter to the Hebrews proclaims its eulogy of the exemplary faith of the ancestors who "received divine approval." Yet "God had foreseen something better for us": the grace of believing in his Son Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."
- I BELIEVE, ccc 144
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH 144 To obey (from the Latin ob-audire , to "hear or listen to") in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.
- MAN'S RESPONCE TO GOD by faith, CCC 142-143
142 By his Revelation, ''the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company.'' The adequate response to this invitation is faith. 143 By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith." Man has the ability to choose faith. The door is always open whenever were ready. This is why God is represented as a friend, giving us the ability to accept his friendship, to accept faith. It's a choice left to us because faith would not exist without first having the ability to choose. It's best to choose with our heart because only then would we truly know if we have accepted God with all our heart. Faith is also the ability to trust. To trust something that is physically not there. To truly know it without proof. The ability to trust our instincts, or maybe common sense. We know deep in our heart it's there from our own personal experiences. Where things happen and there is no ability to make a logical explanation, because it's something beyond our world. We see miracles every day without any explanation or how it happens. Can we truly say "only God knows" or is it something we read in the Bible that corresponds to a particular event. It's hard to say what is real. But we know the Bible has been around for three thousand four hundred years and the prophecy’s keep coming true. For us to understand we would have to be in an alternate universe, maybe outer space. We know common sense and putting two and two together leads us to believe that even though we don't have all the pieces we have enough to know that there is more out there we still don't understand. Giving us enough information to decipher that God is our friend.
- Sincere Conversion, Hosea 14:2-10
2 Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. 3 Take with you words, and return to the LORD; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. 4 Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; We shall say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.” 5 I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. 6 I will be like the dew of Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, 7 and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. 8 Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. 9 Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper him. “I am like a verdant cypress tree”— Because of me you bear fruit! 10 Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the path of the LORD, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them. ✝️
- Constant Prayer, Ephesians 6:18-20
With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication, for all the holy ones 19 and also for me, that speech may be given me to open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that I may have the courage to speak as I must. Speech is when it is necessary, when it may seem difficult at times. Our voice needs to be persistent during prayer, especially for all who are holy. At some point be ready to be bold and have the courage to speak the gospel. We must defend what is good and righteous for the sake of humanity.
- Battle against Evil, Ephesians 6:10-17
11 Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. 11 put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. 12 for our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirit in the heavens. 13 Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. 14 So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, 15 and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 in all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Teaching about the Law, Matthew 5:17-20
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of the letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Try to follow the Ten Commandments as much as possible. It may seem hard but don’t underestimate the power of prayer and confession. With God everything is possible. ❤️ The Ten Commandments I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange Gods before me. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s good.
- Ten Commandments
I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange Gods before me. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s good.
