Take a pilgrimage with Steve and Janet Ray!
Is Mary the Queen of Heaven Condemned by the Prophet Jeremiah?
I received an e-mail from a man considering conversion to the Catholic Church. He wrote:
Now if I could get past Jeremiah, chapter 44, I’d really be a happy camper, (LOL). Stumbled on that passage this morning in my “Quiet Time” (still have SOME residual Protestantism within me I guess), and wondered about the “Queen of Heaven” that the people of Judah were burning incense to. God sure was mad! Who was this “Queen” they were venerating (worshiping? don’t know the Hebrew here)? I wonder if they were putting her ahead of God? The struggles continue….but the Lord is faithful!!
I thought it would be good to think through this passage with him. In Jeremiah 44 the people of Israel were “presenting offerings in worship to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her” and they “made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” (verse 19).
Jeremiah 44:17-21 “We will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her … And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: “As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem … The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. …
It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.” …
Jeremiah (right) condemned this idolatry. But Jeremiah 44 is one of those passages that some Protestants confuse and wrongly apply to the Catholic faith.
Just like the discussion of Paul in Romans and Galatians (about faith and works) has NOTHING to do with Catholic vs. Protestant debate—it is about Jew and Gentile—so this passage in Jeremiah has nothing to do with the Christian/Catholic faith and our veneration of Mary.
Israel was forbidden to make offerings to “the queen mother” or to worship her. She was a mythical goddess and the conduct of the Israelites was idolatry. See Jeremiah 7 and Jeremiah 14. This is often used by anti-Catholics against the Catholic veneration of Mary. A few comments are in order…
I then present seven reasons why this has nothing to do with the veneration of Mary. For the full article, click HERE.
So it begins! UN pushes Religious Communities to “fully comply” – empowering LGBT+
“The United Nations announced plans to release a report in June regarding “perceived contradictions” between “the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB)” and “sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).”
“The report aims to push governments to “fully comply” with international human rights law to “protect and empower” the participation of LGBT+ people in religious communities, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.
“The U.N. requested calls for input from all interested governments, religious leaders, academics, activists, and human rights organizations regarding “perceived points of tension” between FoRB and SOGI.” (From The Blaze)
So, we who hold to traditional views of sex and marriage (as held by mankind since the beginning), and who hold to the teaching of Scripture and the Church, will be accused of being haters and of hate speech. It we fail to approve and even to celebrate this perverse lifestyle will expose us to retaliation and legal persecution.
It will someday soon be illegal to read aloud in public or even in a church this passage from the Bible found in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans,
Romans 1:26 “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
Romans 1:27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”
Fantastic Movie for Whole Family – “Lion”
We recently watched a FANTASTIC movie about adoption, love, redemption and family while on the plane. Funny thing, we discover most of our good movies on airplanes.
A movie from India. It is worthy of an evening with popcorn and a box of Kleenex..
I think everyone will agree it would be good for the kids too. Redemption, hope, family…
Oh, it is entitled “Lion” which you don’t find out its meaning until the end. Enjoy!
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So it begins! UN pushes Religious Communities to “fully comply” – empowering LGBT+ https://t.co/MP9JsZGd7q
Healing Mass on EWTN for the Order of Malta, I am the play-by-play announcer 🙂 https://t.co/cPHWyAtXM1
Never heard of such stupidity and irresponsibility. China has a huge balloon spying on our country and who knows what else, and our military just sits back and watches. We have lost all of our nerve and our resolve as a nation.
Pentagon essentially just said that the balloon is too big to be taken down safely.
On a plane to Phoenix to be play-by-play announcer for live EWTN and Order of Malta Healing Mass tomorrow. Watched a great movie on the plane “Montana Story” of family pain and redemption.
Is Mary the Queen of Heaven Condemned by the Prophet Jeremiah? https://t.co/nudfeqHhns
Pictures of the Presentation of Our Lord https://t.co/UJttVOpvAp
“Employer is Forcing Me to Support A Male Transitioning to a Female at Work” https://t.co/cQW4vfHkih
LIVE NOW!! HERE https://t.co/Ny3U7wBOT3 #AveMariaRadio @TeresaTomeo on Catholic Connection special guest Steve Ray @JerusalemJones #Catholic convert, author, #speaker, pilgrimage #leader, apologist, and documentary maker. #CatholicTwitter #CatholicFaithful
Africans attend Mass more than anyone else – Nigeria 94% weekly https://t.co/1cL52wdRc6
Podcast 34: Steve Ray’s Personal Pilgrimage https://t.co/AXMxhdmQrJ
Podcast 34: Steve Ray’s Personal Pilgrimage https://t.co/oKMrsci9ID @gavinashenden @JerusalemJones
The nation with the highest percentage of Mass attendence is Nigeria. 94 percent Catholics attend Sunday Mass in the country despite severe persecution in the hands of jihadists.
Nefarious Corruption at Pfizer? https://t.co/99YIDvPFiT
Pope on Homosexuality https://t.co/Jf8Mey1qSu
The Conversion of St. Paul as the Seed of all Paul’s Theology https://t.co/cxFqCTlq7Q