Mary was here made our Mother, not our sister. John takes his place in the “hierarchy”.
It is a Catholic Truth that every human being who lives, has lived, or is yet to live, is our brother or sister in Christ.
Yes, even the amoral, the criminal, the mad, and the wicked.
One can only appreciate this Truth when one has learnt to forgive all those who trespass against one.
Our Lord shows us how when he says:
Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do
Nobody has ever said that following Christ is easy, though in the final analysis, He is the only One to follow.
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
I have a quick question, thank-you ahead for your response.
Does this include those who have never been baptized, who have not come to faith in Christ, do we forgive them also? 🙂
LikeLike
…And, while we are forgiving our brothers and sisters in ISIS, they are cutting off our heads.
It’s not easy, as Burro says.
LikeLike
Anne, If we want to be like Christ, then we must forgive them, yes. Forgiveness costs dear, but our Lord helps us to settle the bill.
LikeLiked by 1 person
wHY DOESNT THE POPR WAVE HIS MAGIC WAND AND LET EVERYBODY INTO HEAVEN,NOT JUST CATHOLICS.
LikeLike
Wayne,
(Your cap-lock button is on).
The Pope doesn’t have a magic wand. Only Jesus decides who gets to Heaven. The Pope and the Catholic Church are the hospital which prepares people for that transfer to the Transcendent world we call Heaven.
How are you doing btw.
LikeLike
Looking at this post again, it appears to suggest Salvation is guaranteed for all. This was not my intention.
Salvation is for all who ACCEPT Salvation in Christ. Sadly, some will not.
LikeLike
“Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do,”
Well obviously Jesus was right. Nobody would kill God if they knew exactly what they were doing. The trouble is, nobody knows what they are doing in that sense, do they?
LikeLike
Today, on this feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, or the original title, Our Lady of Victory, which remembers the battle of Lepanto in 1571, better to pray for the conversion of all to Christ.
LikeLike
http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/lady-rosary-freedom-joy
LikeLike
@ Toad “And, while we are forgiving our brothers and sisters in ISIS, they are cutting off our heads.
It’s not easy, as Burro says.”
I wonder, if for a Christian, it becomes impossible not to forgive, else we not be Christians? I think most certainly so.
Forgiveness is hard of that there is no doubt Toad, and I speak as one who has struggled with forgiveness on many levels, not least of which was my own personal experiences on the Lebanon / Syria border a few years ago, where I experienced a terrifying experience in the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek, (of which I do not propose to go into detail in public forum).
The experience to which I relate, had a profound and long term effect on my life, as I and my family, following my escape from there, the target of the most profound and destructive hatred imaginable, after my return home, all emanating from that stricken region, and which for many years engendered in me, feelings of abject fear, consternation, shock and dare I say hatred in return for the heanus actions of a number of fundamentalist individuals with connections in that area.
Had it been just myself who was the target I could have perhaps adopted a more pragmatic view of events, and reasoned that my being there at that time was God’s will, and his reasons would be disclosed in the fullness of time, or even that I had been foolish to think I would not be touched by the madness that was emerging in that region – in other words – that which took place was personal to me and to God, and as such could be “ worked out” , but what changed everything was its effect on others, innocent and ignorant of anything but living quiet suburban lives in these islands. It was the very torture that was inflicted on those I loved as they became as it where, guilty by association that that caused me to hate, and unable to forgive for a long time.
As a practicing Christian and “Minister” this was a difficult time, and it was only in turning more fully to the teachings and life of Christ and those saints who had suffered to be like him that I was able to eventually reconcile my feelings. God does give us the strength to forgive because he wants us to be like him and lead in the fight to create the kind of world he wants us to live in, but onkly if we ask him, and then he guids us and shows us more clearly than ever that Christians must forgive others as he forgave us, this is our sacrifice.
“One can only appreciate this Truth when one has learnt to forgive all those who trespass against one.
Our Lord shows us how when he says:
Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do”
There is a kind of blessed relief in the act of forgiveness. When we are angry and full of hatred, we become exhausted by it, the hatred eats away at us, controls us, directs our every action and turns us into nasty, cynical, disconnected members of society who display all the traits abhorred by the Christian faith, and the choice is stark….. either forgive and enter communion with God again and find peace, or enter into the realms of despair and enter a doewnward spiral that will take us far below that of the evils other comit aginst us.
Once one takes the steps and utters before God that in his strength we can and do forgive, then our spirits are elevated as never before, and we are strengthened and no longer carry the burdens of hatred that destroy all that is good and true and beautiful in the world – it is a real and liberating act because from that point, we know we have done what is right, and have left the wrong doer who continues to do wrong to the wrath of God, and we feel closer to God than ever before
Yes all humanity are our brothers and sisters, but each brother and sister has their own responsibility for their immortal souls. We can ony guide them on the right paths by our actions, by our examples, by our forgiveness, and with our prayers, in the end, they have free will and make the decisions that will affect tgeir eternal lives and may God Help them !
LikeLike
.
LikeLike
Happy Easter! Though this is six months later, with a new operating system on my computer, did a look back and found this q and a. Very much helpful. Thank-you and God Bless.
LikeLike