Hey fundamentalists: Jesus did not want to punish mankind!

[cap]

St. Mary Faustina's name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy (celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter), the divine mercy chaplet and the divine mercy prayer recited each day by many people at 3 p.m. Born in what is now west-central Poland (part of Germany before World War I), Helena was the third of 10 children. After age 16 she worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses.

In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, generously serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, she also had a deep interior life. This included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors.

At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. “I do not want to punish aching mankind,” he once told St. Mary Faustina, “but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart” (Diary 1588). The two rays emanating from Christ's heart, she said, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus' death (Gospel of John 19:34)

Thought this would re-emphasize a liberal Christian message.

[LibertyLover]

1. I had never heard of St. Mary Faustina before

nor the feast of Divine Mercy. While I am no longer Catholic, or Christian for that matter, the sentiments expressed by Jesus in St. Mary Faustina's writings seem to me to be closer to what he might have taught. There is one small problem however - many Fundamentalist Christians do not believe that Catholics are Christian. I know, I know - Catholics believe in Jesus, etc., so of course they are Christians. But to Fundamentalists, they don't count because they don't believe in the inerrency of the Bible, don't formally accept Christ as their saviour, listen to the Pope, believe in works and faith, and oh so many other things. So, I'm afraid that St. Mary Faustina's message of Christ's mercy and forgiveness will not be accepted by them because it comes from a Catholic. But then again, they don't accept Christ's message of love, tolerance and forgiveness when it's in the Bible either.

[eallen]

2. Christian soteriology just makes no sense whatsoever...

Except that Jesus in his other persona had created some dichotomous destiny for mankind, there simply would be no need for his act of "salvation." What are Christians saved from? To the extent that the answer matters, it is a situation that their own god created.

And whom did Jesus save? The traditional answer, by most Christian sects, is that Christians are saved. Those of us who don't believe this silliness are still lost. Some Christians realized this makes their god look less a "savior" than a cult-leader who damns those who won't follow him, and invented instead the idea of universal salvation. All mankind, heathen, atheist, and Muslim as well as Christian, are saved by Jesus. The only problem with that is then the religion itself no longer matters. "Hey, you've been saved by God, who was going to damn you, but by sacrificing himself, decided not to, but don't worry about it in any case." It's little surprise that the Universalists merged into the Unitarians.

[Dune]

3. Christ/Fundamentalism

It is clear to me that regardless of the religion you choose to call yourself... reap what you sow, Karma, restoration, etc is the nature of spirituality. We are happy, or not, because of our own actions and not the inner Adam that was cast out. Fundamentalism is a disease that can only be fought using the tactics Christ used, ie. tolerance, love, education, compassion, forgiveness, and let's not forget sacrifice. Fundamentalists of all types are usually trying to protect their psyche by becoming immovable and rigid in their thinking because the relativity of being free to act as ones own actor, judge and executioner is simply too many variables to consider when in the moment of life. I appreciate your offering of mediation between the opposites which tie many people into a spiritual knot.

[newyawker99]

4. Hi Dune!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: