In Catholic Angelology, the Seraphim & Cherubim are the first two highest order of a nine-fold celestial hierarchy of beings we so commonly call collectively "the Angels".
Known as the "multi-winged ones", they are the models of perfect reverence. Before the intimacy of the consecration in the Sanctus we should invoke a unity with them and entering an acknowledgement we are before the throne of Calvary's summit to whom our kneels are bending.
Revelation 4:8 Each
of the four living creatures had six wings and were covered with eyes
all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
"'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to
come."
Isaiah
6:2 "Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he
covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he
flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the
LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."
Ezekiel 1:11 Such
were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each
wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two
other wings covering its body.
Exodus
25:19 "Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you
shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two
ends. 20"The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the
mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the
cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.
Mercy Seat
Thank you to David Crawford for this info. God bless my Facebook Friends!
On
March 25—exactly nine months before Christmas—the Catholic Church
commemorates the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to a
young Jewish girl and told her that God would like her to be the mother
of the Savior. “How can this be,” Mary responded, “since I know not
man?”
Contemporary artist John Collier tells the story of the Annunciation
in a fresh way in this painting, which can be found in the narthex of
St. Gabriel Catholic Church in McKinney, Texas.
In Collier’s “Annunciation,” Mary is a young schoolgirl dressed in
blue and white. When the angel Gabriel comes to her, she is reading
from the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 7 verse 14, where the
prophet proclaims the sign that God will give: “The virgin shall be
with child and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”
Some of the traditional elements can be found in the painting: The
lilies are a recognizable symbol of Mary’s purity. The intact glass
pane next to the door typifies Mary’s perpetual virginity. And look
closely: A dove, representing the Holy Spirit, rests on a nearby
house—not presuming Mary’s response but awaiting it.
There are some important changes being made in the way I handle the business of my life: 1) Anger - I am giving him his pink slip because he has lost his job today. 2) Stress - I have decided that his assignment is terminated. 3) Despair has been replaced by Hope. 4) Negative Conversation is banned from my house. 5) Discouragement has been ousted but I understand that he will try to sneak back in. I will be diligent in giving him no room for re-entry I am ridding my life and home and business of these intruders. Taking a lesson from the Philippians 4:8 . . .
"And now, dear Brothers and Sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
I will give You all my worship I will give You all my praise You alone I long to worship You alone are worthy of my praise I will worship with all of my heart I will praise You with all of my strength I will seek You, all of my days I will follow, I will follow all of Your ways
What parable does Jesus share right after reiterating the greatest commandment? (Luke 10:27) The parable of The Good Samaritan. The symbolism in this particular parable can be absolutely amazing. Have you ever thought about it like this?
• The victim is Adam who left Jerusalem, which was Eden and fell upon
hard times through sin. • The Priest represents all the sacrifices
offered again and again to no avail. • The Levite represents the
hypocritical observance of the Law, which also provided no relief. • The Samaritan was actually Jesus who is the perfect rescuer. • The inn
is the Church and the coins were the Sacraments and other Graces Christ
has bestowed on us through the Church. It is the message that Christ is
the way to our salvation and the Church is our place of refuge on our
journey to recovery, which is to be reunited with our Supreme
benefactor, Jesus Christ.
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho"...
Jericho is the
symbol of this world where, after he had been cast out of Paradise, that
is to say the heavenly Jerusalem, Adam went down...
It was his change
of behavior, not of place, that made his exile. And what a change! This
man Adam, who enjoyed undisturbed happiness, had no sooner lowered
himself to this world's sins than he encountered some brigands...
Now
who are these brigands if not the angels of night and darkness who, on
occasion, disguise themselves as angels of light (2Cor 11,15) but are
unable to remain thus? They start by stripping us of the garments of
spiritual grace we have received: this is how they usually behave so as
to cause us harm...
Take great care, then, not to let yourself be
stripped, like Adam, deprived of the protection of God's commandments
and lacking the garment of faith. This is why he received the mortal
wound to which the whole human race would have succumbed if the
Samaritan had not come down to cure his frightful wound.
This
is not just any Samaritan: this one did not disdain the man whom the
priest and the Levite disdained...
This Samaritan came down. “Who has
come down from heaven except the one who has gone up to heaven, the Son
of Man who is in heaven?” (cf Jn 3,13). Seeing that man half dead whom
no one before him had been able to heal... he came up beside him. That
is to say, by consenting to suffer with us he became our fellow and by
showing us mercy he became our neighbor.
Have you ever heard this? "It doesn't matter what you believe, it's what you do that counts." It is such a pity that people forget that the former directs the latter.
In regard to Rev. Thomas V. Berg's article about face book -- I believe it is, like many things, good in moderation and dependent on your intent.
A classic example: wine is good in moderation. And, if you are over indulgent or if your intent is misguided, i.e. to self medicate, then it is bad.
Another good personal example . . . . . I was an adamant NO TV Mom until we watched the dedication of our Co-Cathedral at school. It suddenly dawned on me . . . . TV can be very good. It depends on HOW you use it. And, I have learned it takes waaaay more self control to plan, limit and sometimes even pre-tape in order to cut out the commercials on TV than to avoid it all together. Thankfully we are moving to a new place with no cable and this ceases to be a concern. We had been leasing a furnished abode with - you guessed it - cable and a TV. Now I know about the National Geographic channel and Myth Busters and HGTV. But I digress . . . .
Rev. Berg makes some statements that I disagree with or the very least take a different approach. Rev Berg writes: 1) "Now, call me a sociopath, but are any of you really interested in knowing that I went to the dentist last Thursday (no cavities), or that a couple of weeks ago I bought a pretty green hanging plant which I keep perched above my computer? But if I were on Facebook, I would have been tempted to make all my Facebook “friends” privy to such extraordinary personal events." I say, I recently wrote in my status bar that I had a horrible headache. Three friends who were online sent little ideas for helping. First, that made me feel so much better. And, secondly, I was feeling so lethargic and overwhelmed that I hadn't even considered tea and honey. It helped immensly. Sound too small and unimportant? Well, it wasn't to me.
2) . . . . “signing up for friendship through a screen” -- as well as the impersonal manner of communication associated with them"
I say, Here is a perfect example of intent. How I use my facebook account is quite different than the ways described in Rev Berg's article. a) This networking tool has made it possible for me to find friends I thought I had no way of finding. We are connected again and sharing our lives, our joys and our sorrows. b) Facebook has provided a way for me to network with my Catholic friends. We encourage, support and inform each other.
~~~~~~~~~~> My news feed let me know that two friends were working at Casa Juan Diego and made it easy for me to ask them to take me along next time.
~~~~~~~~~~> I also was reminded of a prayer protest outside an abortion clinic. I knew who was going and who was not -- for car pool help.
~~~~~~~~~~> I have learned (mostly by reading people's status updates) of great books to teach me more about my faith. One example is, Catechism of the Summa Theologica of Saint Thomas Aquinas
A facebook message or news feed is so much more efficient than emails or voice mails.
3) I’m even more concerned about . . . . what (this is) doing to our understanding of friendship and human love. Can you really call a person with whom you’ve exchanged an email and/or perhaps spoken to on the phone once or twice or met once a “friend”? That’s not only a sickly impoverishment of the notion of human friendship; it’s downright dangerous for a healthy culture.
I say, Again intent. Why people would add friends that they do not know is beyond me. Facebook is not the problem. And, to most people a "facebook friend" is not always the same as a close personal friend. I know that many people have hundreds even 1000+ "friends". One of my dear colleagues uses his facebook soley as a marketing tool for his books. I am glad to get news about up and coming book signings and new books. If I was not interested I would delete his connection to me via facebook. Now he has over 1000 "friends" -- that is ingenious (& free) marketing.
4) The Rev. Berg ends with, Sorry, I’ll take and keep the real deal.
I say, This whole "facebook thing" allows me to easily stay in touch with "the real deal."
One more thing that crossed my mind . . . . . my paternal grandparent courted only through letters back in the early 1900s. They were an ocean apart. Perhaps my grandchildren will meet and court through FB, Twitter or some other way yet to be invented.
Good in - good out. That's what it comes down to. Moderation and intent. With that all being said - here is a very funny look at FaceBook without moderation and proper intent.
