re: How much worse do you think Sodom and Gomorrah were than today’s world?

An important lesson of the story is when god kills lots wife for looking back at the huge explosion and losing many loved ones. It’s just a reminder to be like Bruce Willis and don’t look back at the explosion.

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LegendonPaulFinebaum

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You seem upset. Why? You seem just as bent on convincing others as the poster you mention. Why spend time trying to battle him. Let him do him.

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And I have nothing to do with finebaum.

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We know.

Thank you for your kind response to my post. The notion of praying for the living is firmly rooted in the Gospel. My favorite scripture passage on the need to pray for people is found in this passage....

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. - Matthew 5:44.

If I created the notion that we should pray for the dead in hell then I apologize. The dead in hell have by virtue of their choice chose hell and therefore cannot be saved. But as it applies to souls absent serious sin (we call mortal ) we Catholics believe in a place call Purgatory. The Bible is full of scriptural passages urging us to pray for the dead. Which dead? The dead in hell? Prayer for the damned in hell is useless. The dead in heaven? They've already achieved eternal redemption, they don't need our prayers. So therefore we believe in this place called Purgatory. Purgatory being a temporary place where we finish our purification before entering the presence of God. Nothing imperfect can stand in the presence of God as Moses learned when he dared to approach God with sandals on his feet. We need purification. That's what this Lenten Season is all about. Better to suffer now and shorten the time we spend in Purgatory. But unfortunately that's another difference which separates us.

As it applies to Mary the Mother of God's role in salvation I would simple agree to disagree with you. Still I feel compelled to try to ease your discomfort with Mary by saying she was no ordinary woman and her womb was no ordinary womb. Since we agree Jesus is God, can we at least agree that Yahweh would choose to pick a womb that was a worthy vessel for so great a God.

I'll admit that my love of the Mother of God was passed on to me from my own mother. My mother lost her father before she lost her mother. Looking back on that terrible loss...let me say she suffered a lot after losing her mother. I've been able to determine she prolly lost her mother just about the time the apparitions at Fatima occurred. So I'm thinking that was about the time Momma asked Our Lady to be her Mother. Mother Mary taught Momma well because throughout her life, by her actions and words, she always pointed us to towards Jesus. Mary is a Mother and Momma was too. I miss my Mom.

But I can understand your position on the Mother of God. You argue focusing on Mary distracts from the worship that should be directed only to God, and I agree there is always the chance of abuse when we put men between us and Jesus (ever hear of a Venezuelan shyster named John of God?). But I would argue any good person (even not so good) who has been blessed with a truly holy woman as a mother, comes to love that mother even more because she introduced him/her to Baby Jesus in the Womb. Jesus was and is 'The Word made Flesh'. He was born of a woman - and that woman is Mary.

The bond between a holy mother and child is great.

Pray for me, as I will pray for you.

i think it was Pius XII that said we were already worse than sodom and gomorrah in the 50s.

It was Abraham

That sounds similar to the book of Enoch

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At least they knew men weren't women

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Men of power back then liked young boys. Just like today's GOP

Shout out whoever runs this place for not anchoring this extremely important discussion about Life on Our Planet Earth...

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The Bible does not mention to pray for the dead.

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But there is certainly this tradition of remembering the lives and bravery of the Saints. In everyway they were just like us - mothers, fathers, businessmen and women, young and old, rich and poor, marginalized, banished (like the ritually unclean woman with the bleeding affliction), the homeless, and people of every race and ethnicity.

With that I would urge you to read the Lives of the Saints. You will be inspired and your own faith will grow.

Today (March 6th) we remember the martyrdom of SS Perpetua, Felicity, and their companions. They were martyred during the reign of Roman Emperor Severus in the year 203 AD. Perpetua was a young mother with a baby - the wife of a man of good position. Her parents were well off, her father a pagan but indications are her mother was probably Christian.

She embraced Christianity and her story is an inspiration to all Christians. She was imprisoned and suffered terribly - the heat and crowded prison taking its toll on everyone. As a result she could not suckle her baby. Luckily through the actions of two deacons, who convinced the authorities to move her to more pleasant prison surroundings, she was able to suckle her baby. She faced a hearing even as her pagan father pleaded with her to renounce her Christianity - she refused and held fast to her Lord and Master.

She and her companions were marched to the market-place, where a large crowed had gathered, and questioned by the Judge Hilarian, procurator of the province. When Hilarian demanded she offer a sacrifice for the prosperity of the emperors, Perpetua replied,"NO". To which Hilarian asked,"Are you a Christian?" Perpetua answered,"Yes, I am." All this tense exchange occurred while her father pleaded with her to renounce her faith and pay homage to the emperors. So distraught and desperate to convince his daughter to turn away from her faith, Hilarian ordered him struck with a rod and pulled away from his daughter. Throughout this scene, and even though the scene so agonized her, Perpetua NEVER waivered from her Christian faith.

Ultimately, Perpetua and her companions were sentenced to be eaten by the lions in the Coliseum of Rome. The spectacle of their brutal death reserved for an exhibition for the soldiers in the camp on the festival of Geta. She never wavered in her faith and her love for her God.

Reflecting on the example of St.Perpetua's unwavering love for God, you may argue our prayers for the dead may not help them (I would argue they do) but I believe the intercessory prayers of the Saints in heaven, including Saint Perpetua, helps us. I include in that - the prayers of my own Saintly Mother.

St. Perpetua, Pray for us.