Wow, the part about how Augustine saw the creation of images as simply an expression of the First Commandment's 'inner logic' is brilliantly explained and makes so much sense, echoing the clarity you brought to complex ancient texts in your last articl!
All Glory and honor is the Lord’s forever and ever
Repent and accept the Lord’s call and submit to the Lord’s will🙏🙏🙏🎚️✝️❤️
Help those most in need, the widows, the orphans, the aborted babies, the sick, the poor, the destitute, the homeless, the cold, hungry and the list is long
🙏❤️✝️🎚️
The virgin Mary’s last words In the Bible were “do what ever he, Jesus, tells you”
Through apostolic session, the Catholic Church, the word, the deposit of faith, tradition and most importantly
Submit, obey, and give all your Glory, Honor and praise to the lord with the Lord. pray 🙏 pray 🙏 pray All glory and honor are the Lord’s forever and ever🙏Luke 11 , John 6: 53- 56, Matthew 18:15-18, praise be to God🙏✝️ pray for those most in need🙏
If you truly trust in the Lord then do as the lord asked and pray his prayer and eat of the body, real food and drink of his blood, real drink and have life in you🎚️ John 6:53-58
The Holy Trinity gives us hope, faith, charity and salvation🎚️✝️🙏🙏🙏
Do what you can with what you have where and when you are🙏🙏🙏
I believe this was said by Fr. Mike himself ✝️🎚️🙏🙏🙏
Our father who art in heaven. hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever, for yours is the spirit and the light forever breathing through me. Amen 🙏
Numbers 6 24-26 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord show his face to thee, and have mercy on thee. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace
The desire manifested in graven idols (there are other kinds of false gods) is for the Divine to be present. Such as the Golden Calf. The Lord had manifested Himself to the Jews with mighty deeds. Those not being present, they still craved His presence. So, they made an image, something they could touch, see, encounter face to face. This desire is built into each human person, by God. Protestants do it with the Bible! It is all they have, of Jesus, that can be touched, encountered in physical reality. Notice how they seldom refer to Jesus Christ, or His personality? It is always 'the Bible this, the Bible that'. "Biblical this, Biblical that". While Jesus Christ, as the Bible announces Him revealing, waits for them, in the Catholic Sacraments, and People. He sits in the Reconciliation space, and the Tabernacle. In prison, naked, hungry and thirsty for their embrace. They refuse, preferring an idol of paper and ink! The paper is graven, so the ink may be put on it.
Thank you for sharing this reflection. You’re right that the human heart is made for the presence of God, and Scripture gives us vivid examples of how that longing can be misdirected when people try to grasp something tangible on their own terms. That point is well taken.
Where I’d add a small clarification is that many Protestants sincerely love Christ and turn to the Bible out of a desire to know Him, even if they don’t yet see the fullness of how He continues His presence in the sacraments and in His Church. The Catholic understanding holds Scripture and sacrament together, not in competition, and that fuller picture is what ultimately satisfies the desire you’re describing.
Correct! So, let us do what we dare, to offer the Presence of Jesus Christ, in the flesh, face-to-face, a presence you can touch. This is how I understand the Charism given to Luigi Giussani, now manifested as Fraternity of Communion and Liberation. May those Protestants who truly love Him, come and get Him! He offers Himself to us, so that we may extend this offer to them, and to all. Come and see! New York Encounter. USA President's Day weekend, 2026. Chelsea section of Manhattan, West 18th Street. Find it on the web, book your lodging today.
Good eye. The shift in order between Exodus and Deuteronomy is actually one of the reasons the Catholic Church treats these as two distinct types of sins rather than one, because covetous lust and covetous avarice are morally different. So the variation doesn’t weaken the distinction, it reinforces it. And yes, I agree that Deuteronomy’s phrasing is the clearer of the two. Thanks!
Thanks for detailed explanation.
Wow, the part about how Augustine saw the creation of images as simply an expression of the First Commandment's 'inner logic' is brilliantly explained and makes so much sense, echoing the clarity you brought to complex ancient texts in your last articl!
May the Lord always bless us all🙏🙏🙏
All Glory and honor is the Lord’s forever and ever
Repent and accept the Lord’s call and submit to the Lord’s will🙏🙏🙏🎚️✝️❤️
Help those most in need, the widows, the orphans, the aborted babies, the sick, the poor, the destitute, the homeless, the cold, hungry and the list is long
🙏❤️✝️🎚️
The virgin Mary’s last words In the Bible were “do what ever he, Jesus, tells you”
Through apostolic session, the Catholic Church, the word, the deposit of faith, tradition and most importantly
Submit, obey, and give all your Glory, Honor and praise to the lord with the Lord. pray 🙏 pray 🙏 pray All glory and honor are the Lord’s forever and ever🙏Luke 11 , John 6: 53- 56, Matthew 18:15-18, praise be to God🙏✝️ pray for those most in need🙏
If you truly trust in the Lord then do as the lord asked and pray his prayer and eat of the body, real food and drink of his blood, real drink and have life in you🎚️ John 6:53-58
The Holy Trinity gives us hope, faith, charity and salvation🎚️✝️🙏🙏🙏
Do what you can with what you have where and when you are🙏🙏🙏
I believe this was said by Fr. Mike himself ✝️🎚️🙏🙏🙏
Our father who art in heaven. hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever, for yours is the spirit and the light forever breathing through me. Amen 🙏
Numbers 6 24-26 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord show his face to thee, and have mercy on thee. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace
The desire manifested in graven idols (there are other kinds of false gods) is for the Divine to be present. Such as the Golden Calf. The Lord had manifested Himself to the Jews with mighty deeds. Those not being present, they still craved His presence. So, they made an image, something they could touch, see, encounter face to face. This desire is built into each human person, by God. Protestants do it with the Bible! It is all they have, of Jesus, that can be touched, encountered in physical reality. Notice how they seldom refer to Jesus Christ, or His personality? It is always 'the Bible this, the Bible that'. "Biblical this, Biblical that". While Jesus Christ, as the Bible announces Him revealing, waits for them, in the Catholic Sacraments, and People. He sits in the Reconciliation space, and the Tabernacle. In prison, naked, hungry and thirsty for their embrace. They refuse, preferring an idol of paper and ink! The paper is graven, so the ink may be put on it.
Thank you for sharing this reflection. You’re right that the human heart is made for the presence of God, and Scripture gives us vivid examples of how that longing can be misdirected when people try to grasp something tangible on their own terms. That point is well taken.
Where I’d add a small clarification is that many Protestants sincerely love Christ and turn to the Bible out of a desire to know Him, even if they don’t yet see the fullness of how He continues His presence in the sacraments and in His Church. The Catholic understanding holds Scripture and sacrament together, not in competition, and that fuller picture is what ultimately satisfies the desire you’re describing.
Correct! So, let us do what we dare, to offer the Presence of Jesus Christ, in the flesh, face-to-face, a presence you can touch. This is how I understand the Charism given to Luigi Giussani, now manifested as Fraternity of Communion and Liberation. May those Protestants who truly love Him, come and get Him! He offers Himself to us, so that we may extend this offer to them, and to all. Come and see! New York Encounter. USA President's Day weekend, 2026. Chelsea section of Manhattan, West 18th Street. Find it on the web, book your lodging today.
As a side note: Ex. 20 and Dt. 5 reverse the order of the 9th. & 10th. Commandment.
Ex. 20:17 places not coveting a neighbor's goods before his wife, while Dt. 5:21 places not coveting a neighbor's wife before his goods.
I like Dt. better than Ex. ;)
Good eye. The shift in order between Exodus and Deuteronomy is actually one of the reasons the Catholic Church treats these as two distinct types of sins rather than one, because covetous lust and covetous avarice are morally different. So the variation doesn’t weaken the distinction, it reinforces it. And yes, I agree that Deuteronomy’s phrasing is the clearer of the two. Thanks!
Thank you for this succinct explanation.