IS THERE SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH?

ONE SHEPHERD AND ONE FLOCK

Many have raised the question countless times as regards the salvation of those who existed before the coming of the one mediator between God and man (1Tim2:5), the man Jesus Christ. Scripture makes it lucid that there is no salvation in anyone else except in Christ, precisely it states: “for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.”  What then is the implication of such over-bearing statement? Are we thus to understand that all who existed before the incarnation episode in human history are doomed forever? Sequel to that, are we also to suppose that any human who through no fault of his or her own, has not come to know or hear about Jesus, cannot attain salvation? 

The Rosary: A Prayer of Presence

 

The most fundamental component of the Holy Rosary is the ‘Hail Mary.’ Analytically, it is the smallest unit to which the Rosary can be reduced before it completely loses recognition as the Rosary. The Rosary is essentially the ‘Hail Mary.’ However, the beautiful and powerful prayer of the Rosary sometimes unwittingly obscures the Hail Mary itself. Were the number of Rosaries some of us have said over the entire course of our lives reduced materially into straight-chained chaplets, with beads the size of peanuts, the length might encircle entire states. So, I believe that in a number of cases and without intending to, we say so many Rosaries that, without intending to, we lose sight of the Hail Mary with the attendant implication that our prayer life suffers a vitiation in quality and efficacy. This understanding is perhaps put in clearer perspective when we consider an observation  by one of the former Spanish side’s finest coaches, Vicente del Bosque, concerning Sergio Busquets, a Spanish player of no mean legendary repute himself. He said “When you watch the game, you don’t see Sergio Busquets,

MARIA FAUSTINA - THE EXTENT OF GOD'S MERCY

"Let no soul, even the most miserable, fall prey to doubt; as far as one is alive, one can be a great saint" St. Maria Faustina

This particular quote of St. Maria Faustina has always comforted and encouraged me.

Today, being her Feast, I meditated deeply on the various implications of this simple verse. The first implication that brings itself to the fore is the depth of God's mercy portrayed

HAIL MARY, PUREST AMONGST THE PURE.

 Hail Mary, purest amongst the pure, fairest amongst the fair

Why would the messenger of the Most high not proclaim the “Ave” to you, O Mary Most poor in Spirit?

When Jesus wanted to begin his ministry, he started by first proclaiming the words

 “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Is it not evident that in you is found the epitome of “Poverty of Spirit”?

Poverty denotes a certain lack of security, a certain dependence on a higher or more secure source for sustenance. Who could compete with you, O Mary most poor, on the virtue of total dependence and trust in Divine providence? The readiness of the fiat testifies to this fact. You readily submitted when the future possible outcome, humanly speaking, is nothing but disaster and shame.

THE HUMAN FACE OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD

 Quite ambitiously, we are moved to propagate the philosophy which holds that the human flesh is by nature evil. Probably because a good ratio of the temptations that threaten our flight to God besiege that constituent of our make up. Both ecclesial preachers and philosophical minds have held this view, in which they condemned the capacity of the flesh to achieve any good in itself due to its proneness to fall. Nevertheless, both from the point of healthy theological speculations, and sound philosophical ethics, this position has become moribund. In Jean Paul Sartre’s atheistic humanism, the flesh dethrones the mind, so that subsequently, he would replace the mind with a human existence that is actively engaged in the world, what he calls the existential subject. Sartre opens up for us certain true remarks of our humanism, but he also makes some conclusions that does not resolve our human dilemmas.