When Angel Gabriel visited Zechariah and Mary, both of them did not understand how things could happen the way Gabriel announced. Though they asked similar questions, Zechariah ended up losing his power of speech whereas for Mary, the angel just left her. Why did they have such different consequences?
This question was answered previously in Chinese. See http://askfrfrancis.org/qa/why-difference-between-zechariah-and-mary-after-hearing-message-from-angel. The following is the English version. The Catechism does not provide a clear explanation on this. There are...
天主是無處不在的,但加音要從天主的面前離開,到諾得地方受罰。那麼諾得是否一個地方?既然如此,天主是否也與地獄的靈魂同在?
你這裏提及的是創世紀4:16,「加音就離開上主的面,住在伊甸東方的諾得地方。」 諾得自然是一個地方,是在樂園以東的。 但如你所說,天主是無處不在的。聖詠139說,即使在地極,在天之巔,甚或在陰府,天主都在那裏。自然,加音是不可能真的離開天主的臨在的。所謂他「離開上主的面」,一定不是指離開上主的臨在,而是指離開他父母所定居的環境,因為那處是天主常與他們相遇的地方。...
我前陣子注意到一個少女不幸慘遭歹徒毒手。我很同情她,幾乎天天替她念玫瑰經與慈悲串經,且幫她與她家人獻彌撒,請問這對她的靈魂幫助有多大?
作用當然有,而且很大!這是絕無疑問的。 為死者祈禱,早在舊約的瑪加伯下已有,在新約保祿書信中也有提及「為死者領洗」——一般都以為是為未領洗的死者祈求能進天堂之意。 自早期教會最早的彌撒感恩經文中,就已有為死者祈禱的部份,不單是為教友,而是為所有亡者。彌撒乃是所有祈禱中最完滿的,可見教會早就意識到為亡者祈禱的重要。...
