Exodus 25:18-19 (KJV): And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. ***** Numbers 21:8-9 (KJV): And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. ***** 1 Kings 6:23,28-29 (KJV): And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree.... And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. ***** Galatians 3:1 (RSV): O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

I probably should not have commented. Sorry. The only reason I asked was that, at first glance, you seemed (I could be mistaken) to be equating any image with the practice of idolatry. But you might not have meant that. I'm sure you don't believe a picture Bible is sinful because it may include scenes that include depictions of God. I reacted because I know people who think all images representing God are bad (including in picture Bibles), which doesn't make sense to me if they are okay with images of other people. So nevermind, I guess. 🙂

A coworker said, "Before my wife and I married, we agreed that if one of us later wanted to be with someone else, we would tell the other rather than cheat behind each other's backs." Honorable? Invalid! A sacramental #marriage has no conditions, has no exception clauses.

Is it wrong to have images of ourselves, family, or loved ones?

Excellent follow-up is straight from Bishop Fellay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yE49EvD9o8

An excellent explanation of the current and broader crisis in the Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGjKNusEcl8

"[T]he love of riches is an insatiable hunger which so tortures the soul by the ardor of desire that it does not find solace even when it obtains what it covets. The acquisition of wealth causes great fatigue; the possession of it brings great fear; its loss occasions great sorrow." (Ven. Raymond Jourdain) #BTC #XMR #crypto

I think of what it be like for me 50,000 years from now. Even just 50 years from now. Will I care whether I stacked enough sats, or whether I was able to retire early, or whether I could convince friends to use Nostr and encrypted messengers? No. This life -- with all its sufferings and pleasures -- won't even be a drop in the bucket of eternity. Nothing about right now will matter in a million years except for one thing: whether I died in a state of grace with God. That is the one memory that will either bless me in Heaven or haunt me in Hell. Forever.

A non-denominational preacher, whose biggest disagreement with Catholics centers around our "legalistic" view of #salvation, tells me an interesting view of his own. He believes a true Christian is able to die in the act of adultery (committed freely, knowingly, and willfully) and still go to heaven -- so long as he has never "renounced Christ" or "lost hope." Which is more "legalistic" -- his view or the correct understanding of mortal sin?

It's one hour for me to a diocesan TLM, and almost 45 min. to a very small SSPX. I'm sorry for your situation. Is there one you can take a trip to for big days (e.g., Easter, Christmas, etc.)? I'll pray for your situation tonight. Don't lose heart.